Please be sure to check out the Spring Issue of Multiplicity Magazine!
www.multiplicitymag.com
Read the article on page 14: "Road Trip: Spring Break Bound"!
My first ever article has been published!!!!
Thanks & have a great day!
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Monday, April 16, 2012
Homework
My oldest child is now seven. When he was a baby and toddler I would take him on a regular basis to the "picture place" at the mall or Walmart to have his pictures done and I was always certain to take his picture on his weekly, then monthly birthdays and document any major milestone with both the regular camera and cam-corder. When my daughter was born 21 months later, I still took pictures at home, but not so many videos and we went to have professional pictures done quarterly. Once the twins arrived (27 months later) I mainly would take pictures on my phone and now go once a year to a professional photographer to have the kids' pictures done. My oldest is the only one of my four children to have a completed scrapbook! I know that this is very common and it makes me really sad.
I was looking at a friend's pictures on Facebook today. She also has twins and has posted all of these great pictures of herself holding both her babies and her mother holding both babies. I am rarely in any pictures with my kids (I'm always behind the camera or "herding cats" to get together for the picture!) and realized after looking at these pictures that I have NO pictures of me holding my two babies. (for my friends reading today, if you have one, please send it to me!).
Here is your homework - go take some pictures of your kids and go get in the pictures with your kids. Ten, fifteen years from now, it will be nice for the kids to see what they looked like when they were little, but more importantly, it will be so nice for the kids to have a picture from when they were little with their Mom (or dad! - we do have some dad followers too!).
The mall places or big box stores are fine for having pictures done. But I really like going to a "real" photographer. You can definitely see the difference in the quality of the work and the paper the photos are printed on. We have a wonderful photographer right in our neighborhood and she always manages to capture my children's true spirit and personality on film. I think it is definitely worth the investment. Be sure to let the photographer know prior your session what your expectations are and any particular shots or poses that you would like to see taken. While we were on Spring Break earlier this month in Hilton Head, I did make arrangements to have some Beach photos done. I did extensive research on the area photographers and had at length phone conversations with several. After careful selection, I went with one. We had our plan for shots all laid out before hand and unfortunately it just didn't work out during our session time. We are going to try again next year and hopefully we will get the perfect family photo that I have envisioned.
Go grab your camera and have a great afternoon!
I was looking at a friend's pictures on Facebook today. She also has twins and has posted all of these great pictures of herself holding both her babies and her mother holding both babies. I am rarely in any pictures with my kids (I'm always behind the camera or "herding cats" to get together for the picture!) and realized after looking at these pictures that I have NO pictures of me holding my two babies. (for my friends reading today, if you have one, please send it to me!).
Here is your homework - go take some pictures of your kids and go get in the pictures with your kids. Ten, fifteen years from now, it will be nice for the kids to see what they looked like when they were little, but more importantly, it will be so nice for the kids to have a picture from when they were little with their Mom (or dad! - we do have some dad followers too!).
The mall places or big box stores are fine for having pictures done. But I really like going to a "real" photographer. You can definitely see the difference in the quality of the work and the paper the photos are printed on. We have a wonderful photographer right in our neighborhood and she always manages to capture my children's true spirit and personality on film. I think it is definitely worth the investment. Be sure to let the photographer know prior your session what your expectations are and any particular shots or poses that you would like to see taken. While we were on Spring Break earlier this month in Hilton Head, I did make arrangements to have some Beach photos done. I did extensive research on the area photographers and had at length phone conversations with several. After careful selection, I went with one. We had our plan for shots all laid out before hand and unfortunately it just didn't work out during our session time. We are going to try again next year and hopefully we will get the perfect family photo that I have envisioned.
Go grab your camera and have a great afternoon!
Friday, April 13, 2012
Rutabaga
I was on the phone the other night with one of my friends. She does not have any children of her own, but works with special needs children. She gave me an excellent tip that I do want to share, but I have also been pondering about this over the last few days....
My friend knows that I:
a) am home full time with my four kids (who are all very, very close in age)
b) work part time from home (I have a "regular job" that I spend about 2-3 hours on each day on and in addition, do project/freelance type work)
c) am with my kids 24/7
d) volunteer extensively with my kids activities
e) am often stressed out
Her tip is to have a "safe word". Mud pie, Rutabaga, whatever I want. This is a word that is to be shared between me and husband. Whenever I invoke the "safe word" I will get an automatic break. A Mommy Time Out. Now, there needs to be some rules with the safe word. It can only be invoked in dire situations (not for a mani/pedi, but when you are truly on the edge and need a break!) and cannot be abused. I like this idea. Just saying Rutabaga five times in a row makes me giggle (why, I don't know!).
I have been questioning, why do I need a safe word? My husband knows (and after 12 years he should know!) when he walks in the door at 7pm if it has been a good day or a bad day or if I am not feeling well and need a break. I have also been questioning why I am stressing myself out so much. I have friends that do this too. I know this past week there has also been an article floating around facebook on this. We are the new breed of stay at home mom's. Since we do not work outside the home, we feel like we have to over compensate for everything. Have our home's look like a Toll Brother's Model (mine is far from it!), be the class mom, the team mom, the ballet mom, and overextend ourselves so much that there is no time left for anything else. I am guilty of this. Are the kids suffering or missing out because of this, I do not know. Sometimes the teachers and coaches are guilty of this too - call Mrs. SoandSo, she doesn't work and can volunteer. It seems like my friends who work full time actually have a better work-life balance. They know what they can commit to and don't bite off more than they can chew. They also don't feel guilty (or let on that they feel guilty) about saying No.
Now, this is just my opinion. Let me know what you think. I am going to continue to think about this and see how I can re-structure my time and de-stress a little! I will still say Rutabaga, because it is fun!
Have a great weekend!
My friend knows that I:
a) am home full time with my four kids (who are all very, very close in age)
b) work part time from home (I have a "regular job" that I spend about 2-3 hours on each day on and in addition, do project/freelance type work)
c) am with my kids 24/7
d) volunteer extensively with my kids activities
e) am often stressed out
Her tip is to have a "safe word". Mud pie, Rutabaga, whatever I want. This is a word that is to be shared between me and husband. Whenever I invoke the "safe word" I will get an automatic break. A Mommy Time Out. Now, there needs to be some rules with the safe word. It can only be invoked in dire situations (not for a mani/pedi, but when you are truly on the edge and need a break!) and cannot be abused. I like this idea. Just saying Rutabaga five times in a row makes me giggle (why, I don't know!).
I have been questioning, why do I need a safe word? My husband knows (and after 12 years he should know!) when he walks in the door at 7pm if it has been a good day or a bad day or if I am not feeling well and need a break. I have also been questioning why I am stressing myself out so much. I have friends that do this too. I know this past week there has also been an article floating around facebook on this. We are the new breed of stay at home mom's. Since we do not work outside the home, we feel like we have to over compensate for everything. Have our home's look like a Toll Brother's Model (mine is far from it!), be the class mom, the team mom, the ballet mom, and overextend ourselves so much that there is no time left for anything else. I am guilty of this. Are the kids suffering or missing out because of this, I do not know. Sometimes the teachers and coaches are guilty of this too - call Mrs. SoandSo, she doesn't work and can volunteer. It seems like my friends who work full time actually have a better work-life balance. They know what they can commit to and don't bite off more than they can chew. They also don't feel guilty (or let on that they feel guilty) about saying No.
Now, this is just my opinion. Let me know what you think. I am going to continue to think about this and see how I can re-structure my time and de-stress a little! I will still say Rutabaga, because it is fun!
Have a great weekend!
Thursday, April 12, 2012
The Great Sock Caper
Socks are a mystery in our house. Either the washing machine is eating them or we have some sort of sock troll that comes out in the middle of the night and steals them all. I think it is a little bit of both! No matter how many loads of laundry I do (which since vacation I am WAY behind on! More on this later!). We still never seem to have enough clean socks! I know that sometimes people lose one sock out of the pair, we have entire pairs missing! My five year old and three year old boy twin (Baby A) wear the same size shoe, and the same size sock. This helps. This morning my daughter went to school wearing gray "boy socks". Luckily, she thought it was funny and didn't really care. What I want to know is what happened to the pretty pink socks that I put out last night on top of her outfit?! The outfit was there this morning, but no socks anywhere in sight! What also helps is that my seven year old is very tall for his age and has pretty big feet. In a pinch, I have been known to take his socks and wear them. But don't tell anyone!
My mother recently gave me an excellent tip on socks: only buy one brand/type of socks and only buy white socks. This way, you can bleach them and if one of the pair goes missing, you have an instant match! Well, I did this with my oldest son. Just bought him a brand new 6-pack of socks that we opened up this week, and it isn't quite working out. He has had three days of school so far, (wearing one pair each day) so there should be three pairs left in his bin. I went in there this morning to grab a pair for myself and no socks left. What happened to the other three pair??! It is a mystery.
On to the laundry..... When we go on vacation for extended periods of time, one of the things that is crucial to me is to have a washer and dryer in our unit. We have stayed in hotels/condos where there is a coin operated laundry room in the building or down the hall, but you cannot beat the convenience of having a washer and dryer in the next room. It is less expensive and saves time. You can throw a load or two in each day and you do not need to pack as much. Also, it can be very hard to find rolls of quarters when you are on vacation, if you are not at a hotel property with a front desk! When we were in Hilton Head last week for Spring Break we stayed at a wonderful time share villa. We did have the washer and dryer in our unit and it was perfect for the bathing suits, beach towels and taking care of immediate stains! We did throw a load in here and there, but I came back with bags and bags of dirty laundry. I normally like to avoid this. There is nothing better than returning from vacation with a suitcase full of clean clothes that just needs to be put away. We had such beautiful weather and spent so much time by the beach and pool (which is a good thing) that my laundry just didn't get done! I currently have three baskets of clothes that need to be folded and I need to go wash some socks!
Have a great day!
My mother recently gave me an excellent tip on socks: only buy one brand/type of socks and only buy white socks. This way, you can bleach them and if one of the pair goes missing, you have an instant match! Well, I did this with my oldest son. Just bought him a brand new 6-pack of socks that we opened up this week, and it isn't quite working out. He has had three days of school so far, (wearing one pair each day) so there should be three pairs left in his bin. I went in there this morning to grab a pair for myself and no socks left. What happened to the other three pair??! It is a mystery.
On to the laundry..... When we go on vacation for extended periods of time, one of the things that is crucial to me is to have a washer and dryer in our unit. We have stayed in hotels/condos where there is a coin operated laundry room in the building or down the hall, but you cannot beat the convenience of having a washer and dryer in the next room. It is less expensive and saves time. You can throw a load or two in each day and you do not need to pack as much. Also, it can be very hard to find rolls of quarters when you are on vacation, if you are not at a hotel property with a front desk! When we were in Hilton Head last week for Spring Break we stayed at a wonderful time share villa. We did have the washer and dryer in our unit and it was perfect for the bathing suits, beach towels and taking care of immediate stains! We did throw a load in here and there, but I came back with bags and bags of dirty laundry. I normally like to avoid this. There is nothing better than returning from vacation with a suitcase full of clean clothes that just needs to be put away. We had such beautiful weather and spent so much time by the beach and pool (which is a good thing) that my laundry just didn't get done! I currently have three baskets of clothes that need to be folded and I need to go wash some socks!
Have a great day!
Monday, April 9, 2012
The Aftermath
 |
| Wrappers, empty plastic eggs & Easter grass EVERYWHERE! |
 |
| No Bunny Is Safe - not even the nut free ones |
It looks like Easter exploded in my house. I am finding Easter Grass from the Baskets and decapitated bunnies everywhere. I have been trying to contain it to one room of the house, but not having much luck. Yesterday was an interesting day for our family. The kids were super excited about the Easter Bunny paying a visit and went to bed without being asked on Saturday night. Saturday night I was up way too late. It was close to midnight - putting together baskets and making homemade Easter Lollipops and Candy. This started out as a project that the kids and I were going to do together, after we colored our eggs. But after having my hand burned and a step stool stepped on into my foot, I thought this was a project I should tackle on my own. (I was very close to the edge and still covered in blue dye after the egg coloring project!).
On Sunday morning, my oldest two were up before 5am and, of course, woke up the twins. The kids could not wait to see what the Bunny brought and get their hands in their baskets! It was very hard to get up with the kids - but they were so excited - and that is part of the mommy job requirement, right? We had reservations to go to brunch with extended family at 11am. By the time that rolled around we had already been up for 6+ hours and the kids were starting to crash from their sugar high. Not one of our finest moments at a restaurant!
What do you do in your house to ensure that your kids have the best possible Holiday, but that you also relax and enjoy yourself as well? Is it possible to even have both of these happen at that same time? Do you buy pre-made baskets? Do you do your baskets in advance? Do you just spend the holiday with your spouse & kids and do family visits another time?
Last night I was sitting on the couch reading (just finally finished Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - very good read!) and my 5 year old came up to me and said: "you know Mom, Easter is about more than baskets and candy. It is really about Jesus. He died for us and has Risen." That put it all in perspective and the rest doesn't really matter.
 |
| While Chocolate Bunnies were injured, no bunnies were staged! |
 |
| In 2013 - No Easter Grass Allowed! |
Friday, April 6, 2012
Toes In The Water
Well, we returned from vacation. A little tired, a little sunburned and a little sandy. But, with many happy memories. We had three solid, consecutive "perfect days". On these days, we were down to the pool around 8am, splashed around, then headed down the path to the beach. Stay on the beach, then back to the pool to cool off, then back to the beach. Repeat until it is time to get cleaned up for dinner!
Now that my twins are three years old, going to the beach is much, much easier. No need to worry about naps, sandy diapers, kids eating sand or bottles/sippie cups dropping in the sand. The twins will fall asleep wherever and whenever. (I attribute this that we never followed the rule to be quiet when the babies were sleeping - we ran the vacuum, had on TVs and most days the twins would sleep in the middle of the room with the circus going on around their little heads.) I am also very fortunate that my kids all love the sun, sand and surf. We have several friends who have children that are afraid of the ocean or don't like the sand - not my four. Whenever they get to the beach for the first time of the season, they all drop down as soon as their little toes hit the sand and role around in it. They have been doing this as long as I can remember. You can see the joy on their little faces, sort of a homecoming.
This was the first beach trip that the kids all played really well together too. Digging in the sand and coming up with little games to play. They always dig their big giant hole - looking for pirate treasure and China! The highlight this trip was finding a real live Hermit Crab, that my daughter called Hermie. Hermie spent the morning with us on the beach. The kids fixed up a little animal habitat for him (a bucket filled with water with some sand on the bottom and some sea grass!) and even did a little creature report Octonaut-style about him on the beach!
Our ride home was much easier than the ride down. While in Hilton Head we got together with our good friends the "H" family. They have a similar ride and we followed their "method" home:
-no more than one stop per hour
-if you don't use the bathroom when we stop, you wait
-no eating at places (take out only)
-stops should not take more than 15 minutes
We were successful with applying this method! The ride home took 9.5 hours and we only made three stops. Three stops with four kids is a miracle! We are already planning our trip for next year back to Hilton Head and I'm just as excited as the kids!
Wishing you and your family Easter Blessings! Have a wonderful weekend.
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
In My Mind I'm Going to Carolina
Greetings from the Low Country! We arrived at our destination on Saturday, approximately 24 hours after leaving our house! This included many, many, many stops. Stops for food, fuel, potty, spiders and one over night hotel stay. I stocked up on car trip snacks, yet it didn't seem enough for my four. Every time we passed a blue sign, inevitably someone would be starving. Like chew their ankle off starving. Car rides were much easier before the kids could read. Even the three year old's were able to point out the McDonald's Logo on the Blue Rest stop signs!
Heavy rain and traffic made it slow going for us on 95 South. Our goal was to go a little more than 1/2 way on Friday, stop for the night, then have about a 3 hour ride on Saturday. It didn't quite go as planned. What should have been a 6-7 hour ride on Friday, turned into an almost 10 hour ride with my gang. What made it even slower was 4 kids needing to use the potty! We would ask everyone to "try" at each stop, but it didn't work. The highlight of our road trip on Friday night was our spider stop. This happened about 10 minutes after we packed everyone up from a really, really bad roadside diner. All four kids, screaming "bloody murder" (as my mother would say!) while a spider descended on it's web from the movie screen down into the back of the van. This was a first for us and needed to be addressed immediately.
We were all quite relieved when we pulled into our hotel very late Friday night. A recently renovated Hampton Inn in Fayeteville, NC. Room was fine - not what we booked - but we made it work. The kids liked that it was the type of hotel that "you parked right outside your room"! The highlight of our stay was Ms. Paulette the "breakfast lady". She made us feel very welcome and was so pleased to meet my "Blessings" as she called the kids. She made us at home and the kids fell in love with her.
Here are some lessons learned from the first part of our trip -
Plan ahead - make a hotel reservation in advance - don't take your chance pulling off the side of the road. We saw two couples turned away at the hotel because it was sold out. no one wants to go hotel to hotel in a thunderstorm looking for a room - you also end up paying a higher rate this way.
Pack smart - I packed in small bags, so things were easy to reach. One small tote bag for things that I needed for the hotel, one small bag of extra things for the car.
Bring a bucket - I keep a bucket in the car. People may make fun of it - but it is great. It can be used to collect trash, leaking juice boxes, excellent for car sickness and can be used as an emergency potty in a pinch!
Pack extra snacks!!!
The last two day's on the beach made the road trip worthwhile! Sunday it was in the 80's and Sunny. Monday it was in the 90's and Sunny. Looking forward to another beautiful Carolina Day today!
I hope that you are enjoying your spring break - wherever you are!
Heavy rain and traffic made it slow going for us on 95 South. Our goal was to go a little more than 1/2 way on Friday, stop for the night, then have about a 3 hour ride on Saturday. It didn't quite go as planned. What should have been a 6-7 hour ride on Friday, turned into an almost 10 hour ride with my gang. What made it even slower was 4 kids needing to use the potty! We would ask everyone to "try" at each stop, but it didn't work. The highlight of our road trip on Friday night was our spider stop. This happened about 10 minutes after we packed everyone up from a really, really bad roadside diner. All four kids, screaming "bloody murder" (as my mother would say!) while a spider descended on it's web from the movie screen down into the back of the van. This was a first for us and needed to be addressed immediately.
We were all quite relieved when we pulled into our hotel very late Friday night. A recently renovated Hampton Inn in Fayeteville, NC. Room was fine - not what we booked - but we made it work. The kids liked that it was the type of hotel that "you parked right outside your room"! The highlight of our stay was Ms. Paulette the "breakfast lady". She made us feel very welcome and was so pleased to meet my "Blessings" as she called the kids. She made us at home and the kids fell in love with her.
Here are some lessons learned from the first part of our trip -
Plan ahead - make a hotel reservation in advance - don't take your chance pulling off the side of the road. We saw two couples turned away at the hotel because it was sold out. no one wants to go hotel to hotel in a thunderstorm looking for a room - you also end up paying a higher rate this way.
Pack smart - I packed in small bags, so things were easy to reach. One small tote bag for things that I needed for the hotel, one small bag of extra things for the car.
Bring a bucket - I keep a bucket in the car. People may make fun of it - but it is great. It can be used to collect trash, leaking juice boxes, excellent for car sickness and can be used as an emergency potty in a pinch!
Pack extra snacks!!!
The last two day's on the beach made the road trip worthwhile! Sunday it was in the 80's and Sunny. Monday it was in the 90's and Sunny. Looking forward to another beautiful Carolina Day today!
I hope that you are enjoying your spring break - wherever you are!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)