POPCORN IN A BAG!!!!!

I've seen this a lot around the internet (pinterest, blogs, googling random things, whatevs...) And today finally presented itself as the perfect time to make it!!!! I was so excited!!! 

Yesterday, I wasn't looking too forward to taking a personal day to stay home with my daughter but it's what it came down to. And because I was staying home with her, another little guy that goes to the same daycare came over to my place and it has been so much fun!!! 

They played with magnaformers, put some puzzles together, read some books, played some memory games, and many other things. Then, it came time to chill out a little (because these two bicker like an old married couple) and they wanted to put in Rango. We wanted to put in a bag of popcorn, but my Little Miss S must have brought the last bag to school with her and forgot to tell me (AND left the empty box in the cupboard). SO--- with our hearts set on POPCORN... here's what we did.

• We got two paper bags
• 1/3 cup of popping corn (each bag)
• Spray butter (for Miss I)
• M&M's (for both kiddos!)

*Two of our only paper bags in the house, happened to be Toy Story bags!*

*Miss I doing a goofy pose for the camera before putting her popcorn in her bag.*

(1/3 cup of popping corn)

*Fold bag over twice before placing in the microwave.*

Then, they went into the living room, set up their blankets and pillows, and put the movie on. I put each bag into the microwave (separately) for 2 minutes. That's about the time they popped all the way through the bag. Which is why I ended up putting each of their popcorn into a big popcorn bowl to share. I think we had some cheap bags. ;) BUT maybe that happens to regular ole' brown bags, too. Who knows!

We had to add our M&M's, naturally.

In our awesome POPCORN bowl I got from my Grandma and Grandpa. :) I love it. So do the girls.

Miss I and Mr. E enjoying their popcorn together!!! :)

What a lovely idea for a yucky day at home!!!!!!!!!!

Perfect Art Activity

Let's face it, sometimes you just want to occupy your kids. ;) ..right??

Sometimes, you just wish you could find the "perfect" activity to last them forEVER without you needing to help them too much and relax. Because..... we all have busy..BUSY days! I've been there, I've done that. :) 

So, after one of those "no-sleep nights", a 9-10 hour day of work, dance classes after that, and dinner to prepare---- it makes a lady pretty exhausted!!!! (and the single mama's like me, it can be a little more crazy!!!-- where's that guy to just help a LITTLE, right???)  

But you don't want to sit there on the couch and tell your kids to just leave you alone and don't bother you at all. After all, they're your babies, you love them!!! You want to cherish every little moment, right?!?!

My two ladies!

Let me tell you about one of my favorite, inexpensive, super awesome nights that I LOVE to do and that the kids LOVE to do as well and it even lets me put my patootie on the couch (or floor) (or chair) for just a little while, while we ALL have fun together!

ARTS AND FARTS night. (Arts and crafts- but when I went to a summer camp as a child, they called it "arts and farts" and the name has stuck with me ever since then!)

I went to the dollar store on my lunch break. (Dollar General, in my case..... I'm in a super small midwest town, and that's one of the three "stores" or so available in my town. :)) I loaded up on some cheap $1-$3.00 craft supplies. And I went with "Valentine's Day" since it's coming up!!!! **AND I'm a holiday junkie!!!!!!**

On our little table in the living room, I set out the following items that I found.

*pink and white heart doilies

*pink, white, purple construction paper

*beads

*pom poms

*stickers (foam stickers and little Valentine's Character stickers

*pipe cleaners

*markers

*colored pencils

*stamps

*foamy stickers*

*beads!*

*stickers*

We had a free-for-all.....

It was so much fun!!!!!

We colored,    

we wrote words, 

we made bead bracelets and keychains,

We made sticker art,

we were creative, 

we were artistic,

we laughed,

we talked,

we reviewed colors,

we talked about shapes,

we bonded,

we had a GREAT TIME.

*Little Miss I working on her "MASTERPIECE"... and taking the back off of a foam sticker*

*She's putting the sticker on her paper right here*

*Little Miss S doing polka-dot lettering on her artwork*

*putting beads on a pipe cleaner to make a keychain for her babysitter*

*She's making a bracelet for her "bff" she says.. :)*

*working so hard on getting the back off of a foam sticker*

*She's so happy she found a big, green bear to put on her keychain*

*a collection of our keychains, bracelets, etc.*

The best part....... this occupied my two ladies for over an hour!!!!!!!! I had a great time, they did. We had time talking about our days and we even listened to PANDORA. (we have an obsession with pandora, because we get to listen to all of our favorites and even find new ones!)

:)

Well, I hope this inspired you to just remember that sometimes simpler is better. :) 

Au Revoir!!!!

A-

A goal of mine

When the calendar switched from 2012 to 2013, I knew some changes had to be made in my lifestyle. I'm a fan of setting goals and achieving those goals. And those goals should always be fairly high, even if you don't think they're attainable. It is in making these goals that we really truly redefine ourselves, and prove to even our own self doubt that we can overcome obstacles if we make the true effort to do so. 

I wanted to write "lose weight" on my New Year's resolution list. But, that quickly got scratched out. I realized it wasn't about losing weight anymore. Of course, I want to look hot in a bikini (jk, I don't wear bikinis....but if I did I'd like to look amazing in it, right?!). And I want to have toned muscles and low body fat. Who wouldn't?!?! It'd be amazing to order something online and put it on to have it look like the model that showed it off in the little box! However, when thinking about it.... really, I just wanted to feel good about who I am. Not only does working out and being physically active help in looking good, it also helps the self esteem, right?! You look in the mirror and step on that scale and see that your hard work pays off. You actually SEE something you achieve. On top of that even, MORE!!!! are to end all of my petty, little excuses.

 "I don't have a babysitter." "I work full-time, keep my kids at a sitter, I am not going to waste another hour or two away from them! I want to be with them!" or "It's too much time... I have work, and I have homework, and I have kids, and I have cleaning, and I have cooking, and organizing, and.... *insert number of excuses here*. " "It's too hard, I can't do it."

So, what did I do?! I first cleaned out my refrigerator! I call it a "kitchen detox". If you don't have those chocolate kisses, and those quick snacks available for grabbing, you can't do it. Once the cupboards and the fridge/freezer are cleaned of the clutter, you go to the grocery store. (BUT not hungry... ;)) And you fill it with fresh produce, whole grain foods, foods that have good nutrients. Of course, you need to put some "goodies" in there, but try pretzels instead of potato chips... ;) Stuff like that!!

She's so bare!!! And, I found my almond butter. AND flax seed. ;) Felt so good to be reunited!

It sure beats the hot dogs, and junk food we had in there....

Then, put the kids to bed early. Set a strict bedtime. Make sure the last bit is spent with the kids. Playing in the bath, reading some stories, watching a favorite t.v. show and laughing, coloring in a coloring book, or practicing flash cards or spelling words. Playing a favorite family game. Whatever it is that you do for a bedtime routine. Then put them down. 

There are hundreds of wonderful workout videos out there. Some of my favorite are Bob Harper, Jillian Michaels, and Skinny B*itch (Pardon for this being on my top faves, But I was drawn to their laid-back personality and it almost made me feel as though I was visiting/listening to some friends when my friends are so far away in miles). I even have some of the Insanity DVD workouts. My favorite would probably be Insanity or Bob Harper! Their personalities are enough to make me want to go, and motivate me, but not feel put down or like I'm really slacking :D. And I like that!!!

Or, I've been pinning a lot of wonderful workouts that are all over the internet. It's beautiful!! 

Crossfit style workout

A number of great workouts to get your blood flowing and your heart pumping. 

OR this one!

World's Fastest Workout!!!

Or many others out there!

There are other options. See how many sit-ups you can do in a day, and try to beat it by 20 the next day. Or push-ups or jumping jacks. Or, the other night, I real laps around my apartment for 25 minutes. I run up and down the stairs for 5 minutes, take a one minute break, and go at it for another 5, take a break, etc. 

I'm pretty stoked about this goal I've set and pretty soon, I'm hoping it'll be a goal that doesn't seem so unattainable. 

It feels great to drink my refreshing water, eat my healthy foods, and to sweat through my clothes from working out!!!

So, here's to saying goodbye to excuses, and hello to "anything is possible".!

Questions for Discussion!!!!

What are your favorite healthy foods?? 
What do you do to stay  motivated throughout the year???
Do you have any favorite workouts that you can do from your home or with your kids??? (In the winter?!)

Slip of the mind.

I have no excuses for why I have not posted in a while. It is now a new year, and I can't even believe where all of the time went to! I guess, I can be happy that it was spent at my wonderful job or with my family and friends whom I completely adore! :)

Let's start with the here and the now. It is a new year. 2013 crept up on me faster than I thought it would! I knew it was coming up and yet, I wake up and it's December 31st and I have nothing to do to ring in the new year. :D But that happens, and it is OK.

That night was a wonderful night spent with my two, beautiful ladies at our apartment here in IG. 

 

I bought us a bottle of sparkling grape juice (and MAYBE a bottle of champagne for me.. ;)). A girl likes a little bubbly every so often, right?!?! And it WAS NYE. 

We rocked the night away with Dick Clark's Rockin' NYE 2013 with Ryan Seacrest and Jenny McCarthy (Not a huge fan of the latter, but what can I do?? They didn't ask me!) The girls enjoyed watching the BIEBS! And Taylor Swift. So, it was pretty awesome. We danced and sang. We played games and just had a wonderful time together as a family. We made our own crowns because I had left them at my parents' house and we also made our own noise makers *DUH!!!- need noisemakers to celebrate at midnight!* The girls were getting tired, and I was getting tired, too. So, we ended up celebrating New Year's Eve at midnight Eastern time rather than Central. But that was OK. 

*Do you guys stay up until midnight with the kiddos? Did you used to stay up until midnight when you were little? Tell me some of your past traditions or some that you've started!!*

I put them to bed and they were out within five minutes, it was wonderful. I proceeded to get onto Facebook and twitter and other random websites. I wrote my list of "Goals" for the new year (rather than resolutions.... I'd say they're more goals for me?).

Then, I texted a number of people to have a Happy New Year and I put in one of my favorite movies "Breakfast at Tiffany's". I was out not too much later. 

I'll update more about my New Year's GOALS later on tonight. And maybe I'll find enough time to update on some other things around my home, family, and school! 

I hope you all enjoyed your New Year's celebrations, your Holiday festivities, and your time spent with the ones closest to you.

:) X's and O's,

A.

“For beautiful eyes, look for the good in others; for beautiful lips, speak only words of kindness; and for poise, walk with the knowledge that you are never alone.”- Audrey Hepburn