On this day, I have shared 40 and then some activities, with my children. The purpose was to create a more connected relationship with my children while stepping into my more carefree side.
I realized that we really did not need "The Jar" to create the special moments. Although, The Jar is great and it offered unique activities that I would normally would not have thought of. I also realized that there were probably many times where I was connected and carefree with my kids and did not even consider them as "time counted"...they just were.
This journey opened me up to notice that life is passing us by very quickly. I look at my beautiful daughter and I am amazed at that fact that she is turning into this mature almost 10 yr. old. Where did the time go!?! I can help slow the time by staying connected and present with her. I can take the time to BE with and listen, instead of allowing distraction to step in. Christopher has turned into this head strong, determined, self assured little man....and I have no idea when that happened! I am choosing to BE present. I am choosing to step into the Lovable, Worthy, Connected and Carefree woman and mom that I have always been. I know that this will create the space for my kids to step into their greatness and accept their greatness....the greatest gift a parent can give their child!
Thank you for taking this journey with me...for loving me, supporting me, encouraging me, and holding the space for my family to shift into something blessed and new.
~Lovable, Worthy, Connected and Carefree Angela
PS - The Jar remains on the kitchen counter and will be a constant presence in our life. The journey will continue on and on and on and on and on..........
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Nicky Nicole, Karl's Hot Dogs & "Big Chesst"
Monday, August 22nd
Oh....the 1st day of school is just 3 days away! Lauren had been begging to go to Nicky Nicole to get all sorts of girlie things for her 4th grade locker. So on this morning I decided to surprise Lauren with a trip to Nicky Nicole. We left the house to run errands and when I pulled into Crocker Park (this amazing complex by our home), Lauren had no clue what I was up to.
Surprise! (this has become old hat for me!)
Now, this store is pretty much a bunch of over priced junk for litle girls..yet the whole line of decor for lockers is pretty cute! She picked out wall paper, a chandelier (yes!), a mirror, dry erase board, and cute flower decor. She was so cute and very grown up all at the same time. I realized I am not ready for her to grow up....I want to keep her this sweet little girl who loves dresses, barbies and High School Musical! :(
We walked around Crocker Park, it was such a beautiful day!! They have some of these amazing kiosks with food, so we went to Karl's Hot Dogs for lunch. There is nothing better than a yummy hot dog on a beautiful sunny day. The kids were just so cute. I love them so much!
Near the spot we were eating, there is a giant outdoor chess board, with pieces the size of a small toddler. Chris calls it "Big Chesst"....I know, I know! I have attempted to correct him so many times, and each time say, "honey, it is 'chess '...no 't' at the end", he argues right back and insists it is "chesst". So, I surrender and giggle each time he asks if he can play with the "Big Chesst".
The kids played for a while and I sat and watched them.... smiling and feeling such a sense of pride and love for them. They bring me so much joy!
Oh....the 1st day of school is just 3 days away! Lauren had been begging to go to Nicky Nicole to get all sorts of girlie things for her 4th grade locker. So on this morning I decided to surprise Lauren with a trip to Nicky Nicole. We left the house to run errands and when I pulled into Crocker Park (this amazing complex by our home), Lauren had no clue what I was up to.
Surprise! (this has become old hat for me!)
Now, this store is pretty much a bunch of over priced junk for litle girls..yet the whole line of decor for lockers is pretty cute! She picked out wall paper, a chandelier (yes!), a mirror, dry erase board, and cute flower decor. She was so cute and very grown up all at the same time. I realized I am not ready for her to grow up....I want to keep her this sweet little girl who loves dresses, barbies and High School Musical! :(
Near the spot we were eating, there is a giant outdoor chess board, with pieces the size of a small toddler. Chris calls it "Big Chesst"....I know, I know! I have attempted to correct him so many times, and each time say, "honey, it is 'chess '...no 't' at the end", he argues right back and insists it is "chesst". So, I surrender and giggle each time he asks if he can play with the "Big Chesst".
The kids played for a while and I sat and watched them.... smiling and feeling such a sense of pride and love for them. They bring me so much joy!
Carpet Picnic & Secretariat
Sunday, 8/21
After a week in San Diego, and then me heading off to my best friend's bachelorette party for the weekend, I was looking forward to relaxing with the kids at home. I picked them up from my brother's house and on the way home thought it would be cool to stop at Liquid Planet and pick up some dinner. The kids love the food and smoothies from there. So we stopped, picked up our favorite treats and headed home. Lauren went to set up the table and I thought...."it is time for a carpet picnic"!! Lauren and Chris looked at me as if I had 3 eyeballs :)
I layed out a blanket on the family room floor and set up our picnic. FUN!!
Next, we popped in the movie, "Secretariat" and enjoyed a fabulous evening of treats and family togetherness. <sigh> :)
After a week in San Diego, and then me heading off to my best friend's bachelorette party for the weekend, I was looking forward to relaxing with the kids at home. I picked them up from my brother's house and on the way home thought it would be cool to stop at Liquid Planet and pick up some dinner. The kids love the food and smoothies from there. So we stopped, picked up our favorite treats and headed home. Lauren went to set up the table and I thought...."it is time for a carpet picnic"!! Lauren and Chris looked at me as if I had 3 eyeballs :)
I layed out a blanket on the family room floor and set up our picnic. FUN!!
Next, we popped in the movie, "Secretariat" and enjoyed a fabulous evening of treats and family togetherness. <sigh> :)
Golf Championship
Before we left for San Diego, the kids were wrapping up their summer golf clinic with a Junior Golf Championship. Lauren was scheduled to play 3 holes and Chris was playing 1 hole. I will admit, I had a bunch of resistance about "having" to go. My step-dad was taking Chris and I "had" to go with Lauren. I was all in my head around all the things I had put on my "to-do list", and felt that this was going to cut into my time....
Ugh, I know!
We arrived at the golf course, and by that time, I made a choice to surrender and have fun. Lauren has grown to really like golf. I realized that part of my resistance probably had something to do with the fact that I know absolutely nothing about golf, except that you hit a little white ball toward a little flag off in the distance.
Lauren and I jumped into the golf cart and were instructed to head toward the 175 yard marker on the 7th hole.... "What the H _ _ _ does that mean??" I am thinking...I may have even said it out loud...
So, off we go (after Lauren showed me how to start the golf cart!), in search of the 7th hole...we even stopped and asked for directions...we kept driving and following "the path". At this point we are late for the tee time, and I am getting nervous for Lauren, she is getting embarrassed! We finally find the 7th hole and the other 3 families are waiting for us. Yikes!
Lauren jumps out of the cart and goes to tee off. I am so nervous for her...why??? It is not like a million dollars is on the line! Maybe something far more precious....her pride and confidence. She swings and does great! Phew!
We continue on with the morning and it was so nice to just BE with her. We laughed and joked and she enjoyed making fun of me and my lack of knowledge with this sport.
She thinks it will be a good idea for me to take golf lessons....she even offered to teach me.
I may take her up on that!
Ugh, I know!
We arrived at the golf course, and by that time, I made a choice to surrender and have fun. Lauren has grown to really like golf. I realized that part of my resistance probably had something to do with the fact that I know absolutely nothing about golf, except that you hit a little white ball toward a little flag off in the distance.
Lauren and I jumped into the golf cart and were instructed to head toward the 175 yard marker on the 7th hole.... "What the H _ _ _ does that mean??" I am thinking...I may have even said it out loud...
So, off we go (after Lauren showed me how to start the golf cart!), in search of the 7th hole...we even stopped and asked for directions...we kept driving and following "the path". At this point we are late for the tee time, and I am getting nervous for Lauren, she is getting embarrassed! We finally find the 7th hole and the other 3 families are waiting for us. Yikes!
Lauren jumps out of the cart and goes to tee off. I am so nervous for her...why??? It is not like a million dollars is on the line! Maybe something far more precious....her pride and confidence. She swings and does great! Phew!
We continue on with the morning and it was so nice to just BE with her. We laughed and joked and she enjoyed making fun of me and my lack of knowledge with this sport.
She thinks it will be a good idea for me to take golf lessons....she even offered to teach me.
I may take her up on that!
Planes, Trains, and Celebration!
August 22, 2011
It has been an interesting couple weeks! Several weeks ago, I decided that I was going to take my children and our regular babysitter, Nicole, to San Diego for my Isagenix convention. And, I decided that the kids would not find out until right before we were leaving.
Now, anyone who knows Lauren, we can all agree that she is quite the persistent little stinker, and she cannot keep a surprise to save her life. So, keeping this a secret from her and Chris was a very stealth, top secret project!
And...it worked!!!!
I packed their suitcases a few days earlier and hid them in my closet. I even told my daughter that our babysitter, Nicole, was going to take them to Kalahari (indoor waterpark) while I was gone...just to get my daughter off my back!
We were set to leave on Friday August 12th.
On Thursday, August 11th, I took the kids to their junior golf championship. This is their 1st time playing golf, this summer. And, well, it is pretty much my 1st time as well! My dad was and my brother is an avid golfer...for some reason it skipped over me. Anyway, Lauren was scheduled to play 3 holes, starting at the 150 yard marker on the 7th hole (whatever that means!). We jumped into the golf cart...that is once I figured out how to get it to move forward...and off we went! I think this is the first time I experienced my daughter being embarrassed by me! We got lost, if that is even possible, and could not find the 7th hole! After some serious "U-turns" and asking for directions at least 3 different times, we finally got there. The other 3 families and the professional coach were all waiting. Ugh...poor Lauren! I am so glad she has such a great sense of humor! I could tell she was a little embarrassed, but she would never say it. She joked with me and we actually ended up having a great time! I was really proud of her! She probably triple "bogied" on each hole....but who cares! It was some great bonding time for us, even it is was done with a little Caddy Shack style.
Friday August 12th...THE Day!
I woke the kids up at 6:00 am, so that they could "take mommy to the airport". Once they were dressed, they came downstairs and that is when I told them they were going with me to San Diego...
Oh My...the shrieks of joy, the hugs and the excitement was just too cute for words!
(I have it recorded and will post it after editing).
What was even cuter, was Lauren's friend Taylor was coming with us. Her mom is on my team with Isagenix. Lauren and Chris had no clue they were coming. When we saw them at the airport, it was so precious watching Lauren piece together why her friend was in the airport and why she was going to California to!
They were amazing on the airplane and has such a great time watching their own Direct TV's!
When we arrived in San Diego, we settled into our beautiful rooms, overlooking the bay and the Navy ships. There was a beautiful boardwalk, with street performers, hula-hooping for the kids, etc. We walked the board walk. We watched a street performer, the kids played with hula-hoops, and we had dinner.
Saturday, August 13th
San Diego Zoo!!
We went to the zoo with my mom; our upline/mentor Nicole and her two boys, Zeke and Silas; our teammate Stef and her daughter Taylor; and our other teammate Debbie, her husband and son Danny. All I can say, it that this was quite possibly the most beautiful place I have seen. We saw animals that we have never seen before. And, the polar bear exhibit, the gorillas and the new baby hippo were well worth the price of admission!!
It has been an interesting couple weeks! Several weeks ago, I decided that I was going to take my children and our regular babysitter, Nicole, to San Diego for my Isagenix convention. And, I decided that the kids would not find out until right before we were leaving.
Now, anyone who knows Lauren, we can all agree that she is quite the persistent little stinker, and she cannot keep a surprise to save her life. So, keeping this a secret from her and Chris was a very stealth, top secret project!
And...it worked!!!!
I packed their suitcases a few days earlier and hid them in my closet. I even told my daughter that our babysitter, Nicole, was going to take them to Kalahari (indoor waterpark) while I was gone...just to get my daughter off my back!
We were set to leave on Friday August 12th.
On Thursday, August 11th, I took the kids to their junior golf championship. This is their 1st time playing golf, this summer. And, well, it is pretty much my 1st time as well! My dad was and my brother is an avid golfer...for some reason it skipped over me. Anyway, Lauren was scheduled to play 3 holes, starting at the 150 yard marker on the 7th hole (whatever that means!). We jumped into the golf cart...that is once I figured out how to get it to move forward...and off we went! I think this is the first time I experienced my daughter being embarrassed by me! We got lost, if that is even possible, and could not find the 7th hole! After some serious "U-turns" and asking for directions at least 3 different times, we finally got there. The other 3 families and the professional coach were all waiting. Ugh...poor Lauren! I am so glad she has such a great sense of humor! I could tell she was a little embarrassed, but she would never say it. She joked with me and we actually ended up having a great time! I was really proud of her! She probably triple "bogied" on each hole....but who cares! It was some great bonding time for us, even it is was done with a little Caddy Shack style.
Friday August 12th...THE Day!
I woke the kids up at 6:00 am, so that they could "take mommy to the airport". Once they were dressed, they came downstairs and that is when I told them they were going with me to San Diego...
Oh My...the shrieks of joy, the hugs and the excitement was just too cute for words!
(I have it recorded and will post it after editing).
What was even cuter, was Lauren's friend Taylor was coming with us. Her mom is on my team with Isagenix. Lauren and Chris had no clue they were coming. When we saw them at the airport, it was so precious watching Lauren piece together why her friend was in the airport and why she was going to California to!
They were amazing on the airplane and has such a great time watching their own Direct TV's!
When we arrived in San Diego, we settled into our beautiful rooms, overlooking the bay and the Navy ships. There was a beautiful boardwalk, with street performers, hula-hooping for the kids, etc. We walked the board walk. We watched a street performer, the kids played with hula-hoops, and we had dinner.
San Diego Zoo!!
We went to the zoo with my mom; our upline/mentor Nicole and her two boys, Zeke and Silas; our teammate Stef and her daughter Taylor; and our other teammate Debbie, her husband and son Danny. All I can say, it that this was quite possibly the most beautiful place I have seen. We saw animals that we have never seen before. And, the polar bear exhibit, the gorillas and the new baby hippo were well worth the price of admission!!
Momma and Baby Hippo....so cute!
Since Isagenix is such a huge part of my life and my family, it was really important for me to have the kids experience Isagenix. I thought it would be really cool to have them be a part of the opening ceremonies of Celebration. It is such a huge party to start off....dancing, performing artists on stilts and fire dancers!!!
Chris & Silas (my upline's son)
Once Celebration began, the kids spent a lot of time with our sitter, Nicole. They went swimming, walking the board walk and played games at the pool. There were a few times where I noticed I felt guilty for choosing to be at the convention. I knew they were having a blast, which definitely eased the guilt....or maybe I was a little jealous of all the fun they were having!
The final evening, after Celebration ended, Jimmy Smith, the #1 income earner in Isagenix always sponsors a party for ChildHelp. Child Help is an amazing organization that supports kids at risk, being abused and/or neglected. The party is always a huge deal....so I wanted to take the kids! I kept hearing that it was more for grown ups....well... we went anyway! We went with Stef and her daughter, Nicole (my upline) and her sons, and our friend Debbie's son Danny. The kids walked in liked they owned the place! They danced and had such a great time. My little Christopher.....well, he pretty much stole the show! I am not sure where he gets his skills from, but he is a little bit a cross between James Brown, Michael Jackson and Justin Timberlake! It is so cute to watch him dance. At few times, he had a huge group of grown ups surrounding him, watching him dance.
Did I mention this was a costume party?? Silas was "Captain Underpants"! LOL!
Too funny!!
Well, after a late night of partying, the kids rested up and off to Sea World we went! We had a Sea World in here in Cleveland which closed several years ago. That Sea World was nothing like this!!! We lucked out! When we first got there, the Shamu show was going to start. So we got in line and made sure we got great seats. Well, Stef ran off ahead of us, and got seats....great? That is subject to opinion! They were right in the soak zone, pretty much next to the area the whales slide up on their bellies! It was a beautiful site to see!
Yep, we got soaked!
We fed the Sea Lions!
Man, they were demanding!
"More!!!.....NOW!"
Sea Lion Show!
We also went to the Dolphin show. I was able to squeeze in a few more photos before my memory card overloaded!
Lauren was afraid she was going to get soaked....again! LOL!
We saw the Polar Exhibit, which was absolutely breath taking! The Beluga whales were stunning! I could have stood there all day and watched them! The walrus was huge! I mean really huge!!! I thought I had pictures on my phone, and am so bummed that I cannot find them!
And, the last thing we did, was probably the biggest deal....at least for Chris! There was a "water" ride called Journey to Atlantis. It looked like your typical, "go-up-the-big-scary-hill-come-down-and-get-wet" water ride. Chris is fearless when it comes to a lot of things, except big "roller coaster" type rides. So, again, we get on the ride thinking we will get soaked (again) and then head back to the hotel. The ride starts by going up "the big hill" and we go down, Christopher screeeaaammmming at the top of his lungs! We get splashed a little at the bottom of the hill. And, I think Chris was more soaked by his sweet little tears! I was so proud of him and made sure to point out that as scary as that hill was, he survived! He did it! He went on his first "big kid" ride!
So, we think the ride is over....we start going through this dark tunnel, thinking we are on our way to getting off the ride. Except, all of a sudden this dark tunnel starts going up, like an elevator! (Oh CRAP!!! is what I think to myself) Next thing we see is the day of light again, except we are back up...at the top of another hill! I look at Chris, who is really pissed and scared. I give him a big, huge smile and off we go! A flipping roller coaster! I felt so bad! Chris was SCRRREEEAAAMMMMING at the top of his lungs! One hill, twist and turn after another! I kept thinking, "please make it stop, please make it stop"!!
Finally, we came to the end of the ride. Chris was not pleased. I was so proud of him!
Lauren kept praising him, and we pointed out that he really survived his first big kid roller coaster! Once got off the ride, we all had a huge laugh....the only place I got splashed was on a place that looked like I pee'd my pants! (haha, very funny!)
After a few minutes, I looked at Chris. He smiled and said, "That was actually kinda awesome".
Yes, it was!!!
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