I AM Domestically Challenged: Welcome To My World

I am domestically challenged.

I’m not a good cook. At best, I can one day hope to make a cake without fried egg in the middle.

I’m not organized.

I’m not a neat freak.

I can’t decorate not even with the help of home decorating 101

Basically, the only domestic thing I am good at is vacuuming so I do it often

I hate washing dishes and I miss the dishwasher in our old apartment. If you came to our home you may see the same pile of dirty dishes two days in a row.

The boys have overtaken every room in our home and no room is free of junk and toys.

And, I’m mostly ok with all of this until I read about the moms who seemingly have it all together with immaculate homes and perfected recipes.

I begin to wonder, could I do that? Do I need to be like THAT mommy?

More importantly, HOW can I do that when I work at home full time with two kids at home? It’s not even realistic… Furthermore, if you are THAT mommy who has it "all together" with kids at home AND you also work at home, then please do drop me a line and share your secrets with me. Until then, I'll be over here in my mess.

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Sing, Moms, Sing!

With nearly $1000 worth of prizes to give away you’d think we’d have more entries than we do right now for our first ever very own Mom Singing Contest.

So, what are you waiting for? Enter the contest today. It will be fun, I promise!

And, even if you are the world’s worst singer you can still win a prize. We have some awesome prizes to give away. I’m going to feature 1 sponsor per day on the blog until we’ve got them all covered so that you can see what wonderful sponsors we have and so that seeing these prizes will ultimately force you to enter.

Enter here, the Mom Singing Contest DEADLINE: March 13, 2007

If you have any questions or technical issues with entering the contest and want to enter, I’d be happy to help. Just email me.

Also, FYI, the entire CFM site will be down as we move to a new server within the next 24-48 hours so don’t fret if you don’t see us online for a few hours. I promise we’ll be back and BETTER! Look for the new blog design and site redesign coming soon!

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Allowing Trampolines =Bad Parenting?

Well, I’m not so sure if I’d go that far but the American Academy of Pediatrics apparently thinks so. They don’t exactly say it but you kind of get that vibe from reading this on their website,

“Children and teenagers should never use trampolines at their home or another person's home, in routine gym classes or on the playground!”

We just gave our son a trampoline for his 6th birthday. There, just go ahead and bash me for using my own judgment and going against the AAP.

Maybe the above quote from the AAP should include these changes:

IF the child is unsupervised

IF the child does not like to follow rules or does not understand rules

IF two or more kids are on the trampoline and one child is significantly larger than the other child

We are smart parents and we have rules about the trampoline to make it the safest possible environment that we can for our son plus he will not be on It unsupervised, oh let’s say, for the next 8 years…if it even lasts that long.


So, how about you, trampolines or no trampolines?

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A Personal Ad For Mommy Friends

The husband and I was having a conversation about friendships a couple days ago and he says that when couples have kids that they no longer want nor have time for real friendships with other people. I have to believe that he’s not right because I want some new friendships. And, believe me, I’ve tried. I’ve sifted through neighbors and soccer moms and just whatever I can find in this small town but nothing has stuck.

I’ll just go ahead and post my friendship personal ad here and you tell me whether I’m being crazy and unrealistic.

“Hi. I’m a married mom of two boys looking for friendships with married couples with one or more children for dinner dates, get-togethers and adult conversations.

Must have similar interests & values such as

An education
Full set of teeth
You must actually love & care for your children
A Sense of Humor *Thanks for reminding me Leslie
Open-mindedness, progressive, honest, liberal. Need I say more?

*Ability to make a cocktail a PLUS when Mommy has had a bad day

Is this too much to ask? I’m quite easy to please don’t you think? Or am I?

Edited to Add: After writing this, I saw that the Zero Boss had talked about a quite similar topic yesterday, Meeting Other Couples... and I wanted to link to it. It's nice to know we're not the only ones who stink. Of course, he could probably care less considering I'm a Southerner ;)

And, in his comment section I found this, Friendless With Kids

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Too Much American Idol?

This morning I was drawing Spongebob for my 2 year old at his request and I drew a microphone on Spongebob.

My 2 year old looked at me and said, "Spongebob on mer-eee-can idol?"

I'll admit I'm a little obsessed with the show as evidenced here on my American Idol blog but maybe I've went too far... he..he..

REMINDERS:

Enter the Mom Singing Contest whether you can sing or not. Seriously. You can win!:)

Get listed in the ContestForMoms.com Mommy Blog Directory. FREE & Easy. If for some reason you have contacted me and I havent added you yet, please forgive me, and please resend your information.

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Are My Boys Human?

This week has been a rough week of pure sickness, and birthdays(husband's 30th and son's 6th) of which we did not get to celebrate due to said debilitating sickness.

And to add to the event-fullness(I made that word up I think) of the week, I'll present to you these two random actions from my boys this week.

First one...

The boys were sitting in the floor playing with their cash register and scanning things. Out of nowhere, our 2 year old scans his own penis on the cash register. What the hell? Where did that come from? Maybe next time I should make sure he has clothes on before he plays with the cash register just to be on the safe side.

Next up...

Today I was explaining to our newly 6 year old that we had to clean the house before his 6th birthday party tommorow and he replies with, "What? I'm not a miracle worker!". I was speechless...for about 1 whole second!

I'm am continually amazed by my two boys. There is never ever a dull moment and I don't think I will ever have to worry about being bored for the rest of my lifetime.

**Oh, and don't you dare forget about the mom singing contest. We NEED your entries!
Enter the Mom Singing Contest here

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A Birthday He Won't Soon Forget

After visiting a sick relative in the hospital, we all came down with a mysterious 24 hour virus or something of that sort. We are recovering today.

Yesterday wasn't pretty. I witnessed more puke than I ever thought possible. And, to top it all off, yesterday was our oldest son's 6 birthday.

Here's how it all went down on his 6th birthday:

Birthday Breakfast: Nothing

Birthday Lunch: Again, nothing

Birthday Dinner: A few sips of Gatorade

And then he fell asleep with a helium birthday balloon tied to his wrist.

On the upside, we spent the ENTIRE day laying on the couch together watching his favorite TV shows in between naps and puking.

Good thing his party isn't until this coming Saturday...

In other news...

Someone nominated me again over at CHBM so if you wanna vote for me all you have to do is email them at crazyhipblogmamasmotw@gmail.com and tell them your vote is for baby & mom blog AKA petite mommy.

I also wanted to mention our Mom Idol Style Singing Contest again. We need contestants. It's fun! It's free! And, we have lots of prizes to give away. Enter the Mom Singing Contest today here

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Someone Nominated ME

Well, that's a first. Someone nominated me over at Crazyhipblogmamas to be the mom of the week. The bad news is that I just found out about it today and votes have to be in tomorow. So, if anyone out there would like to vote for me do it now.

All you have to do is email them at crazyhipblogmamasmotw@gmail.com and tell them your vote is for baby & mom blog AKA petite mommy.

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VS, Why Do You Send Me This?

I keep getting Victoria's Secret Catalogs with nothing but bathing suits in them.

Hello? How can I think about buying a bikini when it's only 9 degrees outside?

I won't be wearing a bikini until at least 3 more months so why are you shoving bikinis in my face when all I can think about is thicks socks and thermal underwear. I'm freezing just thinking about trying a bikini on. Is this your evil way of reminding me that there's only 90 days left to get back in bikini shape?

Oh why must you torture us people who live in the cold with your tropical island summery photos? You even sent me a sample of a Hawaiian perfume which is currently by my side if only to daydream with.

I'd give just about anything right now to be at the warm ocean in a bikini watching my boys make sand castles instead of sitting here on the couch huddled up under a blanket with a coat on indoors trying to decide what bikini to buy.

Your mission has been accomplished. Are you happy now?

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Why Does This Have To Be So Hard?

Our oldest son will be 6 next week. Aside from party planning and all that, I'm really just making myself sick considering whether to really homeschool or send him to school.

Granted, school wouldn't start for him until August or possibly September, depending on what school we choose but the realization that schooling will happen hits next week when he turns 6. Because 6 is the official school age. Yikes!

I am driving myself and my husband crazy by going back and forth. Actually we are both concerned and we talk about it every day of the week. One day it's a definite homeschool, the next day its private school but only if it's a good private school, and then the next day maybe a private christian school until we find out that the christian school in our area is NOT non-demominational. We prefer(actually we must and will accept no less) to keep it non-denominational for personal reasons.

We tried the unofficial pre-homeschool to see how it would work out and if I forced a curriculum on him it would work better but I don't want to do that right now. For now, we read everyday, we play games everyday, and we do some workbook stuff when he desires to but not everyday. When I see a learning opportunity, I build upon it and do what I can to teach him. He does really well with what he is interested in but gets bored easily and would rather run off and play with his toys, his brother, or video games.

And, being who I am, I think that's totally ok and appropriate for his age. I want him to play for as long as he can. I know most kids his age are already going to school all day and everyone around us thinks he should be doing the same. And, that's where my insecurities come in to play. What if I do decide to homeschool and I'm not successful? What then? I know I have the knowledge to teach him but do I have the creativity? The will? Time? Will he take me as serious as he would a real teacher? Would I always be MOM to him instead of teacher? The issue overall is will this type of learning work for him or would he be better suited to have another authority figure teach him? I am opening this up for discussion and advice. What are your thoughts? What are your fears as your kids enter school age? Am I totally crazy for obsessing over my baby starting school?

I guess I have a little more time to think about it. Ultimately, we want the best learning environment possible for our son with hands on activities, lots of outdoor play and exploring, arts, music, and computers NOT just a whole day sitting quietly in a classroom doing paperwork.

*Don't forget, the Mom Singing Contest has started. We have fabulous prizes to give away. Our newest sponsor is babyrockapparel.com. They have put together a gift tin with 2 tees or onesies of your choice. These are super hip rocker tees. Check out their shop today!

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Happy Valentines Day 2007

My husband made this card for me from him and our boys so I just had to share it here. It's so adorable.

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Do you want to host a mom tv show?

RealSavvyMoms.com is looking for a mom to be the host of their tv show, Real Moms, Real Stories, Real Savvy. This tv show has won multiple awards.

What we are looking for: Please make a short video (30sec – 2 min) which shows us why you should be our new host. Introduce yourself and tell us your story. Show us whatever you feel is most relevant and interesting about your life: your family, your neighborhood, your talents, your challenges. We want to see the Real you.

I think there are many of you out there in blogland (that I read) that would be perfect for this. Take a chance and upload your short video today here.

REMEMBER, you must enter by Friday February 16, 2007.

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The Hair Makeover

We've been letting our 2 year old son's hair grow since last January but decided, a year later, that it was time to give him a haircut and here's the transformation.

Gosh, every time I look at him and these photos, I do a doubletake. Where did my baby go?

BEFORE:




AFTER:



You can see more on flickr over in the left side bar.

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Celebrating Doing Business In Your Bathrobe Day

Today is doing business in your bathrobe day and I'm celebrating. It's nice to have a holiday just for work at home moms. To learn more about doing business in your bathrobe day and month go to webmomz.com. You can also sign up to win some awesome prizes.


And, speaking of awesome prizes, our Mom Idol Style Singing Contest kicks off today! Go here for the contest page and we are now accepting entries. We will accept entries today february 13th through March 13th, 2007. Please go to the contest page, read how to enter, the complete list of rules, and please visit our prizes sponsors. *We are adding prize sponsors throughout the day and should be finished with everything this evening. GOOD LUCK and I hope to see a HUGE turnout for this fun contest...even if you can't sing. Remember, you can still win if you can't sing. And, we are going to have one viewer's choice winner. How's that sound?

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A Time To Work, A Time To Play

We left home yesterday evening for an extended weekend break. That's one of the perks of working from home. You can take a break at any time and play whenever you want. But then you have to work at unusual times like, let's say, Friday nights. Luckily, it's not for long and I can go on and enjoy the rest of my night as soon as I'm done here.

I wanted to do a quick update and tell everyone about the incredible response to our contest. We have 7 or 8 sponsors already, all offering fabulous prizes. I sure hope your ready to enter. The contest page, prize packages, sponsors, and official rules will be up by the end of the weekend. Please spread the word about this contest on your site or blog and even tell your neighbors, family & friends!

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A Contest To Fight The Cold Blues...

*updated below* updated again.

So, I was talking to a friend today and she suggested having a singing contest ala American Idol style where you, mommas, can submit a video or a sound file of you singing your favorite song to me.

Since many of us are going to be making fools out of ourselves I figured I'd have to offer some real prizes.

We'll pick out a few different winners from best to worst such as "Most Likely to make Simon roll his eyes and say, "What the hell was that?"

Doesn't this sound fun?

I'll get back with all of you on the full contest details and prizes within the next day or so. In the meantime, I expect you to be practicing your songs. Hey, you don't have to be a good singer to win a good prize. Remember, we are giving away good prizes to some bad singers too!

So, who's all ready to enter?

*We are currently seeking donations specifically products, books, or services for moms. This contest will be heavily promoted on several sites and most of all on our main site, ContestForMoms.com which averages 958, 000+ hits per month.

**We have our first official sponsor. We will post more sponsors as they come along.

Harper Collins Publishing They are donating several parenting book titles of which I'll add to the official contest list.

Diaperbaggies.com They are donating two packages of diaper baggies to a winner.

hipchicksboutique.com They are donating a Hip Chicks or Little Man's Tee of the winner's choice.

More to come...

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A Freebie For Whoever Wants It!

I've got a "cool" freebie to give away folks..it just evokes so much emotion in me that I don't even even have words to express it... Cold is probably the word I'm looking for. Yep, that's it.

Are you interested in that freebie?

Scroll down....

....


I'm giving away next month's heating bill... Do you want it? I'm sure it's worth $400 or more of which you will have to pay. Sure you don't want it? Wanna trade heating bills?


Who else is dealing with negative or near negative temperatures? I woke up to -1 degrees this morning. Ack! And, tomorow comes the snow. We have a snowstorm watch of up to 8 inches! I'm not in Alaska, dear people. I'm in Kentucky. Next time, please remind me NOT to wish for snow. We need to move South.

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He's Such a Boy!

The husband and I were in the kitchen this afternoon eating our unhealthy post-lunch-not quite-dinner meal of BBQ ribs & chicken wings while the boys opted for cheeseburgers, and in comes our two year old.

What happened next was priceless.

Here he is naked with one hand on his private parts-what else? and holding a cheeseburger in the other. Then he opens up his mouth towards us for a bite of ribs.

He made his Daddy proud...

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Now Is When I Stop Being Depressing

A little bird came and told me today that my blog has gotten rather depressing and bordering on "emotional mess"*. Seriously, though, if you have read my comments section from my last post you might actually guess that it was my husband. Tee Hee...

Anyway, I've been outed. First of all I should explain myself. I don't blog to complain and I certainly don't want to sound like I am depressed or unhappy because I am NOT. I am far from unhappy but that doesn't mean that I won't occasionally be whiney or make a complaint or be an emotional mess at times. And, ya know, sometimes if I'm lacking in inspiration I'll just find something to complain about and I really shouldn't come here to do that. It's not fair to my readers or my family.

In the blogosphere, moms and happy don't seem to mix very well. If a mom constantly gabs about how happy she is and how perfect (I promise I'm not perfect) her life is and how great her kids are, other bloggers get turned off and fast. Maybe thats why sometimes I feel it necessary to share a complaint even if it's not so ,dare I say, spot on.

Realistically speaking, I am a happy person and I can find the positive in almost anything. I love my life and I love my children. I love who my husband is and who I am. I'm not saying we are perfect. I'm not saying my kids are either but they sure are close. Aren't yours?

Furthermore, we aren't living a glamorous life unless you think glamorous is living on a work at home income while the husband completes his PHD. Is it a bad thing if you are happy with who you are?

*And, today was also the day that I revealed to my husband my crush on the Dirty Jobs Host eating chinese in our pajamas hillbilly style...at the restaurant.. Was that a good idea?

Overall, I just dont want my readers to get the wrong impression about me and I hope who I truly am comes across in my writing even if it makes me that "happy mommy blogger" that everyone loves to hate.

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