My Guilty Pleasure!

We all have them, I might as well share mine. Maybe I will hook someone else!

My guilty pleasures seem to change here and there. I don't think I ever stick to one for very long. However, I started my most recent guilty pleasure while in Myrtle Beach because of my wonderful lil' sis! I took just one handful and have been absolutely HOOKED ever since. Seriously, I can't get enough. All the flavors of sweet and salty go together just so! Who ever would have thought I would be "hooked" on a Walmart brand product? There is a downside to this pleasure though- it is NOT organic...BUT it's just so gosh darn good that I don't even care about the whole organic thing, and I can't help but eat it ALL day long!

Okay, okay...are you at all intrigued yet? Drum roll please... Great Value Indulgent Trail Mix! It is a mixture of peanut butter chips, chocolate chips, cashews, almonds, cranberries, peanuts, white chocolate chips, and golden raisins (which I pick out and throw away because I HATE raisins)! Even though I have to throw out the raisins it is still such a delicious snack. Unfortunately it is not a healthy snack - especially when one is eating it in the quantities that I am! But at this point I don't care about the fact that it is more than likely tons of extra calories I don't need to put in to my body! I look at it this way....my classroom is so far away from everything I have to walk so much throughout the day that this makes up for all the extra calories in my guilty indulgence! Right? Well, that's what I am thinking right now and so be it until I move on to my next pleasure! For now I am keeping a BIG bag of it on my desk and when I need or want it I'll just dig right in without a second thought...Until I gain ten pounds!

Anyhow, next time you are in Walmart give it a try! They actually have a bunch of different trail mixes but I think this one takes the cake! Happy Snacking!

Here's a brand new bag I just picked up today!!!

Pre-School Continued...

Well, it has been a week now and morning drop offs have not been going so swell! I swear this just goes to show how very stubborn my little gal is. She has it in her head that she does NOT want to go to school and that she "hates" school. Oh my - hating school already, really? We have just begun our school career!

I truly do know that she doesn't HATE school. She HATES being away from me. We had a wonderful summer filled with lots and lots of true mother daughter bonding. That time (on an every day basis) is now over! Little Gal just isn't sure how to handle this. It was over so abruptly! One day we are hanging in the sun and the next we are in school. So she can say over and over how she hates school but I know that isn't the case.

You may ask how do I truly know that is not the case. Well, it is very simple. When I pull down Ms. K's long driveway I can see from far away Little Gal's big smile on her face as she's playing with all her new friends. On top of that she doesn't want to leave right away when I get there. One day last week she actually begged me to leave so she could stay longer.

Yes, our lazy days of summer are over. (We seriously know how to relax) However, Little Gal doesn't HATE school - she simply HATES that our time together on a daily basis has ended and doesn't quite know how to express her feelings to me about this.

Who knows maybe this is my way of saying things will get better. Maybe this is my way of dealing with things. Whatever it is - it's working for me now! I have to believe it's something other than HATING school!

We are now on full bribery! Each day if Little Gal has a good drop off she earns a sticker. Once she gets 3 (yes - just 3 for now - we will build on that - little steps people!) she earns a trip to her treasure box. Which we put together as a family. She seems super excited about it and fingers crossed this bribe will work and drop offs will become tear free! I can only hope!

PreSchool!

Well, today was the big day. Little Gal's first day of preschool! It went pretty much how I expected...I had to walk away from a child that was holding on to me for dear life screaming her head off...oh the joys of parenthood!

Rewind...

Yesterday we spent all day celebrating our last full day of summer vacation. We started our day off with a special going to school craft from the story "The Kissing Hand!" Which we then tucked in to her little back back. Then it was time to get ready for our family adventure! Our original plan consisted of going to a local water park - however the weather had another plan for us - Bounce and Play (an indoor moon bounce center)! After we bounced ourselves sick we went to Panera Bread (Em's pick) for her special lunch. All she wanted was a blueberry bagel. Okay that's fine and all but she ended up eating all my food! What's up with that? Oh and my drink to top it off! I tried their new frozen strawberry lemonade. Absolutely NOT worth the $4+!

To our surprise she wanted to do some shopping and I couldn't argue with that for one second! We headed off to Old Navy where we both got a ton of stuff super cheap! Love extra 50% off surprises! Oh how lovely to get so much for so very little! All day long here and there Little Gal kept insisting to us that she was NOT going to school. We kinda just ignored her and went on our merry way - every time she would say something about not going! This whole time in the back of my mind I am thinking oh this is going to suck tomorrow morning - we are in for it...and we were! Moving along - we came home and ended our day with a family movie night watching one of the "Care Bear" movies from good old Netflix video stream!

It was finally bedtime - Emma starts expressing to us once again how she is not going to school in the morning. By this point because it has gone on all day and rather persistently Brian has decided that he's going to bribe her. He has now told her that she gets a special first day of school gift if she is brave and has a good day at preschool. Okay, I am thinking this will work! However, I am also thinking good Lord what are we setting ourselves up for? But I know we all do it - we ALL bribe our children at times. Who knows maybe it will work!

This morning...

As soon as Little Gal woke up the very first thing (before good morning or anything else) she screams out of her bedroom, "I AM NOT GOING TO SCHOOL!" Part of me chuckled as I walked up the stairs to try and calm her because I knew this was how it was going to go down!! I just knew it! I walk in and she wanted me to hold her. So I picked her up and held her as tight as I could possibly hold her. The entire time she's telling me she's not going and she wants me to stay with her and how she just wants to go to my school. It took everything in me not to break down and just start crying with her! I didn't cry though, I couldn't cry, I had to be strong. I had to show her and let her know that things were going to be okay.

The teacher part of me knows that things will be okay but the mother part of me was saying all kinds of things. Will she be okay? Am I doing the right thing sending her to preschool? Why am I taking her away from what she knows? Is this seriously worth it?

I continued to be strong for her telling how fun school would be and how wonderful Miss. K is. I finally got her to come down for breakfast. She ate her breakfast and watched her little show - our normal getting ready routine during the school year. Then it was time to get dressed and it started again, she BEGGED me to keep her home. She then asked if Brian and I could both take her to school. So we did! He followed us to school. I am so happy that I wasn't alone dropping her off. He got to witness the tears and the screaming. He would not be able to say I exaggerated the process! We walked in to school. I believe Brian carried little gal in the doors while I carried the school supplies (kinda blurry). I knew I had to make a quick break! I told Miss. K a few little things then Emma ran over to me and held on to me so tightly! She wasn't letting go. (It was like how I held on to her when she first entered this world. I held her in my arms and never wanted to let go.) She began to sob and began to wrap her body around mine. Miss. K had to pull her away from me. I had to push her away with all my might. It is truly amazing how strong a 4 year old is. I didn't even look back I just walked out the door with Brian following me. I held it together until I left the driveway and then my tears hit. I had held them in for what seemed so long that morning. My tears didn't last long but a million thoughts were going through my mind. This is where I hate having such a long drive to work. I had way too much time to think of whether or not I was making a good choice as a Mom! Looking back I wish I would have called my husband on the ride to work because I would have liked to know what he was thinking. I still haven't asked. We both just left and really didn't speak to each other at all. Basically got in our cars and drove away. Deep down I know we did the right thing. It's the thing I have told hundreds of parents throughout the years. They'll be okay. They always are!

Luckily I have a job that is on the go all day long and I don't have time to sit and think about things. No sooner did I get to work and got things rolling when Brian called and asked if I had called Miss. K. I had seriously lost track of time and hadn't. I called as soon as I hung up with him. She told me that Little Gal stopped crying not even a minute after we left and began talking with Miss. K about her weekend!

I am truly not certain that new adventures with our children ever get easier. It is hard watching them grow up so quickly right before our eyes. But it is truly amazing to watch their accomplishments! I am very proud of Emma! She had a great day today - her words not mine. She ended up getting her first day of school gift. She played with it all evening! We expressed to her throughout the evening how awesome she is and how very proud of her we are. She was beyond excited to show me her Great Day note from Miss. K. She truly did have a wonderful day today! I am sure we will have more drop off struggles for the next few weeks but things will be OKAY!

Give a teacher a chance...

I am not even sure what to name this particular blog tonight....who knows it may come to me after I have completed writing it! (it did)

Well, the big talk of the town around here is "Who's your teacher?" Understandably so seeing how school officially begins around these crazy parts on August 9th. Yes, those of you who are not familiar with this, it is craziness. Summer has basically just begun and we are already going back to school. Now, we have been out since May 26th so I guess it's fair that we are on our way back!

Now you may wonder why this question may irritate me so, and it's not really the question that bothers me - it is the parent's response to this question that bothers me. I made it a point not to live in the county I teach in. I have also made it a point to stay as far away from the mommy groups around here because of all the smack talk that goes on. I don't really have time for that nonsense. Anyhow, that's important to know because many of the people around here (at my local pool - which I go to EVERY single day) do not know me nor do they even know I am a teacher. I prefer it that way! So as they are talking about this subject right in front of me I grow more and more agitated.

As soon as the question rolls off their tongues the negativity pours out. From listening to the responses the reasons that they "hate" their assigned teachers are all from third party hear say. None of it is from personal experience. It is always "Well, so and so said this about Mr. Cape" Give me a break. Why do we do this? Why set the year up for failure before it even begins? Give the teacher a chance - have a positive attitude towards your child's teacher. Go in with an open mind. If you do this you and your child will have a much better year. Your child can tell whether or not you respect their teacher from the get go! Children pay attention to everything.

Get to know your child's teacher first before making any assumptions. Who knows just because the person down the street had some personality issues with a certain teacher doesn't mean that you won't have the best year of your child's academic career. Keep and open mind. Teachers are truly doing what they do to educate each and every child that walks through their door.

This was short and sweet but I just had to get it off my chest...

Happy Back to School!

My Love / Hate relationship with the Beach

Wow! It has been a very long time since I last blogged. I feel like I have been quite busy lately! I decided I was not going to blog while vacationing in Myrtle Beach - wouldn't have been able to anyhow because the damn internet was way too slow. The only time it worked was from 7 am - 7:30 am! I think NOT! That is way too early to try and come up with any blog writing!

Okay now that you know where I have been I am going to talk a little bit about my beach relationship. I definitely have a love / hate relationship with the beach. The more and more I think about it I am coming up with more hates but ultimately the loves outweigh the hates! At least I think they do. So these are not going to be in any order - I will talk about hates with my loves and they by no means are ranked. They will just be coming to my head as I write about them.

SAND - I absolutely HATE the sand. I think I hate the sand more now being a mother of a child with extremely sensitive skin than I did childless! It is awful! Stupid sand gets everywhere. It doesn't help that she sits right in it and basically bathes in it. Then has the nerve to complain to me how badly her skin itches! REALLY? I told you not to roll around in the sand! Plus I don't like the feel of sand so little gal comes running to me with sand all over her and wants me to hold her! GROSS! No thank you. Go wash off. I know I may sound very harsh but I really don't like sand. I don't want any part of it. I am so careful down at the beach not to get it on me at all. The only part of me I want touching that sand are my toes and feet...that's it! So sand is an absolute HATE!

OCEAN - I think the ocean scares me more than anything. I actually did get in the ocean this summer because it was extremely hot out! I am so afraid that some living creature is going to bite me, sting me or, eat me! Without fail my brother gets stung by a jellyfish EVERY year. I am not kidding. EVERY single year. It's kinda funny to me but I know if I laugh too hard my time will come. Little Gal actually enjoys the ocean water and I love watching her out there in the ocean with anyone other than me! This year we smartened up and she wore her goggles out there! What a sight! She was even brave enough to try boogie boarding. Which was hilarious to watch and she was so darn proud of herself! I guess the ocean water would be a LOVE / HATE for me because I do hate getting in the water but I love watching Little Gal out there especially when she's with her Daddy! Priceless watching those HUGE waves take them out!

BIKINIS - Okay, now this may be a touchy subject. But I really HATE seeing HUGE 300 pound plus women walking around or sitting around in little teeny weeny bikinis. They make very cute and very nice one piece and tankkinis these days so I am not sure why people don't take more advantage of these suits to try and flatter their bodies. It almost seemed like the smaller women were trying to cover more than the much larger women. I just don't get it. Enough said on this subject - like I said it's a touchy one.

RELAXATION - I would have to say that our beach vacation is one of the most relaxing vacations that we as a family take. It by far beats Disney World by a landslide...even more relaxing that cruising (in my opinion). We wake up and sit around at the pool or beach all day long. We may or may not go out to dinner. If we stay in it's pizza or an easy cook at home meal. We stay in swim suits all day long. I don't believe in going shopping while at the beach because I can shop anytime. I have all those stores right here why waste my time shopping (and I LOVE to shop)! We spend time together enjoying each other's company. We eat and drink all day long and have no worries. We have no schedule. We play it by ear. I even let Little Gal stay up way past bedtime! Why not? It's vacation! So ultimately, I do think the beach is my favorite family vacation because we are rather carefree throughout the week and there's no schedule. Being such a scheduled person I think that not having a schedule for a week is fabulous for me and the rest of my crew!

My little home-body!

Well, my little angle face finally turned 4 yesterday. It was not really how I imagined spending the day with her but it turned out to be a truly perfect day.

As she came down the stairs she was greeted with a big birthday sign and streamers. Brian and I had a very small package for her to open. My sweet sweet girl was so excited to open her gift. The best part was that she was super excited over her new underware! I am not joking. I asked her if she seriously thought this was her gift from her Dad and I! She got this HUGE smile on her face and said with a big grin "no!" We preceeded to take her outside to see her real gift. A trampoline! She was beyond excited - however, didn't want to jump right away because she had just woke up and needed to pee! But after we got that pee out that's where she wanted to spend her time.

Then she got to pick the breakfast of her choice. That breakfast ended up being several things: scrambled eggs, bacon, blueberry pancakes (with fresh blueberries), and OJ! Seems like a ton of food but she ate it and loved every bite!

The sun was shining so she decided she would like to go to the water park that we had her party at. Well, the sun didn't last long and the rain started to trickle down. I felt terrible. The one thing she wanted to do for her real birthday - we couldn't.

But, you see, I think we run around and do so many wonderful things together as a family that sometimes my dear Emma would just prefer to stay home. And that is just what we did! My daughter is truly a home-body, and I tend to forget that sometimes just staying home would be more meaningful to Emma than any big adventure. I am not sure why I think we always have to be out doing family adventures but that tends to be the way I lean! So Emma is truly a home-body and Brian and I (more me) tend to forget that she seriously can have more fun playing here at the house just spending time with us than anything in the world!

Okay - got a little side-tracked. So we stayed at home. She wanted to watch a little tv. I can't really say no because it is her day. Then she was ready to bounce and nothing - not even the rain- was going to stop her. We headed outside and bounced and bounced. We were soaking wet, but that didn't matter. We were laughing and having the best time together. We would come in and dry off play with her new play-doh for a little bit and then head back out. The rain did not stop us from enjoying a fun day together. Together - that is what is most important. It doesn't really matter what we are doing as long as we are doing it together and having a great time!

After nap, we did convince her to go out for dinner. She had been asking for crab legs all week! We went and got her her crab legs! She rushed through her dinner, didn't want dessert, just wanted to get back home to bounce some more! So you better believe it - even though it was rather late we enjoyed some more trampoline time "together!"

Twas the Night before Emma when all through the house...

Here's a picture of what I looked like 4 years ago today! I was such a lucky prego gal! I had absolutely NO sickness and I was very active all through my pregnancy (even if it doesn't look like it here!) I gained a whopping 20 pounds and didn't gain the last couple of pounds until my final week. Lucky for me I didn't crave sweets at all....I wanted watermelon! It was rather difficult finding watermelon in January!

Here was a little note I wrote upon returning home after giving birth.

I was not expecting you for another week or two…you came to us eight days early. It was 12:30 am Wednesday morning, Daddy and I had just gone to bed not an hour earlier. I got up to make a usual bathroom break…to my surprise my water had broke while I was using the bathroom. I called into your Daddy letting him know what had happened. So many thoughts went through my head. I was rather unprepared for this day! I had nothing packed and was so frightened of the whole labor and delivery process. We called the doctor he told us not to come to the hospital until contractions were stronger and closer together. If the contractions did not become closer together by 7:00 am he wanted us to come to the hospital. I thought ok, I will pack just in case because at that time I was not feeling any pain! After we got everything together for the hospital the contractions started coming on stronger and closer together. We started at 18 minutes apart, then 9, 5, 4, and 3 in a matter of two hours. It was now time to head to the hospital. Daddy said that if I wanted a shower I better get it! I went ahead and did that then we were off to Martha Jefferson Hospital. We arrived at the hospital around 4:00 am. We went straight to the delivery ward and got settled in our room. Contractions were coming very rapidly and they were beginning to become more and more painful. I came into the hospital dilated 2 centimeters. By the time we got to 4 centimeters the pain was too much for me to handle any longer. It really was the worse pain I had ever felt….unlike any other in my life! I was in back labor…very excruciating. So around 9:00 I received my epidural. The epidural itself was not very fun…but I enjoyed how it got rid of the pain of each contraction. After the epidural I had a smile on my face and felt ready to face what lied ahead. My contractions slowed down due to the epidural so I had to be put on petocin. The petocin made my blood pressure go down and your heart race faster so we had to go off of that. Finally at around 2:45, the time had arrived to begin pushing. I pushed and pushed…I didn’t think you were every going to come out! After about an hour and twenty minutes you were born into this world at 4:04 PM. I just held on tight to you and began crying. You were absolutely PERFECT! They allowed you to lay on top of me for quite sometime before they took you off to weigh you and take your measurements and do all those newborn tests!!! Your Daddy and I just stared at you once they brought you back to us!

I seriously can't believe my little angel face is going to be four tomorrow. It is amazing how quickly time does fly once having children. I never in a million years thought I could instantly love another human being the way I love this little girl! I am truly blessed!