I started this blog with one daughter, kept it up with the other, to spend time together doing something we enjoyed.
However, things change and people evolve. My daughters are older, busier, and not as interested in writing.
From now on this blog will be mostly mom with occasional contributions from my daughters and maybe even my husband.
Nothing else will change. We'll still focus on sharing fun places to go, fun things to do, and more, and we would  still love to hear your views too

Saturday, January 28, 2012

Birthday Wishes

Happy Birthday to my blogging partner and favorite oldest daughter, Melia!

Monday, January 23, 2012

Fashion

Me - My favorite fashion is dresses. I love to wear dresses. Every day, I ask to wear a dress, but my Mom doesn't always let me. I do wear them a lot though. My cousin loves to wear dresses too. Every time, I see her she is wearing a dress and leggings. I have never seen her wear pants and a shirt.  I have never even seen her wear a skirt. She is always wearing boots too. I have a lot of boots, but I don't wear them every day. My aunt would never pick out clothes for my cousin without getting her opinion because she wouldn't wear them. I usually like the clothes my mom picks out for me, and I usually love the shoes too. I also like the way she styles my hair. Sometimes, my sister styles my hair. I like the way she styles my hair too. I would never let my Dad style my hair. He is not good with it. He is not good at picking out outfits that go together good either.  I love love love looking at all the fashions in magazines with my mom and sister. My Dad doesn't look at fashions in magazines with us. My mom says most men don't usually care about stuff like that. Once on one of my shows I watch, they saw a fashion show and then one of the kids had a fashion show with her friends and brother. Her grandma, dad and baby brother watched. Some day, I would like to put on a fashion show. I love playing dress up. I have lots of dress up clothes and even Rapunzel hair which I got when I went to Disney on Ice with my grandparents and my cousin. Fashion is always lots of fun.*

* The above is guest post by younger sister,  Aurella as dictated to Mom.

Mom - When I was young, I used to go to New York with my grandmother. We used to love people watching. We were always looking for stylish people. To us, stylish people were people who dressed right for their looks and really looked well put together. We never found too many really stylish people. Nowadays, My girls and I  look at magazines to see stylish people. A lot more famous people look really stylish than the ordinary people my grandmother and I used to see. However, the amazing thing is that not all of them do or at least the ones who actually pay people to coordinate their clothes and pick out their outfits and stuff. I would love to have somebody to do that for me, not so much to pick put my clothes out but to help me pick out the things that would be most stylish for myself and do my hair and stuff. Little girls can't wait to grow up and pick out their own clothes and style their own hair. In some ways, they don't realize how much better off they are and how much easier it is when they are young and someone is doing it for them. It's a lot of pressure to look good all the time. In fact, it is impossible. I don't know of anyone celebrity or not who always dresses well and always look good. There have been a few people who I think almost always look well (or looked well), Princess Diana, Kate Middleton, Nicole Kidman and Carrie Underwood are a few who come to mind. However, even they don't always look good. I guess there's a comfort in that even the most stylish people have days when they don't look their best.

And that's our view. Tune in again for another topic.

Friday, January 20, 2012

Glasses

Me - Glasses, wow! I have had glasses since I was 3 years old. I think I have my glasses for distance and close up because in school when my teacher uses the smartboard, and I don't have my glasses on, I can't see. Also, when I am in the cafeteria, and I don't have my glasses on, I can't see my food. For example, once when we were doing our work, and I had to copy something from the smartboard my paper ended up saying: "The President food dresser is chaired paint" and the smartboard said "The President of the United States is Barrack Obama." Also, once at lunch I didn't have my glasses. It was Friday. I was having a bagel with butter. When I leaned down to take a bite, I bit the tray. I think I used to like wearing glasses when  I was little. Now, I don't mind it but I don't like it as much. I hate the fact that I am always losing my glasses. My dad wears glasses all the time. My mom wears them when she is driving, watching TV or a movie or something. She has them for distance. My grandma and grandpa are always either wearing glasses or contact lenses. My other grandfather also wears glasses all the time. When my sister was little, she got jealous. We popped the lenses out of one of my old  pairs of glasses and let her wear them. When we were watching TV she would say "Wait for me! I've gotta go get my glasses!" Sometimes, when we were watching my dad would say "Melia, where are your glasses?" and he would tease my sister and say "Aurella wear are yours?" and she'd run off and get hers. Even though, I might not love glasses, I suppose it's better than not being able to see.

Mom - I have had glasses for distance since I was in the fifth grade. I have had them since I was in the fifth grade, but I actually started wearing them a lot when I went to college. I wore them at home and when I was at the movies or at a show or something since I was young. However, I never wore them in school. I easily could have done so because after fifth grade we moved and nobody knew me without having glasses so it wouldn't have made a difference. However, I still didn't wear them in school ever. I was this shy little thing and that was enough I didn't need to add glasses to the equation. When I was in college, I had to start wearing them in class because when I was far in the back of a big lecture class  not only could I not read any writing on the board, I could not even see if there was writing on the board at all without my glasses. I only use my glasses for distance. Close up, my vision is excellent. Sometimes, when I am going on the computer or doing a crossword puzzle or something while I am watching TV or something, I keep having to adjust my glasses because I see the TV better with my glasses but I see the computer or crossword puzzle or whatever is right in front of me better without. Eventually, just about everybody in our family needs glasses. My mother and father both wear glasses (or contacts). My husband wears glasses all the time. My older daughter has worn glasses since she was 3 although she hates them and is always misplacing or losing them. Only my younger daughter does not wear glasses so far. When she was little, she felt left out. She wanted to wear glasses too and be like mommy and daddy and her big sister. We took the lenses out of her older sister's old glasses and gave them to her and she was so happy and proud to have glasses too. Every time we wore our glasses, she wore hers too. Now, that she is older, she is over that. I kind of miss it because it is just another sign of my girls getting older and another reminder that we are never going to have babies or little kids in our house again. I kind of miss it.

And that's our view. Tune in Monday for another topic.

Monday, January 16, 2012

Inventions We Can't Live Without

Me - Inventions, wow! I couldn't live without the TV. How else would I watch Full House, Disney Channel and Nickelodeon? I also like the DVD player because than I can own seasons of Full House and Mary Kate and Ashley movies. I couldn't live without the MP3. I have so many CDs now especially right after the holidays. I am sure there will be at least a few songs on each CD that I don't like. On my MP3, I can listen to only the songs I like. The other great thing about it is when we are in the car and my family is listening to something I don't like (like my sister's Dora CDs), I can listen to my own stuff. I could not live without my DS. It is so much fun to imagine all the different things you can do and be when you are older. The series of Imagine DS games is all different jobs you can have such as being a teacher, a vet, a doctor, a hair stylist and so many other things. Then, there are other brands of DS games that are also things you can be when you grow up even things like a mom and a babysitter. There are also DS games that are just pretend and fun to play and make you think about how you would want things to be like there is one where you can build your own amusement park. There are so many inventions that I can't live without, but all of them happen to be electronics. Maybe, some day there will an invention that I can't live without that is not an electronic.

Mom - While I suppose you could live without just about any invention if you really had to (except maybe ones that are medically necessary) these are the inventions that I would not want to live without. The DVR because as I am sure I have previously mentioned, I don't care about what is on when, I want to watch what I want when I want.  I have become so spoiled watching the DVR that I can't stand watching live TV and not being able to fast forward through commercials. When my kids were little, they didn't even know from regular TV. They would say "Did Sesame Street tape?" not "Is Sesame Street on?" I also like the DVD player because the idea of actually being able to own movies was something I could only have dreamed of when I was a kid. I also like DVDs because I like all the extras. I guess some people might think it is boring hearing comments about the making of a movie or something like that, but I find it interesting. The MP3 because I just love the idea that instead of listening to a CD when you might like only one or two songs, you can just take 100's of songs you like put them together on a tiny gadget and take them with you anywhere you want. The computer because it just makes keeping in touch with people and finding information so much easier. Of course, the bad thing about computers is they eat up time. You sit down at your computer to look something up or do something and one thing leads to another and the next thing you know it's several hours later. I also love my e-reader. I still like and read print books too, but it is so nice to be able to have and carry around so  many books at one time without having to actually carry around heavy books. I also like that you can buy and have books instantly, and that you don't have to worry about losing you place because your book fell on the ground and you book mark fell out or something. What I don't like about e-books:  it is hard to go back to something in  book if you didn't book mark it and you don't know what chapter it is in or anything. It is also easier to leaf through and see how many pages are in a chapter with a print book which is something I usually like to do. Anyway, I'm sure there are many other things that although I might be able to live without I wouldn't want to, but I can't think of any of them now so maybe I'll talk about them another day.

And that's our view. Tune in Friday for another topic.

Friday, January 13, 2012

Mother- Daughter Relationships

Me-  I'm closer with my mom then anyone else in my family. Since I was a baby we've always had a better relationship then me and my dad. When I was a baby when my dad yelled at me I ran to mom, when mom yelled at me I still ran to mom. In my house we call it best buddies  My sister is best buddies with my dad. I am best buddies with my mom. After all this blog is not called Says me says dad. Even though she sometimes yells, or gets mad at me we always work it out in the end. We always fight and I sometimes threaten to quit the blog and have Aurella take over. But we equally as much joke around. In fact when she isn't joking around I feel like reaching over to feel her head to make sure she's not not sick. We like to watch chick flicks together. We also talk about cute boys when we are watching shows and movies. Also when we are watching Dancing with the stars, and award shows we talk about the fashion. Whenever I have a problem I know I can talk about it with her. No matter what it's about. Even  if I have to write in invisible ink to keep other people from reading it.

Mom - When I was growing up, I was always closer to my dad. I got along okay with my mom. At least I wasn't always fighting with her all the time like my sister was especially when my sister was in high school and college. When I was in college, I got along well with my mother. After college, it was tough it was like everything was suddenly supposed to be a life lesson for me. We would be watching a movie or something and she would literally turn to me and says"You see?" or "Did you hear that?" like they were speaking directly to me and trying to tell me something about my life and what I should be doing with it. Thankfully, when I got married and had kids, she got over that. In fact, since I've gotten married and had kids, I've had the best relationship I've ever had with my mom. As for my own daughters, I have always had a special close relationship to each of them.. My younger daughter is a little bit more of a daddy's girl although she and I are close too. My older daughter has always been very much a mommy's girl. I have always had a lot of fun with my girls but now that Melia is getting older we have really good conversations too. I know that there will probably come a time when my daughters will be "too cool" to want to spend time with  and be close to their mom. I don't look forward to that. I can only hope that when and if that happens some day when they get married and have kids of their own we will become closer again like I became closer with my Mom after I married and had kids.

Monday, January 9, 2012

Shopping

Sorry we missed posting last Friday but we were both not feeling well.

Me - Shopping, wow! I don't like shopping, I love it! I am a good shopper but I am not a good saver. I'll say to my Mom "I'm going to save up for the next season of Full House." Then, I always end up spending my money on a bunch of less expensive items. Just a month ago I said, "Mom I'm going to save up for the 6th season of Full House." Then in my school there was a new trend. Colored duck tape. Of course I used up my money on that. I don't like to shop for my sister. I don't mind buying things for her with money that I have saved up to buy people presents. I mean I love buying her birthday and holiday gifts and seeing her get so elated. However, I don't like when Mom and Dad and Aurellla and I go shopping when she brings her own money. She and I liked a lot of the same things. I end up getting jealous, throw a fit and get punished. My favorite store is Target. My family is there practically every day. I know where everything is. The great thing about it is it's close to my house and they have everything there. From books, to toys, to food, to supplies.What would I do without shopping.


Mom - Shopping I can take it or leave it. Sometimes, I like it sometimes I don't. I definitely don't like it during the holidays. I do as much of my holiday shopping as possible on-line. In fact, I like to do as much shopping as possible on-line. I usually don't buy things on-line though unless I don't have to pay shipping. I also don't like to buy things on-line that I may have to return, such as, clothes and shoes.  I also have never really bought food on-line. I like the idea of doing grocery shopping on-line, but I am not sure if it would really save time unless you already know what brand of every single item you want. Also, I am sure it would cost more money than just going to the store since you have to pay a delivery fee. Sometimes. I am in a shopping mood, and sometimes I am not. I used to have a friend who hated it when I was in shopping mood because somehow when I was in a shopping mood she would end up buying everything, and I would end up not buying that much. Of course, she was kind of cheap and didn't like spending money at all that's why she hated it. I am really looking forward to shopping in the future because I just finally got my first smartphone! Now, it will be easier to find coupons and compare prices and stuff even when I am actually at the store. I can't wait for that!

And that's our view. Tune in Friday for another topic.

Monday, January 2, 2012

New Year's 2012

Me - New Years, wow! I love New Years! I went to a New Year's party. I met a girl named Joanna who is six years old. I also met a teenage girl named Erica. I also met a girl named Alison. She lives further away than the other too. We played fashion show. I love watching the ball drop. I do it every year. It is so much fun. The party was so much fun. I liked it so much better than staying at home like I normally do. I only ever went to one other New Year's party. That wasn't so much fun because the only other kids were all older than me. This year I am looking forward to school ending because I don't like my teacher at all. I can't wait to go to American Girl again. My grandmother is getting me another American Girl doll for my birthday. I can't wait to go on vacation to the Poconos with my whole entire family for my grandparents 50th anniversary. When we go to the Poconos, I am going to walk form one side of the big rocks to the other. My grandpa said that its not hard but it is fun and tough. I am willing to take the challenge. Happy New Year!

Mom -   So here it is another year 2012. Usually on New Years we just stay-at-home and watch movies and take videos of the kids and stuff. However, this year we actually went to a New Year's party. It was nice, and we met some nice people. Reflecting on 2011, I can't say I am sorry to see it over. It did have it's good points like my daughter and I starting this blog, but mostly I am glad to see it gone. Already 2012 is showing much more promise of a being a good year than 2011 was. My stepson turned 18, and we soon will not have to send money to  his mother or have dealings with his mother anymore. I am getting a smartphone and before the end of the year I am getting a new laptop, and a kindle fire. We finally got rid of our cable TV and went back to satellite where we have an actually DVR and not a glorified VHS like we used to have. One that we can watch in any room. To me, the DVR is the most important part of the while thing. I am not interested in watching what is on. I am interested in watching what I want when I want. I am looking forward to going on vacation with the family next summer. It's been a long time since we went on vacation at all. Maybe, we'll even get down to visit my husband's father this year. My girls haven't seen their grandfather in a few years.  I am looking forward to continuing blogging and maybe even to starting another blog or two. I would like to start one on things to do in the NewYork/New Jersey and Pennsylvania area and another one about things to do to make money and/or earn things on-line. Even though I have learned a lot about the latter on various blogs, I know about a lot of different survey sites and stuff that I have never heard mentioned on other blogs. I have been thinking about starting these new blogs for quite a while. However, I have just been too busy to get to it. Therefore, I am going to try to manage my time better this year so I can get to everything I need to and want to do. I am not sure if I can really do that though because there are so many things that I need and want to do all the time that there just never seems to be enough hours in the day. I would also like to exercise more and eat less this year. Those are just a few of my New Year's resolutions. I always make a lot of New Year's resolution because I look at it as not only ways I want to change my life, but as a plan for the way I want to live my life. Something that I think it is good to reevaluate every year, and New Year's is the perfect opportunity to do that.

And that's our view. Tune in Friday for another topic.