Some of my favorite things

Okay, I keep thinking of posting some of my favorite things then adding to them as I come across other new things I like. If you have any favorite products, food items, beverages that you want to share, leave me a comment and I'll add you and the products to the list. I love hearing about new things to try.

1) My new favorite treat is plain nonfat greek yogurt (Fage 0% brand). It is so much creamier and thicker than regular yogurt. It has to have some type of sweetner added to it. I like a pack or two of splenda and some cinnamon or some fruit, no sugar added fruit preserves. It is also a lot more filling, has more grams of protein and less carbs than regular nonfat sugarfree yogurts.

2) Mix-ins for bottles of water. My kids love it too. They also have lots of great flavors that are sugar-free and aspartame free. No more boring water!

3) Method cleaners - Cucumber melon smells so good. They also make a mint scented one that is great on showers and tubs.

4) Bare Escentuals make-up. Make up that when I forget to wash it off is okay for my face.

5) Any continuous spray on sunscreen. No more messy hands!

6) Athenos neo-classic hummus. So fresh and tasty. Especially with snow peas!

7) Cucumber scented Dove deodorant (actually any scent of Dove deodorant). Just enough moisturizer to keep underarms soft.

8) Covergirl Lash Blast Mascara (bright orange tube!)

9) Jello sugar-free dark chocolate pudding.

10) Craisins in individual serving bags. Great snacks to keep in my purse.

11) Rock Band for the Wii. Still can't master the drums, but it is a lot of family fun!

12) Crocs in the Adara style. So comfy and a bit more upscale looking than flip flops.

13) Scrubbing Bubbles automatic shower cleaner. Works and smells great.

14) Bath and Body Works Scentportables for the Car.

15) Bare Naked Granola (Yummy and South Beach approved - Great with yogurt and fruit!)

16) Revlon Colorstay Overnight Lipcolor. (this stuff stays on and on and doesn't dry your lips out).

17) Whole-wheat couscous. So many ways to make it and lots of good grams of fiber.

18) Schick Intuition Razor (love all-in-one stuff).

From my friend Lisa:
19) C.O Bigelow mint-infusion lip gloss (tinted) -- looks, feels, and tastes fabulous!

20) Snip-its Morning Miracle spray on mousse -- just a few spritzes tames the kid's crazy hair quickly!

21) Arbonne Nutrimin C anti-aging skin care line -- pricey, but it does make a difference (when I remember to use it! : )

What are some of your favorite things. Leave me a comment and I'll add it to the list.

Saturday Swim

This afternoon we took the kids swimming at my parents' pool. We have an awesome pool in our neighborhood, but sometimes it is just really nice to spend some quality family time by ourselves at the pool. We had a jumping contest and let me tell you James can do a mean cannonball. It is also amazing what the kids will learn once they set their minds to it (with a little help and encouragement from mom and dad).

Caroline continued to show improvement on her dives. She had a couple of belly flops. One of them was pretty painful (red belly AND face), but she was such a trooper. Dried her eyes quickly and when we told her she needed to try again so she wouldn't be scared, she got right back up on the diving board. That dive was great!

Jack is our resident landlubber, who doesn't mind being in the water as long as he can touch. He has to have his lifevest or water-wings on and won't venture too far from the stairs very often unless it is fairly shallow. There is absolutely no putting of his face in the water. Well today we told him was the day to start swimming. He was scared but really started trying AND we had to bribe him with some ice cream and a dollar. But, by the end of a couple of hours he was swimming with his face in the water more than out of the water and even jumping off the diving board with a running start. (he still is wearing the lifevest, we'll work on that next week!)

Becoming Relationship Rich

I've been thinking a lot about that this week. Being relationship rich. I heard the phrase this week during a parenting class we just started at our church. Called "Parental Guidance Required" it is a video series led by Andy Stanley from one of the larger churches here in Atlanta. His main premise this week is how we should be more relationship rich instead of experience rich. We discussed how it is the relationships you have in life that shape you and mold you, much more so than the experiences. Not that there is anything wrong with experiences, but if most of the time spent with our children is carting them from one activity to another, everyone engaging in their own "electronic" world and very little time is spent actually conversing and interacting with each other, that might not be such a great thing. And your child might very well look back on it and be relationship poor and not be able to relate as well as they could to others when they become adults.

I really have thought about that a lot this week (well, really just 2 days since the class was on Wednesday). But I think the topic just solidified something I've been mulling over in my mind and spirit the last several weeks. How do I put an emphasis on those relationships that are important to me and nurture them, grow them and sustain them? How do I make those people feel special to me and important to me? I have a wonderful immediate family whom I adore, but there are far too many times when we are all in our own rooms, on our own computers, watching our own TV shows and very little interaction is done with each other. Now, of course, there are times when everyone needs a little space to themselves, and I don't think there is anything wrong with that, but I think sometimes a little too much space (even when wanted) is not necessarily a good thing. I also thoroughly love and enjoy my relationships with my parents and sisters. But far too often email has replaced the phone call, which has replaced the lunches, breakfasts or coffees together. Or my friends (whom I am so fortunate to have) who I more often than not text or email, instead of actually making the time to get together and hang out.

I have tried the last couple of weeks to make a more concerted effort to spend time with people whom I treasure. In the summer it is easier of course. More time to be had. I do know that once school starts, it will take more of a thoughtful, deliberate effort to make time for all those that I count among my loved ones.

It's funny how when God starts speaking to my heart about these kinds of things, that He is gracious and loving enough to continue to knock me over the head with it, until it truly sinks in. I took the kids this afternoon to see "Wall-E". I had heard some good and some bad about it, but ended up going because the kids wanted to see it. To me the whole movie touched on this premise. Wall-E is this little robot all alone in a world that has forgotten him and what he longs for is a relationship, with someone to connect to, with someone to hold hands with. There is the 'cruise' ship with all the people (really fat, slovenly people) who only have time to 'talk' via 'internet' type conversations, everything is done 'virtually' (thus the slovenly behavior) and no one is actually connecting with anyone, no one is shaking a hand, looking in an eye, smiling, talking, relating. Until Wall-E shows up. And a few start opening their eyes and realizing what they are missing and start connecting. From there, friendships start. I don't want to give away too much, but I thought it was really good, and so nailed down the need for those important relationships.

So after mulling this all over the last week or so, I know there are some things I want to continue doing and some things I want to do differently.
1) Spend time with - truly interacting and relating to James, Caroline and Jack.
2) Continue to make family dinners and family fun nights a priority - but encourage more active conversation and interaction.
3) Make time for my parents and my sisters. Bring those relationships to the forefront more.
4) Continue to spend time with those friends that I am close with and whose company I enjoy. And when I am fortunate enough to meet someone new whom I connect with to help that relationship grow too.
5) Turn off the computer, TV, Wii, iPod, DVDs, radio and JUST talk, relate and enjoy each other.
6) Make a concerted effort to have people over more. Host activities that can bring people together where relationships can be cultivated AND experiences can be had. (the two aren't mutually exclusive!)
7) Reconnect with some old friends I haven't seen in a while. Facebook has been a lot of fun, but if I don't do something more than just post an occasional message on someone's wall, it hasn't really gotten me anywhere!

I'm sure there are more things, but this is what I am being convicted of at the moment. For all of you whom I count among those I am so very fond of, thank you for being my family and my friends. I love you all~

For the Love of Books!

Being an early childhood teacher, I have WAY more than my fair share of children's books. In fact, my husband would tell you, I probably need to not acquire anymore. Normally a trip to Barnes and Noble or Books a Million will translate into several new acquisitions. Somehow in the race to acquire more, I forgot about the simplicity and fun of the library.

Yesterday, as things would have it, we couldn't swim due to all the rain. Being cooped up in the house all day isn't too much fun, so we decided to make the trek to the brand new library that was built just down the street. Oh my goodness, it is beautiful. Such a nice place.

We enter and the first thing we do is fill out paper work to get our library cards. Each child got their own and the look of sheer joy at having a library card with their own name on it was priceless. (keeping them in my wallet and not in their position, might prove to be a bit more difficult). It brought back memories of having my own library card as a small girl and remembering that feeling of pure joy as well.

We went to the children's section (which is completely separate from the adult section - that is so nice). Nice and open, plenty of kid-sized tables and chairs, soft-seating areas to cuddle up and read. Great space.

Caroline worked with the librarian and was shown how to look up books on the computer system and she learned a bit about the Dewey Decimal system (remember that one!). She was so big as all by herself (without me even standing there - I could just see her mouth the words from where Jack and I were sitting). "How do I find chapter books that a 3rd grade girl would like to read?" She was in heaven as she sat in front of rows of books, "Momma, look at this book, it sounds so interesting. I'll get this book the next time we come." I loved the excitement to read!

Jack and I sat down and read about Koala bears. He told me when he found out that baby Koala bears are called Joeys, that they are named just like baby kangaroos. (how'd he know that?). We read about a trashy town, bears that hunt for sea shells, dirty dogs and what dinosaurs do when they get sick. Before we went in, we talked about how in a library you have to use a very very inside voice. So didn't think it would work, but it did. He was so quiet and whispered the whole time we were there.

Both kids left with 3 books a piece. They were then shown by the librarian how they could check out the books with their library cards. Both liked scanning the cards and books.

I liked spending the afternoon with my kids, cuddling, reading and growing a love of books.

James liked that we have new books for a few weeks, without it costing us a penny!

Thanks for the memories, Library, we'll see you in a couple of weeks!

Fun at Fernbank

Yesterday we continued our 'vacation in Atlanta' with a trip to Fernbank Natural History Museum. Hanging out with our 'travel' buddies again proved to be a blast. The Dinosaurs were a huge hit. Of course, Jack being the dinosaur-obsessed boy that he is, had to be convinced that the dinosaurs weren't real! After looking at the dinosaurs we went to the special exhibit - From Pole to Pole. There were fun facts and activities about both Polar Bears and Penguins. Jack remembered learning in Pre-K that Penguins and Polar Bears live on opposite sides of the world.

Caroline and Jack learned that together they weigh about the same as a young polar bear cub!

Caroline looking at the jaw bones of Polar Bears.

Jack realised he is LOTS smaller than a Polar Bear!The kids loved dressing up as Penguins and sliding down the snowbank. Caroline tried her paws at walking like a Polar Bear!Jack practiced his feet at being an Emperor Penguin Daddy, by carrying a penguin egg on his feet! One of the Junior Tour Guides took the time to show the kids about the fossils that are all over the tiles on the floor of the museum. After that everywhere we went, the kids were hunting with fossils! They did a great job finding them.

After we watched the IMAX movie on Antarctica, we spent some time in the science lab having fun with the different experiements.

Lots of fun, lots of weird animals (check-out the Giant sloth), lots of memories!

Simply Fun!

Going to get pedicures together.

Trying to learn to play Rockband on the Wii (man is that game hard!)
Giggling in the bubblebath!
Sword fighting and sometimes defeating Daddy in a duel!

Some of the simple things in life that bring great joy!

Out of the Mouth of Babes Monday

I have mentioned before that Jack is pretty witty. This week he had said some pretty funny things. So here is my first installment of ~ Out of the Mouths of Babes Monday.

We go swimming a lot in the summer. I tan pretty easily, and am pretty tan right now (yes, I do wear sunscreen!). Anyway.... Jack was sitting on my lap and was rubbing my arm. Then he looks into my eyes with all manner of seriousness, "Mommy, you are turning into a brown person like my friend, Christian. (looking quizzicly at me he continues matter-of-factly) but your tummy is white. I guess you're going to be half brown and half white now."

Some how at dinner last night we got on the subject of going on dates. Jack seemed to have some concept of what a "date" is. Caroline the entire time was defending herself, "I didn't tell him, I didn't tell him what a date was". Jack said a date is when you go out to dinner with a boy and a girl. (so good so far). I then asked him if he would go on a date with me. He looks at me with a bit of astonishment on his face, "Mommy, I can't go on a date with you, you are not my size."

UPDATE: Jack just told me, "You can go on dates with Daddy, because when he comes home you say, "Hi Honey, and kiss him".