Seven Quick Takes Friday (15)

Thanks to Jen for hosting over at conversiondiary.com.  This week is focusing on making healthy eating and lifestyle changes - gluttony be gone!  Ok, so it won't be that easy, but hopefully soon.

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I am going to focus on making some healthier choices for eating.  This means continuing to buy the healthy items at the store in the produce department but in practice means not letting them go to waste in the veggie  or fruit drawer.  Too often I let things get overripe and then throw it out.  Wasteful with food and money is not ok.  The girls need me to be a better example.  I need to put some type of fruit or veggie out with every meal as start.  I manage lunch and dinner.  Have to do better with breakfast.

-2-
Walks every night after supper will hopefully become part of our routine.  I love the fall so I feel like it is the perfect time to start this routine, although with the winter season following it here in New England, not sure how much I'll want to bundle them up every night and take a walk in the dark.  Will have to re-evaluate this at a later date to see about another option if I discontinue this practice when the snow starts flying.

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I saw somewhere (I think a new Facebook friend's post) that you should not eat in the car.  So starting today, excepting the lunches I eat with the girls after meeting hubby at his place of employment, no more eating in the car.  This is going to be a difficult one.  But one that I think will be pretty key.  I do this all too often these days.

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Kick the habit.  I told my husband on Wednesday that I should be in DDA.  Dunkin Donuts Anonymous.  HAVE TO STOP BUYING COFFEE BEFORE WORK.  Not only is all that cream, sugar and caramel in my iced coffee not helping me to lose weight, the bacon egg and cheese croissant sandwich isn't helping.  Forget it if I actually don't use the drive through and go inside.  I see some donut that I have to try and add to the order.  UGH!  PLEASE HELP!

-5-
I want to take a look at the Rosary Workout by Peggy Bowes and see if I can fit in some spirituality with some type of exercise routine.  This would be perfect since I still struggle with prayer.  A little of both could go a long way.  Not sure if I want to download the e-book or find a copy.

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Another title I want to check out is Fit For Eternal Life by Kevin Vost.  Part of the product description on Amazon.com cracks me up:  "Product Description: Is your spirit faithful but your flesh flabby? Has your Temple of the Holy Spirit begun to creak and crumble?"  My Temple of the Holy Spirit isn't very happy with me these days and could use some work!!!  Has anyone ever heard of this book?  What did you think?  May be another purchase I consider soon...

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None of this is being done out of vanity.  It is something I should have focused on long ago to become healthy and a good example.  I want to be able to enjoy time spent with my girls.  Be able to go down a slide this coming spring with Hannah, something I couldn't do with Alicia.  Be able to run around with my ladies, have fun with them when they try new things.  If I stay overweight like I am now, it will become less and less likely.  I need to remind myself of this more often and stay focused on why I'm doing this.  For me and for them.

Wondrous Wednesdays (8)



In the spirit of gratitude, I’m listing wondrous things happening in my world every week on Wednesday.  If you are a blogger and want to list what you are grateful for, feel free to do the same on your own blog every week and please be sure to link back to my blog.   If you are not a blogger, feel free to comment here on my blog with your own three wondrous things you are grateful for on Wednesday. 

(1)

We have climbing!  Yes folks, she had already climbed all the way to the second floor, so I suppose it should not have surprised me when she climbed up on her little pink chair and sat there all proud of herself.  I did manage to get it on video.

 

(2)

Had a great time at a Boston College football game this past weekend with hubby and the girls.  Boy was it humid though.  I almost regretted using the babybjorn, but Hannah fell asleep on me in there, so the sweetness of her falling asleep on me was truly wondrous.  This never happens anymore, so I enjoyed my cuddle time, even though she made me pretty sweaty.  This picture below is post game on the bus ride back to the car.

(3) 

Had a nice afternoon visit to Greely Park unexpectedly on Tuesday for lunch.  We sat at the picnic table for Alicia to eat her pb&j and to give Hannah her bottle, then walked around for a bit before heading back to the house.  I intended to go grocery shopping that afternoon, but sometimes those unexpected trips are really necessary.  I am not a very spontaneous person, but I think I am learning to be spontaneous and to enjoy it rather than to avoid the unexpected. 

Seven Quick Takes Friday (14)

Thanks to Jen at Conversion Diary for hosting.  I have no idea what I'm going to write about for my quick takes this week.  May be a complete jumble...

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Hannah, our one year old, has been saying new words like crazy.  I think I need to start writing them down.  She says the usual: mama, dada, up, down, hi, bye, dog, ball; but also some not so usual: memere, pepere, nana, nano, football, touchdown (raises her hands in the air for touchdown!), Dinosaur (dine-so), stinky (tink-ee), cookie, Alicia (lee-cia)... jeeze why can't I remember more.  The second child learns so quickly!  It's truly amazing!

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For having done no advertising other than the brochures from our parish, we had six people walk through the doors Thursday night for our parish's Coming Home to Catholicism program.  Really the best way to bring people back home is that personal invitation, so even during this time of transition at our church, our parishioners continue to take the message to heart and invite people through the brochures.  I am very interested to see what our new pastor will say next week to these people who are re-exploring their faith and thinking about coming back to the church.  These people are dealing with lots of issues, but our new priest seems personable and I hope he will be able to make a positive impact.  They have come into those doors for a reason.  I will pray that they find what they are looking for.

-3-
New TV shows this week.  I've come to realize that my TV watching has really dropped off since having children.  The only shows I really care about are Parenthood, Biggest Loser, the Mentalist (I'm actually watching while I'm writing this on Thursday night.  Ok, well sort of watching.) and Criminal Minds.  The only one I actually have been able to watch was Criminal Minds and that is only because my parent's cable includes DVR.  It's probably for the best.  I used to watch far too much TV.

-4-
Caught up with a very good friend that I hadn't spoken to in almost a year.  I missed her so much, but I knew she was having a difficult time since her two miscarriages and knew that she needed to be in touch with me in her own time, especially since I have two young children.  I'm really looking forward to figuring out a date that we can get together and meet up in person, without the girls of course.  Some things just take time and I admire her for being honest about what she can and cannot handle.  There is so much going on in both of our lives that is parallel.  Even when life is difficult and friends share similar difficulties it can be comforting to know others are experiencing the same things.  You do not wish difficulties on them, but it helps you to realize you aren't alone.

-5-
Hubby and I start teaching Theology of the Body for teens, part two, at our parish on Sunday.  The church's teaching of how our sexuality actually points us to God is so important to learn today, and not just as a teen.  I wish more people would look into it.  Whether or not these teens open their hearts to this important teaching remains to be seen.  I hope that at least it is something that if they do not embrace now, that they return to the information at a later point in life.  Just hoping to plant the seed of thought for them.  Teens today like to question authority - parents, teachers, leaders of all types really, so why not have them question what society accepts as the norm?

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A lesson that I need to learn and follow a bit more:

“You say grace before meals. All right. But I say grace before the concert and the opera, and grace before the play and pantomime, and grace before I open a book, and grace before sketching, painting, swimming, fencing, boxing, walking, playing, dancing and grace before I dip the pen in the ink.”  G.K. Chesterton

I say grace before all meals with the girls, but there are many important times that I need to incorporate prayers into my life.  Not just when eating.  I need to strengthen my relationship with God and I'll be honest with you, I try, but sometimes I just don't live it.  I have great intentions, I try to open my life to pray more to God and I start out great.  Why is it so difficult to take this time?  I need to pray more, goodness knows there is plenty I have to talk to God about.  The girls need to see me pray more.  *sigh*  I should put sticky notes everywhere... with cement glue...

-7-

Have I complained about the never ending parade of laundry?  Right now I have about four loads or so that I need to do and the past few days I think I have done about four or five loads.  There are only four of us, so why does it seem as though to keep on top of it I would have to do at least two loads of laundry a day?  That would be manageable if I could manage my time better.  But I can't.  I get pulled into those things that just eat away at your time:  getting ready for some presentation - party - class - or other event, the new changes on FB, writing a blog post here, reading other people's blogs far too late into the night.  I think I need to force myself to get better at time management.  Not sure how to accomplish that exactly.  I guess I'll just add it to the "to do " list. ;)

Have a great weekend everyone!

Wondrous Wednesdays (7)



In the spirit of gratitude, I’m listing wondrous things happening in my world every week on Wednesday.  If you are a blogger and want to list what you are grateful for, feel free to do the same on your own blog every week and please be sure to link back to my blog.   If you are not a blogger, feel free to comment here on my blog with your own three wondrous things you are grateful for on Wednesday. 

(1)

Baby girl is taking steps and has been since last week on Wednesday. What is cute is that usually she has to hold onto something. Sometimes she just starts going and then realizes she's not holding anything, stops and plops down. When she is holding something, she's really getting confident now and is going a bit faster than she should. No accidents thankfully (I probably shouldn't even write that down!). Most of my wondrous stuff has had to do with her recently, but she's learning so much. New words every day too. She seems to be talking a lot for a one year old, but maybe we just don't remember much of Alicia. Have to start writing down the words she knows.

(2)
I know I mentioned him last week, but my hubby deserves another wondrous Wednesday nod for unexpectedly walking the Jimmy Fund Walk with me and our girls. He is so good to me for just jumping right in and being willing to walk with me. It all started from the get go. The girls were cranky and crying from breakfast time, I was pulled over by a cop, then there were parking difficulties and several toddler potty trips. I don't know I will do a walk like that with young children again. It was an experience but truly it was such a beautiful day for a walk. Unfortunately we didn't even see Caroline but I heard that everyone had a good day. Have to say that I am glad that I didn't keep the 24 pound baby in the babybjorn for the whole walk either. My back hurt less than a quarter mile in and I kept her there for 2 miles. YAY umbrella strollers!

(3) 

This past Monday was four years that my mémère passed away. You're probably thinking and this is wondrous in a good way? Yes, because we are so blessed to have had 95 years (ok, so I wasn't there for ALL of them) with such a sweet, funny and spunky lady. I think about her in those last days: calling me and my hubby cuckoo; saying that he and I needed the training and not our dog; eating some of my apple pie ice cream; her saying with her cute little silly smile that she was “living it up;” and my mom sleeping nearby while I was there holding her hand in the wee hours when she breathed her last, saying way more than ten Hail Mary's in that decade because I wasn't sure how many I had already said. Love her and miss her so much. But I am so blessed and thankful for having such a beautiful example of love and life to learn from.

Seven Quick Takes Friday (13)

Thanks to Jen at Conversion Diary for hosting.  Oddly enough, tonight is the night my hubby and I are going to do a talk on social media and the new evangelization and one of my speaking points will be to avoid sarcasm (I really mean avoid sarcasm covering a serious topic).  But this post is going to be sarcastic, a bit of humor to end the week.

-1-

Do you ever look at those tamper proof seals on the bottle that read:  "Do Not Use If Seal Is Broken" and think to yourself, "Ok so once I pay for this, bring it home and open it, I shouldn't use it?" 

 -2-
Ok, I see this sign from time to time and, yes, I do know what it means.  But blind driving sounds a bit dangerous to me, don't you think?

-3-
Again I know what this sign is suppose to be getting at, but think about it - this one is just plain mean.  Let's point out the slow children!!!  Not every child is quick in body or mind.  Give them a break!

-4-
These next four are signs that I have seen along Lake Avenue and now Maple Street in Manchester, NH.  I seriously hope that immigrants and foreigners in town for a visit who do not yet fully comprehend the language can understand the sarcasm in these.  But they are good for a nice chuckle!

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And this one...

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And another one!

-7-
Just to be nice about it!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Wondrous Wednesdays (6)



In the spirit of gratitude, I’m listing wondrous things happening in my world every week on Wednesday.  It hasn't caught on yet, but it is important to me to be thankful for all of God's blessings, so I continue it whether anyone will join me or not. 

I chose to list three things because Wednesday is the third day of the week.  If you are a blogger and want to list what you are grateful for, feel free to do the same on your own blog every week and please be sure to link back to my blog.   If you are not a blogger, feel free to comment here on my blog with your own three wondrous things you are grateful for on Wednesday. 

(1)
This past weekend was our first weekend with our new priest, Fr. Joe.  Oddly enough the pastor before Fr. G was also a Fr. Joe, an older gentlemen who was very quiet and kind.  That Fr. Joe and I corresponded periodically when I went to college and beyond.  We even had dinner together a few times when I moved back to NH from Boston.  At any rate, we went to a different mass this past weekend, 6:30pm on Sunday night.  I had met Fr. Joe before when I worked at NH Catholic Charities a few years back and he looked the same with that great big smile.  It was wonderful to see that our new priest is a very animated homilist and really connected the readings for that day with the 10th anniversary of 9/11.  I look forward to hearing more homilies from him and getting to know him through the programs we are involved in at our parish.

(2)
I'm very thankful to those individuals who have contributed to my fundraising for the Jimmy Fund Walk in honor of little Caroline.  Really looking forward to it, although I have not prepared at all and have done little to no walking.  It is supposed to be a beautiful fall day on Sunday and I hope that I get the chance to say hello to Caroline with our little girls.  Now just to figure out logistics of where hubby is going to park the car and how and where we will meet up with hubby.  Oh and how I will manage 5 miles while pushing the double stroller.  But that is besides the point.

(3)
I don't think I've said this enough to my hubby but he is wondrous to me!  I am so blessed he found me!  He always lets me know how much he loves me and our girls and that we are the most important thing in his life.  He is a wonderful father and I really enjoy stealing glimpses of him playing with our girls or catching him snuggling with them watching a movie.  I also know first hand how difficult it is to go to a job that you don't enjoy and he continues to do so even though he's been there almost three years, disliking it for pretty much that long.  He is the best husband, sacrificing for me and our girls like that.  What an awesome example of Christ's love he shows us.  Sacrificial love.  Not many people out there are willing to sacrifice like that.  Most people are only look out for themselves and what is my partner doing for me, but my hubby knows that there are difficulties and sacrifices involved.  I am truly a woman richly blessed.  I shouldn't have let him wait six weeks to see this one... sorry hubby.  Love you!
 

Ten Years Later - September 11th

I can remember walking into the hotel dining area, looking over at the TV and thinking, "Here we go!  Some Hollywood type has created one of those movies that I despise, destroying one of our own landmark buildings.  What idiots these movie makers are!"  But in looking around at the other people sitting at the tables, the expressions on their faces, I took a closer look and this was a NEWS station.  My parents and I sat at a table and watched in horror.

Those of us in this generation will always remember where we were that day, just like others will always remember where they were when JFK was shot.  Ten years later, I have to wonder, are we still focusing on the things we did in the days that followed September 11, 2011:  being more loving to our family and friends, having empathy for our neighbors, giving generously to those that we do not even know?

In ten years, a lot can happen.  Much has changed in my life since that day and I'm ashamed to say, but that day probably didn't affect me as much as maybe it should have.  It was really a blessing that I didn't have any real personal connection, although at that point in my life I worked in recruiting at Harvard and worked with a few companies in those towers.  When I returned back to work I learned that my co-worker was actually on the phone with someone in the towers when the phone lines just went dead.  I can't imagine how that would have affected me.

But I think, as awful as those images are and as horrific as those stories of loss are, from time to time we ought to recall these images and stories the media has been showing the past few days, not just to honor those lost that day, but to remind us how precious life is, how quickly things can change, and that there are times where we have no control.

Take time this day to pray for those families and friends affected by the events that September morning.  Take time to reflect on that day and allow yourself to be affected again by the tragedy on our soil ten years ago.

Be more loving to family and friends - treat them with gentleness, kindness and mercy.  Be attentive and affectionate, truly listen to them. 

Have empathy for our neighbors - speak the truth with kindness and love.  Listen to them, cry with them, cheer them on in their victories. 

Give generously to those we do not even know - be generous with our gifts and if financial resources are scarce, consider volunteering, donating blood.  It doesn't have to be dollars and cents generosity. 

Because life is precious - make sure all our loved ones know how precious they are.

Because things can change so quickly - be sure to always say I love you and give friends and family a kiss every time greeting them and departing from them.  Do not let time go by holding a grudge that in the scheme of things isn't important at all.

Because there are times where we have no control - let go and let God.

It's all about faith, hope and love.

Seven Quick Takes Friday (12)

Thanks to Jen at Conversion Diary for hosting.  As usual, I should be doing other things, but here I am with my 7 for the week.

-1-
Our baby turned one on Wednesday.  Cannot believe it.  We had a few people over for cake and she had a pretty good time, although I think her older sister may have had a better time.  She was hysterical over the mess Hannah was making.  Her laugh is contagious so we were all in stitches.  Below are a few pictures of that spectacle:



-2-

Thursday night we had a REALLY good time, right before bed, playing with bells, maracas, a xylophone and drums.  Loud and crazy, but a lot of fun.  Note to self:  we must do this fun music madness more often, but maybe next time not so close to bedtime. 

-3-

Early on Thursday we DID NOT have a really good time taking pictures, but they came out quite well, surprisingly.  First of all, the one year and one day old cried every time the flash went off.  She had a late night the night before and a shot at her doctor appointment the day before, but I still found it so weird that she got so freaked out.  It finally took me leaving the room because she is so attached to me she wanted to do nothing but cling to me and cry.  She's always fine when I leave the room and she improved greatly, but still had some occasional freak outs.  Then, our three year old once again was flat out refusing to go in to take pictures.  A sudden shy streak, I suppose.  But it is frustrating when you make an appointment, gather up some cute outfits and she just refuses to cooperate.  I stayed patient all things considered.  I've put a bunch of the funniest/best pictures here:

Mama!  I'm not having a good time!

Cheese!

Ok, enough already!

You think you're so funny!

How does my hair look?

Yeah, I know it, lookin' good!

Seriously, more pictures?

Maybe I can sneak out of here?

Hmph!

Feelin' somewhat shy!

Ok, if you insist!

Whew! I think we're done!

Can we go yet?

-4-

One thing that I always forget is that babies and young children like bags and boxes more than the present itself.  This will come in handy if we do have more children.  One can only get so many toys.  Pretty soon I will have to work on rotating toys out so that some of them seem new even though they are not.  Just put another thing on my "to do" list.

-5-
Someone who has been following my blog has written some beautiful letters to her children on their birthdays and other occasions.  I only wish I had done this starting with Alicia's first birthday.  I plan on putting this into practice and may try to do a few hindsight letters for our oldest.  I have yet to compost Hannah's first birthday letter, but I will be working on it soon.  In the meantime, check out one of these such really sweet letters here.

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Been aggravated about the whole party planning thing, but I did finally get my act together, which is good since the party is on Saturday.  Because everything was so last minute with decisions on decorations and if I would do a theme, I paid more than I wanted.  I couldn't deal with trying to find the best price while running around with little children needing naps and trips to the potty.  I usually am much more organized but our life since our move has been so chaotic.  Anyway, I'm hoping we don't have too much food left over, but if we do there are food pantries and such in the area.

-7-

Our pastor left for his new assignment at the Seacoast on Tuesday.  Going to miss him and hope that our new pastor will be as inspirational.  We have teased our old pastor that we will follow him if hubby can just find a job out that way, since we don't have a home we can go where ever we want.  Probably not going to happen, but we have always wanted to live by the seacoast.  Maybe, but not likely.  But from what I've heard our new pastor will be really great too.  I'm excited to see what he brings to the community at St. K's.  This weekend we will not be at our regular mass time as we have a baptism for my cousin's daughter, but it will be great to meet him and get to see his style.  But I am sad to see Fr. G leave. There was a really nice article written by one of our parishioners.  He will definitely be missed and I'm sure he will get lots of visitors with beaches and Water Country nearby.

Wondrous Wednesdays (5)



In the spirit of gratitude, I’m going to be listing wondrous things happening in my world every week on Wednesday.  I chose to list three things because Wednesday is the third day of the week.  If you are a blogger and want to list what you are grateful for, feel free to do the same on your own blog every week and please be sure to link back to my blog.   If you are not a blogger, feel free to comment here on my blog with your own three wondrous things you are grateful for on Wednesday. 

(1)
First and foremost, today is Hannah's first birthday.  I can't believe that a year has flown by so quickly.  She is sure to be a lot of fun and get into a lot of trouble.  Very independent, feisty with a devilish look that has you smiling before you can even get mad at her.  She has been scrunching up her nose every time she smiles and her latest word is: "Dine-tor!"  Such a blessing in my life.  Happy Birthday honey bee!

(2)
Eucharistic adoration does a world of good for your relationship with Jesus.  Praise God for the true presence of Jesus, right there for us to be able to really spend time with him.  The funny thing is, as wondrous as Eucharistic adoration is, all I could think about while I was sitting there on Friday night was "Boy, I suck!"  I don't spend NEARLY enough time with Jesus, and I don't just mean at Eucharistic adoration.  How else do you get to know someone other than spending time?  I mean, if this were a marriage, Jesus would have every right to ask for a divorce, although we all know he wouldn't.  Loud and clear Jesus was telling me that I need to work on my relationship with him.  For right now, I'm going to work on "spending time" with him in the early morning before my day begins and the late night hours before going to sleep doing an examination of conscience, asking what I did that would be what Jesus would have done and where I would have fallen short.  Praise God for His mercy!  I know I don't deserve it!  I'm more mindful of this as time goes on.

(3)
Having two days off in the middle of the week is probably the best thing ever.  It's like having a second weekend!!  So glad that after a three day weekend I get another breather before going back to work on Friday.  And hubby has Wednesday off to spend time with us for Hannah's birthday!  SO glad he was able to get the day off.  I love it when we all get to spend time celebrating our loved ones joining the world.

 

Seven Quick Takes Friday (11)

Thanks Jen for hosting quick takes every week.  Go here for her quick take list - there are others there too!

-1-
This week's outrage is with two stores that I don't visit very regularly and now have very good reason not to.  So I was checking out the website for store #1 - Walgreens - when to my shock and horror I saw that they had a tab called Sexual Wellness.  So then I think, "Ok, what exactly falls under this category?"  I mouse over the tab and lo and behold - Vibrators and Adult toys.  REALLY?  On a website that I'm sure has no parental controls or any real way to stop young children from looking at these pages.  Nice!  Then I investigate further - over 100 items.  WOW!  I was disappointed and really quite shocked, I mean there's a pretty good industry devoted just to these items on their own.  A drug store needs to get into this business?  Then I thought, perhaps I should check out other stores.  I was wondering if this was a trend.  I head on over to the CVS store.  Sure enough, there's a tab that reads Sexual Health.  I take a look and there is nothing coming right out and saying Vibrators and Adult toys, however I do notice an "Enhancers" section. Well, that seems as though it could head to no where good fast, so I decide to take a look and sure enough there is a massagers and Adult toys section on their site linked for anyone to see.  Over 30 products.  Quite a bit less than Walgreens, but I was still disappointed.  CVS and Walgreens will not see my business any time soon.

-2-
This leads me to quick take #2.  So I think, ok what about Rite Aid, I bet they have gone this route too.  To my pleasant surprise, Rite Aid is NOT going the same route as CVS and Walgreens.  No tabs for "Sexual" anything, but under Health info there is a link to Reproductive Health.  So of course, I was curious to see if they put these types of items under this category. I took a look.  There are no links to any of these types of products and I definitely commend Rite Aid for not having gotten into the Adult Toy and Vibrator industry.  

-3-
Which leads me to quick take #3.  Rite Aid had some links and information on infertility on their site.  Knowing quite a few people who struggle with this issue, I was pleased to see something of this nature.  They linked to an agency called Resolve, which is fine if you want to go with the "traditional" infertility treatment course, but I was disappointed to see there was no NFP link.  But then again, they are a company that deals with the pharmaceutical companies on a regular basis.  NFP and a "natural" route may lessen Rite Aid's consumers' interest in birth control, or potentially turn them away from the drugs used for IVF.  Maybe I will send a letter to Rite Aid requesting NFP links on their site under the infertility section.  Couldn't hurt, right?  CVS and Walgreens do have some info on infertility as well, to be fair.  It just isn't right there when you first look at "reproductive health."  Probably because the heading on their respective websites is pregnancy.

-4-
Dear little Hannah is going to be one next week.  I haven't even figured out what I will be getting her for her first birthday, nor have I figured out what I will be doing for her party.  So behind on this.  I'm guessing I'm so unprepared because I am still not quite yet settled at my parents' house and also that with each successive  child, it is difficult to figure out how to make it special and different.  My only thought right now is that she loves to play with her Nemo ball.  She points and says "ba!" any time you put her on the floor in the play room.  I'll have to figure it out soon.  Her party is next weekend!

-5-
Had a really bad day Wednesday.  The kind where you cry at the drop of a hat, little things set you off, you snap at your kid because you can't take them not listening to you by the fourth time you ask them something, feeling like a horrible parent kind of day.  I was almost in tears by 10am.  I had my moments where I couldn't take it and EVERYTHING set me off.  How many times do I have to ask the kids NOT to feed the dog?  Am I not letting the girls be independent enough to do some things on their own? Ok so that last question is really for the three year old.  The girls were exhausted by the end of the day and I was just so glad to put them to bed.
-6-
On a whim, my hubby and I decided to take a trip up to York's Wild Animal Kingdom on Thursday.  He decided he needed a day off and so after I got out of work we had a picnic lunch in the back of the car followed by a ride up to York, Maine.  I am not someone who does things spontaneously very often, probably something that hubby would like me to be a bit more open to.  It was really a big splurge for us, sad to say, but I was tired of feeling like I couldn't remember when we last took a day trip as a family.  I had a really great time.  There was an elephant who played the harmonica and painted,  Alicia got a close up view...

There were lemurs, kangaroos, geese, parrots, Bengal tigers and more.  We had a good time feeding the deer, but MAN are they aggressive.  Here I am trying to fend off one that was trying to get the feed right out of the machine after I put the money in.  This deer was actually there before I even turned the knob to get the feed!!!

 Here's me with the ladies feeding some more deer...

Ever since watching Charlotte's Web, Alicia has wanted us to get her a pig.  Thankfully there were not a lot of pigs at this zoo, but there were a two that were far away and we could not feed.  Phew!  However, she did really enjoy feeding the goats.  She's sure to ask for a goat next...

What a great time we had. 

-7-
Cannot believe it is September!!!  WHAT HAPPENED to the summer!?!  I definitely need to be sure that no matter how busy things get that I don't forget to take time to enjoy time spent with my girls and hubby - even just taking the ladies to a simple place like a water park would be great.  Have a wonderful Labor Day Weekend everyone!  If you are in Northern Massachusetts, don't forget to check out the Feast of the Three Saints in Lawrence, MA.  We will be there!  I'm hoping for two things... 1.  that this year Alicia doesn't get very freaked out by all the booms.  2.  that they don't drop the wiggle worm Hannah when we hand her up to go on the float for her first time at the feast!!!