Wow, that's quite a thought to wrap my brain around.  I know I'm a good mom and I know I have an idea of who I want the girls to be as they grow up but my goals to get them there, hadn't really processed that...doesn't it just happen?  Obviously not.

Actually, today on our way home from an overnight trip I was telling my husband "I always want our girls to know their self-worth".  They get told by me, their dad, their grandparents and even the occasional Home Depot employee "you are so gorgeous" or "you are so pretty" and truth be told, they are!  My kids are probably some of the most beautiful girls I've laid my eyes on but I don't want them to believe their self-worth is based only on their looks that's why I also try to tell them all the time "you're so smart" or "that's brilliant, you're a genius!".  I want them to know that their insides, their integrity and smarts make them just as beautiful as their physical appearances do.

I also want my girls to know that a man doesn't make you.  Don't get me wrong, I love my husband and as a SAHM and wife I appreciate that every morning he puts both feet on the floor and makes a promise to do everything in his power to provide for us and keep our lifestyle one that we are now accustom to.  But before my husband I was in a heavily dependent relationship (amongst other things, but that's for another time) and I needed that person to give me what I needed to feel whole in several categories (money, affection, emotions, etc.).  It wasn't until I left that relationship that I learned I'm in control of my own happiness and being alone doesn't make me less of a person.  It also made me appreciate this amazing man who would probably go to the ends of the earth for me on any given Sunday.  In attachment to that, I want my girls to look at our marriage and know that's what they deserve, a man that showers you with affection, compliments you and makes you his whole world.  They are more deserving of that than any man who puts them down, degrades or belittles them into thinking they are less amazing than they truly are.

Recently, we also starting giving Hannah left over change and have her take it over to her piggy bank and put it in.  We applaud her and tell her she's going to be a great saver!  I grew up in a upper-middle class family in basic Suburbia so the value of money never really hit me until a couple years ago when we had a mortgage, car payments and kids to pay for.   I want both my girls to know that money is worth something and it's definitely worth how much work you put into it.  I hope to take Hannah (and Savannah when she's old enough) once a month to the bank, hand over that piggy bank and watch them smile as they see the bank tellers make a big deal about them adding money to their savings accounts.  Also, as they get older if there's a special treat they want they can also learn to save for it and earn it.  Having things to call your own that no one can take from you is a very rewarding feeling and I want them to have that experience.

I'm sure now that I think about it that I have a ton of goals for my girls as a mom, I want them to know healthy competition and that it's okay to win or lose, I want them to know outdoor activities and that life doesn't begin and end with a TV show and so much more but I think I touched on my Top 3 Goals.

What are your goals for your kids?  What lessons do you want them to learn as they grow up and become the amazing adults we are creating?

Most of you probably don't know that David and I got married in Vegas, yes, we eloped but our wedding was just what we wanted, with people we love around us (our families were even able to watch over a live internet feed so they were there in spirit)...I was dusting in our bedroom and like always I have to move a ton of our wedding memorabilia but for some reason today I really looked at these items and realized how important they were in our wedding day and how perfect they are to how we got married.


First there's my bouquet, it was white roses.  I'm not really a fan of roses, I think they are generic and easy to get (I mean 7-11 has roses) but these roses are probably the most beautiful I've seen, there was exactly 12 of them which was perfect because David and I met on July 12th.  I don't think I would have felt like a bride in Vegas without this bouquet, but what I've never told anyone is that I broke 1/2 the stems walking down the aisle with how hard I was squeezing it.  I was cool calm and collected that whole day but that moment I walked down the aisle I could barely keep my knees from collapsing I was so in love.  They are obviously dried out now but just having them in our room helps me remember that day and I love that they dried so perfectly...not a single petal fell off, still intact.


One of the next items we have from that day still makes me laugh...it's the champagne flute that we took our first drink as husband and wife, now I'm sure you ask, why is that funny?  It's funny because David had never had champagne before, so instead of sipping it, he took it like a shot...that's my classy man right there!  The whole room, reverend and all burst into laughter, every time I see these flutes I think of that moment.


The final wedding favor we have is probably my favorite, after our wedding we had a dinner at Joe's Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab inside Cesar's Palace.  We ordered a very nice bottle of wine and all of our guests, David's brother (best man), my best friend Dawn (Maid of Honor) and our 4 cousins signed the cork for us.  We really love this piece of memorabilia because again when we see it we remember that amazing meal surrounded by people who love us and support our relationship and marriage so much.


I really love having these pieces to look back on and remember what was one of the most important and memorable days of my life!  What are some of your wedding items that you kept that are special to you?

I never expected that I'd actually be blogging this long, much less be good enough at it that a local magazine would want to feature my blog on it's online portal...I mean how cool?  I'm definitely flattered! 

My blog with Fredericksburg Parent and Family Magazine will be some different content than what I do on here (that's what they would like anyways), so I'm thinking more DIY and stuff on that blog with the occasional copy from this personal blog.

Please go check out my first post with them...An Introduction: The Real Housewife of Caroline County.

Above all that I just want to say thank you to any and all of you that have been supporting me whether personal family and friends or my mommy blogger community that I'm building friendships with.  It means a lot to me that you all come by, read what I have to say and even care about it and me.  I'm definitely feeling blessed!

xoxo
Penny

The other night I as literally so bored that I just wanted someone to ask me questions...I could have asked my husband to do it but he was enthralled with his new video game so I started talking to Amber over at The Bold and Fab Mom and we decided to do a Blogger to Blogger question sessions...so exciting!!!

We each sent each other 10 questions, nothing off limits, could be as random as favorite song to personal stuff about one another.  Here are the 10 questions that Amber sent me...

1.  What inspired you to start blogging? To be honest I was looking for an outlet, so many days I had pent up emotions and thoughts in my head, sometimes so many that I couldn't sleep.  One day while on Twitter I noticed all these other moms I interact with had blogs and I thought "why not?" so I gave it a shot and so far so good.  It seems to be going well and now that I'm in a rhythm of posting it's definitely a lot easier.

2.  What's your least favorite chore?  Hmmmm....that would probably be a tie between unloading the dishwasher and folding laundry.  I wish I could snap my fingers and both could just be done.  I always forget that I've got clean dishes in the dishwasher so when I go to put dirty stuff in I'm like "ahhhhh, man....no not again" but folding laundry is just a pet peeve especially when I know Hannah will end up in the drawers ripping it all out anyways! Nothing like folding the same t-shirt 5 times in one day to motivate you.

3.  Where would your dream vacation take place?  Actually the hubs and I are going to one of our bucket list places this year...ALASKA! We aren't really hot weather people so Alaska is a definite must do for us!  But after Alaska I would say it's a tie between Iceland or Australia.

4.  What is your worst fear?  Leaving my girls, not for short periods of time or even a day or two but leaving them for good, obviously by that I mean dying and leaving them all alone in this world.  They would of course have their daddy but no one can ever replace mom, you know?  I want so badly to always be there for every scrap on their knee to their first heart break or hold their hand as they prepare to walk down the aisle.  The thought of not being there for those moments with them gives me a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach and makes me tear up (yes I'm crying as I type this, I'm a wuss I know!).

5.  What item could you not live without?  If we are talking purely materialistic here it would probably be my cell phone.  We don't have a land line and before I had my fancy new lap top my hubby got me it really was my connection to the outside world with Facebook and Twitter.  If you want to talk about an ultimate item I couldn't live without it would probably be a pot of some sort...with a pot you can boil water, cook food and provide your body nourishment to survive in most any situation.

6.  What is your favorite and least favorite part of being a parent?  This can be touchy for some people but I'm game...

Favorite would be that I'm a SAHM (stay at home mom) and for the past year or so have been apart of my girls lives all day every day.  I'm their one constant and I don't think I realized that until I went to leave one day and Hannah had the worst tear scream as I left, it took that moment to hit me in the face of "they don't know a life without me" and that's a very intense feeling to know.  

Least favorite would be the gross factor of poop and pee and diapers and spit up and all things that come out of babies.  It's not like it gets better as they get older, it actually gets worse and more gross as they grow.  I definitely don't look forward to potty training for the gross factor of accidents in the car or beds...it's part of being a parent and I do it the best I can but I wish I had a robot for diaper duty.

7.  What's the biggest lesson you've learned in your life?  I learned a long time ago that I have to take the time that I have with those I love for the moment and enjoy it thoroughly.  When I was 16, I was exactly 34 minutes too late before my best friend committed suicide.  There's not a day of my life since that day that I don't wish I was 34 minutes earlier or more.  But I've learned from that moment in my life that no one is here forever, people can go out of your life just as quickly as they came in and you really have to enjoy the time and moments the best you possibly can.  I've tried to keep my arguing and tension with people to a minimum because I know how important it is to just "be" with the people you care about.

8.  If you could change one thing about you, what would it be?  I could say physically that I wish I could change my metabolism and be back into my skinny-skinny jeans again but honestly I'd probably change my judgement on people.  I can be harsh, mostly because I'm protective of those that I care about in my life and usually once I get a bad vibe off you that's the end of it for me and I probably won't make too much more effort to get to know the person you are.

9.  What's your favorite dessert?  See, this isn't fair for someone with a super sweet tooth like me but if I have to focus purely on dessert it would probably be Breyer's Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream...good gravy that made my mouth water just typing it!  It's just perfect, I can't explain it, it just makes me happy, happy, happy!

10.  What is one random fact about you?  I used to be on the professional circuit for hunter/jumpers (equestrian riding).  I miss it but when I was 17 I had a bad fall and severely injured my right arm in several places and now I can't put the pressure that would be required to continue to compete.  I still have a strong love for the sport and of course the horses, that will never change.

Ohhhhhh...Amber, I LOVED your questions!  Thank you so much for doing this with me and I look forward to reading your responses to mine.  Check out Amber's answers to my questions here.

P.S. If you are interested in doing this with me as well, let me know! I'd love to!

This is probably one of my favorite pictures of life, from my 25th birthday celebration...with my 4 favorite people at that moment...through thick and thin they've always been there when it really counts...this photo embodies our love for each other like no other I've ever seen!

Time Manipulation...


There are many days that I wish I had a fast forward button, just to push through the laundry, cleaning the house or even a cranky baby, this is also followed by days that I could hit slow motion...moments like watching David and the girls play that are just so adorable it warms my heart.  But there are days I wish I had a rewind button, that I could go back to places I've been before and live those moments again, like days at my grandparents old farm just riding on the John Deere with my Grandpa.

I think everyone wishes they had more time, we all say "I just need an extra hour" or "I wish I had a pause button", the reality of that would be a very cool thought but I think it would get scary.  What if you just shut everything off, hit pause or fast forwarded through a milestone of life?  Like any super power this one especially would have to be looked after with extreme care because it could easily get out of hand.

Personally, I want FAST FORWARD for changing dirty diapers, doing laundry, cooking, cleaning and basically anything that's a "chore".  I want SLOW MOTION to enjoy the beautiful moments in being a wife and mom, all those days at the pool or play ground, even just rolling around on the floor at home, just to have a few more seconds to take those in would be amazing.  PAUSE, I'd only use in extreme conditions, like the kids are screaming and driving me nuts and I need a 2 minute break to clear my head and adjust or even be able to pause before Hannah runs to the street or I burn the biscuits.  REWIND to visit old memories. 

I don't think I'd ever hit STOP, that means my life would stop and I love my life, I don't ever have thoughts of leaving it or wanting to, it's me, it's who I am, it's everything that I love and every piece of me. 

Time manipulation...yup, that's one cool super power!

I'm really excited about this new venture, I'm working with Growing Up Madison, Pink Candy & Stilettos and Me and My Mini Me on a fun and interactive way to join mom bloggers and their kids together!

So my idea was a Mom & Tot Box Swap, this means that once every quarter (our first box will be in September) each mom and toddler will receive a box from another mom and toddler with all sorts of goodies in it for them.  For example in September Morgan and Hannah will be box swapping, so both mom and toddler will put together any items within our budget ($40) for just toddler or mom and toddler.  Items can range from educational items to books, arts and crafts to clothing/accessories, food can even be included if it's perishable and will ship well.  If each mom wants to include an item(s) for each other as long as it falls into the budget that's totally fine too.

Another twist on this to help fit into the budget is if you have anything laying around, a old baby shower gift or a birthday gift you never used or something along those lines you can include it and it won't go towards your budget (handy for moms like me who get products that sometimes I end up not liking/using). 

I thought this would be a fun way to each out to the moms that I know through blogging and Twitter, we can get to know each other through these boxes and our kids get presents at the same time...very cool! 

The only condition of the box swap is that we blog about what we received in our box...the good, the bad, the not wanted. 

I'm already prepping and getting things ready for our first box to Morgan! We're very excited and hope that he and mom enjoy what's inside...we especially look forward to their post on what they received and how they are liking it.

If you are interested in joining in on this definitely let me know...we do need equal amounts of moms to do this (2, 4, 6, 8...etc) so that everyone receives a box but I think this is going to be a fun project even if it only happens once!!! Stay tuned for our post on what we get and I will also be linking all the other ladies posts once they have them as well!