'Moms' that have influenced me...

The ladies over at 5 Minutes for Mom are throwing an awesome Mother's Day giveaway! After reading about it, I decided to take the time to find a photo and submit if for the contest. The photo I chose to submit is pictured above, yet all the photos display what I think motherhood is all about!

Luckily, before I became a mother myself, I was fortunate enough to have wonderful women in my life that portray(ed) the greatest mothering qualities. I am going to spend some time on this post and write about these great women and their extraordinary influence! This will probably be my longest blog post EVER just because I have so many great things to say.

My own mother; the most selfless person I have ever known. This woman will literally bend over backwards for her children, grandchildren, and any other person for that matter. Yet, she stands her ground in the discipline and life lesson chapters of mothering. Looking back on all of the rules that I thought were too strict or silly, I now completely understand! She is big on traditions and they have come to mean so much to our entire family. So many of my wonderful childhood memories revolve around traditions that my mom worked so very hard to maintain. A mother myself, I constantly look to her for advice and compassion. She is my best friend...a person that I can always depend on...no matter what! She is a mother of 3, grandmother of 4.

My grandma Fran;Full of life and full of spunk. This woman was hilarious! She always made life fun. She told it like it was and because of that...I learned many lessons! She was a mother of 3, grandmother of 8.

My older sister Lori; When I gave birth to LJ and LK my older sister had already been a mother for 7 years. I learned alot from her and also by helping out w/my nephews. I love the fact that she can just have fun w/her kids and let go of worries that sometimes hold moms back. She is a compassionate and fun mother of 2 wild and crazy boys that absolutely adore her!!

My sister-in-law Kristi; She does more in one hour than I can get done in a week!! She has exposed her children to so many great things in the world. She is so kindhearted and giving. We are constantly getting care packages in the mail. The generosity is amazing. She is an excellent communicator and really talks things through w/her children. She is a mom of two adorable and silly little girls, plus one baby boy!

My late mother-in-law Paula; One of the greatest women I have ever known. Every day I get a broken heart knowing that my children will never meet her. Like my own mother, she was extremely selfless and giving of herself. She was also one of the greatest cooks and housekeepers ever! She lost the battle w/ Pancreatic Cancer 3 years ago in June. We miss and love you Grammy. She is a mom of two, grandma of 5.

Many other great women are in my life that are wonderful mothers and I wish I could find the words and the time to spotlight you all. Thanks to all of the great moms' that I know and thank you for your influence!

Kicks and giggles...

LJ and LK got some new kicks last week, thanks to Grandma ("Amma")! It has become a strange tradition that my mom buys the grandkids new tennis shoes whenever they need them...usually about twice a year. She always takes the kids to Stride Rite, gets them measured, and then lets them pick out new tennies. Of course, mine aren't old enough to pick them out yet...so I get the honor! They are so proud of their new shoes and always want to go buh-bye now! We love you Amma!
Also, I couldn't believe how fast their feet grew. They were in a size 5 at Christmas and now are in size 7 shoes!!!



I truly have no idea what I would do if I didn't live near my family! I know how blessed I am to have my parents and sisters living nearby. LJ and LK are lucky enough to see their Papa and Grandma at LEAST twice a week. Pictured below is Papa reading them a book last weekend.


I thought I would brighten your day with the tulips pictured above. Since we have a freeze warning tonight I decided to cut a few and enjoy them before they all die!!

Gettin' corny on Merchandise Monday

Well, it is the third round of Merchandise Monday and still no one is commenting on their favorite products...come on people!!


This week I am going to chat about the very awesome Bird's Eye Steamfresh vegetables!! I absolutely love the singles for feeding LJ and LK. I can stick one in the microwave and split it between them for 2 meals. The second round I just zap it for 20 seconds and it tastes just as great as the first time around. This stuff is really good!! I get the single peas as well, but it becomes total bribery trying to get LJ and LK to eat any green veggies anymore!!! Also, if Hubby and I aren't eating at the same time (or just sick of corn!!!) I don't end up wasting a bunch of food!

If you haven't tried any of the Steamfresh products yet, give them a whirl. You won't be sorry!!

Some great finds!!

Rummage sale season has arrived. I am not usually a big-time rummage saler, but this afternoon I decided to see what I could find! What I really was looking for was some outside play equipment (Little Tike/Step II playhouses, slides, swings, etc) but I ended up just getting a bunch of great toys and some clothes for LJ! I don't need to worry about any clothes for LK becuase we have 2 huge tubs of clothes handed down from our nieces...Thanks again K'! Here are some pics of my great finds that I am so proud of! I spent around $55 total!!
The toys include:

• Little tikes doll cradle
• Cabbage Patch doll
• play rug
• Bob the Builder truck
• Elmo phone (already own it, but they always fight over it...now we have 2!)
• Playskool train set
• Fisher Price fire engine
• Coloring book wooden holder
• Little tikes blocks
• Playskool grill set
• annoying sounds shape sorter dump truck
• Fisher price boulder/dump truck set
• LeapFrog shopping cart w/food (I had been outbid a couple times on Ebay for this...my sister-in-law let us borrow hers b/c I wanted it so bad...this was a super find for only 3 bucks)

The clothing includes

• Body glove floaty swim suit (brand new)
• Champion tennis shoes
• Polo baseball cap (looks brand new)
• Blue pants
• Izod swimsuit

Now...for my favorite find! A rocking horse! It makes actual horse sounds and is in excellent condition!

I think I found a new hobby...

Charities in the spotlight...

There are so many great things that happen in April with some of my favorite charities that I thought I would share!!

First, in case you do not know, April is Autism Awareness Month. Ever since I had LJ and LK I have been extremely tuned in with everything to do with autism. Like many parents... I get extremely nervous around vaccination time. I did tons of research on the link between vaccines and Autism. My belief is that we are giving our children too many vaccinations at one time. I think they should be spread out. Also, I believe, the child should be in perfect health when given a vaccination (no colds, cough, fever, etc.) Yes, I do think genetics has something to do with it as well. Yet, genetics can't explain the rise in autism! The occurrence of autism has risen to 1 in every 150 American children, and almost 1 in 94 boys. Also, studies have shown that the rate of autism in fraternal twins is about 4 times higher than the general population...which is another reason I was very nervous. The Autism Society of America is running "Bounce for Autism" this month. If you would like to learn more, or donate visit the link!

Next, the March of Dimes usually holds the March for Babies sometime in April. This used to be called Walk America. I really just learned about this fundraising event from a co-worker so I am a little late to participate this year. Hopefully, I can get a team together next year...it is a cause I will definitely walk for!! I love this organization and I just don't think it gets enough credit. Luckily, neither of my babes had to spend time in NICU. I went into the hospital at 26 weeks with pre-term labor; we were extremely lucky to make 36.5 weeks. I can't even imagine the hurdles my babies would of had to overcome if they were born that early. It is not uncommon for twins to end up in NICU...actually for any baby. I have many friends who had singletons in NICU. To learn more or to set up a team to walk...visit the links!!

Okay.. I think I will get off my soapbox now!

Mother's Day is right around the corner...

I thought that I would review a couple awesome Mother's Day gifts for this week's version of Merchandise Monday. If you are looking to drop some hints you may want to include one of these!

I have a MommyTags necklace which I really do love! The silver that is used is recycled from film processing. The company tries to make as little impact on the environment as possible. (Thought I'd throw that in there since Earth Day is tomorrow). Anyhow, you can order a necklace which will come with tags for each child engraved with name and birthdate. I love to just wear mine with t-shirts.

Also, I stumbled upon this cute little company...Skimbaco. Someday, I hope to get one of the Eternity Necklaces pictured above. It can be customized with up to five birthstones. I definitely know I won't need that many! Yet, I just may want to add a 3rd...someday.....if I could ever talk my Hubby into it! So, I guess I'm not really ready for this necklace yet!

What They're Into This Month

I was visiting Jenn's blog and just had to copy this idea! Some of you may remember that one of the main reasons I started blogging was to keep track of what is happening with my kids. It is an easy way for me to jot down things that are happening with them! Picture below is LJ giving LK a little push on their friend Jack's 4-wheeler.

LJ:
Movie: Doesn't care much for them...
Show: Could care less...
Foods: Loves spaghetti, corn, strawberries, goldfish crackers,
Stuffed Animal: He is not really attached to anything except his blankie and pacifier. He has a stuffed bear that plays music every night.
Toy: Any type of ball...as always.
Outdoor Activities: Exploring, swinging, wagon rides
Shoes: Tennies
Word/Phrase: ball, mama, anma, juice, duck, pac (paci),
Learning: to say more and more words, open doors(uh-oh

LK:
Movie: Anything Elmo...asks to watch them constantly!

Show: JoJo's Circus.
Foods: Gerber fruit snacks, yogurt, cheese, all fruits,

Stuffed Animal: She has a bear and stuffed Elmo she sleeps with at night

Toy: Really into coloring, likes her blocks and Lego's

Outdoor Activities: Exploring, running around, wagon rides, LOVES to be outside

Shoes: Tennies and she just got a new pair of Crocs that she always wants to put on.

Word/Phrase: SO many words and phrasess...most used include: brother, Ogan, Daddy, Mama, Elmo, JoJo, Aisins (raisins), Paci, Blanket, YES, YA,

Learning: just learned how to turn door knobs,

Merchandise Monday

Since I have started blogging I have noticed that certain bloggers participate in meme's. For example, you have your Tackle It Tuesday or Wordless Wednesday and even Menu Plan Monday. Well, I happen to love this idea! So, I am going to try my very best to post every Monday on products I love or just products that make my life easier. My hope is that you will leave comments, or even blog, as to certain products that YOU love and make your life simpler! Along the way, we can all find some great insight on spending money in the right places and not just wasting it on products that don't do the job!! Please, please tell me what helps you everyday! If you decide to join along in the meme, just send me your link to the blog entry and I will post below mine!!

My product for today is the Aquadoodle toys. These coloring toys are great for ages 1+. I love them because I can just tell LnL to go color and not have to worry. They love to make the marks w/the water pen and see the color appear. Also, you can re-use them over and over again!! Plus, I don't have to worry about them sticking the pens in their mouth because it is only filled with water!! We have the mini-mats and also some little travel aquadoodle's that were sent to us by my sister-in-law.

On a side note, I must say that we tried the Crayola TaDoodles and I do not recommend them at all! I really love Crayola products and I think that is why I was so disappointed in this product. The crayons are constantly falling out of the specially designed holders. We only tried the crayons... maybe the markers or paints are better???

Sweet Baby Cooper

As promised...here is a pic of our 6-week old nephew, Cooper. We were so thrilled to meet him for the first time on our vacation. I kept telling K' (my sister-in-law) what a great baby he is...especially with all the craziness that was going on in the house when we were there. She is a very avid babywearer. He does great in the sling. It takes her maybe 2 minutes to get it on, baby inside and comfy. I tried using them when LJ and LK were little, yet I always needed her help getting the darn thing on! She has a friend that makes them and she just sent K' a new one which I love! Check out the link if you're interested!

On a side note...I am not sure how many of you were able to catch the The Last Lecture (A love story for your life) last night on ABC. This is truly an inspiring story. I ended up bawling throughout the whole show, as did my sister-in-law. As many of you know, my mother-in-law passed away 3 years ago to Pancreatic Cancer. This disease is something that really hits me hard. If you missed it, you can catch the lecture online.What a great attitude Randy Pausch has...so inspiring.

Off-roadin'

Here is LJ at the childrens museum we visited in Charlotte, NC. Anyone that knows my children can easily see the difference in personalities. LJ is very observant. He prefers to just sit back and watch things before jumping right in. On the other hand, LK will jump head first into everything...and scream hello to everyone on the way! So, when LJ jumped right on this lil' 4-wheeler I was a bit shocked. Yet, his good friend Jack has one that is similar so maybe that is why he wasn't at all nervous. He was coming down with a cold on this day and was extra clingy to me, so it was great to see him explore and have fun.

Future musician??

Here is my girl at the children's museum we visited in Charlotte, NC. It was a blast! I wish we had these types of places around here. Look at her...it is like she was born to play!!

Exhausted from Spring Break!

We have returned from vacation! We spent the past week visiting relatives in South Carolina. It was SO much fun, but also exhausting. Hubby and I willingly agree that it is crazy to drive 12 hours with 18 mos. toddlers. (Oops, 19 mos. now!) I keep saying that it was alot of work, but it was SO worth it! LJ and LK experienced so many firsts and it is just amazing to watch. I love this stage b/c everything is so incredible to them. Over the week we went to the Zoo, a Children's museum, a couple parks, and basically hung out with the fam. LJ and LK had a blast w/their cousins! Plus, we met our new lil' nephew Cooper!! He is absolutely adorable. I can't believe how big he is already. Hubby only has one sibling, his sister, and that is the family we were visiting. We all get along great and always have a blast...we even fit in a night of cards which is a must when we get together.

When we got home, I was excited to see if my earrings made it from Finland and they did! They are awesome...thanks Inka!

Now we have so much to unpack and laundry and many other things to do! Luckily, I got a great, easy recipe from one of my friends and I gave it a try today. It was really good and SO simple. You stick a pork tenderloin in the crock pot with a can of apple pie filling (no sugar added) and cook on low for about 6-8 hours. Pretty tasty!

Okay...lots of work to go and the Tigers need me to cheer them on! I will try my best to post some more pics of our vacation throughout the week!