Princesses Need Not Apply

It's no secret that we are not raising girly-girls at our house. Not that there is anything wrong with being girly. My girls just don't roll that way. Which is cool.

So...

When Peyton decided she would like a desk for her room, Mark suggested they build one together. Which really means Mark will design it and make Peyton do the work. And why shouldn't she learn to build things? Certainly not because she is a girl!

They discussed what she wanted. Talked about how it should look. Redesigned based on their conversations, talked about it some more, redesigned again, and then began building.

Peyton did all of the cutting. I had to not watch this part. (Full disclosure, I COULD NOT WATCH THIS PART!!!) Mark did have to help with some of the screws as he is a bit stronger than Peyton. Ha ha ha. They got the base part done. I think in one more weekend, they will be completely done. It should be pretty cool. Part will attach to the wall and have shelving for her to store stuff.  Then, when she needs to use the desk, it will pull down. When she's done, it will retract once again. My people are creative for sure.

I'm actually super proud of both of them. Often, they butt heads. This project, Mark was patient and Peyton was a great "student".

Here are some action shots. If you can call this action...

[Just kidding on this part. Apparently, when I went to download photos from my phone, I deleted about 200 of them. If you need me, I'll be in the corner crying...]

Lessons Learned.

So, we know our 16 year-old is smart. What we don't always remember is that she is pretty wise too. We have had some pretty deep conversations with her recently.

One of the things that she mentioned is we've probably been putting a bit too much pressure on them lately. She said that when we compliment them we say things like "Wow, good job getting 9 out of 10 on that quiz, but what happened with the last question?" Or "Nice race Syd, but looks like you had some trouble with that turn." It's all about the "but".

Looking back on these conversations, I realize that what she is saying is true. I know neither Mark or I is trying to be critical. We just know they have huge potential and the "but" is our way of trying to see what we can do to help. That's how we see it. Obviously, they see it differently. And how they see it is what matters.

One of the other things that came up is what we expect from them. We try to be pretty "Free Range" in our parenting. (You can read more about that here.) But, we forget sometimes that they still need us to guide them. There seems to be a fine line between too little and too much. I'm not sure we will ever strike the right balance. But, we will keep trying.

For now, George-o (because I know you're reading this) just know that we heard you. We listened. And we will keep trying. Because we weren't lying when we said all we want is for you to try your hardest. And the best way to show you that is for us to do the same. Always.

XOXO

Labor Day weekend

With the three day weekend, it was the perfect opportunity to head to Filer, Idaho for the Twin Falls County Fair.

We loaded up Saturday morning, dog an all.

 My people are quiet travelers. Unless they spontaneously burst into song.

And it seems only fitting that we would do some actual labor for the "Labor Day" Weekend. So, we did.

Mark's brother Scott is in charge of the church food booth. We have helped for the last few years, and it is actually pretty fun. This year, both girls helped.  They were pretty awesome!  Even with a 4:30-11:30 PM shift. Ugh.

Here are some "action" shots...

We also ran into this character...

Sunday, we took the girls back to do rides. They seemed to enjoy themselves.

Mark, not so much..."Dad, hold my stuff, please!"

Played some of this...

Ate some of this...and many other things. Oh my.

Last year, I wasn't able to eat much of the fair food since GLUTEN. But, one day of fair food is what I live for the rest of the year. ;-)

Did some of this...

And some of this?

We spent most of the day Sunday there, then loaded up and headed home.

The second picture of Syd pretty much sums up how much fun we had. We were exhausted!

Why do they insist on dinner EVERY night?!?

It's no secret that I am not now, nor have I ever been known as a "foodie". I could eat a bowl of cereal at night and call it good. (And have on many occasions!) I don't really care that much about food. I'm not adventurous in what I eat. Although I am very thankful I can eat gluten again because no gluten = hell as far as I'm concerned. For real.

But, I have other people in my house. People who are growing into adults. Therefore, they need actual food. With a balance of protein, veggies, carbs...and whatever else makes a balanced diet. Clearly, cereal doesn't exactly fit the criteria.
 

With Sydney having swim practice every night, I knew we needed to come up with some way to feed her a good meal. Plus, we really try to have dinner as a family every night if possible. We have about 40 minutes from the time we pull in the driveway to get dinner on the table, eat, and be out the door to take her to practice.

Oh, and have I mentioned that I don't really like to cook? Yeah, I'm super awesome like that.

BUT!!!

I found a great solution that has been working really well for our family. It's this! And it's fantastic!

Photo courtesy of iamthatlady.com website.

You can read about it/find it here.

I will, however, give you my opinion anyway. You're welcome. :-)

The beauty of this plan for us is that you take something out of the freezer the night before, put it in the fridge overnight and then throw it in the crock-pot on low in the morning. When we get home from work...dinner! Seriously, it's that easy. 
 
I am usually very skeptical when it comes to things like this. For one, I wasn't sure what an ALDI was. But it's just a supermarket chain. Secondly, we have a few (3 out of 4, ahem.) people in our house that are picky.


I was concerned about the prep time to create the meals. But, they make it so simple! The download comes complete with a printable shopping list. Plus, it has a pantry list, detailed preparation instructions, a blank calendar and recipe cards for all the recipes. I loved that the recipe cards had cooking instructions PLUS suggestions on what to serve with each meal.
 
Since we don't have ALDI here, I went to our trusty Winco. Syd and I did all the shopping in about an hour. Our total came to $168.74. For 20 meals! That's less than $8.50 for a meal for 4 people. I'm sure with a little preparation and planning, I could get it to less than that, but I was pretty happy with our total.

Mark and I put the meals together in about an hour as well. Everything just goes in a freezer bag. Very little prep work, which is excellent from my point of view. It was actually a little bit fun to work together like that.


The preparation instructions were super easy to follow. Here is an example:

Photo courtesy of iamthatlady.com website.

I was also nervous that we would have things that we didn't love. Not the case at all! I was especially leery of the rib recipe, since I don't really actually like ribs, but even it was great. Go figure.


Go check out the website. Really, I don't think you will be disappointed.

I mean, if I'd rather eat this than cereal, you know it must be good!

Also, I must add, if you don't use these, you are crazy. Seriously.

As I was driving to work the other morning, I felt like the grown-uppest grown-up ever! If only there were a plan like this for the rest of the areas in my life.  Ha!

20 Slow Cooker Dump Recipes Aldi Meal Plan #8

First week...DONE!

The girls survived the first week of school. They are both exhausted though!

Sydney has swim practice every evening for an hour and a half. Thankfully, she hasn't had much homework yet. She eats a full dinner with us, and then as soon as practice is over, she eats another dinner. She's a good candidate for Taco Bell's famous "Fourth Meal." Minus the Taco Bell, of course.

This is her in the evenings...

Peyton has quite a bit more homework than her sister. But, her extra-curriculars haven't started yet, so I think it is fine. She had one bout of psycho-billy freak-out, but has been okay since. {Fingers crossed this trend continues...}

Only two more weeks until Labor Day weekend. But really, who's counting? Oh, yeah...me!

Here's to week two!

So, then, THIS happened...

First REAL day of high school for Sydney. Peyton is a Junior this year. Waaaaaiiiiiiittttt just a minute!

I don't even know how to describe this morning. I mean, there was chaos, of course. Hello, two teenage daughters. And there was anxiety. (Mostly from me). There was excitement.

And there might have been a teeny, tiny bit of annoyance at the approximately 1,000 pictures I took of them. Can you tell?

But there was something they didn't see. It's how damn proud we are of each of them! They can't possibly imagine how amazing it is to be their parents. We may be hard on them, we may make them mad occasionally, but they've turned out pretty darn well so far.

Happy first official day of school girls! We love you!

 

Eye Roll Central: And so it starts...

Eye Roll Central: And so it starts...: Sydney's high school career starts today. It's not an actual day of school, but something called Freshman Academy. I think i...