Tuesday Turn-around and a HUGE ANNOUNCEMENT!

So, I keep eluding to the fact that BIG changes are coming for me in 2012. And I MEAN IT! I planned out every month! I know what you are thinking...WHAT THE HECK DOES THAT MEAN? Well, basically it is 12 months of 30 day challenges in 4 categories.

1. Finding ME

2. Helping my kids be the best they can be

3. Working on the Business

4. Crafting

And in that order! I am sure you all saw the numerous posts about picking a word, a theme if you will, for 2012 and mine is to FOCUS! To focus on me and making the most of my life, family, and business. Really just focusing on making my dreams come (all of them) come true and setting the stage for a successful future. EEK! Scary right!! You have no idea!! I am already nervous as all heck! But I am ready for the challenge and ready for CHANGE!!
I know that most people started their resolutions a month ago but I wasn't ready. Actually, I am going to forget that January ever even happened and move on! Tomorrow I am starting the first set of challenges! Every Tuesday I will be giving you an update about how it is going, what I have learned, what I liked and what was a complete failure!! Hopefully, you all are ready for real honesty and some real change.
What do you think? Are you ready for a wild ride?
Okay so obviously I have nothing profound to share with you today but that does not mean I do not have something to share.
Since it is turn-around Tuesday, I have to share something with you all that has totally BLOWN my mind!!
Remember way back when I was in the contest One Month to Win it? It is okay if you don't because I totally got the boot in the first round! I was soooooo bummed! I felt like a failure but I knew my project was special! So, I entered it in to all kinds of costume contests. AND NOTHING! I heard NOTHING. Ugh! I felt like such a failure again and really was starting to question my creativity! Was I not meant to do this? Had I chosen the career path yet again? Really, I was at a loss. I kept thinking, WHO Sees this when they think of spray paint...
 
or this...

All of that from a can of paint and I turned it into this for the princess...

You can see the entire project over here where I also explain how I cheated on my BFF! Anywho, all that time designing, creating, making sure every detail was tended too. And nothing. Don't get me wrong I did get awesome feedback from you all and that is totally awesome. I just felt like I had tried to put myself out there and ended up with an empty basket. It was a little heart breaking. BUT not spirit breaking. So, as you all know I took off for awhile to spend time with my family over the holidays and then had to have surgery. I did not even open my computer Jan. 11. (I think) and here is why I even got out of bed that day to look at email.
I was laying in bed when the phone rang. Thankfully, my husband was home taking care of me still and answered. He came back and said some one was on the phone from Simplicity. I was still a little groggy from the meds I had taken and it really did not register. He continued...about a contest you entered. Do you want to talk to them?
Again, I was totally out of it! But I said sure thinking that they were trying to sell me something since I had given all my info when I registered for the contest.
The lady on the other end asks if I had received the email she sent me on Monday. (I am dumbfounded! Errrr, ummm, no?!) And here is where the TURN-AROUND comes into play...she continues, Well I have good news for you then! Your costume has been chosen for top 5 in your category.
HELLO!! TOP 5!! For SIMPLICITY! WHAT the WHAT! I am awake NOW!!! She says I have to mail the costume to Madison Ave, NY, NY. I of course wondered if I could stuff myself in the box too!!
HOLY COW! I really have been on cloud 9 ever since! I do not even know if I care about the results at this point. I cannot believe that SIMPLICITY thought my creation was awesome! I am so glad that I did not let those set backs break my spirit. BREAK ME! I am glad that I kept on going and believing in myself enough to keep putting my ideas, my creations, my ME out there.
Okay so seriously...DOES THIS NOT PROVE YOU HAVE TO KISS A LOT OF FROGS OR WHAT? Hopefully, the rest of my endeavors will be as successful this year! I believe in me!

Mama Monday Feature- Real Life Mommy Moments 2

Here we are again! Mama Monday with real life MAMA Moments. Wanna know why I started this little party?? You can read all about my complex here. Now that you have read all about how I need to hear stories from other people about how their lives are not perfect either come on and join the party! You will be so glad you did! I even read on a fb post over the weekend how a TON of mama's struggle with daily grind of it all. But I have not had one new link since the first post. So come on, don't be shy! Don't hold back! Don't worry about what other's are think (believe me they are feeling it too, this is my biggest post every week)! LET IT LOOSE!!
Time to show off the Real Life MAMA MOMENT of the week...
You can read all about the MAMA behind Heavenly Handmades and her story of home birth here. It is quite moving!

And my mama moment of the week is...

Okay, so this did not happen this week but it did happen over Christmas and for 3 weeks we did not have a car! WHY?? You ask. Well we hit a pot hole! Ruined the tire, broke axle and control arm. UGH!!! It really was no fun! We missed getting to back to Silver Dollar City to see the lights. BOO! ALL BECAUSE OF A POT HOLE!! And it was only 3 blocks away from the house. OH and it was CHRISTMAS DAY!!!

I am so glad to know that life is not always perfect everywhere but in my house! Thank you so much to everyone that linked up a Real Life Mommy Moment. I am going to go ahead and just clone the link for a while (I do not want anyone to miss any of these stories.)

Do you have to be a MOMMY to share your REAL LIFE MOMENTS? HECK NO! Share AWAY!!

Do they have to be new posts?? NOPE NOT AT ALL! Just share.

Are there more rules you need to follow? Um, nope again.

But if you want too share with all of your friends and help support even more real life moments, you could always grab a button...

<span style="background: yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">goog</span>-spellcheck-word"><span style="background: yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">href</span></span>="http://s1091.<span style="background: yellow;" class="<span style="background: yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">goog</span>-spellcheck-word"><span style="background: yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">photobucket</span></span><span style="background: yellow;" class="<span style="background: yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">goog</span>-spellcheck-word"><span style="background: yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">mommymomentsbutton</span></span>.<span style="background: yellow;" class="<span style="background: yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">goog</span>-spellcheck-word"><span style="background: yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">png</span></span>" target="_blank"><<span style="background: yellow;" class="<span style="background: yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">goog</span>-spellcheck-word"><span style="background: yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">img</span></span> <span style="background: yellow;" class="<span style="background: yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">goog</span>-spellcheck-word"><span style="background: yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">src</span></span>="http://i1091.<span style="background: yellow;" class="<span style="background: yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">goog</span>-spellcheck-word"><span style="background: yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">photobucket</span></span>.com/albums/i387/Jenni_Reeve/<span style="background: yellow;" class="<span style="background: yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">goog</span>-spellcheck-word"><span style="background: yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">mommymomentsbutton</span></span>.<span style="background: yellow;" class="<span style="background: yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">goog</span>-spellcheck-word"><span style="background: yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">png</span></span>" border="0" alt="<span style="background: yellow;" class="<span style="background: yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">goog</span>-spellcheck-word"><span style="background: yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">Photobucket</span></span>"></a>></a><<span style="background: yellow;" class="<span style="background: yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">goog</span>-spellcheck-word"><span style="background: yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">br</span></span>>"/></a></center>

If you don’t have a blog and want to share; send it to me in an email and I will add for you! I am seriously hoping that this will help us all support each other in way that is REAL in virtual world.

So what do you think? Who is up for the challenge? Who is ready to share the down and dirty but oh so fun part of being…well human? Are you in?

REAL LIFE MOMMY MOMENTS PARTY

LINK UP HERE:

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Frogulicious Friday Feature

I am not quite organized enough to post anything about my progress with Change. I will tell you, that I have a plan for the year! (I know right!) I wrote down all of the things I would like to accomplish in 2012 and then broke them down in categories (ME, Kids, Business, & Crafts). It was soooo hard to pick and prioritize!! But I am keeping a running list of other things that I want to accomplish for next year's list. ANYWHO, after I did all that I broke everything in to months so that I have one thing to focus on for each category for each month. I am hopeful that this will help me keep on track, plus there is nothing that will last longer than a month so I won't get bored! I also think I organized everything in such a way, that it will help me grow my inventory and get me ready for bee craft season. SWEET!

Next week will be my official start date and all will be revealed...at least for the month of February. BUT I already know that 2012 is going to be an exciting year of CHANGE!

 

Every Thursday during the linky I add a little blurb (okay I just copy and paste from the previous week, which explains the exact same typos for months. HA) about my Rust-Oleum Love Project Parade Party. Have you all seen the projects linked up? OMGosh! Seriously there are some amazing projects!!!! I am so proud and thankful that you all are using my favorite paint, Rust-Oleum! If you all are using Rust-Oleum I would LOVE for you to link up your projects.  Today, I want to share a Rust-Oleum Project with you all that I saw on one of the Rust-Oleum FB pages (They have 2, Paint Ideas and Rust-Oleum). You all are gonna be BLOWN AWAY!!I saw this mural and contacted the artist here is his reply...

 

Thank you so much for your kind words about my mural! 

  I used to be a graffiti artist when i was growing up, i made works of art that were showcased in several magazines and locally acclaimed by fellow artists and newspaper publications. For years i wanted to paint a 911 Mural and i thought after 10 years it would be appropriate to give a Mural to the community and to the whole world via the internet. Asking for permission to paint something like this was not easy, i went through several dozen sources and the last person i called was kind and gracious enough to give me the space to paint the mural. The total cost of materials cost me approximately $70 worth of Spray paint. I chose Rustoleum because it never has left me dry- it is an excellent paint with a fantastic outdoor life and brilliant colors. All commercial jokes aside- many Aerosol art spray paints imported from Europe for the sole purpose of graffiti artists to use always leave me with fading paint and mixed quality- this mural in particular was important to me and i wanted to use an all American brand that would stand up to the elements. I wish more spray paint companies like Rustoleum would recognize its artists that spend their money and glorify their spraypaint.    While painting the mural, several people approached me and asked if i was from New York. I told them i was from West Palm Beach! Everyone living in this country (not just New Yorkers) were affected by 911- even small towns. The city I live in has been devoid of much culture and pubic displays of art for some time now; and it felt so good again to finally give back to the community that we could all appreciate. While i was painting it, a post man came up and took a photo and shook my hand. It is unfortunate that it was through tragedy we all stand in solidarity, but now ten years later I like to hope we are wiser and stronger as a society.
  I wrote REMEMBER 911 specifically because i wanted to REMEMEBR where we were that day and to REMEMBER it so that it never happens again. I chose black for the font to mourn for all the innocent civilians, the brave firemen and first responders, and lastly the victims of 911 all over the world. We lost our innocence that day but i hope we never lose the freedoms that makes us Americans.
Thanks again for being interested in my mural

Sincerely
Eric Goertz

And here is the Artist with a portion of the Mural...

AND HERE IS THE MURAL...

 

 

Crazy Awesome, RIGHT! ALL AMERICAN ALL THE WAY. I seriously, love that this blog has brought me together with wickedly talented people like Eric and you! I never would have thought that my best friend, aka my favorite paint, aka Rust-Oleum would have brought me to a project like this! Anyway, with the elections and everything it seems like our nations is more divided than ever. I thought it was fitting for us to take  moment to REMEMBER...to be UNITED...to pray...to think...to THANK.

HUGS~

Jenni

Have a great weekend everyone!

Frog Blog Love Linky #30

UPDATE: Just in case you missed it in the past I am sharing my Magic Trick over at ASK ANNA today. Come on over and say hello!
Well Frogulicious FRIENDS it is that time of the week again! Time to party! In an effort to simplfy my life right now at this very moment...I am just going to hop to it!! The creative mind with the most clicks last week and the FROG Favorite Friend is...

AWESOME!! I guess that this sweet little project caught everyone else's eye as well!

SWEET! Happy Yarning!!

This truly is the best part of my week and I appreciate every one of you more than you know!!!

Are you ready?

Alrighty everybuggy,

time to get our PARTY ON!!

And you know how the FROG rolls ~ No rules this week, just link up what ever you want and let's have a good time (just make sure it is your own stuff and family friendly) but please be a FROG follower.

Grab a button from my left side bar if you would like (you know to help spread the word about our party) and

please, Please, PLEASE go visit everyone else and show some FROG love. (I have so much to share with you guys I got to get organized and try to get my house back in order. Anyone wanna come help me?)

ENJOY and I will see you all MONDAY for another frogulicious week!

BTW, I added a Rust-Oleum Project Parade and Linky Party Page. So, if you have any Rust-Oleum Projects you have done or are planning on doing come on back and link them up here. OR Just hop over and see what awesomeness has been linked up.
I just added a page for everyone to LINK-UP their parties to! You can link yours here.
Plus it is NEVER too late to join the FROGulicious Movement here. (I will be getting back to this soon it was one of the projects I researched yesterday.) AND did you know that I started a REAL LIFE MOMMY MOMENTS Linky on Monday's for MAMA Monday? You can see those posts here and here.

(I know the frog is totally interactive now!)

FROGULICIOUS Friday & Features

Okay, so I am changing things up (well, at least I am giving it my best effort for sure). You may or may not have noticed that I have added a daily schedule of sorts over on my left side bar. I have so many ideas and things that I want to share but often become overwhelmed with it all. So in an effort to help me get organized and find my niche. I am giving this a whirl. I would imagine this is not the last time I change things. But it is all in an effort to help organize my thoughts, my creativity, the business side of the frog, and crafting all while trying to make sure you all have readable interesting content. Sounds easy enough right? Honestly, 2012 is going to be a year of big changes for me but we can talk about all of that later. Let's take a quick peek at the weekly line-up:
Monday - All about the MAMA (with LINKY) Hopefully, you all think this is fun as me. I like to know that life is not always perfect for everyone but me. Sometimes I need to know that I am not the only weirdo crazy out here that accidentally uses a side taper instead of a 7 blade when cutting the teenagers hair.

Tuesday- Turnaround This year is going to be all about CHANGE, trying new things, and becoming a better person inside and out. (I may have a Miss America complex. HA) We all know that I tried to get this going before the new year with my Frogulicious Movement but failed miserably. I think I just got overwhelmed with it all and caught up in the everyday hustle and bustle. I could have been sucked into the black hole vortex better known as Pinterest too but that is just between you and me. I think I have come up with a plan that will allow me to accomplish what I want with clearly defined goals and not get bored. (Which is seriously a problem for me.)  
Wednesday- What's HOPPING On Wednesdays I plan to share what has been happening with the business side of the FROGGY. I am not sure about anyone else but I am totally lost when it comes to entrepreneurship and NEED to change that.  

Thursday- LINKY PARTY The party will remain on Thursday's. It is my favorite day of the week! The only difference will be that the there will not be any features during the party they will come on Friday. I am still working on this idea and here is what I have so far...I will pick my favs for Friday and then the most clicked will still go up during the party and will still get FROG FAVORITE FRIEND. How does that sound?

Friday- FROGULICOUS w/ Features This will be the day that I post features from the party, from my own blog, or any blog or website that I have visited during the week. Really just anything that I found during the week that totally blows me out of the water.

Weekend Worthy News And then of course the weekend edition...I do not usually blog on the weekends because I want to be able to spend some time with family. However, I realized this week that I do not pay attention to current events. Like NONE OF THEM! Even when they could pertain to me. Honestly, I hate watching the news because it is depressing and scary and I do not want any part of that. BUT it is not good when there are important issues going on that could potentially effect me and I know nothing about them or their existence. Will I be sharing news every weekend? Prob not but I am going to put my best foot forward.

ALRIGHT, now on with the show. Here are the projects linked up yesterday that caught my eye.

Lady With the Red Rock Salt Dough Heart Necklace- I LOVE  this!! I had a similar idea for a charm bracelet for the Princess!

Stictly Homemade's Spiderman Birthday Party - How adorable and it kind of reminded me of our Halloween costume (which I have huge news about)! Maridith is SUPER creative. What lucky kids...mine are lucky if they get a cake.

Happy Hour Projects' Heart Shaped Yarn Basket Seriously? WHAT THE HECK? This is so amazingly cool and she provides a template for everyone! I am soooo having the kids do these this weekend! LOVE!!

Hmmmm, Too Much Work or Too Cute?

So, do you all remember my Tween Dream Room Reveal?

I have to be honest...I decorated this room for my niece when she lived with us. When she moved out I had the princess move up there because I thought it was sooo cool. She really likes it but does not love it and wants it to be pink. It took me ALL summer to put that together. And it was not  cheap. I guess in the grand scheme of things it is/was but still.

So here is my dilemma...do I scrap all the work and start over so that Princess feels like she has her own room that is her style or do I just tell her to deal?

Here is another moment of honesty for you...We went to the Hobby Lobby together last week and were just browsing (which she hates) and we did happen across this furniture...

I am so in LOVE! I can hardly contain myself. Can you just imagine how DIVA this would be? My head is spinning with all of the ideas!! Seriously! L-O-V-E!!!!

Mama Monday Feature- Real Life Mommy Moments

Well, oops. Monday was hectic. I never had time to get to the blog. So, I just want to feature one of the AMAZING  Real Life Mommy Moments.

Directions Not Included

shares her

Real Story behind Holiday Decorations

 

And the Real Life Mommy Moment at our house this week is...

Little Bear Made a train in the kitchen with chairs...

complete with DVD Wheels! That was a proud moment!

He is such a smart cookie. Now to find out why in the world all those DVDs are out of the cases!!

If you READ only 1 post PLEASE LET IT BE THIS ONE (& linky #29)

I am struggling. I think, I took much time off because now I have so many ideas bouncing around in my head I cannot decide what to do. Geesh! Yesterday,  I sat down to write a blog post and upload photos from the camera and phone and got so overwhelmed with them all I had to walk away. Then I started researching some of the other ideas I have going on and got lost in La-La-Land. After spending hours researching various things I did a little online shopping, started brainstorming ideas for the Valentine's Day Party at the school (if you all have ideas I would really appreciate them) and then hopped onto fb. I ended up reading 2 articles and I just feel like I need to share.
Have you all heard about this SOPA? I need to do more research, I must be living under a rock to have not know about all this going on.
Miss Crystal over at Homemaker in Heels posted this on her fb page this morning...

Homemaker in Heels

If ████ ██████ SOPA ██████ ██████ passes ██ ████ ██ ████ ██ ████ the Internet ██ ████ ██████ ██ will look a lot like this.
Please take a second today and sign this petition! Tell Congress NOT to censor the web - https://www.google.com/landing/takeaction/

Uh, not sure about you but that is a little scary to me. I will definitly be doing more research on this topic and educating myself a little more. How about you??
Here are some other links floating around too that I will be looking at...https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/SOPA/Blackoutpage
http://www.webpronews.com/sopa-blackout-set-for-january-18th-heres-all-the-info-2012-01

And then a friend of mine posted about an article which has now been removed. While understand that you cannot read the article, I find it of no consequence as that is not what moved me. The comments that were left in response to the article are what shocked, appalled, and disgusted me. Not because of the actual comments, these families have been through so much I could never begin to try understand the hurt they feel but it was the information that they were providing about the American Cancer Society that I found shameful. Please do not misunderstand I am finding that the ACS is shameful  and the fact the Mr. Becker felt the need to refer to children with cancer as rare. He made the children seem so trivial and insignificant to the ACS! I read the article and then spent the better part of my evening reading all of the comments. I tried to convey what I read to my husband but could not find the right words or fight back the tears as my emotions got the better of me.

The retraction is here-

You can see one mother's response and she copied the original post here (I will just warn there is some strong language used here but sometimes when passions are so high those words are neccessary-http://rockstarronan.com/2012/01/17/dear-mr-fuckwad-andrew-becker-of-the-american-cancer-society/

These children with... any child that has to deal with anything other than just being a child is so heartbreaking to me. I know I have mentioned it before but I am going to do it again, my daughter was in preschool with a child diagnosed with cancer. She knows about cancer now and has since age 4. She donated her hair to Locks of Love by choice. It took her a year to grow her hair long enough after she decided but she did it. As far as I am concerned these kids are heroes and deserve to be treated as such. Our little local hero Dalton, his family, and friends started an organization to help other children in our area. As a family we have donated our time and services when we could but I realize now that it is not enough. I am not sure we will ever be able to do enough to help fight childhood cancer. If you would like to know more about our local hero and his foundation you can read about it on their fb page (here) and the Dalton Burner Foundation Website (here). Here is a picture of the foundation logo that he made himself.

PO Box 24275

Blue Springs, MO. 64013

thedaltonburnerfoundation@yahoo.com

After reading the comments I realized that there are more options about where donations can be sent. I guess I was too lazy to every research or learn more about this before this article. \

http://www.stbaldricks.org/

St. Baldrick's Foundation
1333 South Mayflower Avenue, Suite 400
Monrovia, CA 91016

888.899.BALD (2253)

626.792.8247

www.stjude.org

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
262 Danny Thomas Place
Memphis, TN 38105  

http://www.curechildhoodcancer.org/

CURE Childhood Cancer
1117 Perimeter Center West, Suite N-402
Atlanta, GA 30338

http://www.haveaheartcharity.org/index.htm

Have a Heart Children’s Cancer Society

164 Main Street

Huntington, NY 11743

http://rmhc.org/

Ronald McDonald House Charities
One Kroc Drive
Oak Brook, IL 60523
Phone: 630-623-7048
Fax: 630-623-7488
E-mail: info@rmhc.org

http://rockstarronan.com/

The Ronan Thompson Foundation

P.O. Box 44935

Phoenix, Arizona

85064-4935

Do you want more info on how to help? I found this article very useful!! http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/19/how-you-can-help-national_n_966814.html

Okay, I am going to hop off my soap box and hit the party train. This truly is the best part of my week and I appreciate every one of you more than you know!!!I am so sorry to throw all that news at you during a party but it is just so important to me and I had to share.

Are you ready?Alrighty everybuggy,time to get our PARTY ON!! And you know how the FROG rolls ~ No rules this week, just link up what ever you want and let's have a good time (just make sure it is your own stuff and family friendly) but please be a FROG follower.

Grab a button from my left side bar if you would like (you know to help spread the word about our party) and

please, Please, PLEASE go visit everyone else and show some FROG love. (I have so much to share with you guys I got to get organized and try to get my house back in order. Anyone wanna come help me?) ENJOY and I will see you all MONDAY for another frogulicious week! BTW, I added a Rust-Oleum Project Parade and Linky Party Page. So, if you have any Rust-Oleum Projects you have done or are planning on doing come on back and link them up here. OR Just hop over and see what awesomeness has been linked up.
I just added a page for everyone to LINK-UP their parties to! You can link yours here.
Plus it is NEVER too late to join the FROGulicious Movement here. (I will be getting back to this soon it was one of the projects I researched yesterday.) AND did you know that I started a REAL LIFE MOMMY MOMENTS Linky on Monday's for MAMA Monday? You can see those posts here and here.

(I know the frog is totally interactive now!)

NOW HOP FORTH AND LINK UP

Mama Monday & Real Life Mama Moments

Awwwww, FROG BLOG readers, oh how I have missed you!! That surgery was not exactly what I was expecting. I thought for sure that I would be hitting the dance floor the night after my surgery but instead I just hit the floor. Have any of you had your gall bladder removed?? I have had so many surgeries but most followed with me bringing a baby home or having a new one here. This surgery was sooooo different. When I woke up in recovery I was in it to win and on FB and emailing, ready to take on the world. By Monday, I could not even get my rear out of bed. However, I am feeling better now! Still  a little sore and swollen in some spot but absolutely better. The best part is that "FOOTBALL" that has been stuck under my rib cage for the last year + is gone and I can eat with out having pain. That little tid bit makes me so happy!! Plus, while I was laid up my little bear and I worked on things like belly button, tummy, and counting the bandages and "ouches" the doctor gave mommy. Plus, we learned that Bear kisses do make things feel better!! Unfortunately, I also learned that when the doctor says not to lift over 15 lbs. there is good reason. Dancing with Munchkin Face last night was not very comfortable. But enough about my little break and on to Real Life Mama Monday...
Recently, Bear has been working on "size." He asks me frequently, "Are we giants?" And of course I have to tell him yes but we are the nice kind of giants. It is amazing to me that he already has an understanding that our family is a little different (me excluded) since the hubs and kids are so much taller than everyone else. He has also been making statements to me about his size compared to mine..."I am small. You are big." I tried to correct him and tell him that I was tall and he was short; you know so I do not get a complex about my size but he just responded by saying,  "I am small short and you are big." OY, what is a girl to do?
While we are on the subject of MATH and the toddler, I wanted you all to know that we order the TEAM UMI ZOOMI Math Kit (the entire system) and I think it is AMAZING! So far we have watched the all 3 videos and Bear wears his "free" back pack every day waiting for the imaginary school bus to pick him up. If you are looking for a fun way to supplement early Math learning this is pretty awesome and not traditional.  I love it. I would like to mention (because it is the teacher mommy in me) that I am not one of those parents that would normally use something like this. I am a strong believer in let the kids be kids because one they hit school these days the fun and games are over. But my little toddler Bear LOVE Team Umi Zoomi and this kit is not the traditional boring rote work I have seen. It is fun and games and I do not push him to do anything he does not want to do. Also, I purchased the system myself, with my $ (which actually was a good price) and am in NO WAY being compensated for telling you about it.  You can find it here...

(Source)

NOW for some other REAL LIFE MOMMY MOMENTS from FABULOUS you:

My Girl Gingee (Ginger from GingerSnap Crafts) wrote in to let us all know about the horrible, terrible, no good, very bad thing that happened at her house (read with caution this is heart breaking)...

I've got a real mommy moment for you...two days ago my two year old climb up on our computer desk up to were my brand new Cameo is sitting & opened the lid & cut the electronic tape thing in the back in two pieces with craft scissors....the scalloped ones to be exact. Yep...it's toast! (OMG, I would die!! However, mine is not even out of the box yet. See, now you know I was seriously down for the count!)

Want another one???

Miss Mindie (from Bacon Time with the Hungry Hungry Hypo)commented to let us know about about her ALL BOY situation, which I find hilarious but would be mortified if it happened to me!

One thought comes to mind, the day I noticed my son, then 5, out on the baseball field with his pants unzipped and his finger sticking out his fly, and he was turning around showing all the players. It was something he had seen Ray, on Everybody Loves Raymond doing. I turned and smiled at his teacher's aid, who was sitting right by me, gasp. (BAHAHAHAHAHA, got to love those boys!!)

And the featured link of the week...

Miss Fizzy from her new mama, Mommy Bug. What a lucky little fur-lady and fabulous story!

I am so glad to know that life is not always perfect everywhere but in my house! Thank you so much to everyone that linked up a Real Life Mommy Moment. I am going to go ahead and just clone the link for a while (I do not want anyone to miss any of these stories.)

Do you have to be a MOMMY to share your REAL LIFE MOMENTS? HECK NO! Share AWAY!!

Do they have to be new posts?? NOPE NOT AT ALL! Just share.

Are there more rules you need to follow? Um, nope again.

But if you want too share with all of your friends and help support even more real life moments, you could always grab a button...

<span style="background: yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">goog</span>-spellcheck-word"><span style="background: yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">href</span></span>="http://s1091.<span style="background: yellow;" class="<span style="background: yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">goog</span>-spellcheck-word"><span style="background: yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">photobucket</span></span><span style="background: yellow;" class="<span style="background: yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">goog</span>-spellcheck-word"><span style="background: yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">mommymomentsbutton</span></span>.<span style="background: yellow;" class="<span style="background: yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">goog</span>-spellcheck-word"><span style="background: yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">png</span></span>" target="_blank"><<span style="background: yellow;" class="<span style="background: yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">goog</span>-spellcheck-word"><span style="background: yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">img</span></span> <span style="background: yellow;" class="<span style="background: yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">goog</span>-spellcheck-word"><span style="background: yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">src</span></span>="http://i1091.<span style="background: yellow;" class="<span style="background: yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">goog</span>-spellcheck-word"><span style="background: yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">photobucket</span></span>.com/albums/i387/Jenni_Reeve/<span style="background: yellow;" class="<span style="background: yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">goog</span>-spellcheck-word"><span style="background: yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">mommymomentsbutton</span></span>.<span style="background: yellow;" class="<span style="background: yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">goog</span>-spellcheck-word"><span style="background: yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">png</span></span>" border="0" alt="<span style="background: yellow;" class="<span style="background: yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">goog</span>-spellcheck-word"><span style="background: yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">Photobucket</span></span>"></a>></a><<span style="background: yellow;" class="<span style="background: yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">goog</span>-spellcheck-word"><span style="background: yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">br</span></span>>"/></a></center>

If you don’t have a blog and want to share; send it to me in an email and I will add for you! I am seriously hoping that this will help us all support each other in way that is REAL in virtual world.

So what do you think? Who is up for the challenge? Who is ready to share the down and dirty but oh so fun part of being…well human? Are you in?

REAL LIFE MOMMY MOMENTS PARTY

LINK UP HERE:

REAL LIFE MOMMY MOMENTS

Yesterday, I posted about my favorite real life bloggers. I am sure you felt that I had more to say on the matter and of course, you are right, I do. I cannot tell you how many  wonderful blogs I have visited since I discovered the fabulous world of blogging last year. Seriously, I have no idea. I know that I have over 400 on my google reader. I decided one day in June, on a whim, that I would start my own blog too. I love it and really wish there were more of me so I could do a better job but then I think "at least it is real." Right? At least you all know I don't sugar coat it, I don't add a ton edited photos to make my projects look better than they already are, I don't fake the projects. I just show you all of my typos, my screw ups, glue gun blow ups, sewing my elbow to my nose and all. Okay the last one did not happen but you get the point.

I may catch a lot of H-E-double hockey sticks for this but I am going to say it any way… I have noticed lately that SOME (not all and I am in no way making a blanket statement here) of the blogs I read are all PERFECT! The crafts are perfect, the houses are perfect, the parenting styles are perfect which of course gives you perfect children and families. Everything is so SUPER DUPER POOPER SCOOPER PERFECT! Ugh, and quite honestly it makes me jealous, envious, green-eyed monster like. I have no idea how those ladies do it. BOY DO I WISH THAT DID!

But then of course, I ask myself, how exciting could life possibly be if it is always so stinking perfect? Seriously? How could you laugh and enjoy your life without moments like:

“Mom, MOOOMMM, MOOOOOOMMMMMMM! I tooped! I tooped, it’s on my back.”

OR listening to your toddler scream through Wal-Mart, “I HATE CAULK.” Because they want to look at toys and not caulk for the tub. (Yes that actually happened.)

OR having your teenager constantly waving his armpit in your face so that you notice that one little hair that he finally got.

OR constantly tripping over toys scattered precisely on the floor.

OR jamming a fork into your toe that was sneakily hidden under the cabinet. (Oh yes that actually happened, too!)

OR cutting your favorite pants when trimming fabric on your lap?

OR having squishy smeared finger prints and hand prints on the gifts you made with your kids.

OR gluing yourself together, or to a chair, or something obscure to your work surface but not being able to glue a bail to a necklace.

OR paint in your hair and glitter all over the dinner?

OR Well who cares what else I add to this list, I think you get the idea.

These REAL LIFE MOMMY MOMENTS are the moments that make my life enjoyable and that make me truly appreciate what I have!

After I received some AMAZING comments about my mini-series on Munchkin Face, I realized that there are so many women that have miraculous mommy stories to tell.

And then I had an idea.

You all already know that this little blog is totally interactive (since I have a linky for pretty much everything) but I do not have a party yet for these types of moments. The real life moments that totally change us. The moments that make us who we are or make us want to be better or make us want to throw up or laugh our butts off. And, I have not seen one either (please let me know if you all have seen one...who knows maybe I need to browse blogs more).

SO here is the skinny…I am supposed to be back on January 4 blogging regularly. Well, at least that is what I posted in my MERRY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY NEW YEAR Announcement. However, hopefully you all already know that I will be out of commission on the 4^th having my gall bladder removed. I had no idea they were going to take it out and since it was the holiday I did not even feel like bothering all my blogging buddies again asking begging for more guest posts.

Instead, I decided that I would add a NEW PARTY to air every MONDAY in honor of MAMA MONDAY, called REAL LIFE MOMMY MOMENTS.

I need to hear about real life moments. I need to hear about other people’s blunders so that I know I am not the only person out here blowing up my glue gun or accidental using the taper attachment instead of the No. 7 when I cut my sons hair (uh-huh I did that too! I saw the L and thought it was a 7). So link up your real life moments and share them with everyone so that we all know we are not SUPER HUMAN PERFECTOs! Tell me about your birth story, or your toddler sticking a Gobstopper up their nose. Tell me about the funny or sad or awkward moments you have had.  We all have REAL LIFE stories to share and I need and want to hear them.

Do you have to be a MOMMY to share your REAL LIFE MOMENTS? HECK NO! Share AWAY!!

Do they have to be new posts?? NOPE NOT AT ALL! Just share.

Are there more rules you need to follow? Um, nope again.


But if you want too share with all of your friends and help support even more real life moments, you could always grab a button...

<center>< <a <span style="background: yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">href</span>="http://s1091.<span style="background: yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">photobucket</span><span style="background: yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">mommymomentsbutton</span>.<span style="background: yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">png</span>" target="_blank"><<span style="background: yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">img</span> <span style="background: yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">src</span>="http://i1091.<span style="background: yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">photobucket</span>.com/albums/i387/Jenni_Reeve/<span style="background: yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">mommymomentsbutton</span>.<span style="background: yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">png</span>" border="0" alt="<span style="background: yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">Photobucket</span>"></a>></a><<span style="background: yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">br</span>>"/></a></center>

If you don’t have a blog and want to share; send it to me in an email and I will add for you!  I am seriously hoping that this will help us all support each other in way that is REAL in virtual world.

SO, until I get back up and running after surgery this post and party will remain with top billing. (Hopefully, I will be back by Monday January 9.)

So what do you think? Who is up for the challenge? Who is ready to share the down and dirty but oh so fun part of being…well human? Are you in?

REAL LIFE MOMMY MOMENTS PARTY  

LINK UP HERE:

THIS BLOG POST ORIGINALLY AIRED OVER AT GINGER SNAP CRAFTS. Just in case you missed it over there I thought I would add it over here! I have a few more little Christmas posts to add too before I begin my new year with FROG so check back later!

The holiday season always find me a little gloomy for whatever the reason. I try hard to get into the spirit early but it never seems to work...UNTIL THIS YEAR. I have a TON of things to be thankful and am truly blessed. With that in mind I went to work creating a our Holiday Home and am ready to share a little peek of our Christmas Mantel.

As you can see from my fabulous picture it is not quite done yet but it will be soon and you will have to hop over and check it out next week. It is going be AHHH-Mazing, well it seems to be that way in my head. HA

Don't you love the banner? I of course, cannot take credit for it, since I am a total computer idiot!! BUT I do know how to type my email address (that is SUPER easy). All I did was sign-up for emails over at http://www.howdoesshe.com/ and every so often they send out the most fabulous emails!! This is actually a 27 page Christmas Printable kit complete with banner, gifts tags, letters, and too much to list. THERE ARE A TON of kits like this that are soooooo cool. The best part, as long as you know how to print (which thankfully I do) you can have super cuteness without all the work! WHO DOESN'T LOVE THAT? AND just so you all know, I am in no way affiliated with the How Does She Blog! They do not pay me or anything. Heck, I am sure they do not even know who I am!! I just love getting the emails so much I had to tell you all!!

Back to CRAFTY business...

The trees that I made on either side of the mantel. WAY back in MAY (it seems like a million years ago) I hosted a graduation party (which you can see pics of here) and made all the decorations. I made these little trees as part of the table scape...

Nothing in my house is blue (unfortunately) and my niece did not want to take them home so I have just been hanging on to these little booger until I could figure out what to do with them. SO, I took all of that ruffle and what-not off and did this...

I plugged in my new trusted 2 temp (WOOT WOOT! It took me FOREVER to find another one after my last one died, you can read about that story here and here if you would like.) 

Luckily, this little Styrofoam tree was already covered with burlap underneath all of that pretty. So this was soooo easy! I just ran a line of hot glue on the seam and wrapped my fabric around the tree form. I was careful to smooth all the wrinkles. Once the glue was not hot (yeah, right I totally burned myself) I trimmed away the excess fabric. 

Then I added red duck tape to the bottom. This is prob the dumbest thing to mention but I am going to do it anyway...I cut my tape pieces larger than base once it was all on there I carefully trimmed around the base to ensure a proper fit. Cute so far, huh? 

I knotted the top and pulled it tight... 

Once again, I trimmed the excess... 

I forgot to take pics of this part (I kind of got caught up in the moment) but not to worry all you missed is cutting tulle and ribbon. I used green and red tulle and some extra Christmas ribbon I had from making hair bows. I cut them into roughly 12" strips but it will depend on a) the look you want and b) the size of your tree.  

I attached the ribbon and tulle to the knot with a rubber band (that way you can change it year after year if you want to!) 

AND WE ARE DONE!  Whew! Quick, easy, and not a single barely any injuries!

TOTAL SUCCESS!

I added some gold leaves to the top of this tree. This one has the longer tulle.

I added a boutique bow to the top of this one with the shorter tulle.

Which do you like better? Shorter or longer tulle?

It is quite the debate at our house right now.  

I kinda like them! OKAY, now for the rest of that junk.

Just in case you cannot tell because it is not finished yet

 (poor planning on my part and LONG dry times)

All those little pots with Styrofoam balls on top are my version of

Santa and his eight tiny reindeer, complete with RUDOLPH.

See? And these are SUPER easy so I am going to tell you how to do these too...

You are going to need some clay pots, I bought 9 of the smalled ones I could find at JoAnn and then one of the bigger ones.

(photo source)

 

(photo source)

And painted them using Martha Stewart Metallics Specialty finishes from HomeDepot 

While those were drying I got out my styrofoam balls

(photo source) 

I used 9 2 inch balls and one BIG one that my husband bought me so I have not clue the size for Santa

I coated them all with this...

(photo source)

Then I painted everything to match the respective clay pot with my Martha Stewart Specialty finishes. I did not secure (or glue) the balls to the pots at all. I just placed them in there. I glued a teeny tiny sparkely red pom on as the nose. Then I grabbed my wire tools and some wire.

I cut about a foot of each color. (I would have used brown but the guage was not thick enough I did not think so I used black for the legs and gold for the antlers. Both are 20 gauge.) Then, I cut the gold antler wire into have. The black was cut into fourths.

THE LEGS: You are going to need a very special tool for the legs and making them is very technical.

Grab a pencil and wrap all 4 pieces around them to make coils. TOTALLY TECHNICAL, huh! HA!

Wrap it on... 

Slide it off... 

Pull it apart a little and shove it in to your ball. (So easy a caveman could do it!) 

The antlers are just free form but I bent the wire and then 

Pinched it tight. Shove it in the top and we are done again... 

I think it is super cute!!!

Thank you so much for enduring my ramblings and letting me spread the Christmas cheer that has found it's way to me this season. I hope you all will hop over and check out my mantle when it is all finished. Plus, if you are interested I have a linky every Thursday for crafts and a ton of inspiration over there!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

HUGS~

Jenni