Family and Friends – Page 10

March 30, 2013

A Surprise Lunch With My Husband

This afternoon my husband did the sweetest thing. He showed up at my work completely unannounced and took me out to lunch. I wasn’t expecting it at all. He had flowers and everything. I asked him what the special occasion was and he said it was just because he loved me. Of course my heart almost melted and I couldn’t have been happier.

We went out to one of our favorite little Italian restaurants. It’s not a popular chain just a mom and pop run family restaurant. They have the best chicken Parmesan and meatballs in the world. I always have to get one of the two each and every time I go there. Today, I had a Cesar salad, chicken Parmesan, and I even saved room for dessert. We had cannolis with most delicious cream and black coffee to wash it all down.

It really was a great surprise to have him just show up and take me out to lunch. I’m going to have to think of something really special to do for him as a thank you and just because I love him too!

What are some of the special things that your significant other has done for you?

March 1, 2013

Try Out A Titanium Sports Necklace

Phil at work is always wearing his titanium sports necklace. He said something about it smoothing out the flow of electricity in his body. He said that he has been able to do things that he wasn’t before he started wearing the titanium infused sports necklace.

He loves his titanium sports necklace and got one for all of his golfing buddies too. I wonder how it would make me feel after a long hard day at work. Would I have to wear it all day long to feel something or is it something that I can just pop on at the end of the day. I wonder if they come in casual designs for women. Maybe I’ll pick one up for myself

February 12, 2013

Hooked on SongPop Free

The latest way I pass my free time away is with a game called SongPop. I downloaded the free version to my smart phone. One of my friends suggested that I play it with her and now I can’t seem to get enough of it.

Here’s the premise – an audio clip of a song is played and it is your job to guess either the song title or the artist performing the song. It’s multiple choice so you aren’t having to work too hard. You play against an opponent and try to beat them in both speed and accuracy. As you play and answer correctly you unlock more songs in each category. You get to select the category you compete in against too. My best category so far is love songs and my worse category is modern rap which really isn’t surprising at all to me.

In each round you earn either 1 coin for losing or 3 coins for winning. You can spend your coins to unlock new song categories like TV theme songs, movie sound tracks, disco, doo wop, jazz and so much more. I really recommend this to any music enthusiast and to anyone who just wants to play a fun game during free time.

February 2, 2013

Do You Know How To Facebook?

Do you know how to Facebook? Are you a new user or maybe you have been using it for a few years? What do you use Facebook for?

I have to be honest, I only recently became more active and using Facebook not too long ago. Most of my friends have Facebook accounts and use them to do all sorts of things from playing games to hooking up with people the went to elementary school with.

I mainly use Facebook to connect with my family and friends that don’t live in the same area that I do. It’s a handy way to share photos and little stories about what is going on in our life. I like it because it makes me feel like I’m better connected with my family. And now, I’m not just a Christmas letter that people get from me once a year telling them every thing that has happened in our family over the year.

I do keep my privacy settings to only allow my friends to see my Facebook page or timeline because I wouldn’t be posting things online for everyone to see. I mean I don’t post public photos of my family on my own blog and that’s public domain so I won’t be posting them for the entire world to see on Facebook either.

January 15, 2013

Family Fun With A Bubble Machine

Bubbles, bubbles, everywhere! My kids love to play with bubbles. They just can’t seem to get enough of them. I love seeing their faces as they chase bubbles around or try to blow some bubbles of their own. One of our neighbors got a bubble machine at Musician’s Friend. The kids had so much fun when they brought it over and filled it up with bubbles.

Bubble machines are great because you don’t have to do any of the work of trying to blow the bubbles yourself. I love that I don’t have to keep dipping the bubble stick into a jar and repeatedly blow bubble after bubble. It’s like instant gratification. Turn the bubble machine on and you have tons of bubbles to chase to your hearts delight.

I’m thinking it would be lots of fun to get one of these bubble machines of our own for the kids for Christmas. It’s pretty close but it might not be too late. I’ll have to see if I can get one delivered with rush delivery if it isn’t too expensive. Seeing the smile on the faces of the kids from playing with the bubbles is worth every penny in my opinion.

January 3, 2013

Cell Phones at the Dinner Table

Do you jump the second you hear your phone buzz or beep? Do you freak out if you forget your phone somewhere? Do you never leave a room without your phone?

I was always afraid to get cell phone in the beginning because I thought of them as an electronic leash. I don’t think it’s necessary for people to be able to get a hold of you every second of of day. I think it’s actually turned people into open books almost. People share everything or text a friend about the most random things throughout the day. I don’t think they would have shared whatever happened if they didn’t have a cell phone.

I think the challenge above is a great one. To me it challenges everyone at the dinner table to actually be present and involved with the people that are partaking in the meal. Without this challenge you would probably see people checking and updating their Facebook status, playing some silly game, and or texting.

I know I have been guilty of using my cell phone when it wasn’t necessary and when I realize it I try to make a conscious effort to put the silly thing down. Whatever it is, it can probably wait until the meal is over, the television show is over, or you are done playing the board game.

Try this out with your family and friends and see what happens.

December 16, 2012

Household Holiday Clean Up

I have less than a week before everyone arrives for Christmas. We’re hosting Christmas at our house this year so I need to do my household holiday clean up. That’s where I go and scrub every surface that a mother-in-law could complain about seeing dust, and make sure everything is put away in it’s place.

I need to steam clean all of the carpets and drapes. The kids seem to bring dirt in no matter how many times I have them wipe their feet or take off their shoes. I don’t know how it gets in, it’s like they are dirt magnets. I plan to do that this afternoon and then take the kids out afterward so the carpet has a chance to dry. Hopefully once it’s clean it can stay that way for at least another week or two while everyone is here.

I have most of the normal everyday cleaning done it’s just the things I only do on more of a monthly basis that still need to be done. I need to change the sheets on the bed in the guest room. I don’t remember when they were used last but fresh sheets are always nice to have. I should probably also cull the magazine collection I have in that room as well. I don’t need a two and a half foot stack of magazines int here to collect dust.

What is your routine for your household holiday clean up? I’d love to hear how you get through it and any tips or tricks you might have.

December 8, 2012

Family Photo Books for Christmas

I was thinking it might be fun to get all of our relatives long lasting photo books of our family. We could send them out instead of Christmas cards this year. Our family is always pestering us for more photos. One nice thick book might appease their appetites for a little while. I’m looking at getting wholesale catalogs at zooprinting.com.

A nice glossy catalog of page upon page of the children and all of their silly shenanigans from the year is just what everyone needs. They are nice and sturdy and will last awhile. I bet I’ll even find them used as coffee table books at a few of my in-laws homes. They absolutely love to share off their grandchildren to everyone that steps foot into their home.

We’ve made photo calendars in the past but I think these catalog style books will really stand out. Plus, there will be more than just twelve pages of pictures in these. Now, the fun part is to gather all of our family photos and start putting it in order. I’m soo glad I have saved all of our photos digitally. I don’t have to go digging through a bunch of boxes to find our photos. They are all organized nicely on my computer in a file tilted, “Family Photos.”

November 28, 2012

Countdown to Christmas Begins

The countdown to Christmas has already begun in our house. The kids ask daily how many more days are left until Christmas is here. I haven’t quite figured out a fun and creative way to count down the days with the kids. Right now we are just marking off the days on our wall calendar. It’s not that exciting and definitely not pretty.

Occasionally, I’ll feel crafty so I’ve decided to take a look around Pinterest to see what might be fun and not that hard to make. The standard paper chain is my back up and I know I can manage to glue or staple a few strips of construction paper together. No matter what idea we decide to go with, I just want it to be something that is fun for everyone.

What kinds of things do you do in your family to count down the days until Christmas? I’m open to suggestion and would love to hear from all of those crafty people out there that have ingenious ideas that I could never come up with on my own. I promise I’ll share your ideas with other families that are clueless about what to do too, honest.

27 days before Christmas, let the countdown begin.

November 18, 2012

Weekend Clean Up For The Holidays

This weekend I’m spending time cleaning up the house in preparation for the holiday. I can’t believe Thanksgiving is only a few days away. Before any big family gathering I like to do a big deep cleaning if time permits. I hate to think about someone coming over to my house and leaning against the mantle and being covered in dust.

It brings images of the white glove check to mind. If a white glove can’t pass over the area and remain white then it isn’t clean. That’s the principle I was raised on. I remember my mother and grandmother walking into my room after I told them I cleaned it to do a thorough check. It was always a scary thing and I hoped that I didn’t miss a spot.

Today I plan to tackle the dusting of every room, vacuuming, and steam cleaning of the carpets. It sounds like a lot but it really isn’t when you break it up in to chunks throughout the day. The longest part is waiting for the carpets to dry after they are cleaned. Once they are cleaned I just have to make sure that the kids, or anybody else for that matter, do not track dirt in all over them again before Thursday. It drives me nuts when that happens and I have to do it all over again.