28 July 2007

I'm Not Ready for This















Today, the guys are working on the house (of course). Beth came over, and we took all of the kids for a walk up to a free carnival at a nearby church. It was great fun--free hot dogs, sno-cones, popcorn, games and activities, lots of prizes...needless to say, the kids loved it.

By the time we returned home, the two youngest--Judah and Elise--were bushed. We put them down for naps, and they drifted off to sleep in seconds. While they slept, Beth and I put together lunch, fed the awake kids, and we all played Grocery Store in the kitchen. Again, still having fun.

But we were sitting outside when I thought I heard Judah waking up. I waited a minute or two before I went in to check. I walked through the kitchen, through the dining room, through the living room, and turned to go up the stairs to retrieve Judah, and then I saw it.

Judah was sitting at the top of the stairs waiting for me.

How did this happen? Charis climbed out of the crib once, fell, and was content thereafter to stay put. Judah hasn't even shown signs of interest in climbing out of his crib--I haven't seen him try once, and whenever he's ready to get up, he tells me so. Loudly. But now, he can apparently do it all by himself. I don't know whether to be proud or horrified. A bit of both, I suspect.

I went outside to tell Abe (He'll be SHOCKED!!!), who in turn informed me that he caught him trying to climb out of the crib this morning when he was getting Judah up. "I just forgot to tell you," says he.

Great.

I have always been a big fan of the crib. What could be better for a mother's peace of mind than knowing her child is safely contained in a soft, comfy place? Knowing that her child could possibly be awake, climbing downstairs and wreaking havoc? Is that better? I think not.

Shoot, now both of the kids can get out of their beds. I am in BIG trouble.

25 July 2007

House Project Update


The next step in the construction process was putting up walls for the second floor addition. The walls may look a little short to you; that's mostly because they are. Our house is technically classified as 1.5 stories, meaning there's really not much attic to speak of--the ceilings on the second floor are shorter than on the first floor, and above that is roof. Consequently, both Charis and Judah have walls that slant into ceiling after about 5.5 feet. The ceilings are still plenty tall, but we have decided to vault the ceiling in Judah's bedroom (which will include the new addition) to give the feeling of more space. Poor Charis is going to be so jealous... We've also decided to vault the ceiling because there is a tiny (maybe 6 inch?) step up into the second floor addition, due to the ceiling height of the first floor rooms; if we didn't vault, it would likely feel more like 1.25 stories up there. Not exactly what we're going for.



After the walls came the roof line for the main section of the addition. The back porch that we ripped off had an inferior roof line, meaning that the slope wasn't steep enough, so ice tended to collect where the roofs met. The beauty of this new roof is that it is code-friendly, supporting a pitch that will enable rain, snow, and ice to slide off with ease, thereby eliminating the drippy ceilings we had become accustomed to in the old back porch. You'll notice the wall supports that are flush against the house and seem to be holding up the new roof rafters: this is actually the framing for the vaulted ceiling we've decided to put in the main floor addition. Yes, we're all about the vaulting. Again, this was to lend the illusion of space--even though it (obviously) adds no more square footing, we thought it would make it seem much more open and airy. Another decision we made last-minute was to put a skylight in the bathroom. Apparently, the trend these days is to build baths like these with no windows in them--a crying shame, says I--but I thought it might be nice to have a little daylight in the small room and not have to share our bathroom habits with the neighbors. So, voila, a skylight. I can't wait!



Here, the guys (Abe, brother-in-law Tim, and Shaun the contractor/renter) are "sheeting" the roof. Abe had to make a quick trip to Lowe's for some roof spacers--tiny metal doohickeys that allow the roof to expand and contract. What will they think of next?

And that's where they are for now. On the docket is the roof for the second floor, which will likely be put on this weekend (at least part of it...)

My greatest role in all of this is child care. And catering. Funny, but in my weekly menu planning, I almost never schedule anything for the weekends--yet the weekends are when I do my largest volume of cooking--two weekends ago, I cooked all day Saturday--grilled chicken, pasta salad, biscuits, cookies, banana bread, large amounts of homemade pizza--for the guys working on the house. This past weekend, work didn't commence until after supper, so I was off the hook, but I imagine this weekend will not be so luxurious. I'm thinking some sort of sandwich...maybe sloppy joes?


Even the kids get in on the action. In this picture, Charis is trying to supervise Judah's use of the reciprocal saw. Didn't I tell you he is advanced? (Don't worry--it's not plugged in, and actually, Charis was in the process of making sure Bubs did NOT pick up Daddy's tool. I imagine she wanted to have the pleasure of doing that herself.)





And here's Charis replenishing the fluids she lost while supervising. A forewoman's work is never done!

22 July 2007

Judah the Brave

My son. He is but 16 months old. It was only about 5 months ago or so he was taking his first toddling steps. Then his uncertain feet learned to run. Most recently, he learned how to crawl down the stairs and, to my--what is it, horror? delight?--whatever, he learned to climb up AND DOWN a ladder. I ask you, what 16 month-old has that kind of coordination? The other day, he was trying to climb up the ladder on the swing set and was not entirely successful because of the rung spacing. Today, he tried again on a different ladder, and here is the result:



What you don't see are Abe's hands, just outside of the shot. I mean, really, what kind of mother do you think I am?


Yes. He is bald. We shaved his head on a whim, and he actually has a very nice head shape for baldness. Even if one of his friends told him that the shaved head makes him look mean and unapproachable. (I respectfully disagree.)

Oh, Charis...

So Charis just walked behind me wielding a three foot long dowel and shouting, "LET MY PEOPLE GOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!"

And we haven't even seen a locust around here for weeks. (Although the frogs do seem to be getting out of hand...)

13 July 2007

How To Mend a Broken Heart

Charis is becoming very self-aware. Today, several times, after suffering some sort of injustice (cousin pushing her over, Brother sitting on her head, falling off the stool), she let me know what would help assuage her pain, only she said it in such a Charis way: "A tomato would feel me better, mama."

And just a few minutes ago, while we were playing on the big bed, Charis said, "I'm going to spank Daddy!" And since we were all playing, I said, "Go for it!" So Charis moved over towards Abe, who was laying on his stomach, belly flopped right onto his behind and exclaimed, "I SPANKED DADDY WITH MY BELLY!!!"

But enough about me

Back to the children, the actual intended topic of this blog. :)

Judah is getting so old. And defiant. Yes, that's right, we've entered the Direct Disobedience Zone. I knew it would happen sometime, and since Judah is just about 16 months old, I guess he figured now is as good a time as any. Here is the major drawback of this particular stage: while he understands (and uses) the word No, he does not yet understand any sort of discipline or punishment. So the best we can do at present is to make it clear that NO, you are not to play with the electrical outlets (or dump your juice on the carpet or play with the satellite box or hit mama with the giant legos), and remove him from the situation and hope to distract him from whatever defiant thing he was doing. We also have to make sure the distraction is not a reward (as in, "No, you may not play in the hazardous chemical cupboard, but here's a cookie!"), just a redirection to more wholesome endeavors. A challenge. I've read that 18 months is about the earliest they start making the connection between disobedience and discipline, so we're in for a couple of interesting months.

Judah has also learned a new trick, one that sets my mind a little more at ease: now, not only can he go up the stairs, he can also climb down. Whew. I thought he'd never figure that one out. I've been working with him on it at every opportunity, and it finally caught on. Speaking of "caught on," Abe's mom watched the kids last night so we could go stuff ourselves with hamburgers and onion rings and frozen cokes and movie popcorn and m&ms and enjoy a cheap movie (more on that later), and when we returned to collect the kiddies, she informed me that she defnitely thought she heard Judah say cat and juice, two words we've been working on at home. Progress!

Three Cute Charis anecdotes:
1) On the way to Yia-Yia's house, Charis says, "Mama! Knock, Knock!"
Now I had no idea she knew how to do knock knock jokes, and I don't know where she could have possibly learned one, but I am so excited to play along, so I reply, "Who's there?"
"Horsey!"
"Horsey who?"
"NO, MAMA! It's me, CHARIS!"
Which was a relief, because I almost never know how to begin a conversation with a horse.

2) Charis always tells me what is "good" to do--usually it's said like this: "Mama, it's good for you to share cookies with Charis." Yesterday, I was folding laundry in our bedroom, and Charis and Judah were playing in the living room. "Mama!" Charis said. I looked out into the living room and saw Judah on all fours, cackling, and Charis sitting on him as if he were a pack mule. "Mama, it's good to have fun!"

3) When we were leaving Abe's parents' house last night, I called out behind me, "Thanks for watching the kiddies!" And Charis called out, "Yeah, thanks for watching the kitties!"

11 July 2007

8 Random Facts About Me

Friends, I promise this was not my idea--genreally speaking, I like me, but I'm not narcissistic enough to think that your most burning desire today is to find out all about me. I just want to clear that up right away, before my tendency to ramble incessantly makes you think otherwise! April, a lovely friend of mine from High School, "tagged" me: "I'm tagging you -- you need to post 8 random facts about yourself on your blog. I have a feeling you've done this before?" What's that all about, April? Sort of a bloggy truth or dare?

Well, I've never been tagged before, so I don't know precisely how it works--do I tag April back with a different question? Do I keep the same question and tag another blogger? Or two? If I don't, will something bad happen to me? Can I make up my own question to ask and then tag anyone I want? And do THEY have to respond? This tagging phenomenon could be interesting...

So now for the facts. Which will probably not be interesting to anyone but my mother, and even then...

1) I pretend to be someone who genuinely enjoys food of all types. I would have you believe that I am an adventuresome type of eater, but in fact, I am not. Here are some of the things I have an aversion to, most of which make the "Most Favorite Things Ever" lists of other people:
Coffee
Milk (mostly because it makes me dreadfully ill)
Peanut Butter
The Chocolate/Peanut Butter combo
Chocolate (just kidding about that one)
Anything that used to live in water--lobster, shrimp, fish sticks... (I do enjoy the occasional tuna sandwich, but it has to be made by me)
Sweet potatoes
Pumpkin Pie
...the list goes on. But I promised I'd try to make this at least a little bit interesting, so I'll stop there.

2)My earliest career ambition was to be a fighter pilot in the Air Force. But when I was about 9, someone told me that women couldn't become fighter pilots, so I gave up the dream. Though I suppose the fact that, by age 17, I couldn't read the alarm clock next to me without corrective lenses might have also helped the USAF make their decision on that one.

3)I am really not all that creative. If I had a nickel for every time someone told me I was, I'd almost have enough to buy that pair of flip-flops I've been coveting (because let's be honest, nickels don't go very far). But the truth is, I am a faker through and through. Just ask my kids, who have been known to fall asleep out of sheer boredom whilst playing with me. I like to surround myself with creative and funny people so that when we're in a crowd, I can witness their creativity and wit and pretend they just beat me to the punch.

4)One of my all-time greatest dreams is to be a published author. I suppose that technically, I already am one; a short piece I wrote in the 3rd grade which showed an "advanced use of adverbs" was published in some education publication (though I personally never saw a copy). But being published without your knowledge or consent doesn't really count, I think,and anyway, what I really have in mind is a book. I read a lot of non-fiction, mostly essays and narratives and such, and I think that would be what I'm best at writing. I've tried to write fiction, but see item #3 for my reason why that has never panned out.

Some of my favorite books to read are travel narratives. They're almost always interesting, and through the power of imagination, I can pretend that I am actually there, when, in fact, I am not only not there, I don't even have the brass to buy the book that contains the narrative and have only borrowed it from the library. But for what I pay in my inevitable late fee, I can travel just about anywhere I wish, and that's cool. So, to hone my dream, I wish to be a published author of a travel narrative. Or several. But that requires cash. Which, see above, I don't really have.

5)If I had a million dollars, I'd... oh, this could be hard. Let's face facts: while this age-old question certainly is interesting, a million dollars ain't what it used to be. Sure, when I was 8, it seemed like I could buy the entire world with that kind of cash. But in these days of inflation, it can only go so far. So let's make it five million. With my trifling five million dollars, I'd:
Pay off my mortgage and all debts (Then, with the $12 or so that I've got left over, I'd:)
Buy out my parents' and brother's mortages, pay off all of their debts, and move them so that they'd live near me
Pay for my kids' schooling, as much as they want to pursue
Buy a really nice digital SLR and a Mac
Travel with the family, then write about it on my Mac (and of course, publish the pictures that I took of it with my nice camera)
Hire a maid
...and a landscaper and gardener
Never buy store-brand food again. I'd buy actual Ritz crackers and Chips Ahoy and EVERYTHING.

But I'm getting carried away.

6)I am ever-so-slightly obsessive compulsive. You'd never know it by looking at my house most days, but I am obsessed with things being a certain way. For instance, I will spend whole minutes adjusting my coffee table after I've vacuumed so that it's precisely parallel to the couch. I have a specific system for loading the dishwasher, and I can't even LOOK at it if Abe has loaded it (this does not happen very often). My dining room table must be prefectly centered with the windows it sits by--and I gauge this by the seam in the middle of the table.

I have grown more casual about the whole thing since having kids--I don't have the time to obsess like I used to. But please don't tease me with lines that are not parallel, because I might hurt somebody.

7)As evidenced by item #6, I am having a hard time thinking of interesting things about myself to tell you. (I mean, seriously, OCD is so passe.) What else is random and somewhat interesting? The pointer finger on my right hand is double-jointed? I'm left-handed, but only write and eat with my left hand? I can roll my tongue into a tube? The only person I could beat in a swimming race is a person without use of arms or legs, and even then, it'd be a close one?

Why, oh why, couldn't this have been "TAG! List 5 random facts about yourself"?

7)I am addicted to the VH1 show World Series of Pop Culture. I do pretty well in some categories, particularly ones about sitcoms or the gossip column. I blame Must-See TV and Us weekly for that. But I am HORRIBLE at the music categories, because I just don't listen to the radio very much at all. No, when I am in my car by myself, I chuck on a CD of someone I wish I could sing as well as, and I pretend that I do, at the top of my lungs. I particularly like Allison Krauss, Patty Griffin, that sort of thing. Ladies with a lot of feeling in their voices. So tonight, when one of the categories was about songs referring to the posterior, I was woefully sunk, as Allison Krauss and Patty Griffin do not sing many lyrics about luscious behinds.

And movies...another hit-and-miss category: I generally go for romantic comedies, though I do also like the Christopher Guest mockumentaries, so I suppose if there was a category about Waiting for Guffman, I'd do pretty well. And the topic of Friends. I'd do well at that, since it seems we watch Friends reruns at least once or twice a day.

Because I'm nothing if not sophisticated and well-rounded. :)

8)I am actually pretty introverted, though it probably seems all of this self-talk is to the contrary (but remember, it wasn't my idea). Yes, there are times when things seem safe enough for me to come out of my shell, and most of you would hesitate to call me introverted, because you are my friend, and when I'm with you, I'm anything but. But I really am one of those people who is recharged by alone time. I get very, very grumpy and horrible when I don't get enough time by myself, just to be silent. No music, no TV, no internet, just me in a room or a car, perhaps reading, and hopefully sipping a big vat of icy cherry Coke.

Which is what I'm going to do right now.

Now, who shall I tag next?

05 July 2007

Spidergirl

Poor, sweet Charis. On Tuesday morning, I noticed a small spot on her cheek. We had been outside the evening before, playing and picking berries in the backyard, so I figured it was just a mosquito bite. Happens all the time.

But a few hours later, her face seemed to be red around the bite, and ... swelling?

I still thought I must be mistaken, but when Abe got home he was emphatic that it was, in fact, quite swollen. Looking at it more closely, he noticed that the spot bore the telltale two fang marks of a spider bite. I called the pediatric nurse, who sugested we try Benadryl and keep an eye on it for increased swelling. She also told us (not to alarm you) that something called Cellulitis was also possible, so if it got much worse, we should bring her in. Of course, the next day was the 4th, not a prime doctor-visit kind of day, so she encouraged us to come in right away if it seemed to be worsening.

So we purchased and administered the Benadryl (she was by now looking so bad that, at the store, with no dosing tool available, Abe suggested I just "give her a swig" of the Benadryl. I declined.), and she settled down for a late nap.

I woke her (and Abe, who she'd requested take a nap with her) in order to have time to eat dinner before we all headed out for Abe's softball game. But by this time, she looked awful. She looked like a prizefighter who'd gotten the snot beat out of him. Her eye was almost swollen shut, the right side of her face had expanded to ridiculous proportions, and the whole lot was red and splotchy. I called the pediatrician's office, and they told me to come right in.

Of course, it turned out to be nothing the doctor could do much about. Cellulitis was a possibility, but a possibility they couldn't confirm until 48 hours after the bite. She told me to continue with the Benadryl, noting that the bite would probably worsen on Wednesday, but should stop getting worse by Thursday, returning to normal a couple of days after that. (!!!)

But I am happy to report that, while it was indeed worse on Wednesday morning, it has improved ever since, and today, she is almost back to normal! She's always been faster than western medicine. :)

Charis' Birthday


After much ado...Charis had a birthday party! It was attended by Yia-Yia, Papa, Great-Grandma Fritz, Auntie M, Uncle Tim, Aunt Beth, Gideon, and Elise (and of course, Mommy, Daddy, Charis, and Judah). Uncle Jed and Aunt Lindsay had to cancel at the last minute. We sat down to Burgers with all the trimmings, Corn on the Cob (we eat a lot of that at our house in the summer), Grandma Donna's Bronco Beans, and Loaded Roasted Potatoes (because there wasn't enough cheese or bacon in the rest of the meal). We were also celebrating Father's Day, so the meal did double-duty.

Charis of course had little interest in food (an interesting side note: Judah kept pointing to my corn and saying "THAT!" so I handed it to him, certain he'd be frustrated by it and hand it back, and he proceeded to eat it all. There's a first time for everything!), and seemed solely focused on the good part: opening the presents. I didn't write down all that she got, but I can tell you that it included this book she's unwrapping here and a bunch of other books and art supplies (We love Color Wonder stuff, and she got a lot of it!). Auntie Moriah also got her a plastic pizza set.


Another favorite was this dollhouse. Formerly Moriah's, it not only folds up for easy storage, it came with every accessory you can think of: the essentials, like beds, tables, chairs, people; but also things like birdcages and topiaries, which are a must for the modern dollhouse. There is also a stable for the horses, so it's realistic. Here, you can see Moriah helping set it up and Judah, Charis, and Gideon just itching to tear it up. Mostly, Judah and Gideon wanted to be a part of the actual dollhouse, sitting on the second floor or standing on the front porch.

But the piece de resistance, the present we'd been talking about for weeks, was the DORA BICYCLE. We've been telling story after story about bikes--Charis asks for one almost every night at bedtime. So we've told her (as I think I've mentioned in an earlier post) about Mama and Daddy's first bikes, and we've also made up stories about Dora bikes that fly, disappear, and transport the user to the magical ExplorerLand with Dora and Boots and Tiko and the gang (where Swiper will inevitably try to take the bike, but we will stop him with a well-put "Swiper, no swiping!" To which he will reply "OH, MAN!" and skulk off). So when she actually SAW the bike, she was ecstatic. Thankfully, she still thinks it is cool.

Now, along with talking about the bike for months, we've also been talking about her cake--her Dora cake. My mother had purchased a Dora-shaped cake pan for us to use, so I planned
to try my hand at cake decorating for her party. But the day before, Abe and Shaun hacked into my kitchen ceiling, leaving behind them a trail of drywall and dust, rendering the kitchen useless for much of the day. Obviously, the Dora cake was out. But I promised her a Dora cake--what would happen if we didn't have one? I didn't want to find out. So while Abe's mom watched the kids for a while on Saturday morning, I drove around town in search of a substitute Dora cake, finally finding that I could order one (for pickup the next day) at Dairy Queen. Disaster averted. Sigh.

We finished the day (a 90-plus degree day) outside, with the kids splashing in the kiddie pool and many of us running through the benefits of another present, a sprinkler ball from Tim and Beth. And also seeking shade. All in all, it turned out to be a great day, and despite my worries from the day before, mostly dust-free!

Oh, It Has Been Too Long


I've been meaning to post these updates for a while now. I have more pictures I would have liked to show, but even with these five (apparently huge) picture files (which eat up all of my allotted space for this post), I think you can get the picture.

Here's Muirne supervising. We had just had the basement "damp-proofed" (tarred), the last step before backfill.



Here's Abe backfilling. I could tell you that he did it all by hand, but that would be a lie. We had Vic the Septic Man come back with his excavating equipment and, well, un-excavate. We have great mountains of dirt way back in our yard, so no shortage of backfill medium. I was thinking at the time, "This is great! Now I don't have to worry about the kids falling into the dirt hole!" Until I realized that if they did fall, they wouldn't roll down the softly graduated dirt mound, they'd drop a very steep eight feet down into the not-so-soft basement. I was glad the next weekend when the basement was covered.


Here's my kitchen ceiling. On Charis' birthday. The day I was supposed to be cooking and cleaning, decorating a Dora cake, and preparing to host 15 people (thankfull, all family, so very forgiving of messes) for Charis' birthday party sit-down dinner. I didn't get a very accurate shot of my kitchen, but as you can probably imagine, it was less than sterile. Dust covered every surface. Tim stayed a while after the day's work was done (referenced in the next picture) in order to "save our marriage." Suffice it to say I was not pleased that Abe would choose to tear into my kitchen on a day when I needed it to be, oh, crumbling drywall-free. To his credit, he really didn't know that the project they were doing that day would require ripping part of my kitchen ceiling out. But I was in no mood to hear that at the time...






Here's the view from the outside on Charis' birthday. They tore the exterior siding and insulation out in order to install a beam (in the open spot near where my kitchen ceiling was). This particular picture isn't too exciting, but I realized I didn't have another picture of the basement with a ceiling (also called "deck" or, if you're asking me, "first floor" over it), so that's the function this picture is meant to serve. It was a relief to gain that--no only safer for the kids, but it also made entry into the house much easier, removing the need to walk all the way around the front.

The final picture I had room for belies the amount of work it required. It required two very full Saturdays: on one Saturday, the large back wall went up (which I helped lift, thank you very much), and the next Saturday, the two side walls and some interior walls went up. I wish I had room to share the interior pictures in this post, because they merit looking at--the bathroom walls are framed, but not up, awaiting the installation of the tub/shower fixture. Also, the laundry room walls are framed and up. My laundry room will have a huge beautiful window in it, and before the guys framed that back wall, we had a big discussion about the laundry room and its dimensions, which ultimately were altered from the original plan. According to the original plan, it was much smaller, with basically room for the washer and dryer and a little space for hanging things, but after talking through it, we realized there wasn't another suitable place for coats and boots and things to go, so we expanded the laundry room to essentially become a laundry/mud room, with lots of room for outdoor gear, hanging racks, shoe cubbies, etc. It is directly adjacent to the main entry, so hopefully, it will facilitate mess containment efficiently.

My favorite part, also not shown, is the window that is mounted in our basement stairwell which began life as a sliding glass door. It will be a fixed window, not able to be opened in any way, and exists solely to let more light into the space. Our current plan is to leave the stairwell open (as opposed to walling it off) so that light will be able to bleed into the rest of the addition. Code does require that a door figure into the equation somewhere, so our current thinking has the door at the bottom of the stairs instead of the top. Unconventional, I know, but I think we'll ultimately be much happier with it that way. It will seem so much more open and also aid the flow.

But we keep making progress (and I think you probably understand that when I say "we," I do not mean me at all), and this week (or next Tuesday), we're slated to receive the floor beams for the second floor, so those will be installed, then the second floor walls, then the ceiling of the first-floor part, and then the roof of the second-floor part, and so on, and so on into eternity, I think. Because even though we keep making progress, we've got a LOT to do still....

03 July 2007

Blog alert

I've decided to create another blog for my food entries. From now on, I will be posting my Menu-Plan Moday lists, favorite recipes, and food photos here.

Enjoy A Pinch of This!

Menu-Plan Monday Redux

Obviously, I didn't get this week's meals planned early enough to actually post them on Monday, having only returned from Ohio on monday afternoon. But this week I'm going to try something new: I'm going to plan for this week AND next week. It's ambitious, I know, but sometimes I get a little bit of a panic attack when it's Sunday or monday morning and I just don't have a fresh dinner idea in me. So here are the tentative menus for this week and next, bearing in mind that things do change and either one of these weeks might not happen as I plan.

This Week:

Monday
Spaghetti

Tuesday
Grilled Chicken Salad
Bread

Wednesday (Happy 4th!)
Brats
Corn on the Cob
Pasta Salad

Thursday
Slow Cooker Ribs
Hashbrown Casserole
Steamed Peas

Friday
Fried Rice

Saturday and Sunday
Leftovers/Whatever I didn't make on the other days

Next Week:

Monday
Crock Pot Meatloaf and Baked Potatoes (which are FANTASTIC from the slow cooker)

Tuesday
Teriyaki Pork Loin
Asian Sesame Salad

Wednesday
Sweet and Sour Chicken (or Pork, if there's a lot leftover)
Rice

Thursday
Tacos/Taco Salad
Mexican Rice a la Nina's Taqueria

Friday
Crock Pot Turkey Breast and gravy over noodles
Broccoli with Cheese Sauce

Saturday and Sunday
Leftovers, etc.