![What We Had for Dinner: Beef and Bean Chile Verde, Skinny Cilantro Lime Rice, & Clementines]()
by Catherine | Nov 14, 2013 | The Homefront
I thought I’d share our easy weeknight dinner from last night.
We had Beef and Bean Chile Verde
over skinny cilantro lime rice (you know, like that fabulous burrito joint makes?).
We always double the rice recipe to make equal amounts of the chile & rice.
Meal planning is much more fun with adventurous eaters. Hooray for little ones that will actually eat this kind of stuff!
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| The kids’ plates |
The Feast of St. Nicholas is almost here, so you know these have to be back in season!
Really, what is the Feast of St. Nicholas without a clementine (and some gold coins) in your shoe? Anyway, we feasted on some clementines as well.
What’s on the menu at your house tonight?
![Keeping the Christmas Season Organized]()
by Catherine | Nov 13, 2013 | The Homefront
Last year, I created a Christmas Planner and shared it on my blog here. I thought I’d share the information again in case anyone would find it helpful. Why do all of that work if you’re not going to share?!
My Christmas planner includes the following categories:
- Budget
- divided by categories: gifts, charitable giving, decorations, Christmas cards, etc.
- Master gift list
- recipient, where purchased, whether it has been purchased/delivered, cost, wrapped, running total
- Stocking stuffers
- recipient, where purchased, cost, running total – this helps to make sure things are “even” among everyone
- Room-by-room décor
- item, where placed, where stored
- Menus/Recipes
- Listed here (stored on Paprika)
- Our Holiday Traditions
- List of activities and dates we do each year
- Advent Wreath
- Booklet with reflections, lyrics to songs we sing, etc.
- Jesse Tree
- reflections to read for each ornament
- Ornament Journal
- the place to write down who give us our various ornaments and what they mean to us
- Holiday Favorites
- books, movies, music, wish list
- Recipes to Try
- Craft Projects
- Entertaining
- buffet lay-out ideas, cocktail recipes, bar set-up, Pandora stations or playlists, Christmas Minute to Win it games, etc.
- Christmas Card
- archive old favorites, keep list of recipients & addresses, shopping information for cards & stationery
- Post-Holiday Debriefing
- Write down what went wrong, what went right, and what you want to keep the same or change for future years
If you are interested in making your own Christmas planner, feel free to download any of my files via a shared Google folder here.
Today, I discovered on Catholic Icing that Lacy (the creator) made an ebook called “The Advent Christmas Planner.” I’m planning on buying a copy myself because it looks fantastic! I’ll let you head over to Catholic Icing to read her description. Some of the planner looks like mine (forms for budgets and that sort of thing), but she also has a ton of great ways to celebrate the season with activities and pictures.
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| From Catholic Icing |
If you’re interested, “The Advent Christmas Planner” is on sale for $10 for two weeks (reduced from $12). I supposed I should mention that I did not get paid or endorsing this planner!!!
As I wrote last year, I made my Christmas planner to relieve stress and keep things more organized. I am so glad I have this information archived in one central location. Remember to make the Christmas planner work for you and your family. If it’s becoming too much work, it might not be your style! Remember, the goal is to reduce your stress around the Christmas season and focus on “the reason for the season.” If this binder and organizing is your sort of thing, then great! If it’s not, then fuhgettaboutit and step away from the label maker!
![Impromptu Fall Photo Shoot]()
by Catherine | Nov 13, 2013 | Family
Our photographer for our family portraits had to cancel due to weather, and we are rescheduled for this Sunday. It’s not looking too good weather-wise, so we decided to do an impromptu photo shoot a few nights ago. Harold was taking a snooze in his swing, so we snapped a few shots of Jane and Walt (aka “the big kids”) in the backyard.
I had to include this adorable shot I snapped on the couch the other day while Jane was at preschool. How adorable is this love between the brothers???
![I'm Gonna Miss This]()
by Catherine | Nov 11, 2013 | Faith, Family
While doing the dinner dishes last night, I realized I had a choice: I could empty the clean dishes out of the dishwasher and load the dinner dishes, OR I could join Philip and the kids in the family room for some play time before bed. Before our Happiness Project, I probably would have opted for doing the dishes so that I could have a clean kitchen before bed. Last night, the new and improved me chose to leave the rinsed dishes in the sink and the clean dishes waiting to be unloaded until morning so that we could hang out as a family.
I brought the camera over and started capturing the moment. I said to Philip, “I’m gonna miss this.”
“What?” he asked.
“This. Before we know it, we’ll have kids in evening activities, kids staying up until 9 working on homework, and we won’t have this time anymore. We won’t get to just hang out as a family after dinner, and we won’t have our hour of couple time before bed every night.”
So, the dishes waited. And, you know what? It’s mid-afternoon the next day, and the dishes are still waiting. It turned out the kids wanted to learn about numbers today.
There was great music, lots of dancing, sunglasses, headbands, a tutu, and some trains.
Harry slept through most of it, but he woke up happy and giggling to the show in front of him. (Those sweet little baby giggles are the best!)
In the midst of the dance party, I noticed that dust was collecting on the entertainment center, the sliding glass door was covered in our pup’s nose prints, and the walls could use a good scrubbing. I know this sounds silly, but I was so proud of myself for allowing these things to accumulate. It meant I was learning to let a few things go in exchange for more quality time as a family. Things are still fairly tidy, but more often than not, I’m picking family over housework. The balance is increasing everyone’s happiness. If I’m gonna miss this, I better keep choosing this.
To transition to sleepy time, Philip read Jane and Walt a few of their current favorites from the library.
Then, it was off to the dinner table for sharing what we are thankful for, our family decade of the rosary, and prayer time. My favorite part of this time is hearing what the kids have to say as we gather around the table. They don’t know it, but the things that they say make Philip and I have to cover our faces in laughter or raise our eyebrows in surprise. The emotional pendulum swings from sentimental and sweet to absolutely hilarious every single night.
One of our November Happiness Project Resolutions is to share what we are thankful for each day. I record these items on looseleaf and store them in our family prayer binder. When Philip asked Jane what she was thankful for last night, Jane said, “Being loved by God.” Hearing my little one say something like that in her sweetest, most sincere little voice instantly brought tears to my eyes.
Right on cue, the emotional pendulum swung from sentimental and sweet to hilarious. After everyone shared what they were thankful for, Philip announced that we were praying the 4th Sorrowful Mystery – The Carrying of the Cross, and he displayed our laminated image of the mystery. Jane looked at the picture of Jesus carrying the Cross, and she said, “Aw, poor Jesus. That looks like it is too hard. I think he needs more practice! Where is his friend, Simon?”
I’m gonna miss this.
The days are long, but the years are short.
If I’m gonna miss this, I need to keep choosing this.
I’m gonna miss this if I don’t keep choosing this.
![I’m Gonna Miss This]()
by Catherine | Nov 11, 2013 | Faith, Family
While doing the dinner dishes last night, I realized I had a choice: I could empty the clean dishes out of the dishwasher and load the dinner dishes, OR I could join Philip and the kids in the family room for some play time before bed. Before our Happiness Project, I probably would have opted for doing the dishes so that I could have a clean kitchen before bed. Last night, the new and improved me chose to leave the rinsed dishes in the sink and the clean dishes waiting to be unloaded until morning so that we could hang out as a family.
I brought the camera over and started capturing the moment. I said to Philip, “I’m gonna miss this.”
“What?” he asked.
“This. Before we know it, we’ll have kids in evening activities, kids staying up until 9 working on homework, and we won’t have this time anymore. We won’t get to just hang out as a family after dinner, and we won’t have our hour of couple time before bed every night.”
So, the dishes waited. And, you know what? It’s mid-afternoon the next day, and the dishes are still waiting. It turned out the kids wanted to learn about numbers today.
There was great music, lots of dancing, sunglasses, headbands, a tutu, and some trains.
Harry slept through most of it, but he woke up happy and giggling to the show in front of him. (Those sweet little baby giggles are the best!)
In the midst of the dance party, I noticed that dust was collecting on the entertainment center, the sliding glass door was covered in our pup’s nose prints, and the walls could use a good scrubbing. I know this sounds silly, but I was so proud of myself for allowing these things to accumulate. It meant I was learning to let a few things go in exchange for more quality time as a family. Things are still fairly tidy, but more often than not, I’m picking family over housework. The balance is increasing everyone’s happiness. If I’m gonna miss this, I better keep choosing this.
To transition to sleepy time, Philip read Jane and Walt a few of their current favorites from the library.
Then, it was off to the dinner table for sharing what we are thankful for, our family decade of the rosary, and prayer time. My favorite part of this time is hearing what the kids have to say as we gather around the table. They don’t know it, but the things that they say make Philip and I have to cover our faces in laughter or raise our eyebrows in surprise. The emotional pendulum swings from sentimental and sweet to absolutely hilarious every single night.
One of our November Happiness Project Resolutions is to share what we are thankful for each day. I record these items on looseleaf and store them in our family prayer binder. When Philip asked Jane what she was thankful for last night, Jane said, “Being loved by God.” Hearing my little one say something like that in her sweetest, most sincere little voice instantly brought tears to my eyes.
Right on cue, the emotional pendulum swung from sentimental and sweet to hilarious. After everyone shared what they were thankful for, Philip announced that we were praying the 4th Sorrowful Mystery – The Carrying of the Cross, and he displayed our laminated image of the mystery. Jane looked at the picture of Jesus carrying the Cross, and she said, “Aw, poor Jesus. That looks like it is too hard. I think he needs more practice! Where is his friend, Simon?”
I’m gonna miss this.
The days are long, but the years are short.
If I’m gonna miss this, I need to keep choosing this.
I’m gonna miss this if I don’t keep choosing this.
