This & That Thursday!

Sorry it has been awhile since I've posted.  Life is getting in the way again, I suppose.

The weeks in May seem to have gone by more quickly than any other month this year!

A few weeks ago I went to the Franklin Institute with Em's Girl Scout troop.

I hadn't been there since I was in 5th grade.  There were many new areas, including an IMAX

theatre where we saw a movie called 'Space Junk'.  It was about all the garbage we've sent up to space and how we need to find a solution to clean it up.  We toured all the different areas of the museum, but I think everyone's favorite area was where the human heart is located.  

I remember walking through the heart when I went on my field trip in elementary school, but it seemed so big back then.  As an adult it just seemed so small to me.

Here's a photo of Em standing by the heart.

I thought this  skeleton on the elliptical was quite funny.

Here's a video of him/her....

Here's a photo of the  Benjamin Franklin statue.

They also had this computer program where you could choose what you would look like if you

a) Smoked   b) had Sun Damage  c) were Obese

Here is one of Em's friends.  

The photo on the right is with sun damage, the left photo is without at age 70.

Here is Em at age 70.  Right is sun damaged skin, left is regular aging.

The odd thing is that I can actually see the resemblance to my

 maternal grandmother and my Mom in her face.

No, I did not try this myself because there was a lot of people in line for it

and I was too scared to see what I will look like!

In a couple more weeks I'll be chaperoning an overnight trip to the 

Philadelphia Zoo with Em's troop.  We get to tour the zoo at night and in the morning, 

sleepover in a building called the 'tree house' and have admission to the zoo the next day.

Should be tiring 

Looking ahead Kaye has her Daisy ceremony this coming week and Em is going on her 

2nd field trip for 4th grade.  My daughters had friends over this past weekend (2 friends of Em's and

1 of Kaye's) and then on Sunday we went to my in laws to celebrate my father in law's 84th birthday.

This weekend is Memorial Day weekend and I am hoping to get some work done in our backyard.

Our swimming pool needs to be uncovered, our patio blocks need to be power washed, and my husband constructed a weather proof audio visual stand so we can watch TV out on the patio (it's kind of hokey, but it will work) but he needs to finish the door on it.  Em is going to her BFF's house for a sleepover tomorrow night and then her friend may be coming over here Saturday to sleep over.   Kaye is having a friend over Saturday afternoon for a bit, so although work needs to be completed around our home, the kids need some down time with friends this weekend too.

As for my work at home job, it has been a slow start with the training due to some difficulties with  subcontractors we had working for the company.  We are moving forward from that mess and hopefully I will get more on-the-job training so I know more about what is expected of me in this position.  It has been  tiny baby steps thus far and I'm hoping to figure out how I'm going to handle it all with the kids being out of school for the summer soon.  Time shall tell!

Happy Mother's Day 2013!

Whether you're a Mom with babies who have two legs or four, I hope you are enjoying your day!

My day began with getting ready to attend our church's Sunday School breakfast.  Pancakes, sausage, strawberries, and tea enjoyed with my daughters and their Sunday School teachers.  This is the annual tradition on ending the Sunday School year and to give our thanks and appreciation to those who volunteer to teach the children.  Kaye was chosen along with another little girl to hand out the flowers to the teachers as a gift of thanks.  After breakfast my daughters and I attended church together (Jay had worked all day yesterday and went food shopping while we were in church.)

After church we came home for lunch and then went over to my parents to spend some time with my Mom.  I never, ever, ever know what to get her as a gift.  She has no hobbies, doesn't read and is picky about scents.  So I bought her a pink geranium, 2 balloons that Em & Kaye gave her and a card with $25 dollars in it.  My Mom had made a marble cake with chocolate icing, so we had that as a dessert along with some cheese popcorn she put out.  My youngest sister had visited the day before because she was attending a friends daughter's 1st birthday party.  My other sister was probably celebrating with her husband because it is his birthday today.  So I felt good that at least one of my Mom's three daughters was able to visit with her today.  We stayed for about an hour and half, as my allergies had started to act up and I was feeling a bit tired.

My husband had seen his mother at the beginning of this week, as they attended a neighbors funeral together.  He mailed her a card with a check and is calling to talk with her this evening.

My gifts from my kids were home made cards and Jay gave me $50 in his card.

Sometimes I wish my husband was a bit more creative when it comes to gift giving.

Two years ago he bought me a Kindle for Mothers Day and that was probably the best gift he's ever bought me for Mother's Day.  (This past Christmas he bought me the Kindle Fire HD which totally shocked me!)

What I am trying to remember on this day that honors mothers,

 is that however people show their love and appreciation for you, 

what matters is that you have crossed their minds and everyone shows their feelings for you in their own way.

  In Kaye's case, that meant pinching me as hard as she could on my right arm because I told her  no, she could not play on her sister's laptop.  What followed was her being sent to her room to think about what she did.  Jay relieved her from her room after abut 15 minutes and spoke to her about what she did.  She then went outside to play awhile.  After she came back in we talked a bit about what she did and then I let her play on my Kindle Fire HD in her bedroom because she said she wasn't feeling well.  About 15 minutes later I went in to find the Kindle laying on her bed and she was asleep!  Napping is not something Kaye usually does, so she must be really tired from this weekend's events or she is getting ill.

  I hope it is the former.

I hope you've enjoyed your day and you at least take a

 little time out for yourself today or this evening.

  Reflect on the adventures your children have brought to 

your life and how without them life would not be the same.

Book Review: Cleaning House by Kay Wills Wyma

Cleaning House: A Mom's Twelve-Month Experiment to Rid Her Home of Youth Entitlement by Kay Wills Wyma
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It took me some time to read this because I originally borrowed this book from the public library and then didn't get a chance to read it. Every time I went back to borrow t again it was either reserved or checked out! Glad I came back to reading it because it is filled with humor and many truths about today's youth feeling entitled.

The 'Experiment' focuses on one life learning area per month, making this a year long endeavor. At first I thought this may be 'b-o-r-i-n-g' to read about, but Mrs. Wyma writes with humor and I could totally relate to her children's attitudes.

The focus areas include the following life lessons: Beds and Clutter, Cooking (menu planning, shopping & washing dishes), The Outdoors (weeding, planting), Working/Employment, Domestic Dirty Jobs (think bathrooms), Laundry, Handyman/DIY, Party Planning/Hospitality, Teamwork, Errands, Service For Others, and Manners.

By looking at that list of twelve areas you may think 'that's all common sense'. I kind of thought that too, but then thought about some of the things my kids do or say. If your children don't have to do certain tasks, what makes you think that they're intently watching you do said task so they know how to do it? Chances are they're not watching you intently and they don't know how to do said task. You will see that clearly when you read this book, as well as paying more attention to the little things in your child's own daily life.

I have tried little experiments with my kids throughout this book (lunch packing, loading/unloading the dishwasher, cleaning up after a meal, etc.) I can tell you this, my kids need to learn to do more for themselves and this book was a great jump start for me to teach more daily life lessons.

I did not know that Mrs. Wyma started a blog before she got this book deal. I will be going back to look at past entries from her blog, as well as keeping up with her present entries. You can find her at www.theMOATblog.com. Keep teaching your children; they are our future!

View all my reviews

Monday Re-Cap

I know today is supposed to be Wordless Wednesday, but I have a lot to say,
so that doesn't quite work for today.  So I'll just call this 'WordFul Wednesday'.



Monday was quite the day.  Definitely a Monday to put behind me, that's for sure!  It began with an e-mail from a customer whose kitchen has been being remodeled within the past few weeks.  Honestly, it should've been completed by now since they began work on April 9th.  Her e-mail stated she was working from home and the installers still hadn't shown up to work.  This was at 9:30 am.  Last week we had an issue with the installer not showing as well.  I phoned my boss, who was in an interview with a possible new installer, and he was not happy to say the least.  He asked me to phone the installer, whom he had been trying to contact all morning with no luck.  I also could not reach him and just left a voice message.  My boss called me back after the interview to tell me that he's going to have to fire that installer; no surprise to me.  He also said his day was being re-routed because he had an emergency dental appointment in about an hour since he'd been up in pain since 3am.  I reeived another e-mail from the customer saying they wanted a new installer on their job and they were unhappy the job was taking this long.  I spoke with my boss later in the day and he told me he spoke with the customer and that the man he was in the interview with would be finishing the job starting Tuesday.  Okee-Dokey!

I pick up the kids from school and Em starts telling me about the spelling bee they had.  She was upset because she didn't make it and the word that stumped her was 'quiet' (which she knows how to spell.) She said she was nervous because everyone was staring at her, cheering her on, telling her she was going to do great, and then she slipped up on that word.  Later when the class was going out for recess, the girl who did win the bee came up to Em and said something along the lines of 'too bad you didn't win it.'  Em said 'I don't really like spelling anyway.'  (She does, but she was mad at herself and trying not to get upset.)  The girl said something else to her and then gave her a 'whatever'.  This girl a perfectionist and very in your face about it.  Em started crying in the recounting the whole story.  I felt so bad for her.  Then, we get home, she has her after school snack and then it's time to do homework.  'Lo and behold she forgot her homework folder at school.  She starts getting down on herself about how stupid she is and begins crying again.  I have her call two of her friends to get the spelling words for her alphabetical order assignment.  She has two homework passes, so she used one on the worksheet she didn't have.  After dinner she seems to be over her awful day and back to her good 'ol self. 

Fast forward after bathtime.  Kaye tells me her tooth has been bothering her all day in school.  Her right front tooth has the adult tooth in behind the baby tooth.  I've been wondering for some time when that baby tooth would start to get loose.  She hasn't lost any teeth yet.  So we go into the bathroom and I jiggle it a bit.  It doesn't seem overly loose.  I give her a piece of dental floss and show her how to jiggle the tooth around.  She's doing it for a bit and says it really hurts.  I tell her it is probably because the adult tooth is pushing against the baby tooth.  Fast forward 5 minutes later, Kaye comes towards me as I'm sitting on the love seat with my laptop (how appropriate) and says 'Mommy, it came out!  I lost my tooth!'  So we open up the tissue and the tooth is not there.  She must've flung it somewhere in the living room.  So we begin hunting for it.  For about ten minutes.  No luck.  She is upset and crying, saying the tooth fairy won't come because she lost the tooth.  She is beside herself.  I feel so bad for her.    I tell her that she can write the tooth fairy a note explaining what happened and she will probably still leave her money.  "Do you think so Mommy?" is her reply.  I tell her of course.  She is feeling a bit more optimistic about this now. 

That was my Monday.

Google RSS Reader Service Ends 7/1/13

I just learned that Google will be ending its RSS Reader on July 1, 2013.

(Read more here.)

I've never really used it a lot, but I did have 50 blogs that I chose to follow through their RSS reader.

I went through them all this evening and either followed them through Bloglovin (if available) or added the blog links to a folder on my desktop to figure out what service I'm going to use to follow those blogs.

This got me thinking.  What is Google up to?

A lot of the news articles I read online boast that Google Reader is one of the most cherished readers out there.  So why close it?  Just because numbers are down?

This also gets me thinking about their Blogger service, which is where this blog is hosted.

Will they suddenly decide Blogger isn't making them enough money and then 'Poof!'

it will be gone too?

So, I started to do some research on other blog services.

  (Believe me, the last thing I want to do right now is uproot my blog to a different location!  Time is not on my side right now.)

Most say that Wordpress.com is the way to go.  Tumblr seems pretty simple, but may not have the 'blog' feel I'm looking for.  I've read some cool things about Weebly and may check them out.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do.  This is just me thinking out loud right now.

What are your suggestions?

I've been quite busy and haven't blogged for a few days.  I was doing quite well with daily blogging, but with all the outside work and inside Spring cleaning, places to go, people to see and so on, blogging may take a back seat for a bit.  Heck, I haven't even been reading much lately and I truly miss it.
Time to get my ducks in a row and figure some things out!
If you see me blogging intermittently, this is why.

Thursday Tantrums: Bunched Socks & Photo Proofs?!?!?!

Tantrum #1

Bunched up socks!

When you take your socks off and put them in the hamper, do you bunch them up in a ball and throw 'em in the hamper?  I do not, but the rest of my family does.  The worst culprit is my husband.  I have told him about this countless times throughout our 17 years of living together.  Maybe if he EVER did the laundry he would understand the 'why' behind the anger I have for bunched up socks!

  (In case you've never done laundry and do not understand the 'big deal' behind this pet peeve of mine, it's because 1. the sock can't be properly cleaned in the washer all bunched up like that and 2. it will take forever for a bunched up sock to dry in the dryer.   And no, it will not un-bunch itself in the washer or dryer!)

Tantrum #2

Bad School Photo Proofs

School picture proofs so small and with bad pixelation  (is that a word?) that you can barely make out your child's expression on their face.  If you want me to purchase 'Spring photos' through your company, at least create a proof that I can look at online that is clear which will possibly make me WANT to buy a photo package of my children.  Geez!  

Last year was the first year the girls elementary school started this 'Spring Photo' thing.

The company that takes the school pictures in the Fall also supplies all the children in the school with a day planner that they use to write down their school assignments for the year.  This is 'free' of charge.  In exchange for these planners, the company comes back in the Spring to take photos of the students wearing more 'hip' clothes and with background props.  A less traditional school photo.  I scanned these from the order sheet because that is all I have to go on.  For Em I am ordering A & D.  For Kaye defintely, but not sure on the others.  You see, Kaye has beautiful dimples, as do I.  In these photos she is not giving her 'normal' smile.  It is so forced and fake, but yet I am purchasing 2 poses of her sister and feel guilty if I don't purchase 2 poses from hers as well.  

 Em's:

 Kaye's:

Tantrum #3

Messy Bedrooms 

 My daughters bedrooms to be exact.  When they clean up their rooms they just put things that don't belong together away so that it's not on their floor or in sight.  In the process they ruin books (pages bent/torn in sticker books and craft books), storage containers get ripped and ruined (as is the case with a netted laundry hamper thay was being used to store baby dolls, but Kaye put her baby diaper bag in there and it bulged so much that it tore) and then they can't 'find' things because they don't put things where they belong and get upset when they can't 'find' them.  

Tantrum #4

Too Much Stuff

Do you ever hear yourself saying that they have 'too much stuff that they don't play with'?  Then when I try to get rid of it all of a sudden they have an interest in playing with it again.

About a month ago Kaye was nagging me to get all of the Fisher Price Little People sets down form the attic.  About 6-8 months earlier I had packed up all the Little People and the sets really nicely in the attic.  I am saving them for one day when I hopefully have grandchildren.  (Do not laugh at me, my kids actually play with toys my Mom saved from my and my sisters childhoods and my kids love them.)  So I finally caved and got down the big box with all of the nicely wrapped items.  Kaye played with them for 2 days and Em actually played with them 1 day.  Now they sit in my living room in the save Rubbermaid bin they had been in for a year or two without either of them touching it.  I want to pack it all away again, but want to see if either of them even attempt to play with the Little People again.  Maybe I'm too much of a pushover.   They have a lot of toys to play with and it seems they get in a mood where they play with something for a few days and then it seems like months until they even look at that particular toy again.  I always tell them that birthdays, Christmas and Easter there will probably be less and less toys from Santa/Easter Bunny because they don't play with half of the things they already have.  I also remind them of less fortunate children and sometimes that is when they come forward with the toys they really don't want anymore.

I think I'm done with my rantings for today.  

I hope that whatever you're doing today that you can let off some steam and have a good tantrum!