Mommy Musings

I have been known to share my feelings on movies before.. ie The Hurt Locker .  It's no surprise that I have seen just about every single military movie and documentary that has come out recently.  But none, none  has stuck with me the way American Sniper  has. I have known the story of Chris Kyle for years, way before he died.  Skip knew of him by reputation and articles in the Marine Corps Times.  Almost two years ago, we mourned the loss when we heard of his death.  Our country had lost a true, American hero. I knew the story would resonate with me for a few reasons.  Chris Kyle served in Iraq at the same time Skip did, both of them close together.  The Iranian sniper they talk about in the movie, had killed someone at Skip's base just before he got there.  And sadly, we have personal experience with a friend surviving the war, only to die shortly after coming home.  When things like that happen, you can never, ever understand th...

Oh random Monday post, how I've missed you so!  It's been a long time and beyond necessary to resurrect you today. {one} We woke up to some snow on Saturday.  Even I had to admit it looked beautiful.  {two} We're finally all better...WAHOO!!  Other than some lingering cough and drippy noses, the great flu/virus whatever of 2015 has finally vacated.  I even got dressed in real clothes for the first time in a week yesterday! {three} Yesterday was also the first time I left the house in a week.  Yes, seriously. Yes, I'm a month behind on coloring my hair. CVS has never looked so good. {four} Good thing I got in my big day out while I could, because we're currently expecting a history-making snow storm...though we're down to only 2ft instead of 3, so that's hopeful. {five} Emmy's school had an early dismissal today, but I just called her out.  With Skip working a double shift and coming home in the worst of it, and only having one car with four wheel drive...

Are You Fully Utilizing the Advantages of Simplified Living? For quite some time now, people have been getting on board with a trend that features simplified, organized living. If you have made some steps toward adopting this lifestyle, you know that is has numerous advantages. However, you may not be fully utilizing all of the assistance available for making simplified living extremely advantageous to you. Home decor trends There are several advantages to adopting the trend of decorating your home in minimalistic manner. A home with few accessories placed throughout requires less cleaning time. This type of decor choice provides a more relaxed environment than a room filled with too many accessories. Rooms designed with a small number of functional pieces of furniture can actually lower your utility bill. Air can circulate throughout a room better if the room is not full of furniture. You want to be sure the furniture is placed so that it doesn't cover or obstruct vents. Sched...

You'd think my family had put in our sickness quota for the year after our epic battle with the stomach flu back in December.  Sadly, that was not the case, as we have all been sick this week.  Emmy came down with a bad virus on Monday.  She had a high fever and cough until today, but thankfully didn't fair too poorly.  I got sick Tuesday morning, and without a doubt I know I had the flu.  High fever, aches all over, everything I ate yesterday coming back up, the whole thing.  My fever thankfully broke today, though I'm still not quite well.  Hopefully I'll be much better tomorrow.  Charlie woke up last night with a high fever and spent the entire day resting and napping on the couch.  Hopefully hers gets better a lot quicker than mine did. Skip thankfully was able to take off of work all week to take care of us.  I hate that he had to use the time for something not fun, but we really had no other choice, I was totally out of commission....

Making that Kids' Birthday Party a Hit It's your child's birthday and you really want to do something special. You want to make it an occasion that your little one is not soon to forget, something that will be fun for everyone involved. With a little time and effort, you can throw a great party without a hitch. Your greatest reward will be the smiles of all the children that come to be a part of the fun. Think About a Theme When you throw a birthday party for kids, you can get really creative by choosing a theme. You can go with a popular cartoon character or a superhero. It's also fun to pick a time period, like the days of the dinosaurs. It can be a beach party as your backyard is transformed into a tropical paradise or you can go with a winter wonderland during the coldest season of the year. Think about your child's interests and go from there. Keep it Simple Parents often tend to go overboard when planning a kids' party. There is no reason to go over t...

As with most things recently, I'm a little behind on this post, a look back at my year and favorite blog posts of 2014.  But I absolutely love looking back on these, so I'm finally making the time to sit down and do it. There were a lot of trying moments in 2014, but many, many more happy ones. January We rang in the new year with a small party at our house with some friends.  I celebrated my five year blogiversary. NEW JERSEY hosted its very first SuperBowl , and Skip got a front seat view of the outside of the stadium while working it. February I spent a sweet {and what was pretty much the last} night in the chair.   I had to share my feelings on how wrong skinny shaming is. My last baby grew out of her crib . March I struggled trying to find The Balance . I shared the letter from Skip that made me cry . April We had a relaxing Easter with just our little family.   With two kids potty-trained under my belt, I shared my best tips for success. Charlie was diag...