Summer

Boston Common

Riding her bike in our gymnastics leotard

Merry-Go-Round Fun

Where has the summer gone... It is the end of August and school is right around the corner. School shopping, doctor forms, extracurricular activities sign ups are all in full force. It makes me long for the first week of summer vacation with endless possibilities and opportunities of care free fun. Beach days, hours at the park, fun adventures and especially quality time with family and friends that I wish could last a little longer.  And though I do love the fall, the crisp air and the beauty of the changing leaves...( and I am always a sucker for new school supplies), I want to hold onto these last few days of summer with love and gratitude. How often we rush onto the new task without even saying goodbye or so long to the season at hand. I am all for change and progress but I also want to live with a deeper sense of gratitude of the things I do have right in front of me rather than just keep longing for more.
I could cry to think that my girls will never be this age again and that they are growing up by the minute. This time is so precious and so short, I just need to remind myself to take the time to notice the little things, slow down and enjoy the ride!

Love and Peace,

Anny

My Happy Place Part 2

One of the best parts of our vacation is seeing all the cousins together. Since we all live in different parts of the US this is the one time of the year we are all together. This year we got to celebrate 2 birthdays, Abby's who turned 9 and my Aunt Doreen's (won't give away her age...) Who doesn't love having a party and cake on vacation! The kids were pretty excited about the cake.

Celebrating Abby's and Aunt Doreen's Birthday

Pretty much what the kids do all day on vacation- PLAY TOGETHER

It is so fun to see how the kids go right into playing together even though they haven't seen each other in over a year. It was the cutest reunion. Because we stayed at a hotel the first night we got to OCNJ after everyone else. As soon as we arrived the girls rushed to get their bathing suits on and we raced to the beach. My family was already there soaking in the beautiful day and the start of vacation. When we finally found where my family was sitting (which took a while after going the wrong way...whoops) the cousins saw us from off in the distance and ran to us. They gave each of my girls big hugs. I really had tears in my eyes because it was so darn sweet. Wish I got a picture of that.

The cousins

Here is a group shot of all the cousins. There is 11 in all, ranging in ages of 13 to 4 years old. It was not easy getting them all together for this shot. Thanks to a persist Nana we managed to get everyone in I think... no wait actually Nate is missing. oh well

My cuties

And here is a picture of our girls, Sammy and Ally. Nothing is sweeter to me than a clean sun-kissed child right after a day at the beach. Their skin is so radiant and beautiful. 
Boy, do I love these girls!

My Happy Place

Since I was a little girl my family has been going on vacation to Ocean City NJ. This place is my happy place. It brings back so many wonderful family memories and now I get to share them with my children! One of the greatest things about OCNJ is that it seems to never change. It is pretty much exactly the same today as it was 30+ years ago... oh boy, I'm getting old. Since I am reflecting on this amazing summer I could not miss writing about our OCNJ family vacation.

Another reason this place is my happy place is because it is the one time of the year when my whole family gets together; my brothers, their wives, their children, aunts and uncles, and friends. Not every year can everyone make it but this year everyone was able to come. Oh wow, I can't describe how special it is. To see my children play and chat with their cousins makes my heart leap. Maybe because I never had that growing up. It is something I always dreamed of. Also, I live pretty far from my family and it is the one chance of the year where time stands still for that week and we can to talk, laugh and spend quality time together.

This year we decided to drive to OCNJ which can be a 10+ hour ride depending on traffic. We decided to break the trip up this year and stay in a hotel half way from our destination. We figured it was part of our vacation and family fun. Who doesn't like spending the night in a hotel? The girls were so excited. And so we're we. It was 5pm when we arrived at the hotel (got a late start driving) and we still had 4 hours to go... and the traffic was really bad. Probably would of taken us a lot lot longer... As you can tell in the picture, Ally our youngest was happy to stop driving and go swimming. So that is what we did. We hit the hotel pool for a hour or so and then went out to dinner. By the time we got back to the hotel it was pretty late. The cutest thing (I wish I took a picture) was the girls snuggling up with their Daddy to watch a baseball game (Red Sox vs Yankees) It was fun to hear the girls ask their Daddy questions and get really into it. Something that never happens at home. And I think Boston even won?!? I of course fell asleep before everyone else. It was a great start to vacation. I'll post more in Part 2 of our vacation in my next post. Oh, how I miss it and wish we could go back....

Just arrived at our hotel after lots of traffic

My hottie hubby and captain of our trip

Hotel pool action

What Don't You Like to do...

Last post I mentioned writing a list of all the things that make you happy and that you enjoy to do. Today, I am writing a list of all the things I really don't like to do or let me be frank, I'm not very good at doing. This is a list of my weaknesses and the things that cause me stress and anxiety.
So grab a pen and paper, (or your computer) set your timer and let's go. Right now!

Things I Don't Like To Do/ My Weaknesses:
Cooking
Cleaning (especially the bathrooms)
Ironing
Over Scheduling
Not Having a Plan
Never Finishing a Project
Being Late
A Messy Home
Disorganization
Being Home All Day (need to get outside)
Going to Events at Night (too tired and not super social)
Budgeting and Financing
Grocery shopping (especially with kids)

Ok, so this is my list. Not many things I enjoy doing in the home. hahaha. Glad I am a Stay-at-home mom were that actually is my job! What can I do if I "HAVE" to do these items. Someone has to cook? clean? etc...

First question is,  can I delegate or delete anything from this list? For example, cleaning.
I can delete this task from my list. (partially anyway) For me it is worth the payment to have someone come and clean my house. Because it is expensive I have the cleaning service come 2x month (with hopes in the future of them coming weekly, YES!) This had made a huge difference in my life. I can spend more time with my children and less time cleaning the house. Plus they do a way better job!
On a side note: I do have a Maintenance Cleaning Schedule that is quick and easy which I can share in another post. (I work best with easy quick systems)  I try to find systems to pretty much any task I have to do. It takes the thinking and guess work out which can drive me crazy...

So is there anything on your list that you can Delegate or Delete? Ironing, I just don't do it. My husband has wrinkle-free dress shirts or he brings his clothes to the dry cleaners.... You have to do what works for you. If you are on a budget, maybe you can't afford at this time a cleaning service or dry cleaning. But you can delegate these tasks to older children, your husband, your mom, a neighbor, a friend etc... Some people actually do enjoy doing these things. Crazy!

So my assignment for all of us is to look at our list and try to find ways to delegate or delete each task. I like the sound of that. How about you?

What Makes You Happy....

Disclaimer: I had a plan (if you see my first post to write often on this blog) as you may notice that was over a month ago! But you know what, it's never too late to pick up and start again. I had mentioned writing down all the things that make me happy. I often think when you become a mom you change. And in many ways this is good.  You learn to love and sacrifice especially in those early months with nightly feeds and what seems like days of endless crying... You press on because let's be honest you have to. But along the way of motherhood, "You" become lost. You forget who you are and what you like to do because you are so busy taking care of others. I often catch myself saying, "I used to be fun..." or "I used to love doing that..." or even hear my kids say, "But Mom you like to stay home and clean and do the laundry... Is that what they think? No I really don't.  I do like a clean and organized home but the actual act of creating that is really not that fun. Does anyone really like cleaning the bathrooms? Truly my least favorite thing to do. 

 So I wanted to write down a list of all the things I love to do and that make me happy. So join me, right now, and grab a pen and paper or open up a screen on your computer. Let's take a few minutes (I am setting a timer for 2 minutes) and write down anything that comes to your mind. Ready. Set. Go!

What make me happy:
Waking up early to prayer/write/read the bible
Exercising
Reading
Organizing
Spending quality time with my kids (doing fun activities)
Date night with my husband, quality time together (long chats about our dreams and our girls)
Decorating the house
Clean home
Reading fun blogs
Being outside
Going for walks
Listening to great podcasts/audio books
(Needed more time-reset my timer for 2 more minutes)
Teaching my girls (seeing them learn and grow)
Playing the piano
Service work
Talking/spending time with friends
Being healthy (eating healthy foods, moving and being active)
Getting projects done
Going on vacation and traveling with my family
Going on Power of Moms' retreat and learning how to be a better mom

These are a just a few things that came to mind for me. As a look at them, they are all pretty doable. So on my next post I want to write down all the things I don't like to do. My plan as I do this is to find ways to spend more time doing the things I love and enjoy and spending less time doing the things I don't love and enjoy (by delegating or deleting them from my list) We only have one life and it is pasting bye quickly. I don't want to think or say anymore, "one day when the kids are older,  I'll have time to do this or that..." (though that may be true at certain times) ever stage of motherhood has it's challenges and time is really our most valuable resource. Let's live today rather waiting for a "maybe" tomorrow. Let's have fun and enjoy this amazing life that God had given us!

A New Start...

My birthday was just the other day. I am now officially 36 years old! Sometimes I really can't believe I am actually this old. I am a wife and a mother to two beautiful little girls. So much of who I used to be has changed and continues to change. I feel this sense of urgency in my gut to do more, to do something bigger than myself... Not exactly sure what yet but I'm searching. I have always loved to write though rarely do. So one of my goals this year of 36 is to write! To just write. I often daydream of books I've written and holding great seminars for lots of people to come too. I want to to help people. I want to inspire them. And the wonderful the thing about writing is ends up helping and inspiring me in return. I love to create and read powerful quotes and books that change the way you once perceived things. So where do I begin. I am going to start small. 10 minutes a day(set the timer on my phone) and just write. And stepping out of my comfort zone I will post it up on my new blog. I have titled my blog, "A Happy Mom's Survival Guide" because I think too often us moms get lost in serving our families, husband, work, commitments, etc... and often forgot about ourselves and what makes us happy. For me writing and creating make me happy. A powerful thing to do is actually take the time and write a list of things that really make you happy and bring joy to your life. So for my next post I plan on writing that list. Here is to a new start!

Hi and welcome to my blog!

My name is Anny. I am 35 years old (will be 36 in less than a month...) I am trying to figure out this thing called motherhood and life. Come and join me on this journey of ups and downs and everything in between.