My Real Life

February 1, 2013

Five Question Friday and Our Contest Winner!

Filed under: Contest,Five Question Friday — Amy @ 7:45 am

1. What is your favorite book to read with your kids?

I Love You Forever.

If you haven’t read this book, you may not wish to do so.

It makes me cry and cry and cry, but it is such a realistic story about the love that many mothers and children have for each other.

I know it’s how I feel about mine, even when they are driving me bonkers.

I also love A Fly Went By.

We laugh and laugh and say all the words together.

Great book.

I’ve actually read this one twice when invited in to the kids classes to read.
2. After having kids, what body part has changed the most?

My skin.

There seems to be much more of it on my stomach than there ever was.

Note: This wasn’t after having Monkey Girl, Monkey in the Middle or Baby Monkey.

Tiny seemed to make my skin just throw in the towel and say, “I give up.”

3. Would you ever go back to college? What would you study?

I’ve been back twice since my bachelors and have a Masters in Social Studies Education and a Masters in Educational Administration.

If I were to go back again, I would get my Doctorate in Educational Technology.

It’s such an exciting world we live in within the world of Ed Tech.

After that, if I went back for a fourth time, it would be for fun.

I’d study writing or literature.

4. How do you close a phone call? Bye, bye bye or other?

Hmmm…usually with a “Bye!” or a “Thank you!  Bye!” depending on with whom I’m speaking.

My grandma and my college roommate, DeeDee, always close with “MmmmBye,” which is one word.

I remember the first time DeeDee did it, when I called her the summer before college, and I was a bit taken back because it was like being on the phone with my Grandma, who had been dead for a few years.

5. What is the one food that will always be your “cheat food” on a diet?

Chocolate and bagels.

Not together.

Every now and then, I just feel like I need chocolate, particularly when I have a migraine.

And, every Sunday, I have a bagel.

With butter.

And it’s delicious.

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…and now…onto the contest!

So, in order to make sure that no one had multiple entries, because we had a few people who commented twice, and I want to be on the up and up, here, I’ve listed our entrants in order, below.

1.  Carla

2.  Alicia

3.  Rachel

4.  Daniel

5.  Sandi

6.  Jeff

7.  Heather

8.  Darlene

9.  Veronica

10.  Mary Anne

11.  Allison

12.  Michelle

13.  Nichole

14.  Debbie

15.  Jamie

16.  Jenny

17.  Amy

18.  Stacey

19.  Eve

20.  Jen

21.  Kim

22.  Krista

I used the “Random Number Generator” at random.org and here are our results:

The winner is:

True Random Number GeneratorMin: Max: Result:18

Powered by RANDOM.ORG

#18…Stacey!

Stacey, your gift card is on it’s way, and readers, please take the time to head over to Stacey’s blog: From Grind to Whine.  She’s a wonderful writer and we go way back to high school and youth group.  If I’m not mistaken, I think my Dad even married her!  (No worries, she’s not my Step-Mother…my Dad is a minister.)

Thank you so much to everyone who entered, everyone who commented, everyone who reads this blog!

January 31, 2013

4/51

Filed under: Wordless Wednesday — Amy @ 6:00 am

Due to yesterday’s 1,000th post, our normal Wednesday post is being posted today!

For 2013, I believe I will try to be joining Jodi in her 52 project. A year of portraits, of my children, posted every Wednesday. A series of photographs capturing moments from a year in their lives. A way to watch the passage of time and to pause and capture those little moments that are the essence of them.

Jodi has a link-up on her blog for those participating. It is so much fun to check out what other people are photographing.  Enjoy!

Playing peek-a-boo with me after dinner one night.

IMG_4029

January 30, 2013

My 1,000th Post (and a contest!)

Filed under: Contest,Uncategorized — Amy @ 6:00 am

1,000 posts

I guess I’ve had a lot to say.

It’s hard for me to put into words how I feel about writing this blog (and yes, I recognize the irony in that statement) but you should all know that it is a labor of love.

I don’t feel like I write this blog alone.

I feel very strongly that you are all in this with me, and I appreciate it more than you know.

I wanted to take a quick moment to thank a few people.

First of all, thank you to every single person who reads the blog and keeps coming back for more.

If I’ve made you smile, made you think “Yes!  Me too!,” made you consider things from a new perspective, then I feel like I’ve done what I’ve set out to do.

Next, thank you to the people who take the time to comment.

I know that leaving comments on blogs isn’t for everyone, but please know that each and every comment that is left on this blog is so appreciated.  I love the feedback, I love the interaction.

My top commenters (according to my blog stats) are Krista, from thismummaslife, Helen, from myliladventures, and my friends, Jeff, Heather, Carla, Debbie, and Mary Ann.

So, huge thanks to them and everyone else who has ever commented, even if only once!

I want to thank my friends Heather and Jen who act as my Think Tank when I’m stuck for an idea for a contest or an idea for a post.  They never fail to come up with something, and always make me smile.

I need to thank my friend, Tara, who gives me frequent reality checks when I’m feeling defeated or “less than.”

Thanks to my sister-in-law, Alicia, who has supported the blog since day one and who has shared many posts of mine on her own blog, which is always good for publicity.

Thank you, of course, to Kim, Erin and Michaela, who consistently give me guidance, support, and unwavering, unconditional love and loyalty.

Thanks to my parents who read my blog every day and have always been my biggest fans.

And, of course, thank you to the monkeys for providing me with 1,000 posts worth of material and for being the most awesome little monkeys on the face of the earth.

Finally, a thank you to Real Man.

My heart, my soul, my best friend.  Without him, the rest of this really doesn’t even matter.

And now…on to the contest.

The prize is a $25 iTunes gift card and all you have to do is leave a comment below saying that you want to enter.

Yep!

That’s it.

No captions to create, no numbers to guess.

Just leave a comment saying you are in!

I’ll use the random number generator to pick the winner and will announce the winner in my Five Question Friday post, so all entries must be in by Thursday at 8 pm.

Thank you, thank you, thank you to all of you…I hope I can keep you entertained for 1,000 more!

January 29, 2013

My Shame

Filed under: Uncategorized — Amy @ 6:00 am

This is still happening in my house.

IMG_4033

That is all.

January 28, 2013

Saturday Night with my Girl

Filed under: Posts with Video,Uncategorized — Amy @ 6:00 am

We had our first full-day play rehearsal on Saturday.

I’m the musical director, so I sit in the pit and conduct the singing and work with the pit band leader on tempo, breaks, repeats, etc.

Monkey Girl is one of the lead orphans, (we’re doing “Annie”) and when the kids aren’t on stage, they are hanging out in the cafeteria, practicing lines, dances, or just hanging out.

Apparently, on Saturday, the kids were busy trying to figure out how to do the “Cup Song” from the movie Pitch Perfect.

Monkey Girl came home, slamming cups around, trying to work it out.

She’s never actually seen Pitch Perfect, so I pulled out the DVD and skipped through to that scene.

Once she actually saw the scene, she had a bit more rhythm to her slamming.

I knew there had to be a tutorial on YouTube because, seriously, what isn’t there a tutorial for on YouTube?

I found one, sat down, learned it for myself, called her into the room, offered to teach it to her, and then the fun began.

Real Man and the boys were very patient with us, even when Real Man came into the room asking “You girls got that down yet?”

Finally, we did.

Then, we added the song.  Monkey Girl is still working on doing both at the same time, but here’s what I came up with:

We had a lot of fun and this was definitely one of my favorite Saturday nights.

January 27, 2013

It’s a Mad, Mad, Minecraft World

Filed under: Uncategorized — Amy @ 6:00 am
Tags:

So, we’ve become a Minecraft household.

IMG_4030

Once homework is done, there is at least one child playing Minecraft at any given time, and the majority of the time, there are usually three.

I was introduced to Minecraft a few years ago, by a woman who worked in our district and was an advocate of using Minecraft in the educational setting as a tool to teach problem solving, as well as a variety of other topics.

At the time, I tried to get Monkey Girl to test it out, but she wasn’t really too into it.

Of course, the power of peers is fierce, and this year, one of her friends in the school musical was playing Minecraft on her iPad, showed it to Monkey Girl and a Minecraft addict was born.

Monkey Girl showed it to the boys, and the addiction swept through our home faster than the stomach bug that knocked us all down for the count last weekend.

I’ve read more than my share of articles about Minecraft and it’s uses in education and I actually love the idea of gaming in the classroom.

I tried to broker a deal to teach my students about the development of a civilization by actually having them play the game Civilization, however, it turned out to be too expensive for our school to afford.

The idea was supported, but there just wasn’t the money for it.

I’m still working on that one, because I think it would be an excellent way for them to experience everything that goes into the building of a civilization, and it would hook them in much more strongly than just hearing it from me.

But, I digress.

So, as I said, I’m a proponent of Minecraft, and yet, I can certainly see the downside to the addiction.

The downside being inherent in the word “addiction,” of course.

So, we’re setting rules and boundaries and making sure toys get played with and conversations are being held and kids are still running around and doing all the things that kids are supposed to do.

I loved this article I found, because it outlined the exact things I was concerned with, and it sounds like she’s finding ways to cope with it as well.

At the end of the day, I’d rather they be playing Minecraft than Grand Theft Auto (which will never make its way into my house), and it’s still really cold outside.

I have a feeling that when things warm up, bikes and scooters will, once again, rule the roost, but for now, I’m okay with overhearing them chatter about whether it’s smarter to create a building that is rectangular or a square-based pyramid.

January 26, 2013

The Search

Filed under: Uncategorized — Amy @ 6:00 am

I had to buy Monkey Girl a pair of black pants for her band concert, on Thursday, and so after school, she and I headed to the Walmarts.

(No idea why, but I just love to call it “The Walmarts.”)

We picked up a few pair of black pants and she headed into the changing room, and I said, “I’ll be right across the aisle, looking at the…”

And before I finished my sentence, she muttered over her shoulder, “…wallets…I know.”

I am constantly on the search for a wallet.

Every store I go in, I spend a good fifteen minutes in the wallet section.

I don’t really know what I want in a wallet.

I go between wanting a folding wallet that will take up less space in my purse and a long wallet that might have a little more space for things like gift cards and courtesy cards, etc.

I don’t have a very large purse, so space is important, but I’m just not always sure that a folding wallet is what I want.

Right now, I have one of those long, hard case wallets, like this:

wallets

Except, mine has butterflies on it.

Because, you know, I’m 41.

For awhile, I was carrying a Vera Bradley strap wallet that was a wallet attached to a strap that went over your shoulder, so it was like a purse, except you couldn’t actually carry anything in it except for your money and credit cards, etc.

It worked really well for a long time, but I really need somewhere to carry my inhaler and my chapstick.

So, the purse I am using now is a hand-me-down Coach purse like this:

coach

Although, I am saving up for this purse, because I haven’t had a purse that wasn’t a hand-me-down in a very, very long time:

purseiwant

(JBZS…if you are reading this, Monkey Girl confiscated the purse you gave me for Christmas…she says it makes her feel “sassy.”)

So, anyway, I am always on the search for a wallet.

Whenever Real Man walks into a department store or a mall, he is on the search for shoes, because he wears through his work shoes faster than Baby Monkey wears through Batman costumes.

What about you?

Is there anything you are constantly searching for, but never quite find, while shopping?

I’d love to hear about it!  Let Real Man and I know that we aren’t alone!

January 25, 2013

Five Question Friday!

Filed under: Five Question Friday — Amy @ 6:00 am

1. Do you embrace or dread snow/cold weather days?

If I can stay home, I’m all for it.

There is not much that can compare than being snuggled up in the house with the monkeys and Real Man while the snow is falling or while the ice is coating the road.

If I, or anyone in my family, has to go out in it, then I’ll pass, thank you.

2. Which game show or reality show could you totally win?

Wheel of Fortune.

I would clean house on Wheel of Fortune.

I’d also rock The Price is Right.

Erin and I actually planned a trip to California to see The Price is Right, but then Bob Barker retired, and Drew Carey just isn’t the same.

Which is not to say we might not head out there some day to be on the show, anyway.

We just postponed it.

Because…I’m not sure Drew is ready for these ladies.

3. What is your preferred climate?

I like a warm climate that gets chilly at night.

Not hot.

I don’t love summer weather.

I think I’d be pretty happy in New England.

It’s not too hot…kind of like perpetual early fall.

Except in winter, of course.

But, I’m okay with winter, as well.

You can always add an extra layer, but there’s only so much you can take off and still be socially appropriate.

4. What do you buy every time you walk into the grocery store, no matter what?

Milk.

Ground beef.

We are perpetually out of milk and ground beef.

5. If you see a spider/bug in the house, are you brave enough to kill it, or do you call for your hubby?

I have no issues with bugs.

Spiders, stink bugs, whatever…I can deal.

If there was any other type of creature in the house, it would be a job for Real Man.

I don’t do…creatures.

January 24, 2013

Testing…1, 2, 3…Testing

Filed under: Uncategorized — Amy @ 6:00 am

So, I went ahead and made my own font.

My own, personal, handwriting font, so that I could write the blog in my own handwriting. I bit the bullet and bought the iFont Maker for the iPad and spent some time writing my own font.

However, now that I look at it, I’m not sure I’m digging it in blog form. I mean, it’s cool to see typing in my handwriting. However, it’s kinda clunky when I see it on the screen.

Plus, it’s a bit of work to actually get the blog in this font. I can’t just select it.

There’s HTML code involved and it has to be written in front of every single line I type.

As you all know, some days, I can get a little wordy.

Not my idea of fun.

So, we’ll see.

I’ll use it for today, but we’ll just have to see what I decide to do in the future.

Thoughts? Because I’d really like to know if this makes it harder for you to read the blog. If so, maybe I’ll just use the font to write on photos and things. You are the readers and so your opinion matters the most on this.

January 23, 2013

3/51

Filed under: Uncategorized — Amy @ 6:00 am

For 2013, I believe I will try to be joining Jodi in her 52 project. A year of portraits, of my children, posted every Wednesday. A series of photographs capturing moments from a year in their lives. A way to watch the passage of time and to pause and capture those little moments that are the essence of them.

Jodi has a link-up on her blog for those participating. It is so much fun to check out what other people are photographing.  Enjoy!

Nothing special happening in these pictures.

Just after dinner on a Tuesday night.

SONY DSC

SONY DSC

SONY DSC

SONY DSC

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