I'm A Quitter

     There I admit it I am a quitter! I quit smoking 7 years ago today. Shane and I went from a pack a day to none! It was a lot easier with Shane quiting with me. I was pregnant with Matthew when I quit smoking. So for obvious reasons I wanted to quit. I tried many many times before that but couldn't. Shane quit by using the patch. He didn't go through the whole program. I think they recommended using 3 boxes and he did with one box. He just needed something in the beginning. I couldn't use anything but telling myself over and over, think of the baby. At times I still crave one. I have family members who still smoke. Sometimes when I visit the smell of a cigarette burning smells good and makes my mouth water. Other times the smell is so gross!
     My goal this year is to lose some weight. I gained 60 pounds when I was pregnant and almost seven years later I have lost none! Well right after he was born I dropped 20 pounds but gained all but five of it back over the last few years. I am breaking it down into manageable numbers. My first goal is to be 150 on my birthday. So I have about 12 pounds to lose in seven weeks. I plan on eating healthier and walking in the evenings.
     I need to do this because my blood pressure  is high. So the first step is to try to control it with diet and exercise. I have made it my goal to lose weight for many years. But like quiting smoking now it is a necessity. Did you know 3 out of 4 woman know they have high blood pressure but less than one in three try to work on it? http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/hbp/issues/issues.htm  I am a young mom and will be that one who does.
    

Merry Christmas

     I hope everyone is having a blessed day spent with family and friends! The kids let us sleep, we didn't make it out to the living room till 6:45. Matthew woke up and crawled into our bed and snuggled. He didn't wake us, just wanted to cuddle. 15 minutes later Aspen comes in with a Merry Christmas. When Matthew didn't move she said, "Matthew, Santa came!"
     He then ran to the living room to look around! So it was the 14 year old and not the 6 year old waking everyone this A.M. Surprised? She told me she was awake for an hour then finally got bored! It was a good morning. The kids were very happy and couldn't wait to join their friends outside to share Christmas goody stories. The teen girls were all dressed up in new clothes walking up and down our street or sitting on a porch while the boys had Nerf gun battles! I love living in a neighborhood where the kids can just walk outside and have someone to hang out with.
     It is currently 48 degrees outside. With snow in the forecast for tonight. Boo:( Shh don't tell the kids I said that! I hate the cold and snow! It has been so cold so early this year. This is late January into February weather. I read in the news baby turtles had to be rescued in order to hatch and get to the Gulf Stream safely. The water off our shore is to cold for them to make the swim. Yuck to the cold! We are suppose to get either a dusting, an inch of rain/snow mixture or even up to 2 inches. I guess it depends on what station you watch! I am hoping for just rain. I already saw snow on Thanksgiving day while leaving NY.

My Tip Of The Day

     A short quick post today. I want to share this little tip since so many of my friends have sick little ones me included. Matthew has a cough and fever. I hate when the kids are running a fever at night. We usually alternate Tylenol and Motrin. I used to get confused trying to remember which I gave him and what he gets next. Then if Shane was the one who gave him something I would have to wake him up to ask. So now what we do is what he received last gets turned upside down. This morning at 4 he got Tylenol. So that bottle was turned upside down and the Motrin was turned right side up. So I know what he got last and what he can have next. I hope this simple little tip helps other moms in the middle of the night.

Selling Books

     Shane and I are both in school. He is going to school for Marketing and I am going for History then my Masters in teaching. I received my Associates in May. I ended up taking the fall semester off deciding on going to a university online full time or go to school locally part time (due to work). I made my decision to late for this semester. So in January I will be doing online classes with the University of Maryland University College.
     Shane is at Tech(just like a community college in other places) working towards his Associates then onto Coastal Carolina University. He has another year of classes before he moves. We started at Tech because it is a cheaper way to get your core classes out of the way. About a thousand dollars a semester cheaper!
     He finished his last exam yesterday and sold his books back today. We were expecting $100 and was pleasantly surprised with $197. Yeah! A nice little surprise around Christmas time. A friend of mine also had a nice surprise. Her husband wanted something that was above her spending budget. So she wasn't planning on getting it. She then was looking for paper work and found a gift card to the store his wish item was at. The gift card was just enough to put the gift at their spending budget! How awesome is that?
    

Christmas Card Pictures

I had visions of my kids dressed in red and green with big smiles on their faces! What a beautiful picture that would be in my Christmas cards I am sending out this week. Instead they fought and argued with each other. Pinching each other in between pictures. I caught an eye roll on film as well. Along with some smiles that were so fake, eh I have no witty ending to that sentence! I also got some sighs and other noises I don't know how to type:) I ended up going with the second picture I took. Second out of nine pictures! Yes nine! From the way the kids were behaving I bet you thought I took a hundred!

There they are my non holiday color, one of them with a fake smile kids! Guess what? Even if it didn't go as planned I still love them to pieces!!

He's Back!

     I first learned about The Elf on the Shelf last Christmas. A friend of mine posted everyday on Facebook what the elf did the night before. Then another friend posted something about the elf. Next thing I knew at least 10 friends posted the mischief their elf did the night before. So I looked into this Elf on the Shelf. Basically it is a book that comes with an elf. The story is the elf comes to visit during the holiday season and reports back to Santa how the children are behaving. He also moves around. So the next day the kids search all over for the elf. I really thought it was a cute idea!
     I went to the book store to get one AND this elf was UGLY! He reminded me of a toy I had when I was little. I played with it all the time because I was scared of it! I thought if I didn't play with it it would get mad at me. So I played with it and made pretend I loved it, when really I hated that stuffed lion with bright pink hair( my brother had one with bright blue hair).
     So I got creative. In our house you can't see the elf. At night he comes in and makes mischief. So the kids wake up and look for the mess our elf made. Last year he did stuff like:
-spread toilet paper all over the house
-pee green pee in the toilet and not flush
-move the car into the middle of the front yard
- put the kids underwear in the Christmas tree (that didn't go over so well)
- rip up TONS of pieces of white paper to resemble snow
- made a "snow" angel out of flour on the counter
-put all of our stools and chairs into the bathtub
     And many more things I can't think of! He is very creative with his misbehavior. Shane and I had so much fun with it! This year Aspen acts like she could care less but I know if we didn't she would say something. Matthew is still at the age where he is enjoying it. It's just a silly new tradition we started and are having a blast with! Most definitely one of the highlights of being a parent!!
     Last night the elf came for the first time this year. He left a note on the kids bathroom mirror in toothpaste. It said," I'm back! Did you miss me!" My little first grader noticed the elf used an exclamation mark when he should have used a question mark. That alone was worth the pain in the rear of cleaning the toothpaste off the mirror! Tonight he is going to make a mess with the Halloween candy looking for his favorite kind. Feel free to leave ideas for our little trouble maker!
Here is a link if you want to check out the little guys website: http://www.elfontheshelf.com/#/home

Around Town- South of the Border

     There are a few blogs I started reading because I was looking for information on Walt Disney world. Then other blogs I started reading because of looking for information on Hawaii. I started thinking. I too live in a tourist area. Not as big as WDW or Hawaii but a destination non the less. So I figured once a week or so I will have a post dedicated to touristy stuff in or near Myrtle Beach, SC. I know my kids are going to LOVE this new feature on my blog because they will get to visit that place:)
     The first post in my around town series is not even in town. LOL But if you travel I-95 to get to South Carolina you passed it and the billion signs telling you to stop! If you guessed South of the Border you are right! I never would have dreamed about stopping. It looks like a little gift shop city. Lots of bright lights, and gifts shops within a block. What caught my eye was the sign for Reptile Lagoon. My son LOVES reptiles! So I had to stop for him.

     Once we walked in we were greeted by a man who was enthusiastic of the reptiles. Not only was he at the front but he strolled around the lagoon and started conversations about the reptiles. He was full of information and was able to answer questions easily.

     The first area had alligators and crocodiles. There were many different species to see. Matthew was most excited to see the Nile Crocodiles!

We then made our way through a tunnel with snakes in glass on either side. Matthew of course was excited about this too! He was able to name the snakes before I could read the information card to him! As a mom I thought it was so cool they had a step stool for the kids to look at the snakes on the top level! At other places I have had to carry him so he could see whatever was on top.




This was the first time I have been someplace that thought to have a stool for the little ones!



We saw PLENTY of snakes!



Another reptile:)





I THINK this guy is the Alligator Snapping Turtle. He lives in SC.

          It took us about 45 minutes to walk through. A perfect stop after driving 8 hours. I'm sure if you had the time you could stretch it longer. Also It could be shorter if you are not as interested as my 6 year old boy:) It was a nice pit stop. We are thinking of making a trip back because he enjoyed it a lot. It's only an hour and half from the beach. So over all it was a clean educational place to stop.

Location: South of the Border 3346 Highway 301 North

Dillon, SC 29547

Hours of Operation:


Monday-Thursday: 10am-7pm

Friday: 10am-9pm

Saturday: 9am-9pm

Sunday: 9am-8pm

Price: Adults $8, Children 12 and under $6
For more information: http://www.thesouthoftheborder.com/     click on Reptile Lagoon

The Holidays are Here!

     We had Thanksgiving today with my dad and Deb today. They called and asked if we wanted then to bring the nativity set for our yard. We used it last year. The kids and I like it, Shane not so much. It is and older plastic set my dad and Deb had in their yard FOREVER. Or so it seems. I think it's about 20 years old. They are at the point they don't want to put as much out in the yard. Shane thinks it looks nice at night but doesn't like all the wires from the lights of it and how that looks during the day. So we did a vote and he was out numbered 3 to 1. It was a good lesson on democracy for the kids. LOL
     The outside of the house is finished. We will do the inside next weekend. It feels strange but with Matthew and I traveling last week I was exhausted yesterday! Then with us doing Thanksgiving today there was no time. Not only that we put up a live tree. Last year by the time Christmas got here and Santa put the presents under the tree, all the needles were falling off. So we decided to wait a week. Our tree and inside will get decorated next Sunday after church. Our Saturday is already full with Holiday happenings! In the a.m. we are decorating the soup kitchen for Christmas and in the afternoon we are going to a pig pickin'. The following Saturday Shane and Matthew are in the Surfside parade with Boyscouts, breakfast with Santa at church and our annual Bunco Christmas party! I love the busyness of this time of year.
How are your holiday decorations and plans shaping up?

Not Prepared

In South Carolina My pea coat is perfect for winter weather. I hardly  have to wear it. I wear it maybe 10 times each winter. In NY it is not even warm enough for fall! I was so cold last night! I was so cold my knees were literally shaking! Even inside it is chilly. Up here people use gas to heat their homes so they have to be conservative. The inside temps are probably about 65! We keep our house 69 in the winter and 72 in the summer. We used to keep it 70 year round but when the price of electric went up we made little changes. I think it's funny how our bodies become acclimated to different climates. I did take comfort in seeing people from here wearing warm jackets. So I wasn't that off with my coldness:)

Traveling for the Holidays

     Matthew and I are visiting with my mom in NY this Thanksgiving week. Shane and Aspen stayed home. Aspen is in high school and can only miss 5 days each semester. She would have missed 2 days. She hasn't missed any yet but I wouldn't want her to get sick or something and use all her absences. I'm sure Saturday school wouldn't be fun! With Matthew in elementary school we have a little more wiggle room. Shane also works a second job in retail. Working Black Friday is a given! So it is weird being away from each other but I ended up with this week off from babysitting. So it made sense to come up this week.
     The trip up was uneventful. We split the trip and stayed at my sisters house in Virginia. We ate chicken from a Peruvian restaurant. I tried Yucca (or yuca) fries. They were.....okay. They were very thick. Not to bad but I couldn't eat more than a few. The chicken was YUMMY!! Nicely flavored and didn't need extra salt:) Then we hit the road again this morning. We drove through very, very rural Pennsylvania! So many. many trees and mountains. My ears are still popped! Matthew was very good during the drive. That made the drive a lot easier! I am so proud of him!
     We will be up here until Friday. Then split the trip by staying at my cousin's house in Baltimore. Matthew is most looking forward to that part of the trip. His one cousin is 6 months older and the other 6 months younger. Shane and Aspen will do Thanksgiving with his mom. Then on Sunday we will have our turkey. We need the leftover turkey in our house!