by Sarah | Mar 30, 2014 | All About Family, All About Home, All About Kennedy, All About Me, All About Molly, All of Us, Blogging Life, Redefining Perfect, Sponsored
*Today’s post was sponsored by Fruitshoot. All opinions and lunch ideas are my own.
I have this special treat I love to do for my girls.
I don’t do it as often as I should, but then it’s not a treat, is it?
I like to make bento-style lunches for them.
I create sushi rolls out of sandwhiches, or just the meat and cheese. I add in vegetables and fruits, and the best part? They are so excited by the fun take on the food, that they happily eat all the healthy food I can pack into the meal…and even better? They eat more than they would if I just offered them a sandwich.
Today we’re heading out on an adventure for our first day of spring break. For my new job (more on that later), we’re heading out to a farm to check out the baby animals. The girls are so excited, but I’m going to surprise them with their favorite kind of lunches.
I’ve got all their favorites in there. Tomatoes, cheese, carrots, bologna, craisins, strawberry’s, yogurt covered raisins, and hard boiled eggs. I rolled the bologna and cheese into sushi-like rolls, and then made the [amazon_link id=”B00CDPNA70″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]kitten and panda faces[/amazon_link] out of them, too. I went with a “round” theme with the carrots to match the rest of the fruits, and mixed all the fruits, dried and fresh, together for them.
All of that is topped off with their (and my) newest favorite drink. Apple Fruitshooter’s!! They love the tasty drink, and that they can open them themselves (that whole independent streak they’ve got going) – and I love that handy little note at the top of the label “No Sugar Added”.
It’s a fun and easy way for us to all get what we want…and it’s a great way to get a drink into their lunches.
So how do you like to fun-up your kids lunches?
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Like Fruitshoot on Facebook
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*Today’s post was sponsored by Fruitshoot. All opinions and lunch ideas are my own.
by Sarah | Mar 27, 2014 | All About Ripley, All of Us, Redefining Perfect
I’ve known for some time (years, really), that we would get a dog. I was just waiting for Erik to catch up in his thought patterns.
It took years.
But here we are. A family of 6. Two adults, 3 children, 1 dog.
Ripley.
I also knew when we got another dog, it would be a rescue. That way it wouldn’t be a puppy, and we would “know” their behaviors.
But then we went and found Ripley.
Beautiful, sweet, Ripley.
Ripley, who had only been with her foster family for a week, so “Behaviors” weren’t an entire known.
But she was beautiful, and perfect, and she has fit into our family like a glove.
Not to say there hasn’t been a learning curve.
There has.
For all of us.
We’ve learned that she is a most insistent lap dog. No matter what you’re doing, if she wants attention/affection, she is in your lap. (at this exact moment as I write this, her muzzle is on my keyboard.) For a 30 pound beagle, this is no small feat.
We’ve learned (to our chagrin) that she is a trash picker.
We’ve learned that she is a lover. Not only will she be a lap dog, but if you get on the floor, she sets her chin on your neck. She’ll do anything to be close to you, just about anything.
We’ve learned that she has separation anxiety. While we tried for a while leaving her home alone with free reign, it didn’t last. The first few times, when I was gone only a short time, she did all right. Then came the trash picking. Then came the day I was gone two mornings in a row…and she pooped on the floor.
She has a kennel now.
She’s handling the addition well, and even chooses to sleep in in from time to time (because we put her bed in there).
At night she still sleeps with us or Denver.
Which reminds me, we’ve also learned that she’s a dreamer. Down to growling and yelping and running…which is always fun when you’re trying to sleep.
But the most important thing we’ve learned in all of this?
Is that she’s family.
Yes, behaviors are going to crop up.
But our home would be empty without her.
Her presence has brought a calming factor to the house – for the kids, for Erik, and for me. We’ve all noticed a change.
A very good change.
*~*
We always worried our home would be too small to add another creature, but she fits in like a puzzle piece. One I knew we were missing, and one I’m glad she filled.
by Sarah | Mar 26, 2014 | All About Kennedy, All About Me, Blogging Life, Pour Your Heart Out, Redefining Perfect, Top Ten Tuesday
I’ve never been a confident person (except on the stage).
I’ve never had that “it” factor that makes people popular, and I’ve never understood it.
I remember all too well the pain of being left out. The last called. The one no one liked. The one called “nerd”. The one told, by the one she thought was her best friend “I don’t like you,” after a bone-deep betrayal.
The pain that cuts deep in the eyes of youth. The pain that lingers long into adulthood and taints memories for years to come.
I remember so clearly the torture of late elementary and middle school. I was terrified to send my boy to middle school because of my experiences (but he survived unscathed).
*~*
Out of all my kids, I never thought I’d have to worry about Kennedy.
Despite her quirks and tendency toward tempers, she’s a bright and shiny, happy girl. One I thought was brimming with confidence and cheer.
I never thought she would look at me with tear-filled eyes and whimper those heart-wrenching words…
“Nobody likes me. They won’t play with me. They said they wouldn’t be my friend anymore.”
A shot to the heart that brought up so much pain for myself.
Worse, because it’s my baby.
And I want to fix it.
But is it fixable? How?
After a few weeks of contemplation, discussion, and talking, I attempted to email the teacher. I explained the situation, what had been told to us, with the full acknowledgment that I knew sometimes K’s temper could be a stepping stone. I asked the teacher for HER insights and observations…if she’d noticed anything. The only response? The guidance counselor calling to suggest Kennedy be placed in “Friendship Group” again…a group she’s been in every year that’s designed to help kids w/ issues making friends for various reasons.
No insights.
No help.
K seems happier now. She’s said that her friends agreed to be her friends again.
But I watch.
And I wait.
Praying that she comes out the other end on the good side of the emotional wall.
Knowing that I’ll be there whatever happens. Either with deep understanding of her pain, or joy that she has a freedom and happiness I never felt.
*~*
Written for Things I can’t Say’s Pour Your Heart Out
by Sarah | Mar 25, 2014 | All About Me, Blogging Life, Redefining Perfect, Story of Me, The Geek, Top Ten Tuesday
I’m a total ghost geek.
I admit it.
Have been for…wow, at least since middle school.
I believe in ghosts, I believe I’ve seen several.
Also, I DREAM of being able to go to a haunted location.
Even my hubby, who doesn’t believe in ghosts, has talked of taking me to one just because I want to go SO.BAD.
So this top ten list – wasn’t easy. Narrowing it down to only 10 locations, but I did. There is no particular order in place here, because there isn’t one I’d want to go to more than another. I want to see them all-fully equipped with cameras, evp recorders, and video. Yeah, totally obsessed.
10. The Bird Cage Theater – Tombstone, Arizona. So much life, and death, passed through here and the tales of hauntings are pretty long standing.
9. The Stanley Hotel – Estes Park, CO. I wouldn’t be a ghost geek if I didn’t want to go to this one.
8. Myrtles Plantation – Francisville, LA. A ghost that shows up in lots of pictures? Uh, yes please.
7. Whaley House – San Diego, CA. Rumors of a man (Yankee Jim), a woman, a small child, and even a small dog have been reported haunting this home for years. It was declared the most haunted house in the US by the Travel Channel.
6. Eastern State Penitentiary – Philadelphia, PA. Gives me the shivers just thinking about going…but that wouldn’t stop me.
5. Villisca Ax Murder House – Villisca, IA. Hundreds of years later the mystery of this house remains. It would be interesting to see what you could find there.
4. Lincoln Square Theater – Decature, IL. Evidence abounds out of this theater. I’d love to add to the stockpile.
3. Winchester Mystery House – San Jose, CA. Another one where I wouldn’t be a ghost geek if I didn’t want to go.
2. Lemp Mansion – St. Louis, MO. I was right near this one a couple of years back. Unfortunately, I was there on a mostly planned weekend and didn’t have time to get to the Lemp Mansion, but next time I go to St. Louis, I AM going to Lemp.
1. Waverly Hills Sanitorium – Louisville, KY. ‘Nuff said.
~The two most likely to happen are the Lemp Mansion and Waverly Hills, because those are within close driving distance. We’ve also talked about doing Waverly Hills since they have a way to sign up and do it. It might yet happen…
~One house is notably absent, and I have many many reasons for it. That’s the Lizzie Borden House. I couldn’t add it to the list for personal reasons.
~Also not on the list are any places from Salem, MA or Gettysburg because…well, there isn’t any ONE place in those towns I could choose over another. I would want to go an experience the whole towns…so it didn’t feel right to add whole towns to the list. 😀
And that’s my list and caveats. 😀
What about you? Are you a ghost geek? Tell me I’m not alone!!
by Sarah | Mar 24, 2014 | All About Me, Redefining Perfect
Back in December I finally had surgery on my much-despised, and often painful, foot.
Without going into too much detail, a genetic quirk makes my big toes point in toward my pinky toes. I’ve had this issue since birth and it wasn’t always painful, but as I reached adulthood, and the bunions this quirk caused grew, and the toes moved further outward, pain became a regular companion.
So after hemming and hawing and delaying for years, I bit the bullet and told the podiatrist “Let’s do it.”
Right out of surgery everythign looked GREAT.
My toe had never, in my entire life, been so straight.
It was awesome…despite the levels of pain I was in, the extreme levels of cabin fever I was going through and the inability to do anything for myself (which I despise). I was able to say “It was SO worth it.”
And then…
And then…
Shortly after I started walking again, and the swelling started to go down, my toe began “drifting.”
Back toward the position it was in pre-surgery.
Back…
Back…
Back…
I’ve been back to the podiatrist, had another x-ray, had everything checked out – and there’s no clear explanation.
We don’t know why.
We only know my stubborn-fool body is reverting back to the odd quirk.
And now all I can do is pray that the pain doesn’t return.
But my hopes to have straight feet, and the ability to get whatever job I want once I’m healed are gone.
So disappointing.
All that pain.
All that healing.
All for nothing.
by Sarah | Mar 21, 2014 | All About Kennedy, All About Me, All About Molly, Blogging Life, Pinterest Challenge, Redefining Perfect
Time for another round of Pinterest Challenge!
This time I decided to take on a craft – and one my girls could participate in.
So we went with BALLOON BRACELETS!!
I actually just found this Pin a few weeks back. The original link is not currently working, so I can’t share it, but the premise was simple.
Elastic.
Twisty balloons cut into pieces.
I did add a detail. In order to make the stringing of the balloons onto the elastic run smoother, I put a safety pin on the end of the elastic. It made it about 100 times easier.
So I did a test run, in secret, away from the girls. I kept my color scheme simple, white, blue and green and slid them onto the elastic. I found myself sometimes struggling to get the balloon on, but overall it was pretty easy. When it was done, I tied the ends together, pulled one of the balloons over the tie and slipped that sucker on.
Other than making it a wee bit too tight for myself, I liked it.
(And to answer one of my reader questions – NO. The balloon did not tug on my arm hair.)
So a couple of days later, the girls got off the bus, did their homework and it was their time to try.
I gave them a short, five minute instruction and they were off!
They both picked it up really quick, although Molly was a bit faster to string on the balloons than her sister. Must be all that fine motor therapy she’s had over the years.
In the end, each girl had 3 bracelets and big smiles.
So of course, I have to say that this was definitely a Pinterest YAY!!!
I have this special treat I love to do for my girls.
