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

Monday, April 30, 2012

Sicky Icky

Me - Sick, not wow. I hate being sick. My whole family's been sick in bed this week. It all started Tuesday. My Dad went to the doctor and found out he had a throat infection. Then, when my sister came home she felt sick so my Mom and Dad took her to the doctor and found out she had a virus. Then, I came home from school and felt sick also. I didn't go to the doctor until Thursday. It turned out I had a virus just like my sister did. I have been sleeping most of the week. My sister has been running around the house and making messes and acting like her usual self mostly until Friday when she started complaining about her ear. She was crying and crying so my Mom, and Dad and I took her to the hospital. It turned out she had an ear infection. I have never had an ear infection. My sister's had a few. My brother had a lot when he was little. I remember 3 or 4 times when I was younger my parents woke me up because we had to take my sister to the emergency room. Once or twice she had ear infections, once she had croup, and I don't remember what happened the other times. I only went to the emergency room once. I fell asleep in Sunday school because I was bored and they thought I had passed out and sent me to the hospital by ambulance. There was nothing wrong with me. My parents were really mad about that especially after they got the hospital and ambulance bills. With my current illness, my stomach and head have been hurting really bad, and I thought I would never make it to the next day each time. Each time I woke up, I thought I was dreaming and had to pinch myself to make sure I was awake. Since I've been sick every night I've been waking up a lot of times during the night. Some of those times, I felt like I was going to be all better in the morning. Even though I woke up a lot, I had no trouble falling back to sleep. When I am not sick I have trouble falling asleep. When I woke up in the mornings, I felt terrible all over again. Thursday, I woke up at six in the morning, and I couldn't get back to sleep. I felt terrible, and all I wanted to do was sleep. No one else was up.You could tell I was sick because I spent most of my day resting. Also, I didn't whine or carry on or beg or misbehave or anything. My sister and I didn't fight at all. That was another sign we weren't feeling well. It was a nice break for my Mom except that she was sick too. But the best way to tell that I was really sick was - wait for it - I didn't even mention Full House the whole week. Boy was I sick!

Mom  - I thought we had made it out of the woods since we are well into the spring now, but I was wrong. It started with my husband feeling a little under the weather. Then, Aurella came home from school not feeling well. We took her to the doctor and found out she had a virus. The next day Melia came home from school sick as well. Finally, it spread to me and before, I knew it we were all sick. I blame the crazy weather we've been having. One week it's warm, the next week moderate, and then it's back to being cold again. Anyway, whatever it is we have all been laid up at home for the most part of the past week coughing and sneezing away and just generally feeling horrible. We even had one trip to the emergency room when Aurella suddenly developed an ear infection after the pediatrician's office was closed for the day. The only nice thing about all of us being sick together is that we all get to slow down our busy schedules for a while and just stay home and hang out together. However, we really didn't take advantage of that much. I mean we were all home together, but we didn't watch so much as one movie together. Melia actually spent most of her time sleeping at least during the earlier part of the week. That's how you can tell how badly (or not) she and Aurella are feeling. The more they complain the better they are feeling. When they are really feeling sick all they want to do is lie in bed and not be bothered. My husband is the same way. I generally don't have the luxury of lying in bed the whole day when I am sick unless I am fortunate (if you can call it that) to be sick on a weekend or holiday or when my husband is home. Luckily, I am not sick that much and when I am it usually doesn't last long. The only thing I do get a lot of is headaches. I get headaches when I don't eat enough, headaches when I don't sleep enough, headaches when it my time of the month, and lately I have been getting headaches when I am too hot also. That last part makes me worry about what the summer is going to be like. I mean I don't want to spend my summer with one giant headache so I guess I'll just have to limit my time in the sun. I don't really like the heat anyway,and I really don't like being sick.

And that's our view. What do you like to do when your sick?

Tune in Thursday for another topic.

Friday, April 27, 2012

Funny Friday - Cabinets and Drawers

Me -

When my sister, Aurella was a baby one day, she started taking a lot of the Tupperware out of the cabinet and climbed in. As she was trying to grab more, she fell out on her back. She wasn't hurt just a little surprised to be lying there on her back all of the sudden when a second ago she was in the cabinet.

Mom -

When Melia was a little, she liked to empty all my socks out of my sock drawer, take the drawer out, and sit in it.

We welcome you to share your funny  stories with us. Tune in Monday for another regular Says Me Says Mom discussion topic .

Thursday, April 26, 2012

Family Funnies

Me - Family Funnies, wow! Our family is very funny. We love to remember all the funny things my sister and I did when we were little. My mom keeps a notebook of all the funny things my sister and I said and did when were little. Now, I am starting to keep a notebook too. I love reading through it and remembering all the funny times we've had. When I am older, I would like to read it to my kids. I will also keep notebooks of all the funny things that my own kids say and do. It is a family tradition. I hope some day my kids enjoy reading and hearing about all the funny things they say and do as much as my sister and I enjoy reading and hearing about the funny things we said and did. I am really glad we started our new feature Funny Fridays to share our funny stories with you. I hope that you will share your funny stories with us too.

Mom - One of our favorite things to do is to sit around and talk about the cute and funny things our kids said and did when they were little.  My stepson who is now 18 lived with me from the time he was 5 until he was 15. Even when he was little I realized that time was fleeting and he was only going to be so cute and littleand funny for a short time. I wanted a way to a way to keep those memories from fading so  I started keeping a notebook of all of the cute and funny things he did and said. Subsequently, when each of my girls was born I started keeping a notebook for each of them right from birth. Now, that they are older they love sitting around and reading through the books with me. In fact, they have heard so many of the stories so often that they can tell them themselves without having to read them. We decided to start a new feature on our blog where we could share our funny memories with our readers. It is called Funny Fridays and this Friday will be the third week of Funny Friday. We are sure that if we have so many good and funny memories other families must have them as well. We welcome our readers to share their funny stories with us too on Funny Fridays or any time.

And that's our view. Join us tomorrow for Funny Friday and join us on Monday for another topic of discussion.

Monday, April 23, 2012

Fast Food

Me - Fast food, wow! I love Wendy's Baconators. I also like their fries and Frostys. I like McDonald's burgers, but they are not as good as Wendy's. I like Subway's tuna. I usually eat it with chips. My favorite kind they usually have there is Harvest Cheddar sun chips. I also like the French Onion sun chips, but they hardly ever have those. I like Taco Bell's hard tacos, but not theIR soft ones. I also like their potato and cheese burritos. I don't like lettuce in my tacos or at all. I like Nathans mini corn dog bites. Corn dogs are the only kind of hotdogs I like. I also like their cheese and bacon fries. I don't like KFC anymore. They got rid of the macaroni and cheese, and most of the food tastes terrible. I still like their mashed potatoes though without gravy. Over all, I love fast food and my favorite is Wendy's. I can't get enough of those Baconators, but my Dad won't let me eat them all the time.

Mom - Fast food, it's one of those things you know is not good for you but sometimes, you just gotta have it. Melia and I love Wendy's Baconators, and we all love Wendy's Frostys. The kids love the chocolate ones, but my husband and I usually get the vanilla ones .I didn't used to like McDonalds because I don't like their burgers, but I like their chicken selects, and we also like their sundaes or at least my husband and I do. Aurella likes McDonalds because of the happy meals. She is fond of any restaurant where they give her toys. We also like Taco Bell. The girls and I like our tacos with cheese and meat and no lettuce. We also like when they have those special burritos with beans and cheese or potatos and cheese. Whatever, we eat there has to have a lot of cheese because the cheese is the best part. We used to go to KFC, but we don't really go there anymore. The chicken is too greasy. The girls aren't happy that they got rid of the macaroni and cheese. We used to like the Oreo cake but the last time we had it, there were few chocolate chips, and it didn't taste like it had been cooked enough. When I was young, we used to go to Burger King a lot, but we don't really go there now. We also like subway where you can get foods that are slightly better for you, but Melia and I like the tuna subs. We like them plain without any lettuce, tomato, or cheese or anything. Tuna is one of the few things I usually don't like cheese on. At Nathan's I like the little hotdog nuggets and the cheesy and bacon fries. My Mom thinks the Nathans in the malls are not as good as the original Nathans in Coney Island. I have actually been there once or twice but I don't remember. My husband likes Arby's. We used to have one in our local in mall, but it wasn't there very long. All in all, so many different types of fast food to choose from, and I like way too many of them.

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

Friday, April 20, 2012

Funny Friday - Everything In It's Place

Me -

When I was little we lived in a condo. One day I saw this big swing set at Sam's Club.
"I want that." I said.
"Where would you put it?" asked my Mom.
"In our playground." I replied.

Mom -

When my stepson was little  we lived in an apartment. One day he decided he wanted a horse
"Where would you keep it?" asked his father and I.
"On our range." he replied.

We welcome you to share your funny  stories with us. Tune in Monday for another regular Says Me Says Mom discussion topic .

Thursday, April 19, 2012

Pictures

Me -Pictures, wow!  When I am older, I want to be a photographer. I can't decide whether I like having my picture taken and posing or taking someone else's picture myself better. I love taking pictures of my little sister. Sometimes, I do video diaries for my sister like Teddi does for Charlie on the Disney show Good Luck Charlie. The last time I had my picture taken I kept coming up with great poses for myself. The photographer said I was a great help. I also did the same thing when my sister, and I got our picture taken together. We usually get pictures taken at the Target picture studio. We really used to like this girl who worked there when I was little. Her name was Jessica. She eventually got transferred to another store. My sister and I really like the lady who works there now too. We don't know her name so we call her Miss Lady. We love to stop by and see her when we are in Target even if we are not getting our picture taken. Once she even called us to thank us for visiting her. I love pictures and picture taking and everything about it.

Mom - I have never really liked taking pictures although I like having them. When I was young. my Dad took all the pictures. When I was a little older and my brother and my cousin and I traveled with my grandmother, my brother took all the pictures. Now, my husband takes all the pictures. He really used to enjoy it and take a lot, but lately he hasn't much. I cannot seem to get used to digital pictures and how the frame keeps moving. My favorite camera ever was  my little Polaroid Mio camera. It took instant wallet size photos. I love it so much that I actually still have it even though I can't really get film for it anymore. It actually fits right in in our house where my husband has a whole collection of old cameras. I have always liked organizing pictures and putting them in photo albums much more than actually taking the pictures so that was always my job. I use to be really good about it and keep it up really well. However, over the last few years I have gotten so busy with the kids and with blogging and other on and off-line business to take care of that I haven't really gotten to organizing the pictures and/or putting them in photo albums. That is just one of many things that I really need to catch up on. Well, hopefully, I'll get to it this summer if not before, but I am sure that is what I thought last summer too.

And that's our view. Tune in tomorrow  for another edition of Funny Friday and tune in Monday for another  new topic of discussion.

Monday, April 16, 2012

The Titanic

Me - The Titanic, not wow! When I was in first grade, I read a book about the Titanic, but I don't really remember much about it. I don't like to read things about people that died so it really didn't interest me that much. All I know is that there was this big boat that hit an iceberg, sank, and only some of the rich people got into lifeboats and survived. However, I know a song about the Titanic. I really used to like to sing the song even though the subject of the Titanic is depressing. I never saw the movie, and I don't have any desire to even though other people seem to love it. Even my Dad said that he would be afraid to see the Titanic in 3D although when the movie was originally out and, it wasn't in 3D, it was one of the first movies he and my Mom saw when they were first dating. Just thinking about the Titantic makes me not sure I ever want to go on a cruise at all.

Mom - With the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic this month, the Titanic seems to be everywhere. I have to admit, the subject does interest me, but I am not obsessed by it like some people. I saw the movie when it was out originally, but I would not want to see it in 3D. I also saw an exhibit of actual artifacts from the Titanic when I was in Chicago a little over 10 years ago. That was really interesting. My husband told me that lately there have been a lot of people posting on Twitter that they had no idea the sinking of the Titanic was something that had really happened. If they had seen the exhibit as I have, they never would have thought that. Sometime, I would like to read a book about the survivors of the ship. Hearing  and reading about the Titanic, does not make me afraid to go on a cruise. In fact, I went on a cruise to the Greek islands with my grandmother when I was 13, and we had a great time. However, the recent grounding of the Concordia does makes me think twice about wanting to go on a cruise. I mean at least the Titanic's captain allegedly went down with the ship, and from what I understand the Concordia's captain was the one who caused it to run aground in the first place by going off course and too close to the shore. I mean if you can't trust the ship's captain who can you trust?  However, I am not going to let myself be afraid because the lesson we can learn from both these tragedies is that you never know what is going to happen in life so you might as well not waste time being afraid. Do what makes you happy and enjoy it while you can. At least that is what I am going to try to do.

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

Friday, April 13, 2012

Funny Friday - At the Pharmacy

Me - When I was little, we went to the pharmacy to pick up a prescription. My Dad asked for his prescription, and I said "And one for Boo." Boo was my doll.

Mom - When my stepson was little he went with my husband to the pharmacy. At the counter he asked for a prescription for "Daddy."

We welcome you to share your funny  stories with us. Tune in Monday for another regular Says Me Says Mom discussion topic

Thursday, April 12, 2012

Little House on the Prairie

Me -Little House on the Prairie, wow! I sometimes watch Little House on the Prairie reruns. It's a good show. Carrie and Laura are adorable, and Mary is beautiful. I am reading the books too. I am up to By the Shores of Silver Lake. I started reading it , but then I started reading tons of other books. Now, I am ready to go back to it, but I am going to start over again because I forgot what happened. For a while, I was recording episodes on our DVR. Then, I stopped because I had too many shows, and it wasn't one of my favorites. Also, it's too hard to find time to watch an hour show every day. My Mom told me there is actually a Little House on the Prairie musical. I would like to see it, but unfortunately when it played near us we couldn't go and my Mom didn't tell me about it until after. I would have really liked to see it then because Melissa Gilbert played the mother. In a way, I am glad I didn't though. I would prefer to remember Melissa Gilbert than way she looked when she was on Little House on the Prairie the TV show and not the way she looks now.

Mom - When I was young, I read all the Little House on the Prairie books or at least what I thought was all the Little House on the Prairie books. It turned out there were even more of them than I thought. I never read Farmer Boy, Little Town on the Prairie, or The First Four Years. I also watched Little House on the Prairie on television. It impressed me that Melissa Gilbert felt so close to Michael Landon that when she grew up she named one of her own children after him. Ironically, I don't know what a good family man he was in real life since he met his third wife on the set of the show while he was still married to his second wife. I always felt a kinship with Melissa Gilbert because she played the kind of acting roles that I felt like I would have liked to play if I were an actress. For a while, I did want to be an actress, but I was way too quiet . I did act in the community theater when I was in my teens and twenties. Therefore,  I especially related to the roles Melissa was playing when she was in her teens and twenties, roles like Anne Frank, Helen Keller, and Rose White in the off Broadway show "A Shayna Maidel". I actually did play Rose White in a community theater production of "A Shayna Maidel" and I was also in the show "The Diary of Anne Frank" but I played Margot Frank.  When I saw Melissa on Dancing With Stars, I was shocked and couldn't believe how old she looked. Could it really have been so many years? I think the worst part was knowing that Melissa Gilbert is only about a year or so older than me, looking at her, made me feel old. I am not old. I couldn't be. I don't feel a a day older than the day I graduated college. The years keep going by, but I don't feel any different.

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

Friday, April 6, 2012

Funny Friday - Brotherly Love

Me -

When my sister Aurella was little she once said  " I miss my Jack"  (Jack is our brother).
 Mom said "Why is he your Jack?'
 Aurella answered by shouting "He 's not your Jack. He's mine and Melia's !"


Mom -

When Melia was little she said "I have a big boy."
"Who is your Big Boy?" I asked .
"Jack." she replied.

We welcome you to share your funny  stories with us. Tune in Monday for another regular Says Me Says Mom discussion topic .
  

Thursday, April 5, 2012

Lady Gaga

Me - Lady Gaga, wow! Lady Gaga is one of my top favorite singers. The other is Selena Gomez. Some of my favorite songs of  Lady Gaga are "Telephone", "Born This Way", "Bad Romance", "Poker Face"  and "Edge of Glory". I watched her on Oprah with Mom. I found out a lot of interesting facts about her like why she dresses so crazy. She said it's because she'd always been creative and loved to dress up. I learned why she calls herself Lady Gaga too. She said it was because she used to work with a person who called herself Lady Starlight, and she  (Lady Gaga) loved the Queen song "Radio Gaga." She is a really really great person even if she sometimes can weird people out because of her strange costumes.  I think a lot of what she wears is really strange too although some are not as bad. She and her mother have a foundation called The Born This Way Foundation where they get together people and tell them how they can be who they want to be, and it doesn't matter what other people think of them. As a child her named Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta she was bullied. I don't know why  because she seemed to dress normal then and she went by her real name. I get the impression that because of that she now dresses so strange because she wants to show people that she doesn't care what they think of her. She wants to show kids that they should be that way too. Anyway, however, she dresses, I really love her music. Lady Gaga is really awesome. If you haven't ever listened to her music, you should try it, and if you have and like it than you have good taste. Lady Gaga has a goof heart.

Mom - At first, I kind of thought Lady Gaga was a freak. I mean the way she dresses and all can be very strange. Then,  they covered a lot of her songs on Glee, and I started to like them. When I heard the song "Born This Way." I liked it. When I really listened to the words, I loved it. It talks about every person being important (a superstar) and every person being who  they were meant to be. That is such an important concept if more people got that and really accepted it, there would be less bullying and less wars. Those things are all about people thinking their way is the only way or there way is the better way or they have a right to tell other people what to do or how to life or that they are just out and out better than other people. Lady Gaga is all about tolerance. She doesn't just sing about it either. She and her mother have a foundation, The Born This Way Foundation, to help empower young people and stop bullying. Lady Gaga herself was bullied as a child. Some people of lesser tolerance might think that she brought it on herself if she dressed and behaved as strangely then as she does now. However, that is precisely the point. It doesn't matter how a person behaves or how they act or how they look or anything. Everyone has a right to be who they want to be and nobody else has a right to hurt them or harass them in anyway because of that. I am sure that when Lady Gaga herself was born a little girl named Stefanie Joanne Angelina Germanotta her parents had no idea what she would turn out to be. However, they must have done something right because no matter what she acts like or dresses like or anything else, her heart is definitely in the right place.

And that's our view. Tune in tomorrow for a new Friday feature.

Monday, April 2, 2012

Dancing With the Stars

Me - Dancing with the Stars, wow! Dancing With the Stars is one of the only reality shows I watch. It is so good. This season Roshon Fegan from Shake It Up, which is one of my favorite shows is dancing on the show. I very much think he will win, but there are two other people who are doing really well so far also. Melissa Gilbert from Little House on the Prairie is also on this season. Although I wasn't alive when the show was actually on, I watch reruns. As Laura, she was so cute. Now, she doesn't look anything like that. I don't believe it's her. Whenever, they show her I say to Mom "That's not Melissa Gilbert!" Whenever there is a new couple dancing, like with award shows, we get serious about everything. We say whether we like the shoes, the outfits, the hair etc. I hated the season that Nicole Scherzinger won. I really wanted Anna Trebunskaya and Evan Lysacek. I love Anna, and I really love saying her name. I'm obsessed with accents so I love that a lot of the dancers including Anna have foreign accents. There is only one accent I have ever heard that I absolutely despise and that's the one belonging to Martina Navratilova. I hate her accent so much. Dancing With the Stars is a really good show.

Mom - Dancing With the Stars is one of the few reality shows I actually like. For my girls and I, it so much more than just about the dancing. It's about the dresses and the shoes and the hair and even about the music. As we watch, we give a thumbs up or thumbs down to every element of the show. We watch the show recorded a day or two after it airs so we never vote on the outcome. Also, we don't watch the results show which, unless there is somebody appearing on it that we really want to hear singing, we think is a waste of time. I mean, why can't they just say who got eliminated at the beginning of the next episode instead of wasting a whole hour of television doing it? One of the things I really like about the show is that everybody on it is already a professional dancer or famous (or infamous) for doing something else. So if they don't win, they can go back to whatever it is they usually do. In other words, nobody is getting their dreams crushed which is one of the things I don't like about most other reality competitions. We don't watch every season of the show. We only watch when the contestants interest us. I would say we've watched about half the seasons. Our favorite was the season Kristi Yamaguchi won although last season when J.R. Martinez won was really inspiring. Generally, we agree with the final results except the season when Nicole Sherzinger won.We really wanted Evan Lysacek to win. Although I have to admit, Nicole was good and deserving of the award. We just liked Evan a little bit better. Watching Dancing With Stars almost inspires me to go out and take dancing lessons myself but if I am not going to have the wardrobe and live band and everything that they do then I think I'll pass.

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