Finding time for it all...

I was just introduced to this awesome blog site, thanks to my amazing mother-in-law, love you! Here's the link: http://thepioneerwoman.com I've been reading and perusing it all afternoon... it's so addicting! Someday I hope my site could be as cool. Looks like I need to add pictures. Time for a digital camera! Ya, I'm a little behind the times - I guess just letting go of our 35 mm camera is somewhat of an emotional process. I took a black and white photography class in college and absolutely LOVED developing my own film... but I digress.

This woman has some awesome recipes and is quite funny to read. She's also a photographer and has written some books. And home-schools her 4 kids. Neat! Anyhow, I'm going to be busy in the kitchen trying out some of those recipes.

I wonder though, how she finds time to do all the things she writes about as well as keep the blog up to date and teach the kids and cook... okay run on sentence. Probably because her kids aren't toddlers. Oh, well maybe I'll get there someday. Maybe. At least my kids and husband are fed and loved. - that's what counts.

Creating a Calm Atmosphere

There have been days when the kids are almost literally climbing the walls. Simultaneously my patience level decreases while my temper rises. It's surprising, I know, being the worlds most patient mom is a tough job... ;) I have observed though, that when I have soft music playing in the background that an almost magical transformation occurs (almost 100% of the time). My little darlings calm down and act like the sweet children I know they are.

So far it seems that you get pretty much the same results from any soft music, whether it be church hymns, instrumental with no voices, or something like Enya where you can't always understand what they are saying anyway.

Once the peaceful calm falls over your house, it sure makes it easier to do things like think. Oh, and leaving the t.v. and computer games off will help - that way you don't have the radio trying to compete with them as well.

Funny thing too is that the opposite occurs when playing loud rock-like music. The kids can quickly turn into half-crazed Monkey Mexican-jumping beans. Try it sometime - it'll make you feel like Pavlov doing experiments on his dogs... blow a whistle and give them a treat when they do the correct behavior. (I'm not really suggesting you should do this - would be sorta funny if you did though.)

Dinner Party

My husband and I love to have dinner parties with our friends. We try and throw one once a month if possible. If you are like us and have a kid or two (or three...) finding time to go out or keep in touch with friends can be hard.

A dinner party is a great way to keep in contact. It can be as casual or fancy as you like. You can have it themed or just make whatever you have on hand. Save some money and make it a potluck - each friend brings their favorite dish. Have an early dinner followed by boardgames or a movie (one you own, since none of you probably want to pay a babysitter). Murder mystery dinner anyone?

Most of our dinners revolve around a specific food. My husband ordered some sausage from Louisiana (I think) along with spices so we could make some authentic Jambalaya. The flavors were amazing but it sure was one spicy dish!
Another time we had foods from Spain. All were quite good and very different from what we usually eat.

Here are some other ideas:
-Have everyone make a dish from their ethnic background - or from a place they've visited.
-Dress up as your favorite Hollywood star, or movie character.
-Make it all about the appetizers or a large cheese platter with crackers and fruit (for all those cheese lovers, my husband and I included).
-Have an Iron Chef party (potluck style) plan ahead what special ingredient everyone has to make their meals around and pick the winner after dinner.
-Hands only foods (no utensils allowed)
-School Cafeteria foods - I've also heard of people calling this one Trailer Trash foods - though I don't really like that name.

Be creative and have fun! I'll write about them as we have them... maybe come up with a few new ideas as well...