No shaming my game

The sentiment in this week's post comes from a story from a friend. A couple friend of ours were out at a local brewery with another couple. Both couples had their children with. That maybe sounds weird, but most breweries around here are super family-friendly and have plenty of space and games to keep kids occupied.

Nonetheless, our friend's three year old was getting squirrely and so my friend gave him a granola bar to eat.

The girl they were with, mind you also a mother, said:

"I can't believe you're letting him eat that."

...

I don't know what my friend's response was, but I can tell you I would be shocked to be so openly mom-shamed. Not only is that a major mode of mom-shaming, but can we ALL AGREE THAT IT WAS TOTALLY UNNECESSARY?

Like allllll things in life, we are entitled to our own beliefs and values, even with nutrition. You can give your kid granola bars. You can view them as sugar-sticks-of-Satan. But you cannot judge another mom's choices out loud.

I hope that anyone who follows me understands that my platform is not perfect organic zero sugar zero grain zero dairy we are so much better than you all.

Nnnnnnnope.

If anything I want my platform to be:

We.

Are.

All.

Doing.

The.

Best.

We.

Can. 

And we need to support each other's choice, not criticize. Like Becky aren't you on a diet/Shut up I'm starving.

As proof of that I'd like to offer this up. We are on day three of school cancellations (and I just got a text that tomorrow's off as well. Oof). The boys and I thought it'd be fun and appropriately time-consuming to make homemade cinnamon rolls.

Are they nutrient packed?

Goodness no. No pureed beans in sight here.

Did the boys have fun helping me knead the dough, seeing it rise, and rolling it out?

Of course.

Is it okay to expose your children to a variety of foods?

Absolutely.

After all, we are all doing the best we can.

Life lately

I might be an Instagram creeper.

Like, I enjoy looking at people's Instastories. How they spend their day, what they eat, what they wear, etc.

I think it's 'cause I don't really have much adult interaction during my day anymore so I need a fill of peoplez on the internetz.

In the spirit of sharing *my* stay at home life, here's a sample of how our day goes.

I'm lucky to be able to sleep in until 7am. I don't set an alarm- 7 am is "Annika O'Clock." I'll bring her into my room while I catch up on email and do my morning exercises (yep, still doing my 10 minute routine).

She managed to take this selfie on my phone, LOL. LOOK into my EYESSSSSS.

Sabrina and the boys wake around 7:30 and we have breakfast. Lately the boys have been requesting oatmeal with blueberries. After we eat, they watch some PBS Kids and I'm left with...a mess. It's a massive scramble to get everyone dressed, get preschool lunch packed, and...I guess that's it, but man, it seems like a lot of work at the time.

After preschool drop off for my oldest, the babies will start morning naps around 9:30. I then make myself a tea and get to cleaning.

We got a dusting of snow the night prior so I decided to go out and quickly shovel while the babies slept. Of course Fred insisted on going out with me, even though I tried to convey that 5 degree temperature is too cold for a kid ("It's like...so cold...that your face might freeze off").

I'm ready to:
A. Rob a bank
B. Shovel the driveway
C. Look SUPER SMOKIN'
D. All of the above

I thrifted these down-filled North Face boots earlier this season. One of my best finds!

Fred's treat was a cup of hot cocoa.

I have an eBay side hustle going on and my dining room table is filled with stuff to list and ship, so I'll work on that a bit. 

Lunch is almost always leftovers from the night prior. Babies get Cheerios and today, tofu. Mmmm.

The boys got a Melissa and Doug stamping kit for Christmas and we broke that out yesterday. He promptly stamped black ink all over the orange ink pad. Ugggggg. 

The babies will go down for afternoon naps around 1 and hopefully sleep 'til 3. I use this chunk of time to play with Fred (Duplos and train tracks are his fave right now) and prep dinner. Then it's time for preschool pickup and a nice nap-drive hybrid for the boys. Sidenote: the girls are major troopers for being okay with this.

Snack time for all when we get home. Have you ever tried Quaker Corn Squares? I LOVED them as a kid and they still make them! Only SuperTarget is the sole store that I've seen stock them. My boys eat it up too, dry, so it makes for an easy snack.

Spiderman mask, Superman costume, and I know better than to question him.

Around 5 pm I'll have dinner in the oven, or prepped to the point where it'll come together in minutes, so I'll head to the basement and get in a 20-30 minute workout. I put the babies in their exersaucers and they're content enough. The boys make a mess, but eh, by this time in the day, it doesn't faze me. 

My husband gets home around 5:30 and we eat dinner by 6. Lately we have the babies eating a version of what we eat- so nice to not have to spoon them baby food! Tonight's dinner was a hotdish of brown rice, spinach, and ground sausage. Fortunately we do not have a pants requirement for meal service.

The rest of the night consists of baths and playtime before getting everyone jammied around 7:30. 

Kids are all down by 8, and my husband and I will sneak in a half hour of TV (Is Ozark worth continuing? We are two episodes deep). I'll shower quickly and we are in bed by 9 to read, putz on the internet, or sleep. 

I feel like my days are super hectic yet lazy at the same time. I don't accomplish much besides picking up the messes that get made, doing laundry, and cooking. Fortunately I am a total homebody and I love to be able to spend time with all the kids!

Friday Fitness

I feel so off today. Like I know it's Friday, but it feels like...Saturday? Sunday? Vacation??

Last night my parents treated me, my husband, and two boys to a night at a local waterpark hotel while they took on the twin challenge.

We stayed at Great Wolf Lodge and had a great experience overall.

The boys were totally baffled at why there was a fridge, but no food in it.

Ahh, digging for gold. It's like he's made himself at home already.

After an afternoon and evening of wave pool-ing and lazy river-ing, we were ready for some bedtime cartoons.

PS It's all I can do to *not* reach for my phone and putz while the boys are watching their TV shows. Uggh so addicted to the screen!

It's all fun and games at Great Wolf until you go to your van the next morning and realize it's been broken into. WHAT. You know what was stolen? My $12 sunglasses and Mac's lunchbox. How messed up on meth do you need to be to STEAL A KID'S LUNCHBOX?!

What also hurts is that it was an expensive Pottery Barn Kids one, complete with insulated Thermos and water bottle. Boo hoo hoo. Guess now they can keep their meth nice and...hot? Cold? UGH.

After last night's poolside meal of burgers and fries, plus feeling lingering rage from the stealing of the lunchbox, I hopped on the treadmill for a quick workout as soon as the babies were down for afternoon nap.

A glamorous set up going on in my basement? Faaaaar from it, but, it gets the job done.

Weirdly enough my fave thing to workout to is the 90's Country Channel.

I've scrubbed the 8-pounders many times but they look chronically dusty *but* they get the job done.

Two of my favorite DVDs- love an intense 20 minute workout.

I loathe running on the treadmill. Instead I crank up the incline and walk at a fast pace. You guessed it- IT GETS THE JOB DONE.

Most of the time when I'm attempting to do a workout the boys follow me into the basement as well. Fine by me...except when they want to do the treadmill with me, or "spot" me during my push ups. Ultimately it's a good thing for them to see my husband and I place a value on fitness, not to look a certain way, but to have strength and energy to, well, parent.

One of my blogging goals for the upcoming year is to dedicate the first Friday of every month to a fitness post. I'd love to do tutorials on cardio and strength training and provide brief but effective routines. Is this something you would have interest in reading? Let me know!

'Til then...if anyone happens to see a truck print Pottery Barn Kids lunchbox set on Craigslist...or in a pawn shop...or in a ditch somewhere...let me know.

The top thing you don't want to hear in the middle of the night...

Oof.

It has been quite the 48 hours in our house.

It started Tuesday night. I was patting myself for an early bedtime (9 pm WOOP WOOP!), then before I knew it, it was 11:30 pm and our 4 year old was running upstairs bawling because "I just puked all over my bed! And the stairs! And the flooooor!"

My husband and I cleaned up as quickly and quietly as we could, went back to bed, then ONE minute later the two year old was screaming "I puuuuuuuuked!"

Ugggggggggggggggggggggggg.

Since their shared bedroom is on the lower level, I slept on the couch...er, laid on the couch, ears wide open for the teeniest of moans alerting me to spring up with bucket in hand. This is a mom-brag here but from there on out I was 8/8 for catching the barf! YEAH BABY!

Between doing that and swapping out laundry, we were all up til 4 am. Woof. Fortunately by morning the boys were feeling great. We still opted for a lazy day- I unfolded the couch bed for them and there was a lot of Daniel Tiger going on.

As a kid I always craved a blueberry muffin after a barf bout so I made a quick batch of box mix for the boys, which they happily ate.

My BFF.

Is it *not* normal to keep a tub of this in your bathroom for extra sheet washing sessions while your washer is stuffed full?

This past weekend my mother in law made a soup that the boys devoured, so I made a version of it myself. If there was ever a day that called for the slow cooker, this was it.

Cabbage Roll Soup
-1 64 oz bottle tomato juice
-1 tablespoon vegetable flavor Better Than Bouillon or one bouillon cube
-2 lbs lean ground beef
-1 large onion, diced
-1 teaspoon minced garlic
-1 large head green cabbage, chopped into 1-2" pieces (see photos for how I did this)
-1 head cauliflower, chopped, with core removed
-1 tablespoon dried parsley
-1 teaspoon salt
-1 teaspoon pepper
-1 teaspoon paprika
-1 teaspoon onion powder

In a large saute pan over medium high heat, cook beef, onion, and garlic. While that's cooking, pour the tomato juice into the slow cooker. Refill the bottle half full with hot tap water and add bouillon. Shake to combine as best you can, then add that to the slow cooker as well. Add beef mixture and the remaining ingredients. The slow cooker will be jam packed and might seem too chunky, but the cabbage and cauliflower shrink down as they cook and become tender. Cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours.

Recipe makes 8 heaping servings of roughly 3 cups. Per serving: 250 calories, 19 grams carbohydrates, 5 grams fiber (a good amount!), 8 grams fat, 27 grams protein.

I didn't plan on either of the boys eating this so close to, um, tossing their cookies, but they happily chose this over more bland foods. Good thing they are back to normal and this mama can get some sleep!