Week in Review!

Posted on November 9, 2012 by Jackie

It’s been a pretty good week I think… no major catastrophes or mishaps. Of course it was busy as usual but that never really changes, does it?

Did you know that I have a guest post at Kludgy Mom this week? It’s kind of interesting I think … being the mom of teens can be a challenge and my post is just of many reasons why. Then again I have a toddler too so I have both ends of the spectrum going on.

Let’s see what else did I do this week… Oh, on Monday I shared an incredibly easy and delicious recipe for Cheddar Broccoli soup and I even created a pinnable image to go along with it! I think I will try to do that more often… they really are easy and it should help drive more traffic to my blog, right? I’ll let ya in on a little secret… don’t tell anyone okay… that picture of the broccoli soup was taken with my iPhone. Yup, my phone because I was to lazy to go get my real camera!

Moving on… Thursday I had a book review of the steamy novel by Sylvia Day, Reflected in You. Oh my… it’s a good one for sure. If you liked 50 Shades of Gray I hear that you’ll like this one too. Speaking of that…. 50 Shades of Gray that is… am I the only one who hasn’t read them? I’m trying to figure out what the big deal is about them without reading them. Erotic fiction has been around forever and even Anne Rice has a series of books that in way should ever be made into a movie like some of her other books!

Also on Thursday I shared a post about Dove’s message that creating a world where beauty is a source of confidence, not anxiety. There are so many simple ways that we can encourage self-esteem and have a conversation with our daughters about positive self-esteem…. what we see in the magazines is not reality. Airbrushing someone to look perfect isn’t truth…. it’s warping the way we think about ourselves and what we think is acceptable. Dove as has a toolkit that you can download to help start the conversation and it’s pretty good too.

All this plus parent teacher conferences at 3 different schools, work, and trying to figure out when I can get to the gym.

Tonight though…. tonight will be great because it’s the final performance of marching band season and it’s inside which makes it even better! It’s a pretty awesome event called the Trojan Spectacular and this year will be fun because my daughter is a majorette and at the front of the band so I’ll actually be able to see her this year! Check out the video from last year!

There you go… my week in review.

How was your week?

Chris Mann, Pasta, Football, & My Week

Posted on November 2, 2012 by Jackie

Well, it’s Friday again and that makes me (and a lot of others I think) pretty darn happy! The weekend is here and it’s time to relax, kick back with family, or get everything done that you didn’t get to throughout the week.

First of all, I really want to share with you this great new album by Chris Mann that I’ve been listening to this week. It’s amazing! Well, it is if you like a softer, more classic style of music. I love it… my kids on the other hand did not. To me he has a sound and style that is totally unique to him and not like all of the pre-packaged pop/top 40 music that you hear on the radio these days. And not to say that other artists don’t have talent…. but they have nothing on the smooth voice of Chris Mann that’s for sure.

When I first got the CD I wasn’t sure what to expect and assumed that all the music on it was his own and then I started listening to it and found that a few of the songs were remakes. I’m not of fan of remade songs simply because they’re never the same as the original, but his interpretation of them was great. It actually took me a couple minutes to realize the song I was listening to was one I was very familiar with (and liked)!

Have you heard of Chris Mann before? If not you can listen to a bit of his new album or you can just buy his new album on iTunes or Amazon.

That’s not all! This has been a pretty decent week over all! I finally shared my chicken noodle soup recipe (and homemade broth) using those amazingly delicious pasta from Al Dente that I got at the Mitten Moms conference last month…. it’s definitely a must try.

What else? Oh yea… I put out a plea for help finding a bow tie for Andrew to go with the suit I had to buy him. Seriously, shopping for little boys is a challenge.

And to round out the week there was some Wordful Wednesday pumpkin carving fun! I’d share pics of my kids all dressed up in their Halloween finery but it was cold and rainy here so we pretty much skipped the trick or treating thing other than heading to grandmas & other family members homes.

I almost forgot about the football!! Our local high school football team has done so great this year… like better than they ever have! So good that they’re in the playoffs for state championship for their district! So on Friday evening we’ll be traveling to cheer them on and watch our marching band perform again!

One last thing…. I know that this wasn’t this past week but I really want to share how great the Cinch program is! Take a look at my update!

This is a review post from One2One Network. I was provided with a copy of the album and I am eligible for a prize drawing. All opinions stated are my own of course.

Random Thoughts for Wednesday

Posted on March 20, 2012 by Jackie

Today’s post is going to full of random thoughts…. why? I guess because I have a lot on my mind and some things I can share and others I can’t. So we’ll just go with what I can share for now.

I was super lucky and was able to get into Melissa’s (@MelACulbertson) incredible class, Content Brew . It’s only been two days but I’ve already learned a great deal from the class, which by the way is a go at your own pace so I don’t have to worry about not being able to keep up! But this is what’s got me…. my content sucks. I decided a while back to post on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday leaving Tuesday and Thursday open for reviews/giveaways if necessary and then the weekends are always off. After filling out the content calendar I realized that what I have is barely my own… Monday is recipes, Wednesday is usually a Wordful Wednesday link up or Pour Your Heart Out, and then Friday I usually save for the fiction prompts over at Write on Edge. There is nothing that is full of depth, emotion, or something that has readers coming back for more.

I mean it’s not like I don’t have anything to write about…. I have 4 kids ranging in age from toddler to teen! Geesh… if that isn’t blog fodder I don’t know what is!

I think that this is what it comes down to. Time. The amount of time that I have to actually sit down and write a couple of posts is pretty limited. Okay, it’s non existent. I manage to do a post the night before it goes live and that’s it and any planning further ahead doesn’t happen much.

The random thoughts continue….

This past week summer has come early here in Michigan with temps in the mid 80’s. Yes, you read that right….80’s so we’ve pretty much skipped spring this year. Temperatures that are 40 degrees above normal! The good part about this is that I’ve been able to put to use some of the cool tips and tricks I’ve learned in the SITS Pinterest Challenge with Courtney from Click it Up a Notch and because of it my pictures have been a lot better!

If you’re looking to create great pictures for yourself, your blog, Pinterest, or whatever I’d highly recommend checking out the series!

Random proud mom moments….

We’ve also had some proud mom moments this past week. My middle daughter, Natalie, has had district band festival and DI (Destination Imagination) recently and did incredibly well at both! At DI her team had to come up with a skit complete with a set, music, costumes, and everything in between on their own… no adult help at all. Her group had a lot of fun with their challenge and with the secret challenge… each group is presented with a challenge where they have like 5 minutes to come up with a solution for it and spectators are not allowed. In their age group they came in 5th out of 14 groups. Pretty good if you ask me!

For district band festival the entire 7th grade band performed for judges and then took part in a sight reading. At the end of the day they received a score of straight 1’s which is the highest score that you can get. Our school district has a long history of music excellence and have never gotten anything less than a perfect score.

More randomness…..

I’m hoping that the Content Brew class really helps me out because I need it! I want better content… something that will grab people’s attention… something that will want them to come back for more…

I hope that soon I’ll be able to share some of the things that I can’t talk about right now…. because sometimes getting another person’s perspective and thoughts on something is great.

Alright, enough of the randomness for today.

I’m to busy….Yes, I’m complaining about it too!

Posted on May 2, 2011 by Jackie

Today all I am going to do is complain about how incredibly busy I am this week, so much so that I am not sure how I am going to get it all done without going absolutely off the deep end.

I know…I know you’re busy too. Aren’t all moms after all?

So let’s run through my schedule this week.

Daily – drop Caitlin off at the high school and then take Natalie to the middle school and then I’m off to work from about 7:30 – 4. After I leave work I pick Andrew up from the babysitter and then get the girls from their grandma’s (she lives close to their 3 schools so they can walk over there after).

Monday – soccer practice for Caitlin that she has to miss (she’s mad at me for making her miss it, but yay one less thing!). All three girls have a dentist appointment and then we possibly have to make a trip to Marshall’s Music (45 min away) to drop off Caitlin’s saxophone to be repaired.

Tuesday – Caitlin has a soccer game at 5pm and Natalie has a band concert at 7:30

Wednesday – Caitlin has soccer practice after school until 5:30 and then Lauren has softball practice at 7:30

Thursday – Caitlin has a soccer game at 5pm

Friday – NOTHING….. this is obviously subject to change and we all know that something will come up.

One of those days I will have to make a trip back to Lansing to get the saxophone so Caitlin has it for her tests this week. Yes, they have tests in band and this week is audition week to get into band for the next three years. Yea, audition as in if you don’t get a good score you’re out and don’t play for the 10^th – 12^th grade years of high school…band is pretty damn important around here.

Oh, and we (as in the husband and I , but it’ll end up being me) has to take Andrew to get his blood drawn for an allergy test. That should be great fun (insert large amounts of sarcasm here) and I’m looking forward to it.

The kids like to eat sometimes and get cranky when I don’t feed them so I still have to make dinner for them at some point too.

Image by ToniVC via Flickr

I’m getting close to overwhelmed… we’re usually pretty busy but this week seems to be crazy. I’ve figured out a few things that may help me when it comes to getting through weeks like this.

I need more time in the day
I need to clone myself
I need to not work or only work part time
I need wine to relax at the end of the week
I need to get my kids drivers licenses

All of these will work, right?

Lessons Learned Winter 2010

Posted on December 14, 2010 by Jackie

: Image via Wikipedia

I’ve recently come to realize that I’ve learned a few things. Now, these aren’t all that exciting I know but for some reason it all became really clear this morning as I made my way to work through the snow and ice.

Winter Sucks.

Yup, it sucks. And I live in the wrong state! I was waiting for the first snow fall to come and be soft and beautiful. Is that what happened? No. No, it isn’t. We got a winter storm. It was snowing hard, the wind was whipping the snow all over the place, and it was freezing out! What really made it bad was that the day started out in the mid 30’s and the wet snow froze on the roads and then the temperature dropped dramatically to 20. It made getting ready and going to a family Christmas party not as fun as it could be.

Four wheel drive is awesome!

I know this because my truck has 4-wheel drive. Now, I would much rather have a nice car but then I’d never get all of my kids into it, groceries, and everything else in it. This morning I was able to make it to work without to much worry and it also helped that I took all main roads even though it took longer. Now, I should add some sort of addendum to this because while 4 wheel drive is awesome it won’t always save you! I know this for a fact because I was driving with the 4 wheel drive engaged and as I was driving I went through a snow drift that wasn’t more than ankle deep and was pulled into the ditch and then my truck rolled over a few times into the corn field. Note to self… don’t apply for that job as a stunt driver.

Snow days aren’t as good as they used to be.

As a kid I loved snow days! It was great to get up and find out that you had an extra day off from school! We’d all bundle up and head outside to make snow men, go sledding, or whatever games we could come up with. Snow days suck now. Don’t get me wrong… the kids love them! I find it difficult to figure out what to do with the kids last minute when I have to be to work by 8am. The older one usually ends up watching her younger sisters, but I will always get several phone calls throughout the day asking can I do this…. what’s for lunch… can I go outside… you get the idea.

Kids never get sick at the same time.

This is a working moms’ nightmare! One kids is sick and the others are fine and as soon as the first one gets better another one gets sick and so on. They never get sick at the same time and I’m pretty sure that it’d be way to convenient if they did! This is the boat I’m in right now. Daughter #2 is really sick and all the rest are okay. It’s only a matter of time before she passes it on to one of the other 3 kids.

Snow plow truck drivers don’t care.

You see if they cared then my mail box wouldn’t have been in my driveway when I got home. I should mention that this happens at least once every year! Sometimes it’s just the mailbox and sometimes it’s the post. Regardless, it sucks! And if it’s not in place the mailman won’t deliver our mail which could be good or bad depending on how you look at it. But I’m waiting for that lottery check to get here and if that mailbox isn’t there I won’t get it!

So tell me how your winter is going so far!

My week in a nutshell

Posted on October 11, 2010 by Jackie

Here’s your warning. This is just me rambling about nothing all that important or interesting. If you stick around to read it all thank you.. but you must have nothing else to do or are really bored. And if not, then no problem. I probably wouldn’t either!
And today starts another week! Oh joy… can’t wait to see what fun and excitement it will bring!
This past week was one busy day after another, but then again that’s really nothing to new around here. There’s always something going on!
Monday started out with an incredible migraine headache that forced me to stay home and because the gods were smiling down upon me I got to sleep in till 10:30am! Can you believe it?!?! Of course I still had the headache when I got up and it stuck with me all day. Eventually, I made it to the chiropractor and he made it all go away. I was happy. I could stand, sit, turn my head, and even blink with out major pain!
Nothing exciting must have happened Tuesday since I can’t remember it! So, let’s move on to Wednesday.
Wednesday is usually pretty busy because that’s piano night. And I normally stick around in town after work until my daughter’s lesson. But this time I couldn’t. She had left her notebook at home so we had to run all the way home and back to get it. So, I dropped her off and went home (again) and I swear within 30 minutes the phone was ringing…. she was done. Ready to come home! I should mention here that the lessons are supposed to be an hour long.
Friday was a trip! Aside from work the rest of the afternoon was running to get things for my daughters birthday party that night. I know… I know… I should have gotten the stuff sooner. I didn’t though.
We had a plan and were ready to get in and out of the store quickly. And then we tried to get the balloons. wow. Let me tell ya… it shouldn’t take 20 minutes to blow up 5 balloons and tie a damn string to them! Especially when you don’t blow them up all the way! Seriously, these were the most pathetic looking balloons I have ever seen in my entire life. They were small and the strings were all the same color and the exact same length. If the person doing the balloons were a woman then I know they would have looked a lot better!
Now as a bit of advice. Do not go to a corn maze at night with a bunch of kids. We’ve been to the maze before and it was great, but it was daytime. We spent more time lost and walking in circles than anyone else in that maze. The kids were all excited when they found one of the stops. It was #9. Somehow we missed the first 8! No big deal. We moved on and walked… and walked… and walked. And then there was another stop. It was #9. This happened one more time too!
I swear these kids had me totally bamboozled! They assured me they knew what they were doing. But I was pretty sure that we were never getting out of there! We were going to be spending the night in the corn maze!
Eventually, we found stops #10 & 12. And by that time I was over the whole maze thing. One of the workers was out there in the maze and helped us find our way out. My 8 yr old was very happy! She was done too and didn’t want to keep walking anymore!
There was one hell of a game of Marco Polo going on too! Although I’m not sure that it was a game as opposed to all the kids in the maze just yelling Marco Polo as they ran around. But all in all the kids had a great time and that’s all that matters right!
Saturday brought my husbands class reunion and Sunday was dinner with my parents. And as a warning…. do not give a baby red velvet cake. They will make a huge mess with it and turn everything in a 3 foot radius red.
And now that I write about it … I guess my week wasn’t that bad.