At Hospital

Dear Readers,

Long story short. I am at the hospital with an acute case of Diverticulitis. I pray to be out by Friday.

If I promised a reader or sponsor anything. Please know I will get to it as soon as I can.

Long version of this story when I get home.

I love you all.
Maria

It Was Like Lord of The Flies....(long post!)

Yesterday I headed to a birthday party for one of Handsome's classmates. It was one that I knew would be a little stressful because Handsome really likes this kid and this kid is quite popular. Handsome really wants to be like this little boy and is quite the outsider in this group of kids.

He is often removed from class to attend speech, OT and PT which means he misses out on a lot of the down time in class when kids are socializing. Which also means he misses out on the one thing he needs to strengthen in his social life.

As most of you know, Handsome had a speech delay which contributed to a social delay. He is a really good kid who just wants to fit in but doesn't know how to join in.

He is quieter and shyer than most of his classmates. He also doesn't speak up for himself which means most often you hear his name. It happens at home too! "Handsome, Handsome, Handsome, Stop! Stop! Don't hit me, give that back." So, you walk in and say, "Handsome, would you stopping hitting her! Give it back!" He says, "I'm not talking" which makes you angry, so you say something like, "stop touching her or you will be punished." Then he cries and after you sit down with him you find out that, "she" hit him 5 times while he told her to stop, then he retailiates by pulling out of her hand the thing she hit him with to hit her back."

I have learned that this is usually the way it goes and before I blame him, I try to find out what happened first.

Yesterday, I was sitting down 5 minutes into the party and a little girl comes over saying to her mom "Handsome hit me." The mom says, "tell his mom". The girl comes over and tells me so I head over and say, "Handsome be careful, this little girl says you hurt her."

I sit back down and 3 minutes later the same girl comes back and says the same thing. The mother tells her not to be a tattle tale but I head over to the bounce house, take off my shoes and crawl inside. There are about 15 kids in there and it is utter mayhem. I cross my arms and stand in a corner in the middle of this awesome bounce house complete with slide, basket ball hoop, ladder, two posts for bouncing into and a gate looking thing that kids are supposed to crawl under or climb over.

As I stand there I get to watch the chaos and calamity of 5, 6, 7 years younger and older in their own little world. There are kids hanging from this gate thing, holding onto it like koalas leaving only a small corner for kids to slip through in order to get to the ladder, leading to the slide. Kids are crawling and climbing and jumping over each other to hang, climb, slide, wrestling for a football, sliding down the slide as others climb up and then bashing into the kids at the bottom of the slide as kid congregate there instead of sliding and moving.

My son's name was called out at least 10 times by kids who wanted me to know he "hit them."

As the only present parent I was privy to how rude, mean, obnoxious and catty kids can be. They are so mean to each other. After listening to at least 3 kids tell me that Handsome had hit them. I was tired. He wasn't hitting anyone. What he was doing was trying to go down the slide, asking people to "please" move, asking kids to "slide over so I can get through." Then heading down the slide only to have kids congregate there and get knocked into chaos of kids coming down the slide. My son included.

Eventually I started telling them that I was tired of hearing how Handsome had "hit them" and started saying, "he did not hit you! he knocked into you because you guys piled up at the bottom of the slide" Or "you guys fell into a heap" Or "you guys slipped on a football".

When he came down the slide hitting with his foot a little girl who was sitting at the bottom, "I heard her say ow, Handsome!"  Another little girl said to her, "you can't beat Handsome up, but I can!" Then she proceeded to grabbed him from behind pinning his arms down. I watched to see what he would do. He tried to get away but never, ever said anything like, "Stop! Let go! Get off me!" nothing! I finally said, "Hey, let go of him now!" She did, saying that he had hurt a little girl. I told her that he had not and that I was watching. Then as he slid down the slide, I watched her, run up, throw herself down the slide to crash into him before he hit the bottom. He grabbed his wrist and started crying. I told her that I saw everything and that it was not nice! That I should have Handsome march right over to her mother as she had and that she was being really mean and it was not OK! Then I put my hand out to Handsome who thought he had done something wrong. If your mom is the only one there and all you ever hear is your name and to not do this or not do that, you eventually get a complex thinking you are the WRONG one.

I told him, "I am not mad you at. Come with me and lets put ice on your wrist. I saw what she did and that was very bad. She was not nice."

We put the ice on and eventually went back in. I stood outside the bounce house, not only watching mine for the two and a half hours, but the rest. It was ridiculously chaotic and I don't know how more kids didn't get hurt.

I stood there for 2.5 hours watching the chaos but mostly watching my son. So if anyone had a complaint I could say what did or did not happen.

At one point he jumped and a little girl (6?) who was hanging on that "post thing" fell off, held her side and ran off as I asked if she was OK. I heard her brother (12?) call Handsome! He didn't hear him and went to climb the ladder. I saw the sister (11?) heading toward him, I zoned in and saw her grab Handsome from behind. He silently fought her trying to get away. She lifted him up and I yelled, "put him down right now! Let.... go!" She did and walked over to me saying, "he hurt my sister and my brother wanted me to get him." (she was what, going to drag my just turned 7 year old out to her 12 year old brother?) I said, "He didn't hurt your sister, your sister fell. I am watching everything." She said, "I didn't know, I saw my sister crying and my brother asked me to get him." So, I calmly explained what happened, and that everyone in the bounce house was wild and crazy. That they are all complaining about getting hit but they are at the bottom of the slide and when 3 kids come down the slide, they WILL get hurt. She said, "so, it's their fault because they are at the bottom!!!!!" I said, exactly!

After standing and watching the chaos I just had to leave. I bribed him with a trip to Dunkin Donuts. It was heartbreaking and devastating to watch. Thankfully, he is not fully aware of how hurtful the day was. Eventually he will be and then it will be harder. Now, I am the one hurt. He is fine! It scares me about the things I cannot protect him from.

I can only pray that he is not bullied in school and if he is, I hope he learns to stick up for himself. We are teaching him that he needs to speak up and if someone hits you, you tell them them to stop, then go to the teacher and tell them.  If that kid hits you again, you are to hit them back as hard as you can! Hopefully he won't have to use this method because, I don't think he will do it!


Handsome was having a great time jumping, but I just couldn't watch the torture anymore. He was not allowed to play with them. Not allowed, to touch them. Not allowed to follow them. He just wanted to fit in and tried so hard but when you are bigger, older, "different" you are odd! It was so sad to watch him try so hard.

I don't believe these kids are bad kids. I believe that there was a lot of absent parenting going on. The kids are not being told what is right or wrong, they are not being told what is rude and mean. They are just kids. Without proper instruction. If no one is telling them, how will they know?

Childhood is hard enough but I am really worried about him. I am worried about how hard kids are. How mean kids are. How Handsome doesn't stick up for himself. If a kid goes up to a teacher crying after someone retaliates and the other kid isn't saying "that kid hit me first" the kid crying will be the victim.

I have talked to all his teachers, all his special educators and therapists, his bus driver, his preschool teachers, and everyone says the same thing! He is NOT an aggressive kid. He is a good boy. He does not look for trouble. He is very polite and asks if other kids are OK if they fall, trip or bang into something. Yet, he is made out to be the brute. The bad kid. The "hitter".

The day before he accidentally hit a little girl in the leg with a bowling ball. I knew for a fact that he didn't haul off and hit her but without him speaking up, he looks guilty. It was only after talking to him for 10 minutes that he told me the ball slipped out of his hands, the girl was sitting on the floor and it hit her.

My heart broke for him yesterday. I just wanted to ball my eyes out thinking about how hard he tried and how he felt like he was wrong. At the end, I made a point of telling him that I was proud of him. That he didn't do anything wrong. That he was a good boy.

When we got him home, his father and I had a talk with him separately about sticking up for himself. How it is OK for him to yell at someone, tell them to stop or even go to their mother and say, "so and so hit me."

Lessons for speaking up start now!

Mellow Yellow Monday - Birthday

Look at all the yellow at Handsome's 7th Birthday - It was a fabulous day.

Self Portrait Sunday - May 22, 2010

Happy Sunday!

Tomorrow night is the season finale of Lost and they are putting it on at 7:00 p.m. After watching for 6 years, they couldn't put it on after my kids go to bed. How the hell am I supposed to watch if my kids are up?

After spending the afternoon in a bowling alley for a 6 year old birthday party, I am shot! Feeling tired and goofy. Thought why not post a picture of one of my many talents. My daughter has been practicing the tongue roll since she is two and now can do it as good as I can.

God Never Blinks 50 Lessons for Life's Little Detours

What I Can Tell You: Even though it is a Best Seller I had never heard of this book before. This is one of the best parts about being a book reviewer. So many things are on my reading list that I normally wouldn't have noticed. God Never Blinks is a perfect title. It is thought provoking and a message I am teaching my children (God sees everything).

What Regina has done is created a templet that we should live our life by. I really appreciated her list of  45 life lessons and 5 to grow on that she wrote to celebrate growing older. It contained things like:

No one is in charge of your happiness except you.

Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.

What other people think of you is none of your business.

God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.

At 38 I felt like I really knew who I was, at 43 I know and accept even more of who I am and I like me. This is something I wished I knew in my early 20's. It would be interesting to know what kind of person I would be if I knew what I knew now, then (got that?)

Regina's advice is so basic and true that it fits most of the population universally regardless of beliefs, upbringing or religion differences. While this is obviously a book of one woman's story, it could be any of ours.

I personally love self help books.

Friday Fragments

It has been a crazy week.

Busy with life and still playing catch up on sponsors, giveaways, reviews and email.

Monday - I had a meeting with the Director of Curriculum, Principal and two other moms from the school. The other moms each of kids in the school and for the past three years I have heard about some problems that I was hoping to combat before the kids even started. Both kids will be in this school next year and there were a few things we wanted to bring to the attention of the school.

#1 for all of us were the attitudes of the aids who greet our children. We weren't asking them to move mountains or to fire anyone. We wanted them to know that the attitude presented at the school was NOT OK, unacceptable and unprofessional. Hopefully the few things we presented will be fixed before September when my kids start.

Tuesday - What the hell happened Tuesday? I don't remember. I think this was a laundry, review, cleaning day.

Wednesday - I met with someone about insurance! Boring and tons of paperwork

 As a Pearista for Pear Tree, I received really cute note monogram note cards. For all your stationary needs, remember Pear Tree for your cards, invitations and more.

Then I received a box from Aurora Focus Group for YooHoo & Friends I received this box

You really want to make a kid happy! Let them open a box of really awesome stuffed animals.  Doesn't she look as proud as Octomom minus two kids?

Thursday - My baby girl, Goddess had her Kindergarten orientation. We had breakfast with Clary then headed to orientation. Wahhh...as excited as I am for her. I am so sad. She is my little buddy. She looked so small on the bus. They took us on an 8 minute bus ride and she was so excited.

I also found out that I won a $100 Fisher Price card which is so exciting!

Friday - I got to see a friend who I haven't seen since Monday. Her husband is off and it is harder to see her. She came over for an hour and a half and we got to chat. Then Goddess and I did some work in the family room, some laundry and headed out to pick up Handsome.

Hope you had a great week!

May Has Become Birthday Month In My Life

Handsome's birthday is in May, three personal friends birthdays are in May and 6 kids in Handsome's class are in May. Is this normal? I cannot tell you how many birthdays I have attended this month (hence the quiet blog posts).

Getting for my kids is so easy. Handsome is very specific in his likes and wants. Goddess is super easy because she "LOVES" everything.

I really love buying gifts for kids. It is so fun. I just buy things I would want to play with. Being a "big kid" makes it really easy.

For Handsome's first two years I always got him educational toys. As an older, first time mom I wanted to teach him. All my time was spent with him which is why he was spelling at 2 years old. I have video of me doing a puppet show for him while reading a book when he was 2 months old. Poor kid!

When he started Occupational Therapy most of his OT toys looked like this.

I love mixing toys with education.

Now, I love the pretend play toys.

If I had more room and money, I would have bought Handsome something like this.

Isn't virtual wishing fun?

For the kids in my son's class this year I got a lot of them these.

Hopefully we get a financial reprieve next month. I am gifted out.

Book Review - Welcome to Harmony

The name just says it all. Look at that beautiful cover, you just know you want to put Jodi Thomas' newest creation on your list this summer. Some of my friends have started their summer reading list and I figured that is a great place to start.

What I Can tell You:  It took me 2 days to devour this book because I have two little ones but this would have been a one day book prior to babies because I would have read for the whole day. You really don't want to put it down!  I wanted to find out what was going to happen to Reagan. Would she find what she was longing for. Every young person needs a home and people she knows love her for all the right reasons. My heart broke for poor Reagan. I just wanted to pluck her out of the pages and love her.  She heads to Harmony after meeting a woman named Miss Beverly. When Miss Beverly passes, Reagan heads to the town she heard so many stories and decides to pass herself off as Miss Beverly's granddaughter.

Upon entering the town Reagan is treated well and I believe she would have been treated well even if she wasn't Miss Beverly's "granddaughter".

She heads out to the home Miss Beverly shared with her grumpy brother Jeremiah. I personally loved all the scenes that included Jeremiah.

I also loved Fire Chief Hank who really takes care of his town and the people in it. Funeral Director Tyler, even tough Alex is likable. I don't think there is a single unlikable person in the book and I guess that is something you would imagine to find in a town called Harmony. There is an unlikable circumstance but not of the walking talking kind.

 I received an email from Jodi Thomas regarding her book. As an avid reviewer, as most of my book loving readers can imagine; I am always shocked, and thrilled when an author writes me. I have saved every email that was sent by an author.

Memory Rewind - Writing

This week's Memory Rewind is:

Here is Handsome who had just turned 4 writing for me. YOu can see how very proud he was. He was spelling at 2 and wrote his first letter a "W" when he was 3. He is a wonderful reader and read us a book yesterday while we did our own thing in the same room. It is so amazing how far kids come in such short times. We are very proud of him.

ABC Wednesday - R

This weeks ABC Wednesday is the letter R

R is for Relaxing


After spending two hours climbing and sliding, Goddess relaxed at the bottom of the slide waiting for her cousins to come down.

R is for Running

There just wasn't enough time to play so Goddess spent the 2.5 hours running from slide to slide. Because if you don't go on each about 20 times, it just isn't worth it.

R is for Ring

Not all gems are inedible.

Father's Day Is Next Month - Do Something Dad Will Love

Where I live people go camping all the time. Every Monday someone or another has some camping photos on their Facebook page from the weekend before. As someone who has gone camping one time in my life I don't know if it is something my kids would love. Sleeping in a camping tent might sound good until you are actually doing it.

Today I had a conversation with a friend who went camping this weekend. She and her family love it and they don't even all have actual tents. They use tarps and such. We two tents and we sent them up in the dining room at times for the kids to play and sleep in every once in a while but sleeping outdoors? That is something I am not sure of. The bugs would make me their feast for the night.

With Father's Day coming next month I started thinking that this is a great way to really spend some time together. Going camping with your husband and kids means that you have to count on each other for comfort and company. There are no TVs or computers. Sounds great already!

Then I would need a portable BBQ and plumbing, air mattress and a really comfortable sleeping bag but....if it was hotter than 75 I would need a fan.

Seriously, with so many of my neighbors and kids classmates heading out to the woods in nothing but tarps or a small camping tent. Who am I? The Queen of Sheba. 

Note to Self: Talk of with the husband and gauge his interest.

Music is Very Important to My Well Being - One eskimO - Review

My husband and I before kids were huge music fans with an extensive music collection and music was always on. When the "baby" turned 3.5 I started putting more music on during the day. Other than that it had only been lullabies or classical music. Handsome still listens to the music he used to listen to while inside me. I used to put the headphones on my belly and lie down for an hour a day after work.

I had not heard of One eskimO prior to this CD review. I also didn't know that the third song on the CD, is the most played song on all adult radio stations.

Hometime - This song slowly grew on me over the second time playing it. I am a big melody girl. And the melody was really pretty.
Astronauts - I loved how this song started. The piano piece was simple and pretty. After hearing it the second time I felt like I had heard it before. It is a really great song.
Kandi - I have heard this song before. I thought it was John Mayer the first time I heard it. It is easy to hear why it is the #1 song.

Slip - I loved how this song started. This is probably my least favorite on the CD. I didn't moved me.
Simiple Day - The guitars are really pretty. I love acoustic guitar and the calmness of the sound. This was reminiscent of Jason Mroz for me. I like when the voices blended on the chorus.
Givin Up - I didn't like the start of the song but eventually it kicked in and was reminiscent of Seal.
Chocolate - I think I will be listening to this often.

All Balloons - I like the sound and the stop and start of the versus. Very easy breezy song that reminded me of something I would hear in a coffee house while sipping and watching people go by.
Chosen One - I believe this is my second favorite next to the Astronaut song. Really pretty sound and reminds me of just laying in my apartment during a rain storm listening to music alone.

UFO - This is a really great song. I love all the tones in it. There is so much going on. Loved it.
Amazing - Nice, the words didn't kick in for 40 seconds. At first I thought it was going to be instrumental. I really loved this too.

I think that One eskimO has a very interesting sound and I appreciate how different they are.



I

Ruby Tuesday

This week's Ruby Tuesday are some photos from Handsome's birthday party this past Friday.


Here is Goddess and her cousin who haven't seen each other in almost two years. It was fun to watch them play like family who saw each other yesterday.


This is pretty much how I saw Goddess this night. In a blur, whizzing by.


Looks like fun, I want to play. Parents were allowed to partake in the fun but Teach wasn't able to come so as the only parent, I kept my feet on the ground and played Hostess.

Wow Imports and Reviewing the Famous "Carrie" necklace

As a Sex in The City fan, I was very familiar with the Carrie necklace and loved that I would get one for myself.

We received a "carrie" necklace with my name on it to try out and show off.

With graduation coming next month this is a great gift idea. Wow Imports has so many different styles of fonts and name necklaces to choose from. You can get the necklaces in whatever style fits the gift recipient's personality and personal style.

You can go with the classic name necklace or get a monogram, ring, vertical name, earrings and more. Wow Imports has so many ideas to choose from that I had trouble deciding on the font and style. I am not a gold person so I loved that there were options of gold or sterling silver. 

I also love that there were child sized necklaces. I have 8 nieces to buy for during the holidays and they all love jewelry

Disney Here We Come.............................

Well not literally but this is a great start. We are dying to take our kids to Disney. My kids are 5 and 7 and haven't been on a vacation yet.

They know all about Disney and believe Mickey Mouse and Disney Princess's live there.

Today I received this in my in-box.

Beside Disney there is so much to do in Orlando. An Orlando Vacation is right up our alley. Plus, my dad lives there and my daughter has never met him.

Orlando Vacation has some awesome Disney World Packages from 2 to 7 days.  You can build the perfect vacation based on your specific needs.

If I were planning the perfect vacation for my family, we would leave on a Thursday getting in at dinner time, dropping our stuff of at our room and getting room service. Crashing early, going for breakfast and heading out when the Disney World opens. One day in Disney World,  a day in Epcot and a day at MGM Studios. 

By day four, the kids would be able to go someplace other than a theme park. We could schedule a visit with my dad, hopefully having him come to us and resting in the hotel and at the pool. Day five we would take the kids to Sea World and for dinner, a theme restaurant. Day six, we would go to Universal Studios and perhaps dinner at Epcot (Mexico). Day seven we would sadly pack up and head out after breakfast promising to do it again.

I could just imagine my kids faces and the pictures I would get. Oh to dream!

Perfect Baby - Preschooler DVD

As a mom with two children I have seen my share of kid DVD's.

I made a vow to myself early on that if the kids were going to watch TV, it was going to be educational, informative, engaging and entertaining.

When I got the opportunity to review a DVD geared toward babies and preschoolers and since I was such a viewer I considered myself a self proclaimed "expert" and said yes.

What I Can Tell You: I sat down to watch it thinking, OK, the kids are too old and I will, watch, review and pass along the information.  Putting the DVD in, it starts out with classical music and these little guys.

Goddess (5) comes in, sits down and says "can I watch?" I say "of course". We are two minutes in and Handsome (7) comes in and sits down. Making a mental note, I think, "interesting". The kids stand up and move toward the TV with me thinking, "OK, they are interested."

I am surprised, the DVD seems perfect for babies up to 3 years old but my kids are interested. Maybe it is the colors, maybe the puppets. I personally think it is a combination, of sing-song talking, music, movement, presentation, and puppets.

We have watched the DVD three times this week and we all sing the songs now. I believe it is a great, quality DVD to introduce your child to the world of song and movement with a very special sweet, child friendly host.

Photo Time at Day One

Here is my Handsome at his birthday party yesterday. We invited his whole class, only 7 showed but it was so worth it. In this photo, everyone is singing Happy Birthday to him. He loved it.

Self Portrait Sunday - May 16, 2010

Here are the reasons for playing: Come on, admit it, you look through your photo albums or computer folders and see very few photos of yourself. Maybe it is because, like me, you are usually behind the camera. Or maybe, it's because you never feel you look good in photos so you tell everyone, "don't take any of me."

Well, take it...in the future you will wonder why you thought you didn't look good! You look good, be proud and show your smiling face!

Here is Goddess and I waiting for Handsome to come out of school.

Friday Photo Flashback

Here is Handsome in 2007 turning 4. Ohhhh my heart. This was when we saw family every once in a while. My mother-in-law and father-in-law are there, my nieces. It was a great time and Handsome was so happy.

In the first picture he is covering his eyes while everyone sang Happy Birthday. The smile never left his face but he watched through his fingers.

Memory Rewind is Back

Last week due to my computer virus I missed Memory Rewind. This week I am back and here is a picture of my Handsome turning 1. Notice the crazy hair. That is because earlier I had done a scalp treatment on his scalp for eczema. I called it descaling, I out baby oil on his scalp and then with a comb, cleared his scalp. This was also before central air and we were melting. It was hot in the house. You can see the red all over my face. I am not a summer person and don't do well in the heat.

Here is my baby eating cake. Shocking, I think it was the last time. He doesn't like cake at all anymore.

I love looking at these pictures. How young we all were. How easy life seemed. You have no idea how easy one kid is until you throw in a second. This was a picnic.

ABC Wednesday "Q"

I am finally back up on my computer after a week and it feels great...

ABC Wednesday this week is the letter "Q" This is a really hard letter for me. Let's see what I can find.

Last Thursday I was fortunate enough to take some photos at the Senior Prom in town. The library throws it for the Senior Center.


Q = Queen
Here is the Queen, dancing with the elected King. She was so surprised and happy.



Q = Questionable
Here I am, making a silly face with a graphic tat on my face. While I love being a mother I doubt that I would ever get something like this on my face.


Q = Quiet
Here are some beautiful doors to a mausoleum nearby.

Sonicare For Kids Is Teaching My Whole Family How To Brush

What I Can Tell You: My son and daughter were given the brush and told that it would vibrate and that when the music played they were to change position of the brush.  My daughter loved it, my son doesn't like the vibration in his mouth. My daughter however, loves the toothbrush. I love that the music is very subtle and not very babyish. I also love that my daughter is learning how long you are supposed to brush your teeth at a very early age. My husband brushed her teeth last night and asked her what the music was. I heard her telling him that when the music changed he is supposed to move the brush. Then I heard her say, "no daddy, you aren't supposed to shut it off, the brush shuts off all by itself. You didn't brush long enough."

Love In A Time of Homeschooling - A Review

If you know me personally, you know that since Handsome was born I have been interested in Homeschooling. There are so many reasons why; Protection, lose of control, too structured, boredom, tests, homework, not allowed to think outside the box, yada, yada, yada.

What I Can tell You: Yes, it is all that. Reading Laura's story was like taking a page out of my own head on my feelings about school and my son hadn't even started yet. Then, when my son ended up in speech at 23 months old and then OT and PT at 3 years old; I saw how the school system wanted to mold him and all his "differences" into a cookie cutter mold of what a "normal" child should be.   In many CPSE meetings I have stated that at any time I would be pulling him out to homeschool. I do not believe that all children need to have the structured education mandated by the Board of Education.

I love that Laura was passionate about her daughter's education and wanted to do the best thing for her. There are alternatives out there if people choose to take that route. My road started with holding my son back from Kindergarten an extra year. I felt that his speech delay contributed to a social delay and that the extra year would give him more time to be school ready. He, like Laura's daughter is very smart, HATES school (he is only 7 today and in Kindergarten) and struggles to be like everyone else.

Laura's writing is fun, witty, inspiring, real and feels like a chick chat with a good friend. Her candid view and how she advocates for her daughter is a beautiful tribute to the love of a mother. We knew our children better than anyone. Some moms don't even know they have options. Like cattle they just storm ahead like the masses, never knowing that the easiest change could make the difference in a child's views on education.  Holding my son back from school was met with many views, some thought I was crazy,  few felt I was having trouble letting go, other thought my son had bigger problems than I was letting on but there were some, who told me that they hadn't even thought about it. They didn't realize they had a say. The kid is 5 and I guess they start school now.

I love the idea of short-term homeschooling. I love that Laura is showing everyone what I have been telling my friends forever. Homeschoolers are not just fanatical religious types or hippies. Some of them take their kids to McDonalds, shop at Target, have coffee with their friends, let their kids watch TV. The stigma is slowly being lifted as more and more people understand homeschooling and thanks to Laura Brodie, I think more and more people will seek homeschooling as an option.

Thank you Laura for making me feel very, very normal.

Ruby Tuesday - The Prom King

Last Thursday I worked with another photographer at the "senior prom". We took about 900 pictures and some of the most important of the night were of the king and queen. The seniors honor and crown a king and queen voted on by their peers.

When the name of the king was called, he was shocked. We had to take his video camera from him. You can see it being removed from his hands on the right.

My Handsome Turns 7 Today - Happy Birthday My Baby Boy

I cannot believe it!

Where has the time gone? My little baby first born is 7 today!!!!

Handsome,

Your parents and your sister love you very, very much. You are one of a kind and march completely to your own drum. After all is said and done you are funny, sensitive and sweet. Even when you are "telling" us how it IS, you back down and lie your head on me or come up behind me leaning on my back telling me, "I want to be good!" You are good just very opinionated.

7 Things I love About you!

• I love how you still ask me to lie down with you
• I love how you lean your head on me or hug me from behind
• I love how you still listen to the same music every night that you have listened to since you were in the womb
• I love the quiet of just being in the car with you alone. We don't feel the need to talk about nothing
• I love how you take care of yourself in the morning. You are so independent and don't feel the need to wake us while you play your DS, put on a movie for yourself, read a book or play with your Star Wars figurines waiting for the house to wake
• I love how predictable you are. Daddy and I always know what you are going to say
• I love everything that makes you you! Everything about you from your big brown eyes to your crazy laugh

You are extremely intelligent, a great reader and speller. You currently love Hockey, Football and playing video games.  Your prefer being alone which is exactly how I used to be. You love watching home movies I put on video for you.  You are very aware of WHAT you want and are not afraid to tell someone, "let me concentrate please".

We are so proud of all you have accomplished, from the child who started speech at 2 years old until now you have changed so much from here. No more tantrums, fights, tons of big boy words, advocating for yourself and not being too shy to ask for what you wanted.  You have made great strides from the boy who lost his balance easily, had no strength in his hands, couldn't pump his legs on a swing, open his own drinks or ask for what he wanted you are so different from just a few years ago. I love watching you on the playground, making friends and enjoying other kids company.

You are the only person who notices something different right away. "Wow, Mommy, Did you get your hair cut? I like it!"

You are very special and I know you will do amazing things.

I cannot wait to see where you are next year. You amaze us with your memory and scary mind for numbers. You are a strong, funny, smart, handsome, sensitive boy who enjoys music and being with Mommy and Daddy. Between your allergies, ezcema and sensory processing issues, you accomplish so much. I could never do half of what you manage. We are so proud of you. I know you love to hear it, "you're proud of me?" so I am going to say it again!!! We are SO proud of you.

We love you baby and hope you have a wonderful birthday.

God bless you handsome you are my heart on legs and I adore you.

Post for his 6th birthday
Here is his fifth birthday post.
Here is his fourth birthday post
Here is his third birthday post

Kelley Armstrong Series Should Be Your Next Guilty Pleasure

Thanks to Harper Teens I received The Reckoning, by Kelley Armstrong, the last in the trilogy.

You can see my review including video review of the first two books here.

BOOK THREE: The Reckoning

What I Can Tell You: I was anxious to receive the Reckoning but it was a bittersweet longing. I knew that once I was finished with this book, Chloe's story would be over. I had the same feeling while reading the Twilight Saga. I refused to read Breaking Dawn because leaving Bella, Edward and the clan just broke my heart.

I believe this Kelley Armstrong is an amazing author, completely sucking the reader in and bringing the characters right off the page.

Why a studio hasn't picked this up is amazing. This story should be a movie! It reads like a movie and the concept is intriguing. What DOES happen when you mix a werewolf, necromancer, half-demon, sorcerer and other darker powers together?

The Dark Powers series is a great way to spend the summer. Read it with your teens, if you have no teens at home, read it for yourself. It is a great series.
 

LilyMe Jewelry Review

They have tons of color cords to choose from and you can get the charm engraved with up to nine letters of your choice.

Great for birthdays, Mother's day, graduation and or other gift opportunity.  What I loved about it also, is that the cord fits my wrist AND my 5 year old daughter's wrist. She loved that we could share the bracelet but I would love to get matching ones for us. Saying Mother and Daughter.

You can selected plated gold or sterling silver for the charm depending on your taste.

Want something else? No problem. There are tons of charms to choose from from Flowers, to hearts to butterflies and more.

Sugar Free Ring Pop Review & Giveaway

Recently I received Sugar Free Ring Pops for my kids to try out. As a mom who is very strict with sweets and snacks this was their first time trying a ring pop and I was curious to see what they thought.

As you can see each package comes with 3 Pops each and is sweetened with Splenda.

Goddess decided to pose with the bag and also asked for this border, so excuse the flowers.

We each picked a ring pop and opened them up. Handsome's is the only kid I know who doesn't love candy. He likes very few types of sweets. He picked Watermelon and ate about 50% of it before he said he wanted to keep it in a baggie for next time.

Goddess Loooooveees (with a capital L) sweets of all kinds, so I knew she would love this review opportunity. She ate all of hers.

I had the Strawberry one and loved that it wasn't so sweet that I had to drink a gallon of water when I was done.

At 30 calories a pop you can feel confident giving your kids a treat once in a while with Sugar Free Ring Pops.

Here is Goddess trying to figure out if it was "pretend jewelry" or candy.

Color Carnival

This weeks Color Carnival is a photo of I call Framed in Flowers.

ABC Wednesday - P

It's Wednesday and while my computer is sick with a nasty virus, I am using the hubs computer. It is great to have this one but I need my email archives! Waahhhh....

ABC Wednesday this week is the letter "P"

P = Playing and Peeking

It's his game but occasionally, he lets her play.

P = Pathetic


When allergies get you down, even the park can suck!

P = Peacock


She had no idea what it was but she followed until it turned around.

P = Penguins


Not a great picture but the kids are there, the penguins are there and hello, there I am. In reflection anyway!

Annnnnndddd

P = Pucker

Mwaaahhhh...Happy Wednesday

Important Announcement - To My Readers - UPDATE

Last week I wrote about the problem with my beloved computer.  I have spent four-five days saving photos to my external drive and last night the husband did a clean sweep of my laptop. We are currently waiting for the sweep and then I assume it will take me a few days to load all programs back on (hope we still have the discs).  Everyone I owe something to, again, I apologize for the inconvenience.  Without my email archives I am stuck and praying that I didn't lose everything.

That nasty virus was actually so bad it was affecting my internet providers server. They closed the whole house down so that we wouldn't pass it along. Quarantined!!!!

Hopefully we are up and at least running somewhat. This has been a learning experience. While I back up my photos and videos, I don't back up email archives. I work with folders which meant that I didn't have access to anything that wasn't in my in-box on my internet providers site.  I keep the in-box strictly for incoming and then  moved it to the file it needed to be in for organizational purposes. Advertisers, Sponsors, Review Groups, Pending Reviews, Completed Reviews, Blogs, Blog Comments, Friends, and more. From now on I will be at least printing out the Pending Review folders until they are complete. I am at least 5 reviews behind due to this and missing deadlines for the first time since I started reviewing.

But thankfully, my mentality is, don't stress over what you can't fix. I couldn't fix this so I took a deep breath everyday and handled the million unblog issues quicker than usual.

Happy Mother's Day!!!

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Trojan Virus infected my beloved, 7 year old laptop. Awesome, webmaster husband is trying to heal it back to health.

If a PR Person, Winner, Sponsor, is looking for me, please email me. I am receiving and responding to mail on my "Pinkberry".

Writing this post from my husband's laptop and have access to computers at the library so I do hope for the occasional update but since I don't have my Outlook email archives, things will be slow going. Any deadlines I have for reviews or giveaways from sponsors will not be up on time as I do not have access to my email prior to this virus.

My apologies and please forgive me for any deadlines missed!

Thank you,

Your Host, Maria

Goddess Talks Weddings and Mothering

This weekend I did the clothes transition. You know put Fall and Winter away and take out Spring and Summer. Goddess decided to put on a dress that was in her bin. We get a lot of hand-me-downs so I don't remember whose dress this was but it has been waiting in a bin marked 4T-5T.

She walked around all day in this dress and communion veil that has been sitting in her dress up bin.  She pretended to walk down the aisle and called this her "bride dress" to her father's dismay. He kept telling her that she was "breaking his heart" and that she was "way to young" to think about marriage. He told her that she should have a career first. 

While I totally agree with him, I find it hysterical that girls instinctively get into this whole wedding thing even with parents who don't talk about it. She has never been to a wedding. We don't know anyone who is getting married right now and I have never showed her how to walk down an aisle yet she does it in my living room holding a flower in her hands and her eyes closed. Not sure what the whole closed eyes is but she also does this when she holds "potential snacks" up to me.  She walks over, closes her eyes, puts her chin to her chest and holds out her hand with the snack she wants. I asked her once why and she said, "I don't want to see you say no."

Today, I showed her the picture I was about to put on the blog talking about her "bride dress" and she said, "I am sorry that you lost your mommy when you were young. Maybe when I grow up, I can be your mommy."  Awww...too cute. I gave her a hug and told her that I would like that. I guess she is talking about the days that she is changing my Depends and feeding me soup. Who knows?!

Ruby Tuesday - The Greeter

Happy Ruby Tuesday on Monday.

At a church near by this statue stands at the main entrance. I walked in to take some picture. I was alone, the church was dark save for the candle light and the sun coming through the stained glass window.

Raising Good Kids - In The Words of A Teenager - My Lawn Boy Interview!

Yesterday I went outside to pay my "lawn boy" for two weeks worth of work.

I bent down through the deck to catch him as he walked by with the lawn mower. He saw me and stopped the lawn mower. Handing the money to him with a "my husband left money for you." He said, "Thank you" and reached for the money. As I was about to turn around and go inside (I don't want to waste anyone's time, he was working) he said, "How have you been?"

We talked for about 20 minutes. He really is such a great kid!

What did we talk about? Well, it wasn't about the weather, the lawn, girlfriends or school. We talked about parenting, religion, and hard work.

"Vinnie" is one of those kids that makes you proud just by knowing him. He is a hard worker (three jobs), works with the food pantry getting donations, a downhill skier who has his eyes on the Olympics and he's a good looking kid who last year when he was shirtless in my driveway, I  run in the house shielding my eyes because he was 15 years old and although I am a dirty old lady. I am not THAT dirty.

I asked him about his medals (fastest in all groups was just one of them) and told him how proud we were of him. Then I asked, what his mother did right and what he suggests for my kids to turn out even half as good as he has.

How does a 16 year old know exactly what he wants to do?
Volunteer to do Community Service?
Hold 3 jobs?

He said, "you guys are doing exactly what my mom did. She stayed very involved. Kept us off the streets. Out of town. Stayed on top of us, making us always accountable for our actions. Got us into sports and made us go to Church every Sunday."

When I asked if he ever felt like he was missing out on things his friends were involved in, he "yes, when I was younger but now I see how they have no ambition and how pathetic they all seem, hanging out in front of the stores on the ave at night. No jobs! No goals." I want to live like I'm 20. I want to drive a nice car, go out to eat at nice restaurants, go down the shore. I want to have a full life. I believe in God and know he wants me to be good and that one day I will go to Heaven. I don't believe we have to go to Church to pray."

I told him that he should be very proud of himself, that he is a role model for young people and that at 16 I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life.

This kid has a lot going for himself but I believe that essential parenting created who he is. His parents didn't do anything extreme. They stuck to the basis making sure their children were loved, disciplined, had boundaries and his parents were involved in their day to day life.

I love a kid who credits his mother with who he is.

He spoke of the drugs that have moved into my little town and credits his faith and his sports mentality as to why he hasn't participated. I knew that drugs were around but hearing how bad they are scares me.

We left off with me doing the mother lecture. "Keep up the good work. We are very proud of you. Stay focused. There is plenty of time for girls and just make sure whoever you choose is worth your time. I will be watching you!"

When I stepped off the deck, I thought, his mother did a wonderful job and my goodness, he is so polite and has such great manners. My kids need to hang out with him! But, also I was so happy to know that he believes that my husband and I are doing a wonderful job and that he SEES how involved we are with them, even from the outside. We KNOW how involved we are but it is nice to know that it is being noticed.

Shutterday - Sleep

Here is my Goddess sleeping in the back seat. The description on Flickr says: This is what I get to see in my rear view mirror every day. She was 1.5 years old and I was so in love with her.

Photo Time @ Day One

Here is a picture of my two babies at the zoo on Thursday. This is a stone egg shell and they take pictures in them every year

Self Portrait Sunday - May 2, 2010

Here are the reasons for playing: Come on, admit it, you look through your photo albums or computer folders and see very few photos of yourself. Maybe it is because, like me, you are usually behind the camera. Or maybe, it's because you never feel you look good in photos so you tell everyone, "don't take any of me."

Well, take it...in the future you will wonder why you thought you didn't look good! You look good, be proud and show your smiling face!

Here I am, playing with lighting. Lighting is an aging skin's best friend.