How do you throw these away?

2/28/2010
Organizing today- One of many pictures in my office. This one, my 5 y/
o daughter made me.

"It's me and you," she said.  I hope she's still making me these pics when she's 10!

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom on Youtube

If you have little ones, you'll love this! Also, an awesome bit of entertainment from your iphone, blackberry or wireless device on the run.




Let me know if you all like this as much as my family does!!

Summer weekend beach trips...fun or foe?

When you think of the beach do you think of a cool ocean breeze, that yummy coconut smell of sunscreen, reading magazines & sand between your toes? I have been having trouble with this lately. Not that I don't love the beach, because I do and always have. If you ask my husband- he wouldn't know that. When I think of the beach lately, I think of STRESS- not stress relief.

I come home after a long work week to pack up the kids (3 1/2 & 2), dog, clothes, diapers, toys, food, loveys, bathing suits...then my clothes and stuff. My husband who is an amazing dad helps load the car, but I do all of the planning and packing. Then there are the thoughts of leaving at the right time to beat any traffic we may hit. Then unpacking our stuff...kids...dog & etc. into my husband's sister's beach house. Thank you sis for always being a wonderful hostess and even handing me a much needed marguerita upon arrival!! Then, I hope my kids will eat anything for dinner or all weekend besides bowls of chips and juice boxes. Then there is the sunscreen process the next morning before we hit the beach & the lugging of everything to the beach and making sure we haven't fogotten any of our necessary beach items. My magazine...always in the bag, but somehow never gets read. Then there is the umbrella set up and the monitoring of kids running on our towels and those towels of beach goers around us. Now there are those moments once we are there that I really do have fun playing with my kids in the sand or just even sitting and watching them be silly or in wonder of everything around them. And there are times that I can smell the coconut sunscreen and pull out my magazine. Usually, once I am all set up with my magazine, I hear "Mommy, I've got to go potty". So up through the hot sand I lug my daughter piggy back with a full bladder to the public restroom, "yuck- don't touch anything!"

After a few hours of sun and tired kids, we head back to the car to ride back to the house to get two sleepy sandy kids out of the car into the shower. Then again...fingers crossed they eat dinner in a strange place with unfamiliar foods and go to sleep soundly in an unfamiliar bed. Then on Sunday to find and pack all of the trail of things we have left to head home where I can un-pack the tired kids, worn out dog, dirty toys, sandy everything, wet bathing suits, damp clothes & did I remember my??? Where is my??? What do I have scheduled tomorrow? Uh oh...

But is all of this work worth it for a few stolen moments of relaxation on the actual beach or with family at the beach house? I think it is and couldn't imagine not giving my kids these weekends with their Aunties, Uncles and cousins, but just not every weekend of the summer. It physically drains me! Then off I have to go to work Monday in a sandy car missing my kids who I feel I didn't even get to snuggle or relax with all weekend. Is it selfish to feel this way? Is is selfish to want just stay home and relax...putter around in my garden with my kids watering behind me with there cute little cans? I just want to make plans with friends and relax at home on most weekends. Don't get me wrong- I love going to the beach and love our family- just like I love Christmas. But sometimes too much beach is like too much Christmas. I think I would much rather take a week's vacation at the beach and spend most of my weekends home. Does anyone else feel this way?

Cell phone in the lunch box!

So the other morning, I called my girlfriend Yolanda. Yolanda is really an amazing friend! She is the kind of friend that always has something wonderful to say to you when you call like, "I was just thinking about you!". You can hear the smile in her voice. She is the kind of friend that sends her friends chocolate cakes on mothers day-just because. She is also a co-worker and a busy working mom with two young kids. So back to my call...Well, no answer- all morning. Very unlike Yolanda not to pick up. So she finally calls me back laughing hysterical telling me that she lost her phone and was searching everywhere all morning. Of course, being a working mommy in sales you are pretty much just lost without your phone! It's your lifeline. She then proceeds to tell me that she gets a call from her son's school. No problem with her son, but his lunch box was ringing! Apparently, her son was playing with her phone that morning and it got packed in his lunch box!