Today I am Thankful

I thought with all the things Murphy has brought us lately (like being sick as a dog, broken heater, transmission fail, etc) I would take a moment to count my blessing.  I'm sure they outweigh the bad things going on right.  That being said, I'm thankful for:

• My Husband: He does a wonderful job taking care of his family.  He is super handy and can tackle most projects on his own.  A few hours of reading and he is ready to go.  That alone has saved us a bunch of money.  Not to mention the fact that after 7 years of marriage, I still get butterflies when I see his name on the caller ID of my phone or when I see him after some time spent apart. 

• My Daughters: They are my world.  They are so smart and funny.  At times they do push my buttons, but they are lucky they are cute.  I can't imagine my life without them.  They make me smile each and every day.

• Our Health:  I'm thankful we are all healthy.  Yes we had a nasty virus, but there are so many people out there suffering from so much worse, that I can't even complain about that.

• Family/Friends: We have a large network of family and friends.  Each one of them has a special place in our hearts!

• We are Employed/Have a Roof Over Our Heads: I know there are so many in this economy that aren't in that position.  We have to be thankful for these things as well.

• My Camera: Don't laugh. It's true.  Even though I haven't used it as much as I would like lately, it's my creative outlet and it helps keep me sane.  I sometimes have dreams that it breaks/doesn't work.  I wake up from those dreams feeling devastated.  If something did happen to my camera (my DSLR) I know I wouldn't be able to replace it at this stage of the game.

• High Speed Internet:  Or internet at all.  I think I may have a slight addiction.  Is there a program for Internet Addiction?  I don't know what I would do without it. 

I've been MIA.

I have a lot of catching up to do.  I kind of fell off of the blogging bandwagon for a little bit.  It started when my little LaLa Beans got a nasty stomach virus.  We weren't sure if it was a virus or something worse.  I spent about a week out of work taking care of her.  We had a delightful time collecting stool samples and running back and forth to the doctor's office. 

Just as we were figuring out it was virus-related, Bugs got a touch of it.  Of course, they didn't want to leave me out so I had a chance to experience it as well.  I think we are all on the road to recovery and getting further away from this thing each day.

I hope to get caught up and working on some new stuff soon.  I'm also thinking about possibly changing the name/URL of the blog. I'm looking at my options and seeing how difficult it would be and if I would lose all followers in a switch.  So if anyone has any advice, I would appreciate it!

In Search of the Perfect Water Bottle

My girls play outside a lot at school (daycare).  This summer the daycare requested we send water bottles labeled with their name daily.  The school has water fountains inside, so I imagine before they would go in for drinks or get them once they came back inside.  Now they take water bottles and keep them outside in little buckets of ice. 

I was sending in regular plastic water bottles that I bought in bulk.  I thought there had to be a better way.  My little one can't get a screw top cap off on her own and I didn't want it to get lost in the shuffle either.  So I set out looking for the perfect water bottle.  I ended up in Walmart and found these cute water bottles below:

I knew the girls would like them because of the characters.  They are stainless steel and BPA free.  They are easy to clean.  The top pops open and there is a straw to sip from inside, so they also won't spill.  I've been sending them to school for a little over a week now and I love them.  Sometimes when they come home they still have ice in them.  I wasn't sure if it was the ice I put in before school in the morning or if the teachers were replacing it. 

I picked the kids up from school the other day and Bugs' Thermos had just been refilled.  It had ice and water inside.  We ran some errands before heading home.  We were home for a while when Bugs asked me where her water bottle was.  Oops.  We left it in the car.  I went out to get it for her.

Here in the Philadelphia area, the temperatures have been over 100 degrees the last few days.  The heat and steam that hits you in the face when you open a car door that has been closed up tight for any length of time is pretty gross.  Imagine my surprise when I opened the car, grabbed her water bottle and ice rattled inside.  It had been in the car in that heat for over 3 hours.  I could not believe it had ice.  I went to the sink to clean it out and yup, icy cold water and ice cubes!

For any moms out there looking for a great reusable water bottle for your kids, I highly recommend this one!

**This was not a paid review.  I received nothing from Thermos.  I just really liked this product and wanted to share my find.

Weekend Update 6.21.10

Did a weekend just pass?  Really?  Is it possible for it to go so fast that we missed it??  We had a pretty busy weekend here. 

Friday - we dropped the girls off for movie night at the dance school.  The proceeds benefitted a local charity - Kisses for Kyle. The girls got settled in with their blankets, pillows and some snacks. They thought they were hot stuff shopping for their own snacks.  They were selling little bags of popcorn, pretzels, candy, juice and water.  We headed out to a local mexican restaurant for a nice kid free dinner!  It was so nice to sit and chat with the husband.  After that we had to run home and make room for a new (to us) piece of furniture we were getting.  Before we knew it, it was time to pick up the girls.

{This picture is not from Friday, it's an older picture I had on my Flickr account}

Saturday - we had our final dance class.  It's more of a silly party for the kids. After that I had to run the kids down to my grandmom's house.  They were swimming with my parents, then they would all come back to our house that night.  Meanwhile, I had to rush home to get ready for a wedding we were attending up in North New Jersey.  We had a great time at the wedding and even managed to get a nice picture of the hubs and I.  We didn't get home until the wee hours of the morning.

{This picture is not from Saturday, it's an older picture I had on my Flickr account}

Sunday - Up bright and early with the kids, we had to get ready for a 1st Birthday Party.  We spent father's day at the party, which was a nice BBQ.  Below is a picture of the birthday cake, made by my mom.  Isn't it cute?

Before we knew it, it was Sunday night and the weekend was over. Why do they go so quickly??

Update Time

I can't really call this a weekend update, since I didn't post at all last week!  Yikes.  Time just got away from me.  I've been pretty busy between work and the kids. 

This was a big week for Bugs. She had her 2nd dance recital.  She was beyond excited.  On Wednesday I had to leave work early and take her for full dress rehearsal and portraits.  The show was "Broadway."  Her class did "Ease on Down the Road" from the Wiz.  She was the scarecrow.

We stayed and watched most of the kids in the rehearsal. This picture is not Bugs, it's one of the kids from her cousin's number, but I thought it was a sweet picture.

The actual recital was on Saturday.  We spent the day at a craft fair, did some grocery shopping, had dinner with family, then we all rushed off to the recital.  Bugs did great.  She gets this concentration face that we can't help but laugh at.  She doesn't smile until  the end, while dancing she is all business. LOL

Sunday we spent the day relaxing, doing laundry and watching Thunderstorms.  I'd say it was a pretty good weekend.  ;-)

Weekend Update

This was not one of our best weekends.  I can't even remember what we did Friday. It couldn't have been that fun! LOL

Saturday - Bugs had dance class, and we did some shopping and cleaning.

Sunday - Beans woke up with a low grade fever.  By the end of the night she had a full blown fever, I had a pounding headache and Bugs had a scratchy throat.


Thank goodness we had nothing planned for the weekend, since we weren't up to it anyway.  Beans is on the mend, but has been stuck to my side for the last 2 days.  Hope she gets better fast.  Tomorrow we have Bugs' rehearsal and her recital is on Saturday.

Weekend Update: Memorial Day

I've been looking forward to this three day weekend!  It is one of those unusual times when the husband is home and I actually have a day off too!

Friday:  My mom had surgery to remove an enlarged thyroid.  I spent the afternoon/evening at the hospital with her. 

Saturday:  Bugs had dance class in the morning.  There is only one left before the recital!  She is super excited.  My one year old niece, we'll call her Sweetie, came to visit and spend the night.  The girls were so happy to see her.  Beans had a few moments of jealousy when I was holding sweetie.  Mostly though she walked around trying to hold Sweetie's hand and lead her around the house.  She's the little mother hen in the house.

The husband painted the patio that is attached to our deck.  It has been flaking and crumbling for a while now.  It turned out really nice!  What a difference a little paint makes!

Sunday: The three girls spent the afternoon in the little baby pool splashing around the deck while Hubs finished the patio.  I made a nice casserole to take down to my mom's house for dinner.

Monday:  We hung around the house and had a BBQ.  We were thinking about heading to a nearby carnival, but my mom was feeling good enough to get out of the house for a bit, so her and my dad came up and BBQed with us.

Weekend Roundup

Friday night, the husband and I got out for a much needed date night.  We had dinner at PF Changs.  YUM!  After that we went to see Iron Man 2.  Great movie.  I liked it a lot.  It's kind of an action movie, but with a nice plot with some romance.  I think it was a perfect date movie.  Action for him comedy/romance for her.

Saturday we puttered around the yard getting some stuff done.  We had some beds that needed mulching.  We also mulched around our central air unit to make it easier on the hubby when mowing.  I think it looks pretty good.  We also had to create a netted cover for our blueberry bushes.  Last year we had some great looking blueberries, but I couldn't tell you if they tasted good.  The birds ate every last one!

Sunday we were going to head out to the outlets to get some shoes and clothes for the little ones.  We got on the turnpike and by the time we got to the first exit it started pouring!  The outlets are, of course, outdoors.  We decided to head to the mall at the next exit instead.  We ended up getting Beans a very cute new pair of crocs.  We'll save the outlet shopping for another time.

On the way home, we stopped at a tool store so the husband could pick up some man toys.  There was a fish store in the same shopping center so we took the girls in.  They had tons of fish and a HUGE fishtank with a shark in it.  They had a great time checking out all the fishes.  They even wanted to bring home a "baby Nemo."  After that we stopped next door to get some ice cream for the girls. 

They must have had a fun day since I heard Bugs telling her grandmother later all about the giant museum we visited that had an aquarium in it.  LOL

I can't leave out that we stayed up WAY too late last night watching Lost and then the following Jimmy Kimmel show.  I'm so sad that it's over. 

You Said to Try It!

Last night I dyed Easter eggs with my girls. I caught my little one, Beans, with the spoon that had been previously in the dye now in her mouth. I told her not to put it in her mouth.

A few minutes later I look over and she has another spoon up to her mouth and is licking the dye on it. I said, "DO NOT put the spoons or the dye in your mouth! It's yucky, you can't eat it."

She said, "You said to try it. You told me try the pink one."

Beans -1, me - 0

I did tell her to try it, but I meant dip her egg in it, not TASTE it. Sheesh. I really have to remember that soon-to-be 3 year olds take everything very literally.

Future Crafter?

Last night we had to take our older daughter, Bugs* {names changed to protect the not-always-so-innocent} , to a girl scout meeting at a local pet store. The pet store is right next door to a Michael's so I thought I would go in, pick up a few things and look for some inspiration. We got Bugs settled in, and our almost 3 year old, Beans, wanted to check out the pet store so we did a quick loop around. She was more interested in pushing the child sized shopping cart than anything else. That was until she squealed with delight and yelled, "LOOK!!! A zhu zhu pet!!" Yep, she finally got her first glimpse of a real live hamster. LOL

We finished up and headed to Michaels. Beans loved everything in there. She picked up embellishment after embellishment while saying, "Mommy, look how boootiful!" "This is so pretty!" Tossing each and every one into the basket she was carrying. Ever try to take things out of a toddler's shopping basket? Yeah, not so fun.

We did end up with a few things, a ton of inspiration and some promises to go back again soon.

Waiting for Warmer Days

After having so much cold and snow this winter I am definitely ready for spring and summer. We had a record breaking year for snowfall. I guess living in the northeast I shouldn't complain, I should be used to it. I'm not though. I don't like snow too much. It is beautiful for a few hours, but it gets old really fast!

The above photo was taken on a hot summer day spent swimming at my grandmom's house. That is where I'd like to be now. Luckily the last few days have been pretty nice and we have been able to spend some much needed time outside. Let's hope it stays that way.