An Award for Me :)

I was given two awards this week and I am so bad about passing these on but I do want to thank Kim and Annie for the wonderful awards.  I am too tired to pass them onto others (so overwhelmed right now and that is why I have been such a bad blogger) but I do want to answer Annie's 10 questions because I love her and think that it will be fun :)  So here we go....

1. Why do you blog?  

I blog because it is the cheapest therapy around :)  I also love the community of people I have "met" through blogging and as a way to keep a record of this wonderful time of my life. 

2. How do you describe yourself?

I would describe myself as friendly, kind, silly but serious, fun and a good friend.

3. Do you comment daily on your friends blogs?

I try but it is so hard to keep up lately.  I find it goes in waves, some weeks I am so good at commenting and other weeks I am terrible.

4. If you have the opportunity to travel right now, where did you go?
I would go to Italy to visit my husband's extended family :)

5. Did you celebrate your kids birthday?

Argh!!! Yes, it was a pirate party matey :)

6. How do you manage your time?

This is tough for me but I keep a journal that has my to do list in it as well as my goals for the day :)  I try to focus on the kids first, house second and me third :)

7. What is the main reason for you to follow certain blog?

I follow the blogs of people who I find interesting and friendly.  I gravitate towards blogs of people I could see myself being friends with in "real life". 

8. Besides USA, where do you like to live?

I have only lived in the USA but if I had to live somewhere else, I think I would pick Spain or Germany....I loved both countries.

9. When was the last time you went to see a movie?

The last time I saw a movie in the theater was Harry Potter 6 this summer!?!?!  I feel like I saw something more recent but I am drawing a blank.

10.Do you like it when someone gives you an award?

Yes I do, I just wish I was better about passing them on :)  It does make me smile though.

Have a great weekend!

Stranger Danger

 

After Reading this book Z has become obsessed with the idea of strangers.  We have had many discussions about who strangers are, what to do if a stranger approaches and to never help or take candy or gifts from a stranger.  The topic has really left an impression.

Here is what he has been saying around town....

While we were in Target shopping the other day he said pointing at everyone we saw, "There's a stranger mommy, and there's a stranger, and there's a stranger and there's one too......"

"That is one BIG stranger!" pointing at a tall man.

While checking out at the grocery store he said to the cashier, "You are a straaaaannnnnger!!!!"

While at the quilt store he said to the cashier, "Hey stranger, my name is Buzz Lightyear.  It says so on my boot!" Then he lifted his sneaker in the air to show her the imaginary boot and the turned and walked away.

I am a Numbers Girl....All About Me Monday :)

This week Mommy Brain, wants us to share our numbers :)  I LOVE numbers.  I love number puzzles, a good math problem and teaching math was my favorite!  So here are my numbers.......

1--Television in my house
2--Children under my care
3--Cars I have actually owned but I have driven many more than that
4--Continents I have been on
5--Car accidents I have been in and also the average number of hours of sleep I get a night
6--Shampoo and Conditioner Bottles in my shower
7--Number of Siblings I have if you include my 2 awesome sister in-laws, 4 great brother in-laws and my BF---2 if you don't :)
9--Number of books I am currently reading (I can't help it!!!)
10--Shoe size (big feet :()
13--The number of one of my houses growing up
13.1--Miles.....the longest Race I have ever run--my 1/2 marathon
15--Number of Places I have Lived (CRAZY!!!  The number was 3 until I turned 18.....)
16--Countries I have visited (not including all of the many island countries I have been to)
18--New emails in my Inbox
19--Day of my birth
20--States I have visited
26--My favorite number
68--Number of inches I am
287--Friends on Facebook
429--Blog Posts I have written
1, 325--Songs stored in my Itunes 
10,218--pictures in my Iphoto box (although most are on my portable drive)

Right now I am loving the number 4 because that is the number in my FAMILY :)

What are your numbers?????? 

My Back's Out and Food Waste Friday

It happened so fast and there was really nothing I could have done to prevent it right then (other then doing daily pilates to build up my core)......I went to put Lil' C's carrier in the car, twisted funny and my back went out :(  It has been 48 hours and I am a mess.  I can do little other than lie on the floor and my poor house and children are suffering.  S is super crazy with work and his family this week and so he has been really torn trying to tend to me and do all that he needs to do.  He has rearranged his schedule as much as he can but timing was not good for him at all.  Thank God that my family lives close by and that I have such wonderful friends and a super babysitter.  I would not be able to make it through this without them. 

I have pulled out my back two times before this, both when Z was a baby.  The first time he was four months old and I had to put him in a laundry basket and slide him across the floor as I crawled to the phone.  I was out for almost a week and had many different family members take shifts to take care of Z.  The second time was when Z was 10 months old but this time I was at the lake with family.  I spent the week laying down indoors with my Noni (we played word games) while everyone else had fun in the sun and took care of my little guy. 

This time, I have two to tend to and I am so fortunate that my dad, sisters, good friend K and our babysitter have come to my aid.  It has been a challenge but Z has been super helpful and I think he has enjoyed playing games and reading books with his mama on the floor :)  I am hoping to be up and back to my old self soon and then I will be hitting the Pilates mat so that this does not happen again!!!

As for Food Waste Friday.....I just don't have it in me to go and get my camera to show you the pictures of my waste.  But I can tell you that we wasted 3 of the delicious apple muffins that I made last week when I saved the apples (so sad about that) and a 1/2 of a lime that we had with our Corona's.  I think that we did pretty good this week and hope that we have a no waste week next week!!!  Head over to Frugal Girl's website if you want to check out more about Food Waste Friday.

WW--Crazy New England Weather

A week ago Z was playing with his slip n slide, I was sweating bullets and begging S to put in the air conditioners (he didn't)........

This week we are in sweaters and have the heat back on......

What will next week be like?????

What's In My Tiny Bag....

 

Go on over to Mommy Brain's site to link up and play along :)  

This week we were asked to share what was in our bag.  So I spilled it out (yes I did toss out a shopping list and a few receipts to clean it up a bit) and here is what I found :)

 

1. cell phone (my lifeline)

2. tiny wallet for my tiny bag

3. roll of 100 stamps

4. breast pads for those times I spring a leak

5. calculator--trying to budget at the grocery store

6. pen

7.  small bungee cord--you can call me MacGyver! 

       seriously I have no idea why that is there!!!!!

Z's Wisdom for Mother's Day

This is what Z said to me this morning as I was wiping his bum after he went to the potty.....

"You can poop on Mother's Day Mommy!"

So all you mothers out there, please know that this is an option for today :)  Z says so!

Happy Mothers Day!

Food Waste Fridays

I have decided to finally join up with Frugal Girl and participate in Food Waste Fridays.  This is what she has to say about Food Waste Fridays....

"Every week, I post a picture of the food that has gone bad over the last seven days. I started doing this in March of 2008 to help motivate myself to use up my food instead of wasting it and it’s been very effective. Since it helped me so much, I invited other bloggers to join me in posting their food waste photos, and Food Waste Friday was born."

I figure this will be a great way to hold my family accountable for eating what we have and thus spending less money on new food :)  I am so tired of those containers in the back of the fridge that have science experiments growing in them.  Last night I had a sweet potato and avocado for dinner and made banana bread and apple muffins in order to reduce the amount of food waste for the week :)  Crazy dinner but it was delicious!

So I don't actually have a picture of my food waste from this week because I forgot to take pictures of it but we did waste two things (not bad for the first week!!!).  I had to compost a handful of blueberries that I forgot to freeze and I also threw out 4 applesauce muffins that I made (we really didn't like them very much and I am surprised that 8 got eaten). 

My pictures this week are of the food I saved.  Here are the bananas which are now banana bread and the yummy sweet potatoes, one of which I had for dinner.

Check out Frugal Girl if you want to play along with Food Waste Fridays :)

WW--A Young Boys Dream

The highlight of Z's April Vacation :)  He actually got to dig some dirt!!!!  So exciting :)

My Favorite Teacher

Mommy Brain has asked us to pay tribute to our favorite teacher in honor of Teacher Appreciation Week.  As a teacher, I always loved being spoiled by the PTA and my students during this week.  Our school did such a nice job of celebrating all of our hard work.  Sitting back right now, reflecting on my own teachers....I can think of a handful that truly stand out in my mind.  A few that were there for me during challenging times, challenged me and truly cared for me.  But of all of the wonderful teachers I had growing up, there is one that stands out from all the rest, that is my mom.

My mom is an elementary school teacher by trade as well.  She gave it all up to start a family and did not go back to teaching full-time until my youngest sister was in High School.  She and my father made a lot of sacrifices so that she could be home with the three of us.  She volunteered in our classes, was president of our PTA, led our Brownie Troops, drove us from activity to activity, hosted wonderful playdates and always made sure that we were happy, healthy and loved.  

My mom has taught me so much over the years.....she helped to teach me how to read, about the world around me, taught me the importance of helping others, how to be an active part of the community, helped me with my homework, home schooled me in 7th grade for a few months when I had mono, inspired me to become a teacher and most importantly....she taught me how to be a mom!  

My mom means the world to me and I am so lucky to be her daughter.  She is there whenever I need her and is such a big part of our lives.  We just got to spend three days with my mom (and dad) at the lake and it was wonderful.  I love that we are able to spend so much quality time with my parents and that my children love them as much as I do.  I love that my parents love to vacation with us and that we all enjoy being together.  We are part of a special family and I am so grateful to her and my father for creating something so wonderful.

Thanks mom, thanks for being my favorite teacher.  I love you and love the fact that you and I are so similar.  In fact you are probably crying right now ( I know I am :)).  Love you!