Tag Archives: family

To My Sweet Girls – You ARE My Sunshines

The power of songs should never be underestimated. Even if they are the simple, little songs we sang to our kids when they were little. And sometimes, especially if they’re the songs from when they were little. From the time she was born until a time that I don’t have a date for, DD #1 always made me sing this song to her at bedtime. “Made me” is a strong statement.. I loved it and it was my favorite part of the day. Because every word of that simple song is true. She stopped asking me to sing it a few years ago and I miss that tender close to our day. Every now and again.. when I feel she’s upset with me or I feel the need to reconnect with her, I will grab her in a bear hug and sing it as loudly and as off key as … read more

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How Well Does Sydney Know Me? Let’s Find Out..

Just before the holidays, I gave each of the girls a sheet of paper with questions on it to see how well they knew me. I mean, I know every little nook and cranny of their little bodies, favorite colors, favorite activities and favorite foods. Surely they know as much about the woman that carried them for 9 months and endured excruciating pain to give them life, right? Uhm. Not so sure. Regardless, their answers were… shall we say… insightful and entertaining. These are Sydney’s responses.. please note that I’m putting them in exactly as she wrote them.. including grammatical and spelling errors (which weren’t many).. 1. What is something mom always says to you? When does she say it? “You know what I mean, jelly bean?” When she wants to know if I know what she means. (well, she knows what I mean when I say it, I guess) … read more

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12 Guest of Christmas: Attempting the Perfect Family Christmas Photo

Jen Palis and I crossed virtual paths earlier this year when we did a blog swap which means that Jen is my first repeat guest! I can tell if we lived closer to each other we’d be fast IRL friends as we both seem to parent with a healthy dose of sarcasm and humor. Jen was recently listed on  Babble’s list of top 100 Mom Blogs – an accomplishment that I am thrilled about for her and yes.. just a wee bit jealous. But at least I don’t burn ready made bacon, so I do have that going for me..  You know how some mothers routinely have family portraits taken? I’m not one of those mothers. In fact, I’m so lax in the ‘documenting the lives of my children’ department that I pretty much only take photos if I know I can use them for blackmail purposes in their teen … read more

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12 Guests of Christmas – To Be Thankful

I can’t remember where it was that I met Jon for the first time. I’m sure it was Twitter first and then out networking later. Jon is one of the funniest guys that I’ve met but he also gives me insight into the life of parenting teens. No matter how wonderful or ugly it may be.. One of the benefits of getting older is that you have the opportunity to experience good times, bad times and everything in between. Sure we’ve all had varying degrees of both good and bad experiences, but the older you get the more of each you’ve seen and the more you can appreciate the truly good times. It’s hard to know what it feels like to be out of work until you’ve done it. It’s hard to understand what true heartbreak is until the person you thought was the love of your life ends up … read more

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Menus for an Easy and Great Dinner

It’s hard when you’re a family with two working spouses to not just put dinner on the table before the stroke of midnight, but also a dinner that isn’t created by punching buttons on a microwave or hearing the words “pull up to the 2nd window”. I’ve mentioned before that I try to plan out our dinners 2 weeks in advance. I find that by doing this, it saves us a ton of money at the Teeter. What happens when I don’t plan, is that the Rooster looks up from his work at 4pm and says “hhhmmm.. what should I make for dinner?”. This question is almost followed by him going to the kitchen, realizing he hadn’t pulled anything from the freezer and then heading to the store to buy what he needs to make dinner. No kidding – by planning our menus out, it cuts our grocery bill in … read more

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