All things Gale: family

Showing posts with label family. Show all posts

Weekend Sleepovers and bedtime routines

Ever since the kids started going to a real school, our bedtime routine has crawled its way to the top of the priority list. We used to put the kids to bed at an "aboutish" hour. It wasn't law. Merely a general suggestion. And it wasn't a big deal because our mornings were on our schedule (I really do miss some things about homeschooling). Now, with the amount of stimulation they have in a day, they absolutely need their beauty sleep and, more importantly, I'm just not into torturing teachers.

So our routine during the week starts with jammies, brushing teeth at 6:45 and by 7:00 we usually have the big kids settled so they can get to sleep by 7:30. The baby goes to sleep whenever she wants to because...

Leo, Elena and Roman all used to share a room. Leo and Elena had the bunk beds and Roman had his toddler bed. It was a great fit for the last year, but the downside was that Bridget was relegated to the pack-n-play for a year! She loved it, it didn't hurt her. And she ends up in my bed most nights anyway.

She sleeps anywhere:

But it really was time to move on. She's practically a grown-up!!

Wouldn't it be awesome if our favorite thing hung from our neck at all times so we could always have it within arms length?? Like chocolate. A glass of wine. Oooo, or a flask. Yes - get on that inventors!!

I told Jason that I wanted to have an option for guests when they come visit as opposed to getting another set of bunk-beds for the girls room. And omigosh did he DELIVER!!!

Look at what Jason made for me!!! Now we have a big bed for guests. I feel so grown up! Air beds no more for visitors! Unless you have a million kids... #askandyoushallreceive #ornaguntiltheydoit

A photo posted by Lisa (@lisagale_va) on Jul 28, 2015 at 6:36am PDT

He put it all together in 2 days and picked up a gallon of antique white paint. I gave it two good coats and was done the next morning. It turned out so beautiful. Our biggest problem was that we don't have the money to buy a plush, big full-size mattress.

Enter Amazon: This is the Signature Sleep 8-Inch Memory Foam Mattress. It came delivered to our door in a big box. It was vacuum wrapped and rolled up. We unrolled it and 2 days later, we had a fully-inflated mattress. Sweet huh?

So now our favorite new weekend routine is a sleepover in Elena's room. Personally, I don't think kids need their own room. We split them up so there is a boys' room and a girls' room. They get major life skills from learning how to share a space with a sibling. And we could never afford a 6 bedroom house so isn't that convenient ;)

We also decided to upgrade the bedding for the kids. Up until we had to stage the bedrooms to sell our old home, the kids were using our old college comforters. Long overdue my friends. The gift of "home decor" and "making things pretty" is so far removed from my skill-set that it is a bit of a joke among people who know me. I'm in on the joke though and do my part to perpetuate it! When our realtor came in to see our home ready to sell, she gave me a pity-smile and asked if I had any friends who liked to decorate. I was not surprised at all... I am "decorationally-challenged". New phrase

The Before (my handiwork)

The After: My friend came over to bail us out!!

(If you look closely, you'll see that I didn't even put the quilt on in the right direction. But I guess that just shows you how much I don't know about these things?!

I wanted to find something that was pretty for Elena's new bed though and stumbled on these funky and fun quilts on Amazon!

Greenland Quilt - Bohemian

I agonized over my decision on a quilt for entirely too long. But only because there are SO many other pretty ones!! My other three favorites were Nirvana, Clearwater, and Blooming Prairie. But since it was for Elena, I went with bold, colorful and funky!!

So in the end, we paid:

$179 for the mattress
$71 for the quilt set
$60 for the paint
$50 for the wood
Total: $360 - not too shabby!

And got a beautiful new bed. Now we just need all of you to come visit us!! I hear Tennessee is beautiful this time of year...*wink*

*This post contains affiliate links

Camping with kids (Also filed under "Parenting on Display")

No but seriously, camping with kids is the best thing since sliced bread.

I had to push aside my fears of "inconveniencing others" and parenting on display for the world to scrutinize and judge. But hey, I'm willing to be fodder for your sinful conversation if it means I get to do this all weekend!! (I know I look like I'm in pain. I'm not. The flash BLINDED me!!)

Jason and I have wanted to camp since before we got married. We had all the awesome stuff for camping on our wedding registry, but I guess when people saw that we didn't even have cutlery, a pot, or a vacuum, the camping stuff was less urgent. Looking back, it is better that we were gifted this stuff or we would still be washing and reusing plastic forks because we are both ~~money hoarders~~ so frugal.

Anyway, we were gifted a tent by a large family looking to upgrade. And FINALLY were able to plan ahead for camping. Jason's Christmas stash looked like an outdoors store threw up under our tree. And he was itching to get a chance to use it all. Backyard camping is fun, but you don't really need your propane stove and mini axe.

But you know where a mini axe comes in handy? In the wild!! NATURE!!!!

I think it was right about this time that an older couple pulled into the campsite next door to us. While they were scoping out the perfect location to put their tent, I jokingly said, "You should put it as far away from us as possible!"

HAHA. Right?

Our ever-so-tactful neighbor replied with, "Yeah, when we pulled in, I said to my husband, 'Oh no, a baby.'"

She was met with an icy cold stare and awkward silence. Because what do you even say to that? Once I recovered, I told her she didn't need to worry about the baby. It was the loud 3 year old that might drive them insane. Cue awkward laughter...

And I told Bridget to go wake them up bright and early each morning.

KIDDING!!!!

Aside from the stress of parenting my children in front of 200 strangers (it was packed!), our first camping weekend as a family was amazing. I'm antsy to go back. Without the rain ending our trip early next time! I sat outside reading, sipping coffee, watching my kids play, and talking to my husband. And when I got cold at night, I grabbed a couple kids and sandwiched myself in between them. What is better than that???

Okay so let's talk real quick about the awesome camping gear we had and what we wished we had!

We brought my beloved cast iron skillets for cooking over the fire, but there wasn't enough room over the fire for the entire meal, and it just got too smoky and hot. This outdoor kitchen is awesome for the extras! We put our Propane Stove on top and were able to make pancakes, sauteed veggies, and campfire coffee (which is all you really need, amiright?!).

Okay there were only a couple other things we had that were ESSENTIAL!

A basic kitchen utensil kit. This little kit has all the cooking essentials. Except garlic. Never leave the garlic behind!

God bless this portable fan.

We won't need it for fall or spring camping, but it was 95 all weekend and we would have been too uncomfortable to sleep without this fan!!

We actually don't need a ton of stuff when we go camping. Our kids were so well occupied all weekend with activities and meeting other campground friends that any other stuff we brought was ignored. Most of our activities centered around cooking.

Fact: Bacon cooked over a fire tastes better.

The kids spent a ton of time in the stream catching crawfish, reading books, canoeing, learning from the Park Rangers, hiking, and catching (and naming) crickets. It makes me wish we had gone camping SO much sooner!!

And the only thing that would have made this camping trip more perfect (aside from a large tarp so we didn't get rained out...newbie mistake):

A camping hammock! Or 3. We are going to try to buy at least one of these before we head out camping again in October. They were all OVER the campsite! I assumed they were too expensive for us, but they are actually affordable!

I have 1 month of prep time before we go camping again. What am I missing? What are your camping must-haves?

{this post contains Amazon affiliate links}

7 Quick Takes (#52)

Linking up with Cari, Author of Pope Awesome and Other Stories, for this weeks 7 Takes!

--- 1 ---

My brand new squishy delicious niece was born yesterday morning!!! Lucy Ryann was born on her due date at 9:40 in the morning. I'm so happy for Nicole that she is no longer pregnant! And major kudos for the 100% natural delivery - no drugs...again (she did a drug-free delivery with the twins as well!!)

The twins are going to be all the entertainment this little girl can handle.

Elena got so excited she asked if she could go play with the baby. I told her the plane tickets cost too much money and she said, "No mom, look at all the money in your money jar!"

--- 2 ---

We did just visit our cousins a month ago. I put a few photos on Facebook, but here are some pics of our visit with family!

We gathered our family from 4 different states (Virginia, Maryland, South Carolina and Texas) for the 2nd anniversary of my mom's death, and we did exactly what she would have expected us to: We drank a toast to her!

Seriously - they are as tall as a human gets. It was ridiculous. And I felt claustrophobic all week.

My Goddaughter Audrey!!

Annual Lobster Feast - a Nova Scotian thing

Instead of finishing his summer reading, Gavin built them a fort and then hid from his parents in it with Elena

It was a good trip and now I'm ready to go home and visit again!

--- 3 ---

I am participating in another Jesse Tree Swap this year. Last year was a nightmare. I crocheted tiny little swords and anvils and it took WEEKS!! This year, I saw that the Stump and Sprout were still available and jumped on it. It took a whopping 2 hours!

While I read a book in front of the fire, Jason saws 2 pieces of firewood into tiny little circle ornaments. He drilled a hole through the top for the string, and made a small angled hole in the bottom (not all the way through) to hold the "sprout". I bought an ornate leaf thingy from Hobby Lobby and tore it apart to attach sprouts to the wood.

And seriously - that was IT!! It took a few more minutes to attach the string. But 2 hours max. I might get around to writing Isaiah 11:1-2 on the back as well.

Isaiah 11:1-2

New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE)

The Peaceful Kingdom

11 A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse,
    and a branch shall grow out of his roots.
2 The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him,
    the spirit of wisdom and understanding,
    the spirit of counsel and might,
    the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.

Jesse Tree - Isaiah 11:1-2

--- 4 ---

Ever since I gave up Facebook, dinner has been on the table by 6 every night. It is magical. Last night we had my brand new favorite meal. We had it when we visited friends for dinner a couple weeks ago and now it is a Gale Household staple!

Creole Red Beans and Rice with Cunapes
(Of course I don't have one picture because it gets eaten so fast - I'll get photos tonight and add them!)

Ingredients:
1 cup dry red beans
1 1/2 cups rice
3 cups chicken broth
6 slices bacon
Creole Seasoning (from Allrecipes)0

Directions:
1) The day before, soak the beans in warm water on the counter overnight. The next morning, rinse the beans thoroughly and soak again. At least an hour before you want to eat, boil water and cook the beans for about an hour.
2) Pour the broth and rice (rinsed) in a pot and bring to a boil, put the cover on and allow steam to come out and cook for 20 minutes.
3) Bake the bacon in the oven at 325 degrees for 20-25 minutes. Crumble.

Serve the red beans and rice with the creole seasoning poured on top and crumbled bacon. Serve with cuñapés.

Cuñapé

Ingredients:
8oz round of queso fresco grated
1 cup Yuca Harina (tapioca starch)
Salt to taste
~1/4 cup milk

Directions:
Stir ingredients together adding milk only as needed to get a dough (but not too wet). Form balls and push your finger in the bottom to create an indent (will help them not stick to the pan). Bake at 375 for 15-25 minutes. This depends completely on your oven but they should look like this when done:

Credit: Wiki - "Cheese Bun"

And go read The Origins of Cunape in the comments over here: http://www.boliviabella.com/cunape-cheese-bread-balls.html. I felt like I was in 5th grade all over again when I read it *snicker*

--- 5 ---

We only have one more soccer game before the end of the season!

This was from our last practice of the season last night. That was the first time Leo actively tried to engage with the ball. And the only...

He usually spends his time on the field being silly

Not paying attention

Or stuck in the imagination world of a 5 year old

He is certain this red jersey makes him an official Power Ranger.

One time during a game, the ball hit his foot and went straight to his teammate who kicked it in the goal. We whooped and hollered like he won the Olympics hoping that he would finally understand the concept.

Maybe he can get a Lego scholarship???