BamBam slept really well all weekend and even took a couple of 3 hour naps. While awake, he ate and ate and ate. That can only mean one thing: growth spurt! Yep sure enough, his favorite sneakers that I just bought to start school a few weeks ago no longer fit. A new Kohl’s opened the next exit away from us over the weekend, so we decided to check out their sneaker department. BamBam has bear claws wide feet and we always have a hard time finding anything for him at the bargain stores...let's just say that we rarely get to "pay less" for his shoes. I’m horrified at how much they charge elsewhere for sneakers these days. I hate the idea of spending $30+ for something that he will only be wearing for a couple of months…or in this case merely a few weeks. We found something in a bigger size on sale for $10 at the new Kohl's, so I grabbed them, but it didn’t solve the problem of needing something NOW.

I went online and found these Inchworm shoes.:

“Built right into INCHworm shoes is the iFit technology. The iFit technology allows you to GROW the size of the shoe with a simple push of the button. So eliminate unnecessary trips to the shoe store and provide your children with better fitting shoes that last up to three sizes longer. Inchworm shoes grow in half size increments. Just push the button on the side, and pull the toe of the shoe to adjust into the next size”

LOVE the idea. You get 3 sizes out of one sneaker. They’re $49.99, but if you divide that by 3 sizes, it is a pretty good price. I’m going to try them out. I’m concerned that BamBam might figure out how to adjust them. He analyzes things and tries to take them apart. Apparently, I’m not the only parent with this concern, because they note:

“We like to say that our shoes are, "parent adjustable". They do require some hand strength to adjust- however, we would not want children to adjust the shoes, and we would not want them to inadvertently change sizes while in use. Therefore we have made them firm in the adjustment area.”

Not sure if these will be my new favorite, but I’ll let you know after BamBam tries them out. Any other shoes out there you would recommend for a 2 year old? Please leave a comment.

I mentioned before that I coach high school softball. My niece is a senior this year and was the starting 3^rd baseman on our State Championship team this spring. She also plays field hockey and has been making the local paper a lot this fall. She’s become quite the athlete. I haven’t made it to one of her field hockey games this season. I’ve been busy with work and the kids…and quite honestly, I’m not really into field hockey. I “get” a lot of sports, but field hockey just doesn’t do it for me. I’m not sure if it’s the skirts they have to wear or the amount of running they do…neither interested me when I played sports.

I recently saw an article about my niece making the winning goal in overtime against our rival school…this is by far my most favorite field hockey article ever!! (In the interest of maintaining her privacy, I’m not going to link to the article, but I’m going to refer to her as “Mo” and will quote the article. Hopefully, this will give proper credit…it was in a local NH newspaper.)

“[Mo] had plenty of opportunity to work on her softball skills last spring as a third baseman on the…High School team that won the Class I championship. On Wednesday night, [Mo] used her softball skills to help her field hockey team, which she hopes accomplishes the same feat.

[Mo] used a nice softball-like swing to break a scoreless tie with 10:39 left in overtime to give [her team] a 1-0 win…”

Now that’s the type of field hockey article that a softball coach can appreciate!! Congrats, Mo!

This site is TOO funny. At Netdisaster.com, you can enter your least favorite website’s URL, pick your weapon from a hilarious list and watch as it destroys their home page. I haven’t tried all of the weapons, but so far my favorite is the “dog poop”. I actually laughed out loud watching a little dog walk across the screen and poop on my least favorite anti-liberal author’s face. For the record, I don’t necessarily disagree with some of her politics, but I find her approach extremely offensive and basically think she’s an insensitive bitch who cares less about her political agenda than building her “celebrity”.

Save this for later if you actually want a productive Monday…I guarantee you’ll spend some time here!

Share your favorites in the comments.

I have a new favorite drink.

We were at my friend’s wedding in Ithaca, NY over the weekend. I was feeling very, very tired. The kids both came down with a horrible virus earlier in the week and I ended up having to cancel my flight. I had a touch of the virus by the time we left and really was not looking forward to the drive out there…about 6 ½ hours. I caught a ride with THE Daddy and THE Groom late Thursday night. We didn’t roll into Ithaca until about 3:30am on Friday, ouch. We ended up grabbing a quick lunch on Friday at a restaurant on the commons by our hotel. We stumbled across what could become my next addiction.

Ever heard of Yerba Mate?

I was looking for some sort of caffeine free, healthy drink to recharge my batteries. I wish I could remember the name of the restaurant that we found b/c it was YUMMY. Everything was natural/organic. They had a “Peach Mate” that caught my eye, so I gave it a try. It was very tasty and really took me out of my fog. I really did feel recharged in a way that a caffeinated drink does, without the jittery, hyped up feeling. I found myself craving it the next day. I have NO idea where to get it around here in NH…but I found this site which gives the history and refers to another site to purchase it online. Not sure if I’ll go so far as purchasing the metal straw and gourd. Definitely interesting though.

(disclaimer: I have no affiliation to either of these sites and make no guarantees on their claims. I just really liked the drink and felt better afterwards. Anything natural and caffeine free that tastes this good is worth a try in my book!)

Princess had her 5^th Birthday Party this weekend. Her actual birthday isn’t until this Friday. However, I will be traveling to NY to be in my friend’s wedding so we decided to throw a big bash before I head out of town. Hopefully this will help avoid years of therapy later…where she blames my absence on her birthday for ruining her life.

I have been making an individual cake for the kids on their birthdays and purchasing the bigger cake for the guests. My theory was that I would save a little $$ by not purchasing a large, custom cake. Nice theory…I’ve spent more on the molds and decorations than I care to admit. I'm having fun though.  I made an awesome basketball cake for BamBam last month because it is his latest obsession. It was a big hit. SO, I took Princess to a local cake store to pick out her mold and decorations. Huge shocker when she picked out the Princess cake mold! I was a bit intimidated at first, but I followed the directions and it came our pretty good, if I do say so myself. I used fondant for the dress and bodice…not sure that I would again. It took a few tries to get the fondant onto the bodice without exposing the skin underneath, especially on her D cups!! I wasted too much of the pink fondant and had to choose another color for the inside of the skirt…the plan was to have pink inside too. No one else seemed to mind, but I was annoyed every time I looked at it. Sometimes it sucks to be a perfectionist!

You might be able to find a mold at your local cake store for less money. I think I only paid $18.00 for mine. Here’s a link from Amazon if you don’t feel like bargain shopping.

I was having a difficult time keeping track of our busy schedule this summer. I missed 2 appointments within a week and decided that enough was enough. I haven’t needed an organizational calendar since I stopped working full-time when I was 3 months pregnant with Princess…that was over 5 years ago! With 2 kids going into 2 different schools this week, I figured now is the perfect time to get organized.

A friend of mine with 2 daughters in school had this great magnetic calendar on her fridge and seemed to be keeping on top of everything. I did some research online and found this Dry-erase Calendar Magnets,w/ Dry Erase Marker,14-1/2"x14".  It’s awesome. I keep the current week on the top and rotate the weeks each Sunday. It comes in a package of 4 weeks. I bought 2 packages and now keep track of our lives 8 weeks at a time. I’m a little sad that our carefree days of no calendar are over…but this is really helping me feel on top of our schedule again!

I survived my weekend in Nantucket with the girls. Overall, we had a great time and it was very relaxing. THE Bride was doing well until someone started sending “3 Wise Men” shots her way, ouch. She was very, very sick and said in the morning that she vomited so much it felt like she’d been through an “exorcism”. I shared a room with her and heard the multiple trips to the WC throughout the morning and can attest that it indeed sounded like an exorcism was occurring! It’s a shame that we went out for a $350 meal of tapas and high-end cocktails.

Anyhow, she was unable to keep down even water in the morning, so we went in search of some homeopathic pellets. I have started using them with my family in recent years. My pediatrician recommended “Smart Medicine for a Healthier Child” and it has become our BIBLE. It is my favorite reference book for anything related to health for Princess and Bambam. I truly believe in homeopathy and have seen the benefits with my family and friends. This book is great for the family looking to dabble in more natural remedies because it lists various ailments and offers conventional treatments, dietary guidelines, nutritional supplements, herbal treatments, and homeopathy. It then groups everything together for “general recommendations”. It’s very easy to read and I like that it isn’t biased towards any one method.

I purchased some Ipecacuanha at the local pharmacy. THE Bride let the pellets dissolve under her tongue and within minutes the demon was exorcised. She slept comfortably for a few hours and bounced back enough to make the boat and the long car ride home. Congrats to THE Bride…and to THE Groom: for the record, she was very well behaved. We only had to delete 2 pictures from the camera

I am feeling pretty crappy today. Both Princess and BamBam have nasty summer colds; which means that I am a day or so away from getting hit hard. THE Daddy left early for work and I was feeling a bit overwhelmed this morning. OK, I was really grouchy when he left. I was cleaning up dishes and found my favorite bracelet on the window by the sink. It reminded me that my case of the sniffles is truly nothing and I need to get over the “poor me” attitude I woke up with.

 
You see, a few months ago, I donated peripheral blood stem cells to a 21 year old woman with leukemia. It was quite an amazing process. I will try to detail my experience in further posts. When I was at the Dana Farber Cancer Center in Boston , the nurses were all wearing these great bracelets. They are made by the “Friends of Mel Foundation”. Although I never knew Mel Simmons, I was touched by her story. I wanted to remember my experience in a positive way…not just how difficult the process was physically or how rewarding it was to truly be able to help someone in need. I wanted something tangible as a reminder. THE Daddy purchased a bracelet for me and I’ve been wearing it all summer. The colors go with just about everything I wear and I get questions about it all the time. It’s amazing how many people actually recognize it as one of “Mel’s” bracelets. I’ve given a few as gifts and people really love them.

The best part, sales from the bracelets raise money for cancer. Personally, I like that money isn’t just going towards cancer research, but also “promising projects that impact patient care at both the grassroots and institutional levels”.

You can purchase a bracelet here.

We are in the process of “finishing” our basement. THE Daddy works in construction and what they say about men in construction and their own houses…hate to say it, but it’s very true. He loves to start projects and has grand ideas, however, his follow through is, um, lacking. It’s not that he doesn’t have good intentions…he just gets busy with work other obligations and leaves every project about 90% done. Our basement project has been going on since last October and we’re nearing the 90% point. So far, it looks fabulous. We have a new playroom for Princess and BamBam, a ¾ bathroom, a family room that will double as my office and the best part…a TAVERN. Yep, we have a full bar in the basement…beer system, poker table and all. We just flipped coins to see who is telling our friend/realtor that our house is now being taken OFF the market…not that we haven’t had a showing in over 3 weeks or anything…I’ll save that story for later.

Anyhow, I am the designer and THE Daddy is the builder. We LOVE the “Historic Charleston” colors and have them all though out the house:

Russell’s Gold = Living room and kitchen (it’s an open concept)

Antique Mahogany = Tavern trim

Bermuda Stone= Tavern Walls

Cooper’s Basin = Master Bedroom

Kiawah Safari = Dining Room

The colors are very rich and welcoming. Even though they are kind of dark, they really brighten up the rooms. I’m not a real designer, I just watch them on TV.  The paint colors are from Duron and can be purchased at your local Sherman William’s store. Supposedly, a small percentage of the purchase goes to the Historic Charleston Foundation.

(For the record: I have NO connections to Sherman Williams or the Historic Charleston Foundation. My dad lives in Charleston and I really, truly LOVE these colors)