I've been spending the past few days really trying to come to terms with this world. Wondering why there is so much evil. When tragedy strikes we all try to pull together and bring whatever good out of it that we can. It's hard to find anything good after last Friday though. My heart aches for those babies and their families, I cannot fathom what their parents are feeling right now. The only thing I could think to do today was to write. I wrote to my girls. I haven't really talked to them much about the incident. They are so young and innocent and I didn't want to take that away from them. They k is that something horrible happened but that they were "safe" as safe as you can be in a world like this anyway. They didn't ask to many questions and until they do I felt that I should leave it at that. I don't want to put unecessary fear in them. So I wrote them a letter for the future that I will share with you. Everything that has happened has really started to sink in and make me realize how short life truly is. I want to make sure my children know how much I love them, and how good the world CAN be.
Dear my sweet beautiful baby girls,
Last Friday something horrible happened in Connecticut. Something unimaginable and every parents worst nightmare. Although I know that unfortunately the world that we currently live in is corrupt, Fridays tragedy was and still is especially hard to come to terms with. Children were involved. Sweet beautiful innocent children just like you. My heart is aching for them and their families. And while there is nothing I can do to take their pain away I pray and hope that someday, somehow they will heal. It's out a real perspective on things for me. It's really show me how quickly life can be take . Every morning we wake we are given another chance. We are given a gift. More time to spend with those we love. More memories to be made. More laughs to be laughed. More playtime. More togetherness. I've tried over the past seven plus years to be the absolute best mom to you girls. I was so young when I became a mother so it's definitely been a challenge. I feel I'm doing an ok job, but I want to do more. I don't want to take a single day spent with you girls for granted. It is up to me to teach you the ways of the world. To tell you about the evil when I see fit and to make sure that no matter what you can always see the good. Because this world can be good. And you two are living proof of that. Everything that is good in this world is YOU. Our children. The children of our world are our future. Stay the way you are, despite Ll the bad you hear. Stay good and our future will be more bright. I hope to god that one day you will witness peace on earth. Until then I hope to give you your own kind of peace and keep your world as safe and good as I can.
Love,
Mom
May you rest in peace Sandy Hook victims
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Friday, December 14, 2012
12 Days of Teachers Gifts
I saw this idea online last year, and really wanted to try it out but ran out of time. This year I was so back and forth with it, trying to save money and yet still be creative can be pretty challenging. Especially with two teachers! But I decided to do it, and its been so much fun! We still have 4 days of gifts left, but I can't wait to post the ones we've already done so I'll post days 1-8 now.Some of them I didn't really get the best pictures of, so I'll just give you the decription.
No.1: On the First Day of Christmas, they got Chocolate covered spoons for stirring hot chocolate or coffee!
No. 2: On the second Day of Christmas, they got Chocolate Chip Cookies.
No. 3: On the third Day of Christmas ( MY FAVORITE) they got pencils that I created from left over pieces of our picket fence.
No. 4: On the Fourth Day of Christmas, Hand Sanitizer! The girls picked out cute little holders for the mini sanitizers from bath and body works.
No. 5: On the fifth day of Christmas Scarves! ( Forgot the picture but they were super cute!)
No. 6: On the sixth day of Christmas, salt dough ornaments! Hubby baked them while mommy was out at a much needed dinner! Then I painted them when I got home, and the girls put their thumprints on in the morning to create the reindeer!
No.8: And today, the 8th day of Christmas I gave them a printable that I found from simply designing. ( This should take you to the page if you'd like one too! She's so generous and lets you print them for free! https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B2Z1O_cQfZmkMmU0MHdMYWxYdXc) I framed one for each of the teachers. Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture of this one. They were super cute though!
If you can, when giving gifts, don't forget the unified arts teachers! They work just as hard! Also the school nurse, bus driver, and office help! It can get pretty pricy with all of them, but I shopped at the dollar section of target and found them each really cute planners for 2013 and got them each one of the mini hand sanitzers and holders from bath and body words for 1.50 each. Not too bad. Baked good are always good too, when you're running low on dough! Just something to let them know we appreciate what they do for our children! :) Nine people for just over $20 total. Pretty good if I do say so myself. And when you have virtually no money to spend on them, just a simple thank you can really change a persons life. Write them each a nice letter wishing them a happy holiday and thanking them for all they do. Just taking the time to show that you care is better then nothing at all.
Just B. Elf
Our Elf has the pleasure of being named after Justin Bieber. For some reason when you ask my girls to name something the only things they can come up with are crazy made up words, like baladooda or comalina....i know seriously strange. Don't ask me where they got it! The second best thing they could do last year when our elf first arrived, was Justin Bieber! I told them we should just shorten it to Justin B. and they agreed that would be good since after all, there already was a Justin Bieber. So Justin B. it was, and boy was he an exciting guest last year! He hid in the most tricky places, it took FOREVER to find him on some days. So this year Justin B. has returned, and decided to hide a little differently this time around. He's pretty easy to find most days, but he is just being soo silly! The kids LOVE it! So, I thought I'd share a few of his hiding places with you. I have to give credit to Pinterest of course, because that it is where most of these came from, not sure the exact source though or I would definitely give them credit as well.
The girls left a huge mess downstairs after daddy worked so hard making it nice the night before. Justin wasn't very happy about this one, so he hung out in the mail center all day with a note reminding them that Santa doesn't like to bring brand new toys to kids who don't take care of the ones they already have.
Justin B. arrived the day after Thanksgiving, but on December 1st he made sure we had our calendar ready to let the countdown to Christmas begin!
Going for a cruise with Barbie! I think Ken will be getting Jealous!
Listening to some Jams on a very expensive very cracked Ipod! :)
Who Stole the Cookies from the Cookie Jar?! Justin B. Elf, stole the Cookies from the cookie jar! And although you can't see it very clearly, he turned our milk GREEN!! Yikes!
Just Hanging Out. Lovely Lady #1 was soo excited about this one, she was face timing a friend of hers and they always show each other where their elf is hiding that day. This particular day their elves were both in the same exact places! haha Hanging from the Curtain Rod! I swear they didn't plan this one! :)
The girls left a huge mess downstairs after daddy worked so hard making it nice the night before. Justin wasn't very happy about this one, so he hung out in the mail center all day with a note reminding them that Santa doesn't like to bring brand new toys to kids who don't take care of the ones they already have.
Justin B. Really misses the North Pole! He decided he'd improvise and made a marshmallow Snowman! Boy did he get messy in that snow!!!
He's a little too big for that house, don't you think!? He hung out at the lego friends home for the day! Hope he didn't squish them!
Time for a nap! All this hiding and being silly sure can take a toll on a poor little Elf!
Relaxing in a "bubble bath", and watching some tv. :) That bathroom floor looks like it needs a little scrub! Yuck!
Game Night! There's that same Barbie again! She sure will miss him when he returns to the North Pole!
Keeping Watch on the Picture frame!
Star light Star Bright, first star you see tonight, I wish I may I wish I might have the wish I wish tonight! Justin hung out on the star while the family camped out under the Christmas tree for one of our 25 days of Christmas countdown activities!
I can't believe there are only 11 more days until Christmas! Time sure does fly when you're having fun! We've been busy little bees, but its all been worth it to see the smiles on those two beautiful faces! Love making memories and starting new traditions with the wonderful family I was blessed with. Hope everyone is having a great Christmas Month so far!
“Life has many twists and turns in it; you have to take what you are given and use it for the best."
Don't ever take a single day for granted! And try not to sweat the small stuff, Christmas can be wasted if we spend it stressing over money and time. Stay positive and think happy thoughts, everything will find a way some how.
Sunday, November 25, 2012
SOUPer Sunday
Many things that were supposed to happen this month, did not. I got completely overwhelmed with, Dentist Appointments, school applications, Parent teacher conferences, Cooking for lovely lady #2's class party, Sick Days, THANKSGIVING, Christmas tree shopping, ,50th Anniversary Cake, 10 dozen cupcakes, the grand opening of my brother and sister in Laws RightCoastPro (professional wrestling business) and trying to remember to shower and dress every day! The scariest part about this is that November isn't even over yet! It went by sooo fast and yet so much was finished (or not finished) in these short 25 days.I did paint my door black, however I still need to change out the hardware so it looks complete, so no pics on that just yet!
So instead of talking about all of the things I was supposed to get done, I figured I'd share some of the things that I actually did get done. The Dentist Appointment was for my lovely ladies, I am soo stinkin proud of those two for being such troopers through the whole thing. Cecilia's teeth aren't too bad. She had one minor cavitity in between two of her teeth and she had to get sealants put on to prevent any future cavities. However miss Sophia was blessed with teeth as soft as marshmallows! Any little bit of sugar that finds its way into her tiny little mouth get very comfy in there and starts to eat away immediately! She is 5 years old and has already gotten two teeth pulled, spacers put in, and a temporary filling. So this particular trip the dentist wanted to remove the temporary filling, grind down the tooth, and cap it off, plus she had another cavitity to boot! I feel like the worlds worst mom when I bring her into the dentist, every time, it never fails she has another cavitiy. I swear I brush those suckers at least twice a day! But, long story short, she survived and did it without a flinch or any of that silly laughing gas!
Charter Applications are out and now we're just hoping for the best! We applied to three charter schools this year and although we are slowly warming up to the new public school we're in, we have our fingers crossed that we get in to one of the three. Just to have a peace of mind that they would be set in these schools until they graduate high school. I went through 5 schools when I was younger, and we lived in the same house all my life. To know that my kids wouldn't have to change school every time the board sneezed would really make us happy!
We had our parent teacher conferences this month, which went wonderfully! And I'd hate to brag (Actually LOVE it when it comes to my kids) but we were told they are some of the best in the school, even by the Art,Music,Gym, and Library teachers who we just happened to walk by in the halls. Sophia started Kindergarten this year, and is right on track to where she should be. We strive to be ahead so we'll definitely continue to work with her at home to get her reading and writing a bit nicer. Cecilia, who has always been a bright kid, was said to be the PERFECT student. She said other second grade teachers wish they had her in their classrooms. She is way above her reading level and above grade level in math even though its not her strongest subject. Her teacher almost brought me to tears with all of the kind words she said about her. We couldn't have been more proud of those two lovely ladies! :)
The last week of school before Thanksgiving break Lovely ladies Kindergarten class was having a Thanksgiving Feast! They had sign ups the week before so I was supposed to bring in Mashed Potatoes and Gravy. (Easy Peasy) Well, that was until we got a note home asking if anyone wanted to volunteer to cook the Turkey that was donated to the class. I sent a note in the very next day and offered to cook the Turkey as well as the Mashed Potatoes, I was feeling a little guilty that I would be at work and unable to attend this party so I wanted to help out in any way I could. So her teacher called me that day and told me she would be soo appreciative if I could do that. Well, I've only cooked one other turkey my whole life. It turned out good, but if was just for my family so I felt that the pressure was on big time for this Turkey. I googled a "Super Moist" turkey recipe and found one that said to cover the thing in mayo and Rosemary, salt and Pepper. A little strange, but I have hear Mayo makes for some moist chicken so I decided to give it a try. I'm telling you I lost sleep over this thing! It smelled so good, looked fantastic, but I was so afraid that I may have undercooked it, even though the temp was right, or that I didn't carve it good enough and they would run out of turkey. I worry over some unnecessary things sometimes. Needless to say, the turkey ended up being a hit! Shaaaa Woooo! :)
Then the Monday of Thanksgiving week, I got the dreaded STOMACH BUG! YUCK. We won't go into details about that one, but it did set me back a bit. Luckily my kids, although sometimes extremely loud, were very self sufficient and helpful on this day. And my mother in law came to the rescue and picked them up to shop for a few hours. So far, I was the only one in the house that got it, so please knock on wood!
Thanksgiving day here in little ol' delaware was GORGEOUS! We have an annual tradition of playing football the morning of and it is usually freezing cold and/or raining cats and dogs! This year was blue skies and sunshine all day long! We had dinner at my moms house with just my siblings and our kids which is still 11 people strong. Food was amazing, company was great, kids were good,and it really turned out to be one of the best years yet! The next day we went for our Christmas tree! Another tradition we started years ago with my dad and his parents. We go to Coleman's tree farm and take a little hayride out to cut down our own. The trees were Ginormous this year! And all we wanted was a tiny little 6 footer since it would be up on a platform. It took a little longer then the norm, but we found the perfect tree. Lovely lady #1 picked it out and she is so proud of her pick. We'll be putting it up and decorating it this evening. Love this time of year! :)
Oh and in the middle of Thanksgiving and tree shopping I managed to knock out, a 50th anniversary cake for my mother and father in law and 10 dozen cupcakes for the grand opening of a new business started by my brother and sister in law. I had one night up till 3 am and one up till 1am then back up at 6am to finish. But i did get them done! The anniversary cake gave me every possible problem that a cake can give. I'm still pretty new at the whole cake thing and have actually not done one in a few months so it was a little frustrating but served its purpose.
And the cupcakes I made turned out pretty delicious if I do say so myself. I tried two new recipes. One was an apple cobbler cupcake (originally from the cupcake project) with a pumpkin pie icing. Really just a butter cream icing with pumpkin pie spice but it was yummy. The other was a pumpkin cupcake with cream cheese icing. They seemed to be a hit at the event.
And the event itself was pretty awesome! I've never been to something like it before. Hubby's brother has been into wrestling FOREVER and unfortunately hurt his back in a car accident years ago so he had to remove himself from the rink. He stayed involved in the training and supportive part of it and has been planning on started up his own business for quite some time. They both did amazing with the whole thing! I'm so excited to see the upcoming events! The website will be up and running tomorrow and I'll post a link so that it can be shared! :)
And now, its time for me to get the rest of the month out of the way, which is really where the title of the post came from. I've been wanting to try to have a SOUPer Sunday during the cold months. I'm just planning on making a big batch of soup every Sunday to have as a meal or on the side throughout the week. This weeks Soup that I'm going to try is Roasted Cauliflower and Aged White Cheddar Soup. It look Scrumptious! So hopefully it will be. I'm going to take the recipe I found from Closet Cooking and adapt it a little to make it my own. Can't wait to try it. Today will definietely be a good day for soup,because it's SOUPer cold (CORNY I know.) out there! Time is of the essence so I'd better get started! Getting my kiddos back from their Emmy (my mom) and off to Market we go! :) Happy Sunday!
So instead of talking about all of the things I was supposed to get done, I figured I'd share some of the things that I actually did get done. The Dentist Appointment was for my lovely ladies, I am soo stinkin proud of those two for being such troopers through the whole thing. Cecilia's teeth aren't too bad. She had one minor cavitity in between two of her teeth and she had to get sealants put on to prevent any future cavities. However miss Sophia was blessed with teeth as soft as marshmallows! Any little bit of sugar that finds its way into her tiny little mouth get very comfy in there and starts to eat away immediately! She is 5 years old and has already gotten two teeth pulled, spacers put in, and a temporary filling. So this particular trip the dentist wanted to remove the temporary filling, grind down the tooth, and cap it off, plus she had another cavitity to boot! I feel like the worlds worst mom when I bring her into the dentist, every time, it never fails she has another cavitiy. I swear I brush those suckers at least twice a day! But, long story short, she survived and did it without a flinch or any of that silly laughing gas!
Charter Applications are out and now we're just hoping for the best! We applied to three charter schools this year and although we are slowly warming up to the new public school we're in, we have our fingers crossed that we get in to one of the three. Just to have a peace of mind that they would be set in these schools until they graduate high school. I went through 5 schools when I was younger, and we lived in the same house all my life. To know that my kids wouldn't have to change school every time the board sneezed would really make us happy!
We had our parent teacher conferences this month, which went wonderfully! And I'd hate to brag (Actually LOVE it when it comes to my kids) but we were told they are some of the best in the school, even by the Art,Music,Gym, and Library teachers who we just happened to walk by in the halls. Sophia started Kindergarten this year, and is right on track to where she should be. We strive to be ahead so we'll definitely continue to work with her at home to get her reading and writing a bit nicer. Cecilia, who has always been a bright kid, was said to be the PERFECT student. She said other second grade teachers wish they had her in their classrooms. She is way above her reading level and above grade level in math even though its not her strongest subject. Her teacher almost brought me to tears with all of the kind words she said about her. We couldn't have been more proud of those two lovely ladies! :)
The last week of school before Thanksgiving break Lovely ladies Kindergarten class was having a Thanksgiving Feast! They had sign ups the week before so I was supposed to bring in Mashed Potatoes and Gravy. (Easy Peasy) Well, that was until we got a note home asking if anyone wanted to volunteer to cook the Turkey that was donated to the class. I sent a note in the very next day and offered to cook the Turkey as well as the Mashed Potatoes, I was feeling a little guilty that I would be at work and unable to attend this party so I wanted to help out in any way I could. So her teacher called me that day and told me she would be soo appreciative if I could do that. Well, I've only cooked one other turkey my whole life. It turned out good, but if was just for my family so I felt that the pressure was on big time for this Turkey. I googled a "Super Moist" turkey recipe and found one that said to cover the thing in mayo and Rosemary, salt and Pepper. A little strange, but I have hear Mayo makes for some moist chicken so I decided to give it a try. I'm telling you I lost sleep over this thing! It smelled so good, looked fantastic, but I was so afraid that I may have undercooked it, even though the temp was right, or that I didn't carve it good enough and they would run out of turkey. I worry over some unnecessary things sometimes. Needless to say, the turkey ended up being a hit! Shaaaa Woooo! :)
Then the Monday of Thanksgiving week, I got the dreaded STOMACH BUG! YUCK. We won't go into details about that one, but it did set me back a bit. Luckily my kids, although sometimes extremely loud, were very self sufficient and helpful on this day. And my mother in law came to the rescue and picked them up to shop for a few hours. So far, I was the only one in the house that got it, so please knock on wood!
Thanksgiving day here in little ol' delaware was GORGEOUS! We have an annual tradition of playing football the morning of and it is usually freezing cold and/or raining cats and dogs! This year was blue skies and sunshine all day long! We had dinner at my moms house with just my siblings and our kids which is still 11 people strong. Food was amazing, company was great, kids were good,and it really turned out to be one of the best years yet! The next day we went for our Christmas tree! Another tradition we started years ago with my dad and his parents. We go to Coleman's tree farm and take a little hayride out to cut down our own. The trees were Ginormous this year! And all we wanted was a tiny little 6 footer since it would be up on a platform. It took a little longer then the norm, but we found the perfect tree. Lovely lady #1 picked it out and she is so proud of her pick. We'll be putting it up and decorating it this evening. Love this time of year! :)
Oh and in the middle of Thanksgiving and tree shopping I managed to knock out, a 50th anniversary cake for my mother and father in law and 10 dozen cupcakes for the grand opening of a new business started by my brother and sister in law. I had one night up till 3 am and one up till 1am then back up at 6am to finish. But i did get them done! The anniversary cake gave me every possible problem that a cake can give. I'm still pretty new at the whole cake thing and have actually not done one in a few months so it was a little frustrating but served its purpose.
And the cupcakes I made turned out pretty delicious if I do say so myself. I tried two new recipes. One was an apple cobbler cupcake (originally from the cupcake project) with a pumpkin pie icing. Really just a butter cream icing with pumpkin pie spice but it was yummy. The other was a pumpkin cupcake with cream cheese icing. They seemed to be a hit at the event.
And the event itself was pretty awesome! I've never been to something like it before. Hubby's brother has been into wrestling FOREVER and unfortunately hurt his back in a car accident years ago so he had to remove himself from the rink. He stayed involved in the training and supportive part of it and has been planning on started up his own business for quite some time. They both did amazing with the whole thing! I'm so excited to see the upcoming events! The website will be up and running tomorrow and I'll post a link so that it can be shared! :)
And now, its time for me to get the rest of the month out of the way, which is really where the title of the post came from. I've been wanting to try to have a SOUPer Sunday during the cold months. I'm just planning on making a big batch of soup every Sunday to have as a meal or on the side throughout the week. This weeks Soup that I'm going to try is Roasted Cauliflower and Aged White Cheddar Soup. It look Scrumptious! So hopefully it will be. I'm going to take the recipe I found from Closet Cooking and adapt it a little to make it my own. Can't wait to try it. Today will definietely be a good day for soup,because it's SOUPer cold (CORNY I know.) out there! Time is of the essence so I'd better get started! Getting my kiddos back from their Emmy (my mom) and off to Market we go! :) Happy Sunday!
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Front Door/Back Door now a Black Door!
That sounds soo Dr.Seuss to me!!
In reference to my last post, we were very fortunate not to suffer any devastation from Sandy, not even a flicker of lights. Sadly a lot of the East Coast can't say the same. My thoughts and prayers go out to all of those affected. Don't ever take a single day for granted. You never know when a tragedy like that could impact your life...
On a happier note, I finally decided to conquer a project I've been wanting to do! Its not complete yet but I'm so excited to talk about it! Our front door it actually a back door, however my genius hubby decided it would work. It doesn't look bad, just a little different then the average persons front door. Anyhoo...a few years ago hubby begged and begged to paint the shutters on the house black. I wanted nothing to do with it! Not really sure why I just thought it would looked horrendous. I just kept thinking cute little starter home turned haunted house. Black at the time just seemed so... EEK... Halloweenish to me. He finally just decided to do it without me.And although you will rarely hear me say this....he was right. It looked great! So classy...made the house look a little more on the "expensive side".
Then, after looking at an awkard white door for a while, we finally painted the outside door to match the shutters. However, we never thought to paint the inside black as well. After all, it was on the inside. I mean who does that? I kept throwing the idea out there, to hubby of course first, my mom, and co workers, everyone just kept shooting the idea down. Told me it would just be to dark for the inside.
Today....I proved them wrong!
And really this project only happened because of the most Awesome IKEA rug. I finally picked it up last weekend after wanting it for so long, and now the decor just doesn't go, so I shall be completing many projects in the next few weeks. I'm soo excited about it! After all that is the whole reason I wanted to join the blogging community.
So...I took our old outdated enourmous "AREA RUG" that took up the entire living room floor, and replaced it with the small but perfect area rug.The rug is gray and our furniture is tan so I wasn't really sure at all how that would work. Our paint color is called barely Greige so its like gray and beige in one. Then we have these huge pictures on the back wall that hubby is attached to but once again I feel they are outdated. I will secretly replace them one day while he's at work with a wall of pictures of the ones he loves, and he will secretly love them! :) Our coffee table, end tables, and the table that hold our digital cable box are all like a dark burgundy wood. I will be painting most of them off white with maybe small grey accents and one piece I'd like to paint a subtle yellow. We will also be redoing our hardwood floors, they are now on the lighter side and I'm thinking of darkening them. Not 100% sure yet, but we shall see! Sounds a little much but I feel like it will really work! Once I start getting everything going I'll definitely post pictures! And that's where the front door back door now a black door started. I began the process of turning it black today, and I LOVE IT!!!!
Another project that hopefully I'll be able to complete and post tomorrow is my Fall/Thanksgiving Wreath. I got everything to make it a few days ago, so I will post pictures of that as well when it is complete.
We did start out Thankful Tree on November 1st. A little bare when I took this picture. And now it's already filled with so much Thanks and its only the 6th! I need to add more branches to fill this bad boy out, but here it is for now!
The First Day lovely lady #1 writes that she is thankful for "Great friends and Family" and Lovely lady #2 without any hesitation grabs her paper and pen and is sooo happy that she knows to spell some words so she write "I like mom" :) makes my heart melt. Love those lovelies! :)
The right to vote! :)
May the best Man win.
In reference to my last post, we were very fortunate not to suffer any devastation from Sandy, not even a flicker of lights. Sadly a lot of the East Coast can't say the same. My thoughts and prayers go out to all of those affected. Don't ever take a single day for granted. You never know when a tragedy like that could impact your life...
On a happier note, I finally decided to conquer a project I've been wanting to do! Its not complete yet but I'm so excited to talk about it! Our front door it actually a back door, however my genius hubby decided it would work. It doesn't look bad, just a little different then the average persons front door. Anyhoo...a few years ago hubby begged and begged to paint the shutters on the house black. I wanted nothing to do with it! Not really sure why I just thought it would looked horrendous. I just kept thinking cute little starter home turned haunted house. Black at the time just seemed so... EEK... Halloweenish to me. He finally just decided to do it without me.And although you will rarely hear me say this....he was right. It looked great! So classy...made the house look a little more on the "expensive side".
Then, after looking at an awkard white door for a while, we finally painted the outside door to match the shutters. However, we never thought to paint the inside black as well. After all, it was on the inside. I mean who does that? I kept throwing the idea out there, to hubby of course first, my mom, and co workers, everyone just kept shooting the idea down. Told me it would just be to dark for the inside.
Today....I proved them wrong!
And really this project only happened because of the most Awesome IKEA rug. I finally picked it up last weekend after wanting it for so long, and now the decor just doesn't go, so I shall be completing many projects in the next few weeks. I'm soo excited about it! After all that is the whole reason I wanted to join the blogging community.
So...I took our old outdated enourmous "AREA RUG" that took up the entire living room floor, and replaced it with the small but perfect area rug.The rug is gray and our furniture is tan so I wasn't really sure at all how that would work. Our paint color is called barely Greige so its like gray and beige in one. Then we have these huge pictures on the back wall that hubby is attached to but once again I feel they are outdated. I will secretly replace them one day while he's at work with a wall of pictures of the ones he loves, and he will secretly love them! :) Our coffee table, end tables, and the table that hold our digital cable box are all like a dark burgundy wood. I will be painting most of them off white with maybe small grey accents and one piece I'd like to paint a subtle yellow. We will also be redoing our hardwood floors, they are now on the lighter side and I'm thinking of darkening them. Not 100% sure yet, but we shall see! Sounds a little much but I feel like it will really work! Once I start getting everything going I'll definitely post pictures! And that's where the front door back door now a black door started. I began the process of turning it black today, and I LOVE IT!!!!
Another project that hopefully I'll be able to complete and post tomorrow is my Fall/Thanksgiving Wreath. I got everything to make it a few days ago, so I will post pictures of that as well when it is complete.
We did start out Thankful Tree on November 1st. A little bare when I took this picture. And now it's already filled with so much Thanks and its only the 6th! I need to add more branches to fill this bad boy out, but here it is for now!
The First Day lovely lady #1 writes that she is thankful for "Great friends and Family" and Lovely lady #2 without any hesitation grabs her paper and pen and is sooo happy that she knows to spell some words so she write "I like mom" :) makes my heart melt. Love those lovelies! :)
The right to vote! :)
May the best Man win.
Saturday, October 27, 2012
FRANKENSTORM
Well, the votes were cast....and lovely lady didn't make it! It was one of the most heartbreaking days of our lives so far! We tried to prepare her for the possibility but she didn't take it very well at first. She just quietly walked up to her room after school and broke down in tears. I wasn't exactly sure how to comfort her. We took her to dinner that night to let her know we were still extremely proud of all her accomplishments. She overcame a fear of standing in front of room full of people that she barely knew. She made signs and campaigned all week. In our eyes shes still a winner! In the end she realized it was a great experience and you can't win em all! She did come in second to a two way tie though! :)
We also completed the light the night walk. There was a great turn out for such an amazing cause! It was very emotional hearing all of the survival stories and the stories of those who have lost a loved one to this vicious disease. It really makes you appreciate the life you were given. Don't take a single day for granted!
We were so blessed to be able to go there with my mom who is a lymphoma survivor!! Six years Cancer free!
Now...to prepare for the Frankenstorm!!! Hurricane Sandy is supposed to hit our area pretty good! Us Delawareans aren't really used to big storms so when they are predicted to hit, the stores look like its prep time for the zombie apocalypse!
Even the Dollar Store had massive lines for batteries!! Schools have already closed for Monday and some for Tuesday! So after our fall fest today we will be coming home to batten down the hatches!! The kids love when we have these once a year threats for storms, we put their mattresses in the basement and camp out all night! Hopefully it won't be too severe, and my heart goes out to all of the families in the Bahamas and surrounding areas who have already lost lives due to this storm. It really is no laughing matter, and its better to be safe then sorry!
Wishing everyone a safe weekend!! Stay Dry, Take cover, and stock up on water if you're in the areas that are predicted to be hit!! Don't forget about that baby formula and diapers if you have an infant!! Guess this wasn't the best month to give freezer cooking a try! I have $400 worth of frozen meals in my freezer!! Really hoping we don't lose power for too long! Happy Weekend everyone!!
We also completed the light the night walk. There was a great turn out for such an amazing cause! It was very emotional hearing all of the survival stories and the stories of those who have lost a loved one to this vicious disease. It really makes you appreciate the life you were given. Don't take a single day for granted!
We were so blessed to be able to go there with my mom who is a lymphoma survivor!! Six years Cancer free!
Now...to prepare for the Frankenstorm!!! Hurricane Sandy is supposed to hit our area pretty good! Us Delawareans aren't really used to big storms so when they are predicted to hit, the stores look like its prep time for the zombie apocalypse!
Even the Dollar Store had massive lines for batteries!! Schools have already closed for Monday and some for Tuesday! So after our fall fest today we will be coming home to batten down the hatches!! The kids love when we have these once a year threats for storms, we put their mattresses in the basement and camp out all night! Hopefully it won't be too severe, and my heart goes out to all of the families in the Bahamas and surrounding areas who have already lost lives due to this storm. It really is no laughing matter, and its better to be safe then sorry!
Wishing everyone a safe weekend!! Stay Dry, Take cover, and stock up on water if you're in the areas that are predicted to be hit!! Don't forget about that baby formula and diapers if you have an infant!! Guess this wasn't the best month to give freezer cooking a try! I have $400 worth of frozen meals in my freezer!! Really hoping we don't lose power for too long! Happy Weekend everyone!!
Saturday, October 13, 2012
Election Time
I was always taught not to talk about politics. Its a very touchy subject to many and has been known to end friendships, start family feuds, and have your neighbors hide from you. I've lived my life that way, until this year. This year is a very special election year for me, so I am going to be very open about who I'm voting for and why I believe in it!!!!
LOVELY LADY #1!! :)
My oldest Cecilia is running for class president! I am sooo proud of that kid. She is in second grade and her teacher is AHHH-MAZING!! Cecilia is absolutely the happiest I've really ever seen her as far as school goes. Everyone in the class had the opportunity to nominate themselves if they were interested in running. Twelve out of nineteen kids decided to go for it. The class then had to vote for who they wanted to see run. Everyone got two votes each, because obviously all twelve would vote for themselves so to be fair you had to pick a second. Now.... my lovely lady is brand new in this school. She has made quite a few fast friends and is pretty social though very shy. I know its a bit of an odd combination. But still, brand new and alot of the other kids already have strong friendships and probably know who they want to vote for. So I had to help her think of something to draw in these votes! I don't always agree with it, but in this case we had to do a little "undercover" bribery! I took her to Staples thinking that we could just buy a few cool packs of pencils and hand them out, but in the middle of the aisle I saw a clearance on CANDY, which was kind of what I was trying to avoid, but the brain started spinning and I helped her come up with a pretty cute idea, if I do say so myself!
SMARTIES!! She made little baggies for all of them with a pack of smarties and a big smiley face sticker and wrote a slogan on a cute little Sticky note that said, "Be a Smartie and Nominate Cecilia for class President!" She worked for at least an hour straight packaging these all up! I started to worry that I was setting her up for failure! She was getting so excited about it, What if nobody voted for her?!? After all there were twelve kids going for it! Needless to say, my stomach was in knots ALLLL day long! And she had an after school walking program that day, so I had to wait an extra hour to find out!
So, I get to the school to pick her up and she wont even tell me what happened! She didn't seem to upset so I couldn't tell if it was good news or bad news! Then she tells me that she wants to wait until we're home to surprise me. I figured then that it had to be good news! So we get home, and it took forever to get it out of her but....She did it!!! Not only did she make top four but she had the most votes out of the four who were chosen!! Which meant she got first pick for her VP.
She's been working non stop since, on her poster board, speech, and "Vote For Cecilia" badges. So, we'll just have to wait and see, but I won't keep quiet about this election! I'm am voting Cecilia for class president!! Her speech is on Tuesday and the big election day is Wednesday! FINGERS CROSSED!!! :)
Side Note: We're off to a cancer benefit tonight at the Wilmington River Front. Light the night, benefits Lymphoma/Leukemia. Which my mom is a survivor of! We're so excited to be a part of these amazing event. They are blowing up 1500 illuminated balloons!! Once it gets dark everyone get their balloons and walks the river front to literally light up the night, for all of the survivors, ones we've lost, and those who are currently fighting the courageous battle! Very proud to know that my kids will be a part of this. :)
Friday, October 12, 2012
Outta the Funk
As the infamous Diana Ross would say, "I'm coming out I want the world to know Got to let it show!" I've been in a serious funk lately. And when I say lately I mean for the past three years!! I"m not really sure what caused it, where it came from, or what it was about but I definitely felt it! I think I just started to feel sorry for myself. I'm basically a stay at home mom but I do have a part time job in the mornings at the YMCA. My job is in the child care which was perfect because I was able to bring my lovely ladies with me every day when I went in. After a while though I start to notice all of the true life "Stay at home moms" who have all morning to commit to classes and the fitness center. I started to envy them, which I am not proud of! I kept telling myself that the only way I could make time for the gym is if I was a full time stay at home mom. And so that was it, I made my mind up. Because I had to be in work for 3 small little hours every morning I wasn't going to make time for fitness and exercise. And so came the 30+ pounds that I lost after having lovely lady #2. So obviously that was the root of it all. With all weight gain comes some form of depression, which I really just like to call a funk in my case. I still acted happy, it wasn't hard to get up in the mornings so I don't feel as though I was really depressed, but definitely not myself. I haven't been myself for so long that I'm not even sure I know who "myself" really is. Lovely Lady #1 came when I was only 18 years old. She definitely wasn't written in my planner but i rearranged my schedule and managed to pencil her in! :)
Life didn't stop, so I wasn't going to stop either. I continued my then full time job at a local Christian childcare center and worked up until my due date. After she was born I decided to stay at home full time because day care prices were expensive and the one I worked at didn't offer infant care. That didn't last very long, money got extremely tight so i contacted my old job and asked if I could come back with higher pay. She said YES! It was very bittersweet because I would have to leave lovely lady with a stranger! I shopped around a little and found the perfect fit for her. She started when she was about 3 months old. Things were finally starting to look up for us! And then on her 1st Birthday I found out about lovely lady #2!
This time, I panicked! I quit my job when I was three months pregnant! No rhyme or reason, just pure fear of life. I was only 20! How in the world was I going to raise two babies?! My Handsome man, fortunately, was older and established and ready for it all! But that doesn't mean that it made it any easier for me to accept. All my life while everyone was dreaming of being a doctor, or lawyer, or teacher, I was dreaming of being a mom. But when reality strikes and its about to happen wayyyy earlier then you ever anticipated, you get a little panicked and start to second guess it all. In the end, she ended up being pretty cute so we decided to keep her! :) Thank god for all of the family support we had! But......back to my funk!
Years went by, My lovely ladies are now 7 and 5 1/2! I'm happily married to my Handsome Man, and things should be super for me. I should be yelling from the roof top about how happy and wonderful life is! Because it is! But along the way, I feel like I just put myself on the back burner on HIGH. My looks went downhill, my weight, my motivation. I do fun things with my kids but at the end of the day I felt like I wasn't really there. I want to take more time to actually enjoy them. And feel happy about it all! And to do that, I need to make more ME time, even if it can only be 45 minutes a day, I need time for excercise, and time to discover who I am or who I want to be. What do I want to do with my time now that they are in school? I want to be remembered, and talked about. I want to inspire others! So today begins my year long journey, that is if December 21st doesn't wipe us out first! If it does then today begins my 2 month journey to happiness! Being cleaner, more organized, creative, weighing less!, and putting that smile back on my face, that I left behind a few years back!
And with that, the treadmill that my handsome man bought me a few months back is calling my name! Lets get this party started!
Life didn't stop, so I wasn't going to stop either. I continued my then full time job at a local Christian childcare center and worked up until my due date. After she was born I decided to stay at home full time because day care prices were expensive and the one I worked at didn't offer infant care. That didn't last very long, money got extremely tight so i contacted my old job and asked if I could come back with higher pay. She said YES! It was very bittersweet because I would have to leave lovely lady with a stranger! I shopped around a little and found the perfect fit for her. She started when she was about 3 months old. Things were finally starting to look up for us! And then on her 1st Birthday I found out about lovely lady #2!
This time, I panicked! I quit my job when I was three months pregnant! No rhyme or reason, just pure fear of life. I was only 20! How in the world was I going to raise two babies?! My Handsome man, fortunately, was older and established and ready for it all! But that doesn't mean that it made it any easier for me to accept. All my life while everyone was dreaming of being a doctor, or lawyer, or teacher, I was dreaming of being a mom. But when reality strikes and its about to happen wayyyy earlier then you ever anticipated, you get a little panicked and start to second guess it all. In the end, she ended up being pretty cute so we decided to keep her! :) Thank god for all of the family support we had! But......back to my funk!
Years went by, My lovely ladies are now 7 and 5 1/2! I'm happily married to my Handsome Man, and things should be super for me. I should be yelling from the roof top about how happy and wonderful life is! Because it is! But along the way, I feel like I just put myself on the back burner on HIGH. My looks went downhill, my weight, my motivation. I do fun things with my kids but at the end of the day I felt like I wasn't really there. I want to take more time to actually enjoy them. And feel happy about it all! And to do that, I need to make more ME time, even if it can only be 45 minutes a day, I need time for excercise, and time to discover who I am or who I want to be. What do I want to do with my time now that they are in school? I want to be remembered, and talked about. I want to inspire others! So today begins my year long journey, that is if December 21st doesn't wipe us out first! If it does then today begins my 2 month journey to happiness! Being cleaner, more organized, creative, weighing less!, and putting that smile back on my face, that I left behind a few years back!
And with that, the treadmill that my handsome man bought me a few months back is calling my name! Lets get this party started!
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