The Sunshine Award

Welcome to my little blog about my two children, Munchkin (my 2 year old son) and Bean (my 3 year old daughter). I have always had the habit of talking on and on about my kids and what they are up to, so I started a blog to put that habit to a more useful purpose. That way, the next time one of my mom friends or family member asked me what we were up to, I could just send them a link so they could see pictures and be able to follow along. And since it's all on the internet, it also means that I can share with others around the world and hopefully inspire them!

I feel so honored, because I have been nominated for The Sunshine Award by Lauren from Real Life of Lauren. She is a mom of 3, including twins, and writes about real life, beauty, parenting, fashion and so much more!

It's my understanding that when you're nominated for The Sunshine Award, you need to do the following things:

1 - Acknowledge the blogger who nominated you, which is Lauren from Real Life of Lauren. 

2 - Share 11 random facts about yourself.

3 - Answer 11 questions the nominating blogger has created for you.

4 - List 11 bloggers who you believe deserve to be nominated and recognized (my list is near the end of this post).

5 - Post 11 questions for the bloggers you nominate to answer and let all those bloggers know that you nominated them for The Sunshine Award. (You cannot nominate the blogger that nominated you.)

11 Random facts about myself.

1 - I fancy ties, suspenders and long coats (who doesn't?).

2 - I can't wait to travel to other countries with my kids and see more of the world! I especially want to see Easter Island and the moai!

3 - I want an outdoor wedding and I hope it rains because rain is my favourite type of weather. :)

4 - I can sleep through almost anything, except my kids when they wake up in the middle of the night. 

5 - I really enjoy crafting, with or without my kids. I am currently making tons of felt creations for our felt boards! I never knew it could be so much fun! And I'm not even the one playing with them.

6 - I'm naturally disorganized (clutter finds me) and struggle daily to stay organized for my kids sake. Some days it works and other days I wonder if my kids are demi-gods with hurricane and tornado parents because as soon as I'm finished cleaning my work is undone by them in a matter of minutes. 

7 - I really love hiking and kayaking and camping and haven't been able to enjoy doing any of them in so many years that it makes me utterly sad. I really hope we have a chance to do all three this summer! 

8 - I wish I had more time to read, because I am so behind in A Song of Ice and Fire (and things will hopefully go the way I imagine they will - but probably not because George R. R. Martin kills dreams) and I get the feeling that the new season will air long before I catch up!

9 - David Tennant is my Doctor.

10 - I play 3 table top role-playing games with some of my friends - Exalted, Scion and World of Darkness (we're a White Wolf household). And I also adore my D10 collection. 

11 - My zodiac sign is Cancer and everything I've ever read about it is true about me. 

Here are my Questions from Lauren.

1. Tell us about your blog in one paragraph.

My blog is mainly about my kids and the activities that we do together. My kids love to learn and play and create arts and crafts. I love to write and take pictures. I enjoy sharing our activities with others, which is the purpose of the blog. :)

2. What is your most favorite and least favorite thing about blogging?

My favourite thing about blogging is that I'm able to share my ideas with others and learn from other bloggers as well. My least favourite thing about blogging is that it can sometimes be time-consuming and I wish there were more hours in the day! (Not just for the blog, but to have more time with my kids.)

3. You're having a fabulous dinner party. Which three celebrities would you invite and why?

Oh, that's a tough one! But after much thought, it would definitely have to be Jensen Ackles (Supernatural), Vin Diesel (Chronicles of Riddick) and Tahmoh Penikett (Battlestar Galactica). Not because they are my absolute favourite actors, but because I would love to sit back and see what happens. I imagine their conversations would be pretty awesome and possibly nerdy. (Can you tell I'm a nerd?) Honestly it was really hard not to choose David Tennant or Tom Hiddleston. But the other three have more connections with each other (Jensen works with Tahmoh currently on Supernatural, and Vin's recent Riddick movie starred Katee Sackhoff who was in BSG with Tahmoh). I'm not an overly talkative person, so I would just enjoy being the quiet hostess (hopefully that doesn't make me sound creepy) and let them do the talking. 

4. You are giving a motivational speech to a captive audience of thousands. What are you speaking about?

I'm probably completely silent and in shock. Why am I giving a motivational speech to a captive crowd of thousands? What did I get myself into? I do not do well with speaking under pressure. I probably had a speech in mind but failed to write it down because this time I would definitely not freeze up and forget it all. But I totally forgot it all and now I'm being stared at. I slowly, carefully, walk off the stage before I hyperventilate and faint...

I have no idea what I would be giving a motivational speech about. :)

5. Tell us three really random things about you.

I'm addicted to tea. And for an addiction, I'm glad it's a healthy one! I drink over 10 cups of tea a day. Hopefully that's normal. :) 

I adore Irish accents (I'm Irish by blood) and totally wish I shared the accent! However, born in Massachusetts and raised all over NE, I have a wicked New England accent. ;) It will have to do!  

My wonderful and loving boyfriend is responsible for getting me into board games, table top role-playing games and other nerdy hobbies. And I love him for it!

6. For one month, your blog can only be read by men. Give us a small sampling of what you'd write.

Oh, if my blog was only being read by men for a month I would definitely write about raising nerdy kids, creating fun sport themed, nerd themed and outdoor activities, tips and tricks from a moms point of view (since I find that sometimes helps them) and write about dad's favourite recipes! But for the most part I'd keep it the same as it is now. 

7. Show us a silly or quirky picture of you from when you are younger.

This is a picture from 2010.. that's technically from when I was younger! (I honestly don't have many pictures from when I was younger than that.) And I'm not known for silliness or quirkiness... So this picture is of me after I had decided to roll down a really steep hill. It was tons of fun! 

8. Does your immediate family and your close friends know that you blog? Do they read your blog?

Some of them do and other's don't really care because they don't understand the internet or why I even choose to write about stuff online. :) The ones who read my blog apparently love it and share it with their friends, so I guess that's a good thing. :)

9. Generations after you've passed your grandchildren discover your blog. What lessons could they learn from your blog?

They would learn lots of fun activities for children, delicious recipes, fun DIY craft projects, learning activities and different ways to play, to name a few. I hope that they would enjoy looking at the projects and fun activities their parents did as a kid. (And hopefully my kids will have passed on those activities to their own kids!)

10. Five years from now, are you still blogging? Is your content still the same? What goals have you achieved?

I truly hope so!! My content will grow as my children do and the age ranges will vary. But hopefully I'll have another child by then so I can continue posting about activities for younger kids. I have more readers than I thought I would! That makes me so happy and I'm really glad others enjoy our activities! I hope in 5 years my blog will be bigger and with more readers!

Now for my Nominations...

Blayne from House of Burke

Dyan from And Next Comes L

Laura from LalyMom

Georgina from Craftulate

Sanz from From The Mrs Blog

Heather from Crayon Box Chronicles 

Leanna and Colleen from Sugar Aunts

Leah from Sandy Toes Creations

Ann from My Nearest and Dearest

Kimberly from Natural Beach Living

Rachel from Racheous

These are all wonderful bloggers and I read their blogs quite often. You should definitely check them out! :)

Now for my Questions..

1 - If you could vacation anywhere, knowing the vacation was completely free or paid for, where would you go?

2 - When you were a kid, what was your dream job? Did it ever become reality? 

3 - What would you put in a time capsule for your children to open when they turn 18?

4 - If you were stuck in a time loop (think Groundhog Day), how would you spend the rest of your life?

5 - What book are you currently reading?

6 - What would you do if you won the lottery? 

7 - What skill do you wish you had? 

8 - What subject in school did you like best?

9 - Long or short hair?

10 - What is your favourite type of flower?

11 - Who is your favourite artist? 

Thank you for nominating me Lauren and I look forward to reading the award posts from the bloggers I nominated!

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