Just Say No To Chicken Nuggets

I have a theory. It's been a long time coming. For years I thought I would never see the end of having a huge Costco size bag of chicken nuggets in my freezer. I wondered if there would be days when my kids wouldn't assume that the main meat part of their meal must be breaded somehow. I hoped that one day they would enjoy just a piece of chicken, or pork chop or beef all by itself and not freak when it didn't somehow at least "look like a chicken nugget". I dreamed of going to a Japanese Steak House with my whole family and having them actually eat the veggies, rice, and meat prepared for them with no complaints.

My husband and I decided a year or so ago that we would just stop buying the lovely breaded beasts. We would give them bite sized pieces of meat of all varieties but they would be exactly what we were eating only in smaller sizes. We would try and have side dishes available that we knew would be easy for my kids to eat to ease the trauma of no chicken nuggets. We also decided that the only time they would ever see the things again was when we were out to eat on occasion.

I will say it was a bit scary at first but we stuck to our guns and basically said, "that is dinner, eat it, or just go to bed now hungry!" There were definitely days when my kids did leave the table and go to bed hungry but at least I didn't have to listen to them complain for an hour after preparing the meal. They seemed to learn though that we were serious and that there were not chicken nuggets coming out to rescue them (or anything else for that matter) if they cried long enough. I will say I have enjoyed watching them eat more varieties of foods and with less complaining as time has gone by.

This past Saturday night I was hungry. Way too hungry to start thinking about what to fix for dinner. (pregnancy can do that to you!) I should have eaten sooner but by the time I realized how hungry I was, all I knew is I need food now and a lot of it! I grabbed my purse, got shoes on and told everyone to get in the car. We headed to the local Japanese Steak House with the hopes and dreams that maybe just maybe our work had paid off. Luckily there was no waiting and we were given soup, salad and a lovely dinner right away. My kids loved the show of the fire. C thought for sure there would be roasting of marshmallows for S'mores at the end. What I thought was so great though was there was absolutely NO complaining. All three kids ate tons of veggies,rice, chicken AND SHRIMP! They ate it up like champs and not one of them was looking for the chicken nuggets and fries! Having attempted this exact restaurant several years before with no such luck, I felt very impressed with the boys and just thoroughly enjoyed being with them. Now all I can think is "just say no to chicken nuggets!!"

Spring Break, Anniversaries, and Easter

I knew this April would be busy. It always is with spring break, our wedding anniversary, Easter, birthdays and all kinds of things to plan and carry out.

For spring break we wanted to go away. Far far away where the sun would shine and we could have some serious down time. The weather here has just been weird. One day it's beautiful and you think that spring is finally here to stay and the next minute you are freezing and wondering if it is actually going to snow. So I went hunting. I found a place down in South Carolina that I was excited about but it meant spending a good sum of money on renting a beach house and after some discussion we thought it might be better to save the money for upcoming family events. We still headed south to North Carolina to visit Grandma/Grandpa Brown and K's sister Lindsey. We stayed for about 4 days and enjoyed having fun with them and relaxing with some nicer weather. They taught us how to decorate eggs Ukrainian style and it was awesome!

On our way home on Tuesday, we got crazy and stopped at Busch Gardens for the rest of the day. It was a bit chilly but there were no lines and the kids loved it. I don't think I realized how much I couldn't go on being prego. I figured the big rides were out but that I would be able to enjoy some with the little guys. I forgot the lovely bar that comes down to hold the little guys in. I got on a ride with C and H. Then they started to bring the bar down to hold them in and hmm....someone is in the way of the bar being able to lock. Could it be the baby in my belly?.....well I ended up quickly sitting to the side so the bar would lock and vowed to never get on a ride again until this baby is born!

We got home about midnight exhausted and grateful to be in our own beds. Wednesday was filled with cleaning, laundry and running tons of errands. Thursday morning my sister in law Mallory came because she and her husband Chris were gonna be watching the kids for a couple of days while K and I went on a 10th anniversary trip.


We had no idea where to go. Doctors said I can't fly anymore so we were limited to places close by. We thought of NYC but heard it was snowing there.....ugh! So we headed to the Eastern Shore and stayed at this amazing white mansion on the coast. If any of you have ever seen Wedding Crashers, it's the mansion in the movie!! It was beautiful!!! We ate like kings, relaxed like kings, took a boat ride and just enjoyed having some down time together. We even had spa massages to help relax! We fell in love with the town and would love to live there one day!

We made it back just in time for Easter with my family. I think my kids have had 3 or 4 Easter Egg hunts by now and still love it. It was a beautiful day spent with family which is always nice!

Now the kids are back in school. Back to the schedule for one more quarter. Back to the real world.....hmmm I can't believe another school year is almost over. Crazy how time flies!