When I starting planning our recent trip to Disney World, I was excited about using the Park Hoppers to bounce from Magic Kingdom to Epcot to Hollywood Studios to Animal Kingdom. You know, the four biggies. Since it was our first family trip to Disney, I didn’t want to visit the water parks for fear of missing out on as much non-water-park fun as possible.

After a few days though, I realized that my kids (and us parents) needed a break from the heat, the constant walking and the stroller pushing. We wanted to RELAX. And so we set our sights on Blizzard Beach.

From the pictures online, Blizzard Beach looked like SO MUCH FUN! After all, the water park looks like a snowy ski lodge. Boy, was I right! This water park turned out being one of our favorite parts of the entire trip.

True to the Disney way, every bit of the water park decor made it look like we were at a ski lodge. The decor gave off an icy feel that made you feel cooler just by the sight of “snow,” even if it was 80 degrees outside.

Once we got settled after getting our locker and putting on sunscreen, we took the chair lift up to the top of the park to ride Teamboat Springs, a raft ride in which we could all ride together in one raft! That’s a way to kick off, isn’t it? The kids screamed and giggled the entire way down.

The park has something for everyone: Tike’s Peak (for those 48 inches and shorter), Ski Patrol Training Camp (kids and tweens), the Melt Away Bay wave pool and Summit Plummet (one of the tallest freefall slides in the world- just click that link to see that drop and you’ll believe it).

I actually thought we’d spend time at Tike’s Peak but it was too small for our kids (6 and 3). Well, our youngest liked it but our oldest wanted more. If you have younger kids, the slides in that area are PERFECT for little ones and some are even small enough for older babies.

We spent a LOT of time in the Training Camp area. In the pictures below you see some of the attractions. Both of my kids did the tubes by themselves and went down the straight slide called Snow Falls a bunch of times.

After days of Big Roo being a little scared of the rides at the other parks (How fast is this ride? Is it like Space Mountain?), his fear actually melted away (melted- hahaha) at this park. He beamed with pride at every ride he did and left trepidation at the water park entrance.

Big Roo even tried the Thin Ice Training Course… and he didn’t even fall in! He was barely tall enough to hold the ropes though so next time I bet he’ll whizz through it.

It’s hard to get a lot of pictures at this park because you just don’t want to risk your phone or camera getting soaked (note to self: next time bring a water camera). But I had a “my boys are growing up” moment at Blizzard Beach.

Two of the slides, Toboggan Racers and Snow Stormers, involve laying stomach-down on a sled-type mat. Think purple yoga mat curled in the front with two handles (click on the Toboggan link to see what I mean since I didn’t get a picture). Both kids were interested in going down the slides. But my little guy? He’s so tiny! He’s three years old but weighs less than 30 lbs. As we waited in line, I got nervous for the first time all week! I asked TWO cast members if he was tall enough and they ensured me he was.

Begrudgingly, I stood at the top and helped Little Roo get on his belly into position.

“Are you sure, little man?”

“Yeah!”

And with a little push, off he went!

I couldn’t believe how little fear he had. After I got down myself, I helped him up. It did scare him a little afterwards but not enough to do the other slide similar to this! He kept talking about doing them again and again.

I would totally, completely, absolutely recommend visiting Blizzard Beach! We got there early morning and stayed until mid-afternoon, giving us plenty of time to rest then hit another park for dinner, more rides and fireworks. Just remember to bring your own towels unless you want to rent them ($2 a piece).

I can tell you that Blizzard Beach will be on our must-do list next time we visit Disney World. With so much variety from the relaxing to the adventurous, you can find something all members of your family will love. (And if you go down Summit Plummet, let me know how it was. I totally wanted to but ran out of time.)

Have you ever been to Blizzard Beach?

Disclosure: I attended the Disney Social Media Moms Conference and received discounted rates and tickets to various events and attractions. Any opinions are entirely my own.

The post Surprise Delight: Blizzard Beach at Disney World appeared first on Adventuroo.com.

A couple of years ago, my oldest kid Noah started asking how far Disney World was. Even though I had never mentioned Disney World before, he learned about this far away place from preschool and friends. While he’d seen Disney movies and shows, we’d never talked about Disney World before as I didn’t want to mention it until we were ready for a trip. Since Ethan our youngest turned two, Disney World has been on our family to-do list. And this year, we felt our kids were the perfect age to go and actually enjoy it (ages 6 and 3). So when I got invited to the Disney Social Media Mom Celebration, I flipped because I knew they’d get to experience Disney even sooner than I had hoped!

We flew into Orlando on May 9 and spent almost an entire week hopping from park to park. On the one day that us bloggers had our conference, the kids and Daddy Roo headed to Animal Kingdom. The rest of the time we enjoyed the parks together (and sometimes with friends who were also there for the conference). Here are some memory-making moments during our trip.

Magic Kingdom

When I pictured going to Disney World, my first vision was of the kids seeing Cinderella’s castle for the first time. They’ve never actually seen the movie, but they know the castle. After all, its image emblazons the beginning of every Disney movie we know. They were totally excited to see it, so much so Ethan couldn’t stop looking at it!

Before the conference’s welcome reception, we squeezed in a few hours at the Magic Kingdom, living up every few seconds.

During our stay in Disney, we ended up at the Magic Kingdom three times, giving us a chance to do so many things like ride the Astro Orbiter, zoom on the Tomorrowland Speedway and take a dip Under the Sea.

We wore the kids OUT every day! Sometimes that was good (easy to get to sleep) but other times not so good (meltdowns at the park). Nevertheless we took it in stride and keep them hydrated and fed.

Hollywood Studios

Hollywood Studios is all about action, and action we saw! I don’t think the kids really knew what I meant about “stunt show” until we sat down to watch Lights Motor Action (we had actually dined on the set a couple of nights before). The look on their faces when they saw Lightning McQueen ACTUALLY DRIVING was priceless. That’s their favorite Disney movie so to see it come to life was Disney magic in action.

While we didn’t get to do the Jedi training, we did watch it. The kids couldn’t believe they were actually seeing Darth Vader. (Neither could I.) And after we enjoyed the ever-popular Toy Story Mania ride (twice), a green army man got the kids marching with him. His costume was AWESOME.

Every thing was action-packed. Even the stuff they thought they wouldn’t like. They had fits about going into the Muppet*Vision 3D. “It will be boooooring.” Guess what? They laughed, smiled and BEGGED to do it again.

For souvenirs at Hollywood Studios, they even got to make their own light sabers. Side note: Did you notice the two souvenirs we bought the kids were weapons? Swords and sabers. Why do we do that to ourselves?

Epcot

We sort of did Epcot in spurts like Magic Kingdom. While many of the rides were for kids taller than Ethan, there’s plenty to do and explore in Epcot for kids of all ages. The both liked Captain EO (even though they were skeptical) and they begged to do Journey into Imagination again. I thought they might be bored with the ride inside the Epcot ball (Spaceship Earth) but man oh man, that was all they talked about!

Noah kept hearing all about Test Track but we knew the lines would be bad so we used the morning Extra Magic Hours and went straight to the ride to get a Fast Pass. It ended up being one of his favorites and he had a blast designing his own car.

What a great time of year to come to Epcot too. The International Flower and Garden Festival happens at Epcot every year around this time so an already magical place becomes downright gorgeous with colorful flowers and creative topiaries everywhere (though remind me to clean off my lens next time or at least photoshop the smudges out of the sky).

I smiled so much at Disney watching the kids enjoy the magic. The temper tantrums and meltdowns are worth the looks of their faces and the joy in their laughs. You guys. I can’t explain to you the magic these kids felt at Disney World (although if you’ve been, I’m sure you know). They were in awe of all that surrounded them. I can only imagine what they dreamed of.

Disclosure: I attended the Disney Social Media Moms Conference and received discounted rates and tickets to various events and attractions. Any opinions and magical moments are entirely my own. 

The post Our First Family Trip to Disney World! appeared first on Adventuroo.com.

Hi. Do you remember this blog? And, um, where did the last six months go?

I’m sure by now you’ve pretty much forgotten about my little ole blog. You probably follow Momcomm *cough cough* so you know where I disappeared too these last two seasons.

WRITING A BOOK.

In case you don’t follow me on my other blog Momcomm, I’ve spent the last eight months writing Blog Design for Dummies!

During the writing of this beast of a book, holidays have passed, major life events happened, and news broke:

• My car accident (totalled my beloved XTerra)
• Lots of car shopping (got a 2010 Mazda CX-9)
• Big Roo learned to read
• Thanksgiving
• My birthday
• One year anniversary of my father’s death
• Sandy Hook tragedy
• Hubby’s birthday
• Christmas
• New Years
• My kids’ birthday (and birthday party)
• My Mom’s birthday
• Easter
• Bachelorette party in Annapolis
• Little Roo’s first soccer season
• My one year anniversary at Burt’s Bees
• Boston Marathon tragedy
• My sister’s wedding in Charleston
• Family visits, travels out of town, sick children, sick parents, and on and on and on

So many things… all things I wanted to write about here. I really, really wanted to write about.

But when you work 20 hours a week then shuffle kids back and forth from school, preschool and events, you run out of time to write anything other than your book and an occasional Momcomm post.

I’ve missed having this place to write down my thoughts about things that are happening in our world (and my little world).

I look forward to writing here again. Maybe not every week. But I’m okay with that! I’m just happy to have a place to share my thoughts and experiences.

Of course, as I say this, I’ll actually be MIA for a couple more weeks. I got invited to the Disney Social Media Mom conference and we’re leaving for Disney World Thursday!

I’ll be back to share my kids’ FIRST EVER Disney trip (and my first since college). I’m ready to learn and experience Disney SMM and watch my kids’ eyes light up over and over again!

See ya soon!

The post Oh Yes, Hello, It’s Me appeared first on Adventuroo.com.

And here we are… the final link-up for this year’s Week in My Life. I have some final thoughts below but first, my Sunday!

Sundays are usually sleeping in mornings at our house. We laugh at attempting a 9 am church service. HA HA HA. We shoot for 11 am, which gives us plenty of time to ease into the day. Little Roo woke up at 6:40. Too early for me so I laid on the couch with him and dozed while he watched a show. Big Roo woke up around 7:15 and I hung out with them for a bit then went to back into the bedroom to doze again. Yes, I did. One of the benefits of having a first floor master- I’m a light sleeper in the morning and they are just a few feet away.

Before we got up, Little Roo came into our room and jumped into bed. He proclaimed, “I want to lay with you.” We snuggled then Big Roo joined. I tell you, I’ve never been the co-sleeping type but man do I love snuggly mornings like this. Even if I’m about to fall off the bed. (wish I had gotten pictures)

After we got up, the kids wanted to try the Pumpkin Spice Swirl bread. Luckily they LOVED it. Then they headed over to the playroom to play some Legos.

While we were getting ready, our lab Trajan did his customary lay-on-the-bathroom-floor-and-sleep while one of us is in the shower.

We made it to church and on the way home, Little Roo got mad that Big Roo wouldn’t let him hold the tree he made in Children’s Church. He ended up letting him hold it by the time we got hime.

After lunch, it was time for Little Roo’s nap. Even with his big boy bed, he wanted to nap in brother’s bed. Whatever I say. As long as you’ll nap.

 Once he napped, Daddy Roo went to fixing my lift gate on my XTerra and I took Big Roo to run errands in his car.

While he was whiny at times, it was nice to spend some one-on-one time with him, like getting an Icee and Pumpkin Spice Latte.

Big Roo talks my head off when it’s us two. He’s just so hysterical and random at times. So since I did some Little Roo-isms the other day, here are some of Big Roo’s gems:

(Randomly yelled on the drive to run errands)

“Mom! WHERE did you get those pants?! They are AWESOME!!! I’ve never seen pants like that before.” (then says something about being the coolest pants ever and says emphatically “I want some.” (these are the coolest pants ever)

(Randomly said after we left Target. Note: It was NOT snowing.)

How do you get up after you make a snow angel? (He proceeded to explain that he wondered how you can get up out of a snow angel without messing it up. Random, but good question, kid.)

(After hearing about people dying on NPR. Note to self: change the station.)

I explained that in some countries people fight a lot and sometimes people die. He said it must have been Vikings. “It will be bad if Vikings come to our country.”

Oh this kid! I just love his mind.

Once we got home, we made a family trip to Trader Joe’s, our fave store! Big Roo wore his new shark hat (CUTIE!) and the kids earned their lollipops after finding the squirrel. (It’s a Trader Joe’s thing.)

While Daddy Roo was making dinner, Little Roo and I cut out “mama and baby circles” with my neglected scrapbooking stuff. Look at that face!

We ended the night together watching Daddy Roo take down the crib (we got the mattress about a week ago and are waiting on his bed to arrive). They got a kick out of “sliding” down the crib mattress. You think I’d be sentimental and sad about it but honestly I was tired of the kids jumping from the crib to the twin bed! I was sadder when I started giving my little sister all our baby stuff. We’re done but if you look at my kiddos, you can see I am blessed with two amazing kids.

When I started this post, Big Roo was fast asleep while Little Roo was singing the ABCs and Twinkle, Twinkle as loud as he could. We turned on a movie (the original Aliens) and he yelled “Mom- that was loud!” Haha. We turned it down. He finally drifted off.

Sunday nights are typically when I write a new post for Momcomm but I think tonight I’ll work on my book instead and do that Tuesday. After all I did just do THIS post!

Some thoughts about the week:

• I learn something about myself every time I do this. I think the main practical takeaway this time was that I need to be more organized. I am SO organized in some areas but not in others. I caught up a lot this weekend – on laundry, filing papers, meal planning – so hopefully that will stick into next week and beyond.
• As for the emotional one, I realize how incredibly blessed I am. Is that a trite thing to say? Maybe. But seriously, how could I not look at these pictures and not feel blessed? I learned to slow down a little this week too. Taking pictures takes time. Editing and uploading and blogging takes time. Even with all the extra work, I found myself slowing down to enjoy the days.
• I realized that I am SO GLAD I do this every year. Because these everyday moments are my everyday life. And next year it will look different. And the next. And so on. These everyday moments? We live and breathe them but then…

Time to Link Up (and some Instagram fun!)

Let me see YOUR Sunday (or weekend) and add your post to the mix. After you’re done, if you just can’t get enough of capturing tidbits of your everyday, then join Well Rounded Home’s Instagram It: 30 Days of Thankful. Simply post a pic on Instagram for all of November showing the things you’re thankful for. She gives you some prompt ideas if you get in a rut too. No long blog posts, no uploading pictures. No snap a pic on your phone and Instagram it! More deets on the link above.

Thanks again for being a part of Week in My Life! I’ll try to visit some more posts this week too!

The post Week in My Life 2012: Sunday appeared first on Adventuroo.com.

Are you feeling it yet? The ugh-is-this-thing-OVER-yet feeling? It’s hard enough to document our lives on paper and in pictures, not to mention BLOG about it! I feel ya but hang in there. Trust me, you’ll cherish this stuff forever!

Today was a pretty typical Saturday for us! It was the last game of our soccer season though  so we had cupcakes afterwards… at 10:30 am. Sugar highs for the win!

But backing up, it started off with Cranky Pants I and II this morning. The boys argued about everything. Big Roo egged Little Roo on. Little Roo was just ornery and Daddy Roo and I were trying our best to play peacemakers. And then we realized what time it was– ack! It was almost 7:30 and we needed to be at the fields at 9. We mad dashed to get our showers, feed the kids, burn the bagels (um, that was me), prep water bottles and dig out Big Roo’s soccer uniform from the laundry pile.

We were only 10 minutes late.

Soccer is always fun to watch. Big Roo likes to run fast, run HARD and just have fun. Sometimes he goofs off a little too much but hey I’d rather that than him be mean to other kids. We had some fun chatting with other parents, watching Little Roo find leaves and even joining in part of the game. Even despite the chilliness in the air.

Oh and the time of this game changed the day before due to potential bad weather so I missed Zumba with Erin from A Parenting Production. Bummed but no way would I miss this game!

About an hour after we got home, Little Roo and I were on our way to a preschool class Halloween party. A classmate’s parents threw the little shindig. Daddy Roo and Big Roo went shopping for some pants (hooray for Lands’ End Iron Knee pants!) and to grab some dog food for Trajan.

Little Roo was SO exhausted from running around the soccer fields that he resurrected his cranky pants-ness for the party. At least part of the it. He wanted to play outside even though it was an inside party. He wanted cupcakes even though he hadn’t eaten the pizza bites yet. He complained about this and that. I almost went home but luckily he started enjoying himself.

Of course, once he DID eat some food, he asked for a small brownie for dessert. Ate 1/2 and said he didn’t like it. Asked for a nilla waver with icing on it. Put it in his mouth and decided he didn’t like THAT. We repeated this process for 1 or 2 more things then I said ENOUGH! He ended up with a lollipop and was finally content.

He fell asleep before we even got home. I carried him to his room and he woke up later crying and crying. That’s ALWAYS a sign he wasn’t ready to wake up. He laid on the couch and what do you know? He slept another 2 hours on the couch!

Oooh that sweet sleeping Ranger.

While he was out, I ran to grab a fresh loaf of wheat bread from a bakery. We had a free coupon for joining our school’s PTA and I’ve heard nothing but amazing things! I tried to stop by the Y and sign Big Roo up for swim lessons but missed the front desk closing by 8 minutes. Bah!

I came home and folded Mt. Laundry while Daddy Roo and Big Roo raked up the mass of leaves in our front yard. My, that’s a big rake you have!

We finished the evening with a simple dinner: BBQ chicken from the crock pot and sweet potato fries and onion rings. I couldn’t even bring myself to heat up a frozen veggie.

The whole family snuggled up on the couch and watched two Shrek short movies Scared Shrekless and The Three Diablos. The kids were mesmerized (though Little Roo proclaimed at one point he didn’t like it). His little proper pose is just adorable. I just love hearing Big Roo laugh. He kept laughing but I could only catch a serious shot. Still cute.

I wish I had gotten more pictures today. I went into laundry and organize the house mode and forget to take as many. Tomorrow’s the last day though so we’ll see if I can shape up for the finale!

Time to Link Up!

Let me see YOUR Saturday and add your post to the mix. Tomorrow’s the last day, y’all!

The post Week in My Life 2012: Saturday appeared first on Adventuroo.com.

Welcome to today’s link-up for Week in My Life 2012! The linky is below- just link to your post for Friday and you’re golden! 

This morning was all about Humpty in da house!! I suggested to Big Roo that we have eggs for breakfast in honor of Humpty, which he thought was hilarious. The kids helped break the eggs and I asked Big Roo if he wanted the eggs runny or not. He said no so I said, okay I’ll scramble them.

Of course, he didn’t hear that and got all mad when he saw they were scrambled. I managed to convince him it would be quite yummy to pile them on buttered toast and luckily he agreed.

We got to school and I stayed for the parade. Little Roo waited excitedly and was happy to see Big Roo pass through. His costume got lots of looks and laughs. He, of course, loves the attention.

The morning was work work work. I got a really awesome compliment from my boss as well, which pretty much made my Friday.

 After picking up Little Roo from school, there were two packages on the porch. One was a sweater for Big Roo. The other was this– it’s my signed contract from the publisher! 

Little Roo insisted on opening it. He sat it on the coffee table and said:

Can I write on it?

I said nope. Then he said:

Let’s read it! It’s a book!

Then started turning the pages. If only contracts were that interesting- ha!

Before his nap, he likes to watch a short show or play a game. Lately it’s watching my favorite Caillou (::sarcasm::). I try VERY hard not to work on the computer when the kids are home, minus the occasional checking of this or that. But with me being sick this week, I missed a day of work (3-4 hours’ worth) so there were some things I really had to finish up before the weekend. At least he didn’t seem to mind.

The next two screenshots are starkly different but, nevertheless, are part of my day. On the left, you’ve got weather. Which is completely unimportant compared to the story on the right. It’s a story I read on my phone eating breakfast this morning and it hasn’t left my head all day. Reading about the mother’s screams are enough to give me nightmares tonight. Because not to sound trite, but I can’t wrap my head around that sort of anguish. Instead, all I can do is pray for that family and give my kids extra snuggles today.

After I picked up Big Roo from school, we had to hit the store to grab things to make cupcakes for soccer tomorrow. Instead of hurrying the kids along to get out of the car, I remember that story and paused– letting them be sweet to each other, snuggling and telling each other they loved each other. Sure beats their car fight yesterday.

When we got home, the kids and I made cupcakes. Big Roo took a picture of me pouring the cupcakes.

The rest of tonight included reviewing the editor’s feedback on my Table of Contents for my book (better than expected but that’s probably because my first editor gave me lots of changes to make before we sent it on to the next editor– like 5 hours’ more of work in editing that bad boy). Hooray! Then after bedtime, a quick Target run (I had NOTHING to carry the cupcakes in but trays and foil… not good for being on a soccer field. Finally winding down with more Game of Thrones and I’m about to grab a glass of wine.

I’ll leave you with this shot of our living room from this morning. The kids were watching a show while Daddy and I got ready. I love this shot because it’s not perfect. Trajan’s bog bone and towel in the floor from the night before. Dummies books on the console. Kids’ hamper that we still haven’t brought back upstairs. Pillows in disarray. But yet, it’s life. Real life. Just how I like it.

Here’s to the weekend!

Time to Link Up!

Let me see YOUR Friday and add your post to the mix. Just TWO more days, everyone– you can do it! Also, please leave me a comment if I haven’t commented on your blog yet! I’ve been reading lots and trying to comment on everyone’s at least once. So let me know!

After linking up, get to know one another by visiting some other posts and by using the hashtag #weekinmylife!

The post Week in My Life 2012- Friday appeared first on Adventuroo.com.

Welcome to today’s link-up for Week in My Life 2012! The linky is below- just link to your post for Thursday and you’re golden! 

Thursday was MUCH better. But it definitely wasn’t typical. I didn’t feel 100% in the morning so I decided to work from home instead of go into the office.

The kids were angels this morning. Seriously! They slept in and then both woke up in excellent moods. Big Roo came down first but when we heard Little Roo making noise upstairs, the convo went like this:

Daddy Roo: Are you up?

Little Roo: I’m awake now. I’m in my bed.

Daddy Roo: Do you want to come downstairs.

Little Roo: No. That’s okay.

He proceeded to sing his ABCs for a while before coming downstairs. Cute!

I managed to get the kids off to school and preschool. On Thursdays, Little Roo goes home with a teacher and I pick him up from her house. Tu/Th are the day I typically work from the office for 5 hours. When I picked him up, he wanted his sippy and “my whole world” aka the little globe souvenir a Costa Rican relative bought us. It says Costa Rica on the side and both he and Big Roo call it “the whole world.”

On the way home, we get stuck at a stop light that lasts for at least 5 minutes. So I took it upon myself to capture a typical afternoon in the backseat. They don’t always fight but when they do, it goes a little something like this:

Oooh my boys!

After this we headed home and Big Roo helped me with his “costume” for tomorrow. He has to recite a nursery rhyme and he chose Humpty Dumpty. (see pictures of awesome below).

I went to Zumba and due to my need to exercise (yay!), we ended up eating dinner late (boo). Typically, the kids eat BEFORE Thursday Zumba but they were SO not interested so we waiting. It was around 8:10. Which is past their bedtime!

Sometimes the kids take their shirts off for spaghetti night. It’s cute and less messy. Daddy Roo was teaching Little Roo a thumbs up and Big Roo came over to demonstrate.

Dinner STARTED off sweet. Big Roo wanted to say grace and after doing his little prayer he added “Thanks for the clouds that have rain in them… and everything you make.” I have NO idea where he got that from but it was sooo sweet. But then this happens…

So can you tell me… moms of boys… do your dinners end up with conversations of words like “butt”? Because mine do. Butt-butt and eyeball are my kids’ favorite. I have NO idea the fascination of the word eyeball but it cracks them up. The kids were calling each other “Noah butt-butt” and “Ethan eyeball.” So silly, these kids.

After dinner, Daddy Roo took Little Roo upstairs for a bath while Big Roo and I continued work on his humpty dumpty. Big Roo took this pic.

Daddy Roo pitched in too, drawing and cutting the hands and feet and trimming the brick wall that Big Roo and I did earlier in the day. Our finished project? Looks like this:

BOOM! Big Roo hasn’t seen the finished product yet– he went to bed after he put on Humpty’s hat. This kid is gonna be STOKED.

That’s all I’ve got for today, folks!

Time to Link Up!

Let me see YOUR Thursday and add your post to the mix. Also, we’re over half way done! While it may start getting tedious, try capturing things you haven’t captured yet. If you think of something you’ve been meaning to capture but haven’t yet, then write it down so you don’t forget!

Then get to know one another by visiting some other posts and by using the hashtag #weekinmylife!

The post Week in My Life 2012: Thursday appeared first on Adventuroo.com.

Welcome to today’s link-up for Week in My Life 2012! The linky is below- just link to your post for Wednesday and you’re golden! Don’t forget to use the journaling handouts, everyday kid/parent handouts and daily images (like the one below) to help you along (optional of course).

Oh oh oh Wednesday. I give a big HELL NO to you. If you read yesterday’s evening saga, you’ll know that I mean. Today the sickness continued. Actually Big Roo was fine this morning but since he vomited so late in the evening yesterday I kept him home from school- his first absent day! I wanted to make sure he didn’t get sick after breakfast.

Daddy Roo was laid out with a massive headache, no doubt remnants of yesterday. My stomach was doing flips all morning and I generally felt queasy. Little Roo ended up having explosive diapers so he’s not on the up-and-up either. He actually missed a preschool field trip today– glad he’s too young to really know that because I feel bad about it!

We spent the morning laying around with aches of all sorts. While Big Roo’s tummy hurt (that’s as bad as he got today), I showed him the Toys R Us Big Book of Toys so he could circle things he wanted. I think he stopped at 60-something toys. Ha.

Little Roo wanted to walk around in my shoes. Okay. And that first picture is Little Roo trying to get his sick mama out of bed. While he didn’t say it today, he’ll often stand at the top of the stairs or beside my bed and say: “It’s a beautiful day! Time to get up!” Be still my heart– what 2 year old does that?!

After some up and down out of bed to feed the dog, get Little Roo some milk and so on, Daddy Roo and I curled our sick selves back in bed for a while. The kids joined us and stole our phones so they could play some games. I just love this shot.

I tell ya. Being sick parents with no one nearby to help us is pretty sucky. Luckily, Madagascar 3 saved the morning. Big Roo just LOVES the song Fireworks from Katy Perry– what kid doesn’t? But then he gets embarrassed, laughs and tells me to stop. I love that shot on the bottom right because you can see a smiling Big Roo picture behind him from 2.5 years ago. Little Roo also stayed busy sticking my Post-It flags on himself. Good thing I can use them again.

You know what the WORST part of the day was? THROWING UP AT THE GROCERY STORE. Being that Little Roo couldn’t drive to the store (he’s feeling the best), the task went to the least-sick one… at the time. I took the car shot to show you how THRILLED I was to do so. My stomach hurt so it was going to be a quick in/out for a handful of things. I went to the deli counter and ordered some meat, then looked up at her and said something like “Um, I’m feeling sick. I’ll be right back.”

I pushed the shopping cart as fast as I could and as I whizzed by the produce, I grabbed a produce bag without even slowing down.

Good thing I did. Once I got to the bathroom ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE STORE, I puked in the bag. Then the toilet. UGH.

I felt quite a bit better afterwards so grabbed a few things (including my walk of shame back to the deli counter) and headed home.

We managed to get lunch together but the kids were more interested being on the porch. They were apparently looking for God and arguing about where he was. (nevermind the lack of pants– he’d just pooped on the potty).

In looking for God, Little Roo said he was “right there!” then pointed to the table. He smacks his hand down and said “I smushed Him!” Um, sorry about that God.

Off and on I felt crummy so the kids stayed busy with things like their beloved Beyblades… and opening our mail. As the kids were playing Beyblades, Little Roo said this about Big Roo’s skills (yes I’m using his name!)…

“Noah’s wurning” (that’d be “learning”). “Good job Noah, you’re wurning.”

We finished the evening watching the some Game of Thrones and me writing this post. I’m actually going to bed early tonight (10 am is early for me!). Hoping I feel MUCH better in the morning!

Time to Link Up!

Let me see YOUR Wednesday and add your post to the mix. Then get to know one another by visiting some other posts and by using the hashtag #weekinmylife!

The post Week in My Life 2012: Wednesday appeared first on Adventuroo.com.

Welcome to the Tuesday’s link-up for Week in My Life 2012! The linky is below- just link to your post for Tuesday and you’re golden! Don’t forget to use the journaling handouts, everyday kid/parent handouts and daily images (like the one below) to help you along (optional of course).

Tuesday didn’t start off much better. But it was decent for a while and ended up sucking again by the end (for a reason I didn’t expect).

It started off all right in the very beginning. I got up around 6:30 and was feeling productive. The kids were playing nicely- yesterday a box, today a blanket. The highlight of today was all of Little Roo’s sayings. The kid is 2.5 and talks talks talks. He’s quite hysterical to listen to (I’ll share some in a minute). But to explain the bagel picture… he said he was cold and I said the bagel would warm him up. I turn around to find him touching his face with it saying “it’s warming me up!”

My lack of time this weekend between family and my deadline means we didn’t get some house things done. Which I’m not complaining because I love my family… but I spent 15 minutes trying to match outfits for the kids this morning because they are in laundry basket piles or still dirty. THAT, my friends, is ridiculous. I’m trying to lay out their clothes the night before– it really shouldn’t be that hard– but after Daddy Roo and I clean up the kitchen, pack lunches and see if there are any school things to turn in, I always forget about the clothes.

With that said, we left the house later than I wanted AGAIN but eventually made it to work. I dropped Big Roo off at school then headed towards Little Roo’s preschool. On sunny mornings, I turn come around this curve and I see visible rays of sunshine peeking through the trees. I’m so mesmerized by it every time. It may sound silly, but I feel like it’s my dad saying hello.

On Tuesdays and Thursdays I go into the office and work 9:30/45 – 3 pm. The other three days I work about 3 hours in the morning (20 hours/week total).I forgot to get a picture of the outside of our building but I managed to get a shot as I was leaving the parking garage! At work, I saw a few tweets about the new iPads but  to check my iPhone app to read the deets.

 Getting back from work every other Tuesday is glorious because my house is CLEAN and I didn’t have to do it! See that kitchen? No clutter! Beats the way it looked yesterday. Little Roo likes to stand in front of the pantry in the afternoons and point out things he wants but he can’t have. It’s quite joyous (not really).

Do your kids have favorite sippy cups? Little Roo insists on using certain cups. That picture below is me pouring it into his new favorite cup.

And dinner? I’m the only one who ate my chicken chili for dinner (but I’ll explain why in a sec).

Afternoons are usually time for homework for Big Roo but this week he doesn’t have any since he just tracked back in (year round school). Soooo, he watches a show or two after school. Except today since the Internet was down when he got home. First he whined and asked for my phone. That lasted about 3 minutes then he got bored and wanted to play dominoes. We managed to get through a game before it was time to head to the gym (note to self: time to organize the top of the toy storage units again).

The highlight of my day was supposed to be Zumba at 5:30. Here I am all ready to go!

We got there and I made it through most of class until the most dreaded thing happened.

Someone from the childcare staff came to get me.

Dirty diaper for the little I’m sure. But oh no. It was worse. Big Roo threw up. TWICE. Not sure where it came from honestly! But we got in the car and started heading home. I called Daddy Roo to tell him why we were on our way back so early but his voice sounded kinda low. Why? He just got done throwing up too. WHAT THE HAY?!!

While my poor boys laid around feeling like crud, I tried to make dinner (which as you saw earlier was a bust since I was the only one who ate it). In my attempts to make chili for me and grilled cheese/chicken noodle soup (Campbell’s PRINCESS soup oh yes), Little Roo decided he wanted to climb on my back…

… and then our blind, diabetic dog looked my way pitifully, hoping for his insulin shot and some yummy dinner.

And of course both Daddy Roo and Big Roo BOTH threw up again. I think they were having a contest.

After that drama, I bathed the kids (Big Roo joined us at the last minute despite my protests of wanting to keep him away from Little Roo).

Despite the hectic evening, it ended with my favorite part… listening to Big Roo read a book. He really just started reading (not memorizing) in the last couple of weeks and my eyes nearly tear up every time I hear him do it.

After getting the kitchen cleaned up, I sat down in the living to watch last week’s Grey’s Anatomy on my hubby’s computer while I put together this post (we don’t have cable and he was laid up in bed so the computer was all mine!). Tonight I also finish up this week’s blog page critique that I do on Momcomm! Luckily after tonight, I should have a bit less computer time in the evenings.

Little Roo-isms

I promised I’d share some of Little Roo’s gems.

(the 1st one is from yesterday but still funny)

Passing the Pond Near Our House

LR: Ooh eagles!

M: Those aren’t eagles, honey. Those are geese!

LR. Those aren’t eagles those are geese. Maybe they are bunnies. Ooooh did you see the butterfly?

Talking to Mama

LR: I go get— (he meant “I’m going to get” but was cut off my Big Roo)

BR: “Someone come— ” (He was starting to ask someone to finish dominoes with him but was counter-interrupted by Little Roo)

LR: “HEY! I’m talking to mom first!”

Coming in the House to See Daddy Sick on the Bed

LR: You taking a rest?

DR: No, I’m not feeling well.

LR: You want some pretzels?

DR: No that’s okay but thank you.

LR: Good night daddy. (and shuts the door)

And there you have it!

Time to Link Up!

Let me see YOUR Tuesday and add your post to the mix. Then get to know one another by visiting some other posts and by using the hashtag #weekinmylife!

The post Week in My Life 2012: Tuesday appeared first on Adventuroo.com.

Welcome to the first link-up for Week in My Life 2012! The linky is below- just link to your post for Monday and you’re golden! Don’t forget to use the journaling handouts, everyday kid/parent handouts and daily images (like the one below) to help you along (optional of course).

The first day is always the most exciting but you want to include every dang picture! Well I took almost 100 pictures today! I would have taken more but I pretty much sat on my butt most of the day (I’ll explain in a minute). But I have all week to show more detail in the various parts of today so I managed to cut back to far fewer photos.

My Monday started with a whopping 4.5 hours of sleep. Not good sleep either. Not the way I wanted to start Week in My Life but today was my first book deadline and so I stayed up way too late working on it. I felt so anxious this morning. It was Big Roo’s first day back to school (he’s year round and they just finished a three-week vacation. My big deadline. And the start of a work week (you probably know my part-time gig by now).

So of course I needed lots of coffee while the kids squished each other in a large box. And, but of course, we were running later than I wanted (but still weren’t late for school or preschool).

The bulk of today I looked like this:

Slightly freaking out. Trying to post on here (this morning’s post about the kick-off), format and publish a guest post on Momcomm, make final edits on my book and do all the Monday things that I do for my job. All before I picked Little Roo off up from preschool at 1 pm.

And I’m ALMOST embarrassed to show you the state of our bedroom. I blame the fact that we had company this weekend, my book deadline and the simple logistics of having a master downstairs. You always dump crap in it. In fact, the only clutter-free space in our entire house at the moment if our newly finished powder room. It may be a few feet wide, but hey, I’ll take it. (I should admit here that our cleaning people are coming tomorrow to magically transform our house into something more presentable.)

The afternoon consisted of Little Roo napping while I frantically made final edits on my book chapter. Around 4 pm, I sent it off. With just a little time to spare before we walked down to the bus stop. Big Roo rides the bus home on Mondays and Wednesdays. However, school gets out at 3:45 and he’s not home until 4:45. That’s pretty much insane. I’ve been trying to be patient to see if it improves but I’m afraid I may just have to pick him up each day starting soon.

Two of my favorite pictures from today are of our shadows… before the bus stop and after (notice Big Roo stole Little Roo’s bike since he wanted me to carry him back).

We walked back to the house and didn’t go back inside for a good 20-30 minutes. Both kids wanted to play. You can’t see it here but that close up of Little Roo is him setting a worm on the table (that’s still in our garage from our yard sale the other week)! After the weight off my shoulders (aka turning in my chapter), I still had one more thing to do for work so I reluctantly brought my computer outside for about 10-15 minutes to finish it. Let me tell you- I LOATHE doing that. But with so much going on this morning, I had to.

Luckily, I was still able to enjoy some time with them.

Despite my sleep deprivation, I decided to make a new fancy mac n cheese recipe. To my chagrin, the kids didn’t like it. Big Roo ended up eating it but Little Roo mainly laid under the table. Heh.

Besides the shadow pictures, the photo below is one of my faves. Our digital family piled together on the couch.

Daddy Roo was showing Big Roo some iPhone game while Big Roo’s eyes darted from that and the TV. Little Roo was watching a few minutes of TV before bed. Me? I was pouring over all the photos I took this weekend when my sister and mom were in town. I was trying to entice Little Roo to look but alas, he wouldn’t look for long.

You can’t blame me for looking at photos. I mean, how hysterical are these shots from the weekend?

After bedtime, we did the whirlwind clean-the-clutter-so-cleaning-people-can-actually-clean thing then plopped down on the couch to watch the presidential debate and work. Me on this post and Daddy Roo on a project with an upcoming deadline. I’d like to say we don’t look like this every night. But we typically do. However, I’m still working on being better about it (we did have a double date with my sis & significant other on Saturday)!

Whew! I don’t know if I’ll post as many photos as the week goes on but I hope you enjoyed them regardless!

Time to Link Up!

Let me see YOUR Monday and add your post to the mix. Then get to know one another by visiting some other posts and by using the hashtag #weekinmylife!

The post Week in My Life 2012: Monday appeared first on Adventuroo.com.