Five For Friday!

Man, I have been doing such a crappy job lately keeping up with this blog!  But I'm here today and that counts for something, right??

Usually on Friday I share my 5 favorites of the week with you.  Well, today I'm rolling just a little different.   I'm sharing 5 things...5 things that I just want you to know about my life lately!

#1 My oldest son started kindergarten 

First day!

Homework :(

Let me tell you, this is not the kindergarten I remember.   Kindergarten for me was a half day.  I remember we had snack, we played, and I think we might have taken a nap.  For Nick, kindergarten is a full day.  Snack...yes. Play time...20 minutes of recess. That's it. 20 minutes.  He has a computer class once a week.  He has homework every night (granted it takes only about 10 minutes to complete but still).  He comes home with anywhere from 1-5 papers a day of stuff I need to do or remember!   I'm feeling very stressed and I'm not even the one in school!  I will say though, so far things are going well!  Nick likes his teacher and likes school.  What a relief!

#2 Soccer 

The best part about soccer is the post game Target trip!

The weekends have been all about soccer.  Is it bad that I pray for rain every weekend in the hopes the games will be cancelled?  Honestly though, it has been a fun experience coaching and our team has some serious soccer talent!

#3 Field trip time 

Nick's first visit to the apple orchard

Tuesday is Nick's first field trip as a kindergartner and my first time being a parent chaperone!!  All the kindergartens will be visiting a local apple orchard. It seems like the apple orchard is the go-to kindergarten field trip for pretty much every school in the Northeast!   I wonder what the go-to field trip is for southerners?? Tell me if you know!

#4 Work and more work 

My full time job has been incredibly busy this month and I've had to put in extra hours there as well as time at home.  Then last week I also did my first in-home 31 party which my neurotic self spent wayyyy too much time preparing for!

#5 A partridge in a pear tree

My tree is like 4x the size of this one!

OK, there isn't a partridge in it but I do have a pear tree!  There is this random tree at the back of our property that I originally thought was just a plain old regular tree. But then I thought I saw apples growing on it so figured it was a crab apple.  Well, the hubby went and looked at it the other day and said it is loaded with pears!   Like hundreds of them! This tree is big... it has been there a while...a long while.  It's not in a place where someone would have deliberately planted a tree (our backyard was undeveloped land before our house was built 3 years ago...completely overgrown with bushes, weeds and small maple trees.  You ocassionally see a small pear tree in NY, but it's not something that's super common.  I have NEVER seen a pear tree this big before in my life!  I wonder how it got there??  It's such a random tree in such a random place.  And yes, I am probably wayyyy too excited over a tree. But I just think it's so cool!

Linking up with Andrea at Momfessionals

And

Show and Tell Tuesday- Who's coming to dinner??

When I saw today's Show and Tell Tuesday topic, I couldn't wait to link up with Andrea!

Today we are sharing the 5 people we would invite to a dinner party at our house.  How fun!!!

#1  Barry Manilow... Unfortunately for Barry, I would make him sing the entire party.  Although, I would like to hear the stories behind the songs, so he could talk about that a little bit between sets!  :)  Best.musician.ever.

#2 Tony Stewart... I am not really into NASCAR these days, but I will always love Tony Stewart.  I would love to sit next to him at the table and gaze lovingly... I mean, listen to all his amazing stories.  I love his drive and his love of racing.  Plus, I get the feeling he is a really fun guy to hang out with!  

Or, if Tony is unavailable then I would invite Andy Pettitte (retired NY Yankees pitcher for all you non-baseball fans).  Amazing guy.  I have always wanted to meet him, so of course he's coming to my dinner party!  End of story.

#3  Will Ferrell... He may literally be the funniest man alive.  I loved him on SNL and I love his movies!  I could watch Step-Brothers and Anchorman 10x a day and not get tired of them!  I'm sure Will would keep me laughing through the whole party.

#4 Oprah...well DUH.  Who WOULDN'T invite Oprah to their party?  I feel like Oprah and I could be friends.   Maybe best friends.  And maybe she would bring some of her "Favorites" to the party for everyone!  Or at least a lovely gift for the hostess!

#5  Seth Rogen and James Franco...They're a package deal, right?  Well, it's my dinner party and I say they are!  They are funny, interesting, and I hear they know how to party.  100% invited!

Now tell me this wouldn't be a fun dinner party!!

You should link up too!!  

My fall bucket list!

Happy fall!  Unofficially, of course!  We had a great weekend and I'm sad it's back to work tomorrow.  Saturday I organized Nick's school supplies, washed and hung up all his school clothes, did a successful Target run with 2 boys in tow AND reorganized the pantry.  Sunday was a great day with family...lots of food, fun and swimming.
Today was pretty chill...cleaning, movies and decorating for fall!  I love having little fall touches all around the house.  It just makes me happy!

So, since I'm all about fall today, it is time for my fall bucket list!

Fall Bucket List
1.  Go apple picking
2.  Bake a new apple dessert
3.  Visit a pumpkin patch/corn maze
4.  Attend a fall festival or Octoberfest
5.  Get away for the night with the hubby to VT for some leaf peeping and romance!  :)
6.  Indulge in some apple cider and donuts
7.  Have a pumpkin spice latte (or 10)
8.  Go on a haunted hayride
9.  Carve pumpkins with the kids
10. Make some fall crafts
11. Take some gorgeous fall photos
12. Go on a fall hike
13. Host a Halloween party (OK, this one is pretty unlikely but I have always wanted to have a big Halloween party...so, you never know)
14.  Visit Salem MA...again, not likely due to time and scheduling restraints, but I have always wanted to visit Salem during October
15.  Take the kids trick or treating (duh)
16.  Decorate outside with mums and pumpkins

So tell me, what's on your fall bucket list? This is my favorite time of year and I am always looking for new things to do!

Friday Favorites! Summer is over!

Is it really Labor Day weekend??? Where did summer ago?  It seems like just last week it was May and we were getting ready to go to Disney.   Now suddenly we've reached the unofficial end to summer and in a few short days my first born starts kindergarten.  Time moves WAY TOO FAST these days.

OK, enough of my pity party...on to the favorites!!

Number 1:  These signs from Griffin & Grace

Have you ladies heard of Griffin and Grace?  If not, then your wallet and credit card are likely thanking you right now.  Griffin and Grace (Latte Tots) is an adorable boutique in Texas.  And luckily for me (or unluckily for my back account) they post tons of great items online!!  I recently got these signs and just love them!  Perfect decor for fall.

Number 2:  This face

Oh my, this kid loves him some watermelon!!  Love this boy!!

Number 3:  My latest 31 purchase

Membership has its privileges!  I love my new tote bag and love even more how these Halloween themed carry-alls turned out!  I will be filling them with little Halloween treats for the boys this year!

Number 4:  Brotherly Love

This is most definitely a rarity at our house so I HAD to document it!  These boys played nicely (and quietly) together for a good 30 minutes.  It was a miracle!!

Number 5:  Awesome new coffee mug!

I love handmade items and I LOVE this mug!  LOVE LOVE LOVE!!  This lady makes gorgeous and unique mugs and the shipping is super fast. I will absolutely be ordering more (perfect Christmas gift)!  Check out her shop on Etsy- DesertNOVA

I am also so excited that I am finally getting my desk in our den/office organized.  I finally feel like I have a real workspace now (as opposed to working on the couch with papers strewn all over the coffee table).  I love my little space and have just a few more finishing touches to put on before I post a reveal picture.  :)

OK friends, that's it!  I hope you all enjoy the long weekend and have something fun planned!  Sunday we will be headed to a picnic and hopefully get in some pool time.  Other than that, we have no major plans (other than getting ready for school to start)!  Wednesday is Meet the Teacher day and Thursday is the first day of kindergarten!!  I am praying for an easy transition for all of us!

Happy weekend!

Linking up with Andrea at Momfessionals

and Oh Hey Friday


And
Diary of a Real Housewife
And
Why girls are weird

Show and Tell Tuesday- September 11

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Linking up with Andrea for "Where were you on 9/11?"

September 11, 2001 

I was 25 years old living in Albany NY (about 2.5 hours from New York City).

I was in the bathroom of our apartment getting ready for work when the phone rang.  It was my “late” day, so I didn’t have to be in the office until 10:00am.  My boyfriend (now husband) who was still half asleep answered the phone.  A few seconds later he came into the bathroom with an alarmed look on his face and told me to turn on the TV, something bad had happened.  I turned on the TV and saw one of Twin Towers burning.

 

Driving to work, I listened to the news coverage on one of the local radio stations, which had stopped playing music and was focused solely on what was happening in NYC.  Once I got to work, everyone who was not out on appointments was in the conference room watching the TV.  We all sat there in disbelief watching what was unfolding. 

I had a few work appointments I had to go out on.  I was glued to the coverage in my car, crying, and hoping no one I knew was hurt.

After my appointments were done, I had walked to Bruggers Bagels to get some lunch.  By this time everyone knew it was a terrorist attack.  When I got to Bruggers, there was a sign on the door saying, “Closed for the safety of our employees.”  I remember thinking to myself that it was highly unlikely a bagel shop in Troy, NY would be a terror target.  But I suppose we were all just very frightened and didn’t know what to do.

After I got back to my office, my husband called and said he was being deployed and needed to report to the Armory that evening (he was in the National Guard at the time).  My boss let me leave so I could go home and spend a couple hours with him before he left.

We sat on the couch watching TV and I cried and cried.  Cried for the people on the planes, in the towers, at the pentagon.  Cried for the fireman, policemen, and all the first responders. And I cried because I was worried for my husband....we didn’t know how long he would be deployed for, or where he would be deployed to, or what danger may lay ahead.

I think I watched more TV in the days that followed than I have in all my years of TV watching combined.  It was addicting, and even though it was usually the same information over and over again, you just couldn’t stop watching.

I am relieved to say that my husband was only deployed for a few days to guard a nuclear power plant in Northern NY.  And none of my friends in DC or NYC were hurt (although there was a close call with the brother of a close friend...he made it out about 5 minutes before the first tower collapsed).   

Even now, I can't look at pictures from that day, or watch a TV program about 9/11 without tearing up and feeling a huge pit in my stomach.  I think about Father Mychal Judge and all the other fireman who were there to try and save lives, and instead lost their own.  I think about all the children who lost their parents, and all the parents who lost their adult children.  There are images from that day that are seared forever in my mind...people running in fear covered in dust and blood, people jumping to their death, people screaming and crying in the streets, masses of people walking across the Brooklyn Bridge to get home or to safety.

September 11, 2001 will be ingrained in my memory forever.  I can truly say it is the day I learned and understood there is great evil in this world, but also great strength, kindness and resilience.