My Newest Adventure!

At the age of 31, I have set so many goals, that I think I possibly have a World Record right there. How many have I actually met? Not a lot. This is time for a change and I'm turning over a new leaf and ready to get into the best shape of my life, while helping others in the process!  One of my goals for this year is to run a race of some sort. I was thinking somewhere along the lines of a 5K, but my mother had a different idea all together and before I knew it, she was talking Chicago Marathon! That's 26.2 MILES?! 

Well as of today, it's official and I have received all of my confirmations that I am in fact going to be running the Chicago Marathon on October 9th of this year! I hope you will follow me on this wonderous adventure as I post the highs and lows of my training and maybe if you are in the area, you can grab some grass and cheer me on! If you are too far, would you consider helping me towards my $2000.00 goal? I'm ready to take on this challenge and I have now set 2 goals; to raise 2000.00 and then to run the marathon! Help me by CLICKING HERE !

Update 1 HERE!
Update 2 HERE!

Less than a month away and I am terrified that I am not ready, but I promise to give it my all. I just want to finish, I don't care about time, I care that I try and that I complete what I started.

Garden Tuesday!

We are starting to see a lot of sprouts!!! The kids are so excited!!!

With Summer started for 2 of my 3 kids, these plants are seeing a lot of water! haha!! I love how fragrant they are and how much they get the kids to ask so many questions and just sit and observe!

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Up in a Minute!

 

With the end of the school year upon us, we are getting a lot of artwork coming home! I know I want to definitely keep some in their grade folders, but there are some that are just too bulky and such. I quickly grabbed some rope and baby clothespins and within 5 minutes had art lines in all of their rooms! I told the little ones straight away that in order to pin up new artwork, they had to take down something old. So far it's been working fabulously!

Happy Memorial Day!

Hope you had a nice Holiday Weekend!! We spent it shopping, cleaning out the pool and grilling out! What did you do?

Family Faith On The Go!

I hope you all are having a Blessed Sunday! As we head to Mass, I sit and reflect on how truly Blessed and lucky I am. I have 3 amazing children and a husband who is the best friend and partner I could ever ask for. Sometimes I get so caught up in wants and desires that I don't take the time to truly be thankful for all I have. This past week, I was lucky enough to join my daughter's school on their field trip to Marytown, I knew this was going to be a very important trip and brought my 2 younger sons with us. It was a wonderful day full of reflection and prayer.

In the gift shop, I stumbled across this magazine Take Out Family Faith on the Go.  This magazine is all about the Catholic Family. It's the perfect size for busy families and hits right on the mark with it's articles and fun crafts. I am definitely taking the time this coming week to order our family a subscription! The kids loved leafing through it with me and my husband liked some of the tips in this issue for bringing couples together, when their lives are so child-centric! 

As Father's Day nears, we have been out shopping for what to get my dad. As I have mentioned before, he is one of my best friends and is someone that holds a special place in my heart. We are a lot alike and he's a man that always looks out for us. He is an amazing man that has take my husband into our family and made him feel like his son. They have a relationship that makes me smile and they can often be found at Hobby shops and car shows. My father is one of the best men I know and I want to get him something that let's him know that! Geez, now what do I get him? hahah!

My parents have been working on the backyard lately with gardens, a new patio, furniture, playground etc. and I had a couple ideas on what to get them for their 'grand reveal'! One of the items was a swing, I brought my number 1 tester with me to try out the swings and see what he likes! I didn't expect him to want to sleep in one though! I told him in the future he could fool me if he didn't smile when he pretended to sleep!! 


How is your weekend going?

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Roman Reviews...Chocolate Milk Straws!

While running errands in Target, my youngest ask for some chocolate milk to take home, little did I know that this would be harder to find than a treasure chest! Our Target is going SUPER and is in the middle of a huge remodel that NO ONE, not even the employees can keep track of where stuff has been moved to. Some of it has been removed all together for the time being as well.  As we were about to give up,  he reached out and found MAGIC MILK STRAWS in Chocolate. for 1.50 they were in the cart, if they helped me stop running around!

The minute we walked in the door, he poured himself a glass of milk (I keep a small pitcher in the fridge of milk so that the kids can help themselves when they have a hankering for some) and inserted his straw! The verdict? CHOCO MIL! He was thrilled and happily slurped away...until he reached halfway through his glass and there was NO MORE! We rated them a C+. They were GREAT for flavor, but you easily need 2 just to drink a small cup of milk that is kids sized.

They come in a variety of flavors that we will still give a fair try to and see if we have the same thoughts with those! Have you tried these? What did you think?

DIY Sidewalk Chalk!

WOW! This weather has been crazy lately with all the storms! Our glorious sunshine took a nap today and then left us with nothing by gloom and wind this afternoon. It put my son in a not-so-happy mood when he ran right for the back door and knew there was no way he could play in the water table! I put my thinking cap on and we went straight to work! Sidewalk Chalk!

We gathered up our goodies so that we had everything we needed at the ready!

1. Plaster of Paris 

2. Food Coloring

3. Cold Water

4. Cups

5. Candy Molds

We mixed 2 parts plaster of paris with 1 cup ice cold water into a plastic cup (This way there was no washing up to do!) and then a couple squirts of food coloring into each cup. Using a plastic spoon we mixes until it was smooth and almost felt a little thicker than pancake batter.

Next, we poured it into the molds and cleaned up the edges with a cotton swab. We let it sit while we went out to do the afternoon school pick ups and errands and the little guy took a nap!! This let it sit for a total of 3 hours. By the time we got home, they fell right out of the molds when we turned them over.

We used Race Car, Heart and Pinwheel molds, which I love. We also used pastel food coloring, which just wasn't bold enough for sidewalk chalk, but all I had on hand at the moment, so I will definitely look into trying a different set of colors next time!!

**This week Michaels has the Wilton Candy Molds on Sale buy 2 get 1 free! It's the perfect time to stock up! Don't forget to use your 40% off coupon on the Plaster of Paris too!!!**




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Organizing Spelling Words!

When my daughter started kindergarten at the beginning of the year, she started coming home with spelling words daily that she needed to be tested on the next day. I started out saving the words and tests and realized that this could quickly get out of hand! I decided to put the words into a binder on looseleaf paper with divider tabs inside. This way every single word she learned would go inside along with any words that the kids asked for help spelling. This has become a great go to guide when learning how to spell a word.

As each word comes in, I write it in as my daughter or son spells it to me from their list of words and in it goes! If we are working on writing letters to family, and they need help spelling a word, we get out the Spelling Word dictionary and flip to the first letter and then I write it in as they sound it out. It is a longer process than just telling them, but I feel that they are learning a bit.

We also keep track of the definitions on a separate sheet of paper in the binder! This now keeps everything together for us to look up in the future and helps with the memorizing of words.

I also put her daily words on card stock and a binder ring so that she can flip through them after school whenever she needs a refresher and also in the car ride on the way to school! This has been the greatest help to her. It's not a waste of paper, as we only use paper from our scrap bin!

I purchased the 100 Words books at the beginning of the school year (Grades 1-3), just to see how well she was staying on target and at the end of Kindergarten, she has worked her way all the way through the 2nd grade book and about 60% of the 3rd grade one! I love these books as they have fun activities inside and also have lists of words, to just go through as a quick review. I keep these books in the front pocket of the binder.

Share what works for you with school papers!

Wordless Wednesday....Moments I Love!

What Makes Me High On Life?

The little moments that stay with me forever, the minutes in life that make my heart smile.

The captured images that take me right back in time, to when I was a Princess who married her Prince in a real fairytale land!

My family inspires me today, tomorrow and always...

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A New Award!

Wow, how lucky am I? I've been given a new award from Monster Round-Up! Thank you so much for this!! I love knowing that there are people reading and loving my blog! That's why I love hearing your comments, it makes me realize that you like what you see!! I also love to discover new blogs from people that comment on mine. Thank you so much everyone!

Here are the official rules:

• Thank the person who gave you the award and link back to them in your post.
• Tell your readers seven (7) things about you.
• Give this award to fifteen (15) (7) Seven (I am cutting this down so I can finish it today!) recently discovered bloggers.
• Contact those bloggers and let them in on the exciting news.

7 Random Things About Me:

1. I used to work for the Walt Disney Company
2. My father is truly one of my best friends
3. I love sushi, but dislike fish
4. Pink and Yellow are my favorite colors
5. My daughter's middle name (Verona) is from the city in Romeo and Juliet. I just wish I had made it her first name instead of her middle.
6. I like iced coffee, but not hot coffee
7. I would love 3 more kids!

7 Blogs I Pass This Award To:

Each of these blogs I happened to come upon in random ways and I love them all, they hold a deep connection with stuff that I like and I find myself popping in to read them daily! Please drop in on them and give them a follow too!

1. Honey Bee Books
2. Adventures at Home
3. Delivering Grace
4. Fun Mama
5. Moms for Xanax
6. Wonderfully Crazy
7. You'll Thank Me One Day

Thank you once again!! It's been wonderful blogging with you! 

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End of the Year Fun!

In yesterday's post, you saw that we made these fantastic crayons as our Rainy Day Craft. I actually had a reason for starting these up and we had the perfect plan ahead of us. We were going to start our good bye bags for the 2 big kids classmates.

Recently, I came across a blog posting where they shrunk down their bucket list to give as an end of the year gift to classmates and I LOVED THIS! A rainy day was the perfect time to get started! We put in a tiny magnifying glass (Hobby Lobby for .12 each), Sidewalk Chalk, Crayon and Bubble Wand! We are waiting on Water Park Coupons and Directions on how to make a fun Bubble Solution.

Next, I chopped up our bucket list into many different sections and everyone got a small portion of it that I then stuck to the front of the Ziploc bag! I can't wait to give these out! My 2 big kids had a blast getting them ready for their friends.

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5 a Day Book Project! Week 3

Wow, another week has passed already? I totally cannot believe it, but we are doing wonderful with the 5 a Day  Project! We are now in week 3 and everyone is getting very excited to help pick out the new books each time.  

Today, we ended up with more books than we needed and actually had to put some away. Want to read more about the 5 a day project? CLICK HERE! This week we went with a fun animal theme, since we are planning on hitting up the Zoo over the weekend. 

If You Give a Moose a Muffin and If You Take a Mouse to School are 2 of our favorite Mouse books! These are books by the author that wrote If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, which was a favorite of both my husband and I as children. It's always wonderful to be able to share something from our past with our children.

Next up, are 2 books that have recently entered our library and always stay on my sons nightstand. While Mouse and Llama share his bed!!
Llama Llama Red Pajama and Llama Llama Mad at Mama are so fun to read and always share quite a lesson, that I find them a Mommy favorite too!!

Finally, is TRUCK DUCK. This is a book that Nana brought to my littlest guy and he quickly fell in love with it. It's easy to read and is also a quick flip to get through. I definitely think that by the end of the week, we all will be able to recite this book with enthusiasm!

Our newest addition to this week is that we will now do a book report for each book at the end of the week. This will help their memory AND boost their writing skills along with some spelling too. I showed them the pages this evening at storytime and they are so excited, they wanted to fill it out tonight! 
Share a link to your 5 books in the comments!


Week 1 and 2 can be found here!!

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