A Week

Well, it's been a week! Nothing terribly exciting happened during our Spring Break week. But life with 4 kids at home is just busy and incredibly tiring. When I'm feeling overwhelmed with trying to keep our house running smoothly, blogging tends to take a backseat. At the end of the day, it can feel like ONE MORE THING on my to-do list. And I don't want it to feel like a chore. I want blogging to be fun. So here's a quick recap of the highlights from last week. Focusing on the positives here!

I made this carton of resurrection eggs at MOPS, and we've been opening them up with the kids and reading the corresponding Bible verses. I absolutely loved this! It was a tangible way to teach the kids about the story of Jesus' death and resurrection. Definitely saving this again to do next year. The highlight from the week was hearing Ryan and Lucas read to us from the Bible. So sweet!

There were class parties for both boys:

And couch shopping! We have been looking for a new couch for our family room and so far we've been striking out big time.

Yesterday I needed to complete my 6th week of Couch to 5K training. You guys....my first 5K is April 8th! So I knew I needed to get in a good run. I had to get creative, since I had all 4 kids at home with me. So I took the kids to the park and instructed the 3 oldest to play nicely. I put Andrew in the jogging stroller and ran laps around the park with him, keeping an eye on the big kids. I ran my longest distance ever without stopping....2.25 miles! It may not sound like much but for me it was a victory.

 Chores. The never-ending struggle with chores.

Lots of sunshine! We spent quite a bit of time practicing baseball and playing outside this week. Can the weather please stay this way? Pretty please?

One of Ryan's jobs this week while home from school was to get his sister dressed in the morning. He did a great job picking out her outfits!

We headed to the dentist for Ryan and Jenna.

 No cavities for either child!

 And here is everyone piled on the top bunk for pre-bedtime playing. Or piling on top of Daddy-time.

 We've got a fun weekend planned with family, church, egg hunting, and delicious food!

Quotes From the Week

Ryan, sniffing the top of his brother's head. "Lucas your hair smells like canteen!" (He was thinking of Pantene)

"Mommy when I turn 6 I'm going to eat more foods because my taste bones will change."

"When I grow up I'm going to have a baby girl and she is never going to poop!" (Said as she watched me change her baby brother's diaper)

Obviously his vocabulary is very limited.....so here is something new he started doing this week. When he gets upset he screeches, gets down on all fours, and gently bangs his forehead against the ground. He's smart enough to not intentionally hurt himself, but he sure wants me to know he's mad! This one is going to be a tantrummer!

Dinners March 15-22

Another week, another roundup of dinners in the Nullmeyer house!

Thursday: Chicken Burrito Bowls

I seasoned chicken breast with cumin and chili powder, salt and pepper. Cooked it in a pan and sliced it up, then created a burrito bowl with a ton of toppings. Mine had chicken, brown rice, black beans, avocado, bell pepper, corn, sour cream, cheese, green onions, salsa, and cilantro. Whew! I squeezed some lime juice over the entire bowl and it was a delicious dinner!

Friday: Turkey Meatloaf, Mashed Potatoes, Green Beans

I made my basic turkey meatloaf recipe that is topped with ketchup, mustard and brown sugar. On the side we had mashed potatoes that I had made last month and froze. I had fresh green beans in the fridge but when I pulled them out they had all gone bad. So we had canned green beans instead. (To give you an idea of my portion sizes, this is a small salad plate)

Saturday: St. Patrick's Day!

Yum. Adam and I love this meal. This year I bought the corned beef from Trader Joe's because it was uncured. It was a bit more spicy than usual but SO good! After I cooked the meat I added red potatoes, carrots, and cabbage. On the side I made a big batch of Irish Soda Bread, but failed to take a picture. Trust me, it was good. All of our kids loved it (except Lucas of course, who wouldn't touch it). Ryan loves corned beef, and now Andrew does too.

Sunday: Broccoli Cheddar Soup, Ham and Cheese Sliders

My recipe for broccoli cheddar soup is really old and it's from a newspaper, so I can't link to it. But it's really delicious! I ran out of cheddar and used a little bit of parmesan in its place and I think that made it even better than usual. On the side I tried something new. I've seen people make little sandwiches on Hawaiian rolls and they always look tasty. But I try not to buy those rolls because of the unhealthy ingredients. Then I found these at Whole Foods and the ingredients looked decent. I mean, it's still sugary bread, but at least I recognized all the ingredients. I sliced them in half and layered cheese and ham, baked in the oven, and the result was great! Even Ryan ate one.

Monday: Balsamic Chicken, Brown Rice, Roasted Veggies

I made this recipe for Balsamic Chicken and Asparagus. It was good but not great. Probably a bit too heavy on the vinegar flavor (at least for Adam). I had mine with leftover brown rice but everyone else had pasta. On the side we had the last of the Irish Soda Bread.

Tuesday: Tamale Pie, Salad

I tried this recipe from 100 Day of Real Food for Easy Tamale Pie. It turned out pretty good! Next time instead of chili powder I think I'll just use my homemade taco seasoning to give it even more spice and flavor.

On the side I just had a simple salad with lettuce, cucumber and radish.

Wednesday: Chicken Caesar Salad, Pizza Pasta

I made an easy Chicken Caesar Salad using a rotisserie chicken from Costco. At the last minute I decided it wasn't enough food for dinner. So I looked in the fridge and found leftover wagon wheel pasta. I also found some pepperoni and was inspired to make a pasta salad I used to make 10 years ago for Adam. Back before we had kids I would make this for him to take to work. Leftover cold pasta, diced up pepperoni, bell pepper, parmesan cheese, olive oil and pizza seasoning. When I served it I asked Adam what it reminded him of, and he actually remembered! (Pssst: Whole Foods sells great pizza seasoning in their bulk foods section).

Thursday: Beef and Beer Stew

Yum! We just had this dinner tonight and it was delicious. I had clipped this recipe out of my Cooking Light magazine sometime last year, and I finally got around to trying it. And it now has a permanent place in my recipe binder! It was a simple stew made from bacon, stew meat, beer, beef broth, thyme, onions, garlic.....I think this is the exact recipe here. The instructions said to serve it over egg noodles and top with parsley. So that's exact what I did and it was perfect.

I hope this has inspired you to try a new recipe this week. And as always, please share your favorite recipes with me!

Bedtime Cheerios

Bedtime cheerios. Such a simple little tradition in our family. And yet I have no doubt my kids will have fond memories of bedtime cheerios many many years from now.

It began a few years ago when we only had Ryan and Lucas. They wouldn't eat dinner so then they would be hungry at bedtime. The only food we would let them have was dry cereal. And a tradition was born.

Every. Single. Night. Our kids get a bowl of dry cheerios and a sippy cup of water to take to bed. They expect it every night, and they absolutely never let us forget. What's funny is that nobody in our house eats cheerios for breakfast. And the kids don't even like honey nut cheerios or any other sweetened kind. They are just obsessed with good old plain cheerios.

Lately when Andrew sees his big siblings with their bedtime cheerios, he gets jealous. He lunges at their bowls and grabs fistfuls from them before they can even react. I see a 4th bowl of bedtime cheerios in our near future!

Every night the kids take the bowl of cheerios up to bed. And I would say at least three times a week one of them spills their bowl. Cheerios on the stairs, in their sheets, crunched to powder under our feet. Every morning as I'm cleaning upstairs I find empty bowls and cups, and floors that need to be vacuumed again. It's kind of annoying and messy at times.

But one of these days they will stop asking for cheerios. And then I will miss the days of bedtime cheerios.

Now if only Cheerios would sponsor our bedtime tradition!

Friday Favorites

Happy Friday! I thought it'd be fun to do a round-up of all my favorites from the week.

All the kids have been sick this week, which is definitely NOT a favorite. But seeing Ryan reading to his little sister most definitely IS!

This recipe for Chicken Parmesan Casserole is an oldie but a goodie, and so easy.

I bought these Microfiber Cleaning Towels recently from Amazon and so far I am loving them! They are great for washing windows and not leaving streaks. They also work well for cleaning my blinds when I get them a little damp.

Ryan and Lucas had their first baseball games on Saturday, and watching them play was a huge favorite of mine!

 Ryan opened the game as pitcher, and he did so well for his very first time pitching!

These paint cakes will be in Jenna's Easter basket. But I already know they will be a favorite because Lucas used to use these in preschool. They are a great way for kids to paint with less mess and less waste.



Any picture where Adam isn't making a weird face is a favorite!

This Burt's Bees Night Cream is a new favorite of mine. I like how it is thicker than the face cream I was using previously, and I like the light scent it has. I also love the natural ingredients.

 
Andrew has discovered the art of covering up his head and walking around until he runs into things. Watching him act so goofy is a favorite for all of us!

Apologizing From The Heart

About 2 years ago I blogged here about teaching our boys to say "I'm Sorry". Lucas in particular was struggling to say the words. After hurting one of us, we were requiring that Lucas apologize. I definitely received some backlash when I blogged about this, with many people saying we shouldn't force our kids to apologize. And I certainly understood the reasoning behind that. But my thought was that if it begins as a habit, it will eventually turn into something our kids do from the heart. At the age of 4 or 5 they may not understand why they are apologizing, but with enough reminding, they will at least realize it is important. And then with age and maturity, they will learn the importance of apologies and forgiveness.

Fast forward two years. Lucas still struggles with anger and aggression, and he often gets carried away and hurts his siblings. And for the last two years we have been requiring an apology from him after these types of incidents.

(This was taken just last week after the boys were fighting after school)

Over the weekend Lucas and Jenna were playing together and I heard Jenna crying. She told me Lucas had pushed her over, so I put him in a timeout. Often this will escalate things, and he will not stay in his timeout. On this day he stayed on the couch, so I left him alone for a bit. When I peeked into the room 5 minutes later, he had a paper and pencil. So I left him alone to continue cooling off.

A while later I found this scrap of paper next to Jenna. She told me Lucas had given it to her. "To Jenna I am sorwe that I pust you ovr"

An apology without prompting, straight from the heart. This makes me so happy! I feel like he is finally learning real remorse, and that an apology is not only required, but an important thing for him to do. I love it when my kids do the right thing without being prompted. I am also so impressed with his writing and spelling. He tries so hard.

Andrew's 1-Year Checkup

Andrew met with his doctor earlier this week for his 1-year checkup. And he slid into 3rd place weight-wise amongst his siblings. I thought he was going to be my smallest 1-yr old! At this age Lucas was over 22 pounds, Ryan was over 21, and Jenna was just over 20. (Andrew was weighed with his clothes on, but we'll just go with this number, making Jenna my smallest.)

Weight: 20 lbs, 12 oz (40%)
Height: 30 inches (52%)
Head: 18.5 inches (74%)

Height-wise, Andrew is the exact same as Jenna at 1 yr, a little taller than Lucas, and a little shorter than Ryan. But really, we are talking quarter of an inch differences. All my kids have been very similar in size at all ages.

Andrew's doctor said Andrew's speech is right on track, even though I feel like he barely says any words. He is walking well, and his bow-legged cowboy legs are totally normal.

The only concern we have about Andrew is his ongoing constipation. It causes SO much pain for my little boy. We have been giving him prune juice in a sippy cup for a couple months now but it hasn't made any difference. I also try to limit cheese and milk, but that's tough because I know how good full-fat dairy is for his developing brain. His doctor said to give him even more prune products, and also to really increase his fiber. If none of this helps, we will begin giving him Metamucil. Has anyone else had experience with this?

Stream of Thoughts

I was sitting at MOPS the other day and something happened that has never happened before. I looked across the room and saw a mother holding her young baby. And I felt a longing. Not necessarily to have another baby. (Did you know I already have a bunch of wonderful crazy children? I do.)

Maybe it was just a desire to hold a baby, since my baby was currently downstairs being watched by a stranger. Maybe it had something to do with my baby turning 1. All I know is I felt something stirred inside of me, and suddenly I wanted a baby. Or to hold a baby. Or something like that. And honestly, I have never felt like that before. In all my years of marriage and motherhood, I have never once longed for a baby. Maybe that's bad and I shouldn't be confessing it, but it's the truth.

Maybe I'm just realizing that children do indeed get older. Just this week Ryan was having a playdate. When he said goodbye, something about the way he said it suddenly made him sound like he was 15. You guys! His young immature voice is gone. It has been replaced by a deeper voice that must belong to someone else. It must.

Speaking of Ryan, he is really loving baseball this year. I think this is the year where it has finally clicked for him, and he genuinely enjoys playing. He is without a doubt the fastest boy on his team, and his confidence is so much higher this year.

Lucas enjoys T-Ball, but running around outside with his friends is absolutely more fun than actually playing the game. Speaking of Lucas, he is doing SO well lately with his reading! He can sit down and read a whole book to me, and I am constantly impressed by how hard he tries. I know that is a quality that will serve him well in life.

Saturday was such a crazy busy day, and I was quite proud of myself for getting both boys to baseball pictures on time. Dressed and looking sharp. Until I looked down and noticed Ryan's teammates were all wearing white pants and black belts. Unlike Ryan's grey pants and orange belt. Oops. I seriously feel like I am one step behind on everything in life these days.

Also on Saturday was Jenna's first dance class! It was just a free trial, and I think I'm going to look around a bit more before deciding on one. For the first 20 minutes Jenna was scared stiff. She was so shy that she wouldn't move. Then she ran over to me and said "Mommy, I was sad but now I'm happy!!". And then she absolutely loved it. She kept turning around and grinning at me. Unfortunately now she is down with the virus that has been making the rounds at our house. Double pinkeye and a double ear infection for my poor girl.

And here is my baby who is quickly outgrowing being a baby. I think the more babies I have, the more I appreciate the baby stage. It is just so sweet and innocent and protected in this little bubble. As fun as Andrew is becoming, I can't help but mourn the end of the first year.

Oh, and on a happier note, I am trying to plan a summer vacation with this guy below. We are considering renting a cabin in the Bear Valley area, but are open to other ideas. If you have cost effective, fun, easy ideas for families with little kids, please let me know!

PS: All of our goldfish died. The end.

Andrew's 1st Birthday Party

We celebrated Andrew's first birthday yesterday with our family. Adam and I were laughing about how different it was than Ryan's first birthday party. You can read all about that party here.  http://nullybabyblog.blogspot.com/2011/04/ryans-1st-birthday-party.html  Basically we hosted 50 people and cooked a ton of food from scratch and cleaned and decorated the house for days....and just thinking about it now makes me tired. Sorry Andrew, but when you're the 4th baby things are done a little differently. We love you just the same though!

The decorations were simple.....a tablecloth for the kids to color on and some coordinating paper plates, cups and napkins. $5 and done.

The ball popper toy we got for Andrew was the exact same gift we gave to Ryan on his first Christmas. So obviously he had to model it for us. Being the good parents we are, we forgot to buy batteries for it. Again, baby #4 issues.

 I made a spiced applesauce cake for Andrew, with a cream cheese frosting. Plus brownies.

 Hanging out with Grandpa.

 Bella isn't letting the dessert out of her sight!

 Time for cake!

 

Andrew ate some of the frosting but then threw the rest on the floor. (Luckily I cut his cake in half before this happened, so some got saved.)

Andrew opened a few presents from his family, with the help of Jenna and the cousins.

 
Today he tried out his new ducky bathtub!

Happy 1st Birthday Party Andrew!