Weekend Circle Time: Mom's Slumber Party Edition

I am posting this a little later than I planned, because I have been away from the computer for the last 24 hrs. I was gone on a "mom's night out".....as in, a night in a hotel.
Away from my children.

To sleep all night without being awakened at 2am by a person standing by my bed
and poking me in the eye.

Or losing their favorite stuffed animal in the middle of the night,
thus creating the need for a search party.

And no snoring husband (but you know I love ya, babe....).

As far as I can remember, I had never been away from my kids--without Josh--for overnight before....well, apart from the time that I was deathly ill and pregnant so my dear husband took our baby and went to stay at his parents' house so I could rest.
It was a weird (and wonderful) feeling. ;-) I am very grateful for a husband who will let me do this sort of thing. He knew that I was due for a dose of sanity....

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So anyway.....here is my collection of "things learned/enjoyed" this week. Hope you have as relaxing a weekend as I had!

1. This is an old post, but I have just discovered this blog and am trying to catch up on all of its bloggy goodness. :-) It just cracked me, as I feel this way many days. In fact, I always wonder what my daycare families think about my clothing get-ups. lol. Read and enjoy!

2. I am glad that I am not the only wife who does this sort of thing...... ;-)

3. This post greatly amused me......why do we put ourselves through this torture?!

4. A very good reminder for me......I need those every once in awhile. ha ha!

5. This mom always makes me feel motivated, for some reason. :-) She actually has inspired me ever since I was a meek little college freshman.....and I adore her artwork. I have 3 of her "works" hanging in my house, and I am scheming how to acquire more.

I had my fun last night, and now I am refreshed and ready to be a mom again. Hope you get your chance to "get away" every once in awhile!

Friday Circle Time: Tree Trimming Edition

We are a little behind here at ToddlerWorld, and will just be getting to the Christmas decorating this weekend. (This way, I have an excuse to leave the tree up til New Year's though.....*wink wink*)

I love looking at all of the fun ideas for Christmas. As my children grow, I am trying to establish Christmas traditions that will be meaningful for years to come. Several of the ideas I am sharing this week have potential for becoming ToddlerWorld traditions.....

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1. This blog is a great resource for Advent ideas. I am trying to incorporate some aspects of Advent into our Christmas preparation this year.

2. I thought this tree skirt was adorable! I am already blessed to have a beautiful handmade one that we got as a wedding present.....but someday, when I have TWO TREES in my French mansion, I can make this one. ;-)

3. One of my favorite bloggers ever....and one of the coolest Christmas countdowns I have seen! (Now to buy myself the ladder I have always coveted for my house......)

4. This has quickly become my favorite finance blog (aside from the one my hubby writes for, of course :-). He has some good ideas for frugal gift giving, as well as links to other gift-giving ideas.

5. My friend has some good ideas for decorating and putting away after Christmas. Maybe I should have implemented these LAST year....now where did I put those lights??

Friday Circle Time (now that it is Saturday....)

I was so busy working on other posts for other times and other blogs, that I completely forgot about today's post. And the idea I was cultivating for it will need to wait until next week....I have more work to do. :-)

So today's "round-up" of info is slightly lame....sorry. I promise I will share more inspirational things next week!

...........................................................................................................................................

1. In light of this week's big movie (Old Sun or something-er-other), I found this post extremely amusing. (This amusement could also be because I am not a fan--at all--of Christian novels. :-)

2. This church seems to be doing things right.....I loved exploring their recommended book list!

3. So...I don't know how to sew AT ALL (hmm, that is the second time I used those two words in this post--must be my bedtime.....) But I really find this blog fascinating. I don't know if it is the name--it slightly confuses me--or if it is the carefree way she conducts her life. Either one appeals to my boring personality, so I figured I would share with all of you. lol

4. This woman never fails to inspire me.....I feel happier just looking at her blog. :-) I loved this idea that she shared for fixing up your boring recipe file.

5. And stop over and visit my new blog---Woman Shall Not Live by Coffee Alone. Yes, the title is unbearably long....but it was the best I could do, ok?! I am so excited to have a place where I can ramble on about my secret love affair.
(With food! Come on, people.....)

~~Enjoy your weekend! Remember to take the time for those most important to you!~~

Friday Circle Time

I did not have time to "browse the web" as I would have liked this week.....and it kills me, knowing all of that great info and inspiration is floating around out there. :-)

Here are a few of the things I did "learn" this week, in spite of my lack of web-surfing time. It is actually just a collection of blogs that I have enjoyed and learned from......more sharing next week!

.....................................................................................................................................

1. I have been trying to expand my slow cooker repetoire....."A Year of Slow Cooking" will greatly help. :-)

2. It is very fun to stumble upon a new blog.....one that is full of humor, encouragement, endearment (and beautiful photography :-) This is just such a blog. See if you like it as much as me!

3. I write a post once a week (ideally...*wink wink*) for Erin at Bargain Meal of the Week, and her blog is such an inspiration to me! She is amazing, the cheap meals she comes up with. Check $5 Dinners out!

4. If you like FREE things, then you need to check out this blog......

5. And last but not least.....the pictures on this blog are AMAZING! (What can I say? I am a sucker for great photography. :-)

~~Happy weekend to you.....make sure you take time to enjoy family and friends, not just activities and objects !~~

Friday Circle Time

Gather around the circle, class. We are going to share some of the things that we learned this week!

(Feel like you are in preschool again?.....Good. That is what I am best at---making people feel like preschoolers. :-)

I wanted to start a new feature here at ToddlerWorld.....and since I am a preschool teacher, "circle time" popped into my head. I loved doing circle time with my preschoolers. They got so excited, knowing we were going to review all of the things we had learned that week and share special things about ourselves. So.....every Friday, I am going to gather you around me and share all of the favorite things I found this week. Hopefully they will inspire you, inform you, make you laugh or make you cry!

~Here is what I "learned" this week:~

1. Check out Shabby Blogs for free blog backgrounds! I adore them all....I just may have to redo my template, so I can use one of them. :-)

2. This is a great article for moms from the Family Life Mom Blog. I will probably use some of these snack ideas for my daycare kids.....

3. This woman never fails to touch my heart or make me laugh til I cry......check out her latest post.

4. I found some great ideas for Halloween costumes and fun fall projects over at Family Fun. It is one of my favorite "idea spots" when I cannot find any creativity in myself. :-)

5. And yes, I am very behind the times but I just tried out......PANDORA!!! And I love it! If you are one of the minority who has still not tried it, you should! It is very fun.