For those of you who aren’t familiar with #AskAwayFriday it’s an amazing way to meet new bloggers, make friends and ask some questions to get to know them better! We now have four permanent hosts ~ Penny at The Real Housewife of Caroline County, Tiffany at Mrs. Tee – Love, Life, and Laughter, Amber at Bold Fab Mom and Stacey at This Momma’s Ramblings. 10 questions are exchanged and answered on your partners blog, you can get as creative as you want and even get into our purses! This is my Week 14 of #AskAwayFriday where I spill my guts to all of you!
- In week 1, I told Amber whether I plan on practicing as an attorney.
- In week 2, Heather got me to show you what I had under my bed.
- In week 3, Stacey had me tell you about my unaccomplished dream.
- In week 4, I told Christy all about the best parenting advice I’ve ever received.
- In week 5, I shared with Penny how I think boys are different from girls.
- In week 6, Sarah wanted to know my favorite room in the house.
- In week 7. I talked to Tiffany a little bit about how to “healthify” her favorite snacks.
- In week 8, I shared with Rabia the women who made a positive impact for Women’s History Month.
- In week 9, Bev had me share some recent pictures and the stories behind them.
- In week 10, Sonya got me to sing… almost!
- In week 11, I admitted to my biggest weight loss hurdle.
- In week 12, I admitted to my legal woes.
- In week 13, I talked about what I felt was a big problem in the US.
Check them all out! This week, I exchange questions with organizing expert Beth from Structure in an Unstructured Life. She is a wife and mother of two adorable little boys. 1. You have three kiddos – what are your favorite and least favorite things about each of their ages? I’ve started to teach my eldest, Bunny (10) to cook. He can make baked chicken and spaghetti if I were in desperate need and didn’t have the time. I’m not a fan of the lying. It seems to have quadrupled and over no reason at all. Like this weekend, I asked him where he got a clothespin. His response “I don’t know”. I told him to put it in the garage, he immediately responded, I got it from school. Just lies for absolutely no reason. Bee is 2. Well, she’s two. She’s going through her terrible two’s, which I’m not sure will just be the age two for her. She seems to have been in this stage since birth. She’s one tough, adamant cookie who HATES to take “no” for an answer. Not only is it annoying, but it wears on you. I love that she’s learning. She can count up to 15, knows most of her letters, colors, shapes and numbers by sight. I love quizzing her and giving her hugs when she gets them right. Butterfly will be 6 months on Tuesday. She’s really sweet and smiley baby. I love watching her trying to do things, especially while watching her older siblings run around. She’s got abs of steel already! I don’t like that she doesn’t sleep through the night (neither does Bee – big DISLIKE). I miss my rest and you can completely see it in my face and under my eyes!
2. It’s Easter weekend! What is your very favorite part of this holiday? As a Christian, I so totally wish it was about our church service, but since most Easter Sundays are relatively the same, I like watching the kids hunt for eggs. I love watching them grow from year to year, one year me having to find them for them, the next, them spotting every egg in the park, just not fast enough to get there before others.
3. It’s also your birthday weekend! Happy Birthday! What’s one life lesson you have learned since your last birthday? That I’m not always right! LOL! I never did really think that, but I’ve taken the back seat to offering my opinion a lot more and am learning to listen. I try not to have “the answer” on the tip of my tongue so that as soon as the person stops talking, I jump in with a response. It’s been hard, but I’ve learned so much from people, including online. I have slowed in reading the title of the post and being upset before I have even read the post! I’m still a work in progress.
4. I read your recent post about not getting the big deal about seeing movies at the theater. I completely agree! If you and the hubby are watching a movie at home, what type of movie do you usually pick? We watch movies almost every weekend, it’s cheap and easy (Thanks, Redbox!). We normally start with the blockbusters, the ones that everyone is talking about. Right now, we’re almost done with the Oscar winners. Then we move on to those recommended on our favorite talk show, Adam Carolla. There’s a segment called Ballywood, where they talk about movies and give their opinions. They aren’t always right, but it’s a place to start. Then we get to the movies that just fit our my mood. As you see, it’s a complicated process! LOL! But the popcorn is the best!
5. We share the goal of toning up and making our muscles strong. Do you have any advice for ways to do this while involving the kids? Since my two little ones are actually still little, I’ll use them as weights, especially if they keep buzzing around my feet. Butterfly is about 16 pounds and Bee is about 28. So, I try to incorporate them into the exercise. If I can’t do that, I try to get them to do it with me. It’s never to early to teach them actual exercise, because as much fun as it is to play outside, you’re probably not going to be running the streets at 30.
6. Being a goal setter myself, I loved reading over your goal update. Of the 12 goal areas you are working on this year, which one is the most challenging and why? Losing weight… which is why I started this blog. I’m not a self-motivator when it comes to working out. I love doing things as teams. I always excelled playing team sports, and even when it was an individual sport, I would have some great friends that did the same activity (i.e., shot put). I even quit going on to state championships because I didn’t want to be alone in shot put ~ all day by myself. If I have someone with me, cheering me along, or doing it with me, I do great! When I do it alone, I struggle. Occasionally, I’ll find some self motivation, like when I lost the weight with P90x and Insanity, but with two new little ones, I struggle finding that again.
7. I’ve been asking this one for the last month, but I get to ask one more time – would you rather have an Easter basket filled with chocolate eggs or jelly beans? Chocolate eggs. I love chocolate and can eat it all day, which is why I rarely buy it! Yummy!
8. If you had to choose one cause you are most passionate about, what would it be? That’s so hard because I do care about so much. I’d choose young women and girls around me. Having gone to law school, graduated and become a stay at home mother, I find that there’s little information and support for making those decisions, about making and saving money, what to do if you change your mind and how to consistently support yourself. If you went to school, you are somewhat shamed for not “using” your degree, yet I probably wouldn’t have the opportunity to be a SAHM had I not gone to college. I would love to educate young women about their options, their choices and just because you have a brain to get a great job, that job may suck and you don’t HAVE to do it. Does that make sense?
9. Would you rather have a day at the spa, a day site seeing, or a day shopping? Shopping would be a NO! I hate shopping and all forms of it, including online. Probably a day at the spa because I desperately need a back massage! Carrying a baby is no joke!
10. You offer a lot of great giveaways on your blog! What is your favorite giveaway you have ever offered? I kind of go through seasons, right now, I’m running 5, but in a couple of weeks, I probably won’t have any. Ultimately I love the money giveaways, they give you the flexibility to buy what you need. Although some of the prizes are awesome, it’s not that awesome when you just got a bill for $500 from your doctor.
Head on over to Beth’s place and see her answers to my questions.
Holy cow are your kids cute!
We're doing an Easter Egg Hunt/Easter Bunny breakfast this weekend. My kids are of mixed faiths so we try to do everything and it can be hard! Especially when you really talk about the meanings of the holidays. I wouldn't change it, though. I'm grateful they get to experience a lot. I love what you said about Easter.
And Happy Birthday to you!
I used to love shopping but now it makes me tired. And chocolate eggs for me! Glad they're only once a year or I'd get into trouble with them..
And don't forget to add your link on my site, or Tiffany's or Stacey's!
Hi April! You're right…most churches don't really do anything special for Easter besides a short skit or something. I do wish that was different. My family partiicipates in an Easter Egg Hunt every year and my Kiddies love it…it's so much fun to watch them get so determined to find those eggs.
Great swap with Beth…hope to see you again next week
I think we have been to the movies only once this year. Sometimes my husband will go alone or with his mom, simply because the movies cost too much. I actually enjoy watching movies from home bc I can pause it for breaks if needed. And I don't have to fight off the urge to splurge on expensive concession stand drinks or food.
I so remembered those days of the toddler and baby stages as I read your answer! Although, my boys are 7 and 4 and I am *still* waiting for that guaranteed full night of sleep!
LOVED your thought about the kids learning to exercise like grown ups do. I so often try to get activity in in THEIR way – running around the yard or playing ball – but you are so right, you really don't often see adults doing those things. So they should learn about "adult" exercise early on so it comes naturally for them!
Also loved your thoughts about educating and mentoring girls on their choices. I can so relate to that feeling that if you are not "using" your degree, you are wasting it.
Happy Easter and Happy Birthday! Thanks for swapping!!
We have to be realistic, it's easy to run around when you're a kid, but as "life" gets in the way, going to a gym or pulling out a dvd seems foreign. If we want them to keep it up in the future, we have to make them feel comfortable with something that's problem not so. I loved switching with you! I'm so glad I had the opportunity to learn more about you!
Happy Birthday to you! My hubby and I don't do theaters either…the last movie we saw at the theater was The Lorax! Our church does do some things that focus on the Easter Season, such as we always celebrate Maundy Thursday, this year they had a Seder meal similar to the Last Supper. For this Sunday service, they will be baptizing some of the children. Haha! I hate shopping, too! If I could order my groceries online I would just to eliminate the trip to the store. Hope you have an amazing weekend!
I wish it were more than just a church service, especially since it's such an important day in the Christian faith. Maybe I'll work with my FIL to make next year something special. We did go to the Lego movie, but by about 2/3 of the way through, two of the kids were ready to go! Too much work! You can order groceries online! I think Amazon does it.
I'm definitely a chocolate lover so we have that in common for sure! So precious to see all of you kids. I don't think I've seen a pic of all of them like that. They truly are adorable. I can't believe you hate shopping! I really enjoy it. It was nice to read a couple of more nuggets about you. It's also great to be back to see what you are up to.
No, I don't. Part of it is that I'm too pragmatic. We don't have a lot of money and I don't go very many places, so I don't know what need I have for new clothes. The other part is that things don't typically fit me well, and it's very depressing to try things on that look good on the rack to look awful in it. Granted, things have changed in the last decade for shapes and sizes, but then it goes back to point one! LOL!