Mouths of Babes....

While we were out and about yesterday, I decided to take my kids out to lunch. They'd been very cooperative getting their jobs done in the morning and while I was running my errands, and since we had a little time before we were going to our homeschool group's gym day, I thought it would be a fun special treat. We went to Panera, which was VERY crowded, it being lunchtime and all. We were sitting at the table, enjoying our sandwiches and some pleasant conversation, but my three-year-old was more interested in watching the three big, burly construction worker guys sitting at the next table, one of whom was bald. Really bald. Kojak bald. After about three or four minutes of quiet observation, Harry kneels up on his chair, points at the guy, and VERY loudly says, "HEY MOMMY! THAT GUY HAS NO HAIR!! HE HAS NO HAIR!!" Egads. I tried to make it a "teaching moment" but, geez... the rest of that lunch was pretty uncomfortable! And the "Harry Embarrasses Mommy" stories don't end there! Lately, Harry has been completely fascinated by my tattoos, one of which is a butterfly on my belly ("Mommy! You have a BUTTERFLY on your BELLY!!) One day last week we were standing in a checkout line, and he lifted up my shirt and said (loudly, of course) "I want to see your butterfly! Where's your butterfly?" The old lady behind us was quite appalled. Oh well... whaddya gonna do? Three-year-olds... gotta love 'em!

Sooo... new topic! Our plans for today! Today is our Library Day! Time to get a fresh new stack of books for the week! This afternoon we will likely just hang out here at home, as the older kids generally like to spend their Thursday afternoons hunkered down in the living room, reading their new books... Annabelle on the couch, Theo in the big chair, until I pry the books out of their hands at dinner time. I love Library Day!

Hot Mom 101

As you might guess, I spend a good deal of time around other Moms. Why is it that when a group of Moms get together, the conversation so frequently turns into an exercise in self-hatred? I'm SO sick of hearing women beat themselves up about the 10 extra pounds they've got since the baby, or how they feel frumpy, or they're so jealous of this celebrity or that, because they had a baby and a month later they were a size 2. Know what, Ladies? Everyone of us has the potential to be a HOT MOM. So, here I'm going to teach a little class in 10 easy steps... I'll call it "HOT MOM 101" So get a cup of tea and pay attention.

1. Stand up straight. A simple one, I know. But standing straight and tall automatically changes your attitude... and that's what this is all about, Sisters....ATTITUDE.

2. Make peace with your stretch marks/flab/saggy boobs/whatever. We ALL have something about our bodies that maybe we'd change if we could. But short of having scary nasty surgery, you probably CAN'T change it, so get over it. Besides, aren't stretch marks and a little sagging a small price to pay for the gift that is your beautiful child/children?

3. Find something about your physical self that you really like. whether it pretty eyes, long fingers, nice ankles, a lovely smile, awesome nursing-mom cleavage... train yourself to focus on the POSITIVE when you look in the mirror.

4. Find something about YOU that you really like. Maybe you make the best carrot cake in the free world. Maybe you can play the guitar, or sing or quilt. Doesn't matter what it is... just acknowledge your own talents and be proud of what you can do.

5. "Put yourself together" every morning. Now, I'm not suggesting you be all "high maintenance", but do take 5 or 10 minutes and make yourself feel pretty. My little routine, for example: shower, hair goop, brush teeth, moisturizer, mascara and lip gloss. Find a little morning "beauty ritual" that works for you.

6. Don't wear anything that makes you feel fat, frumpy or uncomfortable. No, you do not need to go buy yourself a fancy, expensive wardrobe... I'm definitely a "jeans and t-shirt" girl myself... but if your going to be a Hot Mom, you have to at least wear clothes that fit right and make you feel good. Even if you're just wearing a sweater in a color you really like and a pair of jeans in your current size (as opposed to trying to stuff your arse into your "pre-baby" jeans), you will feel Hot.

7. Pretty underwear...always. This rule is for ALL women, whether married, single, mom or not. You MUST wear pretty underwear. Even if you are the only person who will see them. This is about the attitude, again. If you're wearing pretty underwear, you will feel pretty, and it will show. Hot Moms do not buy 6-packs of Hanes briefs! Hit the sales, and buy panties that make you smile.

8. Do something special for yourself everyday. Even if you can only find 5 minutes to yourself after the kids are in bed, do something just for you. Have a cup of tea and a piece of chocolate or a bubble bath or read or paint your toenails... doesn't matter what it is, just that it's for YOU.

9. Nourish yourself. We feed our kids healthy food, but we need to do the same for ourselves, too. Give your body the nutrition it needs to be strong, healthy and SEXY.

10. SMILE!

Now go forth, and BE HOT.

knockin' on wood, baking bread and NEW glasses!

It seems that everyone in the house is HEALTHY! No more fevers (fingers crossed, knock on wood, etc!) We ended up having a most lovely Snow Day on Friday! Harry had a normal temp by lunchtime, we had the pleasant surprise of a unexpected visitor when my cousin dropped by for a few minutes, we baked bread and did some crafts!





In other news, Theo has finally gotten his glasses! He is still getting used to them, but I think he looks so very handsome in them!

Whine, whine, whine!

Not the kids, ME! OK, so they're whining a little too. My little guy is still sick, (though his fever is down some, so that's good) so we are looking at another day of scrapping our plans and staying home... The two older kids are not happy about this, as they have read all of their library books and there is no bread or fruit in the house, since we couldn't go grocery shopping. The husband was out late last night and was back out the door by 6:30 this morning, so I haven't been able to get out of the house myself to get anything, either. Today will be an exercise in creativity! Gotta make do with what we've got around the house, to keep everyone happy and fed and occupied. Perhaps we will bake some bread, as I do have flour and yeast, etc. That will keep everyone entertained for awhile, and I can have Annabelle double the recipe (math lesson!) so we can have a loaf for now and one to freeze.
The little touch of irony in all of this is that Wednesday we consciously chose to have a "stay home day" as we anticipated Thursday, Friday and Saturday were going to be crazy, running-out-and-about kind of days. So we are now on our THIRD day of being in the house. But, to find a positive in all of this? I haven't had to wear shoes since Tuesday afternoon! How's that for a silver lining!

105

Last night, right as I was getting ready to go to bed, my 3-year-old woke up flushed and feverish. I could feel the heat coming from his body without even actually touching him. Typically, I don't bother much with thermometers (I'm of the opinion that the exact numbers don't much matter) but since he felt so hot I decided to take his temp....it was hovering around 105. So we had a loooong night, me and my little one. He didn't settle into sleep until around 3, and even at that there was much tossing and turning until he woke up at 6. He is now napping, the "big kids" are playing with legos, and I'm so sleepy my eyes are crossing!
So our plans for the day have changed dramatically... instead of the library and some errands, etc, we are just hanging out at home. If I weren't so totally exhausted, I would seize this opportunity to do some kind of special activity with the older two, but since I've barely been able to muster the energy necessary to put laundry into the washer, I think our afternoon will more likely involve a video and some serious laziness!

Book Recommendation

First, a little background... My two oldest kids, (ages 7 and 6) are voracious readers. My oldest in particular, has her nose in a book for a large percentage of her waking hours (and for some of her sleeping ones, too, as she has a habit of falling asleep with a book on her face!) Once upon a time I helped choose books for them to read, carefully examining each one to be sure the content was age appropriate, the themes in line with our values... all that good parenting stuff. Well, those days are long, long gone... I simply can't keep up! So now every week we go to the library , where the two big ones are turned loose, to eventually emerge with an enormous stack of books each. I just skim the covers, cross my fingers and hope they are OK. I read as much of what they're reading as I can, but now it is usually them who read first, and then I'll read and we'll talk about them.
This week, my daughter found a gem of a book... Baby by Patricia MacLachlan. She finished it in one sitting (it's not very long) and handed it to me, saying "Mom, you REALLY should read this... it's SO good." I picked it up that night after everyone was asleep, and was blown away by the sheer beauty of this story. It's so exquisitely written... the language so poetic... each word so carefully chosen. It is one of those stories that parents can enjoy just as much as their children. Some of the themes in this book may be a bit much for younger readers (abandonment, death, loss) but the prevailing themes are love, friendship, and understanding. It is the first book we've read by this author, and my daughter and I are both very anxious to read more.

First post!

Hi! I feel a bit of pressure to make this first post of my new blog interesting! But know what? I'm not going to bother. I'm not going to succumb to perfectionism! I will, however, explain why it is that I'm starting Yet Another Blog...

I have another blog here on Blogspot ( www.pinkkittydesigns.com if you are interested) In that blog I focus primarily on my art stuff, and while that part of my life is completely and totally entwined with the rest of my life, I tend not to put anything personal in that blog, as it is linked to from my online shops, business cards, etc. I'm figuring that customer-types don't much care about the cute things my kids said, or funny things I've seen, or my occasional little tirades about things that get my goat, or whatever other silly little thing is on my mind. I have a MySpace blog that I used to use for this purpose, but since MySpace is pretty much an annoying pain in the arse, I don't much go there anymore, and so this blog is taking it's place.

OK! There it is. First post! Next one will be interesting, promise! :)