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Birthday Quandry: Birthday Party For Three

May 8, 2009 By Becca 7 Comments
A birthday cake
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So here is the question for today…

My nephew, my neice and Analiese all have May birthdays all within two weeks of one another.  Each year we do a family and friends party for each kid.  This year we thought that perhaps we should combine all three of them and do one family party.  This means that family will only have to come to one party.  This means that it will be one day in the full month of May to have to donate to these birthdays.

So here is the problem.  Rob thinks that it is wrong.  He thinks that then friends and family will be strapped having to buy three presents all at once.  He thinks that it is just wrong and has told me to back out of the idea.  The trouble is that it was my idea and I still think that it is a nice one.  The other problem is that we have already mentioned it to people and how do we cancel now.  I am not worried about gifts.  Analiese is turning 2 and already has all of the clothing, toys and stuff that any two year old could need.

I want to know what you think?  Is this party a bad idea?

Becca

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Easter Pictures: Spring Break Survival

April 11, 2009 By Becca 4 Comments
Sears Auto 35 TL
Image by UberJ via Flickr

OK so as I mentioned I am having a hard time with this entire Spring Break thing!  So today my mother and I dressed all of the kids in their Easter outfits and threw them into the car and were off to Sears.  Now I know what you are thinking… why did you head to Sears.  We were off to Sears for Easter pictures.  We have not had pictures in YEARS.  The last time was when the baby was a month old.  For those of you who do not know she will be 2 in a month!  So needless to say it has been a while.

We have never been to Sears so I was a little bit aprehansive.  It was great though.  They had a kid friendly waiting area which I did not have to wait in because they were ready for us when we got there.  The girls did great although it is difficult to make them all smile at once.  Abigail kept trying to make the baby smile and Emma had the fakest smile.  Even with all of these obsticales we were able to come out of the seccion with a few really nice shots.

So day two of Spring Break has been a success.  We did the pictures, went to lunch, had a play date and now we are getting ready for bed.   I am so happy that it is all working out.  I would say that going and having pictures done is a great way to survive Spring Break!  You should give it a try!  I found that it really occupied a lot of time, the kids had fun and we were out of the house.  We will not discuss how much Grandma spent though!  We will keep that part to ourselves!  Either way day two survived.  Nine days to go!

Becca

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Filed Under: Main Tagged With: Abigail, Baby, becca, Craft, crafts, Dress, Easter, Emma, Grandparent, Holidays, kids, Kids and Teens, Mother, People and Society, Recreation, sears, Sears pictures, sears portrait studio, Spring, Spring break, Time, tradition, traditions

Family Easter Traditions

April 4, 2009 By Becca 5 Comments
Calgary Zoo Easter Bunny 2
Image by thivierr via Flickr

I became so interested in Easter traditions this week because so many people visited. It is a shame that more people did not leave their family Easter Traditions in the comments section. I was really hoping to post all of the great ones that I hear this week. I know that one that was mentioned time and time again is dying Easter eggs. Today is our big Easter egg dying day and I am so excited! I think that we are going to have a blast. I know that the smell of vinegar can turn some off the the entire thing but I think that it is important for people to give it a try!

Another tradition that people mentioned is spending time with family. This is what the holidays are all about. Being in a room with the people who share your gene pool. I know that for a lot of people this can be the down side to a holiday but I think that without the mother who wants to know when you are going to have another baby, the stinky grandparent and the kid who is eating dirt there are no memories. These are the people who have formed us into the person we are today. They really are the fabric of our lives. If we love ourselves then we have to love them. It is a guilt by association thing.

The Easter bunny is a tradition that I had forgotten to mention. I cannot believe that I left him out! Here is a little bit of Easter Bunny History! It is said that the Easter Bunny has been around before Easter. I know this is hard to believe! He is said to have originated in Germany in the 1600s. The Easter bunny can either just leave a basket out in plain site or he can hide it. In our house he is always hiding it here and there. The kids have a blast trying to find it and figure out whose is whose. I wish he had more time to write a name or two down.

There is one more tradition that I forgot to mention. The Easter Bonnet has always been my love of Easter. There are not many times in this day in age that a lady can wear a hat without people looking at her funny. I think that the hats and the white gloves just make Easter what everyday used to be. I wish that we all still dressed to the nines like this for church. I think that it is sad that it is now acceptable to wear jeans and a tee to Church. You should be in your Sunday best. That used to mean a hat and Gloves. Now it means jeans? What are we thinking people? Either way, Easter is a time when we can dust the hat off and slip the gloves on and walk a little taller!  Oh and do not forget to play the song Easter Parade when you are walking down the street in your bonnet and gloves!

Becca

I would still love to learn some more about what Easter traditions your family has.  Please let me know in the comment section.  I think it adds to the fun!


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Easter Kids Crafts

March 31, 2009 By Becca 13 Comments
Hanácké kraslice, a traditional way of decorat...
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It is Easter time and with Easter comes Spring break.  Spring break means that the kids are home and need something to do.  I have been researching crafts all day to find just the right ones.  I have compiled a list with the links of crafts we are intending to try.

  1. Fancy Feathered Friends: These are little chicks made out of egg cartons and eggs.  They are super cute.   They will act as super cute decorations on Easter around the house.
  2. Nesting Instinct:  This is a cute birds nest which seems like it will be super easy to make.  All you need is clay and some sticks.
  3. Easter Pins:  These will be really cute for grandmas on E$aster morning!
  4. Leaf Print Eggs: These are so interesting and look so professional.  I cannot wait to give them a try!

These should occupy the first few days of our very long Spring break!  I hope that these look as good to the kids as they did to me.   I would love to hear and see what crafts you all have in mind for the Easter holiday.  I think that it will be a fun way to avoid the boredom bug!

Becca

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Easter Traditions

March 29, 2009 By Becca 16 Comments
Easter eggs
Image by jmurawski via Flickr

Each year I feel as if Easter sneaks up on me.  I am never prepared.  I am always shopping for things on Easter Eve at 12 am with all of the other people who were clueless as to the date of Easter.  It is a tricky holiday that moves around more then migrant birds.  Each year I forget to check when it is coming.  Often times I realize that it is coming quicker then I think.  So what is the point Rebecca?  Well the point is that I looked on a calender yesterday for the first time.  What sparked me to do such a thing?  I have been reading all about it and everyone is off to Spring break.  When I looked I was shocked!  This holiday has snuck up on me yet again!  I think that forgetting about Easter is my biggest tradition at this point.

There are some other traditions we have as well.  Because I am often clueless as to when Easter is from year to year we do not always have time to fit in all of these traditions.

  1. Dying Easter eggs.  I know this is not all that traditional but the kids LOVE it.  I have to admit that I think it is a lot of fun too!
  2. Easter egg hunts.   Our town has one, our church has one and my grandmother has one.  It is a fun time to watch the kids on a hunt.  I remember a year or two ago Abigail was actually sweet enough to make sure that Emma had a full basket as well.  It melted my heart and made me think that they really do listen all of those times I lecture about helping others!
  3. Asparagus… yes I know but it really is a tradition.  There is never a year that we do not have asparagus with our Easter dinner.  In fact I will go as far as to say it would not be Easter without this odd looking veggie!
  4. Egg fights.  This tradition is courticy of my Aunt Pat.  Each person picked a hard boiled egg that looks good to them.  The tap the tops together in a “fight”.  The person who has a cracked egg has to eat it and the other person goes on to “fight” with someone else.  I think that this was her way to get us to eat the eggs as kids but you know what?  IT WORKED!
  5. Family is another tradition although it always ends up that my in laws are mad.  We go to my grandmothers each year.  There are not a ton of holiday we spend together so for Thanksgiving and Easter I like to assure that we are with my grandparents.  Some of the family gets upset but I feel as if it is where I need to be at this point in not only my life but my grandparents lives.  Either way we always will spend Easter with family!

So these are some traditions that we have.  What traditions does your family have?  I am so interesting in hearing some of the interesting things that you all do.

Becca

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BFF Best Friends Forever???

February 26, 2009 By Becca 10 Comments
broken heart series
Image by tony sak via Flickr

Growing up I had my BFF.  Not only was she my BFF but she was my only true friend.  I was not hated by all but she was the one.  She was the person that I visited after school, slept over all weekend and had a blast with.  We were not the most popular girls in school nor did we want to be.  We were fine with that.  We were ourselves.  We played Barbies until we were older then I am willing to admit.  We were two peas in a pod.  We went for walks around the neighborhood and stayed up all night watching movies such as Dirty Dancing!  She was my escape from everything else and the ONLY person who really knew me.  This was all fine until one day it changed.

One Summer afternoon my BFF told me that she was moving.  I was all of a sudden broken.  As I think back on it now I wonder why it was so untactful.  Either way it was the worst moment of my life and one I carry with me.  I felt abandoned and alone.  She was my friend, she was my BFF she was part of me.  I remember thinking that this could not be happening.  My mind raced with ways around it.  Could I go too… Perhaps she could stay… perhaps it was a dream and I would wake up soon… QUICK some one pinch me!

It was no dream.  She was off to start a new life and I was left here alone.  We had plans that in the summer I would come and visit.  I looked forward to it for the rest of the school year.  I could not wait.  I missed my other pea.  I needed to have my BFF back!  While waiting to go and see my BFF something happened.  I met a new friend.  A boyfriend!  I was so anxious to have someone to tell all of my secrets to.  Someone to love me no matter what.  Someone to share me with.  And so it was.  By the time I went out to visit my BFF I had a BFF (boy friend forever!).  This made things tough that summer.  My BFF who had moved had changed as had I.  We spent three very hard weeks together and it ended us forever!

Over the years I have been sad about this loss of a BFF.  Can someone really be a BFF or is it childhood dream.  I remember having the heart necklaces together.  You know the ones where one person had the “best” and the other had the “friends”.  At what point is all of that lost?  I think that we grow and even in that short amount of time in 9th grade that we were apart we each changed.  The change was not a bad thing.  It was just something that neither of us expected.  As teens I think that we were not able to share that knowledge that perhaps we were growing apart.  We abruptly stopped talking to one another and have lived our lives for the past 17 years without one another.  The weird part is that she is always there in my head.

Recently I reconnected with this BFF of the past.  I so want to be 14 again and try again but it is just too late for all of that.  I have to live in the now.  I am a mother of three now.  I have new BFF’s (I think I am too old to call them that), I have changed so much as a person over time.  In my head she is still the same person she used to be.  I know in my heart that this is silly to think but I want it to be true.

So I am beinging a new journey with my BFF of the past.  I am not sure how it will go.  Perhaps we will have nothing in common.  Perhaps she has not thought about me at all in the past 17 years.  Perhaps I am just trying to cling on to a past that I have not resolved.  Either way I am thrilled to have found her.  To be able to tell her how much I think about her.  To be able to show her the new me.  Perhaps the journey will be a great growing experience!

Becca

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Webkinz Valentine’s

February 4, 2009 By Becca 7 Comments
Valentine
Image by Cayusa via Flickr

Come on come all…

Webkinz has done it again.  On valentine’s Day this year be sure to log in to your Webkinz account.  I know what you are wondering.  “Is there something in it for me?”  The answer my friends is yes there sure is something in it for you.  If you log on to Webkinz on Febuary 14, 2009 you will be sure to recieve a free gift for your Webkin pet.  I am so excited to see what it is.

Becca

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6 Days Until Christmas

December 18, 2008 By Becca Leave a Comment
Snow Job
Image by drp via Flickr

White Christmas this year?

So there are only 6 days left and I can not believe it but I hear that we may have a white Christmas here in NY.  I am so excited about the possible magic.  This snow will be on top of the now we are suposed to get today and the snow that is to come on Sunday night as well.

I wish that I had thought to buy a sled of two for the kids.  I think that we are going to have fun all snug in our beds.  I know that I have been dreaming of w White Christmas and all of our dreams may just come true.  I guess we will see as it gets closer.

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7 Days Until Christmas

December 18, 2008 By Becca Leave a Comment
Monkey Christmas and a Happy New Year
Image by Stuck in Customs via Flickr

Wow!  This season has gone so quickly.  I would love to say that my planned went as planned and that I was able to get to everything.  I would say that this year has been a challenge.  Perhaps it wa the short season.  Perhaps it was my unhealed broken foot.  Perhaps I procrastinated.  Either way it is here!

One week until Christmas means that there are many things that I have to do in little time.  These things are vital to assuring that I am not stressed on Christmas Eve.

  • I need to complete my shopping.  It has been difficult because I can only shop for an hour or so with my foot.  I think that I have gone out everyday this season.
  • I need to Wrap.  This is something that is vital.  I think that while this is obvious I need to keep in mind that it is important.
  • I need to do my cards.  Although they may be New Years cards I still want to send them out to all of the people who I do not get to see or talk to often.
  • I need to be an elf to my mother-in-law who broke her thumb and cannot wrap this year.  This is important to me.  She would do it for me so how could I not make it a priority.

Well 7 days is enough time.  I just want to assure that I have a reduced stress Christmas.  We are now counting down.  Get ready Christmas will be here soon.

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44 Days Until Christmas

November 14, 2008 By Becca 1 Comment
Collage of various Christmas images, made from...

Image via Wikipedia

Holiday Survey

Today I would love to do a few quick surveys:

  1. What is your favorite Holiday Movie? Mine is Miracle on 34th Street. I just love how it makes me feel by the end. There are some others that come in a close second but that is the winner.
  2. What is your best holiday memory? Mine is the first Christmas I was married. We were married on week before Christmas. We lived with my Mother-in-Law. Both she and Rob were sick. I had hurt my wrist and was in a sling. By 9 at night we had not opened presents. I was in bed crying when my mother-in-law opened the door and said are we going to do this. She then dumped bags of unwrapped gifts in the center of the room and we looked through them. This Christmas was not a good Christmas but it was my favorite. It made me realize for the first time in my life that it would all be alright if Christmas was not perfect. It certainly had not been that year and by the end of the night it was alright again. I was happy at the end of the night and that was what was important.
  3. What is your most loved holiday song? I love “Baby it’s Cold Outside” It is not about Christmas but is so nice and makes me want to belt it out. There are many many others because music is so vital to a holiday season.
  4. What Tradition does your family have that is closest to your heart? I think that the best tradition to me is Elmer the Elf. As I discussed a week or so ago he is special because not only is he magical but he also is an heirloom which has been passed from generation to generation.
  5. How do you stay sane during the holidays? I cannot answer this one because I so do not stay sane. I am a nut time and time again. But it is all a great time in the end which is all that matters.

I would love to hear where everyone stands with each of these. I find it fun to share where I have been and how I have been impacted and why things are so special. I hope you will take a moment to do the same.

Becca

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