Meal Plan 05/15/2017 - 05/19/2017

Tomorrow is Shawn's birthday so our meal plan this week consists of his favourite foods. (Festival of Shawn last all week.) (I'm an unabashed birthday lover. It's part of my charm.).

Monday: Birthday dinner! Barbecued steak served with Shawn's favourite potato salad and creamy cucumber salad. Shawn loves cheesecake but I don't want to make a full-sized cheesecake (and then, you know, eat a full-sized cheesecake all week) so I might try to make a pie-sized cheesecake or pick a different dessert. The man loves chocolate and peanut butter so I've got lots of options. Suggestions are welcome.

Tuesday: Pulled pork lettuce wraps. (I just realized I've never blogged my pulled pork recipe so I'll get on that this week.) We used to eat our pulled pork on soft dinner rolls but we both feel better (read: smug) when we eat lettuce wraps instead of delicious, pillowy baked goods. Served with a simple purple cabbage coleslaw. 

Wednesday: Grady has baseball so I need something quick, easy, and portable. I'm thinking I'll cook up a pot of barley or quinoa, roast some sweet potatoes, and build pulled pork dinner bowls with the leftovers from the night before. 

Thursday: Nachos topped with spicy chicken and served with fresh guacamole and a side of Responsibility Vegetables.

Friday: Shawn's not here for dinner so I'm thinking the kids and I will either have a patio picnic (goldfish crackers with yogurt and fruit) or we'll make homemade pizza.

What's on your menu this week?

You Just Bought the Furniture

My little brother is the baby of the family. I should probably stop calling him little, as he's over 6-feet tall and towers over his sisters. My brother has the distinct disadvantage of growing up with siblings who were old enough during his toddler years to remember his shenanigans. (You can unclench, Westy, I'm not here to share any secrets.)

I remember my little brother and my dad having the weirdest power struggles. I say weird because as a kid, I was all "little brother, why are you fighting with Dad? He's the dad! You do what he says!" but now as an adult who has parented a threenager, I'm all "Dad, why did you fight the tiny rage tornado? He was three years old! You could not win!" Hindsight is 20/20 and all that jazz.

Anyway, one day my family was sitting around the kitchen table eating dinner when one of these power struggles erupted. I don't remember what prompted him but my dad said something along the lines of "when you're in my house, you follow my rules." My little brother, bless his heart, responded with "this isn't your house." This isn't your house. You guys. If you have not yet parented a three-year-old, this is what you have to look forward to.

It was like all the air was suddenly sucked out of the room. No one breathed. My dad met my little brother's defiant gaze and asked, "no? Then whose house is it?"

"Mom bought the house," my brother announced, disdainfully. "You just bought the furniture."

I love my siblings more than I can properly articulate but today, on National Sibling Day, I want to say how grateful I am to have a built-in crew of people who know exactly what I'm looking for when I say I need the pumpkin pie recipe, who feel the same isolation when it comes to pop culture because none of us were allowed to watch the cool movies or tv shows growing up, and who can simultaneously put me in my place and make me howl with laughter by telling me I just bought the furniture.

{Photo by the amazing Alanna of Dyani Photography}

April Fools' Day PSA and a Fun Prank for the Kindergarten Crowd

I hesitate to make any sort of "you should do this" or "you shouldn't do that" statement because really, who am I to tell anyone how they should live their life? You do you, babies.

With this exception: if you are thinking of posting a fake pregnancy announcement tomorrow for April Fools' Day, don't. Just don't. Fake pregnancy announcements are not funny. At best, they're insensitive and tone deaf. They can be incredibly hurtful to people struggling with infertility, miscarriage, baby loss, and more.

We've managed to avoid April Fools' Day with Grady up until now. This week he came home from school and told me about this hilarious holiday called April Fools' Day. All week he's been pranking me like "hey mommy! There's a giant monster behind you!" *finger guns* "APRIL FOOLS' DAY!" And I have to laugh because he's my kid and I love him and his innocence is adorable. But people don't have to laugh at fake pregnancy announcements. I hope that if you encounter a fake pregnancy announcement in the wild (believe me, it's a matter of when, not if) you'll tell the prankster that they're not being funny, they're being rude.

Right! April Fools' Day PSA over. Now for the fun part.

I don't want to encourage this pranking nonsense because honestly, I don't have the time or energy for it. But! I do want to satisfy Grady's imagination and encourage his belief in magic. So today after school, Grady and I will be filling an old flower pot with rocks. Then we'll plant our "doughnut seeds" (Cheerios). Tomorrow morning, when Grady wakes up on April Fools' Day, his doughnut seeds will have sprouted doughnuts. I am ridiculously excited (to see his reaction and, umm, to eat the doughnuts).

My prank didn't take a lot of prep and won't require a lot of cleanup. And we get to eat doughnuts for breakfast. It's the perfect April Fools' Day prank.

Do you participate in April Fools' Day with your kids? How are you planning to prank them tomorrow?

Put Me in the Story: Personalized Books for Easter

Easter holds different meaning for different people but in our house, it's an opportunity to welcome spring, celebrate family, and enjoy some chocolate. Poor Poppy is too young to participate in the Easter egg hunt / chocolate fest that we've put on for Grady in recent years, but that doesn't mean she'll be left out.

Put Me In The Story to the rescue!

“Put Me In The Story takes bestselling books and beloved characters and creates personalized books complete with the child’s name, photo, and a message from the gift giver! Reading becomes more fun and engaging for kids when the book stars them!”

Put Me In The Story has lots of options to choose from, appropriate for different religious aspects of Easter (including non-religious options) and age levels. The ordering process was quick and painless. I was easily guided through entering specific information (child's name, personal message, photo, etc.) and in no time flat, I had a perfectly personalized I Love You Honey Bunny on its way to me to put in Poppy's Easter basket.

I was slightly skeptical at how the personalized content would be integrated with the rest of the story but my concerns were unfounded. It all fits together beautifully and doesn't look like someone swapped in different pages for different people; the book truly looks like it was custom-made for our honey bunny.

You can win a personalized Easter book and plush gift for your own honey bunny! Enter here:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

{Disclosure: I received product in exchange for this review; all opinions stated are my own.}