The view from our seats. It was a great game!

Bright Ideas

Last night I had nothing cooked, no leftovers, and no money in my weekly food budget to go out and buy something. I am learning how to live on a budget. Something all girls should learn BEFORE marriage. I know there are so many people around the world that would consider us filthy rich, who have far less than I do in my kitchen. It really was my fault anyway. Instead of waiting for a day with no kids, I went to an expensive grocery store with Gabe and didn't spend wisely.

So in this learning process, I had a bright idea (or at least I thought it was). Instead of explaining or apologizing to the kids about our predicament, I gleefully declared last night "Eat Whatever You Want Night!" Or in other words, "Eat Whatever You Can Find Night." And they loved it. Everyone shouted "Yaaay!!!" and began searching through the refrigerator, cabinets, and pantry to see what they were going to get away with eating for dinner. It started off with cookies and hot chocolate with marshmallows and whipped cream and other snacks I can't even remember. After their feast, I happily announced bath time to which they whined, "But we haven't even had dinner yet!" After telling them that what they had just eaten was their dinner, they said they wanted "real dinner." I happened to find a salad bag, craisins, croutons, bacon bits, and topped it off with Ranch dressing. It was just enough for everyone and to my surprise my kids actually ate salad for dinner!

So even though my bright idea turned dull, I have learned that no matter what your circumstance, especially with kids, you make it sound good (aka. have a good attitude), and everyone is happy - including you.

Riding Bikes

It actually happened...Gabe is riding his bike without training
wheels. It's a pretty funny story too. He was forced into it when his
training wheels were stolen by a neighborhood boy. Since then, Gabe
hasn't ridden his bike. He kept saying he needed a new bike with
training wheels. So yesterday, the same boy who stole the training
wheels taught him how to ride his bike without them! No lie. He showed
him how to push off, then he ran with him pushing from behind, and
showed him how to stop. Gabe was so proud of himself! And if you're
wondering about the boy, he is the sweetest, most respectful, and
helpful one of them all. That's why I still let him around. Just when
I want to throw in the towel with them, Gabe reminds me that we are
here to teach them. And occationally they teach us stuff too.

NOHAM on the West Bank

So it was called to my attention that it has been about a month since I last wrote on my blog! I am truly sorry to all you readers out there. I hate it when I continuously go to a blog for new updates and am disappointed because they hardly update. I usually think, "Why don't they update? Why do they have a blog anyway? There must be something they can write about!" And here I am doing the same thing. My excuse? Pregnancy la-la-land and Aaron's job zone out. When I looked back at my calendar, the timing makes sense why I haven't written. You see, Aaron has been completely involved with another store open on the West Bank (an hour away). When he did the one on St. Charles, it took him out of our lives for about a month. That was really hard. This one has been much better because I knew what to expect, but still threw me off a bit. This pregnancy has been great compared to many horror stories I've heard, but has still been hard on my body. Plus with the hours Aaron is working right now, I've slipped in the zone of going through the motions until is over. I call it survival-mode. So I haven't been motivated to write nor did I want to complain. Thankfully this should be the last week of Aaron being on the West Bank and I'm looking forward to life returning to normal with Aaron in charge!