Is it dinner time AGAIN!??!

First, I am thankful that figuring out dinner is one of my biggest issues in life right now. It could surely be worse, but I am so grateful that it is not. That said. I hate dinner time. That 5 o'clock hour when I realize we should have something defrosted and ready to cook or at least a plan as to what we will be eating when the youngest of the bunch comes in, bouncing a ball, asking "what's for dinner?" I dread it many days because sometimes, tossing something into the Crock Pot at noon doesn't sound appealing. Pulling out one of those great looking recipes I printed out long ago may happen, but it has so many things in the ingredients list that I don't have - ugh, scratch that.  Heck I typically don't even have anything frozen, like a quick meal, that I could take out and slap some broccoli or salad next to! I'm just UNPREPARED! 
 
Okay, wait, no I don't hate dinner time unless I am unprepared. It would seem the remedy to that would be to meal plan, right? Well, have you ever done that? It's kind of involved, which means it's kind of annoying to do, but that it really does pay off.

1. How much money do you have for said meal plan?
2. What is in the sale papers for the week that might help me decide what we will eat?
3. Okay, what do we all like enough that it will get a pass for dinner...for a week?
4. What do we already have in the pantry/fridge that I won't have to buy?
5. Now let's go grocery shopping. (Bonus: This must be done weekly or monthly)

At this point, we are ready to cook dinner, ideally, for a solid week - probably with a leftover day in there somewhere. I find this process tedious. But when I don't do this, I find that we are spending quite a bit of money eating out and although it's not McDonald's we're getting, it's still not a home cooked meal. When I follow these five steps, however long it takes me, we eat at home and the kids can take leftovers to school for lunch! Win-win in my book! I don't think my family realizes what it takes to get that dinner on the table or into their lunch boxes on a daily basis, but I feel so much better knowing that what we are eating is not full of preservatives and sodium the way restaurant food typically is.

Don't be confused, there are days when both Babe and I say, "let's just pick something up" and we do. But when a meal plan is in place and the groceries are in the house just waiting to become dinner, it doesn't happen as often. And when both of your kids find the kid's menu at any restaurant unsatisfying - especially the kid who is still young enough to eat off that menu - ya really need to eat at home!

Basketball: Season 2

We just wrapped up season two of basketball for Nas' team, the Rowdy Rebels. The boys were undefeated this year, which is a huge accomplishment considering his team last year lost all but one game, which ended in a tie.

It was fun to see Nas grow and learn the sport. He dribbles much better, leaps full-on into the air to grab rebounds, made several points over the course of the season, and learned to kick it up a notch when his opponent was more aggressive. Nas understands the game of basketball now, last season? Not so much.

He wanted to practice all the time - at the playground basketball court or at the make-shift court he created at home. Many a morning we were awaken to the rhythmic sound of a bouncing ball. However irritated I may have been because he woke me from my slumber, I always smiled because Nas truly does enjoy basketball. Much like I find myself, sometimes, annoyed with the loud music blaring from the family room because Jay is practicing her ballet positions or just plain old rocking it out, I know that this is what she loves. Granted I do ask that she turn the tunes down, I never make her stop because watching my children find the things in this life that fulfill them reminds me of how I felt when I was eight years old. Back then I realized that writing was much like talking - but I wasn't nervous when I wrote, no anxiety there - it became something I wanted to do as often I could. It became a part of me.

I don't know that basketball will be part of Nas throughout his life, or dance will permeate all that Jay does in this life, but for now, right now, I know that my kids have found things they love doing. No matter what, I pray they always have something they can go to that allows them to get lost and forget the world around them. For now, my sleep will be interrupted by a bouncing ball and my peace will be cut short by music that makes my daughter move. I think it's something that I will miss when they grow up and leave home, so I cherish it while I can.