Hair do for the girls

Within the past couple of weeks Aly has finally expressed and interest in me doing her hair. Whether it be braiding it or putting it in a pony tail she finally wants it done. For well over a year now she has just wanted to wear it down so I have been really excited to get the chance to start doing different things with her hair as I know how to do so many things.

On Mother's Day Aly decided she wanted her hair done with lots of colorful rubber bands. So I decided to do one of the popular 80's har dos. I thought it looked pretty cute.

Now that Aly is taking an interest in her hair guess who else is? Of course, KK wants to be just like big sissy. The only problem is she barely has any hair. So it tends to be a bit more challenging.

Weight loss Mondays

I did manage to make some success this past week and am back down to 128.8. I lost a total of 1.8 pounds even with my busy schedule. I managed to get in one treadmill a day which only averaged 300 calories a day burned. I must have done better on diet. I am hoping that this next week I might be able to manage to loose 1-2 pounds so I can hit new records. I will say though that I am happy with how I look in clothes, I would just like to look a little better in a swimsuit!

Boxtops for education

To all of my family and friends that are not already saving boxtops. Boxtops for education is a program sponsored by General Mills to help give money to schools in this country. Each boxtop is usually worth ten cents. While it might not seem like much it really adds up. Aly starts school in the fall so I began saving them for her school a couple of months ago. I will give them to her school in the fall when she starts. I checked how much her school has earned this year and I believe it was around $800. That is a good amount of money for supplies or whatever else the school may need to fund. It doesn't cost us anything other than a few seconds to cut the logo of the box.

Check your pantry and start cutting. I found these tops on granola bar packages, cereal boxes, cookie mixes, muffin mixes, cake mixes, frosting, pasta, toilet paper, fruit rolls, some canned foods, and I am sure many more things that I am forgetting. Anyway, look for the above logo. It will usually have an expiration date on it and the amount of money it is worth.

If you are not already saving them for someone else, please start saving them for us. You can help Aly's school have more money for supplies.

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all of you Mom's out there. Hope you all have a day of rest and relaxation from all of the daily mundane chores.

I decided to take this day to celebrate the love I feel for my daughters so I wrote each of them a letter. One of the main reasons I started this blog was so that if anything ever happened to me my girls would always know that I love them and they would be able to learn a bit about me through the blog.

A letter to KK

Dear little KK,

From the moment I found out I was pregnant with you I was thrilled. We had been trying for five months and were starting to feel like we might have a problem having another child. Just when it seemed like it might not happen, we found out I was pregnant. What was even more amazing was we found out you would be a June baby just like your sister.

During my entire pregnancy I kept asking my friends, "How can I love my second child the way that I love my first? Is there room in my heart for this kind of love with more than one child?" Many answered that they had felt the same way but were amazed at how much they loved each child there after and how the love the felt for each child was just as intense.

When we found out we were having another girl we were surprised. I was happy for both you and Aly because I was thrilled you would be sisters. I never had a sister and always wished that I could have had that sister bond that so many of my friends had with their sisters.

Your name was an easy one to pick. I had wanted to name my little girl your name since I was 16 years old. It was just convincing Daddy that took time!

When you were born I was so happy. I was surprised when you were born weighing in at an even seven pounds and 19 inches long. I had my tiny little petite girl who turned out to look a lot like me and my side of the family. You reminded me so much of my father who had only passed away three months before you were born. I felt like he was apart of you and that every time I look at you I see a piece of him. You totally have his lips and lower part of his face. I love your lips so much and I know that you will find them to be one of your favorite features when you grow up.

That first day that you were born I was so amazed at the love I felt for you. I was amazed that I could have that intense feeling of love that I had for your sister and also have it for you. In those first few days I learned to love your quiet nature, your beautiful little face, and your mild manner. I was so thrilled to have the next four days in the hospital to have alone time to bond with you.

Bringing you home was a joy. Aly adjusted to you and learned to be quite the little helper. You were an easy baby except for your sleeping habits, which to this day are still interrupted. You will probably turn out to be the girl that can pull all nighters for exams and still function off of very little sleep.

Do you know what amazed me about your development. You were so active and things came so easy for you. Learning how to roll over, hold yourself up, crawl, etc. Your temperment was persistent and you just kept trying things over and over and over again until you finally got it. I loved this about you. I loved that you never gave up and you never seemed mad or frustrated in the process.

At a year old you began trying to walk. You wanted to keep up with your older sister and do all of the things that she could do. I loved this period of time for you and I was so proud at how you just kept trying and trying until you got it right.

Early on you had this quality of projecting happiness to all of those around you. You had a constant smile on your face and the world around you just seemed to amaze you and lite you up. I loved how happy you always were and it always brought a smile to my face.

When you started talking I really began to learn more about you and your personality. It was fun to see what you would want and what you needed. It was fun to see you stand up to your sister for what you felt was yours. I admired your ability to stand up to others even though that were twice your size. You already showed me that you will grow up to be a strong woman.

By the age of 2 1/2 you already knew all of your letters and sounds. You could even count to ten in Spanish. I was so proud of you for how smart you were and how much you too loved to learn. I can tell already at such an early age that you have an amazing memory and learning will come easy to you. I look forward to watching your schooling years and the woman you will become.

You remind me so much of me in so many ways and you have helped me to learn more about myself. I never knew that I didn't like my hands to be dirty or sticky until I watched you get upset over it. It was then that I noticed I didn't like it either. I believe we also share our strength and tenacity. I love you for this.

KK I look forward to seeing my little girl grow and develop and I love you more than words can ever express.

A letter to Aly

To my beautiful daughter Aly,

Words cannot express how much you mean to me. From the day I found out I was pregnant, to the day I found out you were a girl, to the day of your birth I just fell more and more in love with you. I was amazed when you were born the intense feeling of love I had for you. I had never felt a love like this before and I felt so happy to have such a beautiful little girl in my arms.

You were so fun to watch develop. I remember each stage of development eagerly awaiting your mastery of it. I also remember thinking each stage was my favorite, from you first smile, to discovering your hands, to learning to roll over, etc.

You had a command on language at such a young age. By 8 months old you were already shouting dog commands such as sit, stay, come. At 12 months of age you loved to be read to which I believe is what helped you to talk at such an early age. By 18 months old you were already talking in sentences.

Things seemed to progress rather quickly from there. Your sister was born and while it was quite an adjustment for you it helped you grow into an independent little girl. I remember how you looked at her when she was first born, not knowing what to think, only to soon discover that she is your best friend and that you love her more than you ever knew you could.

By the time you were three you were already taking an interest in learning to write and read. You had learned all of your letters and sounds before you turned three and you began writing your alphabet shortly there after. I remember you would sit at the table for hours at a time tracing letters and showing me how well you were doing. I was so proud of your natural interest in learning and so proud of your ability at such a young age to sit for long periods of time to do a project or activity.

By the time you were three and a half you began learning to read 3 letter words such as cat, dog, rat, etc. It amazed me how fast you learned and how much you personally wanted to learn everything around you that you possibly could. I was so proud of you and let everyone around me know of your progress.

Do you know what amazing skill you developed at the age of four? It was then that we began to recognize your amazing talent for drawing. You can check through my blog and look at many of the posts that I made displaying your art. You amazed me everyday at how well you were drawing and what your imagination brought you to draw next. I also really loved to watch your drawing sessions with Daddy. I loved seeing how you would learn to draw things he drew by watching him draw. You know what I loved the most? When you would draw pictures for me and write Mom on them. The best part was when you would bring them to me beaming with pride at how well you had done.

I love every part of you for who you are. I love that you enjoy being you and that you explore things in life that interest you. I love your smile, your beautiful brown eyes, and your happiness for life. I love your caring nature and your desire to teach others new things as well. I love that even with all your talents and skills you are humble and proud of being who you are.

I love you with all of my heart Aly, and I always will.

Pancakes for breakfast anyone?

Last Monday at preschool one of the mom's made pancakes with chocolate chips for snack. Aly was so excited and has been begging me ever since to make the same thing. Of course since I am on such a whole wheat kick I had to look up a recipe to make a healthier version.

Our friend Terry gave us the airplane and train shapes to make pancakes with for Christmas. Aly was really excited and chose the train. We gave KK the airplane although she wouldn't even try a bite. I made regular pancakes for me, hubby didn't want any because he doesn't like to eat carbs.

Aly loved her pancake and ate the whole thing! I made mine with strawberries and whipped cream. It was so good I had a second one!

Here is the recipe if you are interested in making them:

Whole Wheat Pancakes

2 cups whole wheat flour

1/4 cup of sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

2 eggs, well beaten

2 cups of milk

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

3/4 cup chocolate chips

Stir together dry ingredients. Add eggs, milk, and oil. Stir until dry ingredients are moistened (batter may be lumpy). Add chocolate chips. Cook on preheated griddle or frying pan until bubbles form and edges start to dry. Flip and cook until lightly browned.

This week has been crazy busy

Wow, I can't believe how fast this week went by and how stressfull it was. Last year I made a DVD slideshow for Aly's preschool as a fundraiser. I was asked to do it again this year and boy did it give me a lot of trouble! I bet the whole thing took more than 20 hours of prep! One of the longest processes was going through all of the photos that not only I had taken but also the teacher and other parents. I also had to try and make sure each child was shown an even amount of times. Plus the editing of photos and adding text so people knew who the children were.

Once I finished that process I began working on the slideshow. Tuesday night I ran into a bunch of trouble. Everytime I tried to burn a copy of the slideshow my computer kept freezing. Of course this was another week of hubbies long hours and deadlines and he was at work that night and didn't get home until 10:30! I ended up having to remove files from my computer because my hard drive was too full. I also removed magic jack as I had a feeling that was hanging it up to.

The slideshow consumed my every moment this week. I did get it done for Open House and recieved comments on how good it was. Hopefully we will raise a good amount of money for Ms. Gilinda to spend on classroom supplies.

My latest win!

Yesterday at the mom's mixer they had a raffle going on. There were probably more than 20 baskets to raffle. I went through very carefully and picked the four baskets that I would really want to win. One was a palm pilot, another was a haircut at a nice salon, the third basket I put in was a 3 month membership to a gym, and the fourth basket I put in was for a fairy tea party for my girls.

Luck would be in my favor and I won the fairy tea party for my girls. Click on the picture and you can see what all they will get. It is a tea party for 4 valued at $200.00. The girls should have a lot of fun. Aly was really excited about it. I called her two best friends right away so I could coordinate dates with them so they could be our guests at the tea party. All of the girls are really excited and they should have a great time. I can't wait to take lots of pictures!

Weight Loss Mondays--hee, hee

For the first time since doing this I have to report that I gained weight. I am kind of laughing as I write this because I knew I would. I had a fantastic week. While I did do the treadmill everyday there were quite a few days where I only did it once. Typically I like to do at least two a day.

That wasn't my only problem. On Wednesday I allowed myself to eat Round Table pizza. If I had stuck to lunch only where I was full after two pieces this probably wouldn't have been a problem. I brought left overs home and had three pieces for dinner--hee, hee. Then there was also the yummy cake I made for hubby's birthday.

Yesterday brought another major cheat day. I went to a Mother's Luncheon for our Mom's club and totally gorged. It didn't help that I hadn't had anything to eat. I was so busy in the morning and had to leave by 10:30. The luncheon started at 11:00 so I assumed it would be no big deal that I could wait until we were served. We didn't start getting served until 12:45 and it was bread. So I started scarfing bread. I ate the entire salad, and my chicken and rice plate. Dessert was served and it was a chocolate mouse type cake. Very rich and quite delicious. I ate all of that as well. What a great day!

So today it is back on the normal routine. I gained 1.8 pounds this week so let's hope my hard work and dedication in the next week will help take it off. Hee, Hee, I just can't help but laughing.