A Week of Firsts

Where have my babies gone??? All of a sudden they are growing up and I want to push the pause button but I can't. We've had a week of "Firsts" around the Mieska household lately. Birdbaby had his 'first' haircut (finally at 17 months old!)- as most of you know Birdpapa like his hair a little long and he was starting to look like a girl. We'll have none of that in this house :). Birdboy #1 went to his first over-night cub scout camp (in 100 degree heat) and loved it! He also had his first experience at mowing the lawn- or acreage for that matter, and loved it! Queenbird kept a close look-out and followed him on the mower. It's bad enough that I'm worried about his hearing, let alone the tractor tipping over on him. Poor kid- I'm such a helicopter mom! Birdboy #1 also signed up for his first tackle football season and got all the gear. UGH! Do you suppose it would be wrong to stand in the huddle each time before a play and see if he's alright? Oh Vey... Slow down, boys, slow down!

Slow Down and... Swing!

Last night was a great life lesson and a funny one to boot.

I work with a population of infants, children, teens and adults with special needs. Working with the hearing impaired and deaf usually there is a disorder, disease, syndrome...you name it that accompanies a little hearing impairment. Most of my kids have more severe problems than hearing loss, Goldenhar Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy, childhood cancer that results in hearing loss due to chemo etc... It's rare that I have a 'normal' child or adult with a loss. That being said I've prided myself on raising my kids to be sensitive to those with special needs. Being in a small community such as Treynor my boys aren't exposed to a diverse population so we're a work in progress :) But I digress...

Last evening we were travelling through Treynor, all 3 miles of it, and we passed a beautiful corner farm house with a giant tree swing right off the country porch. I've often admired this home as it is perfectly manicured, decorated with bright geraniums, and holiday decor year round. I've never seen anyone on the tree swing until last night. A petite white haired woman with capris and the most gigantic smile on her face with a laugh that would put a giant to shame was pumping her legs so hard and swinging so high in the air I had to stop and watch her for a minute. She instantly brought a smile to my face. Luke turned to me and asked, "mom, is she special?" I said "no, honey...she's just enjoying life and slowing down to swing.

AHHHH! Note to self...slow down...and swing.

Ozark Snapshots

We had another memorable trip to one of our favorite family vacation spots. Lake of the Ozarks is so much fun for the Mieska 6. We were able to travel with our great friends, the Lang Gang and enjoyed lots of crazy boat rides, lake and pool swimming, parasailing for 3 excited little boys, and relaxation. Until next time...

My ABCs

Almost a runner: really, I'm not, but I'd like to think I am. I want to be...
Before I had kids I'm not sure what I did.
Cubbie by default and I've learned to love them. Really I've learned to love the way my husband worships them.
David is my younger brother- lives in St. Paul and has always been a great friend.
Eggplant grosses me out. Can't stand it. Tried and tried. Just.Can't.Do.It.
Friends: Angie, Mandy, Alecia, Jen- my closest girlies.
Greek salad: LOVE it! Love me some feta.
Homeschool: Would really love to homeschool my kids but don't want them to miss the social aspect of public school. Plus I'm not that organized.
I LOVE the movie The Outsiders. I think my first real movie star crush was on Pony Boy and Dallas. Stay Gold, Pony Boy, Stay gold.
Jeremiah is the love of my life. Puffy heart the boy!
Kicking a soccer ball is great therapy.
Luke is my firstborn. I always knew I wanted a 'Luke'. He's a sweet, tender-hearted, athletic, fun, and Star Wars loving little boy.
Mary Lu is my mom. She used to keep me out of school every now and then to shop. The Best. Mom. EVER.
Never have I skinny-dipped.
October 31 is one of my favorite holidays (besides Christmas). Favorite costume of mine was when I was E.T. and I glowed in the dark.
Pillows, specifically body pillows, are one of the greatest inventions ever. I could not live without my body pillow.
Quarters is one of the best drinking games. I'm REALLY good at it. Lots of great practice at college.
Radford University is where I attended college. Bus Stop, Macadoo's, Virginia Tech,Alpha Sigma Tau, wow! Those were the days.
Slumber parties are something I will miss out on not having any girls in my house. Some of my greatest memories were slumber parties with all my girlfriends.
Underwear is something I don't think much about. I think I've had the same pair of underwear since Jere and I got married. That's a problem!
Valentines day- I'm a valentine's baby, so is Luke. My Grandpa Harry died on Valentine's day.
When I grow up I want to be a photographer.
Xanadu was one of my favorite songs by Olivia Newton John.
Yellow is a TERRIBLE color on me. I love the color but can't wear it.
Zebras creep me out- are they black with white stripes or white with black stripes???

And those are the ABCs of me.

Mieska Meals 6/13 to 6/19...

Another crazy week at the Mieska house! I'm not sure we had a weekend because it was jam-packed again. Birdpapa and I were able to have an entire day ALONE! We spent the morning and afternoon on the golf course supporting the Treynor Athletic Booster club- thank heaven for an awesome babysitter! She handled the boys and had a great time- hopefully she'll come back!

Monday 6/13
B- free for all
L- Homemade white bread with turkey lunch meat and fruit
D: Stove top Swiss casserole (new recipe)
To Do: Make Strawberry Jam and Breakfast burritos

Tuesday 6/14
B- Oatmeal (pre-made packets) with fruit
L- Pizzadillas with fruit
D- pork sliders with homemade slaw and corn
6PM Owen BB game

Wednesday 6/15
B- Breakfast burritos
L- Gooey toasted PB & jams with chips
D- spaghetti noodles with sauce and green beans
To Do: Make homemade pretzels (breadmaker)& library with boys

Thursday 6/16
B- cereal (kid choice)
L- turkey roll-ups with fruit
D- pork tacos
6:30PM L BB game
J & G Mineola taco ride!

Friday 6/17
B- Pancakes
L- ramen noodles with fruit
D- shrimp lettuce wraps with grilled veggies
6PM- O BB game

Saturday 6/18
CRAZY DAY!
O double header BB game 9 & 11AM
L 3V3 soccer tournament- 2-3 games

Dinner- meatball sammys with veggie and salad.

Sunday 6/19
The best day ever! Father's day
B- Heavenly Hashbrown casserole with chocolate milk!!!
L- Dad's choice
D- Father's day cookout!

Whew! I have my work cut out for me this week! Did I mention I'm painting my foyer to boot and have planned a zoo day on Wednesday! Need to get organized!

'Lil bit a prayin' goin on...

Not a little bit, but a lot! There's a WHOLE.LOTTA.WATTA headed our way and I'm asking the big Guy to take it a bit easy on us, or at least help those that are less fortunate to find a place of refuge to get away from the flooding. My parents live just on the otherside of the Indian Creek which feeds into the Missouri River (which is approximately 1-2 miles from their home). The creek levee is just outside their front door- literally... the water is rising...and rising... and rising. To the point that we're ready to sandbag. UGH! My parents have been very patient and not panicked, until today. They have ordered rock, plastic, more rock and more plastic to put outside their front door and along the basement doors. We are very fortunate to have a civil engineer in the family- my brother, Scott spent the day with the Governor, police chief, fire chief, and a lot of other city officials trying to decide what to do. So he's given us a bit of a forewarning as the city officials have not really released a lot of information to the public yet. So peeps, I'm asking for a favor...please pray for safety for all. I told my mom today- if this is a natural disaster that will ruin your home- you're lucky. You have time to save things, your home won't be destroyed without warning by a tornado, a fire, etc... you weren't given a death sentence, your family is safe, things are just things. But please pray.

Lesson Learned...

Against my better judgment Birdboy #1 received a BB gun from Santa this past Christmas. I don't come from a family of hunters so I didn't see the point of purchasing a gun for a 9 year old boy that would never really amount to anything. However Birdpapa argued that every little boy should at least have a BB gun- this came with a promise that all he would shoot would be pop cans, boards, targets and the occasional ground squirrel. I could live with that. However, this weekend Birdboy #1 started in on bigger targets. Birds. Come to find out he's been doing this for awhile and I was not happy about it. I was watching Boy #1 creep across the lawn and wondered why this poor little robin birdy was not flying away. It finally dawned on me that he had shot the robin in the wing. I instantly yelled at Boy to come to my side and we had a heated discussion that turned into tears and fear because I told him he needed to kill the bird and put it out of it's misery. It killed me to tell him that but the poor bird was suffering. Several minutes later, more tears, and lots of sobbing Luke indeed killed the bird and gave it a proper burial. In my anger I told him he 'probably killed the mama robin' which provoked more sobs and a very upset little boy.

Forward 8 hours.

Birdboy #3 comes running to me yelling "Lukie killed the mama, Lukie killed the mama". Come to find out there is a small nest in the pine tree with 2 very small featherless, starving little baby birds. UGH! More tears and anxiety from Birdboy #1! 10 minutes later I find Boy #1 digging in the dirt for worms. I tried to explain that he couldn't feed the babies that unfortunately they just needed to die. I felt terrible, sick, and deflated as a parent. How do I handle this??? We sat down and had a talk about God's animals and life cycles, what's meant to be, etc... This did nothing for his anxiety. Poor kid. He moped until the next morning and into the evening. We finally wandered back out to the pine tree to find the baby birds and give them a little funeral as well.

WOWZA! The baby birds are still alive! Must not have been the mama! I have one happy little boy that has learned a great lesson.

Things I Learned...Yesterday

We all learn something new everyday, right? I've often said if I could be a lifetime student I would- I love school, I love to learn- However, things I learned yesterday aren't quite what I'd call school lessons- read on.

1. Boys, kids are messy- no matter how much I clean, pick-up, wipe-down, 5 minutes later things are dirty again. I give up.
2. My idea of clean and dirtybird boys' idea of clean is totally different. Clean to them is if there are only a few specks of dirt on random piece of food, there are only 3 globs of toothpaste left in the sink as opposed to 5, and if underwear has only been worn 3 days- ICK! GROSS! I have my work cut out for me!
3. Macaroni and Cheese made by a 9 year old makes a HUGE mess...but is really good!
4. A 7 year old and a 3 year old can not sit in the same wagon without a fist fight to follow.
5. A threat to lose a baseball game can make a perfect 9 year old.
6. 4 boys eat A LOT! a bag of grapes a day? I need a cow, chicken, vineyard, and popsicle garden!
7. a 12-minute nap for mama can do wonders for my attitude.
8. Babybird is demanding and into EVERYTHING! Didn't realize how busy he is but would have it no other way!
9. Attempting to read a book while said babybird is 'playing' and 3 others are resting is a joke- I think I read a total of 37 words.
10. Summer with my boys... PRICELESS.

Mieska Meal plans...

For about a year now I've been reading blogs, studying recipes, trying to meal plan...I do great for about 2 weeks and then fall off the bandwagon and scramble to come up with something to feed my family at the last minute. Anyone with kids will tell you it's no easy task to run into the store with one child, let-alone 4. So I'm sticking to my guns and getting something accomplished. I'm trying to meal-plan according to grocery store sales, coupons etc... which again, is no easy task. It takes time...which I have very little of. At least it's not exactly what I want to do with the extra time I do have... but it makes my life easier and my family eats healthier if I take the time. I'll attempt to keep this updated so it holds me more accountable :)

Tuesday 5/30
Breakfast: Homemade brown sugar oatmeal (pre-made packets)
Lunch: Crescent dogs & chips with fruit
Dinner: Dauchsi-burgers (leftover) with broccoli salad and pineapple slices
Baseball game

Wednesday 6/1
B: Waffles with fruit
L: Turkey roll-ups with veggie
Snack: Cheese and crackers
D: Homemade pizza with salad
Soccer game

Thursday 6/2
B: Cereal (kid choice)
L: Gooey toasted PB&Js with fruit
D: Taco-in-a-bag
Baseball game

Friday 6/3
B: Scrambled eggs and fruit
L: Pizzadillas & corn
D: Chicken drumsticks or chicken wings with side

Saturday 6/4
Free-for-all
Big boys at camp all day

Sunday 6/5
B: Oatmeal with fruit
L: Ramen noodles with fruit
D: Mustard chicken with vegetable

Monday 6/6
B: Pancakes with fruit
L: Turkey tortillas
D: TBD
Baseball game

So...there's a start. I'm always looking for quick, kid-friendly, & cheap meals. Feel free to send me suggestions. I hate to get in a rut and the boys love new recipes :)

And we're off....

Summer has officially started for the dirtybird boys! Birdboy #1 and #2 had a magnificent year at Treynor Elementary! Both ended very strong with amazing grades and ITBS scores. Birdboy #2 earned the Citizenship award for his grade (as did his older brother when he was in 1st grade). That's a huge accomplishment and we're very proud of both the boys. The little birds had great conferences to end their year at daycare. And so here we are...ready for an amazing summer! Bring it on 2011!

We have lots of things planned to keep the birdboys busy- #1 and #2 are attending a couple of Cub Scout camps starting next weekend. The first official cub scout 'Star Wars' camp- more postings later. Ketcher boys we'll fill ya in! Baseball galore and one last soccer game to finish up. Other than that we'll travel a bit to the Ozarks, Minnesota and have a few friends and their families come stay with us for a couple of weeks. Should be jam-packed.

We started off summer with a lazy Memorial weekend. We were able to watch a B-19...B-13??? (Barry help me out) land at the airport behind our acreage. The boys loved watching it take off and land- a beautiful piece of machinery here to salute troops and take civilians for rides. Birdpapa and Grandpa did some patchwork on our house from a recent hail storm and the birdboys played non-stop throughout the weekend. Now I'm off to do some meal-planning...my new obsession!

My Dirtybird boys...

Summer is almost here, school is almost out, and my dirtybird boys are almost clean...HA! Yesterday I let the little birds out to play in the rain- Birdbaby never had so much fun and I don't think he's ever been so dirty. Many more 'dirt' days are to come....

Lemonade Day...

Yesterday I...went crazy! Yes, crazy. Several weeks ago Birdpapa planned a weekend getaway with 2 other buddies to go golfing in the Ozarks. I was in total agreement and supported the trip 100%. Until yesterday. And yesterday was tooooo late! Let me explain... I pride myself on being organized, having a schedule down to the second and always having everything I need at my fingertips. I'm a planner. Precision is key, right? Well, when Birdpapa planned his trip, I kind of forgot that I had planned to have a garage sale. UGH! The dreaded words- garage sale. Who knew they were so much work? Who knew that I would need tables moved, money changed and lemonade made???? Lemonade you ask? Again, let me explain.

Birdboy #2 has had a great program going on at school. The local Treynor bank has been coming in and teaching the 1st grade kids about banking, investing, saving, donating, etc... It's a wonderful program. As part of the program the kids were all to participate in National Lemonade Day (April 30th). Again UGH! We called Grandpa Steve and asked if he could help build a stand. This turned out to be the BEST lemonade stand EVER! It folds up and everything so it can be stored and used over and over again. We purchased our bottles of water, lemonade, and made cookies galore. We were ready! Hey, if Birdboy made $10 it would be a great success. Then Nick was hurt.

Nick is the father of one of Birdboy's classmates. Nick was serving (his 3rd tour) in Afghanistan. We got the call that Nick had been hit by a roadside bomb. He was very badly hurt and one of his soldiers was killed. Nick's back was broken in 5 different places, his heel was badly damaged and his jaw was jarred so hard in the blast that he will need severe reconstruction. Many many stitches in his face and jaw...but he's alive. Other than when I was pregnant, praying for sick family members, I don't think I've ever prayed so hard. Kailey (Owen's classmate and little love interest) can't be without her dad... Lord, please give him the strength to get through this. Nick is going to be okay. He was flown directly to Germany and now is in Texas recuperating. Which leads me to the lemonade stands... Long story, longer... All the first grade kids got together and decided that anything they made on their lemonade stands should be donated to Nick and his family. Is that a God-thing, or what??? I tell ya, I don't know that I've ever been more proud of my little boy than when he held $80 in his hands and said, "okay mom, can we take this to Nick now?" WOW! God is good. And Lemonade is yummy!

Prayers and strength go out to Nick Jedlicka and his amazing wife, Penny. Thank you, Nick for keeping us safe and may you know that you have an entire community praying for you!!!

My Easter 'Hunnies'

Just wanted to post some pictures of all my Easter 'hunnies' in my life. I'm grateful for 4 beautiful birdboys that adore their momma, 1 amazing birdpapa that loves his queenbird unconditionally (even when I'm a bit crabby Easter morning trying to get all my dirtybird boys ready and respectable for church), 1 loving dad who sees no wrong in his daughter, 2 brothers that of course KNOW that their only sister is absolutely 100% perfect and the favorite child, and sweet little nephews that just add love, laughter, and LOUDNESS to my life.

Resurrection Rolls

I've always heard of the resurrection rolls but never actually attempted to make them. YUMMY! And boy had we been missing out on a beautiful learning and fun experience. It's now going to be an Easter tradition at the Mieska house. Items needed: 8 large marshmallows, 8 crescent rolls, little bit of cinnamon sugar, and a little bit of melted butter. The marshmallows signify the body of Christ- white and pure. His body was annointed in oils (butter) and then rolled in the cinnamon sugar. Jesus' body was then wrapped in linens and laid in the tomb (wrap the marshmallow in the crescent roll and pinch the sides). Open the oven and bake as package directs. When done baking you will see the open tomb with Jesus' linens laying aside. The birdboys helped make the rolls this morning and we also read John 19:17-42 and John 20: 1-23. What a beautiful reminder (and yummy) on this Easter morn. Next year I'll be more prepared and make from scratch.

That's How We Roll...

So yesterday was supposed to be a typical Saturday for us...jam-packed with soccer, flag football, 4 bird boys, grocery store, laundry, a little bit of this and a little bit of that... no biggie, right? I have this down to a complete science so the busier we are...the better. Then the email came. Soccer-Cancelled. Flag Football- no games due to wet fields. Grocery store had been cleared off the 'to-do' list because I suprisingly had accomplished this task the evening before. Pure panic crept over my body. What in the world are we going to do when we have 'nothing to do'. Seriously, I know that thought seems completely insane, but like I said, for our family, the busier, the better. So I took the bull by the horns and sat the family down. Again... insane, right? As soon as I said "we're doing N.O.T.H.I.N.G today it was like I just told the bird boys that the world was coming to an end. sssllllloooooowwwww motion, I think the boys drifted off for a minute, or maybe that was me.
They enjoyed every second of it. Rode a little dirtbike, played a little golf, shot a LOT of BB guns, and so forth. A perfect Saturday. Maybe we'll get another one of those in a few years. One can only dream, right...it's just the way we roll.

Yummy~

I just wanna eat him up! 14 months and yummy as ever.

My Shy Guy

Birdboy #2 had his spring music concert on Thursday- he is so painfully shy it was at times hard to watch. However, he did a great job! Little man couldn't stand still and was doing a weird "Erkel" dance on the risers- but he made it through. So proud of our Opie O!