TOP DOWN

I am no a big fan of muscle cars. Ralph has a Mustang which is considered a muscle car. He gets offended when I complain that its to noisy, lol. He tells his car not to listen to me. That car is just parked in our driveway, no one else can drive it. Ralph uses it when he is off or when he has to do some running around without any kid.

This photo was taken on one of the warmer days we have had. We just finished with Ralph's appointment at the Rothman Institute. He wanted to see how Kaitlyn liked having the top down. My gosh, I was freezing as it was still around 62. I don't really like convertibles as I hate that my hair is all over the place. Kaitlyn loved it but, she had more fun when I had my MIL coat over my head so I could stay warm. The next day after this, I got a cold and a bad headache. Note to self: just bring extra blanket in the car just in case Ralph wants to put the top down when its still not warm.

BIRTH MONTH

March is the birth month of my grandmother, father and my cousin. I can't believe that March is coming to an end. Today, March 26,2011 is the 52nd birthday of my dad. My dad and I are really not that close yet I still remember his birthday. I just left him an instant message on yahoo to let him know that I remembered. As for my cousin Angelique her birthday comes a day after my dad, she is turning 27. How times flies, she used to be the baby of the family. I still marvel at the thought that the little girl I used to play with and babysit is already an adult. I still see her as our little baby even though I have cousins who are younger than her. As for my grandmother, she is turning 78 on March 31,2011. I miss her so much, its been 4 years since the last time I was there to celebrate with her. She is the glue that holds our whole family together. She is the bravest, smartest and the most loving woman. I miss her so much and I wish her good health and many more years.

One day, I will be able to celebrate birthdays with you but for now, let me just say a big Happy Happy Birthday....

THINKING ABOUT GETTING IN SHAPE

It's been two days since my last walk. Its not that I am lazy but the weather is kind of crazy right now. One day it was nice and warm and the next its gloomy and wet. I hate the cold so when its cold out I don't go outside. Both Ralph and I are on the same track wanting to loose weight. He wants to loose a little bit of weight before his surgery this coming April. My husband has a big gut, If he only looses a few inches around his mid section he will look incredible. I however tell him that he has lost most of the muscle tone in his arms. Since they have a gym at the Police Station he said he will try and lift some weights. With that I told him that he should take best creatine supplement to help develop her muscles. Did you know that vegetarian show lower levels of muscle Creatine and taking a Creatine supplement will increase it. And before I end this post he also told me something good worth rooting for. He want to quit smoking. He has tried several times but ends up going back and smoking more in the process. My solution is for him to just cut down on his smoking slowly and eventually he can stop. I just want our family to be healthy and I am glad that my husband and I see eye to eye on this.

DONKEY KONG AND KIRBY

My review for the latest Wii Games that we got for the kiddos. I have to learn to play the games as they look to me when they are stuck or can't figure it out. This review is from a mother's point of view who also happens to love playing the Wii..

DONKEY KONG COUNTRY RETURNS : The games graphic is great. It can be played two ways, using the nunchuks by attaching it to the controller or with just the controller using sideways. We prefer using the nunchuks as its easier. The main characters are Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong
(smaller monkey). The games start off with easy levels. The game itself come with instruction in form of a pig, that teaches you the moves on how to get certain clues, object and to defeat enemies. The goal of the game is to collect clues and get all the letters to spell KONG. Pass each level to open another world. If the level is to hard you can always call on the super guide which comes in the form of a gray ape. In my humble opinion the game is to advance for kids under 7 years old. Kids over that age limit can pretty much do most of the games. Kayla does pretty good with the games and improves hand and eye coordination when using the nunchucks. Is it one of my favorite? For sure! Keeps me on my toes and challenges me. I do admit that I call on the super guide so I can see how the level is played then I try it again and again until I pass the level.

KIRBY'S EPIC YARN : Game very easy. Good for kids between 3-7 years of age. Kaitlyn is 3 years old and plays with Kayla. She knows how to do the game. Goal of the game is to collect as many gems, patches and hidden treasures in the game and to collect all the magic yarn to open all the worlds. For me the game teaches the kids how to play as a team and improves thinking. They figure out the best way to get certain objects or treasures with each others help. It's a very fun and easy game for kids. It kept me entertain and I even finished the whole game. Although, I have yet to open up all the doors on each levels but I did defeat the last monster which was Master Ying Yarn. If you have older kids and love new challenges get them the Donkey Kong. For younger kids get them Kirby's Epic Yarn.

That is my review for both games. If you do get the game please let me know how everyone in your family likes it. And share your review on the game. Remember to ask attendants if they have played the game and listen to what they have to say. Most often than not, they have already played the game and will tell you if its the right gaming age for your kids.

HER MILESTONES

Its Spring already! Kayla comes home now with her hair all over the place, lol. With the weather warming up the kids can now go out and play at recess. We have been to Kayla's school last week to see her receive her Wilbur Winner Award. While there, we got a chance to talk to Kayla's teacher and ask about her progress. We also talk to him about our plans to enroll our youngest in Pre-K this year. Ralph is still looking into to it. Kayla's school right now is one of the newest schools built with brand new school playground equipment and up to date computer technology. We are lucky enough that we belong in the same district and this was clearly the right school for her. Kayla has improved so much. She started Kindergarten not reading at all but now, she is reading everything. It continues to amaze us how smart she is and how many milestones she has reached. Clearly we made the right choice and we are hopeful that when Kaitlyn does start school she will follow in her big sister's footstep.

HER PRINTER

Last Christmas we got my MIL something that she really wanted. Ralph and I debated at first what to get for her until I finally caved in and asked her myself. She really didn't want anything but if our budget would allow it, she would like a new printer. We have a printer that is also a fax machine and a scanner but it is in the playroom. She wanted to get a new one for herself so she didn't have to come out if she wanted to print something. Ralph and I looked at a few from Kodak printers, epson printers, HP printers, Dell and so on. Ralph wanted to get her something that is easy to install and easy to use. I left the it to Ralph to choose which one. We finally settled on a brand that was within our budget. Now, she can scan, photo copy and print anything she wants in the privacy of her own room. If only I can remember to print out pictures so I can start hanging them up, lol. I already have a whole bunch of photo stashed in my thumbnail. One day I swear I am going to take the time to just print out pictures of my kids to hang up.

WITH MY WALKING BUDDY

Went out for a walk with my 3 1/2 yrs old as my walking buddy. Just around our development. It wasn't as warm as Friday but it is still an improvement from our previous weather. Even though it was around the upper 50's we still bundled up. Kaitlyn wore her helmet as she was using her bike while I walk behind her. I have decided that I need to do something about my weight. I am not fat or overweight but I certainly am out of shape. The last time I went to the mall, I tried on one piece bathing suit. I look horrendous, In short I looked like a blob of jelly in yellow. It wasn't fun to look at myself like that.

I figured that walking was the simplest way I could burn calories. Exercise and I don't mix well together. Taking it slow is my goal right now. Diet is not on my list but I will try and cut down on my rice and minimize eating junk foods. Walking will be my new source of exercise and gradually I will do some workout and maybe do the Tae Bo in a few days. My goal is to loose at least 10 lbs. so I can be at my ideal weight at 112. I never thought that loosing weight and being healthy could be so hard. I had to make a conscious choice to do it and will probably need constant reminder so I stay on top of things and get motivated.

JUST SAY YES!!!!

The Author of this post is Delmar Bailey


Every girl imagines their wedding day, and the girls that we see on "Say Yes To The Dress" are proof of that. This show is based on girls picking out their wedding dresses, except usually these are girls that could have probably any dress that they want in the world...

Makes me feel insignificant at times as I watch the show on my satellite TV that I got after seeing these Satellite tv HD Offers Prices , worlds away from the worlds these girls live in, but I still can't help but tune in every time the show is on. The show follows bride! s to be as they are on their quest for the perfect wedding dress, and usually they are girls that come from a lot of wealth or girls who are marrying into wealth. Usually, there are a few great, entertaining characters that come along with every episode; the bride, the mother of the bride and mother of the groom, sisters, cousins, aunts, and then the always entertaining staff that works with these girls, who usually don't hesitate to roll their eyes in front of the camera when they think the 'princess' isn't watching. It's certainly entertaining to watch the girls act like spoiled brats and basically stomp their feet and whine until they get the exact number of crystals they want on their dress.

Those dresses also give me plenty of good ideas too....

Wii GAMES PLAYED

Two more added to our small collection of Wii Games. If I am not mistaken we got our Wii game console almost 2 years ago. We love it and the kids love it. It keeps them occupied specially in the cold winter months. By far Mario Kart is the most popular game in our household. Its even the favorite of my 3 year old daughter. Yes, she can play the Mario Kart and she knows how to play it to. So a couple of weeks ago Ralph and I went to Game Stop to see what games they have. My heart was set on getting either the Donkey Kong Country Returns or the Super Mario Galaxy 2. Ralph wanted to get the Super Mario All Star Sports I think but the attendant said the review wasn't to impressive. He asked the age of our kids and suggested Kirby's Epic Yarn and Donkey Kong Country Returns. He has played both games and the reviews are quite promising. We took his advice and got both games. Wii games are expensive, new game release are $49 a pop! It has been a while since we got the kids a new game and they deserved it. I love playing the Wii and my favorite game was Super Mario Galaxy, too bad Kaitlyn broke it and now it won't play anymore. Will be saving up to buy the new Super Mario Galaxy 2. The kids and I have played with the games and we love it! Kaitlyn loves Kirby and plays with her big sister. Kayla loves the Dongkey Kong better. When both kids can't pass a certain level they come to me for help. They both think I am so good at playing the game so I better step up to the plate, lol. I will be posting my review for both games so come back to check on it.

SHADE FOR THE HEAD

I was going through my laptop the other day when I cam across most of our photos from our vacation to the Philippines last year. I got a little sentimental and shed a tear or two. I miss my family back home. The company, the food and the whole place. Kaitlyn had so many picture on our trip. I had forgotten that I took a picture of her at the hotel where we stayed at. She was wearing this yellow hat that she actually has until now. It got chewed by the dog but she still wears it. She hasn't asked me if she could wear it to the mall, if she does I would have to tell her that its hightime we buy her a new hat to replace the yellow chewed up hat she has. I'm sure there are cheap but cute hats I can find at the mall. With Spring in its way it won't be long before the weather turns scorching hot and a cute nice hat will do good to keep my kids face and head shaded.

MOVING SPACE

My kids has so many toys that It is so hard to keep it in one place. I already have 2 toy organizers for them but they need more space to run around in the playroom. As you may not know the playroom also serves as our computer room. The computer along with Ralph's filing cabinet occupies half of the space along the wall. He already knows that I am going to rearrange the place and maybe get rid of some things. In order for me to move the computer to one side of the wall we may have to get new HDMI cables to replace the old ones. I have been wanting to move the computer but I didn't want to mess up anything. Now, its a different story. The kids are getting into Ralph documents and we have to move it so as to give the kids more space.

If all my planning works I will be able to move the kids television towards the center of the wall but I may also need new VGA cable for it. They love watching tv in the playroom and it allows Ralph and I to watch our shows in the family room. I get so excited when a plan forms in my head. What I need now is for Ralph to help me out move the heavy stuff so I can get the ball rolling. I may have to wait a little bit with him going back to work again but I can try and get all the cable I will be needing. Since I lost some of my cable attachment for my camcorder. At least it eases my mind that Panasonic Electronics has all the accessories that I lost from my last vacation.

MORE DELIVERY

Last Wednesday I received the last package I ordered from CSN stores. It was so funny that day, our doorbell kept on ringing from packaged being delivered. First it was mine, then my MIL's and then a registered letter for Ralph.I am really impressed at how fast my purchase online was delivered. I ordered 2 muffin pan with lid that can cook a dozen muffin in one batch. What is great about this muffin pan is I can just frost my cupcakes on the muffin pan and just put the lid on it if I need to take it somewhere. I haven't tried using it though but I am going to do it soon and will be posting pictures of it. I'll write a review on all the stuff I purchased so don't be a stranger and drop by.

ON A ROLL

We got another package delivered to our house by FedEx. It was the sort and store toy organizer. I already got the exact same organizer but I needed another one. Boy CSN Stores ships fast! One day I just ordered it and before you know it, its at your doorstep. So If you interested what the toy organizer looks like head on to my other blog Mama's Sanity and see how easy and accessible it can be for your kids. Check out CSN Stores to see what else they have that you may need. It will soon be your one stop shop.

IT ARRIVED!

Wow! My Order from CSN Stores has been delivered already. My that was fast! Order online usually take between 5-7 business day unless you pay for one day shipping that will cost more. I ordered 4 things from the store Friday night. And by the next day I got an e-mail informing me that my order has been shipped, how cool is that! I got so excited when 2 of the 4 stuff I ordered online finally arrived on my doorstep today. I couldn't wait to open it. Curious about what I got? Here is some photos of my two purchase.





The big box contained my dry cereal dispenser. I got it in black since out kitchen counter is black. As you can see Princess Bruiser couldn't wait to try it out. Now I don't have to pour there cereals for them, they can do it themselves with just a turn of the handle. To keep the cereal fresh it also has a stopper lid that you can snap onto the opening of the dispenser. As for the smaller package its my 32 piece deluxe icing tip set. I actually ordered everything from cookware.com is part of CSN Stores 200+ stores online. CSN Stores has great stuff and the best thing about their store? They offer free shipping on selected items and its very fast. You won't have to wait a week before getting your purchase. I would know, I got mine today and I am happy as can be.

WET WET SUNDAY!

Rain, rain go away come again another day!

What a wet wet Sunday were having. It hasn't stopped raining since around ten this morning. Rain and I don't really mix well together. I hate getting wet and my feet getting plashed with puddle water. Rain gives me additional work around the house. How come? When you have a dog you will know. The backyard gets all muddy and the dog is playing outside, running and getting mud all on his paws and his underbelly. If my area rug could talk it would probably beg me to take him off the floor so the dog won't track dirt all over him, lol.

Today's drive to Baltimore to pick up Kayla was a little scary. I hate going out in the rain. The roads are slippery, visibility is poor and its just plain scary. Luckily Ralph picked up Kayla because he knows that his mom will never be able to drive in the heavy rain and at night. We finally got home safe and sound. I just want the rain to end before our basement floods. So I sing again:

"Rain , Rain Go Away! Come Again Another Day!"

MELTED SIDING

Did I ever tell you guys the time that our siding on the back deck caught on fire? Everything is fine though, we extinguished the fire just in time. Still, it left a big damage on the siding, melted it off. Ralph was grilling some chicken, he just closed the lid to come inside for his spices when he came back it was already one fire. To make the long story short we had look for contractors to give us estimates. Coincidentally, we just got part of our roof fixed and Ralph called them if they do siding. They gave us the cheapest estimate and even offered to put in new outdoor wall lights. It would have been nice if we got Hinkley lighting for the outside. I like the Hinkley Pottery design. It gives the back deck a whimsical look. Oh well, Ralph wanted just the regular outdoor wall lights. He had already gotten it so there was no point in returning it and purchasing another. If you need new Indoor, Outdoor lighting for you house click the link because its worth checking.

SO LONG MINNIE

Look at what our dog dragged in! Poor Minnie Mouse has seen better days. This was Kaitlyn's toy, I forgot who gave it to her but this one talks. Our dog Sunny don't really chew their toys but the kids let him play with this once and now he thinks that its his toy. My kids have so many stuffed toys in the house, I am donating some of it soon. Kaitlyn was sad when she saw what happened to her Minnie Mouse. I explained to my kids that it wasn't Sunny's fault. They should never have let him play with it and leave there toys all over the floor in the playroom. Like most kids they make a mess and whine when its time to clean up. Now, I made up a rule that they can play with almost any toy in the playroom as long as they clean up after themselves and it has to be one toy at a time. They usually follow it but if you don't stay on top of the situation they will take advantage, lol. What can you do? Kids can be kids but that doesn't mean I will tolerate bad behavior. And as for Minnie Mouse I had to throw her in the garbage before Sunny gets a hold of the voice box inside her and choke or something. Do you think my kids have learned their lesson about not leaving stuffed toys on the floor? They haven't, I still have to constantly remind them to pick up the toys on the floor so Sunny won't chew it. As for the dog, he knew he was in big trouble and just gave me that sad doggy eye look with his head down. Its seems like I now have 3 kids, 2 of them human and 1 is a dog, lol....

FIT FOR A KING

From now to the next couple of month people will be filling taxes and getting the much awaited Tax refund. Two years ago our biggest splurge when we got our tax return was getting a new mattress. I had no idea mattress would be so expensive. Ralph and I had to go to more than a dozen place to find the right one for the right price. We finally found a great place where they had good mattress sale withing our budget. Of course we didn't just want to buy what was on sale and not look at the quality. We thought long and hard and tried on so many mattresses until we found one. We decided on a king size bed so we can have a sleep over with the kids and still have room. The first night we got it we had a sleep over with the kids and they loved it. I was a little worried though because the bed was raised higher than our old one. Kaitlyn was only 16 months old and I was worried that she might fall of the bed trying to get down or fall off from playing with her sister. My worries were for naught, nothing happened to my kids. Since we got our mattress taken cared of already our next project is buying new mattresses for the two empty bedrooms. Since all our tax refund is already budgeted we will have to wait for next year and hopefully get much better sales.

WELCOMING MARCH

March is finally here! A few more weeks to go then its finally going to be Spring. Well, I am looking forward to warmer weather but not so with the pollen situation. Every Spring I suffer from severe allergy due to the pollen in the air. My nose would be so stuffy that I have to breathe through my mouth instead of my nose. My eyes would get so watery and itchy that its get very irritated from rubbing my hands on it. Medication helps but it can only do so much. Still, I am looking forward to hearing the birds chirps and the trees start to bloom. I think everybody has had enough of winter and just want a change of pace from wearing to much to wearing something that doesn't require a winter coat going out. I am so looking forward to Spring because I know that Summer will be hot its tail. I love it when it snows winter but I can't take the cold anymore so don't dilly dally and just let your brother Spring come early..