Happy Mother's Day

This commercial moves me and I remember a similar one in the past.

Our children may not all be olympic athletes, but we are always our children's biggest cheerleaders in whatever endeavors - big or small.  Being a mom is tough, but it really is the best.

Did I do enough?

As I take my oldest son to preschool today (one of three mornings per week), I reflect on this post, "Did I do enough", written by Emily at her blog, The Anderson Family Crew.

As a mom (stay-at-home or not) we all have these feelings about whether we're doing enough for our children.

It makes me question all the times I am/was too tired to play along,

too busy to read the book right then,

too preoccupied to really listen to my small child.

Have I missed too much?  Have I been too selfish?  Given all the change (and some of the pain) we've experienced in the past year, I know I have not been the mom I wanted to be.  Feeling too sad, too tired, too emotionally drained to have the energy my kids need me to have.

But I don't think its irreversible.  I think every moment is a chance to recoup by living in the moment with our kids.  We are so lucky that kids have hearts so big, so forgiving, so resilient.  We can learn from that.  So, rather than thinking of the times I have missed, I will think of the times ahead and how to make them the very best.

I'm inspired...

I'm inspired by this post from Jami, I think you will be too. Please head on over to her blogspot and check it out.

from the nato's: resources for mothers: let's get our booties in ge...: "i loved all the input i got from you guys on ways to intentionally mother, mentor, disciple your children. so here is a sweet list of ways ..."

Add a little sparkle

When I was on my sunny vacation, I saw a mama wearing these adorable TOMS:

Silver Glitter TOMS

I instantly loved them!  What a great little bit of sparkle.  So...I got my own pair.  

I love TOMS.  This is why:

So simple.  So great...

(and you should see their new styles!)

Perk up and buy some...because soon (well, soon-ish) the weather will be nice enough to sport some sparkle in the valley!

New from Amy Lou

My sister's etsy store is full of afforable, luxurious, trendy jewelry for every girl (or mama)!  Her latest addition is a favorite of mine, so I had to share.  For only $20 and heaping with style, this would be great in any color (she will custom make for you, if you want!).  I don't know if I can resist...

The Belle Necklace

Belle Necklace is made of clear, silver lined seed beads, and knotted aqua blue silk. There are 19 beaded strands. Necklace is 25" long when tied. A beautiful, comfortable sophisticated piece

Amy Lou Jewlery

My super crafty, super trendy little sister launched her Etsy site yesterday!  Amy Lou Jewelry has cute, affordable, up to date accessories.  You have to see the earrings, bracelets, and necklaces she has created so far.  Of course, she would love to create a custom piece for you, mamas!  With prices like these, we can always have the perfect accessory.  A few of my favorites so far: the Ava Earring, the Amelia Bracelet, and the Addison Necklace.

So...what's your favorite???

Grocery List

Unfortunately, I am not good at meal planning.  I know it helps with shopping and the stress of "what's-for-dinner".  I'm trying to get better at it - and limit the number of times I visit the store during the week.

One thing that has helped me is this weekly meal planning sheet from Aby Garvey at Simplify 101.  The list has a place for your daily schedule that helps you see how the day's activity is going to affect your meal plan.  We live a crazy life (as all of you do, too!) so this is a helpful feature for me!  Continue on to read her "10 Tips to Simplify Meal Planning" for more great tricks!

Right now, Aby is offering a free one-on-one organizing session with a lucky winner from her blog!  Check it out and leave her a comment to WIN!

Some days are like that...

Today was just one of those days.

You know what I mean, right, mamas?

We all have them.  For some reason, sometimes its hard to admit that we have them.

Let me explain:

My youngest woke up super early which means its going to be a tough morning from the start.  My oldest woke up wanting his Daddy (who was already at an early breakfast meeting).
We tried to run errands and get to storytime at the library in the chilly early morning weather.  We accomplished both but only with both kids crying: sometimes at the same time, sometimes at different times.  I was getting those looks.  You know, the ones like: "What is wrong with those children"?
Luckily both kiddos napped well but I accomplished almost nothing while I tried to clean up our disaster of a house: laundry, dishes, toys, art projects, Halloween treats, you-get-the-picture.
Then I ran around town with my screaming one-year-old to print photos and buy poster board for a project.  The big boy was with my hubby for a quick visit to the hockey team's captain practice.
When we got home, hubby left for work and big boy had an accident in his pants (and on the floor).  Oops.  Then I stepped in little boy's dirty diaper (in the bathroom, thank goodness) while I was giving the boys an early bath.
While getting their picnic dinners ready, I spilled yogurt all over the kitchen (yep: cabinets, appliances and floor).  I'll be scrubbing up after the kids are in bed.  Yay.
Hubby is gone tonight until who-knows-when.  Oh well.
Let's hope bedtime is a breeze (yeah, right).

It was just one of those days.

But I'm okay with that because I know we all have them.  Sometimes I feel like I have failed when I have a day like that.  But what do we tell our kids when something doesn't turn out just right??  We smile and say, "Sometimes that happens".

I'm giving myself the same grace.

I'm telling myself, "Some days are like that".  I've had them before and I'm sure to have them again (LOTS!).

A day like that doesn't mean I am a failure, it means I am human.  I am a mama.  And happy to be a mama....

even with days like that.

Our picnic dinners happen sometimes when hubby is working late and consist of: deli meat, cheese, crackers, fruit and yogurt prepared by Mom.  They get to eat at the kids' table downstairs and watch a kids' show while I get a moment of detox!  Win, win!

(Un)Crafty - Trend Necklace

For the past year, I have really been loving the accessory trends I see in stores.  However, I rarely want to spend the money to update my collection.  I think accessories are a great way to keep your wardrobe current.  Recently, I saw a necklace from Love Stitched that I wanted to make.  So, I enlisted my crafty sister to help me!  Last weekend we got some time to make this:

Yep - that's my beautiful sister adorning her new necklace.  The whole project only took about 20-30 minutes.  We bought a variety of chains (from Michael's and JoAnn's - all with coupons!), some ribbon, and some hoops.  My sister had some tools she uses for her jewelry, so we were all set!

We cut the chains to the lengths we wanted - each chain was a sightly different length.  I chose to make my necklace pretty chunky with lots of strands.  We used all different kinds of chains: color, texture, and style.

Here are the chains all looped through a small hoop at each end.  Now to attach the ribbon:

We tied slip-knots on each end with about 16 inches of ribbon.  The slip knots allow for the necklace to shorten/lengthen as desired.

The finished product!  We were really happy with the result.  So easy and so affordable!  Happy crafting!

My New Favorite Accessory

Ha!  You may have expected to see a stylish new pair of shoes, cute new handbag, or funky new necklace in this post, but NOPE!  My favorite new accessory is the potty chair!  My oldest son is about to turn three (gasp!) and will be starting a preschool program in September.  Along with preschool comes the mandatory potty training.  I thought the potty training would be my most trying experience as a parent, to-date, but (dare I say it:) its been smooth so far!

Advice: I have none.  I don't know what we did, but in less than 7 days, our son was full potty trained, without much prompting from us.  We introduced him to the potty over a year ago, letting him sit on it, play with it (yuck?), and go potty when he felt like it.  We didn't force anything because he wasn't too interested.  Then we got some cool big boy underpants and he wore them a couple times, but he wasn't too excited about that, either.  So, as you can imagine, I was pretty freaked out about the preschool potty training deadline looming overhead.

One day our boy woke up and when we asked if he wanted to wear big boy underware he said, "Sure!".  So we said, "Ok, grrrrrrreat!", and we ran with it.  That day he did all his business (#1 and #2) on the potty!  And that was that.  I'm pretty sure it was successful because we really did wait until he was ready.  Let's face it: we were ready a year ago - but he was not.

I've been super reluctant to call him "potty trained", worried about a relapse or something tragic like that.  But, over a month in, I think we're safe.  He even got his "potty present" yesterday after such a good job of doing the big boy potty.

Back to my favorite new accessory...

When we started really doing the potty thing about a month ago, I started toting the potty with us to the park, the store, playdates - you name it.  Leaving the house was like this:

Kids have shoes: check.

Car keys: check.

Wallet: check.

List: check.

....

oh yeah - Potty: check!

We kept it in the car, but we ran out of the store on several occasions to let him do his business where he was more comfortable.  By now, we have the public restroom thing down, so my new favorite accessory gets to stay home a little more.  I can't say I'm feeling too bad about that, it really wasn't going to go with my fall wardrobe anyway.

From One Mom To Another

Recently, I had a friend say, "You are such an amazing mom".  Just like that.  I mean - what?  First of all, "Thanks"!  Second of all, I really had been feeling overwhelmed and dumpy about mommyhood in recent days and this completely changed my outlook...so...."Thanks again"!

My friend went on to say that she admires the way I play with my kids and be silly, always with a joyful smile on my face.  I was so touched that she noticed.  Its not always easy to have the energy of my two year old and almost-one-year-old.  Its not always easy to run around looking like a weirdo with my kids.  Its not always easy to be a mom.


This lovely comment from a friend completely changed my outlook and made me feel confident.  It was a simple observation on her part and a simple mention to me, but it was much more than simple for me.  In the week since my friend complimented me, I have focused more on the parts of mothering that I am best at and less on the parts of mothering where I feel inadequate.

I've moved forward feeling as though I'm doing a good job with my kids.  I am not the same as any other mom, but my kids aren't the same as any other kids, either.  I do my best everyday to show my kids how much they are loved and if I focus on that, I can't go wrong.  I'm thankful for my friend's observation and comment and how its opened my eyes to my strengths.  In fact, its made such a difference for me that I plan to pass-it-on by pointing out the amazing qualities I see in other moms.

Way to go, YOU - you're an amazing mom, too.

Happy Mamas!

Happy Mama Day to all the Valley-Mamas reading this today!  What a privilege to be a mother...words cannot describe!  Be proud, be confident, be joyful!  Most importantly: ENJOY!

At church today we were given a truffle from Obsession Chocolates (YUM!) and this daily prayer for Mamas.  Its going on the board right next to my bed and I'd like to share it with you:



Lord, I need Your help today.
I want to care for the children You've sent into my life, to help them develop the special gifts You've given them.
 I also want to free them to follow their own paths and bring their loving wisdom to the world.
Help me embrace them without clutching, support them without suffocating, correct them without crushing.
Help me to live joyfully and playfully so they can see You in me and find their way to You.
Amen.

I love being a Mama!

All I want...

All I want is an adorable, not-too-old-but-with-tons-of-character, five bedroom bungalow with a gorgeous yard on a quiet street in a perfect neighborhood.

All I want is enough extra money to go on a shopping spree to replace my sad, outdated, dwindling wardrobe.

All I want is a week to myself so I can organize and finish projects: photos (countless!), baby books (two of them!), house decor, framing, cleaning (top to bottom!), filing, packing...the list goes on.

All I want is to be able to spend three hours at the gym (that means I want the membership, too!) without feeling guilty for spending time away from my kids.

All I want is to win that illusive $5000 shopping spree that I always enter from my Target receipts.  Then I could buy groceries and diapers without feeling the pinch in my pocketbook.

All I want is to take a vacation without being pregnant or nursing...I can't remember what that is like!

All I want is a totally loaded, beautiful, brand-new charcoal gray Toyota Sienna Minivan (with auto doors and lift gate, leather, and GPS).

All I want is to win a jackpot so that my husband doesn't have to work so hard - so I can spend more time each day with my best friend.

Will I ever get anything I want?

Maybe.

Maybe not.

While I want so much, I have everything.  Some of the things I want could probably be accomplished: the gym membership (or at least 20 minutes to workout at some point during the day while the kids are napping!); the time to finish projects (I could get a babysitter sometime and take a little time for myself); or even the non-prego/non-nursing vacation in the coming months.

I may want a lot of things - don't we all?  After all, the world tells us we should do whatever it takes to have the best of everything, more than we need, and we should stop at nothing to get it.  Isn't that why credit card bills rack-up so quickly?

When I step back and look at my life, I have everything.  Even though my wardrobe is outdated and I can't afford to update it; even though my house is anything but my dream home, even though I almost never get a moment to myself because my husband is busy working two jobs, even though I would love a week or two on an exotic vacation...

Even without all that, I have everything.  I have a modest home that keeps us warm and gives me the little diy projects I enjoy.  I have a husband who works hard so that I can stay home with my kids full-time.  I have family and friends who support me no matter what.  I have a car that is safe for me to get the kids to and from playdates and music lessons.  Most of all, I have two beautiful, healthy, handsome little boys.  And that is the greatest gift.  Thinking of my boys, I realize there is really nothing I can want.  I have everything because I have them.

An "I Can Do It" Day

Today was an "I Can Do It" day. I'm not sure I've had many days like this, or if they've just gone without notice. As I woke up to my husband playing with our two-year-old and began nursing my three-month-old, I was overwhelmed with the many "To-Dos"of the day ahead.

However, as the day progressed, I found myself able to take on even more than was necessary, thriving with each new task I accomplished. Among the tasks I can recall: attending music class, buying paper products for a party this weekend, organizing the pantry, playing at the park, fighting for naps, four loads of laundry, three meals made, two baths given, and one phone call to a friend. Granted, not all of these should be considered lowly "tasks". Music class with my boys, a playdate at the park, and actually finding time to phone a friend at the end of the day are all wonderful accents to an ordinary day. Nonetheless, each "task" accomplished is a victory - every mom knows this!

Today was such a great day that I have decided to use today as my inspiration for all days to come! "Can I do it?....YES, I can!" A positive attitude to an overwhelming week, day, afternoon, or hour can surely help to get me through with a smile on my face and an extra hug for my beautiful boys!