Food Fight

I have heard comedians use food fight stories in their joke line up many times before.  Fighting over food with their siblings as young kids at the dinner table is endlessly good joke material. They joke about how fast you have to eat so that you can eat more, because you’re hungry and all the other kids are too. It’s usually a hilarious series of jokes because it’s something we can easily picture in our minds or it’s something that even happened to us as children.

Today, it happened, not for the first time, in my home. The food fight…

My boys are 4 and 7. I wouldn’t say that they “eat me out of house and home” but they do eat a lot. I’m watching a slow and steady increase in my grocery budget all the time. I keep thinking it’s me and that I’m over spending…but perhaps it’s that they are eating me out of house and home… Wait, what?

This morning I heard an argument ensuing before the sun was up, before the coffee had been made, before the baby was even awake. Chase was crying and Cooper was saying (without the slightest tone of remorse or compassion) “sorry Chasey, I’m really hungry”. Sobs, sobs, sobs.

I drearily pulled my body out of bed to attend to whatever it was that was occurring. Turns out it was a food fight.

I wish I could say it was our first, but the truth of the matter is that these food fights are becoming a more and more regular occurrence. I buy something and one kid eats all of it as often as possible so that they don’t have to share it. Today it was yogurt. (And by the way, I found the empty container of said yogurt in the fridge later that same day. Boys….)

I’m a Costco member, so I shop there and get the mega-pack of whatever it is I notice the boys are fighting over. But I’m not convinced that is the real issue…It’s more of a battle of the wills. What’s funny to me is that they are fighting over food at 4 and 7…they aren’t even close to being teenagers!

We usually laugh about the drama that thus ensues when someone takes the last bit of something; whether it’s milk, cereal, cheese or even chocolate. There’s always an end to the food! Thankfully, we can buy more. Hurray for grocery stores…

Only one more year of lunch with this dude ;-(

And this little man is so big now!

April Showers…

It has been raining so much here in St. Louis! I can’t believe what a slow, wet spring we’ve had. I’m sure this is much more “normal” but compared to last year I feel soaked and cold! (Last year, it was consistently 80 degrees here.)  But all this rain has me thinking…man, am I ever grateful:

#1) for a new roof! Our roof was leaking so much that we actually had water stains on the dry wall on the ceilings last year. We had to have the entire thing AND the decking replaced. I’m still grateful for tornadoes though too…that’s pretty much how the majority of the roof was paid for..yay insurance!

#2) I am grateful for dry basements! We also had a leak in our basement wall that would never have been able to handle the huge amounts of water this spring has brought to us. I am so grateful we were able to get it fixed when we did. I used to get so nervous when it rained. But now my response is gratefulness!

#3) Droughts. Yup, I am grateful for that drought last year. I’m sure it harmed many others (in fact I know it did). But for us, it was a blessing. Who’d have thought a drought could be a blessing? Well, it came at just the right time for us. We needed a dry year so that we could get by with all those problems.

#4) My hubby’s job. I am so incredibly grateful for my husband’s company and for his place there. He loves working there, he is challenged every day and stretched in so many ways. I know that he is being poured into as he pours out the work he does each day. He’s had opportunities to work his way up to a management spot and I am SO PROUD of the strong and capable man he is!

#5) That I get to stay home with my kids. Let’s be honest, I WANT to stay home with my kiddos. But a lot of Mom’s want that and can’t have it. I am grateful we are able to make it work because this morning I got to hear the funniest thing from my son. Cooper said as he looked out the window at the pouring rain, “Raise your hand if this weather makes you want to stay home from school today” and then he raised his hand. It was so cute. He is so happy every.single.morning. And he is immediately awake as soon as  his head lifts from the pillow. He is just like his Daddy and his baby sister. I was also able to watch Cecelia and Cooper play together this morning. He didn’t know that she is starting to try to walk. But this morning as he was playing with her he witnessed her new skills. He was so proud of her and surprised that he cheered and screamed “MOOOOMMM! HURRY YOU’VE GOT TO SEE THIS!” Such a sweet boy.