Boys Love Dirt.

As I was preparing to bring the boys a snack on Sunday as they played outside with Mr. Incredible, I peeked outside.

"That's strange," I said to myself. "I know I didn't buy sand yet." (Though I have been meaning to for 3 weeks.)

But there sat the boys in the sandbox dumping and shoveling.

Mr. Incredible ran in to grab the camera, beaming with pride.

"Where did you find the sand?" I queried.

"Oh, it's not sand. It's dirt. From the empty lot down the street. I brought over a bunch of buckets! The boys love it!" he exclaimed beaming with pride at his ingenuity.

I looked at him, dismayed. "But it's....dirty!"

"Boys are supposed to play in dirt," he said matter-of-factly, as if I had just criticized his sons for daring to breathe oxygen. And he disappeared outside.

When I showed up with their snack, Jack-Jack had already found a suitable palate cleanser...shockingly, dirt.

Filling Those Little Bellies!

Over at Building Cathedrals, MaryAlice challenged us to keep track of what we fed our kiddos for 5 days. Here are our results:

This is a fairly typical week with the exception of the boys getting sick and me not having broccoli around the house. Far from being a "no snacks between meals" home, I struggle to not feed my hungry 100th percentile boys between snacks. As for drinks...Dash drinks tons of water and milk and only juice when he's sick. Jack-Jack will only take water from a sippy and milk from a bottle at this point, so we make sure he gets lots of cheese and dairy. We buy organic milk because I'm not a huge fan of growth hormones. Since we just moved, I have yet to find the best places/deals for organic produce, but would love to join a co-op so we could save $$. I understand there is an organic farmer's market around here in the spring, so I can't wait to check that out. I would like to incorporate a wider variety of grains into our normal diet, like quinoa, barley, etc. Also, we usually have a few more sweets around, but I gave them up for Lent and am less likely to bake a pie when I can't eat it!

We maybe go out to eat once every 2 weeks and throw in a take-out pizza every 6 weeks. After a particularly stressful day requiring this pregnant mama to get an EKG (needing the EKG was the cause of the stress, not the other way around) I declared tonight pizza and broccoli night. There were no complaints. Here's what our week looked like:

Wednesday Dinner:
Black Bean and Chorizo Soup
Ham
Broccoli, Carrots
Small valentine's day cookie

Thursday Breakfast:
Oatmeal with raisins, cinnamon and a touch of brown sugar (I use quick-cooking oats and add water from our insti-hot, so it is virtually instant oatmeal without all the sugar)
15-grain Bread (store-bought) with blueberry cream cheese (I realize I need to make more bread as we are out! Thankfully, I usually have some store bought kind in the fridge)
Cheese (not organic, 2lb block from Costco)
Raspberries (not organic, can't find organic berries this time of year. I usually buy our fruit at Costco since the boys go through it so quickly)

Thursday Snack:
Dash: Rest of Oatmeal from breakfast
Jack-Jack: Cheerios and Goldfish

Thursday Lunch:
Ham, Colby Jack and Honey Mustard Panini on 15-grain bread (I use my panini machine at least once a day. I started grilling Dash's sandwiches when he was little because he would just eat the bread and leave the meat/cheese. Now Jack-Jack likes to eat the meat/cheese and leave the bread. Grilling them together, in addition to tasting great, means the kids don't take their sandwiches apart)
Smoked Liver Pate
Smoked Halibut Spread (Halibut, cream cheese, red onion, spices) on wheat crackers
Avocado
Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie

Thursday Snack:
Freshly Baked Dark Rye Bread (I love my bread machine! I don't need one quite this fancy, but it was a gift. I usually go heavy on the rye flour and lighter on the wheat flour and very heavy on the seeds. I've also used it to make pizza/pretzel dough.) with Cherry Preserves
Banana

Thursday Dinner:
Quesidillas (I have not found a good, local tortillera to buy fresh tortillas since we've moved...need to add that to the list of things to find out) with ground beef, red pepper, onion, tons of garlic (this time of year I add lots of garlic to everything to help ward off sickness...as you will see, it failed this time around), corn, beans, cheese (I try to make something like this towards the weekend, b/c Mr. Incredible likes to eat this for weekend lunches rather than sandwiches. I also buy beef, chicken, etc, from Costco. They sometimes have organic beef. Not always, though. Otherwise, I try to get the all-natural kind, which means no hormones, but the animals don't eat organic feed)

Friday Breakfast:
Dash: Oatmeal w/ raisins, cinnamon, brown sugar, Rye bread with Cream Cheese, Cheese, Kix,
Banana
Jack-Jack: Barely touches banana, getting sick

Friday Snack:
Strawberries, Cheerios

Friday Lunch:
Dash: Cheese, bean and corn quesidilla, baked sweet potato
Jack-Jack: Getting sick, refuses to eat anything

Friday Snack during unplanned Friday PM Visit to Pediatrician that confirms Jack-Jack with strep-like virus which I am told can cause blisters on the back of the throat:
Dash: Goldfish and raisins in a bag, sugarfree lollipop from Dr.
Jack-Jack: Applesauce

Friday Dinner: Jack-Jack: Applesauce
Dash: Red Beans and Brown Rice (which your mom probably taught you is a complete protein, make in crockpot which was a blessing since we had our unplanned dr. outing)

Saturday Breakfast:
Dash: Blueberries, Baked Oatmeal (we call it oatmeal cake, which the boys love. I use Penzey's recipe, but use whole milk, whole eggs and cut the brown sugar in half...it makes a bunch and, kept in the fridge, lasts for a few days) rye bread with cream cheese, pasta, OJ (Mr. Incredible fed breakfast, I don't give juice and rarely have it around. Usually only for playgroups at my house. I'm not sure why I feel obligated to feed other parents' kids juice...)
Jack-Jack: Applesauce

Saturday Lunch:
Dash: Quesidilla w/ ham, cheese, beans, corn; Sweet potato, cherry tomatoes
Jack-Jack: Red Beans and Brown Rice, Sweet Potato, Truffle Mouse pate on crackers

Saturday Snack:
Blueberries, Cheese, Cherry Tomatoes

Saturday Dinner (Leftovers):
Smoked Halibut Spread on Crackers, Smoked Trout, Red Beans and Rice, Sweet Potato

Sunday Breakfast:
Baked Oatmeal, Blueberries
Dash: Doughnut after mass

Sunday Snack:
Carrots, Cheese

Sunday Lunch:
Dash: Getting sick, fever; eats nothing
Jack-Jack: Feeling better; Ham, Turkey, Cheese, Pasta, Blueberries

Sunday Snack:
Jack-Jack: Graham Cracker

Sunday Dinner:
Dash: Doesn't eat dinner, just drinks milk and a little juice, plaintively asks for 1 marshmallow since he knew we were planning smores for dessert. Request granted. In bed by 6:30.
Jack-Jack: Osso Bucco (Beef Shanks Braised with carrots, celery, onion, tomato, wine, stock), Mashed Potatoes with lots of Garlic thrown in, Graham Cracker

Monday Breakfast:
Dash: Still feverish; 1/2 Cup Applesauce
Jack-Jack: Baked Oatmeal, Cheese, Banana

Monday Snack:
Dash: some Kix, a few goldfish
Jack-Jack: Blueberries, Goldfish

Monday Lunch:
Dash: Carrots, 1 graham cracker
Jack-Jack: 1/2 Ham and Scarmoza Panini on 15-grain bread, carrots, pasta, beans, 1/2 graham cracker

Monday Snack:
Dash: a few blueberries, keeps saying he hurt his neck, meaning his throat hurts
Jack-Jack: Blueberries, Goldfish

Monday Dinner:
Jack-Jack: "Chicken fingers" (sliced chicken breasts rolled in flour, then egg, then crushed Honey Bunches of Oats with McCormick's Steak Seasoning...a favorite of the boys'), Garlic mashed potatoes
Dash: Can't really eat, a few carrots, 1 graham cracker and begs for a marshmallow again

Tuesday Breakfast:
Dash: Throat still hurts, has 2 "popsicles" made with OJ overnight in freezer
Jack-Jack: Baked Oatmeal, Cheese, Banana, Cinnamon Toast

We're Home!

We are excited to be settled into our new home with the last box officially unpacked as of this weekend! We are returning to a more normal routine that will hopefully allow me to keep up with blogging these boys!

In the meantime, some Catholic moms and friends from college have started a new blog, Building Cathedrals, where we discuss the joys and challenges of raising our babies. Jack-Jack would like to invite you to visit!