So Far, So Good

The new year is off to a great start so far. Yesterday I made a list of the "have to do" things on the chalkboard in my kitchen, and so far I have completed all of the things on the list, and it is 8:38am. Who cares that I was up at 3am. (My husband is sick, and so on my last day of Christmas vacation I got up extra early to help him get ready for work) okay back on topic. One of the things that I had on my list was to clip, and organize all my coupons, and then plan meals for the month. These were the first two things that I did this morning. Now all my meals are planned for the month, and all I have to do each week is check the flyers, grab my coupons, and go to the store. I am super excited to see how the month a head meal planning works out, and of course I will let you know. I hope your New Year is starting out as successful as mine is.

Winter

Last weekend on my way to bring Tay to Karate, Jozie said "look at those trees mom." And would you believe I was lucky enough to have my camera on me. So I dropped off Tay, and we went and took some pictures, and here they are.

I love the contrast on this one.

This my favorite, because I love that Jo is hugging the tree, and she named this place her Winter Wonderland

 

Please Help

Today I signed up to do a 5k walk in Boston on November 6th. I will be walking with my mom and Jozie to raise money to help find a cure for lung cancer.
My dad was diagnosed with lung caner this past June and has been undergoing aggressive radiation and chemo. He has finished his radiation, but not chemo. I never knew how bad these treatments were until watching my dad go through them. I would not want anyone to watch someone they love go through what my father has gone through, and I am very happy to be a part of raising money for research, and treatments for people having to go through this.
I am asking all of you for help, please even if it is just a penny, donate. Lungevity will double every dollar people raise, so I am asking for help because this has hit home to me and my family.
If you click on the picture of my dad, it will link you to the page where you can donate.
I thank you all so much for anything you can do to help.

My children having a blast at the ocean.

Is This it?

This year, actually next weekend my mother and I are taking Jozie, and Amanda to the American Girl store in MA, for their 11th and 10th birthdays. Although their birthdays are not until September we are taking them in August, due to the fact that we take them in the summer, and because of my father having cancer, and going through treatments the few weeks after, we needed to up a little this year.

I have to wonder though, since Jo will be 11 this year, is this it? Is this the last time she will want to go to the American Girl store? She has 9 of the dolls, so she really does not need one, but she also saves her own money for them. In fact she has bought 3 of them all on her own. So is he outgrowing them? In some ways I hope not, for the she is my youngest reason, but also for the fact that she plays all the time with them and her wonderful imagination, and we all know how important that is. I love that she would rather do that then play her game boy, or on the computer.

At the same time though, I think okay we are done with this now, and that is not so bad either. I think mainly because people get frustrated when she asks for gifts from American Girl. I know they are expensive, and I know some people are against them. That is fine, as far as the cost, I can refer back to an older post, that I would rather spend money on them than video games.

Jeff has not been the biggest fan of these dolls either, but he does understand that if that is what she likes then, it is better to spend money on that, than something she will never use.

So I guess I would be somewhat sad, and somewhat glad, if we are at the last year that she asks to go to American Girl for her birthday.

*****Yes she does have a wild imagination******

What Side?

A family friend (well really my 2nd mom) asked me to write a blog post about what side of the road you should walk on. At first I thought ahh, no thank you, but then as I was driving home today I realized how many people I saw walking on the wrong side, and it started me wondering if they no longer teach children this. As a parent I am always telling my children this, but then as I think a little more,people do not tell their children this, because not a lot of children walk anywhere these days. I also thought that I need to have some sort of source with this, because there is always a jackass out there that will argue it. So I went to this site http://www.saferoutesinfo.org/, and found this:
For a road that has sidewalks on both sides of the road, it is acceptable to walk on either side of the road (facing traffic or against traffic) because you are separated form the automobiles.
For a road that has only one sidewalk, it is recommended that you walk on that side of the road (facing or against oncoming traffic) Again the sidewalk helps separate you from the automobiles.
If no sidewalks exists on the road it is recommended that you walk facing on coming traffic. Also you should get as far off the road as you can.
There you go, now you will know what side you should walk on. Please teach your children this as well.

Old Pictures

My mother sent me an email with these pictures. The first is when I was 5 or 6 and was a flower girl. In the background in the white dress is my sister.
The other one is of my sister, and me, I think I might be 2 or 3.

*** I had to add Jozies picture because I wanted to show you all how she looks nothing like me.

Happiness

This is happiness...

Beef Stew.

Last night I told Jeff that I would make beef stew for dinner tonight, but that I would put it in the crock-pot this morning. Well as mornings go in any house with three children, sometimes we run late. Today was one of those days.
I had browned the meat and realized the time, when I decided to write down directions for Jeff and have him put the rest of it together, and start the crock-pot. Here is what I wrote for directions:
I need you to make the beef stew. I browned the beef, all you will need to do is peel and cut up carrots potatoes, and onions. Add mix and whatever amount of water it says. Turn on low. It will need to cook for 6 hours, then you will have dinner.
When I got home Jeff said, you should submit that to your interpersonal communication professor. I asked why, and he laughed, and told me that they were not good directions.
I instead chose to blog them and see what you think.
By the way the beef stew that Jeff made was GREAT!

Birthday Art

For my Birthday(back in November) the kids had bought me some paints and wooden bangles for me to paint. Last night I finally made them and here they are.

Valentine's

This year instead of buying valentine cards with little cartoon characters on them, we are going to make them.

We are going to make these butterfly ones for Jozie's class from FamilyFun where they have plenty of great ideas for kids of all ages.

There are also many different ideas and printable's that you could use.

These barrettes are cute and pretty simple to make for your girls to wear next week to get them in the Valentines spirit, even when school is not.

This site has a ton of cute crafts for Valentines day that are pretty inexpensive as well.

Finally one of my favorite sites abcteach.com has coloring pages and worksheets for kids of all ages, and you can print them for free, and you can even print your own little book for the younger kids to read to you.

My Great Ideas!!

I know that it is February 1st today, and we still do not have a 2010 calender hanging in the house. So me and my bright ideas said, "Oh I can make a scrapbook one." Good one Kel. Amongst all my free time, I can do this too.
I started it yesterday, and worked three hours on it tonight, but I had to go and do school work so I had to stop. I have gotten to August. I am planning on finishing it up tomorrow night, and I must say that even though it has taken me a while, it is awesome looking.
I also have a cool idea to make a bracelet, but that is all I can say about that right now, because I want it to be a surprise. I promise to post pictures when I am done with both the calender, and the bracelet,(okay well after I find the time to go get a battery for my camera too).

Taking a Minute To Enjoy My Life

As I sit here tonight and watch the Hope For Haiti Now, I just wanted to take a minute and enjoy the fact that I am here.

In choosing to go to school and work, my time is limited to just hang out with my family and enjoy them.

So I just wanted to tell my family that I love them all.

Go give your children a hug and kiss, and your husband or wife or significant other a hug and a kiss, and tell them all that you love them.

The Other Side.

There are two sides to every story, and opinions are the same way. I have decided to touch on a subject that comes up often, but I am on the other side now.

Tonight for dinner a made my family Shepard's pie, and they LOVE Shepard's pie. I however think that it is one of the most disgusting things that I have ever eaten. I did not eat as a kid, and I still do not. Aha but what do you do when you make something for dinner that you do not like? Well I personally make myself something else. This means that I am making two dinners tonight. One that I will not eat, and the one for me. Is that okay? Yes it is. It is the other side of the debate that all families have. Which leads me to my point.

I do not often make something that I do not like, and I hardly ever make something that Jeff does not like, and if I do he tells he does not like it, and I will not make it again. I do however often make things that my children do not like. And yes I will make something different for them. I will often make a different version for them, but if it is truly a food that they do not like, then I will make them something else. I know a lot of you are saying "your crazy" and maybe I am. Here's the thing though, tonight I made me something different because I did not like what I made, and I know that the other four people in my house do. Why then do we insist that our children eat something they do not like? Like I said I do not often make a meal that Jeff or I do not like, but we have three kids, which means five people, with five different likes and dislikes, and five different tastes. I will not make everyone happy if I go with what just Jeff and I like, and we will not be happy if we go with what they like (or healthy for that matter). I feel that there has to be some sort of compromise. I also think that it teaches my kids how to compromise. This because they learn that you can't always make everyone happy. I think that it also teaches them they do not have to like something, and they should feel free to say so.

On a side note, now that Zack and Tay are getting older, if they do not like what is for dinner, they are making what they do like and will eat. So they are also learning how to cook.

Fun, and Earth Friendly

On New Years day my mother and I took Jozie to the American Girl store for the unveiling party of the new Girl of the Year. We had gotten there early enough for Jozie to shop, and then went to a dinner party were we could learn about the new doll. (they all have stories). While we were eating we did little surveys to see if we were outdoor or indoor people, and we all talked about things that we could do to help the environment. We had a blast, and learned some cool things.

One of the cool things that they gave us was a few strips of paper, some small beads, a straw, and some string. All these things make a bracelet, like the one above. The cool part of it though is the paper is form an old American Girl catalog (that if you have a daughter you are getting, and throwing away). Now you can make all kinds of things with these materials, and it was easy too. All you do is cut the paper into skinny triangles, wrap the strip of paper around the straw. Glue the end down, (best to use a glue stick). Then put it on the string, and you use the blue beads as separators.

That is it. Easy, Fun , and Earth Friendly Jewelery.

Reflecting on 2009

I have now been sitting here for a couple days think what to do, or write for a reflection on 2009, and here it is. It may be a little long, so I apologize ahead of time.
2009 was a very fast year in some ways, and then there were the days that seemed slower than ever. It brought a year of school completion for me, that had a few challenges but over all I did okay.
Each of my children became one year older, which means the struggles get greater, but the personalities become more of who they will be as they become adults.
I have made some new friends, and reconnected with some old friends. I have also learned who in that processes my true friends are. I also have learned who I can and cannot trust in my neighborhood, and with that also comes the reality that I really do not like my neighbors at all, but I am not moving so I guess they will have to deal with it.
I also learned a lot about myself this year. I learned that I like to write (blog), and that I enjoy the person that I am. I learned that however the hard way, as I have always tried to please people and be what they want me to be, but I am happy with who I am, and I like who I am so that is who I will be, and I will not change.
I also learned or should I say realized that my husband truly is my hero. He has taken on so much just by marrying me, and becoming a father figure in my children's lives, and yet he does not miss a beat, and never complains about it. He also has truly truly became a wonderful father figure to my two children, but especially Jozie. We used to have kid free weekends all the time, and then Jozie decided she no longer wanted to go to her dads, which meant we no longer had those kid free weekends, and Jeff was just as happy to have her hanging out with us, if not happier than she was. Jeff has taught me a lot, and I owe a great deal of gratitude for it, because I have no idea where I would be in my life right now if he had not come into it. I am sure you will here these words again, but you would have to know me before Jeff to understand.
We have all had some rough times, but sit back and really think for a day or two, and I am pretty sure you will feel the same as I do.. Even though there were rough times, the good times of 2009 far out way the bad, and one of the biggest reasons is because of my three beautiful children, my amazing husband, and my wonderful parents, and sister, oh and my niece and nephew, are all my family members, and with all the love that I have for them and they have for me, the bad times I don't really remember but the good times I could talk about for the rest of 2010.
Happy New Year!

Happy Birthday Jozie

Yes I am a day late, but i wanted to focus all my attention on her because it was her birthday.
Happy Birthday, Jozie. I now have no more kids in single digit ages. That is sad, but at the same time a happy day.

I love you Beanie, I hope you had a great 10th Birthday.

It is Just so Hard.

After talking to my husband about what happened on Thursday night, we came to the conclusion that it is just so hard to be so sexy, and awesome (yes, I used the word awesome.) Jeff has it so rough, he can not even go out to concerts or anywhere that the ladies are not throwing themselves all over him. I know that he is everything that the ladies think and more. I am so lucky, because I have the sexiest man in the world that keeps me happy.

I do feel bad though because clearly his life is more difficult than anyone else.

I'm sorry honey, that you have it so difficult, but I guess that is what happens when your so sexy.

Waiting for Summer.

Being on vacation this week makes me long for Summer. I can not wait for the beautiful days of sunshine, sitting by the pool, tan skin and cute sun dresses. I am so sick of loading the fire, and wearing sweatshirts and sweaters. I long for warmth and sunshine. And to take the plastic off my windows.

Cabin fever has set in. I can not wait until I garden and play ball with my kids, and colors at the pool. Hopefully it is here before we know it.

Enjoy and embrace your family time.

I was sitting at home today, and thinking another day at home and nothing to do. How boring.

Tonight, however I realized that I had a great day. I set out this morning to get my assignment for school done today. I didn't because as I went back to the syllabus and saw that I had the wrong book. Oh no class starts this week! Then I went and worked out because I had set a goal to work out M-F this past week, after achieving the goal I did not want to stop. Took a shower, made lunch, and hung out on the coach almost the whole day with Jo, because she does not feel well. I then went to the store, rented two movies, and cooked dinner for me and the kids. I also had to start the fire which was interesting. I filled the house with smoke, and could not get the stupid thing going. Finally I got it, then I made (for the first time ever rice crispy treats) they are not so bad either. I again hung out on the couch with Zack and Jo (until she fell a sleep.)

I was thinking earlier this evening.... I did nothing today how disappointing, then I realized that days like this NEVER happen. And I enjoyed every second of it.......I will probably regret it tomorrow when I have a million things to do but oh well, I enjoyed it and loved every minute of the day.