Busy Friday :)

Today was a busy day for us. No lab for me unfortunately, since I had Miss Mimi, but we did get a lot done.

First, we headed to Hampstead to get Gigi a new home. Thanks to a WM. Enjoyed the nice ride down there with the windows down :) Once we got home, cleaned out the cage somewhat together. At first Gigi was a bit curious/nervous, but eventually, she warmed up to her new home.

We then headed to campus (UNCW). Today was Kai's last day at Marine Quest camp and there was a presentation at 11:30a. Since there was time to spare, we stole Beth out of lab for a bit. I'm sure she enjoyed the mini-break :)

Hello Beth :)

Then it was time for Kai (and the rest of the sea squirts) to start their presentation. This week they enjoyed three days at WB, one day at the aquarium, and one day at CMS. He learned a lot and got to do so much. I'm glad he went. I've always loved learning through hands-on activities.

Kai and his "star fish"

Asking questions?!

Looking at the Puffer (sp?)

Look at KAI!

Afterwards, we spent a free hours with great friends (Toshia, Nathan, and Liki). Then it was time for Mimi's 4-year check up! She did GREAT! No tears. She was more focused on what the nurse was doing, while she was getting her shots. I was proud of my BIG girl :)

She weighs 30 pounds, 38.5 inches tall, and her head circumference is 38 cm.

Yeah, BIG girl :)

What a day :)

Yesterday, I spent the day with Mimi while Kai was at Marine Quest Camp at UNCW and my mom was at an appointment.  We enjoyed walking downtown for about 30 minutes and decided it was way to hot to be walking.  As we were walking past a set of chairs, Mimi pointed to it and started talking and I came to the conclusion she wanted to sit down at take a much needed break.  So, she sat and I took not so good pictures of her.  The camera on my iPhone has its days and yesterday/today, were not good days for it.  

Mimi before we left to head downtown.

Mimi taking a break :)

Today.......I dropped Kai off at his 2nd day of Marine Quest Camp, while Mimi stayed at home with Mimi.  I attempted to go in lab to get a few hours worth of research done, and it didn't go so well.  Now my computer isn't recognizing the research camera and by the time I left, TAC hadn't contacted me back on how to fix it.  The last few weeks have not been going the way I wanted them to for my research and I'm so mad about it, that I can't be sad.....I'm trying my hardest to get as much done as possible this summer to "hopefully" have a shot at graduating in December and its like the more I try, the more I fall further behind.  Hopefully, once Mimi goes back to Grammie's next week, everything will get better.  Regardless if I will be in the lab five days a week from 7am-5pm and probably pulling a weekend shift with Kai in toll.  I will do what I have to do, to take advantage of the extra time I have.

Noon arrived and it was time for me to pick up Kai.  Today they traveled off to WB and did some exploring.  Their group brought back to their classroom a few small fishes, mussel, clam, and hermit crab.  It looks like they must of had themselves a blast today :)  Tomorrow they will be going to Fort Fisher to visit the aquarium.  The agenda says they will see a dive show.  I can't wait to hear from Kai about this!

Here is a picture of what the kids brought back to their classroom and Kai petting the fish :) and the teacher showing us a close up of the hermit crab!

Last night before bed, we decided to make ice cream.  As a child, I use to go to my choir teacher's house once a year and we'd make ice cream.  But she had an ice cream maker.  We, don't have an ice cream maker, but the recipe given to the Wilmington Mommies site did not call for an ice cream maker.  All I needed was three simple ingredients :)  The ice cream stayed in the freezer over night and we had it for dessert tonight.  I must say, it was surprisingly delicious and the kiddos loved it.  Yay!!

Well, that's about it for the night.  Thanks for joining us :) and have a good night!

Christmas in July for Mimi

The one thing (or individual) who makes Mimi happy is Mickey.........and of course, all the princesses.  She lights up with JOY when she sees Rapunzel.  It just melts your heart.  As I was cooking, mom called me into the room and what did she have on my computer screen?  Advertisement for pre-ordering tickets for Disney on Ice:  Rockin' Ever After.  We went last year to see Disney on Ice:  Dare to Dream and it was a big hit.  Mimi laughed, danced, sang (in her own little way), clapped, and just truly enjoyed herself.  So what did "mommy" do?  Go ahead and proceed with getting the tickets.  The big question was whether or not I would take Kai?!  Yes he would love it and enjoy it, of course.  But at the same time, he does a lot more than Mimi and I felt this is a "Mimi" event and maybe he shouldn't go.  It was a big decision and after talking to my mom, I decided Kai wouldn't go this time.  This was going to be one of her Christmas gifts.  In my eyes, it's a whole lot better than adding more and more toys to their closet.

So of course, my lovely best friend so I had posted I "like" the event on FB.  Go figure :) Everything seems to end up on there nowadays.  She showed interest in going to take her daughter, who is 5 months younger than Mimi.  So, we went back and forth on when I would order the tickets, how we would meet up to transfer money to the other, etc......since tickets don't go on sale to the public until July 20 and I had access to pre-order them.  After going back and forth for about an hour, we figured it out and the tickets have been ORDERED.  We will be going to the even on Friday, December 14 at 7pm, in Fayetteville, NC at the Crown Center.  We will be in section 50, row A, seats 22-25.  How awesome is that????  Looking at the map, we are at the very end of the rink, in the dead front.  Last year, we were on the side, on row B; which was still good.  But these seats, I don't think we will be disappointed.  I know Mimi will love it, but Lili is going to be AMAZED.  I can't wait to see her eyes twinkle when she sees the princesses.

This year, Ariel, Belle, and Rapunzel will be there.  They will be introducing Merida as well.  Mimi loves Rapunzel, while Lili loves Belle.  We are going to have two super excited little 4-year olds and I can't wait to share this moment with them..........especially with my best friend Toshia <3

Mimi getting excited about seeing Rapunzel on the computer :)

Mimi last year at Disney on Ice!

Trying to find a way to organize my binders......

is "not" easy.  I use to have any important documents just thrown into a binder, so they weren't laying everywhere.  But lately, after surfing on Pinterest so much, I've gotten the idea of separating everything into it's on designated binder.  Yay, seemed easy and well worth a shot, but is a lot more complicated than I thought it would be.  I don't know what should go in what binder?  Should I have just a big binder and separate each section with dividers?  Does each child need their own binder?  What should go in a binder and what shouldn't?  I'm not the most organized person, far from it, and my mind runs like a freight train, non-stop.  But, I am at least trying to get my apartment a bit more organized, since right now, my life is not in the greatest shape and once I finish school, I want to be mentally prepared for everything that will be thrown at us, while being on top of it as it happens :)  There are so many links on Pinterest, Blogger, Google, etc., and of course, all the friendly advice friends have given me.  I've bought quite a few 1" binders and a 3" binder.  

• Up until today, I had a 1" binder for each child, but decided to take those apart and figure something else out.  Now, I have a 1" binder that holds all of our birth certificates and my life insurance policies.  Once I finally get on the ball and write up a will, this will go in this too, as well as any other personal documents, and then I will file it somewhere safe (I'm thinking maybe a fire-proof safe, big enough for it to fit it).  So that's one binder so far.

• Two 1" binders are in progress of becoming traveling notebooks for the kiddos.  More ideas found off of Pinterest.  This of course is a working progress, but I'm close to being finished.  I just have to add covers for each child (maybe) and finish filling them up with activities.  Kai's wil be done sooner than Mimi's, mainly because I want to create some hands on games for Mimi to work on and this could take some time.  Once these are done, I will definitely post a link and pictures :)



Working progress, but here's what it's starting to look like inside.  On the right is Mimi's binder and the left is Kai's.  Mimi has a matching game and Kai has a scavenger hunt game, in which you uses the tabs to mark each one he sees.  Then when he's done, he can do it again with out messing up the insert itself.



• I'm also making a binder for myself to use as we travel.  It will include tabs for:  Agenda/calendar, expenses for each day (food, gas, souvenirs), reservations, and maps.  I haven't figured out anymore as of yet, but those are definite tabs.  

Tab area for the receipts (food, gas, souvenirs).  Each day will have there own page.  Still, working progress......But should be complete very soon!

• I coupon, but not hard core coupon like some individuals I know.  It would be nice if I could, but I'm lazy at times and I don't even enjoy going grocery shopping.  I use to, but lately, I just go in and get out as fast as I can.  But, I did buy business card sleeves to either create a coupon binder or to add a section in a family binder for coupons???!!!  Not sure of the option I should go with.  I don't look at the weekly grocery ads and I don't print coupons off the computer.  I see ladies who carry their binders with them when they grocery shop (especially at HT during doubles/triples), but I don't know if I can make the time to be that organized.  If I just add a section to my binder, when I go grocery shopping, I will just take out what I need.  Yes it makes since to just "make" a coupon binder and carry it around.  I just don't know which option I will go with.  Ugh!!  

• The 3" binder is going to be the family binder :)  As far as what will go in it, I'm still up in the air about it.  I've looked at Parenting with Miss Poppins blog and I Heart Organizing blog.  Both have really great ideas, which are quite different.  So, instead of following how someone else has created their binders, I'm going to try to attempt my own way.  My main issue is deciding what needs to be in a family binder.  Right now, here are my ideas:
• Monthly budget/expenses (this way I can keep track of what I have spent).  I will also keep track on my computer with an excel file that will calculate everything for me :)  This too is a working progress, but I'm getting it done.
• Weekly agenda or monthly calendar with appointments/activities.  I think I'm going to go with the monthly calendar because honestly, I'm not going to be the one who pulls down this binder everyday.  It's mainly for me to keep everything in one place and track my budget/expenses.  Since school is just around the corner, I'm sure I can fine a reasonably priced calendar to fit in my binder!
• Bills???  Maybe.  I get all of my bills except for one online and once it comes through, I pay it.  So, this most likely will not make the cut.  IDK.
• SECU accounts.  Kai has a Fat Cat account with SECU and I have a savings account that has $25 in it.  I opened the account with $25 and I have not put anything in it yet.  Once I go back to working full-time, then it definitely will become more active.  I also plan on opening a checking account with SECU, so I can have an account for my "mommy money", while my BOA account will strictly be BILLS!  Not sure if I will make a tab or not for my SECU accounts.  Kai was getting statements, but I turned it off now.  He does have the insert to keep track of how much is deposited and when, so I'm thinking I may just put a protective sleeve in there and throw that in it, and take it out only when need be.  But at the same time, if I get a fire-proof safe, this would need to go in there as well :)  Just more ideas I'm coming up with.
• Health insurance and home insurance policy.  
• Coupons??!!  Still debating if I should do this.  I have the business cards inserts, I just need to decide if it's worth it.  I personally don't want to carry around a binder.  I could just put them in an envelope or one of those coupon pouches (I have one, I just have to find it).  But putting them in a binder once I clip them, would keep them from being everywhere and I could dedicate a time-frame to go through them to check for expiration dates.  So yeah, I think I will just go for it.  I have quite a few coupons, but at the same time, some of them I will never use.  I refuse buy something just because I have a coupon for it to get a savings.  Unless it will be used, I don't clip it or I don't store it.  No need to take up space.
• Financial aid tab!  Well of course...........Once I graduate, it will be time to give up a nice portion of my paycheck for my financial aid.  I had a plan when I made the decision to go back to school and obviously did not follow it.  By the time I graduate, I will be in at least $80,000 worth of financial aid.  OUCH!  I know.  Yes, I'm to blame.  I've taken three major trips since I went back to school and I don't regret it one bit.  And, I traded my old car in for something newer and more dependable.  It's my life and I will handle it.  But at the same time, I still owed close to $30,000ish from undergrad.  I'm not stressed over the money, not one bit.  I won't let it stress me.  I will however, have it paid off within 5-7 years of me graduating.  I won't let it take over me :)  So, I need a tab to keep track of my payments, due dates, and so forth.
• Kia Sportage (Automobile) tab.  Another expense I want to have paid off before its time.  Even if it means putting a huge chunk of my taxes towards it.  Therefore, I need a tab to track the payments AND any maintenance (I just charged $800 to a credit card for tires and routine work.  I need a place to keep all these documents).

The excel file I am currently working on, to suit my needs.  I love colorful things, but I think I'm just going to stick with one color because too many colors is driving me bonkers!

Once I complete it the "family" binder, I will be sure to share the ideas I came up with and the ones I used off the internet.

So, as you can see, I have a plan.  I just don't know where it's going to take me!  Right now, I have white/black binders looking at me, with colorful dividers (and sleeves).  I anxious to put something together and see how well it works for me!  I know it will, I just have to do my part and keep up with everything!

Happy 4th of July

I hope everyone enjoyed their 4th of July :)

The day started off with Kai wanting to go to camp, versus spending the day with me, which was perfectly fine. So I dropped him off, returned a few things to Wal-mart, spent a little money there, and headed to campus/lab, in hopes that the computer was in working shape. WRONG!!! Now, I'm unable to install any of the programs that were deleted when the hard drive was damaged. Therefore, email sent back to TAC for continuing assistance. This is definitely not how my week was suppose to go. No where near it. I try to get further in research and instead, I get further behind. Since I've been getting nowhere with research lately, I've been working on formatting my thesis. It's coming along fairly smoothly. There's at least a little progress there :)

Once I finished all I could do in lab, I headed on home to work on Kai's travel notebook and take a nap. The nap didn't happen because my dad called and invited us to visit him and grandma Nook for 4th of July and I gladly accepted. We had no plans and I'm all about eating/grilling out. Kai really enjoyed his time there. He helped grill and ate tons of fruit, thanks to PaiPaw. Kai was following PaiPaw everywhere and he sure didn't seem to mine it. When I told Kai earlier we were headed to PaiPaw's, he was super excited. Glad I made his day!!!

I hope everyone else had a wonderful July 4th!!!

Kai flipping hot dogs with PaiPaw's supervision!

Kai and PaiPaw all cheers <3

Today was a good day...........

for my bank account (in the future) because I canceled two of my credit cards.  Yay!  Go me, one step ahead of the game.  The two I finally let go of were my Belks Rewards card and my Amazon card.  I haven't used the Belks card since last fall and I hardly ever use it anymore, because I can't even tell you the last time I went to the mall.  The Amazon card, I've never used.  The only reason I got it was to get a $10 credit to the store, to get Kai a gift, which was STUPID of me in the first place.  Doh!  I'm the one working on getting my credit back in line and I go off and apply for yet another credit card.  Think Leilani, Think!!!!!  Doesn't matter now, they are both CLOSED and shredded.  I guess now they have it set up where you don't talk to anyone about closing an account, but it's done automatically when you hit buttons and confirm.  Weird and a bit scary, which is why I requested a letter in the mail confirming my actions.  Hmmmm....  Well, there went two credit cards down the drain and yes, I still have a few more, which I know I won't be letting them go anytime soon.  But this is a start, among everything else :)

Good-bye Belks Rewards and amazon.com credit cards :)

The start of a TO-DO list :)

It's hard to believe that June is already over with.  In less than two months, the kids will be going back to school and I will be in my "hopefully" final semester at UNCW as a graduate student.  But you know, that all depends on my research, which is going extremely slow and not how I want it to go at the moment.  I am being as patient as I can be and thinking lovely thoughts of graduating in December.  But until then.........I am planning an extremely organized TO-DO list for the month of July:

• First and foremost, continue to work on my thesis, regardless if there is a plan of me graduating in December or not.  At least I will have a good portion written, typed up and all I will need to do is edit it when the time comes.  I try to dedicate an hour or so each night to just working on my thesis and reading journals.  So far, it hasn't worked out like I wanted it too, but I'm about to step it up! 

• There is no telling how many images (photos) I have on my computer.  I do know they take up well over 5.0 GB of my computer, which is more than enough.  Recently I've been condensing them into individual folders and deleting ones I don't really need.  Once I'm through this phase, I will be burning them to DVDs and finding a site on-line to store them for back-up.  Yes, I love taking pictures, but I have the tendency not to remove the ones I don't need or keeping images that basically look the same.  So, this is another working progress for me.  I should have this completed and done by the end of the week.  "Fingers crossed."

• We travel, I love it.  It's not cheap, but it's fun and to me, quite relaxing and adventurous.  Until the back seat drivers put in their two cents.  So, I am working on using creative ideas off of Pinterest to keep the kiddos entertained for our next Disney trip in November.  I've bought the binders, dividers, sheet protectors, and a caddy to hold them.  I just haven't made the books up yet.  I've printed quite a few activities and will be sure to share them, once I complete them.  This is another goal for the month of July.  I also printed off a blank map of the USA, so we can mark it with the years we visit each state :)  Next year, I hope to go on a road trip either up north or towards the west coast, in which we can fill up more areas on the USA map.

• I'm getting back into couponing, thanks to my mom for donating her coupons to me.  It's not all that thrilling and can be boring, but it can SAVE you a good chunk of money.  Especially when HT has triple coupon week :)  I will either make a binder or use an expandable folder.  I'd rather do the binder, but as of right now, I don't have sleeves to hold my coupons, while with the folder I have tabs in which I can just slide them in.  So we shall see what happens.

So here is my short TO-DO list for the month of July.  It's not a long list, but sometimes you have to start small, to get far and this is what I plan on doing.  I overwhelm myself with too much and it can be handful, so I am backing down just a tad.  I want to be as organized and prepared as I can be, so I'm going to take it in slow motion and hope for the best.

Thanks for reading and I hope you have a great day :)   


(One day I will learn how to put a signature at the bottom of my blog, but right now I'm having no luck and frankly I'm tired of researching on it)

Hot Sunday Afternoon

Yet another, hot, steaming hot Sunday.

Last night we all enjoyed an evening swim in Uncle Malcolm's and Chelsey's new pool. It was actually rather relaxing. I have to say I can't wait to come back to town on Friday, just to enjoy the warm water.

Instead of just being lazy around the house (which we already was starting to do), we all jumped in the Sportage and headed to Fascinate-U! museum. We got there right at 12p and enjoyed the place to ourselves for a good 20 minutes. Mimi enjoyed dressing up while playing with some electronics and playing in the grocery store, while Kai wanted to be a judge and do construction work.

They really enjoyed themselves and it gave me time to sit down and breathe a little bit.  The children's museum in Fayetteville isn't really big, but big enough for them to enjoy themselves.  There's a grocery area, bank, post office, court room, dress-up area, weather station, dentistry area, army fort, etc.  There's a lot to choice from and there's even a tot area in the back.  The price for an adult is $3 and a child is $2, you can't beat that. But since we have a membership through the ACM reciprocal program, we don't have to pay.  So, if you have a child and want to stay out of the hot weather, be sure to head on downtown Fayetteville, NC and check out the Fascinate-U! museum <3

Perfect Mother & Daughter Date

Today was an extremely hot day, but that didn't stop us (Mimi and I) from going on our "Mother-Daughter" date. Since we (maybe, slightly maybe, me more than we) love our Disney princesses, I've been making plans to take Mimi to see Brave. I secretly promised myself I however would not fall for another princess for Mimi's sake, even though I've always wanted a red headed child (my maternal grandmother had red hair). We already have plenty of stuff in the apartment with Rapunzel and Tiana in it, I don't plan to add Merida to the family :)

We headed out about 3:10pm and since the movie didn't start until 4:50pm, we made a quick stop at Tuttimelon (the frozen yogurt place close to the movie theater). We enjoyed strawberry and chocolate/vanilla swirl, top with granola, blueberries, mango, and strawberries. It was quite yummy and Mimi enjoyed it too. Delicious!!!

Once we finished up on our yogurt, we headed back to the theater and waited until we were able to enter the room.  Finally, it was time and we headed on it, sitting close to the front.  I was hoping we'd have space to move around, but that did not happen.  The theater was FULL, more full than I even expected.  But, it is a children's movie, so what should I had expected. 

Overall, Mimi did pretty good during the movie.  She did move around quite a bit and talked a little, but nothing out of the normal.  I went into the movie knowing a little bit about it, basically just from what I saw from the previews.  I didn't read up on it, I just went in there with the little knowledge I collected from the trailer.  I was highly impressed with the movie Brave.  It turned out to be the perfect movie to see for a mother and daughter, and I am so glad we went.  The whole time I watched it (well, maybe 75% of the time), I held on to Mimi and just kept give her little cheeks kisses.  Seeing the relationship between the mother and daughter in the movie, I just couldn't imagine my life without Mimi.  We may not agree at times and we may have a hard time communicating with one another, but I love my mini me to pieces <3

This afternoon was a good time for us (Mimi and me) and I am so glad we spent it together!

Disney Dream (April 30-May 3)

Monday, April 30
The first night, wasn't all that lovely, when it came to falling asleep.  It was a bit rough, and both me and Kai, could feel the boat rocking all night (on a good note, that was the only night we felt that way).  The plan was to enjoy the Bahamas to the fullest that day.  It was Kai's first time there and I wanted to make the best of it.  Unfortunately, it rained and rained...........and did not STOP!!  Ugh.  What a way to mess up my plans.  Good thing I didn't book any excursions.  However, Kai was going to step foot on the Bahamas, even if it was for just a second.  I didn't take any pictures while on the island, because I did not take my phone/camera with me.  I was not taking the chance of it getting wet.  But I will admit, that I did regret not taking it.  I was going to buy a disposable camera from one of the shops, but didn't feel $15 was worth it.  We stayed on the land for about an hour and I decided it was time for us to get back on the boat.  I can only handle heavy rain for so long.  Luckily, the crew decided to do an early showing of one of the show's (Villian's Tonight!).

  

Picture for our Mimi <3

Kai saw Peter Pan

Villain's Tonight!

Kai on the boat, with the shops of Bahamas behind him :)

Kai felt the need to take a picture of me!

Royal Palace for dinner.

Surprise from the housekeeper :)

Kai relaxing in the window on one of the decks.

What a beautiful pool at night.

Tuesday, May 1

Today was a much prettier/nicer day.  The sun was out and the rain was gone.  I had wanted to run the 5K on Castway Cay, but unfortunately, I wasn't able to because I had Kai (which was perfectly fine) and the child center wasn't open.  So, we got off the boat.  Enjoyed a nice long walk from the boat.  There were tons of characters on the way.  Kai saw Captain Jack Sparrow and Pluto.  We walked to the water area where there was a gigantic water slide.  Oh my God!!  It was FUN!  We only enjoyed it once, because the water was beyond freezing and obviously, the water was a bit deep for Kai, even with a life jacket.  After walking around a little bit, I went ahead and dropped Kai off at the children's area, where he played around with Disney friends, while I ran 1.5 miles.  I wanted to run the 5K route, but got lost and confused, and ended up not where I wanted to go.  I then went and laid out on a hammock and soaked up some sun!  It was a nice hour of relaxation.  Then, I decided to go ahead and pick up my big boy.  We went to the room, cleaned up, and got ready for Pirate Night :) at dinner and a Pirate Night on the pool deck.

Captain Jack Sparrow

The water slide :)

What a beauty!

Let's get ready for Pirate Night!

Part of the play area on the island!

Our table view!

"The hook" with friends!

Magic tricks at the table.

Pirate Night on the deck.

Wednesday, May 2

Today was Day at the Sea.  Kai hung out at the lab/club, while I spent time just relaxing and resting, and enjoying a cooking show of lobster ravioli.  Enjoy the pictures :)  This was our last night on the boat!

Cooking show, Lobster Ravioli

Crush

Last night for dinner at Animator's Palace

Disney's Believe show, Kai showing the hook.

Our AWESOME housekeeper :)

All and all, the trip was AWESOME and I can't believe its been two months already since we went on the boat.  I can't wait to plan our next Disney cruise with Mimi :)