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Weekend Check-in: March 14

What I'm Cooking
KFC Copycat Coleslaw, for a birthday party last weekend. I think I must be the only person left in the world who still loves coleslaw; most of it came home with me, and I'm the only person in the house who will eat it. But that's just fine with me, because I love it! (I omitted the onions and was quite pleased with the results.)

Crockpot spaghetti squash and meatballs. I'm on a mission to reduce starches and increase vegetables in our dinners, but spaghetti squash is not going to be the answer for us. Interestingly, Silas (who won't eat anything at all) and Toby ate it, and Isaac dutifully eats whatever I put in front of him, but the big boys and I just couldn't do it. I used this meatball recipe, and will use the rest of the meatballs for something other than spaghetti squash!

Seasoned rice as a side dish for baked chicken. I don't use bouillon, as most (if not all? haven't checked in a long time) contain MSG, but I cooked the rice in homemade chicken stock for a richer flavor. It was more interesting than plain brown rice, but I think next time I'd leave out the dill, which neither Isaac nor I love.

Copycat Starbucks chocolate cinnamon bread, to take to moms' group and then a ladies' night out. Three cups of sugar seemed like way too much, so I cut it back to two, and that was too little. Probably 2.5 cups would have been better. It was a bit crumbly, but still tasty.

Chocolate chunk oatmeal cookie bars, to take to dinner at a friend's house tonight. (Yes, I've done a lot of socializing this week!) I tested one corner fresh out of the oven, just to make sure ;), and they're a little bland. Of course, I was out of vanilla extract, and also out of almond extract as a substitute, so that might explain it. I just used normal semi-sweet chocolate chips. The texture is great, though, and they'd be a great base for an ice cream cookie sundae. :)

What I'm Doing
Sleeping! Mostly. One week ago today, Toby slept through the night for only the second time ever, and then proceeded to do it again and again, every night until last night! It feels amazing to get 6-7-hour stretches of sleep for the first time in over 14 months. BUT, as a result, he's getting up for the day at 5:30am (despite my every attempt to put him back to sleep). I am not a morning person, and it's been hard to be up. On the other hand, though, I'm getting things done before the big boys wake up, and that feels good, too. (It has often been the case for us that an earlier bedtime results in later wake-up times, but we've been out of the house so much that I haven't had a chance to mess with Toby's schedule. Hopefully this week.)

I'm also starting to dream and plan for our summer and next year's homeschooling. I love the organizational side of this and am eager to start putting things in order. Much more excited for the summer and next year, in fact, than preparing for our upcoming unit on botany. I'm afraid there might be too many pictures of my dead plants in your future.

Weekly Snapshot


Levi's first trip to the dentist! Owen went a few days earlier with Isaac. Both did great!!


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