Sad About Moving?

24 hours from now, we will know whether we will be packing up our family and moving north in a few weeks.  It's making me a little sad now.  Before I wanted out of this town, but now that it is likely to happen, it's easier to see some of the good that we'd miss. 

We were going to take a family picture at the stable with everybody up on horses for our recycled Christmas cards. If we move, and move our two horses with us, we won't have the rest of the stable horses to put the kids on.

I'm getting a bit sad.

Love the Kid Anyway

Ha!  I just found a deep wrinkle cream that should appease my daughter who enjoys poking at and squeezing my cheeks because she says they are "squishy" and pointing out the wrinkles on the bridge of my nose.

Isn't it amazing that no matter what your child says or does, you will always love them beyond anything imagineable?  It is a good thing moms are programmed that way because squishing my cheeks wasn't very nice! 

Gotta love them.  Really, you have to.

Disadvantage of Working at Home

I never thought this would happen but being a mom working at home has its disadvantages.  I recently found one.  Yes, I can work in my pajamas, multi-task between work, cleaning, reading, etc. and make my own hours, but getting around the kids sometimes can be difficult when they're home.

I needed to research male enhancement reviews but how can I do that with a kid looking over my shoulder? Yup, there's a kid over my shoulder!  Good thing it was my younger child and not my teenage daughter who would've freaked out and gone all embarrassed and mortified on me. 

Teen Criticizes Mom's Face

My teenage daughter was investigating my face yesterday.  Just what I want - a teenager who is fit and wrinkle-free criticizing me!  Apparently, my cheeks are "squishy" and I have lines on my forehead.  Do you think I told her that SHE probably put them there all these years? 

She thought the squishy cheeks were cute but that I needed the best wrinkle serum for the wrinkles.  I turn 39 in a few weeks.  It's only gonna get worse!  It's not like I am going to start aging backwards!

Do you use fat burners?

I am researching fat burners and found a review site for lipo 6 hers - a female fat burner. We all know men and women's metabolism and hormones are vastly different.  This has both a rapid release and extended release so the effects last longer. 

Has anybody used fat burners?  What do you think about them?  Did they work?  What were some of the side effects?  Would you use them again?

Hypoglycemic

Well, if I keep forgetting to eat, it'll make up for my stress eating I do in the afternoon I guess.  I forgot to eat breakfast - again.  I don't realize it until I start feeling sick (hypoglycemic).  Not exactly healthy, eh? 

My husband said that is prohibiting me from losing weight, along with my thyroid, because I'm not keeping my metabolism going.  He said I should be eating many small deals starting with breakfast. 

If I could lose the weight through my thighs, figure out how to lose the belly fat and a little weight loss through my face, I'd be happy.  The weight around the middle is the worst!  There's a "how to" at www.losebellyfathowto.com that gives reviews on supplements if you're interested.

Stress Eating

Well, relocation to another state is looking more and more likely and it's likely to happen sooner than we imagined.  In about three weeks' time, I could be packing up four kids, five dogs, and two horses and moving us to another state. 

I am seriously stressing!  How am I doing to do this all by myself?  I can see me adding another 20 pounds in stress from stress-eating over the next month!  I can do this - with or without an appetite suppressant, lol. Maybe the stress will actually burn more calories for me and make up for the extra stress eating.

Smoking Appeal

I'm a mom so I worry about my children starting to smoke young. At a festival a couple weeks ago, we saw a teenager pretending to smoke. She looked ridiculous!  I know kids think they look cool but they really don't.  I thought I looked cool too so I understand.  Then today, there was an advertisement outside of a store for cigars and they were completely wrapped in bright colors - they looked like popsicles.  At least, that is what my five-year-old daughter thought they were when she asked if we could go back and get some popsicles. 

An adult can make the choice whether they smoke or not.  They're adults.  Whatever the product - Acid cigars or any of the others, adult's choice.  I just don't like seeing kids get interested and thinking they look "cool" or putting them in pretty packages that kids like.

Helping Siblings Adjust to Baby



With the excitement of a new baby, older siblings sometimes feel left out.  It's a good idea to include them where you can, even before baby comes.  My stepdaughter reverted back to baby behavior after the birth of her brother at mom's house - wanting to be held like a baby, wanting a bottle, even though she was beyond the age for either.  So when I became pregnant with my first child, I wanted to make sure she didn't feel left out in any way.  We made her a part of decorating the nursery as well as a part of my baby shower (she even received her own present of her own baby doll with car seat at the shower and helped me open presents).  We took lots of pictures and gave her a photo album.  She didn't display any baby-like or attention-getting behavior after the birth of her younger sibling.

With the birth of each of my children, we made sure the older siblings all had "big brother" or "big sister" shirts.  You can even get personalized baby stuff and put their name on that "big brother" shirt!

Keeping the older siblings a part of it all seemed to really help the kids adjust well to a new sibling in the house.  We definitely saw the difference with my stepdaughter when my husband and I had our first child together so we made sure to do that with each subsequent child too.

Putting Weight on a Child

My nine-year-old needs to gain weight.  Doctor's orders.  She's a stick.  I was a stick as a child and her dad is one now so I'm not surprised, but the pediatrician wants her to gain some weight.  She mentioned butters, oils, whole milk.  Really?  Just load on the fat?  Sounds healthy!  Not.

I tried a carnation drink in the morning but she doesn't like them all that much.  I'm going to have to let loose on the bucks and get some PediaSure or something.  She says she likes the "ones with the bear."  That's PediaSure.  They're also not cheap.  Did you know that sometimes you can contact the manufacturer of a product for coupons or samples?  I've done that before.  I don't think I'll get away with asking for samples for, say, the next four months worth?  I didn't think so either.

Getting Rid of the Baby Urge

How do you get rid of that "baby urge" without having another baby?  Does anybody know?

I figured that I'd just hold babies and it'd take care of it.  When they started crying, I'd give them back.  Sounds great to this mom of four and stepmom to two more. 

It doesn't work.  Not that the idea in particular doesn't work but I can't find any babies to hold!!  Where are all the babies when you want them?  They are always in restaurants when you have a headache, yelling at the top of their little lungs, so why can't I find them when I need a baby cuddle?

Work at Home

I live in a small town where it's not that expensive to run a business.  As I was driving home from grocery shopping, I was thinking about business opportunities in the area. If I wanted to start my own business, it'd be really easy to do in our town from a financial standpoint.

I work from home though and my goal is to increase my work-at-home income so I can be here when my kids get on and off the bus. I am so lucky that I can do that.  It's what I always wanted to do when I had children.  I gave up a really good income working outside the home to do it so I better enjoy it! 

Drugs Harm More Than the User

My niece's dad is in prison for a crime he committed while on drugs.  She has been without her dad for years, and will continue to be for a couple more years at least.  The crime he committed - he definitely deserved the time (and more in my opinion).  It makes me wonder though, if he'd had been sentenced to entering one of the detox centers for a rapid detox and then major rehab, before things got so bad, would he have ended up a felon?  How does an Engineer with a great job go from having what most people want to sharing a cell, leaving a little girl without her dad (and believe me, she feels the absence of her father badly).

He tried to kick his drug habit a few times but it never worked for him.  If he'd gone into a detox that lasted longer, with longer recovery and follow-up psychological counseling for at least a couple months, would he have been successful? 

I wonder if he's received the detox and rehab while in prison so when he gets out, he'll be able to stay clean and actually participate in raising his child.  I hope so. 

Garmin Navigation Systems

Taking my youngest to children's hospital a few weeks ago made me realize that the navigation system on my cell phone isn't good enough to navigate downtown roads in a big city.  I need to look into Garmin GPS I think.

I also tested my cell navigation on a trip out of state and if I would've followed my cell phone navigation directions, I would've ended up in trouble in downtown Detroit! I definitely need to upgrade the navigation system I use when I travel.  I don't want to end up lost.  I have a hard enough time with no sense of direction as it is.  Getting lost would send me into a full-blown panic attack I think.

Disney for Christmas

Who has taken the kids to Disney?  Did you like it?  Did the kids enjoy it?  Is there a time of year, or age of child, that you would not go if you had to do it all over again?

I am thinking about Disney vacations for Christmas this year. Our youngest is finally old enough. I wanted to wait until she was old enough to remember it and she just started kindergarten so I think it's a great time now.

Two parents, four kids, and Mickey Mouse?  I need to look into how much it would cost us.  It'd be a great surprise for the kids.

Dogs Chewing - Separation Anxiety

Ack!  Dogs!!  Two of our dogs are chewing on our faux wood blinds. They end up back in their kennels when we leave when they do that. I can't have them chewing up all of our belongings because they don't like it when we leave.  I guess it's called separation anxiety?

It doesn't help that the kitten we found riding under my truck also climbs them AND shreds the underside of my couch. 

It's a good thing we love our pets because the frustration level of having pets can be quite high at times.

Wanting to Relocate

We are seriously considering moving back to our home state. The prospect is a bit daunting, especially in this economy where we know the chances of being able to sell our home in the time we need will be difficult.

We are looking for automotive jobs (or even aerospace) but those types of jobs aren't easy to come by in this economy. I hear technology jobs are more in demand. 

Picking up and moving four kids, the dogs, the horses, a kitten and a snake - easy, right?