Thursday, June 27, 2013

Letting Him Go

So I just realized that I only have a week left with Matthew home!  He'll be leaving on the 5th for his almost 5 week trip to Florida.  Now, for the last 8 days Lucas and I will also be down there.  Even Eric is coming this year but unfortunately he can only stay for four days.

I know he'll have a ton of fun, but I'm still having trouble letting him go.  Again.  Last year we went down to visit my mom for a week and lucky Matthew stayed for an additional two weeks before my mom brought him home.  This year she's bringing him down first and we'll bring him home.

I feel like I'm missing his entire summer vacation, but really what can I offer him?  Mima has a pool, a dog, chickens, an RV park on a lake where he can fish and boat.  A basketball hoop in the driveway.  She even found a bike for him at a yard sale because he was upset about not being able to bring his bike down there.  In the meantime, I'll be adjusting to a vastly different work schedule than we're all used to; I'll probably be too tired to do much of anything with poor Lucas this summer.

And I know he'll be well cared for!  I have no concerns in that department at all.  I'll just miss him!  And Lucas will miss him!  And daddy will miss him!  And he'll be too busy to even call us more than twice a week. 

::sigh::

Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Already

I'm already falling behind on posting.. I don't mean to, but I feel pulled in so many different directions.  I have the blog, promoting my husband's new business, Obssessities, I own a group on Cafemom and admin for two others and trying to keep them active takes a bunch of time.. plus, you know, it's SUMMER!  The weather is gorgeous and we're spending a lot of time outside so.. that cuts my day in half also.

So I apologize.

On another note, I took the boys to the Dr today.  I got some phone numbers for taking Matthew to a psychiatrist for a.. maybe ADHD diagnoses and got the Dr to tell me which ones would be more med-free friendly if it came down to it.  Lucas is definitely knock kneed.  When he puts his feet together his knees are in each other's way.  Also, we might start trying some lactate free milk for him, as sometimes he gets a slight bellyache after having breakfast (cereal with milk) or yogurt, or sometimes even ice cream.

Other than that, I have two healthy boys who are begging to get back outside!

Friday, June 21, 2013

Obssessities

So my husband has always wanted to start his own business.  When we first started dating we talked about opening a store together.. a party store!  We were going to name it Celebrations and it was going to be the best damn party store in the world!  Well...

Thursday, June 20, 2013

Throwback Thursday: Renaissance Fair




Way back when I was just the mother of one!





freaky!
Even more freaky!
Of course there had to be a juggler juggling fire and balancing on a ball!
This guy didn't really belong, but he was cool.  And TALL.. my mom is NOT a short woman and he's towering over her!

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Guess Who's Getting a Raise

So the other day I was talking about being considered for a supervisory position at my job.  Saturday morning I talked to my store manager and the overnight manager about it.  They'd already decided who they were going to fill the supervisory position with.. and it wasn't me.

But there were TWO positions that I'd applied for!  The other one is still a full time overnight position and I was still very interested in it.  So I had my meeting with the managers and they gave me some very positive feedback.  I left with a strong feeling that I'd be chosen to fill the position.  So, again, this was on Saturday morning.

Don't Make Potty Training Harder Than It Needs To Be

I'm a super laid back type of mama.  I took that same approach to potty training both of my boys.

Now, sure, neither of them was potty trained before three.  If that's a deal breaker for you well.. I guess my laid back strategy won't appeal much to you.  The thing is.. why rush it?  With Matthew I tried to force it.  He was about two and a half and I thought he was already "late" potty training!  So I started taking him into the bathroom.  He had his Cheerios and his potty book.  And we would read and snack and wait.  And wait.  And wait.  Finally, after 20 minutes, there'd be a tinkle!  And a celebration!  He'd get off the potty and I'd put on his big boy underwear and he'd pee them.  And the floor.  Immediately.  I'd clean it up and we'd try again in another half hour or so.

Wordless Wednesday: Rolling Down a Hill







Tuesday, June 18, 2013

First Day of Summer!

Today is the FIRST day of summer vacation!  I know, it's weird that the last day of school was on a Monday, but we had a full week off from Hurricane Sandy plus a few other snow days to make up.

I have no idea what I'm going to do!  I need to settle us into some type of routine, but Matthew will be leaving for Florida soon and I still am not sure whether or not I'm getting this new position.. (signs are looking good though!).

Today we're making sure the boys' room is good and clean.  I think it's just about time for a yard sale and I'd love to get a good inventory of all of their toys and figure out what's broken, what's not, what they still play with, and what I can sneak out of there!

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Saturday, June 15, 2013

Red Box Instant- Free Month Trial + 4 Free Rentals

I just found out about Redbox Instant and I have to say I'm pretty excited about it!  We are constantly going to the Redbox, at least every weekend and there are always more movies that I want to see than I'm willing to bring home.  Because.. if I'm perfectly honest with myself, I SUCK at actually bringing those moves BACK to the Redbox!  Having two or three movies out at a time and forgetting them for a week or two can be costly!

And it's also kind of annoying, heading to the Redbox looking forward to a movie that just came out only to see that it's unavailable!  Now, yes, I probably should utilize their online holding feature, but I'm usually just picking up movies after work and don't often keep track of what's coming out when (Although this weekend we're looking forward to Side Effects!)

So here's what our free trial is going to include (and yours too,if you sign up!)


Unlimited streaming PLUS 4 free kiosk rental credits per month for subscribed users. Join Redbox Instant by Verizon for unlimited streaming movies PLUS 4 DVD rental credits at any Redbox kiosk. Join today to get started!

Stream to your computer, Xbox 360, Samsung Smart TV & Blu-ray players, Apple iPhones & iPads, and Android phones & tablets!

After trial, just $8/mo and you'll continue to enjoy 4 Redbox DVD credits every month.

Each credit is good for 1 overnight rental of 1 DVD. If you keep your DVD an extra night, it just uses another credit. You won't be charged until your credits are all used up. And the next month it refills to 4 DVD credits again. 


You may cancel at any time.


Sound good to you?  Sounds good to me!  Click here to visit Redbox Instant

**This post contains affiliate links**

Friday, June 14, 2013

Moving Up the Ladder?

I mentioned yesterday that I was up for consideration for a supervisory position at Kohls.  And if I didn't mention it yesterday, I should have.

So here are the details..

Our store is one of five total in the company chosen to start a pilot program which I probably can't say anything about.. BUT there are some newly created supervisory positions going along with this pilot.

The good news?  I feel I'm very qualified for at least two positions. 

The bad news?  They're overnight positions!

I talked it over with Eric and he agrees that this isn't something I can pass up, so I applied for both positions I felt I was most qualified for.  I spoke to my Asst Store Manager and he explained a little bit more in detail what would be required, asked about my availability and willingness to supervise, explained the differences in the two positions (not quite a whole lot, but then again, they are new and the roles aren't clearly defined as of yet), and asked if I was still interested.

Hell yes!

Working overnight would be a HUGE challenge and I don't know how well I'd handle it BUT I know I can make it work if I get the job.  We're talking about a substantial increase in hours, a shift differential, and --I'm assuming-- a raise for taking on a supervisory role.  I can definitely live a few months with no sleep (duh, I had two kids!) and after that hopefully I'll be able to find a preschool that won't  take my entire paycheck... or at least get on a waiting list for childcare assistance.

I'll be talking to (the haven't formally said it's an interview) the overnight manager at the asscrack of dawn tomorrow morning.  His shift will just be ending, mine will just be starting, so we'll chat in between.  I kinda know this guy, kinda not.  I mean, I've seen him in passing, worked with him last year for a few days during inventory, but I don't *know him* know him.  And he can say the same for me.  So I hope I'll be able to make a good impression.  I'm sure the rest of my supervisors and managers have already told him what a great worker I am.  No, really... I'm a great worker!

It's about damn time I move up from this minimum wage work!  (For the record, I am making more than minimum wage.. I'm just making a point)  I'm tired of this teenager stuff, and I have NOTHING to put on a resume.  Hopefully that will all change very soon!

Wish me luck everyone, this mama has her hand on the ladder!

Thursday, June 13, 2013

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Throwback Thursday

Still my fave pic of Matthew, 3 yrs
Lucas, 7mo

Screw That!!

I've decided to get back into blogging.. and I wanted a fresh start, so I thought I'd go over to wordpress and try things out over there... SCREW THAT!

I'll stick with Blogger, thank you very much, until I'm so freakin popular that I have my own domain!

What's been going on here?  Not much.

I don't do Avon anymore.

I quit smoking last week. 

I'm being considered for a supervisor position at Kohls.

Vacation to Florida is coming up at the end of July

Matthew is home from school today, but his last day isn't until Monday.

I've been spending all of my time on Cafemom.

Annnddd... that's about it.

I'll be working the rest of this week on overhauling what I have here... I need to revise some pages, catch up with whatever other blogs I enjoyed, get things settled again. 

Feels good to be back!

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Monday, March 25, 2013

Sunday, March 17, 2013

We're Going on Vacation!

Well, our summer plans are officially set!

Last year, Matt, Luke, and I went down to FL to visit my family, do Disney, and have fun!  Matt stayed an extra two weeks with my parents and brothers. 

Well, this year he's staying even longer!  My mom is going to fly up here in early July to pick him up, and fly back down.  He'll stay with them all month, including going on vacation to North Carolina to do some fun things.  Then at the end of the month, Luke, Eric and I will fly down!  Eric can only stay for a few days, because he'll be pretty busy at work and doesn't want to miss too many days, but we'll stay in Orlando and do Disney again.  Eric's never been, and he's pretty excited about it :D

The boys and I will stay until the end of the week before we all come home.  Hopefully during that time I'll be able to catch up with some other family that I've been missing: my aunt, cousin, and grandparents, other aunt, and uncle. 

Mainly I'm just excited to see my mom.  She's like my best friend! 

It's going to be tougher this year having Matt gone for so long.  I can't think of a single logical reason NOT to let him stay down there knowing that he's in the best of hands and how much fun he'll have.  Lucas will really feel his absence though!  I hope he won't be too upset.

On a side note, spring is coming!  Once we start doing fun outside things again, and I start taking more pictures, I'll probably be blogging more often.

No promises though.  :)

Friday, February 22, 2013

Finally!

We finally bought our car and brought it home!  It's not too pretty, but it will definitely hold us over for a year or two.  It's a '96 Cadillac Seville and it only has about 111k miles on it.  It drives perfectly, and I'm so relieved.  I can drive myself to work tomorrow and not have to get up at 4:30 to be there at 7!  We can go grocery shopping whenever we want.  If I need to go to the bank I don't have to walk almost a mile with a 2yo in the cold. 

It's about time!

And, the bunks are put together.  The room isn't quite finished yet, we still need to build the bookshelf and get rid of their armoire, but it's getting there and the boys are very happy with them. 

Thursday, February 14, 2013

Happy Valentine's Day.. Oh, and Call Poison Control

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!  I hope you all got something sweet!

Eric had flowers and chocolate covered berries delivered to me, I love them!  BUTTT while I was cutting the flowers, Lucas snatched a stem and started chewing on it.  He probably thought it looked like celery.  I didn't think much of it, but he started whining and scratching at his hands and mouth.  Uh oh, here we go again!

As it turns out, Calla Lilies are very poisonous.  They can cause:
  • burning in mouth and throat
  • swelling of mouth and tongue (possibly enough to block airways)
  • redness, swelling, and pain in eyes
  • diarrhea
  • nausea
  • vomiting
 So I called Poison Control ONCE AGAIN for this problem child of mine! (1-800-222-1222 I should have this number ingrained in my brain by now, but I had to look it up.  MEMORIZE THIS NUMBER!)  The guy didn't even know what Calla Lilies were, he had to go look them up.  Once he found out WHY they were poisonous, he told me that the amount that was ingested (really just tasted) didn't cause him much concern, and to just flush it out with cold water or milk.  Honestly, by the time he got back on the line with me, Luke had already stopped whining and was sitting on the couch with his blanket and his thumb.  Hopefully he won't be chewing my flowers anymore!

I'm grateful that Luke only got a taste, and also that we didn't spend the night in an ER.  Remember that?

\All is well, though!  Now I just have to figure out how to word this to Eric so he won't feel guilty!

Saturday, February 9, 2013

Oh, What a Night!

So my family has made it this far without any illness!  It was bound to happen eventually, though, right?  Luke threw up in his crib last night around 10.  He had a fever and was crying, but he didn't seem too, too hot.  So I cleaned him up and snuggled with him until about midnight, and put him back in his crib.  Eric offered to sleep on the couch, so I could take Luke in our bed, but I didn't think it was necessary. 

I should have taken him up on it.

Thursday, February 7, 2013

Avengers Bedroom

Well our tax returns came this week!  We paid off some bills and got all caught up and it's such a relief!  We also ordered the boys bunk beds and bedding, which will be their early birthday present.  It's all Avengers themed, so I'll show everything off here.  I know you don't mind :D

Thursday, January 31, 2013

Hey, It's Me Again


Yeah, so I've barely been blogging.

Not that I did a ton of giveaway and reviews, but I think I was trying too hard.  So I'm not going to be looking for any of those opportunities for a while.  If they come my way, maybe.  I'm also not going to spend half the day posting my links.  I just want to get back to the bare basics of why I started blogging... to chronicle my experiences as a parent of two little Aries boys!

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Avon Top Picks: Campaign 3

Since Valentine's Day is less than a month away, this Top Picks is going to be all about Valentine's Day gifts and gadgets!


First are these absolutely adorable nail stencils!  For $3.49 you can't beat 'em!


Of course, jewelry appropriate for the day!  Just enough sparkle to add some glam to your outfit, or perfect gifts for your favorite girl friends, daughter, niece etc!
Choose your favorite for only $5.99

Let your family know just how much you love them first thing in the morning!  These cute heart pancakes are sure to be a huge hit!


Coffee and eggs to go with those pancakes?  Yes please!  Keep the cute coming!

As always, to shop just click the Storefront tab, and don't forget to Like my Avon FB page to stay up to date on special sales, new products, and free shipping offers!








Friday, January 11, 2013

Slow Week

Nothings been going on!  There's the Keurig giveaway, if you haven't entered yet, go do that.  On Monday I'll be putting up my Top Picks for campaign 3.  Other than that... have a great weekend everyone!

Wednesday, January 9, 2013

A Little Girl Time

My SIL surprised me yesterday when she texted that she wanted to come over and hang out.  I am absolutely starved for face to face girl time! 

It was nice, we sat around chatting, looking at houses for sale, painting our nails and watching the Pretty Little Liars marathon.

I'm still waiting for a true girls' night out but it's just so hard for everyone to get together.  Work, kids, school... life just makes it impossible!

What do you do when your girl friends come to hang out?

Monday, January 7, 2013

Seeing Double Win a Keurig Vue

Keurig-Button

Seeing Double! Keurig Vue V700 Event

Brew with a Vue. Keurig has done it again with an entirely new brewing system that gives you more of the tasty beverages you love, exactly the way you want them. Now, you can decide how strong you want your coffee to taste and how hot, no matter how big or small your cup is! From creamy hot chocolate to delicious iced teas and frothy cafe beverages, the Keurig Vue V700 delivers the size, strength, and consistency you love, with every single-serving.

Still deliciously simple. At just the touch of a button, Keurig's revolutionary Custom Brew Technology adjusts water pressure, timing, and airflow to deliver the perfect cup of coffee or tea every time. You'll love the Vue's quiet operation and shortened steep time, as it whips up cafe-quality treats in a matter of minutes. Plus, there's no grinding beans, measuring, or cleanup needed--just add water and enjoy.

Countertop coffee shop. With the Keurig Vue system, you get the single-serve brewer with interactive touchscreen display, 66 Vue packs and a water filtration kit. And, for your convenience, it comes with two 16-oz iced coffee tumblers to get you started right out of the box.

Well, if that isn't the pot calling the Keurig fabulous!
  • Includes Keurig V700 Vue Brewer, 10 Variety Vue packs, 12 travel-sized Breakfast Vue packs, 12 Vue House Blend Vue packs, 16 Donut Shop Vue packs, 16 Celestial Iced Tea Vue packs, two 16-oz tumblers, and a water filter kit
  • Variety pack includes one each of Gloria Jean Hazelnut Coffee, Timothy's Decaf, Tully's French Roast, Celestial Seasoning Southern Sweet Tea, Green Mountain Breakfast Blend travel-sized, Celestial Seasoning Sleepytime, Barista Prima Italian Roast, Cafe Escape Milk Chocolate, GMC Nantucket Blend, and Donut Shop
  • Tumblers: plastic/acrylic construction
  • Colored touchscreen user interface
  • Eight brew sizes: 4 oz, 6 oz, 8 oz, 10 oz, 12 oz, 14 oz, 16 oz, and 18 oz
  • 74-oz water reservoir
  • Brew coffee from 187F to 197F
  • Strength selection for stronger flavor
  • Removable drip tray with adjustable plate
  • Vue packs are #5 recyclable plastic
v700

One winner will receive a Keurig Vue V700 + K-Cups!

Giveaway ends January 20th at 11:59pm, open to US & Canada, ages 18+. To enter please use the Rafflecopter form below. Good luck!
a Rafflecopter giveaway


Disclosure: I received no compensation for this publication. My opinions are my own and may differ from those of your own. Between Two Rams is not responsible for sponsor prize shipment. Please contact Mom Powered Media with questions or to see your business or blog featured on the next big event!

Thursday, January 3, 2013

My Secret Workout

Guys, I started 30 Day Shred again.  My arms are *shaking* from those pushups... modified, of course.  I'm so out of shape it's embarrassing!  Especially because I don't look especially out of shape.  I'm at a healthy weight, and people always tell me I look great "for someone who had two kids."  <---- btw.="btw." hate="hate" i="i" it="it" modifier="modifier" p="p" people="people" this="this" use="use" when="when">
I just want to tone up a little.  I may never have a flat tummy without surgery, but I sure can lift my ass and tone my legs!  And I'm going to try!

This time, I'm keeping it a secret!  Well, from one person in particular.  I'm not going to tell Eric that I'm working out.  I want him to notice and comment.  It might sound silly, but it will be a true indicator that my work is paying off!  And, he's not one of those guys that wouldn't notice if I got my hair cut or dyed my hair blonde.  He picks up on subtle changes, so I don't have to worry about losing 50lbs and him not saying a word!  Not that I'd try to lose 50lbs, don't worry!

So guys, wish me luck!