Lunches and Family Meal time

Last night's discussion focused on lunches and family meal times.

Lunch issues:
Any ideas for lunch ideas for husbands who do not like sandwiches and eat on the go?
Some that came up were: pasta salads, cheese sticks, yogurt, trail mixes, humus and pita...anymore ideas?

Crazy meal time remedies for toddlers: Serve only small amounts of each dish to the toddler. Don't worry about quantity that they eat but do focus on that they give it a try. You can pretty much count on your toddlers judgment on their hunger level. Colleen serves her kids one tablespoon of each dish. This way they can finish what is on their plate and ask for more of what they want. Leah doesn't push lunch if her toddler isn't hungry. This ensures that she is hungry and ready for dinner.

Meal time variety: Katie has a list of favorite and successful family meals that she goes through before grocery shopping. She keeps adding to it so that her meal pool gets larger. Ann-Marie has her husband go through food mags to find things he likes. This gets your husband in on the meal planning process and excited about future potential dishes. Elizabeth also recommends getting your husband involved in the cooking process. Nicole finds success with date night cooking as a way of spending good QT.

Any more ideas... did I forget any from last night that were also helpful?

Authentic Friendship

Notes from Elena's virtue talk: Authentic Friendship
As we grow more mature so ought our friendships. Our responsibilities as a good friend change with age. Good friendships offer sanity, company, advice and betterment. To be a good friend we ought to look outside of our self and beyond personal gains... What do we bring to our friendships?
Do we make them better people? Are we attentive to their needs? Is our conversation the type worth having, or are we contributing to low level topics?
We can always get to know someone more deeply and intimately. We need to give the time and effort. God can use us as instruments to carry His message. We need to be open and willing to carry this message and we need to be open to receive it if it comes to us from a friend. With sincerity, simplicity, graciousness and charity, friends will help each other get to heaven.

Delayed Recap....

Sorry for the delayed recap of January's mom's group meeting. It was a nice gathering after the Christmas season.
In keeping with the passing season, Elena focused on the theme of peace, reminding us to maintain the balance in our daily lives as it will help navigate us through seeming chaos throughout our day.
Most discussion surrounded the topic of "Personal Style." After answering the quiz questions and reflecting on the answer options it was made clear that there were no right and wrong answers as there are positive and negatives to each. Each option spoke to a certain temperament. Hunt's goal is to have each home maker truthfully recognize her home making style and then capitalize on the positive aspects of it while realizing benefits of other techniques and outlooks.

As posted earlier, February's meeting will take place on SATURDAY Feb 2, 2008 1:00pm - 3:00 pm at Allview to hear Mary Hunt, President of HomeAdvantage Plus. Don't forget to RSVP to Nancy Krummenoehl at 301-854-9774 or qweenmum@msn.com by January 20th.

Cost: $15 (payable at the workshop)


Thanks.

Keep Michelle Neary in your thoughts and prayers and she is due at the end of January with a little girl.

Summary of First Meeting:

Welcome back everyone! Thank you, Lourdes, for opening your beautiful new home to us. You have done such a wonderful job with your house. It was great to see everyone.

Today was the first meeting using the new format and workbooks. HomeAdvantage offers "new ways of thinking about how you manage your home-helping you to set personal priorities to make definite daily decisions about your home." This enables the home making to be a harmonious and pleasant experience.

You must begin with a Mindset for Success in order to create and accomplish the home environment that you desire.
There are 3 universal principles that will help you 'craft the home you envision:'

1. Be positive!
2. Enjoy your home.
3. Do it for love.

In order to identify the way you want your home to be, it is important to see how it is now and ask your self what you want to keep the same and change. Talking with your husband and answering the questions in the workbook together will aid this process.

Below are the questions that the workbook asks. Feel free to comment below on things that help you identify and actualize your vision.
1. How do I want to feel when I walk in the front door?
2. What are obstacles that keep you from creating the kind of home environment you need for your self and family?
3. What would make you happier, healthier, and more refreshed at the end of each day?

Lori- can you comment about your suggestion with the timer?