Adventures by Mom

Everything you need to know, but nobody tells you about when it comes to motherhood, marriage, and life in general.

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Veterans Day Gratitude

The part that I really noticed was all who have served and their families.

All of the creators at Adventures By Mom have very special veterans in their lives. Both of my grandfathers and my dad served in the US Military Forces. I was scrolling through FaceBook when this Alex&Ani calendar came across my feed. The part that I really noticed was “all who have served and their families.”

A day to show gratitude to those who protect our freedoms. . . and their families. The and their families part had not entered my mind before. It always does on Memorial Day, but not Veterans Day. A chance to recognize the challenges of those left at home, or hopping from military post to military post as a spouse. When my dad was drafted and sent to Vietnam, my mom was left home with a newborn daughter. Thankfully, she had a strong support system to offer help when needed. We were blessed that my dad, her hubby, safely made it home.

I thought about the other parents I know, and grandparents, who have children in the military now. The parents of soon-to-be graduating seniors in high school who’ve already enlisted, or applied to military colleges. I know they are so very proud of the choices their child/grandchild is making. I also know there is a worry that can’t be truly and accurately described.

Thank you. Veterans – thank you for your service, dedication, and loyalty. Families- thank you for the worry, the sacrifices, and the support you give.

Gratefully – Adventures By Mom

Covid-19 Pandemic 2020

Extended Spring Break turns into quarantine. Covid-19 Pandemic put a huge pause on life.

I see so many posts on Facebook, Twitter and IG from teachers about missing their students. The ones that get me the most – are from high school teachers, and parents of seniors about all that is on hold . . . prom, graduation, senior banquets, and all that comes with closing one chapter and beginning another. The ones that make me smile are the ones from parents begging to be rescued from teaching their own children. We are all in this together.

As an educator and a mom, I had so much running through my mind. After taking some time to really process and think about what I can control at this moment, here’s what I came up with.

What are you thankful for?

This is hard for all of us. No one wants to be quarantined. But attitude and mind set make a huge difference. Here’s what I can be thankful for:

I am thankful for social media that it allows me to keep up with friends and family. I ignore all the negative and pandemic posts.

I am thankful for all the people who are supporting the population – medical professionals, grocery store personnel, first responders, and everyone who is staying home to #flattenthecurve. Everyone who is doing his/her part.

I am thankful for a home that allows me to stay safe and comfortable.

I am thankful for resources – grocery stores – even partially stocked.

I am thankful to be with my favorite people – even if I don’t tell them often enough.

What do we need?

It would be helpful . . . .

If we had an agreed upon schedule for functioning in our house. Teen boys don’t make this as easy as it sounds. But, if I remember the toddler days – they weren’t the best at sticking with schedules either.

If we set daily goals and expectations of things to accomplish. Not saying it will all get done, but at least it’s a starting point.

If we remember we are all doing the best we can navigating uncharted waters. Everyone is doing the best they can with what they have and what they know.

If we ask for what we need. This is harder than it sounds.

If we give ourselves and each other space and grace.

What are you thankful for? What’s helping you get though?

Stay safe and take care!

Keystone Adventure: Try not to Die, or Break Anything

This is part of a series of sponsored posts. Keystone Resort provided complimentary activities for our family to enjoy during our stay.

After a day of private family lessons for skiing and snowboarding, you would think we would be set! Ready to hit the slopes solo! Well. . . two of the four of us were comfortable with that idea. The other two were going to try not to die, or break anything! Ready, or not – we were on our own!

Keystone Adventure: The Boys Perspective

After a day with a private instructor, both of the boys felt confident in his abilities to be on his own. There was a lift within walking distance of our hotel. The boys studied the map of the slopes determining which ones they wanted to take. They knew what signs to follow, and where to get back on the lift. They planned and mapped out their day! After making sure the boys knew to stay together, stay on green runs, and to check in at least once an hour, we turned them lose. Up they went for an adrenaline filled day of zipping down the mountain. Then, the hubby and I hopped on the next lift. We had a lot of guidance and practice yesterday. We were ready to do this!

Keystone Adventure: Schoolmarm, Here We Come!

Green Run in Keystone
From the top of Schoolmarm.

The plan was to ski the 3.5 mile run called Schoolmarm. The ride up was breathtakingly beautiful. It was early in the morning. The air was crisp and dry. At one point, it looked like there was glitter in the air. I love glittery things, so of course I was excited. “Look at the glitter in the air!” Remember when I said that sometimes you had other people on the lift with you? Well, there was a random man on the lift with hubby and me. He very calmly, and dryly (no pun intended) replied, “It isn’t glitter. It’s the reflection of the sunlight off the crystallizing moisture in the air.”

I knew it wasn’t really glitter. It was, however, stunningly beautiful and a little bit magical!

We made it to the top, and managed to exit the lift without incident. No one fell down. No one was run over. The lift did not have to stop. At this point, hubby and I realized. . . there was no turning around. You can’t take a lift down the mountain, only up. We had to ski down.

We had lessons.

We did okay yesterday.

We could do this. Easy peezy, lemon squeezy.

Keystone Adventure: Sticks of Death

Ski rescue
Not how you want to get to the bottom of the mountain.

Here were my thoughts:

Ok. Pizza stance to gain control before starting downhill. I got this. Next, slowly move the feet to French Fry. Point the toes in the direction you want to go. Doing ok. There are a lot more people up here, going really fast. Wow! Look at that snowboarder going up, almost crashing into the trees and flipping around! FOCUS on your FEET! PIZZA! PIZZA! PIZZA!

Whew, I slowed down and managed to come to a stop. Try again. Pizza to French Fry. Again, trying to focus on my feet with so many other things around. Did I mention it’s three and a half MILES to the bottom. Skiers zipping past. More snowboarders. Skis are at French Fry. Speed is picking up. I keep trying to pizza, but it’s not making me slow down. Panic is setting in. Losing control of feet, arms, body. . . .skis cross in the front. I really don’t know if I face planted, or tumbled a bit. I know my head banged around in my helmet. The wind was knocked out of me, and I was face down in the snow.

Stunned, I realized my legs were a little tangled. My skis were still attached to my feet. A little girl, maybe 6 to 8 years old, stopped and asked, “Ma’am, do you need some help?”

“My legs are a bit tangled. I’m not sure how to get them untangled.”

“Let me take off your skis.” And she did. Just like that.

Once my skis were off, I could at least roll over and attempt to sit up.

Side note: I tend to be a control freak. And, when things get out of control I tend to have panic attacks. The thing about a panic attack is that you can end up hyperventilating. There wasn’t even enough oxygen for a panic attack!

Once I regained my composure, I put my skis back on, and started down again. Slowly, cautiously, attempting to control the sticks of death I had strapped to my feet. After a bit, hubby caught up to me. He crashed, too! He said he came flying past me and yelled, “Hey Babe!” I guess I was so busy trying not to die, I didn’t notice. His crash was so grand the ski patrol brought him his ski saying, “Sir, are you Harold? We found this about 80 yards back.”

And we still weren’t close to the bottom. We crept down the mountain at a turtle’s pace in full, power pizza mode. Once we were safely on a flat surface, we agreed – we were done. We are not brave and daring. We both had to be in one piece to go back to work after the holiday. No one wants to meet a medical deductible in December!

The boys were having a marvelous time! They found our adventure hysterically funny. Truly, they were glad we were ok, but they did think it was comical. Hubby and I clomped back to the hotel. We changed into warm, comfy boots, and took our ski gear back to https://www.d2dskis.com/. There were very understanding when we explained that we didn’t wish to die, or break anything on this trip thus, we needed to return the gear.

We enjoyed the rest of our afternoon enjoying the Matterhorn nachos and beer from Go Big Burger at the Mountain House Food Court.

Nachos
That’s a giant pan of nachos!

One more day left for adventures!

Keystone Adventure: Ski Lessons

This is part of a series of sponsored posts. Keystone Resort provided complimentary activities for our family to enjoy during our stay.

Keystone Adventure: Try not to break anything, or die.

If you’ve been following along with our adventure, then you know this is going to get a little crazy. If you’re new to our adventure let me fill you in. Long-story-short, we are a family of 4 from Houston, Texas. The climate and altitude vary greatly between Houston and Keystone. This is our first venture into snow and ice. My two boys, ages 13 and 16, are beyond thrilled and having a blast. Hubby and I are hoping to return home in the same condition in which we left. If you want to start at the beginning our adventure click the following link: http://keystone-ski-adventures

Ski and snowboard lessons are on the itinerary. Going into this trip, I knew my boys would pick up skiing, or snowboarding, pretty easily. I did have some concerns about strapping skis to my feet and hurtling this 40+ year old body down a mountain, but my hubby seems to think it isn’t going to be that difficult. So, after we get into the multiple layers of clothing, there is a brief discussion about what shoes to wear. The boys and hubby are wearing the ski/snowboard boots. I am wearing my warm, comfy, walk around in the snow boots. Hubby, “If you wear you ski boots, then you have one less thing to carry.”

The ski boots do not allow you to move your ankle very much. Given I am not the most graceful being to start with, yes – I am one of the lucky few who can trip on a flat surface, and I didn’t think tromping about in heavy, clunky, thick, plastic boots on stairs and ice was a good idea. Once the boys and hubby realized I was not going to be persuaded to wear the clunky boots all day, we gathered up all of the gear and headed out.

We had three sets of skis and ski poles, my boots, and a snowboard. Well, let me tell you when you see people walking around with their skis thrown over the shoulder like it’s so easy. . . NO IT’S NOT! My skis kept coming apart, slipping off my shoulder, bumping into things around me. Seriously, I can only imagine how much personal space people were giving me at this point. We finally made it to the bus stop without injuring, or maiming anyone.

Keystone Adventure: How to put on skis

ski school
Keystone Ski School

We find the ski school building pretty easily, get checked in, and get a locker. I needed to lock up my warm, comfy boots and our backpack of snacks and supplies. I manage, with hubby’s help, to get my ski boots on. Yep, still slightly uncomfortable, but I really didn’t have a choice if I was going to ski. We were given directions on where to meet our instructor. I clunked out of the ski school, walking like Herman Munster.

Ready to ski
Ready or not, here we come!

We met our instructor Trent and, since we were carrying our gear, we could take the gondola. Up the mountain we went. Once we exited the gondola, we clomped over to a little bunny hill. The first lesson was how to put on your skis. The directions sound simple enough: The toe of the boot goes in first, then put weight on the heel of the boot locking it in place. Got it – toe, heel. I managed to get one ski on! Then, I attempted the second ski. Now, Trent said to make sure you were standing so that your skis would be parallel to the mountain. You should be going across, not up, and not down. And, put on the downhill ski first. Well, I managed to get my second ski on, but then slid backward just enough to get the back of my skis crossed, and over I went. I should’ve taken that as a serious warning sign. If you can’t even get the skis on with the instructor helping you step-by-step, you might not be coordinated enough for this sport.

I tried again. This time I was more successful. I managed to get both skis on, not get tangled up, or fall down. YAY me! The hubby and boys had no issues at all and really didn’t seem impressed by my ski-putting-on ability. Now that we knew how to get our skis on, we had to learn how to take them off. There’s a lever in the back you push with your ski pole, or your boot, and it unlocks the boot from the ski. Easy enough! I managed to get both skis off. Next, we put one ski back on, and Trent had us practice going in a circle. Push, glide, repeat. Make your toes point in the direction you want to turn. Push, glide repeat.

Take that ski off, put the other ski on.

Push, glide, repeat. Keep those toes going in the right direction. Push, glide, repeat.

Keystone Adventure: Pizza, French Fry, and Ski Walking

Finally, we got to put both skis on and practice going in a circle. Trent talked to us about “Pizza” and “French Fry”. I put them in quotes because he wasn’t talking about lunch. You make your skis go in the shape of a slice of pizza, like a wedge, to slow down, or stop. You want the front of your skis to come together without crossing, or getting tangled. French Fry is when you want to go straight and fast, so your skis are parallel to each other. You also want your skis parallel when you are pointing your toes the way you want to turn. This is how you are supposed to control your speed and direction as you maneuver down the slope. The mountain was fairly flat where we were, so there wasn’t that much gravity working against us. Then, we had to learn to walk up-hill, in our skis.

This is not difficult, but awkward and tiring. You side step up the hill. Start with the uphill foot. Step, and use the edge of the ski to dig into the snow for traction. Now bring your downhill ski up. Repeat until you get where you want to go. Be cautious because if you don’t use your edge enough on either ski, you will end up doing the splits.

Keystone Adventure: Downhill skiing, finally

Once Trent felt like we had the basics down, we moved to a slightly longer, a little more steep bunny hill. We still weren’t ready for a full green run. Side note: if you’ve never been skiing, or don’t know much about it, the slopes are called runs, and they are labeled by color. Green is the easiest. Next is blue. Finally is black, and then you venture into diamonds. The more diamonds the steeper and more dangerous the run.

Now, back to skiing. We used a people mover sidewalk to take us to the top of the larger bunny hill, then we practiced skiing down. We had to make turns, going from one side of the hill to the other to help control our speed, and then stop at the bottom. Once Trent felt like we were comfortable at this level, he moved us to the next level.

Keystone Adventure: Ski lifts

ski lift
The view from the ski lift.

To get to the next level we had to take a ski lift. Again, this is one of those things that looks really easy. And, it can be…..it can also be scary, nerve-wracking, and panic attack inducing. You stand in an area with at least one other person, sometimes as many as three other people, to wait until the lift guy/girl tells you to go. Then, you all shuffle, shuffle, shuffle your skis as quickly as you can, watching over your shoulder so you see the lift coming. The lift seat will hit the back of your legs. When that happens, you have a seat. Both ski poles should be in one hand. Try not to whack the person next to you. Then, you ride up the mountain. Feet dangling, nothing but the open air around you. Try not to drop anything because it could land on someone skiing below, and can be difficult to get the object back.

When you get to the top, you have to have both poles ready. Your skis will hit the little bump,and you have to stand up right away. There’s just enough bump to help you get off, then an immediate downhill slide to help you get out of the way of the next group coming off the lift. Now is not the time to fall down. You will get ran over, and they will have to stop the lift while you get out of the way.

On one of our trips up, Harrison’s ski got tangled with mine. We managed to get seated, but in trying to get our skis untangled, he dropped one of his ski poles. Thankfully, it didn’t land on, or impale anyone, and someone was nice enough to grab it and bring it up to him.

Keystone Adventure: Trees and Cliffs

The next level involved a serious curve in the run. If you didn’t make the curve, there was a good chance you would run into the trees, or go over the edge of the cliff. I don’t know if the cliff had that far of a drop, because I wasn’t brave enough to ski over and take a look. Slowly and carefully, I readied my stance in the pizza formation. Then, began to move the feet facing forward to be more french fry-like. And off I went. I tried to make my toes point the direction I wanted to turn. I turned a little, but not enough. The trees were getting closer, and I was picking up speed. I went back to the pizza stance. I slowly came to a stop before hitting the trees.

I tried again, and again, and again. Each time I seemed to have a little more control over which direction my feet were going, and the speed at which I was moving. Instructor Trent said I seemed to have it down. Harrison was doing amazingly well. Hubby, well. . . . his comment was, “I didn’t think it would be this tough!” Trent spent some one on one time helping hubby get his stance and form correct. Then, things seemed to get a little easier for him.

Keystone Adventure: Snowboarding

Ready to snowboard!

My oldest son, Harley, wanted to learn to snowboard. He thought it would be easier to pick up because of his ability to ride a skateboard, ripstick, and longboard. Trent told us right away, he really didn’t know a lot about snowboarding, but would teach Harley everything he did know. So in between teaching us the beginner skills for skiing, he was giving Harley pointers and tips about how to use his toes and heels to turn and stop. Harley managed pretty well on his own.

Once we progressed to the bigger bunny hill, with the curve in it, Trent called one of the other instructors, Jonny, to help Harley. Now Harley had a snowboarding expert as a private instructor. The two of them took off. The next time we saw them, it was lunch time and Harley was having a blast. Jonny was complimentary about how quickly Harley was picking up the skills and advancing through the maneuvers. By the end of the day Harley was zipping down green runs doing spins, jumps, and ollies.

Keystone Adventure: Time to turn us loose

A huge debt of gratitude Trent and Jonny. Our skills would not have advanced at the rate they did without the guidance of these two instructors. They were kind, patient, and non-judgmental. At no point did I feel awkward, or self-conscious in attempting to learn something new. I absolutely would use the Keystone Ski School for another lesson.

To read the adventure of skiing without instructors check out: https://adventuresbymom.com/keystone-adventure-novice-skier/

To read more about ski wear, check out https://theeducationaltourist.com/

Keystone Adventure: Pond Hockey and Ski Gear

This is part of a series of sponsored posts. Keystone Resorts provided complimentary activities for our family to enjoy during our stay.

After a morning of snow tubing and exploring the snow fort, we were ready for lunch! 9280 Tap House in River Run Village was the perfect choice. The boys enjoyed root beers, while hubby and I enjoyed the beer of the day. French Dip sandwiches, french fries,and hot wings filled the table! The food and service were good! After our late lunch, we hopped the free bus back to the Hyatt Place.

You can imagine after a morning of playing in the snow, tubing, and fort exploring – while still trying to get used to the thinner air….we needed a break. I think even the boys took a short nap!

Pond hockey
Harrison playing pond hockey

Keystone Adventure: Get your Gear!

One of the priority activities for Harrison was to play pond hockey. He has only played on indoor rinks in Houston. (Yes, we have ice hockey in Houston.) He brought his skates, stick, helmet, and gloves. We were set to go skating that night. We dressed in our multiple layers, hopped on the free shuttle, and off we went. We were one stop away from the 5 acre lake, when Harold’s phone rang. It was https://www.d2dskis.com/ calling to see if we wanted to get our ski gear early. We were scheduled for 8:00 PM delivery, but they could bring it early if we’d like. So…..we stayed on the bus. Back to the hotel. The guys who delivered our gear were friendly, knowledgeable, and patient. They explained how all the levers worked, how to put the boots on, what to turn to tighten things, or loosen things.

Keystone Adventure: Can we just skate?

We stored our gear in the bathroom, because, well that’s where it would fit and not get knocked over and tripped on. We later found out the hotel had lockers for gear storage! Then, we headed back out to ice skate. Grabbed the skates, stick, helmets, and gloves. Back on the bus we went. Off at Keystone’s Lakeside Village where the lake is located. Into the activity center. And came to a sudden, screeching halt at the end of a v-e-r-y long line. As we made our way to the front of the line, we once again signed the waiver that we wouldn’t sue anyone if we were maimed, injured, or killed while ice skating. Apparently, recreational winter sports require lots of waivers. Once the waivers were signed – off we went to put on skates. Well, three of us had skates. Hubby decided he would let Harley use his pair since Harley had long since outgrown his. Somehow, one of the bolts that holds the blade in place had come loose and was missing. You can’t skate with your skate blade slipping, and sliding out of place. So, now we have two frustrated people. Harley because he doesn’t want to wear rental skates, “they aren’t as comfortable and they never fit right!” Hubby because, “what the hell happened to my skate? It wasn’t like this when we left Houston!” Maybe because we’d watch National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation just a few too many times, I kept hearing Todd and Margo having this argument: “Where’s the bolt to my skate Todd? I don’t know Margo!”

Keystone Adventure: Now, we can skate!

In the meantime, my hockey player is getting his skates on – and heading out. I put on hand-me down skates that no longer fit Harrison. I skate over to where there is a thick plastic wall put up to form a make shift hockey rink. I’m a little anxious because, well one – I can skate, but I don’t stop that well until I run into something. No fancy, snow-flying, hockey stops for me! And, two. . . there a quite a few older guys on the rink. And by older, I mean probably between 20 and 30 years old – but older than my 13 year old son. I watched for a while. Harrison was hesitant at first, but once someone passed him the puck he was good to go. After about thirty minutes they all threw their hockey sticks in a pile on the ice. Then, one guy started sorting the sticks. Whatever side your stick ended up on was the team you were on. So, here was my 13 year old son, playing a pick up game of pond hockey with a bunch of slightly inebriated locals. He held his own and had a blast.

After I was comfortable with him being out there, I ventured into the bar area where hubby and Harley were hanging out. I ordered a lovely glass of red wine, served in a small plastic cup. Fancy, I know! It was then Harley noticed they had a Wii game. The challenge was issued. Of course he beat me at Wii Tennis. I beat him in bowling. He beat me at golf. By the time we were done with our game of golf, Harrison had come off the ice and was ready to go.
He skated for at least two and a half hours! And, a sixteen year old boy played Wii with his mom. Memories made!

Keystone Adventure: I didn’t fall down!

ice skating
ice skating on a frozen pond

We were happy to get back to the hotel. The next day was going to be very busy and a good night’s rest is needed. Ski and snowboard lessons commence first thing in the morning! Check back for more Keystone Adventures. We haven’t even been skiing yet!

Keystone Adventure: We made it, now what?

This is part of a series of sponsored posts. Keystone Resorts provided some complimentary activities for us to enjoy during our stay.

Keystone Adventure: Let the adventure begin

We drove for two solid days to arrive in Keystone, Colorado Christmas Eve. The Keystone Hyatt Place was easy to find, and conveniently located. We were very pleased with our choice. I coordinated with https://www.keystoneresort.com/ for some activities. Knowing we were going to need a chance to acclimate to the altitude and climate, I requested our planned activities begin after the 25th. Seriously, I don’t know if you’ve experienced a much higher altitude, but the air is so much thinner! This Southeast Texas girl, who is accustomed to humidity. . . could. not. breathe. Every few feet, my boys were asking, “Mom, are you ok?” And, I’m really not that out of shape!

Upon entering our room, we found a backpack full of Keystone goodies. . . ear warmers, baseball hats, an insulated travel cup, a water bottle, a travel journal, and an itinerary. The boys thought the hats were the coolest! You can tell from the photos I was grateful to have something extra to keep my ears warm!

After everyone had a chance to unwind, we bundled up and used the complimentary bus service to head over to Keystone Lodge and Spa. They have a chocolate village in the lobby. Yes, you read that correctly – an actual chocolate village. According the the literature the resort provided, the chef, Gabriel Geers, uses more than 7,000 pounds of chocolate. A hand-crafted tradition that started more than 20 years ago. The Christmas tree was at least 4 feet tall, and the chocolate train was an actual working train! I highly suggest checking it out. Best part, it’s free for everyone! Surprisingly, you really can’t smell the chocolate. And, no one ever eats it. They just store it away in a special climate controlled display case to use next year. We did venture down stairs to the Big Horn Bar and Grill for snacks and beverages. There was a nice wine selection, and plenty of happy hour offerings to keep everyone happy. The boys enjoyed hot apple cider, while hubby and I relaxed with a lovely glass of Cabernet!

  • Chocolate Village
    The Chocolate Village at Keystone Lodge and Spa.
  • Chocolate Train
    The working chocolate train.
  • details about chocolate nutcrackers
    All about the chocolate nutcrackers in the village.
  • chocolate characters
    A storm trooper, Captain America, Darth Vader and BB8 all made of chocolate!
  • Chocolate characters
    The Flash, Chewbaca, Thomas the Tank Engine, a minion and a football – all of chocolate!
  • White chocolate tree
    Check out the white chocolate Christmas Tree!

After a long day of travel, the excitement of seeing “real” snow for the first time, and taking in the awesome Chocolate Village, we were ready to call it a day! We were expected at the top of the mountain in the morning for snow tubing.

Keystone Adventure: Getting to the top of the mountain

Waking up in a hotel on Christmas morning was a new experience for all of us. Even though we were away from home, Santa did bring a few small gifts for the boys to open. Presents opened, breakfast eaten, we were ready to put on the warm clothes! Layers and layers of warm clothes. Going out in the snow, well, it really is cold! You will want multiple layers to keep toasty warm. We had reservations for Snow Tubing at 11:15 AM. While we are familiar with tubing on the Frio River, this was a little different.

Snow tubing check in
Adventure Point Hut – Tubing Check-in

We took the free bus to River Run Gondola Plaza and checked in at Adventure Point Hut. Ski lift passes were attached to our jackets and off we went! We took the Gondola up the mountain. Once at the top, we all had to stop and take it all in, and catch our breath. The light, fluffy, powdery snow – the extra bright sunshine (take sunscreen) – and the view of the surrounding mountains. You know when teenage boys comment on the view. . . it’s really awe inspiring.

Top of the Mountain photo
Family photo on top of Dercrum Mountain.

Keystone Adventure: a Snow Fort

We’d made it to the top of the mountain, caught our breath, and figured out where to go to for tubing. We took a few minutes to explore the snow fort in an area known as Kidtopia. If my boys were between 2 and 12, they would have L-O-V-E-D it! There was a slide, and a tunnel. There were parts where you had to use a rope to help yourself climb up the ramp. The snow fort was really impressive! They also give out free hot cider near the fort.

Keystone Adventure: Snow Tubing

We went to a little hut called a “yurt.” I learned a yurt is basically a well constructed round tent. Once in the yurt, we signed waivers stating we would not sue anyone if we were injured, maimed, or killed while tubing. A short informational video was shown on how to sit on your tube to ride as a single, with one friend, two friends, or three friends. There was a part about how to cross the lanes at the bottom of the tubing hill so as not to be slammed into by other downhill tubers. Along with how to get yourself and your tube onto the moving sidewalk that takes you back up the hill. Basically, watch where you are going, try not to get ran over, fall out, or die. Got it.

Once we understood the expectations, we went to pick up our tubes. Thankfully, they were plenty to choose from in all the color choices (red, blue, yellow and green), and there were only two sizes to choose from. So we avoided the, “he got the one I wanted….I had that one first; His is bigger than mine” argument.

Tubes selected. Now to get seated. The boys agreed to go down with mom and dad as a foursome for the first run. So. . . first, you put your tube on the ground. You make sure the inserted flat panel is on the bottom. This will keep your butt out of the snow. Make sure the handles are facing the correct direction for the people near you to be able to hold on to. Now for the tricky part. You have to kind of straddle your tube, and try to gracefully lower your behind into the middle. When snow gets packed down, it can be a little icy and slippery. This does not make getting into the tube a graceful, or easy event. Think one leg on one side of the tube, the other leg on the other side. Hold on to the handle in the middle. Try not to do the splits. And….plop down. That’s about as graceful as it’s going to get.

Now that we are all seated, we have to hold onto each others tubes, and our own. One hand on a handle on my tube, and one hand on a handle on Harold’s. . . and so on until all four of us are connected. We are at the top of the hill. There is a person at the start of each run. His/her job is to give you, or your group a shove to get you going down the hill. Gravity takes it from there. Our person asked, “Would you like to spin, or go straight?”

“Spin!” yelled the boys. And away we went. Two teen boys, two 40 something parents, all holding on to each other’s tubes for dear life, screaming and laughing our way down a snow hill. Memory made! Once we made it to the end of the run, you have to exit your tube, grab hold of it, and walk over to the moving sidewalk that will transport you back to the top for another run. Getting out of the tube is a little easier than getting in. You just roll yourself right out. I didn’t say it was pretty, or graceful. I said it was easier.

The moving sidewalk took some getting used to. You get in line with our tube standing on it’s edge in front of you. When the light turns green, you put your tube on, still standing on it’s side edge, and step on behind it. You have to lean forward to keep your balance. A word of warning: try to knock some of the snow off your boots before you step on the conveyor belt. At one point I looked similar to Buddy, the Elf, as he attempted to get on the escalator. One foot WAY in front of the other. The back foot continuing to slide on back.

  • snow tubing
    The view from the top of the snow tubing runs

Snow tubing was a ton of fun! We went up and down the hill for an hour and loved every minute of it! We saw grandparents, moms, dads, teens, tweens, and toddlers all having a blast as they swooshed down the hill! I did learn that you still have to lift your butt. Failure to do so in the river will result in bumping the rocks in shallow areas. Failure to do so in the snow will result in bumping rough areas of the hard packed snow. Regardless of river, or snow tubing, failure to lift the butt, will result in bruises.

More Keystone Adventures http://keystone-adventure-hockey-ski-gear

Keystone Adventure Here We Come

Keystone Adventure – the Road Trip

The Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo, Texas

This is part of a series of sponsored posts. Keystone Resorts provided complimentary activities for our family to enjoy during our stay.

Keystone Adventure: Day 1

For years, the boys have begged for a “cold vacation.” They wanted snow, skiing, snowboarding, pond hockey, and sledding. They wanted hot coco, and apple cider! So, after a little research and planning, we chose Keystone, Colorado for our first venture into the world of winter vacations. Being on a budget means flying at Christmas is out of the picture. Road trip it is! Mapping out our route we realized 16 hours in a car, longer with stops for gas and food, was not a good plan. I don’t know about you, but I can only handle so many, “Are we there yet? He’s on my side! He’s looking at me. He’s touching me!” If we were to do all 16 hours, longer with stops, I don’t know for sure that we all would survive the trip. The half way point was Amarillo, Texas.

We left before sunrise. The boys slept in the car for a large part of the morning. We stopped for a late breakfast/early lunch at Whataburger. We ventured into the local Wal-Mart to purchase spray paint to take to the Cadillac Ranch. Each boy got to choose a color to take out to spray paint the old cars that are part of a public art installation. It’s totally allowed and encouraged. You just don’t want to have to get your paint at the gas station nearest the Ranch. We paid about $4.00 a can at Wal-Mart for our Poppy Red, and Fluorescent Green paint. Also, it’s a good thing we went into the store with them. The boys aren’t old enough to purchase spray paint by themselves. I didn’t know you had to show ID to buy spray paint.
Coming soon – Check out my guest post on The Educational Tourist about cool stuff to do in Amarillo, Texas!

By the time we made it to Amarillo, we were all ready to be out of the car! And, boy had the temperature dropped! Between Houston and Amarillo we went from being in the upper 50’s to the upper 30’s!

Boys in front of big Texan Steak house
Everything’s bigger in Texas!

After we checked into the hotel, we had dinner at https://www.bigtexan.com/. The menu is huge with options for even the pickiest eater. They had a robust beer list, as well. We thought the “Whoop your Donkey” was the funniest name for a beer. Our steak was amazing! And, while we didn’t attempt the 72 oz. free steak challenge, we did see a guy giving it a try. You have one hour to eat a 72 oz. steak, 3 fried shrimp, a baked potato, a roll, and a small salad. My hubby watched for a bit. Apparently, you need a strategy. The guy divided all the food into four parts. If he ate one part every 15 minutes, he’d complete the challenge in the allotted hour and get it all for FREE! After we ate, and took in some of the Big Texan sights, we headed out to check out the Cadillac Ranch. The boys were most excited to spray paint cars and not get in trouble! After such a long day in the car, Amarillo provided a nice evening.

Keystone Adventure: Day 2

Up and going the next morning, we drove through a ton of little towns. Realizing gas stations can be few and far between we opted to get gas if we were at half a tank, and came across a gas station. I can tell you when a community is known for cattle, or chicken processing – you do not want to get stuck there! Wow! That was a smell like no other. We crossed into New Mexico, and watched the sunrise behind us over the Rita Blanca Grasslands.

Sunrise over the grasslands in New Mexico.

After hours of boys watching downloaded videos on their phones, a few games of Uno, a round of pop-culture trivia, we were ready for a break. By lunch, we were almost to Denver. We managed to to get the boys to hold out until the Mile High City. We all needed to stretch our legs, and the Denver Diner provided the perfect opportunity. We had a great lunch and got to see the Mile High Stadium. My hubby gets excited about seeing football stadiums. He was bound and determined to get a photo. I realize the photo isn’t the best, but when the husband is doing 70 mph on a freeway in Denver while insisting, “Take a picture! Take a picture!” It’s the best I could do. It’s the same with the frozen waterfall. “Hey! Hey! Hey! Look at that! Did you get a picture!?!” And….”Don’t forget to watch for the Air Force Stadium. I really want a picture! It should be coming up. Do you have the camera ready? Boys – get your phones ready! Harley, I think it’s on your side. Did you get one?” Does anyone else practice photography this way?

  • Denver’s Mile High Stadium
  • Denver Diner’s Club Sandwich!
  • Frozen waterfall & wagon wheel
  • Air Force Stadium

Keystone Adventure: SNOW!!!!

So, if you know anyone from Houston, or the Southeast Gulf Coast area, you know they don’t see snow. Even if it “snows” it usually turns to light tan sludge pretty quickly. It isn’t light, fluffy, deep, powdery snow. And, while we are experienced at driving through torrential, hurricane wind and rain; we shut down everything at the first sign of snow or ice. Before leaving, we did make sure I had all weather tires. Side note: I didn’t know they made different tires for different seasons. A friend from Denver asked what kind of tires I had. My response, “Round, rubber, black ones.” Also, we (meaning the hubby) made sure to add antifreeze to wherever that goes. The one thing we forgot…..the water for cleaning your windshield. Evidently, there is a chemical you can add to it to prevent freezing. We forgot to add that part. So. . . . this was the view from our front windshield once it really started snowing:

View from a dirty windshield.

At first we could see snow capped mountains. Before too long, snow was everywhere. It was snowing!

  • Snowing!

Not being familiar with the area, or the various routes, we followed along with the navigation system. We ended up on the Loveland Pass. If there were guard rails, they were covered in snow, or maybe there were no guard rails. There were ominous warning signs about falling rocks, and avalanches! The road was icy, and the route was a series of zigzag, hair pin turns around and up the side of the mountain. Even at 15 mph, we still slid a few times. If we had gone off the road, we either would land in the snow covered trees, or plummet to our death. For a while we had a slow moving snowplow in front of us. You can see it in the photo through our filthy front windshield. We were thankful for the sand he was putting down on the road. But eventually, he pulled off to the side to help a tanker truck. We were left to continue our perilous journey at a turtle’s pace. I can only imagine what the local drivers thought of this crazy Texas family moving along at 10 to 15 mph. We survived the heart pounding, white-knuckle gripping, treacherous ride through the pass. After about 30 minutes to get through the pass, praying the whole entire time , our hotel was a welcome sight! Of course my husband had to quote the movie “The Hangover” with, “But, did you die?”

Thankfully, we didn’t plummet to our death, or land in the snow covered trees because our true adventures were just getting started!

More adventures found @ https://adventuresbymom.com/keystone-adventure-we-made-it-now-what/

Adventure Awaits: Skiing in Keystone, Colorado

This is the first of a series of sponsored posts. Keystone Resorts provided complimentary activities for our family to enjoy during our stay.

My boys have begged for years to take a “cold vacation.” They want to go where it snows. Harley wants to snowboard, and Harrison wants to ski, snowboard, and play pond hockey. Reading about and seeing all the photos from my sister and cousin’s travels inspired me to venture outside my comfort zone; to see the world beyond the house of the mouse (aka Disney); to try new things.

My sister, Julie- the self-proclaimed slacker mom, went to Keystone, Colorado last year. My niece and nephew had a blast! The photos were beautiful. There were no major catastrophes. She said they had everything you could want or need in a small area, and plenty of resident experts to help newbies. Snow – check; skiing – check; snowboarding – check; pond hockey – check. Looks like this could work. We decided to give it a go.

The 5 acre lake at Keystone Resort and Spa.
A frozen 5 acre lake is perfect for a pick up game of pond hockey!

I reached out to https://www.keystoneresort.com/ for information about ski vacations. They were super helpful, and incredibly knowledgeable. Once we had our dates narrowed down, they provided recommendations of places to stay, along with information about ski lessons, snow tubing, and other activities. I was grateful for the suggestions!

I knew skiing, like other sports, requires specific equipment. Pants/ski bibs, jackets, boots, hats, helmets, goggles, gloves, multiple layers with moisture wicking, and special socks that are thin and stay dry. I had no idea how much it would be to outfit a family of 4. We were going to need a small loan! Thank goodness for friends with children about the same size who are willing to loan out their gear. With the exception of a few odds and ends, I think we have everything for everyone covered.

We’ve mapped out our route, so we have a general idea of where we are going. We plan to drive from Houston to Amarillo. Take in some local Amarillo sights such as the Cadillac Ranch, and the Big Tex. The next morning we’ll head to Keystone. Google shows the drive to be sixteen hours without stops. Hopefully breaking it into two days will help. I’ll be sharing our adventures, along with what I learned on three different blogs – all from a different point of view and for a different purpose. You can follow along with me at https://adventuresbymom.com/ , https://theeducationaltourist.com/, and  https://pixiedustqueen.com/.

Our adventure begins now! http://keystone-adventure-road-trip

Back to School: Are you a boo hoo, or a woo hoo?

Boo Hoo, or Woo Hoo

Back to School: Two kinds of moms

Over the years, I’ve noticed there are two kinds of moms when it comes to school starting each fall. There are the moms who are looking forward to their littles venturing back into the world of academia. They are the Woo Hoo moms. Then, there are the moms who dread the first day of school. They are super worried, and anxious about what will happen when their little steps into that building we call the school. Some moms know exactly which category they fall in, while others aren’t exactly sure. Let’s see what characteristics and activities you identify with to help determine if you are a Boo Hoo, or a Woo Hoo.

Back to School: Boo Hoo

You might be a Boo Hoo mom if:

You dread the school year starting.

You are anxious about letting your little one go, to the point that every time you think about it – you end up in tears. You think homeschooling is a great option, except you really don’t have the resources. You’ve been known to cancel date night with the hubby because you couldn’t bear to be away from your little. You are hesitant to leave your little one with grandparents, or other trustworthy family members. Basically, the idea of your little one growing up sends you into a tailspin of anxiety and panic.

You don’t know what to do or who to be without kids underfoot.

You haven’t had time to yourself in so long…what will you do? How will you feel? You haven’t had any job that didn’t relate to your child in so long you can’t remember what it was like?

You love kid stuff so much you think your life will be boring.

You love colors and crayons and Barbies and bows. You love long conversations on your 3rd and 4th favorite dinosaurs. You dread having to talk to grown ups in the grocery store and without your little one to distract you…you might make eye contact with someone. They might want you to talk to them!

You are the ONLY one who understands your child.

You worry that no one will be able to understand your child and his/her needs. Who will listen? Who will know when they are hungry? Who will help them with their shoelaces and buttons and buckles?

You will be held to a higher standard of cooking and cleaning around the house.

Have you been using the mantra “Cleaning the house while the kids are at home is like brushing your teeth while eating Oreos.”? (Yeah, me too.) Have you been saying you don’t have time to run those errands or make the bed or clean out the pantry because of the kids? Are you worried that now you’ll either need to clean the pantry or get a new excuse?

You’ll be expected to have a hobby or exercise.

People will ask you what you do with your free time and expect you to have something besides “look at pinterest” and “manage the dust bunnies” to say for it! Are you not ready to wear yoga pants like you just got back to the gym?

You will be asked to volunteer.

Do you panic at the thought of being asked to volunteer in the classroom? Do you panic at the thought of having to come up with Pinterest worthy ideas for games and teacher gifts?

Back to School: Woo Hoo!

You might be a Woo Hoo! mom if:

You count the days.

You start counting down the days until school starts – on the first day of summer. You have an entire months worth of lunches planned. School supplies purchased as soon as the first display goes up. New backpack and lunch kit bought in late July. You love your children, but they are exhausting to keep up with all day. You are elated to send them back to teachers, who can get their brains going and growing; back to coaches who will make them exercise; back to friends who entertain them. You have your annual “Back to School Brunch” already planned with some of the other Woo Hoo! moms.

You miss ‘me time’.

Summer means you can’t remember the last time you had your hair done and your makeup done. Summer means you have long, long long conversations about battles on Fortnite and memes. You watch other people play games on Youtube.

You miss exercising.

Summer means no schedule for exercise. You can’t button your pants because the kids hate staying at the kid’s area of the gym and they insist on cookies for snacks and they don’t finish all the cookies so you do.

You miss adult conversation.

Talking about which superhero is the toughest and which dinosaur would be able to win a fight between the T-rex and the Brontosaurus (T-Rex, duh) and pretending that the floor is lava and you must jump from pillow to pillow to cross the living room is all fun, but remember discussing …..anything else? Politics? Favorite show? Fashion? Wine? Yeah, me neither.

Back to School: Can I be a bit of both?

Absolutely, you can. A lot of moms start out as a boo hoo mom. But, as the little gets bigger, you both become more confident in your abilities to be away from each other. You also become more confident in the ability of others to care for you child.

Some moms, are boo hoo moms for the major transitions – Kindergarten, Junior High, High School, and College.

The random years that don’t mark milestones are Woo Hoo!

But when the bigger changes come – so does the realization that the little is no longer so little. In fact, the little may now be taller than you!  So my fellow moms, no matter which group you may fall in – when the first day of school arrives, give them a tight hug, take their picture, and let them begin the next chapter of their lives.

Back to school meme

 

Freshman Tennis

The Tennis Tournament

Teen-man-child playing tennis

 

Parenting is an adventure. We know this. We all have funny parenting stories to tell. This particular adventure involves one of my two boys; the one who is a high school freshman who joined the tennis team. Freshmen boys are not known for their organization, time management, or communication skills. In fact, there seems to be a complete lack of all three. My oldest demonstrated this recently.  A mid-weekday morning in our house involves people getting up, dressed and out the door to school or work in a timely, haphazardly manner. (While I would love to say we are extremely organized, and getting everyone to work or school is a piece of cake – well, some days are better than others.) This late February day was not one of the best. 

6:45 AM – his phone rings. Now, I’m wondering who on earth would call him at such an early hour. Then I hear, “Today!?! Do I need to dress out? The bus is where!?”

Insert deep mom sigh here.

Me: What do you need? Where do you need to be? When do you need to be there?

Him: (panic stricken) I forgot I had a tennis tournament today. I need my uniform, and to be at school ten minutes ago. The bus is getting ready to leave.

And, up the stairs he goes to change clothes. I begin making him a lunch, as he normally buys something at school. He comes zipping back down to the kitchen, grabs his tennis gear, and demands,  “Let’s go! I am already late!” It’s a good thing I understand his brain is not fully developed, and in the teen years, it is normal for teens to be self-centered. Even so, I took a deep breath, and asked, “Do you need a lunch?”  “No, mom. I just need my tennis gear. We play all day. I don’t need my backpack or anything. I just need to go. I got this. I just need to get to school.”

Handsome hubby and I look at each other, sigh and shake our heads. Hubby takes the teen-man-child to school, and drops him off. Upon hubby’s return home, he said, “He wasn’t the only one late. Others were still getting on the bus.”

Now, my brain has a chance to slow down and think about how his day will probably go. Then, I realize, he doesn’t have lunch, or money for lunch. He didn’t take anything to drink, no water or Gatorade. He didn’t take any kind of snacks, or even have breakfast. So, I text him. Because, of course like the majority of teens in America his phone is embedded in his hand.

Me, 7:20: What do you need for lunch today?

Him, 7:43: I need my lunch, or money.

Me: Where and what time?

Him: The CF Educational Support Center. And soon, please.

Me: Are you on the bus? Do you need sweats and hoodie, too? (I mean, it is February and a little chilly outside.) Would you like some snacks, too? 

Him: yes and yes.

Me: Ok. I’ll meet you there by 10:00 AM.

Him: Never mind. Moving to a different place. Text you where when I find out.

Grateful my youngest had a great morning, and was self-sufficient in getting himself up and dressed for school. We grab our things and head out of the door. I drop the youngest off at school, and head to work. Once I get settled, I text the forgetful tennis player.

Me, 8:00: I kinda need to know where I’m going. I’m at work, but will have to go home. Get your stuff. Then find you.

Him, 8:30: I’m at CF High School.

Me: Are you sure that’s the name?

Him: Yes – come soon- cold.

Me: GRRRRRRR

He didn’t reply.

I explain to my boss the situation. Being a mom, and having been in similar situations herself, she is very understanding.  I hop in the car, head home, and gather up the needed items. Get back in the car. The Google Maps lady telling me where to go so I can find my cold, hungry, tennis playing son.

An hour later

Me, 9:35: I made it. Where are you?

Him: At the back of the school.

Me: I’m at the back of the school. I see the tennis courts near a baseball field and a football stadium. I don’t see you.

At this point a coach notices the lost mom and takes pity. I’m not sure if it was the look of bewilderment, or frustration, I was just thankful for a helpful adult. 

Coach: Can I help you?

Me: I’m trying to get this bag (holds up bag) to my son. He plays for KHS.

Coach: What division?

Me: (Blank stare to quizzical look) Division? (I’m thinking – wait, this is tennis – not math….)

Coach: Grade? Singles? Doubles? Mixed Doubles? The students are scattered among the ten high schools in our district depending on the division they play.

Me: I’m not sure. He just said he had a tennis tournament. He. . . .

My phone rang. It was the teen-man-child.

Me: What division are you playing today?

Him: Ummm, not sure.

Me: What school are you at?

Him: Ummm, not sure.

Me: Ask a grown up who looks like a coach. Use these words, “Excuse me, can you please tell me what the name of this school is?”

Him: CFF High.

I thank the coach for helping a lost and clueless mom. She smiles, shakes her head and walks away.

Back to the car I go. New address in the gps. Fingers crossed it isn’t too far. Jack pot! It’s ten minutes away.

10:15 – I finally find my child and deliver the needed goods.

Jump to the end of the day. Around 6:00 PM, I get the “come get me, we are back” text. When I get to the school, he is helping unload things off a bus. He goes to the locker room, grabs his gear, and walks over. “How was it? How did you do?” I ask.  He sheepishly grins, pulls a medal out and said, “I got 2nd!”

And that is the agony and ecstasy of parenting. Now, shopping with boys is another story. 

To wear underwear, or not to wear underwear? That is the question.

 

Boys! What was I thinking!?!

I always wanted two boys and I had such daydreams of what that would be like.

toddler and infant brothers

It would be fun to watch them grow up playing trucks and trains together. They’d be on the same sports teams as they got older.  I just knew people would ooh and aahh, and say things like, “Oh! There’s Harley’s and Harrison’s mom. They are such good boys. I don’t know how she does it.”

I would stand on the porch and wave to my boys as they headed out with their dad and grandpa to go hunting, fishing, and camping. I had this idyllic picture in my head of what it would be like to be the mother of two boys.

Holy Crap! What was I thinking!?!

brothers reading outside

My sweet mental picture did not include clothes scattered from one end of the house to the other. I didn’t think about the Lego’s, the Hot wheels, and all the other little things that can cause serious injury to a bare foot. My picture did not include the arguing, and fighting, the constant use of the words like “wiener, pee pee, junk, penis, butt, booty, bootocks, and poop.”

Now I know better.

Boys are great fun. I love them dearly and wouldn’t trade my adventures for anything. If I hadn’t had boys, I wouldn’t have been able to say things like:

  • No, you may not put your crayons in the toaster oven.
  • Put your clothes back on, and LEAVE them on!
  • There will be no sword fighting with the ceiling fan.
  • Hot wheels do not go in the salad spinner.
  • Let go of your wiener. I promise it’s not going to fall off.
  • You may not attempt to get to your room by climbing on the counters, and furniture. You are not Tarzan, or George of the Jungle. You will walk! On the floor!!

If I hadn’t had boys, I would never have been able to create the rules for fighting:

  1. Someone will get hurt.
  2. There will be no crying.
  3. There will be no tattling.

Are you sure you want to play fighting? Of course they play fighting. . . someone gets hurt. . .there may be minimal crying. . . but nobody dares tell momma!

I’m off to enjoy my boys! More adventures await.

L.

A Spot of Tea?

Would you like a spot of tea?

a spot of tea

Most people associate tea with England, but tea was actually discovered by accident in China. According to legend, an emperor’s water was being boiled when some tea leaves fell into the water. The emperor tasted the brew and found it a refreshing drink.

The British tradition of tea began with the Duchess of Bedford in the 1800s. During that time period only two daily meals were served: breakfast and dinner. Anna, the Duchess of Bedford, wanted to have an afternoon snack so that she wouldn’t be so hungry while waiting on dinner. Sheinvted some friends to have snacks and tea. This became very popular with Victorian ladies who turned the whole affair into a tea party. The menu included an invention from the 7th Earl of Sandwich – the sandwich.

High Tea or Low Tea?

Originally there were two types of tea time – Low Tea and High Tea.

Low tea was an afternoon snack for the upper classes and was taken between 3:00 and 4:00. It was very formal and usually eaten in fancy hotels like the Ritz. The menu include decliately cut cucumber sandwiches, scones or crumpets with jam and clotted cream, tea cakes, and of course, tea. Today this is called ‘High Tea’.

For the working class, High Tea is the evening meal that we call dinner or supper. It was the main evening meal eaten when everyone got home from work usually between 5:00 and 6:00. The menu was heavy and included items such as roast beef and mashed potatoes.

Sometimes High Tea was eaten at a tea shop or restaurant. The phrase “High” tea refers to the way tea was originally taken – at a tall stool in a tea shop or standing up near a buffet table. Today High Tea is called ‘tea’.

CLICK HERE – Read about High Tea at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art

pouring a spot of tea

High Tea Ettiquette

*Sugar is added after the tea is prepared.

*Milk is added to the cup before the tea is poured.

*Milk is served luke warm so it doesn’t cool the tea too quickly.

*Tea is served hot.

*Lemon is not offered to someone who has asked for milk because lemon juice will curdle milk.

*Dipping things, such as cookies, into tea is not acceptable.

*Tisanes, herbal or fruit teas, are not served.

Tea is enjoyed in great quantities all over the world! It is second only to water in the amount consumed.

In the United States, tea is a popular beverage at any time of day. While 44 billion cups of tea are consumed in the United States each year, most people don’t know much about tea. All they’ve seen in the Lipton tea bag. People are really missing out because there are more than 3000 varieties of tea flavors.

Why you should drink tea –

Black tea helps you lower your cortisol levels/stress hormones. Drinking black tea helps you recover from a stressful situation. What parent can’t use that??

Types of Tea

There are actually 4 different types of teas: white, green, black, and oolong for you to choose from when you are craving a spot of tea. They are all the same leaf from the Camellia Sinensis plant, but the leaves are processed differently.

White Tea

White tea is pretty rare. This type of tea is made from the buds of the plant rather than the leaves. The buds are dried without any processing.

Green Tea

Green tea is lightly processed and has a light and mild taste. It is served in Asian restuarnas because people in the Orient prefer this type of tea.

Green tea can be flavored, too. Green tea is the most studied type of tea because the first medical studies on tea were done in Japan and China where green tea is most popular. Later studies have shown that all tea can be very good for you.

Black Tea

Black tea is the most common tea in the United States and England. It is green tea that has been fermented for about 6 hours. Fermentation turns the leaves black.

Oolong Tea

Oolong tea is semi fermented which means that it isn’t fermented as long as the black tea. This tea is popular in Taiwan and China. This one is my favorite and has a really different flavor than black or green tea.

tea leaves for a spot of tea

Grading of Teas

Tea leaves are graded. This means that tea leaves are ranked based on the quality and condition of the leaves. As you would expect, whole leaves without any damage are the most valuable and the least valuable is really just the crumbs and dust leftover from the processing.

Tea is hand picked using only the balls of the finger tips. Using a machine or a fingernail would bruise the leaves.

Grading System for Tea – Whole Leaf and Broken Leaf

Whole Leaf Celyon Orange Pekoe

Orange Pekoe (OP) – main grade – long leaf without tips

Flowery Orange Pekoe – HIGH quality tea with a long leaf and a few tips

Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe

Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe

Finest Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe – the highest grade

Broken Leaf Grades of Tea

Broken Tea

Broken Pekoe

Broken Pekoe Souchong

Flowery Pekoe

Broken Orange Pekoe

Flowery Broken Orange Pekoe

Finest Broken Orange Pekoe Flowery

Golden Broken Orange Pekoe

Golden Flowery Broken Orange Pekoe

Tippy Golden Flowery Broken Orange Pekoe

Fannings Grades of Tea

Fannings are the small pieces of tea that are left over after the higher grades are collected.

Dust Grades of Tea

Dust is the smallest pieces after leaves and fanning are collected.

How do the grades of tea taste different?

When you steep tea the flavor comes out of the part of the leaf that touches the water. So, the more parts of the tea leaf that touches the water the stronger the flavor. So, the cheap grades like fanning and dust are the strongest.

Benefits of Tea

*Tea makes your bones stronger! 

Studies to try to determine why weak bones, osteoporosis, is more common in Western cultures than in Asian cultures were held by Dr. Shen at Texas Tech University showed that drinking 4-6 cups of green tea daily gave favorable effects to those who had signs of pre-osteoporosis.

Tea calms the gut and Irritable Bowel Syndrome Symptoms:

The best teas for calming the gut are peppermint tea, anise tea, chamomile tea, turmeric tea, and fennel tea.

*Tea improves your short term memory.

A study in Switzerland shows that drinking green tea helps parts of your brain communicate in a way that improves memory.

*Tea lowers your bad cholesterol levels. 

Tea lowers your LDL cholesterol (the type of cholesterol that clogs arteries). Several studies have shown that teas, both green and black affect cholesterol and can be a good part of a program to keep your cholesterol in check.

What’s in a Lipton Tea bag?

Dust! Open one to see for yourself.

Health Benefits of Tea

Tea contains lots of compounds called polyphenols. These compounds work in your body to keep you healthy. They can help prevent wrinkles, hear disease, cavities, and cancer.

One study showed that fruit flies who drank water with green tea lived 20% longer than the other fruit flies. This suggests that drinking tea may increase longevity in hans. Also, drinking tea has proven to lower your risk of stroke and shorten the duration of a cold or flu.

Health Benefits of Tea – Cancer Prevention

Experiments have shown tea to stop cancer growth and shrink cancer tumors. Green tea has also proven to be effective when applied directly to the skin so many cosmetic companies are now adding to their products.

Health Benefits of Tea – Cavity Prevention

Tea contains 2 substances that act like antibiotics: tannin and polyphenols. These substances kill the bacteria that contribute to tooth decay. Additionally, tea contains fluoride which also gives teeth some protection from decay.

How Does Tea Prevent Cancer?

Each cell in your body has a coating with a really long name __________. For ease in the paragraph, let’s just call that coating BAD.  Bad is a protein that causes cells to grown bigger. When cells reach a certain size they divide. This is good when you are growing new eyelash cells, but not good if you are growing cancerous cells.

One compound in tea, again with a really long name _______, let’s just call this one GOOD, stops the BAD from working. If BAD isn’t working then the cancerous cells don’t grown and divide. Instead, they just shrink and die. The shrink and die process is called apoptosis.

Tea has been shown to prevent cell mutation,  prevent growth of cancerous cells, and shrink cancerous tumors.

Health Benefits of Cinnamon Tea

The benefits of cinnamon tea are many! Cinnamon is actually the bark of a tree and cinnamon tea doesn’t have any leaves from the Camellia Sinensis.

The active ingredient in cinnamon tea is cinnamaldehyde but other compounds also leach from the cinnamon bark when you make tea such as coumarin, linalool, cinnamic acid, proanthocyanidins, and catachins.

These compounds together have several really valuable health benefits such as:

*Blood Sugar Regulation

*Weight Loss

*Can be used to treat nail fungus and mouth ulcers

*Immune system strengthening

*Improves Digestion

*Improving brain functions! Improving focus, concentration, and improving thinking speed

*Inflammation Reduction

*****Too much cinnamon tea is bad for you! Use in moderation.

How Much Tea do I Need to Drink?

It is estimated that drinking one cup of tea an hour would be required to keep the GOOD levels in your body constant. So drink tea frequently throughout the day.

More tea is better because the more you drink, the more you lower your risk of dying from heart disease, cancer, and premature aging. In the studies the subjects drink 3 cups of the per day, but even one cup of day will give you some benefit. There is one exception; however, tea contains tannins which interfere with the absorption of iron. So make sure you don’t take your iron supplement within an hour of drinking tea.

tea bags for making a spot of tea

Invention of the Tea Bag

The tea bag was invented in 1908 by Thomas Sullivan in New York. It allowed tea to be made without the mess of loose tea leaves and quickly became popular with restaurants.

The tea bag didn’t find popularity in England until the beginning of public television. At that point, commercials were too short to brew a proper cup of tea, but the tea bag shortened the process. A tea bag made it possible to have your cup of tea and not miss any of your favorite television show!

Caffeine or De-Caffeinated?

To caffeine or not caffeine, that is the question.

Tea has roughly half the amount of caffein as coffee. However; some people don’t like to  drink caffeine at all. Fortunately, tea can be processed to remove the caffeine. This process doesn’t lower the affects of of the polyphenols or change the taste. Decaffeinated tea is the best of both worlds!

Hot Tea or Cold Tea?

Iced tea was invented at the World’s Fair in 1904. The World’s Fair in St. Louis that year and it was very, very hot. Richard Blechynder, a tea plantation owner, traveled to the fair with the intention of introducing his tea by giving away samples. People were not interested in his hot drink and Mr. Blechynder was worried about losing the money he had spent on his trip. He poured his tea over ice and voila, iced tea was born. It never caught on in Mr. Blechynder’s homeland of England, but it is still the preferred choice in the United States. The United States is the only country in the world where iced tea is served more than hot tea.

Sweet Tea or Unsweet Tea?

One way to drink iced tea is called ‘sweet tea’ and is commonly found in the south of the United States. Sweet tea has been consumed happily in the US since 1879.

Sweet tea is not just tea that sugar is added to. When you order unsweet tea and then pour sugar or a sweetened like splenda you do NOT get what is officially known in the south at ‘sweet tea’.

Sweet Tea Recipe from Allrecipes

1 pinch of baking soda

2 cups boiling water

6 tea bags

3/4 cup white sugar

6 cups cool water

  1. Sprinkle baking soda into 64 ounce glass pitcher. It is a good idea to prime the glass with some hot water from the tap so the shock of boiling water doesn’t break the pitcher.
  2. Add the boiling water and then add tea bags. Cover and allow the tea bags to steep for 15 minutes. Set  a timer because of any more than that and the tea will get bitter.
  3. Remove the tea bags and throw away. (Extra credit if you add the tea leaves to your flower bed. Flowers love tea leaves.)
  4. Stir in sugar until it dissolves. Then add cool water and stir again.
  5. Refrigerate until it is cold and serve over ice.

Options:

I love to add a sprig of mint to the top. It is pretty and tasty, too!

Some people love a slice of lemon added to their tea but for me it ruins the sweet taste!

Don’t leave out the baking soda! It neutralizes the tannins and makes the tea less bitter.

I personally enjoy drinking my sweet tea warm in a pretty tea cup.

Should you add anything to your tea?

Some people like to drink their tea plain while others like to add something to it. Additions include: lemon, milk, honey, mint leaves, or a sweetener. None of the additions take away from the benefits of drinking tea.

In England, tea is sometime taken with milk. This tradition started because tea was so expensive. The upper class took their tea without milk because they could afford it. The middle class drink their tea with a little milk to make the tea go farther. The lower class drank milk with a little bit of the expensive tea added for flavor.

The most common sweetener is sugar. You can use table sugar but rock candy use as a swizzle stick adds sugar and is really cute, too! Just stir the hot tea with the swizzler and the sugar will dissolve and sweeten the tea. Kids love this!

Artificial sweeteners like sucralose, aspartame, and saccharin.

Flavors are fun, too. Luzianne makes several liquid flavorings like Strawberry-Kiwi, Raspberry, and Peach.

Other Uses for Tea:

Tea can also act as a natural deodorant. The tannins in tea act as an anti perspirant. Sweaty feet, for example, can be soaked in tea for up to 20 minutes and will smell sweet for up to 3 days!

Tea bags can be used to lessen puffy eyes. Let the tea bag cool after you brew your tea. Then, place cool tea bags over your eyes and lie down for 15 minutes.

Tannin in tea also encourages clotting of blood. Tea bags can be used when a baby tooth falls out. Have your little one bite on a tea bag after a tooth falls out to stop the bleeding.

oolong tea leaves for a spot of tea.

Herbal Teas

Tea from the camellia plant is not to be confused with the herbal tea of fruit tea. Herbal and fruit teas are not made with actual the, but instead used the leaves, bark, stems, etc. of other plants. Europeans use the term tisanes when speaking of herbal or fruit teas.

Herbal teas can be used for a variety of purposes, Popular herbal teas include: peppermint, spearmint, chamomile, and fennel. Each herb offers a different benefit without caffeine. Chamomile and Kava Kava teas are used to promote relaxation so they are great teas to drink before bedtime.

Chamomile and mint teas are used for an upset stomach. Fennel tea can be used as a mild expectorant. Ginger tea can be a great remedy for motion sickness and is also used for symptom relief with migraines and arthritis.

Drink Tea to Prevent Parkinson’s Disease

A 12 year study in China of people who drank tea showed that people who drank black tea every day – about 6 days a week,  were 71% LESS likely to develop Parkinson’s disease. Furthermore, the study showed that more is better so the more tea you drink the less likely you are to develop the disease.

5 cups per month = 11% less likely to develop Parkinson’s Disease

5 – 23 cups a month = 45 % lower risk of developing Parkinson’s Disease

6 cups per week = 71% less likely to develop Parkinson’s Disease

Tea and Arthritis

The polyphenols in teas have anti- inflammatory effects. The most effective polyphenol in green tea is epigallocatechin 3-galllate and it is 100 times stronger with antioxidant effects than both vitamin C and E.

All of the above and tea is delicious! Enjoy a cup today and feel good about it, too.

Adventures by Mom

tea photos about having a spot of tea

 

 

 

To wear underwear, or not to wear underwear? That is the question.

Boys, what do you mean, you don’t have on underwear?

boys' underwear

What is it with men and boys not wearing underwear? I truly don’t understand it. Maybe, because I’m a girl? There have been a number of instances that have convinced me to give up the fight. Forget the underwear, focus on showering, teeth-brushing, and deodorant wearing. 

No Underwear – at the Doctor’s office

The first time I was made aware of my oldest son not wearing underwear, was by our pediatrician. Harley knew he would need a vaccination at his 11 year check up. I knew he would freak out, and have an all out fit about going. So, I did what any good mother would do. I tricked him.

Me: Harley, go take a shower. I have to run some errands, and you need to go with me.

He whined and fussed a bit about the shower, but 20 minutes later, we were out the door.

Half way through the drive, his brow furrowed.

Harley: We are going to the doctor, aren’t we.

Me: Yes. We are.

Harley: I don’t want to go. I’ll have to get a shot, and I HATE shots.

Me: Yes, I know you HATE shots, but they keep you healthy and safe. So…you are going. And, besides, the doctor just likes to make sure you are growing and everything is the way it should be.

He wasn’t happy. We waited a bit before being called back. The nurse came in and took all the vitals; asked if we had any concerns or questions. When she was done, she assured us the doctor would be in shortly. Then, we waited a bit more for the doctor to come in. She listened to his breathing, his heart, checked his reflexes, listened to his stomach. She turned to me and said, “Mom, I need to check his boy parts to make sure everything is developing and growing as it should be.” She looked at Harley and said, “I am going to look at your boy parts, okay?”

He blushed a bit, but agreed. She lifted the waistband of his shorts, looked in, and looked at me. She asked, “Mom, are you aware he isn’t wearing underwear?” I could feel my face begin to turn red and my eyes widen. I saw Harley turning red and a sheepish grin spread over his face. I didn’t know what to say. No, I wasn’t aware. He took a shower. He was clean. No underwear? Who does that!?! 

The doctor laughed. She said not to worry as it apparently is more common than most moms would like to admit. Once she was done, she told Harley he was growing as he should be. His height and weight were good for his age. The nurse came in, gave him his shot with minor commotion and panic involved.

We wrapped up the well doctor visit and went ice cream. Ice cream fixes almost everything from the pinch of a shot to the shock of finding out your son isn’t wearing underwear. 

No Underwear – Pants shopping

Flash forward a couple of months, and we have our first cold front in Texas. This means we need new pants. It’s warm enough most of the year to wear shorts. The first cold snap is when you realize how much your children have grown. So, off to Target we go. Hubby needed new pants for work. Both boys needed new jeans for school, as it was too cold for shorts. Everyone gets the size they think they need, and we head to the dressing rooms. The boys go in one. My husband stands there.

“Aren’t you going to try those on? They might be too short, or too tight depending on how they are made.”

The hubby replied, “No, they’ll be okay.”

Me: Really, I’m not returning them for you. Go try them on.

Hubby: I can’t.

Me: Why not?

Hubby: I’m not wearing underwear.

Me: Deep sigh, shaking of head.

So, I go to the dressing room door where the wild boys were sent with their respective new pants.

I ask, “How’s it going? Do they fit? Do you need a different size?”

Harley comes out.

Me: Did they fit?

Harley: Ummmm, I’m not sure.

Me:  What do you mean? It’s not hard. You put them on. Either they fit, or they don’t.

Harley: I can’t put them on.

Me: Why not? Help me understand. I don’t want to have to bring things back. It’s a pain to return things. Please go try them on. 

Harley: I’m not wearing underwear.

My last words for the shopping trip: Go stand with your father.

No underwear: What changed?

Eventually boys will start wearing underwear. What changes? Age and. . . .having to dress out for Junior High PE. The change is short lived. Once they are comfortable and on their own – they stop wearing underwear again. They think no one will know. Boys! What was I thinking!?!

Easter Egg Hunt for Older Kids

Easter Egg Hunt for Older Kids

Easter isn’t just for the little guys. Easter activities can be for the older kids, too! You never outgrow the desire to have fun with your family and no one ever outgrows the desire for candy either!

When the kids are tiny all you have to do for an Easter egg hunt is lay a few plastic eggs on the ground. When they get a little bit bigger you can actually ‘hide’ a few. No matter how old the kids get, Easter egg hunts can still be a lot of fun.

This year’s activity for the Easter Egg Hunt for the older kids involves movies and movie quotes! I took some of our favorite movie quotes, typed them up and put them into plastic eggs. On Easter, I’m giving the kids a list of movies. The idea is to find the eggs and the match the movie quote to the movie. Each egg also has some candy it because = seriously jelly beans are awesome, right?

If you have older kids you want to entertain on Easter print off these movies and movie quote lists for your own Easter Egg hunt for the older kids. You never get too old for fun and candy!

PRINT the quotes to put into eggs.

Cut into strips, fold, and insert in plastic Easter Eggs.

Cut into strips, fold, and insert in plastic Easter Eggs.

Cut into strips, fold, and insert in plastic Easter Eggs.

Cut into strips, fold, and insert in plastic Easter Eggs.

Cut into strips, fold, and insert in plastic Easter Eggs.

Cut into strips, fold, and insert in plastic Easter Eggs.

 

Cut into strips, fold, and insert in plastic Easter Eggs.

Cut into strips, fold, and insert in plastic Easter Eggs.

Cut into strips, fold, and insert in plastic Easter Eggs.

Cut into strips, fold, and insert in plastic Easter Eggs.

Next, PRINT the movie list for matching. I like to have the kids work together rather than compete. Sometimes one quote is more memorable to one kid than another. The kid is just to have fun anyway – not to win. When the movies and quotes are all matched up – everyone gets a chocolate bunny.

Easter Egg Hunt Movie Titles 2

Print and give a copy to the kids so they can match the movie with the movie quote.

Print and give a copy to the kids so they can match the movie with the movie quote.

Let us know what sort of activities you do with your older kids? We’d love to hear all about it!

 

Junior High! Here we come. . .

Junior High- a whole new world

are entrepreneurs born or made

So, we went to Harley’s 6th grade parent orientation. The counselor spoke about changing hormones, growth and development. . . basically what we were headed for with our son this year. The assistant principal spoke about what we could do to help our children make a smooth transition. This included things like, practicing using his combination lock, helping him organize his backpack and binder, and changing clothes quickly.

This last bit caught my attention.

Getting my son dressed in the morning can take numerous reminders to get the socks….now the shoes…tie them….brush the teeth….don’t forget deodorant. Where are the glasses?  Each reminder requires a return to the bathroom, or bedroom. This is life with ADHD. 

Now, he’s going to have to get dressed quickly at school!?! By himself? In just minutes?

Well, apparently students have between 3 and 5 minutes to change for PE and make it into the gym for warm ups. If they are focused, and doing what they should be, this shouldn’t be an issue. And, after PE, they have about the same amount of time, maybe a minute or two longer, to shower, if they want, and change back into school clothes for class.

When my husband and I arrived home, I told Harley he needed to practice changing clothes quickly.

Harley: “Why? I’m not getting undressed at school.”

Me: “Yes, you will because you have to dress out for PE,” I explained.

Harley: He got a slightly panicked, puzzled look on his face and asked, ” You mean people will see me get undressed? But, that means I have to wear underwear.” (He hates to wear underwear, and has been known to go commando on more than one occasion.)

Me: “Yes, you will need to wear underwear, but no worries. Everyone else will be changing too. Everyone will be nervous and worried, just like you. It will be like your brother in the locker room at hockey practice.”

Harley: “Oh.” I could tell he still wasn’t on board with the idea.

Me: I explained at the end of PE he would be able to take a shower, and get dressed for class.

Harley: “NO WAY! I am not getting naked at school.”

Me: I went on to explain, he could keep baby wipes (“Mom, I’m not a baby.”) and deodorant in his locker for after class.

Harley: “Mom, can’t I just spray myself with Febreeze? It smells nice and fresh. Then I wouldn’t need baby wipes, or deodorant, or to be naked at school.”

That’s my boy.

Junior High – An Entrepreneur is Born

We are three weeks into the school year, and getting dressed out for PE is no big deal now.

Because I refused to allow my son to spray himself with Febreeze after PE (#meanmom) and insisted on sending baby wipes and deodorant for his gym locker, he has become quite the entrepreneur.

At dinner this evening, he shared the fact that he’s chosen for football because he’s good at snapping the ball.

And, his friends owe him money.

Me: What? Friends owe you money?

He went on to share that everyone asks for his baby wipes because no one wants to take a shower, yet they don’t want to be stinky. He said he was selling them for $1.00 a wipe.  I’m proud that he’s smart, and aware of the whole supply and demand thing. I just hope he’s joking because he would most likely get in trouble for selling baby wipes.

He then said he’d like to take extra water bottles with him to school. He thinks he can get $5.00 a bottle.

My hubby asked, “Don’t you think people would use the water fountain for free?”

He replied, “No, Dad. The water is warm. The line is slow, and they make you go fast, so you are still really thirsty.”

Smart boy…. my son, the entrepreneur.

gym lockers

What are your kids up to at school? What do I have to look forward to next?

 

Taco Tuesday Taco Recipe

What’s for dinner? Tacos are a crowd pleaser and are simple to make! Make it any day of the week but it is fun to call it ‘Taco Tuesday’ just like in the Lego movie.

Simple and Easy Taco Recipe

A quick and easy week night dinner is tacos. We use the left-overs later in the week for nachos, or quesadillas.

Easy Taco Recipe

Everyone’s favorite night of the week! Taco Tuesday!

I use store bought: canned refried beans, shredded cheese, and flour tortillas.

If you have a tortilla warmer, you can wrap the tortillas in a damp paper towel and microwave for 20 to 30 seconds. Sometimes we add diced tomato, roughly chopped cilantro, and sour cream. Diced avocado, or guacamole is another favorite topping to add.

I love this tortilla warmer!

CLICK HERE  for the BEST guacamole recipe ever!

Recipes, Tacos recipe, taco tuesday, homemade tacos

Tacos – a quick, easy family favorite.

For this quick and easy taco recipe it only takes about 20 to 30 minutes to cook. If you get your teen/tweens in the kitchen with you it can cut down on the time you spend prepping, or stirring the meat.

Do you have a ‘go to’ meal for busy week day meals? I’d love to hear all about it!

Personal Finance – Control your money

Who remembers the commercial: ‘This is your brain on drugs’?

Today we are going to talk about money, math, and your brain on math about money.

**Try saying that three times fast!**

First of all a confession. I am not a math person. By that I mean I still pause to remember multiplication facts I have been trying to memorize since I was in the 4th grade. I’m seriously beginning to think that isn’t going to happen. 😉

Math has always been a thorn in my side and I detest having to use it with every single fiber in my being.

BUT

Two things make the world go round –

  1. Love – and all that goes with it 😉
  2. Money – which requires knowledge of Satan’s tool – math

So, if you are EVER EVER going to understand and use math – do it in the math arena. If you have trouble with the math get help! A financial planner might just be the answer to your math problems.

I read an interesting article recently to determine whether or not people understood math concepts with – or without help.

Insert face palm here. DUH!!! I hope they didn’t spend a lot of money on a stupid study like that because only Einstein would do better in math without help. And remember, this is the guy who didn’t remember to brush his hair in the morning so math ability without help isn’t everything, clearly. AND – who let him out of the house like that??

But, the research was done and lo, and behold, observe the shocking results:

21% of people were more relaxed doing math with help

28% stronger ability to understand concepts with help

20% less effort was needed to concentrate on math tasks with help

What does this Earth shattering scientific study mean to you?

It means you should consider a financial planner.

WARNING – A Financial Planner is NOT just for ‘rich’ people.

As a matter of fact, a financial planner makes even more sense for people who aren’t rich. We are the people who need to pay close attention to our money! For example, someone made of money like Paris Hilton hardly needs to worry about her money because she has plenty no matter what smart or stupid decision she makes about it.

Having enough money saved for retirement, college tuition, medical expenses, and life in general is not a happy accident. Being financially prepared for the future takes planning and attention.

Planning for your financial future can be hard and confusing, too. You don’t have to do it alone. Get some help to figure out how to make the MOST of your money.

Consider using a financial planner to:

*maximize your savings

*prepare for college tuition

*be ready for retirement

* have a fund for medical expenses

There are LOTS of financial planners to choose from. Sometimes their services can be free to you. Does your company offer one? Check with your bank to see if they can be of assistance.

piggy bank financial planning

Make your money WORK for you! Heaven knows you WORK for it! Make YOUR dreams come true.

control your finances

 

Funny Words of Wisdom

Funny Words of Wisdom

Are you feeling wise today? Want to feel wise today? Get a chuckle out of these funny words of wisdom and pass along to any friends who also need a little bit of humor and wisdom in their life!Yoda funny words of wisdom

You know you’re a mom when you understand why Momma Bear’s porridge was cold.Funny words of wisdom, you know you're a mom when

Motherhood: Powered by love. Fueled by coffee. Sustained by wine.

I love cleaning up messes I didn’t make. That’s why I became a mom.

Behind every mom is a full basket of dirty laundry.

If exercising patience burned calories, I’d be a Victoria Secret model by now!funny words of wisdom, if exercising patience burned calories,

Mother: noun. 1. One person who does the world of twenty. For free. (See also: masochist, loony, saint)

I love all my children equally. Except for the one that sleeps. I love that one more.

Becoming a mother makes you realize you can do almost anything with one hand.

My hairdo is called, “I have kids.”

If a woman speaks and no one listens, her name is probably Mom.

Nothing is really lost until mom can’t find it.funny words of wisdom

Good moms let you lick the beaters. Great moms turn them off first.

My mom doesn’t just enjoy guilt trips. She runs the travel agency.

May your coffee be strong and your nap time long.

Cleaning house with the kids at home is like brushing your teeth while eating Oreos.

Love quotes? We do, too! Add YOUR favorite quote to the comment below and we’ll add it.

CLICK here to read travel quotes from some of our favorite travel bloggers.

Thanks for joining us on this crazy MOM adventure. We want to hear from you! Tell us your crazy mom adventure stories.

Adventures by MOM

 

 

 

Simple French Toast Recipe

French Toast Recipe  – A quick and easy breakfast that just looks fancy!

Simple french toast recipe on a plate

Breakfast can be quick and easy, or a huge ordeal. Don’t worry if cooking isn’t your forte because this simple French Toast recipe is quick and easy – anyone can whip up this delicious breakfast.

French toast looks like it was a huge ordeal to make, but it’s really easy! Don’t be intimated! You can make it for your family and friends. Some people like to sprinkle powdered sugar on French Toast. I know I do! My boys prefer to cover their toast in a lake of syrup. Either way, you can’t go wrong.

simple french toast recipe

A quick easy breakfast!

One top of this simple french toast recipe just add some fresh fruit like blackberries, or strawberries to sneak in those servings of fruits and veggies!

simple french toast recipe

Simple French Toast Recipe – Steps by step photo guide

I don’t know about you, but it helps if I can see what things are supposed to look like through the process.

simple French Toast recipe

What should all the steps look like?

Simple French Toast Recipe  – French Toast is not French!

Guess what! French toast is not French. The French actually call this type of breakfast ‘pain perdu’ which means lost bread. The bread is ‘lost’ because stale bread actually works best in this recipe than fresh bread.

Recipes for French toast date as early as the Roman Empire – early 5th century AD.

So, why do we call this recipe French toast instead of Roman toast or Lost Bread? Well, in 1724 the modern version of French toast was created by Joseph French.

So, why isn’t it called French’s toast? Mr. Joseph French was really good at creating wonderful breakfast creations but not so good at grammar. He forgot the apostrophe so his wonderful creation when down in history as French Toast and people everywhere think it was invented in France.

Simple French Toast Recipe – Powdered Sugar

Toppings can really ‘customize’ your french toast. Powdered sugar is a must in my house!

Get a really fine dusting of powdered sugar with this fancy sugar shaker called a dredge!
Simple French Toast Recipe – Syrup Choices

Don’t get locked in to just one flavor of syrup. Maple is a tried and true but syrup comes in so many wonderful flavors. Shake things up a bit and go for something new and different!


Try this pretty syrup dispenser to make it a fancy party!

If you give it a try, I’d love to hear how it worked out! Post your thoughts and photos for us to see!

Simple french toast recipe on a plate

Don’t Waste Money with Credit Cards

Waste Money – Are you making these costly mistakes?

save money series 2

Isn’t it awful to use the words ‘waste’ and ‘money’ in the same sentence? Don’t you work WAY too hard and spend WAY to many hours earning your money to waste any? It is crazy but true. Most people actually waste  some of their money.

Are the bills from Christmas STILL coming in? Bummed about how there is never enough money left over for the fun stuff in life? Worried about how to have enough money left over for retirement? College tuition? Travel?

You are NOT alone!

This, 2018, is the year to take control over your finances. Save money! Stop wasting money! HAVE money left over for the finer things in life. Yes, you, too, can manage your finances.

Piggy bank standing on money

First, if you missed the first article in this series – Step  1, helps you find out where your money is going!

CLICK HERE to read the first step in the Save Money Series.

Are you *gasp* wasting money?

Are you wasting money? piggy bank cash

Examine these common money wasters to see if you need to make a few chances that can add up to BIG savings over this year!

Waste Money – Credit Cards

We all know that Credit cards are a necessary evil. We use them for all sorts of reasons and life would be a lot more complicated without them. However; if you don’t play your cards right (English teacher humor there – pun intended) those little credit card devils can cause you a lot of heartache.

You don’t need to break up with your credit cards, but you might want to take along hard look at them to make the best choices possible for your family’s financial security.

Waste Money – How much debt?

We all know the best interest rate is the one you don’t pay because you pay off your credit card bill in full each month. If you are able to do that – Yeah you! because you would be in the very small minority.

The average credit card holder has a lot of debt they carry from month to month. Interestingly this amount varies by state.

States with the MOST credit card debt per person:

  1. Alaska  $10,091
  2. Wyoming  $8,979
  3. California  $8,917

States with the LEAST credit card debt per person:

  1. South Carolina  $5,406
  2. Rhode Island $5,387
  3. Maine  $5,346

When you carry a credit card balance from month to month you do 2 things:

  1. ADD charges each month from your regular spending
  2. ADD fees from interest

If you carry a credit card balance you are basically digging yourself a debt hold and you are making that hole deeper and deeper each month. OUCH!!

Waste Money – Credit Card Interest

Talk about highway robbery! Take a look at how much interest your credit card is charging you. I highly recommend sitting down before reading because that number could really big BIG! An adult beverage might make that number easier to absorb.

The average credit card interest rate is 12.5%. What does that mean? Well ‘average’ means there are credit cards that have much higher rates – like 27% and there are credit cards that have lower rates. See out the lowest interest rate you can find!

Thankfully the highest interest rates credit card companies can legally charge is 29.99%.

There is a lot of nitty gritty information regarding credit card APRs and interest rates. If you are so inclined,

CLICK HERE to read the mind numbing info on credit card interest rates.

When you are looking at credit cards, interest rates is only one part of the puzzle.

Consider these three things when choosing a credit card.

  1. interest rate
  2. rewards for spending
  3. yearly fee

CLICK HERE  to find a list of low interest credit cards.

Chase Slate looks especially good. It costs $0 to transfer your balance from your current card, 0% interest rates for 15 months (and during that time you can pay down your balance) and $0 yearly fee. Check out Chase Slate here to get all the nitty gritty rules.

****I get NO money for this information.****

We love rewards! Pick and choose the best credit card rewards for you. My favorite is getting miles for each purchase which we then use for travel.

CLICK HERE tips for How to Afford Travel

I HATE yearly fees. I’m just personally offended by them. I mean, I already pay them interest and they want me to pay to carry the card around in my wallet? Um, no thank you.

BUT

If you do the math (OMG – hate math even more than cooking) some of the credit cards that have yearly fees are so worth it. Bite the bullet and do the math. It will be worth it!

Waste Money – Examine your credit card bill

One of the money and soul sucking ways credit cards can get the best of you is through automatic billing.

Remember that $7.99 a month membership you bought to help your 2nd grader with spelling? Even if you don’t….the credit card remembers and your 2nd grader is now 16 years old. Stop paying for things you don’t need anymore.

Take one evening to sit down and go over your credit card bill in detail to find out how much you are accidentally paying this way. Chances are good it will add up to more than you think. Don’t feel bad if this is you! It is really easy in our super busy world to let things like this slip. No biggie.

Make a list of things you want to cancel so you can start the process. I say process because companies love getting money every month – forever- and do NOT make it easy to stop. Be prepared to call, wait, and send emails – more than once.

It will be painful but worth it! Personally,l I have found it hardest to get out of gym memberships (even after leaving the state where the gym is located), alarm company contracts and cable memberships. We have moved quite a bit over the last 17 years so I’ve had more than once chance to go through this lovely process.

BUT – who are they to think they can just keep taking your money forever? Show them who is boss of YOUR money and be persistent. It will pay off.

Waste Money – Choose Wisely

Everyone makes mistakes. Don’t beat yourself up about it if you realize now that you’ve made some mistakes with your money. Just move forward doing a better job now.

I love this quote by Maya Angelou

“Do the best you can until you know better. Then, when you know better, do better.”

So, now you know better so you can spend 2018 doing better with your money!

We’d love to hear all about your credit card experiences so leave your story below in the comments.

If you want to hear more from us, check out our sister blogs!

Pixie Dust Queen, Laura Buastian

Pixie Dust Queen – Disney Planning with Pixie Dust

The Educational Tourist in Athens

The Educational Tourist – Raise Global Citizens through Travel

 

Mom adventure- Please don’t put popcorn in your ear.

Mom adventure

We all have our stories to tell, and battle scars to show. Do you have a story that involves an ER visit?

boy activities mom adventures with boys

Mom Adventure – Morgan is the boss.

When Harrison was four the mom adventure involved popcorn and ears.

After I got home from work, Harrison and I went to get the mail.  Our mailbox was at the end of the street. As we walked down the sidewalk, this was our conversation:

Me: So, how was your day?

Harrison: Bad.

Me: Why, what happened?

Harrison: I put popcorn in my ear.

Me: Why?

Harrison: Morgan told me to.

Me: Morgan is not the boss of you. You need to be the boss of yourself.

Harrison: Morgan is the boss. He said so.

Me: Did you tell Ms. B., your teacher?

Harrison: No, she would be mad.

Me: Did you tell Daddy?

Harrison: No, he would be mad.

Me: Is it still there? Does it hurt?

Harrison: It hurts if you touch it.

Mom Adventure – Don’t panic. I’ve got this! Really, I’ve got this…..right?

My mom brain is trying not to panic with thoughts like:

I’m sure we can get the popcorn out. At least it wasn’t a pea, or bean, because those swell and get stuck! We can be thankful for the little things, right?

Thank goodness he told me. What if he didn’t tell anyone? How long would it have been in there? I’ve heard some horror stories that involve a stench developing when something has been in there way, way too long!

After we made it back to the house, I got a flashlight. Yep. There was a popcorn kernel in his ear. You could see it, but not get to it. I was secretly hoping….I know it may have been futile, but hoping there wasn’t a popcorn kernel in there!

little boy with candy in his nose

Look what I can fit in my nose!

Mom Adventure – Google How to Get Popcorn out of an Ear

Then the thoughts turned to: What could I use to get it out that wouldn’t push it farther in?

He tried standing on one leg and hopping up and down with his ear toward the ground. You know, like when you are trying to get water out of your ears after swimming. No, it didn’t work.

We needed something with suction. The shop vac! I put the shop vac to my ear. It was suctiony, but it didn’t hurt. So I put the shop vac to his ear and had him turn his head to the side to see if a little extra gravity would help. No luck.

The only thing left to do was call the doctor.

We ended up at the after-hours clinic. One doctor came in to see what was going on. She left to gather the needed supplies. As she was entering the door with a tray full of medical instruments that looked like they were designed for torture, our favorite pediatrician came strolling by. He popped in to say hello and see what was going on. He said retrieving items from areas they didn’t belong was one of his favorite things to do. He told the other doctor he would handle it. She and her tray of torture devices left the room. Our favorite doctor left and came back with a giant empty syringe. He filled it up with water and shot the water in Harrison’s ear. That’s right, he washed it out with a super size syringe of water.

Who would have thought a giant syringe of water would shoot the kernel right out of his ear? Clearly not me, or we’d have tried that at home before calling the doctor for FREE!

We can only hope he will not put anything else in his ears!

What has YOUR kiddo put in their ear?

You have come to the right spot to tell your mom adventure stories and enjoy ours. Let’s laugh together and share the magic of motherhood!

boy laughing

Mom Adventure – Did I hear that correctly?

Ears aren’t the only small space where you’ll find popcorn kernels and the like. When my daughter was three she was playing with Barbie in the living room. I was enjoying a very rare moment along in the nearby study emailing a friend when I heard them chatting away. How sweet, I thought, until I heard these words, “Daddy, I put a bone in my nose.”

My heart stopped.

My husband didn’t blink and I heard the conversation continue as I flew into the room. Dad didn’t know that the Barbie doll had a dog…and that dog had an itty bitty bone. I really suspected that itty bitty bone was now inside our daughter’s nose!

Mom Adventure – Yes, I heard that correctly.

Of course it was late evening. Of course it was the weekend. AND after taking a peek into cutie’s nose with a flashlight….of course that itty bitty bone was inside her nose.

Great. Now what?

Mom Adventure – Google and a call to the Dr.

Ok, I warn you now. Do NOT google ‘something stuck in the nose’ unless you have a REALLY strong stomach. I nearly threw up after doing that myself. GROSS! You think your kid stuck something weird in their nose. OH, you just have no idea what all google has photographs of.

Since googling ‘Help! My kids stuck something in their nose.” didn’t give me anything but a nauseous stomach. I called the pediatrician. Of course it was after hours ($$) but crazy they were open for some unknown reason and we raced to see them.

Mom Adventure – The Professional’s Opinion

So, after rushing to the pediatrician’s office, all the way there, thinking how lucky we are the office is still open we arrived. We laid out the preschooler on the table and started peering in her nose. I was so relived to get this professional opinion….drumroll, please.

“She has a toy bone stuck in her nose.”

Um, ya’ think? And….there wasn’t anything the pediatrician could do. Next stop – the ER.

Mom Adventure – The 2nd Professional’s Opinion

So now we are at the ER and it is getting late. It must have been a full moon, too, because even though it was an ER in the suburbs on Denver, there were some really….interesting…..things going on in the ER. Ew.

Once we were back in a room to see the dr where my daughter happily eats the popsicle they gave her and watches the Disney channel on the TV, I get the 2nd professional’s opinion,

“There is a toy bone stuck in her nose.”

OMG – ya’ think? And….nothing to be done here. Next stop = pediatric ENT.

boy wearing silly glasses

Who is that mystery boy?

Mom Adventure – The 3rd Professional’s Opinion

So now it is Monday morning and we are in the ENT’s office. The whole crew is with us – Dad and baby brother.

We get back in to the room to see the ENT and anxiously await the dr. The dr arrives, peers into the 3 year old’s nose, with a VERY long hose with a light on the end, and that is just as much fun for all as it sounds, and we get the 3rd professional’s opinion,

“There isn’t a toy bone stuck in her nose.”

What? Did you say...isn’t?? Yes…the bone is now gone.

Before we could breathe a sigh of relief we are told this might not be good news. What happened to that bone? If it came out the nose that would be good but if it got sucked back into the lungs that would be bad.

So…off for x-rays we went.

Mom Adventure – The 4th Professional’s Opinion

At this point, the little toy boy that belonged to Barbie’s dog is now costing an absolute fortune! To think of the trouble I went to keeping Barbie’s toys away from the baby when in the end it was the 3 yr old who stuck on in her nose! Who knew?

Oh, the joys of an x-ray for a 3 year old who does not like to be still and stuck on a cold table where mom can not go. We quietly and, as patiently as possible, waited for the 4 professional’s opinion,

“No bone in there.”

Ok, so now we breath a sigh of relieve. What happened to the bone is still a mystery. Thankfully, this is my ONLY story of something that got stuck in the kiddo!

What has your kid done? We’d love to hear all about it. Drop your story in the comments.

Funny words of wisdom, you know you're a mom when

One Avocado Guacamole Recipe

One Avocado Guacamole Recipe

guacamole recipe with avocado

One of the side dishes my family enjoys with tacos, fajitas, and tamales is guacamole. Here’s what you need:

  • 1 ripe avocado
  • Salt
  • Pepper
  • Garlic powder
  • One lime

Optional ingredients include:

  • diced jalapeno
  • diced tomato
  • diced onion
  • chopped cilantro**** (See note on Cilantro below)

To make the guacamole, slice the avocado and remove the seed (see video). Remove the “meat” and place in a bowl. Smash with a fork. Add seasoning to taste.

Feeding a bigger crowd? This recipe doubles and triples really easily! Just add more avocados!

***To cilantro or not to cilantro** That is the question!

Ok, maybe that isn’t the actual question but people feel strongly about cilantro. I just love it. It smells fresh and it is pretty. I keep it in a small crystal vase on the kitchen cabinet when I have extra!

Other people think cilantro tastes like soap. I am not making that up. Soap. Since I love cilantro enough to grow it (super easy in a pot on the porch in the cool spring weather!) it is hard for me to imagine.

Love cilantro? Toss it in! Hate cilantro? Leave it out!

Team Cilantro vs Team Soap – Leave your vote in the comments below!

CLICK HERE to watch the video on cutting open preparing avocado for guacamole making!

Check out this cool tool (Hey, that rhymes!) for man handling your avocado! Teach it who is boss!

Feel good about eating avocado in guacamole

*Great source of vitamins!

*Source of important fatty acids like brain boosting omega – 3

*contains more potassium than a banana

*contains the BEST type of fat – oleic acid

*full of fiber

*Can reduce bad cholesterol (LDL)

If you aren’t sure which seasonings you want to add to your one avocado guacamole or are in a big hurry (And who isn’t in a big hurry these days??) then you’ll want to try out this seasoning. Just add avocado!

How to choose the perfect avocado for your guacamole dish

Check the color. The darker the color the more ripe the fruit. This is especially true of the smooth skinned ‘Haas’ avocado.

avocado

Take a look at the stem. Sometimes there is a small piece of stem leftover on the fruit. If it has fallen off or falls off if you gently brush it the fruit is starting to ripen. If the small stem piece is stuck fast then the avocado isn’t ripe yet.

Use the pressure test. Gently squeeze the avocado and choose based on the following criteria.

*Hard as a rock. – Plan on using this avocado in about 4-5 days.

*Gives a little – This one is perfect to use tonight!

*Smooshy – WAY over ripe for guacamole. Can be used in smoothies if you are a) a health nut or b) have no taste buds. I tried a recipe once that called for a very ripe avocado to make ice-cream. It was terrible!!

Grow your own guacamole tree!

It is really easy to root an avocado tree and so fun to watch! Just add water and wait. In truth, these trees take years to fruit so you’ll be waiting a long, long time to harvest your own avocado but the kids love watching something grow.

avocado seedling

This fun kit makes it super easy!

Save the avocado leftovers!

It is hard for me to imagine having any avocado left over, but I suppose it happens. We always scarf ours down so fast! But, if you have leftover avocado they will turn an ugly brown if not stored properly. This cute avocado holder will keep your avocados in tip top shape till you are ready to eat.

What is your go to meal on a busy night? We want to hear from you! Give us YOUR hints in the comment section below.

make your dreams come true

 

 

 

 

Save Money in 2018

Is saving money is on your list of things to do in 2018?

If so, you aren’t alone. To save money makes the Top 10 list of New Year’s Resolutions every single year.

Top 10 New Year’s Resolutions:

  1. Be Fit and Healthy
  2. Lose Weight
  3. Enjoy Life
  4. Spend less, save more
  5. Get organized
  6. Travel more
  7. Read more
  8. Quit smoking
  9. Learn something new
  10. Volunteer

The first order of business when it comes to saving money is to examine your spending habits. Once you figure out exactly where your money is going, then you can make adjustments to save more of your hard earned cash.

So, first take one month to write down everything you spend. Every day just jot down on a calendar what you spent or any money you received. At the end of the month add up the amount you spent. You might see a pattern and a place where you can save money.

Save Money – Cook

I just HATE to cook. Honestly the cooking gene  in my family just skipped right over me.

When it comes to cooking all I can think:

  1. SO much time to plan
  2. SO much time to shop
  3. SO much time to cook
  4. EXACTLY 37 seconds to eat

It just seems like cooking is not an effective use of time! LOL!

But when I learned that the average American family spends over $3,000 a year on eating out I decided to take a closer  look at my habits.

“Eating out everyday at lunch? By spending $10 per lunch you’ll spend a whopping $2500 a year. Suddenly peanut butter sandwiches don’t sound that bad!”

CLICK HERE for some cheap, healthy and delicious recipes!

Save Money – Don’t Throw Food Away

Ok, shame on all of us for food waste. It really is a huge issue and Americans actually waste more food than any other country in the world. As much has 50% of all produce in the US is thrown away – $160 BILLION of food every single year. That equals about $1600 per family WASTED.

WOW!

Let’s step away from that horrible statistic and move closer to eating that food and keep it out of the landfills AND keep that money in our wallets.

Save Money – How Not to Waste Food

  1. Plan Ahead – I won’t lie. I hate this part. I hate knowing that Thursday I have to cook chili. What if I don’t feel like cooking chili on Thursday? OK. I know that is super duper selfish of me. I’ll make myself grow up if you will!

So, plan the week’s menu. It helps me if I just think it terms of the week and then choose the day I end up cooking the chili.

Then, prepare: Count how many bananas you’ll need for school lunches. Go ahead and slice up the radishes for the dinner salad instead of waiting for them to rot in the refrigerator. (Don’t judge! Doesn’t everyone have something furry in the fridge?)

COMING SOON – help with menu planning

2. Stick to the plan! 

If you bought enough bananas to put one in everyone ‘s lunch every day, then stick to the plan and put a banana in everyone’s lunch every day. Otherwise the bananas will rot and then be put into the black hole of the freezer purgatory where they’ll wait to become ……banana bread.

Banana bread, which you and I both know, you haven’t baked since 1992 back when your metabolism worked properly.

So, the slimy, but now frozen, bananas will take up freezer space for about 12 months till you toss them out to make room for newer, fresher, slimy rotten bananas for the banana bread you won’t be baking this year either.

So, let’s just skip all that nonsense and just give everyone a banana for lunch.

Save Money – Watch your Drinks.

I hate the ‘non’ water, don’t you? My kids hate the non-taste of water, don’t yours?

All the things you drink instead of plain, boring water is costing a fortune. Don’t believe me? Go back to month one where you wrote down all your spending to see how much of your hard earned money is going to drinks. I think you’ll be as surprised as I was!

Step 1 Coffee and Tea on the go.

Yes, we are talking about your Starbucks habit. I’m not saying that your morning ‘half-calf, tall, vegan latte with 2 pumps of caramel, 3 sprinkles of cinnamon and 1 ice cube” is not worth the money. Just be aware of how much money you are spending on it and make sure it is worth it!

Options to Save Money on your Tea/Coffee/Water habit:

Step 1 –  BYOC – Bring Your own Cup – Sometimes places will give you a discount on coffee and tea if you bring your own cup. Einstein Bagel’s is one business that will!

Make your coffee and tea at home.  Learn how to make your fancy schmancy coffee recipe at home and take it with you.

Cut back. Consider coffee purchased at a place like Starbucks as a treat and not an everyday thing.

Step 2 – Buy a refillable water bottle.

Refillable water bottles are everywhere. Buy your own to refill FREE from water fountains everywhere.

Step 3 – BYOF – Bring Your Own Flavor

Small packets of flavoring are cheap, lightweight and easy to carry around. These make super cheap drinks for the whole family. You can save a ton on drinks this way when you travel.

When we were in Turkey and only drinking bottled water, flavor packets I brought from home really made the kids happy!

CLICK HERE – Save Money on your Disney Trip

Save Money – Look for Special Deals

When you do spend money to eat out, make it go as far as possible.

Step 1 – Watch the time.

Some menus have early bird specials. Lunch is usually less expensive than dinner, too.

Step 2 – Coupons

Watch your mailbox. You can get coupons through your snail mailbox and your email inbox. New restaurants often drum up business with coupons. See if your favorite restaurant has a loyalty program by checking out their Facebook page.

Groupon has some amazing deals, too!

Step 3 – Cash or Charge?

Carefully choose your payment method. Sometimes you get a discount with cash. Certain credit cards give points for purchases, too.

Save Money – Try a Plan

Watching your savings add up is fun because you can see yourself getting close and closer to your goal. Here are some great ways to watch those savings really add up!

Plan 1 – Save $1 a day. Each day add $1 to the amount.

Day 1 – $1

Day 2 – $2

Day 3 – $3

It gets harder at the end of the month when you are saving $30 a day.

Coming Soon –  the Save $1 a day worksheet.

OR Save $1 a day – every day. You will be shocked at how this adds up!

CLICK HERE  for the math if you save $1 every day.

Plan 2 – Save coins.

We have been saving coins for years and it really really adds up. We have two containers – one for pennies and one for everything else. Counting and helping with the rolling are great jobs for kiddos! Remember the phrase:

“See a penny, pick it up and all the day you’ll have good luck!”

Plan 3 – Pay yourself.

This is my favorite way to add money to my travel fund.

I do things myself instead of paying someone else to do it! You can learn to do anything by watching youtube videos and you can start there. If I manage to do something myself, I put the amount of money I would have paid someone else into the travel fund.

Sone things I’ve paid myself to do:

  1. repaired a trash compactor (Thank you Youtube!)
  2. painted a wrought iron fence (I learned not to wear sandals for this type of project. My feet were striped from the overspray floating down onto my feet.)
  3. Dog grooming – I bathe the little one because she is small and manageable at only 8.5 pounds. The bigger, fluffier one isn’t worth the mess after a bath. I trim their nails myself and pay my $5 each time.

Think about your strengths. What can you do and then pay yourself?

  1. Wash the car?
  2. Change oil?
  3. Clean the house?
  4. Mow the lawn?

save money this year

 

Take control of YOUR finances to save for YOUR dreams!

**retirement

**college tuition

**travel

We’d love to hear what you do to keep control of your savings. Give us your tips in the comments.

 

 

 

Being a mom is a fabulous adventure! Who knew!?!

We all have Adventures as a Mom.

Being a mom is hard, right? Well, in case you are wondering if what you are going through is within a range of normal. . . From pregnancy, in all of its stages and glory to childbirth, from newborns to high school graduations there are so many things nobody tells you about. You  may research and ask a million questions, but until you are in the thick of it, there are things you didn’t know  you even needed to ask about. Being a mom IS hard, but it’s also the most rewarding, fun, tiresome, and never-ending job you will have. It’s a privilege some women work hard, and endure so much to have. No matter where you are as a mom, we are here with you.

Moms of all ages and stages are invited to join us as we share our insights, advice, and wisdom about all things mom related. We all need a little support, encouragement, and advice from time to time. And we all need to remember to laugh and enjoy the small moments. So, grab a beverage of your choice and join us. Three moms, with different parenting styles and backgrounds,  have joined forces to share their mom wisdom.  From how to keep your family from starving, decorating your home for any occasion, making sure your child has a great education, relaxing and enjoying some down time, to staying sane while keeping it real – You are never alone in your adventures of being a mom.

Adventures by Mom

Who is that mystery boy?