Sunday, May 18, 2014

Back at it.

Hello, friends!

We are finally out of living in a hotel.  We moved into our house on the 24th of April, and didn't get internet until the 12th of May.  Using a data plan on my phone was not ideal, but it did give me more motivation to get a ton of stuff done at the house.  I've stuck with meal planning, just obviously couldn't post it.  

As always, when I'm away for awhile, a picture update is sometimes easier than trying to remember everything that went on in the 3+ weeks I was absent from the internet.  Here we go:
A really cool kid making a wish on a walk on base.

She's learning about even amounts and learning how to use a mouse at the library.

Super cool kid taking a walk with me.

My friend Amanda has a SUPER sweet kid, Aiden, and Delilah just loves him.

My house looked like this for awhile...and it was awful. 

On a hike on one of the many trails around our village.  The other night, we did almost 4 miles and it was awesome.

A really cool a gross German slug I found on a hike.

We've got this statue in our backyard and Delilah loves it.  Don't worry, the grass in our yard is cut now.

Delilah started swim class and absolutely LOVES it.  She's getting so comfortable in the water and her teacher has nothing but high praise for her.  I'm so happy!

They're making juice (and a mess)

Out and about with my girl, and a sudden big rainstorm trapped us in the car.  We decided on a little photoshoot.  

This is a view from my balcony 7:30am vs 11:00am.  

Our neighbors have sheep that now LOVE us because we bring them carrots.  They are super cute and really stinky.

Authentic German food for Ben's birthday dinner!  They served him this for his birthday and just gave him a bottle of wine (which I drank while we all played Cards Against Humanity). 
Amanda's kids.  Delilah loves them, and they love Delilah.

Went out hiking on May 4th, and stumbled upon a Wanderung.  It's basically a giant walk through a bunch of different villages and everyone is out and about.  There was a tent outside our village that was selling Bitberger (Half cola, half beer).  It's delicious.

A view of my little village from one of the trails.

This bakery is SO GOOD.  

Saw this on the way to Globus the other day...hilarious.

After a trip to Ikea, Ben set out to put together a piece of furniture. It wasn't as bad as he expected, and definitely didn't include nearly as much swearing as when he had to put Delilah's crib together.

Delilah's bed, just waiting on the blanket from Aunt Ruthie.  She's making a pink, gray, and white chevron quilt...because she's AWESOME.  I did all the paintings on her wall.

Another view of her room.

Of course she had to get this cute owl lamp. (Ikea)

Finished toy storage that Ben put together.  So much nicer with toy storage instead of random boxes like it was before. 

Cute little doll bed.
The rug we got for her room. It's perfect.  All the paintings, rug, accessories, etc...go together so well. I'm really pleased with how her room turned out.  Now I just need to get the rest of the house done.

Our Mother's Day pictures.  Love my girl!


Working on new stuff for my etsy site (http://www.etsy.com/shop/intheskydesigns)

This is the sectional we found on MEGA sale.

Our cool retro looking dining room table

Delilah was totally over furniture shopping.

Just walking around our village.

I made Thai soup.  Trust me...don't ever leave out the red curry paste.  I made it in the hotel and had put green peppers in it (which are really bitter out here for some reason) and no red curry paste (because it was out at the store) and it wasn't that great. Remade it the other day and it was AMAZING.

We got her this little easel at Ikea and I moved it into the kitchen.  She likes to be creative while I'm cooking.  The other side is a whiteboard.

We went on base yesterday to the opening of the Disney aisle.  I wanted to go because there were supposed to be prizes and crafts and meet and greets.  First of all, about an hour before it opened, someone had the bright idea to move the line dividers, so people that showed up at 11:45 we starting to shove towards the front instead of acting like adults and waiting in line.  Second of all, they had blown up about 30 balloons and passed them out...and then they were out...so there were a bunch of kids that just couldn't have a balloon.  The meet and greet characters were a JOKE.  They were store employees wearing really cheap halloween costumes.  The announcers made a big deal of looking for Mickey and Minnie, and then out walked 2 people with mouse ears.  The kids were not impressed.  I was looking around, and I could see these women starting to get super aggressive as they were almost drooling waiting to run in and grab some Frozen toys.  I told Ben, "If you want to go in the aisle and try and get a doll, that's fine.  Delilah doesn't need one though, and she's not going to care either way."  He told me we were up at the front, he'd go grab one.  I told him, "You need to be careful, these women are going to get aggressive and shove and they won't care about pushing children or you out of the way to try and get a doll."  He didn't believe me.  So the curtains opened, and as you can see in the picture below, one curtain was almost pulled down as the crazy women shoved children, lost their own, pushed people, and just surged into the aisle.  Ben watched people just start grabbing dolls off the shelf.  Luckily, he's a calm person, and would never think about pushing a woman or child to get a plastic toy, and someone we had talked to just handed him one.  The people running the event had told people not to do exactly what they did, and there were several kids that got hurt and lost, one lady even had her stroller with her child in it pushed over.  It was freaking ridiculous.  A huge disgusting show of greed and lack of care.  I'll just tell you that if someone had pushed Delilah over or ANYTHING to get a freaking doll, I'd probably unleash my temper that I have worked so hard in the last 6 years to control.  

And what is REALLY funny and stupid, there are women on spouse page today complaining that they showed up 15 minutes after the event started and now their kids are disappointed because the toys were gone.  Give me a break.  First, you kid doesn't need a doll that badly, secondly, don't show up late and expect to get an insanely popular toy.  


So here's the meal plan for the week.  Breakfast/Lunches are usually the same, but I'm trying to mix it up.

Breakfast:
Vanilla/almond yogurt
Cereal (she loves cracklin oat bran!)
Boiled eggs
Toast and fruit

Lunch:
Pasta 
Leftovers
Homemade pizza "lunchable"
Tuna salad with carrots and pita bread
Strawberry and avocado salad

Dinner:
Chicken Parmesan
Pigs in a blanket and mashed cauliflower
Breakfast

Snacks:




Monday, April 21, 2014

STILL in TLF.

I have a dream that we will get an email saying our household goods arrived today.  
(I CAN DREAM)
I'm so tired of being in temporary living.  I want our stuff to get here and be in our own house.  I want to unpack, go to IKEA again, and get my house set up.  I want my kid to be able to play in our yard and play with more toys than just the ones she's had for the last month and a half.  SIGH.  

Ok, so here's the plan for the week:

Breakfast (these are typically the same each week)
Nutella pancakes 
boiled eggs and toast
Cereal
Yogurt
Fruit

Lunch:
PB&Honey
All beef Hebrew National + veggie
Pasta salad
Leftovers

Dinner:
Breakfast quesadillas

So that's my plan.  I'm gonna have to figure out one more thing, because we definitely had the breakfast quesadillas already and the week JUST started.  They were really good though!

Yesterday was Easter, and it was a nice day.  Delilah got a nice little stash from the Easter bunny, and we had a relaxing day.  Went over to the Merlin's home for dinner.  Love them, they are so easy to be friends with.  
Family Easter picture. I might actually get this framed.  It's a pretty cute shot!

Delilah's little stash from the Easter Bunny.  Let's not kid ourselves though...she's gonna get a couple pieces of candy...the rest will be eaten by me and Ben.

First Easter egg hunt, and she filled her little basket.  Didn't have any issues with crazy parents or kids.  Delilah was VERY pleased with herself.


We went to Outdoor Rec and got a nice hiking backpack to carry Delilah around in.  Now, Ben is all about camping/hiking. I don't mind hiking...but I'm not a huge fan of camping. 

I think that's all for now.  I'm gonna go take a shower and get ready for the day.  I got a Bare Minerals starter kit this weekend, and I have been having fun playing with it.  First time wearing makeup aside from just my eyes/lips.  






Sunday, April 13, 2014

My week.

All the meals for last week were a definite success.  I think the only thing I would change would be doubling the quinoa patties.  They were good, but didn't make a whole lot...and my husband can definitely eat at dinner time.  

I'm making my new store list/meal plan this morning.  I'll try and link what I'm making to the list on here.  I think that'll be much nicer than just a list, right?

Breakfast:
Yogurt
Boiled eggs
Fresh fruit
Cereal (a FAVORITE)

Lunch:
Honey&PB sandwich
Roll ups
Apples w/ melted pb, crackers, and cheese
Leftovers
Pasta w/ sauce

Dinner:
Chicken fingers and sweet potato fries (Was going to make this last week, but we had a fun trip to the ER yesterday...more on that below)
Homemade pizza
Chicken burrito bowls (big hit here!)


All sound good!  I think I'll do the BBQ sandwiches tonight.  I've already got cooked chicken that can easily be drained and shredded and mixed in with some warmed BBQ sauce for an easy meal tonight.  Something easy for a Sunday evening.  


Now for the ER visit info:

Delilah woke up from her nap yesterday, and everything was going completely normal...until she fell face first into the hard wood floor of our hotel after slipping.  I immediately picked her up and comforted her, and when I looked down, she was covered in blood.  I remained calm (I'm not really sure how) and ran to get a towel and icepack.  She wouldn't let me near her chin.  Ben was out getting supplies for the car, and I texted him to come home immediately.  I was able to remove her shirt, but I still couldn't get a good look at the injury.  At this point, the blood wasn't flowing, just the occasional drip.  Ben got home, and to get her calm, they started watching Frozen.  At this point, I was able to kinda slide up and look at her chin.  WHOA.  Yep, we gotta go to the ER.  That's gonna need stitches.  
So we got in the car and made the drive.  When we got there, we got seen right away...unfortunately, Ben and I had the task of holding a lidocaine soaked gauze to her chin.  For 15 minutes.  I had an idea of how strong my daughter is, but after holding her arms and head for even 5 minutes was a strain.  Eventually, the numbing worked and things got a bit easier after that.  She kept telling Ben, "No, Daddy, stop! Let's go bye-bye!"  It was heartbreaking.
Doctors came back in, and we had to wrap her up in a blanket to keep her from flailing.  Ben held her knees, I held her arms at her chest and stayed near her head so she could see me.  As she was getting stitched up, she kept saying, "Mama, mama, I need you!"  Holy crow.  I felt like my heart was actually shattering.  It was quick, only 5 stitches, and everyone was telling her how well she was doing.  
I comforted her as soon as they were done, and I had brought her Hello Kitty bandaids (because normal ones are "ugly" according to Delilah).  We got home, and ice cream and Disney movies were on the agenda.  She was brave, I was brave.  It was awful.


Tuesday, April 8, 2014

Starting anew.

It's been over 4 months since I last wrote an entry.  I honestly was going through a lot, and I couldn't find the words to express how I was feeling...and I also didn't want to share  lot of that with the world.  At the same time, I couldn't write about my life without skipping over a lot of what was going on, so I just decided to take a break from blogging.

I'm a refocused and am taking charge of my life again.  I'm living in Germany with my family right now, and our travels (and my domestic side) are going to be the focus of the blog.  Occasionally, I'll put in some personal insight or opinions on things, but for the most part, I'd just like to focus on traveling Europe, household DIY projects, and meal planning for my family.

This week, I started a firm meal planning routine.  Too easily, I let Ben distract me from my schedule of what I'm making for meals, and I'd really rather just keep to it.  In an effort, I'll be posting my weekly meal plans (including snacks) on this blog.  I'll take pictures (although I forgot to the last 2 meals.  whoops).  

Breakfasts:
Nutella pancakes
Yogurt and dry cereal (Delilah's fav is Cracklin' Oat Bran)
Fresh fruit
Cereal+toast
Whole grain blueberry waffles

Lunches:
Egg+cheese quesedillas
Pasta tossed with olive oil+spices
Pinwheels+veggie
Grilled cheese sandwich 
Peanut butter and banana quesedillas

Dinners:
Chicken burrito bowls
Chicken fingers and quinoa salad
Homemade tomato soup w/ grilled cheese sandwiches
Quinoa patties w/ sweet potato fries
Ziti bake

Snacks:
Whole grain crackers
Parmesan goldfish
Grapes
Broccoli
Cauliflower 
Apple
Avocado
Fruit snack

We've had the quinoa patties and the tomato soup for supper.  Both were GREAT.  I think I'll double the quinoa recipe next time so I can freeze some of the patties for later or save some for lunch the next day.  

This weekend, we are hopefully going to do a bit of traveling, so I'll have some pictures to share.  

That's all for now!

Monday, December 2, 2013

I'm interesting.

Still have lots of thoughts running through my head that I can't quite sort out.  Slowly but surely, I'm getting there, just something I have had to actively work on. 

Picture update time:

This is what happens when Delilah doesn't feel good, and I'm entirely OK with the cuddles. If I can make her feel better, I'll do it.

Everyone who matters loves my mom.

Got Christmas pictures done.  I mostly send them to friends and Ben's side of the family. I've got a few people on my side of the family that I send them to, but many I just leave out.

Playdate with Jude!

He love sharing his stuff with Delilah.  It's so sweet.
 
My favorite silly face she does. It cracks me up, so she does it a ton!

Got lovely pedicures and leg massages with my wonderful friend Vanessa.  A much needed girl's night.

Yippee!  I wrapped Delilah's big birthday gift.  I'll let her open it at her party.  

This is what happens when we got to Target and Vanessa says, "Want to look at ornaments?"  We end up with a tree, tree skirt, ornaments, tags?, etc...

Went to a church auction/Thanksgiving dinner.  Delilah loves to play with her friends and they all just charmed the room while I got to bid!

I got her this wonderful handmade wooden bench!  LOVE it. 

It's getting super cold outside, and even though my car heats up super fast (because it's an awesome Honda Element), I made her a car blanket to keep her all snuggly.

Shopping at Sam's Club with these 2.

Otis is so obnoxious and annoying, but he's also a sweetheart and I love him.

Sometimes, when she's good...I let her ride the horse at Walmart.  50 cents is a small price for the look on her face as she gets to ride the horsey.

I love her more than anything ever. 

Helping us start Thanksgiving lunch!  YAY!

No,  I couldn't wait a day to put up decorations.  I had to put them up right after dinner, and it was awesome.

My simple wreath I made.

Little tree with lots of presents.

My grandma made this years and years ago.  It's my favorite decoration.

Delilah loves the santa hat and scarf.  

I stupidly had to get out on Black Friday for a couple necessities I had run out of. This person was waiting for 5 min for a spot that wasn't even close to the front of the store. We made eye contact and she still didn't move.  

Lilah wanted to wear a sling like Mommy.  

I'm making this.


Yeah, that's about it.  I have a great life.