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Rhyming Charades! Fun for the whole family ! Enjoy!

Hey everyone !!! Happy Wednesday! I know everyone is still in quarantine. This time can be scary or confusing for children. My kids are young and just more confused. I am filling their days with fun in the sun and lots of positivity. As a writer and a mother … I wanted to put together a book that inspires during this time. My absolute favorite children’s book that helps inspire and motivate is … Oh The Places You’ll Go by Dr. Seuss. I decided that although we are unable to physically go anywhere during this time .. we can still succeed at school .. we can still succeed at virtually staying in touch.. and we can still succeed at life in general. We must count our blessings. I did a little remake of Oh The Places You’ll Go and made it a Quarantine Version :-)! I hope you all enjoy !

The struggle has been real! I have gone through a total of 112 NO’S! 112 agents and publishers have denied my work. I understand how competitive the writing world can be and how many brilliant illustrator and authors are in this world. As much as I don’t take it personal, it can take its toll. I pretty much hit rock bottom and I told my husband I might just give up the dream of being published. He honestly believed I would, but I couldn’t stop sending manuscripts out. The passion just would not go away. It didn’t matter how long it was taking or how many people turned me away… I wanted this!

The process began in May 2019. I sent. And sent. And sent. And was denied. And denied. And denied. Then offered a deal, that wasn’t the right fit. Then was offered another deal, which wasn’t the right fit. Then back to denied.. denied..denied. Fast forward to February 2020… I was finally offered my first ever publishing deal !!! The most exciting part, the book I wrote was one of my favorites! My son is the main character! I was beyond shocked and grateful! I will finally be having a book published in 2021! The blessings did not stop there….

Three weeks after I signed the contract, I was contacted by another publisher. They not only wanted to publish one of my book’s, but 2!!!!! I absolutely love what this company stands for and instantly felt connected ! God had answered my prayers. My passion and drive pushed me here. I will be having a book published by this company in 2021 and another in 2022! My heart is so happy! Dreams do come true. You just need to work your ass off and never take No for an answer ! I can’t wait to share this journey with you all! Cheers to 3 books and hopefully many more ! Also during this time .. I pray every family is staying safe and trying to see the light during the darkness. Love you all for the support !!!

Officially a children’s book author !!!!! Woot woot!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Today is special.

I have been speaking about the constant grind of becoming a children’s book author. I can honestly say, I have received so many denials. Normally… in life.. I allowed failure to define me. If I failed , I eventually gave up. This is how I know, writing is my absolute passion! The denials lit a fire under my ass. I spend so much of my day, writing new stories, editing old ones, sending submissions, learning the field, I literally dream of stories at this point. It has consumed me. I received an email today that has made this hard work finally pay off. I won’t speak on anything just yet, but just know… dreams really do come true. But you must work for them. You must put your all into it. I will keep you all updated on the exciting things to come. Thank you God and my family and friends for the constant support. I am off to go eat some heart-shaped pizza, and I may just pour myself some tequila ! Enjoy this day of love! I know I will be !

HAPPY FRIDAY!

This week has been super positive ! Let’s share ..

Monday : Kids had off school and had a play date ! So fun!

Tuesday: My boys first dentist appointment! He did amazing!!!! So he was spoiled with McDonalds :-)!

Wednesday: Girls have Acro .. so always a great night on Wednesdays !

Thursday: Family movie night ! Watched the new Adams Family :-)!

Friday: Today my girls are getting picked up early for the dentist (they are pumped!) then some spoiling at McDonald’s after! Then tonight … daddy is taking the kids for a play date while mommy has a much needed girls night :-)! Woot woot!

Also…. drumroll please …

I feel like I finally made a breakthrough in writing this week! I had a beyond generous author critique my stories which feels like a victory! I am so appreciative that someone took the time out to help me along this journey. There has been so many denials and defeats recently .. but persistence and belief in myself has now been rewarded! So excited to better my writing and keep at it! There are great people in this world!

POSITIVITY PLEASE AND THANK YOU! Have an amazing weekend !!!

Well let’s just say.. I have been in a rut recently …

The book publishing world is not for the weak…

Today … I doubted myself .. like really really doubted myself …

Endless denials or too much money needed out of my pocket to gain the success of being an author..

I had a break down on the phone with my husband and said … I just want to be successful ..and he said …. YOU ARE .. YOU ARE A SUCCESSFUL MOTHER.

I then took a deep breath and looked around … I had finished cooking dinner, kids were happily playing in their play room, house is clean … and that in itself is success… especially after a week of all 3 of my babies having the stomach bug.. days apart 😦

Then my oldest came up to me and said .. “did my perfume come yet?” I said .. “it will be here tomorrow :-)” (she is 6 but insists she have her own perfume to smell beautiful when we go out to dinner) so I have perfume being delivered for her and my other daughter. She then said, “you are the best mom ever I love you !” … and yes this would be how I define success.

For all the mothers working and struggling to balance life … u are everything ! U are successful!

For all the stay at home mothers (like myself) trying so hard to identify as something other than 24 hour mother .. u are everything ! U are successful!

I can’t let the failure define me or my goals …

I have been slack-a-lackinnnnnn when it comes to blogging! My weekend was full of fun and I have also been fully investing myself in trying to get published. A slow and steady battle it has been!

Let’s Talk About The Weekend!

• Friday: Went to Ye Old Centerton Inn (for the first time).. this place has been there since 1706! It used to be a hotel back in the day. My husband and I .. looooooove old-fashioned.. kept original.. type of places. THIS WAS RIGHT UP OUR ALLEY! The kids loved it so much too! The girls asked me what the radiator was HAHAHA It was hands down the most fun night ! We enjoyed amazing food, amazing service, all by the warmth of their fireplace. HIGHLY RECOMMEND. Also .. I decided to test the girls out. I allowed them to go to the bathroom by themselves.. it was a 1 person only bathroom. I decided to walk up to the door after they were in there. I then started to bang on the door repeatedly.. they kept calling out “YES?!” Hahaha (clearly I need to teach them to respond with, “someone is in here”) .. then I decided to repeatedly shake the door handle like I was trying to break in.. they then were yelling, “YESSSSS?!!! THIS IS FREAKY!!!” Hahaha ( I never once answered, I wanted to see what they would do.. trying to teach that Stranger Danger 101)… after a solid 5 mins .. they walked out so chill .. like no one was banging on the door for the past 5 mins hahahaha … I told them … next time .. please come out ninja kicking. Lesson learned.
  

• Saturday: Daddy had off work!!! (Which is rare, so you know I planned for a nice family day) … we took the kids to see Jumanji The Next Level in the theaters.. it was so fun and the movie was great! All of the actors had me cracking up! They really got in character ! After the movies , we relaxed at home .. until it was time to head to my niece’s 1st birthday party ! The party was such a great time! So many laughs, great family, awesome food, and of course .. the most beautiful birthday girl!
  

• Sunday: We had a pretty chill morning , then headed out to get together with family we did not see over the holidays. It was like Christmas all over again! Kids opened gifts, we enjoyed food and drinks, and it was overall… such an amazing night!
  

So basically … our weekend was filled with fun and family!

Okay… so now for this slow and steady process of getting my picture books published …

• I have only been persistently pursuing this since the summertime (so almost going on 8 months) .. and damnnnnn I’m spent! I am constantly going on Twitter for tips and support .. and just saw a question posted … “How long was the process before getting your first book published?” … average answer was……………….. wait for it …………… keep waiting ………………….. keep waiting …………. this is all you will do anyways ….. is wait…. and wait……… and wait…… because…… the average answer was ………. 6 years! And a ton of responses of 10+ years. Now… I am a pretty patient person… but that being said ….. I will do everything in my power to cut that answer in half! No like honestly cut that answer in pieces ! If I have to self publish in the end … I will. But come on writing gods… just bless me with some luck please. So over the weekend, and yesterday .. I sent more stories to publishing companies as well as agents. I am doing my homework on a DAILY to strive to get better and revise my work, as well as pursue what I want ! I will fail a million times just to reach my end goal! End of story. So for all the other struggling authors out there … we got this.. we also have tequila .. remember that too …we also have tequila.
  

So sorry I have not been on to write … lots of updates from the holiday !

Christmas is always such a magical time! My absolute favorite things are …

• The joy my children experience ! Hands down .. brings me the most happiness !
• The family time! Holidays always bring the entire family together 🙂 we share laughs, great food, yummy drinks, and the best memories !
• The gift giving.. it’s not about receiving it is about giving! I truly believe in that! I am so over joyed to gift my friends and family heart felt gifts that will make them smile. I do have to say… the gifts I received this year from friends and family … completely blew me away! I felt so much love and appreciation it was unreal! I honestly shed tears of gratitude for the unbelievable heart felt gifts I received. This year was difficult on my family due to losing my grandfather.. he was humble and kind and the one we all looked up to. I have to say … I felt his presence and I want to thank every single person in my life that continued to spread the Christmas magic and making a difficult time more bearable. I truly have been reminded to stay connected with your loved ones and always remind them how special they are to you.
  

Now .. my husband and I have been convinced.. our continued tradition on just about every holiday has become … sick babies 😦 It is 1,2, or all 3 that get hit with some kind of sickness on a holiday . My poor Layla had the stomach bug on Christmas Day 😦 Our morning and afternoon was beautiful and our night ended with a sick baby in our bed. But honestly, it never took away from our happiness. We are not perfect. We get stressed when our children are sick. We become exhausted. But in the end … things could always be worse. We have so many blessings to be grateful for. Our girl is now feeling great and all 3 of the kids are enjoying their goodies from Santa!

I hope everyone had a magical day filled with love ❤️

What an amazing past 2 days! Friday and Saturday were filled with many memories, smiles, and pure joy!

FRIDAY

• The girls had their holiday class party and it was their last day of school before Christmas break ! My favorite .. because I get spoiled with my kids for almost 2 weeks! So exciting! I’d rather have warm weather but we will just enjoy lots of hot chocolate 🙂
• I absolutely love to go to my children’s class parties! I get so much joy seeing all the kids in the class filled with excitement! There is no better feeling!
• So when I entered the school (with a case of water, 2 cases of juices, 4 teachers gifts, and 36 student gifts) , the fire alarm went off ( of course ! Hahaha ) Thankfully I was able to put the items down in the office before exiting the building , about 95% of the parents were not so lucky. So there everyone stood in the freezing cold, arms filled, until fire department showed up to clear the building (it was a false alarm thank goodness!) and it created laughs for all the staff and parents 🙂
• I then made my way to Savannah’s class to drop gifts off and give my girl a kiss (she had me for Halloween, so I was going to help Layla’s class for Christmas) .. I walked in to see Savannah with red down her face, her beautiful sweater now dyed red (was white), hands were stained red… yes I decided to spray their hair red this year *pretty sure that bottle was defective hahahaha* MOM FAIL!
• Now onto Layla’s class .. walked into the room to see my daughter was now transformed into a tomato .. she was even worse than Savannah! MOM FAIL x2! Another fail only to bring more laughs hahaha Her party went perfect ! The kids played games, had delicious treats, and everyone really enjoyed themselves . The present for the kids this year was the same thing I did last year .. giving all the credit once again to http://www.Orientaltrading.com ! Super easy, cheap, and adorable toy-filled stockings! There are 8 toys inside and the kids love it!

• After the party was over , we headed home and transformed the girls back to normal ! No more hues of red hahaha
• All 3 of the kids then helped me bake cookies and drank unicorn hot chocolate (YUM)

• We ended our night ordering pizza and watching Christmas movies ( PERFECTION)

SATURDAY

• Our Saturday morning was pretty relaxing , basically binged on more Christmas movies
• Mommy then cleaned to some lovely Christmas tunes (really getting in the holiday spirit at this point)
• Saturday night was all the fun! We had our best friends come over with their 2 sons and the kids were having a blast running around and playing together
• We then made our way to go see Christmas lights! Highly recommend going to Haggertys! A cute little Christmas wonderland is how I would describe it! A small portion of Pitman has a beautiful display of lights and pure magic ! Very old school vibes and the kids were amazed by it all! It was extremely cold so we decided to do the rest of the viewing in the car

• We had the kids singing along to Christmas songs (we were definitely competing with the Griswolds), we viewed neighbors lights and enjoyed every second!
• The kids were getting super sleepy so we ended the night making gingerbread ornaments and then we called it a night
  

This weekend has been nonstop fun and memories I will forever cherish! Woohoo! Christmas is in 3 days !!!

Simplicity for tonight’s dinner… STEAK, POTATOES, and SPINACH/QUINOA MIX

Ingredients:

• Steak (whatever kind you prefer)
• Russet Potatoes (I used 7)
• Steamable Spinach/Quinoa mix (I used 2 bags)
• Seasonings: Applewood Rub, Garlic Powder, Minced Onion, Lawry’s Signature Steakhouse Marinade

Directions:

• Preheat oven on 375
• Chop up potatoes
• Spray pan and place potatoes on
• Season potatoes with Applewood Rub (suggestion from a friend, it is so good and pairs great with steak!)
• Leave in for 40 mins

• Season steak with Marinade, Garlic Powder, and Minced Onion

• Placed on countertop grill on sear (500)

• Place Steamable Quinoa/Spinach mix in microwave (5 mins) .. going the easy way here hahaha

BON APETIT