Anne is a 30-something full-time SAHM mom of 5 ranging from 3 to 17 and grandma of 1 who resides in Ashwaubenon (Green Bay) Wisconsin. She started blogging in 2008 as a way to regain her sanity. She enjoys coffee, chocolate, cheeseburgers and vodka along with spending time with her husband and kids.
If you follow me on Instagram, Twitter or Tumblr, you already know what this post is about. If not, you should start following me now!
Anywho….on May 20th my (little) 15 year-old son Zack, walked into our local McDonald’s and walked out as one of their newest employees.
On June 2nd he completed his orientation and returned home with his work uniform.
Since orientation, he’s worked 5 shifts, is on the schedule next week for 3 more, has mastered making an ice cream cone and a McFlurry and received his very first paycheck and had it direct deposited into his very own checking account and then he transferred most of it to his savings account.
Look at this kid, hard at work!
Have I mentioned yet how proud I am of this kid?? Working, volunteering (already met his 24 hours of community service requirement to graduate before entering his sophmore year and has no intention to stop), awesome big brother, lawn boy, responsible and sooooo much more.
*This post is brought to you by SKIT I received a promotional item in order to facilitate this review. All thoughts and opinions are my own. This post may contain affiliate links.*
If you have kids who love to create, you are going to want to introduce them to the SKIT app! Alexander and Ellie are getting better at using my iPad every day and I’m always looking for new apps for them to try out and SKIT has been occupying their screentime a lot over the last few days.
For those who haven’t heard of SKIT, it is this really cool app that lets you create and share animated video messages using your photos and embellishing them with crazy outfits, filters, stickers and so much more. To top it all off, SKIT just released a bunch of LEGO characters and backgrounds so everyone can have some more fun!
Here is a picture I found on my iPad after Alexander was playing with it this morning.
Get creative and select backgrounds, characters and props for story telling
Import your own photos (or ones from the internet) by tapping the + on the screen and then select from your photo library
Personalize and change photos using icons from the left toolbar to crop, add text, draw & incorporate props
Continue to add as many characters, photos, props, etc. as you wish
Make it rain or snow, create a dream sequence with our camera filters, or even play (safely) with fire!
Now it’s time to use your voice. Tap the record button. When you hear the word Go, use your fingers to move the characters around on the screen as you narrate the story to bring your characters to life
Press play to preview your SKIT!
Press share and send your skit privately to friends or share it with the entire SKIT! community
So, what are you waiting for??? Download SKIT and start creating today!
*This post is made possible by participating in a blog campaign by Global Influence on behalf of Family Dollar and Dove. I was compensated for this post. All thoughts and opinions are my own. This post may contain affiliate links.*
Picking a woman in my family who is inspirational to me is not a hard task. Out of all of them (and there are A LOT), the one who inspires me the most is my mom. Here she is, turning 60 in 9 months and she looks like she is in her 30’s. She inspires me to be the mom that I am, to be a better person and to be me.
Seriously, does she look old enough to have 40 and 35 year old daughters and 7 grandchildren???
Honestly, my mom is great. She has taught me how to be the mom I am today and she even loves that I am a stay at home mom. Knowing that she supports my decision to stay home with the kids really makes me happy!
Yep, that’s me and my mom….be jealous because she is beautiful and she is awesome!
Now through June 26th, Family Dollar and Dove want to know who inspires you and wants you to show off your true beauty in their #FDBeautyIs contest for your chance to win a trip to New York City!!!!
Entering the contest is super easy to do!
Step 1 Grab a camera or a phone and snap a picture of you and the family member that inspires you.
Step 2 Share your photo on Instagram or Twitter using the hashtag #FDBeautyIs
Step 3 Head over to the Family Dollar site and register with your contact info.
BONUS STEP
Step 4 Share your picture URL for an extra entry EACH day!
In addition to entering the contest, you can head over to your local Family Dollar and save $2 instantly when you buy any 2 participating Dove items until June 26th 2014.
Who is the woman in your family that inspires you?
Now that the school year has ended and the warm weather has arrived, we are doing our best to soak it all in. This past Friday, we celebrated the start of summer break by taking a much needed daycation to Door County.
Door County is my favorite place in Wisconsin, aside from Green Bay/Ashwaubenon. It’s a great place to escape to when you need to get away and it is absolutely beautiful and filled with lots of fun things to do!
We started our trip with a quick stop for some drinks and breakfast. While we waited in the van, Ellie asked me to take a picture.
While we were on our journey, we thought the kids should learn something so I oulled over at a historical landmark and had Zack read it to all of us.
That was our educational moment on the trip.
We decided we would drive straight through Door County and go right to Gills Rock (the tip of the thumb) and work our way back down.
When we got to Gills Rock it was crazy windy and a bit chilly. We got out of the van, walked around for a few minutes and checked out the gift shops and picked up a few things. Once we were freezing our buns off, we decided it was time to begin our journey down the peninsula but first, Zack and I had to snap a quick pic together.
Once we left Gills Rock, we made the decision to head down to Sister Bay and grab lunch at the infamous Al Johnson’s.
When we were walking up to the entrance of Al Johnson’s they had this cute bench and I wanted to get a picture of all 5 kids together. This is the closest I got…..4 out of 5 kids looking at the camera.
We were really surprised to see just how BIG the menus were.
Not only was the food delicious but the kids got to see the goats on the roof too. Yes, goats on the roof!
After lunch we made a few stops at some local shops before heading to Ephraim to get some ice cream from Wilson’s Restaurant and Ice Cream Parlor. *Alex and I went to Wilson’s on our first date for dessert almost 8 years ago.
Once we had devoured our ice cream and cleaned everyone up, including Ellie who managed to get an upset tummy without eating anything, I decided to head over to the local beach and let everyone dip their toes in the water.
We got lucky when we got over to the beach that it was finally warm enough for the little kids to go play in the sand and even go swimming and we spent the next 2 hours at the beach having fun.
The kids all had soooo much fun. This was Joey’s first experience with sand and he absolutely LOVED it.
Love might not even be the right word to describe just how much he enjoyed it.
One of my favorite moments of Joey’s first trip to the beach was seeing his face beam with happiness when he was hanging out with Alex.
If there is one thing that I know for sure it is that Joey LOVES his daddy!
I really enjoyed just sitting on the beach with this as my view.
After all the fun of playing at the beach we hit a few more stores in Fish Creek and Egg Harbor, picked up a 6 pack of Shipwrecked Door County Cherry Wheat beer and made our way home.
I’m so fun that everyone had such a great time and I can’t wait to do it again. We are already planning on going back up in July.
Wisconsin is the place to be in the summer as it is filled with festivals, fairs, and so much more. The great thing is you don’t have to visit a large city for big fun.
Festivals can be found throughout Wisconsin which means you can find something fun to do everywhere you go.
Here is a list of fun events taking place in Mukwonago this summer!
Mukwonago is a town of less than 7500 residents that spans just over 8 square miles of Wisconsin. It is a small town that boasts a lot of fun and things to do for every one!
