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

Things have been a little crazy and I consequently took a brief hiatus. I am back, darlings. The timing couldn't be better, either, because it's FRIDAY and you what that means--yep, Five on Friday time! Since I missed a couple of weeks, I am going to catch you up on some of the good things that I have been loving over the last couple of weeks. 

1. Another Class Down

I finished my SEVENTH graduate school class a couple of weeks ago and am now down to five more classes, including the class I am nearing the halfway mark in. Every class completed is like a whack at the piñata of school. I can't wait until the candy--graduation--comes spilling out in all its bright and delicious colors!

2. Back To Work

I returned to work last week and am fully back in the swing of things. I'd be a liar if I said I was sad about returning to work. I wasn't. I was sad to leave my little buddy, but I was not sad about being back to work. This is an important distinction. I'm a career woman, the daughter of a single mother who is a career woman. It's just in my DNA to be busy and on the move outside of the home. I might reflect on my experience of being a temporary SAHM (that's stay-at-home mom for you novices) sometime.

3. Jackson's Daycare

Our buddy is the first grandbaby on my mom's side who has had to attend a daycare. This part of returning to work was not easy for me--leaving my baby in the hands of strangers. Danger! Loss of control for this OCD mom! Ahhh! Not to worry, friends. We were able to secure a spot for our buddy at one of the best daycares in town. (Thank goodness for that little baby who decided to get walking early, which opened up a spot for us. Yeah!) 

We were impressed with the methodologies and passion of the daycare. Plus, too many amazing parents that we know have kids who have attended the daycare in the past or are currently attending the daycare. Jackson's pediatrician has heard a great deal about his daycare from her patients' parents. I've heard nothing but glowing remarks about his "school", so this helped alleviate all the initial fears I had. 

His teacher absolutely loves him and feels he is an old soul that loves to people watch. She can't believe how intently he studies people and listens to the music man who comes to the daycare once a week to play live music. I know I'm biased, but I think our little guy is her favorite. (Shh, don't tell any of the other parents!) Our buddy is clicking along with his routine and adjusting so well to his new daytime hangout. 

*NERD ALERT* I looooove getting his daily reports to see what interesting things he has done while at school with his friends. 

4. Spring AT LAST

Ata girl, Lansing. I knew you could do it!! Although the first official day of spring was March 20th, we all know it did NOT feel like anything close to spring. However, a look at the weather forecast shows good things lie ahead. After the winter we've had, we Michiganders are seriously DESPERATE for spring. 

5. First Training Session

I should have called this "Thank God I Made It Out Alive Session"! I didn't think my personal training session would be easy, but I didn't think it would nearly kill me. If it would have been more socially acceptable for me to cry and close my eyes like the girl in this picture during my session, I totally would have done it.

To start out, I was running on about four hours of sleep because I was anxious about my first day back to work. Additionally, because I was bopping all around at work that day, I didn't drink nearly enough water to sustain a proper hydration level during such an excruciating workout. 

We started out taking my measurements, getting my BMI and then headed right into the workouts. I always internally roll my eyes at those guys at the gym that make all those loud grunting noises. I think "if the weight makes you do all that, it must be too much for you". Well, I became that gym grunter! This woman is good, but at one point I thought "I cannot do this". My legs were shaking and after I finished, my legs were like noodles as I walked down the stairs. Four days after the workout, I could finally walk again.

Cheers,

Samara