Where Does Time Go???

I am thirty-hummmm....thirty-six years old.  Yes, I had to stop and count on my fingers the years because I can not seem to remember my age now that I am over 33.  This supports my daily question of "where does time go?"????  Often that is accompanied by one of these statements/questions: What day is it, How old am I, He/she is X years old, It's what time, It's already X o'clock, It's (insert month) already, The last time I blogged was how long ago, and so on.  I'm am sure you often feel the same way!!

Honestly though, this past year has simply dissipated before my very eyes!!!

It has in fact been a VERY busy year for us.  I'm sure you have gathered by now that we did in fact sell our home and purchase another one.  Along with that purchase came the packing, moving, storing, remodeling, moving, unpacking, wisdom teeth surgery, hospitalization, flooding, repacking, removing, re-remodeling, redecorating/updating our decor, finding a new preschool for Abby, and a little bit of sleeping here and there.  (Details to come on another page in the distant future...lets be realistic here!).











Mixed in with all of that was the day to day life of  Husband and Wife as well as a 4 and 2is year old. Some how we managed to enjoy the holidays, sneak in a trip to Florida in February, and celebrate Ben's 2nd birthday.  I hope to catch up on documenting all of that here on the Blog but I do have to admit that I have been VERY BAD at getting much on camera let a lone being organized about it.  I am praying that in the end I can pull it all together. I especially hope so for Ben's sake!!!  Poor guy is a victim of "Second Child Syndrome" (that is a real thing, right?????) as well as a victim of this move and remodel!!!






Here is a RANDOM sampling of pictures of the last year as a teaser:

 

                                          

You Still There?

Hello? Anyone still checking?

Well, hey there! Thanks for hanging around and sorry for the lack of posts. Not much I can say other than, well, I've been slacking! But here I am and I am making a personal commitment to blogging on a regular basis again. I miss chatting with all of you (if you want to call it that) and need to take some time for myself more often. So stay tuned, I promise to give you a little reading material to enjoy soon.

Not Yet

I refuse to believe that my little Peanut will be two next week...it just can't be true! I don't think MJ understands my denial, but I think all the other mothers out there just might. Can I get an Amen???

A Wake-Up Story

From time to time I lose sight of my goal to reduce our exposure, get lazy and go for convenience, get vein or worse I cave to pressure and advertising. From time to time I need to remind myself of my commitment to living healthier. This video was the reminder I needed today. I came across it at the perfect time and thought I would share it with you in case it is the reminder you needed or perhaps the facts you have not yet seen. Just something to think about.

Tiaras for Mommy?

Let me start by saying that I do NOT have an issue with ALL pageants. In fact, I have been a supporter of the Miss America program (the world's largest provider of scholarship assistance for women) for almost 10 years now.

Well, Michael was just flipping through channels and landed on TLC. Currently, Toddlers & Tiaras is on. I have watch this show before and relate it to a car accident: you know you shouldn't look but you can't help but try to figure out what is going on as you drive past. Tonight's show was about an "American Best" pageant and once again I was a bit disturbed in what I saw: Parents (mothers mostly) pushing their children to preform (and getting mad/upset if they were not perfect), 2 year-olds wearing full makeup, 6 year-olds wearing fake teeth, toddlers being "sexy", mothers/toddlers NEEDING to win, Mothers/toddlers crying if they did not win, etc..

Sure you could argue that the little ones are learning to speak publicly while building self confidence, but I don't see why you would need to do this with more makeup on than the average adult woman wears on date night while also sporting fake hair, nails and teeth. In total dismay I did some checking trying to find SOME benefit to such pageants; perhaps these too are good collage-money-makers. I found this site for America's Best Pageants. With a $225 entry fee (and a required $25 shirt purchase along with a fee for each additional category you wish to participate/win, then add in the cost of hair, makeup, nails, teeth, costumes and perhaps talent training) I don't see how this is really a deal or money maker for many, if any participants. At this point, I can't find a true benefit for the girls and it still seems to be more for the moms.

So, my current question is which is worse:

A) Parents actually spend mass amounts of time and money on such pageants

or

B) Grown adults actually take time to coordinate such events


I just don't get it...please feel free to discuss/enlighten me via comments.