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Brave Mother’s Day Wishes

Sunday, May 13th, 2012

Five years ago today, I was very pregnant with my second son. JSL had not gotten the memo that he had been given eviction orders. He decided that it was not in my best interest to come Mother’s Day weekend when my favorite doctor was on call. Instead, I spent Mother’s Day 2007 hot, uncomfortable, and wishing I was holding my baby boy.

Of course, the joke was on me when I realized that I had been in labor all during Mother’s Day and just blocked out a lot with sleeping in front of the AC unit.

Now, I am the mother of two beautiful and amazing boys. NHL and JSL keep me on my toes, make me laugh, and treat me like the princess in our house ….most of the time. It only seemed fitting to jump into a photo with Cinderella and my two little princes.

Now, I will leave you with a special Mother’s Day message from Disney Pixar and the characters from Brave.

Happy Mother’s Day to my mother, mother-in-law, grandmother, aunts, sister-in-laws, cousins, other family members, friends, and all women. May your day be filled with many wonderful memories.

It's Me

Disclosure: Disney PR notified me of the Mother’s Day Brave featurette. I was not compensated for this and simply wanted to share since I adore all things Disney. You know we will be going to see Brave when it is released June 22, 2012.

A Preschool Mother’s Day Celebration

Saturday, May 12th, 2012

Dear JSL,

This week, I have been really sentimental. I think the fact that you turn five in a few days has hit me. My baby is not really a baby anymore. When I keep asking you not to get older, you always remind me that you have no control of this. Thanks to all of this, I am trying to cherish our special time together more before you head to kindergarten. Yesterday, I arrived at school early to cheer you on during the fundraiser and parade. When you saw Mimi there with me, you were so happy and waved to her.

Then, it was time to head up into the classroom for the Mother’s Day celebration. The room was set up for all of the special guests to sit down near your table to watch a performance.

I managed to get a video of your class singing a special song, but I am not going to share that here. Thank goodness you were willing to do an extra performance of the song at home for me to record.

What I realize on the video is we really need to get you to an allergist since that nasal thing that is still pestering you. Oh well, I will work on that next week.

Once the song was over, each of you went to get a present to give to the mothers. You were so cute and came over to me. You were not sure if I should open it up there, but I did.

You handed me a homemade crown. The crown was wrapped around a treasure box that you had painted and decorated.

As beautiful as it was on the outside, my heart melted when I looked inside. This is what you and your fantastic teachers had come up with to surprise us on Mother’s Day:

We had our photo taken together, but my eyes were closed on the one that was taken with my camera. Once you were finished giving me the present, you wanted to show it to Mimi. Later on, I made sure to get a photo of the two of you together. I think you were the only child that had a great-grandparent there.

I am so glad that Mimi and I were both there with you. It was a wonderful afternoon that we all shared together. Thank you for being such a sweet, loving, and special little boy.

Love,

Mommy

Yom HaShoah Candles

Thursday, April 19th, 2012

Today, April 19, 2012, is Yom HaShoah. On this day, people around the world remember the Six Million Jewish people and others that were senselessly murdered by Nazis during World War II. I knew the day was coming in April, but I have to admit that I forgot the exact date until this arrived at our house:

These candles are sent to families to light the evening before Yom HaShoah. We do this to remember the lives lost and promise that we will not allow this to happen again. The color is the same as the yellow star badges that the Nazis made Jews wear during their occupation of Europe.

Of course, simply lighting the candles is not enough. We must make sure that future generations know the truth about the Holocaust. Each day, Holocaust survivors are passing away and with them their personal stories could fade away if we do not make sure to pass them along to our children and generations to come. I know that as my boys get older, TechyDad and I will do our part. We will make sure to read them books on the subject, visit the Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC, and make sure that they never forget about the Six Million that lost their lives simply because of their religious choice.

On this Holocaust Remembrance Day when we know more terror is happening in other places this very moment – teach your children about tolerance. Make sure your family learns about other religions, cultures, and people. The more knowledge we have the better we will be able to understand the beauty of differences among us.

It's Me

Photo Gifts for Mother’s Day

Sunday, April 15th, 2012

Mother’s Day is coming and TechyDad keeps asking me what I would like. To be honest, a nice quiet day with the boys is what I would really enjoy. Just doing something special that does not involve the circus like last year (we literally went to the circus). Of course, I know that we are trying to show the boys that we give some gifts to each other and they are not the only gift receivers. Two items that I have been thinking of were personalized cell phone case or a photo mug.

Thanks to a campaign from Global Influence, I now have a few new items that may be on my list. Shutterfly’s collection of photo gifts has really grown. Of course, they have a great selection of mugs that you can personalize like this tiled one below. They also have a nice selection of iPhone cases, but nothing that will work with my Droid Bionic. Perhaps they would be good options for Father’s Day for Papa.

What I was not expecting were fun new bags, different wall art options, fleece blankets, personalized puzzles, and many other items. The new items within the photo gift section of their website has grown a lot in recent months.

With all of the sales right now, these photo gifts would not only make great Mother’s Day presents, but also nice items to put away for Father’s Day, graduation presents, birthdays, and beyond. To keep up on all that Shutterfly has to offer be sure to follow them on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.

So, what are you asking your family to get you for Mother’s Day? I would love to know what you have in mind. I think I am going to go for a fun new mug with photos from our upcoming trip to Disney World!

It's Me

Disclosure: I wrote this post as part of a compensated Global Influence campaign. As someone who enjoys finding unique gifts for family and friends, I love the new selection of items that I will be able to pick from with my Shutterfly gift certificate. Global Influence Network

Views of Passover 2012

Wednesday, April 11th, 2012

It's Me

Easter Wishes 2012

Sunday, April 8th, 2012

The boys and I are just finishing up our second Passover Seder. While we continue with our celebration, I wanted to take a moment to send Easter wishes to all that celebrate today.

May your day be blessed and filled with many memorable moments with family and friends. Oh, please have some Easter candy for me since I can’t have them during Passover. I’m giving you permission, so the calories don’t count – right?!

It's Me

Two graphics from ClipArt.org to make the Easter picture within PhotoScape (here and here).

Quiet First Passover Seder 2012

Saturday, April 7th, 2012

Dear NHL and JSL,

This year, we had a quiet first Seder. It was just the four of us, plus Nana and Papa came to join us. I love Passover and being with lots of family, but it was nice to be silly, and get done a bit earlier. We kept things very, very, very simple. Nothing but our “finest china” would do. We also made sure that JSL’s Passover projects from school were ready to go.

At first, everyone followed along in the Haggadah. NHL, you sang the four questions to us in Hebrew. You did a great job. It also impressed me that your little brother was able to sing along after learning the song in nursery school.

Then things got a bit off track once Daddy went to hide the Afikomen. Yes, we had to get our Seder Sillies out.

Friday was a busy day getting ready for everything. Today, it will be nice to spend a more quiet day together while getting ready for our second Seder that will no doubt have more memories made.

Love,

Mommy

Extra Hour Wishes

Friday, April 6th, 2012

Right now, I really wish I was here:

The reality is that I am at home getting ready to have two Passover Seders at our house Friday and Saturday evenings. So I will be looking for a hidden Mickey in my matzoh, but not sure that will happen. Hmmmm….

So while I am off helping TechyDad get everything ready, I leave you with a not too serious question.

If you had three extra hours in the day that were just for you, how would you use that time?

It's Me

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Thanks to Kailani at An Island Life for starting this fun for Friday. Please be sure to head over to her blog to say hello and sign the linky there if you are participating.

Aloha #197

Preschool Seder Time

Thursday, April 5th, 2012

Growing up, I still remember Passover Seders at nursery school. When I went to NHL’s during preschool, it brought back amazing memories. Last year, I went with JSL to his first one during his three day a week program. This week, we had another preschool community Seder with JSL’s school. Please join me for a tour of their beautiful event.

When you walked into the room, there were place cards to see which table your family would be sitting at. Then, each of the small round tables was set up for kids and adults to be together. I love that they stack two chairs together to make sure that the kids are able to participate and see everything.

If you take a closer look, there was a Seder plate at the center of each table. Along with this there were platters of matzah, fruit, eggs, carrots, kuggel, tuna, and underneath foil desserts. Each of the kids had their own little setting by them to participate. There were also Haggadahs for everyone to read the Passover story.

When the classes arrived, all of the kids went to find their families at the table. JSL came to sit down and we opened up our Haggadah to get ready.

The kids were active participants. They helped to tell the story, sing songs, and more. JSL had his frog puppet ready when it was time to talk about the plagues.

The kids were not the only ones involved with retelling the Passover story. Some special people showed up as well.

This was a great surprise and so much fun to watch the kids interact with everyone. These will definitely be memories that JSL and I will always remember. Of course, the videos I took will also help with that department. Thank you to everyone at nursery school for making this such a wonderful experience.

It's Me