What’s for Dinner – Part 2

As a continuation to my “What’s For Dinner” post,  today I want to share with you a few of the various methods I have used over the years to help make sure we enjoy “Family Dinner Time” – at least some of the time! 

1.  Once a Month Cooking –  Once a month I would get together with a friend, in one of our kitchens, and together we prepared enough meals (about 20-25) for each of our families.  We developed a list of recipes that our families liked and that froze well. (avoid things with sour cream)  We each bought our own ingredients and worked together to prepare all the meals – it was an exhausting long day (we always had pizza for dinner that night) but at the end of the day I had a freezer stocked full of meals my family liked for the rest of the month!  We froze most everything in large Ziploc baggies.  I did this for several years until my friend moved away.

2.  Dinner Group – After reading about the idea in a magazine I asked 3 of my friends who had families about the same size and age as mine if they would be interested in forming a Dinner Group.  Each of us took one night of the week (Mon.- Thurs.) and prepared dinner for all 4 families.  Each of those evenings a home made, hot meal would be delivered to my door.  In order to make this type of group work you need to have families about the same size (no fair if one person has one child and the other has 10!), and similar tastes in food.  One a month  we would meet together to go over recipes, review ones we liked, didn’t like and go over new possibilities.  This was also a fun social opportunity for us too.   The only downside to the dinner group is that once in a while you get a really bad meal.  Now I have to say in the 2 years or so we did this we only had one bad meal – but it was BAD.  My children will never eat meatloaf again – meatloaf is not suppose to be gray – but that night it was and even my husband, who eats just about anything, wouldn’t eat it.  So – don’t ever serve any of my family meatloaf!

3.  Dream Dinners, Dinners Ready, Cooking Accomplished etc.  A couple of years ago I discovered Dream Dinners like many of you and have tried various other meal prep places.  Each month my neighbor and I would go together and in about an hour, working together and fast (you know me)  we were able to walk out of there with 12 meals each, ready to be put in the freezer. This was more expensive than my Once A Month Cooking concept but a lot less work!   This worked well for us for a while until my family decided they missed my cooking.  I think this is a perfect idea for those who don’t like to cook or just have NO time to cook– you can give your family a good “home cooked” meal with a small investment of time each month.  I still like to keep a few of these meals in the freezer for those “emergency” nights when cooking a meal from scratch just isn’t going to happen. 

I will share my current Meal Plan on Friday!

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Something New Everyday

Earlier this week I was rereading one of my favorite books,“The Success Principles” by Jack Canfield.  The book is written in short, stand alone chapters.  I have read the entire book before but like to pick it up and just open it up and see where it opens. This week the book opened to a chapter entitled  “Commit to constant and never ending improvement”  There was a quote by Oliver Cromwell “He who stops being better stops being good”.    Jack Canfield writes that “if you make a commitment to learning something new every day, getting just a little bit better every day then eventually – over time – you will reach your goals.”  Well, I decided that I was going to focus on learning something new every day this week and I decided to keep a list of what I learned.

Here’s my list.

Monday:  The sweet, 80 something year old, mother of a good friend was in town.  I had heard my friend talk about the wonderful scones her mother made so I asked if I could come over and see how she made them.  The scones were delicious and similar to ones I had made before but I learned some fun tips that I didn’t know.  First tip:  Always put away each ingredient after you use it – that way if you get interrupted you won’t have to wonder if you put it in yet or not!  (I have done this so many times!)  Second tip:  Always spoon your flour into the measuring cup – don’t scoop.  When you scoop you can end up with an extra 2 Tbps. of flour!  Lesson Learned: Everyone has something to teach you (especially 80 year old women) even when you think you know how to do something already.  If you’d like the recipe for these yummy scones and see what they look like you can visit my family blog at www.thewilkesweek.blogspot.com – scroll down to the bottom of the latest entry to get the recipe.

Tuesday:  I had my monthly team leader call.  I learned a great tip from one of the leaders on how she is promoting one of our new products with her customers and so did everyone else on the call.  Lesson Learned:  Take advantage of every opportunity you have to network – learn from you team members, uplines, downlines, sidelines.   

Wednesday:  Over the years I have worked with a business coach – several different ones.  I decided that there were some goals/projects I wanted to accomplish that I was having a hard time getting done on my own. I always felt it was somewhat silly to pay someone to check up on me but I kept feeling prompted to work with a coach again. So I gave them a call and in that first call with the coach they provided me with the solution to something I had been trying to figure out on my own but hadn’t been able to do.  Lesson Learned:   Even though many times I know what I need to do and I even know how to do it,  it is only when I am responsible to someone else, I am being held accountable and I am paying money that I do it!!  A different perspective and approach to a situation is helpful too! 

Thursday:  During a call with a downline I was asked a question I couldn’t answer.   After 17 years you would think I would know just about everything about my company – wouldn’t you? – NOT.  I told her I didn’t know the answer but that I’d find out.  As soon as we hung up I did some investigating and found out the answer – now she and I both know.  Lesson Learned:  No matter how long you have done something or how much you think you know there is always something you DON’T know.  

Friday:  I had been wanting to take ballroom dance lessons for the last year or so.  In fact several years ago Jim and I took a class through the Community Center which was not a great experience but I felt enough time had passed that he would be willing to try it again.  Well, Friday night we went to our first Salsa class.  I was a little nervous about it – afraid we would make total fools out of ourselves since our dancing abilities are rather limited!  But guess what – we had a great time and there were other people there as bad as we were and maybe even a little worse!!  Lesson Learned:  Never be afraid to learn something new because you think everyone knows more than you and you’ll look like a fool!  There will always be someone who knows less than you do! (and is a worse dancer!) 

Saturday:  We had some friends call and invite us to go see the Vaux’s swifts – these are little black birds.  Each year these birds gather at Chapman Elementary School in NW Portland during the month of September on their way to Central America for the winter.  Each evening at sunset they funnel into the chimney of the school – it is quite a sight.  So we joined 100’s of other people on the lawn of the school to watch thousands of birds descend into the chimney of the school.  Now I have lived in Portland for 26 years and I had NEVER heard about this – and I consider myself pretty informed on “what’s happening” around town!    Lesson Learned:  Again – there is always something you don’t know about!

 Sunday:  After spending quite a bit of time typing up this article I left the computer to go take care of something else.  When I came back to the computer the article was GONE!  Of course – no one at my house had done anything – it just magically disappeared on it’s own.  Lesson Learned:  Always BACKUP your work!!

 I hope by now you can see that the point of all of this is that everyone has something to teach us, we should take advantage of learning from others, that being accountable to someone else can help us get things done (especially if we are paying money) never be afraid to learn something new and there is always something you don’t know!

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I am NOT too old!

Last Wednesday our family drove up to Seattle for the day .  It was the last day our whole family would be together before the boys headed back to college and the girls started back to school next week.  My boys (all three of them – Jim, Logan and Clark) love the Mariners.  Even though I am not much of a baseball fan I must admit I do enjoy the whole atmosphere of the ball park – and the food.  So up we headed.

On the drive up to Seattle we drove by the Wild Waves Water
Park .  As we drove past, my husband asked me if I had ever been there.  I hadn’t and I responded to him by saying “I’m too old for waterparks.”  Well that statement was just the beginning of a series of statements that day (mostly made by my children) about things that I was too old to do.

Leading the discussion was whether I was too old to have a Facebook account.  Well I don’t think I am and after I received several invitations from others to be their “friend” on Facebook  I decided to set up my own  page.  Of course my children are so embarrassed and even threatened not to accept my invitation to them to be my “friend.” (If you want to be my Facebook friend  – just send me an invite – I’m up to 15 friends!)  You can even check out my pictures of my evening with Michael Buble (I am definitely NOT too old for Michael Buble!)  If you don’t have a Facebook account ask to borrow your teenagers!

The next “too old” statement that came to mind was one I had actually heard earlier in the week from my 23 year old son when he questioned whether what I was wearing was “age appropriate” –o.k. – now this is a 23 year old boy asking his 47 (yes I am 47!) year old mother if her fashionable, slightly trendy but totally appropriate outfit was “age appropriate” – the nerve!

The next statement came when one of the kids told me I must be really old if I was old enough to have two kids in college… they were really asking for it!

Next, after enjoying a lunch of fish and chips on the pier my husband gave me a little kiss and I was informed by the children that I was much too old to be kissing in public!

After I thought about all the things I was supposedly “too old” for  I decided I was wrong, I was NOT too old for waterparks – I just had no desire to run around with a whole bunch of other people all day long, in my bathing suit, standing in line just to be encased in some tube full of water twisting and turning !  I was NOT too old.  Now if it was an amusement park with roller coasters – I am totally there!

Another thing I am NOT too old for is pimples – just this week one exploded onto the scene.  I am sure there must be a few things I am too old for but I really can’t think of any right now.  All I know is I don’t plan on being too old for too many things too soon!

We all have things in our lives that we may feel we are “too old”, “too young”, “too shy”,  “too busy” etc. etc. to do –but are we really? – or is it just an excuse.  An excuse not to try something new, an excuse to stay in our comfort zone and not move forward, an excuse not to take a risk.   Many times it is just easier to blame our lack of progress on being “too something”.   Most of the limitations we feel in our life are self-imposed.  The things we feel are holding us back or preventing us from moving forward are truly only “in our head”.

I challenge you that as you get ready to start a “new year” (regardless of whether you have children in school) to take a moment to think about something that you have put off doing, trying, learning, because you were “too something”.   Maybe with your business you have put off making those phone calls because you have been “too busy” with the kids this summer,  maybe you have put off making a commitment to earning a certain incentive trip or leadership level because you are “too scared” or “too  (fill in the blank)

Have you just been making excuses?  If you have – stop.  Stop being “too old”, “too young”, “too busy”, “too something” and just get out there and give it a try –wear that trendy, fashionable, outfit, sign up for a Facebook account, kiss in public, and yes if you want put on that bathing suit and run around that waterpark!  But don’t hide behind being “too something.”!!

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The Week of the Family Photo

This past week was “the week” –  the week of the “family photo”.    Once again it was time for the biannual family photo.   If you’ve been in my home you may have had the privilege of viewing the Wilkes Family Photo Gallery (aka the dining room).  Lining the walls of our dining room is quite an extensive collection of family portraits, beginning with our first official “family photo” when Logan was only 18 months old.  They continue through to the last official “family photo” which was taken two years ago   This is one of my favorites – all of us dressed in white and blue at the Oregon Coast.  Our son Clark is now home from his two year mission in Chile and it was time for an updated “family photo”.    I forgot how much work the official “family photo” can be. 

First – you need to find a time that everyone is available.  Now when the children were younger this was a much easier thing to accomplish.  You just had to work around nap times to make sure they weren’t tired and cranky.  We have one darling picture of the two boys when they were about 4 and 2 years old.  All dressed up in their pale yellow and navy matching linen Easter suits that I had made for them.   Logan was in a great mood and smiling happily for the photographer but we didn’t time it so well with Clark – he was cranky and not in the mood to sit still.  In fact, the only way we could get him to hold still was to give him my car keys – so we have a darling photo of the two boys in their Easter suits with Clark holding the car keys.  This is the same child who in another family Christmas picture is being hung upside down by his feet because he would not cooperate! 

Now that the children are older and working, finding a time when everyone was home was also a challenge – I was running out of time too.  Summer was almost over and the boys are heading back to school next week.  So this weekend, Saturday was our window of opportunity.  A friend from church who is just starting a photography business agreed to take the picture in our backyard – yeah!

The next and biggest challenge was figuring out what everyone was going to wear.  If you look over our gallery of family photos you can see the painstaking care that was taken with each portrait to make sure that everyone coordinated, blended and looked good together.  There is the white and denim picture, the khaki and black one, the green and black color scheme and just about every other possible combination of colors.  Now this is no small task to make sure everyone is appropriately outfitted and coordinated with each other – especially when there are six of you.  In fact it’s a full time job!

The first step is deciding on the color scheme.  This year, we (I guess it was really just me) decided to go with denim and jewel tones for everyone.  Of course we always pick mother’s outfit first!  So off I went to the mall to find the perfect “jewel tone” sweater for myself.  After several stores I found the perfect foundation piece for the photo.  Next were the two girls – they were easy.    Jim had a shirt in his closet that worked great– so now only the boys were left.

They boys are always the challenge, especially Clark (the 21 year old).  Clark’s fashion sense isn’t as highly developed as his mother would like.  In fact, his standard wardrobe in high school was a t-shirt and a pair of gym shorts.  If he had to wear a pair of long pants the gym shorts were worn underneath the pants and the pants were immediately dropped to the ground upon entering the house and of course left right where they were dropped!  As a small boy Clark refused to wear any type of pants other than “soft pants” (aka. sweat pants) and I don’t think it was until he went to middle school that he finally wore a pair of jeans (aka hard pants)

It took two more days of shopping, and many stores later until I finally found two shirts that I thought would be acceptable to the boys and that worked with our “jewel tone” color scheme – actually  I bought 4 shirts in the hopes that at least two of them would work.  Of course Clark wasn’t crazy about his shirt, in fact he left the tags on it during the photo shoot and threatened to return it after the picture (probably for a t-shirt!).

So 9 a.m. Saturday morning arrived – now I knew I was pushing it to schedule a family photo for that time on a Saturday morning but everyone got up and ready while being fairly cooperative although Logan did ask if he “had” to shave and I had forced Clark to get a haircut the night before! 

It was perfect picture taking weather, warm but overcast – no bright sun.  The “new” photographer hadn’t taken any large group (family) photos yet – we were her guinea pig but I assured her that since our kids were older we were a great family to practice on – the kids would be cooperative– well I guess some things never change.  As the photographer arranged us and positioned us there was the same old “ouch he’s pinching me”, “this is uncomfortable”, “I can’t sit like this”, “are we done yet?”, “how many more of these pictures do we have to take?” that we’ve always heard.  There were the goofy faces, the rabbit ears behind a siblings head and even my sweet husband asking,”has she taken any pictures yet?” (after she’d been snapping away for several minutes).  In the past I would bribe the kids with Happy Meals if they smiled good and behaved for the photographer – that doesn’t work any more.  It takes bigger bribes these days – a day of boating on the river!  About an hour  and some 200 photos later we were finished  and I was tired!  Hopefully we didn’t’ scare her away from taking family photos again and hopefully we got some good ones – I’ll let you know!

Even though it’s a lot of work, I love my gallery of family photos.  I love going into my dining room and seeing an overview of our family from the last 23 years  beginning with our first family photo in 1984 with my tightly permed hair, my homemade dress with the lace collar and our first baby .  We had no money at the time but having an official “family photo” was important.  My family is now grown up – four children who are all taller than I am.   My gallery of family photos is the most valuable art work in my home.  Whether your pictures hang on your walls or decorate the pages of a scrapbook they are memories and a reminder of who we were and who we’ve become.  Hopefully soon there will be a new official “family photo” – the jewel tone one – to add to the gallery.

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