With Toy Story 3  hitting theaters last weekend, I thought this week would be a good time to talk about movies, theater and live stage productions as another great option in the 14 Weeks of Summer series.  Let’s get to it!

Theater

My husband and I both love the theater.  Since having kids we just haven’t gotten to see as many live productions as we would like.  We are really hoping that our kids will love it as much as we do!  Live theater is also a great to expose your kids to the arts.

Your local civic theater is a great place to start! The Holland Civic Theater will be doing productions of both The People vs. B.B. Wolf (for ages 8-13) and Romeo & Juliet (for ages 13-19).

Read the rest of this entry…

I know that Father’s Day was jut this past weekend but some times I need to brag about my husband on a plain ol’ Tuesday. So, get ready for a little mushy husband bragging!

It’s no secret (if you follow me on Twitter or Facebook) that the girls have been sick for about a week now and that all that sickness has since invaded my body.  Abbi is on the upswing, although she’s now complaining about her ear hurting, but Zoe and I both have this horrible cough that leaves us gasping and choking at times.  It is heart breaking to listen as your 2 year old is hacking and gagging. So, Tim and I took turns going into Zoe’s bedroom last night rocking her to help her sleep, until she could finally rest peacefully.

Read the rest of this entry…

Last weekend, when we were over visiting my family for my cousin’s graduation party, my parents ended up buying my girls a swing set.  It’s something we had been looking at for a while and, well, grammy and papa decided to spoil two little girls!

The instructions, or at least the signs at the store, said it should take 2-4 people 4-6 hours to assemble.  Apparently they mean 2-4 people who knew what they were doing and who didn’t have kids to take care of.  Not a husband who knew what he was doing and a wife who was acting merely as an assistant, handing him boards and screws.  Oh, and did I mention that we had two children who wanted to “help”, too?  It ended up taking us 2 people (plus 2 half size “helpers) working a total of 14 hours.  Yes, 14 hours!

Read the rest of this entry…

For a lot of kids, this has been the first full week of sleeping in, no teachers, and no homework!  My daughter actually finished up school over a month ago and has been asking me each week since if she gets to go back to school soon.  I know, she’s kind of a freak of nature.  She’s also only in preschool and hasn’t quite learned the joys of tons of homework and exams!

If your child is like mine and actually wants to go to school during the summer, a great option is to check out some different summer classes and camps throughout the summer. I’ve convinced my daughter that she can actually still go to school during the summer but that it will be some fun and different “schools”.

Read the rest of this entry…

Oh dear lord….there is a smell in our bathroom and it is getting worse by the day!

At first we thought that our sewer holding tank thingy (we live in the country and I’m pretty sure that is the technical name) needed to be pumped out.  But our wonderful plumber-cousin assured us that that was not the case.

Our wonderful plumber-cousin suggested that the jets in our whirlpool tub might need to be flushed out.  That water might have gotten into the tubes of the jets and is rotting.  Oooh, good thought!

Read the rest of this entry…

For more Wordless Wednesday action and to link up your photo, visit 5 Minutes for Mom.

I cannot believe Sarah McLachlan has been creating and producing breath-taking music for more than 20 years.  How is that even possible? I also can’t believe that it’s been almost 6 years since I saw her in concert on her Afterglow tour.  It does not feel like that long ago!

After a much needed break, Sarah McLachlan is in the music spotlight once again with her much anticipated album release — Laws of Illusion.

Read the rest of this entry…

Eight Years Ago

Eight years ago I was slipping into a beautiful white dress.  I was walking down the aisle.  I was dancing with friends.  I was married.

Today

Today I slipped into a tank top and shorts, put on my grubby sneakers and mowed the grass.  I am eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with my two most favorite girls.  Now I am patiently waiting for those two girls to actually take their naps and am finishing up laundry.  And tonight Tim and I will go out to dinner, with our girls, to celebrate our 8 years together.

Read the rest of this entry…

With pre-orders for the new iPhone 4 happening tomorrow, this post almost seems all for naught.  But this is something I wanted to tell you about for quite some time and I just couldn’t not share it with you.  Plus, I’ve seen rumors that this company is creating a similar accessory for the iPhone 4!

Case-Mate

I actually spent a few weeks (a year or so ago) looking around for a good case for my iPhone 3G.  I wanted something fun and something that didn’t seem flimsy or would fall apart a month later.  Finally I found Case-Mate!

Read the rest of this entry…

Did everyone have a fabulous weekend?  We did!  That’s why I’m a little late posting these winners {blush, blush}.  So, without further ado, here are the winners for the Tooth Fairy dvd giveaway…

Tooth Fairy

Starring the adorable Dwayne Johnson (aka The Rock), Tooth Fairy is a great family film that you are going to love!  Set in Michigan (yay Michigan!) and rated PG, this film has everything from comedy to adventure to an amazing story about parenting and believing in oneself. {read my full review here}

Winners: Jennifer and Amanda

Winners, you should have an email waiting in your inbox from me about claiming your prize.  Please be sure to respond to that email within 72 hours.

Oh, I also thought I would share with you the consensus on how much the “tooth fairy” is paying these days.  The majority are receiving $1 per tooth, with a little more money or a special gift for the first tooth!  I must say, you guys have made me feel so much better because I had heard of people tooth fairies paying out $5 per tooth!  I started adding up the number of teeth to be lost in this house and…well, I’m glad $1 seems to be the going rate!

I love the idea of doing a special present for the first tooth (thanks Amanda) and giving gold coins (thanks Connie)!  Such great ideas.

However, I think my absolute favorite comment was from Jennifer who said:

Well thanks to mom hanging on to teeth and one of the kids finding them… they stopped believing in the tooth fairy long ago. Why did I hang on to the teeth anyway? No idea. LOL!