A.S.A.P.

At the very beginning of the month, I felt this need to start getting the girls more involved with our dinners.  I came up with the idea to have the girls start helping with meal planning.   I sat down with the 4 older girls individually and had them pick a day of the week they wanted to do and the theme for their day. ( I am working on a menu planning list to share)  I feel like helping teach them the basics about cooking and all that goes along with the process is one of those essential life skills to have.

This is what they came up with.

Sera-Monday- Italian

Emma-Tuesday-Mexican

Lucy-Wednesday-Breakfast food

Kady-Thursday-Grilling

It has been so much fun for me to help them learn how to properly plan and execute their ideas.  One of my favorite things about this have been the opportunities to talk with them individually as we help prepare the meal. 

Last week as Emma was doing prep work for her chicken tacos, we started discussing what has worked for me as a Mother.  I was telling her how, for me, one of the most important characteristics to have, in being a Mother, is that of knowing how to make and keep what I do as simple as possible and still keep the quality of my work.

She responded by saying, "A.S.A.P!"

"Huh?"

"Instead of  As Soon As Possible, it is, As Simple As Possible!  That is what you should call it Mom!"

"That is genius Emma, I love it!"

So now my methods are going to be dubbed ASAP.  ( I want to expand more on this method in later posts)

This experience left me understanding how very intently our children listen to the fine details of our conversations with them.  They necessarily may not here the in between stuff but they hear what is most important.

Life seems to be moving at a light speed pace.  I am realizing more and more how true it is that when your children are younger it really is easier.  Yes it is physically demanding.  But it far outweighs the anxiety I am starting to feel as the children are getting older and I think of all of the changes that take place as one gets older.  And the different experiences they will have to go through to be able to learn and grow to become who they need to be. 

Even though I try to make life as simple as possible there are days that seem to make me question my abilities as a Mother.  Yesterday was one of those days.  And from talking with some of my friends I was not the only one who seemed to have a very off day.

In fact after I got all the kids to bed last night, instead of cleaning stuff up, like I normally do, I sat and just relaxed.  I refused to clean up their messes they had made.  I thought, "It will still be here tomorrow, I need a break!" 

This was hard for me to do, because I so enjoy waking up to a fresh clean home.  But a break was necessary!

This morning it looked like a tornado had run through our home.  I gave the girls a list of what needed to get done before we went swiming with some friends and literally locked myself in my bedroom to finally work on this post.  They had a hour to get it all cleaned up, and I tell you what, I had one of those moments. 

I came downstairs when it was near the time we needed to go and I was so impressed by what I saw.  It looked as if I had cleaned the place. But I didn't!  I started throwing compliments left and right. 

This experience was much needed to boost the moral of the home.  Because any of you Mothers out there know that children indeed get annoyed with each other and will make every effort to torture one another which in turn drives any mother into twitching episodes.  As was the case yesterday for me.  My husband thought it was funny to the point of laughing so hard he turned shades of purple.  Thank goodness for his balance. 

So today I am thankful for the bad days that help me appreciate, that much more, the very good days of motherhood. 

I copied and pasted this last part from my husbands blog and added a few details in yellow: 

The unthinkable happened recently...we got a family picture.  A real one. By a real photographer.  A really talented photographer. here is her link www.momentsbykathleen.com
She also has a realistic perspective on motherhood blog here

Click here to check the out the full set on Flickr.

If you don't have time to see all 126 photos, here are some of my favorites:

Okay this one I have to tell you.  Kathy, our photographer, asked Kady what her favorite food was.  Kady then starts to lick her lips and says "Cotton candy!" and makes a "mmmm" sound.  So cute!

Kathy brought a water bottle and Eliza got a hold of it.  She loved squirting people with it.

I wonder if he is thinking about if baseball will be apart of his future or if he is thinking of how he can get the baseball into his mouth.

Seriously!!!!! I can not get enough of this little boy!  He melts my heart every single day!

Thank you Kathy! 

Palmer Family Summer 2011, photos by Moments by Kathleen -- Prolific Profile, LLC on Flickr.