No Direction

Well, I feel very lost today. I look at my house and it's a total mess. So messy that I don't even know where to begin. I keep telling myself that I should go and work out but I can't seem to get my butt moving. Hopefully, I can get my head together and do one thing today before the day is over!

Little Miracles

Today, I thought to myself, "I'm going to try and be more productive! Let's start by getting the kids to camp early." So, I made them breakfast, packed their lunches, got Jonathan his tokens and money for his camp trip, Jennifer her bathing suit, towel, flip flops, water bottles, did sunscreen, etc, and we're ready to roll. We get out of the house 10 min. early. I'm patting myself on the back.

As we pull up to drop the kids off, Jonathan runs to some friends and my stomach drops. His camp shirt! Without his camp shirt, he cannot go on the trip! OH NO! Miracle 1 - I had extra time to go home and get his shirt. Miracle 2 - for some reason, there was NO traffic and I was able to make all of my left turns w/o waiting. Miracle 3 - there are only 6 parking spaces near the field where the kids wait...or else, you have to circle around the school and park on the side of the school which is really far from the field. As I pull up to the field, I see a woman pull out of one of the 6 spots. YES! I got a parking spot. Miracle 4 - all the kids are on this field from grades K-7. How am I going to find Jonathan? The first group of kids I see is...Jonathan! Oh, I'm so happy to find him so quickly! I runs to me and is so happy I have his camp shirt but then was actually a little embarrassed to change his shirt right there. Hee hee. But, he knew, no camp shirt, no trip and he's been waiting to go to Fun Central for a long time now.

Miracle 5 - being able to enjoy my cup of coffee and watch Regis and Kelly peacefully. Now comes the question, should I grin and bear it today with a fan or actually turn on the air... oh well, let me first enjoy my coffee.

hot - July 27

Man, it's hot today. I might have to break down and turn on the air. I think it's worse to let the house get too humid and then try and turn on the air because then it takes too long to get the humidity out of the house.

But, I did manage to run my 3 mi. today. Now, I'm going to exercise my arms and close all the windows.

Starting the day off right

Can you believe that I actually got up to go workout? Wasn't too long because we have to get ready for Church but it was enough. Ran 2 mi. and then worked out for about another 10 min. Now, we're probably going to be late for Church but at least we got the working out out of the way!!!

Yeah! Actually went running! - July 26

Ran 2 mi. and then worked out for 10 min.

Time is short

We had dinner last night with neighbors of ours who are moving to London soon. I feel sad knowing that they are really great neighbors and yet, with our schedules, it seemed like we didn't get too many opportunities to hang out and now, it will be even less. They were so helpful. They used to help me walk Jonathan to the bus stop so I could stay home with Jennifer. They helped create an environment in our neighborhood that reminded me of the old days where the kids could just run out the back door and run through the backyards to see if they were available to play and I didn't have to worry because I knew that they would be near by.

So, even though we think we have all the time in the world, we really don't. We need to take the time to invest in relationships with other people...just like we need to take the time to invest in a relationship with God.

Time is short. Don't let the everyday humdrum run you over!

Does Lying on a Raft in the Pool Count? - July 25

Hmmm.. well, we *walked* to our pool. It's all uphill on the way back. I know lame. In the pool, I just sat on Jennifer's raft for about 20 min. and then got out and munched on some munchies. Oh well.

Spending Time with Family at the Pool

We had lofty plans to do so much today. We were thinking about going to Splashdown Beach, Lake Compounce, Mohegan Sun, NJ to play with the Oms, dinner out with just adults....but in the end, we wound up having lunch in town at Made in Asia with Gary's brother, Tom and then we spent an hour at our pool in our community. (wow...what a long running sentence!)

After swimming, we walked back and the kids took their own showers. To our dismay, water started to drip out of our kitchen lights! There must be a flood in the kids' bathroom! Turns out, the shower head was turned ... facing outward and instead of calling us for help, they tried to fix the problem by using towels to soak up the water and toilet paper too. UGH!

Can't Depend on the Weather

On Tuesday, my kids whole camp takes a trip to Playland. I keep my kids home that day because they don't really like rides too much and I didn't want them to be peer pressured into going on rides they don't want to. So, I arranged for friends to come over on that day. Turned out, it rained all that day and the Playland trip was canceled. I could have sent my kids to camp but they already had playdates set.

I already made arrangements to have lunch with my friends today. But, on Wednesday, we received a notice that the Playland trip was rescheduled for Friday (today). Bummer. Of course, it's sunny today so my kids aren't going to camp again. I can't make it to lunch with my friends. But, on the bright side, I called my friend in NJ and they are available for a playdate so, the plan is: go to McDonald's Playplace near their house in NJ for lunch (get their beanie babies) and then we're going to head over to their house for some fun.

You can't depend on the weather but it's nice to know, with God's grace, that things usually work out in the end.

Workout? What's that? - July 24

Well, my excuse is that the kids were home from camp today. So, I took the kids to NJ for a playdate (thank you Jim and Jen for being so gracious and letting us stay and play!). Then, we went out to eat for dinner with neighbors of ours who are soon, moving to London.

So, exercise? I definitely ate more yesterday than I've eaten like in 3 days! I try to limit myself to about 500-700 calories a day. I totally blew it yesterday and it's amazing. One day of being bad, and my stomach is sticking out like I'm pregnant again!

Thus, to try and fight it, I lamely did my stomach exercises and spent only about 5 minutes doing that. Then, took a shower and convinced myself that I would go back to the diet and try to work out....starting Monday.

So hard to lose 1 or 2 lbs....so easy to put it right back on along with another 3 or 4!

Today's Thoughts - Focus, Balance...

As I was driving to Bible Study today, my thoughts were scrambling around in my head. After getting through and leading Bible Study, I realized a few things. With both of my kids now in camp full time (and soon school full time), what should I do with my 6 hours of free time? I used to be happy just doing nothing but even that feels a little empty after a while. There has to be something more to look forward to each day besides my cup of coffee, Regis and Kelly and Days of Our Lives.

So, after thinking about it, I guess there are 4 areas in my life that I should probably work on.

1. Physically - Even though I hate to work out, after I do, at least I feel like I accomplished something in the day. Hard to do but I never regret it once I do.
2. Spiritually - This should probably be #1 but it's actually harder to do than working out. But, once again, daily devotional and quiet times...hard to do but never regret it once I do.
3. Creatively - I am a hobby Stampin' Up demonstrator. I have so many rubber stamps that my basement closet, upstairs closet ...nothing can hold all of them. I probably have over 7000 stamps and tons of cricut cartridges. I should probably try and make 1 card a day or 1 scrapbook page a day.
4. My job (housewife) - eh...nothing more to say here. Endless job. I can clean the kitchen every day but once people come home, it's always a mess again. I've thought of leaving a mess in the family room because it's only going to get messy again but believe or not...a mess CAN get messier.

Hopefully, by keeping a log of these 4 things every day, I can get something done! Or ... at least feel like I got something done in the day! Wish me luck!

July 23 - Physical

Ran 1 mi. and gave up. Just not into running anymore. Besides, I just came back from a taste test. My stomach feels so bloated. But, I did get $100!

Today's Thoughts - Blogging with my kids

I have 2 kids, ages 9 and 6. They saw my first attempts at blogs and now they are interested in starting their own blog and sharing it with their friends. I'm really excited to start creating their blogs with them. It gives me a chance to see what they think, know what they do and most importantly, have some mommy and me time again with them. I think that blogging with kids is a great way to stay in their lives. Also, it's a great way to preserve memories. I love scrapbooking and can't wait to use excerpts from their blogs and put them into my scrapbooks! Happy blogging!

Two Thumbs Down for A&P in Armonk

Just earlier this week, I was so happy that I managed to save over $20+ from coupons (both MFR and printable coupons from the internet) at our local A&P. Today, I went to get some milk and bread and I noticed a sign where it said in their coupon policy that they will NOT accept competitor coupons NOR will they accept internet coupons. That really stinks. I use the internet to get the majority of my coupons. I guess I won't be doing most of my shopping there anymore. Stop & Shop in North White Plains is so much better anyway. Maybe it's time to start checking out Trader Joe's and other supermarkets.

Today's Thoughts

Now that I've been blogging for about 24 hours, the question comes to mind... what should I blog about? What is interesting to other people? I actually have no clue. So, instead of trying to find interesting topics that might interest random people, I've decided to write about things that I've done a lot of research for. More like, things that I might want to review when I need it because as we all know, as we get older, the brain holds less information (at least mine does). Hopefully, some of my notes will be helpful to someone other than me one day!

I've decided to categorize my stuff on the right hand side under "labels". Click on something that might interest you!

Birthday Parties in Westchester

With a boy (9 yrs. old) and girl (6 yrs old), birthday parties seem to always be looming around. For those who have planned birthday parties, know that sometimes, you need to book a place around 3 months in advance in order to get the time and place that you might want! I've tried several different places and here are some of my reviews.

Tips on saving:

• Bake your own cake (if the place lets you). In fact, I started to bake my own cupcakes since it's easier to hand out a cup cake to each person than having to bring cake serving supplies. Also, this way, the kids won't fight over which part of the cake they want.
• Stock up on party favors. My favorite thing to do is to hit the Disney store online around the end of summer. You sometimes can grab beach towels for about $2.99 each! Every kid needs a towel for the pool in the summer or for camp the next year. Another good idea would be lunch boxes. I snagged a bunch from the Disney store for about $2.50 a piece and then I filled them with candy and other little goodies. This gets more challenging as the kids get older.

Kids U Pleasantville

Kids U Pleasantville 175 Thompkins Ave. Pleasantville, NY 10570 - Private party. Giant indoor jungle gym. Great place for kids to run around! Each party includes:

• The Kids U facility all to yourself for 1.5 hours
• Custom invitations
• Party theme decorations
• Helium balloons
• Drink for the kids
• All paper goods
• Staff to run a fantastic party
  
  You supply any food or cake that you want our party team to serve to the children. The cost of the party is $399 for the first 15 children plus $18 for each additional child. A nonrefundable deposit of $200 is due when you book your party to guarantee your time and date. To make it easy for you, we can provide any additional party supplies such as party favors and tattoos (additional).
  
  Birthday Parties are held Friday afternoon/evening, Saturday afternoon/evening and Sunday. Please call (914) 747-7478. You can also book online now!

My Review:

I had my son's 9 yr old party here last year. He had a great time. They spent about 30 min. in the jungle gym area, then they moved into the gym area where they had gymnastics equipment, trampolines, footballs, rock climbing, etc. Afterwards, they went to the private party room for pizza, cake and goodies. They provided the drinks and all paper goods. I made my own cakes to save on cost. The staff was extremely nice and wonderful. Best part was that it was a private party.

Leapin' Lizards Port Chester, NY

Leapin' Lizards - Kohl's Shopping Center, 3rd Floor, Port Chester, NY (914) 937-JUMP

Another giant indoor jungle gym, play center. Kids can play in the play area and then use tokens at the end to play games to earn tickets and trade in for prizes. Food, cake, party supplies are all included.

Leapin' Lizards has 2 party packages.

Package A

IGUANA PARTY

• $339.99 up to 10 childreneach additional child $24.99
• Invitations
• 1 hour of fun in play area
• Private party room with attendant for 45 minutes
• Balloons
• Pizza or hot dog for each child
• Soda or juice
• Paper supplies
• Ice cream cake
• 16 game tokens per child
• Free Parking

Package B

SUPER IGUANA

THEME PARTY

• $379.99 up to 10 childreneach additional child $25.99

You get everything in Package A PLUS:

• SPECIAL PARTY THEME
• Theme Party supplies and
• Theme decorated birthday cake
• 24 game tokens per child
• FREE T-shirt for the birthday child!

• PARTY EXTRAS:
• Pot O' Gold: 40 tokens for $8
• Pizza Pie $20
• T-shirts $12
• Sand Art $4 per child

Tax & GratuitiesNot Included

No outside food permitted

No outside paper supplies

Parental supervision required

Prices May Be Subject To Change

Examples Of HOT Themes Include: Cars, Pirates Of The Caribbean, SpongeBob, Dora The Explorer, Barbie, Scooby Doo,Buzz Lightyear, Cinderella, Blues Clues, Dinosaurs, Superman, Spiderman, Disney Princesses, Curious George, Harry Potter, Elmo, Hello Kitty, Transformers, Speed Racer, The Hulk, Little Mermaid, etc.

My Review:

I had my son's 3rd and 6th birthday party here. It's really a great place for kids on a rainy day. Big jungle gym area, food stand, games to play with tokens for tickets, etc. The only thing is that this place is open to the public as well. So, you can't control who is there and they usually have 2-3 parties going at the same time. When I had his 3rd birthday party here, I was concerned about the older kids running over the younger kids. When I had his 6th year party here, I was concerned about losing track of some kids ... but they were the older kids this time. But all in all, it was super easy. Everything was taken care of for me. I didn't even have to worry about the cake. All I had to do was bring my extra party favors and pay for the bill!

Bellizzi Mount Kisco

Bellizzi - 153 Main Street Mount Kisco, NY 10549 (914) 241-1200

They offer a "chef party" where you can make your own pizza. Or, just have a pizza party, breakfast party or afterschool party. Kids love the food, they have fun activities and the game room is a blast for all kids. They love using the tokens and trading them in for prizes.

For the Chef Party (make your own pizza), price is $25 per child (minimun of 15 kids). You get two hours in the private celebration room or aqua room. Activities, drinks, invitations, 25 game tokens per child and gelato cake are all included!

For the Pizza Party, price is $22 per child (minimun of 15 kids). You get two hours in the private celebration room or aqua room. Activities, drinks, invitations, 25 game tokens per child and gelato cake are all included!

For the Breakfast Party, price is $18 per child (minimum of 15 kids). Available from 9:30-11 am only in the Aqua Room. Slice of cheese pizza or bagel with cream cheese or butter, activities, juice or milk, invitations, 25 game tokens per child and gelato cake are all included!

For the Afterschool Party, only available Monday - Thursday. Chef Party price is $21 per child and Pizza Party is $18 per child with a 10 child minimum.

$50 non-refundable deposit required to hold party times.

Party Extras:

• Party favors for each guest -ask about our options!
• Cake for the adults in attendance - $2 per slice
• Custom Cake Decorations and Toppers - $15
• Additional tokens are just 5 for $1
• Extra time in the Circus Party Room - $50 per 1/2 hour
• Adult food is available, please ask for an Adult Party Menu

My review:

I had my daughter's 6 year old party here. Party assistant was exuberant and super friendly. I liked the private room and the fact that I didn't have to worry about ordering pizza from outside. Adult food is available since Bellizzi is a restaurant. It is a little pricey but the food is very good. Everything was very easy to set up since you can fill out most of the details online. The only thing is that since it is a restaurant, it is not a private party and you can't control who is in the game room. But, kids had a blast, loved making their pizzas, the activities and the game room.

Apple Cake

This is one of our favorite apple cake recipes. I like to use Granny Smith apples so the cake doesn't come out too sweet but you can also use Golden Delicious, Criterion or McIntosh apples.

• 4 cups peeled and diced apples (I like to use 4 1/2 to 5 cups)
• 2 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup oil
• 1 cup chopped nuts (pecans or walnuts)
• 2 eggs, well beaten
• 2 teaspoons of vanilla
• 2 cups flour (general purpose, not self rising)
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon salt

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix apples and sugar thoroughly. Add oil, nuts, eggs and vanilla. Mix dry ingredients together and add to apple mixture. Bake in a greased 13x9 inch pan for 1 hour.

I would start watching this cake around 45 min. -- it should pull away slightly from the edges and be dry on those edges but still soft in the middle. My family likes it more dry and crunchy so I usually let it bake for the full hour but if you like it more moist, you can start to take it out a little earlier.

How to Make Fluffy Pancakes

1. I've been searching for a good pancake recipe for years. I finally found one that I'm very happy with.
   
   Ingredients:
   1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
   1 egg
   1 1/4 cups buttermilk*
   1/4 cup granulated sugar
   1 heaping teaspoon baking powder
   1 teaspoon baking soda
   1/4 cup cooking oil
   pinch of salt
   
   *if you don't have buttermilk, substitute with 1 1/4 tablespoons of vinegar with 1 1/4 cups of regular milk
   
   1. Preheat skillet over medium heat. Use a pan with a nonstick surface or apply a little nonstick spray.
   
   2. Combines all dry ingredients together.
   
   3. Combine all other ingredients together and then add it to the dry ingredients.
   
   4. Mix until smooth (about 50 strokes. Do not over mix)
   
   5. Laddle approximately 1/3 cup of batter into the hot skillet, forming 5 in. circles.
   
   6. When the edges appear to harden, after a minute or two, flip the pancakes. They should be golden brown.
   
   7. Cook pancakes on the other side for the same amount of time, until golden brown.
   
   Makes 8 to 10 pancakes.