Daily Reminders + A Spin on Goulash

My husband has been getting up at 5 AM to go to the gym, which wakes my middle son up. So my day started with a barrage of questions from him - where's elf on the shelf? Do I have school? Are Oma and Opa coming down? I am thirsty. Mommeeeee I am thirsty!!!!

And that is just 30 seconds worth.

The bright side is since I was up early I managed to get out of the house in time for an 8:30 call. Once I have my Starbucks in hand the sleep deprivation washes away easy enough so managed to make it through the day.

My Get It Done Tip today is yet again another example of how your online calendar is an amazing tool to keep you organized and help you juggle both work and home responsibilities.

My oldest takes piano so we have to practice every day. When we first started piano there were times when I would remember he had to practice, but he was already asleep or remember too late in the evening when he would be too tired to focus. We moved the keyboard to the main floor in an effort to get better at it, but that still didn’t work.

However, for well over a year now my husband and I both have a reminder 7 pm every night reminding us to practice piano with our son. Now if we don't practice it is a conscious decision. :)

A related aside, a friend shared this article with me and I saw it again on Facebook yesterday. Some people have said I enrolled my kids too early in music lessons - my oldest started at 4 and my middle one just started 2 months ago at 3 1/2. This article shares an interesting study supporting early music education and discusses the effects music has on a child's brain before age 7. If you have a child in music lessons or are considering check it out - http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/4260917

Tonight's dinner looks like everything but the kitchen sink, but the kids loved it. I saw a recipe for a version of goulash and changed it up in order to get rid of some things. I am trying so hard to clean out my freezer; I am apparently a ground chicken hoarder which is part of the problem.

A New Spin on Goulash

Ground turkey or ground chicken

1 onion, chopped

1 garlic clove, chopped

28 oz. can diced tomatoes

Bag of mixed frozen vegetables

Pint of grape tomatoes

Brown ground chicken or turkey in a pan, breaking it up.

Add in chopped onion and garlic and sauté.

Pour in 28 oz diced tomatoes, mixed vegetables and tomatoes.

Cover pan and simmer on low heat for an hour until turkey is cooked through (I did this the night before).

Serve over elbow macaroni.