Sunday, October 31, 2010

Sundays in My City

Unknown Mami


Because everyone is so busy with Halloween today,  I thought I would just put up one picture of my 2 month old neice in her Halloween outfit (Daddy's a fisherman).

Here's to lots of candy!!!!
(Oh and her Grandpa took the picture, I can't take any credit!)

Friday, October 29, 2010

Frag'n Friday

Mommy's Idea
Thank you Mrs. 4444s for giving us Fridays to unwind, decompress and unload!

*As I am writing this, 2 men are inspecting my house, attic and basement. They are doing an energy survey to try and save me some money. This is a FREE thing and you could get up to $2000 back on work you have done on your house to help you be more energy efficient. Wow! A company giving money away, what a concept!

*It has been quite a week. I put 600 miles on my car, just running the girls around. I was happy to bring my car to the shop today to put on 2 new tires so I had an excuse to stay home!

*What Scrooge is to Christmas, I am to Halloween. Bah Humbug.

*Last day to get your name in for the 1800FLOWERS GC is Sunday!

*Anyone know of any good books that I can read to get my Masters in Teenager? I have my masters in Early Childhood Ed which has allowed me to fair quite nicely in the younger years. Now, however, I am at a loss.

*K went to a great bday party last weekend for her friend turning 14. The girls had to get dressed up for a nice dinner at the  birthday girl's house and bring up to 5 items to swap with the other girls. They had a blast! She came home with 4 new shirts and a pair of shoes! This is how she looked going to the party. Those shoes were hand me downs, too. I don't think I could stand on them, never mind walk!


*Not to be outdone by her sister, B got spiffed up for church the next morning.


*Spent a few hours at the ER the other night because K was bucked off her horse. I just love hearing about when she gets bucked off a horse. NOT. She just has a very bruised finger, but no broken bones.

*Busy weekend with Halloween parties and a swim meet! Hope you have a good one :)

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Once Upon a Time Wednesday....

Once upon a time Wednesday is about things from the past. There are many stories in my head that I want to share with my girls. The trip to Ellis Island, thank you very much Liberty Mutual, this summer made me realize that I had to get these stories documented. History is extremely important and fun!  Play along if you want!

Once upon a time, when the girls were little, we would call farts, "toots". It seemed a lady like thing to call gas from your nether regions. "Toot" also put a cute spin on a smell that was nowhere similar to roses. Over time, they enjoyed the word "fart" more, probably because that is what their cooler and older boy cousins proudly called gas.

When I was little, my parents called farts "heinie-sneezes". Now, to me, my dad was very worldly because he traveled a lot for work. I assumed this was the german word for fart.* I used it freely and frequently thinking that I was so smart.

It did not occur to me until FRESHMAN YEAR IN COLLEGE what the word really meant: a sneeze from your butt. I don't know if we said it so fast that it became just one word in our house or what. I just never really thought it out. Now, I can't say it without laughing which is probably why I stuck with the word "toot" for the girls.

*Melisa, feel free to share that one with Kat :)

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Shutterfly Holiday Cards

In my family, the talk of the Christmas card picture for my parents' card starts in the summer. My parents like to have all of us in the picture. We all want it done in the summer when we are tan, but either we are not all together or are too busy or this year it was because my sister had a baby in September. So it will be another picture of us at Thanksgiving looking not so tan and bundled up. Maybe it's better that we don't show too much skin.

My Christmas card is usually made of a bunch of pictures because I take so many throughout the year. It's the letter, poem, song that takes me awhile.

If you watch Better With You, (and you should, it's FUNNY) they had an episode on Christmas cards that was hysterical. They had 3 classifications of cards, "the bowl", "the fridge" and "the mantel". The best went on the mantel and the blahs went into the bowl on the table.

I know how your Christmas cards can be mantel cards! Shutterfly has some beautiful cards this year! (Well they do every year, just ask my family because we've used them.) They also have cards where a percentage goes to a  charity like LIVESTRONG, the American Lung Association and Heifer International. My favorites for this year are: Many Memories Tree, Live Love Laugh and Charming Little Trees. Now it will come down to what pictures to pick.

Shutterfly also has Hanukkah cards, New Year's Day or invitation cards and if you are really on the ball, Thanksgiving cards. The best is that you can pick a card for just one picture or if you are snap happy like me, many pictures.

What? You haven't even thought of your Christmas card yet? Well get going, Shutterfly is here to help! Check out this offer....

Do you want 50 free holiday cards from Shutterfly? Click here to go to Shutterfly for information on how you can get 50 free cards this holiday season, and make sure to select Clever 1000 as the referral source.

This post is part of a series sponsored by Shutterfly. I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective, which endorses blog with integrity, as I do.

Monday, October 25, 2010

1-800 FLOWERS Giveaway!

As I had mentioned here, September and October are the most popular months for birthdays. 1-800 FLOWERS is a fantastic place to order flowers  for that special person in your life. I was lucky enough to be sent a birthday flower cake to review. It is just beautiful and looks almost identical to what was promised. It still looks beautiful today and I received this on the 14th! I cannot tell you how many people have walked into my house thinking that it was a real cake!
From the website:
                                   

Mine: (it did come with candles, too)


Thanks to the kind people at 1-800 FLOWERS, I am giving away a  $40 gift card so you can make yourself or someone you love deliriously happy.

You have 2 ways to enter (please make sure your email address is in the comments, so I can easily reach you).

1. Leave a comment telling me what your favorite flower arrangement from the 1-800 FLOWERS Birthday collection is.
2. Tweet about the giveaway, including a link to this post. Then leave me a comment with your tweet.


Other info: The winner must live in the US (sorry, foreign friends!). You have until the end of the day, Sunday (Oct 31st) to enter. I will be using random.org to pick the winner from all the comments. If you win, you have 3 days to respond to my email with your mailing address: if I don't hear from you, I will draw another winner.



OK, go look at all those beautiful arrangements and don't forget to follow 1-800 FLOWERS on facebook and twitter.

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Sundays in My City

Unknown Mami


Yesterday, my town held it's first October-fest! Many of the stores around town entered a pumpkin person or persons into the pumpkin people contest. I have no idea which one won, but here is a sample of some of the best!










Very clever!!!

Saturday, October 23, 2010

Butterfingers

With Halloween right around the corner, everbody is thinking about CANDY!

Do you want to be the greatest house on the block or do you want to have your house tp-ed?

Do you want to be memorable to all the kids in the neighborhood or do you want your pumpkins smashed?

Do you want to be a Halloween legend in the trick or treaters' minds or do you want your house egged?

There is a new candy on the block this year and it is called Butterfinger Snackerz. Some genius has taken the regular Butterfinger candy and put them into small little squares. The squares are more wafery (that's a word, right?) and lighter than the regular Butterfinger bar.

Since Butterfinger was so generous in sending me a bag, I passed them out to my friends and family to get their reactions,  too.  I got a 100% thumbs up from everybody. I love Butterfinger bars, but don't like how I have to pick my teeth (in a very lady like fashion) due to all the peanut buttery goodness stuck there. With the Snackerz, I did not have that problem.


So, in conclusion, to be the house that rocks the trick or treating world (in my humble opinion), go out and fill your bowl with Butterfinger Snackerz! I know I already have!

I was given a bag of Snackerz and not forced or paid to write this review. It is my own opinion.

Friday, October 22, 2010

Frag'n Friday

Mommy's Idea

Welcome to Friday Fragments where you can unload and start your weekend on a fresh slate!

*Was at the barn this week with K and had to take pictures of Milly the goat. There was feed in this bin, so she jumped in with both feet and by the time I left was laying down in it. Talk about protecting your food....


*B had her first swim meet this past Saturday. This is her favorite picture because it shows the writing on both her arms. I don't think she really needed it on BOTH arms, but I guess it made her more cool. The coaches suggest that the kids write down what heats they are in on their arms so they don't miss anything. She didn't miss anything and had a blast!
The best thing was that they didn't have an award ceremony at the end, so no sitting for an extra 2 hours while kids get awards. Phew. The bad thing about that is I have no idea what her times were, but she had fun, so I will call it a success!


*K had to make a project about herself for Health class this week. She did this all by herself and was very proud of it. It is really cool, which is why I took a picture. I think if you click on it, it will get bigger.


*Does anyone have or know anyone that has a Kia Sorrento or a Kia Sedona? I need a bigger car.

*There is major construction going on in front of my house. The town is putting in new sewers. Every morning this week at 7:05 the house shakes while 2 big ass digger type trucks rumble by. They are the biggest diggers I have ever seen in real life. Little dude loves watching them! I have to admit, it is kind of cool.

*Yesterday, I drove 140 miles just running around town and shuttling kids to things. By the time I sat down for dinner at 7:45, the girls asked why I seemed so stressed. I explained to them my day and K said, "I would be sitting on the couch with a glass of wine and some popcorn if I were you." Probably not a good thing when your 13 year old knows you better than you think.

*My nephew got his lisence yesterday! That means I have someone to run and get my M&Ms when I run out. Perfect!

*Unknown Mami has won the OshKosh Gift Card I was giving away!!!

*And for those of you that were baffled the other day.... jeggings are leggings that look like jeans, but they are so much softer and comfier than jeans!

*Have a fantastic weekend! :)

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Once Upon a Time Wednesday....

Once upon a time Wednesday is about things from the past. There are many stories in my head that I want to share with my girls. The trip to Ellis Island, thank you very much Liberty Mutual, this summer made me realize that I had to get these stories documented. History is extremely important and fun!  Play along if you want!

Once upon a time, Halloween was fun. When I was in grade  school, we lived in a great (fantastic, awesome, amazing, SAFE) neighborhood. My mom was no Martha Stewart in the costume department, so she would throw the 3 of us in the Wagoon (think big old station wagon) and take us to KMart where we would pick out a plastic costume in a box complete with plastic face mask. My dad would take the 3 of us trick or treating in our completely flamable costumes with the condensation building up in our plastic masks. We would collect as much candy possible while he enjoyed some treats in cute, little glassses himself. My mom would hunker down at home and pass out the candy.

I don't know what happened in 6th grade. Maybe I got too big or too cool for the box costumes. I wanted a homemade costume. The pain and anxiety I must have put my mom through when I uttered the words "homemade costume" was probably unpalpable. I am not sure when she got the brain storm, but she told me I was going to be a raisin. She was not thinking of those cool purple dude raisins in the commercials, she meant plain raisin. She crumpled up a black garbage bag, put in over my head (yes, she put a hole in it for my head to come out of and 2 arm holes, too), then for some reason added a cut out of a smiling worm. In essence I looked like an old moldy apple with a worm, or a raisin with a worm.

Needless to say, she hasn't lived that costume down. I can be very creative( and so can she), but not so much with Halloween costumes. It's obviously genetic. My poor girls, they think they want me to create something for them, but I happily take them to any store in America for a store bought costume. Obviously, as long as this  family line of women reproduce, we will be keeping store bought Halloween costumes in business.

Monday, October 18, 2010

Not Destined for Cool Mom Status

I love comfy pants and TJMaxx. 2 attainable things even on Cape Cod. When I came across a pair of "jeggings" a few weeks ago that were soft, I thought, "OK, soft, comfy pants, potentially in style,  I'll take them." I wore them the other day with a big shirt (yes, it was a men's shirt. I wanted to make sure my butt was covered. I do have some pride.) The girls had gone to school before I had gotten dressed so they did not see me until pick up.

First I picked up K,

K "OMG, are you wearing leggings?"
Me "Well, technically they are jeggings."
K with a look like she wanted to die right in the middle school parking lot, "Oh, boy."

Then I walked into the gym to pick up B from jump rope,
B, walking across gym floor to me, "Are you wearing jeggings?"
Me "Yes."
B "Really? OMG."
Me "Do you like them? They're yours."
B with a look on her face like she could die right on the gym floor "Oh. MY. God. "
Me "Just kidding."

Now I need to remember if I ever need to embarrass them, I will be sure to wear them. Maybe I will wear a shorter shirt next time....

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Sundays in My City

Unknown Mami


Check out pictures from around the world here.

I know I have mentioned the playground that we went to Monday that was so cool. I wanted to wait to share the pictures for today. This is Puma Park in Truro. It is the most artistic playground that I have ever been to. K, B, little dude and I had so much fun!

The benches have different types of Cape fish on them and other animals.


K enjoyed the climbing wall.


All 3 enjoyed the tire swing!


There was a very cool mural that seconded as a wall.



K thinks she can still fit in the baby swing seats.


Little dude was in 7th Heaven with the big sandbox.


OK, this shark so cracked me up. Of course, I had to have fun with it.


Pretty happy girls for being eaten by a shark...


Happy Sunday!

Friday, October 15, 2010

Frag'n Friday

Mommy's Idea

Mrs. 4444s and a whole gaggle of bloggers unload on Fridays with scattered thoughts from the week. Go check them out!

*I have an OshKosh gc giveaway going on now! Check it out here!

*OK, my first beef of the week is the little red line that is showing up under everything I type. K had an essay to do this week and since we used spell check on it, everything is coming up with red lines. OK, not everything because it seems the words everything, beef and OK are not underlined. Help!

*I love M&M commercials. Surprising coming from me, right?

*I am happily sitting in my pjs this morning typing because it has been a very busy, busy week and I do not have to work today! Actually my sister and I are getting a little mani/pedi later just because we have a gift certificate! Yippee!

*Speaking of my sister, here is the latest baby R photo. She is sititng on a quilt that our aunt made and wearing a jacket that she made, too. And check out the socks! Babies are so chic these days!


*Monday was a holiday, so the girls and I took little dude to a really cool playground that I will feature on Sunday's post. As we were leaving, there were bushes of beautiful daisies. As I was photographing them, I noticed not only bees, but beautiful butterfies. What a gift!



*The whole Chilean Miner experience has left me with a warm fuzzy feeling. I am so grateful that they were able to get those men out (way before Christmas!) and the rescuers too. It's nice to have happy news on the tv once and awhile.

*The girls and I are loving the new album by Bruno Mars. If you are looking for new music, check him out! He was born the year I graduated from HS. Ack.

*K has a 2 day trail ride this weekend, while B has her first swim meet and I have my first weekend since mid-August without a wedding to shoot! Hope you have a fantastic weekend!!!

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Once Upon a Time Wednesday....

Once upon a time Wednesday is about things from the past. There are many stories in my head that I want to share with my girls. The trip to Ellis Island, thank you very much Liberty Mutual, this summer made me realize that I had to get these stories documented. History is extremely important and fun! So if you want to join along, please link up on the bottom and share a little piece of your history with the rest of us!

Once upon a time, when the girls were little, we would take many trips back and forth to my parents' house (2hrs away). We didn't have a DVR in the car. There was a lot of looking out the window, looking at books, snacking and playing with magnets on a cookie sheet. Once and awhile, all my tricks would be for naught and I would have to kick the floor of the car and say that Big Bird landed on the roof. The girls would get very excited and Big Bird would continue to make a fuss on the roof of the car. Then we would look out the window, into the woods trying to find the rest of the Sesame Street gang.

Monday was a day off from school, so the girls and I took little dude to a really cool playground about 20 minutes away. On the way home, little dude was tired, so B told him to look out the window while she hit the ceiling of the car and announced that Big Bird was on the roof of the car. He was hooked and I was stunned that the girls remembered this little trick. When we got back to little dude's house, he looked up on the roof to see if Big Bird was still there. We told him that he had gone back to Sesame Street.

Sure enough, when I picked him up Tuesday morning, he looked up on the roof to see if Big Bird had returned. I love that we have another generation of imaginary car riders!

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

OshKosh O'My Gosh!!



I was so happy to be a guest at the grand opening of the new OshKosh B'Gosh store at the South Shore Plaza in Braintree, MA last week!

My girls wore OshKosh when they were little. I believe I have expressed before how much I loved them in their pink and white striped overalls! OshKosh offers quality, inexpensive clothing for kids; newborn to size 12. Denim and cotton are the 2 themes that go throughout the store. Although, they have some fancier party clothes just in time for the holiday season.

We were greeted with a $50 gift card for us to use and a $25 gift card to giveaway, use as a bookmark, spend (You are in luck, I am giving it away :). The staff at the store were friendly, offered us snacks, water,  coffee and were so helpful if we had questions.

Oh, if only my girls were still 8 years old..... Cute, right?


I swooned when I saw the overall section. I love babies in overalls!


The store paid attention to details. This little red wagon was the base of a table of jeans.


Along with shopping, I got to meet 9 other Boston area bloggers! I had met Christy in NYC, but it was a treat to meet everyone else! I look forward to many more events with these fantastic ladies!


So, basically in less than an hour, I met a great group of women and did my Christmas shopping for my niece and little dude and his little sister. Here are some of Baby R's winter apparel. (Notice 2 pairs of overalls!!!)


And here is the shirt little dude will love. The boy loves trucks, what can I say? I think they made this shirt especially for him!



So, how might you be able to win that $25 gift card that you can use online or in a store???
1. Leave me a comment about OshKosh.
2. Follow my blog.
3. Like OshKosh on Facebook.
4. For you Facebook stalkers who don't like to comment on here, you can comment on As Cape Cod Turns' FB page.

Please leave a separate comment for each.

If I do not have your email address, leave it for me. I will draw a name on Wednesday night the 20th and announce the winner on Thursday. (Please, you are all winners in my book, but I can only pick one of you for the gift card.)

Friday, October 8, 2010

Frag'n Friday

Mommy's Idea
I was so excited for Friday Frags this week, that I started doing it yesterday and then realized it was only Thursday!

*Yesterday, I went to the Grand Opening of the new OshKosh B'gosh store at the South Shore Plaza. That's right, I went over the bridge and got off of Cape Cod for a whole day. It was nice!!! Anyway, I will write about it in a full post, but wanted to let you know that they are having a public Grand Opening on Saturday (tomorrow!) if you live in the area! Here are the details...


The grand opening event will take place from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Activities include:
Denim Drive with Cradles to Crayons Charity: Donate gently-worn jeans or overalls of any size and receive a new pair of OshKosh B’gosh jeans for only $7
Face Painting
Kids can be stars on the “OshKosh B’gosh Blabber Cam” and receive a special prize
Magic 106.7 will also broadcast live from the event and award one lucky shopper with a $250 shopping spree.

WHEN:         Saturday, October 9, 2010 11 AM – 2 PM

WHERE:     OshKosh B’gosh Store
                   New Nordstrom’s Wing – Upper level
                    South Shore Plaza


*Also another event is coming up October 22-24 in New Bedford called Connecting for a Change put on by the Marion Institute. Greg Mortenson of Three Cups for Tea and Stones into Schools will be speaking amongst others. Register now for this fun, free, family event!

*I've whined enough about how much I like Target and how the closest one is an hour away. Yesterday, I went into a brand new Target (South Shore Plaza). It's grand opening is this weekend. It was clean and sparkly and had a grocery store in it and the people that worked there were extra nice.

But...... you knew there was going to be a but, right?

Because it was so new, it didn't have any clearance sections. I puffy heart the clearance sections at Target. I did skip down the aisles whistling of course, but probably didn't spend as much as I could without the clearance section.

*I hit up a few other stores while I was in the land of real shopping. I was looking for something hip and fun to wear when I get invited to "events". I am going to assume I will be asked to another one because I didn't burp or spill anything and was very polite to the people at Oshkosh yesterday.

It wasn't as easy as you would think.

My comfort zone is cotton and fleece. I get too hot wearing wool. I don't like pants tight at my waist. Too many florals or designs scare me. Gray, greens, red and oranges do not look very good on me. Hmm, now that I think of it, I guess I am where B gets her picky fashion sense from....

I prefer to call it knowing what I like. I would live in a JJill store if I could afford it. The whole jegging thing has thrown me for a loop. Before you know it stirrup pants will be back in. I like the long open sweaters, but how do I hide my tummy with those? It's no wonder I came home with a big button down (cotton) shirt from the men's department and a headache.

*It's a long weekend and we have our 2nd to last wedding of the "season". I don't count the one in December "the season". That one is sort of like a bonus. Surprisingly, we don't have one on Sunday which is 10/10/10. Last year people ate up 9/9/09. What are you up to this weekend? Whatever it is, hope it's a good one!







Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Once Upon a Time Wednesday....

Once upon a time Wednesday is about things from the past. There are many stories in my head that I want to share with my girls. The trip to Ellis Island, thank you very much Liberty Mutual, this summer made me realize that I had to get these stories documented. History is extremely important and fun! So if you want to join along, please link up on the bottom and share a little piece of your history with the rest of us!

Once upon a time, we spent many a vacation day at my grandparent's house on Lake Winnipesaukee in NH. I wrote about the bat problem they had here. I was hanging pictures this week and hung this one up of my sister and me. It was taken at the Lake in 1972, which means I was 5 and she was 6 months or so.



I love this picture although I have no memory of having it taken. It shows the black boat in the background that evidently my dad owned, but kept it at my grandparents. It had sweet red vinyl interior. Any time that I smell boat gas now, it transports me right back to this boat. We used to go waterskiing off the back of it. It would scare the crap out of me when I fell and was bobbing around in the middle of the lake. I wasn't scared of other boats, I was scared of the unknown fish and things that could be eyeing my legs as a snack.

We had strict rules for the dock. No going on if no one else was on it. And if someone was on it, we had to stop at the edge of the grass and ask if it was ok if we came on. With the help of my Grandfather, we would steal bacon out of the fridge and bait hooks with it instead of trying to find icky worms. (My Grandmother was never pleased when we did this!) We would fish off the end of the dock and catch 4 inch fish.

As we got older, we would dive off the dock. Depending on how much rain there had been and the level of the lake depended on how shallow the dives were. We also used to float around on truck tire inner tubes that were huge! You just had to be careful not to get caught on the nozzle where you blew them up because it would hurt.

I love how one picture can bring back so many memories. Do you have any pictures like that?

Monday, October 4, 2010

1-800-FLOWERS Birthday Celebrations!

Thanks to 1-800-FLOWERS, I now know that the majority of birthdays fall in the months of September and October. Perhaps that means many people tip back a little too much egg nog or champagne during the winter. Either way, the most popular birthday is actually October 5th! This is ironic because I know 2 people from HS who had this particular birthday! (How do I remember stuff like that and can't remember what I had for breakfast 2 days ago?)


I visited the 1-800- FLOWERS booth at Blogher this summer and was amazed at the new, fun ideas that they had! They are offering me a review on one of these special birthday celebration pieces to help promote their Deliver Birthday Smiles Campaign!




They will be sending me the cupcake shortly and then I will be able to offer a lucky winner a special treat from 1-800-FLOWERS. That cupcake looks almost good enough to eat! So....GO...now! And check out what else they have to offer on Facebook and Twitter and friend them of course!

Who doesn't deserve a nice bouquet or arrangement of flowers, right?