Seven On Saturday

What a busy week this has been! So busy I missed "Five on Friday", but I did not fail to bring you Seven on Saturday!

1. Another Class Completed

I really enjoyed this course and the professor who taught it, but I will not miss Friday night class (after a long workday) and turning around and going back to class AGAIN from 8 to 5 on a Saturday. I finished the course last weekend and my grade is in! 

One more class down!

2. Summer Birthday Season Begins

All of my nieces' birthdays are in the summer, so I've dubbed summertime "Birthday Palooza." June is Audrey's birthday, July is Ava's birthday and August is Amelia's birthday. They all have theme birthday parties and their parents go all out (I don't know how they do it!!) and we all participate. Last summer was the summer of: pirate party, paint party and cowgirl party. 

But that was the summer of 2013 and this is the summer of 2014. 

My first invitation arrived in the mail today for my niece Audrey's birthday party. She's having, very specifically, a pink butterfly birthday party.  

I love this picture because she looks like a little kid model. 

3. Arrival of Summer

Today was the official start of summer and it couldn't have been more perfect. The sun was shining, the sky was blue and I celebrated with these beautiful roses in our window sill. Cheers to summer! 

4. Starting Another Class

This is my third-to-last grad school class. I repeat, this is my third-to-last grad school class. This includes my thesis course. This is the last course of the summer semester and I then begin my LAST semester. If you can't tell, I'm a little geeked. 

I feel like I started my grad school journey out with a light jog, energized and ready to roll. I am now on the ground, crawling through mud and the only thing getting me to the end is a complete mind-over-matter approach. 

I don't meant to seem ungrateful; I love learning, I just don't love the time away from my family. I'm very much looking forward to finishing up!

5. "Crawl With Me" Turtle

The online group of moms I've talked about before--"December Moms" on Facebook--have this care package rotation set up for those who want to participate. I don't participate just because I wouldn't want some poor soul waiting on this overly busy mother to get her act together and get stuff in the mail. However, when the moms who do participate post a picture of what's coming for the next person chosen for the care package, I get good ideas for stuff for Jackson.

One of the moms posted their teaser picture of the care package items and I saw this little turtle. It was too cute to not investigate myself. 

This is the "Crawl With Me" turtle by a company called Gund. The turtle is reasonably priced, plush and adorable. Jackson is thrilled with the music that plays and the encouraging words that come out of the turtle, i.e. "you're doing great baby!"

The turtle slowly crawls and is meant to encourage your baby to crawl. It's seriously one of the most adorable toys you will ever see. 

6. Rock Garden Border

So, we contracted a gentleman from Smith Floral to remove our weeds, dig a trench around our garden, remove some old plants that weren't working and lay mulch. He did such a great job (and wow was it nice to not have to worry about doing the work myself during such a busy time) that we decided to have him lay a garden border as well. 

The contractor came out last night to take a look at the garden and talk through border possibilities. 

We are going with a rock border and are anxious to see the results. 

7. Ready Rice

My husband and I figured out a really delicious, low-fat and easy to make dinner, which includes this easy staple--"Ready Rice."

All you need is a microwave and a minute-and-a-half. Seriously! 

At least until the end of December, I'm all about finding shortcuts for delicious and low-fat meals and these rice bags are definitely one of them! (And as you can see, they come in a variety of flavors.) 

 I hope you enjoy the rest of this wonderful weekend, darlings!

Cheers,

Samara

Five on Friday

I don't know what your week was like, but mine was full of deadlines and other stressors. 

I seriously just finished some nonsense assignment that our prof threw at us at the last minute. I think the assignment was created to buy him time to finish creating the final exam he was supposed to have ready by now, but I digress.

Who is ready to say "Goodbye work week, hello weekEND"? Raise your hand high for this week's Five on Friday!

1. Favorite Month

May has always been one of my favorite months. Not just because it's my birthday month, but because my two favorite seasons in Michigan are spring and fall, so basically any of the spring and fall months are good in my books. However, May contains my birthday and now, Mother's Day and our wedding anniversary. (OK, May always contained Mother's Day, but I can now enjoy it as a mother.)

2. Ice Cream Teether

Jackson is officially teething. He has been drooling and eating his fists for weeks (months, even), but wasn't teething. We'd bought a few different kinds of teethers and he hadn't really cared for them. I show up to daycare one day to pick him up and see him happily lying there, sucking on and swinging this cute teether. The handles are small and the chew area is large so babies can independently soothe themselves. His daycare always knows best with this kind of stuff. So, of course, we promptly ordered some of these teethers to have at home.

3. Low-Fat Dessert

Some time ago, I posted a low-fat strawberry dessert recipe. Well, my husband walked in tonight with these crêpes, so I had to switch up the recipe. Oh my. It was delicious!! And even fewer Weight Watchers points than the dessert shells in the previous recipe. ONE Weight Watcher point, people! 

4. Jackson Is On A Roll

So, unless you are a SAHM (stay-at-home mom), you probably miss many "firsts". And honestly, even SAHM's can be a victim of this as you are not sitting, staring at your baby for hours on end each day. But, when we miss a first because it happened while the baby was at daycare, it's still a first for us because it's the first time we're seeing it and doesn't bother me at all like I thought it might. 

I felt no loss in excitement tonight when my husband and I patiently watched our crabby son (to be fair, this was during the "witching hour" (the couple hour timeframe before bed) ever so slowly roll from his stomach to his back while on his colorful baby "gym". 

I'd privately thought that maybe I didn't have enough of a goofy parent factor within me to get excited about this milestone, but nope, I proved that I am a full-fledged nerd in this regard. I happily clapped and gave my excited praises through a big, stupid smile that seemed permanently stuck to my face. What a night! Mom is so proud of you, Jackson!

5. Approaching Two Years 

It's true what they say, that after a certain age, life just barrels ahead and the years seem to add up in the blink of an eye. The time goes even faster when your'e, ahem, older AND in love. 

It's hard to believe that I met my Thomas four years ago and that we are now approaching our second wedding anniversary. (Official date is May 5th, but we are celebrating tomorrow evening.) Last year, I was newly pregnant and nauseous around the clock. As a result, we had a very laid-back wedding anniversary out of town. We plan on staying in town this year and having an evening out.

I am such a fortunate lady to have someone at my side who is truly my best friend. I can't imagine traveling this road called life with anyone else but my T-Mo.

Cheers,

Samara

Five on Friday

Welcome to another Friday, friends! The sun is shining brightly in Michigan today and we are slowly inching our way into warmer weather. This gives me hope and has me all amped up for today's Five on Friday. 

Here we gooooo!!!

1. Paying It Forward

This little cutie is Gabriel, the nearly-three-month-old son of a friend of mine. She's a single mom and is unfortunately caught in the double-edged sword of not making enough to make ends meet, but making "too much" to qualify for daycare assistance. She has set up a GoFundMe account in a pride-swallowing effort to raise enough to pay for six months of daycare for her baby boy until she can figure something else out. 

If it's in your heart to donate a few dollars, it'd be a great way to pay it forward. You can donate here. Maybe some kind soul out there will return the favor to you someday when you are in need.

2. New Hair

My hair color of choice has been "natural" for nearly ten years, and in an effort to shake it up a bit more than my normal "bangs, no bangs, bangs, no bangs" routine, I thought I'd get some caramel highlights put in.

The highlights are subtle (but after ten years of not touching your hair in the color department, the color feels "wild" to me and I'm still adjusting), but I'm glad I've shaken things up a bit. I also had a few inches cut off and feel like a million bucks. I feel like a kid after summer break getting ready to head back to school (work). 

3. "Southern Charm" on Bravo

I know. You're shocked. I've been roped into another Bravo series. I'm sorry, but Andy Cohen just has my heart and knows the exact kind of fabulous mindlessness I need to let my brain zone out sometimes. That and some of my favorite bloggers are from down south, so I've been kind of into the southern culture lately. 

This is a fun show. Nothing more, nothing less. You may feel like watching a game of polo and having a splash of whiskey afterwards. Maybe. Just sayin'. 

4. Art for Baby Book

Thanks to this amazing Facebook group I joined back last summer that is comprised of a small group of women--all were due in December of 2013--I've had the opportunity to discover neat things for my son I may have never found otherwise. This is one of them.

This book--"Art for Baby"--is made up of black and white, high-contrast drawings by contemporary artists that helps your baby discover new things. My son absolutely loves it and smiles and laughs at his favorite paintings. Highly, highly recommend it! 

5. Personal Trainer

After posting a Facebook status message a little while back and receiving many recommendations (thank you all!), I've secured the services of a personal trainer who works out of the gym I already attend. She has so many exciting and creative ways to help her clientele maintain healthy lifestyles and I'm looking forward to working with her. We are scheduled to start on March 20th and I couldn't be more excited. (And scared! Haha)

Have a beautiful weekend, everyone!!

Cheers,

Samara