Yet another milestone...

Today our baby girl had her 4 year pictures taken. This was the last chance to take her in and have those cute photos taken with several poses, maybe an outfit change and WAY TOO MANY choices in the end! This fall she will be going to preschool and from then on will be treated to those ever popular school pictures. So, this morning, I curled her hair, put her in a nice little outfit and off we went to Portrait Innovations. I had never been there before, but had heard about them from friends. So, after our experience today, I am putting a little plug in for them. Check out their website at www.portraitinnovations.com and see if they have a location near you. I had an excellent experience, and got all my photos 15 minutes after I had finally decided which ones to order, as well as a CD of every single photo that was shot. I plan to take all 3 of the kids in there soon since they haven't had a professional photo taken since our church directory was done over 3 years ago! So, here a few of my favorites from today!

25 Things You May Not Know About Me

I have been tagged to do this activity several times and recently have seen it on my sister-in-law's blog and another blog I read as well. So, here is my take on 25 things....

1. I have played the piano since I was 5.
2. I do not have any brothers, only 2 sisters, but I do have awesome brothers-in-law.
3. I used to cross-stitch, but it's not a priority right now...maybe someday.
4. I broke 2 previous engagements and finally married the 3rd guy who proposed! We'll be married 10 years in March!
5. I became an aunt at the age of 5. Now I am a great-aunt, 5x over!
6. I love white chocolate Lindt Lindor truffles!
7. I pray in the shower.
8. I didn't like being pregnant.
9. I was a cheerleader in high school and LOVED it!
10. I was an RA in college and LOVED that too!
11. I have a huge crush on John Travolta.
12. I am not very good at video games.
13. I met my husband on the computer...through an instant message on AOL.
14. I knew "Ashton Kutcher" back when he was still Chris Kutcher.
15. I love to talk on the phone!
16. I love to get flowers, but not on birthdays or holidays, instead when I least expect it!
17. I read the newspaper every day, front to back.
18. When I was little I won a huge, bigger than life size, stuffed kangaroo from the nursing home where my Great-Grandma was living. I no longer have it though.
19. I have never ever smoked a cigarette or done any sort of drug and don't plan to.
20. I lived in Wisconsin for 6 months, otherwise I have lived my whole life in Iowa.
21. I LOVE a bargain!
22. I used to be a social worker, but have been a stay-at-home mom for almost 9 years now and have no idea what I am going to do with the rest of my life.
23. I LOVE the older Disney movies: Mary Poppins, Snow White, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Dumbo, Pinocchio, etc.
24. I get grossed out watching people (even my kids) brush their teeth.
25. I would secretly love to be a nurse or something in the medical field, but I know I couldn't handle the blood and other secretions! :(

Mondays Matter: Week 4

From the book Every Monday Matters: 52 Ways to Make a Difference by Matthew Emerzian and Kelly Bozza.

PREPARE FOR AN EMERGENCY

Action Steps:

1. Develop a family communication plan by selecting a person outside your local area for your family to call in case of emergency

2. Make sure everyone in the family knows the phone number and has coins or a phone card to contact the family member. Cell phones can get jammed due to high call volume during disasters.

3. Designate a primary and secondary meeting location.

4. Create an emergency supply kit with a 3-day supply of basic items such as:

fresh water, food, first aid, towelettes, garbage bags, flashlight with extra batteries, local maps, a whistle, dust masks, tools, a can opener, cash. Check and rotate supplies every 6 months.

Here in Iowa, over the last few years, we have had a major winter ice storm where some people lost power for over a week, our home for only 2 days thankfully. We have also had a major flood and a tornado that destroyed businesses and homes belonging to hundreds of people. Yet, I really do not have an emergency kit. I do have a lot of items in this list that I keep on hand and keep extras of, but I don't necessarily have them stored in a tub or a specific area of our home. So, I am really thinking I need to do this and soon! We also live near a nuclear plant and after September 11th, my husband and I talked about the evacuation plan if anything happened there. Now we live in a different town and I frankly have no idea where we are supposed to go. Plus, since my husband works in a different town, our evacuations would be to separate areas. I hate to admit that we have no plan in place for this kind of situation. We need to discuss this and look in the phone book for what route we are to take. If anything, this has been a reminder for me to plan for a disaster to make sure our family is safe and taken care of.

My Book and Face Space

I remember hearing about Facebook and My Space and thinking that it was just for high school kids...another way for them to stay in contact besides constant texting. Then one day I got an email from my cousin Angela asking me to join Facebook. I was bored that day, so I thought, why not? Angela is 40+ and if she is on Facebook, then why can't I. Since joining Facebook, I have been able to be in more frequent contact with family, share messages and info with my MOPS girlfriends, and reconnect with friends from high school and college. I never thought I would enjoy it as much as I do. It can be very easy to get sucked in and find yourself still there hours later. Today I got a "friend request" from a name that I didn't recognize and so I did a little investigating to see if I could figure out who it was. This is what I love about Facebook, all that reconnecting. It happened to be a great friend from college that I had lost contact with, but still thought of often. Since she had married, I didn't recognize her last name. Just hearing from these friends from long ago brings back memories of late nights studying and ordering pizza from Domino's, cafeteria food, sharing a bathroom with 3 other girls, and a very memorable trip to Chicago. So, I am grateful for the Facebooks and My Space's and for all those long lost friends who care to look me up. Here's to old and new friends!

Journals

This Christmas I made journals for our boys. I had seen an idea in a magazine about writing notes back and forth to eachother and placing them in their own mailboxes. I liked the idea but didn't want the space of mailboxes sitting in the house. I had made a journal in a craft at MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers http://www.mops.org/) and realized I could do that for the boys. So, I went to Michaels and found some great scrapbook paper and mod podge and then to Target and bought 2 plain Composition Notebooks. I also cut out words and phrases from magazines according to their personalities. I wrote to the boys first, explaining that this was a way to communicate with anyone in the family by writing or drawing a picture and then placing the journal on their pillow. Then the person can write back and place it on their pillow. The boys were very curious about this process and so far we have exchanged 3 or 4 notes. Some have been pictures of cars drawn by the boys, others have been notes of appreciation from me for helping out with something. I look forward to filling up these books and making new ones and then years from now, getting them out and going through them with the boys.

Triple Chocolate Cookies

I treated myself to a Page-A-Day calendar called The Cookie Calendar. Each day there is a new cookie recipe to try. Since I love to bake, I thought this would be fun! The first one that I tried from the calendar are the Triple Chocolate Cookies and they are taken from the book 500 Cookies. I made them for book club and they were a hit and wanted to share them with you!

Triple Chocolate Cookies

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 brown sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup flour

1/2 unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp baking powder

pinch of salt

1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup white chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Beat the butter and sugars until smooth and creamy. Beat in the egg and vanilla. Sift together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add the flour mixture and mix until almost blended. Add the chips and mix. Scoop the dough onto a baking sheet 2 inches apart. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Store in an airtight container for 5-7 days. It makes approximately 30 cookes.

Monday Matters: Week 3

From the book Every Monday Matters: 52 Way to Make A Difference by Matthew Emerzian and Kelly Bozza

HAVE AMBER ALERTS SENT TO YOU

What if it was your child?

Action Steps:

1. Pay attention to Amber Alert signs on the freeway or TV.

2. Sign up to receive Amber Alert text messaging on your cell phone.

3. Download the Amber Alert ticker onto your computer.

4. If you see or receive an Amber alert, don't take it lightly. The perpetrator may be closer than you think.

So, I went to www.amberalert.gov and clicked on wireless alerts. I signed up to receive text messages. You are able to choose 5 zip codes to receive alerts from. If a city has more than 1 zip code, you only have to put in one code for that whole city. So, think about the zip codes you want to use. It took me a total of 5 minutes to sign up for this. I never even knew this was an option. I hope I don't ever receive one, but if it was my child, I would sure want everyone to be looking for my child as well as the abductor knowing that we are on their path! So, take 5 minutes today and sign up!