Vacation!

Vacation Time! Vacation Time! -Woohoo!!! Oh! wait! I'm not going to some nice tropical beach?!


Oh yeah-That's right we're packing up our van and heading out for a road trip!


Oh and it's not just going to be our family of 4 but us + 3 more. My brother and sister in law and little nephew also from the in law's side are cramming into our van too. Hmmm-Well hopefully we'll have a nice time. We're going to be staying at my other brother in-law's and his family's house. It will be nice to see all of them- my kids get along with their kids ok. I just hope their not too much of a shower nazi-I've heard that before when people were staying with them they asked them to help pay the water bill. And I understand being health conscience but, I think they may run too much of tight ship for me-No junkfood,no pop,must go out and excercise everyday,Must take FAST showers-Ugh! I'm debating if I should just give them a $10 or $20 even and say here you go I'd like to take at least 15min-30min showers =P -What do you think?!

But,It will be nice to get out of state-This will be our 1st ever family trip out of state! I just hope there's not too much mayhem ;) I don't want it to be like the National Lampoons Vacation or anything =D I'll let you know -I'll be back in about a week or so -Stay Tuned!! ....

My little girl is growing up!

In just a few days my daughter will graduate from elementary school! She'll be moving up to middle school next school year-I'm already imagining dealing with full blown puberty,boys,and all that other tween stuff. I'm sure I'll have plenty of time to worry about all that though.

Right now I want to reminisce about the elementary experience. I'll always remember travelling the winding back roads on the way to the school. Seeing some of the empty lots turning into new homes. Seeing the fields by the school and even occassionally catching a glimpse of horses in the field.

I'll remember the sense of community and accomplishment in contributing to the PTA. I'll also remember some drama and hectic times in contributing to the PTA ;)

I'll remember seeing my daughter learn and grow and now moving on. Until next time elementary school ...

10 year anniversary -Cont'd

I'm back from a lovely time celebrating our 10th anniversary! I wanted to do something special for our 10th so, we planned an overnight stay at pretty swanky hotel here in town. Although I was a bit nervous to leave our son that long since we hadn't before it went pretty well with my sis watching them. Since we didn't have a lot of time to eat we ate at a nearby Chinese buffet-It was ok-Not the best or anything. After about 10mins the sky went from sunny to dark and cloudy and then pouring down rain. Which we got caught in going to the hotel. But once we got there it was really nice!

We had a great view from our 10th floor room(See below) It was nice to have some kid-free time we even took advantage of the spa at the hotel and got massages-etc.

They even had a nice pool/sun deck area we used for just a little while-(See pics):

And this morning before we checked out we ate from their great breakfast buffet. And even listened to the piano that was being played while we ate-Awesome!!

All in all-We has a very enjoyable time; A wonderful way to spend our 10th wedding anniversary!! And even though after reading the back of our fortune's with chinese sayings that said... My husband's:Not Married ; Mine:Boyfriend -I don't think we'll need to learn those sayings ;)

10 Year Anniversary!

In just a couple of days my husband and I will be celebrating our 10th wedding annivesary!!

10 years -A decade!

I'm glad through all the ups and downs

Our love has stayed -And I hope it will for many,many years to come. ♥ ♥ ♥

Marriage: Do you know why the wedding ring is worn on the left;fourth finger?

There is a beautiful & convincing explanation given by the Chinese:

Thumb represents your parents

Second (Index) finger represents your siblings

Middle finger represents your self

Fourth (Ring) finger represents your life partner

Last (Little) finger represents your children

First, open your palms (face to face), bend the middle fingers and hold them together - back to back.........Second, open and hold the remaining three fingers and the thumb - tip to tip (as shown in the figure below):

Now, try to separate your thumbs (representing the parents)...., they will open, because your parents are not destined to live with you lifelong, and have to leave you sooner or later. Please join your thumbs as before and separate your Index fingers (representing siblings)...., they will also open, because your brothers and sisters will have their own families and will have to lead their own separate lives.
Now join the Index fingers and separate your Little fingers (representing your children)...., they will open too, because the children also will get married and settle down on their own some day.
Finally, join your Little fingers, and try to separate your Ring fingers (representing your spouse). You will be surprised to see that you just CANNOT....., because Husband & Wife have to remain together all their lives - through thick and thin!! -Try it out!

Loss

This past weekend I found out the Polar Bear Kavek passed away at our local zoo :(

We had just seen him about 2 mo's ago -even then there was a zookeeper note that he was sick and he didn't appear too active. It was still nice to see him curled up and sleeping and see him 1 last time. This reminded me of all our lovely trips to the zoo ever since my daughter was little about 2-3 yrs. old,helping chaperone a field trip with her kindergarten class, and now taking family trips with our son too.

Also this reminded me that unfortunately that is 1 of the hardest parts of parenthood- dealing with grief and loss. Inevitably we'll have to explain about death -Whether it'd be a zoo friend,a beloved family pet, or of course a family member(I know we just passed the 1 yr. anniversary of my FIL's passing). Of course each person has their own way with grief. And it can be tricky to explain to kids -1 thing is to be as honest as possible but not necessarily give too much unnecessary information. The best way to handle it does greatly depend on the age of your kid as explained in this informative article/website.

Sometimes loss can be so poignant though. After somehow taking in 3 stray animals in a matter of mo's -1 of them being a great old;blind orange cat we named Sunny. We had all moved into this house then shortly after found out I was pregnant with my son. I worried how all the pets would be with the new baby. We then later learned Sunny was very ill. When my son was a newborn Sunny got a lot worse-and when my son was about a week old Sunny had to be put down. But, somehow it felt Sunny knew our son was here and it was time for him to go.

KEYS?!

As I've mentioned in my previous post it can be quite the rush to get my daughter to school on time in the morning. Lately we've been on a pretty good roll -thanks to my son being a good alarm clock. But, today we broke our roll in a big way-And yep you guessed it-it has to do with keys!

It's no secret that my son has gotten in my purse before(usually to sneak gum) and that he's also been obsessed with keys lately. So, I'm thinking he's hid them somewhere-at this time I still haven't found them. I've asked him if he had them and he says he did-So, after looking for them and asking him where they are and getting Um-Kitchen? Um-Bathroom? Um,Um,Um!

I had to call my husband to bring his key and took my daughter to school-late. Ugh-The great key search is still on -Such as life in The Mom Mayhem!

**Update -I found my keys!! I feel kinda bad now cause I'm not sure if I put them in them in hidden inside pocket of my purse or if my son did?! Oh well I found them now-Yay!

But,I want breakfast too

I'm not sure why but, I've never been an early riser now matter how much "training" I've had. Of course as a kid I'd have to get up pretty early to go to school -I was even the 1st stop for the bus @ 6:45am in high school. When I was working I've had different schedules -1 of the earliest was having to be to work @ 7:30am. And now of course even though I'm a SAHM -I must be up and ready to take my daughter to school. And my son is quite the alarm clock -sometimes getting up around 6-6:30am. But for some reason I think I'm on Tokyo time! I've even caught myself saying-"a few more minutes" to my son =D

I try to stay in bed till about 7am -but, depending on how cooperative my son is-it may not happen. So,eventually I drag myself out of bed and the morning rush commences! I start waking my daughter up;make sure to take my son potty-etc. As my daughter is getting up and ready my son and I go to the kitchen and I get him breakfast. Usually once he's settled my daughter is about ready *ahem* after a few reminders to hurry-up! Once she's getting her breakfast-off I go to get my shower in-etc. It's usually a mad dash to her school after that. Sometimes I have to rush so much to get her to school on time that I don't fully brush my hair-and just put it up into a clip-etc. Once she's at school hopefully-on time-I come home and finish getting ready if needed.

Ideally I would love to sit down as Regis and Kelly is just starting and eat a nice breakfast after the morning rush and have a nice cup of tea or on a nice cool day some hot chocolate. But as we know it doesn't go exactly like that-I do pause Regis and Kelly(gotta love the PVR!) and get my son a snack and myself breakfast. Since it's not exactly easy to be leisurely-I grab some easy breakfast type thing-Like a breakfast cookie -Yes! I can have a cookie for breakfast if I want-Right?! But, really Quaker and other brands do make breakfast cookies that have oatmeal-etc. Or sometimes I'll have a muffin from a box of muffins. Yes,Yes I know that it may not be the healthiest for those who are all pro-organic;anti-processed foods. But I want breakfast too-Darn it! Oh! and let me tell you what happened the other day so,there were 2 muffins left and I was starving! My son wanted 1 so I let him have 1 and I was going to have the other. As he was settling into eating his muffin sloppily-I went to take the 1st bite of my muffin when I fumbled and I watched my muffin tumble to the ground-it was too dirty to eat then-I seriously wanted to cry!!
I mean really can't a mom just have some breakfast?!

Allergy and Asthma Awareness Month

May is National Asthma and Allergy awareness month ! There's a lot of people asking about Allergies;Food Allergies on Mamapedia and other places. It seems almost everyone has been touched by allergies/asthma somehow-I know when I was a kid I would get pollen induced allergies and if I ran around too much in the spring months I would even get an asthmatic wheeze. Luckily I've pretty much outgrown it. But now our lives have been touched by food allergies-Which isn't that much of a surprise since there's been an 18% increase of food allergies in US kids in the past 10 years.!

Although we didn't know it at the time ever since my son "DJ" was a newborn he showed symptoms of a milk allergy-diarrhea;blood in his stool-after we started using formula(since nursing wasn't going so well). You could imagine our panic and took him to the Dr. It was an interesting experience to collect enough of a stool sample-and keep it in our fridge!! Once we took it in to the Dr. and they couldn't figure anything out. It was only a passing statement by a nurse that he may be allergic that we tried different formula's and finally settled on the Hypo-Allergenic formula Nutramigen. He also had an allergy test at about 18mos. to confirm the diary allergy since then we've found using soy milk-the kind that's vitamin fortified and has calcium--etc. Silk works well for him. It is important to get an allergy test to confirm an allergy and the severity. Although my son's allergy is mild it can be difficult say for instance if we're at a birthday party we may worry is that icing dairy free? and no he can't have the icecream-etc.

So, my heart does go out to those dealing with food allergies! Even though luckily my son has a mild allergy and might even outgrow it; it's still difficult. And I know there are many concerns out there-like Celiac Disease. But, the good news is besides checking food labels, food companies have made increasingly clear allergy labels, and even coming out with more options; recently General Mill's has made their varieties of Chex cereal gluten free,and there are place's like CherryBrook Kitchen that specialize in Allergy-Free food products. There's also plenty of great resources for allergies/asthma 1 -I recommend is the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America. And remember Allergy/Asthma Awareness Month!

In honor of Mother's Day!

As we all know that Mother's Day is coming up this Sunday May 10, 09 and I hope you all have a wonderful day! I wanted to share a poem I wrote in honor of Mother's Day-It's my updated version of -What Mother Means:

M -Many months you carried your child in your womb
O -Oh all the things you did to prepare for the little one's room
T -Tender love and care you give so much
H -Heart the pieces you now share with the life's you touch
E -Every little thing you do that might go unseen
R -Really you are amazing!

Also I wanted to share this video: -Who is the Mother of the Year? -All of YOU moms!


Happy Mother's Day !!!

Flexible Work Arrangement Week

Starting today until the end of this week (May 3-9) it's Flexible Work Arrangement Week!
This is so important for families finding a work/life balance. Especially for the working mom's out there it can be a difficult battle and having a Flexible Work Arrangement is something we all hope to achieve one day. And I applaud women like Gloria Steinem who have helped champion for such things. In fact in a recent interview Ms. Steinem said this on the subject "More women probably protest unequal pay than protest unequal parenthood --or even the lack of flexible work patterns and childcare that are routine in many other countries."

So, as we look to the up-coming Mother's Day let us all remember the importance of us Moms and Flexible Work Arrangements. You might ask -What can I do to help support this important issue? 1 thing I can recommend if you're not already involved with MomsRising please check them out and join them in campaigning for such things as Flexible Work options and many more important issues for us parents.

Can I be cloned now?!

I'm sure as busy parents we've all felt like at times like we need to be at a few different places at once-Right?! Being the mom taxi and having to coordinate with our spouse with military precision -Ok you watch this kid while I take the other one over here and then I'll be back with just enough time to go do this other thing we need to do-Got it?! -Good! Break! As we hurriedly rush off. Or just somehow everything just seems to happen on the same day where you've really got to pick and choose what you can add to your schedule.

Well, tomorrow is no exception it is once again time for the bi-annual neighborhood garage sale along with an event for my husband's work and a couple of other events. I know I like to get in on the garage sales especially since being a stay at home mom it's good to participate as a way to contribute to the household finances and of course get rid of things that are cluttering the house. But, then again it is always nice to see some of my husbands co-workers that we consider friends and get free food and all. And the other things -Ah well not so much a priority. But, still these situations can just make you want to be able to split yourself and do everything or be cloned or something! I guess we'll see what we can do besides after all this fretting things may be rained out anyway-Ugh! Such as the life of The Mom Mayhem =P