FlashBack Friday

Tara from Too Much Information is hosting :

I love looking over old pictures and remembering all the great times I had as a kid. The picture that I chose was from when I was nine years old. My family, as well as many Aunts and Uncles and a whole bunch of cousins, spent some time at a cabin at the lake. It was so much fun. It was also where I learned to swim. Great memories. In this picture, I am holding my two cousins. This was a very common thing. I loved taking care of the babies. I still do, which is probably the reason that I have five children and would like more. What a great flashback!

If you would like to share a flashback from your life, go visit Tara!

Friday Book Project-The Very Hungry Caterpillar

Who doesn't love The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle? It's always been a favorite book at our house! Today we made Very Hungry Caterpillars!

For this project you will need:

a balloon

green, yellow, and orange paint

a piece of paper

1. Pour some yellow and green paint on a plate. Blow up the balloon.

2. Have your child dip the balloon into the paint and press it on the paper.

3. Continue until the caterpillar is the length you want.

4. Dip the balloon into orange paint to make the head.

5. Add a face and antennae and cut out your caterpillar.

If you have a book inspired project and would like to play along, sign the Mr. Linky below! Happy reading:0)

Photo Tag

Vickie tagged me with a photo tag! The rules are, to go to your sixth photo file and choose the sixth photo. So here it is! This a little boy that I used to care for. He loved to finger paint......himself! He did not however, like the cleaning up part. But when he was all clean, he would want to paint again. Funny! Thanks Vickie for the tag! I have been missing this little guy lately!

If you would like to play along, let me know so that I can come check it out!

Infected Toes and Vomit!

This is how my week is going! Tuesday, I was fresh out of bed and still adjusting to the light when I passed my son Brandon in the hall heading to the bathroom. Although my eyes were still foggy, I could see that something was just not right. As I looked down, I see that his big toe is almost double in size and the color of a flashing neon sign.

I said, "Brandon, your toe is infected!"
Brandon, "Ya I know. It will be fine."

At this point, my own toe begins to throb at the sight of that thing.

I said, "You can't go to school that way! You have to see the doctor! How long has it been like that?"
He says, "About a week or so."

I am now picturing my son at the beach with flip flops and no big toe. Not gonna work! So, we took him to the doctor, they said his toenail was ingrown and gave him antibiotics. In two weeks, he has to return to have the ingrown toenail cut out. Ouch! Strangely, he never thought to mention it to me. Ugh!

Last night, I was awakened by the sound of my oldest son Michael, vomiting over and over again. I sure hope it ends with him and we don't have another Barf o' Rama!

Chocolate Playdough

My girls just love playing with playdough. For that reason, I usually make it at home. There are so many different recipes out there and it's fun to try them all. I recently came across this recipe for chocolate playdough and I thought it would be perfect to make for Valentine's Day! The aroma is heavenly! Although it is not edible, it is still fun! I plan to make a large batch for Felicia to share with her friends at preschool.

Here is the recipe:

1 1/4 cups flour

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1/2 cup salt

1/2 Tablespoon cream of Tartar

1/2 Tablespoon oil

1 1/2 cups water

Mix dry ingredients in a medium size saucepan. Add wet ingredients and stir together over low heat until a ball of dough forms. Remove playdough from the saucepan and knead by hand until dough is smooth and evenly colored. Store in an airtight container.

Think Thin Thursday

It's Thursday again, time to face the music! Well, I have to say that I thought it would be harder then this to stay on track. I have not had too much trouble! The only thing I wish I could do more is walk outdoors. The weather has not been that great here so I have had limited time outside. As far as food goes, I have been sticking with the plan to only eat healthy snacks and have been limiting my portion sizes. Still nothing to drink but water! I'm not even tempted to drink anything else.

The task this week is to focus on what our motivation is. My motivation is my kids! I want to be as healthy as I can be so that I am around to watch them grow. I want to run with them and ride bikes with them. To just enjoy life with them!

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My mini goal for the week is to avoid all the junk food that will inevitably be hanging around here for the Superbowl. I would also like to lose two pounds this week.

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Some Bloggy Love!

I have received some more bloggy love from some great bloggers! first I received these two awards from Tranquility! She is very sweet and has the most beautiful pictures on her blog! Go check it out! Thanks Tranquility!

The next two awards I received from Nana! She is fabulous and makes some really yummy stuff! I am usually drooling while reading her blog! Thank You Nana!

Because it is so hard to choose who to give these awards to, I am going to pass them on to all my followers! Thank you!

Wordless Wednesday-Where Did I Go Wrong?

For more Wordless Wednesday visit MomDot!

Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!

I received another award! This one is from my friend Vickie! She is someone I am so glad to have met! She is very kind and a great friend:0) Thanks Vickie!

I now will pass this award on to April! She is also a great friend and makes me happy everyday!

Cc-Circles

We keep on moving through the Alphabet and now we are at letter C! Today we made C circles.

1. Dip a clean, empty can in some paint.

2. Stamp it on a piece of construction paper to create some circles.

3. Add a letter C cut from construction paper and you are done.

After we complete the whole alphabet, I'm planning to put the letters together with binder rings to create an alphabet book. This is a great way for the girls to continue to review!

My First Born!

I have seen this meme floating around and I thought I would do it! It's about my first born! I love reminiscing about all of my birth experiences especially my first one:0)





1. Were you married at the time? Yes!


2. What were your reactions when you found out you were pregnant? We were thrilled!


3. How old were you? 18


4. How did you find out? I took a home pregnancy test.


5. Who did you tell first? Our friends Russ and Rayna. They were there when I took the test. We were always together:0)


6. Did you want to find out the sex? No!


7. Due date? March, 23 1993


8. Did you deliver late or on time? Late, only a few days.


9. Did you have morning sickness? Yes!


10. What did you crave? Peanut Butter Cups!


11. Who/what irritated you the most? Nothing, I love being pregnant!


12. What was your first child's sex? A boy!


13. How many pounds did you gain throughout pregnancy? 30 lbs.


14. Did you have any complications during pregnancy? Yes, I was hospitalized for a kidney infection at about 4 months.


15. Where did you give birth? Geisinger Medical Center in Danville, PA.


16. How many hours were you in labor? 36 hours! Good times;0)


17. Who drove you to the hospital? Big Daddy!


18. Who watched? Just Big Daddy!


19. Was it natural or c-section? Natural.


20. Did you take medication to ease the pain? Yes, I had an epidural that only worked on the left half of my body! Weird huh?


21. How much did your child weigh? 7lbs. 8oz.


22. Did your child have any complications? None! Thank God!


23. What did you name him? Michael James Adams II


24. How old is your first born today? 15! Soon to be 16! Yikes!

Muffin Tin Monday

It's Monday and that means that once again we get to participate in Muffin Tin Monday! Yay! Muffin tin meals are the best and my girls are so happy when Monday rolls around. This week there is no theme, so anything goes! Here is our tin :0)

Top row: corn, cheese hot dogs, ketchup
Bottom row: yogurt covered blueberries, tator tots



For more Muffin Tin Monday participants please visit:

Felicia and Madelyn Can Cook!

Yesterday after worship the girls had "cooking class"! This is a small life group started by my Uncle Rod and Aunt Pam at church. The girls love to cook and have been so excited about their classes. They made mini tacos, chicken nuggets and peanut butter s'mores! The best part was all the fun they had:0)

Stethoscope

My Pastor played this video for us at Church today and I thought I would share it:0)

Lots Of Awards!

Before I post these awards I want to thank everyone who reads my blog. It started out just being something I did to document the things that go on in our lives and has turned into something much bigger. I have made so many new friends. People that I would never have met if not for my blog. You have all been very kind and encouraging to me and I really appreciate that! {{{HUGS}}}


This first award is from my friend Heatherlyn! She is amazing! She always has a positive attitude! Go visit her please:0) Thank You Heatherlyn!

The next award I received was from Momma Young! She and I are fairly new to each other, but I really like her! Her blog is full of great stuff so you should check it out:0) Thank You Momma Young!

This last award was given to me by one of my best bloggy friends, Vickie! She is the kindest person, always makes me laugh and I sure wish we lived closer so we could hang out sometime. Maybe she could teach me to scrapbook:0) Thank You Vickie!

Awarded Again? Sweet!

This award was given to me by my friend Vickie! She is the kindest blogger I know! Always there for me and always the best friend I could ask for:0) Along with this award I am to list 10 Honest things about myself. I'm going to put a little twist on it and give you ten honest reasons why I will never grow up! So here goes:

1. I would rather sit at the kids table during family gatherings. They are much more enteraining than adults:0)

2. I don't want my kids to grow up because then I would have no excuse to fingerpaint.

3. I still watch cartoons. Even if the kids are not watching them. The Flintstones rock!

4. I like to hang upside down on the jungle gym at the park. It makes my kids giggle!

5. I like to sneak up on people and jump out to scare them;0)

6. The toy section of any store is my favorite.

7. I love video games and I am pretty good at them too. It shocks my boys sometimes!

8. Sledding is the coolest! The bigger the hill the better the thrill!

9. I get a gumball out of the machine every time I'm at the mall!

10. I have a strange addiction to Little People. I keep buying these sets for my girls so I can play with them!

So there you have it! Ten reasons why I think I will never grow up! Life is too short to not act like a kid sometimes! So go hang upside down at the park for a while! But not with a gumball in your mouth! That would not be good! Have a great Saturday!

Friday Book Project-Harold and the Purple Crayon

Book projects do not have to be huge projects that take a lot of time. They can be very simple. Anything that gets your child involved in the book works!

Today we read Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson. This is such a cute book!

We did a super simple project that involves only a piece of paper, a purple crayon and some imagination. The girls made their own purple crayon illustrations and made up a story to go along with them. They loved it!

So find a good book and have FUN!

If you would like to do your own book inspired project, sign Mr. Linky below:0)

It's a Meme!

Cassandra at Momma needs a Timeout has tagged me with a meme! I think these are such a fun way to find out a little bit more about people so here goes!

Rules: Post the list on your profile replacing my answers with yours. Tag 25 people to do the same. Don't forget to Tag me back.If I tagged YOU, it's because I want to know more about you.

1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? My middle name is after my father! His name is Ray and my middle name is Rae!

2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED? Tuesday during the inauguration!

3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? Yes!

4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT? Ham.

5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS? Yes, I have five! Michael 15, Brandon 13, Aaron 12, Felicia 4, Madelyn 3!

6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? Of course ;0)

7. DO YOU USE SARCASM? Who me?

8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? Yes.

9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? Heck yeah!

10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? Count Chocula! But I only eat Special K now:(

11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? No!

12. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM? Ben and Jerry's Chunky Monkey!

13. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE? Their eyes.

14. RED OR PINK? Pink!

15. WHAT IS YOUR LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF? I love myself ;0)

16. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? Some of the kids I used to babysit:(

17. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO COMPLETE THIS LIST?? Of course;0)

18. WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? White jammie pants and no shoes.

19. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? Handy Manny:0)

20. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? Green.

21. FAVORITE SMELLS? Chocolate!

22. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? My son, Michael.

23. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON WHO POSTED THIS NOTE? Yes!

24. FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH? Football!

25. HAIR COLOR? Dark Brown (with gray highlights:)

26. EYE COLOR? Brown.

27. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? No.

28. FAVORITE FOOD? Pizza!

29. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? Happy endings.

30. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED? I don't remember?

31. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING? Blue.

32. SUMMER OR WINTER? I love the snow, but summer is the best!

33. HUGS OR KISSES? {{{HUGS}}}

34. FAVORITE DESSERT? Chocolate cake!

35. MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND? Vickie!

36. LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND? I don't know.

37. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW? Nothing!

38. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? I don't have one.

39. WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON TV LAST NIGHT? Grey's Anatomy.

40. FAVORITE SOUND(S)? Children giggling!

41. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES? Rolling Stones.

42. WHAT IS THE FARTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME? Sadly, not very far. I guess Tennessee.

43. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT? I don't know?

44. WHERE WERE YOU BORN? Bloomsburg, PA.

45. WHOSE ANSWERS ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO GETTING BACK? Every one's!

46. HOW DID YOU MEET YOUR SPOUSE/SIGNIFICANT OTHER? My sister introduced us at a craft show!

Now I tag YOU:
Vickie

April

Whitney

Mesa

Angie

Young Momma

Heatherlyn

Pam

Yaya

Cathy


Ok, so I know I only tagged ten people but Madelyn is having a breakdown of monumental proportions so I must depart for now. If any one else wants to play along, GO FOR IT!

Think Thin Thursday

This week was another great week for me! I have been making much better choices when it comes to snacking. If I want something crunchy, I eat an apple. Something sweet and chocolaty, I eat a Special K bar. I'm still only drinking water. Yay! The best part is that I am now down 5 pounds! It's a small step, but it is progress:)

This week's task involves breakfast. I eat the same breakfast everyday. Special K cereal with skim milk and a piece of fruit. It actually is very yummy! Giving up the heavy breakfast was easy and without all the coffee in the morning, I don't have that afternoon crash anymore:)

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My goal for this week is to limit my portion sizes at meal time. No going back for seconds:( Good luck this week!

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I Would Miss A Lot!

While watching the inauguration yesterday I was thinking. If I was at work I would have missed this amazing day in history. How sad I would feel not being able to witness such an important moment. Then I thought about all the other things that I would miss if I was not home with my kids every day.

I would miss....

...the early morning cuddles I get from Madelyn every day!

...having silly dance parties anytime the girls and I wanted too!

...baking cookies for the kids just because it's Wednesday!

...playing with play-dough all day long.

...lunch time conversations.

...and a million other moments that I could never get back!

I know if I worked, I would be able to buy that big, new television or take a great vacation to a sandy beach for a few weeks in the summer. But for what I would miss, it is so not worth it!

Bb-Birds

We are moving along with our letter review to the letter "B". Because we are reviewing the letters we have already learned, I do one every couple of days. If you are introducing the letters for the first time, you may want to do one per week. Remember to keep it fun:0)

Today we are making "B" birds!

1. Cut the letter "B" out of a piece of construction paper.

2. Glue the B to another piece of paper.

3. Using your child's thumb dipped in brown paint, make thumbprints all over the paper.

4. After the paint dries, add the details. Wings, feet, eyes, and a beak.

5. Now your "B" birds are all finished!

Wordless Wednesday-Sisters

For more Wordless Wednesday visit MomDot!

Freedom Torches

In honor of Dr. Martin Luther King and the inauguration of our new president, Barack Obama, today we made Freedom Torches! This is very easy!

1. Paint an empty paper towel roll white.

2. Allow it to dry and cut out a few stars from red and blue paper.

3. Glue the stars to the paper towel roll.

4. Stuff a piece of yellow tissue paper in the end of the paper towel roll to resemble a flame.

5. Finished! Wave your freedom torch high, for today is an historic day!

I'm Addicted!

I saw this on Tara and Vickie's blogs so I thought I would check it out. Yikes, I need help!

81%How Addicted to Blogging Are You?

Muffin Tin Monday-Purple and Blue

Today Muffin Tin Monday is going blue and purple! What a fun theme:) Today there is also a guest host, my friend Annie of Junior Mints and Reeses!

Here is our tin:

Top row: berry juice, raisin bread with grape jelly

Bottom row: mini blueberry muffins, blueberries, yogurt

Awards!!!

We had a very busy weekend, with some out of town family, food, football, and lots of fun! When I sat down to read my mail I was delighted to find out that I have received two awards! Yay for me:)

The first one is from Tara! She is a fabulous mom, a wonderful blogger, and has become a dear friend. Thank You so much Tara!

The next award I received is from Ally! She is a very sweet friend! A great momma too! Thank you Ally:)