Saturday, May 12, 2012

Guess What?

I have a flippen head cold.

Mica was stuffy all last week. I was thinking he had allergy issues because he never said anything about a sore throat and/or achy body. All he told us was that he had a headache. I ran the Neti Pot through his nose all week. He said it stung. It's because he was so swollen up in his nasal cavity. I came up with something clever, yet gross to try and get him to continue with the Neti Pot. I told him that it was great to do because he's a Ghost Buster. He had to fight off the slimy ghosts in his nose. My reasoning and the Neti Pot both worked!

I got on Mica for not telling me he felt like crap. I told him, "You can tell Mommy anything!" He said, "I didn't want to say anything to anyone." I said, "Mica I can help you better if I know what's wrong with you." He's going to be one of those men that refuses to go to the doctor. He handles pain a little too well.

I didn't know he had a cold. Yours truly (me) got it! I felt a sore throat on Friday. Then Friday night I knew it was more than allergies. I was achy all over, tried, stuffed up and couldn't sleep well. Daddy said I was snoring so bad, he left the bed. Attractive, I know - NOT! Today I'm trying to drink, drink, drink. Then I used the Neti Pot three times just to feel relief if only for a few minutes. I swear I should become a spokes person for that company. My voice sounds like I've been smoking for years. I haven't.

Daddy came in wanting to go to some fancy restaurant tomorrow. He called to make reservations. They were booked. He was bummed. He called another place. They were booked to. We never think of calling too much in advance. We just don't go out that often. I told him, "Don't worry about it! I can't breathe or taste anything anyhow!" He said, "I really wanted to take you somewhere nice. You deserve that." Inside I'm thinking, You wanted to go to someplace special because you wanted to eat there. I don't feel good, so being positive isn't on my mind.

I did manage to be a pretty decent Mom today. Sort of. I took the boys to swimming lessons. There we read books, while each kid was waiting on the other (swimming lessons are at different times).

I did fail miserably when I went to go get coffee in the Y lobby. I was only gone for 2 minutes tops. Within that two minutes Isaak got done with his lessons and he was sobbing because we weren't there. A Y coach was consoling him. I felt horrible. Then when we went out the door, I thanked the wrong lady for consoling Isaak. They look alike. She was probably thinking WTH! I didn't realize that it was the wrong person until I left.

Back to being a decent Mommy. I walked the boys home. We live close to the Y. They played. I did laundry and made them lunch. Then we went to Costco. After that we came home and picked June Berries all afternoon. :) I have probably 1/2 a gallon of them. The boys enjoyed it. I was so wrapped up into what we were doing; I forgot about not feeling good.




Then I came inside and made a Thomas train track that filled our living room. The boys haven't played with that stuff for awhile. Let me tell you Isaak's been VERY vocal while playing. It's like he hit a new stage or something. Yes the boys fight, but they also play now. I love listening to them play.

Now Mica's outside working in the garden with Daddy. He took a nap today. Yep my 6 year old often naps one day a weekend. His teacher said I am lucky. Isaak didn't nap. He went down at 7:15.


Sing, Sing a Song Saturday

I started four weeks ago doing what I call Sing, Sing a Song Saturday.  I'm going to post one song on Saturdays that the boys or I like. I'll see how long I can keep it up.

The song may be part of a movie, a kid's video or just a song we like. It may or may not include words. I'll try and include why we like it and/or the history of the song/singer.


This video is made out of a lot of jelly beans. 288,000 is the magic number for Kina Grannis' "In Your Arms," which is made entirely of Jelly Belly jelly beans. A few more numbers: the project took 22 months, 1,357 hours, 30 people, two ladders and one still camera.

In the making-of video, Grannis spends a lot of time lying down on top of glass, under which lies the jellybean scenery backdrop. Some frames would take five minutes to shoot, others three hours. But their patience paid off!

Watch how the video was made:

Thursday, May 10, 2012

Spidy Invite

I started working on the invites for Isaak and Cousin Evan's joint birthday party. I have the address included, but took it out to put up on here.


I used their Spider-Man pictures from the Y. They are turning 4 and 7. So what do you think?

Vintage Names and Toys

I love names. Thinking of them that is. I'm not having any more children, but I still like to think about names.

Old names are back! I like some of them. What about you? My favorite older name is Harrison. I love the name Savannah Claire. The name Savannah isn't that old I don't think, but Claire is. Then I like Charlotte, Scarlett, Oliver, Maxwell and Jackson (Isaak's middle name is Jaxon). Not all older names have returned. I have grandparents named Dorothy and Marvin. Then I had a Grandpa named George. My Dad's Mother's names have returned. Marget gave birth to him and Lottie raised him. I actually heard someone name their daughter Charlotte and call her Lottie for short. I think it's pretty! Our boy's names are older names, but with a modern day spelling.

When I was little I'd have my friend Debbie over and we would cut out of magazines what children we wanted. They were each named; first and middle names. Then their rooms were cut out. We would give them each a pet; even though I'd never be able to have furry pets {allergies}. By the time we were done, we'd have like 20 kids, all different nationalities. Who needs paper dolls? Although I did like paper dolls as well. We made our own.

Our Barbies would all have names as well. I'd lay them all out in a row and between Debbie, my sister Terra and I we'd pick an even amount of Barbies to play with. Debbie had colored paper punches all over her floor. She refused to vacuum because the colored paper punches were our Barbie's food. Our end tables were Barbie's apartment. We had a Barbie house as well. The end tables were perfect because they had different floors to live in.

Our dolls all had names. We'd take them for stroller rides. We'd make tents out of blankets, ropes, chairs and clothespins. One single rope would travel across the living room. That rope would serve different purposes. It was the close line for our doll's clothes. It was also a zip line for our dolls. At the time I didn't know what a zip line was. I didn't even know that what we did, had a name. I took the old Fisher Price shopping cart out. The orange seat and handle came out of the cart. I took the orange part and connected the handle to the rope that ran across our living room. The dolls went in and zipped across. We had so much fun! I don't know if my parents still have this cart or not. If they do it's probably worth some money. It took me awhile to find it on the net. It's selling for $51 on a vintage site.


What older names do you like? What vintage toys do you like? I want to know!

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

The Funny Things Isaak Said

Isaak's been saying some funny things. Like last night he was in his room getting his pjs on. I was in the living room. He comes out and says, "So Mommy did ya miss me?" It was as if he was gone on a for a long time. I of course said, "Yes Isaak I missed you soooo much!"

Then he said before bed, "Mommy I want to do the teapot like Mica!"

The teapot he was talking about is the Neti Pot. I plopped my little Isaak up on a chair, got the Neti Pot cleaned, put filtered water in, added the special salt and heated it up for 25 seconds. Isaak stood there and did the Neti Pot.

The End of the School Year is Among Us

I've been wanting to blog more, but it's close to finals time. Lets just say that I've been busy grading, grading and more grading. My seniors have senioritis. They don't want to do anything I want them to do. They want to be out of school in the worst way. What they don't realize is that 5 years from now many of them will wish to be back in school; minus the student loans. Truly this senior class is the best students I've had. A few know they are good. It's gone to their heads. The rest, I'm kind of sad to see them leave.

Mica's Kindergarten teacher mentioned that she lost the kids' attention as soon as spring break happened. In some regards I lost the drive in my students as well.

I'm so happy that this semester I don't have to hand grade tests! I have a program that puts the test over the network, mixes up the order of the questions and gives me the results in the matter of seconds! Second semester my first year students have laptops; first semester they did not.

My Grading Consists of: 

A stack of stationery sets to grade. All the companies I picked out. Many I discovered through blogging. My goal was to pick companies the students have never heard of. Then they'd have to look them up. The students redesigned their logos in two ways. Then made stationery sets for them.

A stack of editorial illustrations to grade. I found about 10 really interesting, out there articles. Then the students did illustrations for them. My favorites are: The First Arab Sumo Wrestler and Squirrels Gone Wild.

A stack of Resume Packages for my seniors.

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

WW: Then and Now {Linky}

These shots below were taken more than a few years back. Isaak was a baby and Mica was three years old.






Isaak can now wear the shirt Mica wore then. He sure has changed. He still has big dreamy or cartoon eyes.



You Can Follow Me Here:

The Apel's The Apel's The Apel's The Apel'sThe Apel's

I just joined Pinterest. If you follow me, I'll follow back. :)

If you have time enter these low entry giveaways:

250 business cards through PrintRunner
32 ounce jar of Coconut Oil from Tropical Traditions

Monday, May 7, 2012

Mother's Day Event at Preschool

I joined in on the Mother's Day Event at Preschool today. They Call it a Mothers Day Tea, but there was no tea served. I guess it was a Mother's Day Coffee.

The kids did all these things for their moms, including me:
  • They made us muffins. 
  • They sang us songs.
  • They painted flower pots for us. Then planted flowers in the pots.
  • They colored us cards.
We ate, we joined in in singing songs, we read mom related books. It was nice.

Here's my new flower pot. Isaak took the picture.


Here's my eclectic boy. Daddy said Isaak's tie didn't match. I said not matching is the style.


Isaak was so excited to see me at his preschool! I hardly ever get a chance to take or pick him up.  Working full-time has it's downfalls sometimes.

Sunday, May 6, 2012

Tomorrow I'm Looking Forward to Going to Preschool

Isaak's been plotting planning surprises for me at preschool. He's been dropping hints for a week now. I asked him last week, "Isaak how was preschool?" He said, "Well Mommy I can't tell you, it's a surprise! We practiced a song I can't sing for you because it's a surprise."



I know sort what the surprise will consist of sort of. Mica had the same Mother's Event when he was in preschool. He brought out a flower to me, sang to me, we had a muffin he made and we read stories. I wonder what tomorrow will be like?

Tropical Traditions Coconut Oil Giveaway

This morning I made cookies! Breakfast cookies that is.


I used a scoop to make them, so they were rounder than cookies usually are. My boys thanked me for breakfast.

Here's how to make them:

Set the oven at 350 degrees. Bake for 12 minutes or if you like crispy cookies, bake for 15 minutes. They do not spread much, but will get more puffy and golden around the edges.


I used a mixer and just dumped all the ingredients together. If you are not using a mixer, combine the dry ingredients in one mixing bowl, the wet ingredients in another and mix them for the end results.

*The dried cherries can be substituted for other dried fruit.


Tropical Traditions gave me a jar of Gold Label Extra Virgin Coconut Oil to try out. there are 100s of ways to use coconut oil. Check out the ways here.


Here's what CEO of Tropical Traditions says about Coconut Oil:


Now for the giveaway! One US or Canadian reader is going to win 1 32 ounce jar of Tropical Traditions Coconut Oil!

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Disclaimer

The opinions on this blog are my personal take on products and topics relating to motherhood. This blog is a personal blog written and edited by me.

I am not compensated to provide opinions on a variety of topics. The views and opinions expressed on this blog are my own. If I claim to show knowledge of certain topic or product I will only endorse products or services that I feel, based on my expertise, are worthy of such endorsement.

If you have any questions about this blog, or want to get in contact with me please email me at: anapeladay@gmail.com