Meal Plan Sunday 7/8 - a million bags of chips!

My 6 year old became OBSESSED with the Nintendo Wii this past March.  This is his first real obsession.  He was never a paci/blankie/lovie baby and has never really been into any toys (despite having a room full of them) and never even really played with the kids electronic devices we had given him (like the Leapster) so I never imagined that introducing him to video games would end up having such an impact on my life.  Suddenly, he loved something SO much that I had a bargaining chip!  He knew he had to follow the rules or his beloved wii would get taken away from him.  Before, he cared so little about the consequences of actions because the punishment didn't mean enough to him.

Before I can go forward with this little tale you need a little background.  You see the wii was not actually purchased for my son but for my husband.  He has always been into video games - since the days of Pong.  He was thrilled about his son's obsession because now he had a video game play mate.

Several weeks ago we purchased the Game Skylanders for him.  Have you heard of it?  It's kind of similar to Pokemon in that there are a bunch of these creatures that have different powers and can evolve to have more powers as you move through the world of the game doing puzzles and quests. But what makes this game unique is the have a little figure for each of these creatures and the figures interact with the game itself by placing them on a portal.  So, in addition to the game itself, you need to track down all these various figures so you have enough power and abilities to finish the game.  And as with any collectible, some are mass market and easy to find, while others are rare and you could purchase them for $300 on ebay if you were so inclined (I am not!!).

Bottom line is that as much as my son is obsessed with playing the game is how obsessed my husband is with collecting all the figures.

The only saving grace is that my scrapbook nook is in the same den as the wii so we can all be up there pretending that we are having quality together time as the older boys play wii, I scrap, and the little one plays with whatever toy is striking his fancy at the moment.

So what does all this have to do with my meal plan, you ask?  This week Frito-Lay came out with a promotion where you purchased the large variety pack of 20 chip bags and you could send away for one of 4 exclusive Skylander figures.  Yesterday my husband came home from the market with 80 bags of chips!!!!!  Chips we really don't even eat!  Bags too big for me to feel comfortable even putting them in the kids lunch bags for camp.

I decided to find some creative ways to use the chips in our family dinners.  So this week's very unhealthy meal plan is brought to you by Frito-Lay (Ha!)

Monday we will be having Frito Pie.  This is apparently a southern dish that is similar to nacho's but with fritos. Tuesday will be kabobs on the grill. Wednesday I will be making baby back ribs n the crock pot with corn and smashed potatoes. Thursday will be potato chip encrusted chicken with a side dish to be named later (probably something off of Pinterest).  Friday will be baked ziti.

What's your meal plan this week, folks?

Hilary

ANYTHING BUT THAT!!!!

Every mother's worst nightmare!  Those little buggers that infest and are guaranteed to make me paranoid for the rest of my life.  Yes, I mean LICE!!!!  Let me give you a little background first.  About 14 months ago I had the ill conceived idea to cut my hair in a very short inverted bob.  Since then I have been growing it out, regretting that decision.  So after 14 months of not stepping into a hair salon, I decided that yesterday would finally be the day I do something I had been thinking about for years - give my extremely curly hair a brazilian blow out.  I was SO excited.  I spent three hours in the salon with various people primping and prodding me.  When I was all done, I had the long, silky, straight hair I had always dreamed of and was MUCH lighter in the wallet.

Within the hour I was sitting in the parking lot at my younger son's camp waiting for it to be dismissal time.  I was admiring my new hair in the mirror when I noticed some little whitish dots on my hairs.  It couldn't be lice, I mean I had spent all that time with people examining my head all morning.  Surely if I had lice SOMEONE would have noticed???!!!  I decided to have the camp director check my head for me.  I have known her for years and knew that as an educator, she must know what lice really looks like.  Sure enough, she said those dreadful words, "yep, it's lice."  I ran and got my son from his classroom and had her check his head - more lice!  And in an hour when the big kid got off his camp but, I knew I'd find lice there too.

Now, as much of a pain in the ass lice is - having to clean yourselves and all your belongings - I had an additional issue.  That pin straight hair I had spent so much time and money getting was not supposed to be wet for 48 hours!!!  I called the salon to let them know and the hairdressers response was not, "Oh, of course get treated and I will fix whatever damage you incur on the house.  I can't believe I didn't notice it when I spent 3 hours on your scalp!"  No, her response was, "Well you better not get it wet for two days!  Waiting with the lice isn't going to kill you."  ARE YOU KIDDING ME????  Of course I wasn't going to let it fester for two more days!!!

As far as treating the family, I took the easy way out.  I phoned a company called Hair Whisperers to come out and for $95/hr delouse us with a no return for 14 days guarantee.

So now I'm at home, almost 24 hrs later, still trying to put all our pillows, blankets, clothes, towels,and stuffed animals in the dryer to make sure I've killed those suckers.  Thankfully, my hair seems to have held up from the oils and the washing less than 12 hours after being straightened.  And, of course, I still feel itchy all over (even though I wasn't felling itchy before I knew I had the lice!).

I guess this is one of those parenting rights of passage.  I could have done without this one though!

Hilary