Just got back from kickboxing class. My 4th class this week.
Had to go a 4th time this week, to burn off the Cadbury mini-eggs I rewarded myself with, for going to class 3 times this week.
Note to self: Don't do that again!
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Subway to Heaven
Last night, before bed, my daughter told me she missed Isabel.
She doesn't mention her very often, so I'm always taken aback when she does.
She was so little when Isabel was delivered...just two years old, so obviously, I know that she can't really miss her.
That being said, I told her that I missed her too, and then assured her that we would all be together someday in Heaven.
She said, "I don't think so."
I asked, why not?
"Heaven is just too many train rides away, don't ya think?"
She doesn't mention her very often, so I'm always taken aback when she does.
She was so little when Isabel was delivered...just two years old, so obviously, I know that she can't really miss her.
That being said, I told her that I missed her too, and then assured her that we would all be together someday in Heaven.
She said, "I don't think so."
I asked, why not?
"Heaven is just too many train rides away, don't ya think?"
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Inquiring Minds
Since it's so cold outside today, my daughter and I decided, in order to keep her warm and toasty, she should wear a long sleeved shirt and a pair of leggings underneath her Tae Kwon Do uniform.
I suggested her gray pair, citing they'd be perfect because they wouldn't be too flashy underneath her uniform.
She told me that she does not like the color gray, said it didn't "suit her."
I just wanted her to put on the pair of pants, so, I tried to convince her of what a lovely color I thought gray was...How nice it looked with purple and pink.
Her reply...
"Mommy, if you love gray so much, how come you don't like it in your hair?"
I suggested her gray pair, citing they'd be perfect because they wouldn't be too flashy underneath her uniform.
She told me that she does not like the color gray, said it didn't "suit her."
I just wanted her to put on the pair of pants, so, I tried to convince her of what a lovely color I thought gray was...How nice it looked with purple and pink.
Her reply...
"Mommy, if you love gray so much, how come you don't like it in your hair?"
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
I Wan Dat
I wan dat.
I WAN DAT!
I.......WAN...... DAT!!!
What my son screamed, while running into the kitchen from our living room, deperately trying to communicate to me, that I should NOT throw away the strawberries my daughter was too full to finish at lunchtime.
He wanted them!!!
awwww, my baby's first sentence.
I WAN DAT!
I.......WAN...... DAT!!!
What my son screamed, while running into the kitchen from our living room, deperately trying to communicate to me, that I should NOT throw away the strawberries my daughter was too full to finish at lunchtime.
He wanted them!!!
awwww, my baby's first sentence.
Monday, January 4, 2010
Resolutions for the New Year
I've been giving some thought to the changes I'd like to make this year. I realize most are coming down to wiping out the clutter and excess in my life.
De-cluttering our home is big on my list. As you may have read in my blog post, To Shred or Not to Shred, I've already gone through and shredded our old paperwork. Binging and Purging tells the story of how I've gone through the kids toys, stuffed animals and books.
Now for the rest of the apartment.
The thought of all of this cleaning/downsizing, overwhelms me. When I start to feel overwhelmed, I tend to shut down. A little trick I use to overcome this feeling, is to go through the rooms in our apartment and clean only 10 things at a time. It breaks it down into a smaller and more manageable task, and it works for me. I reminded myself of this little trick this morning while cleaning up the apartment.
As for my desire to wipe out the excess... I've begun by combing through our bills and getting rid of the things that we just don't need or use. We haven't plugged our house phone in since we moved into our apartment 3 years ago, yet we were paying the phone company $30 a month for this service.
Aside from Curb Your Enthusiasm and Flight of the Concords, we don't watch anything on the premium cable channels.....so those are gone now too. It's cheaper to order the whole season of these shows on DVD at Amazon.com, than it is to pay the cable company for this service.
It feels good to take charge of our home.
Next up on my list is to set and reach my goal at Weight Watchers. My goal for the Holidays was to maintain my current weight and I am happy to report that I did!
I'm almost at goal, but the sooner I reach it, the sooner I become what they call a Lifetime Member. Lifetime Members do not have to pay any monthly fees. Aaaah, shedding excess weight and spending at the same time! What a great accomplishment that will be.
What I'd like to focus on this year, that has nothing to do with clutter or excess, is to keep focused on my writing.
As you probably know, I'm a stay at home mom. I actually love it. I'm living my dream! It was always my opinion, that in spite of her in-laws, Debra Barone was living the life! However, the time will come, when I will go back to work, and what I'd really like to do is write.
I've found in times, when I'm struggling with something personal, I don't blog very much. This is because I have clear boundaries of what I will and will not blog about. Which reminds me....I just read my friend Alicia's most recent blog post and loved it. In it she talks about MommyBloggers. Her site is called How I Became a Tattooed Mommy and you can check her out by clicking here.
Anyhow, I'd like to challenge myself to push through and write through those times. Not to write about them, but to challenge myself to blog, in spite of them.
What resolutions have you made for the new year?
De-cluttering our home is big on my list. As you may have read in my blog post, To Shred or Not to Shred, I've already gone through and shredded our old paperwork. Binging and Purging tells the story of how I've gone through the kids toys, stuffed animals and books.
Now for the rest of the apartment.
The thought of all of this cleaning/downsizing, overwhelms me. When I start to feel overwhelmed, I tend to shut down. A little trick I use to overcome this feeling, is to go through the rooms in our apartment and clean only 10 things at a time. It breaks it down into a smaller and more manageable task, and it works for me. I reminded myself of this little trick this morning while cleaning up the apartment.
As for my desire to wipe out the excess... I've begun by combing through our bills and getting rid of the things that we just don't need or use. We haven't plugged our house phone in since we moved into our apartment 3 years ago, yet we were paying the phone company $30 a month for this service.
Aside from Curb Your Enthusiasm and Flight of the Concords, we don't watch anything on the premium cable channels.....so those are gone now too. It's cheaper to order the whole season of these shows on DVD at Amazon.com, than it is to pay the cable company for this service.
It feels good to take charge of our home.
Next up on my list is to set and reach my goal at Weight Watchers. My goal for the Holidays was to maintain my current weight and I am happy to report that I did!
I'm almost at goal, but the sooner I reach it, the sooner I become what they call a Lifetime Member. Lifetime Members do not have to pay any monthly fees. Aaaah, shedding excess weight and spending at the same time! What a great accomplishment that will be.
What I'd like to focus on this year, that has nothing to do with clutter or excess, is to keep focused on my writing.
As you probably know, I'm a stay at home mom. I actually love it. I'm living my dream! It was always my opinion, that in spite of her in-laws, Debra Barone was living the life! However, the time will come, when I will go back to work, and what I'd really like to do is write.
I've found in times, when I'm struggling with something personal, I don't blog very much. This is because I have clear boundaries of what I will and will not blog about. Which reminds me....I just read my friend Alicia's most recent blog post and loved it. In it she talks about MommyBloggers. Her site is called How I Became a Tattooed Mommy and you can check her out by clicking here.
Anyhow, I'd like to challenge myself to push through and write through those times. Not to write about them, but to challenge myself to blog, in spite of them.
What resolutions have you made for the new year?
Sunday, January 3, 2010
A Lesson in Muffin Making
My daughter loves corn muffins, and before going to sleep last night, she told me how she wished she could have one, right then, for a snack.
I remembered that we had some pre-packaged corn muffin mix in the pantry, so I told her we could whip some up for breakfast this morning.
This was the first time while making muffins, that I let her scoop the batter into the muffin tins, all by herself.
It was an interesting experience for me in letting go. She was making a MESS!
I gave her a metal ice cream scoop, thinking it would be the easiest method. I think it was, however, being that she's only 4, not all of the batter was making it inside the muffin part of the tin. Naturally, some was being spilled on the top portion of the pan. She was trying to "fix" this problem by smoothing the batter, with the bottom of the ice cream scoop, on top of the tin.
My first instinct, was to take the scoop out of her little hand and start scooping myself. I held myself back though and simply told her that we were going to have to clean up the spill with a napkin or paper towel instead.
I told her that she was doing a great job, that I was proud of her, and then I started washing the dishes in the sink, so I didn't have to watch.
Overall, she did a great job and most of the batter made it where it was supposed to.
It was an interesting lesson for me, in just letting her be. It's so simple, but how is she going to feel confident, strong and secure in her ability to make the big decisions she'll face in life, or have faith in herself and believe that she can do anything she sets her mind to, if I can't even let her put muffin mix into a tin withoutcriticizing micromanaging?
I believe that the most important and greatest gift, aside from love, that a mom can give her daughter, is to instill and foster in her, a great sense of confidence.
My brother and his girlfriend have a little thing where they ask my daughter, "Who's better than you?" and my daughter shouts, "No one!!!!"
I smile and think to myself, that's right baby girl. No one.
I remembered that we had some pre-packaged corn muffin mix in the pantry, so I told her we could whip some up for breakfast this morning.
This was the first time while making muffins, that I let her scoop the batter into the muffin tins, all by herself.
It was an interesting experience for me in letting go. She was making a MESS!
I gave her a metal ice cream scoop, thinking it would be the easiest method. I think it was, however, being that she's only 4, not all of the batter was making it inside the muffin part of the tin. Naturally, some was being spilled on the top portion of the pan. She was trying to "fix" this problem by smoothing the batter, with the bottom of the ice cream scoop, on top of the tin.
My first instinct, was to take the scoop out of her little hand and start scooping myself. I held myself back though and simply told her that we were going to have to clean up the spill with a napkin or paper towel instead.
I told her that she was doing a great job, that I was proud of her, and then I started washing the dishes in the sink, so I didn't have to watch.
Overall, she did a great job and most of the batter made it where it was supposed to.
It was an interesting lesson for me, in just letting her be. It's so simple, but how is she going to feel confident, strong and secure in her ability to make the big decisions she'll face in life, or have faith in herself and believe that she can do anything she sets her mind to, if I can't even let her put muffin mix into a tin without
I believe that the most important and greatest gift, aside from love, that a mom can give her daughter, is to instill and foster in her, a great sense of confidence.
My brother and his girlfriend have a little thing where they ask my daughter, "Who's better than you?" and my daughter shouts, "No one!!!!"
I smile and think to myself, that's right baby girl. No one.
Saturday, January 2, 2010
The Games We Play
We had a really good time at my sister's place yesterday, and now the kids and I are back home.
I'm looking forward to this evening, as my daughter and I will be playing cards together again tonight. I love to play games and I'm really excited that she's now at the age where I have a partner in gaming.
It's hard to choose, but some of my favorites are Catch Phrase, Taboo, Trivial Pursuit and Scrabble. I LOVE card games too. My friends and I from back home used to play 9-5 Set Back all of the time. Those are times that I really miss.
My daughter is not ready for these games yet, but we have played a lot of Candy Land, Connect 4 and Chutes and Ladders in the past, and most recently, UNO.
Boy am I glad that I tried this card game with her, because we've been having a lot of fun playing together on a nightly basis. This time spent with her is something that I look forward to all day.
Another card game, that I've recently introduced to her, is called Skip-Bo. It's another one of my favorites, by the makers of Uno. She's enjoying this game too and it's great because it's reinforcing her knowledge of numbers.
I'm impressed at how well she's done.
What are some of your families favorites?
I'm looking forward to this evening, as my daughter and I will be playing cards together again tonight. I love to play games and I'm really excited that she's now at the age where I have a partner in gaming.
It's hard to choose, but some of my favorites are Catch Phrase, Taboo, Trivial Pursuit and Scrabble. I LOVE card games too. My friends and I from back home used to play 9-5 Set Back all of the time. Those are times that I really miss.
My daughter is not ready for these games yet, but we have played a lot of Candy Land, Connect 4 and Chutes and Ladders in the past, and most recently, UNO.
Boy am I glad that I tried this card game with her, because we've been having a lot of fun playing together on a nightly basis. This time spent with her is something that I look forward to all day.
Another card game, that I've recently introduced to her, is called Skip-Bo. It's another one of my favorites, by the makers of Uno. She's enjoying this game too and it's great because it's reinforcing her knowledge of numbers.
I'm impressed at how well she's done.
What are some of your families favorites?
Friday, January 1, 2010
Happy New Year!
It's New Year's day and we'll be heading over to my sisters today to celebrate. Spending New year's Day together is a tradition that we started a few years ago, and I always look forward to it.
It's also a tradition in our family to eat pork on New Year's Day...sometimes it's pork gravy and macaroni, pork chops and sauerkraut, and on our menu today, are breaded pork chops sliced up for sandwiches.
A food we avoid today? Chicken.
My mom always told us that if you eat pork on New Year's Day you'll "eat off the fat of the land." Eat chicken and "you'll scratch all year!" I figure, why jinx ourselves, so I always go for the pork and avoid chicken like the plague.
I just looked up this superstition and found an article that I really enjoyed on Epicurious, entitled, "Lucky Foods for the New Year." They say "the custom of eating pork on New Year's is based on the idea that pigs symbolize progress. The animal pushes forward, rooting itself in the ground before moving".
As for chicken, it is "discouraged because the bird scratches backwards, which could cause regret or dwelling on the past. Another theory warns against eating any winged fowl because good luck could fly away".
Another lucky food that I read about this morning are grapes. Apparantly you are to eat 12 of them on the stroke of midnight New Year's Eve. The tradition started in Spain. Had I known about this last night, I would have been popping grapes last night, like I do Light Lays potato chips!
Luck and money aside, my hope and prayer for my family and yours in this upcoming new year, is that God blesses us all with peace and calm, courage and strength, knowledge and understanding and most of all, with love.
Happy New Year Everyone.
It's also a tradition in our family to eat pork on New Year's Day...sometimes it's pork gravy and macaroni, pork chops and sauerkraut, and on our menu today, are breaded pork chops sliced up for sandwiches.
A food we avoid today? Chicken.
My mom always told us that if you eat pork on New Year's Day you'll "eat off the fat of the land." Eat chicken and "you'll scratch all year!" I figure, why jinx ourselves, so I always go for the pork and avoid chicken like the plague.
I just looked up this superstition and found an article that I really enjoyed on Epicurious, entitled, "Lucky Foods for the New Year." They say "the custom of eating pork on New Year's is based on the idea that pigs symbolize progress. The animal pushes forward, rooting itself in the ground before moving".
As for chicken, it is "discouraged because the bird scratches backwards, which could cause regret or dwelling on the past. Another theory warns against eating any winged fowl because good luck could fly away".
Another lucky food that I read about this morning are grapes. Apparantly you are to eat 12 of them on the stroke of midnight New Year's Eve. The tradition started in Spain. Had I known about this last night, I would have been popping grapes last night, like I do Light Lays potato chips!
Luck and money aside, my hope and prayer for my family and yours in this upcoming new year, is that God blesses us all with peace and calm, courage and strength, knowledge and understanding and most of all, with love.
Happy New Year Everyone.
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