Snow way!

(My daughter is on the right, her friend is on the left )

I'm such a bad blogger. I don't know where the time goes! It's been so long since I've checked in. So here is a quick catch up...

Kids got out of school, summer started and then....

1-Daughter went to a Taylor S. concert with a friend. Sat in 2nd row/center stage, had the time of her life. Shook hands with TS. Still hasn't washed her hand. This was after her other friend picked a bunch of them up in a limo to leave school on the last day. Why take the bus if you don't have to? This kid has some fabulous friends!

2-Other daughter went on 1,123 sleepovers & to 211 pool parties. The kid was never home. She had a great summer.

3-Went on a summer getaway just a few hours away to Mystic, CT and had a ball! We had more fun than some of the tropical vacations that we've gone on, go figure.

4-Took a quick trip to NYC to the gift show. Always a good time but I must say the city smelled a little stinky this time. Not sure why but it was disturbing.

5-I worked...A lot.

6-My parents spent the summer here until hurricane Irene chased them back to Florida.

7-Instead of worrying, we spent the night before the big hurricane doing cannon balls into the pool and acting like a big bunch of kids. We were convinced that we would get blown away the next day so we tried to have one last day of fun. The weather was beautiful then the storm hit and we lost power for 4-5 days. It's a blur now. We were just fine but our neighbor's basement wall collapsed. People's houses floated away. In a word, horrifying.

8-A week later everything flooded again. Cruel weather.

9-Kids started Cheer practice in August which is when our summer fun came to a screeching halt.

10-Procrastinated on closing the pool until yesterday. The pool man finished just 10 minutes before the snow started flying here in NY. Oh joy! There goes Fall right out the window. Old man winter is BACK. We're supposed to get hit hard again tomorrow.

11-My girls are on their way to the next round of cheer competition again. They cleaned house again this year. If they make it through the next round they will go to Disney. Holy moly.


I'll do better at keeping up with blogging, I promise!

Turkeys, Duck Tape & The News

Am I the only person who is tired of the endless news reports relating to recent earth shattering developments in the world? I am burned out. I'm tired of the minute by minute updates. The speculation, the sound of the impending doom and gloom. I'm tired of the politics, the infighting, and people's opinions. I'm also quite tired of newspapers cropping Hillary out of photos because women aren't supposed to be in a position of authority in other parts of the world. I may not always agree with her politics but...damn you Photoshop.

So rather than tell you my opinion about current events, I am going to talk about something a little less serious. Me. I had a great Mother's day. Did you? Mother's day happens to be my new favorite holiday. My family really stepped it up this year. Sure Christmas was great, but Mother's day kicked it's butt. I didn't get Christmas day off like I did on Mother's day. Think about it. I was wrapping, cooking, serving and cleaning up on Christmas, but not on Mother's day my friend. No one would dare ask me to lift a finger around here on the sacred day of Mothers. Even the dogs were forced to observe this year.

The puppies are p*ssed. Can you see it in their faces?

My gift started off with my youngest daughter. She surprised me by sleeping on the couch to strategically place herself between me and my beloved dogs. They were unable to make their daily trek into my to bedroom at 5 AM to wake me up. She stopped them at the gate. No backstage passes? Access denied. So that was a huge gift. I got to sleep in. I would have been happy if Mother's day ended right there.




I was also showered with gifts and cards through out the day. I received this fabulous duck tape flower pen made by the same multi talented dog blocking daughter. I'm not sure if you are aware but there is a duck tape movement out there. You can't believe what the kids are making out of this stuff. I also received a moon shaped serving dish that my eldest bought for me with her own money that she earned babysitting. What a milestone. She's growing up so fast.



In addition, I received a beautiful Vera B. Java laptop bag (that I may have dropped a few hints about). Then I was treated to a lobster for dinner. Seriously. I was queen for the day, and it gets better.


Let's turn back the clock to Saturday morning.

I woke up at 5 AM compliments of the dogs. Later, I fell back to sleep on the couch.

Not weird.


I woke up a little while later to see a real live turkey staring at me through the window.

Weird.

Then my brother posts on face book that he's in the woods to hunting down a turkey.

Weird.

Later, I stopped by a friend's house. Her mom passed away a few months ago and she was having an estate sale. She immediately shows me her mother's turkey china that she is trying to sell.

Weird.





What's even weirder, is that I've been lusting after this particular china for years. It's not being made anymore so you have to either buy it on a china replacement website or hunt it down on evilbay or something. Either way, I was not about to invest heavily into turkey china. It's pricey and you can really only use it 1 day out of the year. I was not willing to part with my hard earned $$ to buy it. But I still wanted it. Oh I wanted that turkey china.

Back to the estate sale. My friend's mother had a service for 12 and none of her kids wanted the turkey china (go figure), so it was for sale. I stammered and stuttered and kept turning the plates over showing her the markings and saying things like "are you sure you want to sell this?" "do you know who made this?" "do you know what this is worth?" All the things you wouldn't say if you were on American Pickers or the Pawn Stars. Seriously. I blew it. I've learned nothing from those shows.

What my friend wanted for the entire set (including a huge platter) was less than what that one platter would cost you on a china replacement website. My husband took matters into his own hands and made the decision to buy the set for me, and that was that. At last, I was the proud owner of turkey china. I realize not everyone understands my obsession with turkey china. I can't explain it. There is a picture in my head of the perfect Thanksgiving table. I am there, with my family and we are eating off turkey china and life is good.


So a few years ago my family bought me this antique Noritake tea set. Another friend of mine was having an estate sale after her aunt passed. (what's with me and estate sales???) I fell in love with the set. Is it creepy you ask, having used items given to you as a Mother's day gift? Not at all. I actually feel honored to have heirlooms that were passed down through my friend's families. I'm sure there was better way to say that. It makes them more special in my opinion.

Mother's day totally recharged my batteries. Not just because I scored turkey china or a Vera bag, or that sweet pen and serving bowl, but because my family spent the day showing me they love me and appreciate all the things I do for them. They put in a lot of effort to making my day perfect. They had a plan and I love it when a plan comes together.

My plan is to continue to savor this feeling and use it to block out all of the doom and gloom that the world is throwing at me for as long as I can.

So until next time...

Calling Chuck Norris...

Everyone around here keeps blaming mother nature for the dreadfully cold weather and spring snow storms that we are having here in the great northeast. Really? I think Old Man Winter might be the culprit.

The girls finished up their competition season yesterday with a 2nd place trophy. I think the judges confused them with another squad (who accidentally took the 1st place trophy home) but at the risk of sounding like a big cry baby(too late)... 2nd place is still awesome. My girls were just a little more awesome than 2nd place. They did an outstanding job throughout the season and more often than not, took 1st place when they competed. I'm very proud and I'm also glad it's over for now. Time for a break.

Friday was the 5th grade carnival at our elementary school. The kids do such a great job on this every year. My favorite part is the raffle. The prizes that they bring in are just awesome! Last year it was a flat screen tv and about 100 other items like a brand new ds thingy, tickets to sporting events, gift certificates etc. This year the biggies were a mountain bike, a 4th generation ipod touch, loads of other fun stuff that I can't seem to remember.

We bought each of the girls $10 worth of tickets and let them enter for anything that their heart desired. Well, my oldest was all about the spa gift baskets, ipod touch, the bike...you know...all the pricey stuff. My little one decided that she couldn't live without a Chuck Norris poster. That's right. Apparently it's what her heart desired. She liked all the funny sayings on it. I'm sure you've heard them. You know, Chuck Norris ordered a Big Mac at Burger King, and got one. Don't pretend you don't get that joke. I'm pretty sure I've seen you at the drivethru.

When the time came for the drawing she had this worried look on her face like MAYBE she wasn't going to be taking Chuck home with us. Sure enough, when it came time announce the winner, my baby girl was jumping for joy. That's right. She won Chuck and it only cost me $10 for a .50 cent poster. Talk about a bargain. Sometimes you just can't put a price on happiness right?

won't this look adorable in her room?

That $50 gift card to Toy's R Us or the $250 ipod touch certainly would not have put a smile on her face like Chuck did. Gosh I'm lucky she's so easy to please. Who knew. Note to self...stop buying expensive Christmas gifts and call Chuck about slapping Old Man Winter around. We need some sun and we need it now and apparently Chuck Norris might just be the only guy who can make that happen.

I'm ready to be poolside

This picture is from last Easter. It was warm enough to be poolside. I'm ready. Is anyone else ready or is it just me? I've had it. The snow was cute at first, now it's just irritating.

There's a park at the end of our street. I saw some workers down there the other day. Being the nosey person that I am, I asked what they were up to. They told me the park is getting new wooden swing sets and it sounds like they are also considering replacing a bunch of other outdated equipment. I wonder who's paying for that? I was actually excited to hear about all of this until I realized my kids are getting too old to care about the playground. Makes me a little sad.

In other news, the girls came in 1st place at a local cheer competition the other day. They were so excited. They beat 3 other squads in their division. I was so proud! I love that they found something we can all do together and it's good exercise so that's a plus. I do get a kick out of being called "Coach" if I'm being completely honest. Hopefully this little activity will keep us all busy for the next few months until the sun decides to come back around and thaw us out of our misery here in NY!

Staying Busy

I've been stuck indoors for what feels like years here in the great northeast. It just won't stop snowing and when it's not snowing we're getting hit with an ice storm.

I decided to work on some new designs for my fine silver line of jewelry. Here are a few. I just donated this first one to a charity auction to benefit our local library. The auction is this weekend and I was thinking Valentines day is Monday so this might work for them.

My oldest daughter asked for a Claddagh ring for Christmas. I made this next necklace with her in mind. Did you know that Claddaghs are often given from a mother to her daughter? I didn't know that. I gave her the ring for Christmas with an emerald stone (which is her birthstone). She loves it. She might get this necklace soon.... (she deserves it...STRAIGHT A's and loads of great comments on her report card for this quarter)

She just got an ipod touch so the necklace may seem a little boring compared to that. I may hold off for a bit.

I made this last one for my friend who lost her bff (best furry friend) around the holidays. It happened so fast. Her dog was only 5 years old and had kidney failure. She was devastated. I felt so bad and wanted to make her something. I really like the way it turned out. Before I could get it to her she adopted a new puppy. Last I heard he was still working on mastering the art of going outside to do his business...oh the joys of puppyhood.

My kids and my job are keeping me very busy. My dogs are mad that all their balls are burried under snow banks that are so high that I won't be able to find them until June. We haven't played fetch in weeks. I am so bad. I haven't even taken the time to put away all the Christmas decorations yet. . The kids have had something like 3-4 snow days already. What have you been up to? I hope you are staying warm!

At last...

Before...

After...

Finally my new double wall oven is here and I'm loving it! Well, I love the way it looks, I have haven't had much time to use it. Now I don't need that micro on the counter anymore. More space, sleek design. Love it!

4 weeks left until the kids go back to school. They both started Pop Warner Cheerleading 2 weeks ago. The squad was short on coaches so I was asked to be an assistant coach. I think my duties are mostly to supervise the kids to make sure no one goes MIA. Oh, and I get free water bottles from the snack bar. No one has requested that I do cartwheels or splits yet so....Rah, I'm good. This volunteer stuff is cutting in to my poolside time but I guess I have to be there anyway 4 nights a week so why not help out.

Back to the oven. I did notice that it plays a little song every time you open it. That might just make me crazy. I don't need everyone here on high alert when I'm sneaking around the kitchen making myself a midnight snack. I already see that the dogs have figured this out and come running when the music starts...what the heck? Paging Pavolv. I'm going to have to find out how to shut that feature down.

I.am.clinging.to.summer....

How about you?

Nice Day for a White Wedding

If you live anywhere near NY you know what went on here yesterday. Big wedding in Rhinebeck. We don't live too far from there so the news was all a buzz with minute by minute updates on everything from the menu to the celebrity sightings.

of course I was invited, so I thought I would share a few photos from the beautiful day.

*disclaimer, I was not invited and these are not my photos.

A bride couldn't ask for better weather on her wedding day. There was no humidity, not a cloud in the sky and there was a light breeze. PERFECT! I cried when I saw her walking down the aisle.
*not really because I wasn't there, but she did look beautiful and Bill looks like he dropped a few pounds, wonder what his secret is?

This is a bird's eye view of the estate where the wedding took place. I took this as we flew over on our way to the wedding.
*I did no such thing

Some of the guests were bussed in.
*guess they didn't rate since they didn't get flown in like I did

We had our own fabulous wedding going on right here on our street yesterday. Tents, chairs and cars galore. Sadly the tour buses that brought the majority of the guests to this wedding must not have been told that this is a dead end street. There is no place to turn around. The wedding planner must have dropped the ball on that small detail. All the buses had to back out...over a mile! Now that took some time. The road was blocked for a good long time. Eventually it all worked out. We made it back here from "the wedding in Rhinebeck" (aka: dinner with friends at our favorite restaurant down the street, if you really want to get technical) just in time to hear the band playing down the road last night. It certainly was a great day for a weddings in upstate NY!

What I can't live without in the kitchen...

My husband and I are foodies and, yes it shows, but that's another story. Here are a few of my favorite things that I can't live without in the kitchen. First up is my le creuset dutch oven. We use this to make everything from slow cooked chicken to pot roast. If it gets lost, I'll be lost. We have several pieces of this brand and they are super heavy duty and they work wonderfully. I actually prefer that they be all different colors. I'm not sure why but I dont' like them being all matchy matchy.

My potato masher. Kind of boring, I know, but there's nothing like home made mashed potatoes. No instant stuff served here. It also comes in handy for making egg salad. I use this so often that sometimes it doesn't even make it through the dishwasher before I'm looking for it again. I'm putting this on the list just because I use it so frequently.




My sun tea maker/dispenser. I make a fresh batch of sun tea every other day. I've been mixing my tea with lemonade. There's a name for this drink...do you know what it is? Think golf. By the way I gave up diet coke. Cold turkey. I'm all about the tea now. I hope it's better for me.




My grind and brew. Need I say more. This baby does it all every day without fail.




And here is the one thing I HAVE been doing without that is about to be replaced...
My Jenn Air double wall oven. We had a power surge recently that took out this bad boy along with a few other precious appliances. After a month or two of repair men trying to fix it, we have finally gotten word that a new oven is the only remedy. Wish they would have told me that the first three times they came out to fix it. They tried their best. The end result is that we're getting a brandy new wall oven so I guess I shouldn't be complaining. I'm just tired of waiting for it to be fixed. I'm glad we have the gas grill. Things could be so much worse.



So those are a few of my favorites kichen things that I can't live without. What's in your kitchen that you can't live without?

Summer Fun

This summer seems to be flying by! I can't believe we are heading for the end of July.

My parents are here from FL in their RV and my girls have been taking turns camping with them. They call it camping. With indoor plumbing, cable TV and Internet I guess it's not really camping but close enough. They're having a ball.

We had a little graduation party for my oldest earlier this month. She graduated from elementary school. Family & friends came over for a BBQ pool party. Good times!

My sister in law kicking back by the pool...

It's been hot hot hot here in the great Northeast so the pool heater is off and the air conditioner is on. The pool is getting lots of use.

Here's a rare appearance by the husband! Catching up with with his dad and his sister and some friends....

My oldest has been babysitting (mommy's helper) for a neighbor and she is loving it. They are paying her way too much money but It's not my call (I'm told!). She's putting most of it in the bank and is enjoying going on little shopping trips with her 'funny money'. She loves to buy books so I don't really have a problem with her spending it.

So far this summer has been a blast. I just hope it slows down a bit because I'm not ready for it to be over. Right now I'm taking tours of local dog kennels in the event that we want to go on quick get away. I'm not sure if I want to board the pooches or just have someone stay here with them. Decisions decisions. The kennel that I like is an hour from here. I think if we were going away for a few weeks it would be worth it to take my pooches there. The owner LOVES, breeds and shows goldens so I just get the feeling that if you board a golden with her they will get a little extra love! Truth is I've never boarded them in the 3 years that I've had them. Typically someone stays here with them but I thought this might be easier. Who knows.

So tell me what you are up to this summer? What do you do with your pooch when you leave town? I think my dogs might like a little get away so I'm leaning towards boarding them...

GIVEAWAY

My friend Gwen at Handbag Obsessed is giving away a $70 gift card that's good at any of the 200+ CSN stores. Hurry over and enter!

Upcoming CSN Review

CSN Stores has asked me to do a review of one of their products. I can't wait! Coincidentally I've been checking out their selection of dining room tables and chairs. I can't believe how many they offer.

This picture is very close to what I'm looking for. I want a leather seat with a fabric back, but the fabric shown doesn't match my decor. I absolutely love the rustic style of the table. It expands which is great because while we are a family of only 4, we do a lot of entertaining. It's nice to be able to adjust the size of the table accordingly. The set I have now is just not cutting it. The chairs aren't that comfortable. If I can't find the fabric that I want on the back of the chair I might look into reupholstering the chairs shown in the photo. That should cost too much right? ;)

Anyway, I'll be posting the review of whatever product I pick soon.

Hair Today, Middle School Tomorrow

For as long as I remember I've been fighting with my daughter to get her hair cut. It was getting to be an everyday *discussion*. She insisted that she wanted to wait until after 5th grade graduation. I was counting down the days.

A few days before the her graduation she shocked me by asking if I would take her to get it chopped off. I called her best friend's mom who is a hair stylist. She told me to bring her right over. When I got there the mom measured out her Madison's hair and told her that it was finally long enough. Huh? Finally long enough for what? Turns out the entire time Madison had been growing out her hair out so she could donate it to locks of love. She never told me.

I am so proud of her.

Madison's hair before


Madison's hair after!



5th Grade Graduation. I LOVE HER NEW STYLE and I'm so proud of her.

We've had a busy week. We went on her 5th grade field trip to 6 flags. What a blast that was. It's not often that the two of us get to go off on our own. I like to have one on one time with each of my kids, but it doesn't always happen. Perfect day.

Everyday this week there has been a fun activity to wind down the school year, ending with her graduation on Thursday. After school was officially over and graduation was done, we met some other parents and kids from her class at a local park and spent the day swimming and playing kick ball. What a fun fun week this has been. I'm so thankful my kids go to a great school and the parents are so much fun to be around.

Now I'm the mom of a middle schooler. I'll need some time for that one to sink in...

SITC 1...too soapy?

So I mentioned that I'm a little behind on watching movies. Sex in the city 2 is out and I can't see it until I watch the first one. Netflix to the rescue.

I watched it this weekend. Hmm....did anyone notice that this seems to have been filmed like a soap opera? Seriously, I felt like I was watching General Hospital. I was really disappointed. I'm not sure why I found it so distracting. It seemed to bounce back and forth between filming styles. Did anyone else notice this or is it just me? For those of you who have already seen "2" is it soapy style too? I hope not!

BTW we did take the kids to Shrek 3 at the theater. It wasn't playing at my favorite small venue so we took them to the mall. They loved it. $53 for tickets, $12 for candy, thank goodness for Netflix.

Party of 7

I'm not a big fan of sleepovers. They shouldn't be called sleepovers because the kids really don't sleep. My daughter turned 11 last week. She wanted to have a sleepover with 5 girls. That makes 7 when you add my two in. 7 seems like a lot, but I eventually I came to the conclusion that this wouldn't be the end of the world. She picked 5 girls who are all pretty easy going, all know each other and all seem to get along. Perfect.

The kids had Friday off from school so I decided Thursday would be a good night to do this. That way the kids would have a few days to recover. I didn't realize that the kids would be watching their "maturity" video Thursday in school at the end of the day. The principal plans it this way so that the kids hopefully forget all about it by the time they come back after Memorial day. Lucky for me I got to field all the sex ed questions as soon as they all piled off the bus. Oh the parents had a big laugh over that one. Poor planning on my part. I watched the video a few weeks ago so I was not surprised by the questions, comments and new vocabulary flying around. It was interesting.

Party of 7

they went swimming

towels for everyone

we ate pizza, went out by the fire and made Smores...

...then came the girl talk

personalized pillows for every girl (to fight with of course). Pillow fights are required at sleep overs.

Most of the girls stayed the next day and went swimming. The sleep over only lasted 26 hours and 46 minutes but who's counting? (I'm kidding, it was fun!)

We had a BBQ/pool party on Sunday with my brothers & family. Great weather and a really action packed fun filled weekend. What did you do?