Freezer Meals, Easter, Teaser and Attitude of Gratitude

I've been working really hard on my April freezer meals these past few days. I have 24 meals made already with 4 left to make today. For the most part, they've been pretty easy to make, although I've already decided that I won't be doing this again until I have a bigger freezer because I'm really pushing it. I also discovered that trying to transfer soup into freezer bags by yourself is really frustrating.

We started our Easter Advent yesterday. I have daily readings that I'm doing and then yesterday I did the Easter Story using the plastic eggs with the kids. I hope you know what I'm talking about, but they seem to be pretty popular. Today we are reading a picture story about the first Easter that was in the Friend magazine at one point.

I have more fun news that I REALLY want to share, but won't be able to for a few more weeks, so stay tuned. And no, it is NOT baby related.

Last, since I'm actually thinking about it today, it's going to be Attitude of Gratitude Day for March 2012.

1) I am SO SO SO grateful for the time that I had with my father-in-law. I'm grateful for such a wonderful man in my life and I'm grateful that I listened to the spirit and decided to go down to say good bye when we did because waiting a few more days would have made it too late. I love him so much, I miss him lots and I'm forever grateful that I can see him again someday.

2) I am grateful that there are so many supports in place that we can get so much help with Brettley through his delays. I'm grateful that I live in the time that I do that so many different options, so much technology and support are available.

3) I am grateful for the opportunity that I had to go to the temple this month and to do work for my great-grandmother. I love the peace that I feel at the temple and I love that I have one so close to me. I'm looking forward to our next temple trip, I already have the date set.

Brett's Plethora Of Health Care Workers

My stress level has actually been pretty high lately because I had something else on my brain while everything happened with my father-in-law. Brettley is really far behind in a lot of his skills. We've had several health workers, including his pediatrician, agree that he has at least partial hearing loss, he doesn't communicate at all other than crying or laughing and his gross and fine motor skills are closer to that of a 6 month old baby. Enter Edmonton Early Intervention Program, who are going to help us get through it all. So before we were just working with his pediatrician and his opthalmologist. Now we've added in an early intervention worker, audiology, a speech therapist, a physiotherapist and an occupational therapist.

We're working off of the assumption at this point that we're all going to need to learn ASL. Brettley's EEIP worker wants us to start teaching him a few basic signs, so I'm going to start with 5, because the website recommended to me suggested that was a good number to start with. We'll begin with Mom, Dad, Milk, Hungry and Bed. Caleb still remembers the signs I taught him a few months ago (C, T, B, Mom, Dad, Eat, Drink and Love), so I think he'll be a huge help through this. Brett's worker also said that there's a good chance that he'll end up needing a special preschool in a few years and then take his schooling from there. I now really understand why we're supposed to wait a few more years before we have another baby. We have a lot of work ahead of us, but Brettley is worth every single bit of it.

Personal Progress Update

I realized that I hadn't updated on my Personal Progress in a very long time.

To date I have passed off 28 goals and 4 projects. I am currently working on 1 goal and 3 projects. After that I will have 16 goals and 1 project left to do, so I feel that I'm coming along very well with it.

I have fully passed off Individual Worth and Virtue.

Freezer Meals

I plan my meals the month before. Always. While we were in Magrath there were lots of talks and comments about certain traits belonging to which side of your brain is dominant. My SIL that's closest to my age and I are VERY left-brained. I guess that's where my obsession with lists and planning comes in.
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Anyway, next month I've planned out ALL freezer meals, with just some veggies to be added in. I'm making them the week that Caleb's on spring break and I'm really looking forward to them. I usually do a 2 week rotation (unless I'm feeling super motivated that month), so I've got 2 weeks planned out and will make 2 of each meal.
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Week 1
Sunday = Pulled Beef & BBQ Sauce on Buns with Salad
Monday = Chicken Rice Wraps
 Tuesday = Lazy Cabbage Roll Casserole
Wednesday = Vegetable Chowder
Thursday = Catelina Chicken & Stir Fry Veggies
Friday = Meatball Stroganoff on Macaroni
Saturday = Lemon Herb Roasted Chicken & Lemon Rice
* * *
Week 2
Sunday = Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole & Stir Fry Veggies
Monday = Chicken & Black Bean Burritos
Tuesday = Cheeseburger Meatloaf & Steamed Broccoli
Wednesday = Pizza Soup
Thursday = Baked Macaroni & Cheese with Steamed Broccoli
Friday = Shepherd's Pie (Or as Caleb calls it, Colonel Sheppard's Pie, point if you get that one)
Saturday = Chicken Chili * * *
Should be lots of fun. I'll post later about how it goes over. I am also able to use it as a Personal Progress project, which is exciting.

Where I've Been

I've been missing in action, I know. In my defense, I wasn't home for most of it. If you follow my blog regularly you'll know that my father-in-law was battling pancreatic cancer. He went into the hospital on February 29th and we knew he wasn't coming back out, so my step-dad picked up our boys on the Thursday and first thing on Friday John and I travelled to southern AB. On the evening of Monday, March 5 my father-in-law passed away. We miss him a lot, but are very grateful that his suffering didn't last very long at all and are so thankful for the knowledge that we will be with him again. So that's basically all that's been going on with us. Funeral prep and what not. We are back to reality and our routine today.