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Weekend Wrap-Up

I wonder how many posts I have in my archives with that title.  Things that make you go hmmmmm.

This weekend was FULL, let me tell you.  We kicked off the weekend revelry with what is quickly becoming our Friday night family tradition — watching Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution with our kids.  Are you watching?  What do you think?  I love the concept.  The show itself is over-produced and full of itself, (thank you, Ryan I-Never-Sleep Seacrest) but the message is loud and clear, and what I love about it is that it is on a major network.  People are talking about it.  Things are bound to change for the better, and it’s high time.

I also love the opportunity it gives me to discuss these issues with my kids, although the trick is finding a balance between making them aware of what they put in their bodies (my son forced himself to eat collard greens the other night, not because I made him, because I don’t make my kids eat anything, but because, as he explained when we inquired, “It’s healthy.”) and making them into judgmental little jerks around their friends.  That’s a work in progress.

On Saturday, we all got up bright and early, and my husband took the girls along with my son to his Little League Opening Day festivities.

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Little League Opening Day Spring 2010

Me?  I hopped in the car and picked up Sarah and headed to Drexel Hill for the MomSpace Philadelphia Mom Blogger Event, where I spoke on a panel with my good friends Mindi, Cecily, Colleen, and Whitney.

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Whitney, me, Colleen, Mindi, Shannon

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Denise and Sarah

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Colleen, Shannon, Whitney, and me

The event was great fun, and of course I could talk blogging all day long, but I had to jump up and run as soon as the speaking portion was over because I had plans to meet Kellyn, a long time blogging buddy who flew in from Minnesota for a good friend’s baby shower.  Girl has never seen the ocean.  Seriously, when she told me that it almost brought tears to my eyes.  But I’m getting ahead of myself.

Somehow Sarah and I managed to get lost in my old stomping grounds and eventually found the Panera where Melissa, Megan and Kellyn had already been visiting for an hour.  A day late and a dollar short, that’s my motto.

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Melissa, Kellyn, Megan, me

We still got plenty of time to visit before Kellyn took off, and once again I was reminded how very cool the blogging community is.  I absolutely love meeting people in person that I’ve been reading and chatting with online.  And of course it’s always nice to be reassured that we aren’t all axe murderers masquerading as desperate housewives, as our husbands once feared.

Sunday was anchored by two trips to church and some nice relaxation time in between.  I spent the afternoon reading an eBook on eating real food on a budget, and I can’t WAIT to share it with you.  I’ve learned so much already.  So stay tuned!

What about you?  What did you do this weekend??

Join The Conversation

23 Responses

  1. We are making a huge effort to eat IN on weekends. It is hard, because Friday is typically a day we look forward to relaxing and eating out. We realized a few months ago that eating out on a Friday night was anything but relaxing. Our daughter was usually worn out from a full day of school, sometimes we couldn’t agree on what we wanted and we ended up driving around too long and then when we finally got to the restaurant it was so noisy and loud we couldn’t hear each other talk. So Friday night we had homemade pizza IN, made our first snowcone run of the season and then we made a fire in our fire pit and roasted marshmellows.

    1. That sounds like a blast. I wish we had a fire pit.

      And yeah, going out to eat with kids is anything BUT relaxing.

  2. Eating out with the kids may not be relaxing, but I sometimes wouldn’t mind passing on the serving and then dish duty that comes with feeding five kids and a husband! 🙂

    I’m watching the Food Revolution every week. After Friday’s episode I decided I must get the recipe for the stir fry they made 1000 times. I don’t know if my kids will like it or not, but I’m hopeful. 🙂 It looks like this week’s episode might get into some of the realistic challenges that have to be overcome to see real change. You know, the financial and political aspects of the issue. I’m curious to see how it is handled.

    I went on a mini-retreat Saturday, to prepare for a 3.5 day retreat this weekend (I’m on the team) and that was very peaceful. We also went to our local college’s spring football game yesterday. And I tried to sleep as much as possible. 3 weeks to go!

    1. Nicole, I hear ya on the cooking and cleaning up for large families, but I have my kids doing the dishes now and it is HEAVENLY. My daughter is 7, and she’s doing a fine job loading the dishwasher. Every bit helps! 🙂

      That stir fry DID look good. And I cannot believe you have only 3 weeks go to. WOW!

  3. Friday I was supposed to see my new friend Adam Crossley perform at the Tin Angel. Dropped the kids off at my parent’s house and noticed I had a minute to myself. I layed down to take a cat nap and wound up MISSING THE ENTIRE EVENT!
    Saturday I was at the same mommy blogger event. You were great BTW. Hubby & I took the kids to Saturday (contemporary) church, which is easier to navigate with 2 kids under the age of 4. Sunday we went to a family member’s 3rd bday party at the Philadelphia School for Circus Arts (or something like that). It’s an awesome place for a kid’s bday party.

    1. Karla, HI! I’m so sorry I didn’t get to meet many people, with rushing out at the end and all. Maybe next time… 🙂

  4. I’m with you on Food Revolution- I love that it’s on network TV & people are seeing it & talking about it. I actually let my 11 yr old daughter watch it with me this week, but I sure wish Jamie didn’t feel so free to curse all the time- so many “bleeps”- even as he’s working with high school kids. Did you see the article about Jamie’s interview on David Letterman? Now, that was discouraging- the verse, “Better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to open your mouth & remove all doubt” came to mind for David Letterman- yikes. If you want to see the article (but maybe not, because it is depressing) https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1260248/Jamie-Oliver-fails-convince-David-Letterman-healthy-eating-crusade-America.html

  5. Saturday was our favorite babysitters wedding and our two daughters were the flower girls. Such fun and great memories! Sunday was full of laundry and catching up. Sadly we didn’t go to church. Our church is in the midst of schedule change and adding a new campus. With a special needs daughter we are waiting to see where we will fit best! Hope you have a great week 🙂

  6. We had a busy weekend too! I’m looking forward to hearing about the ebook on eating real food on a budget. That is SO me! We’re making baby steps and I’m even getting my hubby on board! This weekend I made homemade ranch dressing mix and homemade taco seasoning mix (from Heavenly Homemakers).

  7. We enjoyed some surprisingly warm weather this weekend, and reclaimed/tamed the garden a bit.

    We are in the midst of a bathroom makeover, so it is great to be outside and avoid the chaos/dirt/destruction inside.

  8. I love the Jamie Oliver show. As a WVian, I am a little apalled at how ignorant we look. Not everyone in the state or in Huntington is overweight and a junk food junkie. I do think some changes need to be made and thanks to Jamie Oliver and your blog my kids no longer eat school lunches. Good grief…a Lunchable would be better than what they are feeding our kids….Just Kidding!!! My younger daughter is on a restricted diet and I have always packed her lunch because I don’t trust the lunch staff to prepare things correctly. They have too many kids to worry about to worry about one tiny persons food intolerences. My older daughter always ate school lunch. I recently had a conversation with her about what she actually ate and she told me it was sometimes a roll and some fruit. I pack her lunch almost everyday now. If she looks at the menu and asks to eat at school, I let her. Most of the time it is pizza day (something we rarely have because of her sisters allergies). I have noticed a big change in their health. With healthier food, vitamins and probiotics, my kids have not been sick this year. K has missed 2 days of school (1 was a fake day!!!) and A has missed 3 (due to a corneal abrasion). I really enjoy your journey to healthier living. Do you think you will ever go further than food? Would you consider making your own cleaners?

    1. Becky, my dad was born and raised in WV so I believe you! LOL. But I think the people of Huntington they have featured do reflect a large portion of the American public, and it’s so sad.

      I’m so glad everyone is feeling better. We have still had some sickness, but nothing major. And I have never been so well.

      I would love to take this to the next step and tackle cleaners and skin care, but I’m not there yet. I’m still overwhelmed with the food. There is still SO much more I could make and not buy. But I sat down with my husband last night and said I don’t know how I can do it and still get any work done. He pointed out that it may be worth it for me to buy some pricey convenience foods and work to pay for it. He notices that kitchen work stresses me out more than computer work, I guess. I was so thankful he said that b/c I was feeling the pressure to “do it all.”

  9. Alright alright…I splashed in the ocean! It was cold but so worth it!

    Thank you so much for meeting me for lunch! It was a wonderful time and I am so glad that I got to meet you all!!

  10. So a few days ago I took my 2 girls to the grocery store. My 3-year-old sometimes asks to ride in those grocery carts with the cars on the front. This time, however, she said, “I don’t want to ride in those. They have too many germs.”

    “Okay,” I said, “Do you want to ride in the regular cart then?”

    “No thanks,” she replied matter-of-factly, “I’ll just walk.”

    It reminded me how much she is listening, soaking in, learning. This parenting gig is powerful, isn’t it?

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