My Life

It has been so nice to spend my time just with my toddler at home. Ever since my oldest started school full time, I have been giving 100% of my attention to my youngest daughter. I take her to a local library lapsit, friend's house, go out shopping and so on. I think she enjoys having her mommy to herself as well. It is so nice not to hear two sisters fighting and crying. I never thought this day would come. I still do want to put some time into my freelance work, but it looks like that I need to wait another year or so for my youngest one to start going to preschool. For now, I just have to enjoy this precious moment with my kids.

My oldest daughter is going back to school next week! She is getting excited about it and I am as well. I no longer have to plan activities for her. She is going to First grade, so she will be in school full day. I'll finally have some one on one time with my 18 months old toddler. Taking care of just one child is so much easier than dealing with two. And I'll have some alone time while my little one takes her daily nap. I can't wait. I was not able to do much with my freelance work this summer, so I am hoping that I can get a lot of work done. I need to start working on my online shops as well. Well, I better get some sleep soon. I do not want to feel like zombie tomorrow morning...... Have a good night everyone.

My husband took my oldest daughter out to the Bandits vs. the Boys softball game (Chicago Bandits vs. JackHammers) on Monday night. It was my daughter's first time going to the baseball field and she was very excited. My husband was able to catch one foul ball that came towards their seats as well. And they were able to use that ball to get autographs of Chicago Bandits' players. One of the players was the softball superstar, Jennie Finch. She is a very well known USA softball pitcher(I'm sure that most people know her). My husband was also happy to see her as well and got some pictures of her. My daughter was not able to take a picture with her, but she was happy just to get her autograph in person. My daughter plays softball, so she was very proud to meet Jennie in person.

Yes, it's Monday and I'm so exhausted. My daughter's Fall ball practice has began on Saturday, so my husband and my oldest were busy. I was busy taking care of my little one at home chasing her around. On Sunday, we went over to friends' all afternoon and had a great time. My oldest wanted to plan a play date with more friends today, but I put a stop to it. I just needed a day to lounge around in the house and try to do laundry, cleaning and so on. I wish I can stay in bed all day...... but things need to get done around this house. I'll be out all day tomorrow with my daughters' activities once again, so I need to keep working hard today to finish up. I can't wait until my oldest starts school again, so that I can start doing some of my freelance work. I really need to keep up with my skills. Anyways, I just hope that I can survive through this week with more activities for my daughters. Wish me luck.

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Memphis Travel. All opinions are 100% mine.

Our family is looking for a vacation trip that is in driving distance to us. The cost and hassle of flying is just too much to deal with. We stumbled upon a travel website for Memphis where you can enter to win a trip package.

Its free to enter so we did. My husband has been there a couple times as a small boy and later as a teenager. He says he remembers Graceland and all things Elvis. He says he liked seeing Elvis's pink Cadillac which was an enormous boat to drive.

We are hoping to get the family package since it includes stuff for all ages. We are looking forward to the included carriage ride and the trip to the zoo if we win. The trip includes a free dinner at Rendezvous, but our family friend who grew up in Memphis always raves about Coleman's BBQ.

The Memphis-savvy travel guide website has a lot of good information about the city. We are looking at Memphis as a place that is within driving distance and has a lot of music and art attractions. My daughter loves Taylor Swift and her playing the guitar. We might go the Gibson showcase on Beale street. Emmy can practice and pick up a guitar just like Taylor's.

Check out the website and then visit Memphis, TN, a great place to be.

This week, my oldest daughter is attending the summer art camp. This is her second time attending this camp and today, she learned about Picasso. She brought home her art work that was done similar to Picasso's art work. I was very impressed. We really love our art teacher. She is awesome. My daughter is looking forward to the camp every day. It is hard for me to get up early and get her and the 17 months old ready, but it is only for a week so I'll just deal with it. My daughter has a lot interest in art, so I might even consider her to take art lessons in the fall as well. She will be a one busy girl doing softball, piano and art.

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Mission Foods. All opinions are 100% mine.

I'm always looking for an inexpensive & quickest way to make meals for my family. I especially love using Mission Flour Tortillas to make my favorite ground beef tacos. I like them because they are kid friendly and taste very fresh. My kids just love them. Did you also know that you can simply make a meal of Ground Beef soft tacos that feeds a family of five for $10 or less using Mission Tortillas? Yes, I've done it and it is easy. You can check out Mission Foods website and check out recopies that will make your life easy. They've got tons of ideas that fits into your budget and needs. If you have your own recipe, you can submit your ideas to its Mission Menus Challenge competition. Chef Sara Moulton began to encourage consumers to submit their budget-friendly original recipes to Misson Menus Challenge's website on June 28, 2010. All you need to do is to visit the website and submit a recipe.

Well, are you ready for a challenge? This will give a chance to compete in a cook-off in L.A. And also a chance to win a $10,000 dream kitchen makeover as well. The grand prize winner will receive round-trip airfare and hotel accommodation for two for the Mission Menus Challenge on September10, 2010 at the Hard Rock Café in Los Angeles. You still have some time until August 9th to be exact to have your recipe submitted online. Just don't forget to include Mission Flour Tortillas to your recipe. Be original and make sure that your recipe is good to feed a family of five for $10 or less.

In addition to money and time saving, Mission flour tortillas are healthy for you as well. Tortillas contain 0 grams of trans fat per serving and the are free of cholesterol. You will find them in major grocery stores nationwide. The sizes of tortillas come in small(6”), mediam(8”) and large(10”).

Mission Foods is a proud supporter of the national organization committed to ending childhood hunger in America as well. If you are also interested in helping for this cause, you can simply visit the website to learn and support its mission. We all can make a big difference by helping others.

Good luck everyone and I hope to see some of my readers' recipes on Mission menus challenge!

We took a trip out to the zoo today. It was fairly nice out and we really enjoyed it. My little one was pointing at the monkeys and smiling. Last year, she had no interest in looking at the animals, but now she really enjoys the zoo. Oh, and my oldest one and I were able to touch the sting rays as well. It was a great experience. We were trying to feed the sting rays with little tiny fish, but I guess they were too full... They did not want to eat. At least it was a great advantage to buy food for them because they came near us many times. My oldest got soaking wet, but she was very happy and proud to be able to touch the sting rays.

My oldest daughter went off to her grandparents for a week. I thought that one less child in the house would make my life easier, but I was wrong. I am already missing my oldest daughter. My youngest one is manageable when she has her big sister around. My 17 months old is a handful. I have been playing with her non stop this week. I can't wait for my oldest daughter to come home!!!! I miss her so much and I can't wait to give her a new dress I made for her.

I was very frustrated with my hair and finally got a new hair cut. I also got my hair colored and high lighted. I feel like a totally new person now. It is nice to spend some money on myself every once in a while. It took about 3 hours to get my hair done, but it was worth it. I am refreshed and ready for a new day tomorrow. It is 11:15p.m. and I better get going to get in bed..... My 1 year old is just like an alarm clock. She gets up exactly at 6:30a.m. every morning. Being a mom is a tough job, but I love my kids and love being their mom. Anyway, enough rumbling for tonight. Good night everyone.

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Hampton Hotels. All opinions are 100% mine.

Would you like to reconnect with your friends all at one time? If so, there is a great sweepstakes called Chain-of-Friends that you can enter offered by Hampton. The grand prize of this sweepstakes will receive a free stay for themselves and their 100 friends at a Hampton for one weekend. Yes, you get 100 rooms for 2 nights for FREE. Not only that, the winner for the grand prize will get help to pay the tax for the weekend by receiving $5000. Isn't this a great deal? Besides the grand prize, they are giving away 100 FIRST PRIZES, which is a daily giveaway and the winner and three of their friends get free weekend stays. There is no purchase necessary for this sweepstakes and all you need to do is to submit your entry at Hampton Chain of Friends Sweepstakes. I've already submitted my entry and am thinking about what to do if I win. I think I would invite all of my college friends, childhood friends and my mommy friends that I have in my neighborhood. It will be a crazy weekend full of fun. I will really enjoy reconnecting some of my old friends as well. I hope I get to have a big party right on the beach with all of them. Also want to go to spa with all of my girl friends as well. Oh, I might be too old for this, but I might even have a lot of fun doing a pillow fight with my childhood friends. I really wish that I win this sweepstakes. It will be a good break away from my kids. There is no reason to pass up this sweepstakes. Again, this is open to everyone. You do not have to be Hilton Honors members or do not have to be stayed at a Hampton before. I wish you all good luck! 

I was so frustrated with my kids this morning. I thought I was going to lose my mind, but my good friend called me around the same time and we decided to go out for shopping. My husband's work was very light this afternoon, so he was able to keep an eye on our 1 year old while she took a nap. Well, actually he did not have to do anything, she basically slept the time I left the house and the time I came back. I took my oldest with me. It was so nice to go out with my friend. We enjoyed our adult conversation and just browse around the stores. I bought few things, but they were just necessary stuff for the house. I am so proud that I did not spend money on something that I did not need. I think I was able to relax a little without my 1 year old. It was so nice not hearing crying and screaming.... I hope that I get to do this again. I feel refreshed and ready to tackle my hectic life with my kids again!

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Swiss Army. All opinions are 100% mine.

This year's father's day is coming around the corner. It is on Sunday, June 20th to be exact. I'm sure that everyone knows a father that you respect and honor. I would like to honor my husband for this year's father's day. My husband is very dedicated to his work and our girls. No matter how awful day he has during the day of his work, he still manages to spend a lot of time with the kids. He also spends tremendous amount of time to taking care of our yard and household repairs as well. He even built a deck & basement himself. He is a very hard worker and because of that we have saved tons of money as well. He has tons of tools, but he always complains about not having a good quality knife. I am thinking about getting him a Victorinox Swiss Army knife Dual Pro X for his father's day gift from the girls. It seems that Victorinox Swiss Army knife has tons of functions that can be used for many tasks that require to use a knife. I am sure that my husband will be thrilled to receive this knife as a gift. If you are still thinking about choosing a gift for your father, I encourage you to visit swissarmy.com to view the Dual Pro X. Oh and make sure to become a fan of the Victorinox Swiss Army Facebook page and participate in its Share the Adventure Facebook Page . By participating, you have a chance to win great products and enter & compete in a $25,000 Ultimate Adventure. Good luck everyone and have a happy father's day!

My 16 months old has been spinning around like crazy. She eventually gets dizzy, but she gets up and wants to try to spin around over and over again. It just funny watching her do that  I wonder what she is thinking while she is spinning around. I wish she can talk. It is amazing to see many things that she learned to do in the past few months. I always say that it is hard taking care of her, but at the same time I am blessed to be able to watch her grow up. It is also nice that my husband works from home and be able to spend time with the girls when he is not busy with his work. I have to be more thankful of what I have and enjoy my life

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Glidden. All opinions are 100% mine.

My living room is back to a more calm and neutral color after this past weekend. I repainted the room to an off-white, Capuchino White from Glidden, to be exact. Previously, I had painted the room a dark chocolate brown in my attempt to be bold. I was ready for a change and wanted to lighten up the room. It was always very dark in the room and we needed a lot of lighting in the evening. We are also getting ready to sell the house when the market comes back a bit.

I ended up trying 2 or 3 of their samples because I wanted to avoid the mistake from the past. Glidden had nice samples for purchase and the brush was already included. I've bought gallons before and they ended up being half used once we realized the color stunk. The samples were perfect. We ended up discarding a couple of the tan colors because we didn't want the room to be dark again. Matching with oak moulding can be so difficult. In our future new house, the first project will be to paint the trim and moulding pure white.

The ceiling was the easiest thing to repaint. Glidden has a new ceiling paint that goes on pink, but drys white. I hadn't seen this before in other products until the Home Depot guy recommended it to me. It makes it very easy to see what you have painted and what is old. The Glidden white really popped compared to my old and faded ceiling white from before.

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Freschetta. All opinions are 100% mine.

Freschetta came out of a brand new line of FlatBread Pizza. There are five different kinds of pizza that you can choose from. There are Zesty Italian, Roasted Garlic & Spinach, Pepperoni and 5-cheese. I never really tried Freschetta FlatBread before, but those 5 kinds of pizzas sound yummy. My daughters and I like spinach, so I love to try out their Roasted Garlic & Spinach FlatBread Pizza. If you are hungry and want to try out something new, I encourage you to try Freschetta FlatBread pizza. Currently, they are offering $1 off coupon at its website http://www.freschetta.com/thin-crust-pizzas/flatbread-pizza/default.aspx, so get your coupon and try out your favorite kind of pizza. I'm sure that you will love the taste and probably will end up trying them all. I know I want to try each one of them. I will definitely take advantage of this coupon deal. I can't wait to go to the store today and get this pizza. It will be a quick, easy and delicious lunch at my household today. My daughter will be thrilled to eat a new Freschetta FlatBread Pizza after her softball game today! I hope that my readers can take advantage of the coupon and enjoy trying out new Freschetta FlatBread pizza today!

My daughter has been taking piano lessons for the last two years. She started when she was 4 years old and she has been doing a great job playing piano. My daughter really really enjoys playing piano. She loves her teacher, lessons and loves to practice everyday. She never wants to miss her lesson. She is following Suzuki method and she is almost done with her book 1. I am very proud of her. She has attended a several recitals as well. She always tells me she a little nervous performing in front of many people, but she always does well. I am looking forward to seeing her playing some classical music soon.

I desperately want to move to a new place and purchase a new house. Our neighborhood seemed to be turning into a bad area. Many drugs and theft problems. Plus my house is getting smaller and smaller. I want a bigger yard and getting tired of a postage stamp lot. My husband works from home, so we can pretty much move to any place, but then we get into a problem of selling our current house. With this economy and housing market crash, I don't think that we can sell our house. Even if we could, we will lose tons of money..... I need to be thankful for what I have right now, but I am getting tired of things. Maybe I am just a little depressed today. I hope that I can get out of this mood soon. Wish me luck.

I have been very tired and worn out lately. I have been chasing my youngest one non-stop. She just does not stop running around. I've tried taking her to a local library to attend the lap-sit reading program for her, but she has no interest in books. She is so different from my oldest. At 15 months old, my oldest one would sit on my lap and listen to the stories that I read for her. I think I lost a lot of weight as well for chasing my little one around. My little one usually goes to bed around 7:30p.m. and I have plenty of time to do stuff for myself, but I am so tired and do not want to do anything..... I need a break! Am I just getting old?

I have been non stop for the past few weeks. Painting in the living room that I started last weekend is half way done. My living room is a mess. I hate looking at it, but with my oldest girl's busy schedule, I really don't have the time to finish it up. I never thought that her kindergarten, piano lessons and softball games take up so much time out of me. On top of that I have to take care of my 15 months old. My little one is active and she is getting into stuff all the time. Today, she mastered to climb up on a chair to get up on my bed..... I am hoping that I get a little break on Mother's Day, but it may not happen. Wish me luck.