Playdough Fun

Great Grandpa Munoz

My Great Grandfather passed away last night. I just called him Grandpa Munoz because its shorter. I remember him very fondly. He always called me Tommye Joy. Which in his Spanish accent sounded different. The last time I had a chance to visit with him, he remembered me. Even though he had trouble remembering everyday things. Which made me feel special. Every time we went to Nanny and Papaw's house, I always went to visit him and Great Grandma. Although he was not blood related to me, he was very much my Great Grandfather.

waffles

I'm on the hunt for a waffle maker. So many to choose from, round, square, Belgian or not. So does anyone have any suggestions? Maybe you have a waffle maker that you love.
We normally buy frozen waffles but I'm ready to start makeing my own. Just need the right equipment.

Friends

Emily and her friend Jeralyn.

I love this picture.

Mason's first bike

Look at the smile behind that binki!
He loves this new bike. It's a 3 in 1 bike, a rocker,a push bike and a tricycle. Jacob had one just like it when he was Mason's age.

Tornadoes

We are all fine! The tornadoes didn't hit us.They hit in Suffolk which is VERY close to us. About 15 miles. We were ready if they were going to hit us though. We had a plan, when I said "go" the kids were going to grab a pillow from the couch,I was grabbing Mason and heading to the downstairs bathroom. They were frightened but prepared.

I want a better life

Today, on the way to Walmart, Jacob says to me "my friends have a better life than me". I say "What are to talking about?" Jacob" My friends have everything they want." Then he goes on to name gaming systems and such. I told him "Jacob, just because your friends have the latest and greatest doesn't mean they have a better life. Things don't make a great life, spending time with family and love make a great life. And you have a great life. Things are not important." His reply "yeah,I guess".


So now I feel like I need to show him how great of a life he really does have. I don't know how I'm going to do this but I'm going to try. Any suggestions?

BPA

Bisphenol-A,what the heck is it? Its a chemical that is in plastic, mostly polycarbonate. I don't know all the plastic it is in but I do know it's in my sons bottles."Avent"brand and it's in many other popular brand name bottles.It seems glass may be the only safe alternative. I'm so angry and scared about this,Mason has been using these bottles for almost a year. And I know a lot of other kids have too. What harm has it done. None that I can tell but it's the long term that I'm worried about. Possibly early onset of puberty or worse, prostate cancer later in life? And to make it all worse Mason loves to have his morning milk in these bottles. I've tried to transition him to a sippy in the morning but he throws it in the floor and cries for the bottle. We are still working on it. We stopped heating the bottles in the microwave hoping that this is at least a little safer.
Check out this site for some good info.
http://zrecs.blogspot.com/2007/07/z-report-bisphenol-in-polycarbonate.html
Canada has already banned BPA. I think we sould follow suit. One less plastic can only be a good thing.

Sharing a Smoothie

Our MVP

He looks so grown up here.

Jacob had his first game of the season Friday,they lost that game but won Saturdays game. We took him to get ice cream that night because he had to miss McDonalds with his team. He's a good player,he hit a double in the game Saturday. Pete is the pitcher for their team, so maybe Jacob has a slight advantage. Pete says he feels guilty when he strikes out his own son. Who knows, Jacob could really be an MVP in the big league some day.

Rededication

Emily was rededicated in Girl Scouts last week. It was a nice ceremony.I'm bias,I'm the co-leader so I planned it with Cindy our leader. Emily is the oldest girl in our troop and the only one who has been in Girl Scouts before so, she was rededicated while the other girls were invested. It was short ceremony considering there are only 6 girls in our troop and one girl was sick and could not attend. I'm having fun being a leader and Emily enjoys it too.
We took a tour of Pete's ship Sat. afternoon for our Navy Pride badge. It was really neat. The girls seemed interested and even asked questions. One of the girls dad came along, I think he had the most fun.

Kid Brother

Jacob rolling his eyes"not again"!


Kid brother,Kid brother,whatever I do,he does. Mason wants to be just like Jacob,video games and all.

96 Years!

Hulahooping

Making SWAPS
and blowing bubbles The Girl Scouts turned 96 years old this year. One of the troops in our service unit put together birthday party. It was a 50's theme,all the girls had ponytails and rolled up jeans. Some even went all out with poodle skirts. There were contests for hulahooping,bubble blowing and costumes. We had a blast.

Egg Hunt

See the egg in the tree?
We had an egg hunt in our back yard. The big kids found all the eggs in about two minutes. Mason stopped hunting after the first one he found. Pete had duty on Easter so it was just the kids and I. We had fun though, eating all the candy!

Coloring Eggs

No Cocok's

Not even close! I finally went for a pedicure. I haven't went since Oki for fear of disappointment. I was right. I scheduled an appointment at a very nice salon and day spa. I thought a day spa would be my best bet. When I got there I was impressed with the place, it was nice. The receptionist offer me a drink while I waited. To make my point, I never even had my feet massaged.I did have my calves scrubbed with body a scrub, which was rough. And the polish job was sloppy,and no toe art. I felt like it was quantity over quality. My nail tech kept saying to another girl can you drain and clean these other ones, we have pedicures all day. To all of my friends still in Oki go have a Cocoks pedicure for me. You'll not get that kind of service in the states.

Family Photo

Here we are the Nelson family. From left to right: Jacob,Me,Mason,Emily and Pete crouching in the corner. He was keeping Mason from running off before I could get the picture taken. We are at the Children's Museum in Portsmouth,in front of a action,movement screen. Mason liked the train room. Emily's favorite was the grocery store. Jacob had the most fun in the bubble room. More pictures to come. It was a great family day.

Spring forward

In nine days it will be spring. Things in bloom,birds chirping, kids coming out to play. And best of all SUNSHINE! No more gloomy winter days. (hopefully) Jacob and Emily have spring break the week of the 24th. I don't know what we are going to do? Parks? Zoo? Busch Gardens would be nice.
Is anyone else having a hard time adjusting to daylight savings? I feel like I'm dragging for at least an hour in the morning. Even morning coffee doesn't help, because I can't get off the couch to make it.

Good Search

I 've added a link to Good Search. It is a search engine ,powered by Yahoo. As you use it, Good Search will donate 1 cent to charity. I've chosen Girl Scouts of the Colonial Coast to receive donations if you search from my blog. That's the Girl Scout Council Emily belongs to. It's a great way to give to charity with out spending anything.

Just a trim

It had to be done. Mason's hair was always in his eyes. I just trimmed his bangs so he could see. He sat amazingly still.