A guilty pleasure is something one enjoys and considers pleasurable despite feeling guilt for enjoying it. The "guilt" involved is sometimes simply fear of others discovering one's lowbrow or otherwise embarrassing tastes.
1. Keeping up with the Kardashians and 90210 (the new one)....Not sure which one is worse but I love them equally as much! Why do you ask? Oddly enough, I can relate to the Kardashian sisters, mainly their goofy, weird side. AND 90210 is such a train wreck, I LOVE IT.
2. Target.. I LOVE everything about Target..I've heard it called the $100 store.. this is SOO true, for me at least:) I never leave Target spending anything less. We even have a Starbucks in ours....which leads me to my next guilty pleasure.
3. Thats right, STARBUCKS...How did you guess? I'm a big ole' sucker for ALL the seasonal flavors and if not then the Cinnamon dolce latte, Caramel Macchiato and in the summer Caramel Frappuccino:)...The hub's nana in ATL always sends us gift cards and WE love it, THANKS:)
4. French Fries, BUT more specifically MCDONALDS fries:) Seriously, I think they must put crack in them... mmmm, I love to dip them in honey mustard or sweet-n-sour sauce...My love for McDonalds french fries started out young and has stayed w/ me well into adulthood:) The hubby always makes fun of me b/c I always make him get his own fries:)
5. Rap Music...I've always liked rap music since I was real young I mean REAL young, like under 7...My sister used to listen to SWV (Sisters With Voices) I always thought I would grow out of it but I haven't....I don't listen to anything explicit (not usually anyways, muahahaha) and its almost always when I'm alone in the car and usually never on around the kids b/c honestly I never know what they're saying half the time;)
6. Eating Out...We love to eat out...its easy, you don't have to cook, or clean up the mess.....Too bad its oh so expensive.
7. Nap Time...The boys usually take their afternoon nap together which gives me time to do WHATEVER I want!! AND almost always I want to sit on the couch and do absolutely NOTHING:) and Honestly, with Parker turning 4 soon I am getting so nervous naps are coming to an end:( that will be a sad sad day.
8. Twilight and Harry Potter...ok ok..So, I know I'm not a teeny bopper...whatever, I LOVE both of these series the books and movies:)
9. Teen mom...I LOVE and HATE this show at the same time. Most of these girls had terrible home lives and most have terrible support systems with virtually zero guidance. The hubs hates this show and won't even be in the same room with me when I watch it...he says he can't take the dysfunction. I don't blame him it is dysfunctional but its reality....750,000 teens get pregnant annually in the US alone! What a vicious cycle.. When I'm watching the show I always think to myself, "I would be a great mentor to these girls" hmmm, maybe someday.
10. Reading other momma's blog sites. I love to discover new blogs even if someone I don't know:) I think it all started because I had my first babe at 23 and MOST of my peer group was not even on the same page as me ..Sooo, I didn't have tons of mommy friends so I sought guidance from other mommas thru their blog site:)
I hope you enjoyed my top ten guilty pleasures!! Do you have any guilty pleasures, if so, please share!
Before having kiddos I had a prenotion (yes, this is a word...google it) as to what I THOUGHT I would NEVER do...You know, things either your momma did or things you saw other mothers do... and thought to yourself, NO WAY would I ever do that when I have kids.. bahaha, oh man...
1. Drive a mini-van. That's right a little over a year ago the hubs and I traded in my little sedan for a momma-mobile.... AND I LOVE IT...Honest, I do...I always thought I would be an SUV mom...but when push came to shove, NOTHING out-beat the Odyssey:)
2. Smell my child's diaper in PUBLIC to make sure they haven't pooed....YEP, still pull this move ALL the time..I do it smoothly but I'm pretty sure everyone in eyes view knows exactly what I'm doing...WHATEVER, get over it :)
3. Oh baby drops the paci on the ground and your in a crunch to get your kiddo to stop screaming...What do you do?? WELL of course, you pop the paci in your own mouth to clean it...AS IF THIS MAKES IT ANY BETTER? whatever, it feels like I'm somehow cleaning it.
4. Ahh man, my mom did this ALL the time...USE your OWN spit to clean your child's face...eww, gross....It wasn't until recently I pulled out this trick....I have to admit my oldest was pretty grossed out by the whole thing:) It sure got the job done tho.
5. On a more serious note, spanking... NEVER ever thought I would be a momma that spanked. But, quite honestly, in my personal opinion there are times when it's appropriate and effective.
6. Let my kids play in a McDonald's Play Place...Yep, we occasionally hop on the bandwagon and play in the play scape...the kids LOVE it.
7. I never thought I would be a stay-at-home-mom...I always thought that IF I did have kiddos I wanted a career and I'd put my kids in daycare...BUT after the birth of our first little guy, I tried...I did, we looked around at daycare but in the end we made the decision that I would stay home.. BEST IDEA EVER:)
8. I never thought I would talk about poo as much as I have since having kiddos. SERIOUSLY??? what color? how did it look? how much? You get the point..
9. LOSE as much sleep as I have...Since having kids, I have become a much much lighter sleeper..NOT sure why?? I guess I feel the constant need to be "ready" all the time..
10. Last but not least... eat my child's mangled, slobbered on, and chewed up food:) YEP, sometimes I don't even think about doing this one...BUT, when your 15 month old wants to generously share his chewed up, gagged on piece of apple...I guess you take it:)
For the past month or so, I've been meal planning every week. I was getting tired of never knowing what I was going to make for dinner and then oftentimes, figuring it out late in the day. This lack of planning was causing me to make multiple trips to the store during the week. And also eating out way too much...So, I knew for a long time I wanted to meal plan but my domestic skills in the kitchen were not that great....Anywho, I've finally been consistently planning meals on Monday or Tuesday and then grocery shopping on Wednesday when Parker's at school... So, these are my usual steps I go thru which takes me a total of maybe 30 minutes and it has made my week way smoother! Since I've been meal planning I will never go back!
Step 1: Look at what we have in the pantry/refrigerator to get some meal ideas.
Step 2: Look at the meal list from the week before, was there anything I didn't make? Usually, I will have one or two meals I didn't make.
Step 3: Look at our schedule for the week, if we have something going on in the evening I will try to plan a quick/easy meal for that night.
Step 4: Create a dinner for each night, and a lunch for two days (the weekend when Scottie's home)
*Parker is a picky eater, so I try to keep in mind at least some side dishes I know he'll eat. I got in a terrible habit of making a separate meal for Parker for dinner but started quickly realizing what a bad habit this was...So now we have a rule, you eat what we make for dinner or you don't eat. I know for some of you this might seem harsh but it's what works for us.
*I also plan one new meal I haven't made before:)
Step 5: Create a grocery list with EVERYTHING I'm going to need.
Step 6: Make my official menu, this hangs on our fridge:)
****Now I don't follow this to a T, I almost always change it up but at least I have idea's and I know I have exactly what I need to make whichever dinner I end up fixing:)
**I've also been trying to learn about "freezer meals" I actually just did my first freezer meal but we have yet to eat it...Lasagna, I've read this is a great meal to freeze, I'll let you know how it turns out:)
**I also read that you should never throw out leftover veggies you should stick them in a freezer bag and throw them in the freezer, apparently the leftover veggies are perfect for soups:) Just a little tip!
I am so intrigued by people and their couponing skills.....Love my mom and dad but neither household were couponers at least not while I was around. I never grew up watching anyone clip coupons. But ever since I've been running my own household for the last few years I've started seeing our grocery bill grow and grow. We have a large budget for groceries in our house but I've started to realize I could do a much better job at cutting our grocery bill down significantly by just watching sales, stocking up, clipping, and printing various coupons...I got a little organizer and made tabs for various stores and items. I know it seems crazy but I actually enjoy doing this, I love shopping and I love a good deal...So, tonight I put my very new NEW couponing skills to use.....(You people who coupon don't make fun of me, I'm new at this) but to me this is an awesome deal! Tonight's Target Trip:
4 boxes of pasta: 2.28 (1.00 off)
Wanchai orange chicken: 4.99 (1.50 off)
Maxwell Coffee 270 cups: $6.79 (1.00 off)
Lunch Bags: 1.89
Degree deodorant: .97 (1.00 off)
Green Works (4 items): 6.47 (1.00 off & 1 free item: worth 2.50)
Redcard Savings: -1.19
Free $10 gift card for transferring a prescription: -$10
I am stealing this from Tiffany Marie , thanks girl! :)
I love looking at houses...It's not uncommon to see our whole family driving around checking out houses for sale in our area.....
I drive a silver Honda Odyssey, I never thought I would be a mini-van mom, but I LOOOVE my van and will never go back!
I love sci-fi movies, good or bad ones:)
I am a compulsive locker, I lock every door at least twice .....OCD?
I talk to my sister at least 3x a day :) Love you spissy!
Disney movies are the only movies that make me cry.
I check facebook entirely too much..
I like to take random pictures of little kids I don't know at the park, creepy I know:)
I love researching medical topics and forums online :)
I am the "TIME MASTER" and if you know me at all you know this about me..I can tell you what time of day it is at all times w/o having to look at a clock. AND I can tell you how long it will take to do just about any task. I AM NEVER LATE, 4 real :)
Some of you may know that I used to provide childcare in our home off and on since Parker was born. I loved it but decided after Payton was born some things were going to have to change in my childcare business. I no longer could provide full time care for kiddos due to the increasing responsibility of our new little guy. Not to mention, Parker is now enrolled in preschool for this fall and other programs which requires me to have the flexibility to take him to his various commitments. I have wrestled with the idea of starting "something" back up but hadn't quite figured out what that was yet. I have prayed about it and prayed some more and finally I think God is pointing me in a specific direction. Over the last few months I have encountered several stay at home mom's who take their children to a "parents day out program" I thought since I no longer had any kiddo's for Parker to play with he needed to get out of the house WITHOUT ME and have some socialization. What to do? I started researching places I could take Parker to do a mothers day out program (or parents day out). And this is what I found: A lot of churches have a parents day out program and also some daycares. I started calling around to churches and even looked at some home preschools in our area. I obviously had a budget in mind I did not want to spend over $80/month. All the home preschools and daycares I looked into forced me to pay for an entire day which would cost me somewhere between $200-$250 per month just for one day out. Really??? No half day programs were offered and frankly we could not afford to pay $250 a month just so we could have a mothers day out. Moving on.....next churches, sweet they offer half day programs that are affordable somewhere in the $65-$100 which does not include registration fee $50 and equipment fee $25.....and not to mention lunch is not provided that will cost you extra or you are forced to pack a lunch. This half day typically gets you 3 1/2 hours. Enough time to grocery shop, come home unload groceries, eat lunch, and then its time to pick up your kiddo. Unfortunately, these programs only last like a typical school year leaving the stay at home parent wondering what they are going to do without there day out. So, I started realizing the HUGE need for something in my area that was more affordable, gave parents more time, and was all year round. So today it finally hit me like a pound of bricks what God wants me to do....drum roll please...Start a Parents Day Out Program that again is more affordable, gives you more time, and is all year round. Here are some of the logistics I have been brainstorming...
Every Thursday: Morning Session: 7:00am-12:00am
Afternoon Session: 12:00pm-5:00pm
Tuition: $80/month for one session
$120/month for both sessions ($40/month is applied as a discount if you sign up for the full day)
$75/month for 2nd child ($5 discount)
*No registration fee, no equipment fee, NO hidden costs.
Breakfast: 7:30am- I provide if on table food.
Lunch: 12:30pm - I provide if on table food.
*Lunch is provided for afternoon session.
Snacks: Will be provided one in the morning and one in the afternoon.
Age: No age requirement
Activities: Depending on the ages that sign up will depend on the type of activity I will have planned. I can guarantee age appropriate activities will be provided.
Blog: I will have an updated blog of our weekly activities, pictures, and whats going on at Ashley's Parents Day Out.
I think this is a GREAT idea and I'm really excited about it, I can't wait to get the ad's in order and see what kind of responses I get from families...
To say our life has been busy since the last time I posted (3 weeks 4 days ago) would honestly be an understatement. So, I suppose I'll play a little "catch up" game....
First, my beautiful Aunt Connie suddenly passed away the day after my last post (February 3rd) and so my sister, myself, Payton, and Lucia all made an unexpected visit down South to attend the funeral. Scottie took off a few days from work and stayed with Parker, we both agreed a funeral is not the place for a 3 year old, especially "our" 3 year old. So, Scottie got 5 days (the longest ever with just the two of them) w/o momma around, I honestly told myself I'm going to have a "don't ask policy" I did NOT want to know what kind of trouble they were getting themselves into.......our visit was bitter sweet, it was sad, unexpected, and tragic but at the same time it was fun, happy, and spontaneous. I couldn't believe we were having to say goodbye to Connie she was witty, smart, lovable, optimistic, a friend, a sister, daughter, mother, grandmother, and a follower to Jesus. SHE was LOVED by many and I think about her everyday. RIP Aunt Connie. Here are a few pictures from the visit...
My sister's little munchkin Lucia and Payton:)
This picture is most of the cousins with Me Ma....It was nice to see everyone I hadn't seen some of them in SEVERAL years.
I love this shot of Connie's daughter Jackie and grandson Cole..... (both my cousins)
Me Ma with her three girls...Leslie, Ann (my momma), and Connie
Every story has an end, but in life every ending is just a new beginning.
The following weekend we wondered into hhgregg and ended up purchasing a DSLR camera, something we have thought about for quite some time. So, after some research we settled on a D3100
I have been pretty impressed with this little baby.... Sometime in the future I will need a high power zoom lens that looks some thing like this:
Back in November we finally settled on a "church home" we've been church shopping for a quite awhile and honestly had given up, so if you are curious about trying out a church I would recommend Northview Church, because northview is a large church we decided it would be a good idea to join a life group so we could get to know some of the members. We have met 4 awesome families who all have toddlers just like us, we meet once a week for a couples hours and it's been nice to be around other families with a similar family dynamic . We also started the "Dynamic Marriage Course" thru Northview it's been an intense class it meets once a week for nine weeks for 2 1/2hrs each session. There is tons of homework and we've found it very challenging to get all of it completed in time for class. But, regardless I would recommend it for any couple seeking to grow in their marriage, Scottie and I have definitely learned alot so far and actually might take the class a second time.
But, despite all our weekly commitments I am fully enjoying staying busy and loving each moment with my family. :)
