One Look

I knew this day would come, I just didn't realize it would be so soon. On our way to school yesterday, Ali shared a story about how a kid in her class was being teased by other kids. My first reaction (and what I did) was talk to her about how she needs to think about how it would feel if she was the one being teased and to not include herself in that group. I then explained to her how she could step up and be a good friend to the child being teased and tell the 'bullies' that the things they are saying aren't nice. And the next sentence she spoke and the look on her face will forever be locked in my mind...'But mommy, I did say that to them and they gave me really mean looks and said they didn't want to play with me anymore...'
Hurt. Happy. Proud. Furious.  I didn't know how to feel..my emotions were all over the place.  My eyes filled with tears (as they do as I write this) because while I was so proud of her for sticking up for her friend, I was also sitting there feeling every ounce of pain that my little five-year old must have felt at the moment she did her brave little act of kindness. I wanted so badly to take it away from her and I tried my best to make her understand that what she did was so right and so awesome, but as a mom you just know that even as little as they are, they store that kind of stuff in the back of their minds and don't forget how they were treated by those kids. My heart breaks for her every time I think about it.
She knows what she did was right and that in the end, those who are kind, caring and brave will be the ones with all the friends to play with while those bullies sit in the corner giving their mean looks to each other wishing they had done things a little differently.

I've always considered myself a pretty laid-back person. I've never been one to rock the boat and I'm happier if everybody else is happy. I was consistently told that I would have been a much better basketball player in high school if I would have been more aggressive and not so 'soft' as they so nicely put it. In the end, all it took was becoming a mom and a few mean looks from kindergartners to say, 'Adios Soft-Sally, hello Don't-Mess-with-My-Kid-Debbie.'

It's too bad kids weren't so mean back when I was younger; I would have been a much better athlete...

1983

When I think back to when I was five, I consider it to have been a pretty easy, carefree time. I watched Mr. Rogers Neighborhood. I climbed trees and played school with friends in my clubhouse. The most vivid memories of kindergarten I have are playing with the kitchen set in the classroom, sitting on little square pieces of carpet for story time, and stealing a magic wand from the little girl I carpooled with (which made for a few uncomfortable weeks back and forth to school everyday after getting caught...) 
I know we did a lot more during my 181 days in school, but the only things I can tell you that I actually remember learning are my address, phone number, and writing the letters in my first and last name. Luckily, my mom kept a journal while I was growing up (which I do now for the girls and find it to be such a useful tool and know they will too when they have little ones) and she kept track of what I accomplished each year in school. At the end of my kindergarten year, she (who was an elementary teacher herself and knew the ropes) wrote that she was so proud that I came out knowing the facts I listed above and had word recognition of 8-10 sight words.  That was obviously a long time ago.
Fast forward 30 years..(which is crazy in itself to think it has been 30 years since I was 5, considering there are days that I feel like I am still 18...and then of course there are some that I feel like I am 89...)  it's 2013 and Bug is over halfway done with her year in kindergarten. At the beginning of the year, she was given a list of sight words that she was to be able to recognize by the end of the year. Needless to say, there were more than ten...ten times that to be exact. They are reading 10-15 page books. They have weekly sentence homework that requires them to not only compose the letters correctly, but also correct the capitalization, punctuation, and spelling errors. One night while she was working on her sentences, TOH put it perfectly...'When I was in kindergarten I'm pretty sure I was learning how to cut out a circle?!'
I'm sure this is how it goes with every new generation and I am just really showing my age with all of this, but I cannot get over how much different the life of a little one is now. While everyone out there is working so hard on new gadgets to try and make life 'easier' on everyone, I feel like it is only getting harder on these little guys. They have so much competition and so many standards to try and live up to and I feel that a lot of times we forget that they are still these sweet little beings that want to play hide-n-seek, dig in the dirt, and have tea parties. We are really trying our best to keep it as simple as possible for them, to keep them as innocent and worry-free as they are, and allow them to enjoy and embrace this short, fabulous childhood as much as they can...because those first five years go by at lightening speed, and before you know it, they are reading, forming circles of their own friends, and becoming responsible little people right before your eyes no matter how badly you want to turn back time...

February Favorites

Candy hearts are on the table, valentines have been sent, and fun plans for V-Day are in the works.  Lots to love this month. And for each day until February 14th, the little ones are waking up to this...

 

Every day when the girls wake up, they find a new heart on their door telling them something that we love about them. Simple, fun for them (and me), and adds some free decor as well!

It finally snowed here..liked really snowed. A whole 4 inches. The munchkins are over the moon and going out to play in it every chance they get. While they're outside with Dad, I have been trying out some great new recipes. And although I can't promise they are the healthiest, they're definitely amazingly delicious.
I could eat appetizers all day, everyday.  These are two that would for sure make the cut. I've made both of them for parties, and I wasn't the only one who was in love.

Not sure if it was the cheese, the crackers, or what, but trust me...and thank me later.

 



Jalepeno Popper Dip

White Pizza Dip







February also brings Awards season, which I have been a huge fan of since forever. The stars, dresses, hair, you name it, I am hooked. My favorite-and also big winner-this year is Downton Abbey. It's making quite a name for itself lately on it's quiet little PBS station, and TOH are proud to say we have been watching since the very beginning. It's not something that would probably catch your attention as you flip through the channels on a Sunday night, but watch one episode and you'll be running to the library to catch up on the first two seasons.

 







 

For the little girls, my favorite lately is Princess Sofia on Disney Jr.  They literally count down the days until Friday (and I really appreciate that it is only on once a week-I think that is one of the reasons I like it so much) and I honestly sit down for those 25 minutes and find myself laughing along with them and loving the lesson that is taught throughout each show.  Winner.

 

And last, but far from least..my number one for this month is the fabulous app that I found for my new...iPhone!! Pigs are flying, cows are jumping over the moon, and money is growing on trees! I am no longer the owner of a pre-historic, Atari-like flip phone! And as I've been playing with my new toy, I've come across what I can say is the best invention ever. If you know me, you know that I'm a texter. I've never really liked talking on the phone, but texting..I'm a crazy person. Well, my friends, goodbye mass texting, hello Voxer. It's essentially a walkie-talkie app that allows you to send verbal messages back and forth like text messaging, only it doesn't require you to type. Not only is it quicker and safer, but it's way more fun when you hear your friend's voice ask you, 'what are you wearing tonight?' rather than reading it in a text! A definite must-install.

 

Oh..and there's one more reason to love this month..because it's the month before Miami! Lots of love for February, but come on March!

 

 

 



At Ease

So...the holidays are always full of a little chaos, right? Well, this year between school, work, snow, and schedules, all kinds of crazy made the past three months a little too packed for this mama to shoot out a blog post in any free time that was left.  The last time I was here, Bug was turning five and starting Kindergarten. She is now registered for first grade and Kater-tot is preparing to start preschool in August. Why is it that the older you get, the faster time goes? I was always told that would happen but never believed it. Well, those 'crazy' people hit it head on.

We embraced every minute of the last few months of 2012. They brought birthdays, weddings, dancing, fun in the snow, and holiday visits with family and friends.


4th Annual 'Thanksgiving Before Thanksgiving'
Best Idea EVER.



Congrats Aunt Kiki and Uncle Jordan!
(The wedding was way more fun than we look in this picture...
we were saving up our enthusiasm!)

 

Never would have imagined anyone loving dance more than Bug.
Enter Kater-tot. She lives and breathes ballerinas.
It's the first thing she puts on in the morning
and we have to beg her to take it off at night.
Love her.

 My little Betty Crockers.

 

Played in some snow.
(This was our version of 'a lot!'..notice the grass poking through!)

And then of course had to eat some.

And finally, had to try and catch some before Santa came...

They left a key out for Santa this year...they were in full blown 'believe' mode.
It was magical and perfect.
We could not have asked for a more wonderful holiday season.
Our family is so blessed..so lucky..so thankful.

 

So, a new year is upon us, and although we didn't ring it in officially until the next day and with sushi rather than pork, we are for sure it is going to be another amazing one. After all of the chaos and craziness that we welcomed with open arms, we are back into 'relax' mode, and for those of you who may have had a thought that the reason I was so quiet was because I was hiding some 'news'...I can put your mind at ease in saying that we could not be happier than we are with our family of four!

 





Happy 2013!

A New Perspective

She's five. No more terrible two's or troublesome three's...she has entered into the fighting fives. She doesn't always use her manners, doesn't agree with everything we say, nor does she want to participate in every 'spectacular' idea we have. She has her own thoughts, ideas, and suggestions and she wants them to be heard. She wants to push every button she can and try to see how far she can get us to go. She is suddenly fearless.

This is a whole new world to us...and none of us, including her, are sure how to handle it.  Yet another part of parenting that we have both been warned about...

But despite her new 'change'  as I like to refer to it, months in advance, we promised her a big #5 party...her first 'let's make a big deal about it' celebration. She was given the choice of who she wanted to invite and she decided on a '5 year old only' party (with the exception of her sister). It just so happened that 'Finding Nemo 3-D' came to the big screen at the exact time, so off we went...all nine five-year-olds (thank God for my good friends who offered to help out!!) for a fun afternoon at the movie theater...and yes...it was as chaotic as you could imagine, but a blast all at the same time!

~the invites~

 

 

~All the girls~

 

 

Followed by treats at her favorite spot,

Orange Leaf

 

This was her perfect day. She had a constant, beaming smile on her face and she did not want the day to end. She was surrounded by so much love from so many good friends that she could not have wished for anything more.  Despite her ever-changing ways and moods, she has been and forever will be the sweet, caring, little Bug that we have raised from day one. We are so proud of the little person she has become and it is evident by looking at the amazing friends she has made over the years that she is one pretty awesome girl.  We are so blessed to have such wonderful people in our lives to celebrate these special moments. Thank you to everyone who helped to make her birthday (over a span of a few weeks!) so fantastic...she loved every minute of it and we for that, we couldn't be more thankful.

 



That Was Good...Really Good.

The weatherman said we may want to consider kicking on the heat tonight. Pretty sure he wasn't kidding. 45 degrees. I have a thing about giving the gas company any more money than they already get before October 31, so I guess I better break out the blankets. There is something about cooler weather that inspires me to be (like) Martha. The mums and pumpkins have been placed among the decorative cabbage and kale in their planters on the porch and the fall decorations are calling out my name to find their spots throughout the house.  So while they wait a few more days, we cook. We bake. And we enjoy these oh-so-delicious treats which I had to share because they are too good to keep to ourselves.

I found this awesome recipe for banana bread, which the girls can't get enough of, and I love the fact that applesauce and honey are used in place of the sugar and oil.  It was gone in a day.

 

Looking for a super-easy dinner..few ingredients, cooks on its own, tastes amazing...check this chicken out. Made it yesterday-huge it.  The website that it came from is pretty amazing as well.

 



 

 

Later that day, we got a little crazy and made some homemade applesauce. I've had a lot of homemade kinds before, but I kid you not when I tell you this was the easiest (aside from peeling the apples) and most delicious applesauce I've ever tasted. The magic ingredient...lemon.  And while it's low maintenance cooking away in the crock pot all day, it's spreads one fabulous smell throughout the house.

 

 

If we didn't have enough goodness, we dove into these little bits of heaven...

 



 

Pumpkin Spice Hershey Kiss cookies. Thank you for finding me.

 

One of my other new loves is quinoa. It's so easy, so quick, and it's a healthy replacement for rice or pasta.  The girls love macaroni and cheese, so this was a great way to make everybody happy and get some veggies in there as well!

 

Cheesy Quinoa Mac-N-Cheese

 

And I wouldn't sign off without one more idea for those one-of-a-kind Pumpkin Kisses..as you can tell, I can't get enough of them. I am a big fan of every type of puppy chow mix that's out there, but this one takes it for me. Pumpkin Puppy Chow. It has three ingredients and takes all of five minutes to make. Sold. And then there's how fabulous it is. I had to hide it in the closet so everyone would get their hands out of the bag. The problem now is the fact that I'm the only one that knows where it is.

 

 

It's now time to go for a walk, a run, and do lots and lots of sit-ups...but so worth it!









So long...

It is anticipated for months, then passes by so quickly each year. But as I am learning, as does everything these days. My favorite season is upon us, and with that we are saying goodbye to one fabulous summer.

We celebrated many very special friends and family as they tied the knot, and the girls loved every second of their roles as flower girls (and will again in a few weeks!)

Bug danced her heart out at her dance recital and I miraculously held back on the waterworks this year.

We camped in the middle of nowhere for a few days, started a new tradition spending a week at Topsail Beach with lifelong friends, went horseback riding for the first time, and in between all of our travels, we soaked up every minute of that wonderful sun that we could. Summer 2012 was definitely one to remember.

 

So as we wave goodbye, we have so much to look forward to as I sit outside on this gorgeous 75 degree, not-a-cloud-in-the-sky, windows wide-open day...

So long A/C, hello cool breezes.
Until next year iced coffee, hello pumpkin spice latte.
See ya dead grass, hello green lawns and colorful trees.
Goodbye summer reruns, hello long-awaited premieres.
No more last-minute dinners, hello planned out white chicken chili and tomato pies.
Bye bye flip flops, hello riding boots.
Adios sunlight until nine o'clock, hello mulled cider candles lighting the room.
Later popsicles, hello cinnamon roasted almonds and homemade applesauce.

 

So for now, so long sweet summer. We fully enjoyed every minute of you.