Menu Plan Monday: May 26th

This long weekend threw me off, so I'm a day late.  Soccer is officially 9 very for a few months. There are 2 weeks left of school and I finally managed to get to the grocery store. Even with four less hectic days a week I still feel so rushed. I'm actually looking forward to spending time in the kitchen!

Monday:  We had an unplanned meatless Monday.  The boys are always so surprised when we have breakfast for dinner.  Every. Time.

Tuesday:  Honey Sriracha Chicken with fried rice and broccoli. David is looking forward to this. I made it the other week and even the boys have asked for it again. Ask and you shall receive.  

Wednesday:  Spaghetti with salad.  Every week someone asks for spaghetti.  Never me of course. Is it really weird that I love pizza but despise spaghetti?   David thinks I am crazy.

Thursday:  Leftovers. Gotta clean out the fridge. I'm on a mission to make sure we toss out less and eat everything we make!

Friday:  Spanish rice and chicken.  With salad and let's not forget the beans.  Maybe this will be a day to try out a homemade tortilla recipe... we will see.

Saturday:  We will be celebrating our friends birthday with a dinner at the Cheesecake Factory.  Thankfully we have a big gift card that we need to use.  We are supposed to be avoiding eating out this week, but the gc should cover it or at least most of it. Hopefully. We have never been here before.  

Sunday:  There is a 90% chance we will be headed to Grandmas house for dinner.  David joked that we were going to go over every Sunday and we have been.  This last week we didn't and even the boys noticed!  

What is on your menu this week? I have started my search for new summer dinners so if you have any good ones and care to share, Id love to try some out! 

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Happiness is ______ {2014-W19} #happinessis Birthday Edition :)

OK I'm a day late...again...BUT yesterday was a very special day so I was a little busy.  My baby turned 9. Its his last year in single digits and I may or may not be a bag of mixed emotions.

Anthony is my oldest.  My strong willed, stubborn, sensitive, kind, and jealous little boy. On any given day, we bump heads and make up a dozen times.  And even though he is growing up he still melts in my hugs and gives me a kiss every day before he gets on the bus to school.  He is my happiness.

Happiness is his strength.  From the minute he was born this kid was a fighter.  This was actually the first picture I saw of him that a nurse took for me when she took him to the NICU.  Even the doctors were amazed at how quickly he gained strength and was able to come home.

Happiness is all the mornings we spent at the park.  He loved the see saw.  I would lift it just until his feet couldnt touch and he would squeal with excitement!

Happiness is knowing that even from a young age he was just as fascinated with animals as much as I am.  All shapes and sizes.  No fear just pure curiosity.

Happiness is selfies.  If this kid gets a hold of you camera or phone, 90% of the time you will find a photo like this in there.  And 99% of the time it will make you smile :)

Happiness is the excitement of Kindergarten and me being ok with it.  As a baby this kid was insanely shy. He would cry when someone waved at him.  But on that first day of Kinder, he put on his bravest face, walked to his desk and never looked up at me.  Hes been loving school ever since.

Happiness is a reckless little brother.  They would roll on this car down the driveway for hours.  And I didn't have the heart to stop them because OMG they were actually playing together and laughing! But the time they got to the end of the driveway they would be laughing so hard they couldn't breath!  

Happiness is the second day off the bus.  The first day, he got off at the wrong stop but the second day, he was so happy to see me there waiting for him.  And I was happy to see him get off.  Even if he so kindly waited so he could be the last one!  Stinker!

Happiness is a vacation. Any vacation.  This boy loves to travel.  Mostly he just loves to stay in hotels. But the trip to Austin was filled with Splash Pads and rolling down the lawn of the Capital.  To this day he still brings it up!  

Happiness is just letting his guard down and having fun with his pesky little brother.  These days he is a little less patient with Alex so moments like this, where I can still hear them screaming and laughing, are extra special.

Happiness is his first 5K.  With very special friends!  I see a few more runs in his future!

Happiness is a glimpse of the man he will be.  There are great things just waiting for this kid and I know he will do great things.  Cliche I know.  But he will.  

Big things come in small packages.  That what I have been telling myself since I was little.  And now I tell this to him on almost a daily basis.  He is tiny but he has a big heart.  He is stubborn but he is thoughtful.  He has a temper but he cares so deeply.  He is in a rush to grow up but still insists on holding my hand. 

Happy Birthday Anthony.  I love you to the moon and back.  And yes, Im taking you with me because Id never leave you behind.  

Never a dull moment with this kid :)

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Dear What doesn't kill me.

Seriously!

Everyone has heard it or said it. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger. But is sure does wear you down. And sometimes I am so busy taking care of everyone else I forget to get it all off my chest. I'm not complaining.  Being able to be there for friends and family when they need it is something I will always do. I've always been that person. But like I told David, I wish I had a clone of myself, so I could confide in myself.  Then I remembered that's what this blog is for.  So...

I'm good at putting on my smile and swallowing my anger and fears. But sometimes I just want to explode.  A want to throw a fit and cry. These are the days I run so hard I can't walk the next day.  Where I worry so much I forget to eat.  Where I keep my nose in a book just begging to escape it all.  When I color and draw page after page with the boys.  I know it could be worse but I want to pout anyways. 

The other week I went in to the dentist only to find out that I'm losing bone in my jaw and will have to have bone grafts to save some of my teeth.  The next day I found another lump in my breast that I am sure is just another fibroadenoma like the last one. I also got a letter saying my lady doctor was no longer in network so I would have to find a new one. Crap.

Then my hematologist calls to remind me I need to do my labs.   I let her know that I have been feeling sick so I will do them next week.  The next day the transplant clinic calls to remind me they need labs too. Then they call me back and remind me to schedule a Endoscopy.   I call the scheduler and she tells me I am also due for a ultrasound and doppler. Good grief.  At that point I was reminding myself to take deep breaths.

The next day I got a letter stating that my Dr is back in network so I call to set up an appointment to have my Mirena removed and replaced and was reminded that my other doctors suggested I just have my tubes tied. And there is one more decision I have just sitting on my shoulders. Then I realize...

That is 3 procedures I will have to go off my coumadin for.  And will have to bridge with the lovenox injections a week before each one.   There is no way I could have all 3 done at once so what the heck. I was just so excited to be done with those dreadful needles.  And suddenly I feel like crying all over again.

Poor David has been such a champ through all this.  My rock as always. This morning I said I just wish i had someone who understood what I was going through so I could talk to them.  I think I hurt his feelings. Even if he pretends not to have any! I hate unloading my problems onto him because I know the last thing he needs is another thing to worry about.  It's easy to feel alone in such a big world.  

In the end, I come full circle and am able to remind myself that even though it sucks, like really sucks, it could be worse.  Actually, eventually it will be worse.  I try not to ever ask "why me" because I would rather it be me than on of the boys or other family, but ever now and then I do.  Why.  Because I am strong enough to take it.  Even if I have to whine like a child every now and again.  

Tomorrow is a new day!

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