Snow Day

On Monday, I had a glorious snow day.  It sure beat going back to school after a week off :)

The snow was massive--about 12 inches of big fluffy snow.  Mac LOVED playing outside and kept trying to eat it.

We also made a snowman... Mac "kissed" it...but was really trying to eat it.

I think Mac learned some awesome eating techniques when he was in Kansas... he loved on the jelly I put on his English Muffin.

Train

Mac and I took the train to Kansas on the 15th so that my parents could watch him while David and I hung out in Nashville.

The train ride was 5 hours...and there was no car seat restraint to keep Mac in place.  I was having a lot of anxiety about keeping Mac happy and occupied (and somewhat quiet) for the entire trip.

So... just before we left, I bought a leash.  We practiced wearing it around the house.

 He didn't LOVE it at home, but didn't throw a fit about it either, which is really all I could ask for.

The train ride went better than I could have hoped... we made friends early on with the lady who ran the dining car and she invited us to set up camp in one of the booths for the ride.  Thank God for her, because it was a lot easier to sit in a booth than try to keep Mac on my lap the whole ride.

 

The booth made it possible for this set-up to happen, complete with crayons, books, snacks, drinks, and a movie.  And a kindle for me :)

 

 Mac ate some suckers...

 Drank some juice...

 Talked to strangers...

And was pretty much happy to be alive the whole trip.

It was a miracle.  While getting off the train, a few people complemented me on how good he was.  I chalk it up to these things.

1. Mac is normally a pretty laid back kid.
2. I had SERIOUSLY LOW expectations for this trip, so the minor fussing didn't even phase me.
3. Movies on my Ipad, books, and crayons
4. Snacks, drinks--pretty much Mac at junk all day.  We normally frown on this, but it was survival mode and sugar was our friend.
5. I bought some new, cheap toys before we left and wrapped them up.  Every hour or so he got to open a new one.  That bought me some time.
6.  The leash.  We paced... I can't tell you how many times we walked up and down that train.  The leash was a Godsend because he did not want to hold my hand the whole time and wanted to play with sleeping strangers.  The leash stopping him was a lot less disruptive than me blocking him (in terms of Mac volume).

I spent a few days in Kansas before flying to Nashville.  Mac loves hanging out there--probably because he's the only grandchild (until May!) and gets pretty much whatever he wants :)

I mean, where else but Nana's house can you play on the piano by sitting on it with your diaper?

And eat all the popcorn you want right before bed?

Mac had a blast while he was in Kansas.

Back in the saddle

I took a long break from blogging for Spring Break and an unexpected snow day yesterday, but I'm back.

Since I skipped yesterday, here's our meal plan for this week.

Sunday: Slow Cooker Cilantro-Lime Chicken Tacos, Rice
Monday: Skinny Mac and Alfredo, Artichoke Chicken
Tuesday: Leftovers
Wednesday: Beefy Spinach Lasagna Roll-ups, Salad
Thursday: Turkey & Wild Rice Casserole, Salad
Friday: Chicken & Minestrone Soup, Bread
Saturday: Out and About

So, while I was gone, Mac and I took the train to Kansas, I got to snuggle a 7 week old, David and I went to Nashville, we built a snowman, I ran 11 miles and 12 miles (on the Saturdays), we went to the Butterfly House, had an Easter egg hunt, AND we put our house back on the market.  There are probably other things I'm forgetting, but still... not too shabby.

I'll do a separate post of some of the big Spring Break things, but on Friday both David and I were off work and we decided to take Mac Attack to the Butterfly House in Chesterfield.  You know, do something besides watching basketball, ahem.

I thought the Butterfly House was awesome.  Mac loved the play area outside of the butterfly room...and loved the butterflies.  The real problem was HOW MUCH Mac loved the butterflies--unfortunately, we got a big speech before we entered about how fragile they are and how touching them KILLS THEM.  Mac did not understand and there was some drama as I scrambled to save their lives.

He yells at every camera he sees now..weird, but cute.

Luckily, there were no known casualties and we exited happily.

Following the butterflies, there was a park AND a carousel.

Unfortunately for Mac, they made us share a horse.  He looks a little swashed, right?
 

Whew

It's been a week!  No meal plan Monday because, honestly, I was tired.   I already get up at 4:30 for exercise and losing that hour of sleep sent me into a spiral where I wanted to go to bed at 7:30 (before Mac does, for the record).

David's out of town for work (but gets home tonight, thank God) so I actually got up at 4am this morning to work out  and get Mac up and to daycare.  I don't drink caffeine very often (as in never) but I have had 3 cups of coffee in the last 2 days.  Yikes.

On the positive side, I made two amazing meals this week...

Skinny Mac 'n Alfredo

Chicken in a Packet (except I subbed the spinach for mushrooms)

And Mac learned how to eat soup effectively.

Well... he gave up the spoon after a while and just went for the hands.

Still effective, right?

David was gone at the Mizzou game tonight, so Mac and I spent some time practicing and video taping :)

He's also got a very minimal amount of counting down pat.  It really cracks me up.

Meal Plan Monday!

Here it is!

Sunday: Southwestern Chicken in Foil, Sweet Potato Fries, Broccoli Cheese Souffles
Monday: Pork Tenderloin, Kale
Tuesday: David at Mizzou game, so leftovers
Wednesday: White Bean Chili, Salad
Thursday: Book Club!  It got rescheduled last week, so I am making Spinach and Red Pepper Quiche again.
Friday/Saturday: Gone-zo!