Finding Balance

I could come here and talk about how perfect my life is today but the truth is - this week my kids are driving me crazy*. Imagine that. I feel so much better and yet so much worse at the same time for writing that out. It's that whole mommy guilt thing.

I think the rain coupled with the changes in routine since we are back to homeschooling our 7 year old son has taken it's toll on our attention-commanding 4 year old son. Which basically translates to pure chaos & madness!

I feel really stressed ( extra special thanks to Hot Daddy for noticing as if I needed help recognizing it) and we are only 1 1/2 weeks into homeschooling this year. I really feel like I'm just going non stop with no end in sight and we've only just begun. OMFG!

I guess boundaries and finding balance is in order. Good advice is welcome.

* An extra special note to my kids should they come across this as adults

"Boys, I still really love you even though I say you drive me crazy. You drive me crazy in so many ways most of which are painfully sweet and fill me with awe but today the both of you are just driving me crazy in a rotten way."
Love, Mommy.

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I Must Be Doing Something Right

Yesterday was our 7 year old's first day of back to school at home. He's now in 1st grade. I have to admit that I think I'm enjoying homeschooling more than he is right now. He's certainly enjoying it too but I'm having just as much fun painting alongside him, doing crafts with him (glue messes and all), and teaching him everything he needs and wants to know.

For his first day we took pictures, worked on spelling & math, studied plants, did some crafts, and read a plethora of back to school themed books. Later I let him leave with his Mamaw to go shopping for some new clothes and shoes even though he didn't really need anything new except flip-flops.

Before he went out the door, he turned to me and said something I'll keep close to me forever. He looked at me with such sweetness and said, "Your the best Mommy a fella could ever hope to have". Then he gave me a big hug and off he went.

I couldn't have asked for a better first day.

*I also wanted to do some shameless promoting over here and tell all of you about a cool contest going on over at A Mom's Review. We are giving away 10 complete cake kits from Cakes By Me. Go HERE to read our review and enter the contest.

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Because He's Soo Cute

I can't resist sharing the new photos I took of him...

*I know this is a lame attempt at a post but homeschooling has returned. Homeschooling coupled with working at home = SUPER CRAZY BUSY.





*Tornado Tee courtesy of Happy Panda.

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How Was Your Yesterday?

We start our homeschooling routine back up next Monday so we are getting the most fun out of our last few days of no school. Yesterday we went and looked for rocks. Yes, my boys are currently fascinated by all different types of rocks so a rock hunt was due. After rock hunting for what seemed like miles we picked vegetables (even some non ripe tomatoes for fried green tomatoes -yum!) from Me-Maw's (their great grandmother) garden to bring home. I wish I would have brought along my camera. Maybe next time.

On our way back home we stopped at a local diner to eat. And, let me be the first to tell you it would NEVER make Guy Fieri's Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives Show. This place is lucky it hasn't been shut down by the health department. OHMYGOSH! We will never go back! The ONLY reason we stayed after we walked in to this establishment was because the boys acted as if they simply could not live another moment without food. We all know how that goes with kids,right? Besides kids don't seem to notice stuff like adults do- flies, cigarette smoke, and dirty tables. The cigarette smoking near the cooking was atrocious! I assumed smoking in restaurants was banned everywhere. Apparently not. In fact, my MIL and I just knew we were going to come down with food poisoning. However, it's a day later and we are thankfully not sick.

Anyway, today the boys are interested in spiders. I will not hunt spiders. That's something my sweet boys will have to do on their own. Dinner, complete with those fried green tomatoes we picked yesterday, is at the in-laws. Life is good.

So, how was your yesterday? Are you making the most out of your days before the back to school routine sets in?

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A Recap of the Pampers Event & I'm Asking For Your Help

Nearly two weeks ago 14 mom bloggers (myself included) attended the Pampers headquarters in Cincinnati where we learned so much about the brand and the people behind Pampers.

NOTE: This is my longest post ever but it's very important that you read through to the end, or atleast skip to the end for information on how you can save the life of a baby for just 5 cents!

Pampers Day 1:

When I first arrived at the event I had no idea who or what to expect. I was just hoping for some really nice receptive moms. And, that is exactly what I got.

The first mommy bloggers I met were Elizabeth from Busy Mom & Elizabeth from Table for Five. They were both so very nice and welcoming. (Thank You!) After meeting them in the café I felt so much better about coming to the event because frankly, from the moment I arrived in Cincinnati I was dreadfully nervous.

Anyway…

About an hour later we all met in the lobby to go to the P&G Archives. The first two people in the lobby were me & Romi from True Mom Confessions. A few minutes later we met up with the rest of the moms including Kailani from An Island Life, Heather from Lil Sugar, Amanda from Oh Amanda, Karen from Thrifty Mommy, Lisa from My Thoughts, Ideas, and Ramblings, Isabel from Alpha Mom, Erica from Yummy Mummy, Stacy from Mom Central, Christine from Boston Mamas, and later Mindy from The Mommy blog.

We were taken via SUVs to the P&G Archives where we met a bunch of people (I’m not great with names or note taking-Kailani has a great post with everyone's names) who shared with us a lot of the history of the P& G and Pampers brand. We learned a lot of interesting historical facts. Then we went off to dinner at the Brio Tuscan Grille in my home state of Kentucky. All of the food was delicious except the cold asparagus wrapped in smoked ham (was it ham? All I know is that it’s not something we eat back where I’m from ;) )

I sat at the table with Kailani, Karen, Isabel, Heather, Amanda, and a few others from P&G. We all got to know each other a little better, and wow, what interesting people I was surrounded by ESPECIALLY the moms! After dinner I went straight to my comfy hotel room, did a play by play of the night to my husband (he was fortunate enough to come with me), called the boys then fell asleep from pure exhaustion.

Day 2:

At 8:30 a.m. we all met in the hotel lobby to be transported to the Baby Care Headquarters. While there we had breakfast, went to panels, did some product testing, watched a prototype diaper being made, observed babies in a focus group, had lunch,got interviewed (yikes!), and then the highlight of the day - meeting the president & CEO of Unicef, Caryl Stern. It was an overwhelming and fast-paced day – something I’m definitely not used to.

Nearing the end of our day, Caryl talked to us about the Unicef & Pampers one pack = one vaccine campaign. We learned that 5 cents can buy a tetanus vaccine for a child in developing countries.

And while what Pampers is currently doing is commendable IT IS NOT enough given that thousands of moms and babies still die every year because they don't have access to the vaccine. That is where you come in. By buying the Pampers products with the special Unicef label, Pampers will donate one vaccine per each pack of diapers bought. At the end of the day we found out that Pampers also donated 1,000 vaccines per each mom blogger in attendance.14,000 more babies will live.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

Before leaving the event we all agreed as moms to help further this cause. How could we say no?

So, a widget was created for us to put on our blogs that goes straight to the Unicef website where you can make a donation. You can donate any amount ($1.00 will save 20 lives) directly through the widget in my right sidebar. Do you see it over there?

A Reminder: The current campaign ends on August 31 so please make a donation now. If you can't donate then I urge you to please link to this post to help spread the word (if you link to this post or donate please email me so I can add you to my thank you post).

Overall, the biggest take away I got from the Pampers event was that the people who work there really believe in what they are doing. They are passionate. They seem to really want to make the lives of Moms easier and better. We didn't come home to blog about how great their products were. We came home with a mission to help save lives. How great is that?

All in all, I had a wonderful time and feel very fortunate that I was given the opportunity to meet so many mom bloggers that I’ve become familiar with online over the past year or two. It was also nice meeting the Pampers staff and everyone who helped put this event together. Thanks P&G, Pampers, Paine PR, & Rocket XL.

Here is a link to some of the recaps done so far.

Oh Amanda's post: Vaccines & More Vaccines
Boston Mama's post:Lessons From Pampers
Kailani's post: Pamper & Unicef's Campaign
Table for Five's Post: How You Can Wipe Out Maternal And Neonatal Tetanus

• You can view all of my Pampers photos on flickr. Elizabeth from Table for Five has so many more photos, and here are some of the Pampers Pro photos.

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I Promise To Stop Talking About Cats Soon

The 7 year old giving our not-yet-dead cat, Comet, an introduction to YouTube.




We discovered that Comet loves watching other cats on youtube.



This is the video our cat, Comet, was watching. Hilarious stuff.

I promise to start posting semi normal stuff soon. Wait, have I ever done that?

*Plus check out our contest over at A Mom's Review. We're giving away a Must-Have kids book.

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A Freak Accident

In my last post I referenced having another tragic event happen in between my trip back to visit with my Mom this past week. As if I didn't have enough to deal with already. I'm starting to believe a curse is upon me or someone has a voodoo doll with my name on it.

Furthermore, if you are tired of reading very long posts where bad things are constantly happening then you may want to skip this not-so-lovely post today.

To begin...

When we got home on Wednesday I hugged by boys, played with them then starting re-packing to leave and drive back 3 hours to where my Mom was. During all of this I also started cleaning the house up since we had left it a disaster the morning we left for Cincinnati. While Hot Daddy tackled the dishes, I started doing laundry.

The minutes after this will forever be embedded in my memory, or maybe not because I'm really trying my hardest to forget.

So, I put some clothes along with a blanket into the dryer then walked over to my MIL’s to get my youngest son’s medicine to pack for our trip back. During that time, we had some family come to visit and they wanted to see our kittens. So, my son comes to me and says he can’t find our kitten, Graby. So I went into the house and started calling for Graby thinking he would be in his favorite hiding place under my bed but he wasn’t there. He wasn’t lying in the bathtub either. And then I decided to check the dryer since I heard an unusual knocking sound. And even though I went and opened up the dryer door, I really didn’t expect to find him there. What I found was probably one of the more traumatic things in my life so far. Our little Graby was lifeless in the dryer. I had accidentally killed my little boy's kitten. The immediate pain I felt knowing that I had actually contributed to an animal's death was shocking.

For the first time in my life, I felt like I had let my children down. I know this is just a cat I am talking about here, and life can get much much worse but it's still heartbreaking especially when I see my kids hurting.

Everyone says that it’s not my fault but ultimately I am responsible. I’m angry at myself for not checking the dryer before turning it on. I’m angry because I walked away. I’m angry at the cat for getting in the dryer. I’m angry because no one else thought to check out the weird thumping sound in the dryer. Ultimately, I’m exhausted, my kids are hurting, and I keep replaying everything over and over as if I can change something. I know that accidents happen all the time but knowing this still doesn't make me feel any better. I know the feeling I feel right now will go away in time...probably within a few days. Talking about it helps. Constantly going back to "Hey, it's JUST a cat!" helps too.

Having this happen has really made me realize that I've got too much going on in my life right now. It's time I started doing something about it because life is way too short to live like this where you are so busy that you don't even realize your cat is missing until you've found it dead in the dryer 30 minutes later.

I've got to stop the stress and worry over things/people I cannot control. And, I've got to stop being nice and start saying no so that I'm not so frazzled and pulled in a thousand different directions every day of my life. It's funny how a freak accident put it all into perspective for me.

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My Mom

On my way home from the Pampers Mommy blogger event (which BTW was wonderful, more to come on that plus there are pics & posts everywhere already) I found out that my mother had what was indicative of a heart attack after ECT therapy. If you aren’t familiar with ECT therapy, let me introduce you. ECT is electro shock therapy used most often in individuals with severe depression when no other form of treatment is successful. My Mom is in this group.

I’ve never actually wrote about my Mother’s depression before now, mostly because I didn’t know if she would be comfortable with me sharing her life. (And, if she isn't then this will be deleted) However, after what transpired in the past few days, I feel like I need to share what I’m really going through and I think writing about it will help me come to terms with it and realize that I can’t do anything to change what she is going through. All I can do is be there and let her know I care. Writing about it here may even help someone else. So this is where I’m starting, and I'm asking for your support.

Anyway, to make a long story short, after driving home from Cincinnati, we re-packed, dealt with another traumatic event in and of itself (blog post forthcoming) , went to sleep, and got back up early yesterday morning. We drove another 3 hours to be with my Mom during her Cardiac Catheterization. Thankfully, everything turned out fine. We visited for a short while then drove back home. My Mom is now at home and recuperating. I’m hoping more than anything that she gets better physically and mentally not only for herself but for everyone that loves her. Life has so much to offer.

I love you Mom.

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