*Sigh*

It's been a rough few days. Nothing major happened, I've just been a ball of emotions ranging from grumpiness to tears to extreme productivity. Nothing like a roller coaster ride! Mostly, I have to admit, I've been feeling a bit under appreciated. Not by Jay, but by those kids of mine! Ugh!

I guess it's sort of my fault. I've been going through a "creative cooking" phase, and not all of my ideas have been as well-received as I would have liked. Not to mention Bea has started to hate every kind of food except "snacks," the girls have been completely disobeying my instructions regarding a variety of topics, and then to top it off, Jay didn't eat the lunch I packed him for work (and went to Denny's instead). So it should come as no surprise that yesterday found me sprawled out on my bed, crying my eyes out in frustration and self-pity.

Then, in the middle of my bawling, Natalie came into my room. Without saying a word, she handed me her favorite bear and laid down next to me, stroking my back. I can't tell you how much that comforted me. It was so sweet. She was soon followed by the rest of my family, who all tried their best to make amends. In only a few minutes, I was tear-free and laughing. There's nothing like having your whole family hugging you and reassuring you that you're loved.

Another thing that made me feel better was reading this post over at Rocks in my Dryer. All you moms (or people who have moms) need to read this. Seriously.

So... I'm feeling better and realizing that my kids probably won't appreciate me for quite a while, although Jay is encouraging them to be better about thanking me for dinner, which I appreciate. It's always nice to be thanked, isn't it? (Unless it's your teenage kids saying something along the lines of "Thanks a lot for ruining my life, MOM!")

And now, since I mentioned my creative cooking, I will share with you a tip I found on another blog that I stalk, Tip Junkie. It is the cutest kid's lunch in the whole wide world: Muffin Pan Lunch. Basically, you give your child a muffin pan filled with bite-sized items and let them have at it. When Bea sat down at the table she exclaimed, "This is a cool lunch!" Aww! Of course, we then had an eternal struggle over the garbanzo beans, but hey, what can you do? Baby steps.

Here's what I put in the girls Muffin Pan Lunch:

Raisins, baby carrots, diced ham, the dreaded garbanzo beans, diced pears, sliced string cheese, hot dog, a marshmallow, saltine cracker, diced apple, a lemon cookie, and goldfish. Yum!

Jay and I, however, had Panera. :)