Child Models on Ebay?

I really think it's strange that people use their children (or any children) as models for items (and not even clothing items!) on Ebay. Just strange...strangestrangestrange

TURNING 30 TODAY??????????

I am not sure why this is so strange to me...I never thought I would be 30. LOL What a random thing to say, but it's true! My ds will be THREE on Saturday, too! Whew!

The coolest anniversary present from our daughter!

She kept this project a secret for like a week and a half and I promised not to peek...and I didn't. I had no idea she was making something so trendy and cool!





How sweet is THAT?? Mine & DH's anniversary was last weekend.

DD made a back to school gift for her new teacher

We made this together for her new teacher for Back to School. I used SU paper, CM stickers & SU alpha stamps over a regular composition book. The thing that you can't see in the middle of her name is a red apple sticker...wish it would show up in the photo!

Preschool Dilemma

My ds will be 3 in September. He's been asking me about preschool lately, partially because one of his friends goes and talks about it and partially because he wishes he could go to school like big sis.

Here's my dilemma...I hadn't planned on sending him to preschool at least until he was 4. He's very attached and yes, still nursing. I mean, he's not like every 2 hours or anything, but a few times a day and at night. He's very shy around strangers, but outgoing when he gets to know people. The reason I hadn't planned on sending him to preschool was mostly because since I am at home, it's not necessary from that point of view.

My dd didn't go to preschool until she was 4. She went to a Montessori. Before that, she was with family members when I worked (I worked when she was small and went to school). My dd really benefitted (sp?) from the Montessori preschool and bloomed and thrived, but I was always of the impression that she was only then ready, I am not sure she would have been before that point.

Anyway, so my PLAN was that Jordan might go to preschool for pre-k to get socialized a little bit, but was not really planning to homeschool him, but send him maybe to a really nice art charter in our town.

Now that he's bugging me like 3 or 4 times a week with "are we going to preschool today?" do I need to let him try it out? I mean, I know that we are the parents and we ultimately decide, but maybe I should let him try it out a couple of times to see what it really is, instead of the fantasyland he might be thinking it is. Or...he could love it and we could stick with it 2 days a week or something...maybe 1 day, I don't know.

Wow! Major Score at Nordstrom!

I have to brag. We were at the mall down in Charlotte yesterday and they have a Nordstrom, the only one in like the entire state maybe? Anyway, they were having that twice yearly sale, that is major...handbags, clothes super cheap, shoes, the whole deal! In the kids area, they sell Melissa & Doug sets, the garage, the fire house, etc. Jordan was playing with this display of the fire house and I noticed it was on the 30% off rack, so I asked the sales lady if they had more in the back. She looked and they didn't. It looked, though, like the display had all of the parts albeit played with. So, she looked it up, it was marked from $70 to $25!! I got the fire house and all the accessories for $25!

Major happy dance! Jordan is playing with it!

The original "eat right for your type" Ayurveda

Every time I delve back into this way of life, it makes sense, the mind/body approach. I have been listening to Deepak Chopra's Weight Loss Meditations and he really always hits home for me in his philosophy and explanations of food, our bodies and how terrible diets are for your body. I love how he lays out the path and I just need to follow it. It's all making sense.

Here's a neat site that just touches the TIP of the iceberg as far as Ayurveda & body types go. http://www.indianfoodsco.com/Ayurveda/Doshas.htm

Check out the cool luna moth that was on my screen

PSA: My baby got stuck in the blinds

We have THESE BLINDS on 2 windows in our bedroom. The windows are a good 3.5-4 ft off the ground, but our bed is right underneath one of them.

Yesterday, I was ironing a shirt in dd's room and ds was supposed to be in the living room, where I saw him last. I guess about 5 minutes had passed and I heard a shrill scream and crying come from my bedroom. I ran in because we know when our babies our hurt and he was sitting on the bed, hysterically pointing at the blinds and holding his neck telling me it hurt. I looked at his neck and it had red welts just the size and pattern of the twine that is used to hold these blinds up. All the way around his neck. His face was flushed and he had almost like petechia (sp) in a couple of places around it.

I just hugged him and made sure he was okay. But after a while, I started freaking out thinking that he somehow had it around his neck, clearly it had been pretty tight, but he had gotten himself out of it. And if he hadn't? Ugh, the thought turns my stomach.

How did he do it? Well, when you pull up the blind, there is a twine on either side that connects to the one you pull...it rolls up the blind evenly. But, the blind can be slipped out of it and will then completely unravel, leaving a loop of twine where the blind should be held. That loop is what he had put his neck & head into.

So we are replacing these blinds that I love so much with regular panels

I know I should have been watching him better and in a perfect world, he would be by my side every moment, but it can't always be that way, so I'd rather get rid of them than risk having that happen again...maybe next time with different results.

Tsk tsk Kiehls is a Nestle company!

I found that Kiehl's is now owned by L'Oreal, which is a Nestle company. Gotta love it, eh? They make a couple of my tried and true faves and I will never buy them again. Talk about disappointing!

How I became a SAHM (Stay-at-Home Mom)

This is a post strictly for information, not to criticize anyone who is a WOHM by choice or need. I just wanted to share our experience with transitioning from full time WOHM to WAHM to SAHM.

We thought I would always have to work and it hurt me deeply. We had decided we would not have more children (just Morgan) because I already personally felt like I wasn't the mom I wanted to be (this was just how *I* felt). When she was 5, I was in terrible health, both mentally and physically due to a stressful job and we sat down and got real with how much I was really bringing home after all of the expenses of me working and what my health was worth. I had started my soapmaking business about 6 months before we decided I'd quit my job and every extra penny (what was once my spending $$ from my job) went into the business startup, materials, packaging, etc. I would work from 3pm to 11:30pm, come home and work my biz until the wee hours and then go into my dd's school classroom to help out 3 or 4 days aweek, come home and DH would stay with her while I went to work. I worked all weekends, so I rarely saw my DH for more than a few minutes and in the evenings sometimes. Someone that had been in that job at the hospital for something like 25 years had said when I mentioned that I wish I could just quit and be a full time mom and do my biz, but at the time we were renting and wanted to buy a house, but needed my income to qualify. She said that if we bought a house while I was working there, I'd have to always work there to keep paying the mortgage and I'd be stuck. And that if it was okay with me, then do it, but think about it. I did think about it. She was right. I quit my job within 2 weeks of that very sage advice. I worked my biz, I hung out with my daughter after school and was able to help out AT her school more often. I also started sleeping, which was a foreign concept to me. And attending soccer games for my dd that I used to catch about 20 minutes of before I had to get to work on Saturdays. I had never before even attended a practice, so that was a treat, too. My biz was slow-going, but steady. Every penny of extra $$ came from my business and Ebay and things like that, but it was only like that for a couple of years. Things got better, but still tight, of course. We actually were able to buy our first house about a year and a half later. Around that time, I felt like we were secure enough that it would be nice to have another baby. And we did. We found out we were pregnant with Jordan the day that we moved into our new home. It was wonderful. Again, money was tight, especially with the new mortgage, but it worked for us, it was okay with us and my business was doing well enough where I could support the biz and still have a little bit of pocket money as well.

Here we are, 4 years later and we still talk about how scared we were to take that leap. Always in the back of mind has been that I can always go back to work if times get too tough. But we've made some changes in our lifestyle and family life to make this happen for us. We moved from CA to NC and cut our expenses tremendously. And you know what? We like it here. We have quite a different life and I never thought I'd be happy with it until we did it. I also never thought I'd be a SAHM, but I am loving that, too.

I did not post this to make anyone feel bad, but hopefully to put that spark of possibility in someone's heart if they need it. All things are possible. We make things happen in our lives. It's not always right away that these changes can be made or take place, sometimes it's baby steps, sometimes a giant leap.
__________________

Oh my! How big he's getting!

Jor Jor and Daddy!

Ugh that cat! I don't want half lizards in the house.

She has half of a lizard (sans tail) in my bedroom. it's not big, but I am terrified of reptiles. DH isn't due home for hours and I closed her in there with it because I am scared she'll drag it out where I am. She had to have gotten it in the basement because she's an inside cat. I can hear her batting it around in there. I SO want to do something, but what? DS is napping, so I think if I see that thing and it comes running near me, I might scream!

Serves me right

For any of you that remember the not so distant "American Girl Doll" & Lemony Snicket incident, it will seem apparent that I didn't learn my lesson that time...

DH was typing a letter to the mortgage co about refinance and needed to have some quiet to get it done, and since I have been so sick and took my laptop to bed and was hanging out there, I told Jordan to come and play computer games with me...
And he wanted to do "Go Baby" on Disney
So we were watching some
He was watching the videos and I figured I'd go refill my coffee
Ran into DH in the kitchen and we chatted for a few, seriously FIVE MINUTES
Got my coffee, went back into the bedroom, where DD is watching television on the floor in front of the bed
And he had pulled ALL of the keys from my iBook.



It's okay to laugh if you want...or cry...whatever...

We got a treadmill!!!

It's awesome, I am so thrilled! Jordan won't do the stroller anymore, so walking with him during the day is out. Now I can do it anytime, at nap, at night, early am, anytime!!!

Finally spring at my house!

Finally Spring!!

Woo hooooo! Spring time!!!!

Bullying

This is an excellent resource to learn about school bullying, bullying laws and cyber/online-bullying

Cyber-Bullying

More on Laws against Cyber-Bullying

"In-Real-Life Bullying

Shake that A--- with a Baby on your hip...

School dances...what's the point? Especially in Elementary school?

Here's how it goes:
Part 1
DD: Mom, there's a dance at school this Friday
Mom: A dance? At your school?
DD: Yes, everyone is going, can I go, too?
Mom: Hmmph, well, I will talk to your Dad about it and I'll let you know.

Part 2
Mom: Hey, Morgan says there's a dance at school on Friday night, she wants to go.
Dad: A dance? At her school?
Mom: Yeah, and I think we should let her go, but I will stay there, too.
Dad: Oh yes, she'll love that.
Mom: Well, she's 9 and if she doesn't want me to go, she can stay home, too. I am not comfortable dumping her off at the school at night for this thing.
Dad: Okay then...

Part 3
Mom: Hey, Dad and I talked and you can go to the dance on Friday
DD: I can?
Mom: Yes, and I will be going with you, it'll be fun, huh?
DD: Uhh, yes.
Mom: K then...

Part 4
DD: Dad, can you go to the dance with me?
Dad: Well, that's nice, thanks for asking, no.
DD: Why?
Mom: I think it's more of a mom/dd thing. < translation- DH is worried that he might be labeled a perv for going to an elementary school dance and lurking around in the corners, plus, he doesn't like to talk to people>

Okay, so Friday comes up and we buy new shoes to go with her Easter dress for the dance, which she begged me to let her wear.

Dance time!~ We get there and I can hear the music all the way around the front of the school. I assumed it would be boom box and punch. No, they have a DJ, very very loud DJ.

We walk in to crazy lights, very dark...DD sees friends and I nudge her to go talk to them. I sit in a chair on the side of the gym. There are a few parents in another corner, but the only chaperones are taking money and marking hands at the door. Oh yeah, we paid $3 to get into this shindig.

Kids are running around, wild. The ages range from about 6 to 12. Insanity to the max! Screaming, running. Then, a slow song. I feel my heart in my throat and I notice a girl and a boy couple dancing...only ONE. I am so glad when that song is over, whew!

DD is oblivious and following her loudmouth friend in and out of the girls restroom and around the dance. I notice some of the older girls FREAK DANCING, ,yes, FREAK DANCING...it is still apparently done. My eyes start getting dry from trying to keep them open ONLY. I want to see where my kid is...every second. I am starting to get into the music, though, they are actually playing a few songs I know, C'mon ride the train, ride it...yes, loving THIS at an elementary school dance... Play that funky music, white boy...then...all of a sudden...

C'mon boy shake that ass, oops I mean girl girl girl girl...
Someone's gonna touch my body...it's EMINEM...at the elementary school dance on a Friday night. I wish someone had taken a photo of the look that MUST have been on my face. See, I know this song because I admittedly have an undercover soft spot for Eminem's songs. I don't, however, listen to them in front of my children. I have been known to crank it up in the car on a rare occassion that I am driving without the kids, delighted that it's not all Raffi and Berkner for a few minutes, yeah, okay.

But at an elementary school dance? Oh hell nahhh...and in case you are not sure what I am all getting my panties in a bunch over, here are the complete lyrics to the song... http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/eminem/justloseit.html

At the very end, after the obligatory "Sweet Home Alabama" (hi, we live in NC, though, guys!), they played something called "Redneck Woman", a song in which a woman sounds quite proud to be a redneck, not no high class broad, she stands in her yard with a baby on her hip...I am so thrilled that there are songs like this out there. Our kids need MORE inspiration to be "rednecks" and elementary school children with "babies on their hip". GAH!!

Anyway, I was sick by the end of the evening and couldn't WAIT to get home!!!

Science Fair Highlights

Well, Morgan DID make it to the district Science Fair as her project won first place in her school fair. jabhkdfjal fast forward to the district science fair...there was a kid with ANOTHER French Fry experiment...how original...and ALL of the fries were moldy and disgusting. And get this, there was CONDENSATION all over inside the jars. Cheater added water! Ours was in a sealed container just like theirs and the McDs fries didn't turn AT ALL. They look as fresh today as the day over a month ago that we purchased them...cheater! Cheater won 3rd place. Morgan was a little bummed, I could tell...we just went to the Chinese BUFFET to eat our cares away. Didn't work.

Oh, another thing about the fair, there was this girl that was probably like 11. She came up and sat next to Dh and started touching my toddler. TOUCHING him. I was so overwhelmed with the hell that was the full room there of big "uni-hair" and just, ugh, whatever, that I didn't know what to do. We were sitting at these kids' lunch tables in the caf', so DH and the kids were on one side and I was on the other. So she is trying to PRY DS away from my DH. First of all, he is totally anti-social to begin with, so he's now looking at me begging me to save him. And she is like "aww, you like me, awww, let me tickle you". Not to me...to him. She turns to me and REACHES across the table and she grabbed my necklace and started fondling it and looking at it, asking me what it says. DUH! It's initials. Mine. My DD tells her what it says and the girl asks what it stands for --DOUBLE DUH-- My DD says my first, middle & last name and the girl about falls out of her chair. She starts scolding DD for saying my first name. She is instructing her that she is to address her parents as Ma'am and Sir. HULLO? You're 11 and we're heathens from the west coast...move on sister, move on, we're a lost cause. At this point, I am staring down her mother hoping that she'll come claim this kid before I just burst out in hysterical laughter. She doesn't...who would?

~MY LITTLE MacENROE~


~BEFORE THE JUDGING (Notice the smile)~

If they say it doesn't get cold here...

You KNOW they are a Li-Ar!

Ten minutes in sissy's room

This is what my two year old did today to his sister's American Girl Doll that she did TONS of extra chores to earn. The good news: it was washable marker. The bad news: I suck

W.H.O.'s WHO

Another interesting piece-it's the World Heath Code for infant & child feeding practices.

Link: http://www.who.int/nut/#inf

Please disregard that the web addy has the word "nut" in it.

Lost in a forest

I have made a friend locally and she's really nice. We don't attend church and are not religious. I realize that we don't quite fit in in that manner here in this area. It seems like EVERYONE attends, even those who otherwise don't practice religion. You can't go anywhere for lunch on Sundays after 12pm because it's just too crowded, so we know those things. I have probably been invited to every church in the area (that's a LOT of churches) and since it's rarely someone I'll ever see again, I thank them politely and say buh-bye.

But, this friend has invited me to her church probably 5 times. It's been via email and she's given me brochures, etc. We see each other at Kindermusik and crops. I don't say anything, just thank her. I am kind of worried she'll think differently of me because we don't attend. I mean, obviously she likes me already or she wouldn't be hanging out with me, so not wanting to hang out on the basis that I don't ATTEND church, that would be ridiculous and I don't know why I am so worried. I mean, I don't think differently of her although I don't want to attend church and she does.

So, more to the point. The most recent invitation asked me if I'd given any thought to taking her up on her invitation. My options, I guess, are to continue to dodge the issue or just say to her that we don't attend. I can't tell her that I have another church, because, well, it would be a lie.

Wish I could just dodge the whole thing. I don't want to talk about it.

My daughter, the scientist

So my 4th grade daughter won first place in the school science fair. She gets to take it to the district. we ripped off Super size Me! We got a package of McD's fries and made some homemade with potatoes, salt and oil. Then we put them in jars and took pictures. The homemade ones, of course, looked foul after a few days. The McDs fries still look so nummy! I might eat them later tonight. They're weeks old.

Wooo-freakin'-HOOO

Today, my DH landed a really awesome job! We moved from CA to NC several months ago and DH took a BIG pay cut in order to be able to work for the old company from home as a freelance agent until he found something else. Because we didn't know what the future of that gig would be, he started putting in resumes right after the first of this year and went on a few interviews. They called today and he starts on Monday. The best part? He'll be making what he made back in San Diego when our mortgage was like $1800/mo--it's just over $400 here. Not bad, eh? College, here my kids come! LOL

Whew, what a weight off! What a relief!

House of depression and more depression

WTH!? I just finished watching House of Sand and Fog. Yeah, I get the whole independent vibe and creative whatever about this movie but dammit, some of us take anti-depressants to combat depression caused by daily life. We should be warned when a movie is sure to cancel out that medication...it's only fair...isn't it? I mean really...

If you haven't seen it, don't peek because I am about to spoil it for you with my Erin's Nutshell Synopsis of this freakshow of a movie.

Depressing...that's all, just...ugh..sad

Something about Little People

How much of a freak am I that I just realized that they are pretty much all the same with different outfits? I JUST realized this after nine years of parenting. DS and I were playing with them last night and I thought "how neat, some of them look alike", then I realized that there are only like 5 of them or something like that and they are just dressed up as different things. I really should get out more.

Seinfeld for Tots

One of my toddler's Laurie Berkner CDs has a song about Doodlebugs named George, Elaine, Jerry & Kramer...could it be? What the hell are doodlebugs and why are they them?

12 Degrees

I just sent my dd out to catch the bus in 12 degrees. Oh was she mad at what she had to wear to do so. I put a thick polar fleece scarf around her neck, a pair of nice warm gloves, a polar fleece cap, then her Gap Warmest Jacket and the hood. I zipped and buttoned the jacket, too. LOL It was funny, but she was maaaad! She reminded me of that kid from A Christmas Story when they pushed him over in the snow, but he had so many layers of clothing and a snowsuit on, so all he could do was flail about and he couldn't get up---too funny!

The Flight from Hell

We went to London and on to Paris over Christmas...11 days. It was a wonderful trip, but I would like to discuss the flight home from Paris.

For some reason, the flight back from Paris was about 8.5 hours! The flight into London was only a little over 5 hours...and it only took us about 2 and a half hours by train to Paris from London...so we weren't expecting such a long flight home.

2 y.o. DS started getting sick, like with a cold, in Paris a couple of days before we were to return home. He had a fever when we got onto the airplane, but I had picked up some Tylenol equivalent at a pharmacy the day before we left, so I gave him that. It seemed to help, but the fever spiked up again and he was fussy.

He was sitting on me when I realized that he had vomited on me. Not that cute baby spit up, but full on smelly vomit. He kept doing it and I got up and ran for the back of the plane where the restrooms were. We were in the very first row behind first class, so that was a very long sprint! LOL I was holding his head into my chest because I was scared he was going to vomit on someone else on the way back. When we got into the bathroom, I pressed the call button and an attendant came. I told her what was going on and she told me that she would get me a biohazard kit and I could try to clean up with that.

DH came with a change of clothes for Jordan and took him back to his seat. But...we hadn't brought a change of clothes for me on board...it was all in our checked luggage so that we could "travel light" on the way home. It just never occurred to me that *I* would need clothes during the flight. My entire top was covered and my whole lap. The flight attendant brought me CLUB SODA AND GAUZE to clean it up. As I wiped at it, I started to cry. How the hell was I going to get this out? And what would I do afterward? Was the smell going to come out? Is there somewhere I could sit that the smell wouldn't bother anyone? I took off my jeans and realized that even my underwear were soaked with it! Ugh! So I took those off, too. And here I am standing in the airplane bathroom completely naked from the waist down! Oh, and with just a bra on. Luckily that was somehow dry. And another lucky thing is that DH was wearing a tee shirt under his sweater, so I put on his tee shirt. But still, I was desperate because I knew I couldn't put my pants back on, it was too gross! At this point, I am SOBBING in the restroom because I am tired and stressed out and, well, naked.

I got a grip and looked around the bathroom (not much to look at, very small) and saw a blue folded up paper from the biohazard kit, a nice dark blue and big enough to wrap into a SKIRT! It was exactly like the paper that you put over your lap when you're getting an OB exam...except it was a pretty dark blue LOL. So I figured my only chance of leaving the bathroom and not spending the next 4.5 hours in it was to try to make the best of the blue paper. So I wrapped it around me and tucked it under and with a blanket around my shoulders, I walked back to my seat in the plane. And there I sat for the next 4 or so hours in a paper skirt, with nothing underneath! LOL

Oh no, the story is not over...So the plane lands in Washington DC and I am thinking "how am I going to get off this plane and through customs with a paper skirt on?" I needed to put more on. Maybe use a United blanket as a wrap? So we sit in our seats until every last passenger is off of the plane, so I can make a dash back to the bathroom and create my new outfit. Then all of the flight attendants are gawking at me, including one man. I make it to the bathroom, wrap up the blanket into a skirt and we leave the plane. I can only imagine the laugh the attendants are having after this.

The best part is that Morgan is saying "Mooooom! I can't believe you did this" and "why do you have to wear a blanket for a skirt?" through the airport, as if I am enjoying myself. We make it through customs and I run into the bathroom. Since we have to get our bags and recheck them for the flight to NC, Adam is able to pick out a pair of jeans and panties for me and Morgan brings them to the bathroom. I put them on. Now, low rise jeans don't normally go with high waisted panties, but at this point, who am I to complain? I put my jacket on and we get on the plane to NC.

And for our smelly clothes, well, DS's adorable Hanna outfit and my favorite jeans & tee shirt are in some garbage bin in a pink biohazard bag as we speak...