Not Me Monday - wk14

I definitely did not decide in about 5 minutes on Saturday morning to drive to PA so my husband could go to the Pittsburgh/Buffalo football game that night with my dad and bother-in-law. We would never throw a bunch of stuff in a bag and drive 4 hours to only spend less than 24hrs at my parent's house. I also would not give my daughter a laxative 3 hours before I decided to go to PA. Nope, I plan things better.

I also do not still have a huge pile of blankets & clothes in my room to put away in the attic after cleaning out my daughter's closet.....3 weeks ago....! I think I know what I am not doing today.


I would never beg people to look at my entry in the Martha Stewart's DIY Wedding Crafts Contest. I entered my wedding cake place card holders I made for my friend's wedding. You can find my entry here. I would love if everyone could give me 5 stars and leave a comment. The contest ends Sept 1st. and will be announced Oct. 15th.





Update on the potty training: Lily is staying dry during naps. I am still putting her in a diaper during them though. At night she is staying pretty dry, too. She hadn't had a bm in 3 going on 4 days so I bought a over the counter children's laxative and that helped. She did it in a diaper and then I put another diaper on her and she walked over to me when I was doing the dishes, took off her diaper and threw it at me and told me she had to pee. Yes, my daughter is a sassy one. She then pooped and peed in the potty. We did a happy dance and after nap went to the store to pick out a littlest pet shop. We are still having a pooping problem. But considering she has pretty much potty trained herself in a week, we are doing great.

This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

Sunday Citar

"If we could see the miracle of a single flower clearly, our whole life would change." ~ Buddha

(I took this picture at the Seneca Park Zoo a few weeks ago)

Thank you for stopping by Sunday Citar! This blog quote meme was created by Fresh Mommy. You can stop by her blog to see the quotes and photos that she and everyone else is loving right now.

La Le POP

is having a giveaway here. Ends 9/1

Feeling Like Fall

This morning when I woke up is was a bit nippy outside. Makes me want to take out my fall decorations. Here are some items I found on etsy.

1. harvest by allieart4children
2. Bittersweet Berries by TheBrassHussy
   
3. The Classic Carryall in Corduroy with Oak Leaf Appliques by PeskyCatDesigns
   
4. Funky Fall Witch Costume by hullabalooboutique
5. Pumpkin Patch Necklace by ForTheCrossJewelry
6. Fall Harvest Platter by SweetPicklesPottery
   
7. Limited Edition Falling For You Bow Set by Winklepots
8. FALL - Standing hinged word sign by GlitterMe
   

Hope you are enjoying your Friday!

New Items!

Recently I collaborated with April from Apple Blossom Designs. April & I met and became fast friends on etsy through FAM (Fabulous Artistic Moms). When she asked me to create flowers for rings I thought it was a fantastic idea. When I asked her what kind of flowers she was looking for she told me that I could make what ever my heart desired and these are what I made (I know these photos are crummy, I took them at night because I wanted to get flowers in the mail)...

Edited to add: These are made out of Polymer Clay with Swarovski Crystals.



She has created a couple rings to start with...

Gretchen Ring

Joselyn Ring (this is my favorite!)
Also, I found out the flower I posted yesterday is called Irish Eyes.

Wordless Wednesday

These beautiful flowers are in the middle of the medians down the main street in Niagara On The Lake. They were beautiful. I just happened to stumble upon this butterfly.





Do you know what the name of this flower is? I have not seen them here in the states.

Edited to Add: They are called Irish Eyes. (GLORIOSA Irish Eyes : RUDBECKIA HIRTA) Thank you Lori for the link. I am going to have to buy some of these seeds and plant them next year. They were beautiful!

Happy Not So Wordless Wednesday!

Take Me Back Tuesday

June 1975

Yesterday I posted a photo of my daughter, Lily, in a dress I wore as a child. In the photos below I am 19 months old. They were taken by my mom's best friend from childhood. It was a mini photo shoot.

August 25th, 1970

Today is my mom's birthday! Happy Birthday MOM!! I Love you and hope you have a great day!! These photos are of my mom in 1970 on her 17th birthday. My parents are newlyweds in these photos. They got married on month before these were taken. In the photo below, my mom's grandmother, my aunt and my mom.My father, mother and my 2 aunts are in the photo below. BTW...the screen behind my father's head is the one I blogged about here. Happy Birthday Mom!!

I love you!

XOXO

I ♥ Faces - Week 33

This week’s theme is: "Nostalgia"


This photo makes me nostalgic because the dress my daughter is wearing is my dress from when I was a little girl. She was so cute in it! Come back tomorrow to see photos of me wearing the same dress as a child.


Check out more photos at i ♥ faces.

Not Me Monday - wk 13

I certainly would not go to the zoo 2 days in a row. This was not because my friend wanted to go do something (we haven't gotten our kids together in forever) and we could not come up with anything else to do.
I would never bribe my son with the bone zone because he really didn't want to go again. I do not hate the bone zone because my kids end up a dusty MESS and it is usually filled with kids throwing stones.
I would never drop my children off at my in-laws so I can go on a date with my husband to the fair so I can see the parts of the fair I missed the first time I went with the kids.

I did not start potty training my daughter Friday. She certainly would not decide on her own that she didn't want a diaper on anymore. Mmm....nope I certainly would have started the process myself. BTW...she is doing awesome!!

I did not go through boxes of clothes that I bought my daughter for the next size/season and realize my daughter has a lot of clothes. I would never have bought all of that on clearance over the past couple years. I certainly did not try most of them on my daughter and enjoy it. Mmm....nope! I have to say, my daughter really likes trying on clothes. ;)

This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

Sunday Citar

"There is a garden in every childhood, an enchanted place where colors are brighter, the air softer, and the morning more fragrant than ever again." ~ Elizabeth Lawrence

Thank you for stopping by Sunday Citar! This blog quote meme was created by Fresh Mommy. You can stop by her blog to see the quotes and photos that she and everyone else is loving right now.

Update on Potty Training - She is doing great!! She even walked over to the potty and did #2 all on her own. The only thing to work on is nap/bed time and going out of the house. I know TMI again.

Last Weekend

So last weekend we were very busy. My husband took off that Thursday and Friday so we had a long weekend planned. It was hot and sticky here that whole weekend.

We went to the Erie Co. Fair...

...rode A LOT of rides and played a game or two...----------------------------------------

We went to the Seneca Park Zoo in Rochester...

...saw Nemo... ...and penguins formulating a plan...

...played on a playground...

---------------------------

We spend most of Saturday & Sunday at the beach...

---------------------------

So what am I doing this weekend? Doing the happy dance!!

Can I have a WOOT WOOT!?!? I bought Lily Littlest Petshop (her favorite) underwear yesterday and she has decided she no longer wants to wear diapers. She absolutely wants to wear underwear like mommy & Ian. So after nap yesterday I brought the potty downstairs and she went pee 6 times in it and had 2 accidents. After the 2nd accident I was leaning toward putting her back in a diaper, but decided against it. After that she walked over to the potty, pulled her underwear down and went. WOOT WOOT!! Today she has only had 1 accident so far besides wearing a diaper for nap. She is doing fantastic! I had every intention of starting the potty training process in Sept/Oct, but Lily had other plans. Crossing fingers and toes that this is it and she totally gets it.

Yes, I realize that this may be TMI....but I am really excited about no more diapers.

Hope you are having a fabulous weekend!

Prima

Is having a giveaway over here on their blog.

Niagara On The Lake

Staycation- Part 2
You can read part 1 of my staycation here.

The second day of my staycation we went to Niagara On The Lake. It's a beautiful little town in Canada. We crossed the border at Niagara Falls and took the senic route down river road. If you have never done this I highly recommend it. It is such a beautiful ride!! Along the way there are many wineries and we stopped at many. My husband & I are partital to Ice Wine. Many years ago we tried it and fell in love. We both prefer sweeter wine and Ice Wine is like a yummy dessert. Here are a few shots from Inniskillin. (it has changed a TON over the years...I think I need to do some scanning for a take me back tuesday post)

Niagara On The Lake is full of little shops and resturants.Niagara On The Lake hold a special place in my heart because my mother's mom's family are from there. My mom spent many summers there as a child. It has changed a ton over the years. It was great to take my mom back there when my son was younger and have her tell me all about it. The building below is what my mom called the cop shop which is the police station where my great-great grandpa worked for a while (not sure what he did).

The historic building below was actually where my grandmother's father (PAPA) grew up. My grandmother has photos of herself chasing chickens in the side yard. My mother has shutters that were from the inside of this house that she uses til this day as a screen. When my grandmother was a child there was a porch all around the house. When they made it a historical landmark they took off the porch. It is so interesting to listen to my mother talk about Niagara On The Lake and what it looked like when she was a child. She is going to get the photos from my grandmother so we can scan them in and pick her brain for more info on the cute little town. I think it would make for a fantastic Take Me Back Tuesday post.

This is the sign that stands outside the house.Currently the house is being used as a suite at the Queen's Landing Hotel. Before the Queens Landing built their hotel on this land there was a log cabin in which my great great uncle Goring lived in, he was the one who drove the maid of the mist, remember here. (His brother blew glass, remember here.) After my Great Great Great Grandparents passed away they left the land to my great-great uncle, Goring. Goring sold that parcel of land to the Queens Landing.On the way home we stopped at what as a child I used to call the Man In The Sky. It's actually called Brock's Monument. I don't remember visiting the monument as a child. When we walked up to it and found out you can go inside. Actually you can walk all the way up it to the look out which is under his feet (for a fee). We opted out of doing that this trip.

This is a monument for Laura Ingersoll Secord and the view from behind the monument. This monument is on the right before you get to Brock's Monument.There was only one thing I didn't get to take a photo of because I forgot. One of my grandmother's paintings is in the back of a resturant/bar in Niagara On The Lake. I guess I will have to do it next time. Thank you mom for letting me ask you all of those questions about our family again and for calling grandma tonight and picking her brain.