Spring Break 2011

Our beautiful nieces came to visit us this year with Grandma, and here is a view into our week of blessings.

Smart Blessings in 2010

Trying to make time to read is so hard.  My inbox is always full of articles that I think I have to read to help my blessings grow to be the best upstanding citizens that they can be.  One of the newsletters that I have received for almost 6 years now is BabyCenter.  They sent me 4, I mean 5 in one shot that I MUST READ, so I think you should as well :-)  I am going to try an old-fashioned non-eco friendly way and print these articles this time around.  If I get my dream phone, I will just load them in my Mobile Google Reader (speak it to make it come true right?)

• Big Story: 7 steps to raising smart kids
• Secrets to raising smart kids: Get creative
• How to Spot your Preschoolers Hidden Talents
• How to encourage your budding artist
  
• Secrets to Raising Smart Kids: Play Music

Best Regards,
Techie Mommie

Happy Back to School Season!

I believe this and Christmas are my favorite times of the year.  I love getting my blessings organized for the school year.  I know, you don't have to say it "WEIRDO!"  Those that know me well, know that I have always been this way. Organized for life ◕‿◕ Well, whatever to you because mine will be the best organized blessings in the schools ◕‿◕ 


Anyway, I have been finished for a while now buying school supplies because finding the best deal is the fun part for me.  I love getting the cute stuff, name brand stuff, state-of-the-art stuff all at a great price.  I know that some people haven't even had a moment to start thinking about school supplies, let alone shopping for them.


Since you may not have started yet, I have a few tips and some great sites to share with you.

• Your Retail Helper blog has a posting about the Tax Free weekends listed by state.  I always forget when this weekend occurs each year.  Some times I am just too excited to wait, HA!
• My Dallas Mommy blog has a posting about the best deals.  It is a great list of all the different supplies out there, and the best place to buy that item like crayons.

Speaking of crayons.  I noticed on my 2nd blessings supply list that her school wants only name brand supplies.  I remember this from my oldest blessing's supply list, but elementary was a long time ago.  I vividly remember now buying her the best supplies, and then all of those supplies going into the general bin in the classroom.  Then, my blessing would always get someone's off brand supplies to use for her assignments, and they would always break or something like that.  I am getting perturbed about it all over again while writing this, so here are my solutions:

• Buy more supplies than you need.  The list doesn't say that those supplies are the maximum.  They only show a minimum.  I buy a few extra 25 cents crayons, and send them all to the school.  That way the teacher can hopefully put out all the best quality supplies for our blessings to use each day.
• Make sure you are buying name brand.  Now, I know this can be a bit pricey, but if you use the links above, you should be fine.  The school specifically asked for name brand because of the poor quality of the other brands.  I have bought off brand in the past, and I end up having to buy double of those instead of buying one set of the name brand.  Where is the saving in that?
• Check for the word WASHABLE.  So, the other thing that I noticed about the school supply list is that it said WASHABLE.  Notice that the WASHABLE crayons, markers, and pencils are not the cheap ones.  They cost almost double the regular supplies.  Read the box, the non-washable ones are harder to get out of clothes and off fingers.  We found that out on Saturday.  It took until Monday for the colors to come off without SCRUBBING MY BLESSINGS TO DEATH ◕‿◕

Happy Back to School Season!

Techie Mommie!

Events for the Summer

One of my co-workers was looking for some events that she and her blessing could attend.  Not for sure why, but she asked me if I knew of any deals around town.  Well, I told her not of the top of my head, but of course that got me to searching.  Since, I found some sites specifically for events in the DFW area, I figured I would share them...

• Around Town Kids
• FamilyEguide - tailored for Flower Mound, Lewisville, and surrounding areas  
• Metroplex Baby and Kids 
• My DFW Mommy 
• Todays Mama - DFW Events Page

If you have more sites that show local events, please share them.

Blessings Left in Hot Cars

"She gets out of the car, grabs her purse, keys, and coffee.  She walks into the building and never looks back.  At lunch, she realizes something is wrong and runs to her car.  Her child is in the back seat near death or dead because she forgot to drop him/her off at daycare."  

This statement hurts me every time that I read it in the news.  It seems to prevalent these days.  It's like we have placed value on the wrong things.  We have been given the privilege to raise blessings.  We have been given the privilege of taking care of a precious life that is not our own.  Why can't we realize this is a privilege and not just another chore?


I cry as I type this because it disturbs me so much that I can't even hold back the emotion.    An acquaintance of mine went through this over a year ago in the winter, and it still haunts me to this day.  It's not just hot cars, but cold cars as well.  I pray that God helps me to come to grips with what the little 7-month old blessing went through in that car all by himself for too long.  I roll EVERY window down even when I am filling up the car with my blessings in the car just to look at them.  I keep the air conditioner on as well because I can't fathom this


I follow a lot of Mom Blogs, and MomLogic just posted a Babies Left in Hot Cars article.  Please take a moment to read this.


Here is another article by Parenting.com which has some good tips to IMPLEMENT! Tragedy in the Back Seat

Here is a new article about blessings in hot cars from The Kid's Doctor.

Aaliyah's First Dance Rehearsal and Dance Recital

I hope you enjoy Aaliyah's firt dance rehearsal and dance recital.  This is the first of many more to come (if she wants).

Spontaneous Combustion

I call my last pregnancy "Spontaneous Combustion" because we could not get pregnant (like we were both pregnant, but anyway).  So, before the doctor started to prescribe alternative methods, she told me to do one thing.  GAIN WEIGHT!  I am a little embarassed to say that because so many people usually have to lose weight before getting pregnant.  Long story short - about 2 and a half months later, we were pregnant with TWINS :-)  Then, a couple of months after that we found out that they were two boys.  Oh Joyful Day!


Future Angelo Lilly III and Frederick Douglas Lilly III were born five weeks early because Frederick decided he needed more space.  His water broke, and I had a C Section about three hours later.

The Twizzles are about 2.5 in this shot.  Go to their blog to see more of my blessings.

How many Greats do you have?

Someone asked me recently how I am able to do all that I can do each day.  I answered with "I have a bunch of Greats: Great Husband, Great Family, Great Company, Great Tools".  Each of these greats is so true.  

We were hit with the Economy Bust last year, so my husband became a SAHD (Stay-at-home Dad).  It has really grown on him, and we have so many kids that it is completely "Daddy Day Care" at our house each day.  

My Great Family includes two girls, two boys that are twins, 20+ aunts and uncles, and numerous 1st, 2nd, and 3rd cousins.  We are all pretty close, and Facebook, Picasa, and distribution lists allow us to keep up that closeness.  On Facebook, we have a closed Facebook Group.  Most of us have gmail accounts (especially the photographer people), so we share our images through Google Picasa.  Then, I use Google Apps for my domain management.  Through there, I set up distribution lists of all kinds for everything under the sun.  Can you keep up with e-mail addresses and phone numbers for everyone?  Neither can I.  I set up a Calendar and Address Book template that you can use to put your families contact information including birthdates in one file.


Template 1
Template 2

I work for one of the greatest companies in North America.  Our CEO could never be on "Undercover Boss" because we know him too well.  It is an airline company in Dallas, and we LUV everybody.  That's all that I am going to say.

I have so many tools to make my day easier.  I have a not-so-great smart phone, but waiting and saving for something better.  I have great Firefox and Google Add-ons that keep me "connected" each day.  And, I follow cool people and companies on Twitter so that I can stay abreast of the latest tools out there.  I am going to start sharing my favorite ones soon.  As I am writing this, I realize that tools have taken on a whole new meaning in 2010 for me.  Used to be, tools were for the cars and trucks in the yard.  Since my dad had only me, I was the daughter/son in the house.  It was great to learn how to fish, hunt, change the oil, and so much more.  It really helped me later in life.


How many Greats do you have?

Princess and the Frog PARTY ROCKED!

So, it's Monday morning, and I am still thinking about the awesome party that we threw for our 5-year-old on Saturday.  I went into labor with her on Super Bowl Sunday, and her birthday this year was on Super Bowl Sunday.  Since that was a bigger event for most of my family, we decided to have her party on Saturday instead.

I wanted all of my boys to be frogs and the girls to be princesses.  So, we started off the party with t-shirt decorating.  Everyone decorated their own green shirts (with help).  While those were drying, we went on to decorate their frog visors and tiaras.

In the background, my sister, Jessica, was decorating Aaliyah's room with Princess and the Frog everything that she got from the movie theater.  Can you believe that they throw the displays away?  Anyway, and my Aunt Norma was on camera duty.

When we finished the shirts, visors, and tiaras, my smaller ones and the boys went to the play room.  All of the princesses got their nails done and make-up.

Then, we had cake.  And, since she is 5, her aunts said that she could cut her cake all by herself (ARGH!).

Then, we opened gifts. After the gifts, we went upstairs for Aaliyah to see her new room.  She was so surprised.

I knew that she was happy because she has gone to her room numerous times since the birthday, and just stared around the room.  Thanks so much Aunt Jessica for making this day great for her.

It was the bestest party ever.  Whew, now time to prepare for the next one around the corner.

Have you smelled your blessings lately?

Thanksgiving is here, and the Christmas holidays are around the corner.  Now is the time to take a moment and "smell" your blessings.  I posted this last year on FB, and I got so many responses about it.  Here is my thinking of this:  We smell strong perfume, old coffee, cigarette smoke, smelly feet, stinky lunches, and so much more all day long while at work, grocery store, the gym, etc.  I tend to get mad when I smell bad things because they bother my nose so much.  Then, I thought about it one day, "Why don't I smell my blessings when I get home?"  We talk about it all the time "My children smell so "different" after playing in the rain, playing in the mud, just plain playing."  Isn't that smell so much better than the everyday smells that we put ourselves through.  So, one of my mottos is "Have you smelled your blessings?"  My blessings think that I am crazy because I will literally smell them.  I think they are getting used to it now, but I can't get enough of what God has allowed me to have.

So, take a big whiff of those blessings on Thursday (and every other day), say a little prayer for them, and thank your Heavenly Father for what He has given you.

Cookies and Credit Cards

Princess Liyah: Mommie, can you get me a Hungry Hungry Hippo game?

SuperMommie: Sweetie, maybe we need to write this in your letter to Santa for him to get it for you.

Princess Liyah: Then, we need to leave him some cookies and a credit card.  No cupcakes, now. C R E D I T C A R D.

SuperMommie: HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Priceless discussions during evening bath time.