P.I.T - Parent's-In-Training!

 So I was going to try to include this in my Monday post…but I feel like so much has happened this past week/ weekend that it would need its own post (and it has taken me this long to write it).

So as I stated in an earlier post Byron and I got to be parents in training for 4 ½ days this past week. Why do I say this? Well starting Wednesday afternoon I picked up a 4 ½ almost five year old little girl (Kindergarten) and a 7 year old little boy (2^nd grader) and brought them to our house until Sunday afternoon; and we were able experience what it is like to be working parents of two school age kids. I was reminded several times that even though Byron and I felt like we were parents in training, we still had it pretty easy since we were out of the diaper stage and I need you to do everything for me stage. But regardless this week was definitely training for us and a good experience.

I had to prepare myself for this experience though. I have been very bad at cooking dinner lately (as in… I don’t do it or we heat up one of those bag pasta dinners on the stove).  I knew I didn’t want to be that kind of mom-in-training so Tuesday on my lunch break… I actually did meal planning. I figured out what we would be eating for breakfast and dinner and lunches for everyday while I had the kids. Then when I got off work I went to the grocery store to buy the groceries. This is a big deal because I was tired and had it been groceries for Byron and I only… I would have rescheduled the grocery store trip for a more rested day (which never seems to appear and is probably why I don’t meal plan/cook and we eat bag dinners all the time). But since I had two more mouths to feed I sucked it up and went to the grocery store! J

My lifesaver this past week for dinner was my new Crockpot. My dinner meal plans included two crockpot meals. I knew I would be getting home late so I wanted dinner to be ready when I got home. With my new crockpot I set the desired cook time and then when that time was up the crockpot automatically shifted to warm and stayed on warm until I turned it off. When it switches to warm the timer then starts counting how long it has been on warm. This makes crockpot cooking a lot easier with a lot higher chance that dinner won’t be burned when I get home!!

So for dinner the first night I tried CrockPot Chicken and Biscuits . Let’s just say mine… did not look like the picture! J I varied the recipe only slightly by using a frozen mixed vegetables meant for veggie soup, but it still turned out more like chicken and dumplings. The biscuits just didn’t really cook, maybe too much condensation, not sure. Well, on second thought I think I added way too much broth too! Oops! Oh well, Byron and the kids liked it a lot. Byron Loved it actually… so I will still consider it a hit/ success! J

 

This picture is not of my dinner…but of how it is supposed to look when done right! J

 

Dinner for night number two was Slow Cooker Ravioli . So, with this one I followed the directions for the most part. My only variance was one bag cheese ravioli and one bag beef. But, with this one I learned I would need to double if not triple the sauce I use the next time I make it (and there will be a next time). We had to add more sauce because it was a little dry, but still very tasty.

So not only did I have to make sure the kids had dinner at night… I also had to make sure they had breakfast in the morning; and cereal and pop tarts were not going to cut it for this mom-in-training. So, for our first morning I made bacon, sausage, egg and cheese English muffins with a side of fruit and Apple juice. On morning two I made scrambled eggs and cheese with bacon and mixed berry muffins with fruit and apple juice. Morning three which ended up being Saturday I made Pumpkin French Toast Bake. Actually, I made it at like midnight Friday night after we got home from our softball games... but that was only after I made the Home Made Pumpkin Butter to go in the French Toast casserole.
So as I begin making the pumpkin butter I am expecting the kids to be in bed because after all it is midnight but no; after their baths they hit a second wind and sat at the bar in the kitchen and “helped” me cook.  As I continue making the pumpkin butter I realized I forgot to but in the apple juice. I was like “oops I hope this turns out good, I have never made it before.” The little boy looks at me and says “don’t you think you should make us something you have made before?” Ha-ha! I said “well, we all have a first time for everything, but I am pretty sure it will be good…if not… I have a backup breakfast.” J So they helped me make the French toast and we practiced math as we did our measurements. Fun! Then we went to bed.

 

This night at bed time was a little different. Usually they have their own room that they sleep in when they stay with us. But tonight they told me they wanted to sleep with us. I was not thinking this was a good idea for many reasons. One, they are not family so I don’t want it to look bad them actually sleeping with us; two, we only have a queen bed; three, my husband is 6’7”; and 4, my yellow lab likes to sleep in the bed with us. I was just not seeing how this would work. Then they told me that they could sleep on the “small” mattress. I said “the twin mattress on the floor in the bedroom?” and they said “yes”! “The one the dogs sleep on?” I asked. “Yes!!” “Well, you know if you sleep on that mattress the dogs, are probably going to want to sleep with you.” I said, and to that I got two big grins and two very enthusiastic head nods yes. That was the whole idea. They wanted a slumber party with us and the dogs! J (To all who maybe concerned… the mattress is a twin mattress that we put on the floor and yes we let the dogs sleep on it... but the sheets on it are washed and changed regularly and we get the mattress cleaned regularly like we do our carpets.)

 

As much as I enjoyed winning our two softball games Friday night… I thoroughly enjoyed our Saturday.
Saturday morning we were all out of bed at 6:30am, (even though we went to bed after midnight) thank you daylight savings... and Drake (my yellow lab). As soon as anyone starts to move in the morning Drake is in their face waiting to play, potty and eat. The kids were no exception to that; so as soon as they stirred and Drake said hi... there was no more sleeping in. J So I went ahead and got up and but the casserole in the oven to start the day. After breakfast we got ready to go spend the morning/afternoon at the Zoo. It was a beautiful day for the zoo and obviously everyone else felt the same way because it was packed. Many of you may already know this…but going to the zoo with kids is so much more fun than going with adults. I think Byron and I had has much fun with the kids if not more fun than the kids!! Every exhibit we went to we would check the sign to see what was supposed to be in the exhibit. Then we would play “I spy” and try and find them all and read the interesting facts. I have been to the zoo before… and it was fun…but I had such a good time with the kids.

 

The kids with Chance

 

The kids got to crawl through the fish tank

All in all we had a great weekend! We won our first two softball games and we survived being Parents-in-training and honestly loved every minute of it! We are now just waiting on the Lord for our own blessing of Children so we can be parents-in-training for the rest of our lives. J

God Bless.

Here are a couple of verses I am holding on to while I wait.

Romans 12:12
Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. (NIV)

 Psalm 40:1
I waited patiently for the LORD; he turned to me and heard my cry. (NIV)

 Psalm 37:3-5

New Life Version (NLV)

³ Trust in the Lord, and do good. So you will live in the land and will be fed. ⁴ Be happy in the Lord. And He will give you the desires of your heart. ⁵ Give your way over to the Lord. Trust in Him also. And He will do it.