More Life Part 1

Have you ever said you would never love again? 
NO! Absolutely not. I have a huge heart and always have love in it.

Have you heard a song today that reminds you of somebody? NO. My damn radio isn't working. My car is a 2000 and the radio is static and the cassette player (yes damn it I said cassette) that I used to be able to put in and plug into my Satellite Radio just pushes the cassette out now.

Do you apologize first?  Yes. Saying I am sorry if I know it will be accepted is not hard at all.

Has someone made a promise to you and broke it? 
I don't know that there is malicious intent behind it but often! I however use that and Never break a promise. In fact, this is something my kids know about me as I learned this month when I told my kids I  had to do something because I had promised someone I would. My daughter said and you never break a promise.

Have you ever won a lot of money in a slot machine? How much? NO. I have broken even every time. Not that there are many. Maybe two.

Do you watch sport on TV even though you aren’t a sporty person yourself?  For years I have tried to get into Football I just can't. I don't mind baseball in fact was a pretty big fan in my teens and 20s. Hockey is also something I don't mind but after spending years forcing myself to try and watch football I have given up.

Do you eat / drink at your computer?  BOTH! Which is completely apparent by the tiny coffee spots on my keyboard.

How much do you overeat at special occasions? (Birthdays, Christmas, etc) I don't overeat. It isn't worth the feeling of being unable to move and uncomfortable.

Do you require glasses / contacts to see properly? If so, which do you use? I require them to be able to walk. Legally blind I wear my contacts during the day and my 20 year old broken glasses at night.

When you hear your voice back on a recording, do you think it sounds awful? I don't mind it. Sounds like me. It took a long time to get there but doing a few Vlogs will get you comfortable.

When was the last time you got the hiccups? Oh Lord...I don't know June 23, 1998?

If you had to, which record would you go into Guinness World Records for?  saying stop it or enough in one day while my kids are on Summer vacation!

The last sweet thing you ate: What was it?  It was a chocolate peanut butter Pop Tart


Do you have a middle name?  Yes, if you want to know it is Gracia or Grace

Do you find it embarrassing? No I love it. Maria Gracia is beautiful

My Scenic Weekend - Stroll With Us Through Warwick New York

 The kids and I headed out for the day while waiting for my car to go into the shop. Here is my Goddess sitting at a beautiful planter in Warwick New York. We thought this was the perfect place to walk around and take some photos.

 Even Handsome took some time to actually pose for a shot.

 I LOVED this one so much I just had to play with it.

Handsome decided to hide behind the planter and call me, I thought it was so cute I asked him to do it again for me.

 I would love to come back here and just people watch or read a book. We found it an interesting idea to add a quiet moment in the midst of the chaos of this busy street.

 So many beautiful places to sit. In this one Goddess asked me to get her sitting on the bench with the "beautiful building" behind her. I love that she sees things with a photographer's eyes. If at 8 she sees this as beautiful, I can only imagine what her photographer eye will pick up later.

There were so many beautiful places to stand or sit here. Not sure where my girl got this pose but....she is going to have shoulder problems if she keeps it up.

Handsome had a big smile and wanted to take a picture in front of this building as well. The old tats on his arm are only about 2 days old. He has suddenly decided he wants a sleeve tattoo when he is older. 

He also asked me to take his photo at these benches. After I asked what he was doing. He had actually just sat down but the image looks so lonely I had to play with it.

There is that pose again.  This is an eatery section of Warwick. Love those flowers. It was early so most of the chairs were empty but by lunch I am sure it is full.

This area looks so busy. I love it. So much going on. There is even a French Restaurant I am dying to try. It smells so good. Maybe when the kids go back to school. I have been saying it every year for the past three. This year I am MAKING it happen.

Goddess tossed about 75 cents in pennies into this fountain. I wish things could really happen by throwing a coin in a fountain and making a wish. Ahhh to be young.

 

I love this shot of a Sweet Shop with all that brick and the flowers so much, I had to play with it.

Life Issues Getting The Best Of Me

Have you ever been so deep in life issues that you sometimes lose the simple abilities to find breathing room? Well, I am not THERE yet but I know the feeling really well. My life has never been an easy one and what gets me through most of the BS is knowing how my life could have turned out.

Molestation from the ages of 7 - 16
Mother dying after a 8 months of fighting an aggressive cancer when I was 12
Daddy abandoning his daughters and responsibilities when I was 13 and leaving us with said molester
Leaving home on my graduation day to take care of myself, go to college and work PT

All of these things could have easily added up to a life of drinking and drugs but they didn't but they did add up to feelings of abandonment, fear, sadness, loneliness, resentment and trust issues that a scared, little girl had to float above because she never had a safe place to fall.

I have been to therapy, my friends are awesome, I know how to keep negativity out of my life or at least the people who bring it in yet, learned to breathe through it and realize that if you concentrate on the negative you will always only see it. So over the past 20 years I have focuses on the positive and any one of my friends would say I am balance, happy, positive and always smiling. BUT..lately, the smile seems harder to find. The positive feelings are something I have to fight for and the happiness, well, that is something I get courtesy of two little people in my life.

As someone who has moved through such traumatic experiences, I know this is just another one I have to move through but even knowing that eventually I will; I find it painful to know that I have to go through it and that I am uncertain of the path. The current path is bumpy and rocky with many branches that rip at my ankles and sometimes leave big, bloody scratches that will take years to heal BUT, I am hopeful that they will heal albeit with a scar.

How do you move through the difficult times in life? What is your method for protecting yourself?

Holy Crap A Gray Tree Frog On Our Deck AND A Freaked Out Boy

Teach is a sun worshiper, he loves heading to the deck for a tan. Two weeks ago, he grabbed his tanning chaise and found something inside it. Goddess came running in saying, look what we found, do you know what kind it is? After a quick once over I told her it was a tree frog. She was confused because she has only seen green tree frogs. After a quick Google search with her and the frog on my lap, it was confirmed. We had a gray tree frog.

Look how cool that is....the most clingy frog ever. I really wish we could have kept it but I would have had to invest in things that I have no money for right now.

The kids know or I should say because she is the one who comes home with things. We have "day pets" and that it is for now.

We learned that Gray Tree Frogs are nocturnal and during the day, hide in holes in trees. We also learned that they usually don't descend from the high tree tops unless they are looking to breed. This poor fellow probably was quite busy and never made it back to the tree or jumped onto the deck from a close tree. The deck is a second floor deck and we live near the woods.

See that bright yellow and black? That is their distinguishable marking. 

We think he looks like tree moss, great camouflage.

Check out our video of Goddess and I describing the Tree Frog and Handsome not having any of it. Future blackmail video for sure.

What The Heck Is It?

I spotted it from the deck. What are you??? I said to myself as I started down the stairs. As I got closer I saw the nasty, nasty claw like legs and thought, I am out of here.....BUT...I needed more and so did Goddess, she loves researching things and educating herself on things that interest her so we headed back down. She hoped to put it in something so we could inspect it closer. We couldn't find her bug finder so we settled for one of our sand toys.

When I got to here and noticed the nasty eyes I thought...OK...looks like the bug is gone and this is the outside skin or exoskeleton. IDK.

 Here is Goddess wondering if she could scoop it into a sand toy before she decided it would probably touch her hand if she did so. Those claws creeped us out.

So...she got the video camera instead. I love the end.

Never Saw It Coming!

Sometimes life is complicated, scary, confusing and heartbreaking. Sometimes life takes twists and turns we never saw coming. Sometimes we need to regroup, pick ourselves up and really listen to what the heart needs. Sometimes we feel utterly alone even in a room full of people and sometimes, we need someone to hold us up.

Lately, I have been that person in need. The person who needs others to lift them. I am a strong person who is a master at hiding my "real" feelings. Expert at dusting things off my shoulder and a maven of putting on a happy face. However, of the last few months it has been harder and someone called me on it. Someone who means more to me than anyone else. Someone who has always been there.

The pain in my heart is unbearable at times. It is a pain I am familiar with a pain I told myself I would never allow myself to feel again but here it is.

Everyone goes through difficult times and I have had my share and while I know this to shall pass and whatever path is taken I WILL BE OK but it is a scary road one that I never saw myself traveling.

I took this butterfly picture last week. Two butterflies were flying around each other frantically than eventually in a beautiful synchronized dance. They circle, spin as if tied together by strings, circling and spinning all over the beach.   This one finally rested and caught its breath before dancing again. I feel like this butterfly right now. I am sitting, waiting, breathing, praying for a moment and will dance again when the time is right.

The Princess Twins of Legendale

The 411 by Maria & Goddess:

 We love watching movies together and make a big production of it.  Goddess will often say she is not into princesses but she was dying to sit and watch this movie. I guess princesses aren't cool when you are eight. 

It starts out as a loving royal family give birth to twins. A blonde beauty named Dawn like her daddy and a brunette Eve like her mom until one day an evil queen takes a twin and the mother dies trying to save her babies. The King in his mourning decides to pretend there was never a twin and raises  Princess Dawn as an only child trying to pretend Eve never existed.

When the Queen turns the world dark not allowing day and night to coexist Princess Dawn heads out on a quest to find out what is happening only to find she has a twin. Together they set out to reunite the two worlds and destroy the evil Queen

We loved the movie of good versus evil and as most little girls know, good always wins over evil. Goddess loved all the little animals and I loved the animation.

There is only one song in the movie that I thought could have used a better audio. I heard the music perfectly but the words were difficult to hear.

 

Jump Starting Boys - REVIEW

My kids both have specific learning issues and this book for me was perfect to help me with both.  While Handsome is doing great in school I loved reading some of the authors suggestions about limiting screen time and fostering my child's specific learning style.

Both of my kids are reluctant readers Goddess because it is difficult for her and Handsome because he has problems deciphering what is being said.

I also took a lot from the section on mentors and how important it is to have boys with strong male role models. Teach isn't around for homework and so far Handsome's teachers have all been woman. I think having Teach go over Handsome's homework with him after it is all done would really benefit the both of them. Teach would have to be more involved and Handsome would get a different prospective and a review of homework isn't a bad thing!

Healthy Snack Idea For Back To School Or Anytime

The kids and I opened a box this past week and found an assortment of snacks. Needless to say, we were thrilled. They were even more thrilled when I informed them we were going to taste test them all!

Smart Fries are everything I look for in a snack. Easy to take anywhere beach, park, car, drive in, wherever. Also, before I go sweet, I go crispy and salty but I don't like to have all that added fat of chips. Smart Fries are air popped and come in flavors for all palets.

Sea Salt
Cinnamon Swirl
Vintage Cheddar
Vinegar Splash
Jalapeno Trio
Honey Mustard and Onion
Honey BBQ
Garlic & Rosemary
Cracked Pepper and Salt

We opened all the bags, sat down for a movie and took notes while munching.

Goddess loved the Cinnamon Swirl and Cracked Pepper and Salt  She spent most of her time first sucking off all the flavoring than letting the fry dissolve in her mouth. She said that was the best way.

Handsome liked the Vintage Cheddar. He is a big cheese eater. He also like the Sea Salt basic. Mostly he took tiny bites until it was gone. He ate the whole back of Vintage Cheddar by himself after we took our three taste test pieces because he said they were the best. I like them too and only got one so I am searching for my own bag next time.

I like the Jalapeno Trio and Sea Salt but felt that they are a little bland. While I like them, I would still have to have the occasional not good for me chip. What I like most about the fries is that they aren't fried and they are ONLY 80 calories a serving. I didn't feel guilty eating them at all. So you get the crunch you crave without all that saturated fat. Now if I could get the kids to eat these instead of chips or those cheese puffs they love so much, I would feel like a much better mom.

My Karaoke Life

Back in the day I was the queen of a local karaoke club after work at a little bar/restaurant down the street from my job. Me and a bunch of friends would get in there and never stop getting up to the mic. Now, I would never but I love singing as do my kids now. When Dad isn't in the car, we GO FOR IT!

Home Made Rug Cleaner Worked For Us!

I am sure you have seen it. Everyone on Pinterest is talking about a rug cleaner that uses

Baking Soda
Peroxide 
and dish soap. 

This terrible stain is in Goddess' bedroom. One day about 3 years ago she got a stomach virus after consuming her favorite chocolate hence this terrible stain! We hate it and used at least 10 different cleaners over the years and finally put a rug over it. I shook up the peroxide, baking soda and dish soap in a spray bottle for a loooong time. The Baking Soda takes a long time to dissolve but when we did...and scrubbed the stain with a toothbrush...we were surprised.

I cannot believe how long we had to look at that ugly stain! It looks amazing now.

Plant Sitting Brings Up Close To Beauty AND The Blues

This week the kids and I are house sitting, dog sitting for two separate people, bird sitting and plant sitting! A local person found me through a community webpage I set up to let people know I will do odd jobs and asked if we would water her plants twice while she is in Alaska. She gave us $25.00 and a tour. Her landscaping is beautiful and she is obviously an outdoor lover based on her property. The kids and I are having a great time and here are some of the photos from our first trip to water. 

This cobalt blue fountain looks amazing amid all the green.

The kids loved spending time here while Mommy walked around with the hose. Goddess really wanted to sit in the swing but I wasn't certain if it was decoration or an actual seat.

We really loved this outdoor chess set too. 

This was strictly a photo op. I certainly don't have Chess players at home. 

Two New Books Kids Will Want To Read

The 411 by Maria And Goddess:

When Goddess looked at the cover she wasn't instantly pulled in. However, I was and told her that this was a book about two kids and one is a werewolf. She looked through the pages and fortunately there was a photo or two that showed big, massive spiders. She was hooked! We read it on the deck at dusk one night and she loved it. Thankfully this is one of two books about these two interesting kids and their very odd apartment building. Hopefully the author will keep writing because I cannot wait to see what happens and why there is a huge crack in the basement floor that has a bright light coming from it and why there are gorilla size spiders roaming around but mostly, if there are more werewolves like Furry and what other situations will Flo and Furry find themselves in.

I loved any books that get kids reading and I think this reads like a first novel and kids will enjoy it.

The 411 by Maria and Goddess

This book is great for the kids who are not yet at the Diary of a Wimpy Kid stage. In this book, Zeke is in 3rd grade and with a name like Ezekial Meeks (which rhymes with freaks) you can imagine the shenanigans and harassment Zeke goes through in school daily. Goddess is going into 3rd grade and I couldn't wait to read this one to her.

Zeke's teacher Mr. McNutty tells the whole class they will be performing in a talent show and a cousin of his classmate who recently won a singing competition on America's Next Superstar is coming and will give advice to the kid who wins. Obviously Zeke like every kid in the class wants to win. Zeke after much debate decides he will train his dog Waggles to do tricks! Easier said than done because Waggles is the "most brainless dog" in the world.  Waggles may not be smart but he copies everything Zeke does so is born the idea of Fantastic Zeke and Dorky Dog! Can Zeke and Dorky Dog win the talent competition? Read and find out what happens.

I loved how great this story is. The illustrations and fun storyline will have kid laughing and wanting to keep reading about Zeke and his family.   Great book to read alone or together. AND...if your child likes it there is a series of Zeke books.

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Twinlab Clean Series IS Gluten Free #Twinlab

The 411 by Maria:

We were sent the CleanSeries Why Protein Isolate to try out and I put this in the hands of The Teach since he is the Protein Shake expert in this house. He has been on a protein shake regime for two years now. He is muscle bound and NEEDS to feed those muscles. He does a protein shake in the morning. After his workout and a few hours before bed. We watch him do the shaky shake with his thermos and than shaky shake some more after a few swallows. Mostly because some of the shakes are quite powdery and he feels like they are never shaken enough as he doesn't use a mixer just a whole lot of muscle.

He is not at all a vanilla shake guy and usually picks out a chocolate or chocolate malt flavor so I was concerned about the flavor turning him off. He says while he was disappointed at first and thought he would not like it at all, he says the Vanilla Wave is not bad at all. So I had to try it for myself. It was definitely easy to mix and while I am not a big protein shake drinker, this was something I could imagine myself drinking. I used water and a splash of milk like Teach does and found it creamy and now know why he sits there drinking those shakes every night. I found the flavor sweet and enjoyable. Just like a vanilla shake.

Must Haves: Puff's Fresh Faces

A few weeks ago, we received a package in the mail that has us scratching our heads. Not because we can't figure it out but because we are not sure how we went so long without it. 

 

These photos may better show them off.  We always have a package of Puffs. With two kids who always have allergy issues, they need something very good to their skin and after many brands we know Puffs are for us. No more dry, scaly nostrils when we use Puffs. BUT, they never asked for more than the box I keep in the living room. NOW with Puff's Fresh Faces, the kids have told me that they each want them for their desk, book bag and bedrooms. OK....

Our video of the wipes. BTW..the light lavender is our absolute favorite.

Goddess loves the backpack and has been walking around town graciously giving Puffs Fresh Faces, some advertising. Here she is as we wait for Handsome to come out of Summer School. I took this shot not because of the backpack but because her and her classmate where putting their hands up to each other through the glass. So cute!