Love the Simple Things

Menu Plan Monday

Totally missed last week. Hope my friends will forgive me. After a trip to the grocery store today I am ready for meals!
Monday-kielbasa and perogies.
Tuesday-pulled pork sandwiches
Wednesday- eat at church
Thursday-salmon and baked potato
Friday- meatloaf
Saturday-Stromboli
Sunday- leftovers:)

A letter

In keeping with themes this week, here is my letter.

Dear Starbucks,
I was just talking with my sister about you the other day. I am so very impressed with your customer service. I was sharing with my sister how last week, my 2 year old daughter was extremely sick and wouldn't eat but when we drove past your store, I heard a tiny "milk box pweeze" come from the back seat. Of course anything a sick baby wants a sick baby gets. So I drove through, ordered her milk box only to find out they were out but one could be handmade...well this could go one of two ways...really good or really bad as two year olds are kind of fickle persay. When I drove up to the window a very knowledgable employee explained how 'whenever they receive a delivery of vanilla milk, a certain person comes in and buys the entire flat of them! So that will be no charge, mam.' Oh wow but you went to all this trouble hand making a vanilla milk. Still he said we didn't have what you wanted so it's on us. Impeccable customer service.

Fast forward to today, we were in a hurry getting out the door this morning and I couldn't make my morning coffee. I had a few minutes to spare after the children were dropped off before I had to get to work. So I ran through one of your drivethroughs. Vanilla latte please. When I got to the pick up window the employee said peppermint mocha? No, vanilla latte. Oops that didn't get punched in, hold on for a second and it'll be right up. It's free today too. Wait what? Free? How did you know my giftcards from Christmas had run out? Really though, it's ok, I'm not upset or anything. We know but now you have to wait a few minutes so again, it's on us. Oh my! Thank you so much. Three minutes later he handed me my vanilla latte along with a coupon for a free drink next time due to "my wait". Impeccable customer service. Thank you again.
Sincerely, a very happy customer

Random...

* On working out...I went to the gym this morning.  My excuse for my absence during the past...undislosed amount of time(too long) was Laney puts things in her mouth and I didn't want her to catch nasty germs in the nursery. So today I started back...it was good.  I'm going to shoot for 3x a week.  I have to look cute in something like this for my sister's wedding at the end of July:

 
So, wish me luck and 20 pounds lighter in July. 

* On 38 degees - a perfect temperature for a mama and her babies to play outside in the white stuff after lunch and before naptime.

* On Sears - Gotta love their Land's End clearance and getting a fleece jacket for the mama for $15!!

* On the Olympics - go for the gold US!  Last night was incredible...from the lowest of lows of the poor women skiers falling to the highest of highs for the US! 

Five on Friday

1. I missed the Tuesday 10 this week so this is the next best thing.

2. I've decided to submit some more of my scrapbook pages for some current magazine calls out right now.  It can't hurt, right?

3.  This week was a long week. A very long week.  Breathing a sigh of relief that the weekend is finally here.

4. Laney can say ice cream.  She says - ah-peem. It's probably the most adorable thing in the world.  Not at all biased, though;)

5. Tonight I worked on some fall pictures.  Editing...I really enjoy seeing that finished changed product that's a little more colorful,a little more sharp and maybe black and white. It's so much fun playing in photoshop.  I learn something new every single time.  You can see some fun edited "first day of kindergarten" shots here.

Notes to self

1. Don't go to Fridays on a Sunday after church....Table service is long long long, especially for two mamas and 4 babies.

2. Keep up with the naptime schedule.  Just because 1st daughter could sleep anywhere and be refreshed and happy later doesn't mean 2nd daughter will. 

3. Throw away new recipe for Italian wedding (slop) I mean soup. 

The end.

tagged

Tagged by Stephanie

5 names you go by

Missy

Miss Missy

Mommy

Mama

Mis

Three things you are wearing right now

cozy purple slippers

hoody

dance capri's(haven't changed from work yet)

Two things you want very badly at the moment

a good night's sleep

my studio taxes to be magically done for me

Two things you did last night

Stayed up way too late making my blog banner

Took pics of Laney standing at the play table

Two things you ate today

grilled cheese and tomato soup

Subway turkey sub

Two people you last talked to on the phone

Jess

Karen

Two things you are going to do tomorrow

Goin on a fabric hunt

Work on studio tax stuff unless that magic happens

Two longest car rides

Myrtle Beach(Maya got car sick through the mountains)

Outer Banks

Two of your favorite beverages

Any flavored Starbucks

Lipton green tea(cold in a bottle)

People to tag

Rah Rah, Rebecca and Susie

 

 

 

Musings-no theme, kind of all over the place

-Maya and I play this game called Have You Ever?  It's a hoot.  We go back and forth with eachother creating outlandish situations that would never happen.  You can play it anywhere-for instance, in the car- Have you ever seen a mailbox chasing a squirrel?  At the dinner table- Have you ever had pickles in your frosted flakes?  Go ahead try it!  It's loads of fun and makes them giggle.

-My black friday deals arrived today.  An external hard drive for my pics and a rolly(roley?) chair for my scrap room.  I got a sweeeet cyber monday deal for the studio today.  It arrives next week! Wouldn't you like to know! My awesome front desk girls are going to be so suprised and totally excited!

-I want to make Italian wedding soup or minestrone soup next week.  Any good recipes out there?

- Two of my favorite families asked ME to take their Christmas card picture.  Thank you for such a wonderful opportunity.  Two of these guys were in the one family's backyard the morning we took pictures.

 

-So Advent begins.  I wanted to do an Advent calendar with Maya for a few reasons.  1-to help her recognize the true meaning of Christmas, 2-to get her involved each day with Christmas preparations and 3- this calendar was the cutest thing I ever did see!  It was plain white and then I altered it.

 

We have it next to our Advent wreath along with a teeny tiny tree and they all sit on our end table. Ben went through the Christmas story, breaking it up into pieces so that each day there is either a verse or an idea that goes along with an ornament for the tree in each of the drawers.  Sunday was Hope, so she hung a ornament that said hope on the tree and we talked about what Advent was.  Today was preparing for Jesus so we prepared the tree by putting a little tree skirt around it.  I'll try to update each day what we do.  Ben did an amazing job on this!!

Off to copy more pictures! g'nite! 

Fun Friday- **edited**

The plan for today was:

No school for Maya- teachers record day- soooo, french toast in our jammies, playhouse disney snuggling on the couch till 10.  Special playdate at Grammy's while I took Laney to her 4 mos appointment, Park in the afternoon, jumping in leaves at our house, traveling to Nana's for the weekend for a visit.

What's really happening:

Maya's been throwing up since 7AM, still the Dr's appointment but now for both girls,  no park, no leaves, no playdate, no Nana's. And....3 shots for laney, 2 perscriptions(one for Maya for Nausea, one for Mommy for back pain).

Random...

We've been busy here at our house this week.  I had a dance camp at the studio.  We had 10 girls participate and took classes in tap, jazz and ballet everyday and then all these special ones too.  They did ballroom, lyrical, yoga, self defense, stage make up, jazzercise and mine- scrapbooking.  I had them make a little accordian book of dance pictures. 

Ben was working hard in the basement doing baseboards and plumbing.  It is really coming along! 

Maya had her first dentist appointment and passed with flying colors.  Which is more than I can say for her haircut appointment.  Yah- left it with her in tears cuz the stylist had to pick toothpaste out of her hair. My VERY tenderheaded 4 year old had enough after that.  No haircut this week.

Laney finally started fitting into her 0-3 clothes.  She is trying so hard to make sounds and Ben has seen her smile about 3 times...I love watching her get excited when someone is playing and talking with her.  Her eyes get real big and her legs and arms flail with excitement.  I did skip a day in her 30 day album.  My sis in law Rachel did our annual cousin photo shoot.  All 10 cousins ages 7, 7, 5, 4, 4, 3, 2, 16 mos, 14 mos, and 1 month.  Crazy times, anyway I thought that picture belonged in Laney 's album so I'll share it soon.

Have a great weekend!

Random Updates

• New basement pics to the left.  We're almost done!
• Maya started VBS for the week at her preschool...It was a little bit different than she was used to.  She cried...I cried when I left her there cuz she was sad...blaming it on the hormones.
• Yup- still pregnant. 
• We had great fun at the pool last night with friends to celebrate Father's Day!  The little girls were much cuter than the dads therefore they were the focus of the pics.

• Everything of the new baby's is washed, dried and almost put away.
• I taught Ben how to break into my blog to post the news of her arrival
• Whenever she decides to arrive
• Maybe these braxton hicks will turn into something today.
•  I read the first summer of the Traveling Pants series.  Can't wait to start the next one!
• Ben got me a Borders gift card for my B-day and I just got 2 of Scott Kelby's books from Borders.com yesterday.  Sooooo very excited to learn!!