The great food war of 2011.

This war consists of me against 4 individual eaters... and I am losing.

I have an expanding love for making nutritious meals for my family and I spend most of my Sunday's prepping our meal plan for the upcoming week. I love looking at parenting.com, cookbooks, and most recently, Pinterest for meals. I write out my grocery list(several times) and categorize each food item ever so neatly. Lately though, I dislike planning and preparing my meals for my ungrateful, picky eating family.

{That sounded a bit harsh}

Here are the issues that I am currently facing:

Hunter is no longer my "eat anything I put in front of him" boy. He's an opinionated(in his own noise making way) two year old. And, I hate to make that an excuse, but I have no other reason to blame it on. It can't possibly be my cooking, right?

The girls are not allowed any kind of meat for dinner. They have proved time and time again that their tummy's just can't handle it before bed. They are up ALL night with upset stomachs and it's just a bad deal for everyone.

My sweet, loveable, handsome husband unfortunately doesn't like "healthy" foods. Veggie's are a negative and basically anything else that is out of his comfort zone. This zone consists of mashed potatoes, hot dogs, meaty things, and mostly cheesy things. There is nothing wrong with this at all. He can lose 15lbs in a week without even trying, but if I lived like this then it would be a very ugly sight.

Which leads to me, who wants to eat new, healthy foods I haven't tried plus organic and fresh. I think M&M's are organic and most defiantly fresh so those are a weekly must have. Don't get me wrong, I'm not claiming to eat healthy 24/7, but I would sure as heck like to try as often as possible. As well as my growing babies.

So, this is my problem... devastating, I know. But, my only option as of right now is to prepare 3 or 4 different meals for each person. And if Hunter doesn't eat his then that's what I am usually left with, mostly because I hate to throw away food that I put time and effort into cooking. So, hopefully I will either have a solution to this or I can get some wonderful advice and tips from moms that have gone through this before.

A hurricane post... I know, weird.

I think I had written out several drafts about what this hurricane was like for us and how we prepared for it, but it was all a rambling mess. So, here is the best I can do!

What Irene caused for the Johnson household:

• 2 hotel rooms in Durham canceled.
• 3 last minute plane tickets to Oklahoma for the babies and myself canceled and then refunded(thank goodness).
• A downstairs covered with mattresses which brought pure joy and entertainment to the kids.
• A free for all with snacks and junk food all day long.
• Mild inner freak outs from mommy since the kids were awake.
• Major outward freakouts since the kids were asleep.
• A peaceful day without electricity.
• Semi uncomfortable day without AC... with a few anxiety attacks by Jake because of this.
• Fun trips outside with daddy in the storm.
• A long night of frantic news/weather watching while my 3 little and 1 big loves slept.
• H being pestered by his sisters while he tries to watch his DVD player(our only electronic that played only 2 movies).
• The girl's fascination of putting checkers into cups... and then accidentally dumping them every time they bent over to get more.
• A desperation for Diet Coke and coffee.
• Eating a weeks supply of food in one day. 
• Realizing I can't mack nachos for dinner by using a lighter.
• And the biggest, hardest, and most important; Faith. Not only in the Lord, but my husband. This was the first time that Jake had to make a quick, rational decision involving the safety of our entire family. I am not afraid and I am proud to say that he was right. And for that, I am thankful.

And of course, here are a few pictures.

 Jake's idea of stocking up.

 Sarcasm.

 Stores in front of us getting prepared.

 Our neighborhood's shelter(that's water in that tank thing).

 Checking it out.

 Breakfast by candlelight.

Wind gusts.

 Score! Free Frisbee and someone's shingle.

The shelter/playroom/midnight bedroom.

When you're two...

...you can run around in underwear and sunglasses.

 ...you look WAY too big in your boxer briefs(yes, HE'S potty trained, for the most part).

 ...you are way too cool...

                                                                    ...to be awake.

...you are waiting for a haircut like any other person out there.

                                           ...you are getting used to this whole "sharing" thing.

...you are the best big brother.

...the only girl you care about is Mom.

Bedtime snack

Since we eat dinner so early, H has introduced the girls to this new snack before bed.

Birthday Babes

 

I can't believe my girls are already one!

It has flown by...sort of.

My only wish is to be able to have more one on one time with each girl.

Their personalities are beginning to really show, which is hilarious.

Some days they seem to trade personalities too.

I know that they won't ever remember their party or morning donuts, but 

I know that some day they will look back and know how much I loved them

and wanted every special day to be an incredible event.

Emma Claire, you are my sweet little peanut, still!

I love you always!

Riley Madeline, you are the sweetest little girl.

I am so in love with you and your sweet smile.

I am so blessed to have two baby girls and I know that

the fun has just begun with them...

Preppy Pink Crab Party

We are

•planning a second attempt to the girls birthday party this saturday.
•eating EVERYTHING in sight, due to steroids.
•self soothing ourselves to sleep... And mommy is loving it.
•missing our family in Texas for a huge get together!
•thankful H is recovering quickly from his recent illness(blood tests in 2 weeks).
•enjoying the girls new kitten that they got for their birthday.
•blessed that we had family fly in to help with the girls, our house, and Hunter.
•off bottles!!!
•clapping, saying and shaking our heads "no-no", walking(r), and doing the one-legged scoot(e).
•working LONG, Long days at work.
•preparing for our new family biking trips with all our new bike gear.
•wanting visitors to come see us, soon!
•loving the new year old personalities and sassy-ness of E and R.
•being selfish with the new cuddley toddler we have.
•tired of being looked at like a "circus freak" while out with all 3 kids.
•patiently waiting fall.