Life is What You Make of It

taking 'Green' a little further

I love everything about 'Going Green'.  It makes my heart have warm fuzzies just thinking about the ways I'm saving the environment and different resources.  Trust me, if I could afford a wind turbine and solar panels for my house, I would do it!

I enjoy talking to people about going green because I think everyone has different ideas and it's fun to share and learn from other people.

With that said, I started a new Yahoo Group called South Jersey Green Moms. [if you would like to join, just click on the link for the information]

I'm considering making a large group with moms from all over the country but I'm looking for members that really want to participate.  If you know of anyone that would like to join, please leave me a comment at the end of this post with your e-mail address or just simply visit the link.

And if you have any good tips, then please pass them on!  These are things that we learn and then pass on to our children to make it a better place for them as they grow.

Have a wonderful day and do a good GREEN deed!

celebrating the 4th

Our weekend festivities consisted of Neb participating in a horseshoe tournament at our swimclub.  He didn't win but it was fun to play and to watch.  The kids ran around swimming and playing with friends.  Later in the day, Neb ran home to get our dinner to cook on the grill along with everyone else.  It was delicious!  I made potato salad and Neb made corn on the cob, marinated pork chops, barbeque chicken legs and hot dogs.  Delish!

Afterwards, we went home for a little bit to change and relax before going over with friends to see the fireworks.  It was kind of a weird place to watch them...a cemetary...but we had a lot of space and it was the perfect location to view the sky.  The fireworks were spectacular and it was a great end to a long day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Where or Where have I been??

I took a few days off from blogging to hang with the kids and get some stuff done!

I have actually been in my scrap room working along in the kids' school albums.  I'm almost up to this year!  I have also been working on some older pictures that I had before I order more.

The kids and I went to the pool yesterday and it was a fun relaxing time.  I don't have to move the entire time I am there because I can see the junior pool from where I sit.  It's heavenly, although I do get bored quite easily.  This time I thought ahead and brought a book!  I also texted and talked to Neb a few times, so that made our time there go by quickly.  When we got home...I was red!  Didn't hurt but it doesn't look good.

I have also attempted to clean the basement of toys!  We have an abundance of different playsets that we just needed to part with.  It's nice to not have much down there...so much cleaner!

Neb and I have been in discussions about vacations.  We have already booked a beach house in Cape May for a week while his parents are here visiting.  He would like to take the kids to Hershey Park before they go back to school too.  Other than that, we just aren't sure.

So this weekend we are going to enjoy our time at the pool and maybe clean up the house a little bit.  I just finished the bathrooms today and I'm getting a head start on the laundry.  Boring work but someone has to do it.

See, life here is just that...boring.  Nothing too interesting and nothing exciting.  Just living life to it's fullest with our family because life is just too short...as everyone is finding out with the deaths of Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson.  WOW!  They are still a little surprising to me.

I'll take a few pics of my layouts that I'm doing, but be warned, they are simple!  Enjoy your weekend!

a new griller in our house

As I've said here before, Niko likes to try cooking but he afraid of a few things...like knives or being near the hot burners.  On Father's Day, he wanted to try his hand at the grill.  For a kid who isn't fond of the open flame, I think he did a great job.  Just check him out! (with adult supervision at all times, don't worry)

   

On another note, the beer in the photo was Neb's not Niko's...we don't let our 12 year old drink...just in case you were wondering. 

Busy Busy!!

This past weekend was so very busy!  It was also very tired and exhausting, which made me not want to blog...so my apologies to my 5 readers.  Here is a little wrap up of our weekend:

1.  The kids finished school on Friday!  Both Niko and Sasha made straight A's and 1 B!  To me, that is a great job and a year of hard work paying off.  We get them little gifts when they finish school, so everyone got their favorite video.

 

2.  Friday afternoon/evening was spent at the girls' dance rehearsal.  It was a very long process, especially since Sasha was in 7 dances and Zora was in 2 dances.  They did a great job but Sasha was extremely tired...not arriving home until 11:30pm on Friday evening.

  

3.  The girls were in both dance recitals.  The first one started at 1pm and the second was at 7pm.  My parents came into town to see the girls perform and were really impressed with the both of them.  It was strange seeing both of them on stage and not holding Zora in the audience but they really performed well and we were so proud of them both.

 

4.  We woke up on Sunday to Father's Day!  It was nice seeing my stepdad, John, on Father's Day.  He flew back home early to get ready for work, so the rest of the day was dedicated to Neb.  He is a fantastic dad and he deserves to have a few days to himself throughout the year {he will love that!}.  We did our regular food shopping on Sunday morning and then went to the mall for a new pair of black shoes.  We came home so we could grill out and make smores after dinner.  It was a nice day and he loved being KING for a day.  Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there!!

 

I'll have more pictures from the weekend later this week.  It was very eventful!  Hope you had an eventful one too!

doin' some pickin' at the farm

A few days ago, we got together with Danny and Lisa to go strawberry picking.  Little did we know when we got on the tractor ride that we could pick more than just strawberries!  We were going to pick cherries and snap peas too.

Zora was thrilled because she knows her dad loves cherries and will wear them as cherry earrings if two are picked together with their stems.  She had a great time and found some really tasty cherries.

 

After the cherries, we went to pick peas and strawberries.  There were very many of either so we just picked as many good ones as we could.  She really loved being out there picking things that she knew we would eat.  It was a fun experience and one that wewill probably do again when the blueberries are ready...which is next week!

 

She found a ladybug too!

 

the making of French ratatouille

My son chose to study French in school and this past year was his first year. 

His last project was to make a French dish and bring it to school to share.  Since he was sick last week, we had to reschedule the dish for Monday.

Now, if you know Niko, you know that he doesn't really like knives and is afraid to use them.  He wants so badly to cook but is fearful that he is going to hurt himself, so we try to ease him into the kitchen when we can.

I think he did a fantastic job cutting and cooking his dish.  I made sure to take pictures to prove that he actually did the work...cute kid.

 

 

 

 

 

Family Weekend Wind-up

A day late and a dollar short...but I'm still blogging and that is the important thing here.  The weekend went by too fast but it's Monday and I'm ready for it!  I have already washed the dishes, emptied the dishwasher and started the laundry...it's not even 8:30!!  It's also the LAST WEEK OF SCHOOL!  Give me a HIP HIP HOORAY for that!!

Now on to the wind-up:

1.  Our weekends start on Friday evening, so this past Friday was the last Friday dance night...nice!

2.  Niko went to bed with a fever on Friday night and woke up in great shape, so he went to Tae Kwon Do on Saturday morning...he continued to feel great all weekend too!

3.  Sasha tried out for the competition team at her dance school.  She is going to be doing group dances in ballet, jazz and modern...her 3 favorite things to perform.  Hooray for Sasha!

4.  We got a sitter on Saturday night and went to Philadelphia for dinner.  Before we left:

 

5.  After dinner we went to see Neb's friend, Matt, who is moving to Ohio at the end of this month with his wife.  It was a fun time meeting new people and seeing an old friend...AMY!!

6.  Woke up early to take the girls for their dance recital pictures...it was an ALL DAY production.  It kinda made me feel like the entire weekend was centered around dance...because it WAS!

7.  Sometimes Zora does NOT like getting her picture taken and that was the case when she had on her dance recital outfits.  My only hope is that she actually goes on stage to perform this year!

 

 

8.  Sasha was at the dance studio all day on Sunday but I think she just looks beautiful in her costumes.

Tap

Hip-Hop with her friend, Anna

  Modern

  Jazz

  Ballet

9.  Niko needed to make Ratatouille for his French class, so he spent Sunday night making it with dad.  (pictures will come a litte later)

10.  The weekend is OVER.  I'm thrilled because I get to clean on Monday and ready the house for the week.  It's COLD here in New Jersey so I'm hoping after this week summer will actually start! 

Have a good one!