New Layout

Hi there- Hope everyone likes the new layout for my blog... My online friend Amanda did this for me. She is an incredibly talented mom of 2 beautiful kids and truth be told - I am jealous that she works full time, has 2 kids and is still able to find time to do wonderful things like this. Thank you again Amanda!!!!!!

What a weekend!

Sorry for the lapse in posts but WOW what a weekend we had this weekend. WE started off with just having a normal weekend- went to the farmers market, got groceries, Jim did some yard work.... Last nite before bed - Jim says are you up for a little adventure. Sure I say. So off we go to Ricketts Glen - a state park here in PA that has a beautiful Lake and paddle boats, row boats and canoes for rent. Plus a beautiful beach and picnic tables. So we packed our cooler and set off. It reminded me much of my childhood days of going to Beltzville State park with all my cousins and aunts piled into my Gran's big car. I think the only thing missing was the kool-aid in the tupperware container....

The girls had a blast as you can see. Sarah really enjoyed this beach much better then Myrtle Beach- maybe becaue there really are no waves??

so we returned home- tired and sandy but having had a blast- Sarah didnt even make it to the exit of the park before she was asleep....

I came home and went to the grand opening of Target or as Jim likes to say- the Mother Ship was calling me home.... Yeah he's a real funny guy :) When I came home Sarah and Jim were playing outside. Katie joined them and I went into the house- a few minutes later Jim called me out. There was a stray cat hanging in our yard (you can see where this is going right?) This was not the first time we had seen here- so I went out to see what she was like. She was extremely friendly and came right to me. Poor thing- looks like something happened to her tail... Not sure what and then it looks like she was starving. Nothing but skin and bones.... Yup we now have a kitty. She is laying here at my feet sleeping as I write this. Katie fell in love with her and immediately named her Daisy.... A quick trip to K-mart for a litter box and food and we now have a kitty named Daisy... This is not the best pic of her but its all I could get till she warms up a bit more....

Summertime, Vacation and sickness

So I love summertime. I love all the yummy food that comes with Summertime! We went to the farmers market and I got lots of yummy veggies and blueberries and cherries..... I have been eating blueberries I think for a better part of 2 weeks now. Part of the farmers market brings me back to my own childhood. how you ask? Well this week I bought fresh green beans and peas. Katie helped me prepare both and was eating string beans raw from the bowl and giggling when we would shuck peas and they would go flying. It brought me back to my own childhood and helping my mom do both and snitching from the bowl.... I have to confess I snuck some raw peas when we were done shelling them....

I had to laugh - the farmers market has many yummy treats and bakery items... However I had the only child yelling GREEEN BEAN GREEEN BEAAAANNNNS I WANT GREEN BEANS.....

So this week I took vacation and kept the girls home with me so we could do fun stuff. Monday started off well- we went to the park and then played in our back yard with play doh. However this morning things took a turn for the worse when Sarah woke up with a fever and a barking cough. Off we went to the Dr's and yup she has croup... I jinxed myself I swear- I was thinking the other day how much healthier the kid have been and how I haven't had to go to the Dr for them.... YEAHHHHH what was I thinking.... So now we had to cancel all the plans we had for the week and hopefully we might be able to do something later in the week when she is feeling better.....

Oh and all the veggies are helping- I have lost 9.2 lbs total so far...

Take care and hope all is well in your world.

Great News I forgot to mention...

Where is my mind! Anyway wanted to brag that Sarah peed in the potty 2x on Sunday! YAY SARAH!. She asked to go pee and we put her on the potty chair and both times after a few minutes she had peed!

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!