Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Kidnapped!

Last night, two of my friends kidnapped me and took me out to the movies. To be fair here, I didn't put up much of a fight at all and made it easy for them.
We had a great time and ended up watching two movies (Deception and Baby Mama). I don't recommend Deception but Baby Mama was hilarious! =)
It was so fun to get out, relax, and we laughed a lot. I am grateful I have friends that take me out - even when my gut is to stay home.
I was pretty crabby after my dental visit yesterday - and if left to my own devices, I would have sat at home and stayed crabby.
So thanks girls - for the fun time - and let's do it again soon! =)

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Dentist

I just want to say that I really really really really dislike the dentist

Monday, April 28, 2008

The Winner

The winner is Shannon!
Thanks for entering everyone who did. I appreciate it.
And Shannon, e-mail me your info so I can ship it to you! =)

Saturday, April 26, 2008

Contest!

Okay, so today I'll start the contest for one of these really adorable change purses:
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Whoever wins will be able to pick the one they like. My contests tend to not get lots of entries, so let's make a deal .... if we get 20 entries, I will give away a second change purse!

So here's the deal, I'm gonna make you work for it a bit. You must go over to The Motherhood and spend a few moments looking around, then come back here and tell me what you think!

[As an aside, do you know how to open a new webpage in another tab - right click on the link and select "open in new tab" and that way both pages stay open on your screen. I LOVE being able to do this for so many reasons and always thought everyone knew to do that but learned this weekend that some people didn't know they could do that.]

Anyway - just tell me what you think - tell me your favorite part, a group you want to join, a group that isn't there that you think should be, something to improve the site, etc, etc ... all comments will make you eligible! You have until Saturday night at midnight to enter!

As a bonus entry, if you put the contest on your blog (and let me know it's there) I'll put you in for two entries.

Anyway, spread the word, share the love.

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

MIA...

What can I say? I have been neglecting this blog.
But it's GORGEOUS outside! It's so nice and lovely and we have been outside SO much lately - and we love it!
I have a feeling you'll see less me throughout the summer. We are just enjoying being outside so much. As you can imagine the kids are especially loving it - bikes, scooters, jump ropes, balls, hula-hoops, chalk, bubbles, and climbing trees have filled our days. We've been to parks - with and without other friends, had a few picnics and are just really and truly enjoying ourselves.
Oh, how I love summer. This winter was long and hard and felt like it would be endless and so summer seems even better than ever this year.
I have even been working in the yard (just a little bit but it's a start!). I was also given (thanks mom!) a bike to ride and we hooked up the trailor for little guy and we've been doing a few bike rides. Oh, how heavenly it has been!
I think this weather does our family a lot of good! Everyone has been loving the outdoors, and we've all been generally happier during the day and tired at night LOL! I even told my husband I'd move down south if we could have this for more time each year =)

Anyway, that's where I've been lately! What have you been up to?

Thursday, April 17, 2008

A cooking trick ...

I just posted a cooking trick over at my other blog! Go read about it here! =)

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

I'm here!

Ack. I've been meaning to get on for a few days now, but well, you know that thing called life gets in the way. And I've been playing my on-line game (World of Warcraft) a whole lot lately so that's been getting most of my free time! But, boy oh boy, do I have much to tell you!

First of all regarding last Tuesday! It was such a pleasure to meet Emily, Cooper, and Becki. Which, I kind of knew ahead of time it would be, because they all rock in so many ways. And let me tell you, they did not disappoint in any bit. It was such an awesome visit.
So Emily and Cooper surprised myself and Becki with this fabulous pair of shoes:

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How clever - and they wrote all sorts of fabulous things on the shoes that apparently describe us! And they nicely left off "yells too much", "grouchy", "crabby" and other words like that! LOL. And these shoes were extra comfy as well - I put them on and kept them on all day. I haven't worn them out of the house yet, but I am worried the marker (although permanent) might wear off and I am kind of keeping these more as keepsakes than shoes to wear. But who knows, maybe I'll wear them out someplace fabulous one day and then get to have a fun story to tell while wearing them! =)

The other thing they gave us are these cute coin purses:

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which I received a coin purse for Christmas from them and love having it! So here's where you all get kind of lucky. Some day this week - tomorrow if the day isn't as crazy as I fear it will be - I will be starting a give-a-way for one of these little purses! So you too can own one! (I also need to snap a picture of the inside because it has a label in it with the address of www.themotherhood.com on it!). And since I love these purses and I love The Motherhood, well, I have to share at least one with all of you. I suppose if we get enough entries I would even think about giving away two of them, maybe even three! But, well, I don't want to get ahead of myself here =)

So, I will be back to start that giveaway. I will also be back to ramble about my dd (with the food issues). We will have a rough month over at my house with her - but I will explain (most likely in too much detail) more about that later. For now, I'm kind of beat and I do need to get a bit of sleep! But I wanted to stop by, check in, show off my FABULOUS shoes and give you a heads up on the giveaway! =)

Monday, April 14, 2008

I almost never do this ...

But I'm going to share this here with everyone. And I almost never talk about places you should give money to, so you have to understand how much this means to me. And just so you know, I do actually know these people. I attended Jerry's wake. He was married to a college friend of mine. I was at their (very lovely) wedding. This is not a friend of a friend of a friend. I whole heartedly support their cause, and if - and only if - you want to as well, please also consider donating to their team. And if nothing else, please just send prayers. Jerry has not passed away all that long ago and the pain they are feeling I can only imagine is quite immense still.


Dear Family, Friends, and Co-Workers,

As all of you know, my husband recently passed away due to complications with his diabetes. I have felt very overwhelmed with the fact that Jerry will never be coming home, and each day brings new obstacles of life without him. With that said, I am compelled to support a very special cause, so fewer families may have to experience what my family and I are experiencing now.

This year, I'll be taking part in the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation's Walk to Cure Diabetes. It is the first year the walk is being held in the QC area, at Niabi Zoo on Sat. May 3rd (Mark your calendars, the Chicago-land walk will be Saturday, October 5th).

My friend Lindy Slyter is the captain of our team, All For Jerry, and she and I, along with other friends and family, will be walking in honor of Jerry. You can join our team and walk with us, or you can donate to JDRF. Any way you give support, is more than appreciated-Our team goal is $5,000. We look forward to a fun day to raise awareness about diabetes, and give back in hopes for finding a cure. ALL FOR JERRY, always for Jerry!

Please visit my Walk Web page if you would like to donate online or see how close I am to reaching my personal goal:

http://walk.jdrf.org/walker.cfm?id=87008617

I'm writing to ask for your support because now more than ever, EACH of us can be a part of bringing about a cure. Each of us can make a real difference. We would love for you to join us walking on Saturday, May 3 and for you to donate as much as you are able toward this great cause.

http://walk.jdrf.org

To walk with us: From the website, you can join our team-go to “register for a walk now” in Illinois, and at Niabi Zoo in Coal Valley. When you are registering, be sure to put in our team name, All For Jerry, and the captain name is Lindy Slyter. Please choose yes to joining Walk Central, as this site will give you access to information for our team.

To Donate: If you would like to donate, please go to the “support a walker” section, put in the walker's first and last name, as well as our team name “All for Jerry,” and the state of Illinois.

Together, we can make the cure a reality.

Thank you & God Bless,

Team ALL FOR JERRY

Friday, April 11, 2008

Go Motherhood!!!

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We just found out some awesome news -- our website, The Motherhood is nominated for a Webby Award, which has been described to us as the Oscars of the web. (OK, this is so cool.) We are finalists in the Family/Parenting category and are up against four great sites, including PBS.
There are two parts to the award: a panel of judges (including David Bowie, Beck, Matt Groenig and Harvey Weinstein - cracks me up these guys are going to be "evaluating" our mom site) and a People's Voice vote.
We would love your vote! The Motherhood is currently third in the People's Voice vote-off, which is pretty good. But, of course, we want to be FIRST!
Here is what to do (and it should not take more than a couple minutes):
1) Go to http://pv.webbyawards.com/ and register to vote.
2) Once logged in, click on "website" and scroll down to Family/Parenting in the "Living" category and vote for The Motherhood!
3) Spread the word, tell your friends and get out the vote for The Motherhood!
Voting ends on May 1st and winners will be announced on May 4th!
Stay tuned for more updates!

Thursday, April 10, 2008

Carbon

I finally calculated my carbon footprint! Wonder what it is? Go look here!

Knitting!

So, I have started another knitting project. So far I have only knit it in the car (where I am right now blogging via my cell phone!)
But it's going to be a baby blanket for a baby shower coming up soon. It's a bit more intensive then I originally thought it would be, but it should look gorgeous in the end.
Anyway, I've been short on knitting content lately so I thought this would be good to share!
In other news, later I'm going to come back and show you lots of pictures - from Florida and from Pittsburgh! And, I have a small give away for everyone!

Wednesday, April 09, 2008

Home safe and sound ...

Well, I am home.
Yesterday was absolutely fabulous! Emily, Cooper, and Becki - there are all wonderful, beautiful women and I felt honored to meet them in person. Except, I forgot my camera and didn't get a picture! Bad me. Oh well.
The flight there was absolutely wonderful and smooth and the day with them was wonderful - but you know the saying time flies when you are having fun? Yeah. It was much too true yesterday! The day flew by. And it was time to go back to the airport and fly home.

I won't go into detail about the flight home. I will tell you Chicago got hit with heavy storms last night, we had a minor delay in taking off, our plane should have landed at about 8:20 and we really landed at 9:00 - we circled the airport and had 4 landing attempts during that 40 minute interval. I am not above admitting that when we finally landed I was shaking (literally) and when I called my husband I just burst into tears. Let's just say the last 40 minutes wasn't smooth and the last 20 or so minutes were just completely intense. But I'm home. I made it. Safe and sound. But for real, my flying phobia, well, it just got kicked up a notch.

Tuesday, April 08, 2008

Oh dear

I'm sitting at the terminal at O'hare airport and I think I might throw up!
Have I mentioned that I am TERRIFIED of flying? Well, I am. And in about an hour I will have to board a plane and pretend to be all calm and cool so as to not annoy those around me.
I know my day will be awesome and wonderful and I am truly looking forward to it - but at this moment ... Well, at this moment I am feeling like I want to run back to my car and magically teleport myself where I need to be in a few hours!

Crazy

Okay ...0just seeing if this really works!

Hi


Hi

Monday, April 07, 2008

Contest!

My friend, over at 30 Accomplishments While 30 is hosting not 1, but 2 contests right now!

One is an Earth Day giveaway aimed at the adults in the house - here
and one is an Earth Day giveaway aimed at the kiddos - here

So go share what you are doing to help the Earth and enter the giveaways! Good luck everyone =)

Home again ...

We are home again.
I'm glad to be home. But I get to be gone all day tomorrow and am nervous about that.
I'm also tired. And have a lot of things to put away. But the van is empty and about half is put away ... the other half will probably sit for a bit!

Thursday, April 03, 2008

Because I can



See! I was thinking of you all while on my vacation! =) (and yes, I really did use my finger to write that int he sand and then take a picture of it just to post it here because I thought it would be a lot of fun!) We had fun playing in the sand today ... although I was nervous we wouldn't make it to the beach today. Me and the younger too trekked off to urgent care this morning. Last night little guy slept horribly. He had these coughs that shook the house and was just crying off and on. Poor guy. The doc said both just had sinus infections and despite the horrible coughing, their lungs were clear, their oxygen levels were at like 99 and no fevers when we showed up. After one treatment he perked right up and so we went to the beach! This is what we sent to my husband ...



So the little guy wouldn't look at the camera to save his life, but oh well, I did the best that I could!

Anyway, right now we are in the car driving to Orlando, in which we will have two fun filled days at Disney World. It was very sad leaving grannie's house tonight. But soon she'll be back in IL. I had no idea just how fabulous the Fort Meyers area is, and I only wish we had been coming to visit grannie more often. Oh well - I know now. And I'm already planning on coming back again to stay with her! Honestly, I really do miss living with her! because she is really a sweet wonderful person and I just love having someone to listen to me all the time ;-)

But we had to leave. We almost didn't fit everything in the car, but thankfully we did. So I told everyone NO SHOPPING AT DISNEY, which I know won't happen so we will be packed like sardines in this little van when we drive home!