I have never won any kind of contest…to the best of my memory.  And I read a lot of blogs…and enter lots of free give-aways, yet I’ve never won.  Until now!  I’m sure many of you read Raechel’s blog, Finding My Feet, right?  Well, if not, then you should.  She’s got 2 beautiful babies, Oliver and Hazel, and a real knack for hand-crafted goods.  She creates what I’d love to know how to create.

Recently, she wrote a post about Nourish Baby Organics bath products created by a friend of hers.  And she was giving away some of the lavender bath oil.  I commented .  I won. You can see for yourself, here:

I was so excited to receive my products in the mail and finally they came! Today I gave them a bath and lathered up their little bodies with the lavender oil. I am in love. I wanted to bathe myself in the lavender oil. It smelled so natural and delicious! It wasn’t over-powering at all. And I loved that it didn’t have a lingering oily layer on their skin either. It soaked right it. She has so many yummy bath treats for babies and kids and their parents anyone else who wants really soft and fragrant skin.  I really urge you to check out her store Nourish Baby Organics. Perhaps you’ll find something for your bundle of joy.  Perhaps you have someone in mind who would love a gift for the holidays.  The recipient, whomever it may be, will not be disappointed.  I plan to buy some more of her products.  My only problem is I can’t decide on which scent!

Take a peek at her store.  Which product would you get?

Today I become a husband-less wife.  For a full week.  Wednesday to Wednesday. That is sooooo long for me because I am spoiled and Brett  hardly ever has any business trips.  But this isn’t business.  He’s going rafting down the Colorado River.  It should be pretty fun, I’ll admit. However, it’s not something I could do for a full week.  3, maybe 4 days.  That’s it.  I have made sure the kids and I have plans to fill our days.  Today it’s swimming at a friend’s house (and tonight it’s sushi for me with a good friend!).  Tomorrow it’s movie day (and for me it’s kickball).  Friday is a pool day at the gym.  Saturday it’s pool day at my parents.  Do you see the trend? Sunday brings us no plans…as of yet.  Might be nice to have no plans.  On occasion I’ll let the kids be lazy and watch TV more than they should.  Have you checked out the Boomerang channel?  It’s filled with cartoon classics.  The good ones…Smurfs, Scooby Do, Flintstones, Johnny Quest- you get the idea! Uh, back to the original topic.

So not only will Brett be gone for a whole week, but he has no reception for a WHOLE WEEK.  This makes me nervous for a few reasons.  First, since we have met (9 1/2 years ago) I have not gone a full week without talking to him.  Even when I was in Europe for 3 weeks with my family and we had only been dating a few months.  Even then.  Secondly, and this has happened before, something could happen to Emma where I have to take her to the ER.  Once when he was golfing up north for a weekend I took her in for a huge seizure she had.  And he was away.  And couldn’t drive immediately home.  Makes me a little nervous.

Oh yeah, he’s not the only one leaving.  My parents will be at their cabin for a long weekend.  My mother-in-law and her sister and mom will be in California the entire time.  My sister-in-law and her kids are in another state. Even my neighbor is gone (and I’ve relied on him before when there was a snake in our back yard and Brett was gone).  Feeling a little isolated here.  Part of the reason why I have made many a  plan while he’s away.

Wish me luck!

tour and picture found here.

The weather is getting to be very nice here.  Like 70-degree-weather nice.  Yeah, that nice.  With all of these gorgeous days we’ve been having, the kids only want to play outside after homework has been done.  Of course homework is another monster that I will tackle in a later post.  Anyway, I’ve been letting the kids ride their bikes in the street soaking up all the sun we can get.  Maybe I should elaborate.  The kids do ride in the streets, with their helmets on.  I have a nylon fluorescent sign that says “Drive Slowly” that I put in the street.  And I camp out on a folding chair on the sidewalk at the end of our driveway.  We live in a community where the streets are a bit narrower, and the lots are the size of postage stamps.  So it’s a cozy situation we’ve got here.

I can’t tell you how many people drive down the street so much faster than they should.  I will usually mouth to them “slow down” when they zoom by and wave.  Or, if their window is open, I will yell, “Slow Down!”  It’s amazing to me how fast they go 1) in general, 2) with my sign out, and 3) with my kids right there.  One guy had the audacity to stop, reverse, and drive right up to the sidewalk where my kids were parked after I called out to slow down. He proceeded to tell me that my kids weren’t allowed to play in the street, that my sign was illegal, and that playing is what the park is for.  I was calm and cool and let him know that wasn’t the case, reminded him of the 20  mph speed limit, and then he sped off.  I was actually offended and felt a bit threatened.  Seriously.

That night I wrote an email to the property manager and retold the story.  I also let him know how I felt, and I wanted to know exactly what the CC&R’s said about riding or playing in the streets.  Certainly I wouldn’t allow this to occur without me being right there.  My how times have changed…I remember riding my bike all over the neighborhood…and in the summer, I wouldn’t come home until dark!  Of course my parents knew of my whereabouts, but it was a time when she didn’t have to be on top of me, like I will have to be for my kids.  Especially Emma.  The property manager just wrote an email saying this issue would be a addressed at the March Board of Directors meeting.

What I’d like to do is put a sign up at the community mailbox to politely remind people that the weather is nice, kids are playing outside, and to please be respectful and safe when driving down the street.  Is that too much to ask?

What would you do?

In no particular order….

1.  My kids baked with Oma (my mom).

2.  I ran in a 4-mile turned 5K race and it was SO cold!!

3.  I co-hosted a beautiful baby shower for a very close friend.

4.  I had really good BBQ.

5.  And I got some shopping done!

What about you??