No bones about it! My little pumpkin is a cutie!
Liam, 3 months old
Baby’s First Halloween
29
Monthly Archives: November 2010
Random Thoughts About Running and Red Velvet Cake
There isn’t much to report about my running because I haven’t been running. I really screwed up my knee the last time I ran. I don’t know if it my shoes were too old or if I pushed myself too hard trying to run too much too soon. Either way, it resulted in me taking a break from the little running I started until my knee feels better, particularly my t-bands.
Over the past three weeks, I’ve done a lot of sulking about not running and not losing any weight. I know I only had a baby 3 months ago, and they say 9 months up and 9 months down, but seriously! Give me half a pound or something! I’ve been so good I deserve to see the scale tip to a lower digit. C’mon already!
Well, I was doing really well until Halloween and Allana’s birthday rolled around. We celebrated her birthday with three different cakes on three different days: one Cold Stone Red Velvet Ice Cream Cake, one chocolate cookie cake and an Archer Farms Red Velvet cake. Three cakes and two pounds gained. Great.
I was really hoping to lose at least ten pounds by Christmas. It looks like the only way I’ll lose ten pounds by Christmas is by throwing ten pounds of red velvet cake and Halloween candy into the trash.
***Proudly submitted at The Un Mom’s Random Thoughts Tuesday, because when I blog about my runs, it’s usually pretty random.***
Ray LaMontagne Moves Me
I’ve mentioned before how much I love Ray LaMontagne and how I would beg, steal or borrow to see him in concert since I missed his last tour through Tampa. Friday night, I was fortunate enough to be given another chance to see Ray along with living legend Levon Helm and The Band for their co-headlining tour.
Ray LaMontagne and the Pariah Dogs were amazing live, but I prefer him best acoustic with just a steel string guitar and his soulful voice. Allan was very embarrassed by my attempt to record Ray. I was too embarrassed to record more than one song, but I found a video of Ray singing Like Rock & Roll and the Radio. This song gives me goosebumps. His pain in this song sounds so genuine.
Since Ray co-headlined with Levon Helms, Allan and I hoped they would perform The Weight, like they did on Spectacle: Elvis Costello with… and much to our pleasure, they did.
Ray had me tapping along and swaying in my seat and Ruth Eckerd Hall was a perfect venue for his blues/bluegrass infusion. He truly moves me.
Visit Amanda, Xmas Dolly and Hairbows & Guitar Picks for more Music Monday fun.
Friday Food Fight: Beans and Rice is Nice
Growing up in Florida with its large Cuban population, you get quite accustomed to Cuban food and even take it for granted. When my friend Lori moved away, she craved Florida’s Cuban food. So, I can imagine that my SIL Karen will be craving some good ol’ Cuban food soon enough, particularly black beans and rice. And try as she might, I highly doubt she can find a suitable substitute or replicate the authenticity of this popular Cuban dish.
Black beans and rice is a regular dish in our home. I can’t imagine going more than a week without it. Do they even sell black beans in the UK?
Beans and rice…beans and rice…once or two or even thrice…beans and rice is nice.
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Halloween Hangover
Almost a week later, my family and I are still recovering from a Halloween Hangover, a weekend filled with Halloween hoopla and a sugar high.
Last Friday, the girls had their Literacy Parade at school. All the schools in our area prefer to promote reading in lieu of celebrating Halloween and therefore ask the kids to dress as literary characters. The kids are then asked to carry a book which accompanies their costume.
In past years, the girls have had two costumes: one for the literary parade and one for Halloween. Feeling lazy and frugal, I told the girls they could only wear one costume this year unless they chose to wear a costume already in their closet. Fortunately, they seemed all right with that idea, but then Allana spotted the Double Trouble costume (half devil/half angel) at Target and really wanted to wear it. I explained to her that if she could think of a book related to the costume, I would buy it for her.
A couple of weeks later, we thought of The Best Christmas Pageant Ever (an absolutely brilliant book). In the story, Gladys Herdman plays the angel in the Christmas pageant, but she has a reputation for being an evil child. Get it? Gladys Herdman is half angel and half devil.
Emmalynn’s costume required less thought. She wanted to be “Heather, the Violet Fairy” from Rainbow Magic: The Rainbow Fairies.
On Saturday, we attended our Moms on the Go Halloween party, which is always a lot of fun and this year, the weather was perfect too.
Sunday, we took the girls to a local pumpkin patch to pick pumpkins for jack-o-laterns.
Carving pumpkins is an activity we plan to do every year, but this is the first time we actually managed to find time to do it and the girls loved it!
Afterwards, we went trick-or-treating and the girls collected a mountain of candy. In keeping with our 30-Day Giving Challenge, we donated 3 pounds to the dentist for Operation Gratitude and we still have a huge pile.
Now, you may understand why I call it Halloween Hangover. We indulge in way too much fun and candy every Halloween. Thankfully, the clocks go back this weekend so we can get an extra hour of sleep to help recover from our Halloween Hangover.
30-Day Giving Challenge
Today begins Day 1 of the 30 Day Giving Challenge. My family and I participated last November and we are thrilled and excited to be participating in this challenge again this season.
Like last year, the girls and I will be making our cornucopia placemats so that they can record, admire and treasure their gifts of giving for years to come. And also like year, I will share our gifts by tweeting and posting them on Facebook. I believe it inspired many of my friends and followers to take on the challenge as well.
However, this year I’ve decided to have Allana and Emmalynn help plan our 30 Days of Giving to make the experience more meaningful for them. Using the calendar on the 30 Day Giving Challenge website, I’ll ask the girls what they would like to give and record their ideas on the calendar.
For Day 1, the girls have chosen to bring their Halloween candy to our dentist, who will donate candy to the troops through Operation Gratitude.
Where some might view this challenge too extreme or too difficult, I found we gave more than 30 gifts by the end of the challenge. It’s such a rewarding experience and I encourage you to take on the challenge with my family and me. Keep it simple and you’ll see how simple it is to give. If you need some “gift ideas”, read through my list here for some suggestions.
Music Monday: Happy Birthday, Soul Sister
Over the past nine years, I’ve watched my baby become a bright, beautiful little adult although it feels like overnight.
You’re growing up right before my eyes in a blink of an eye.
You’re kind. You’re thoughtful and you bring such sunshine into the world with your lovely smile.
You may have your Daddy’s nose, but you’ve got you Mama’s boisterous belly laugh.
When you’re holding your baby brother, I love how you make him smile and giggle and how you tear up from all the joy your baby brother fills you with one tiny smile.
Every time I hear Soul Sister on the radio, I think of you belting out the notes and singing along as it blasts out from the car speakers.
With your kind, generous, caring nurturing way, you are truly our little soul sister.
Happy 9th Birthday, Allana.
I love you.
xox
Visit Amanda, Xmas Dolly and Hairbows & Guitar Picks for more Music Monday fun.
