Snore No More!

Back when I was a college student, around the age of 20, I had found myself in a cycle of recurring upper respiratory illnesses. Because I was heavily involved in vocal music back in those days, chronic colds and throat infections made singing quite frustrating. I finally reached the end of my sniffling-coughing-sore throat rope and saw a specialist. Very soon after, out-patient surgery was scheduled and my tonsils and adenoids were removed. Thankfully, this procedure- for the most part- ended almost all of my ongoing illnesses and complaints. I was amazed at the huge difference it made in the way I felt day to day once I had healed.

But what I did NOT expect of that particular surgery was how indescribably painful it would be. OH! MY! GOODNESS! I can still remember the intensity even 14 years later. It was agony, I tell you. And not just for a fews days, either. More like 20. Two and half weeks of hardly any eating, little drinking, sleeping only while sitting straight up in a recliner, and barely any talking. Misery. Of all the surgeries my body has required (including gall bladder removal and 2 c-sections), this was the tip-top of the totem pole of torture. Once I made it through those long weeks, I knew it had been worth it. I'm still certain, years and years later, it was worth what I went through that particular August. 

11 Step Program for Those Thinking of Having Kids

Here is a very humorous note that's being shared on Facebook.  I'm not sure who the original author is to give credit to, but it's too cute not to post here.  Enjoy and pass it along!

Lesson 1

1. Go to the grocery store.
2. Arrange to have your salary paid directly to their head office.
3. Go home.
4. Pick up the paper.
5. Read it for the last time.

Lesson 2
Before you finally go ahead and have children, find a couple who already are parents and berate them about their...

1. Methods of discipline.
2. Lack of patience.
3. Appallingly low tolerance levels.
4. Allowing their children to run wild.
5. Suggest ways in which they might improve their child's breastfeeding, sleep habits, toilet training, table manners, and overall behavior.

Enjoy it because it will be the last time in your life you will have all the answers.

Lesson 3
A really good way to discover how the nights might feel...

1. Get home from work and immediately begin walking around the living room from 5PM to 10PM carrying a wet bag weighing approximately 8-12 pounds, with a radio turned to static (or some other obnoxious sound) playing loudly. (Eat cold food with one hand for dinner.)
2. At 10PM, put the bag gently down, set the alarm for midnight, and go to sleep.
3. Get up at 12 and walk around the living room again, with the bag, until 1AM.
4. Set the alarm for 3AM.
5. As you can't get back to sleep, get up at 2AM and make a drink and watch an infomercial.
6. Go to bed at 2:45AM.
7. Get up at 3AM when the alarm goes off.
8. Sing songs quietly in the dark until 4AM.
9. Get up. Make breakfast. Get ready for work and go to work (work hard and be productive).

Repeat steps 1-9 each night. Keep this up for 3-5 years. Look cheerful and together.

Lesson 4
Can you stand the mess children make? To find out...

1. Smear peanut butter onto the sofa and jam onto the curtains.
2. Hide a piece of raw chicken behind the stereo and leave it there all summer.
3. Stick your fingers in the flower bed.
4. Then rub them on the clean walls.
5. Take your favorite book, photo album, etc. Wreck it.
6. Spill milk on your new pillows. Cover the stains with crayons. How does that look?

Lesson 5
Dressing small children is not as easy as it seems.

1. Buy an octopus and a small bag made out of loose mesh.
2. Attempt to put the octopus into the bag so that none of the arms hang out.

Time allowed for this - all morning.

Lesson 6
Forget the BMW and buy a mini-van. And don't think that you can leave it out in the driveway spotless and shining. Family cars don't look like that.

1. Buy a chocolate ice cream cone and put it in the glove compartment. Leave it there.
2. Get a dime. Stick it in the CD player.
3. Take a family size package of chocolate cookies. Mash them into the back seat. Sprinkle cheerios all over the floor, then smash them with your foot.
4. Run a garden rake along both sides of the car.

Lesson 7
Go to the local grocery store. Take with you the closest thing you can find to a preschool child. (A full-grown goat is an excellent choice.) If you intend to have more than one child, then definitely take more than one goat. Buy your week's groceries without letting the goats out of your sight. Pay for everything the goat eats or destroys. Until you can easily accomplish this, do not even contemplate having children.

Lesson 8

1. Hollow out a melon.
2. Make a small hole in the side.
3. Suspend it from the ceiling and swing it from side to side.
4. Now get a bowl of soggy Cheerios and attempt to spoon them into the swaying melon by pretending to be an airplane.
5. Continue until half the Cheerios are gone.
6. Tip half into your lap. The other half, just throw up in the air.

You are now ready to feed a nine-month-old baby.

Lesson 9
Learn the names of every character from Sesame Street , Barney, Disney, the Teletubbies, and Pokemon. Watch nothing else on TV but PBS, the Disney channel or Noggin for at least five years. (I know, you're thinking What's 'Noggin'?) Exactly the point.

Lesson 10
Make a recording of Fran Drescher saying 'mommy' repeatedly. (Important: no more than a four second delay between each 'mommy'; occasional crescendo to the level of a supersonic jet is required). Play this tape in your car everywhere you go for the next four years. You are now ready to take a long trip with a toddler.

Lesson 11
Start talking to an adult of your choice. Have someone else continually tug on your skirt hem, shirt- sleeve, or elbow while playing the 'mommy' tape made from Lesson 10 above. You are now ready to have a conversation with an adult while there is a child in the room.

This is all very tongue in cheek; anyone who is parent will say "it's all worth it"! Share it with your friends, both those who do and don't have kids. I guarantee they'll get a chuckle out of it. Remember, a sense of humor is one of the most important things you'll need when you become a parent!

Moms of Boys: I Need Your Help!

Let me begin this post by confessing that I'm about to break a hardcore blogging commandment of mine:  To never use my blog as a sounding board to complain about my children, husband, or family.  But desperate times call for desperate measures, right?  I'm genuinely asking for any and all advice here, because this mama is about to go nuts.  

NUTS,I'm telling ya!

For the past four weeks or so, my almost-two-year-old son has been crying.  Not just fussing... CRYING.  And it seems to never end.  I don't understand at all what's going on with him.  Therefore, I have no clue how to help him.

There's no fever.  There are no symptoms of any illness.  He sleeps a sound twelve hours each night.  He begins the morning happy, which causes me to have false hope, thinking, "Happy, Happy!  Joy, Joy!  Today's the day he's not going to cry!"  Only to have my hopes shattered about an hour or so into the day.

My daughter never went through a stage such as this one.  She did have her own share of strong separation anxiety, but easily transitioned out of it around 19-20 months.  My little sad boy will be two years old in December.

He wants his mama.  He wants his mama to carry him constantly.  If he doesn't get every little thing he wants, he wails.  We've tried ignoring him.  We've tried coddling him.  We've tried a balance of both.  Nothing is bringing this to an end.

Yes, I am a VERY hands-on mother.  I reserve blogging and other personal activities for when the kids are asleep or outside playing with their father.  There's no way my son isn't getting PLENTY of attention from me.  Ironically, the crying honestly makes me NOT want to be around him at times.  Instead of responding tenderly and sensitively, the sound of his crying is becoming as pleasant as fingernails scraping down a chalkboard. 

So, my question to all of you is... What the heck do I do?!  I've read my share of parenting material by Sears, Dobson, etc.  I understand that boys struggle more than females to detach from their mothers.  Could this be an internal struggle that he's going through?  Is he learning so much, so fast, that he can't handle it emotionally?  Arghhhhhh!  This psycho-analytical mother needs answers.  Even incorrect answers would do at this point.  Having the slightest explanation would probably help a tiny bit.  At least I think so... *Sigh*

Did any of you have this experience with a growing toddler boy?  

Losing it slowly-

Protect Your Active Kids from MRSA

In September of 2009, my daughter (then 2 1/2 years old) was hospitalized for 6 days because of an infection from Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, more commonly known as MRSA.  We'll never know when or how our family contracted the bacteria, but it was an extremely difficult battle to fight.  Unfortunately, infections from MRSA are more common than most people realize and are very contagious, especially among school-age children.  

This time of year, with fall sports in full swing, equipment cleanliness and item-sharing on and off the field may get overlooked between carpools, homework and bedtime.  But, skin infections like MRSA, which can be potentially life threatening, are the cause of 56 percent of all infectious disease outbreaks in competitive sports in the U.S.

It’s important that as parents and coaches we do our part to help prevent the spread of MRSA.  You can begin by getting involved in the Equip them Well program through three simple steps –

collect, disinfect, donate. 

Please take a few moments to watch this short video and learn more about the Equip Them Well program:

No compensation was received from this post.  My name was entered into a gift card giveaway by participating in this campaign by One2One Network.

Not Your Ordinary Tea Party

My little ones decided yesterday afternoon that they would like to take some of their indoor toys outside for a tea party in the warm sunshine.  Because of the gorgeous fall weather, I totally embraced their request and all but shoved them out the door.

Pretty soon I decided to keep them company in a chair situated on the deck close by them.  I was secretly observing their every move, absolutely loving the scene my sweet children were creating.  The pretend tea, cups, and snacks were distributed between the two and their party proceeded without a hitch.

It was comforting to just sit and watch them play together happily.  All the fatigue, stress, and irritation that can come about during motherhood had disappeared for a few moments.  Just as a bit of mommy-pride started creeping in, suggesting that I might possibly be doing things right in rearing them, I look up to watch my three-year-old daughter sip her cup and say, "Mmmmmmmm!  This beer is good!"

*GASP*

Maybe not...

A Day at Honeysuckle Hill Farm

Just in case you missed this blaring fact, let me remind you once more... I love fall!  But in all honesty, who doesn't?!  I don't believe I've ever met anyone who doesn't enjoy most things about this beautiful season.

One of my favorite activities to do this time of year is to visit a pumpkin patch.  My children, husband and I anticipate our annual excursion all year long.  Fortunately, in middle Tennessee where we live, there is quite the picking when it comes to choosing a pumpkin farm to visit.  There are many great locations throughout the area offering festive activities for families each weekend.  Amidst all the various choices, we decided this past weekend to take the longer, scenic drive up to the same location which we discovered last year: Honeysuckle Hill Farm in Springfield, Tennessee.

Funny enough, we unknowingly chose the very same weekend on the calendar that we had visited the year before.  But, boy, was it a completely different experience this time around!  Last year, with daytime temperatures in the 50's, we were dressed in our warm clothes, drinking delicious apple cider and hot chocolate.  NOT this year.  The afternoon temperature rose well above 80 degrees, which is certainly obvious by our children's red cheeks in our photographs below.  As you can imagine, we were quite warm and hot apple cider was the last thing on our minds.

Despite being a bit toasty, we had a wonderful time enjoying all that Honeysuckle Hill Farm has to offer.  With the hayride, petting zoo, slides, swings, jumping pillow, and pumpkin cannon (just to name a few highlights), there was something for each member of the family to enjoy.

One thing I do have to complain about mention is the steep admission price.  Each person over 2 years of age is charged $9.00 + tax to enter the farm.  For a family of four, that's FORTY bucks.  Add to that the money for the gasoline needed to drive over an hour to get to Springfield, plus any food or beverages purchased while at the farm... that all makes for NOT a cheap day.  WHEW!

So, if you're near the Springfield area and have a chunk of change to spend on an incredibly fun family outing, this is the farm to visit.  But you better hurry- the last day of their Fall Festival Season is October 31st.

 

 

My sweet punkin' niece, Annslee.

The Klapper girlies.

Daddy & sister flying down the "Monster Rippler."

 

$40 admission and my son just wants to kick a ball around.  
Go figure.

 

Note to self:  Purchasing ring pops before attempting a family photo is never a good idea.

Here we are... the four "krazy" Klappers.

Happy Fall, Y'all!

"Frame-It Friday"- An Early Winter Edition

So, who do you think is more excited about the arrival of fall and its cooler weather?

Me...............

or this little fashionista?

The outdoor temperature when this picture was snapped was a frigid 79 degrees.

Who argues with a three year old and wins?

Not this mama...

Painting Fun

We all know that one of the many natural talents of young children is making a big fat mess.  Yep, I admit I get annoyed more than I should about their uncleanliness-- because let's face it, they're KIDS!  So for that very reason, I allow them time every now and then to make a "supervised" mess.

Here are my two munchkins having a blast with their most recent go-ahead-and-dirty-yourselves-up opportunity:

"Frame-It Friday"... a day early!

This first thing we did this morning after waking up was head outside to enjoy the breezy 75 degree weather.  The sky was overcast so I jumped on the opportunity to take some new pictures of my busy kiddos.  

Our Adventure Has Begun!

Well, folks, we have one week of homeschooling already behind us and tomorrow begins week two. For several months now, my 3-year-old daughter has been begging to "do school with Mommy." So, once September came along, I finally got the ball rolling and she got her wish. And like I was certain she would, she already loves it and can't get enough. She even cried one or two days when we were finished with my planned activities. Wow! My fingers are tightly crossed that this energy and enthusiasm will stick around throughout the whole year. Guess we'll see...

Here are a few shots of the little "bookworm" in action:

One challenge that we've had to tackle is interference from this little munchkin:

But instead of excluding him, we've just decided to let him tag along and soak in whatever he can.

Any and all advice/suggestions about involving a toddler in homeschool activities would be very much appreciated! : )

Here's to a wonderful second week!

The Gift That Keeps On Giving!

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Boudreaux's Butt Paste. All opinions are 100% mine.

Many years ago, I received an unsuspecting gag gift at a Christmas party... it was a tube of "butt paste." Everyone at the party got the biggest laugh over what I had unwrapped. I had never heard of such and thought it was definitely a funny joke. Little did I know then that years later this gag gift would become a staple in my medicine cabinet!

Unfortunately, my poor son has recurrent issues with diaper rash and irritation. His little digestive system is very sensitive to so many foods that are yummy going in, but very painful on the way out. Everything from fresh fruit, juices, heavy dyes, etc, will burn his bottom area within only a few minutes of contact. And to make things worse, once that tender area receives an acute rash, it's much more prone to become and stay irritated and sore.

I've tried lots of remedies to both treat and prevent his rashes, even home made concoctions... But the solution I've come to rely most heavily on is Boudreaux's Butt Paste. Here are just a few reasons why:

1. The stuff really does work! After applying the paste, which goes on and cleans off easily, I can see almost instant improvement in the level of pain my son is experiencing. Not only that, it's able to clear up most minor rashes overnight. I love it! I've also found myself using it on a regular basis now during diaper changes, even without any visible irritation there, because of how well it protects the skin from future rashes.

2. I can afford it! There are other creams and pastes we have tried that, yes, definitely work, but were much more expensive than Boudreaux's Butt Paste. This product comes in many sizes to fit both your need AND your budget, including convenient sizes of 1, 2, 3, or 4 ounce flip-top-cap tubes or a hefty 16 ounce jar.

3. A little goes a long way! The pleasant-smelling paste is very thick, so it doesn't take very much at all for a single use. We've been working on a 2 ounce tube for about 6 months now, and we still have at least a third of the tube to go.

So, with the holiday season creeping upon us, go ahead and pick up a few tubes of Boudreaux's Butt Paste to give for laughs. Who knows how many mothers, like myself, will thank you years down the road?!

If you'd like to request a FREE sample of Boudreaux's Butt Paste, please visit their website by clicking on the button below:

"Frame-It Friday"

Had another chance to capture a super-sweet sibling moment this morning...  The way these two are becoming such buddies makes this mama's heart so happy! : )

just for the JOY of it...

This morning I stumbled upon my two monkeys in a sweet cuddle on the sofa.  Seeing their affection and love toward one another brings me uber-intense, melt-into-a-giant-puddle-on-the-floor
JOY!

(crappy photo quality courtesy of BlackBerry camera)