Menu Plan

Menu planning has not been my forte lately, but with the baby's arrival imminent, I thought I'd better prepare something for those who have bravely volunteered to watch "the other two." I just have to comment on this picture. OK that child cannot be more than what 15 or 16 months right? If that were my child he or she would be DIVING into that mixture and as I tried to restrain him or her, we would both end up crying over the flour, sugar, and eggs that spilled everywhere...not to mention the burns that would have been inflicted on the child who lunged too near the gas stove or opened the oven unsupervised...hey, it happens! My kids help make cookies when it doesn't matter if the end product is edible and when I'm able bodied enough to run interference (read "NOT nine months pregnant") and that's about it. :) Sometimes we make playdough or finger paints though and that is always fun (well, not when I am NINE months pregnant)--did I mention I am nine months pregnant?

Monday

b- Cereal (Frosted mini wheats) with blueberries and/or raisins and sliced banana

l- Mac-n-cheese with ham chunks w/ fruit cup

d- Ham, buttered rolls and green beans (canned)

Tuesday

b- Scrambled ggs, pumpkin muffins

l- PBJ sandwiches (on rolls if fresh bread not made) applesauce and cottage cheese

d- Bush’s baked beans, pork steaks, green beans

Wednesday

b- Pumpkin Pie spiced pancakes w honey, banana slices

l- Tuna (plain) and cheese sandwiches on rolls, fruit cups or applesauce
d- Pork chops and potato bake, frozen veggies

Thursday

b- Cereal and yogurt

l- Lunch meat sandwiches with meat, cheese, lettuce and tomato

d- Chicken Nuggets and chicken broth pasta with frozen veggie mix

Friday

b- Oatmeal with blueberries and brown sugar; fruit smoothies
l- Leftover ham, cheese slices, and oranges
d- Home Made Pizza (or takeout if coupon) with cherry tomatoes and mozzarella pieces

Saturday

b- Scrambled eggs, buttered toast and bananas

l - Leftover pizza and cherry tomato mixture

d- BBQ Pork Steaks, baked beans, salad, homemade bread

Sunday

b-Out (Cindy’s or McD’s)
l-Applesauce, cottage cheese and leftovers (if none, then PBJ)
d-Spaghetti Carbonara, cherry tomatoes & mozzarella pieces w/ basil and olive oil, and buttered bread

She's gonna blow!

It looks like I ate the whole thing, and I probably could have, but I didn't. I am my own planetary mass though...as one dear friend said, his coffee was fuller on one side of his cup this morning as my belly pulled it west (he's in Missouri). Note to self: Horizontal stripes don't help.

A Visit to the Pumpkin Patch

Wyatt and Kya both fell asleep on our journey out to the Taft Highway Pumpkin Patch (Banducci Farms) so it took a while for them to appreciate the majesty of all those glorious pumpkins! Ahhh I love the Fall--although it was like85 degrees at the Patch! LOL! We came home with far more pumpkins than we needed, but we had a nice time and got to meet some new friends, friends of our adopted auntie Debbie...Jennifer and her three rambunctious sons...whew! Only one of them is pictured below with Kya and Wyatt. He was only in the wagon for a split second until he ran off to the next thing!Wyatt contemplating the patch.

Kya lookin' around at the pumpkins.

Nathan in the wagon with Wyatt and Kya (Kya none too pleased about it).

The kids together finally enjoying the patch!

THE FIRST EGG!!!!!!

Kya ran into the house this evening dripping chocolate push up ice cream all over the floor saying, "Mommy, come outside with us..." and so I went stomping out to find that "supervising" father of hers! I said ever so sweetly, "Scott, your daughter just dripped chocolate ice cream all the way through the house!!!" He responded that he was so sorry and that he had told her to come get me because he had seen something exciting...since he was coming from the side yard, I figured, it wasn't anything really exciting, BUT IT WAS!!!!

It was our first egg!!!! We got rid of that mean ol' rooster and those hens finally relaxed enough to lay an egg!!! Oh man I am so excited! Totally worth cleaning chocolate ice cream out of the carpet--hey, it's better than poop, right?

In the picture, you see Scott's pretend egg (Titleist brand) that has been in the nesting box for a month trying to teach the girls where to lay. :) Isn't it cute?

Enter a Guess

Enter your guess about Baby Haner #3's birth details and you could win a prize! Here's the link:

http://www.expectnet.com/games/Hanerman3

The Rooster Chronicles Part II

OK, so after a week of constant crowing during daylight hours, Scott decided we would try to keep the poor bugger, but keep him in the dark until WE were ready to let him see the light (and hear him crow). Why would we keep him? Well, first of all, he is gorgeous, and second of all, we will eventually need new chicks to replace our hens when they are finished laying...aaaaand we are just sentimental around here and we don't like to see our family farm broken up. (Sigh.)

So, Scott created a rooster suite...basically a box with a hinged front door, a roost inside and some pine shavings. The kids helped out a tremendous amount and the whole family had fun. Note Wyatt's "oh so 80's" hair and shirt-- (Hey! I figured they were farm kids today and I didn't want their nice clothes gettin' all chicken poopy!)

So, that night, Scott ushered rooster into his suite. Scott left at 6:15 the next morning and we had yet to hear him! Success! Ah, but at 7:00, despite the box, he began to crow...and thump, and crow...and thump. But at least the crowing was slightly muted???? ANd at least it wasn't 5AM?

A week later, I posted a listing on Craig's List for a free rooster. We received TONS of responses, but finally settled on a SAHM that lives just down the road and around the corner from us (not to worry, she is keeping him at her folks' ranch which is out Round Mountain Rd.). It was sad seeing him go (in a Huggies Diaper Box nonetheless! LOL!), but his new mama promises to keep in touch and update us on his well being. Ahhh tomorrow promises to be a quiet morning...

The Rooster Chronicles Part I

So, as many of you know, my dearest husband and I determined that we would get some chickens back in June. Upon making this determination, we did extensive research about the ordinances in our city and zone as well as the types of hen and coop we wanted. The first decision we made after this extensive research was that we neither wanted nor would it be legal for us to house a rooster on our residential property.

We then went to the Round Up, a local feed store, to pick out our HENS. No one mentioned there was any chance we would be getting anything other than females. Well, it is now October and we have invested hours of love and attention in our six hens, Kya naming them all Disney princess names. We have anxiously visited the coop and nesting boxes each day hoping for the first egg.

Saturday morning, at about 6:15, a rare morning when our children had not yet awakened by this hour, Scott and I both opened our eyes and looked at each other with that, "did you hear that?" look on our faces. A soft, but distinct, "cock a doodle doo" resounded yet again as first light broke over the mountains outside. "That's odd," we thought, and rolled over and went back to sleep until the kids got us up about 7.

Each morning since (going on six days), that crowing has gotten louder and stronger...

On Tuesday, Scott asked me to change the water for the hens. No big deal. Run in the coop, get the waterer, wash it out, put it back. I had an OB appt. that morning and we were running early for a change, so I buckled the kids in and headed for the coop to do my requested duty. WELL, I was in for a surprise. The largest of our "hens" was on top of one of the others...hmmmmm, I thought...well, I will ignore that little scene and go about my duties.

WRONG.

Our sweet border collie Jake followed me as usual, and promptly upon entering the coop, the large "hen" began attacking my legs and feet (I had on new sparkly silver flats.) It became obvious that I had interrupted the activity in which he was engaged and that he didn't like it. I screamed and in my surprise I allowed the large hen and its partner to escape. They then startled as Jake ran up to check them out. So they began to attack Jake. He yelped, and I yelled, "Run Jake run!!!!!" I grabbed a board from the wood pile and shooed the large hen back into the coop. The other hen was still outside the coop and I couldn't leave her out there! So, I held my breath and mustered all my courage and picked her up. I was already covered in muddy water and chicken poo, so it couldn't get any worse. She was surprisingly soft and sweet to me. I gently tossed her back in the coop.

I locked the coop and ushered Jake to the backyard, and then got into the car, poopy sparkly flats and all. I breathed a big sigh as I sat in the recently cleaned driver seat of our Volvo thinking perhaps I am not such a country girl after all. Kya asked innocently, "How are the chickens doing this morning mommy?" I answered her by saying, "Well my love, I think we have a rooster..." and I heard a faint "cock a doodle doo" as I pulled out of the driveway.

A Week with the Tummy Flu

This week in the Haner home, there was lots of throwing up! It started Monday when Wyatt threw up every 15-30 minutes from about midnight on. Then everyone seemed fine all day Tuesday and Wednesday.

Wednesday night, Kya started throwing up around 9:00 PM and Wyatt again around 10:30 PM. They alternated (which I thought was nice of them--simultaneous vomiting would have been difficult to catch and clean up. LOL!) every 30 minutes. So we set up their little mattresses in the living room surrounded by towels and I slept on the couch nearby hoping and praying that daddy Scott could get some sleep in the bedroom (and that my pregnant belly would fit on our couch (it did!)). All was well all day Thursday and Thursday night and Friday day.

Then we decided to go to dinner at Mimi's cafe (LOVE their honey oat bran muffins!) for a family night out to celebrate the end of the tummy flu and Wyatt promptly upon being seated, threw up all over the table and booth. GROSS! Poor little guy. So, since he is usually OK for about an hour in between spit ups, we cleaned him and the booth up, changed his clothes, and stayed for a nice dinner.

A few hours later, Wyatt threw up some more and Friday night was spent much the same as Monday night, but just he and I in the living room. Today is Saturday and so far so good. We are excited to try some oh so yummy Pedialyte popsicles for dinner tonight! YUMMO!

A Sad Goodbye to a Good Friend

Tonight, we came home to find that our beloved dog and friend Maggie had died.

Maggie girl, we love you so much and we are so sorry we could not be there with you in your final moments. We have had many priority shifts since you first joined our family in November of 2002 and we have not always been the best owners. For that, we are so full of regret and sadness. You always had a loving tail wag or sweet little nudge waiting for us when we arrived home and were always so excited--especially to see daddy Scott. You would stay right in our yard and never leave our home without first checking with us. What a good dog you were.

As we say goodbye to you with tears falling, we remember the good times and pray we can learn much from your forgiving nature and sweet submitted personality. We will remember you always. Rest in peace our faithful friend. -Your Family

Learning, Enduring and Becoming A Patient SAHM

So, one of the few things a stay at home mom does that is "measurable" is keep house. A measure isn't really necessary, but for my personality, I just want to be able to look around and SEE something I did. Kids don't really work that way...Sometimes I can smell that they are clean after a bath or observe that they have learned something I taught them, but it's not the same. No one ever really looks at my kids and says, oh Tara must have done X Y and Z today.

In my previous life, everything I did was measurable, by praise from superiors, bonuses, salary, grades on tests, etc. This life is very different and I think about that a lot. I like to have something to show for my day. Parenting requires a selflessness I'm not sure I will ever possess though I am learing every day to sacrifice more of myself and actually enjoy this. I am not quite there yet.

Lately, in my enlarged state (only one more month!!!), I haven't been keeping up with housework and it has really been bumming me out...so much so that last night after husband's well-meaning comment, I sat in the garage (for surely no one would look for me there) and cried. Why did I cry exactly? The well-meaning comment indicated something along the lines that he was glad we had gotten to a point where we were "OK" with a lower standard of cleanliness in the house--this after he spent some time at a neighbor's "spotless home" (did I mention she has two children under four as well?). He couldn't have known I have spent countless hours this month scouring books, magazines, and blogs for helpful hints on keeping a home organized with little kids, or that I had just that day made a cleaning chart (AGAIN) to help keep me on track with laundry, meals, and household cleaning. He couldn't have known because I don't like to tell him when I am feeling unworthy or subpar--I just reasearch and fix it.

Only, this time, I have been researching and trying to fix it for a loooong time...without much improvement.

Here are some of the selfish thoughts I had while I was crying:

1. I have been trying to figure out this balance of cleaning/household management/parenting/playing/teaching/menu planning/ministry/time for "self"/time for God as a stay home mom for over three years. I am NEVER gonna figure this out;

2. I am hopelessly lazy and undisciplined and will never be able to keep house like my friends;

3. How in the world am I gonna ever get better at this with THREE little babies running around the house? I just got used to two!

4. Why am I the only one who feels like this?

So, after my little pity party, I realized that most of these questions are not all together rational and that I am nine months pregnant and probably a little hormonal and that I need to cut myself a little slack. But I also got some great perspective as I scoured the kitchen til 11 PM.

Kids make messes. I can help them learn to clean them up, but I can't prevent them. If I did prevent them, I would not be a very good parent and my kids would be terrified of playing and enjoying themselves. I don't want that. But, I also don't Wyatt to someday tell his wife what a horrible housekeeper his mom was...so I am looking for balance.

I am no longer crying about it. Scott let me sleep in this morning (until 7:45!!!) and I got a nap...and it's cooler outside. But I still want the house to be clean, and I'm still gonna work on getting better at balance...and realize that these issues in the scheme of "troubles" are pretty minor. We have our health, a house, our family and friends, financial stability. This is when the reader should say, "Quit your moanin' and get on with it!"

Thanks for reading.

Isaiah 40:28-31 NKJV Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the LORD, The Creator of the ends of the earth, Neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable. {29} He gives power to the weak, And to those who have no might He increases strength. {30} Even the youths shall faint and be weary, And the young men shall utterly fall, {31} But those who wait on the LORD Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.