Dear Thumb,

Thank you for all you do. You are so useful and such a hard worker. I cannot imagine my life without you. I mean, how do I press this space-bar thing without you?? I don't do much of texting, but I know a lot of people enjoy your company. For our family, J enjoyed you so much, well, a little too much and too long, I think. You helped him soothe himself when he was a baby. I did enjoyed longer sleep at night because of your help. I have to thank you for that. I don't think M cares much about you though. She seems to prefer "pointer" and "tall man." No offense. It was not my call, you know? She still adores you and calls you "thumbkin" though, especially when she wears mittens. And you are the almost only one she plays with when singing "where is thumbkin" song.
Now, as much as I appreciated soothing J in his earlier years, it was really hard to separate two of you. You are not so nice to teeth. Unfortunately, cutting you off is not an option. So, I really want our baby K to take his binky instead of you. Oh, don't get me wrong. I still like you. But I don't want him to get attached to you too much. This morning he had both you and "pointer" at the same time. Yeah, I know you are good at sneaking in like that. But K has binky usually attached to his clothes. So, unless, for some reason, Mr. binky is not available, will you leave K alone please? Or don't make it taste so good, will you? Oh, by the way, Mr. binky looks like this.
Thank you,
Mom

Back to cooking!?

This setting up and declaring menu for the week actually got me motivated. I did make Tator Tots casserole for dinner tonight. It was a hit. No leftover. My super-picky-eater M even ate a lot of it. It's a keeper.
After I came home from grocery shopping, I made some meatballs and cooked ground beef to freeze. Now I have a freezer bag full of meatballs and 2 containers full of cooked ground beef ready to go. I'm excited! Knowing good stuff (instead of cheap card-board frozen pizzas, which is love of my hubby) is in my freezer just makes me smile. Also, it gives me somewhat sense of comfort security that one of those night in the next couple of weeks, when I'm just exhausted and have no energy to cook, those guys will be there for me to provide an easy quick meal, like spaghetti meatball (which is one of J's favorites). I have a feeling I can sleep good tonight.

Menu for the week

Somehow I have been very demotivated to cook meals, not just dinners, all meals. I think we had PB&J, oh, and last of breads from Japan. No, I didn't cook last night. And tonight, using Super Bowl as an excuse, we are eating snacks - cheese ball and crackers, chips, chocolate milk, etc. I don't know why, but I'm not in a mood of cooking. Who is a dietitian here? Hehehe.
Last night I cleared my kitchen. Decluttered. Not only I can see my counter tops, but also I can see the back splash wall! I have a lot of space to work on!! So, I decided to make a menu plan for the week. I normally don't do this, but I have a feeling that I might slack again if I don't plan ahead.

Here is the menu for the week:
Monday - Tator tots casserole
Tuesday - Chicken Alfredo
Wednesday - Pot roast cooked in crockpot as it is my work day
Thursday - Valentine's day dinner at church (anyone is welcomed)
Friday - Tuna melt

They all should be pretty quick meals. See if I'll follow....but at least I have a hope for my family eating pretty descent this week, instead of PB&J. Yes, Kristin, I'm copying yours - thanks for the inspiration!
By the way, thanks to my sister-in-law for an inspiration. She cooks bunch of ground beef, drain the grease, and freeze cooked one in freezer bags in 2 cups portions. So when she wants to cook ground beef, it's already cooked. It shortens the cooking time as you can skip the thawing time and cooking time. How cleaver! I'm so doing it!

Care package and Skype

We got another care package from Japan. As soon as I opened the box, the contents were emptied out on our living room floor for the search of toys and goodies. It's Christmas all over again. Kids had Japanese bread for breakfast, and all kinds of goodies (mostly candies) for their snack today so far. I see tiny marshmallow wrappers (yes, in Japan they wrap chocolate-filled marshmallows individually) everywhere throughout my house. Oh well. They are loving it. To thank my parents, we talked via Skype. It was fun. They got to see our 3 little monkeys all together in one screen. Thanks, Mom and Dad!

McDonald's and friends

I have never been a big fan of McDonald's. Unless we were traveling, we almost never ate. But winter here in Michigan is long, I mean, really long. And it's pretty cold out. You can do only so much of entertaining for kids, especially for 5-year-old boy with a lot of energy. My 3-year-old girl can be content inside with princess movies and baby dolls, but oh boy, J is another story. "Who is coming today to play with me today?" "Where are we going today?" "What are we doing today?" These are the questions sometimes I get before "Good morning!" So, I called my friends and see if they wanted to get together, this case, at McDonald's. Not for the foods, nor toys. But for the playland. Five hours of playing (i.e. getting energy out), making new friends, and obtaining a cheap plastic toy (this time, a Spiderman figure) along with who-knows-what-it's-made-from-burger for $10 is actually not a bad deal. "I don't do it often enough" is my justification of feeding the junk to my kids. More so, I enjoyed chatting with my friends. Food might not be healthy, but it sure was good for my mental health. A bonus point of that is those friends are Japanese. Good practice time for me and kids. Kids had a good time, and I had a good time. That makes it today a good day.