Monthly Archives: November 2012

Sing along with me: “Oh, the weather outside is baffling!”

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Hello everybody.  I hope you guys are well.  Yesterday, schools were closed in observance of Veterans Day and the weather was absolutely beautiful.  Since my husband had the day off as well, we couldn’t waste the opportunity to go to the park and bask in this rare weather.  Off we went and I made sure to have my camera in my bag.

Olivia was ecstatic to find this giant leaf.  It came home with us.

 Sophia kept picking up different sticks and swiping at all the leaves on the ground.

I suddenly realized, hey we can take a pic of ourselves as well. What a concept! 🙂

Here’s my attempt at a shot of nature.

Some days I wish I was a professional photographer with a great camera, but then I see those cameras and think 1. They’re expensive 2. They’re heavy/bulky (that won’t fit in my bag!) 3. Why are there so many buttons on that expensive, bulky camera? and 4. I really don’t want to get mugged.

I’m not too fond of my current camera, but I’m stuck with it, for now.  For me, my perfect camera, and I’m searching, is one that’s small, takes pictures fast and they don’t come out blurry.  I HATE blurry pictures, especially when you get a perfect shot, but oh wait, it’s not perfect because it’s BLURRY!  It drives me nuts!  If anyone out there has any recommendations on a great small camera, oh please let me know.  I would appreciate it.

Stay alert, stay alive.

Until next time…

Playing with snow and in awe of fallen trees

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Hello everybody!  I hope you guys are well.  Yesterday, on the way home from school my daughter finally had a chance to play with snow.  It was melting fast and people had already shoveled it to the side, but she was able to make several snowballs and tossed them here and there.

 

As you can see, she was pretty happy!  We even made a tiny snowman!

Along the way we encountered several fallen trees and I QUICKLY took some pictures.

 

This damaged tree is situated about three blocks from where I live.

This unfortunate tree is right at the beginning of my block.  I live towards the end.

Just around the corner, there was another massive tree that had fallen and landed right in front of the doorway of a private house.  I didn’t go take a picture of that one out of respect to the homeowner.  It was pretty bad and this morning it was still there.

Nature is definitely powerful, frightening, and completely amazing.  All the best to those who have to clean up and may they be safe.

Stay alert, stay alive.

Until next time…

A special thanks and our first snowfall

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Hello everybody!  I hope you guys are well.  I would like to say a SPECIAL THANKS to all who have taken time to read and like my blog and become followers.  You guys are amazing!   

Yesterday, when I went to pick up my daughter from school, it was snowing and she was over the moon with our first snowfall.  She was completely amazed and kept stopping to catch the snow on her tongue, stating that “she was eating the snowflakes.”  I should have stopped to take a picture of her, but I was cold, getting wet and I wanted to get home fast.  I did take a picture outside my window later on.

We don’t have a great view, but I always like taking a picture of our first snowfall of the year.

Stay alert, stay alive.

Until next time…

DIY PIZZA BAGELS

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Hello everybody!  I hope you guys are well.  About a month ago, my silly daughter came home from school a little bit annoyed with the fact that students that day were able to eat pizza because of the school lunch and she couldn’t because she had her lunch already from home.  My daughter loves pizza and she declared that she wanted pizza as a lunch option.  Well, she didn’t use those words exactly, but simply put SHE WANTED PIZZA.  My mission then was thinking of a way to pack “pizza” in her lunch box.  First thought I had was go online and search, but then I remembered those frozen pizza bagels you see on TV.  I didn’t want to go buy them though for three reasons: I wanted to make them myself, I wanted to save money, and I wanted to make them healthier.  This is what I came up with:

I used mini whole wheat bagels, marinara sauce, and shredded mozzarella cheese.  I placed the bagels in my oven at 375 degrees for eight to ten minutes.  I cut them in half so I can easily fit them into a sandwich container, but I can only fit two bagels even though you see three.  Needless to say my daughter is very happy with these pizza bagels and that makes me happy as well.  I also include fruits, veggies, small dessert and water in her lunch bag.  I hope you guys like my take on this.  Enjoy!

Stay alert, stay alive.

Until next time…

Hope

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Hello everybody!  I hope you guys are well.  Today is Election Day in the USA and my vote has been counted, now I’m crossing my fingers in hopes that my pick wins.

Unfortunately, a Nor’easter is heading to places still reeling after Hurricane Sandy.  I wish I knew how to help or what to say, but I haven’t a clue.  I’ve never experienced losing someone close to me, though I’ve come very close.  I’ve never lost all of my possessions, so I can’t say that I know what it’s like.  I just feel generally heartbroken that people have to go through this.  I just hope communities that were hard hit are able to band together and help one another.  I hope officials are able to help all of those in need.  I hope people DON’T GIVE UP.  I hope donations of all kind keep piling in.  I hope with time everything can heal and communities can build back up.  All I can do right now is hope.

Stay alert, stay alive.

Until next time…

donating toys!

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Hello everybody!  I hope you guys are well.  This is the time of the year where the two biggest holidays, in my opinion, start approaching full speed ahead.  As soon as that happens, I start making mental notes on how we’re going to take our Christmas picture early, because Santa Claus is already at the mall mid-November, and I start the Christmas list. Also, there are several birthdays before Christmas so I have to buy those gifts well in advance.  But we all know what happens.  Yeah, that’s right.  I leave everything for the last minute driving myself completely insane and frustrated with the holidays.  Some days I really WISH I could be that type of person that is completely relaxed.  You know those people.  They’re so chill with everything.  Nothing bothers them, at all.  That would be nice, but then I wouldn’t be me and I think through my neurotic persona I’m able to accomplish stuff that makes me and my family happy.  At least, I hope.

In a previous post, I mentioned how last year I had my daughter go through her stuff toys and take out the ones that she didn’t really play with in order to donate them.  A few days ago, we did the same thing.  I took the bin where the toys are usually stored in and explained to my daughter that it was the “keep” bin.  Then I placed a big shopping bag next to the bin and told her that was the “gift” bag.  I asked her to go through her toys and see which ones she wanted to keep and which ones she wanted to donate as a gift.  My little girl did a great job!

These gently used toys are going to be donated and I hope we can find some more to give before the new ones come in.

Stay alert, stay alive.  Until next time…

Semi homeschooling for a week

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Hi everybody!  I hope you guys are well and safe.  As reported by news articles online, there are still many people without electricity in New York City, New Jersey, and Connecticut (I fortunately never lost power).  Staten Islanders are feeling forgotten and help for their area is coming at a snail’s pace.  The MTA is reporting 80 percent of trains back on track and the New York City Marathon has been cancelled.  I can’t stop reading or looking at photos of the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.  Some of the pictures are unbelievable.

 

Before and after of an amusement park pier in Seaside Heights, N.J. courtesy of www.weather.aol.com

This morning I read an article that featured a New Brunswick shop asking for clothing donations for the cold weather.  They provided an address and I quickly went into my daughter’s room and collected several pieces of clothing such as sweaters, a toddler’s down vest, two coats, pants, shirts, scarves, and a baby’s blanket (never been used).  The box is ready to be shipped Monday morning.  It’s the very least I can do and I will be sending out more donations in the future.  May all those affected be able to recover swiftly and you are not forgotten, at least not by me.

This past week of no school had me going online and looking for printable worksheets for my daughter.  I was able to find worksheets on practicing her writing the alphabet, adding, ordinal numbers, less and more, counting, and coloring.  Every day we did several pages without any complaints.  It’s the norm now so things went smoothly.  There was play time, snack time, lunch time, homework time, movie time, and, my favorite, daddy’s home time.  If you would like to print out your own worksheets, give these websites a try:

www.kidslearningstation.com

www.busybeekidsprintables.com

www.mathsisfun.com

www.prek-8.com

Stay alert, stay alive.  Until next time…

a pin for my kids and a couple for my husband

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Hello everybody!  I hope you guys are well.  Things are a bit frustrating over here in NYC.  The subway is trying to get back on track.  My husband told me this morning that they have a subway recovery map on www.mta.info.  It’s weird/amazing to see the subway map shown in a different way.  This recovery map highlights the trains that are currently working, while showing the trains that aren’t (the subway lines are faded out).  If you’re entering Manhattan via car, you can’t drive in solo.  There has to be three people or more with you!  And let me not forget to tell you that gas stations are running low on GAS!  Oh boy, it’s tough out there, but New Yorkers are tougher.  All the best and safe travels to all.

A pin from www.pinterest.com for my kids that speaks the truth!  In my case, I have to think thrice.

 

Here’s a couple of pins for my husband.  He’ll see them as comedic as well as many other men, but unfortunately for them, these are simply true!  🙂

Stay alert, stay alive.  Until next time…

My sane and healthy approach to school lunches

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Hello everybody!  I hope you guys are well and safe.  The trains and buses are semi running here in New York City.  It’s great to see everyone working hard and together to get this city back on track.  All the best to those currently working outside, safe travels to and from your destinations and may you all recover swiftly.

Before my daughter started Kindergarten, my husband and I decided to take her to eat lunch a few days at her future school.  They offered free lunch to children during the summer.  I wanted her to get acquainted with the cafeteria and I also wanted to see if she liked the food that they served.  Some days, she ate well (hamburgers and sandwiches were a hit), but the day she was given pasta and meat sauce separately, she took a small sampling of the meat and left it completely.  She did it eat some of the pasta, and I tried to convince her to eat more of the sauce, but she wasn’t having it.  Of course, she had no complaints with the desserts they offered.  Neither with the plain or chocolate milk and fruits, but the main dishes and even the vegetables were mostly a miss.  I knew then that I would be making her lunches for school.  At first, I was nervous because I wasn’t sure what to pack in her lunch.  I’ve never done this before so I searched online for ideas.  I saw so many wonderful pictures of lunches packed by fabulous parents!  They were educational and inspiring.  Also, her school has implemented a healthy eating program.  It was one of her first projects.  They wanted her to draw or cut out pictures of healthy food and glue them onto a piece of paper resembling a plate like this:

Go to www.choosemyplate.gov for more great information

We all learned a lot with this project!  Now, I consult this clip art, which I made into a mini poster and placed it on my kitchen wall,  in order to send my daughter with a healthy portion from each group.  I went to Wal-Mart and bought small food containers and I place everything into my daughter’s lunch bag sort of like a bento box.  Also, in order to remember what she ate Monday through Friday, my husband placed a big dry/erase white board, which he found outside a while back, in the kitchen for me to jot down all the foods per day and keep a list of foods to pick from.

This is what keeps me sane!  I’m a visual person so this helps me out a lot.  FYI: If you spy the word KRAVE under Monday’s menu this is Kellogg’s new cereal that we’re totally addicted to.  It’s so delicious.  It doesn’t last two days in the house, because of me! 🙂

The board looks different this week because I’ve written “school closed” for the whole week and at the bottom there’s a short hand version of her lunch for each day.  It’s the norm now so I just keep it up.  Many thanks to all those moms and dads who post pictures of their children’s lunches.

Stay alert, stay alive.  Until next time…