Angelica's Awesome Adventures

No worse feeling than this.

2012-02-09T12:05:00.000-05:00

Last night as I was getting Angelica ready for her shower, she flipped out on me. Since she's three, I'm used to her very, very regular freak-outs but this was something entirely different. The conversation went a little like this.

A - Mommy, I want to sleep in YOUR room.
Me - I know you do, but you need to sleep in your own bed. (She had been in our bed the night before and I got almost no sleep as a result.)
A - But I don't LIKE my room. It's scary!
Me - What' so scary about your room?
A - It just IS! I want to sleep in your bed!
Me - Well, honey, I'll stay with you for awhile.
A - But when you leave I'll be all alone! And I don't like my room! It's scary! I want a DORA room!
(For those not in the know, before we moved, she had a Dora-themed room. It's now Ladybugs, which is what she asked for when we moved.)

After she said that, it hit me all of a sudden what she was really saying. With three year olds, you have to read between the lines sometimes, and this was one of those times.

Me - Honey, do you just miss your old bedroom?
A - Yes! (Starts wailing)
Me - And your old house? And your old friends?
A - Yes! Yes yes yes!
Me - And your old school? And your old church?
A - Yes! (She really lost it at the mention of our old church. She loved it there so much.)

By this point, I'm already sitting with her on the floor, holding her in my lap while she sobs, big fat tears rolling down her cheeks. She buried her face in my shoulder and just wrapped her arms around my neck and cried and cried the saddest sounding cries while I patted her back and tried to soothe her.

I assured her mommy and daddy were there for her. And that we'd visit her friends, and our family back in Florida. And they would come visit us.

It was tough to hear that. In all honesty, while I love it here, I've been having a hard time adjusting to the not knowing anyone and it's been lonely. I also miss my friends, my coworkers, my family, my church...but she seemed so happy. She was always saying she didn't miss her old home or old friends, and she liked her new school (the last of which is probably true). She's been SO giggly and happy. Little did I know she is JUST LIKE ME when it comes to her emotions. She buried her sadness and put on a happy face and just tried to fake it and eventually it became too much for her to bear.

Me - Angelica, sweetie, are you just lonely?
A - (calmer now, but still crying a little) Yes, I'm lonely.

So I told her we'd go out and meet people. And that I would always, always be there for her if she needed to talk. And that I know that sometimes, it's hard to talk about the tough feelings but that I would always be happy to listen.

Later on, after I got her ready for bed:

Me - Do you feel better now that we talked?
A - Yes, I feel much better.
Me - Are you glad you told me how you were feeling?
A - Yes, it made me feel happier.

I'm so happy she felt better at the end of the night. I'm so glad we talked about it too. But there is truly no worse feeling than when your child is hurting and there's nothing you can really do to make it all better.

Once upon a time in Angelica world...

2012-02-02T18:58:00.001-05:00

So this evening Angelica and I were camping out, watching My Little Pony and enjoying our time together, when I had to go to the bathroom. It happens. And when you have a 3 year old, it's never easy to navigate the right time for it to happen. This time, she was wrapped up in watching My Little Pony so I just went upstairs to go to the bathroom without saying anything.

No sooner had I sat down on the seat, I hear, "MOMMY! WHERE ARE YOU?"

I reply, "I'm in the bathroom! Be right there!"
She yells back, "But Mommy! I need to tell you something!"
I yell: "Okay! Be right there!"
"BUT I NEED TO TELL YOU SOMETHING!" Enter hysterical crying here. I was gone for less than a minute and she was hysterical.

I finish up on the potty and wash my hands and go back downstairs and she is just wailing. I give her a hug and ask her what she needed to tell me.

"I'll tell you TOMORROW. LEAVE ME ALONE." she yells.

So I back off and give her some room. She calms down. Silence for a few minutes. Then...

"Mommy, did you know Rainbow Jack can fly?" I assured her that I did.

"Now that you're calm, do you want to tell me what you wanted to say a minute ago?"

"I just did!"

Oh, the priorities of a three year old. Gone for less than a minute, and I missed something incredibly important.

Wordless Wednesday: YUM! Ice Cream!

2012-02-01T10:15:00.000-05:00

From my camera phone, taken at a local ice cream shop this past weekend :)

A Boston Update

2012-01-30T11:40:00.000-05:00

Well, we've been in Boston just over a week now and all is going better than expected. We are almost fully unpacked, and later this week our new couch is being delivered. I think at that point, we'll be fully moved in and settled.

Angelica started in her new pre-k program and is loving it. She adjusted really quickly. The first day we dropped her off, we took the tour to find out where everything goes and how her day will be scheduled but when I asked her if she wanted us to hang out, she said "Nope! You can go now!" Her teachers said she's been having a great time and she's one of the most polite three year olds they've ever met. That makes me proud. I know we've worked hard to instill good manners, and they definitely reinforced that at the daycare she was at in Florida.

I was talking with a fellow mom at church this weekend, and she works as a guidance counselor and she clued me in that Boston schools don't work like Florida's do. In Florida, you basically are assigned a district, and your child automatically goes to the school assigned to that district. In Boston, there are zones, several schools in that zone, and you have to pick a school in that zone for your child to go to...however, in order to increase your odds of getting a spot in your school of choice, you have to sign your four year old up for K-1, which is prekindergarten but in a public school. That's actually GREAT news because it's free, except for after school care. So that's my task for the week -- especially since registration ends this Friday!

On the job front -- Scott is LOVING his new job, and it makes me so happy. It's a lot less stressful when I know he'll be home at 6pm instead of "maybe" around 7 or 7:30. I had a great interview last Friday so I've got my fingers and toes crossed. I'm working on contract for the company I worked for back in Florida, and enjoying that, but I know it will come to an end so I'm trying to be as proactive as possible.

The weather has been good. There was about 3 inches of snow the day we landed, but then the temperature got up to the mid 50s a couple of days later and it all melted. I went for a run one evening last week and it snowed very lightly while I was out but it was warm enough that none of it stuck.

Finally, last weekend Scott's sister Shannon and her boyfriend Steve came up from Connecticut for a visit and we took the T into the city and went to Faneuil Hall/Quincy Market. The geeks in us were drawn to Newbury Comics, which was awesome, and we ate in the Quincy Market Colonnade. Angelica just loved taking the "orange train" to and from the city, and it was a lot of fun. We'd have stayed a lot longer if she hadn't gotten too tired.

Here are a few pictures just from around the house from the past week. You'll probably notice a theme. Angelica has never lived somewhere with stairs before, so they're an obsession for her.

Wordless Wednesday: SNOW!

2012-01-25T09:30:00.000-05:00

We're still getting settled up here in Boston, but here are some pictures from my phone of our first few days here.

This was on the plane. While we were getting ready for takeoff, she got a little nervous and asked to hold my hand. Once we were in the air, she was totally relaxed and excited about the flight. She was SO well behaved on the plane, too...she sat and watched her movie (The Lion King) and drank her juice and kept quiet. I was so proud of her.

This was right after we arrived...we were about to get in the car. Angelica was fascinated by the snow. While we walked to the car, she just kept touching the snow and squealing with delight.

Angelica making her first snowball.

The view from my back door. Somewhere down there are steps and a brick patio...

The original setup for Angelica's new room. We got this bed because we thought it would be fun for her to have a little "fort" to play in underneath the bed. Unfortunately, she thought the loft was too scary, so we flipped the bed over so the bed part is on the floor. Maybe when she's older...

My child is sneaky.

2012-01-17T09:59:00.001-05:00

Last night I was babysitting my niece and nephew (ages 3 and 5, respectively) and Angelica was at the house with me. My sister's family just moved and their house is all in boxes, and right in the middle of the room was a box with a bowl full of candy in it. Of course, children ages 3-5 are drawn to candy like moths to a flame and somehow unearthed the box and proceeded to dig in before the parents realized what was happening.

So, of course, after noticing they had eaten about ten pieces of candy each, we took the bowl away. Somehow, they had a stash.

I was making dinner for the kids, and it got quiet. Too quiet. So I went looking for the kids and I heard some whispers and giggles coming from behind an open door.

I peered around the door, and what did I find? Three little ones, giggling, hiding, and secretly opening up their hidden candy stash. All three looked up at me with their candy hidden in their hands behind their backs. Angelica said, "Mommy, go away!"

Oh, those sneaky, sneaky kids...

Good news!

2012-01-05T15:48:00.000-05:00

I've been absent from blogging for a bit...a bit more than I'd like. The holidays came and went (and I promise I WILL get pictures posted) but the main reason for my absence has nothing to do with the holiday season.

In early December, we got some fantastic news. Some unexpected news. Some news that I'm still giddy about, nervous about, excited about and scared about.

Can you guess what it is?

I'll bet you thought I was going to say that we're expecting. Well, we are! Just...not a baby.

We're expecting a BIG move to Boston, MA!
(For those not in the know, we're currently residents of Central Florida.)

Back in October, on a whim, Scott applied for a job with a company that makes one of his favorite games (he has worked in the video game industry for about 11 years), thinking he'd never actually hear back from them. Fast forward a month and a half and he's been granted an irresistible job offer. He starts on Monday, and Angelica and I will be joining him later this month! I've had a few very exciting job interviews as well, so I'm not anticipating it will take me long to find a job up there as well. I'm very fortunate and grateful that in the meantime that my boss is allowing me to telecommute.

So, our holidays were filled with a bit of holiday joy, and a LOT of packing up stuff in boxes, cleaning, selling/donating items we no longer need, and making all sorts of other preparations for the transition.

I guess it's safe to say 2012 is going to bring a lot of change our way.

(Speaking of change, check out my 2012 project -- The VegMom Blog! I'll be blogging weekly recipes and weight loss updates there.)

Review: Moon Dough Truly Is New and Improved!

2011-12-12T23:39:00.003-05:00

Angelica and I have been fans of Moon Dough ever since she received her first Moon Dough kit for Christmas last year. It truly is a fun alternative to Playdoh, and I loved how it conformed so well to the molds that came with it. Angelica felt the same. She'd ask to play with it almost every day!

The original Moon Dough formula was not without its drawbacks, though. It was crumbly, so even though it never dried out, bit by bit, it disintegrated until there was none left. I would find it in random places in the carpet, and though it was easy to vacuum out, eventually that whole first Moon Dough packet was gone.

Team Mom recently sent me the new Moon Dough Push-n-Pop Ocean Pals kit for Angelica to try out! It features the brand new Moon Dough formula, as well as the new push and pop molds. Just like the old formula, it never dries out, it's wheat free and hypo-allergenic, but I found that this new formula truly doesn't crumble the way the old one did. In fact, three months later, we still have the original Moon Dough that came with the Ocean Pals kit!

Angelica enjoyed it just as much as she did the old Moon Dough. Here she is, playing with her new push-n-pop Ocean Pals!

Moon Dough is also quite affordable -- you can find the kits at retail stores like Target, Walmart, and online at Amazon.com for $10-$20, depending on the size of the kit. Refills for the actual dough run $6-$10, depending on where you buy. This might make a fun and unique Christmas gift for the little ones on your list!

Disclosure: I received a product free of charge for purposes of review but was not financially compensated for this review in any way. All content in this article is my opinion and has not been influenced by the gift of a product or other monetary compensation. Thanks to Team Mom for providing the review sample!

Mommy, tell me about Baby Angelica

2011-12-07T22:05:00.001-05:00

The past couple of weeks, Angelica has been very interested in how she was as a baby. One night, she asked me to read a book that was a favorite of hers before she even turned a year old, and I mentioned how she loved that book as a baby, and she loved it so much that her first copy got worn out and I had to buy a replacement.

(For reference, that book was Baby Einstein's Touch and Feel Baby Animals. Angelica now calls it "the fuzzy book".)

Ever since telling her that story, she will pull it off the shelf and tell me, "When I was a baby, I loved the fuzzy book, and then it broke and you had to buy me a new one and then I was a big girl!"

So this story about a book has turned into her asking me to tell her a story about Baby Angelica almost every night. She absolutely loves to hear about the sweet and silly things she did as a baby, and looking at it from an adult perspective, I feel like it gives her a real sense of who she is and how she became the amazing kid she is now.

Tonight she asked to see a picture of Baby Angelica, so I showed her the hospital photos we had done, and she asked what dress she was wearing. That dress still hangs in her closet, so I took it out and showed her. She said, "Ooh...how small! That wouldn't fit me now!" And I replied with, "Would you believe when we took that picture, this dress was too big?"

I also practically had her in tears from laughing so hard about some of the things she did as a baby. For example, when she was first learning how to talk, she would pick up one our cell phones, hold it up to her ear and say, "Hello? Chip? Wassup? Goodbye!"

As I was rubbing her back, she was quiet and still, and I thought she was asleep. Then, out of nowhere, she busts out laughing! She had started to drift off and then remembered what I'd told her about the phones, and she just couldn't stop laughing. It was kind of amazing.

But, wasn't it just yesterday that she WAS Baby Angelica? It feels like yesterday she was, and now I'm telling stories about that baby to BIG girl Angelica. Kind of surreal.

Thanksgiving 2011 Photos

2011-11-30T22:34:00.001-05:00

Since I already wrote a long recap of the Thanksgiving holiday, here are some photos to illustrate the fun we had that day!

Playing baseball in her pretty dress

My friend Amber captioned this one, "Come at me, bro!" Even in a frilly dress and tights and girly boots, she still kicks butt!

Sneaky...

"Reading" Curious George to Aunt Tarah

Playing with Grandma Tammy's Great Dane, Brandi

"Helping" in the kitchen

Hanging out with Grandpa Joe

Riding a "horsey"

Hanging out with Grandma Tammy

Pretending to nap by the pool

Patiently waiting for dinner

Post-dinner nap

Snuggles with Great Grandma June

Second Dinner!

Wordless Wednesday: ICE!

2011-11-30T00:00:00.000-05:00

We went to ICE! with LeeAnn, Brian, Rylie and Bryce a couple of weekends ago. It was our first time going and it was fun. Honestly, I probably won't go back until Angelica's a little older, because she'll appreciate it more then...she thought we were going ice skating and was very disappointed when we weren't. She did, however, enjoy the ice slides. And then she was too cold, and tired, and hungry, so we left.

Waiting to go in...

Photo of all of us in our ICE! coats.

Angelica & Rylie with Puss In Boots

Angelica is SO COLD.

Angelica and Daddy going down the ice slide. She and I went on them together after this.

So fun!

Thanksgiving 2011 Recap

2011-11-29T10:46:00.001-05:00

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

I'm going to break this post out by days, just for the sake of readability, because it might get long!

Thanksgiving Day:

Angelica's fourth (!) Thanksgiving was wonderful. We got to see both sides of the family, which was really, really great. We had breakfast at Perkins with Stefanie & Will and the kids, and my parents. All three kids had rainbow pancakes. I did take one camera phone picture of Angelica eating pancakes, because let's face it, any time this kid eats something, it's a miracle...

Angelica eating rainbow pancakes. Crappy quality, but it's an Android pic. Deal.

Afterward, we had to go home and bathe her because she was covered in syrup. Seriously. It was like she decided to take a bath in syrup. It was all in her hair. Thankfully, I had the foresight to not put her in her cute dress for breakfast.

For the actual Thanksgiving dinner, we drove up to Palm Coast to visit with Scott's family. His parents drove down from Connecticut, his Aunt and Uncle flew in from Minnesota, and his grandmother flew down from Ohio. Our dinner gathering consisted of all of them, the three of us, his sister Tarah, who drove down from Jacksonville, his grandfather, and a couple of his grandparents good friends.

Since I'm a vegetarian (though I did eat a piece of turkey this year), I made the veggie dishes -- sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, homemade cranberry sauce (which sadly did not come out nearly as well as it did last year), spinach & artichoke dip for an appetizer, and pumpkin pie for dessert. Scott's mom and grandma made the turkey, stuffing, corn, veggie casserole, salad, mashed potatoes, and more. We all ate a good meal and then enjoyed some cake and pie. Even Angelica ate some food! She kept proclaiming, "I LIKE turkey now!"

After dinner, Angelica relaxed with some cartoons while the adults cleaned and then gathered for a rousing game of Trivial Pursuit. Scott won, of course. And then we made the "long trek home" (it's less than an hour).

Black Friday:

For those wondering, we did NOT go shopping early on Black Friday. We spent our morning doing this instead. (Another camera phone picture.)

Dora the Explorer fishing (crystal) game.

Angelica and I went out shopping for ornaments for the tree late in the evening (around 6pm). The crowds were nonexistent at that point. I let her pick a few from Target for the tree. The ornaments she chose included: purple snowflakes, a purple dress, a purple tiara, and a purple "tippy shoe". (She wanted two of them but I snuck one back on the shelf...we didn't need two of those!) She also almost picked a purple guitar. Are we seeing a theme here? :)

Saturday:

We kept things pretty quiet for the rest of the weekend, but Saturday, I learned of a new skill Angelica had achieved! Those of you who have been reading for awhile probably remember that Angelica used to be terrified of swings. Even as a baby, she didn't much care for her baby swing, never liked swings at the playground, and in fact, up until Easter Sunday, she would only sit on them for a few seconds, and God help you if you tried to push her. After that she grew to LOVE swings, but obviously needed to be pushed.

So, Saturday morning, she ran out the door and hopped on a swing, and then asked me to push her. Well, I pushed her once, and then she yelled, "No! Stop! I can do it by myself!" And lo and behold, she pumped her legs and arms and was able to swing all by herself! She just needs a little push to get going and then she can swing herself. And, when she's done, she can stop herself too! I was really proud of her :)

The rest of Saturday was low-key. We went to lunch, picked up a few things we needed at Target and then hung out with my sister's family so the kids could play. We grabbed dinner with them, and by the time we were done, it was time for bath and bedtime so we headed home.

Sunday:

We had a very typical Sunday, aside from not having any RE classes. (Not sure if I mentioned before, but Scott and I teach the preschool religious education at church now...it's like the UU version of Sunday School. It's a lot of fun!) After church, we went over for social hour and Angelica made a new friend, so we wound up hanging out with the parents in the courtyard for an extra hour while the girls played.

The rest of the day consisted of grocery shopping and chores, so nothing fun to add there. :)

I'll do another post later with photos from Thanksgiving...the good ones are still sitting on my camera!

Wordless Wednesday - Vintage Thanksgiving

2011-11-23T14:18:00.001-05:00

This was from Angelica's first Thanksgiving! I can't believe this year will be her FOURTH! I remember this day like it was yesterday. Man, how time flies!

Her empty Thanksgiving plate. Real sweet potatoes and her FIRST time having meat - jarred turkey :)

This is how her onesie looked after dinner :)

Wordless Wednesday - Pumpkin Patch, Trip #2

2011-11-09T11:22:00.000-05:00

(I know I left everyone hanging on the last blog post. Surgery went just fine! They got all of the skin cancer, and I'm healing nicely. I'll probably have a small scar, but honestly, when I first took the bandage off and saw how everything turned out, I was really surprised at how "nice" it looked. I was expecting gore and carnage but it actually looks like it will heal nicely. And very little pain, too. I've only taken Tylenol twice since the surgery. Hooray for modern medicine!)

This week's Wordless Wednesday is from the trip we took to the pumpkin patch with my niece and nephew. I LOVE these kids! I took a ton of pictures (and I mean, a TON), but these four are my favorites.

What's up and what's going on...

2011-11-03T21:24:00.000-04:00

So, some explanation for the absence that took me away from my regular blogging!

Back in late August/September I had some health issues, and without going too far into the details and giving a play-by-play, I finally got a resolution. But for the better part of two months, I was sick, and fraught with anxiety and panic attacks (part of the issues I was having was related to my anxiety disorder, which is now under control again) but now I'm back to my regularly scheduled life, already in progress.

What a roller coaster that was, though. I could barely function, and went without sleep for nearly three weeks. And by "without sleep", I mean, I was getting more sleep when Angelica was a newborn. The first night I got a decent night's sleep I woke up feeling like a new person, and thankfully I've been sleeping just fine every since that.

Having gotten the anxiety and other health issues under control (which thankfully turned out to be a big nothing), I went to the dermatologist for a check-up. I had one particular "spot" on my chest I was concerned about being skin cancer, and while I was there, I thought...eh, might as well have her look at these two other things (which I really thought were just scars) on my nose.

The spot on my chest was fine. Spot #1 on my nose was fine. The other? Well, it turned out to be skin cancer. Basal cell carcinoma, to be specific.

Hi folks, meet my cancer. It's that little spot you MIGHT see on the side of my nose there. And this is my attempt at a bad-ass face.

Imagine that, a pale-skinned, freckled, red-headed chick who has lived in Florida her whole life getting skin cancer! I mean, what are the odds? (Sense the sarcasm, friends.) Truth be told, my mom was very strict about making sure I wore sunscreen as a kid, and I always have been as an adult. I can count on one hand the number of times I've had a sunburn. (And I know without a doubt which one of those times was what caused it...thanks, Warped Tour 2000...)

I guess pale-faced redhead trumps SPF30.

The long and short of it is that it's nothing to worry about. I'm going in for surgery tomorrow to have it removed, and the procedure they use to do it has a 95-99% success rate. Meaning, I will go home tomorrow after the surgery cancer-free, and it has about a 1-5% chance of recurring.

And even if it does come back, it's not life or death. This kind of cancer doesn't metastasize, so it won't kill me. It might just make my nose ugly. I'll take that over death!

So what prompted me to get that particular spot looked at? Honestly, I'm not sure. I hadn't even thought twice about it until the morning of the appointment I'd made to get the spot on my chest looked at. I never in a million years would have thought the spot on my nose was cancer. I just thought it was an annoying blackhead that kept coming back. It was just slightly larger than a normal blackhead, and I really just wanted it to go away, so I figured the doc would prescribe a cream.

Upon examining me, she looked at the spot on my chest and said, "Nope, that's fine." (was just an irritation), looked at nose spot #1, "nope, that's fine." (was just scar tissue) and when she got to (what I didn't know was) the cancer spot, she paused, and said, "Oh. (long pause) Yep. Let's biopsy that."

In my head I was all, "WTF? REALLY?" But I'm glad I asked. Even if it's not life-threatening, it's good to deal with it now before it gets worse (and the disfigurement to remove it would then be worse as well).

So, all in all, it sucks, it's annoying, but I'll live and that's what really matters. And I'll take my battle scars as they come.

Giveaway Roundup 11.2.11

2011-11-02T10:44:00.002-04:00

The holiday season is upon us! With Thanksgiving just a few short weeks away, I'm back in the swing of entering my fellow blogger's giveaways. I won some fantastic gifts for Angelica last year and I'm hoping to do so again this year!

So here is a quick rundown of some of the fantastic things I'm hoping to win. I'm sharing these so that even if I don't win, maybe one of my awesome readers will!

First, my good friends LeeAnn and Colleen are co-hosting a Countdown to Black Friday giveaway throughout November! I just entered their first two giveaways -- LeeAnn (of the Life of Rylie...and Bryce Too!) is giving away an awesome KitchenAid 13-cup Food Processor, and Colleen (of Shibley Smiles) is giving away a KitchenAid 7-quart Stand Mixer! Both would be GREAT for cooking a Christmas meal!

Next, One Savvy Mom is giving away an XBox 360, complete with Kinect Sensor and Sesame Street: Once Upon a Monster game. I know Angelica would LOVE to win this!
She's also giving away three different types of the Amazon Kindle! You could win a Kindle Fire, Kindle Touch, or regular Kindle!
Check back as I add more to this list. Happy giveaway season!

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T09:39:00.000-04:00

Happy Halloween everybody! We just wrapped up a SUPER fun weekend of Halloween festivities! I haven't finished going through ALL of the photos yet -- missing from this are a few snapshots of Angelica "helping" me carve her first pumpkin, and the trip we took to the pumpkin patch with Willy and Anna, but these photos are a start!

First, Angelica in her purple kitty costume, made by my mom. She's been talking about being a purple kitty for Halloween since MARCH! These were taken at our church's Halloween party. They really did a great job. We had a pot luck dinner, and the high school youth group did a fantastic haunted house -- which scared Angelica too much so Scott took her out. I went through though, with a couple of seven year olds who clung to me with fright and then ran screaming from the place after the last room.

At the end they did a "trick or treat", where each kid who was dressed up got to say their name, what they are, and then go through a line of people around the courtyard to get some treats. She got candy and toys, but she was most fascinated by a butterfly stamp that was in one of the treat bags. She was also very excited that her daddy got to be one of the candy givers!

Angelica, the purple kitty.

Acting like a cat :)

A ghost statue, just her size. She kept hugging and kissing it.


This is Katye, one of the girls who works in the church nursery. Angelica <3s her!

Anyway, here's some pictures of Angelica having fun at the church party!

This second set is from our friends Julie and Scott's Halloween party. Their little boy, Jake, who is just as cute as can be, has been in the nursery with Angelica at church for the past year or so. Angelica decided to break out the princess costume for this party (though she will be trick or treating as the purple kitty.

Pushing a baby monkey (Eli) in the swing

Swinging princess!

Baseball princess!

Showing her boyfriend Aidan how to mow the lawn.

More baseball princess.

Tonight we'll be trick or treating with Willy and Anna! I should have more photos of that tomorrow. Have a safe and happy Halloween!

(Not So) Wordless Wednesday - Pumpkin Patch 2011

2011-10-25T23:00:00.000-04:00

This past weekend we made our annual trip to the pumpkin patch! The pumpkin patch we went to had a fall festival going on that day, and we met up that afternoon before the festival started so that Angelica and Rylie could play and we could get some photos taken. I took over 400 (!) pictures while we were there...here's a sampling of the fun we had!

Next week I'll resume the 365 days of Angelica series (Yep! I have kept up with it this long, might as well finish out the year!)

You can also see more of the awesome time we had over at LeeAnn's blog, The Life of Rylie...and Bryce Too!

Our previous pumpkin patch visits:
2008 Pumpkin Patch
~~2009 Pumpkin Patch~~ (I apparently didn't blog about the 2009 trip!)
2010 Pumpkin Patch

#Win a Britax Marathon Car Seat!

2011-10-24T11:16:00.002-04:00

I know I've been MIA from blogging for awhile...I promise some new posts are coming! Things are finally settling down (just in time to get started on another crazy holiday season) and I'm really looking forward to sharing what we've been up to! (And nope, nobody's pregnant!)

In the mean time, make sure you check out an AWESOME giveaway that my friend LeeAnn over at The Life of Rylie...and Bryce Too! is hosting! She's giving away a Britax Marathon car seat!

Save 50% at Whole Foods with Living Social! $20 of groceries for $10!

2011-09-13T10:52:00.005-04:00

I don't usually post deals, but THIS one was too good to pass up! It made the rounds of my Facebook feed today and I'm so glad it did!

Living Social has a deal today where you can get $20 of groceries at Whole Foods for $10 today only! That's a 50% savings!

More winners!

2011-09-13T10:33:00.005-04:00

Here are the two latest lucky winners!

Saline Soothers giveaway winner:

Joseph Allen Designs giveaway winner:

Thanks to all who entered!

Disinfect Your World with the Pocket Purifier #review #giveaway

2011-09-13T10:00:00.002-04:00

It's that time of year -- cold and flu season is right around the corner. I don't know about you, but in our house, between colds and allergies, it seems like we've been fighting off something since the beginning of summer. I'm sure having a three year old in daycare doesn't help the situation either!

I'll be getting in line very soon to get flu shots for all of us. I got one this past season, but Scott didn't and he caught the flu and it was NOT a fun time for any of us. This year, in addition to the flu shots, I've also got the Pocket Purifier!

The Pocket Purifier is a GREAT way to eliminate germs without harsh chemicals. It's a battery--operated, handheld device which uses a UV bulb to kill germs on surfaces (though not on skin -- please don't use this on your hands or body). In only 15 seconds, your countertops and other surfaces can be rendered germ free.

The Pocket Purifier is really easy to use. The light on the side of the Pocket Purifier is the UV bulb. Just hold it over the surface for 10-15 seconds and germs are gone.

The Pocket Purifier also comes with a handy flashlight on the front of it, so it's a really handy and versatile item to carry in your pocket or purse.

The Pocket Purifier can be purchased from www.purelyproducts.com for $11.99, but one lucky reader of Angelica's Awesome Adventures can WIN a Pocket Purifier!

It's REALLY easy to enter!
MANDATORY ENTRY: Comment and tell me why you want to win!
Bonus entry: (can be done after the mandatory entry) Like Purely Products on Facebook and comment letting me know you did.

Please leave your email address in your comment or make sure it is visible in your profile!

Contest ends on September 27, 2011 AT 9 PM EST. Open to US Residents only and the prize cannot be mailed to a P.O. Box. Winner will be chosen by random.org and contacted via email. Winner must respond within 48 hours of the email being sent or another winner will be selected. (Please make sure you check your spam and junk folders frequently to make sure you don't miss out!)

Disclosure: I received a product free of charge for purposes of review but was not financially compensated for this review in any way. All content in this article is my opinion and has not been influenced by the gift of a product or other monetary compensation. Thanks to Purely Products for providing the review sample and giveaway prize!

Wordless Wednedsay - 365 Days of Angelica - Aug. 31 - Sept. 6

2011-09-07T00:48:00.000-04:00

(Thanks to all who participated in my Wordless Wednesday linky -- I have decided to discontinue it for the time being, but will keep bringing you weekly posts.)

August 31, 2011

September 1, 2011

September 2, 2011 - goofy dad and silly girl with chocolate milk on her face

September 3, 2011

September 4, 2011

September 5, 2011

September 6, 2011

Got Toys? Thursday Toy Giveaway Link-Up, 9/1 {Linky}

2011-09-01T07:00:00.000-04:00

Welcome to the Got Toys? Thursday Giveaway Link-Up!

This link-up is designed to promote your giveaways for children's toys and products! When I'm searching around the blogosphere for giveaways, I love having the chance to win something for my daughter to play with -- and she loves getting new toys! If you're running a family-friendly giveaway, especially for anything related to children's products -- toys, clothes, feeding products, gift certificates for places that sell children's products -- link them up!!

Chances are, if you add your giveaway here, you'll get at least one entry -- from me! (If I haven't already entered!)

I'd also love it if you followed me on Google Friend Connect, Twitter, or Facebook to be reminded when this goes live each week. (This is not mandatory, just a suggestion!)

Aside from that, feel free to link up as many as you have! Oh, and enter some too!

PLEASE NOTE: Because this is a giveaway linky for children's products, any non-family friendly giveaways will be removed from the linky (this includes Eden's Fantasy and Pure Romance). This linky isn't for THAT kind of toys, my friends!

Thanks for playing! Good luck with your giveaways!

Wordless Wednesday: 365 Days of Angelica August 24 - August 30 {Linky}

2011-08-30T23:03:00.000-04:00

August 24, 2011

August 25, 2011

August 26, 2011

August 27, 2011

August 28, 2011

August 29, 2011

August 30, 2011

(Days you may have missed: 365 Days of Angelica project.)