Category Archives: Children

Spring is finally here…but I’m not ready to venture out!

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Hello everybody!  I hope you guys are well.

Spring finally made an appearance yesterday, but in my opinion, it felt more like Summer.  It was hot.  I don’t like hot and my body and mind are not ready for this weather.  At least not yet.  My husband made a comment the other day that we don’t get to experience days that stay in the 60’s or 70’s weather wise.  No, it goes from 35 degrees one day to 80 degrees the next.  What the freak?  I haven’t even started packing away the winter clothes and looking for the summer ones.

It takes me awhile to adjust to the warmer weather because I’m an introvert, but my children prefer to be outside so I start negotiating with myself.  Take them outside for a little while because it’s nice.  At least 45 minutes, that’s not too bad.  You can handle that.  Repeat a couple of more times throughout the week until you’re ready to venture out more.  This is how my mind works.  This is how I convince myself to go outside, even though every fiber in my body wants to stay indoors, but I do it for my daughters because they do need some fresh air, sun, and outside playtime fun/exercise.  And I guess I need some of that as well, but don’t quote me, please.

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Speeding down the block

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Scooting and three wheeling

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Water station

As parents we sacrifice a lot and going outside your comfort zone may not seem like a big sacrifice (or deal) to some people, but it is to me.  I’m working on myself and trying to evolve for my little family.  I have a lot of quirks a.k.a. fears that I’m trying to conquer little by little, at my own pace, and I know it can be frustrating to some of my family members and friends, but in the famous words of Popeye (remember him?) “I yam what I yam.”

Please take it and don’t leave it.

Take good care all.

Until next time…

A glance at today’s school lunch from home

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Hello everybody!  I hope you guys are well.  Many thanks to those who liked my happy faces lunch.  I do enjoy making them for my daughters.  I wanted to share how I make my oldest daughter’s lunch for school.  At first, I was very scared of what I would pack for her since I’ve never packed a lunch before and I wanted to send her off to school with food that was healthy and, of course, that she liked.  This is what I packed for her today:

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I try to do as much as I can the night before.  When I’m making her Peanut Butter & Jelly sandwiches, I basically prep the bread by cutting the crust with a Good Bites cutter (yellow thingy above in the pic), then I seal it away in the sandwich container.  I do the same for the veggies.  I cut and place in the fridge.  In the morning I put the PB&J on the bread and a little bit of salad dressing on the veggies.  I also cut a piece of banana and put some peanut butter on it.  This is one of her faves.  I also include a snack like goldfish crackers with raisins.  As for her drink we do water one day and the next day I add a small juice box plus her water bottle so she drinks juice for lunch on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

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The containers that I use held baby food once from Target’s brand Up & Up.  They’re pretty handy and stack up well in my daughter’s lunch bag.

I try to stick to serving sizes because that’s important and I do change up the menu days so my daughter doesn’t get bored with the food.  I’m always on the look out for new food ideas to include in her lunch bag, especially healthy ones, and I’m doing my best with food labels, which can be tricky.  I’m not going to say that I don’t let my daughter indulge in sweets (lollipops, ice cream sandwiches, cookies, etc.) because that would be a lie, but my husband and I try to keep her active by taking her to the park, Saturday mornings they train in Judo, and every week-day, as long as the weather is cooperating, I take her scooter with me when I’m picking her up from school so she can scoot home.  Every little bit helps and counts.

Take good care all.

Until next time…

Double the fun

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Hello everybody!  I hope you guys are well.

The other day I made my first double “happy faces” lunch.  Since my youngest, Sophia, is getting bigger, I decided to surprise her and her sister with this special lunch.  Unfortunately, Sophia, who’s a picky eater one day and a hungry little monster the next, decided that it was a “let me torture my mom by not wanting to eat anything day!”  At least, my oldest, Olivia, enjoyed her plate.

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Food used to make these happy faces:  strawberries, apples, bread w/ cream cheese, PBJ sandwiches, banana, raisins, and cheese sticks

Take good care all.

Until next time…

Autism Awareness Month (April)

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autismSpeaks

http://www.autismspeaks.org

Hello everybody!  I hope you guys are well.

It’s Autism Awareness Month and I just made a donation to autismspeaks.org in honor of my little cousin, Nicholas, who has come very far and will go even further than the stars.  He is a wonderful little boy who is loved by many, but especially by his dedicated and super mom Rosie, his hard-working dad, Waymon, and his big bro/HERO, Gabriel.  I love hearing about Nico’s accomplishments, which have been many and I’m so proud of his mom, my cousin, who takes such good care of him.  It’s TOUGH, but she has kept her ground and the rewards of that bravery and pure love come in the form of smiles, hugs, words, and songs that come out of her little boy.

I love this family so much!

If you are able to, please contribute to this cause.  Thank you!

Take good care all.

Until next time…

What’s rare? A good night’s sleep

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Hello everybody!  I hope you guys are well.

As for me, my oldest daughter almost gave me a heart attack at 3 o’ clock in the morning today!  I’m peacefully, sound asleep when all of a sudden something is touching me and this is how I wake up: literally yelling and bouncing off my bed.  I don’t know why I wake up this way, but I do and it drives me (and my husband) absolutely nuts.  My nerves get shot to hell and my poor little girl is standing there in the dark not knowing what to do.  She woke me up because her fingernail was bothering her after she had picked at it and wanted me to cut it.

At three o’ clock in the morning.

I couldn’t see (due to darkness and bad eyesight), I’m cursing in my head, and I desperately want to close my eyes and go back to sleep, but I can’t because my daughter needs me.  So I grabbed my eyeglasses and a nail clipper, turned on the blinding light, clipped away that wretched fingernail, and tucked my daughter and myself back into bed.

I remember reading an article a long time ago about this woman who loved to sleep.  That was the whole article.  She had an immense love for sleep and loathed anyone or anything that took it away from her.  She even shuddered at the idea of becoming a mom and losing her beloved sleep.  I enjoyed reading that article, especially that part because I knew what she meant.  Before I became a mom, I loved to sleep as well and there were no interruptions.  Now, a good night’s sleep is rare and I know that I’m not the only one out there seeking sweet, pleasant dreams.  From the person who can’t sleep because they’re worrying about their finances or job, to the sleep deprived new mom who has to wake up every two to three hours to feed her newborn child, the single dad who has to take care of his sick child who can’t sleep, or the person who has a loved one in the hospital.  We’re all in it together.

Sleep, where art thou?

Please come back!

One day I will sleep again and no, I’m not talking about the temporary kind.  That can stay far off into the future, knock on wood.  I’m just wanting some good ol’ restful sleep because once that happens, your body and mind feels the difference and you’re hooked.  Some nights I do go to bed late and that’s because I want to see TV, but I’m about to be scaling back on the tube time because I’m missing the zzzzzz’s too much.

Good (luck) night!

P.S. Breaking news on the wiggly tooth.  My brave daughter wiggled and wiggled her tooth until she pulled it out herself last Friday.  The tooth fairy came that night and left two golden, chocolate coins, two dollar bills, and a small certificate.  My daughter, without a second thought, generously shared her new gifts with her little sister!  🙂

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Take good care all.

Until next time…

Surprising Art

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Hello everybody!  I hope you guys are well.

I’m making my blog post today as a tribute to my daughter’s art.  It’s a blog art gallery for her.

The other day she was quietly working on the dining room table.  She was drawing, coloring, cutting, and gluing away.  I simply thought that she was doing one of her wonderful drawings, but boy was I ever wrong.  When she finished she surprised me with this piece:

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Is this call 2D or 3D art?  I’m not sure, but I do know that it’s absolutely beautiful.  I was speechless and in awe when she presented it to me.  By the way that’s me under the rainbow!  Do you love my red lips?  🙂  I asked her how she came up with this idea and she responded by saying that she had seen her arts and crafts teacher doing this project with another class so she decided to make one of her own.  Simply fabulous.  We looked at it and I, of course, took several pictures.  Then my daughter realized that she didn’t include her daddy.  I told her if you want to include more into your masterpiece, go ahead.

IMG_4260text Here’s the finished project:  She drew her dad, sister, and herself (on top of the rainbow).  Oh, she also gave me a lollipop in my hand.  Now, it’s complete!

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The artist, Olivia!

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This last piece she drew yesterday.  She used stickers and made little flowers out of them, drew a cool airplane, connected the star stickers, and as you can see one of her characters is sad.  Why?  Well, that’s her and she’s sad because she’s running a fever and next to her is me.  I love how she made me shorter than her (I’m short, but not that short.)  We’re battling germs again, but she’s getting better.  Taking her medicine and drinking lots of water, plus resting.  Since it’s spring recess, I’m happy that she’s able to get better without missing school.

So there you have it.  I hope you enjoyed this short, but sweet art gallery presentation by Olivia.

Encourage art and you’ll be presented with amazing creations.

Take good care all.

Until next time…

A wiggly tooth

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Hello everybody!  I hope you guys are well.

My oldest daughter has her first wiggly tooth.

I thought that was supposed to happen around the age of 6.

Oh wait, she’s turning 6.  In June.  Of this year.

Time really does fly.

PLEASE slow down a bit.

😦

Take good care all.

Until next time…

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http://www.canadianfamily.ca/kids/pregnancy/your-childs-loose-tooth/

Egg-celent Day!

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Hello everybody!  I hope you guys are well.

Today was the first day of my daughter’s Spring Recess and to kick it off, I decided to dye our first eggs at home.  Yes, it’s another egg story.  🙂 I took their yellow Little Tikes table to the kitchen because it’s the brightest room in the house plus the cleaning supplies are there too, just kidding, not really.  Yesterday, we purchased this kit at Target.

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I chose the Marble Magic effect.  Inside you’ll find an egg dipper and color tablets.  Instructions are on the back of the box.

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I chose to add vinegar to the tablets for a more vibrant color per the instructions.  I hard-boiled four of the eggs.  The other two were emptied out by my husband the day before.  I dissolved the tablets and got green, blue, and pink.  Then I added ½ cup of water to each.

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We dipped the eggs and my oldest daughter decided to use her M & M’s toy fan to speed up the drying process while my youngest was fascinated and kept looking into the cup.  I had to watch her closely in case she decided to take a sip.

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We dipped some of the eggs into two colors and achieved somewhat of a marble effect.  It looks more speckled to me, but the girls were happy with the results and that’s all that matters.  The Peter Rabbit egg holders were very handy.  Aren’t they adorable?

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Olivia took her markers and got even more creative.  It’s a girl holding a basket with an egg.  Love it!

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She also used glitter glue to decorate the eggs.

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Here’s the Peter Rabbit basket made out of cardstock.  It was super easy to make and absolutely adorable.  I glued the characters to the basket, but used masking tape for the basket itself.  If you want to make one for your kiddo click here http://www.nickjr.com/crafts/peter-rabbit-egg-basket.jhtml

I had a lot of fun dyeing these eggs with my daughters and we’re going to be making more because my husband was working today and missed out.  We Skyped him at his job, once we finished, so he could see the results and he was super happy to see us and our marbled/speckled eggs.  This will be my last post on eggs, I promise.  I do hope you guys enjoyed our adventure in egg land.

Take good care all.

Until next time…

DIY Easter Decorations

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Hello everybody!  I hope you guys are well.  I love making my own decorations for the holidays, especially when there’s a ton of ideas online.  I’m currently decorating for Easter and found a great banner idea as well as adorable DIY paper carrots.  I combined those ideas and included some plastic eggs and created this banner for the hallway outside my door.

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You can see the instructions and printable template for the easter egg banner here http://www.creationsbykara.com/2012/03/easter-craft-easy-easter-egg-banner.html and pictures of the paper carrots here http://www2.fiskars.com/Crafting/Projects/Holiday/Easter/Easter-Egg-Hunt#.UUiNKlqMHUM

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I used card stock to print out the template for the easter egg banner.  I then used several decorative papers for the banner and used construction paper for the carrots.  To hang these up I used pink and white baker’s twine.

At nickjr.com, there’s a whole bunch of crafting projects and I made the peter rabbit holiday garland (http://www.nickjr.com/printables/peter-rabbit-holiday-garlands.jhtml) because my youngest likes Peter Rabbit.  I also printed out egg holders (http://www.nickjr.com/printables/peter-rabbit-easter-eggs.jhtml) and an egg basket (http://www.nickjr.com/crafts/peter-rabbit-egg-basket.jhtml) for when we start dyeing our easter eggs at home.  Since my daughter dyed her first eggs at school, she’s super excited to do it again.

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When I picked her up from school yesterday I brought her a basket so she could carry home her masterpiece dyed eggs.  She’s in love with them and wants to keep them forever.  🙂

There’s definitely more egg stories to come.  I’m also planning my youngest daughter’s birthday at a snail’s pace.  So far, I only have a theme, Nickelodeon’s Bubble Guppies, and I’m planning on using the free printables on nickjr.com to decorate.  Again, I’m leaving everything for the last minute, but isn’t that how it’s really done?

Take good care all.

Until next time…

Welcome Spring!

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Hello everybody!  I hope you guys are well.

Some mornings are very hectic in my household even when I try to have things laid out already.  Time is a sneaky little monster that jumps out horribly at you when you’re trying to put shoes on, zip up sweaters, wrap scarves around, and place hats on two little girls with ants in their pants.  Oh, and don’t forget bundling yourself up.  Today was a good day.  I was able to leave the house on time and actually walk my daughter to school instead of jogging/running with her there before they slam close the doors.  She doesn’t mind the fast pace though because in her case she BOUNCES her way to school with excitement practically every day.  My kid doesn’t do walking, unless there’s three feet of snow in which then she wants to drag her feet and bask in the glory of snow heaven.  Other than that, it’s all running everywhere.

This morning my daughter was EXTRA excited because they were going to dye eggs in her classroom.  Her teacher asked that the kids bring in two hard-boiled eggs and I was brainstorming yesterday night on how I was going to transport these eggs without them cracking in her bag.  I thought, “Why not use the egg carton itself?” so I cut off one of the ends of the styrofoam carton and placed the eggs like this:

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Then I put it into a food storage container that fit perfectly and off to school she went with her eggs safely in her backpack.  I don’t really remember if I ever dyed Easter eggs with my mom or even in school, but this year we’re definitely going to be dyeing some eggs come Easter week-end.  I just have to remember to be patient and have fun, no matter what messes occur.  Let the cracked eggs and spilled paint fall where they may.  That’s what brooms and paper towels are made for, but just in case I will repeat silently this little mantra, “Just let go and make sweet memories.  That’s all that matters!”

Today is the start of Spring so lets welcome it with open arms even if we’re still bundled up over here in Brooklyn.

Take good care all.

Until next time…