School Lunches Made Easy!

I cannot take credit for this amazing idea, but I can attest to the fabulousness of it!!

If you have school lunches to pack, I strongly suggest giving this a go. I literally get up and throw a “pocket” into each lunch box. My fridge has a draw for the refrigerated items too. 

It takes about 45minutes of prep-work on the weekend,  then boom- you’re done! The week’s lunches are ready! If you only have one kid to pack for it could house an entire month’s worth- minus the fridge foods like turkey, cheese and yogurt! It also saves money if you divide and conquer all those goldfish yourself versus buying prepackaged!

I’m telling you....life saver!

It also allows me to easily cater to my individual children’s likes and dislikes. Case wants chocolate milk, Anna never wants granola bars, Caroline doesn’t like oranges etc. They get foods I know they’ll each eat.

Anyway.... just thought I would share! It saves so much time in the morning!! 

Deep Thoughts with Case

This picture it to prove he’s a nut!! 

As I’m sure many of you moms out there will agree, rides in the car can lead to some very insightful moments in the lives of our children. 

Anna and Caroline most always wait for me to be stationed behind the steering wheel before tossing out those hard, thought provoking, deep questions.

“How is God three persons?”

“What are idols”

“Why would God allow people to create money if they are just going to worship it?”

 “Are common mistakes like breaking something sins?”

 “How do you know if something is an idol in your life?”

“What are some of your old idols?”

These are just a few topics of conversation the girls and I have had in JUST THIS WEEK to and from school! 

Case on the other hand is his own deep thinker. He sits quietly for a time, and then finally pipes up with his carefully calculated idea.

Today’s car ride was no different, except we were riding in blissful silence for ten minutes before Case spoke up.

Case: Well, I’ve decided what I want to be when I grow up!!

...

He pauses for me and the girls to bite the bait and ask, “what will you be, Case?”

Case (so excited about his news): I’m gonna be a Polar Bear!! 

Caroline: Case! You can’t be a Polar Bear!

Anna: You could be a doctor.

Case: I don’t like shots!

Anna: You could be a teacher.

Case (starting to get a little agitated): I can’t read!!

Caroline: But Case, If you’re human now, you can’t grow up and be a Polar Bear. 

Case: MY MOMMY SAYS I CAN BE ANYTHING I WANT TO BE, AND I’M GONNA BE A POLAR BEAR!

Me: Well, it does sound fun, but why do you want to be a Polar Bear? How could we come see you if you’re a Polar Bear?

Case (in a total ‘duh’ voice): Because I like coldness and playing in the snow. And- you’d just have to come to the zoo!

Anna: Case! You could be an astronaut! It’s cold in space!!

Case (In TOTAL EXASPERATION): ASTRONAUTS WEAR DIAPERS!!!!

Me: Okay buddy. Girls, he is going to be a Polar Bear! I think that sounds fun! 😂😂😂

Of course we all know he won’t be a Polar Bear, but maybe some other “coldness-loving” occupation, like a snow boarder in the Olympics. 🤷🏼‍♀️

She shoots...

She SCORED!!

This is a memory I don’t want Anna to EVER forget! 

Anna decided to give basketball a whirl this year. It was mainly because I was coaching, so she had little choice in the matter. Our school opened peewee basketball up to 3rd-5th graders. The other schools we played were 4th-6th graders, so we were already at a slight disadvantage, but that never stopped their hustle!  Anna played on the 3rd grade team. As you know she is a tiny third grader. You can imagine her against 5th and 6th graders!! Her little team was never against any other third graders, and they were very seldomly playing against 4th graders. Just picture David and Goliath in basketball uniforms and you’ll get the idea!

After our first game Anna rode home in tears. “They are giants compared to us.” “We didn’t even get a shot, much less score!” “I was horrible!”...etc.etc.etc.

After ten minutes of her pitiful recollection of the twenty minute game, I thought she’ll never go back out there again. Finally I said, “Anna, you were up against fifth and sixth graders. No one expected you to win! All we cared about was that y’all played hard and had fun, and learned the game!”

 Well turns out she had fun! She loved it actually!!

So... the show went on! Practices made them better. Games made them tougher. Anna was loving it! 

Then one day I put her in at point guard. She was handling the ball well in practice, so I thought she’d be a good one for the job. Well, she took the ball down the court four times. Twice she turned it over... next thing I know. I’m the bad guy!! I should have never put her in that predicament! (I’ve mentioned she doesn’t like to mess up, right?!)

So, yesterday (our last game)  she is playing her little heart out! They all are. Our little third graders are holding their own against these fifth graders! We are tied 2-2! This could be the first win for our girls! Then I notice my point guard needs a rest! Anna sees it too, and she says “mama, I can play Point. I will!”

Y’all!!! You don’t know what kind of courage that took! As much as Casey and I try to instill confidence in her, she just didn’t have it when it came to playing point guard. I was so proud of her for giving it a shot!! Then, she took a shot and SCORED!!! I was jumping up and down on the sidelines like a kangaroo. The Regents crown erupted into loud cheers and praises! Anna said later she saw me jumping in the air like a crazy person with my fists pumping. I said, “yeah you did!!!” 

Later when our team had possession I could hear their coach yelling, “watch number 2!” Anna is number 2! I just smiled. Unlike Anna, I’m a legend in my own mind! I never think I’m terrible at anything! It instantly made remember the little pip squeak blonde playing basketball, and the coach yelling my number. “Guard 10! Guard 10! She’s their shooter!!” What he didn’t know was I was a terrible shooter! Defense I could play  all day, but somehow on that day  I managed to add 9pts in a matter of seconds! When I heard that for Anna, I couldn’t help but smile!! She just got the vote of confidence she needed to keep on playing the sport she had learned to love in a matter of weeks!

We went on to win the game in the last several seconds 6-4! It was the greatest game of our Regents PeeWee girls B team history 😜

Anna- I don’t want you to ever forget this! Your first basket!  It’s healthy to be a legend in your own mind sometimes!! At least I keep telling myself that -haha! You continue to amaze me, and I know your love of basketball will give us many more happy days like yesterday!! 

Snow Days...

So, if you are not living in North Mississippi you may not know that we are ending a seven day weekend. Yes. The one day we could have gone to school was a holiday, so now parents and students and teachers have all be home for a whopping seven days! 

Yet these are the only two pictures I have to show for it. I’m hoping my husband did his usual good deed of snapping “memory-photos,” because I’m tellinbyall. I’m failing on all levels of “keeping up with the kids’ childhoods”!!! 

I can tell you that the house is filled with mixed emotions as we get tucked in bed for a restful night’s sleep in preparation for what will more than likely be a wasted school day. Anna is devastated, because like every other child in the state, she didn’t study her vocabulary or spelling until today. She may miss a few, and we all know how that will go. Caroline is completely indifferent. Honestly, she will probably wake up in the morning and her flighty little self will have forgotten that we declared it an official school night. We didn’t end the night an hour or two after bedtime with a movie and ice cream. We went to bed early!! Time will tell, but I’m banking on her not having a clue why we’re all dolled up in uniforms walking out the door at 6:45! Case cries every school night, so no surprise there. He hates the uniform. You see, at our school the kids have to wear the really odd little white circular ornaments on their shirts called BUTTONS, and he hates them!! 🙄

As soon as we informed him that it was a PE day, and he got to wear his t-shirt he was ready! 

Me? Well, I cannot wait to go back! If you don’t know, I’m a second grade teacher. I’m not gonna lie. I was loving that first snow day, but by day seven I was running out of things to do. My mother says I have a “healthy” energy level, but my boss says if anyone was in need of a human hamster wheel it’s me! The first snow day, I had my day off! I slept late, had multiple cups of coffee, read lots and lots of devotional and Leila Meacham, and did nothing that would exert unnecessary energy. By day three - I was DONE! I had cleaned my house from top to bottom, washed every article of clothing, washed every dish (hand washing some just so it would take longer), watched movies, played blocks, and “PJ Masks,” had basketball shoot outs, went sledding, played laser tag, built marble mazes, and plus/plus football players, read more, had more coffee...etc. etc. I wasn’t necessarily bored, I just had all this pent up energy that was wasting away! On day four I sent my boss a text saying, “If I ever come in your office and threaten to quit because teaching is too much and I just need some ‘me’ time, remind me of this week! I NEED work!!”

Haha! I know right!? What?!?!

By 9am tomorrow I’ll be posting a retraction!! Get me back in my sweats, with coffee and my couch! And, just in case you are reading about my clean house and thinking I have it totally together, stayed tuned in. If there is ever a blog to come read to help mamas feel better about themselves, it is this one! I don’t hold back my faults. You’ll read about that time I told Case I was about to cook supper and he took off yelling to the girls in overjoyed glee that, “mama’s about to make us pop-tarts” because it had been that long since I had made supper. Or the time(s) I literally stood in the kitchen and screamed over spilt milk. Or when I told Caroline (my most sensitive child remind you), that she reads like a 4 year old. I’m a mom. None of us are perfect! So, please- don’t ever read this blog and think “she has it all together,” because I don’t! And, I’ll always be honest about it!! 

So, it dawned on me yesterday that I should have listened to my parenting advisors when my kids were young. Aunts and Uncles and seasoned adults always told me, “write that memory down, because you won’t remember she said that ten years from now.”

Well here I am 18months from my last blog and I can’t remember what we had for supper last night....much less what hysterical things Case said when he was three, and he said some hysterical things!!! Anna was talking about their first words on the ride home from a basketball game the other night and I almost cried because I can honestly say, “I haven’t a clue what Case’s first word was. I know he was a late talker, but I don’t know what he finally came out with.” I sure don’t have a baby book! Blogging was my attempt of record keeping, and I let that go the minute life got crazy! 

Well, I’m bound and determined to get back to blogging! Life is insane right now, but isn’t that what you like reading about?! Everyone else’s chaotic collaboration of their 24hr day?! Well, with three kids 9, 7 and 4 that think they are 30, 3, and 12- life is full of chaos. I have plenty to write about- I just have to make myself do it! I’ve said it before, but that was for my readers. I’m sorry to say- I quit on y’all. This time- I’m keeping up with it for myself, and my mindless memory that drives off on a three hour weekend trip without  my purse! I don’t want to have forgotten my childrens’ whole lives at the end of my journey!! 

So to recap-

These are my three little hearts. 

Anna is 9. 

She is in third grade. She is a total and complete perfectionist. A true first-born daughter! If you want to feel like you really know all about her, go read about first born daughters in Birth Order.  She is large and in charge. Sensitive and sassy. She takes care of her siblings as she aggravates them to no end. She is an old soul. Her perfect day would literally be spent sipping sweet tea on the back porch swing and talking to her friends about anything and everything under the sun. She should have been born in the early 1900s, and I love her for it!! She is all about friends this year. She is playing every sport she can. Soccer is her favorite. She swims, plays basketball, rides horses, and she’s starting tennis this spring. A true perfectionist. She’s super hard on herself. For instance, earlier this year told me she was having “major trouble” in math and needed extra practice sheets. “I’m awful at math, mama! I’m gonna fail! It is so hard.” So, I listen to this maddening tearful garbage for a few weeks before stopping in with her math teacher. “Anna says she is struggling in math. Anything we should be focusing on to help her?” Her teacher looked at me like I had a hole in my head! “Anna?? I think Anna is doing great.” She pulls out her gradebook. “Anna has a struggling 99 average in math!”

This kid is gonna be the end of me. I never cared that much in third grade. In fact, I truly failed third grade math! I got to go to fourth grade, but I had to go to the computer lab and do math remediation for the whole first semester! But- that’s Anna! She is like that with everything!! Everything!!! It will be her faulty strength in life!

Then there’s Cliney Bug!

Caroline is 7. 

She is my look- alike, mini-me! She is my most sensitive child. She’s no doubt the middle child, and she wears the hat perfectly! She is comfortable in her own skin, wants to do anything and everything, and doesn’t care how well she does it. If she does it- she can mark it off her list and move on! She’s my list maker. At seven years old, I can give her a list and she is going to do everything on it just to have the pleasure of checking it off! And yes, I take full advantage of this disorder! Ha! 

She’s my creative soul. Always drawing, building, creating, and she’s my hoarder! Like, it may be a true disorder, we’ve yet to decide!! She wants to keep everything! Little tiny pieces of paper wadded up in a perfectly “folded ball,” have some sort of sentimental memory. Everything holds value! We have lots and lots of battle over trash! I mean, LOTS of trash tears!! But- this also makes her a saver with money. She has more than me! She is also a true athlete. She loves sports and she’s good! She plays soccer and basketball, she rides horses and she’s a cheerleader. She is my lover of life! She is just happy being happy, except when she isn’t. Then she is crying because she has done something to hurt someone else. She is sweet and enormously empathetic- which I love about her!! But don’t get me wrong, she still really, really, really loves herself, a LOT!! We are constantly working on the selfishness around here. It’s tough for us all!!

Case is 4!

Case is our silly, costume loving comedian. He is our little prankster. Everything is a joke to him. He’s been telling jokes (and funny ones) since he started talking. Clearly, I can’t remember when exactly that was. He loves costumes. He has an active imagination, and he is constantly pretending he is someone else. Normally that long list includes Ole Miss football player, AJ Brown, Captain America, super man, Batman, Gecko, Catboy, Lions, tigers and bears! Lately, his new hero is a boy named James E. (A fifth grader he has become buddies with.) He only answers if we call him James E., and he is asking for a “James E. Costume” for his birthday! In March!!! He is obsessed with two things right now! James E. and his birthday!! It is all he talks about! 

Case is our little love-bug! He aggravates his sisters by karate chopping them to death, and then cries when he isn’t getting devoted attention from one or both mama-sisters. He’s the biggest baby, but he thinks he’s twelve. By baby I mean, he wants everything done for him. He is happy to have two big mama-sisters taking care of his every need. At four years old, we could have left Anna home by herself for a week, and she would have not only survived, but she would have taught herself to read a cookbook and text messaged all her friends to come sample her first attempt of Boeuf Bourguignon or something! Caroline was making her own peanut butter and jelly sandwiches at three. Case won’t turn on the tv, pour himself a cup of milk, buckle his car seat, wash his hair, or put on pants by himself! But, I let this all go because you know what he will do? Go upstairs and play the “James E. meets AJ Brown in the Batman Cave and needs his help destroying Joker to save Batman” game he invented for five hours! He is my entertained entertainer! Never does he need a playmate to be satisfied. Don’t get me wrong, he LOVES his friends, but he can entertain himself for hours on end, as long as he doesn’t need a sip of water! 

Did you hear me say, “upstairs”?? Yup!! We moved in 2017. Loaded up the cattle trailer and headed down the road a few miles!

We now have a spacious house! All the kiddos have their own room, and that has been nice for us all. We also have a pool!! So summer posts should be loads of fun!! 

I’m ready for 85 degrees days!! 

Today, well, today we are home having our fourth snow day. The weather is freezing, and the kids are stir crazy. Thankfully the snow provided an opportunity for the girls to meet kids in the neighborhood, so they’re not driving me completely nuts! I’m headed to read a bit... I’m on to a new author, Leila Meacham. I you check her out, start with Roses. 

I’ll be back!!