Its not easy being green....

So Jim went to this conference and came back with a TON of freebies. One of things he brought back was 2 reusable shopping bags from Microsoft and 1 reusable shopping bag from Dell. Cool! I said and immediately snatched them. I had been wanting to start using reusable bags! So off I went to the grocery store and purchased 2 more. I was so pleased. What would normally be 10 bags of stuff (cause you know when they bag at the store they only put 3 items max in a bag) cam home in these 5 bags with room to spare..... I was so proud of myself. Now shamefully I have been to the store 3 times since and every time have forgotten the bags to take! I think I am just gonna keep them in the car so I remember them.....

We had a garage sale yesterday and were able to get rid of a lot of big ticket baby items. I was excited cause now we have some room to move in our basement..... Today we decided to pack a picnic lunch and went to the park. We ate by the playground and then the girls took their pails and shovels and played in the sand box and on the other toys for awhile. Then they played Frisbee and then we got back in the car and drove to the other side of the park to go to the duck pond. We had some bread left over from our sandwiches and we thought we would feed them.... Now these ducks are pretty used to getting fed so as soon as we started towards them with our bag of bread they came running over. It was kinda funny to watch Katie who was all excited to see them till they started coming over to us! She then freaked out and started walking backwards. But they kept coming towards her.... I have to say some of the ducks and geese are pretty brazen- one grabbed my pant leg and pulled on it to get some bread.... Then we left there and went to the pet store where Sarah and Katie got new fishies and we got a new plecko which our tank desperately needed....Then we took a drive out to Eders and got some ice cream... Both girls loved the ice cream.... It was a very nice way to spend the day.

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Summertime Yum!

So I had some stawberries I needed to use soon or they would probably go bad. I decided to make a favorite summertime treat - homemade strawberry shortcake. Its just the premade sponge cakes, and I slice strawberries and sprinkle a little sugar over them so they make a juice and put that on the cakes followed by some cool whip or whipped cream. The whipped cream is the girls favorite part- they could eat just that and be happy. As you can see they loved it...

Jim is back safe and sound and had a great time. Katie is in love with the new shirt he bought her- A Spidey man t-shirt..... Yeah my little tom boy continues- yet she dressed up in her dress up tiara, fluffy heels and princess out fit and walked around going I a princess, look at me - I a princess...

Sarah is talking more and more. Tonite we called her Mimi and Pap and she said both names quite clearly. Then while on the phone she "tickled" both of them..... This consists of her going - GIckle gickle gickle and laughing hysterically and scrunching her fingers at the phone.....She loves to tickle people and of course loves to be tickled. :)

So Thursday is a monumental day for both Katie and myself. She is going on her first field trip with the school and going on a big yellow bus to the bowling lanes to bowl. She is beyond excited and I cant help but be excited for her but part of me is a little nervous about my little girl riding on a school bus. Luckily its a short ride.....

We are having a garage sale on Saturday and I thought I would be sadder to get rid of all our baby stuff but surprisingly I am not . I just want the clutter gone..... Jim is jumping for joy because I have been cleaning out alot of clutter. Of course he would tell you I still have too much stuff.....

Hope all is good in your world....

Life's Precious Moments

Sorry this post is gonna start off as a bit of a downer. I have been greatly affected over the last few days by a couple of things. The first was a family aquaintance passing away. She was our former hairdresser and was only 41 (same age as Jim). She left behind 2 kids- a girl about 14 and a little boy about 10 or so. It broke my heart to read this and realize that those kids will never have their mom to hug them or kiss them or soothe away their hurts and pains. Additionally I have been following a blog about a man whose wife had their baby girl prematurely and 27 hours later the wife died. It also makes me realize that this beautiful baby will never know the touch of her mother or hear her mommas voice.

I know God has a plan for us but at times like these I really have trouble understanding why he would do something to such innocent lives. However it makes me look at my own kids and hug them that much tighter and savor each moment - the good and the bad. You never know how many moments you have with someone.

In other news, Jim is away this week at a conference. Katie is missing him something fierce. However she was too cute last nite. I put her to bed and came downstairs to chill out for a bit before going to bed. She followed me back down about 5 minutes later and said, "Mommy, this is your FIRST nite all by yourself downhere- I think I should stay and give you cuddles". She does a good con job already at 3!

We also got together with friends of ours Friday nite at this awesome playground. It had a whole area designed for 2-5 year olds. The kids had a blast and Katie was VERY upset to leave when it was time to go.... As you probably are aware the East Coast in in a Heat Wave. SO on Sunday before Jim left we blew up the pool and filled it up for the kids. They had a blast playing in it and with the sprinkler as well. Tonite afer we finished dinner we went out and playing it again. What a great way to cool off after a long Hot day.

I am having some difficulty with Katie this week. Her teacher got married and is on her honeymoon and her daddy is away. She is having a hard time with her substitute. On Friday she would not pee in the potty for her teacher. Now today she was put in time out for hitting her classmates several times... We have had to have several talks about it. I am hoping it gets a little better....

Sarah is starting to explode with more and more words. She can now point and tell you most of her body parts and she can tell you some of the animals and what sounds they make. All though I have to tell you duck, cow and dog all come out as gock. But she will point and tell you what animal sound they make. Tonite the girls were playing with bath paints in the tub and I swear she said Yellow.....

And as for myself, well I was inspired by my sister in law Lisa and have decided to join Weight Watchers. Lisa has lost a total of 25lbs already- Keep it up Lisa! I am proud to say - the last 3 days I have eaten my 5 servings of fruits and veggies. I dont know when the last time I have done that! Jim and his Dad are also changing their eating habits to go along with me. As much as we will probably miss donut sundays - we really do need to eat better....

Well, I am gonna sign off for now. Take Care!

More from the beach....

So our trip is winding down and we have had a good laugh over a couple of things..... Our resort has like 7 pools and a tiki bar. Katie was thrilled beyond belief when Jim took her over to it and got her and Sarah a drink to split. She was like Mommy I got a drink from the haystack. In her mind the tiki hut was a haystack house like the 3 little pigs.... All last nite then she played haystack and would bring us imaginary drinks from her haystack....

Sarah is getting more and more brave at the ocean. Our routine has been that one of us lays down with Sarah to get her to nap in the afternoon and the other one takes Katie down to the beach and plays with her down there (katie has pretty much cut out her nap when she is with us but does still take one at daycare). Yesterday after her nap, Jim and her came down and she had a great time playing in the tidal pools with Katie. She loves picking up shells and washing them off. She still is not too sure of the waves but this morning would stand with me in the surf and let them wash over her feet.

I said something to Katie this morning and she was very upset that we would be leaving tomorrow. I think both girls are either going to spend half the trip back crying or they are going to sleep the whole way out of sheer exhaustion....

Greetings from the Beach!

Hello all,

I am blogging from the SeaWatch resort in Myrtle Beach! We are having a blast here. We did the 12 hour car ride over a 2 day period and the girls did really really well with the car ride. Thanks again Mimi for the travel aqua doodles they really helped to relieve some of the boredom....

The girls are loving the resort. Sarah is more of a pool girl while Katie loooooovesss the beach. She begs every morning to go down and play in the sand. I told Jim today - its been interesting to watch Katie blossom down here at the beach. Our shy little girl is now talking to everyone around and has gotten very brave- she loves sitting in the tidal pools at low tide and let the tiny fishes swim right up to her. She even let hermit crabs craw near by without freaking out. Even in the pool she has gotten very brave and is jumping in the pool playing AIRBORNE and trying to float and swim.

Sarah is our little fish. Even during swimming lessons she always has loved the water. She gets in the pool here and you can see she just wants to take off.. She is a little scared of the ocean but is gettting braver. Today during low tide Jim brought her down and she finally stood in the tidal pools and started looking for sea shells. I think by next year she will be more into the water.

Our hotel is really nice- we have a 2 bedroom.2 bath condo type room with full kitchen and living room The girls are making me nervous wreck because we also have a balcony and they love to go out on it and go to the edge and look down. According to katie - its our porch. She told me she really likes our "new house". I think she is goign to be devestated when we leave.

So this is the first time I have been to Myrtle Beach, and I have been pleasantly surprised. I have been to the Jersey and Delaware shores and to the beach in California as well as Hawaii and while Hawaii will always be my favorite, Myrtle is my favorite state side beach. ITs very family friendly and as I have always loved the south, its no wonder that I love it here. However, I dont think I could ever live in the south with out weighing 500 lbs. God I love southern food. I could also just sit and listen to those southern accents alll day long!

I am told that we left some crappy weather up north- only a high of 40 and rainy. Its been sunny and in the low 80s every day here.....

Well I need to sign off for now - but have a great Memorial day!

Long time no blog....

Its been forever since I updated my blog! sorry about that. Sometimes life just has a way of getting in the way!

So we have been having beautiful weather here in PA. And to add to that the girls' Bear bought them a treehouse/slide combo which they have been out playing on every nite!. Mommy and Daddy love it because they play all nite with very minimal fights and then go to bed and sleep very soundly! The girls love it because they love being outside and just love playing on it.... They are loving rediscovering all of their outdoor toys that have been put away for awhile and have been having a blast playing with sidewalk chalk....

We are getting ready for our vacation to Myrtle Beach soon and Katie has interpreted that to be that we are going to Turtle beach. She kept asking if they turtles were nice at Turtle Beach- it took us awhile but we finally got it that she was thinking Myrtle Beach as Turtle Beach. We have been taking swim lessons all winter and have really enjoyed them. Sarah is a natural to the water and I am somewhat scared that she is going to just leap out of my arms and try to take off when we are in the pool. Katie is much more apprehensive about the water and I blame myself for not starting her sooner on swimming lessons.

Sarah is doing much better at school and is not trying to bite anymore. It took a lot of working with her here at home and at school.... I am extremely relieved to not have to worry about that these days.

KAtie has a trike a thon coming up this week to benefit St. Judes. its for all 3-5 year olds at her school and they are raising money for a great cause!

This past week I was in NYC for business. WE had a great time. It was nice to see my teammates in person and hang out for them. All though the poor souls had me go sing karaoke with them- I dont know if their ears have recovered yet. Then on Wednesday my other teammate and friend that works at home Rebecca and I did a marathon shopping session in midtown for our kiddies. We started at the FAO schwartz store which was a major bust for both of us and then we moved on to the apple store. I know midtown is touristy but nothing prepared me for the apple store which easily had 200 people in it. They had all these apple laptops and such out to play with but seriously you could not get close enough to play with anything because there were so many people there. From there I had to drag Rebecca through several stores looking for a purse because sometime between FAO and apple - my purse gained a gaping hole in it. I ended up in the Gap with a $34 purse. I actually love it- its big enough I can throw stuff for the girls in their and go.... For those that don't know on me that well- I am on a never ending quest to find the perfect bag that will accommodate my needs and that of my 2 girls.... From there we ended up in Dylans candy store which is any candy lovers (adult or child's) dream come true. They have plenty of today's candy plus a huge array of candy that I remember from my childhood- like candy cigarettes and candy buttons.... WE were so exhausted from this marathon that we ended up for dinner in the California Pizza kitchen that is literally right next store. I always forget how much I love that place till I go there again.....

Now I am back home and sitting on the porch chilling out and watching the girls play. Hope everyone is having a great weekend as well!

General Thoughts.....

Sorry its been so long since I posted. Its been a crazy couple weeks in the Folmar household... We had a nice Easter... WE hosted which was a lot of work but the day turned out to be nice and relaxing.... Both girls loved what the Easter bunny brought them... Katie is at the age where the magic of the Easter bunny is in full swing. I felt a little guilty because the day before I took her and Sarah grocery shopping and OMG- it was the baddest the 2 of them had ever been... I was mortified at how bad they were through the whole store.... We came home and I told them I didn't know if the Easter bunny would come now - they were so bad. Then Jim told Katie that if you are not good- the bad bunnies come and eat your chocolate and I added to it saying they would poop in her Easter basket. She got up Sunday morning and after pulling everything out of her basket, said Look mommy- the bad bunnies did not come cause there is no poop in my basket.... Yeah I think that might have worked too well.....

Sarah was funny with the whole Easter basket- she would take each item out and go "ohhhhhh"...It was too cute...

Then this past weekend we went to West Virgina - both girls, me and their Mimi to go see Aunt Jenn and cousin Hannah before they move to Colorado. A true girls only weekend. While both girls did ok on the 7 and half hour car ride, we did have some problems. Katie got a stomach virus on Sunday and was notfun to ride back with on Monday. And Sarah was petrified of their dog Ellie. I spent the whole weekend with Sarah attached to me with a death grip.... But all in all both girls had a blast playing with their cousin and spending time with her before they move.

However since we have been back both girls have been giving each other stiff competition for who can be the most clingiest and whiniest. Sarah since she saw the dog has been non stop clingy and whiney. Some of it is her teeth- she is getting her stomach teeth. And Katie since she has been sick is constantly whining or being incredibly rude and bossy. Between the two of them, I would not be surprised if Jim and I start drinking heavily. (joking....i think).

Now this morning at 4am I woke up with the stomach bug.. Lovely.....