Happies and Crappies #7 {link up}

This is not the best week for happies....it's difficult to find the silver lining amid such sadness and tragedy but if there is one thing that we can take away from these events is that we certainly live in the greatest of all nations and that we WILL stay strong and we WILL overcome.   Happies:  

    - Being MA born and bred, the Marathon Bombing weighs on my soul.  I just hate not being home, not being able to comfort my sister who was two blocks away when the bombs went off, not being about to sit with my sister-in-law who worries about her husband and my brother who is a local police officer.  Why then is this a "happies"??  It's a happy because we have an amazingly strong family and no distance not events can tear us apart.  Our mother raised us well.     - Being glued to CNN and Twitter this morning, I am reminded that we are SO lucky that these events are truly "shocking" because there are so many countries and places in the world that manhunts, bombings, shoot-outs and chaos are daily events.  I am grateful to be an American and a Bostonian and even more grateful that my children are being raised just as strongly in this country.   - Since Monday this Mr. Rodgers' quote has been seen a lot:  

  It is imperative to look for the good in these situations and Mr. Rodgers' mama hit the nail on the head.  Runners giving blood after running 26.2 miles, random people tearing down guardrails to get to the injured, police and military working tirelessly to figure out who did this and catch these SOB's, and the brave firefighters in Texas, sacrificing it all to save those plant workers.  We need to focus on THESE people and not those loons.  People want "answers" but no answer will ever be good enough. We are a good people, with strong hearts and we need to remember just what it means to be an American.   - I was lucky enough to go on two field trips this week with two of my peas.  I am so grateful for the ability to be home to share these moments with them...seeing how there are so many mama's that don't.   Crappies:   - Need I be specific here??  3 lives lost in the bombing, one officer dead, 150+ injured, 12 dead in Texas.  It's been the worst week...my heart is heavy.   Stay strong Boston.  Stay strong Texas.   America: be kind to one another.  Give blood, donate money if you can.  Hug your family, friend and kiddies.  We will make it though this and will be even stronger on the other side.   How do I know this??  We are American, for Pete's Sake!!!  Greatest country on Earth.  

The Mama Memoirs {link up}

   

 

 

An oldie but a goodie!!

 

This post was originally done on December 13, 2012 but I thought it would make a nice post for this new bi-monthly Mama Memoirs link up.  This link up gives fellow mommy bloggers a place to share any mom story they want- judgement free! What a great idea!

 


I've learned a lot of these 7 years of motherhood, some easier than others....

25 lessons I learned from motherhood:

1. Never let a kid hold a tube of super glue, even for a second.

2. Even if they say they don't need to, ALWAYS take the kids to the potty before you leave to do errands.

3. Carry an extra set of clothes with you per kids, no matter how old they are.

4. If you are going out, be sure to check your bag for diapers!

5. Keep all sharpies out of your kids reach.

6. Mr. Clean Erasers are a god-send. Keep a nice stock of those.

7. It will take you "x" number of times longer (x equals the number of kids you have with you) to do an errand, such as "running" into Target or the grocery store, than it used to take you.

8. Walk away from temper tantrums, it's not worth your sanity.

9. Never start a "project" when the kids are up. You know you aren't going to get it accomplished!

10. All kids will eventually eat. Stop stressing out.

11. You will never have any privacy again.

12. You will constantly look "tired".

13. Messes will always just seem to "appear" out of thin air.

14. Your kids will 97% not eat that awesome new dish you found on Pinterest.

15. If you think your shaving razor is high, it's not high enough!!

16. You can never have enough wine or caffeinated drinks in the house.

17. It's best to tell a kid about an exciting thing you are doing or that will be happening exactly 2 minutes before it's about to happen.

18. No TV for the kiddies too close to bed, or else your bedtime visits will multiply exponentially.

19. It's not the best idea to take your kid's lovey out and about with you, especially in a place far from home.

20. You will never get a response from your kids the first time you ask.

21. A quiet child is most likely getting into trouble.

22. You can never have enough hand soap, toilet paper, paper towels, or concealer.

23. It's a good idea to keep a hidden stash of candy or stickers for bribing purposes.

24. Kids will always repeat what you say.

25. If you had a "not-your-best-mommy" day, you can always try again tomorrow. :)

It's ok Thursday! #2 {link up}

 

It's ok....

 

- to be so excited, and simultaneously exhausted, about going on two field trips this week!

 

- to feel you should start buying stock in Red Bull or Rockstars

 

- to be excited that you saved $160 at the grocery store and only spent $100 (thanks coupons!)

 

- to wear the same shirt twice in one week because a. it's adorable and b. no one saw you wear it

(see! I am not the only one!!)

 

- to still be stressing about your upcoming guest blog post with Totsy!!!!!

 

- to be excited to think that you should buy your own domain name for your "little" blog and make the upgrade to WP {eeekk!!}

 

- to feel like you deserve a new car for all the chauffeurring you are doing for your children...like for REALS

 

- to have one of these days...oh I mean WEEKS...

 

- to hit snooze 3 times before you finally get out of bed for your early run...but then be so glad you did it!

 

- to be ready for summer...not because of the weather, but just so you can have some time to RELAX!

 

 

What's "ok" in your book?

 

 

 



 

Top Ten Tuesday: 10 reasons it's great to be a Bostonian

No matter where life takes me...Boston will always be home.  In Massachusetts we are all from Boston, it's just the way it works.  It's like a cool club you are born into.  Even though the last few years I haven't been able to live there, no other city can take its place.

Yesterday's event's at the Boston Marathon make my heart break...as a Bostonian, as a mother, as a runner, as an American.  Yesterday was Patriot's Day, a state holiday.  Patriot's Day celebrates the first shots of the Revolutionary War in Lexington and Concord.  Schools are closed, banks and offices are closed.  Everyone is out celebrating the coming of spring, opening day for the Red Sox and, of course, watching the Marathon.  I can remember so many times watching the race either from home or going into town to join in the festivities.  It's such an awesome day.  The city fills with people from everywhere, celebrating and usually drinking beer.  It's great.  Obviously the race will never be the same but it will go on, because we are a reslient people and city.

In honor of my home...here is my Boston themed Top Ten Tuesday: 10 reasons why it's great to be a Bostonian!

1. We are the birth place of America.  The Pilgrims settled here and began, what would become, the greatest country on Earth.  You're welcome.

2.  We have our own catch phrase:

3. We have the most beautiful city ever, hands down.

 

4.  We have the best drivers...everyone gets to where they need to go nice and quickly :)

 

5. We have one of the best educational sytems around...our kids turn out wicked smart.

 

6. We have the best sports teams!!  Whether is's the Pats, Sox, Celtics or Bruins, they are all great. (not that I watch sports all of the time, but if I do, I always root for New England!)

 

 

7. Almost everyone is Irish...and if you're not, that's ok, because you can be on St. Patty's day!  I'm pretty sure the shamrock is our offical flower.*this is probably not accurate, but that's alright.  You haven't really celebrated a St. Patrick's Day until you have done it in Boston!

 

 







8.  We are a tolerent people.  We accept you no matter what your religion, race, creed, or sexual orientation is.  Unless of course you root for the Yankees, because then you may not be accepted.

9.  We have our own candy!

I know I have one of these bean pots someplace!

 

10.  We are an amazingly diverse and caring city full of the strongest, most bad-ass people I know.  I know our city will stay strong and will overcome this tragedy with grace and awesomeness that only a true Bostonian can do.  We will run again, smile again, drink beer again and fight someone in the street again.  We will recover.  I am so proud to call myself a Bostonian, even though I can't live there right now.  As I have always said...you can take the girl out of New England, but you can never take the New England out of the girl.

 

 

Just to see how amazing our city truly is, try searching some of these hash tags on twitter:

 

#bostonhelp

#prayforboston

#runforboston

 

 

and I am going to wear my "wicked pissah" shirt today for my city!!



Happies and Crappies #6 {link up}

Happies and Crappies week #6!

Happy Friday!

This was a pretty good week.  Now that the kids are back in school, it's been nice to try and get things back to normal and in our usual routine.  Here is my week in a golden, sparkly nutshell :)

Happies:

- Forever ago, I filled out an application to be a guest blogger for Totsy (the daily deals site) and this week I heard back that they would like me to work with them!!!  I'm sure they have many guest bloggers, but this is my first time ever doing this and I am over the moon!  I think it would be so neat to have readers from all over read my work in a big-named blog! (at least bigger than mine).  My submit date is later this month, so stay tuned to see it published!

 

- Last week, our microwave broke.  Granted we have had it for about 13 years...BUT it was still annoying...but only for a few days because then we bought a new one that goes above the range.  It looks awesome and makes the kitchen look like new!  Next we want to replace the range for a stainless steel one as well as the dishwasher..but alas, one thing at a time :)

(My handsome Mr. Pea personally installed this and was very proud of his work...and so was I!!)

 

- My friend Stacey and I FINALLY had some free time to take a stroll to Starbucks and to the park with the littles.  It was so nice to catch up!!

 

- I have ran 4 times this week so far, which is the most consistent I have been able to run over the last few weeks.  I am focused on getting back on track and fitting my runs in!

 

- My friend Courtney and I started our new favorite tradition: rinner!!!  Rinner is a nice run and dinner afterwards.  Sounds like a perfect combo to me!  This rinner was especially nice because it was happy hour and we had some delish margaritas as well.

After a four mile hilly run, these ritas' tasted perfect.  Can't wait until our next rinner date!

 

- In February, a group of us ran the Tough Mudder.  Mr. Pea, myself and two of our other friends completed the race in 2 hrs and 59 minutes, which we thought was decent at the time but nothing too special.  WELL it turns out that it was pretty darn special and that our time was in the top 5% and that we qualified for the World's Toughest Mudder event which is a 24 hour version of the original 12-mile course.  What?!?! Not quite sure I want to tackle that but it still pretty bad-ass that we qualified. 

BAMF all the way.

 

Happies/Crappies:

 

- We made the final stone selection for Mr. Peas' brother today.  His marker won't be installed for a bit, but I am still glad it is in the works.  It will look nice and will be the final piece in this difficult puzzle.  We chose some traditional emblems and phrases and also some special ones to us: the letters of Mr. Pea's and his brother's college fraternity Pi Kappa Phi and also a phrase that meant a lot to us and has an inside meaning; "I regret nothing!".  I am looking forward to making some additional stones for his place to make this all complete.  Only when all the difficult decisions have been made is when the heart can begin to heal <3

 

Crappies:

 

- Mr. Pea and I had our 6 wedding anniversary last month and it fell smack in the middle of us dealing with our family issues, so obviously this fell by the way side.  We tried to reschedule our much overdue date night for this week, but it wasn't a possibility.  Hopefully we can find some time soon for a nice and now very belated anniversary dinner!

 

More happies than crappies makes for a good week!  I hope you all had the same.

 

 

 

"It's ok" Thursdays {link up!}

  This is a link up with two great bloggers over at A Complete Waste of Makeup and Brunch with Amber!!  

It's ok.....

 

to be massively excited about your new over the range microwave! (It takes up less space and looks great!)

 

to be secretly excited to have your son's t-ball practice be canceled this week just because you are sick of driving around.

 

to ruin your day's run and additional workout with a big bowl of ice cream after the kids are in bed. (it is, right?!? I guess as long as it isn't everyday.)

 

to feel like you want to sell your kids to the circus every now and again.

 

to go through your kid's artwork and not keep every piece (there is just too much!)

 

to be excited for your husband to work late on occasion so you can watch 7 episodes of Days of Our Lives in a row and eat that above stated ice cream.

 

to sip on a glass of wine while making the kids dinner.

 

to fill up that glass again when they are finally in bed!

 

to wear make up every.single.day.

 

to be sad your date night got canceled...AGAIN! Some day Mr. Pea, we WILL get out!

 

to be so excited about blogging for Totsy, and also be nervous: what if they think I suck??

 

to repaint your finger nails almost everyday because when you do two loads of dishes, they chip off :/

 

to always remember this: (it's great advice)

 

{wordless wednesday} my little all-star!

Jacob started playing t-ball a few weeks ago.  He is so flipping cute in his Giants uniform, I can barely stand it. Sure, he's not the best kid on the team, but he is my little all-star.  He is doing well and improving each game.  We are working on him with his "big throws", "strong hits", and not playing in the dirt when in the outfield.  So far, so good. 

 

Way to go slugger!!

 

*note: his improvement may or may not have something to do with my promise to buy him a Spider Man web shooter if he does well in his games and practices ;)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Keep up the good work Jacob!  I can picture you being an adorable high school baseball player now...I'll be beating of all those skanks with your bat!