the essence

We have an overabundance of cereal - so much that I don't have room for all of it on the pantry shelves so some of the unopened boxes are on the pantry floor.

Addison had been asking to eat some of the cereal & after I continued to refuse she took matters into her own hands (it didn't take the girls long at all to figure out that they can get away with more things while I'm sitting on the sofa nursing Clay).



Later in the day I found her with another box - at least she gets tupperware containers out to dump them in!

This was an extremely challenging week with my dearest eldest child. When my mom called Thursday to let me know she had a dentist appointment on my side of the coast Friday I took advantage of my parents' visit & went out alone. Granted, it was only for about 45 minutes, but it was enough to really help me regroup & feel rejuvenated.

I also can tell that having meals already prepared for the days I work are a huge help so this morning I went grocery shopping & spent today preparing meals. I made a double batch of lasagna, a double batch of baked penne with chicken and dried tomatoes, a double batch of vegetarian enchiladas, a batch of chili & a batch of white chicken chili.

As for our vacation we've put it off for a couple of days & now we're aiming for a leave date of Monday. I'm busy with last minute preparations - I don't find it too difficult to pack for the kids (thankfully, kids really don't require much!), I just find it difficult picking out the clothes. The weather is so different up north than it is here that I'm not too sure about choosing a wardrobe for everybody!