I just learned about this beautiful little baby who went to heaven this week. She died of liver failure and her parents are asking for people to consider becoming an organ donor. They are also holding an auction to help raise money to cover all the medical expenses.
They have some really neat things for auction and you could get some really cool finds while helping out another family. Whether you need to get a gift for someone, or just want it for yourself, check out these options.
http://rubyjanetaylor.blogspot.com/
Mama, wife, nurse, trying to be the breadwinner and the bread maker. Working full time to hold it all together.
Friday
Lake Superior Rock Mirror
Several years ago when I was in between second and third grades we met my family at the lake house in the upper peninsula of Michigan. While on that trip we decided to go to the log slide at Lake Superior and my grandfather told us of these amazingly smooth rocks that we could collect. So my grandparents sent us down the extremely steep log slide with our plastic grocery bags to collect rocks and the agreement they would meet us "right around that corner." Well my mom, her two sisters, my two cousins, my very young brother and myself reached that corner and realized that the stretch of beach kept going. And going. And going. For six miles. Keep in mind that we kids were collecting rocks in plastic bags- so you can imagine how well those bags held up. Hours later we finally met my grandparents with each of our approximately 13 pounds of rocks that the adults were carrying in their shirts.
Needless to say, we have been talking about this trip for years. This year we went back to that same stretch of beach and to the log slide. I saw these amazing rocks that I just saw as the perfect rocks for some kind of craft. Initially I thought that I would make a side table, but changed my mind and decided that since mirrors will be essential to making our small apartment appear larger, a mirror would be a better use of the rocks.
I have to say that I am very happy with the results. It definitely doesn't look professional, but for having done something like this for the first time, I can't complain. The best part about it is that every time I look at it I will be flooded with all kinds of memories.
First of the Goodbyes
Yesterday we went to our favorite store, Whole Foods, to get some fruit for a daycare goodbye party. Today was the "party" and with all of the regulations at the daycare fresh fruit seems to be the best option. While there and walking by the body section it completely hit me that I forgot about teacher's gifts. How could I forget such a thing growing up in a family of teachers?
The body scrub that caught our eye reminded me of a body scrub I had made a while back and so I decided that I could do better than the asking $14.99 a pound. Salt is under $2 a pound so with a couple essential oils I decided to make my own. I tried to recreate the scent we all liked the best, but it didn't quite turn out the way I had hoped. While I was doing that I also started working on some candles.
These aren't just any candles. These were candles that I was going to make for Mother's Day. We bought all of the ingredients in April and a box of ingredients has been sitting on the floor of our kitchen since about then. I had literally everything ready to go and just never got around to doing it. I told Munchkie's Daddy that it was because I was supposed to wait until now for teacher's gifts. So with some sand from the beach just down the street, wax, ocean mist scent and Goodwill glasses, I made some candles.
I have to say that I was so proud of the finished product. I hope they enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed making it.
I took them in this morning and just walking into the room I started crying. The daycare has done so much for us in the last 8 months. They taught Munchkie how to play with other kids and share. How to "use her words," and to "focus." She learned to wait her turn and be patient. She learned colors, and potty trained. She made friends and looked forward to every day there. They helped me be able to sleep and work without worry. I also was able to spend a few days completely by myself, which is something a working mother is never able to do. While most people look down on daycare, I am eternally grateful for all this daycare has been to us. The first of our goodbyes was an emotional one.
Body Scrub
2 cups salt
1/4 cup safflower oil
several drops essential oil(s) of your choice
-Mix together until thoroughly mixed, but still powdery. Rub over body and wash off.
The body scrub that caught our eye reminded me of a body scrub I had made a while back and so I decided that I could do better than the asking $14.99 a pound. Salt is under $2 a pound so with a couple essential oils I decided to make my own. I tried to recreate the scent we all liked the best, but it didn't quite turn out the way I had hoped. While I was doing that I also started working on some candles.
These aren't just any candles. These were candles that I was going to make for Mother's Day. We bought all of the ingredients in April and a box of ingredients has been sitting on the floor of our kitchen since about then. I had literally everything ready to go and just never got around to doing it. I told Munchkie's Daddy that it was because I was supposed to wait until now for teacher's gifts. So with some sand from the beach just down the street, wax, ocean mist scent and Goodwill glasses, I made some candles.
I took them in this morning and just walking into the room I started crying. The daycare has done so much for us in the last 8 months. They taught Munchkie how to play with other kids and share. How to "use her words," and to "focus." She learned to wait her turn and be patient. She learned colors, and potty trained. She made friends and looked forward to every day there. They helped me be able to sleep and work without worry. I also was able to spend a few days completely by myself, which is something a working mother is never able to do. While most people look down on daycare, I am eternally grateful for all this daycare has been to us. The first of our goodbyes was an emotional one.
Body Scrub
2 cups salt
1/4 cup safflower oil
several drops essential oil(s) of your choice
-Mix together until thoroughly mixed, but still powdery. Rub over body and wash off.
Monday
Successful Saturday
I had one of those fantastically successful and productive Saturdays. The ones that don't stress you out, but the ones that you go to bed and think, oh now that is how I like to spend my day.
We started off by going to the super cute coffee shop and walking to the farmer's market. At the farmer's market we found all kinds of goodies. I just love the farmer's market so much. I must have walked up and down the aisle at least 5 times surveying each booth's wares. The first purchase I made was a little jar of eczema cream for poor Munchkie's face. She started with these patches of eczema this summer and I was so excited to find something natural to try on them. We are planning on making some tomato sauce with the tomatoes and basil to freeze and slightly replenish our frozen sauce. The kale will make great kale chips for some healthy snacks and the peppers never made it past the raw stage because we snack on them like apples. The delicious yellow honey tomatoes. Oh they're gone. Have been since an hour after we got home. Now that is what a tomato is supposed to taste like!
On the way from the coffee shop to the farmer's market we passed by a tag sale that had a few items that caught our eye. The first was a dog kennel. Both of our dogs' kennels were in bad shape and we recently bought a new one at Walmart for one of them, but couldn't handle paying the price for a second kennel. The kennel at the tag sale was much better quality than the cheapest ones at Walmart and she accepted our offer of $5. Amazing! As we were walking away we both stopped and saw this trunk. Oh my goodness. We both turned and looked at each other and said, "I've always wanted a trunk." The seller finally accepted our offer of $21 after some negotiating. I can not wait to fix it up a little bit. What perfect storage! It's not too big and can hold all kinds of things inside of it. With a little refinishing, paint and new hardware, I think this can be a very beautiful piece that will find the perfect place in our new home. I was so excited after this find that I wanted to go look at some things for our new apartment. We went to Ikea to get some ideas on making small spaces work. Then I went to JoAnn Fabrics to look at a few things, Home Depot for paint samples and found a great deal on a mirror at Goodwill for another project. I really enjoyed the time with my family, but also a few hours by myself meandering through stores thinking and creating in my head.
The perfect ending for our day was a date night after Munchkie went to bed. We had wanted to spend one last date night out while we still had people around us that we knew. Unfortunately our plans slightly fell through and so we spent the date night in our own living room with Munchkie sound asleep upstairs. Some Thai take out, a few candles and a movie really made it feel like a date night. We had a good time together talking and enjoying each other's company without thinking about all the things that needed to be done around the house. We were able to truly focus on each other. I look forward to date nights and believe that they are an essential part in a healthy relationship. Even though we spend quite a few nights together in our living room, it's completely different when you have a mindset of sharing a date night together. You are able to mentally push all other things aside and truly focus your energy and attention towards the person you love. It makes a huge difference to feel special and loved as you do during these times.
And so, after a movie, dinner, creative thinking trip, tag sale, farmer's market and coffee shop I had an incredibly productive and perfect day.
We started off by going to the super cute coffee shop and walking to the farmer's market. At the farmer's market we found all kinds of goodies. I just love the farmer's market so much. I must have walked up and down the aisle at least 5 times surveying each booth's wares. The first purchase I made was a little jar of eczema cream for poor Munchkie's face. She started with these patches of eczema this summer and I was so excited to find something natural to try on them. We are planning on making some tomato sauce with the tomatoes and basil to freeze and slightly replenish our frozen sauce. The kale will make great kale chips for some healthy snacks and the peppers never made it past the raw stage because we snack on them like apples. The delicious yellow honey tomatoes. Oh they're gone. Have been since an hour after we got home. Now that is what a tomato is supposed to taste like!
The perfect ending for our day was a date night after Munchkie went to bed. We had wanted to spend one last date night out while we still had people around us that we knew. Unfortunately our plans slightly fell through and so we spent the date night in our own living room with Munchkie sound asleep upstairs. Some Thai take out, a few candles and a movie really made it feel like a date night. We had a good time together talking and enjoying each other's company without thinking about all the things that needed to be done around the house. We were able to truly focus on each other. I look forward to date nights and believe that they are an essential part in a healthy relationship. Even though we spend quite a few nights together in our living room, it's completely different when you have a mindset of sharing a date night together. You are able to mentally push all other things aside and truly focus your energy and attention towards the person you love. It makes a huge difference to feel special and loved as you do during these times.
And so, after a movie, dinner, creative thinking trip, tag sale, farmer's market and coffee shop I had an incredibly productive and perfect day.
Sunday
No Princesses Here
I have a little pet peeve. No. Not a little one. A HUGE pet peeve. I can not handle the little divas of today. I can not handle when I go into a store and see little girls throwing temper tantrums in the aisles and their tired mothers' give in to them to avoid a scene. Because with each "compromise" a girl realizes that she has control over her parents and that she can continue to throw a fit to get what she wants. I spend a lot of time hoping and praying that I am not that mother in one of those aisles. I can not handle the mentality that each girl is a princess who should get whatever she wants. The phrase "treat her like a princess" does not mean to give into her every whim, as most people think.
A few weeks ago when Munchkie and I walked into her classroom there was someone visiting who made a comment about Munchkie being such a little princess and recent events started to come together. I had seen this parent in the classroom several times and a few day prior to this Munchkie came home, found a blanket and put it on her head. She pranced around saying "I a pin-sess Mommy! I a pin-sess!" and I told her then "We don't have princess in this house, so take the blanket off your head or pretend something else." See, pretending to be a princess today is very different than pretending to be a princess when I was growing up. I used to pretend to have tea parties, I loved the Disney Princess movies and spent hours in my great grandmother's old heels wearing my mother's old dresses. However, the lessons I learned from the Disney Princesses were not lessons of being entitled and privileged but of overcoming difficult times- which everyone has, including princesses.
So today, when a nice Italian man said to Munchkie "oh aren't you a little princess" to which she energetically agreed, I refrained from stating the thoughts in my head. I wanted to shoot off that she was not a princess, we didn't believe in princesses, she has manners and respect for others around her. But I refrained and instead smiled, said "yeah she's a crazy" and kept walking. In my head I began to think about how I was going to combat this princess mentality. Because I will not have a diva with a princess mentality. I will continue to enforce manners, treating others with respect, and selflessness and hope that I can help form a beautiful girl who exemplifies these qualities..
A few weeks ago when Munchkie and I walked into her classroom there was someone visiting who made a comment about Munchkie being such a little princess and recent events started to come together. I had seen this parent in the classroom several times and a few day prior to this Munchkie came home, found a blanket and put it on her head. She pranced around saying "I a pin-sess Mommy! I a pin-sess!" and I told her then "We don't have princess in this house, so take the blanket off your head or pretend something else." See, pretending to be a princess today is very different than pretending to be a princess when I was growing up. I used to pretend to have tea parties, I loved the Disney Princess movies and spent hours in my great grandmother's old heels wearing my mother's old dresses. However, the lessons I learned from the Disney Princesses were not lessons of being entitled and privileged but of overcoming difficult times- which everyone has, including princesses.
So today, when a nice Italian man said to Munchkie "oh aren't you a little princess" to which she energetically agreed, I refrained from stating the thoughts in my head. I wanted to shoot off that she was not a princess, we didn't believe in princesses, she has manners and respect for others around her. But I refrained and instead smiled, said "yeah she's a crazy" and kept walking. In my head I began to think about how I was going to combat this princess mentality. Because I will not have a diva with a princess mentality. I will continue to enforce manners, treating others with respect, and selflessness and hope that I can help form a beautiful girl who exemplifies these qualities..
Friday
Serve With Extra Love
I got this email and first thought that you can't go wrong with Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie, and then when I read the accompanying story I was in tears by the end.
"All she wanted was for us to make pie and share it with someone we love."
Wow.
It makes me want to make a pie tonight. If only Munchkie's Daddy would appreciate the gesture (he's not a sweets kind of person and probably wouldn't eat it anyway). I will find someone to make pie for. You never know how long your loved ones are in your life. Cherish each moment. And "serve with extra love."
For Jennie & Mikey- Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie
In Jennie's Kitchen:
For Mikey
And if you aren't already crying-
One Last Dance
"All she wanted was for us to make pie and share it with someone we love."
Wow.
It makes me want to make a pie tonight. If only Munchkie's Daddy would appreciate the gesture (he's not a sweets kind of person and probably wouldn't eat it anyway). I will find someone to make pie for. You never know how long your loved ones are in your life. Cherish each moment. And "serve with extra love."
For Jennie & Mikey- Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie
In Jennie's Kitchen:
For Mikey
And if you aren't already crying-
One Last Dance
Tuesday
There's An App For That
We recently switched cell phone companies and thanks to an amazing deal, were able to join the world of wireless at your fingertips. I love being able to send off an email when I think of something I want to tell someone. I love being able to respond quickly to an email. I love being in a store, remembering something in the circular that I wanted, bringing it up on my phone, showing the employee who then finds the item for me. But most of all, I love having apps on my phone.
Right now my favorite is a game for Munchkie. It is so great, she wants to play with it all day long. The app is called "Where's Mommy?" and it's description is "The Photo Game You Create." What you do is take pictures of anything you want, ad it to the app and then record your voice saying "Where is <fill in the blank>." Then for the game the screen has twelve pictures on it and your voice gives the commands. The child then taps the corresponding picture and this continues until all twelve items have been found. I spent most of the morning taking pictures of everything I could find around the house, from food to toys to shapes to animals.
I have a doctor's appointment on Friday, during nap time in which she has to come with me. I am hoping that she likes the app so much that it will keep her occupied and happy for the length of the appointment. I think I will soon become one of those moms who can't imagine life without her phone. It keeps our lives together with the calender, updates all my contacts from my email account, keeps me linked to the wireless world AND entertains my child. You can't beat that!
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