100

My friend, Tracy, announced today there are exactly 100 days until Christmas. Not cool.

This means I have around 60 days to make 50 digital scrapbook pages. I need to do them in enough time to get them to the printer to be made into glossy printed books.

I really haven't been taking many photos with my canon lately. Not because I don't want to but didn't really have many opportunities this summer. It was easier to use my phone, which still takes nice photos, instead of bringing an expensive camera along and risking damaging it.

I still will have many photos, enough for at least 30 pages but my goal is 50. Wish me luck!

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The big day.

My kids, both of them, have gone off in to the big world of primary learning. ABC's, 123's, shapes and colours for Christopher. Adding, subtracting and reading for Elizabeth. Today starts a new life for both of them.

Elizabeth is an old hand at school now but still 1st grade is a new big adventure. She will be playing on the big kids playground now! She went off to school with her head held high, eyes full of excitement and a huge smile on her face.

Christopher has no idea what he is in for. I'm sure he expects it to be a day of playing and meeting new friends. In part, he will be right but also a day of learning, sharing and listening. Raising his hand to speak, sitting still and listening without interruption is all new to him. He is good with listening but like all 3-4 yr olds, fidgets a lot. He will also be learning how to write his name better, have good pencil control and I think a few starter sight words.

All in all, they will both have a great year coming up. They will be challenged, make new friends and have a lot of fun.

I, on the other hand, only cried for 10 minutes. I'm good now. Time to do laundry.

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Banana Bread!

This originated in the Five Roses cookbook but I changed a few things.

Dry:
1 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
Wet:
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup veg oil
2 eggs- beaten
1 cup mashed banana
1 tsp vanilla

Mix dry and wet ingredients in separate bowls, slowly add wet to dry mixing only until combine. Don't over mix. Add to greased loaf pan(I use pam) Bake at 350 for 50-60 minutes. Let cool 10 mins then transfer to a baking rack to cool for one hour.

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Porcupines

A family favorite around my house.

Meatballs:
1 1/2 pound of hamburger
1/2 white rice
1/2 small onion diced finely
1/2 tsp cinnamon
salt and pepper

Soup base:
3 cans tomato soup
2 cans water

Add your soup base to a large soup pot and start to heat on med-high or crock pot on high. Mix together your meatball ingredients and form into meatballs a little larger then a bite size, dropping them carefully into the soup base. Simmer for at least an hour on the stove or you can simmer longer in a crock pot on low all day if you prefer. I serve my porcupines with mashed potatoes.

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Almost time!!

Two weeks from now, I will be home alone. *sniff*

My lil man will be starting pre-k on Sept 8th as Elizabeth is off to the 1st Grade. We have done the supply shopping, the new shoes and clothes and even the new fancy lunch box for Elizabeth.

I don't really know what I'm going to do with the 3 hours Christopher will be gone. I'm sure the first few days... I will cry in the corner until he gets home.

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The rollercoaster of life continues.

Over a year ago, Chris sent me a text telling me to pack up the house. We were moving. He was offered and accepted a manager position at a brand new store in Hudson Falls. We had 3 weeks to pack and move an hour north. We found a great little house and did it. Chris worked hard at setting up his new store and even started to turn a small profit by Christmas.

Shortly after Christmas, his boss was having problems with the Saratoga store. The manager had quit suddenly, just as the one before him had done and the replacement manager was just too new to take the more difficult store. Chris was asked to trade his store to the rookie and take on the huge project of getting Saratoga back on its feet. Not only was the store deep in the red but it had on going staffing issues. Chris worked hard at it but could never quite break into the black. His boss transferred to another district leaving him with one boss 200 miles away who did not offer any sort of managerial support. The staffing issues continued losing staff due to quitting and maternity leave. The support from corporate was never there but they were quick to blame Chris for the years of issues that store has had.

After facing yet another string of 75 hr weeks with no overtime and constant criticism from corporate, Chris had enough. He interviewed for another company and was offered a job as Parts Manager. 40 hours a week but less pay. He took it.

This new job leaves us with a small problem. The less pay is significant. We were riding the line of pay cheque to pay cheque as it is but the stress of his old job was taking its toll on Chris's health. We have always made it through hard times and we will again. Standing together, budgeting and the big one. I started looking for part time work. The process is terrifying for me.

I filled out a few applications on Saturday and today was called in for my first interview! The job will be at the local grocery store not far from our home. They are only open until 9pm so the hours wouldn't be too late and of course I have all weekend open to work. I am trying not to get my hopes up but I think I would like this job. I am nervous but excited about going on my first interview in well 7 years. Even if I am shaking in fear, I will hold my head high and do my very best.

I wonder if it would be weird to have Chris hold my hand during the interview. :)

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My first Pedi!!

Last year for my birthday, Chris bought me a little introductory spa package. It included a pedi, 25 massage, facial, and brow wax. It expired at the end of this month. I put it off for a year because I was too nervous to go. Finally when I did call, they didn't have any spaces to fit me in! She was able to get me in for the spa pedicure and I agreed.

I went yesterday. It was an hour long appointment so Chris took the kids to the park. I was nervous up until the moment my feet hit the water... then ahhhhh. The lady who did my pedi was also the owner. She was so warm and welcoming. I laid back in my chair and relaxed. There was another woman in the chair beside me and we all chit chatted together about the area. It was nice to have some adult conversation for a change and no one was interrupting with Mom Mom Mom!

Part of the package Chris bought included some discounts on other treatments. I asked her if she had any openings for next Thursday for hair and she did! I will be going back and getting my walmart hair cut fixed, some added highlights and she is going to do my free facial at the same time. The cut will be free and highlights at a 20% discount. I am so excited to go back and even more excited to find a "me" place. Not that I will be able to go back often but if anything, I can get my hair done.

My toes are so pretty!

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Our Forth of July

We decided to keep the Fourth very low key this year. It was just too hot to be doing anything too extravagant.

We got up early and headed out to Walmart for some supplies. Charcoal, salad fixin's, and a certain little girl really wanted to spend her tooth fairy money. After much thought, she decided on a hula hoop. Somehow though, it was $5 and she only had $3 so Daddy bought her hoop and she kept her $3. I think she did it on purpose. Daddy is a sucker for his little girl.

We came home and Chris started on dinner. A beautiful little chicken placed up the butt on a can stand, rubbed down with a little Cajun salt mix and onto the grill for a long bake in the hot smoke. Chris added some hickory chips this time and it smelled amazing right away.

We set up the sprinkler and hopped into our swimsuits. The kids of course in patriotic swim wear. Then we all enjoyed the cool water on a very hot day. Elizabeth tried out her hoop and within an hour she really got the hang of it. She is going to rock the hula hoop contest next spirit day at school!!!

Dinner was amazing. The chicken was nice and moist with amazing flavour. We added a light green salad and some rice to complete the meal. Iced teas all around, it was a beautiful dinner.

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing


Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing


Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

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Toof-less

The wiggler has been set free!!! It was was super wiggly last night. Chris was teasing her about hooking it up with dental floss to pull it out. This morning she was playing in Christopher's room and she came out yelling "Mom Mom" mouth bloody with this big toothless grin. She had been wiggling it and it just popped out into her hand! The Tooth Fairy brought her $3, which was all that the Tooth Fairy had in her purse :) Tooth Fairy's husband forgot to get cash from the mystical fairyland ATM.

Elizabeth was very happy with that and has already mentioned going to Walmart. She is saving for a new pair of earrings but she did mention something today about going to get some ice cream with her new money. She even asked me if I could call a cab to take her to the store. Yeah. Sure.

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Spirit Day!!

We had SUCH a great day, I know this post will probably ramble a bit so be forewarned!


We all got up at 7 to start our day. Eli was sent off to school and Christopher powered through some cereal and out the door we went. We went to Christopher's new school. We filled out paperwork for his busing and his medical information while he went with one of the teachers to do a basic screening test. When we were done, he was also done. They did give us a paper for speech therapy, but we were expecting that a little. He often does say words wrong/different. Buppons instead of buttons, for example.

We looked around his school, which is very small of course but very nice. There are 3 pre-k classes and 1 class for 2-3 yr olds(they only go 2 days a week for 2's and 3 days for 3's). We are confident in this school.

After that, it was still a bit early to go to Elizabeth's school so we drove up to walmart and did a very needed grocery shop. Of course the one thing I needed the most, dishwasher tabs, I totally forgot to put on my list and there for forgot to buy. Luckily I found a stash of 6 tabs this morning under my sink!

We rushed home to put away our groceries then drove over to Elizabeth's school. We met up with her class just as they were going to the water balloon game. It was so nice that, in the few times I've been to her school and Elizabeth's birthday, we knew all the moms that were there! I did come out of my shell a little and talked to them :) Go me!

After water balloons, we headed to lunch. Typical school lunch.. hot dog, plain chips, salad, apple, chocolate milk and a little ice cream cup for dessert. It was.. umm worth the 1.75 but it did the job of filling us up.

After lunch the real fun started. Christopher was included in all the games and Elizabeth's little friend Hanna was playing mother hen to him.

We went to play a hula hoop contest. 4 rows of 4 kids. Front kid in each row goes up, hula's(?) until it falls, passes to next in line and goes to the back of the row for another turn. Christopher was in Hanna's group with two other boys. Since he couldn't do the hoop, Hanna and the boys picked it up, and started circling HIM with it!! It was hilarious!

The next game was octopus freeze tag were the tagger has a ball and throws it at the kids to freeze them, they become octopuses and use their arms out to also grab kids. The kids run from one side to the other in a line. Christopher won one round! He was so excited, hands up in the air cheering for himself as he took a victory lap around the kids!

After that, they did duck duck goose, the parachute and then class vs class tug of war(Christopher did not participate in that one!!) Elizabeth's class took on another K class and won! As the winners, they took on the other class but lost. lol They had such fun.

We went back to Elizabeth's class room for cake and juice then we signed Elizabeth out early and took the kids for ice cream(yes after cake)

We stopped at another store for some chicken(we don't eat walmart meat), came home to play in the sprinkler and Chris BBQ'ed a whole chicken and some corn on the cob. It was delicious!

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Our Graduate

Taking to some of my friends about their Kindergartner's graduation I noticed quite the difference in the degree of celebrations. Some as far as little caps and gowns with a whole production to similar as Elizabeth with a small ceremony for parents only.

I was very happy with Elizabeth's ceremony. There was 4 classes with 15-18 kids per class. They got up and sang us a few songs then received their little certificates announcing they were moving up to First Grade. It was small, short and just right.

Elizabeth was very happy to see Mommy and Christopher. She did a great job with her 3 songs, which she has been practicing for days!

After the ceremony, the kids went to a near by park for an end of the year picnic. Christopher and I stayed for a very short time but there was just way to many kids. I was starting to lose track of him in the sea of small children.

It was a great day and we are very proud of our little Graduate!

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Today's Christopher-ism

"Hey Christopher, when are you going to school?

"In Sometember!!"

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Milestone

One of the most important learning years of Elizabeth's life is coming to an end. Her first full year at school. This is the final full week of Kindergarten. Her school is having a Spirit Day next Monday at the local park where families are encouraged to come and spend the day with their kids, then two small half days and she is done with this school year.

Friday, her class as well as the other two K classes will be having a small moving up ceremony then they are having their own little picnic in the park. She is very excited but I think she is going to be a little sad to see the year come to an end. Elizabeth loves school, loves learning, loves her friends and just enjoys her time away from home. It will be a very bittersweet day when she comes home on the bus for the last time this year.

It has been such an amazing year with her. This year she learned how to read, how to tie her shoe laces and met some very good friends. She has already asked to have a couple girls over during the summer and we will definitely be scheduling some play dates. The summer is not a total loss for her though. We do have plans for mini golf, perhaps go karts and I'm sure a few visits to the park and the beach.

By Friday afternoon, I will have an official 1st Grader! By Monday, Christopher will be registered for pre-k! When did they get so big? I missed that memo.

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Fancy

This is the first ever blog post from my new Sprint EVO!

Chris and I celebrated our 7th anniversary on Saturday. It was beautiful day until I got sick. Nothing like a fever and puking to ruin an evening. Oh well, such as life.

I want to wish my mom a very public Happy Birthday!

Published with Blogger-droid

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To whom it may concern.

Hi,

I would like to take this moment to address all of those with unsolicited advice. I really don't care if when YOU were a kid it was ok and encouraged to smoke while pregnant, beat your children and basically leave them unattended to roam the neighborhood. I don't really care if you fed your kids lead paint or steak and potatoes at 1 month old or that you left them in the back yard all day. I don't care if you think it's ok for a child to get bullied at school, sorry but that is NOT a learning experience for life. It's what makes serial killers. I certainly don't care if you think its fine to let a 5 yr old walk a mile to school by themselves. And please don't tell me its fine to leave my kids belted in the car without car seats. I know you just threw your kids in the truck but my kids, my rules.

This is 2010, not 1954. In case you haven't been paying attention, the world has changed. Remember the kid that went missing and presumed dead when you were a kid? Yeah it was the "happily married" pedophile that lived down he street. There are MORE people in the country right now and sorry but the facts are that many of those can and will hurt children. It isn't a myth, it is a fact. We don't turn a blind eye anymore.

Just because things were acceptable back in the 40's does not mean they are acceptable or will be tolerated now. It is called GROWING UP! Evolution of life, if you will. Oh and by the way, if you don't have children and you still try to tell me how to raise MY kids, I believe I have the right to punch you in the face.


Thank you.

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A clean break... almost

So maybe late May is too late for a New Years resolution and really this isn't a resolution at all. It is time to take a break. Not my marriage or anything like that but a break from this relationship I have with my computer.

I usually get up and turn the computer on first thing in the morning. I sit in front of the computer until it's time to take Eli to the bus, then again until usually noon. I'm tired of it. What is the point?

I've made a commitment to myself to spend a half hour on the computer. Whatever I need to get done, I can so in 30 minutes. Do I need to play 8 facebook games? Hell no! I picked 3 of my favorite games and that is it. (Don't worry Fairyland friends, I'll try to keep my garden stocked so you can still find critters)

It is too nice to be stuck inside all day on the computer! I had such a great day yesterday outside in my chair with a book. My phone keeps me in touch with friends, I can still check or post FB statuses if I want without being tied to my desktop.

Here's to a nice break from my desktop! I love you but I think we need to part ways for a while. Mother Nature is calling.

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What a wonderful Mothers Day weekend!

I was so happy to have Chris home for the whole weekend! Saturday was the start of my Mothers Day. Chris took me to Uncle Sam's for some hand dipped chocolate, then he dropped Elizabeth and I off at Walmart to get our shopping done and told us both to get our hair cut! Yes, I had Elizabeth's LONG locks chopped off! She looks adorable. I also got the same shoulder length cut and I added some wispy bangs as well! After shopping, Chris took us to Sorentino's Market and Deli to get a couple AMAZING subs for a late lunch/early dinner. Later on that evening Dave, Steph and the kids came over with pizza. The kids played and the adults tried to watch The Hangover.

Sunday morning, the kids let me sleep in until almost 10am! I got up and start on the potato salad I was making for Steph's house then made chocolate chip pancakes for the kids and I. We went over to Dave and Steph's house for their daughter Nala's 6th birthday party. We had a great time, lots of laughs and the kids had so much fun running around and playing.

After we left their house, Chris took me to Walmart to buy me a new tripod!! Unfortunately they didn't have the one we were looking for but I didn't leave empty handed. We bought a little ceramic pot for the plant Elizabeth brought me from school, some soil and Chris spotted some tomato and strawberry hanging basket kits! We also picked up some pumpkin seeds. I can't wait for the seedlings to sprout and we can plant the pumpkins in the garden and hang the baskets!

What a great mothers day!

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Time to buckle down and get to work!!

No more excuses!! I need to start SCRAPPING! I have my photoshop back, I have my old digi scrap stuff back, I have all my photos, I have time. It is time to get to work and make some books! This Christmas's book will be the biggest one I've made simply because it will have TWO years worth of pages in it! I will be documenting some very big moments in our life. Our move, Elizabeth's first day of Kindergarten, then 1st grade coming up in September, Christopher's first day in Pre-K and his first trip on the bus, last Christmas with my folks, birthdays and more!

My goal is 50 pages by December 1st. That should give me enough time to get the books printed as well as be able to get some photos of the kids with the Christmas tree and hopefully some snow photos. Wish me luck! The countdown is ON!!

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3rd term report card.

Elizabeth's teacher called me today for our phone parent/teacher conference. Mrs. Johnson was very happy with Elizabeth's progress, especially with her reading.

As a recap, from my previous post in February Second Term Report

They have 3 Scales.

Achievement scale which ranges 1- little understanding doesn't meet grade expectations, 2- Limited understanding, 3- General Understanding, 4- Thorough understanding always meets grade expectations

Effort Scale N- Needs improvement, P- making progress, G- Good, O- Outstanding

Skills Code- NA- Not assessed, X- Progress Needed, I- Improving, Blank- Acceptable.

Elizabeth's marks were

Kindergarten Readiness Skills- Achievement- 3, Effort G

Writing, Speaking Listening- Achievement- 3, Effort- O

Technology- Effort G

Reading Readiness Achievement- 4, Effort- G

Math Readiness- Achievement-3, Effort-O

Social Studies/Science- Effort-G



This report has following improvements or has stayed the same.

Kindergarten Readiness Skills- Achievement- 3, Effort- O <- effort improved

Writing, Speaking Listening- Achievement- 3, Effort- O <- stayed same
with the added improvement of her retelling a story.

Technology- Effort G <- Same

Reading Readiness Achievement- 4, Effort- G <- Same

Math Readiness- Achievement-4, Effort- G <- Her achievement has improved but her effort decreased a little, simply because she knows it and gets a little bored.

Social Studies/Science- Effort-G <- Same

She is improving with talking in class but still needs a gentle reminder now and then.

She has also read 25 more books this term.

They also did the AIMSweb test which is a requirement in our district.
The outcome measure is based on the following:
Letter Naming Fluency
Letter Sound Fluency
Phoneme Segmentation Fluency
and Nonsense Word Fluency.

She score above average in all areas.

Mrs. Johnson commented on how much she has improved with reading in such a short time. We also noticed reading "click" in just a week or so. She is doing well with sounding words out and she is writing stories now without help, writing her words phonically. Elizabeth is a little big of a teacher pet, from what I gather.

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*swoon*

There are few things in life that make my heart pound just a little harder with want and desire. I'm not a materialistic person. I don't have a closet full of designer clothes or tons of jewelry. I don't own a fancy car or a huge house. But every once in a while I get a bad case of the I Want!'s

This little beauty, for a *eye roll* small price of $400 dollars, screams out at me BUY ME BUY ME BUY ME!!

Cricut Cake

Where do I sign up to be a random tester?? Cricut Cake, I desire you!

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