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#DisneySide @Home Celebration Kit Unboxing
Disclosure: I received free products in order to host a Disney Side @Home Celebration. The opinions expressed here are my own.

I was in junior high when we first got satellite television. Up until that point, my television sessions were non-existent with the exception of Disney movies. My mom was and still is a die hard Disney fan. The Lion King is her all-time favorite Disney movie. She even got a chance to catch the musical at Disney World one year when she chaperoned my baby brother’s band trip.

So, it was no shocker that when we got our satellite we were only allowed to watch three things: the Disney Channel, the news and Oprah! For the most part we stuck to this rule; occasionally we watched things that we weren’t supposed to because our peers were watching it, but not often. I remember falling in love with shows like The Famous Jett Jackson (RIP to Lee Thompson Young), Lizzie Mcguire, and being introduced to a mischievous and bothersome Shia LaBeouf, who played the role of Louis Stevens on Even Stevens. He’s definitely come into his looks since then, but I digress.

I remember enjoying cartoons like PB & J Otter, JoJo’s Circus and more with my baby sister who was just starting elementary school. No longer feeling like we were missing out on all of the IT tv shows for teens made me feel like I was finally part of the In crowd. My mom was a single parent and so cable and satellite tv were out of her budget for a while, but we definitely appreciated her getting it for us once we could afford it. Whenever Disney would advertise casting calls, she would always encourage me or one of my siblings to try out, but we were too shy and unsure of our talents back then.

Here I am years later with two kids of my own and I’m proud to say they both love Disney just as much if not more than my siblings and I do and did when we were their ages. I’m honored to have seen and celebrate the creation of the first African American Disney Princess, Princess Tiana from The Princess & the Frog. I’m even more excited that I have my first opportunity to partner with Disney via Disney Parks and MomSelect by hosting a Disney Side @Home Celebration! Moo’s eyes about popped out of her head when I told her we had a package from Disney coming.

Looking back, I’m kind of wishing I had waited until it arrived to tell her. Okay not really, but she asked about it EVERYDAY. The first words out of her mouth in the mornings would be, “Is my Disney package coming today?” When I picked her up from school she would ask, “Did the Disney package come?” And during our nightly family prayer when I’d ask if she had anything she wanted to pray for she would respond with , “Lord, help our Disney package hurry up and get here.” LOL.

Seeing her excitement and joy over us getting the chance to do something special like a Disney Side @Home Celebration has been refreshing and magical for me. I can only imagine this is the same excitement I exuded to my mom when I was younger and got excited about receiving or getting to watch the latest Disney movie. I had the biggest obsession with Pocahontas and went nuts when my mom was able to get my the braiding Pocahontas doll for Christmas after the movie came out. I cherished that doll and played with it for years until my little brother chewed one of her hands off and then broke off her head.

We were selected for the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse multigeneration kit, which is great since JJ loves Mickey and Moo and loves Minnie and Daisy. Our kit came with the following goodies:
- Disney Side invitations
- Mickey Mouse Clubhouse cups, napkins, plates, tablecloth and decorations
- Minnie Mouse and Daisy snack supplies
- Disney party favors: stickers, pencils, Mickey Mouse tattoos, and information packs with luggage tags for the adults
- Disney themed activity sheets: Bingo, trivia cards, word search puzzles and more
- Mickey Mouse cake mold
- Duff Goldman Tie Dye cake mix and sprinkles
- HP Create Memories You Keep Packs
- Snuggle Fabric softner (sample size)
- All Mighty Pacs (full size)
- Wisk laundry detergent (sample size)
- Two Disney Princess Palace Pets toys
- Disney Princess nail polish set (18-count)
- Coupons
- Disney Vacation Planning DVD
Moo with her faves from our kit

Do I even have to tell y’all what Moo’s favorites from our kit are? I think the picture above says it all. She’s in love with Nuzzles and Matey. I haven’t let her crack into the nail polish yet since we’re saving that to do our nails with the day of our party. JJ’s favorites have been the stickers, pencils and huge Pin-the-Smile-on-the-Mickey cutout.

My favorite is the cake mold because I can use it for parties for years to come. And I’m ready to try out the Duff’s Tie Dye cake mix. I heard it tastes really good. The Mr and I will enjoy that since it’s not gluten-free. We’ve decided to host our party next month and have decided on a Family Togetherness Day theme filled with family, food, games, Disney movies and of course talking about our upcoming Disney World trip.

Be sure to check out our kit unboxing video below. And yes, I know that my head is half out of the frame for most of the video. We filmed it at 1 AM and this tired mommy meant to move the camera back, but I went to check on JJ and then forgot to move it when I came back. You still get a full view of Moo, who served as my lovely assistant! Also, drop by The Best Crowe’s Nest and check out my friend, Kelley’s Disney Side @Home Celebration Box Reveal.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kyWm6E09wN0]

Do you or your child have a favorite Disney character/show?
January 24, 2015
Thankful Thursday

“Everyday is a new beginning, take a deep breath and start again.”

~ @Oprah_World, Twitter

Good day YUMMs! Happy Thankful Thursday. Definitely giving thanks for new beginnings. I’ve really been working hard to allow each day to be its own blank slate and not rolling over issues and negative energy from the day before. And yes, taking a deep breath does help.

I’m thankful that Moo has officially recovered from her flu!! However, she did get a stomach virus on Monday. Tuesday night was the roughest. Let’s just say our carpet got some special cleaning attention. But she’s back on the mends again.

Stomach bugs are always short lived. I’m giving thanks that JJ didn’t catch her flu or stomach bug! One sick child is handful enough for me. The Mr and I have made sure to remind Moo more frequently to wash her hands at school and ask her teacher for sanitizer often. Her poor immune system has taken so much of a beating since she’s started school. She’s literally been sick almost every other week.

She’s a trooper though and has handled it all with grace. I know God has been and will continue to look out for her. We’re hoping to get through 2015 without any trips to ER or stays in the hospital. We had a close call with her flu and asthma last week, but again, God came through.

I had a package from a sponsor get lost in the mail last week and I am grateful that they were awesome and offered to ship me a new one. It arrived Tuesday and I can’t wait to share what it is with y’all. Earlier this month, I announced that I had been selected to host a #DisneySide @Home Celebration. Well, it’s been such an awesome and exciting experience connecting with other bloggers through this project.

The support and love that my fellow #DisneySide hosts and hostesses have been displaying in our Facebook group, on social media and each other’s blogs and vlogs is so inspiring and motivating. I’m so grateful to Disney, Disney Parks and MomSelect for bringing us together. I definitely feel like I’ve made a few more blogger friends and look forward to getting to know everyone more. Be sure to follow the #DisneySide hashtag on social media to see how we’re showing our love of Disney and Disney Parks and how that love is allowing us to bond with our families and friends.

JJ has officially graduated to using sentence fragments and two word phrases!! I’m super excited and proud of his progress. We actually went to the library this morning and picked out some books. I read to them every night and we do his flashcards, but now I’m ready to get him started trying to read to me and Moo. My goal is to start slow with getting him to read one page a night using the repeat after me method. Then a month from now, we’ll increase to two pages and so forth until he can read at least five pages in one setting.

I’m also thankful that JJ’s fourth birthday is coming up. That means I’m getting closer to starting my TTC journey for baby 3! There is a small to do list that we still have knock out to make sure we’re fully prepared for a third child like buying second car that is family friendly and has a lot of trunk space, but isn’t an uber gas hog. I’m thinking a hybrid suv will be a good fit for us. If anyone has any recommendations on a great one leave it below.

And as always, I’m grateful for those who continue to support this blog. Thanks for reading and sharing.

What are you showing gratitude for this week?

January 22, 2015
Love Gently Falling

Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are 100% my own.

“We know that for those who love God all things work together for good . . .”

~Romans 8:28

It’s no secret that I love reading. There’s just something about being able to escape reality for a little while. For a year now I’ve been a fan of author Melody Carlson. Last year I read Once Upon a Winter’s Heart, a great Valentine’s Day read, and loved it. So, when I was asked if I’d like to review her latest Christian fiction, Love Gently Falling, I was thrilled.

In Love Gently Falling, Rita Jensen, the main character, has been enjoying her life as a Beverly Hills hairstylist and living with her two roommates, Margot and Aubrey. Then, her world shaken when her dad, Richard, calls her with the bad news that her mom, Donna, has suffered a stroke and that her brother, Ricky, isn’t taking it very well. She hops a plane from sunny California to her hometown, Chicago, in a rush to be by family’s side during this difficult time. Once in Chicago, she’s immediately reunited her former classmate, Johnny Hollister.

Johnny is tall, handsome and the perfect gentleman in almost every sense of the word. Although, Rita is instantly attracted him, she’s involuntarily hesitant to let herself even think about him a romantic way after being put off by his profession. (You’ll have to read the book to find out what it is.) Planning only to stay for two weeks, Rita is soon finds herself reuniting with other people from her past- some friends, some foe. Also, she comes to realize that her mom needs her help and support with than just recovering from her stroke.

Donna’s salon, Hair and Now, is nearly on its last leg. Rita soon discovers that she’s going to have put in more than a little elbow grease to make the salon profitable again. And while her brother points out that the odds seem to be against their family, Rita reminds him of Romans 8:28, their mom’s favorite scripture and life’s motto, that everything will work in their favor if they just keep the faith in God.

But will it? And as Rita sets her plans to rescue her mom’s salon in motion, she finds herself more drawn to Johnny. However, there’s just one glitch, her teenage nemesis, Zinnia, has had her sights set on Johnny for years and is not the least bit fond of the attraction that she sees blooming between the two. Combine that Zinnia’s jealously over Rita’s family dynamics and the fact that Rita is fixing up her mom’s salon and things soon come to a head.

Will Rita end up with Johnny? Can she overlook his less than appealing profession or has Zinnia already charmed Johnny for her own? Are Rita’s efforts enough to her reinvent her mom’s salon by Valentine’s Day? I won’t give away any spoilers. You’ll have to pick up the book to find out for yourself.

What I will say is that this book really hit home for me in more ways than one. If you’ve been reading my blog from the beginning then you already know that almost five years ago I loss my Ma (my aunt) due to complications from a stroke that she never recovered from. Definitely, reading about Rita’s mom and all of the issues she faced after her stroked reminded me of that dark time in her life. Couple that with the fact that the time periods during which Rita’s mom suffers her stroke is the same time that my Ma suffered hers and this book definitely stirred up some emotional wounds for me.

In addition, my aunt’s stroke was what helped to reunite me and my husband. It was a very dark and difficult time for me after her passing. We put aside our differences and ended rediscovering our love for one another.

I loved the message of Romans 8:28 that was implied and embedded throughout the book. Like Donna, it’s also one of my favorite scriptures and a motto that I try to live by and teach my children to live by. As long as we love and remain faithful to God, no matter what storms come our way, He will work things out our favor the way they are meant to be.

Melody Carlson, author

Love Gently Falling is definitely a book worth reading. Melody Carlson knows how to Christian fiction that is relatable, inspiring, and romantic without pushing the envelope or being too preachy. Her characters are real people who will remind you of yourself or loved ones. And her messages are subtle but clear and motivational.

For more information on Melody Carlson and her books feel free to check her out on Facebook and Amazon as well as on her official website.

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January 17, 2015
Thankful Thursday

“Hem your blessings with thankfulness so they don’t unravel.”

~Unknown

Happy Thankful Thursday YUMMs! These last few days have been some of the longest, slightly scary and sleep deprived days that I’ve had in a long time. Saturday, we went to a private screening of Paddington (review coming soon) and then that night, Moo started feeling sick. She had a fever of 104 by nightfall, but then Sunday morning it had gone down and was down on Monday morning as well. So, I sent her off to school thinking it was just a common cold and that it had run its course.

I was so wrong. We got a call from the school nurse a few hours after I had dropped her off that she had a fever of 106.5! And she was having trouble breathing and complaining of chest and hip pains. Needless to say I was freaking out big time because she seemed fine earlier. I’m grateful that we have great pediatricians and they allowed us to bring her in as a walk-in.

Turns out she had caught a one of the more severe cases of the flu. So, they kept her for observation and ran more tests because she’s asthmatic and we couldn’t get her breathing to stabilize even after a breathing treatment. By the grace of God though, it finally got to normal and we were able to go home with medicine and strict instructions to take her straight to emergency room to be admitted if her breathing got out of control again.

I got zero sleep Monday night because I was too scared to doze off in case she had an asthma attack. While it was a difficult night for her, we didn’t have to visit the ER. Her fever came down to 103 and pretty much stayed there until yesterday morning. I’ve been feeling so awful these last days beating myself up on writing this off as just a regular cold. I don’t even want to think about what would have happened if she hadn’t asked to see the nurse, but would have tried to make it through school.

I don’t like being that mom who has to take her children to the doctors for everything, but with their allergies and other health issues, it’s just too much of a risk not to. Lesson learned. The silver lining in all of this is that we got to spend some time bonding and cuddling. We talked about how she’s enjoying school, her goals from her vision board, what theme she wants her next birthday party and our excitement on waiting for our Disney Side @Home Celebration kit to arrive!

This week I’m also giving thanks that JJ is continuing to improve in his speech. Y’all he’s getting so good at picking up new words and phrases. We need to work on his fully pronouncing the endings of certain words, but still you can make out what he’s saying better now. He’s counting and five and ten are his favorite numbers. He knows and can identify his colors as well as his shapes. We’re going to start learning how to write letters and working on reading this weekend.

Also, I’m giving thanks for awesome sponsors who are understanding that my family comes first. Needless to say, I have some serious catching up to do. No worries I’m not going to bombard y’all with a ton of sponsored posts, but I do have a nice giveaway coming up!

Lastly, I’m thankful that YUMMommy turned 5 years old TODAY!!! Thank y’all for hanging in here with me. All of the support has been and is still greatly appreciated. I’m grateful to have connected with several of you beyond this blog. Looking forward to making Year 6 even greater.

What are you giving thanks for this week?

January 15, 2015
Thankful Thursday

“Life is full of give and take. Give thanks and take nothing for granted.”

~Unknown

Hi YUMMs! The quote above couldn’t be more fitting today. Winter finally decided to kick in and it’s absolutely freezing outside here. I bundled the kids up- heavy coats, layers, gloves and hats- and JJ’s hands were still super cold when we got home from taking Moo to school. Last night, I couldn’t help but think about all of the homeless residents that have to brave these frigid temperatures.

There are hundreds of families who have a place to stay, but still don’t have proper heating and can’t afford proper clothing. My heart goes out to them as well. As I walked Moo to her classroom this morning, I couldn’t help but glance at all of the children I saw and be thankful that they had a warm and safe place to spend most of the day. I don’t know their situations, but for some it was evident that things at home are tight.

I got kind of emotional about it. Actually, I’m still a bit emotional about it because I grew up in a home where things were very tight. We weren’t the poorest and thankfully we had family members and family friends who knew our need and helped here and there. However, some families don’t have that and today was my reminder to not take anything for granted- my family, our car, having warm clothing, etc. It’s these reminders that keep me humble and keep me grounded.

DOWNLOAD HERE (for personal use ONLY)

I stumbled across this scripture Tuesday night and it’s been on my mind constantly ever since. I had to create this printable so that I could print it out and place where I can see it daily. I’m grateful for the reminder that God has destined us to succeed! Life can be discouraging at times, especially when things don’t go as we plan, but it’s all part of His plan to lead us to our greater success story. You can download a copy for personal use ONLY using the link above. If you share it, make sure you link back to this post!

Also, this week I’m giving thanks that yours truly was selected to host her first Disney Side @Home Celebration! The kiddies and I are beyond excited. I wish that I had recorded Moo’s reaction when I told her. It was priceless and she’s been asking everyday when I pick her up if our kit has arrived yet.

Lastly, I’m grateful that Moo is really passionate about her faith. Her enthusiasm about our daily morning and evening prayers is contagious. We read a devotion every night before storytime and she requested that we move it to the morning so that she go to school feeling more empowered! When I say that God is moving in my child, I mean He’s moving y’all!

I can’t and wouldn’t dare take all the credit for her being as compassionate as she is. I know that this comes from a power much higher and greater than us. My prayer and hope is that JJ will become just as passionate and interested in our faith and God’s word as Moo is.

Be blessed YUMMs and keep warm! Don’t forget to donate used (or new) coats and other warm garments if you have them. I’ve rounded up some of the kids old clothing (some used, some never worn) and will be donating them this week to help clothe families in our community.

What are you giving thanks for week?

January 8, 2015
My 2015 Goals & Resolutions

The late President Abraham Lincoln once said, “Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other.” I couldn’t agree more. Setting goals and resolutions play a huge role in helping us to reach success, whatever that may mean for you. Whether you want to become a better Christian, learn how to boil water or have a lasting marriage, having a clear outline or list of goals and resolutions will aid you in your efforts. That is exactly why I believe in setting new goals and resolutions at the start of every year.

One activity that I like to do when setting my goals and resolutions each is making a vision board. I tend to be a very visual person and having visual representation of what I want and need to accomplish help to keep me more focused and makes me feel more accountable compared to just writing them down. This year Moo and JJ got in on the action as well. Also, I did something different and broke my vision board up into four sections- Home Life, Finance/Money, Career and Relationships (Marriage, family, friends, etc)- after reading Lucinda Cross’s vision board feature in Essence Magazine. Below are a few of my main goals and resolutions that I hope to achieve by the end of this year.

Home Life

-Exercise 3 days a week for 15-30 minutes: I plan to switch up my workouts everyday and rotate between doing Zumba (cardio), yoga and a day of just ab and leg training. I have nice YouTube workout playlist that I’ve already started adding videos to. Yes, you can find free videos from professional trainers like Jillian Michaels on their YouTube channels.

-Apply for passports for myself and the kids and renew the Mr’s: I’ve talked several times on here about how I want to travel overseas to Paris, London and Italy. Well, you can’t do that without a passport. Therefore, I’m finally finishing up the applications, taking our photos and sending in our applications. I’ve given myself until May to get this task done.

-Travel/Take a vacation: The travel bug has been biting at my heels (and Moo’s) for some time now and I’m determined to get out of the Queen City and see something new. A few places we’d love to visit are New York, Philadelphia, and New Orleans. Moo has requested a trip to either Disney World or to take a Disney Cruise. We’ll see.

-Get stronger in my faith, trusting God’s plan for the lives of myself and my family: There is definitely room for growth and improvement in spiritual life. This year, I’m focusing hard to make it to church, do a daily devotion and continue with our daily morning and evening prayers.

-Get more involved in philanthropy and giving back: Giving back and serving others is one of the most emotionally rewarding aspects of my life besides parenting. I’ve already started jotting down projects that I can start doing and continue doing on a yearly that basis that we can do as a family as well as by myself.

Relationships

-Spend more time doing family activities: Be it more trips to the park or dance parties in the middle of the living room, I’m committed to getting from behind the computer and putting down my phone to spend more time with my kids and my husband. My first item of business is to start monthly family nights and invest in a collection of board games.

-Have kidless date night: My husband and I haven’t had a date night without the kids in over 6 years! So, I’m working on planning something special and having my baby sister to come up and hang out with the kiddies in order for us to get out alone for a few hours.

-Find local couple/family friends: My husband and I have zero local couple friends. All of our friends who are married live in different states that are thousands of miles away from us. While, we love our single friends that we have here, I’d like to be able to do family date nights and other couple/family related activities. I’m definitely looking for couples who are compassionate, grounded in their faith, have kids and share some of our likes and dislikes.

-Do a better job of reaching out to other bloggers and writers: I’m an introvert by nature and that doesn’t exactly mix with being a blogger and writer because I need to network and be able to self-promote well. There’s been so many times that I’ve wanted to reach out to a blogger and collaborate on a project, but didn’t. I’m looking to improve that this year.

Career

-Get more consistent about blogging and vlogging: Last year I was all over the place with the exception of my weekly Thankful Thursday posts. This year I’ve designed my own blog and vlog planner and I’ve already gotten started with jotting down post and video ideas as well as dates on which to post and upload it. I’m working on coming up with a weekly feature for my YouTube channel.

-Improve and expand my blog and video content: This year I want to be more intentional and purposeful when it comes to the content I produce. So, be prepared to see more DIY projects, recipes and even a few interviews coming to the blog and vlog. I want to produce more content that will be useful and more inspiring to you guys.

-Take a class: Whether it’s a blogging class, graphic design or a general business class, I’m committed to learning more skills to make myself a better entrepreneur.

Finances/Money

-Pay off small debts: We have a few small debts ranging from $50 to $3500 that we want to off by June, but definitely before the end of this year. Financial freedom is something that I didn’t grow up seeing and I’m determined to set a better example of managing finances and stress the importance of not having debt to my children.

-Start researching and open a retirement account: The Mr’s retirement account is all set thanks to his job, but it’s time that I work on making sure my retirement is set.

-Save money/cut expenses: Overall, we have fell off the wagon a little bit when it comes to managing our expenses. This year I really want to get back started with couponing and just making sure we do everything we can to get our monthly spending down.

-Start an overseas trip fund: Since we’ll have our passports by the end of the year, I want to start planning a trip somewhere outside of the US for us to take in 2016. I’ve been checking out a lot of travel blogs and stockpiling resources in preparation for our trip.

-Teach Moo and JJ more about money: As I mentioned earlier, I want my kids to have a more positive relationship with money and know how to manage it. So, we’ll be checking lots of books and watching kid videos that break down money management in a way they can understand.

I know this seems like a long list, but a lot of these goals just require more self discipline and actually putting in effort. Mind of matter so to speak. I’ll keep y’all updated as I make progress on them through the year. I choice the words “fearless” and “leap” as my focus words for this year and I’m looking forward to doing just that.

Also, I felt like God kept leading me to Jeremiah 29:11. So, I created a chalkboard printable and printed it out to display on the mantel in the living room as a constant reminder of this promise from the Lord. Check it out below as well as a link to download your own 4×6 printable for FREE for personal use ONLY! Please remember to link back to this post and give credit if you share my printable on your blog and/or social media accounts!

Download

What are your goals and resolutions for the New Year?

January 6, 2015
Thankful Thursday And A Happy New Year

“Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever.”

1 Chronicles 16:34 (NIV)

Happy New Year and first Thankful Thursday of 2015! I, for one, entered into this year giving God thanks for all of the blessings He bestowed upon me and my loved ones in 2014. Sure there were some rocky moments and some hills we had to climb, but as the gospel song goes “I won’t complain.” I’m so very grateful to have made it to see 2015 with all of my family and friends.

So, apparently the rules for popping fireworks here have changed and I’m super excited because this New Year’s Eve we will be getting some. Yes, I’m planning way ahead, but it’ll be the kids first experience actually popping them. I can’t wait to see how JJ will do. He’ll be four and should enjoy it. My neighbors must have bought several fireworks stores because they starting popping them at 7 PM yesterday and didn’t stop until well after midnight. I’m grateful though because they put on a great show for the rest of us.

I’m grateful that I’m feeling better. Beyond glad that this flu is going away. I saw on the news the CDC said we’re having one of the worst flu epidemics in US that they’ve seen in years. I will must stock back up on my hand sanitizer for the car and my purse. Also, thankful the kids are better as well. I think they had common colds and not the flu though.

2014 ended with great news for my family on my mom’s side. One of my older cousins (she’s also a blogger) got married and announced her pregnancy! I’m so happy for her because she had a year that was a bit rough. She deserves this happiness. I’m hoping we’ll have another family reunion soon because we live so far from my mom’s family and don’t get to see them as often as I would like.

I’m giving thanks that we finally got a small, glass dining room table. It was a gift from my mom (Thanks Mommy!), and we scored it at one of our local Goodwills. It was in perfect condition except for one of the chairs missing two screws on the back, but we handled that. She also reorganized the kids’ room and finally made some sense of their jungle of toys.

JJ is working hard to use phrases now when he communicates with us! That’s a huge improvement. He doesn’t do it all the time, but we’re getting there. He’s finally able to say almost everyone’s name and I’m super excited. He said my baby sister’s name for the first time this week while she was here and it almost moved her to tears. I’m feeling confident that he’ll be speaking a lot clearer by end by his fourth birthday.

Well, I hope that your 2015 got off to a great start. I pray that this year brings you an abundance of love, happiness and success.

What are you giving thanks for this New Year’s?

January 2, 2015
Toodles 2014!
Oh my goodness, I can’t believe it’s already NEW YEAR’S EVE!! I had to triple check the calendar today to make sure I wasn’t imagining this. This year it’s just the kiddies and I celebrating because the Mr had to work. I’m sure they’ll fall asleep before the ball drops as we’ve all been under the weather since two days after Christmas. It started with Moo and JJ both wheezing and then I caught the flu.

Nevertheless, we’re literally just a couple of hours from ringing in 2015 and I’m super excited. I truly believe that with the start of every year, we are given a chance to start anew. Another 365 in which we can challenge ourselves and set measurable goals aka resolutions. I’ll save my New Year’s Resolution post for tomorrow. Right now, I want to reflect on 2014.
Hands down my favorite memories from this year are Moo’s first day of school (before we picked her up in tears) and chaperoning her first field trip. It felt like I had to wait forever for those moments to get here. Watching her grow and find her independence even more has certainly been bittersweet for me, but rewarding at the same time. I’m grateful that to have been had the chance to share in those moments with her and look forward to what other firsts the school year has in store for us.

2014 has absolutely been a year of tremendous growth and improvement for JJ. My little guy seems to have morphed from a baby to a toddler and now a little man so quickly. His speech and temperament are levels ahead of where they were this time last year. Our communication is better than ever because I can understand him clearer and he is better able to tell me what he wants and needs. I can’t say enough how proud I am of him.

This year I got had the opportunity to attend some awesome blog related events. At these events, I was able to meet and connect with a few other bloggers and social media influencers from my area. It’s always nice to have people who can not only relate to you as a blogger, but who can connect with in real life.

I still can’t believe that I added vlogger to the list of hats that I wear. I honestly didn’t think I would ever have the courage to start vlogging. I’m very much the introvert and private person. So, it’s crazy to think that I’ve been vlogging almost a full year now. Be sure to check out my YUMMommy Channel! My inner fan girl totally bugged out when I got tweeted and replied back to by three of my favorite YouTubers- Gabe & Babe TV, April Justin TV and Shaylee Daily.

My family and I moved to a bigger apartment in a better neighborhood. Speaking of our new neighborhood, it’s relatively close to all of the malls here! I love that because I had cut down on going to the mall because we lived so far out and with traffic going and coming it just wasn’t worth making frequent trips. I’m also back closer to Target, my thrift stores and favorite restaurants.

This year marked nine years that Mr and I have been a couple and four years that we have been a married couple. I can’t believe our tenth couple anniversary is just around the corner! It’s such a huge milestone when so many couples don’t even make it three years together now days including the dating period.

The greatest lesson I’ve lessons I’ve learned this year are:
- Respect the process of your journey. What may come fast for others may take some time for you to achieve or accomplish. I could so frustrated so many times this year working on my novels and my blog. I felt like everyone else around me was finding their success faster than I was and when I tried to force myself to take shortcuts or speed up, it often ended in disaster and further irritation.
- No matter how much you support some people they won’t ever ride for you as hard as you do for them. There’s always going to be a few people who will take more than they give. They’ll ask you to support them, claim to be a friend and then go missing. Don’t sweat it. Karma will repay you ten fold in positive ways.
- It’s okay to not associate with certain people regardless of if they’re family, a former classmate, etc. I’ve spent too much of life taking crap from folks because we were related or used to kick it. I finally said enough is enough and dropped that baggage. Life is too short to be surrounded by folks who keep stuff stirred up and who don’t show you proper respect. Yeah, I’ll say hi if I see them in street, but I keep it moving.
- I am a PHENOMENAL mom. I’ve struggled so hard with considering myself a good mom because I felt like somehow I was solely responsible for whatever was wrong with my kids. Their severe allergies, JJ’s ASD, etc were all things I blamed on myself. It seems crazy because these are things I have ZERO control over, but that was my thought process for so long. I’d cry day and night over it.
If I had to choose one thing that I got better at this year, it would be my patience. I’m more at peace and when you’re calmer and more at ease, you’re able to be more patient with people. This has really helped me in dealing with my husband. He used to get the brunt of my impatience a lot and I’ve dailed it back a lot. I could still do better and that’s something I’ll have to continue to work on in the New Year.

Overall, I’m most grateful for just having more opportunities to spend time with my family. The kids have loved seeing my mom, baby sister and niece more this year. They actually just went home after spending fours staying with us. I got photograph and video record everyone opening their Christmas presents. We had some good laughs and they helped with the kids once the sickies descended upon us.
That’s it for my recap of 2014. I hope that you all have had a great 2014 and that you have a wonderful start to 2015! Thank you for your continued support. It is very much appreciated. See you in the New Year!
January 1, 2015
Thankful Thursday and Merry Christmas

Happy Thankful Thursday and Merry Christmas YUMMS! I’m super thankful that my family and I were able to celebrate Jesus’ birthday together again for another year. These past few years the holidays have always been a hard time for me due to missing loved ones who have either passed away or live too far away for us to be with them. This year wasn’t bad. I’ve been praying to God for peace and to keep me covered with calmness.

I still missed my loved ones, but I wasn’t depressed about this year. I’m also thankful that Moo remembered the true meaning of Christmas. We had to do some last minute gift shopping yesterday and she keep repeating that Christmas isn’t about the gifts, but celebrating Jesus and being with family. I couldn’t be more proud of that little girl if I tried!

Both she and JJ LOVED their gifts! The Mr was responsible for the big gifts and I got a few stocking stuffers. He did really good. Just shows that he’s listening and paying attention to the kids and hearing them when they him what they like. I had wrapped a few of the gifts and then he had snuck out and purchased a few more that I didn’t know about.

The Mr really loved his gifts this year as well! It’s always hard shopping for him because there are only so many things that he’s into. That limits my choices and getting him a gift card just seems so impersonal. So, I’m thankful that the kids and I were right on the money with what we got for him. I think I’m going to have him give me a list of gifts that he would want either for our anniversaries, Christmas and his birthday that we haven’t purchased for him already.

JJ’s rash is finally going away! Praises to God because my poor baby has scratched and scratched for so long. Like seriously, we’re scheduling a trip to the dermatologist to get a better assessment about what we can do to better treat these outbreaks as well as what we can use to help reduce some of the scarring he now has from scratching the skin off certain areas of his body. I’m hoping we have less breakouts in 2015.

Overall, I’m just feeling blessed and not because of material things. I feel like so much is lining up, so many prayers are being answered and more things are being made clear to me. I’m super excited to see what 2015 holds. From my family to yours, MERRY CHRISTMAS!

December 26, 2014
Thankful Thursday

Happy Thankful Thursday YUMMs! This week has been kind of long. JJ broke in these mystery hives on Tuesday and they still haven’t gone away despite getting a HUGE tube of steroid cream from the pediatrician. When I say he’s covered head to toe, I mean head to toe. And I’m completely clueless as to what could have caused this.

My suspicion is that it’s all of this carpet. And the pediatrician and the Mr seem to agree that his system is maxed out with dealing with the allergens that carpet can bring. Apartments don’t really invest a ton of money into allergen-free carpet because it just wouldn’t be practical for them in the long run. So, we’re going to be experimenting with a few different creams and liquid steroids to see if he and Moo can get some relief because last week she was covered in hives. And last night was rough with JJ waking up on and off due to being incrediblly itchy, and not the mention, hives can have a mild burning sensation.

So, he was very uncomfortable. I had to wait before I could give him another dose of Benadryl and ended up having to freeze the apartment so that the cool air would soothe his skin. I went to bed after 4 AM only to have to get up 3 hours later to take Moo to school. Yea, this mommy has been running off of maybe three hours of sleep.

However, the bright side of this is that we haven’t had to make any trips to the hospital! I’m so grateful for that because my kids have hospital and doctor files thicker than some criminals’ wrap sheets. Being a mom to two kids with severe allergies and one of them having ASD is hard. But I thank God everyday for them because they’re teaching me so much and making me grateful for a lot.

I’m giving thanks this week for my loving husband and how his takes up time with the kids. One of the moms from one of my Facebook groups posted that she can barely get her husband to spend ten minutes with their kids because he doesn’t think that’s his responsibility. All I can say on that is, THANK GOD he’s not my husband because I’d probably show him the door on the real. That post reminded me that you just never know what people are going through at home and within their marriages. My heart goes out to her that her husband doesn’t give her break or think he should help out with the kids.

I’m thankful that my baby sister is going back to college to finish up her culinary degree. She had a few setbacks, but she’s back on track and will be joining us here in the Queen City! I can’t wait for her to move here and we can hang out during her non-class hours. Plus, she’ll be here getting to hang out with kids and making more memories with them. Like I’m jumping up and down inside for her because cooking is her passion and she’s GREAT at it.

A lot has been going on with my family that I can’t get into too much detail about on the blog, but I’m giving thanks that the dust is finally clearing. God is opening up some doors for those who needed them open and giving tough love to those who it needed it as well. I would certainly appreciate it if y’all would keep them in prayer.

This week we found out that Moo’s teacher is leaving and it’s bittersweet. Moo loves her and was not a happy camper. I’m not thrilled either because I feel like her teacher and I just bonded and got on solid ground. Now, I have to start over trusting someone else with child. The good side of this is that Moo’s new classroom will be with her music teacher and we’ve met in passing. The downside is that if they fill her teacher’s position before the end of the school year, she’ll be moved a second time.

That’s two too many moves for this mommy. Therefore, I’m requesting that Moo stays permanently in her music teacher’s class. I don’t want anything affecting her learning like trying adapt to a stranger over halfway through the school year. We’ll see what happens. Either way, they’ll continue to see my face out there on daily basis.

Which brings to the next thing that I’m grateful for- the opportunity to volunteer at Moo’s school. I can’t stress how important it is for parents to volunteer at their child’s school at least once. If possible walk your child to class. I made a promise to Moo to walk her to class everyday for this entire school year unless an absolute emergency came up and I haven’t failed yet. Because of the staff knows me and they know that I’m passionate about my child’s education. Thus, I’ve been getting asked to volunteer out at the school often and have been enjoying being able to make a difference.

Lastly, I’m grateful that tomorrow is my birthday!! Nothing special planned, but I will be turning up with about 15 kindergartners since I’ll be making crafts with Moo’s class and helping them enjoy their last day with their teacher. I can’t hardly believe I’m hitting the last year of my twenties. I need to challenge myself to do something major during this 29th year.

What are you thankful for this week?

December 19, 2014