Can We Survive 30 Days?

While eating out tonight with Oregon Dad and K-Man, I suggested (in a don’t argue with me manner) that we make a pledge to NOT EAT OUT FOR 30 DAYS. This means, no work lunches or quickie-mart stops. Nothing except good old homemade food.

Oregon Dad just stared at me, like the crazy woman my new driver license makes me look like. Perhaps the photo isn’t far off.

We are doing this for a couple of reasons. 1) I need to lose 20 lbs. 2) Oregon Dad proclaims a desire to lose many more pounds. 3) We spend a FORTUNE eating out, bringing home pizza, Oregon Dad’s work lunch (and breakfast) and his quick mart stops. 4) We eat entirely healthy and natural AT HOME, so why are we putting crap into our bodies when not at home? 5) We set a Wii Fit challenge that each of us will lose 5 lbs in a month… that’s not going to happen unless the eating out stops.

Now, if I can just convince him to give up the ice cream. This man makes it VERY difficult to NOT gain weight.

It’s officially ON starting tomorrow until August 23. That’s probably a couple of days over 30… shhhh… don’t tell Oregon Dad. I get a pass on Friday for lunch with K2 because its her special Birthday outing. Other than that… we are brown bagging it and home making it.

Anyone care to join us with the THIRTY DAY Challenge?

On another note…

I am constantly on the look-out for a natural alternative to Kool-Aide. Let me just say, I LOVE Kool-Aide (but only the red Tropical punch flavor). I could drink it by the quart. When I was pregnant, it was the only liquid I could manage to keep down, so we have a special relationship. That said, I haven’t purchased Kool-Aide in at least a year. K3 CAN’T have it… no red dye (no dye of any kind preferably) and no artificial flavorings or preservatives.

For the most part, we drink WATER. And lots of it. I carry my Klean Kanteen EVERYWHERE. The kids can have one cup each of milk and juice a day. The rest is water. But come on, sometimes you want a treat. There is nothing like a tall, icey glass of the red stuff on a hot summer afternoon.

Enter Clif Kids Splashers Drink Mix. One packet makes 8 ounces and costs about 89 cents. No where near as cost effective as Kool-Aide, but then fake stuff comes cheap. I brought home the tropical punch flavor, of course.

The ratings were good in the house. The flavor is much lighter than that of Kool-Aide and the color is not as intense (read: less staining capability!). K3 LOVED it and the other kids agreed this was a tasty option. I thought it was a bit closer to flavored water than the old flavor I was after, but with a lot less sugar and all natural ingredients… I’m a goner. We will be bringing home the other flavors to try out in the near future.

We will also be trying out Go Stix by Celestial Seasonings. These come in a box of 8 packets for about $4.00. The website also proclaims “Gluten Free”.

It’s great to have the option of tossing these little packets into the lunch box or backpack for a hike. I will have to devise a recycling plan for the Clif Kid packets, as they resemble a juice pack and are not recyclable. Perhaps I see a Clif Kids pencil pouch in our future.

Be Well.

 

Little Bits

A million things to blog about… limited time to post and the overwhelming fear of OVER POSTING and therefore, not giving You (my much loved and well appreciated readers) a chance to read, what to do?

I’m taking my cue from Mr. MTAE over at N*ked on the Roof and giving you snippets of all the ultra-exciting occurrences in the Polka Dot Household. Fasten your seat belts, the roller coaster is about to depart.

My 3 year old attempted this feat at a Fourth of July Picnic in our friends’ backyard. This photo is of a 2nd grader, as I was too busy running to catch Little Critter to stop for photos. The picnic was TONS of fun, with 10 families in attendance and a ZILLION kids (the norm around here is 4 kids per family and several also have foster kids). We (meaning THE KIDS) enjoyed swimming, playing on the water slide, trampoline and swing set in addition to the rope swing seen here. The adults enjoyed a rowdy set of Volleyball games, good food and playing pyro with the firework display.

Saturday found us at UofO for Day 7 of the Olympic Trials. We received four tickets ($47 each) for free through Oregon Dad’s work. The K-Man and K2 came with as TeenGirl was visiting our Mum and the two younger kiddos stayed with Auntie for the day. I wasn’t overly THRILLED with the trials at first. The High Jump was a final and was exciting to watch. The crowd really got into it and Jesse Williams was full of energy. The best part of the day was the last event, The Steeplechase FINAL. Avid sports followers already know that Famiglietti led the event THE ENTIRE TIME. By lap four, the energy in the stands was astounding. By lap seven, we were all on our feet to cheer him on (Even though he is an adidas guy, Oregon Dad and I were also on our feet.) What a great finish to a fun day! We took the kids over to the Nike Kids Event area where we got to talk with Oregon Dad’s Boss as she handed out Pegasus shoes for the kids to try on and practice in. K-Man and K2 both received Nike string bags and balls. A little sun burn later the crew packed it in for the hour and half drive home.

Before leaving Eugene, we stopped at the UofO Bookstore to look around. A corner section of the store is reserved for snacks and beverages. Being in Eugene, I wasn’t surprised to find a bottle of Strawberry Lemonade by Genesis Organic Juice. I only purchased one to bring home and try out. It is all natural and sweetened with Agave, so its great for those who can’t have sugar. Talk about YUMMY. I can’t tell you how much the bottle was because Oregon Dad paid and I didn’t look.

We added a new member to the family, meet ATHENA the cat. She is a short hair Tortie adopted from the animal shelter. Athena joins Peanut as the Polka Dot Families only animals now that Dakota has passed on and the St. Bernard Pup hasn’t yet arrived (fingers crossed for August/September). K-Man was too busy helping Oregon Dad Mole Hunt in our front yard to be included in the photo opportunity. Boys. Have I mentioned that Oregon Dad is a self-proclaimed CAT HATER? Um, yeah. And yet he keeps picking them out at the shelter. SUCKER.

Today’s Green Tip- Save your bath/wash water for your plants. They are super thirsty in the summer heat and don’t mind water from the kids bath or from dishes. Just scoop it into a pitcher and pour.

Cheers!

 

Take Me Out To The Ball Game…

Take me out with the crowd, buy me some peanuts and cracker jack

I don’t care if I never get back, Let me root, root, root for the home team

If they don’t win its a shame

For its one, two, three strikes, you’re out

At the old ball game!

Saturday night found the family at PGE Park enjoying a Triple A game between the Portland Beavers and Colorado Springs Sky Sox. This wasn’t any ordinary ball game. Oregon Dad works for a HUGE and Wonderful company. If you recall, he is a “Developer of Shoes for Little Feet”. After being so close to his employment, I can attest that I have never seen a “job” as phenomenal. Oregon Dad and I have discussed many times how he can not see himself ever leaving this company for another.

Anyway, back to the story. Because of this AMAZING company that Oregon Dad works for, we were able to attend the ball game complete with a reserved area where we have tables and chairs right on the ball field, food and beverage (including beer for those who chose to partake, which was the majority!) and we also had regular seating in the lower section of the stadium.

We had decided to take the Max Light Rail into downtown for the game, instead of driving all the way and attempting to find parking. Cost of 4 all day light rail passes- $17. We opted for the all day passes vs. obtaining one each direction because we thought it saved money. Now that I am reviewing the fares again, I realize it would have been only $2.80 per child (vs. 4.25 for all day pass) for 2 -2 hour tickets and it would have been $4.10 per adult for the same. K3 was free because she is just 6. We left Little Critter at home with TeenGirl because there was no way she would have held up until 11:30PM when we returned home.

The kids were VERY excited about riding the Max. I don’t know that they will ever get bored of it… even though it was almost an hour on the train each direction. The kids LOVE going through the tunnels that take us below the Oregon Zoo. During the ride over, the AC vent we were sitting under decided to start leaking water. The kids thought this was a hoot and kept trying to put their hands in it. Oregon Dad hopped around trying to avoid the flow and I continued to sit by the window with my feet up, reading a book.

Once we arrived at our stop downtown, we simply walked across the street to enter the park. It was our lucky day, as we entered, we were given Beavers baseball hats, sponsored by Joes. Who doesn’t love free stuff?

Everyone was STARVING, so we headed directly to the reserved area. We all wore green wristbands that indicated our ability to be included in this “exclusive” section. Once inside, we marked a table and headed for the buffet line. K3 was able to eat here with no problems, I was concerned about food for her before we left home and Oregon Dad assured me she would be fine. Turns out that she was able to eat the hamburger patties and chicken breasts in addition to Lay’s plain chips and enjoyed a Sprite. I had taken a snack bar and fruit leather as well, just in case. After about an hour of chillin in the reserved section, the kids wanted to go find their seats. I would have been happy hanging where we were to watch the game, that way the kids could have gone right up to the net and been literally next to the players. Anyway, we found our seats among many empties, because many of Oregon Dad’s co-workers had opted to stay in the eating area.

I was tempted to whip out my book and read while we lounged in our seats. The only thing stopping me was fear of looking rude. I did, however, flip through a local Real Estate guide, as properties are a big interest of mine. K3 thought the real estate guide was exceptionally entertaining as well.

Our K-Man was very excited when he saw the Beavers “K-Man” coming to bat. We had no clue that this person existed until reading it on the giant screen at the end of the ball field. Doug Bernier #21, “K-Man”, Avg .239 HR 6 RBI 21. Everytime Mr. Bernier was up to bat, K-Man would scream, “Woot K-Man!”.

At another point in the game, the kids realized that a Sky Sox player was lacking his picture on the big screen. Oregon Dad thought that maybe none of the Sky Sox pictures were up, the kids promptly advised him of the error. After pondering for a few minutes as to WHY Jonathan Herera #13 was without a picture, K-Man pipes up with, “Yep, he was probably absent on picture day.” We had just gotten our Little League pictures and the kids who were absent were noted as not pictured on the bottom of the team photo.

There are times in every game when “prizes” are flung at the crowd. During this game, it happened to be white t-shirts sent into the crowd via a giant sling shot operated by three people. K3 proclaimed, “I want a Ball, Daddy I want a Ball, Mommy I want a ball…” Even after I told her those were t-shirts and not balls, she persisted. I looked at Oregon Dad and said, “Your Daughter wants a ball!” Translation- get your keister down to the fence and ask the players for a ball. Evidently he didn’t get the point.

This entire evening, complete with admission, food, beer, soda and bottled water was free through Oregon Dad’s work. It was HOT. Upon our arrival (6pm) the thermostat was still at 98 degrees. When the Comcast clock proclaimed 9:26, it was still 87 degrees out. I was moping sweat from my face with napkins and trying to not complain. We had threatened the kids prior to leaving the house, saying that WE KNOW IT’S HOT and WE DON’T WANT TO HEAR IT 20 TIMES. Needless to say, once we were in our seats and no longer in the free food and beverage area, thirst over took everyone. So, I grabbed a peanut hawker as he meandered by. $14.25 later we had three beverages to share.

The final score was 7 to 2. Yay Beavers!

As I started thinking about HOW expensive the drinks and Max ride were, I re-evaluted. Two adults and three children attended a ball game where seats are normally $15 each, savings of $75. We all ate for free saving another $40 and Oregon Dad enjoyed two free beers, saving another $10. If we had paid for the entire evening, our total would have been at least $125 (not including gas and parking or the free baseball hats we received). In actuality we spent $31.25 including transportation. How’s that for a great ball game?

I took the pictures with my Blackberry which no longer zooms as it has been dropped too many times. We managed to leave our good camera sitting on the counter at home.

 

Summer Time

In our household, Summer Time means friends, playing in the water, baseball and berry picking! This weekend we covered it all!

Friday night we had three families from church over for dinner. Our minister and family were included, like us they have a larger family with four children. Our evening also included two young couples, one recently married and the other getting married next month.

We started the evening off by letting all the kids play on the Banzai water slide while we visited and got dinner ready. We enjoyed garden rolls (tapioca wrappers, rice, sauteed veggies), chicken skewers on the BBQ fruit salad and garden salad. We decided that Asian food was the way to go as we had numerous allergies to contend with. The evening was concluded with young and old(er) alike playing Dance Dance Revolution on the Wii, It was a great time.

Saturday morning we woke up and decided to go Strawberry picking. We found the spray free fields recommended by the other Mom who was over the night before. A half hour later we had 22 lbs of beautiful, ripe strawberries.

What to do with that many berries? Oregon Dad and I decided to make jam. I’ve never made jam before, but part of my “plan” for this year is to can and jam everything! We used a low-sugar recipe and it turned out amazing! Oregon Dad and I both received several splatter burns, and the kitchen was a disaster once we were done! We are already plotting our next round, Raspberries followed by Blackberries.

Saturday night found us at a Triple A ball game, but that’s a post by itself. And Sunday took us to the skating rink. Tales of those fabulous events are to come! Sometime this week I will get pictures and recipes up for the dessert’s I made Friday. Chocolate rice pudding (YUM) and Faux Flan (my eggless version).

Cheers!

 

Mommy or Laundress and Short Order Cook?

Washing laundry for a family of seven is a full-time job. Seriously, I wash at least 3 loads a day, every single day including weekends. That equals, on average, 90 loads of laundry each month. Bleh. If we have a bad day (as we have had LOTS of lately), then a load or two of Little Critters bedding is added. Now that summer is here, it seems the kids do not realize they can hang up and re-use their towels and that bathing suits do not, in fact, need washed every single day. For some reason, Little Critter is obsessed with mud and mess making, so it never fails that the kids’ towels end up muddy instead of waiting nicely on the picnic table for their wet bodies to appear.

Now, there is a cozy looking, little bed. Just right for LC. Except its not “just right” in her opinion. In fact, everything about it is ALL WRONG. That would be because her usual bedding is in the wash again, for the second time today and about the billionth time this week.

For Little Critter to sleep, things must occur in a specific order. First the pink blanket, soft and fuzzy side UP, not down as I would put it so the fuzzy snuggles my skin. Oh NO, that can’t happen. Next comes the blue blanket. Unless she wants the yellow blanket today, then that one must go IN THE MIDDLE of the pink and blue blankets. Usually, the decision isn’t made to sleep with the yellow blanket until the blue one is already on her, so she lifts it up and instructs Mum to “put the yel-wo one right here… in the mid-will”. Then she will snuggle down, require her Panda (which looks like it has been through a Tornado, as it’s also the cat’s favorite toy), then Panda must be covered JUST SO. Next comes the hugs and kisses. In order, on the lips. If I kiss her cheek… it’s freak out time, “no, ON THE Wips, MOM! Kiss my Wips!”. Once I hit the door you can bet she is calling me back in because I forgot one of her hugs and kisses, or mine weren’t just right.

You can imagine that putting a child such as this to bed without her proper blankets causes issues. When I tell her that they are in the washing machine because she (fill in choice of phrases here: pee’d, rubbed bloody nose all over, vomited) on her bedding AGAIN. She responds with, “get ‘hem outta wash”. I try to explain that they are wet and she cannot sleep with them until they are dry again. This gets us no where. Lesson to Mom, wash FASTER. If I am lucky, at least one of the usual blankets has survived the most recent mess and I can attempt to soothe her with that.

Mom is a Laundress. Got it. Did I mention that my washing machine, now 8 years old (it was my crazy pregnant woman MUST HAVE prior to the birth of my first child) is on the fritz? Maybe fritz is putting it lightly. I walked into the laundry room and stood in water the other day. ‘Nuff said. Also the AC needs repaired and the dishwasher no longer cleans. Huh, talk about pouring when it rains. I’m drooling over the Red LG Steam Washer and Dryer, although not sure that’s going to happen with everything else crapping out at the same time. Oregon Dad ALMOST gave in to CHARGING the appliances. Hopefully we can avoid that.

Evidently, Mom is also a Short-Order Cook. For breakfast today, I decided the kiddos would have eggs since I was already making them for Oregon Dad’s Bagel/egg/sausage breakfast sandwich. So I made them, omelet style. Very pretty and folded just right. K3 loves hers smothered with Organic Ketchup, K1 only likes a little ketchup. After enjoying their eggs, K1 wants a bagel, toasted with cream cheese and K3 wants applesauce with cinnamon. Then Little Critter wants no eggs, just a bagel and yes, it can have cream cheese on it as well. K2 finally crawls out of bed. No eggs for her either, but she’ll have a bagel with BUTTER, no cream cheese, meanwhile, K3 has decided that she wants something “like a bagel” since we are out of GF bagels around here. I said the only thing I have is GF pancakes or toast. So, she has a pancake with REAL Maple syrup. Now K1, K2 and LC would also like applesauce with cinnamon. Just as I’m ready to sit down, LC decides she also requires some cereal. By this point, I was sure they were all full… she was very insistent so finally I gave her a small bowl and faced the fits when she asked for a refill.

I thought we were all having EGGS for breakfast. But then, what do I know, I’m just the cook. I do love to remind the kids, when they are whining about breakfast… how lucky they are. I ask them, “how many of your friends get fresh blueberry muffins (or pancakes, eggs, waffles, etc…) on school mornings?” That usually quiets them down for oh, about five minutes. Why do they appreciate the nasty, chemical laden cinnamon rolls the school offers over Moms good food?

Stay tuned, I’m attempting REAL Donuts, Gluten Free style this weekend. Should be interesting! Oregon Dad’s response was “great, so we are getting hockey pucks for breakfast?”.

 

Happy 51st Birthday Mom!

When we celebrated Moms 50th Birthday last June, we weren’t sure if she’d see another one. A couple of weeks ago, things got scary… Mom was hospitalized with pneumonia and had a tracheotomy. She made it through this round, but everyday brings new worries. I often question if I would be able to hold on this long… she is strong and brave and she doesn’t want to leave her family. Someone asked me if Mom was continuing to hold on out of fear… that maybe she didn’t know where she is going after this life is over. I replied that wasn’t her reason… she isn’t afraid to die, she is afraid to leave us alone. Mom was released from the hospital on Friday, May 30th, just in time for my Sister Eden to graduate high school (the graduation was that night). Mom was determined to be there. This picture was taken the following Sunday, in my Grandparents back yard as we had a party to celebrate Eden’s graduation. Happy Birthday Mom! I love you and I admire your strength.

 

Please Buy Dutch Brothers Coffee Today

Today and today only, May 9th. Dutch Brothers will donate a portion of their proceeds to the MDA/ALS Association. If you can’t visit Dutch Bros today, please visit www.danesdrive.org and make an online donation for this very worthy cause.

My Mother, Cheryl will be 51 years old next month and was diagnosed in September 2006. That day, she could still do everything we take for granted. Today, she is in a wheelchair full time, cannot walk, talk, eat or even use her arms.

Mom and The Girls Christmas 2006

Mom and The Girls Christmas 2007 (We almost forgot to get this picture until we had already started to change into jammies and everyone was getting tired! At least we got it!)

 

An Interesting Day

Many of ya’ll have inquired as to why I didn’t post yesterday… afterall, I did promise a Green Tip each and every day. Well, Let me just tell ya…

I have been experiencing some crazy chest and arm pain since Monday morning. My very first thought when the pain started was… HEART ATTACK. So, I took a couple aspirin. The pain continued and increased with deep breaths and certain positions. Cardiac pain doesn’t usually linger like that. Tuesday I called the Doctor, things appeared to improve for a while then overnight became unbearable. Finally around 2 on Wednesday I decided to head into the urgent care at my clinic. They don’t like to deal with any kind of chest pain… I wasn’t even actually checked in… they whisked me to a large back room and hooked me up to monitors and oxygen and waited for an ambulance. The Doctor at urgent care was worried about pulmonary embolism (PE) which could be deadly. I was convinced it was just a severe case of pleurisy which is why I had put off going in. I hate having IV’s… I have had more than my fair share during my child birthing years due to severe illness while pregnant. Getting one by a trainee medic in the back of a moving ambulance, yeah… not so fun. She couldn’t get it in… but that didn’t surprise me, as I’m not easy to start. The experienced guy took over and he still couldn’t get it in that arm… so he had to switch and managed to get it in on the first try in my other arm.

It was interesting how quickly things move in the ER when you are having chest pain… I had tests and results faster than ever before. Within a couple hours they decided it wasn’t likely that I had a PE and it probably was pleurisy (duh). We didn’t do a CT scan to completely rule out a PE as the ER Doctor felt I was low risk and he did a blood test which would indicate a higher possibility. My chest x-ray only showed an elevated diaphragm… and since I can’t take deep breaths that is easily explained and my EKG was normal.

Lucky me, I am back home taking mega doses of Motrin to help with the inflammation and pain… things should start getting better within a couple of days, although I haven’t seen any improvement yet.

I felt so ridiculous going into the Doctor for what I figured was pleurisy and knowing darn good and well that they would send me to the ER. I was in pain like I have never experienced before, by the time I was ready to leave my house, I felt like I needed to lay down again. The car drive about did me in… I had to drive myself as hubby is still in China and TeenGirl doesn’t have her permit yet. There were several times I realized I was driving 20 mph in a 55 zone. By the time I reached the Doctors office, the pain was so intense I could barely talk. I am relieved that this wasn’t something serious and am irritated by the huge bills we will be receiving for this little outing. I felt foolish being transported by ambulance to the ER… but the Doctors didn’t want me to drive and I know that driving at all with the pain I was in wasn’t a good idea. Part of me kept thinking I should have just gone straight to the ER, but then my insurance might not have covered the whole ordeal.

In other news, Little Critter and K3 are both running fevers of 102F with tummy aches and more whine than I have patience for. I will be praying for patience to get us all through this. Oh… and I’ll be driving to the airport tomorrow to bring hubby home. Let’s hope the pain has significantly decreased by then.

Today’s Green Tip- Get reusuable containers for water, coffee and juice for each person in your household. This will save lots of paper cups and plastic bottles. Many coffee shops will give you credit for bringing in your own mug. Looking for the perfect reusuable cup for the kids? Check out the Klean Kanteen. It rocks!

 

Field Trips and China Trips

Oregon Dad is off for China this week.  He travels to Asia several times a year for work, but he hasn’t been to China yet.  So that should be fun… FOR HIM.  I, on the other hand will be stuck here with all FIVE kids by myself.  Don’t laugh.  Okay… so it’s no big deal and I am used to it.  But we always miss him.  This time he has two back to back trips.  That doesn’t usually happen.  So, I am thinking he will be so jet-lagged that he will be worthless around here for oh, about six weeks or so.

 

On another note, K3 has a Kinder field trip that will take them into PORTLAND.  Yikes. I was one of the dozen or so parents signed up to go on this trip.  However, the forces are working against me.  This is the same day that I must get Oregon Dad to the airport and I have no childcare for Little Critter.  So guess who isn’t going on the field trip? 

 

I am paranoid Mommy.  I don’t do well sending my child off… especially one so young.  I have spoken with several Mommies who are going and they have promised to keep good tabs on her and make sure to bring her home.  But still!  If only I had seen these before today… I would have covered her little arms with them!

 

You can bet I will be at the school before the bus returns with a permanent worry line in my forehead. 

 

Good Reads

Oregon Dad and I attended a parenting conference last weekend.  It was fabulous… REALLY.  We both took so much home with us and feel that we will be better parents for what we learned.  If you EVER have a chance to listen to the Pritchards speak… GO.  You won’t regret it. 

 

We also brought home a book titled “Going Public“… it is about helping your children thrive in public education.  I say its about time someone addressed this very important issue.  In my circle, I often feel that others look badly upon us for putting our crew in public school vs. private or homeschool.  Frankly, if we had to cover private school tuition for 5 kids… we wouldn’t be able to make the mortgage.  Oregon Dad and I have different views on homeschool… so its not happening in our world.   Does that mean our kids aren’t doing well?  Absolutely not.  We consistently receive GREAT reports from teachers… our children are well above grade level and have formed wonderful friendships.  I am active in the PTC and am a frequent face at the school, as well as keeping constant email communications with the teachers. 

 

That said… I would LOVE to put our kids in private school… it just isn’t in the cards for us.  So we will work even harder to produce children who can STAND ALONE.

 

Read the book… even if your kids go to private school or are homeschooled… this book is about parenting.  And we can all use a little help there.