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« Previous EntriesA Preschool Mother’s Day Celebration
Saturday, May 12th, 2012Dear 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
Mama Doni Gives Us Mission Immatzoble
Tuesday, April 3rd, 2012Passover is coming! Passover is coming! Purim was just here and now it seems like we went full speed ahead into Passover. Thanks to this, TechyDad and I are busy getting our house ready for the Seders this weekend. Before I know it, our house will be taken over by this:
To get everyone in the mood, I wanted to share a great new video from Mama Doni. As a fan, I follow her on Facebook and happened to see this and asked if I could post it here. So please take a little time to rock out to Doni’s new Mission Immatzoble music video – it is AMAZING!
As always, Mama Doni helps to teach us about the holiday and gives us a great new tune to listen to while we celebrate. So are you ready for the holidays (whatever you observe)?
A Goal Met – Evolution Fitness NY
Thursday, March 1st, 2012About eight years ago, I met a group of wonderful women in my Capital District Moms group. Together, we have shared stories, inspired each other, and been a shoulder to cry on when needed. The founder of the group was Debi Condon. Over the years, I have watched this amazing woman change her path in life and follow her dreams. She balances family life, being an entrepreneur, and healthy living all while showing others that it can be done. I hope to be one of these women that Debi kicks into gear because I know I need to do this for me. The following is a guest post from this phenomenal lady. Thank you Debi for sharing your story and helping others.
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Have you been wanting to fit into those special pair of jeans, but notice that they just not fitting right any longer? Or what about playing outside with the kids? Are you finding you are getting short of breath trying to keep up with them? Have you just been denying that you should make the time for yourself to get back in shape? Always coming up with an excuse, saying I’ll start tomorrow, or when the baby goes down for a nap?
That was me 6 years ago. I was a mom of 3 kids all under the age of 5. I had let the post pregnancy weight stay on me and then some and I made every excuse in the book. If there was an excuse I had it: laundry to be done, dishes to put away, the house to be cleaned, errands to be done or me to just have some “down” time. I found I was constantly putting everyone first and not making the time for myself! My eating habits were not all the greatest. I would pick at whatever my kids didn’t finish, or snack all day long. I did not have the words vegetables or portion control in my vocabulary!
In December 2006, a neighbor asked me if I would like to join Weight Watchers with her and I gave her a “sure I’ll check it out with you” response. I’m not sure why I decided to go and waste the money but I did. I kept going each week with her. Each week I learned a little bit about myself and a little bit about how to make the changes I needed to make to be healthier for my kids and myself. With each passing week, I saw the weight coming off! By July 2007, I had hit my lifetime goal weight and had lost 31lbs. At that time, I started exploring Sparkpeople more often and learning about strength training, eating clean and ways to maintain my weight loss. I started having friends and family members asking me for advice and steps they should take to change their lives around. Leading me to make the decision to pursue my certification as a Personal Trainer & Fitness Nutritionist.
In April 2009, I began the process of starting my own personal training business: Evolution Fitness. I first started teaching beginner boot camp classes and then began working with individual clients. Evolution Fitness offers 1-1 personal training sessions, nutritional guidance, small group training sessions, boot camp classes, TRX training, corporate classes, and seminars. Coming soon I will be offering Zumba classes and Wellness coaching.
You are probably wondering what boot camp class is – probably thinking I’m dressed in Army fatigues, have a whistle and yelling at each participant! That is FAR from the truth! Boot camp is a 1 hour class combining cardio and strength training in each class. We are in 1 big group setting, laughing, talking, and telling jokes: anything to help each participant get through the 1 hour class and away from the thinking of what they are doing. It is designed to push your body out of your comfort zone and take your fitness to the next level. The participants in these classes really form a camaraderie amongst each other: helping to hold each other accountable, offer the support needed to keep going, and help each other through any exercises.
Each of you has the potential of changing your life. Each of you has different goals and no matter what they are, Evolution Fitness can help!
Commit to making one change at a time. If you overwhelm yourself with too many changes, you are more likely to throw in the towel. Change won’t happen overnight, so be patient, be persistent & be consistent.
For more information about Evolution Fitness head to their Facebook page, Google+ page, catch them on Twitter, and feel free to e-mail Debi –> debi@evolutionfitnessny.com
Thankful for Speech Therapy
Thursday, January 26th, 2012It is no secret that, as a parent, I have become quite familiar with special services for my children. Thanks to NHL’s low muscle tone, he received Occupational and Physical Therapy to work on his fine and gross motor skills. With the hard work of everyone involved, you would hardly know that he once was a two year old that was unable to walk.
About two years ago I started to battle to get JSL some Early Intervention. His speech was not very clear, but he would “talk” a lot. Sad to say, the system failed us at the start, but has certainly made up for it since that time. In late September 2010, JSL started getting speech two days a week. By this time, he was frustrated, we were flustered, and everyone wanted our little boy to be understood.
We still have no idea why JSL dropped sounds in almost every word. His hearing was fine and other items checked out. It was not simply beginnings, certain letters, or endings – it was all over the place. The little guy’s speech patters were a mystery. Luckily, his preschool knew that he had qualified for services and suggested a therapist to work with JSL. We are so very lucky to have CT in our life. JSL adores CT and we saw improvements quickly. At the end of last year, JSL qualified for summer services and continued sessions this academic year. I do believe that CT is a miracle.
With this burst in speech, JSL has come out of his shell a lot more. He’s so much more outgoing once he gets to know you, and loves to perform song/dance routines. Here is the little guy after his music enrichment class where he made a new instrument. He is singing Shalom Chaverim – the Goodbye song in his classroom.
With recent budget cuts, I do not know how much more time JSL has with CT. More about those cuts and implications for children in New York and beyond coming soon.
Today, I wanted to thank all of the therapists, like CT, out there that work with kids to catch them up to speed before they head off to Kindergarten and beyond. As a parent and teacher, I truly get all of the hard work that they do both on and off the clock for our children. If your child receives therapy, remember to stop and thank their provider for all that they do.
In Search of Hakuna Matata
Sunday, January 22nd, 2012Stress, it happens and it can leave you dreaming some odd things.
One of my recent dreams was similar to this scene that we saw at Disney on Ice back in December.
Of course, my dream was of me as Peter Pan and someone else in the Captain Hook role. I no not know who that other person was because a few could have been staring in that special scene.
I know, you are thinking that I am supposed to be an angel. LOL – even angels have reality check moments where they take on another personality a la Stitch.
Disney is definitely on my brain. Watching the videos made me smile, laugh, and forget about some of the things happening in real life for a few moments. I hope you enjoyed them as well.
Putting My Family First Can Hurt
Tuesday, January 10th, 2012Guilt, sometimes it hits like a big freight train. This weekend, my extended family will all be together for a special reason and I will not be there. My first cousin is getting married and I am going to be home instead of doing the Horah in celebration.
Why, you ask?
I am putting my family first. For multiple reasons, going would not be a good choice for the four of us. No need to go into that here, those have been explained, discussed, and debated countless times over the last year. There is no doubt that I am hurting feelings, and I feel quite guilty about that. Still, I do hope that family members will forgive me and realize that I am being an adult and doing what is best for my children.
On the night of the wedding, I will sit and remember babysitting my cousin when he was little, going to his hockey games, and joking with him as he helped to paint our house. So many memories of watching him grow up into the man that he has become. Perhaps we will get some donuts to celebrate the event – I know Cousin A will get that reference. I wish both A and A a wonderful life ahead of them and much happiness in their new life as husband and wife. Although we will not be there in person, we will be with you in our hearts.
With that, I leave you with a song that seems fitting right now. The song is My Family by The Laurie Berkner Band. The song really hits home and seemed appropriate at this moment
When you’re in my heart, you’re in my family,
When I’m in your heart, I’m in your family.
When you’re in my heart, you’re in my family,
When I’m in your heart, I’m in your family!
Fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers,
Cousins, friends, sons and daughters,
Uncles, aunts, and grandparents
I’m so glad you’re my family!
Have you ever had to put your family first and miss a big family event like a wedding? I would love to hear from you and share in the comments below.
P.S. Many tears were shed in the typing of this post, but I still know it was the right decision for my family.
Magical Kiddie Concert Moments
Sunday, January 8th, 2012Recently, I wrote about recalling memories of going to concerts as a child. TechyDad and I have taken the boys to several concerts over the years. When we had the opportunity to go to the Laurie Berkner concert yesterday, we jumped at it. My family has been fans of Laurie for a long time thanks to her appearances on Jack’s Big Music Show. I will write more about the amazing show later, but now I wanted to share a few photo memories of our experience.
Of course, we will also remember this show because of something that happened toward the end. Laurie was on the stage floor “taking a nap” and Susie, Adam, and Bob were trying to get the audience to help wake her up. Suddenly, you hear Bob mention that they have a runner. TechyDad and I both captured this moment on video. A sweet little girl was dancing with a bunch of other children. Then, she bolted up onto the stage. What you will see the band members do is beyond magical. They went with the flow and worked it into the concert. Here is the video:
We have a lot of other videos and photos from the Laurie Berkner Band concert to share soon. A huge thank you to Laurie, Susie, Adam, Bob, and everyone else that made this concert at Proctors an extra special day for MY family and so many others.
Disclosure: My family and I received complementary tickets to the “Animal Party” concert thanks to The Laurie Berkner Band. The opinions are mine as a long time fan of Laurie Berkner and I received no other compensation. Posting this was done to share a fun experience and not expected in return for the tickets.
Special Chanukah Concert
Monday, December 26th, 2011When people tell me that JSL is shy, I have to laugh. Once he gets to know you, you may have a hard time getting a word in. He really is personality plus, loves to tell jokes, and is a huge entertainer. If JSL has his way, he would spend most days putting on a show for those that he loves.
The other day, both of the boys were home and JSL was singing some of the Chanukah songs from school. I asked him if I could take a video of his concert. He was SO excited. We decided to go into his room where there was less noise. The result was the following video. He had to add in his play guitar and loved showing me that he could clap without me. Of course, the poor little guy was really stuffed up thanks to a cold just in time for the Festival of Lights. Still, it was really cute and I wanted to share.
What has been your favorite part of the holiday season so far? I would love for you to share.
The Festival of Lights Begins Tuesday Night
Monday, December 19th, 2011On Tuesday night, Jewish families will gather together to light their menorahs to commemorate the miracle of long ago. Every family has their own traditions that they pass along to the next generation. TechyDad and I are really trying to focus on the miracle of Chanukah and not on the gift giving and material items. The reality is that those are not really what the holiday is about. Society has pushed it to this more thanks to being at the same time of year as Christmas.
Yes, we will be giving the boys some gifts, but nothing extraordinary. This year, we hope to make some potato latkes, spin the dreidels, dance to Chanukah music, and sit together for family time while watching the menorah shine.
Something else I can not wait to share with the boys are the fun new series of 30 second Chanukah tips from Mama Doni. Yes, this hip and rockin’ mama shares eight of her tips including:
- Makin’ Lotsa Latkes!
- Get Your Dreidel On!
- The Story of Chanukah
- Are you Gr8teful?
- Is it “Chanukah” or “Hanukkah?”
- Honey This Ain’t Money
- Gobble Up Some Sufganiyot!
- Eight Special People in Your Life
Here are the videos, which will play one after the other:
I love how fun, energetic, and informative they are. Mama Doni also gives great items to talk/write about with older children. Do you have a favorite tip from the videos?
Disclosure: I found these videos thanks to subscribing to Mama Doni’s YouTube Channel. I enjoyed them and wanted to share with other families.
A Pirate’s Life on Ice
Sunday, December 18th, 2011Heading to Disney on Ice, I knew that there would be a section of the show that would really get the attention of my little guy. You see, JSL loves pirates. We had his pirate birthday party earlier in the year. He has a pirate costume, and he is in love with Jake and the Never Land Pirates from Disney Junior. So when I heard that there was going to be a segment about Peter Pan, I knew that Captain Hook and his other pirate friends would be there.
Peter Pan was the last main segment before the finale of the Disney on Ice production of Mickey & Minnie’s Magical Journey. We got to see Peter Pan, Wendy, Michael, and John fly around and it was magical.
This was fantastic and I could see that the boys loved it, but their faces lit up when Captain Hook and Smee came onto the ice. Of course, that was nothing like the looks when a giant pirate ship, version of the Jolly Roger, came on with a slew of pirate friends.
I even captured part of this on video for the kids to enjoy later on.
Even two weeks after the show, the magical moments are still strong for our entire family. These are the items I cherish.
