Staying Home

This past week has been unusual. The kids have all been sick.

One at a time for about 4 days each. Sigh.

So when you stack that up with a little overlap you get 7 days of staying home.  With unhappy crabby little people who are bored to tears.

 

Now I like being at home but after a few days I start to go a little stir crazy. Okay A LOT stir crazy. I do have a great friends who came to visit me Friday night for a little adult conversation & scrapbooking.

Instead of griping about the lack of social interaction, we’ve tried to use the the time in good ways.

1. Bible challenge—Steve has given our family a challenge. If you read a book(pleasure) then read a book of the Bible. It really has made us think about how we use our free time.

2. Cleaning—floors are mopped, tubs are scrubbed, kitchen is cleaned, etc

3. Mowing—It takes about 2 hours to mow our lawn. It is done for the week. Yeah because it is looking pretty busy!

4. Movies, Games, Coloring, Napping—okay that is what the kids have been doing.

5. Planning—school, meals, projects, house organization.

My errands haven’t gotten done but my babies are getting better. We haven’t gotten to do our normal activities but we’ve played games & nursed the sick ones.

So I know I have saved money on gas this last week. 

Of course swim lessons start tomorrow so that means I will be in town everyday for 9 days. Hmmm I think I will be spending what I saved. Oh well—at least we will see some new faces.

Backyard chat

Screen Time Limits

There is a standing rule in the Brush household that you only get so much screen time per day. 

On odd days the kids get 1 hour of computer time AFTER certain chores are done. 

TV?  We don’t watch it. 

Movies—some times after school is done or in the evening with Daddy.  We just think that there are SO MANY other good things to do besides sit like a lump on a log in front of a TV or computer.

However there are times for breaking the rules. 

My little man has been running a fever for 3 days now.  He’s not eating.  This is my guy who is a bottomless pit.  He watches the clock like a hawk so he doesn’t miss a snack time.  On one hand I am not terribly concerned,  it is a virus that will run its course.  On the other hand, he’s bored to death & feels pretty rotten.

So yes I have been extending the screen time limit.  He’s watched more movies in the past 3 days than normal.  But hey I will do a lot of things to keep a sick child happy.  In defense of my mommy/nurse skills, we have been playing lots of Yahtzee.  He just learned how & loves it.

Now I am seriously hoping that tomorrow he’s better and we can get back to normal, but I am thankful that there is something that makes these yucky hours pass quickly.  We would rather be swimming, riding bikes, making gluep or a dozen other things than staying home sitting around.  But this is how we roll when one is sick here.

Not so Fancy Meals

I am in a slump again.  It happens every couple of months.

I am tired of cooking meals.

I am tired of deciding what to cook for meals.

Funny--a couple of months ago I was so grateful to be in my kitchen again after 2 months of sitting around letting everyone else work while I was healing.

This happens every year.  Nobody’s hungry because of the heat(especially lunch).  So I  stop planning meals.  Then I am frustrated because when they are hungry I have no plan.  See how this is a bad cycle to get in?  I made a super easy lunch last week.  I loved it because it was easy & nourishing.  The kids loved it because there was cheese on their eggs & they got to have ketchup on their potatoes(can we say easy to please).   Potatoes & ham, scrambled eggs w/ cheese, peppers & onions & toast.  Not fancy but filling.  Easy and better than not fixing anything.

So I am gearing myself up for some easy meals.  Here is my short list.

Freezer meals—check out some of my favorites

Crockpot meals like Pirates Stew,  Salisbury Steak, Mexican Chicken,  or Orange Pork Chops—dump it in, turn it on, eat it later

BLT’s

Sandwiches

Fruit, cheese & crackers

Leftovers—gotta find a way to make enough they don’t eat it all

Frittata

Sloppy Joes

Salads—Taco salad, Quinoa salad, so many to choose from

So I am not going to stop cooking but I am going to be smart about what I fix.  What are some of your favorite summer meals?

Linked up at Tasty Tuesday, Delectable Tuesday, Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays, What’s On YOUR plate, & Fun with Food Friday

Making your own fun

The price of gas is going down here.  It is tempting to change our stay at home ways & start to go & do more.  And we do go & do when we NEED to do so.  But to help with the gas budget(which is still ugly) we are making our own fun around home more. 

Isn’t that what summer is for anyway?  To pursue things you want to do with the free time you have?

Megan has dug out puzzles.  She is a puzzle fiend.  She did her first 2000 piece a couple of weeks ago!

Joshua loves water & water balloons.  He also finds random animals in the yard.   This is a mouse visiting 2 toads in a window well.  Not to mention the cicadas.  He loves them and will be sad to see them gone in the next couple of weeks.  Crazy kid.

Michael is working his way through some audiobooks.  He’s taking speech this summer so he cherishes downtime.

Elizabeth is my worker.  She is out mowing or cleaning inside.  I love this way of keeping busy!  She also has picked Lord of the Rings back up to read.  That is one book that will take her a while.

After a sort of long break, Steve is working on the molding in our bathroom.   We finished the rest of the bathroom remodel a while ago but we had some tough decisions to make on the molding.  Could we reuse the old stuff or did we need to buy new? Where did we put the old stuff?  Where did we put the stain?  But now progress is being made & we will FINISH this project!

I am working in the garden every chance I get.  This morning I found our first baby tomato!!! 

There are going to be lots this year judging from the blooms.  I am craving a REAL tomato.  Not one from the store but one I pick & 2 minutes later slice & eat.  MMMMmmm

There are lots of other things blooming out there too.  Here are a couple of my perennials!  Enjoy!