Functional Art

Its my addiction- well ok ONE of my addictions. I have over the years discovered that I have a fondness for things that look, well, like things they are not.  Or if its just an obscure version of normal.
I have collected CaRRoL BoYeS art for years now here are just a very few of my collection:

She is a South Africa artist but her stuff can be bought internationally. I just love her stuff and can't leave SA without bringing a few pieces home with me!

Other functional weird things in my house that I love , my hand vac, my clock, Elijahs new Banana toothbrush, Elijah's Egg cup( by Alessi) :

and my newest purchase> I just LOVE Boon products and this one is no exception:

BOON GRASS

And if you know me , this also applies to dressing my son, particularly accessories like hats and socks:

So what I am saying is: It is an addiction but its ok for you to be an enabler and leave comments / links to other cool/ crazy products that you have seen that you think fall into this category that I would probably love. Its Okizzay.

Anatomy of a SuperMom Part 2

 ( eta- seriously, after all the time i put into making my CHARTS they didn't even show up on here!!! GRRR they did at first but at some point something went wrong. doublegrrr)

OK, so  a HUGE THANK-YOU to everyone who participated in my "survey". It was fascinating and revealing and inspiring and motivating! We're a bunch of hard working Mama's - but I did not need the survey to figure that one out!  

I think SLEEP and NUTRITION are vital aspects in being part SuperMom and lets face it, we all want to be part SuperMom, not for ourselves or for what other people think of us but so we can raise SuperKids - who are healthy, happy, balanced , empathetic and awesome. So we NEED to take the time from things like watching TV and oh maybe even the computer ( yes, I am talking to myself here!) and make sure we do this for ourselves. I always told myself that TV/Computer time is MY relaxing time, which it IS - BUT- at the expense of being drained the next day and the next and the next - who is that fun for? 

I am clearly NOT a writer ( or a SuperMom or a Chart maker truth be told!) and my thoughts on all this and the answers I received are all jumbled in my head and I am finding it hard to put it all to paper like I had planned. The one thing I did realize from this all though is that there is no ONE MOLD for what a SuperMom is, just like fingerprints and snowflakes , we are all completely different and so require different things of ourselves. Ultimately a SuperMom is a HAPPY MOM who gets out of life what she wants by making the effort to do so. 

So I am not going to keep harping on about this, and hope you've learned what I did from the experiment even though its completely NOT what I thought the lesson would be. There are no tricks or magic spells, we all require different things and have different things required of us. 

Here is a breakdown of some of the info I gathered, I’ll gradually add more to later posts as it would just be too much all in one. 

Question#4:

Approximately how many hours of sleep do you get a night?



According to my basic research we're doing pretty good here, 7-8 hrs is what we need. But of course for many thats not a continuous 7-8 hrs and there are too many of you getting by on 5 or less hours and I really urge you to try and get a few more. A more rested Mommy = a happier Mommy = a happier family. 

Question #6:

DO YOU COOK 4+ TIMES A WEEK?:
In response to the question about how often we cook in a week, there was one common statement across the board bar one - who cooks 6 nights a week. And that was that we wish we cooked more for our families. I know I wish I was better. My Mom used to come home from a full days work at 6pm and cook a full meal every night , like a roast chicken or something crazy like that! I will roast a chicken maybe twice a year! How DID she do it? I do cook most nights at home but its always pretty basic and I go in phases of being really good about it and then burning out and slacking off for months after that. 

Question #14:

WHAT IS YOUR WORST?

a) Poop

b) Snot 

c) Bedtimes

d) 5pm witching hour - making dinner meltdowns

e)Teeth Brushing

 f)Other    

This was pretty funny, but the majority chose d) the witching hour / making dinner meltdowns as their nemesis and since I answered mine has changed from e)teeth-brushing to d) the witching hour too. He has definitely got better about his teeth brushing ! f) was mostly people with older kids and so a) thru e) were no longer a factor but apparently “Getting the kids up and out te house in the morning” is gonna be on the horizon for many of us shortly. I can’t wait. I am such a great morning person at the best of times...

One things for sure: SNOT IS HOT / WE LOVE SNOT ! ha ha!

So, THANK YOU again. I will take all I have learned and continue to grow and try to improve myself and strive to be a better Mommy every day- knowing that I already am a SuperMom and so are YOU!

with love

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL.

spend time with your loved ones, coz if you can, you are blessed.

Tis the Season

Just a quick post to share our 2009 Christmas Card with you all , THANK YOU to A Mom Two Boys for getting the 2nd Annual Bloggy Holiday Card Exchange up and running!

As for Anatomy of a SuperMom : Its coming along well THANK YOU for all your responses! I am still collecting my data so its not too late to submit your answers from the previous post to supermominfo @ yahoo dot com !!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS BLOGGERS ! 

Anatomy of a SuperMom part 1.

OK, so every year for the past who-knows-how-many years, I have totally copped out of doing New Years Resolutions. I guess I jumped on the " no-one ever actually sticks to them so why bother" bandwagon and just rode it, I rode that sucker into the ground. I believe it's time for me to get up and walk on my own two feet this New Year and actually attempt to make and stick to a resolution.


Its just one, how hard can it be right? Well the ONE that I have picked is kinda all encompassing...


Lets start at the very beginning ( its a very good place to start...♫) So, many of you know that I was an Au Pair and then a Nanny for several years. I would ALWAYS say I was doing it to practice for when I had my own kids, I have wanted to be a Mommy since I was waaay tooo young and so it was the perfect avenue for me. I loved being a Nanny. I learned so much from all those kids and their parents , I learned a lot of what I wanted to be like as a parent and plenty of what I did NOT want to be like too.
When I was pregnant everybody would say to me " Oh you are going to be such a good Mommy with all this experience..." and my reply was always " Aw shucks Thank you, but I think the lesson I have learned the most is that no matter how much I think I know... its going to be way waaay harder than I imagine. " and you know what? I was RIGHT! 


Fast Forward 17 months after I officially graduated from Pregnant Nanny to Stay at Home Mommy:
Oh Em Geeeeee!!!! Its so difficult/ exhausting etc etc etc - I don't need to tell you, you know. Absolutely its also without doubt the MOST AMAZING/ REWARDING etc etc etc job in the universe. I do not forget that , not for a single second. My child is the reason I was put on this planet, he is the epitome of LOVE. But thats not what this particular post is about.
What I am saying is, after 17 months I have still not found my groove with this whole Mommy thing. I KNOW I can be more, and its not just the "Mommy" part its the Wife and Homemaker part too, others do it - I know its not easy , but nor is my current state of "just getting by" and I know we all have good days and bad days and behind the scenes in every house is some kind of drama. I am not delusional .
I just feel I am capable of more but I didn't get a degree in this ( Nanny School didn't cover it all) no-one does without experience and so ( finally - my point) I am going to attempt to tap into my network of Mommies across the globe - THATS YOU! - and learn some tricks, tips and been-there-done-that information and put it to good use for myself. Then I am going to take said DATA and share it back with you all *hopefully* on the form of a graph or 2 and some other nifty ways to emphasize what is important , what's NOT and what you may wanna try to make your life a bit easier in 2010 and beyond.


Yup, my New Years Resolution is : Learn some SuperMom skills before I even think about having another child!


So would you , my fellow Mama's o' the internet please take 5 mins and answer these questions. You can be as basic or as long winded as your SuperMom Schedule will allow.
Copy and Paste them to an email ( or send a blank email and I will send u the form. If you do copy and paste remember this is in WHITE so you will have to change the color or it will appear invisible in your email ), add your honest answers and send them to:
supermominfo at yahoo dot com
and then send someone else here, someone you feel has SuperMom powers we could all learn from and have them share the love.
( all information will be used anonymously - you don't even have to put any names or details in the email)


Your Questions M'dears:


1. How many Children do you have? ( list their ages)


2. How old are you ?


3. Are you a working Mom or a SAHM?


4. Approximately how many hours of sleep do you get a night?


5. Do you go to bed right after the kids? 


6. Do you cook 4+ times a week?


7. When do you do your Grocery Shopping? once a week? with/without kids? monthly? as needed?


8. Do you exercise regularly? - if yes, give basic details


9. Do you have regular "me time"? If yes, when/ how often and what do you do?


10. What is one ( or more) Mom thing you feel you do really well- your Mom Forté if you will... don't be shy.


11. What is one( or more) Mom thing you feel you would like to improve on?


12. Do you have a group of other Moms in your area that you talk to/ get advice from/ have playdates with?


13. Do you have "date night"? Paid Babysitter/Relative/Friend? How often?


14. What is your WORST 
a) Poop
b) Snot 
c) Bedtimes
d) 5pm witching hour - making dinner meltdowns
e) Teeth Brushing
f) Other... please elaborate!


15. Tips and Tricks or anything extra you'd like to share:


THANK YOU!


here are my answers:

1. How many Children do you have? ( list their ages)

1 boy -17 months old

2. How old are you ?

30

3. Are you a working Mom or a SAHM?

SAHM

4. Approximately how many hours of sleep on average do you get a night?

6

5. Do you go to bed right after the kids? 

NO!- its when I get most stuff done or relax- usually 12:30am bedtime for me

6. Do you cook 4+ times a week?

Yes- but I am tired of cooking the same things. I don't do Hamburger helper or anything like  that , but I need to get a bit more adventurous / exciting.

7. When do you do your Grocery Shopping? once a week? with/without kids? monthly? as needed?
Once a week, I usually take him to my Mother-in-law while I go to the Grocery store, I find that if I take him I spend FAR more and WAY less and take 10x longer. 

8. Do you exercise regularly? - if yes, give basic details

no. nada.

9. Do you have regular "me time"? If yes, when/ how often and what do you do?

1 hour of Yoga a week. And then random occasions.

10. What is one ( or more) Mom thing you feel you do really well- your Mom Forté if you will... don't be shy.

I'd like to think I am good at finding a happy medium between being natural/organic and "normal" . We are still breast-feeding, doing cloth & disposable diapers, eating 80% organic,  etc etc etc and I am proud that he recently at 16.5 months old had his first fever - which only lasted one night ( and I am positive that was due to molars coming in anyway). He is a healthy boy which is a blessing and I work hard to keep it that way.

Also like to think I am a fun Mommy- but with rules of course.

11. What is one( or more) Mom thing you feel you would like to improve on?

Meal Planning/ Grocery list planning ahead of time.

Being more "educational" for Elijah

Being less tired.

My daily appearance - less haggard would be nice.

12. Do you have a group of other Moms in your area that you talk to/ get advice from/ have playdates with?

Yes, Thank Heavens! I have a couple of groups of local friends and then my online community of Moms via, iVillage, Facebook, Twitter, momslikeme, blogs . All of which are PRICELESS.

13. Do you have "date night"? Paid Babysitter/Relative/Friend? How often?

no. Can't remember last "date" maybe Christmas party '08?

14. What is your WORST 

a) Poop

b) Snot 

c) Bedtimes

d) 5pm witching hour - making dinner meltdowns

e) Teeth Brushing

f) Other... please elaborate!

e) TEETH BRUSHING - its the worst part(s) of my day. Not MY teeth I love that...its Elijah that hates his being brushed.

15. Tips and Tricks or anything extra you'd like to share:

I am addicted to:

1. My Family

2. Tea

3. LISTS - i thrive on putting a √ next to something! or crossing it off

There just never seems to be enough hours. Or is it enough energy? Or is it enough Caffeine? We can't all be good at everything but by doing this I hope we can tap into each others strengths and learn a trick or two to make our lives easier and when Mommy is Happy - everyone is happy!!

THANKS IN ADVANCE FOR YOUR INPUT, I WILL SHARE MY FINDINGS WITH YOU ASAP!

Remember November

I stand by my blog title - Time flies when you're having fun! November must have been fun because I seriously can not believe its over. This month has been hectic but I know its been a cake-walk compared to what December will bring and I am excited for the challenge!
I am a big one for reminiscing , especially when it comes to my baby boy, and this month brings back memories of just 2 short years ago and how far we have come:

I know, I know TMI right? Well he was a planned baby, what can I say? LOL

He is 16 going on 17 months old already has 12 teeth , a few signs and as of Thanksgiving day finally>>> ONE WORD!!

That word is a special word, especially to our Lijah and makes me so happy that he chose it to be his first, even if it sounds more like YaWa it translates to LOVE but it means:

NOAH

For those who don't know the scoop: We refer to them as brothers but they are technically first cousins once removed. Noah lives with my Mother in Law ( Bubbas Mom, his Great Grandma) but we have shared custody of him with her and he spends the weekends with us. These two boys love each other SO MUCH its ridiculous! Its amazing. Its beautiful. I hope hope hope that their relationship is always so awesome.

Thanksgiving was different for us this year, in that I didn't cook, but instead we went and helped serve meals to the homeless and I hope thats a tradition we can continue from now on at our house. But we did have a turkey, a 25 pounder...

we've been plumping him up since last year...

I can't get over how fast time goes with him around I saw a quote that captured it well recently:

"For Mothers of small children, the days are long but the years are short."

SO TRUE!

Tomorrow is December 1st and its going to be a special day for me, I have spent many many an hour in this past year thinking about mortality and how precious children are. December 1st is significant for a few reasons:

1. My friend had her baby boy twins TYLER and PARKER on December 1st last year. Those babies are fighters. Their Mommy and Daddy fought on behalf of them to even conceive them, then fought to keep them safe in Mommy's belly for as long as possible. I talked with her on the phone almost every day while she was on bed-rest in hospital for a loooong time and we begged them to stay put till December. That they did. And not a moment longer! She called me early on December 1st 2008 and said "  it's a baby day!" . They fought in the NICU and both came home by early Feb I believe and are the sweetest lil dudes. They defied the odds and will continue to do so.

2. Another friend had her baby SLADE on that same day. Slade is a miracle too. In many ways. Her Mommy and Daddy had 2 boys and were hoping for a sweet daughter, it took quite a while for them to get pregnant again and when we found out she was the long awaited for GIRL , we all cried tears of joy. Little did we know how that little girl and her absolutely incredible smile would lift up that family the first year of her life , when they discovered a Tumor growing on her oldest brothers brain before she was 3 months old. Forester ( who is now 8) is fighting like a champ and after his surgery and lots of Chemo and things I can't even comprehend , he will come out strong and will always be a hero to me. He is incredible as is his entire family, if it were not for Slade I would not know them.

SO HAPPY BIRTHDAY SLADE, TYLER and PARKER for tomorrow!!

The 3rd reason is different. This child has a tragically different story , an equally amazing family , a place in my heart that I did not know was there for a little person who I would never have met but may have known as I am sure she would have been famous. Madaline Spohr . The reason why December 1st is significant regarding her, even her parents wouldn't know. Maybe its morbid , I hope not, thats not my intention but tomorrow my baby will be a day older than Maddie never got to be. And I am going to celebrate his life , embrace his silliness and stop and smell the roses, thankful for every single moment I have with him. Entering this crazy holiday season with the goal of making it special but not at the expense of making memories and those don't always require big parades, platters, parties or presents, but they do require people and plenty of time with them. That I can do. And that , I appreciate. 

Lucky 13

First, let me begin by explaining my lack of bloggage. For those who don't know its NaPoBloMo and so Bloggers who have the oomph are supposed to post once a day every day for the month of November! How cool... yeahhhh I 'm NOT one of them . I figured I'd not waste your blog reading time with my ramblings since you probably had a few others to catch up on. My friend Brittany @ www.mommywords.com is totally rocking it out.  Thats my excuse and I am sticking to it!

So now I have to tell you about my Friday the 13th. It was something let me tell ya... Let me rewind and explain the lead up : So it was to be my first weekend away from my baby, a MOMS WEEKEND AWAY in VEGAS! This is not just ANY group of moms, its was part of a group of girls that I love dearly. For 2 years we have communicated almost every day, in almost every way but never face to face- until now.
It sounds dodgy, I know I know, don't worry I get "the look" when I tell this to people, but if you know me for one, you know I met my husband online , so its not THAT unusual for me. But more importantly if you are reading this Blog you are probably in the category of people who are open to the greatness of an Internet community and if you have any doubts about its power, you need to research the current case of Anissa Mayhew - a Mega Mommy Blogger who had a stroke earlier this week and how there are thousands of people around the globe who are rooting for her, supporting her, praying for her and keeping the faith alive for her and her family.

I digress.

We planned this trip to Vegas long ago, and I was so READY for my weekend away but also slightly terrified at the prospect of leaving my boy for 3 full days. I left the house at 6am on Friday November 13th, aware of the date but I am not superstitious and it was too early for my brain to even deal with that anyway.
I was scheduled to fly from CLT to ATL and connect with a friend from ATL to LAS. I , in general have bad luck with flying. That said I always make it safely to my destination and back so its not THAT bad and boy oh boy I am grateful for that! They make me check my carry on suitcase due to lack of space, oh well as long as I can pick it up in Vegas.So we get out on the runway in CLT. I'm ready, I send my last minute text messages: " Departing Gate! C U Soon! " . Aaaaaand we wait...
Next thing we are heading back to the gate. Navigation Issues. Part is coming - from ATLANTA.
We all get off the plane and back in line at the gate and we wait some more. Missed my connection from Atlanta to Vegas and subsequently my friend/ flight buddy. I do get put onto a new flight and this one is direct to Vegas for CLT so thats a bonus and ultimately I would only be an hour later than my original flight arrival. So, new flight, new plane ( well not a *NEW* plane just new to me) , new airline, gate and departure time. New text : " OK lets try this again! Departing Gate, must turn off phone, C U soon!"
Kiss of death.
NEW PROBLEM. Right engine won't start, we kinda need that... So they tell us to wait on the plane while the look and see if they can fix it quickly. Hmmmm I am not-so-comfortable with the "quick fix" plan but my blood was boiling too much for me to get up out of my seat at that point. We waited over an hour while I watched from my window as 3 men fiddled with the engine until I saw one give the Pilot a thumbs up! I was happy but very nervous at his point. Text : " Looks like its good to go. If I die in a ball of fire coz I ignored the signs 4 me NOT to go. I will feel like a dumbass. ".
5 hrs and 1 drink no snacks and 1 Grand Canyon later , I landed safely in Vegas!!!

6pm EST and half a chicken biscuit all day, but I was not the only one who was hungry and disrupted by my flight drama. The other 7 Moms that came had also been upheaved by MY flight drama and had not eaten all day either- a GREAT way to impress your  *new* friends! oh and did I mention they lost my Luggage? Yup. Borrowed clothes , make-up and accessories and headed for the Strip that very night too. Luggage got delivered late that night.

In case you were wondering. I did NOT win a penny on the slot machines that Friday the 13th.

But I met some Lucky Ladies and we had a ball.