Clean, Pure, Organic Ingredients to Nourish your skin? I’m In!!

Clean, Pure, Organic Ingredients to nourish your skin! When I saw that, I was intrigued. I wasn’t hooked instantaneously, I’m not gonna lie to you. Why? Because I like to do my research and make sure all my I’s are dotted, and T’s are crossed.

I began my search for skin care products that were, gluten-free, chemical free, had transparent ingredient lists, sensitive to the environment, made in the USA, vegan, and no animal testing. It was a big list of wants, well my needs, to be exact.

If you remember anything about what I’ve blogged about over the years you know that Gluten Free living is my lifestyle. It’s been that way since 2012. It has not only gone from foods that I eat, but it also encompasses the products I use in my daily life. Shampoo, toothpaste, soap, lotions, skin creams & potions. You get it. Pretty much everything.

We as a society are aware of what we put IN our bodies. Why aren’t we aware of what we put ON our bodies?

Chemicals get absorbed through the skin into our bodies and wreak havoc upon us. Some it’s quite apparent in the form of symptoms, and for others it slowly shows up in various ways. We are all created differently, and react differently, I tend to react quickly when something is not right for me. Either in hives, patches, dry spots, you name it I get it.

So it was crucial for me to find something that I could trust to be sensitive to my skin, yet deliver results that I was looking for. And I’m looking for results.

I’m 42 (gasp) middle age (whatever) !! I’m just Paula, and Paula wants to take care of her skin like she did when she was in her teens and 20’s. You know, before life took over and time for self-care went out the window with dinner dishes, and life crisis.

I’m on my journey of reclaiming “self-care” I don’t know if that’s an actual thing or not, but I guess because I’m calling it that, it is now. I’ve lost myself in the mixture of life events, and at some point we need to be our own life-preserver. Ok will skin care be my life preserver? Probably not. BUT Max & Madeleine is helping me reclaim a little bit of myself slowly, and I like slowly, because too much too soon burns you out. I like this little journey I decided to give myself, and if in the midst of my journey of self-care, I can help someone else out that’s amazing to me.

I’m very frank in this blog, so lets keep that realness here for a moment so forgive me if I offend anyone. But. I’m not one of those pushy bitchy sales people. That’s not me, never has been, never will be. I’m not going to try to sell you the Brooklyn Bridge, I want to show you what these products have done for me. I will be real with you, and you can be real with me. If you don’t particularly like or care for Organic, Clean, Non-Toxic ingredients, then so be it. Keep on keeping on with your current product line I have no problem with that. But if you are interested in cleaner, more purposeful products, ask me a question. If I have the answer I’ll let you know, if I don’t then I’ll get it for you somehow.

Clean, Pure, Organic Ingredients with a purpose. For babies to grandparents there is a product for everyone. A Boo Boo stick, Healing balm, hair detaingeler, deodorant, acne prone teen/adult skin, and even anti aging serums & elixirs (woohoo my crow’s-feet are doing a scaredy pants dance) 😉 After 13 days of using the Rose Hibiscus Toner Water, my skin feels tighter, and more refreshed. I’ve also just started using the Skin Rescue Anti-Aging Serum & Skin Rescue Intensive Repair Eye Elixir (today) and I’m looking forward to the results. And as for that bomb Healing Balm, it’s been doing wonders for Davids skin & mine as well. Keep an eye out for some before and after photos, although I’m not sure David will want me posting his picture around the world just yet, close friends have commented how good his skin has been looking the last 2 weeks. So it’s definitely working it’s magic.

Are these miracle workers? Nope, but they sure come close.

What do you have to lose?

∞A moment of time to ask a question.

∞A 30 day money back guarantee if you’re not completely satisfied with a product.

∞Phalates, Parabens, Toxic Chemicals, Gluten, just to name a few.

Not to shabby if you ask me.

You can follow my Max & Madeleine Journey at Facebook.com/blissfullyorganicliving

and shop my catalog at-  shop.maxandmadeleine.com/pauladonnolo

**Disclaimer. This is not a paid advertisement, but I am an Independent Advisor for Max & Madeleine products. I not only sell the products but I also use them. These views are solely my own and have not been paid for by the company I independently sell for. 

 

Monday Musings Of Baby Shower Proportions

Welcome Monday morning, or afternoon as I’m sure this will finally get published. Hope your weekend was a splendid one, and you are refreshed and ready to hit this week running. Or at least have enough caffeine to get you out the door this morning.

My weekend was filled with some fun and relaxation, but was not met without some chaos. All good though and for good reason.

A dear friend of mine is having a baby. A baby boy to be exact, and she’s due almost any day. Well about a month from now. Her family held a baby shower for her this weekend, and as you all know I love me some babies. So I got to work for a few weeks trying to put together a really fun creative gift.

My creative juices were flowing, and I was scouring, what else but Pinterest for some really cute ideas. Diaper cakes, towel cakes, gift baskets, sock roses and bouquets, and the list can go on.

Diaper cakes to me, are well, kinda dirty lol.

Let me explain. The concept behind it is to buy a few packages of diapers, open them up, take the diapers out and arrange them in the shape of a tiered cake. Or in more creative aspects in the shape of a bike, bathtub, boat, etc. The idea of taking clean diapers out of their package, handling them, and exposing them to a handful of women who will be undoubtedly touching and passing around the arrangement, is gross to me. All those dirty hands on those clean diapers that are inevitably going to be put on your newborns tush just doesn’t sit well with me personally.

Although I love the creative idea of the cakes, I just couldn’t do a diaper cake. Through some more research, there were the towel cakes, and other ideas as well. Even a cake made of clothes and swaddling blankets. So that was my idea. A cake made with the swaddling blankets, clothes, and even sock cupcakes to boot.

That didn’t go as planned. I washed all the clothes, socks, washclothes and got to work on folding and rolling everything up. I disliked the progress and scraped the idea. Since I had bought a travel cake holder to use as part of the cake idea (Mom to be is an avid baker and would get use of the holder as well) I decided to work around that, and the sage green pop up storage bin I also purchased.

First came the idea of sock cupcakes.

 

Unfortunately I bought socks for 3-12 months and most tutorials online were using normal sized socks, or even crew socks. That’s not what I had, but I made it work. 20 pairs of socks were folded, rolled, and rubber banded to make 4 cupcakes.

Then the washcloth animals were next.

I didn’t know what kind to make, except that the nursery theme was similar to a Noah’s Ark theme with Elephants, Monkeys, Foxes, etc. I knew I could make a washcloth Elephant, and then needed to figure out what else I could whip up. So then came the ideas of Butterflies, and Bunnies.

I arranged the cupcakes, butterflies, and bunnies inside the cake holder, and added two elephants on the top of the cake holder handle to secure them.

Still having the sage green pop up basket which was the color scheme for the nursery as well, I was left with the decision on what to do next. Unfortunately my idea of the cake from earlier, using the clothes and blankets to wrap it up, was still  giving me a little trouble.

I decided to fill the basket with the diapers, wipes, and numerous outfits. Propping up the Elephant wall hanging behind some swaddling blankets, and adding in some spoons, pacifiers and a few extra goodies.

It wasn’t what I envisioned as my creative gift idea, but in the end, all the lovely ladies in attendance, and mom to be, loved the idea and wondered how I came up with, and made them. Even Dave’s boys thought it was all so cute, and wondered where I bought the gift basket. When I told them I made it, they were even more impressed. So was Dave. But he had confidence in me from the get go and knew it would turn out nice, even if it wasn’t my planned idea.

I finished everything on Friday night, for Saturday’s shower. Thankfully. And Sunday was a well deserved day of rest and relaxation with my guy. Just the two of us. We took an early morning walk, went out for breakfast, did a few errands, and came home to cook up some of our favorite Damn Good Chowder and some of the more recent Mini Cheesecake Cupcakes , this time in mint chocolate chip with Glutino Gluten Free Chocolate Sandwich Cream Cookies (AKA~ GF Oreos)

I’d say it was a fabulous weekend, and I can’t wait to see what next weekend has to offer.

Monday Musings~

Another weekend has come and gone, and I’m already looking forward to next weekend. To quick, these days they seem to go by in the blink of an eye.

How was your weekend? Did you get to do anything fun, or were you able to relax and recuperate from a crazy week?

We had a little bit of both this weekend and it was all good. Saturday morning at 7:30 the landscapers arrived to place the mulch and mow the lawn. 7:30 really? And even though there were calls for 80% chance of rain, we picked up the kids by 11 and brought them back to Dave’s, made lunch and chilled out for a while. Our plans for an outdoor festival down at the marina were going to have to be put on hold. The rain was nasty for at least a half hour, and so we figured if it cleared up we would head out after.

Dave’s boys are picky eaters, and I totally get that, it just sometimes makes it a little difficult to pack for lunches or make dinner, and so this day the usual grilled cheese was made for his youngest son, and surprisingly enough his oldest, J asked me “Hey Ms Paulala can you make me the sandwich you made me the time we went go-kart racing?” I admit it wasn’t a total shock but it was still surprising that I was asked to make it, instead of asking him if he would try it. Usually he eats a PB & J on old-fashioned Wonder Bread. The last few weeks I’ve been buying the Whole Grain White bread from Wonder, and switching it into the good old White Bread bag. Hey a girl’s gotta do what she’s gotta do, amirite ? lol. It’s not like buying those Whole Grain Eggo waffles and they see the spots and think it’s moldy lmao. But today he wanted a roast beef with American Cheese,  and lettuce on Dave’s Pepperidge farm lite whole wheat bread? Go figure. Ok kid you got it. But as I went into the fridge I realized I didn’t buy roast beef, I bought low sodium chicken breast from Boars Head! Ok I said to myself. Let’s just make it and see if he eats it and doesn’t complain or ask questions. What’s the worst that could happen?

He actually liked it, and ate at least half of the sandwich, and a yogurt. As I started to explain what it was, Dave kicked me under the table to shush me. He didn’t want to ruffle feathers lol. So I let it go, and wrapped up the other half for later on.

Off to the Maritime Festival and Boat Show we went. Not everyone was happy about going outside for the day, but too bad we were heading out to get some fresh air and enjoy the village and boats and pirates!

It actually got quite hot out after the rain and the ground wasn’t too mushy either which totally helped while walking down Port. The kids even got a chance to go on an acrobat trampoline thingy with ropes that they could do backflips on. J will even be featured in one of the local newspapers, as a reporter stopped to ask Dave’s permission to take photographs and get his name. He’s so happy about it and now we have to track down the paper.

Back at the ranch and we were greeted with a lovely surprise.

The largest Snapping Turtle I’ve ever seen, in the freshly placed mulch from this morning. This beauty was exactly that, a beauty. I still can’t get over her or his size and sadly my phone’s storage was full and Dave’s phone was dead so these are the only photos we took of our little visitor.

All the neighborhood kids were flocking around the curb asking what its name was, what it was, what it was doing, where it was going, how it got there, how is it gonna get home, is it gonna be safe, can I take it home, can I play with it and pet it, can you send the picture to my mommy and oh my gosh that thing is HUUUUUUGE. Pretty much expected as their widening eyes were filled with wonder.

Dave thought to feed it carrots and lettuce, and I just kept telling the kids that when we see a turtle we don’t bother it, play with it, or change its direction. We just leave it to go where it wants to go and don’t stop it’s journey. This became a learning experience for all of them and they were listening with intent. It was pretty cool, and as we talked about what to do and not do if they see a turtle again, she took off to the back yard and headed to the conservation area way in the back. Dave helped her eventually get through the fence and we hope she makes it to where she wants to go. We realize it’s prime egg laying season, but don’t see any eggs left in the mulch but we will be keeping an eye on it just in case.

Sunday morning was just as interesting but in other ways, as we headed off to drop the kids off, Dave said he would take me to the coffee shop for a coffee. Why would he do this if he hates coffee and tea? He loves making me happy and coffee is one of those things that makes me happy let’s be honest. Well he also knows I broke the coffee pot on Saturday night, and I was without coffee for the day. That’s a travesty lol.

As we headed out we saw some kids with a lemonade stand. Well of course I have to stop and contribute to their cause. I had my dollar ready and got out of the car. Same kids from the day before and they remembered the turtle. Hey can you show my mom the turtle picture please. HEYYYYY MOMMMMMY this is the turtle lady come quick. Hahaha. So I waited for mom, asked how much for the lemonade and handed off my dollar to the little girl in pigtails.

Yep, $1 for this puppy, not quite filled, and barely cool. And no change mind you. Talk about inflation haha. With that Mom approached to see the turtle lady, and we got to talking a little. I showed her the photo and she was shocked her kid was telling the truth about the humongous turtle down the road. She figured it was a little one, not nearly this big.

But all was soon right in the world as we arrived at the coffee shop and met my Mom for a little coffee clatch. Well, Dave had his extra-large chocolate milk with extra chocolate and vanilla 😉 and I had a Shakerato. What’s a Shakerato you might ask. Well this lovely little creation of course.

3 shots of half caff espresso and a touch of honey, shaken with a cocktail shaker with some ice, and then a little milk added in at the end. Cold and refreshing, and more than anything shared with those I love.

#AtoZChallenge #MondayMusings :U is for Under the weather

The birds are serenading, buds are blooming, trees are sprucing, rain is falling, and mold is a growing. Ahhhhh the welcoming sights, sounds, and smells of springtime. Just what we needed after a winter of piles and piles of snow, and plunging temperatures.

The only downfall to it all is seasonal allergies. Ahhhchoo! The sound heard round the world. The foghorn signaling the arrival of pollen overload as I blow my nose for the millionth time. Oh woe is me.

That is exactly how I felt yesterday and today after a lovely weekend out and about in nature just enjoying the great outdoors. A few hours outside among the fields of grass, pollen, trees and flowers blooming, after a few days of sporadic rain showers too. The perfect combination of an allergy sufferers worst nightmare.

Benadryl and Advil Cold and Sinus were my friends this weekend as well as 3 boxes of Puffs Plus tissues. Dave jokes that he should invest money in the tissue market because of all the tissues I buy. 😉 He has a point, not one I’m overly fond of but sadly I do have to agree.

So there I was, undoubtedly under the weather but I didn’t let that stop me. Nope, seasonal allergies be damned if they were going to ruin a perfectly great weekend outdoors with me and my 3 guys.

Lead the way guys I’ll be back here blowing my nose and sneezing among the trees, hopefully I wont scare off the wildlife. I’m happy we were spending time together enjoying the fresh air! This was a new trail for me, but I think Dave has been here before. It traversed behind some houses, and a gun range was heard in the distance. Part of the Greenbelt Trail, and by the time we reached a little over half a mile, we turned around and headed back to the car. Thankfully, because I needed more tissues lol, but I really wanted to continue the walk, so next time we try to venture a little further along the trail.

No wildlife to be found except for this little guy earlier in the day when we took the boys to the school fields to fly kites and their drones. I was just scoping out the field and for some reason I looked down and spotted this little fella pollinating the flowers. Yes to me a dandelion is a flower, and it’s the first flower that helps the bees!

Don’t get me wrong I know people don’t often associate dandelions as flowers, except maybe when your child gives you the first set of flowers they pick from the garden for you, but they are an asset probably more than we give it credit for. I get you want your lawns manicured and free of this weed, but before you cut them down, give them a week so the bees can pollinate. Just think, if the bees don’t get to pollinate, they probably will annoy you more during your summer days and nights in the back yard.

As for me and the dandelions and the pollen, I’ll just be propped up with some allergy meds today as I’m feeling slightly under the weather still. It’s a small price to pay for the seasons on the way…

 

Monday Musings: Easter weekend wrapup

Good morning sunshine! Well, there isn’t a drop of sunshine out here on the Island today, it’s raining, dreary, damp and just plain icky. But it’s a new day, so we shouldn’t complain to much. After all we need the rain to water the grass, to bloom the flowers, to grow the vegetables, and the wine grapes too! lol

How was your Easter weekend? I hope it was one filled with love and laughter, and if you don’t celebrate Easter, I do still hope you had a lovely weekend filled with love and laughter, because you should have that all the days of the year if you ask me.

Our Easter weekend started on Thursday afternoon to be exact. I made Dave’s breakfast and lunch for him to take to work, and by noon he was calling me to come home. Oki doki smoki I’m on my way. We had a 2 oclock ferry reservation to head to Connecticut and needed to leave by 12:30 the latest to get there in time. We made the ferry just in time and were on our way for a few days away, and our first Easter together. The ferry ride is always an adventure, some trips the waves are rocking and rolling, other times it’s calm seas on the Long Island Sound.

This trip however had us in a little wavy action. We rocked side to side until we came to the wider part of the Sound. Thankfully it didn’t last all too long, and Dave took the opportunity to nap on the 1 hour 15 min ferry ride, while I ate lunch and crocheted a little bit. I even had a woman stop me to ask what it was I was crocheting.

Honestly I’m not quite sure yet. I’m just practicing some single chain crochet right now. My mom has tried teaching me for years, but I always have a problem holding the hook or keeping my lines straight. Probably gonna be a pot holder 😉

We arrived and were greeted by beautiful skies, even though there was a slight overcast with lots of wind and cool air. It is still March, and it did recently snow so anything is possible. The weather was calling for rain on and off all weekend, but it didn’t stop us.We still enjoyed lovely views, beautiful sunsets and each others company away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. It was good to get away and recharge.

No trip to Mohegan Sun would be complete without a photo of the beautiful illuminated blown glass sculpture that takes up a huge part of the ground floor, and is the center of attraction for people taking pictures. Yep I was one of those people. No selfies this time but we were taking pictures on and off most of the trip. Trying to be more present and in the moment, leaving the phone behind or at least in our pockets and out of constant reach. Except for the random Instagram posts I had to share because of the crazy centerpieces on the tables at the restaurant.Wheat!? Still can’t figure that one out. Although I know the restaurant is a farm based one who knows.

But on a better note, the food we ate was spot on at, The Lansdowne Pub. OMG the Corned Beef Rueben on gluten free bun, gluten free french fries and the most delicious Thousand Island Dressing was the bombdiggity.

To dinner on Saturday evening at Ballo Restaurant, where we ended up on a whim because the music at Lansdowne was too intense for both of us, and we couldn’t find any other gluten free options within the casinos restaurants. I’m so glad Dave stopped to ask if they had a menu, and although they didn’t have a specific one, they had gluten free pasta made in separate area, majority of their food is gluten free naturally, and if I wanted something like chicken cutlet parmigiana they would grill the chicken instead of bread and fry it. Since everything was made on site and as you order it, they had the ability to create something if the need arrised. And if I didn’t see something I wanted on the menu, they would make something for me. Talk about fantastic. Our waiter, Jonathan was superb, attentive, and pretty darn funny. He made for a fun experience, and even quipped, when he brought out the P.E.I Mussels in a roasted garlic, white wine and tomato sauce, “Extra gluten mussels for the lady” followed by a hearty chuckle and stating that he wouldn’t normally joke about something serious as that, but since we seemed like a cool couple and we were joking so much already that he felt it was ok. And in my book it was. Nothing bad about a little gluten humor in good fashion as this was. Dave and I agreed the mussels were by far the best we ever had. The garlic was roasted to perfection, and I later learned it was actually a garlic confit. So sweet, subtle, and a perfect addition to the mussels.

Dave ordered the chicken cutlet parmigiana and I had the gluten free pasta with shrimp scampi and that roasted garlic again. I was a glutton. I ate every bit of food in my plate except for the shrimp tails lol. I’m never a clean plate person, but this weekend I was eating up a storm. The food was that good. It always is. As our dinner was coming to a close I mentioned to Dave that I didn’t take one picture of our food, so instead I took a photo of my cappuccino. The foam was to die for and even lasted till the bottom of the cup where I gleefully spooned it up and savored every last drop. Johnathan asked where we were from and when I said Long Island he informed us that there is a sister restaurant out in Nassau that has an awesome Tequila bar and similar food. We will be going there soon, and checking out their menu.

I stopped on the way out to let the manager know what a lovely evening we had, and how great our waiter was. He really made the evening much nicer, the attention he showed us on a very busy night, the care he took to make sure my food was made safely, and just his overall demeanor was what would bring us back again. It’s not often people take the time to thank their servers, it’s usually on a complaint that you ask to speak to the manager. I like to be different and when someone goes above and beyond, they deserve the proper recognition.

Wish I had some pictures to show, but I will say if you are ever in Mohegan Sun, check out Ballo Restaurant for a fabulous evening of food you won’t soon forget. Not just the gluten free options, but their other offerings as well.

We were sad to leave on Sunday afternoon, but reality was only an hour and a half away and we needed to get back to it sooner or later. So we were off again to take the ferry and head back to the Island we love.

If we were having coffee: Monday Musings?

Dang has it been a while or what?  I have taken a long break from my coffee share posts and at the end of every weekend I feel a twinge of sadness because I’ve really missed linking up with you all. One of my favorite posts were the Weekend Coffee Share, I have no reason why I haven’t done them, except that my weekends have been busy. I try to do a catch up on Mondays with my Monday Musings posts, but let’s be honest, it’s just not the same 😉

So grab a nice cuppa something hot, or cold if you prefer, grab a comfy cozy chair and join me for a bit.

So how have you been? How was your week, any exciting things happen? Did you go to any St Patrick’s Day Parades, or go anywhere fun?

We opted for a painting party.

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We interrupt this regularly scheduled, Weekend Coffee Share, for a: Monday Musings. Life gets in the way and sometimes we just have to regroup and start over again. So here we go. Hope you refreshed your coffee cup, or what have you, and are ready to face the day.

Our weekend got away from us, yet again. A mixture of good and the bad.

Good because we celebrated Easter a little early and had an Easter Egg hunt all set and ready to go for Sunday morning.

27 eggs.

The Easter Bunny entrusted us to hide 27 eggs around Dave’s house. We filled them with money.  One large one had a single penny, one was empty, and a few smaller ones had dollar bills, but mostly change, and when we went to recalculate where we had hid them. We miscounted. 25, then 26…never 27. We must have walked in and out of rooms and up and down stairs 5-6 time each. We made a list, and always came up short. We couldn’t blame it on the cats, as poor little Lilo has been sequestered in the upstairs bathroom with a recent diagnosis of Pancreatitis, and her sister Stitch was very mushy keeping to herself upstairs in our bed. J was asleep and it was just the two of us not able to find this damn egg. Thankfully we didn’t have any real eggs, cause well that would just be stinky and nasty if we couldn’t find it.

 

And as I just mentioned, our poor little Lilo has not been doing well. The last week or so she had been having accidents around the house. Her litter, which isn’t too far away, seemed to be too far away for her to reach in time. She already has bad stomach problems, and is on a daily steroid medicine, but something just wasn’t right with her. A trip to the vet on Thursday, some blood work, more medicine which includes a probiotic, antibiotic, and a probiotic paste the poor thing lost 1.5 lbs in 3 months I believe. If this was the case with her plump sister, there wouldn’t be such concern. But, Lilo is petite, and that is a large weight loss. On Friday morning after a follow up call with her Vet, the Vet diagnosed her with Pancreatitis.

 

Things took a little turn for the worse come Sunday morning. After, J found all the eggs, yes all 27 of them. Thankfully! He did much better than his dad and I did 😉 Lilo still wasn’t eating, or drinking, and she was still having accidents even though she was confined to a smaller space with a litter box, bedding and food (all separate from each other cause we know cat’s wont eat and shit in the same small space) We tried 6 different wet foods, we gave her the dry food she likes, and finally by 1 pm on Sunday she ate some canned tuna fish. Not the best thing but at least she was eating something. We’ve been monitoring her closely for the last few days, and will continue to do so. Luckily by the end of the day when David came home, he found that she had eaten 1/2 a can of the wet Friskies food, and about 20 pieces of the dry food. We actually counted how many pieces of food (yes this one we counted properly 😉 ) so we could monitor how much she was eating. She also drank some water, but still not going to the bathroom. We will revisit the Vet by Wednesday to see what we should do next. Please keep her in your thoughts, send some good vibes, say a little prayer, whatever it is you might do.

Through all the Easter Eggs, Corned Beef & Cabbage, Clam Chowder, and kitty health scare, David and I have been painting and cooking up a storm. If someone was there to photograph us, let me tell you it was a sight to see. Even, J couldn’t stop laughing at us. We got more paint on each other than we did on the walls at some point. It was all in good fun, and honestly in all my years and my past relationships, I’ve never been able to do something like painting a room, or fixing an appliance with my boyfriend without getting into an argument of who knows more about what to do. It is so refreshing. He’s renovating the laundry room/walk in closet and we went and picked out new floor tiles a few weeks ago and the contractor was able to finish up the work and design I picked out in pretty decent time.

So we decided to freshen up the walls and lets say we did a damn good job of painting. Our only problem, we didn’t get the right finish lol. It was a gloss finish, but we picked out the same color Cozy Cottage, but got the eggshell finish instead. So after our first coat of touch ups dried, we realized we needed to do the whole damn room. So we did. Then there were spots on the ceiling that he messed up lol so that lead us to having to do the ceiling over. And wouldn’t you know the white ceiling paint he had was the wrong shade of white!! Another trip to Home Depot for paint and we repainted the ceiling, but we opted for more of the Cozy Cottage in an eggshell finish because lets face it…we are not painting professionals so we really couldn’t screw this up. Walls and ceiling same bright color and it came out really good. Now to get the washer and dryer back into the room, after we seal the floor tiles. The room should be complete by Thursday and I’ll snap a pic or two for an update.

To top off our already interesting weekend, we went to bed with a beautiful sunset, all to wake up in the morning with snow. Yep the first day of spring has sprung, with a snowfall. It was beautiful from sunset to sunrise.

I hope you enjoyed your weekend, and had a lovely Monday as well.

Monday Musings, Spring Ahead

Another weekend has come and gone and it was an especially nice one. We had a full house again, but this time with a weekend visit from Dave’s sister and brother in law, and we had the boys as well.

Early mornings and late evenings made for some fun times. Playing chess, watching movies, card games, Headbandz, and some other card games the boys invented. I love their creative minds and how they can come up with new games just from their imagination alone. Although it takes the rest of us a little while to catch on to the rules of game play, it always turns out to be a fun adventure of sorts.

J, as usual lately, was side by side in the kitchen with Dave and I making dinner, and he even helped bake some cupcakes with me as well. We were going to go watch the Junior Iron Chef Competition they were holding at Whole Foods Market while Dave took, N to his friends birthday party, but J was invited to tag along after all. So I was asked to find a similar competition that we could attend another time because he was really looking forward to it since he loves watching the Food Network kid competitions and basically all the shows on there.

I’ve got some research to do lol!

The weather was especially lovely this weekend too, and what better way to spend some quality time but to go feed the swans, geese, and ducks at the nearby lake, per the suggestion of my Mom. She is beyond sweet, she’s my rock, tells it how it is and even though she gets on my nerves sometimes, I am blessed to call her my mom. It was her birthday on Sunday, and she “wouldn’t have it any other way, go spend time outside with the kids, go to the park, go to the beach, feed the birds and celebrate my birthday by enjoying quality time with them. That’s what I want you to do. We can spend time together on Monday.” she said. So we took her suggestion and we were going to head down by my house and the ocean, but figured the breeze was still kinda strong and ocean breeze would have been even stronger. So the local lake it was.

At first the boys were against going out, of course they wanted to play on the computer with their friends since they hadn’t really had time the rest of the weekend, but once we got there and the huge loaf of Texas toast bread was gone, all we heard was the conversation between the boys

“Where’s the bread, there’s no more bread to feed them” said J. ” Let’s go to the store and get bread and come back and feed them some more.” N replied

We told them there were plenty of nice weather days ahead and we can always come back and feed them another time. So instead of saying they wanted to run home and go on the computers to play, they ran around the lake for about 30 minutes just hunting for rocks, skipping them on the lake, and trying to measure the low level of water with random cattails they found in the marsh.

Boys being boys, I found myself saying. Even the big guy was being a boy. It was adorable. I love these moments where I find myself seeing them being silly, and even N got over his fear of the geese. I think we’ve all had that one memory where a duck, goose, or swan nips at our feet or fingers when we are out there feeding them, or even minding our own business. Well today, N walked up to one of the biggest swans that I’ve seen in a while, and fed it a little piece of bread. He allowed it to eat from his hand, not just throw it at its mouth. We were so impressed, we all high fived him. The smile on his face will stay with me for a long time I believe.

Even loosing an hour sleep on Sunday morning, Dave and I felt we gained so much “time”. Because simply put, it’s not the amount of time that matters, but the quality of what you’re doing during your time that does.

 

Monday Musings~ a weekend with a house full of teenage boys

Pretty much what the title says. We, David and I, spent the weekend with a house full of teenage boys. What were we thinking?

Well it was, David’s oldest son’s birthday on Saturday, he turned 14, and for his birthday he wanted a sleepover with some of his friends. So David, as any great father would do, said sure thing son, a sleepover it is. J invited some friends and even his younger brother was allowed to invites some friends over as well, this way everyone had someone to hang out with.

Preparations for the party included everything you could think of for a birthday party but also included stuff for the sleepover and the next morning, as we told parents we would also serve breakfast. Up until the drop off, at 3 pm on Saturday afternoon, we weren’t sure how many kids would be sleeping over. There was some miscommunication from the RSVP’s  and we also thought only 1-2 kids would be able to sleep over because some had prior early morning engagements to attend. But once the parents were inside and we saw more and more sleeping bags and backpacks, David and I looked at each other and he said, What did we get ourselves into? Not sure dear, but we will soon find out!

By the time the last kid was dropped off, we had 9 boys, and 1 girl. No she didn’t sleep over, let’s clear that up now. One of the moms, upon meeting me for the second time (the first was at David’s son, N’s birthday in October) didn’t know how to address me. She says hi and asks, “You’re the mom? Aunt? Please forgive me I know I met you before but I have a terrible memory” I’m an easy going person, and don’t mind the confusion especially when I’ve only met you once before, so many months ago. “Oh no, I’m not mom or aunt, I’m their Dad’s girlfriend, Paula and no worries I forget who people are all the time.” She was visibly embarassed and couldn’t stop apologizing. I said all I could to reassure her no harm no foul, and I wasn’t insulted at all. Honestly, I wasn’t. It’s a simple mistake. I think she relaxed a little after everything I said, and she left giving us a resounding “Good Luck”

Oh boy, why would she do that? Did she know something we didn’t? What are we in for?

What we were in for was a handful of kids for about 16 hours. When the kids all got the game plan for the day, we changed our minds and let them all outside to play manhunt and whatever else they wanted to in the large back yard. It was chilly out and originally we didn’t think outside was a good idea, some kids had the sniffles, who was coughing, etc. But then we said go for it. They were out there about an hour while we got a few more last minute things set up for the coming night.

Snacks, juice, water, everything was set. Pizza and garlic knots for dinner, and a vanilla cake with chocolate pudding filling, and a chocolate butter cream frosting was for dessert. I had expected a sugar rush running through their bodies and the house for hours, but it was surprisingly good. They mainly chose to drink water all night, who would have thought.

After pizza, some games, and dessert the boys started to divide into groups. We had about 4, 10/11 year old boys, and about 5, 13-15 year old boys. The older boys played on the PS3 in the family room, and the younger ones were in the den watching Night at the Museum and Return of the Jedi. The little guys were out cold by 11:30 and well the older boys were up after Dave and I went upstairs to be at 12:30.

We talked for a while before falling asleep, and couldn’t be happier how things were turning out. This was a first for me, I don’t have children and well all of these events with kids are a first for me, and for him I think this was the first time in a long time he had so many kids overnight. A learning experience and one I think turned out splendidly.

Everyone was up before the alarm rang at 8, well the kids that is, and it was soon time for breakfast. Although I had plenty of options, eggs, oatmeal, cereal, pancakes, waffles, french toast…all but two boys wanted the pancakes/waffles/french toast, so they had cold cereal. In the oven the frozen mini creations went. Yes I took the easy way out. But with all those boys it was the most logical option and fastest way to get them to eat. And eat they did. I’m so glad. Last thing I want is a hungry kid.

By 12 noon, two cases of Poland Spring water were gone, and not like they picked up a bottle and left half of it randomly around the house. I was impressed. We actually have left over juice boxes, multiple bags of sealed chips, and some popcorn boxes leftover. I over estimated on the snacks, and David’s sister who tried to help out a little brought over a ton of juice boxes, so a donation to the local food pantry on Wednesday morning it is. Not that that is the best thing to donate, I just don’t want the food to go to waste and none of the parents wanted to take any of it home. They, like David, don’t give that crap to their kid(s) on a regular basis, but for a celebration it’s a different story.

By 1 pm Dave, the boys, and I were all cleaned up, mainly because every kid helped clean up after breakfast and before they were picked up. We had an amazing bunch of kids over for J’s 14th sleepover birthday party. Polite and well behaved, manners that you would hope your own children have when they are out and about or at home for that matter, and it honestly was a wonderful day. Exhausting is an understatement, because by the time Dave and I dropped the boys off at their mom’s Sunday afternoon, all we wanted to do was fall into bed and stay there. But that wasn’t an option since we had more to do for ourselves for the week. We woke up this morning just wishing for another Sunday to catch up on sleep. But the world awaits and things need to get done. We wouldn’t have it any other way because the weekend was a success.

We can sleep tonight…

Monday Musings, our 1st Valentine’s Day

Another glorious Monday morning has graced us, and although it’s slightly snowing, and will probably continue into the evening on and off, I still think it’s a wonderful day. Just as this weekend, although frigid temperatures plagued any outdoor activities, was a wonderful one as well.

It was Valentine’s Day/Weekend afterall, and it was our first Valentine’s Day together. Although we didn’t spend it alone, it really was time well spent. It was Dave’s weekend with his boys and we spent it watching movies, baking, relaxing and spending some quality time together. Temps outside were 0° and felt even colder, and with his youngest having asthma, as well as myself although mine is controlled, we decided we would spend the weekend inside.

Friday evening when I arrived at Dave’s house after picking up some extra goodies at the food store, I started to unpack some of the bags, but before I had a chance he quietly grabbed my arm and ushered me to the kitchen table where waiting for me was the most beautiful bouquet of flowers, a card, and a box of chocolates.

“I tried getting you daffodils, I know they’re your favorite, but they were very hard to find.”

Daffodils or not, this was simply a wonderful Valentine’s Day present. I don’t need, want or expect extravagant gifts, I much more prefer something that comes from the heart, and I know that anything Dave gives me, is from his heart. Some may say it’s not Valentine’s Day gifts if you exchange it before hand. BS I say, especially this time, Dave hasn’t been feeling too well the last few days, and honestly had he left the house on Sunday to go get me something I would have been more upset than getting a gift on Friday night. Honestly, it’s Valentine’s Day, but with any great relationship, Valentine’s is celebrated every day. With us, that’s exactly what it’s like.

After a quick dinner Friday night, some time watching Myth Busters, and then as the boys were all tucked into bed, my Valentine made me some special hot cocoa with the cutest strawberry marshmallow floating atop. All within my newest favorite mug he got me a few weeks ago. 

Saturday we basically spent the day in pajamas, watching the Kids Baking Challenge on Food Network and some DIY & Science channel shows. Dave’s oldest son loves cooking and baking and I’ve gotten him interested in watching the cooking shows, and both boys love the science shows so it was a nice relaxing day. We even baked heart shaped cookies, that came out more tie-dyed than red, and an extra special cookie I made for Dave.

Trying to keep Dave from seeing it as it baked in the oven was a task within itself, and it worked for the most part, until I took it out of the oven and had it cooling on the cookie rack. While I was upstairs changing the laundry I hear Dave “wait a second, don’t eat those, I think Paula made that for me.” Then I hear giggles from the boys. Yep they must have seen the I ❤ U cookies I made for him.

When I came into the kitchen he’s holding the I and says “Is this for me?” with the biggest grin on his face. I said no it’s for the kittens and we both laughed, as Lilo and Stitch were circling our feet.

Sunday morning, we were woken up by two little boys at 7 am, who couldn’t sleep. So we were all up at the crack of dawn watching Simon’s Cat video clips on, N’s iPad. Finally leaving to go downstairs for some breakfast, the boys wanted to help cook with Dave but we made it a team effort as usual. Boys set the table, Dave and I made breakfast, he even tried to make my coffee for me.

” I had all intentions of coming downstairs to make you breakfast this morning and bring it upstairs to you, I would have even tried to make your coffee. Although I’d probably screw it up. But that was before the kids came in to wake us up. I hope you don’t mind?”

Did I mind? Nope not at all. The intentions were there, the thought was there, and I’m glad he didn’t make my coffee. Just imagine what it would have tasted like. Haha. Especially since my morning pot of coffee was the last of my 1/2 caff espresso pull from the coffee shop. What would I have done without my coffee?!

I just looked at him, pulled him close and gave him a big kiss. We hear giggles from the den, they must have caught us in the act. Yep it’s Valentine’s Day, Every day ,with us. This just so happens to be our first official one.

Happy 1st Valentine’s Day, Hun. I’m so glad I get to spend these days with you. ❤

Monday Musings. Damn Good Chowder and Eggcelent Breakfast for the WIN!

Another whirlwind weekend has come to an end, and well it was an interesting one, as they all are 🙂

Dave had his boys this weekend and we spent some time relaxing watching Food Network and even went to see Kung Fu Panda 3. I have to say, I never watched the previous 2, but this one was adorably cute and funny. I won’t spoil it for anyone who may want to watch it, but I will say it was a good movie for kids and adults. A few tears, and lot’s of laughs. Definitely a winner.

Breakfast with the boys is a bit of a struggle. They are extremely picky eaters, and usually just want frozen mini waffles and pancakes for EVERY MEAL, or a frozen Banquet meal of mac & cheese or chicken fingers. Not. Gonna. Fly. Nutritional value is absent and it’s all empty calories because within an hour they’re hungry again because the carbohydrate rush has just crashed. Getting protein in their diet is one of the hardest things we seem to find. So little victories of eggs, ham, and even gasp…hot dogs is a win in our books. I will gladly make you mashed potatoes or mac and cheese to go with your ham but you need to eat your ham. I will gladly give you mini pancakes if you eat one egg first, and I will make that egg any way you like.

Speaking of eggs, last week when the boys stopped over during the blizzard, I asked about food preferences again. Eggs was one of them. “Have you guys ever heard of Eggs in a hole?” a resounding NO echoed in the house. Onto my phone to pull up a visual, and I happened upon The Pioneer Woman ~ Ree Drummonds recipe and showed them a photo. “looks cool, I like runny eggs” N says. “Ok, when you guys are over next weekend, we’ll make you egg in a hole” J is steadfast and likes his scrambled eggs with cheese and bacon so he’ll stick with that he says. Ok fine with me.

Saturday morning I set out to make breakfast, it’s like a restaurant up in Dave’s house some days I swear. I’m a short order cook lol. I don’t mind, as long as they eat it. I make J’s scrambled eggs, and set out to make, N the egg in a hole. Bring it to the table and he’s disappointed that the yolk isn’t runny enough. Daddy eats it and back to the stove I go. Should I have made him eat it anyway? Maybe, maybe not, it comes down to the fact I want him to eat something other than just pancakes and waffles. So I’ll try it again with hopes for a runnier yolk.

Jackpot! As I hear the sounds from the kitchen table.

J~ I’ve never heard you make sounds like that when you eat, N.
N~ Oh my goodness, these are amazing. Pau-la-la, why does this taste so good?
Me~ It’s because I made it, I say with a laugh and smile
J~ Well she’s right. She’s like a mom and loves us like one so she knows how to make really good stuff. It’s like mom can microwave my waffles for 45 seconds and they’re the best. When I do the same thing they taste rubbery. It’s a mom thing.
N~ I don’t know what it is, but this is the best thing I’ve ever eaten. If you make eggs like this I would eat them every day. They are amazing, they taste so good and the yolk is mmmmmm…

As his words trail off, with bites of eggy goodness filling his 10 year old mouth.

Yes a success it certainly was.

As was Saturday nights dinner, and Sunday’s lunch leftovers lol. Dave proclaimed from tasting a hearty spoon of New England Clam Chowder “Whoa, that’s damn good chowder. We outdid ourselves. That’s the best I’ve ever had” And I would admit, we made one damn good pot of New England Clam Chowder. Better than I’ve ever had before. Neither of us ever made it before, until we began our experiment. While the boys sat playing a game on their laptops, we were busy in the kitchen cooking up some dinner. They however didn’t eat what we were eating, but they did have ham and homemade mashed potatoes.

We shucked 17 chowder clams, with no shucker, don’t even ask but a butter knife and a hammer were used and no one was hurt in the process. If I could have taken a picture I would have. Next time we will use mainly canned clams. Or buy a shucker. Not going to complain, it was an adventure, and cooking together is always an adventure with us. I have to give Dave major credit, he cooked the spicy mussels up all by himself. Not that he can’t. let’s make that clear. But he’s definitely not a “I’ll sit my ass down on the couch watching tv while you slave over a stove” Kinda guy. He likes to get his hands dirty in the kitchen as well as out in the garage. I love it.  I was going to help him I swear, but I was cleaning up some stuff in the kitchen and make sure the kids were eating, so he took to the stove and created some magic.

It was a weekend filled with amazing flavors and fun times. He even tagged along, and drove me back to my town to meet up with one of my girlfriends for a cuppa the good stuff. This is the man that does not drink coffee, and even though we both smelled like coffee after our little visit, he didn’t care. He sat in the comfy chair, and joined in on our conversation every so often. But he was more entertained with the customers and his episodes of Counting Cars on his phone. Thank goodness for WiFi 🙂

It’s sad to see the weekend go, but today’s a new day, and Monday’s are what we make of it. I made it a day to have a Cinnabon Cappuccino and an inside out macaroon! The chocolate is on the inside. Say What?!?! I say Monday, the first of the new month no less, is off to a success. Let’s see what the rest of the week brings. I see some recipes for New England Clam Chowder, and Spicy Mussels on the horizon. 🙂

As I’m reading over this post, it is reminding me of my Weekend Coffee Share Posts I would do months ago. I do miss those “catch up posts” I guess my Monday Musings sort of do that catch up with you all, but I admit, it’s not exactly the same thing. Thinking a reintroduction to the link up is on my agenda in the coming weekend. I do miss it…