Mommy Musings

Last year around this time, I wrote my list of "hopeful accomplishments".  The term sounded a little nicer and far more manageable that resolutions.  I was hoping it would help me follow them a little more closely. So what do you think?  Was I able to fulfill my thirteen "hopeful accomplishments"?  Let's take a look and find out! {one}  Regularly set specific fitness goals.   Yes!  Manda's 30 mile in 30 days link up is really what helped me stay on track with this.  Adding to my mileage each month really helped me stay on track, and push myself harder than I would have otherwise.  I definitely want to continue this next year! {two}  Run more . Yes!  This is probably the accomplishment I am most proud of.  On April 1 I decided enough was enough, and I was going to start running for real.  Nine months later I have logged 266.73 miles of just running.  I can't believe how fast I'm getting or how far I'm able to run!...

I was recently given the opportunity to review two products from Tree Hut .  I'll be honest, I had never heard of this company before.  But after my experience with them, I want to make sure you don't make that mistake! Tree Hut was first started back in Texas over ten years ago.  They are a company that is really dedicated to making a great product that their customers really enjoy.  Their products are never tested on animals and are made right here in the United States! I was lucky enough to review both the Almond and Honey Shea Sugar Body Scrub as well as the Brazilian Nut Body Butter . First, let me talk about the Body Scrub . It's purpose is not only to exfoliate all the rough dead skin away, but also to moisturize the skin below. Almond oil is one of my absolute favorite scents, and this did not disappoint at all.  But my favorite favorite part is the exfoliation.  I have used many scrubs over the years, and I feel like they are either way too abras...

Surprisingly the girls did not wake us at dawn on Christmas morning, eager to rip into their gifts.  Emmy strolled in a little after 7, and was more concerned with snuggling us for a bit than checking to see if Santa arrived.  I think we got up around 7:30 and had to wake Charlie up before heading downstairs. The girls faces as they took in the scene and unwrapped their gifts was worth every penny spent and every minute spent preparing.  Charlie was more interested in playing with toys they already have than opening new ones {toddlers} but Emmy was beyond excited  as she tore into each package. The girls spent the rest of the morning playing with all their new toys, while I was in the kitchen most of the time preparing for Christmas dinner. My sous chef Our Christmas dinner menu was as follows this year: Appetizers Spinach dip Vegetable platter Salad Main Course Ham Spicy sausage pasta Roasted asparagus Home-made stuffing Rolls Dessert Apple Pie Skip's family came by...

Although many people would not automatically associate sleep disruption or snoring to dentistry, there is a very strong connection. Dental techniques have been specifically used to treat cases of severe snoring and sleep apnea. In order to understand how this works, it is important to know what is happening in the mouth when snoring occurs. Snoring can happen to almost anyone. Most people engage in light snoring while sleeping, but for some, snoring is a challenge that prevents spouses and other family members, or the snorers themselves, from getting restful sleep. Snoring happens when the upper airway containing soft-tissue structures collapses. Then the tongue pushes back against that tissue and air cannot move through the mouth and nose or into the lungs. What happens during the airway blockage creates a vibrating sound that everyone knows as snoring. When the airway blockage is extreme, a person can stop breathing for 10 seconds or more. This creates a condition known as sleep apne...

I know, I know, another Christmas recap.  Feel free to skip it....and tomorrow's too.  But as this blog's primary purpose is as a memory keeper than I absolutely want to make sure to include posts likes this. Skip had to work on Christmas Eve, but only till 3!  The girls and I spent the morning working on some more preparations for the next day.   After nap time, Skip was home and we spent the afternoon getting ready to head over to my sister's house.  My parents and older sister were staying with her for the holiday.  We were all going to have Christmas Eve dinner and present opening together. It was a delicious dinner as always, and the girls managed to sit for the whole thing, which is a Christmas miracle itself!   We then exchanged gifts and all smiled and laughed at the girls reactions to their gifts...they loved each one! Haven't had a picture take with just my parents since my wedding! Gotta work off that good dinner! We got home and quick got t...

This week has been long and seemingly never ending.  Skip worked double shifts the past three days, and is back at work again this morning.  Poor guy hasn't seen the girls since Friday.  Last-minute Christmas preparations, cleaning, child-rearing, and very little sleep has left me a little stressed.  So I could not be more excited for 3:00 today when Skip comes home, and our whole family will be together for the next two and a half days.  Despite my broken heart and utter sadness over this being the first Christmas without my MIL and my grandma, I'm determined to still have a wonderful holiday. I hope you all have a wonderful holiday filled with light, love, and lots of laughter.  From our family to yours.... ...we wish you a merry Christmas.

What better way to end the week than with a little Five on Friday! {one} I eventually had to get off social media yesterday, after hitting the "unfollow" button a few days.  I'm sad that people don't seem to realize that freedom of speech just protects you from being arrested or charged with a crime when you speak your mind...it does not give you the right to say anything you want without consequences.  I also find it sad that people are rallying around a reality star as a voice of Christian teachings...a reality star .  But most of all, I'm sad that so close to Christmas, anyone thinks it's okay for someone to such vulgarity and hatred towards a group of people.  What was that Jesus said?   Love one another. {two} It's going to be in the 60's this weekend here in Jersey....cue singing angels!  I just need all this snow to melt quickly so I can run outside! {three} For Christmas this year I would like a week-long tropical vacation...by myself.  I...

We are a little more than half-way done with December.  With sickness, a hurt knee, and more snow than I would like, let's see how I'm dong! Thursday December 12 - none Friday - none Saturday - kickboxing DVD Sunday - kickboxing DVD Monday -kickboxing DVD Tuesday - Shred DVD Wednesday - none Weekly Total - 0 miles November Total - 9.8 miles So, no good on the miles front.  But with Skip working crazy hours this week, the only time I had to workout was when he was gone.  And since Charlie won't go in the gym nursery, I had to work with what I had.  I am pleased that I got in four workouts though!  Manda and I challenged each other to do at least 3 workouts this week...so glad we did!  Hopefully this puts us back on track! It's finally  going to warm up a bit here in Jersey this week, so I'm determined to get in some outside runs.  I've missed them so much!  Hopefully I have a much higher mileage total next week!

There is something very magical and special about age five.  I think it's a reward to all parents who survived the terrible-two and threenager years. One of my favorite things about age five, is Emmy's imagination.  I swear it is running wild the entire time she is awake.  She is constantly coming up with new games to play, or just making up little lives for her dolls. The other day she was inspired by the Home for the Holidays parade she went to in town with Skip.  The next night she was determined to make her own parade. She gathered together the toy car my parents had given her for her birthday, and a few toy containers.  She first got to work drawing, cutting out, and adding wheels to make them floats. She then loaded up the floats with dolls, and set about attaching each of the floats together.  The whole thing was absolutely adorable to watch!  I love being able to capture small moments like this.

Last year, right around this time, I wrote this post .  In summary, it was all about our misadventures of taking the girls to see Santa.  I vowed to go super early this year, as I felt like most of our problems stemmed from going too late in the season. Best laid plans right? In my defense, I had every intention of seeking out the fat man early this year.  However, the shooter situation at the mall near us recently, changed my plans.  I no longer wanted to take them to the mall...I wanted to find someway else to do it. So Skip set out on a mission to find an alternate place to see Santa.  There were a few options that either he was working during, or got cancelled due to snow.  We really tried to find a firehouse that was having pictures, but it just wasn't working out. So last Friday, I told Skip we needed to just suck it up and take them to the mall that day.  I figured if we tried a different mall from the one we went to last year, we might have...

Home improvement can be costly, but doing your research and planning carefully for the future can save you big bucks when it comes to the final price tag. If you're looking to remodel or resell your home, here are seven tips for making changes without breaking the bank. 1: Decide What Matters Why are you renovating in the first place? Is it to remove the ugly tile in your kitchen or re-do the wiring in your home office? Establish your priorities early so you won't have to cut any important corners later. 2: Rearrange Before Renovating Before you drop thousands of dollars on permanent changes, see if a few simpler ones won't do the trick. A new paint job might make you realize that you don't hate the living room at all, and adding a little feng shui to the bedroom could change your mind about knocking out that wall. 3: Get Creative You can save a lot of money when you think outside the box. For example, instead of splurging on stainless steel fixtures, just cover them wi...

I am not  a winter girl at all.  Once the temperature hits below 60*, I just want hibernate....or move to Florida. New Jersey has decided that winter needs to come early this year, and we have already had plenty of snow/ice.  Nothing blizzard-like or all that epic, but enough to be annoying. It snowed all day this past Saturday, and I gave Emmy a snow day last Tuesday {her school had an early dismissal, but since it was already snowing when we got up, and me and Charlie would have to take her, I decided it wasn't worth the risk}.  In my pre-kid days, snow days meant a little shovelling, and a lot of sleeping, TV watching, and hot chocolate drinking. Things are a little different now.  And I had to get pretty creative with how to pass the days with a toddler and preschooler!  Here are some of the things we came up with. Make-overs with mommy's make-up 30 minutes to get bundled up to go outside?  Check. Snow ball fights! Snow angels! Making snowmen Some ...