Life is Beautiful

Motherhood, Sewing, Family

Sol Republic deck speaker + Micro Kickboard scooter giveaway

~ Etc.

We have a cool giveaway for you this week where one lucky winner will win a Sol Republic deck wireless speaker and a maxi kick scooter(for ages 5-12) of any color of their choice, valued at $330!  This giveaway is open to U.S residents only.
it comes with a nice black mesh cover.
This is an awesome DECK wireless speaker and I have been very impressed with the quality and the sound it produces.  It can get really loud, loud enough to throw a dance party in the middle of a playdate at a park, and feel like you’re such a cool mother!  Not that I would ever do such a thing or anything, I am just saying. 🙂  We have been using this when we go on family walks, or bike rides and my daughter loves it so much because she loves music and plays music on our CD player or on the iPad constantly when we’re home.  I’m not a huge tech person but this is simple to use and the sound is very clear and nice quality that I use it often.
Follow SolRepublic via Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.

This scooter from Micro Kickboard has been such a fun addition to our family activities.  It is for kids ages 5-12 and up to 110 lbs. but since I don’t exceed the weight limit, I’ve been riding it myself too, eh hem.  It glides on very smoothly and the wheels turn so good that as long as it’s not uphill, it goes on without me even pedaling.  It goes over the little bumps on the sidewalks well and the break works very well.  My favorite part about this scooter though is how silky it rides.  If you ride it once, you’ll be able to tell that it’s a very high quality scooter.  I am so excited about this scooter, I cannot tell you how much I could recommend it to my friends and family.  I want to buy this for all my nieces and nephews!  

The scooter offers two types of steering choices where a T-bar is designed for easy balancing, perfect for little kids and a Pilot which is designed for even better curving and carving.  I got the T-bar for my girls since they’re only 5 and 6 and I thought it might be a little difficult for them to not have anything to hold onto with both hands while riding.  It comes in 10 different colors with a black body or in limited edition metallic colors of pink, green and purple, pictured below.  I’m loving the olive green one personally.
Follow MicroKickboard on their Instagram and Facebook
To enter the giveaway, please visit SolRepublic and MicroKickboard and fill out the rafflecopter below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

you can only win a SolRepublic giveaway every 6 month period.

The winner is Sydney Anderson.  I have emailed you Sydney, congratulations!

To my birthday man- 6 reasons why he makes the best and the worst blogger's husband

~ Etc.

back in his HS days.  Puhahaha

Today is my husband’s birthday.  I woke up early and started making breakfast and then gently woke him up with kisses and cuddles, and started the day with his favorite homemade waffles, whipped cream & peaches..  I made him his second breakfast to eat at work(he eats a lot), of hash browns, eggs and bacon.

My husband is a special guy, he really is one in a million.  Besides the fact that he can take care of the kids better than I can and would make a better stay at home parent than I am, what makes him a one in a million is that he’s so good at taking care of the kids and taking care of the house, that he puts me to shame(see the post here).

My friends have told me that when they’re gone for a night, or a few days or even a few hours and then come back home, their husbands would say to them, “Oh honey, I have so much more respect for stay at home moms, it is so hard!  I can’t do anything or get anything done!  They’re so demanding!  I don’t get how you get anything done around the house staying at home with the kids!”  Isn’t that what every mother wants to hear from their husbands?  It’s like a dream!  But my husband is different.  When Jay sent me on a surprise trip to N.Y last year for 5 days by myself to see my friend and my brother, I came home thinking, ‘Oh, he’s going to appreciate me so much more, he had a glimpse of what I really do all day.  He’s going to tell me he doesn’t know how I do it and how he has so much more respect for me.”  Well, let’s just say that did not happen and quiet the contrary.  I came home to a spotless clean house where the back of the fridge and the oven was wiped clean, the house was immaculate, the kids behaved and listened after only telling them once because Jay had made this beautiful chore chart that he printed, colored and laminated, on a big white board.  He did yard work, he grocery shopped, the kids were so well taken care of and happy.  He said to me, “See?  Look at all the things I’ve got done while you were gone!”  So while my girlfriends come home feeling more appreciated and respected by their husbands, my husband is more like, staying at home isn’t hard!  Look at all the things I can get done around the house!

Fine!  You stay home and be a stay at home dad then!  🙂

Another thing that I love/hate about him is that he makes the worst blogger’s husband.  But also the best because he keeps it real and keeps me grounded.  Here are the reasons why he makes the best and the worst blogger’s husband.

6.  He hates being in pictures.  If you’d like to know if a picture being taken was my idea or his, only ones that he initiated(which happens once in a blue moon) are the ones he’s smiling big.  All the other ones he’s barely smiling or fake smiling.  See examples below and see which one was his idea and which one was not. 

5.  He hates taking pictures for me.  My Sunday Best posts?  I have to bribe him.  Why are my Sunday Best pictures only taken right by our front door?  Because one time I asked him to cross the street and take a picture(it was literally just across the street on our neighbor’s yard), he whined and complained and said how it was so far.  I have to take what I can get, so if he’s willing to take pictures for me after I bribe him, I don’t dare suggest we go elsewhere and stay 5 feet in proximity to our front door.

4. Besides Sunday Best pictures, he takes two pictures tops.  I only get two no matter what.  The first time I went to a blogger party and they had some husbands there, I was so shocked in disbelief when when my blogger friends asked their husband to take pictures for them.  “Oh, of course hun!” was their reply.  I starred in disbelief at these husbands and thought, ‘Whoa, Jay would never say that!  He would grunt and say, “you only get two pictures!”, then I was more shocked when the husbands happily grabbed the camera and took about 8 pictures each in every angle, position, and height.  Seriously, they took about 30 pictures total!  First of all, they would lower their camera to their elbow length to get a flattering angle(Jay is 6’2″ and doesn’t lower the camera at all so I always look so short!), take about 8 pictures in that same position, then get on their knee level and take 8 more, then scoot to the side about a foot to take 8 more, then scoots to the right to take 8 more.  The whole time they were taking pictures I was just in complete dismay.  I get two pictures and that’s it!

3. When Jay is playing with the girls and it’s a really cute, sweet moment between him and the girls, I get up to go get my camera but he stops me and says, “No pictures.”  If he’s doing something really cute for the girls like arranging a scavenger hunt one Saturday morning and the girls are super excited because he said there’s a golden treasure at the end of the scavenger hunt, and I am about to go get my camera, he says to me “No pictures. I didn’t do this for the blog.”  The girls are obsessed with crystal hunting right now so he tells the girls that he is a crystal finder expert and excitedly orders crystal rocks on Amazon and then when it arrives in the mail suggests to the girls, “Let’s go crystal rock hunting!” and then discreetly hides the crystals so the girls could find them, and I want to take pictures of it, he says to me, “Just enjoy the moment Sarah.  No pictures, or at least the pictures don’t go on the blog or anywhere.”. He keeps me grounded and helps me to live in the moment.  And he doesn’t do cute things or stage things so that I could “brag” about how wonderful my husband is.  Maybe I would’ve become this crazy, obsessive blogger who has to take pictures of every sweet, intimate moment and plaster it all over social media.  Or stage things to put on the blog!  Gosh, I promise you that I will never stage a life’s moment just for pictures.  That is the day I will stop blogging.

2. He doesn’t ask about my blogger parties or events I attended.  He has not yet once asked me, “How was the party?” because he doesn’t care.  He could care less about what I did at the party, who I met, what swag bag I got.   

And the #1 reason why  he makes the best/worst blogger’s husband is:

1.  He doesn’t even read the blog.  Yes, my own husband doesn’t even read my frickin’ blog!  Hahaha, I find this quiet funny.  He’ll tell me his co-workers will make a comment about a blog post they recently read on my blog and he’ll say, “Oh, huh?  I haven’t read that post yet.”  His co-workers then say in disbelief, “Wait, you don’t even read your own wife’s blog?”  “Nope.” is his reply.  Sigh.  He reads it once in awhile if I refer to a certain post I wrote and if it intrigues his interest, like his birthday posts. 

So there you have it.  I wouldn’t change him one bit, he really is perfect for me in every way and challenges me to the best person possible.  Happiest birthday to you Jay, I am sorry for ruining your 30th and the 31st birthday but I will make it up to you for the rest of your birthdays. 

Two regrets this week as a mother

~ Etc.

I’ve had two regrets this past week that I couldn’t seem to shake off.  The first one was when Adi had a VIP week and all week long she was the VIP where they spent a few minutes each day talking about her favorite things.  Then on the last day of the week, we all came to her classroom(Jay, me, Ana, Aiden & Achilles) and talked about where we’re from, our favorite stories about Adi and some things we like to do as a family.  Adi picked out this camping quiet book to bring to show to her class and I was the spokesperson for the family.  Last year in her Kindergarten class, she had a VIP week also and we all came to her classroom and it lasted about 3 mins.  We basically introduced ourselves and that was it.  So thinking it was only going to be a few minutes this time, I was feeling rushed.  But I wish the teacher had told me how long we’d be there because we were there for about 20 mins.!  But not knowing how long we’d be there, and after sharing two cute stories about Adi, pointing to the map where we’re from, letting everyone pet Achilles, I quickly opened up the camping book and began to show the students.  There’s a part in the book that has a lamp that lights up and right when I was about to press the light and show it, Adi tugged at the book and said, “I want to press it!”  I gently pushed her hand away and said authoritatively, “No, Adi, let me just quickly show it.” and turned on the lamp light.  I heard Adi let out a short sigh in disappointment.

After it was over, and that night when I lied down in bed, I thought about the day and anything I need to work on(I do this every night) and this instance came to my mind and I instantly felt regret and guilt.  ‘Why didn’t I just let Adi press the light?  It wasn’t even a big deal, and she was so excited to show her friends that the lamp turned on, why didn’t I let her?  What did I gain from pressing it myself and not letting her do it?’  For several days, I felt constant guilt in my heart and I kept reprimanding myself.

Then a few days later we went to her friend’s birthday party.  It was a Princess tea party by a pond.  After the party was over, the kids were playing by the pond and next thing I know, Adi comes up to me drenched!  She had fallen in the pond.  I laughed at first but was a little irritated because I had just cleaned off Aiden and I was PMS’ing and so tired, and was getting weary of wiping and cleaning the kids continuously.  Then she tried to hug me so I could get wet too and I backed away telling her no.  As I was getting something to dry her off with, she came and hugged me, getting me all wet!  I scolded her, “Adi! I told you to not get me wet!  Ugh, now I have dirty pond water all over my clothes!”and then when I sprayed her with clean water, she grabbed the hose and splashed me, laughing the whole time.  I scolded her again!  Why can’t she just listen?  I thought.

Well, that night as I was self-analyzing how I spent the day and what I could improve on, I thought of this instance and immediately felt regret and guilt.  ‘Oh, was Adi embarrassed so she tried to make light of the situation by getting me wet and splashing me, trying to make it funny and making her friends laugh?  She probably was embarrassed, she had fallen in the pond!  Why did I get annoyed?  I should’ve just laughed it off and tried to make her feel better.  Ugh, I suck.  I need to be better at being patient and not scolding the kids in front of other people, especially in front of their friends.”

So while still feeling guilty and regretful the next day, I realized that I could repent and have this constant guilt and regret go away!  So I prayed to God and asked for forgiveness, and promised him that I would do better next time, to try to think in my kids’s shoes so I can accommodate their needs and feelings accordingly.  And I went up to Adi and while we cuddled in bed, I told her I was sorry for those two instances.  That I’ve been feeling bad all week about it.  She said to me, “Mom, I didn’t care about pressing the lamp, you didn’t make me sad!  Mommy, I wasn’t embarrassed when I fell in the pond,  I just thought it would be funny!”  I asked her a couple more times, are you sure you weren’t embarrassed?  Are you sure you didn’t feel even a little sad that I didn’t let you press the lamp light?  “No mom, I wasn’t sad at all.  In real life!”  She says “in real life” instead of “For real, I promise!”

So was I a little too hard on myself?  Maybe.  I could’ve just explained her my feelings and apologized to her right after it happened, that would’ve spared me a week long of guilt!

I am grateful for the purity and the innocence of little kids.  They forget and forgive so easily, and don’t hold a grudge.  I am so grateful I get to be a mother to 3 kids who are such a joy in my life.  My life has so much more conviction, meaning, and happiness because of them.  I am also grateful, so grateful for a God who is also so forgiving.  I know God is real because only a higher being, a higher being who is kind and merciful and good can take my guilt away in an instant.  No power on earth can do that.

So if any of you are feeling guilty about something as a mother, go and apologize to your kids!  They’ll forgive and forget so easily.  They probably have already forgotten about it.  And give yourself more credit as a mother.  We are too hard on ourselves.  You are doing a wonderful job.  You are a wonderful mother.

Disney Alaska cruise day 5

~ Etc.

Off on an adventure to explore Juneau, the capital of Alaska!  Juneau is the second largest city in the U.S by area.
let’s just say I’m glad I’m not the third person up.

The Mendenhall Glacier.  The glacier is 12 miles long, protected as the 5,815-acre Mendenhall Glacier Recreation Area.

here

I literally ordered 9 servings of crabs. hehe
trying to get a picture by myself but the kids won’t let me!
finally, my brother in law snapped this while the kids were distracted.  Wearing a Mickey Mouse t-shirt in my Minnie mouse ears, eating a Mickey bar. 😉

just made it in time for ice-cream before the machine turned off at midnight!