Meatballs in Red Wine Sauce - Part 1

Thursday is the most wild day of the week at our house. It begins at 5 am & ends, exhausted, at 9:30 pm. It goes a little like this: 5:03 alarm. coffee. boil eggs. pour coffee. make toast. pack lunches. pack breakfast. walk dog. 5:23 wake boys. feed dog. coffee into travel mug. wake boys again. tell Jonathan his breakfast is ready to eat early or reheat. make sure swim, soccer & school bags are in car. make sure homework is finished. hugs and kisses for Jonathan as we head out the door. text, my pal and boys coach, Aly. 5:40 in the car. 6:00 boys in pool. 6:40 boys out of pool. 6:50 breakfast in the cafe area of fitness center 7:03 back in car and headed to school. 7:10 drop boys at school and head back to pool. 7:30 I'm in pool for my workout. 9:00 finished with swim and onto daily activities: errands, clean, work, volunteer work. 3:30 boys arrive home via bus, eat a heavy snack or 3, chill, beg to play xbox or on iPods (I usually give in). 4:00 homework & reading. 5:00 dress for soccer. 5:10 in the car for soccer.  5:20 at fields. 7:45 head home, shower, eat dinner, 9:00 gather in boys room, lights out, prayers 9:10 pour a glass of wine, visit with Jonathan about our day 9:30 sound asleep.

Blessings upon anyone who actually read the activities above. I'd have skimmed or skipped. This morning after their swim I asked the boys what they wanted to have for dinner. I handed them The Feed Zone & they checked out some of the dinner recipes. Quickly they settled on Meatballs. And as many young boys do, they laughed when I said, "Great, I'll go to the grocery, pick up the ingredients we need and we will have Meatballs after soccer tonight." I have a feeling this meal has already received a rating of 5, based solely on its name. Oh, life as a boymom is never, ever dull.

We have not had much of a winter in the Ozarks. Our yard is full of bright faced daffodils and fragrant hyacinth, but today it's cold & rainy. I have a large fire burning and am finishing the last of my afternoon cuppa coffee. I'd just stood up to stoke the fire and head to the kitchen to make banana bread & begin making dinner, when emails from soccer coaches appeared in my inbox.

Subject: Practice Canceled Tonight!!!

The banana bread, I will go ahead and bake, but I'll hold off on dinner and have the boys do the chopping, smashing and shaping. Check back later today or better yet, subscribe to see how they turn out.

What is the craziest day of the week for you &/or your family?