We're Moving to McDonald's!

Tonight, as a treat (and because the girls and I were on our own for dinner) I took them to McDonald's. In effort to get them to leave the daycare center with little dilly-dallying, I told them we where we were going. That worked. They sprinted down the hallway yelling, "McDonald's! We're going to McDonald's!" I had to keep reminding them as we progressed from the door to the car, but we finally made it to our final destination.

It was a jolly good time. I even "splurged" and got two movies from the Redbox (one for them and one for me and we're saving them for tomorrow).

Zoe then says, "Mom, I want to go back to McDonald's. I want to live there."

Me: Live there?

Zoe: Yeah, live there. You always say you hate living here.

Me: Um, no....I don't.

Zoe: Oh. So we can we?

Me: No

Zoe: Why not?

Me: I like it here - a lot better than McDonalds.

Zoe: I'll give you a kiss if you let me let me...


Zoe was disappointed. I guess from a kids' view living at McDonald's would be a great time. French fries, kids' cones, games...it meets the basic requirements of Maslow's hierarchy of needs.

A majority of parents find it's hard to tell their kids no. This particular situation wasn't one of those cases. (No offense, Ronald McDonald! Sometimes you just have to put your foot down! Don't worry though, we'll be back- but just to visit!)

Happy Easter!?!?

We made snow angels. We ice skated, skied, and went sledding! We did just about everything you can do in this cold weather. Ok, so the snow didn't pack well enough to make a snowman-it does take SPECIAL snow, you know. I can give that up. Everyone in Ohio is whining and complaining about the bad weather and how they're ready for spring. Just for the record, I'm one of them!

Today we celebrated Easter with family and as we sat around the table with all the extensions so it could hold all the platters of food we gorged upon, (seriously, we could have charged money for a buffet, complete with 2 meats, 5 different kinds of desserts, and tons more to fill in the cracks like casseroles and salads and potatoes) anyhow....we look out and it's snowing. I'm the type of person who dreams of snow at Christmas. It's just not complete if there's no snow. But Easter???? Ummmmm...no, thank you! It doesn't matter that Easter is early this year and we won't have another Easter this early for another two hundred something odd years. Whoopdy-do! Who cares? (How many of those emails did you get?) The point is...there is not to be snow on Easter.....unless I'm in Florida for spring break! Then I think it's like poetic justice.

On a happier note, the girls had a great day! We started off with waking up to Easter Bunny baskets. Zoe exclaimed, "Mommy, that was so nice of the Easter Bunny!" Then we waited to open up their to gifts from Mommy and Daddy until Daddy got home from his 12 mile jog.





We hustled everyone through breakfast so we could make it to the church in time for the Easter egg hunt where Zoe found the PRIZE egg in her age group (in the play kitchen microwave-the hunt was held indoors due to the weather - see above!) Sammy enjoyed the candy immensely! They both were sporting WWJD? rings. The girls went to Sunday School while we attended church.






Off we went back home and none of us remembered letting the dog out before church so we let her out and loaded up the car. Off to Grammy and Papa's house for the day! Talked to Grandma on the phone on the way there. Tried to call Grandma in FL. The girls had fun playing with their cousins and eating chocolate eggs and bunnies and Easter cookies like there was no tomorrow. I kept waiting for one of them to throw up. We lucked out, but Zoe lost her Disney princess doll from the Easter Bunny somewhere at their house and we had to leave without it. She slept on the way home, but woke up upon arrival and she was overwrought. When she gets overly tired, she twists her hair around her finger and Robert brought her to the kitchen grabbing for a scissors to cut her hair off from her finger. It was purple on the tip and he was worried....understandably so....however, her fingers were only purple from the egg dyeing we did that afternoon at Grammy's house! The whole thing freaked her out and she was crying about how much her finger hurt, but she was really fine. It didn't even leave a mark! Robert thought of putting her blanket in the dryer and that seemed to help because it was extra warm and snuggly. Sammy, on the other hand, was awake all the way home and sang "Happy Birthday" and kept saying "Cheese" while she pretended to get her picture taken. That was a riot. I thought maybe I would be able to just put her straight to bed, but she asked ever so sweetly, "Book?" so we picked one off the floor and read it. Then she put her forehead to mine and looked right into my eyes and started jabbering, which made me laugh (not exactly what you're supposed to do when your trying to calm your kids down for bed) but it didn't matter. I kissed her goodnight, put her down and she didn't cry or fuss. I always say a little prayer of thanks up whenever this happens, because I truly am grateful. It's so much easier this way!

It was a good day. A great day to see everyone. Lots of laughter and catching up. All in all, it was a day of celebration and joy!

Frozen in Grand Central Station

This so bizarre that it's fascinating....very artsy!

(Later)

After I posted this, I felt like I had to research this a little bit...so here's the official website. This is completely organized and they call themselves "agents" on "missions"- Here's the link in case you want to learn more! I wonder if I should start a group in Ohio? LOL

The Bucket List

Just came home from watching "The Bucket List" and can say that I highly recommend it. It is a spiritual experience. Much to learn. So what have I learned? I learned about "Egyptian Heaven." According to the movie, all Egyptians are asked two questions: Did you find joy in your life? Did you bring joy to others? Pretty deep, huh? It's hard to speak for others, but I'd like to believe that the answers are yes. I'm still pondering these questions, plus I'm thinking of what I'd put on my own personal "Bucket List".

When I came home, I found my Zoe, my pirate princess (in my mind, she can't decide between being the two!) waiting up in bed for me. I tackled her with a big bear hug and whispered into her ear how much I loved her and how special she is to me. She whispered back, "I love you too." It's funny how these four little words can move you to tears. Tears of joy. Upon checking on Sammy, I found her curled up in a ball with all her stuffed animals thrown on the floor and the blankets kicked off, I re-tucked her back in and sneaked out before waking her up....precious, precious baby girls.

It's a good time to sing along to "Blessed" by Martina McBride. I feel so blessed. Now I have to chase down Mr. Heather in his "Man Cave" (the basement) and tell him too because he doesn't hear it enough.

And before bed, I'll make sure I lift up an extra prayer of thanks....there's lots of joy under this little roof. God Bless!

I Just Searched through the Toy Box Looking for Something to Wear Tonight!

Tonight some friends from work are going out for dinner and a movie (The Bucket List). So I picked out my green sweater, but couldn't find the pretty scarf my grandma made that I always wear with it. Of course, the girls love to play dress-up with it and thus, the search in the toy box began! Unfortunately, I have to report that my search was fruitless and now I have to decide whether to change or wear the sweater w/o it! At least I found my shoes! That's an accessory most people notice right away if missing! All I know is that this wouldn't have happened four and half years ago, but I wouldn't change a thing! Hope this makes you smile! :)

"Got Me a Ticket for an Aeroplane"

It's official! Jack, Bonnie, and I are going to Europe! The three of us have our plane tickets for London! Plus, thanks to Jack's website sleuthing we were able to obtain a GREAT deal from kayak.com! Robert is waiting because he needs a connector flight to Switzerland, so he's still on the look-out! Hopefully, he'll get his soon!

A month ago, all four of us sat down and watched some travel videos on London and Paris. We mapped out parts of our trip. The guys are excited about Normandy. The gals are excited about going to Monet's garden! We are also hoping to get tickets to "Wicked" in London. Rev. Bryan suggested it on his blog and I've been wanting to see it! If you have any traveling advice or places to see, let me know!

7-11 Club, are we still meeting on the Eiffel Tower? I think we're going to London, Paris, and then Rome/Venice???? We're still in the planning stages!

Au revoir!

Egg on My Face

Literally!

It's my newest beauty secret and it works!

(Note: If you try this at home, do not use the yolk!)

My Book Reviews & Then Some!

I am such a sucker for the latest self-help book! Yesterday, due to the fact that school was canceled I was able to zip around town and run some errands-this was my reward for spending the morning cleaning and doing FlyLady's Weekly Home Blessing - if you haven't checked out her website, I strongly recommend it! I do what I can do and don't worry about the rest! Anyhow, one of my "chores" was to hit the treadmill-this in line with FlyLady and with my "Couch to 5K" Plan. I am finishing Week 4. Anyhow, I timed it so I would be able to watch Dr.Phil while I worked out. I turn up the TV and also enable Closed Captioning. I love watching TV with Closed Captioning-another multi-tasking trick of mine. I can read one thing and listen to another. Amazing, I know. Maybe I can get on Letterman.

So, watching Dr.Phil reminds me that I really wanted to read Robin McGraw's book, "Inside My Heart: Choosing to Live with Passion and Purpose." Since I didn't have school and the kids did, I added the library to my to-do list. I'm also reading Suze Orman's book "Women & Money" which I downloaded from Oprah's website. This is taking me longer to get through because it requires a more thorough reflection on my part. It fascinates me that so many of the same ideas overlap. But I get ahead of myself....first, my two favorite quotes from Robin:

"It was then that I realized that loving your family and neglecting yourself are not the same thing; that in fact, if a woman truly loves her family, she must not and will not neglect herself." page 109

AND

"I believe a woman who takes care of herself is being a good wife and mother, because she's increasing her chances of staying alive and healthy to take care of the people she loves." page 120

Suze's book spends the first five chapters examining women's perceptions about money. In Chapter 5, she digs into the real issues of what every woman needs to be wealthy-emotionally wealthy. This was, by far, and so far, my favorite chapter. She gives 8 qualities that all "wealthy" women possess. The first two are harmony and balance. Her definitions:

"Harmony is an agreement in feeling, approach, and sympathy. It is the pleasing interaction between what you think, feel,
say, and do.

Balance is a state of emotional and rational stability in which
you are calm and able to make sound decisions and judgments."

She goes into detail that if you believe something then your actions should follow your thoughts, and vice versa. What's interesting about this, is that recently my grandmother sent me a letter saying that people judge others actions, not intentions. I'm getting broadsided by everyone! But here's the deal. I can be a super-teacher, or a super-mom, or a super-wife, but I have a hard time being all three simultaneously. I also know that my thoughts and actions don't match each other and therefore cause a great deal of frustration and irritation with myself. So....I've been working to remedy that. Last week, I exercised 6 out of 7 days of the week, just 30 minutes a day. This weekend, I also organized letters and packages to be mailed. Those have been two sore points that have been inconsistent in the thoughts/beliefs/actions categories. So I am making progress! My biggest weakness is food. I KNOW that eating half a box of Thin Mint Girl Scout cookies is NOT in line with my plan, but I can't resist! (At least they're gone now!)

Another thought is in regards to cleaning. Yes, I know I said I was terrible at it, but the bottom line is that I do it anyway. I swear by the new Scrubbing Bubbles Action Cleaner (click for coupon) for the bathtub. That thing kicks ***! I do love it when my house is clean, but when I'm done cleaning, I'm not only happy with my accomplishment, but because I've done the right thing. I mean, we have a dog that drags mud in the house, we have two kids who make messes everywhere they turn, and then, of course, me! I don't want to feel embarrassed when friends or family drop in unexpectedly. I don't want to have to look at clutter attacking me from every corner in my house. I am more at peace with myself and my life when things are picked up and put away. Every time I clean my fridge from top to bottom, I shoot an email to my friend Bonnie whose house is immaculate! She's always so proud of me! On the other hand, with 2 kids and a dog, and just plain living I don't always want to stress about being such a neat freak. For instance, I've long given up on washing the patio windows on a regular basis. It is smeared with fingerprints and dog-nose prints and won't be washed off until Easter. (OK, now that I wrote this, you know I'll have to do it tomorrow!)

Another thought to add to this is that I recently read in the paper where a woman wrote about how she was on her second marriage. Her first marriage, according to her, didn't work about because she was so concerned about being a liberated woman that she rarely did anything to help out around the home. In her second marriage, she choose to show her affection and respect for her spouse by helping take care of him and the house. Mr. Heather (I'm feeling pretty liberated right now!) comes home from work just as tired as I do and we work very hard to share home and family responsibilities. I would like to help him cook more, but he's a chef who doesn't like to share the kitchen! So I'm working on that! However, I'll tell you one of our cooking secrets! That's helped us out tremendously!

Finally, for the record, everyone has the same amount of time, there are only 24 hours in a day. Isn't it interesting how people choose to make use of their time? Some people have asked me how can I possibly have time to blog, but in Time (no pun intended!) magazine they cited that the average American watched 2.6 hours of TV a DAY! I watch 30 minutes and that's when I'm on the treadmill! So there you have it! *smile*

I've been working on this post for a least a week now. Guess it's time to throw it out there!


We all just do the best we can, but if anyone has any advice on how to be more effective and efficient-I'm always open to suggestions!

A Trip to the Pharmacy with a 4 Year Old...

Zoe wanted to go to the pharmacy with Daddy to pick up Sammy's meds. I wish I could've been there....no, actually, it's funnier that I WASN'T there! The people working enjoyed her antics and heard EVERY word she said! Hubby's stories from the trip:


Pharmacist: Are you Samantha?

Zoe: No, I'm ZOE!



(A Little Later)

Zoe announces loudly: "I'm tired of waiting!"


(Later Still)

Zoe: Daddy, it smells like poop in here.

I didn't do it.


And the kicker.....


Pointing to the condoms on the near by display, she asks: What are those people doing?

Daddy: They're kissing.

Zoe: Who are they?

Daddy: Mommies and Daddies

Zoe: What are they doing on those boxes?

Daddy: Ask the pharmacist.