Things to make life easier

I hate lunch. I hate deciding what to make that A) at least half of the kids will eat and B) is easy to put on the table and C) is somewhat healthy and well-rounded. So I finally figured something out that helps me not only get through lunch but all the meals. I've started planning every meal and snack for the week. It is so nice to not have to scramble around for what to put on the table. We also eat so much healthier. Here is my menu plan for last week:

Mon ...........Tues............Wed
Cereal........Yogurt/fruit...cereal

Quesadillas...ham/pretzels...Annie's pasta
plums.........carrots........cherry tomatoes
cucumbers oranges........nectarines

Grapes........apple slices...dried cranberries
PBCrackers....cheese.........graham crackers

Shrimp Salad..sweet n sour...Tostada leftovers
melon.........meatballs......corn
breadsticks...rice/broccoli..watermelon


Thurs..............Fri..............Sat..............Sun
pancakes.............oatmeal...........biscuits........cereal

chicken nuggets......hot dogs..........PB&J............tuna
plums................carrots.............oranges.......apples
sweet potato fries...strawberries........carrots.......cucumber

smoothie.............goldfish............bananas.......grapes
popcorn..............oranges.............nutella toast..banana bars

crab quiche..........cous cous...........sweet n sour...salmon
peas.................salad.................peas................wild rice
cantaloupe...........watermelon............ rice................broccoli

Desserts: Peanut butter bars, snickerdoodles

Other bonuses: not as much complaining, my daughter started to complain about what was for lunch but stopped when I showed her that her favorite lunch was coming up the next day. Not as much pestering, instead of bugging me about what was for snack or dinner they just went and looked for themselves what they could have.

I also try to plan one meal that I can double and freeze to make a quick meal for another week (I doubled and froze the crab quiche and the cous cous was frozen from before and a few fun desserts to make with the kids or when I *need* some chocolate.

Okay so looking back at my menu I take back that we eat healthy...we just eat more of a variety :)

So in a perfect world I would do this every week instead of every once in a while like I do now.

The upsides of having a teenager

For the last few weeks I have become the proud mother of 5...okay not really but I have had our 15 year-old neighbor/babysitter from Paris come and live with us for the Summer. I have to say, I LOVE having a teenager:) Now don't get me wrong she hasn't really even done much babysitting for me but it is the little things. We are out running errands and I need to run in and pick up my holds at the library, I can actually run in and grab them without unloading and herding my whole little troop in and out and we get to do fun things like go to a Jonas Brother's concert together. I'm going to miss her when she's gone but there's already talk of next summer...

Starting again

I think I will get back into blogging again, it was fun last year when I did it so here it goes again. I love my kids birthday parties, I love having a day where everything is special for them. We just celebrated two birthday's: Isaac turned two and then the next day Jocelyn turned 6. Here's a page I made of Isaac eating his bulldozer dirt cake.

He loved opening presents but the next day on Jocelyn's birthday he got pretty made that he couldn't open all her present too. We are still waiting to have Jocelyn's party but hopefully it's going to happen next week.

{Birthday party success!}

My son turned 6 and I was really nervous to throw him a party with all of his school friends because it would have to be all in French. I almost decided not to do a party at all but I love throwing parties for my kids. I tend to turn it into activities for weeks. Solomon had decided he wanted to have a rocket party. We started out making some rocking invitations. I designed a rocket template and then found the perfect kit, Intergalactic Boy, by Victoria Feemster (she sells at OAKS, TDS and O-scraps). After we printed all the pieces out we spent an afternoon curling paper strips around pencils and cutting and glueing. There is a little pull-out card with the party info and you pull it out of the rocket. It was fun and we ended up with some awesome invites!


Then we found an idea for turning candy into rockets. We used mentos and covered them with paper from the kit and then added shiny silver rocket tops and more fire coming out the back. Last we made a pinata. I printed out paper from the kit and we hodgepodges it all over an oval shaped balloon. Then I made a silver rocket tip, cute out some fin/wings. We also printed up a little decoration for the side that said, 'hors de ce monde' or 'out of this world'.




The night before the party I spent awhile translating how to explain the different activities (how to play pin the astronaut on the planet, rocket BINGO, and what a pinata was) We started out with playing pin the astronaut on the planet. Then we played rocket BINGO. Then we did this http://www.dltk-kids.com/crafts/space/morbit.htm way cute art project. Then we brought out the rocket cake that we made like this except we wrote out Sol instead of USA.



I bought sparklers to put in the backwith the candles to make it really exciting. So after the sparklers finished we had Solomon blow out the candles, but he couldn't. I had accidentally bought trick candles. The kids were all busting up laughing and we finally all blew together and got them out. I guess that's one of the problems that comes from not speaking fluent french ;) We opened presents and then did the pinata. Pinatas aren't really popular here so none of the kids had seen one before. But they understood the concept quick, whack at this with a stick until candy falls out, not too difficult for 6 year old boys to figure out :) It was a great success and we all had a blast.

Now I've started planning Jocelyn's party. She wants a princess party and I think we are going to do little make-overs, paint their nails and stuff. Should be fun!

Here's this weeks template for the challenge at www.elementalscraps.com . Today is the grand reopening, with one amazing and huge mega kit that is FREE with a 10 dollars purchase. Awesome! Also remember if you do just three of the challenges at ES you get a free kit.


http://www.4shared.com/file/17056250/cb8f4ce2/ribbon_board_johanna_berry.html
Here's a link for the rocket invitation template I made too if you have a little boy birthday coming up soon! Quick instructions: Fill with your desired papers and decorate. Print. Cut out pieces. Cut out one additional rocket shaped piece of plain paper. Glue two rocket papers together only along edges and leaving the bottom open. Curl paper strips around a pencil. Attach curled strips to the back of the insert. Write 'Pull' on the bottom of the insert. Insert it into the rocket leaving just enough for the word pull to show. Here's the link.
http://www.4shared.com/file/17058294/8088b0c4/rocket_template_johanna_berry.html
As always please leave a comment on my blog if you download my templates!

{Visitors}

Can I tell you how excited I am, my sister is coming to visit me! We lived 5 blocks away from each other for the last three years and the I up and moved to Paris on her (aren't I a rotten sister?) but hey she gets a trip to France out of it right? She is bringing her whole family, she's got 5 kids, so add that to my 4 and we are going to have a full house. So I am trying to plan our meals and decided it would help me be organized to have a cute set of meal planners and shopping lists. So last night I put these adorable little things together using Bree Clarkson's What's cookin template and SaraAmarie's way fun Grandmas Garden kit.

Bree's Templates are available at www.scrapbookgraphics.com and SaraAmarie sells at www.oscraps.com

So last week I did something I swore I would never do again, tried out to be a cheerleader :) I just love www.thedigishoppe and couldn't pass up the chance to get involved there :) I am having fun commenting and scrapping there. I just have to tell you if you are looking for a fun friendly site that offers lots of encouragement this is the place!

Last order of business and why you are probably here and reading this in the first place, templates. Mormishmom made my day by asking where I sell my templates, she wanted to buy some, I was in shock :) So I had a few laying around on my hard drive that I thought I would package up and give away just because mormishmom likes them ;) Here's the first one.....


http://www.4shared.com/file/14780486/62d95a60/johanna_berry_story.html
And next is a kind of crazy one I made. But who know you might want it :)






http://www.4shared.com/file/14781088/3ad4b8de/johanna_berry_triangles.html

So have a happy Thursday and until next time (which very well may be a month or two days).

Remember to please leave me a comment here if you download, it makes me happy :)

{Recipes}

My SIL is putting together a family cook book and I thought I would post two of my fav recipes, they are incredibly good, healthy and fast...who could ask for more?

Apple-Chipotle Salsa

1 cup diced (1/4 in) Granny Smith apple (unpeeled, rinsed)
1/2 cup diced (1/4 in) red onion
1/2 cup diced (1/4 in) red bell pepper
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1/4 cup apple juice
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 tsp ground dried chipotle chili or cayenne
1 pork tenderloin or 4 boned, skinned chicken breast
Chili spice rub

In a bowl, mix apple, onion, bell pepper, cilantro, apple juice, vinegar, and chili. Cover and chill.

Chili spice Rub

1 Tablespoon paprika
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon firmly packed brown sugar
1/8 teaspoon cayenne

mix in small bowl.

Rub chili spice mix all over chicken or pork. Roast in 375 degree oven for 25-30 minutes, or grill.
Transfer chicken to plates. Serve with green apple-chipotle salsa.



Sweet and Spicy Vegetable Couscous

2 Tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup chopped red onion
2 large carrots shredded
2 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 can corn
1 (9oz) package frozen sweet peas
1 1/2 teaspoon curry powder
1 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 1/2 cups uncooked couscous
1/2 cup peanuts.

Heat oil in Dutch oven or large saucepan over medium heat until hot. Add onion and carrot; cook and stir 2-3 minutes until tender.
Increase heat to med-high. Add all remaining ingredients except couscous and peanuts. Mix well. Bring to a boil. Stir in couscous. Cover; remove from heat. Let stand 5 to 7 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. Fluff with fork and add peanuts. Also delicious with spicy sausages.

{One link for all}

Okay, I combined all three gifts into one zip file, thinking that maybe if I simplify this *might* work.

http://www.4shared.com/file/12805424/e310efda/templates_negatives.html

I'm sorry, it's the first time I have used 4shared but I will get it. Crossing my fingers...