2013 in Review

This year has flown by and I'm not even sure I can remember all of the things that happened this year.

The year started off not so great when we had to put our beloved beagle to sleep after it was discovered he had spleen cancer, and it had spread to his liver and lymph nodes.  He had just turned 9 years old and was our first child.

Remembering Sully: Click for more images

Shortly after the loss of Sully, we celebrated Bennett's 3rd birthday.  We took him out to eat, went to the local children's museum and made a final stop a build a bear.  I think he had a pretty good time : )

In the spring I decided the house was too quiet without a dog, so I signed our family up to foster dogs at a local animal shelter.  So far we've had 3 foster dogs and a pair of dogs we watched just over the weekend.  Our second foster dog we adopted.  Our current foster dog, JJ, has been with us since July.  He is a terrier and from what I understand he is a typical terrier, and you have to find just the right owners than love them. (We adopted Simon, the beagle in the middle).

This summer we signed Caiden up for his first year of baseball.  He loved it and although getting there was a little stressful at times, we had a good time.  

Caiden also turned 8 this summer.  We took him and a few friends to play mini-golf at the local golf course.  Fun was had by all and there was no cleaning required for me - bonus!  On his actual birthday, I took the day off work and we did everything he wanted to do for the day - breakfast/lunch at Ihop, snack at Orange Leaf, a trip to Chuck E Cheese and a movie.  

I love this tradition that I started with Caiden. I'm pondering doing this with Bennett too, but that means pulling him out of school once he gets old enough.  Not sure about this one yet.

Oh - let's not forget my husband's losing battle with our charcoal smoker on the 4th of July.  Nothing like dragging the whole family to the emergency room on the 4th with bad burns on your hand - we assured the doctors it had nothing to do with fireworks.  In the end he was VERY lucky to get out with only the 1st and 2nd degree burns he got. After the ER visit and 2 visits to the burn unit, he was basically healed in a week.  You would never even know he was burned now!

Mike and I hit our 10 year anniversary this year and decided to spend it with the kids, and we took a family vacation to Chicago.  We stayed downtown (I think? I don't know Chicago too well) near the Rain Forest Cafe and across the street from a really cool McDonald's.  The hotel's pool was on the roof which was pretty cool.  Of course, I took tons of pictures, but here are just a few!

We went to the Field Museum, Science and Industry Museum and the Aquarium.  I was a little worried about the long drive with a 3 year old, who was just potty trained a few months ago, but he did really well.  All in all, it was a great trip!

To wrap up the rest of the year - I ran a few 5Ks here and there, and also ran in a Marathon relay. I will do this again - what a wonderful experience.  I am still going to school, but I only have TWO CLASSES LEFT!!  I am beyond excited about this.  I have actually completed all of the classes required for my business degree, my two classes are for my Management Information Systems minor.  I cannot wait to be done!

I think that about sums up the year.  Other than losing our dog, it was a pretty good year and I am reminded again and again how fortunate I am that my husband and I have good jobs, a roof over our head, food on the table and our health.

Here's to a Happy and Healthy 2014 everyone!

Its the little things....

Today has been once of those day where I have had a number of reminders to appreciate what we have in life. My health, and the health of my family...and especially my children.  I've been watching Oprah's Where are They Now" and she is talking about a baby that only lived 99 days because he was born with a number of defects and conjoined twins that were separated at the age of 4.  My boys can really challenge my patients some day - but then I see things like that and I am reminded that should appreciate the fact that they are here and able to challenge me.

Tomorrow my older son will be starting third grade, and as I wonder where time has gone - I am so happy we have been blessed with such great, healthy little boys - even if they are a pain in the butt at times!!

First lost tooth!

I have been dreading this time in Caiden's life for a long time.  It is disgusting and grosses me out.  He is starting to lose teeth.  He has had loose teeth for months, but he wouldn't pull them out.  I was really hoping he had a teacher like Mrs. Parker who would just yank the tooth out, just so I wouldn't have to deal with it. No such luck.  Just thinking about all of the wiggling, twisting and cracking makes me want to puke in my mouth a little bit.

But it FINALLY happened this week and at school no less.  He finally pulled out his first tooth.  He earned himself a sticker and a tiny treasure box to keep the tooth in.

I heard a rumor that the tooth fairy really isn't very fond of the treasure chest because it makes noise when removing it from under the pillow.  I also heard it was a little bit of a PIA to open too. I don't think under the pillow is the preferred place to put said treasure box either....night stands are much easier.  Of course, these are all just rumors because I have never actually talked to the tooth fairy!  And that fairy must be a little crazy, because she left him $5!  I think that is just for the first tooth though.  Wish she would have left some kind of note to explain that, but I think she ran out of time that night, and just wanted to get home and go to sleep.

Bra Issues Solved!

I belong to a wonderful women's sorority, Beta Sigma Phi.  My chapter is Pi Tau.  We are not affiliated with a college.  It is a sorority for women of all ages to get together, make friends and give back to our communities.  I joined because I needed some of my own friends who lived in town.  I have met some great ladies and we always have a great time.  We try to meet twice a month - once for a business meeting and cultural program, and once for a fun social event.  

I was in charge of the program for our January meeting and decided to help all of the ladies with their bra fittings.  I had hoped to get a bra fitter from a local bra store to come speak, but I never got around to trying to track her down.  So I started searching the Internet.  I came across this very cool website that has tons of information about our "girls."  It is actually a shopping site for bras and the like, but it has a wealth of information.  The website is called Her Room, and the page I found the most helpful was a list of all of the common issues us ladies have with our bras, the causes and possible solutions.  You can check it out by clicking here.

Read it and go find your perfect fitting bra!  Happy shopping!

Where Does Time Go?

Has it really been almost 5 months since I have posted on this site?  I can't believe the last time I was on here was Caiden's birthday in the middle of summer and we are now counting down the days until Christmas!

Gary's First Day Home



I love the Christmas season, and I am just as excited and unable to sleep on Christmas eve now as I was when I was a child.  It is just now the excitement has shifted to watching my boys open their presents.  And I am especially excited because I am able to spoil my boys a little more this year :)

To prepare for Christmas, we have put up the tree and Gary the Elf came to visit the day after Thanksgiving and has been keeping the boys on their toes ever since. They have so much fun looking for the little guy every morning.  He hasn't gotten as creative at our house as he is in others, but he has to stay up high so Bennett doesn't touch him. Wonder where he will end up tonight....

 

The family is doing good.  We have already had our first round of sick kids this season, with Bennett ending up with Influenza.  Luckily, he was over it in a day.  I felt so bad when he was so miserable that I hadn't taken the time to get his flu shot.  I know not everything thinks their kids should get the shot, but seeing that little guy, and being so miserable that he fell asleep on the floor of the doctor's office...if I can prevent that suffering, why not? 

 

Caiden is half way done with 2nd grade and Bennett is getting closer and closer to 3 years old every day!  I am still in school, but there is a light at the end of a very long tunnel.  I should be done with school by early 2014.  It seems like a long way away, but I started this journey in 2009, so it has already been a long road. I am now at the short end of the path.  When I am done I will have a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business with a minor in Management Information Systems.  I think I am already getting senior-itis, and can't wait for my 3 week long break between this class and my next one!

7 Years Ago Today

Seven years ago today, one single event happened that rocked my world. Life would never be the same. And I would never want it to be. Seven years ago today, I became mommy for the first time.  He was almost 2 weeks overdue, I was put on petocin for 12 hours and then ended up with a c-section cuz the little booger didn't want to come out.  I should have known that this was his first clue to me what his personality was, because to this day, 7 years later, he dawdles around and takes his time every morning and any time we are trying to get out the door. I cannot believe he is 7 years old, and about to start second grade.  But such a funny, fun, loving and caring boy he has turned into.  And along the way, he has turned into a wonderful big brother.

To celebrate the day, we started with miniature golf, which he has never done before, but loved it...even though I beat him LOL...it was pretty close...if you ignored all of the times he cheated by stopping the ball before it rolled too far away from the hole.  But hey, he's 7 and it was his first time, so I cut him some slack.

Then it was on to McDonald's for lunch. Then we headed to Chuck E Cheese for a while, played some games, picked out a prize.  We happened to be right next to a Cost Cutters and the boy needed a haircut, so we stopped in there quick.  Finally we ended the day with a birthday sunday at Orange Leaf. If you haven't been there, I highly recommend it.  They sell all different flavors of frozen yogurt and then you get to top it with about anything your little heart could desire.  It smelled yummy the second you walked in the door and it tasted oh so yummy.  Don't know what flavor you want? No worries, you can sample before you buy.  Caiden tried birthday cake, chocolate brownie, chocolate, vanilla, and cookies and cream before he settled on cotton candy.  

Finally we headed home, played some video games and picked up little brother from daycare.

All in all it was a great day, and Caiden said it was his best birthday yet.  

Happy Birthday Caiden! Mommy loves ya <3

New Hobby in the Making?

Thanks to Pinterest, I have a new obsession...ok really I have a million new obsessions, things I want to try, learn to do, make....I could go on and on.  I have pinned tons of things on this site, but I have only actually done a few of them.  1) The homemade laundry soap; 2) Cinnamon sticky roll things; and...ummmm...that was it.  Until today!  I have decided I want to learn how to decorate cupcakes.  I love them!  They are yummy and I love watching all of the cupcake and cake baking shows on TV.  But since I'm trying to eat healthy I knew having those things in my house would just be setting myself up for failure.  But then...I remembered that Caiden has a pack meeting tomorrow night, which means he has to take snacks.  PERFECT!  So I looked up the buttercream recipe on Pinterest, got out my mixer and got to work.

For this last minute project, I decided to use a cake mix for the cupcakes to save on time and money since I don't have all of the needed ingredients on hand.  Looks pretty yummy if I do say so myself =)

Then I got out the decorating kit my lovely hubby picked up for me while he was out shopping...read the instructions, picked out the tip I wanted to try out, and loaded the bag.  I wish I would have taken a picture of the mess I made by the time I was done!  I'm such a messy baker anyway...this was worse than most days! If I decide to do this on a more regular basis, I'm gonna need a better mixer!

I didn't do anything too fancy, but it still took some practice to get some decent looking ones.  I figured the boys in scouts won't really care what they look like, as long as they taste good (and they do...I always have to taste things before I serve them to others!! 

I think they turned out ok.  Not bad for a first time!  Had lots of frosting left over, so after consulting google, I put it in the freezer.  We'll see if it really tastes as good after being frozen.

New Design

I decided it was time for a face lift for my blog.  Even though I don't really post too much on here, it was getting old, boring and needed a new look for the new year.  I've gotten rid of a few things on my side bars, I may get rid of more in the future.  It depends on where this blog goes.

Hopefully I'll be better at blogging about my life as a busy mom of two this year.  My first priority is going to be my other blog, Road to Hot Mommy, because this is going to be the year I actually go down this road and stay on it for the whole year, until I arrive at Hot Mommy!  So feel free to check out what's going on there too :)

Homemade Laundry Soap

I've found some awesome ideas on the Pinterest website, and have lots of stuff on my boards, but haven't actually done many of them.  Until today!  I decided as a money saver I was going to try making homemade laundry soap.  I used this recipe (for lack of a better word) from Being Creative.  I found all of the ingredients in the laundry isle at my local Wal-Mart and my total cost for everything was $15.57.

I can't wait to finish up with my current laundry soap so I can try this out. 

Another tip I got from a good friend is to use vinegar in your fabric softener ball.  It doesn't make your clothes smell, and works great, according to her.  I don't know if you can put it in the fabric softener dispenser in your washing machine though.  Does anyone else do this?

Photographer in the Making?

For Mother's Day, hubby took me to the local electronics store and let me pick out a new camera.  I've been wanting one for a while, but finally took the plunge and bought a digital SLR camera.  (I have no idea what that means, so don't ask!)  Now that I have a fancy camera, I figured I better learn how to use it.  So I found a link to Two Peas in a Bucket, which offers a FREE 12 week Photography class online, with reading materials and "homework" each week.  Here is a link to the classes if you are interested.

So far I have learned about aperture and ISO and Shutter Speed. Adjusting the aperture adjusts the amount of the picture that is in focus.My pictures didn't turn out very well because I didn't have good lighting.  But here are the pictures I took for homework: 

Low Aperture = Small area of focus



Large Aperture = Large area of focus


Can you see the difference? The first picture the only thing in focus is little leaves.  The picture on the right has the leaves in focus, as well as the branches all around the leaves.

But the more fun pictures are the ones I took today.  Today the lesson was on shutter speed and ISO.  ISO has to do with lighting...higher ISO for darker areas (think indoors) and lower ISO for brighter areas (sunny day outdoors).  And then there is shutter speed...the higher the number, the faster the shutter closes.  High numbers help freeze and capture action.  So the homework was to take a picture of water from the kitchen sink falling onto something.  Again because of bad lighting, my homework didn't turn out the best, but I ended up with a really cool picture anyway!  I had my ISO set really high since I didn't have any natural light.


Low Shutter Speed

 


Fast Shutter Speed


I had to do some lightening in Photoshop for the high speed picture, but hopefully you can spot the difference.

 But the true work of art came when I decided to use the flash to try to get more light. 



Thoughts on Weight Loss

Lately I have been paying a little more attention to any weight loss products I might hear about or see about on TV.  I've never really been into the weight loss supplements (o.k. I did try Slim Fast before my wedding, but that's the extent of it for me) because I truly believe that it is too good to be true.  There is no magic pill, formula, or anything else that is going to help you to lose weight.  If it were that simple, everyone would be skinny, right? 

So what made me stand up an pay attention? The success of a friend .  She is taking a certain type of supplements and she has lost a good amount of weight and inches...and she looks great!!  So I started looking into what she was taking, but a month supply of some of that stuff was going to cost over $100.  And that made me think again...you can't take this stuff forever....what happens when you stop taking it?  Isn't this why almost all diets fail, no matter what they are? You can't buy the supplements, special food or whatever else you are doing forever.  What then?  Not to mention the possible side effects of this stuff (remember the pill that was killing people??)

So, even though my friend looks awesome, I'm gonna pass and stick with the tried and true method.  Healthy diet and regular exercise.  This is not a diet to me, it is a lifestyle change. I have the exercise down pretty well, so it is now time to concentrate more on the food I am eating.  So far, I have lost about 10 pounds, and even more exciting...I am down two pant sizes!!!

Reusable Bags - Part 2

Not long ago, I  blogged about how people give you all kinds of looks when you use reusable bags at the store. Today, my husband did the shopping and took the hated bags with him. I was actually surprised that he took them, but I was glad he wasn't going to be bringing the plastic bags home with him.  I'm pretty sure he will never no that again. The check out person apparently thought that since he brought his own bags, he should fill them too.  She make him bag his own groceries!!! Can you believe it??

Woo Hoo! My class is over!

I'm done with school until June and then I get to go to school all throughout the summer.  Aren't you excited for me? To top it off, the topics are so much fun, Micro and Macro economics.  But every class is one step closer to my Bachelor's degree, right?

In the next 3 or 4 weeks before I have to start doing homework again, I'm hoping to get both of my boys' rooms painted and decorated.  Caiden wants a brown and green room.  Bennett is getting a monkey themed room, but I'm not sure what color to paint his room.  But I have lots of cute vinyl wall art from Etsy.com to put on the walls.  

I these two from got from Smileywalls

and this one I got from Is Handmade Creations

I can't wait to get their rooms done!!

L'Oreal Paris One Sweep Eye Shadow and Double Extend Eye Illuminator Mascara

Anyone that knows me, knows that I am running down to the last second getting me and my two boys up and running in the morning. I tend to go in streaks on taking the time to put makeup on in the morning. So the time saving is what peaked my interest for the L'Oreal One Sweep Eye Shadow. I love how it puts three colors on your eyes in one sweep. There is a specially designed applicator that is shaped to fit the shape of your eye so it really is really as simple as one sweep!! No matter what color your eyes are, there is a One Sweep Eye Shadow meant just to enhance your eye color. I didn't really see much difference in Double Extend Eye Illuminator Mascara if I used the little sparkles or not, but otherwise the mascara did its job also! I'm no makeup expert, but I am going to recommend the One Sweep Eye Shadow to all of my friends!

*Please note, I am a BzzAgent and received these products for free in order to provide my feedback.

Do you use re-usable shopping bags?

I have recently started using re-usable shopping bags when I do my grocery shopping.  I don't use them because I'm a 'green' person, or to help the environment, but because I'm tired of all of the plastic bags around the house.  I try not to throw them away, but recycle them when I go to Wal-Mart, so they would just sit around my house and pile up until hubby or I actually remembered to take them with us when we went shopping.

Even though I may not be doing it for the "right" reason, I should be proud for doing my part to keep these plastic bags out of the landfills.  So why do I feel like cashiers and people behind me in line are both rolling their eyes at me for being one of those people?  It may take a little extra time for the cashier to put the little bag in the bag holders, but so what?

But one negative thing I have discovered with using these re-usable bags?  For some reason these cashiers think that the re-usable bags are unbreakable and can hold anything and everything until it is filled to the brim...no matter what the weight!  The bag only costs a buck, how sturdy can they possibly be?

Busy is an Understatement

Calling my life busy right now just doesn't cover it....

Started my next class last week.  The homework due on Wednesday is INSANE! Plus we have a group project due on the 30th and we haven't even started and can't find a time where the whole group can meet.  I'm just a little stressed.  But the teacher promised us that she loads us up in the beginning so we aren't so busy in the end (it's only 5 weeks long...can't we just spread it out evenly?).

I'm also a new member of a women's sorority, and we had a meeting on Thursday night, so I wasn't home two nights in a row. 

I couldn't tell you what I did yesterday, but it wasn't homework! I did get the living room cleaned and most of the laundry washed.  Now I just have to fold it and put it away.

Today my sorority had a family outing at the local bowling alley.  It was a great time, first time Caiden has even been bowling in a REAL bowling alley.  Before that, he had only been Wii bowling!  Bennett was a little tired and ended up going home early with Daddy for a nap while Caiden and I finished our games.  Caiden didn't do too bad either (of course he had the help of the gutter bumpers).  Wished I would have brought my camera so I could have recorded him throwing the ball. He sure has a style all his own!

And speaking of the camera,  I need to get it out and get a video of Bennett walking.  He's going to be a pro at it before I get his learning steps on camera. I think he is starting to figure out that walking is the way to go!

First Birthday

My baby Bennett turned one year old last week! Apparently someone sent him a message on all things about turning one because within the last two weeks, he has gotten his first four teeth, ditched the bottle and started to stand and walk a few steps.  I can't believe how fast this last year has gone!

We had a great birthday party for him last Sunday with lots of family, food and fun, although Bennett was a little shy around so many people for a while.

Our theme for the party was monkeys. I'm decorating his room in a monkey theme, so we carried that theme over to the invites and the cake.  I decided to be a little different and have cupcakes for everyone instead of just regular cake.  A bonus to this decision that I didn't think about....don't have to worry about who is going to cut the cake!  

I've had Cakes by Lori make my boys' birthday cakes since Caiden's first birthday, but I have to say, she really out did herself this year.  She made little monkey faces and bananas out of fondant for each cupcake. She also make a big cupcake cake and a little 1st birthday cake all for Bennett so he could dig in!  If you live in the Cedar Rapids area and would like to check her out, you can go here...although the site is still a work in progress.

Bennett also got his first haircut last Sunday.  He was in dire need, but we were holding out so his Aunt Jenn could do it because, she did Caiden's first haircut too.  It was a little bit of a challenge because Bennett likes to watch everything and study it, so he was always moving his head to watch.  But she did a great job, and now he doesn't have hair tickling his eyes!

Easily Clean your Microwave

Maybe I'm the last one on earth to figure this out, but did you know there is a natural, non-chemical way to clean your microwave, and you don't even have to scrub it?  Not one little bit!! I was home today doing a major cleaning job for my baby's first birthday party on Sunday, and the microwave was in dire need of a cleaning.  I thought I had read about a natural way to clean your microwave, so I checked google (where else would check?).

This is what you do:  Put 1 cup of water and 1/4 cup lemon juice into a glass microwavable measuring cup.  Put it in the microwave and cook it on high for 7 minutes.  When it is done, let it set without opening the door for another 5 minutes.  Then grab your pot holder and remove the measuring cup. Next get a cloth and wipe our your microwave.

It's as simple as that!!  I wonder if it would work on my oven.....

Such a great weekend!

I did something over the weekend I don't get to do much...I went out!!  You might think that isn't a big deal, but in my world, it's a HUGE deal!! A friend and I went to the local comedy club called Penguins to see Heywood Banks perform.  If you have never heard of him and love silly humor...look him up if you like he's great!!  The comedy club shares a space with a place called the piano lounge.  A nice little surprise for us, we found out our ticket purchase for Mr. Banks meant we could stay for the Dueling Pianos of Andy Anderson and Mike Leeds.  So my friend and I figured, why not, we'll stick around for a little while and see what it's all about.

Well, we stayed a little bit longer than we planned (erm...*cough* closed down the bar *cough*).  With the help of a little 'liquid courage' we even got up and sang a little Grease for the crowd!  In the end it was an intimate crowd and my friend and I made our presence known.  We were even asked to come back the next night!!

We couldn't go back on Saturday...but I just saw they are going to be back in April.  My calendar is marked!

Product Reviews

Hey everyone! I'm hoping to revive my product reviews soon.  Just looking for the perfect products to share with everyone.  One of the themes I want to stick with is things made in Iowa.  So, if you are a person in Iowa that would like to grow you business and get the word out, leave me a comment or send me an email
:-)