Without/With Kids

A friend of mine sent me this photo over an email. This is so true that I just had to share!

Isn't that the truth!

Best wishes to all the other Mommas out there that this scene is all too familiar!

My New Office

I started my new job on Monday in the office and started Wednesday at my home office. I already love my job and the time flexibility I have been allowed. Basically, I have it narrowed down to working while Caleb is sleeping.

I set my alarm for 6:10 am which leaves me with just enough time to wipe the sleep out of my eyes, cut up an apple for breakfast, fill my cup with water and walk downstairs to turn on my computer by 7 am. I will then work until 9:30 and break for a few hours to return from 1-3:30 pm. Caleb wakes up around 9:30 and will take his first nap around noon and wake up around 3:00ish. My husband goes to work at 3:30 which allows me enough time to shut down the computer and be upstairs to have the kids the rest of the night. Perfect right?

When Maddy wakes up I have told her if I am not in bed to come downstairs and find me. She was so very excited on the first day that when she woke up at 8:30 she came running down the stairs. A surprise to her was that I had moved her desk right up against my desk so I could keep an eye on her and she could play freely. She had so much fun she wanted to pull out her color crayons and color. But she kept telling me 'Mom, Maddy working now'. :) What a sweetheart! I managed to steal a picture when she wasn't looking. Pretty cute right!

My caption to this photo is: 'first day at my new office and my new co-worker just arrived. I think I'm going to like it here ;-)

Here is to a an exciting new chapter I can enjoy with my family!

Best wishes!

We-view Wednesdays: 2- Baby Mum-Mum

Welcome to my second weekly post we are calling We-view Wednesdays. Every Wednesday my family and I write a review of what products we are using around the house, or our favorite children's products. I can't wait to share with you all of our favorite things.

2: Baby Mum-Mum


 A friend of mine who has a son the same age as my son recommended this product to our family. We were both looking for food our 9 month olds could eat to start getting them into eating solid food and make the transition from baby food. My friend had found this product and sent one home with me to share with my son. Well, it is a good thing she did because they are a house favorite! My son particularly loves the banana flavored ones, but they also have vegetable flavored which is a good way to mix it up a bit.  They are sold by the box for roughly $2.79 at Target.

They are wrapped in sets of 2 and are very thin for easy snacking. The ingredients of the banana flavored rice snack is japonica rice, potato starch, sugar, banana powder, sea salt, and natural banan flavor. I wish I would have had this product for when my daughter was young, they work great! Other products for snacking at this age fall apart easily, but not the Mum-Mums. 

My son enjoys them very much and they are really helping teach him how to eat solids. Since giving the Mum-Mums to my son he has been able to eat many other things such as crackers like saltines. I love that he has learned to hold them on his own and take bites. They are easy to travel with as well and like I said, they are thin so they don't get too much to eat at one time. 

My family highly recomends this product to all parents looking for a snack to help their child adjust to solid foods. 

Do you have an idea of a product my family should 'we-view'? Have you tried Mum-Mums? We would love to hear from you, just post a comment!

Until next time, best wishes during your snack time!

Book Review #3

A Stolen Life A Memoir by Jaycee Dugard

Ever since Jaycee's book was released roughly a year ago I have wanted to read it. I have put off reading it this long because I was struggling and wondering if I really wanted to read it. I had a pretty good idea of what was done to Jaycee while she was kidnapped for 18 years of captivity but I didn't really want to hear all the disgusting details. Out of respect for Jaycee I decided it would be a 'must read' but also a 'must read quickly'. I managed to finish this book in 2 days. All I can say is to make sure you read all the way to the end, and not let those first stories turn you off from reading the rest of the book.

When I was younger and I first read 'The Notebook' by Nicholas Sparks my mom had read it before me and managed to paper clip, and for good measure post-it closed the pages of the sex scene. She said I didn't need to know the details of what happened so she had closed them shut. While reading 'A Stolen Life' I had wished someone had closed the pages and just gave me a 'you don't need to know the details'  answer.

Other than the parts of the book that I am sure have disgusted many people, Jaycee does tell a very good story. She admits in the beginning that her writing jumps around a lot, but that she was merely writing how her mind was thinking of things.

If you are unfamiliar with Jaycee's story you can follow these links:
wikipedia's interpretations of the event.  
abc's interview with Jaycee after.

Overall, I would recommend this book to anyone that is familar with Jaycee's story. Although there are some 'gross' parts, it is unbelievable to hear how her life is going now. She discusses being found, and their first moments after being saved. I must admit the book did bring a few tears to my eyes after reading her reuniting with her mother. What a nightmare for any parent to have anything like this happen and nothing short of a blessing to have your child home 18 years later. I am very happy to hear Jaycee's outlook on life, and her ideals of her own family. I wish her and her family the very best on their new life together.

Until next time, best wishes and happy reading!

A Family Effort

Everyone is getting in the spirit and trying to help Caleb start walking. :-)

Here is a video I took (finally got it on camera) of Madilyn doing her part to help Caleb walk. Maddy rides the little princess car very slowly while Caleb holds on and walks behind. My favorite part is how Caleb keeps looking back at the camera because he is so proud of himself. So very cute, enjoy!

Until next time, best wishes and remember; 'put one foot in front of the other'!

Book Review #2

Who Moved My Cheese? by Spencer Johnson, M.D.

I am sure it seems strange that I am doing one book review after the other, but once I finished the last book I wanted to keep reading right away. I was able pick back up a book I had started reading quite a while ago and finish it in the blink of an eye. The book 'Who Moved My Cheese' by Spencer Johnson, M.D.  is a great book to learn a lesson about dealing with change in your work and in your life. This book is 95 pages long and is probably the quickest read you will ever encounter. With the large font and words that don't even fill the pages it is quick to pick up and very fast to read! It is also a #1 Bestseller and you can tell why. There are so many things to learn about yourself or others and how people deal with change. The story describes 4 mice and what happens when their cheese is moved. I would hate to ruin the book by giving any more details so you will have to check it out for yourself.

This book applies greatly to my life right now as I have found my 'New Cheese' and am starting to deal with the change. I would reccommend this book to anyone in the working world as well as parents in-home because it gives you a general understanding of how other people may deal with change and how to recognize different personalities. Check it out!

Have you already read this book and have a new out look on change because of it? Are you currently reading something that you would love to hear my book review? Please let me know, post a comment! Thanks for checking out my book reviews!

Best wishes and happy reading!

Book Review #1

52 Things Kids Need From A Mom by Angela Thomas

 It is so bitter sweet to finish a book. As soon as you really get into it is when it seems to end. I have really enjoyed reading this book '52 Things Kids Need From A Mom' by Angela Thomas. While reading I like to highlight favorite passages, flip the corner of the page and mark  favorite things with a post-it.

The majority of the things I marked in this book would pertain to me if my children were older. I would definitely recommend this book to someone who has teenagers and is having a hard time communicating or understanding them. This book has given me plenty of pointers to raise a teenager and things you can do to raise them right. Being that I have small children it has given me some insight into what to expect, how to not take offense and love them anyways, and some parenting tips for any stage.

The biggest thing I took from this book was #20: Kids need their mom to give grace-filled consequences. I (like every parent with a toddler or any age I'm sure) struggles with communicating effectively when the child is doing something wrong. Here is a clip from the book that I really enjoyed; 

'When the children were little, I remember hearing Dr. James Dobson say, 'Mama, don't just shout an instruction to your kids. Get up, go across the room, and address the behavior.' After the fourth child, I realized why Dr. Dobson had said that. When you are exhausted, it's so much easier to stay where you are and just bark at the kids. And the sound of your voice rarely accomplishes anything. Even when you turn up the volume and say the same thing over and over. It really takes a commitment to get up, go to the child, and either remove them from their misbehavior or look them in ht eyes to give a consequence. Going to where my child was making a wrong choice usually gave them a few extra seconds to decide to obey, and it also gave me a few seconds to choose grace-filled words.' 

-52 Things Kids Need From A Mom by Angela Thomas

I believe this quote speaks volume to a parent with young children. Another chapter of this book I really enjoyed was #13: Kids need their mom to learn their unique love language. Love languages are different ways a person can express and interpret love. These different ways are: words of affirmation, quality time, receiving gifts, acts of service and physical touch. I have learned that it will help you greatly once you know each child's love language. If you want to know more you can pick up the book yourself, it is definitely a good read!

*Another favorite quote of mine can be found on my previous blog when just picking up the book here.

One thing that is communicated throughout the book is that you need to want your child to become not what you want them to be, but what God wants them to become. This message speaks volumes to all parents. A friend of mine posted this picture and I believe it is exactly what this book wants you to remember at all times, as well as something I have taken away from it.

I would definitely recommend this book to mothers of children of all ages looking to make a lifelong difference in their child's life. 

Best wishes and happy reading!

I'm a workin' Momma!

Today I am very excited to report to you that I have accepted a design position with what I believe to be the greatest company to work for in Minnesota. The best part about this position? It is going to be part-time at home. This Momma couldn't ask for anything more!

I will still have the privilege to stay home with my children, and be providing income for my family at the same time. Also, as you may or may not know I have an Applied Visual Arts degree and have yet to use my design perspective for anything in a job position. I cannot believe I was contacted directly as more of a 'We want you' situation. This was all in works as I was leaving my full-time position. What I knew then is that i want to be home, and that is exactly what I was offered. 

Thankful does not even begin to describe how good I feel about this new change. It really will be the best of all worlds for as long as it lasts. 

I appreciate all the support I have from family and friends as I take charge in my own life and accept this new adventure. 

I have been completely feeling like the 'We Can Do It' woman and saw this picture and knew I had to share! 

Here is to taking control of my own future and being proud of myself for things in which I have accomplished. My first day back in the working world will be Monday; from there on out you can expect reports of my happiness and gratitude for this opportunity to continue doing all things I love.

Home, Family, Children, Financial Security and most of all LOVE!

I am so very blessed!

Until next time, best wishes and remember to give credit where credit is due!

We-view Wednesdays: 1-Finish POWER UP

Welcome to my new weekly post we are calling We-view Wednesdays. Every Wednesday my family and I write a review of what products we are using around the house, or our favorite children's products. I can't wait to share with you all of our favorite things.

1: Finish POWER UP
For this first issue I would like to highlight something my family and I have found that saved our dishes from the garbage. Seriously, we had a beautiful set of glass cups that we had gotten as a wedding gift. Being that these became our daily drinking cups they were ran in the dishwasher constantly. I was very sad in our old home in Shakopee, MN when we assumed it was the lack of a water softener that was ruining all our dishes, especially all our glasses. They got the cloudy look to them, and I wish I had a 'before' picture to show you, but I don't. Either way, moving to our new home north of the cities I was worried that not having a water softener was going to do the same thing and we would have to toss out our beautiful glasses.

That is until I saw a commercial for Finish 'POWER UP' Boosting Action! It fights spots and residue, removes hard water film, tackles tough stains, with intensive machine cleaning.

We LOVE this product! We simply add a little powder to every dish washing load along with our Finish Powerball tablets and presto! Clean as a whistle!

This product has saved us from buying new glassware, and I am able to add our most precious glassware to the load and not worry about any spots, residue or hard water film!


Here is a picture I took of our glasses right out of the dishwasher. They sparkle! I would highly recommend this product to anyone! I already do!!



Have you used Finish POWER UP!? Do you have any great products you can recommend for We-view Wednesdays? I would love to hear them!

Until next time, best wishes on keeping the sparkle in your glassware!

Making the 'bad' into FUN

Today was a pretty rough day with the kids. Not sure what it was, but my 2 year old wanted nothing to do with her younger brother, and all he wanted to do was wrestle with his sister. To solve this 'bad' night; like the title of my blog you will be hearing about 'the good. the bad. and the FUN!', I played the 'Mom wants to have FUN' card and decided we would all play a game of hide and seek.

I made it even more FUN by asking my 2 year old to re-hide around the house so I could take pictures of our favorite places :-) Here they are!

In the stuffed animal box in her room

Under the covers in bed

Behind my son's rocking chair

Under the kitchen table

And my very personal favorite, behind the shower curtain :)

Finding activities to include both of the kids is pretty difficult when the older kid wants to do big kid things like color or play statues and buildings with blocks, and the younger child wants to eat crayons and knock down buildings. However, when you have an open mind even the worst days can be better. 

What are some things you do to make FUN of a bad day?

Until next time, best wishes for even your 'bad' days!

The Color Box

In an effort to keep my family more organized, my greatest challenge has been to keep our high traffic areas as neat as possible. Areas like the kitchen counter top, living room, and dining room table. The biggest one for me is our dinning room table. There are so many things that get set here, tossed here or placed here that don't get dealt with until it's dinner time or sometimes later.








One thing I am very particular about is Madilyn's coloring. I assume (hope!) that my 2 year old isn't the only 2 year old out there that makes an absolute disaster while coloring. I'm talking crayons and pencils across the entire table, ripped up pages out of coloring tablets, and every piece of 'identification paper/wrap thingy' on the color crayon has been removed. Seriously. Want proof? Check the pictures. I can't make this up.

see, VERY innocent

In her defense, the event of coloring starts as innocently as possible. She very neatly opens the $0.99 Tupperware box I purchased from Wal-Mart, takes out her books and tablets of choice, then she starts to pick her colors very seriously contemplating her next move. What colors will I be using today? Little Miss Predictable (like her mother) will probably choose the yellow first, then the orange. When all of a sudden. BAM! The tub is tipped over and the colors are all over the table.



 And then, she is at home. That is when she is so completely herself, with her crayons and colored pencils all over the place. It is so very interesting to me, because I have always been a neat person, but whenever I am deep into a drawing or painting there is stuff everywhere. The table is an absolute mess and I am always losing pencils and paint brushes. That must be where she gets it from! Look at that happy face, that is one very happy little girl! :-)

This Color Box is the best idea I believe I have had in a long time. $0.99 at Wal-Mart and look at all the use it gets! So much better than those boxes the color crayons come in that get ripped up or squished up and are hard to get all the pieces back in in the first place!

Now that I am home with more FUN time, I have decided to take on more fun projects, this first small project is giving the Color Box the 'beautifulness' it deserves. With some puffy paint I located in the Craft Bin and Maddy's beautiful art skills with the Orange crayon and here you have it! the completed Color Box. It very neatly stacks in a cupboard, or where we keep it hidden in the storage on the basement stairs for quick access, and there you have it! Fun in a box!

Now the only stresses I have at coloring time are trying to come up with new ways to explain to Maddy why the white color crayon doesn't work on white paper. Honestly, she keeps telling me it is broken and gets very frustrated; I have no clue what to say to that one anymore. Might have to pull out some colored construction paper to show her it truly does work. Do I hear another fun project? ;-)

Take care, and best wishes in your colorful endeavors!

1st Birthday Party Planning

I have always believed it is best to plan a party the sooner the better, and if I want invitations out a month in advance I had better start getting things together for my son's 1st Birthday!

I can't believe it has already come to this, time really has flown by. My favorite part about planning the party myself is the ability to work around nap schedules. Whenever we receive party invitations I hate seeing the times. Time such as 'noon-2pm'. My children nap from noon until typically 2 or 3pm. So that is where the big questions lie, to take the kids and have them be grumpy? Try to squeeze a nap in before? Try to get them to nap in the car, wake them up when we get there and deal with the changes in temper? Or, what unfortunately usually happens, not to go at all. These are the struggles of such a young family. Not only are they more work to travel with, but their moods are very unpredictable. 

This is why my very favorite thing about throwing a party is that I get to do the planning myself. What time it will be held, what will be on the menu, and my kids are in their home if any 'emergencies' should happen we have everything we need here. Here are some tips and tricks I have found of planning a 1st birthday party:

1.) When? Always plan the time around the child's nap. A well rested child on such a big day for them is very important. They will already be a little out of their element having so many people around and all the attention on them, that a good nap prior to is absolutely necessary. You can plan a party earlier in the morning, or in our case since we are a bit of a distance away from family we will typically hold our parties in the late afternoon as an early supper to provide wiggle room for driving.

2.) Where? Like I previously mentioned I greatly enjoy having the party in my own home. We are fortunate in our new home that we have the room to hold a large group of people, not everyone has that luxury. If you at all can, I would highly recommend the party in your own home. We have done both the parties at home and parties at another location, and at such a young age it is very difficult to always be prepared. For example, if you have the party at a park and your child desperately needs a nap, where will they go? Or a diaper change, where would you set up the 'changing station'? Where as in your own home people feel more comfortable and so will you to have everything you need if any of your children should need something particular.

3.) What? What will the theme of your party be? I was once told that you should plan the first few parties and plan what you would like, because once the child is 3 years or older they know what they want and the theme will be their choice. If you have always had your heart set on a Pooh themed birthday, you had better plan it now. As for me, I have chosen a basic #1 theme from Party City. I believe that the real celebration at this time is that they're 1, and I also believe it is so much fun to see what they come up with for their own birthdays for their on out. I have never dreamed of a party for my children, so I'm not to picky about this one.

www.partycity.com

Party City is a great place to find invitations, balloons, favors, plates, cups, silverware and anything else you might be looking for. My favorite thing is that their website is all designed by theme so you can pick the theme you are looking for and shop for all the matching pieces.

www.partycity.com

bounce house rentals

4.) Who? Who will be attending the party? Our young children invited only, or kids of all ages? Personally, we typically have the 1st birthday be more for extended family and birthdays 2+ are more smaller immediate family. Therefore we will be expecting children of all ages for this birthday party. You will need to keep this in mind when you are thinking of activities during the party. We are going all out this time and have decided to rent a bounce house. We are planning on seeing 15+ children under the age of 12 and want to be prepared. We have decided to rent this inflatable through a local bounce house rental (usainflatables.com). They are located in Champlain, so for us this was the best location. They are rather affordable for all they will be doing at the party. Keeping the kids outside is a very big goal of ours.

5.) Invitations? Like I mentioned earlier you will typically want to get the invitations out in the mail a month prior to the event. Especially in the summer, people are busy with vacations and the better of a heads up you give the better idea you will have for number of people attending. I am now going to learn from my past, and not hand write all the invitations. For our daughters first birthday I sat down and wrote each invitation individually. Hours and hours later, I told myself 'never again'. This year I have come across an idea when I was ordering our Christmas cards. They also have birthday invitations that you can order on photo paper from any photo distributer. We have used Sam's Club Photo (http://samsclubus.pnimedia.com/home.aspx) or Target Photo (http://www.target.com/c/target-photo/-/N-5a1wg) or even Shutterfly (www.shutterfly.com) for invitations such as this. Super cute right? And they save you the awful task of writing them all out yourself! And the family that are unable to attend can still have a nice picture of your child to celebrate the big 1st year!

I am so fortunate to be home now as party planning is so much fun! Also, it is the perfect reason to get all those little indoor and outdoor projects done around the house that you want to get done this summer. I cannot wait for the celebration as I cannot believe my smiley, giggly, goofy, handsome baby boy will already be 1 year old!

I hope this party planning tips and tricks have helped you. Is there anything I forgot? Any tips and tricks that you have learned? I would love to hear them!

Until next time, Best wishes in your next party planning!

The Day for Dad's

I want to start this post by wishing all the Dad's out there a wonderful Father's Day. I hope you have all had the opportunity to spend time with your families and that they have spent the time to show you truly what an amazing father you are.

My husband is an amazing man and has proven himself to be a wonderful father. Our children and I are truly blessed to have such a great father in our home. I hope that he will never forget how much this family needs him, loves him and appreciates everything he does for us.

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

Madilyn, Dad, and baby boy Caleb. One of my favorite maternity leave pictures :)

Best wishes to all, and especially all the father's out there!

Stuck in a book

I love to read.

I don't know if you knew this, but I have loved to read for a long time. Besides art, reading is the one thing I wish I could do more of. I use to get stuck in a book and not come out of the chair until I was done, take a book on a trip and read nearly the entire thing. What I don't need to tell you is that having kids changes everything. Now I read the labels, read 'What to expect the toddler years' and read (quickly skim) my monthly magazines. We have invested in a Nook Color, as well as the Nook reader for me and it is very well used. Don't get me wrong, I do have time to read like when I'm completely exhausted from my day but for some reason can't fall asleep I will read, or when I'm sitting alone in the Doctor's office I read, but not like I use to. Now, the only books I seem to read start to finish in no time flat are parenting books, or anything about potty training I can find online- more on that in a later post-.


I have just recently wanted more, I have wanted to find a book about how to raise children in the eyes of God, and how to stay spiritual myself. Like the quote 'a family who prays together, stays together'. I want my children to be raised knowing God is always there for you and loving him is nothing to be ashamed of.
So naturally, I decided to look in a book and headed to my local B&N (http://www.barnesandnoble.com).

After reminding myself that I left my husband and 2 screaming kids waiting in the car and I couldn't spend all day in B&N like I would like to, I found what I was looking for and got out as soon as possible (only 32 minutes this time, like some kid of record!).

This is the book I left with. It is titled '52 Things Kids Need from a Mom'. I am up to #12 on the list and my review thus far is that I LOVE it!

'In this book the author, Angela Thomas, draws on personal experience and biblical principles to help you raise healthy, responsible kids and establish strong family ties'.
What I like best, is that it is designed to be read in short parts with 2-3 pages per 'chapter' or  number on the list which is perfect for my busy schedule.


*My favorite line so far is in the beginning where Angela writes to all the readers before starting;

'Before you jump into the chapters, I just want to give you the pre-thing before the 52 things. This is the biggie that matters more than all the rest: Love. 

Love those kids with all your heart, soul and might. Love them through their mistakes. Love them in their changes. Love them when they're dorky. Love them when they are accomplished. Just open your heart and don't hold back... ever. Our children need one person on this earth who will love them fiercely, no matter what this life holds. That task has been assigned to you and me. So let us learn to love with a healthy love. A godly love. A mushy love. A powerful, transforming love.'

-Angela Thomas '52 Things Kids Need From A Mom'

Cliché but..I LOVE this! I also love in one of her chapters where she says she wants her kids to know they will never outgrow their mama's love. This is so very true to how I feel about my kiddos also. While she is speaking from a mother who has teenagers, she still does refer back to those moments of being a young mother (where I am today) that are absolutely touching the heart. I would highly recommend this book to all the mother's I know who are looking for a good read. Have you read any good books lately that you can recommend? I'd love to hear them!

Until next time, LOVE your kids and

Best wishes.

My little helper

I try to do my blogging over nap time or bed time, but this time my little helper jumped in before I could finish. Here is Miss Maddy helping this Momma blog. :) 

Now we got to run, now that the kids are up it's time for FUN! 

Best wishes to you and yours!

Our Garden

When we first moved into our new home I went around taking pictures of the house to have an idea while packing where I would want everything to go. I also took pictures of the outside of the house to see how much things would have changed in our time there. Here is a picture I took (sorry I didn't seem to take a picture of the whole thing) of the very large empty 'box' that is in the backyard. 

Talking to neighbors the previous owners had a lot of children with a very big swing set. For this swing set they decided to make a level playing ground since the yard is rather hilly. From what sounded like load after load of wood chips, they leveled the area out and added a medium sized sandbox pictured in the back/center of the 'box'. Play area to one is another's very large garden. So my husband went to work. Load after load of hauling out wood chips (we still have some if you are at all interested...), blood, sweat and a very long time tilling later, and we have a garden!

Don't mind the weeds that need pulling and the fact that the beautiful markers I made got slightly ruined  from the dirt and rain... and here it is!

_Almost 2 full rows of beans_

(again, don't mind the weeds that need tending in the back)

_1 row of peppers_

_1 row of tomatoes_

The tomatoes have taken a bit of a hit. We are unsure of what kind of bug is eating our plants and may be considering planing new tomatoes, not sure if these are going to make it much longer.

_Another view of the tomatoes_

_1 row of cabbage_

_2 rows of Cucumbers spelt with a 'qu' -it's good luck ;-) _

_Half row of dill_

_Half row of radish - they're a pretty 'rad dish'_

-1 1/2 rows of carrots just barely poking up_

_1st row of onions_

_2nd row of onions_

_2 1/2 rows of potatoes doing VERY well!_

_Almost 3 full rows of corn!_

_4 strawberry bushes_

 We will have to see what becomes of my very sad looking strawberry bushes...

 Also, my husband is so handy that he made is very own homemade rain barrel to help with the watering. We originally heard that our city was going to be having a watering restriction so we wanted to be prepared.

Here are some more pictures of the garden. 

View from the front corner by the strawberries and corn.

View from our deck of the right side of the garden.

View from the deck of the left side of the garden.

How much the will garden grow in the next month? Will the corn be knee high by the 4th of July? 

Stay tuned!

Do you have a garden growing? Even something as little as a couple pots on your patio -the size of our garden in years past? I would love to hear about it! Post a comment. :) 

Best wishes.