I HATE Kindergarten!

So this past week while everyone else was writing blog posts about their little one's first wonderful days of kindergarten I was getting the silent treatment from my little precious angel. See, contrary to popular belief, kindergarten isn't always fun.... for the kids or the parents!! Let me explain....

The day started out wonderful! We all woke up and got ready. My hubby and I tag teamed packing Little Man's lunch for his first big day! We loaded up all 3 of the boys and all of their gear and headed out... with time to spare! (Which if you know us, that's a miracle in itself!)

So we dropped the 2 little ones of at Grandma's for the day and then headed to school. We pulled in the parking lot and took our Little Man to his classroom.

When we finally reached his classroom door, he walked right in! Not only did he walk right in, but he remembered where his cubby was and put in lunch box away!!! Then he hung up his book bag and went to his desk.... and he remembered which desk was his on the first try!! Oh, and he do I even need to mention that he didn't even look to see if I was still standing back there!? Sigh.... I know he's a big boy and can do things on his own, but come on now!! At least ACT like you NEED your MOTHER!!! Geez! So once I realized that he really didn't need me AT ALL, I snapped this picture of him doing his warm up at his desk and headed out.

Now I didn't cry at all. (Though I probably would have it my darling hubby hadn't been complaining all the other parents there.... but that's another story.) But, fast forward to the end of the day......

I got off work at 4 pm and then went to my mother-in-law's to pick up our two little ones. Then I headed to pick up Little Man from school. He gets off at 3:15, but this day he had to stay in the after care program because there's no way I'd be there when he got off. So, at 4:40 I pulled in the school and rushed into the aftercare room. When I got there I scanned all the little boys playing and didn't see mine! I started to panic! I finally noticed a little one curled up on a mat in the corner, sleeping... yep, that one's mine!!

Apparently, Little Man didn't understand what I meant by staying after school and when I didn't pick him up with the other kids in his class he had a melt down. Now of course the school played it off like it wasn't a big deal. They said he was upset and they talked and then he was fine.... but he was SLEEPING when I got there! Seriously? My kids don't nap! Not a good sign!

Long story short..... I got the silent treatment for almost an hour after I was able to stop the tears as we left school. And he will no longer be staying for aftercare.... my mother and mother-in-law will be taking turns picking him up. I hate kindergarten.

McKlinky Blog Hop {8/25/09} Time to Laugh!

I LOVE old vintage photos. I have a set of magnets on my fridge with old vintage pictures and risque sayings. I love them, even though the hubby thinks they're inappropriate. :) Here's a few spoof vintage ads!

Guess where I've been!!!

Yep! You guessed it, the dog house. Why? Because I'm a horrible wife? No? How could that be? What did I do? Well.... remember a couple weeks ago I was talking about getting a job? And remember how I kept second guessing myself and whether I could really do it all? Well this past week I proved that I can't. At least not perfectly.

I forgot my husbands birthday. Ahh! Gasp!! I know, I know. How in the world could someone forget their spouse's birthday? I don't know. I mean I didn't forget. I just forgot that morning and afternoon.... until I heard someone else (my father in law to be exact) wish him happy birthday! Opps!! I knew there was something I meant to do!!

Well, needless to say, he was more than a little upset with me. Actually, today... 5 days later, he's still upset with me. I spent my whole weekend trying to make it up to him.... taking him out to dinner, letting him go shopping with no limits (yeah, stupid idea... I don't suggest trying that.... now I have a huge bill to pay)!

Am I the only bad wife out there? And just for the record.... I had made plans the day before his birthday with my mother in law to sit the kids so I could take him out. I just forgot that I had made those plans on the day of. I guess I need a brighter highlighter for my calendar.

I Got 2 Awards! Yay!

Ok, so several weeks ago I received 2 'awards'. Yay! I guess it's time to post them and pass them along!!

First, I received the Honest Scrap Award from the fabulous Christen over at La Vida Lista!

Now for the rules:

-Thank the award giver
-Copy the logo and place on your blog
-Link back to the award giver/s
-Name 10 things about you that people may find interesting
-Nominate and link up to 10 other blogs for this award
-Comment on each blog to tell them about the award!

So here's 10 semi-interesting things about me:
1. I love to take pictures... so much that if I could I'd quite my day job and be a professional photographer.
2. I suck at taking pictures, which is why I'll never quite my day job.
3. I want to learn to sew.
4. I secretly want another baby.... I really want to try again for a girl!
5. I'm a horrible speller.... spell checker is my life line!
6. I once kissed a rock star!
7. I can't cook. Really, just look at how skinny my children are!
8. I hate to clean. Seriously, my house looks like ToysRUs and the laundry mat collided going 200 mph!
9. One day I want to publish a book... I don't care what it's about, just a book. Maybe it'll be about boogers. Who knows.
10. Number 6 is a complete lie. I just wanted to feel interesting.

Here are a few blogs that I'm bestowing this wonderful award to!

1. Slee @ Paisley and Pretties
2. KT @ Sneaker Teacher
3. Misty @ The Queen of My House
4. Melissa @ Frugal Creativity
5. Kris @ House, Hands and Heart full



And here is my Kreativ Blogger Award! It was given to me by My Bargain Mom! (Who by the way has some terrific tips to save money!)

Here are the RULES of this Award:
(1) Thank the person who nominated you for this award.
(2) Copy the logo and place it on your blog.
(3) Link to the person who nominated you for this award.
(4) Name 7 things about yourself that people might find interesting.
(5) Nominate 7 Kreativ Bloggers.
(6) Post links to the 7 blogs you nominate.
(7) Leave a comment on each of the blogs, letting them know they have been nominated.


And well, I'm not that interesting.... so you can refer to the above list for 7 interesting things about me. And don't worry... I don't care which 7 you re-read. :)

And here are 7 Kreativ Blogs that I love reading!

1. Kayla @ My Simply Chaotic Life
2. Christen @ La Vida Lista (and no, it's not just b/c she gave me an award... she really is fabulous!)
3. Monique @ Resident Mommy
4. Billie @ Bugs and Snails
5. Cindy @ Chalk it Up!
6. Amy @ Happily Ever After
7. ItsyBitsyKnitsy

Help Me Fight Hunger!!!

Did you know that last year 35.1 million Americans did not have enough food to meet the basic nutritional needs? That's 1 in every 8 Americans!! And elderly and children are becoming more and more at risk! That's scary!!

A few weeks ago I was contacted to help spread the word about ShopRite Partners in Caring's quest to fight hunger. And while I'm a little late getting this post up.... this is a cause that is to good not to share with you all!!

What is ShopRite Partners in Caring? ShopRite Partners in Caring is a "year-round, community-based, hunger-fighting initiative that works with 50 food industry manufacturers to provide $2 million annually to qualified charitable agencies in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and Rhode Island."

This year ShopRite Partners in Caring is celebrating 10 years and has donated $20 million to over 1,400 charities!!! These charities have included senior citizen programs, battered women's shelters, emergency food pantries, after-school programs, programs for disabled and others!!

And the donations aren't just food! They donated other much needed essentials such as toothpaste or pantyhose thanks to the partnership with the 50 manufacturers they work with!

How Can YOU Help??

Easy! There are several ways that you can help!!

1.) Shop at ShopRite stores and look for specially marked items with the ShopRite Partners In Caring shelf tag , and you'll be donating to one of the 1,400 charities that ShopRite works with!! "It’s that simple."

2.) Don't have a ShopRite? That's ok! Leave a comment to this post by August 20, 2009 and ShopRite will donate 1 box of cereal to a food bank in ShopRite's trading area for each of the first 30 bloggers that leave that said comment!!! How cool is that!?

3.) Check out ShopRite Partners in Caring's website with more ways you can help!!

So really, all you have to do is leave me some love right here..... anything.... tell me what your favorite charity is or your favorite aspect of ShopRite Partners in Caring! Anything! Just leave a comment and get a box of cereal donated!!

Here's some quick links with great info!

Check out ShopRite Partners in Caring's info here.
Get more information about hunger here!
Get information on ShopRite Partners in Caring's featured charity here.
Read up on the latest news about this great program here!!!

Wordless Wednesday- When My Husband Sleeps....

When my husband sleeps he snores so stinkin loud!! How loud you ask? This is what he sounds like.....

A Tug Boat

A Freight Train

Someone sawing logs!

This makes me wish I still had my cats!!

We've had this conversation!

And please, don't tell him I told you!

I Survived my First Day!

Well, I did it! I survived my first day! Though my vice principal said he could see steam coming out of my one ear by the time I left! Hehe! It was very overwhelming and I'm still a little nervous, but I did enjoy myself. My biggest worry now is little Bear. He's refusing to take any solids and they tried to give him formula once, and he refused that too!! And today I wasn't able to pump a whole bottle! Luckily I have some on reserve, but I don't know what I'm going to do! I really hope that I'll be able to get better with pumping at work. If anyone's been through this... I need help!! LOL!

And after a day, I think it will be good for me to be at work. I really enjoyed my time with the boys tonight. Even cleaning up the popcorn that Jellybean so willingly smashed into the floor with his food on purpose, wasn't annoying. I think this will give me a new perspective on parenting and on my kids!

And in other news..... I enrolled Little Man into Kindergarten at a local private christian school yesterday! He'll start in about 2 weeks!! I'm so excited, but so upset that he's grown up so fast! Sigh... where does the time go??

And thanks to those of you who have visited and left such sweet comments over the last few days. I'm sorry I haven't been able to get back to you yet.... it's been nuts! But I haven't forgotten you all!

And why do I seem to have to start every new paragraph with "and"? My high school english teacher would be soooo upset with me! :)

Can I Be a SuperMom?!?!

I AM SCARED TO DEATH!!! Really. I just want to go crawl under my bed and hide! Ok, maybe not under my bed, maybe just in my bed. But I do want to hide! Why? Because I got a job!! I know, most people would be jumping for joy (especially with this economy right now). But I'm terrified to start working.

I've been a SAHM to my 3 little guys since Little Man was just a baby.... almost 5 years! And starting this Tuesday I'll be working full-time as school counselor at my county's alternative school. I am really excited to start my job. I know I'll LOVE it! But it's going to be so hard to leave my babies, especially little Bear, who just turned 4 months old last Monday.

I think my biggest fear is whether or not I can really pull off being a SuperMom! Can I really take care of a home and my family while working full-time? Sure, other moms do it all the time! Key word in that statement: OTHER.

Can I live up to the definition of a SuperMom?

Here's how Merriam-Webster defines a Supermom:
Main Entry: su·per·mom
Pronunciation: \ˈsü-pər-ˌmäm\
Function: noun
Date: 1974
: an exemplary mother; also : a woman who performs the traditional duties of housekeeping and child-rearing while also having a full-time job

Wow! Exemplary?! And since 1974? Hmmm.... I wouldn't have guessed that this term had been around that long. I guess all my lovely mental pictures of carefree days in which the mothers didn't work aren't from the 80's!

I know what you're thinking.... "Geez, Heather! Come on! Suck it up and just do it!" Ok, ok. I will. Just please say a little prayer for me on Monday evening! I'll keep you posted with how it all goes!

Solo Cup Photo Contest!

Don't you just love family get togethers and picnics? I know I do! Every summer my family and I attend numerous picnics with family and friends to enjoy the warm weather and company. The boys always have a fun time playing with friends and family they rarely see and I (and my hubby) enjoy the food! And you can almost always count on one other thing... Solo Cups! Yeah, yeah... I know. That line's a little cheesy. But it's true! Thinking back over all the picnics we've gone to and parties that we've thrown, there are always Solo brand plastic cups.... you know the red or blue cups that you used to drink beer out of when you were in college?

Right now Solo is trying to spread the word about a new cup design, the Solo Squared™. How are they doing this? Why, a contest of course!! And not just any contest... a photo contest featuring Solo cups!

Here's the details from an e-mail they sent me:

And because winning great prizes is always fun, we have a great contest opportunity for you! To celebrate decades of great entertaining and the new Squared party cup, Solo Cup Company has launched an online photo contest with a grand prize of $5,000 for the best photo featuring a Solo Squared cup. You'll be able to enter your favorite photos at http://www.solocups4ever.com/start/ until August 14 and the winners will be announced on August 21, 2009. In addition to the grand prize, two $1,000 runner-up prizes will be awarded at the end of the contest. By entering, you'll also have the chance to win daily and weekly prizes of gift certificates and Solo products.

So basically, go through your old photos and upload them to win a daily or weekly prize (ie. free product and coupons!) and then take a cool picture of the new Solo Squared cup for a chance to win $5000! Have fun with your pictures!!!

Five For Friday! {5 GREAT Giveaways!!}

There are so many great giveaways and contests going on right now! Here are just 5 of my faves!!


1. Enter to win one of four gift certificates to Ju Ju Beane Boutique. One grand prize winner will get a $100 gift certificate and 3 winners get a $25 gift certificate to the baby boutique. Enter at The Shopping Mama by August 19.


2. Win a $100 gift card to Barnes and Noble. Enter at Frugal Creativity by August 14.



3. Win a $150 gift card for back to school shopping at KidsCoats.com. Enter at One Bored Mommy by August 18.



4. Win a Coach wallet, sponsored by Jomashop ($228 value). Enter at Southern Girl Reviews by August 30.



5. Win a Bumbleride Indie twin stroller valued at $650!! Enter at Two of a Kind, Working on a Full House by August 11.

Wordless Wednesday! {Flashback to Early 1940s}

A few years ago we came across some old pictures of our family. I recently was able to get ahold of the discs which held these priceless family treasures and just had to share them with you all! These are all pictures of my grandmother taken between 1940-1943.

1940 With Her Older Sister, Jane

1941 By the Barn

1942 New Puppies

1943 Professional Photo

1943 With Her Uncle

His Tattling Backfired!!

Yesterday afternoon I went downstairs to do the laundry. I wasn't down there but 2 minutes and I heard Little Man screaming "Mom!! Mom!! Come look was [Jellybean] did!!" He then proceeded to come downstairs, since I was ignoring him.... or in his mind, I couldn't hear him. Here's how the conversation went:


Little Man: "Mom! Come look what Jellybean did!"


Me: "What did he do?"


Little Man: "You have to come look!"


Me: "Can't you just tell me?"


Little Man: "No, you have to come look!!!"


Me: (Knowing that Jellybean was starting to push one of my couch cushions off as I walked downstairs) "Well, go tell him to put the couch cushion back on the couch."


Little Man: (Looking at me with a strange stunned look.) "And he's in trouble and can't go to Granny's house, right?"


Me: "Yep, he's in trouble, but if he can't go to Granny's house, then neither can you."


Little Man: "Huh?"


Me: "If he can't go to Granny's house, then you can't either. I can't take one of you and leave the other at home alone."


Little Man: (Took off running upstairs as fast as he could while yelling) "Wait Mom! Wait! Don't come upstairs yet! Ok, Mom?! Don't come upstairs!!"


I quietly went up the stairs right after him and peeked around the corner. Jellybean was sitting in the middle of a pile of toys that he'd dumped out and Little Man was putting the couch back together. :) Hehe!! The mind of a 4 year old is a beautiful thing! Maybe that will teach him not to tattle so much!

First Years Nursing Wrap Review

You all know I have 3 boys. But you may not know that I nursed my first 2 until they were each about 15 months old and never had a drop of formula. I plan to do the same with my 3rd. Even with my experience, breastfeeding can be challenging. Especially when you're always on the go.

I have found that this time around it's been much harder for me to make sure I was home when the baby needed to eat. Having 2 older boys who like to go out and explore places makes it difficult to stay home all day. So for the first time ever I've started breastfeeding in public. Now there were times with my other 2 that we'd be out and I'd sneak back to my car, or hide in a dressing room. But this time it's much harder to do that.

As of today I've nursed at a T-Ball game, in my mall's food court, at a friend's house during a playdate, in a restaurant and in my in-law's living room. All places I'd never dreamt of breastfeeding my child at!! I hate seeing moms walk around in public with their shirts pulled up and a baby attached to an exposed breast! Please!

So how did I do it? With a fabulous nursing wrap by The First Years! I LOVE this cover and I'm so glad I have it! It travels everywhere with me! It completely covers me and the baby and is adjustable to that I make it tighter if I want. My favorite feature is that it wraps the whole way around you. It doesn't just drape over your front, like all the others I've seen. I loved this because I've always been afraid that someone standing behind me could see. Not anymore!! There's no way anyone's getting a peek! I also love the fabric of this wrap (though you can also get it in black if you prefer). Bear loves to stare at the swirls while he's eating, it's so cute! It's also very light and cool. This wrap is also very inexpensive, I paid around $12 for mine at Wal-Mart.

I have heard other moms say that this cover isn't big enough. I have found that it could be a little bigger, but once I get it situated right, it covers us up completely (as you can see in the picture of me and Bear!) The product also claims that the adjustable loop allows you to maintain eye contact at all times, but I have found this difficult if not impossible. While you can situate the wrap so that you can see the baby, when you or the baby move more than just a little, you have to readjust. This isn't a problem for me, I don't mind since I never sit there staring at him the whole time anyway, especially while in public, but this may be more important for others.

Quick Overview

Cost: Around $12

Where to buy: Target, Wal-Mart, Toys-R-Us or find an online retailer here

Pros: Inexpensive, Great fabric, Easy to use, Comfortable, Great coverage including from behind

Cons: Could be slightly longer in front, Difficult to maintain constant eye contact