Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Yoga Night

So, Mama is not exactly the healthiest of people. I have been known to eat a bag of chips for dinner, and finish it off with some soda and a nice helping of popcorn. Also, I am NOT a regular exerciser. I try every once in a while, but it usually doesn't last. But, since I have an active 5-year old, I figure I'd better make an effort.

This weeks effort: YOGA!

I found a DVD my mom gave me a few years ago, and popped it in Sunday night. It felt good, and also hard. But I didn't sweat too much, and other than having to laugh at how bad I am at it, I really enjoyed it.

I also did some yoga with Buddy last night before bed, and he fell asleep minutes after I tucked him in! I'm not sure it was the yoga that helped him fall asleep so fast, but it couldn't have hurt :)

So, tonight I invited my two-fer (friend and cousin) Korrin over and we're gonna YOGA. To this DVD. Which, according to Amazon, is worth a whopping $0.01!
I'll let ya know how it goes :)

UPDATE: It went pretty good! It was a busy night, so we only got to do one of the shorter routines on the video. But we're planning on making it a bi-weekly thing, so hopefully Wednesdays and Sundays will become Yoga days! Maybe eventually we will feel comfortable enough to go to a class... doubtful though.

Another hilarious thing... knees, ankles, necks, wrists, hips, and practically every other joint in the body was heard to crack tonight. Also, possibly, a few toots were let out! (Hey, you "relax your digestive track" and then try to do moves where you crunch over and move from side to side and see if you don't do the same!) It was good that I was doing it with my cousin, because although we both actually committed to doing the moves right, we also weren't above giggling when things were goofy :)

Saturday, November 26, 2011

Comment Tutorial

** Disclaimer: if you are under the age of 30 or use a computer regularly, this post is probably not worth your time!**

Also, I swear, this post isn't me begging for comments! I'm quite pleased with the number I'm getting :)

However, I've had quite a few family members and friends complain that they still can't figure out how to send me one, so I took pictures and am hoping this will help!

 Step 1)
At the bottom of each post, there is a bar that looks like this. You click on the part that says "comments" (I drew a yellow arrow to it!)

Steps 2,3,4)
2) Write your comment in the box (labeled in red)

3) Choose "Anonymous" from the menu where it asks you to "Comment as"

4) Click "Post Comment"!

I hope this helps the less computer savvy readers of my blog!

Friday, November 25, 2011

We Give Thanks

Thanksgiving was great this year. My family went up north to visit my grandparents, which was a really good idea!
My dad and I cooked Thanksgiving dinner together, like we have for the last few years.

Yum, pies and stuffing! Notice that my dad is still in pajamas and that I'm looking overtired and crabby... but that stuffing looks delicious!!

Eventually the whole family got in on the cooking act, which was hilarious! My Grandpa, who watched us cook for almost the whole time, decided to help with the potatoes. He grabbed the electric beater to mash them up... and shot them all over the walls! Epic. Seriously, made me laugh SO HARD!



Look at that spread! Amazing :)

Thanksgiving family dinner  (minus my dad, who took the picture)
 There was also ATV-ing, walks in the woods, I talked with my Grandma for hours about parenting and other  deep things... it was a great vacation and I want it to happen again. Like, next weekend.

Sunday, November 20, 2011

Potayto, Potahto

This weekend was a "Mommy weekend", meaning I got to have Buddy all weekend and we didn't have a thousand things to do!
So we did whatever we wanted, and I'm really glad I got the chance to reconnect with my buddy.

we got to:

  • go hardcore grocery shopping for all our favorite things (foodstamps finally came in!)
  • have an entire afternoon devoted to board games
  • take lots of walks
  • watch the new Winnie the Pooh
  • go to church
  • cook together (we made "fun food" which I haven't done in forever!)
  • finally get the house straightened up
  • make art!
The last one has picture evidence, as usual :)
We made potato stamps, which is something I hadn't tried before but it went pretty well, other than my poor knife skills making his designs not turn out perfect!
First attempt, a "slightly wonky" star

Buddy wanted them to be two-toned

stars and moon stamps

painting takes lots of concentration

moon, lightning bolt, flower, and star (already cut off potato)

my son, the goober!
I never feel like I have time to do projects like this anymore, but when I can make the time it ends up being totally worth it!

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Good Week

picture has nothing to do with post, I just think it's cute!
Thanks, Teresia, for letting him  wear your awesome hat!
I don't really know what to say this week! Ever since the amazing response to my last post, everything I have to write just seems insignificant :)

After experiencing selfless generosity, I really want to find a way to make that kind of difference in someone else's life, but I have to accept that I can't do it with money or material goods (I just don't really have any to give) so I've been trying to completely throw myself into working with the kids at the Boys & Girls Club.

I don't know exactly how much everyone knows about that organization, I for one knew hardly anything about it before I took the position! But it turns out that the program is absolutely amazing. It provides a place for youth from 4th grade through High School to go hang out after school, in an environment that is positive and supportive and encourages good choices.

I run an art program there, and I know that I have at least 3 or 4 kids who show up on Tuesdays and Thursdays just for my art. Not that it's anything special, I have limited materials and not that much free time to be creative with them. But I think just the opportunity for these kids (60%  are low-income/poverty stricken) to just be themselves and express their feelings without any judgement that makes them come back! Not to mention, I'm no great artistic talent myself, I'm just very enthusiastic!

I don't want to go into too much detail about my experiences, since many of the youth I work with are junior high/high school aged and I think it would be an invasion of privacy to write about them without permission. But I've heard some amazing stories, and I'm really hoping that I'm making a difference in their lives. I only wish I could give more!

Anyway, after all the drama that the beginning of this week brought, I'm feeling positive about the outcome, not only for myself and my son but for all the people we are thinking of in a different light now. Buddy was just saying yesterday how we should go through his toys and give his older ones to Goodwill, so "people who needed toys like we needed oatmeal" would be able to be happy :)
Teaching my son about giving and how it makes everyone feel amazing was definitely a great positive to this week! Once I have a free minute (hopefully this weekend) we're going to go through our stuff and see if there is anything that we have that we don't need, and hopefully find a way to pass on the kindness that was given to us!

Monday, November 14, 2011

Money (and love) makes the world go around. *EDITED*

You guys, I don't know what to do. I'm having money issues. Buddy's father lost his unemployment money a few weeks ago with no warning, so he's basically stopped paying any child support. I'm working every hour that I can, but that has costs too, like babysitting and gas to get there.
And I can't afford to pay my bills. I've had to ask my father twice in recent history to help me out, and even with that I'm scraping by. I needed to have $180 today to pay a daycare bill. I have $176 to my name. And that means that I can't pay that bill, plus I can't buy any groceries, gas, or any other neccesities. I have talked to Buddy's father a few times about this, because he's all proud that he is finally able to start saving money. I've mentioned that I really need some help paying for essential things for Buddy, and he doesn't say anything. I'm out of sandwich meat, and bread, and fruit. I can't buy any. I'll get paid on Thursday but most of that money is already spoken for. Next week is Thanksgiving, which is lovely and all but means I lose 2 days worth of work.
I try to put on a good face, act like everything is fine, but every time I think about money I want to burst into tears. There is nothing more I can do, and I can't live on what I have.
So, when you are completely out of money, how to you get by? Any suggestions?

EDIT: You guys are amazing. I don't know how it happened and I certainly didn't expect it, but I posted this entry this morning, and by this afternoon all sorts of miracles had happened. I had friends and family with almost as little as me offering to take me grocery shopping. I had friends and family offering to help out with Buddy while I work. And most amazing of all...

By the time I got to Buddy's school this afternoon, some angel(s) had paid my bill up through the end of November. I was also given bags of food, and a giant hug and understanding from the director. I cried, of course.

I don't know who did this wonderful thing for me, but I'd just like to offer a HUGE "thank you" and a virtual hug! Feel sure that when I am able to do the same for another person in need, I will take the chance gladly. Again, thanks to all of you, SO SO MUCH!

Thursday, November 10, 2011

I know it's lame to write a post about how I'm not writing posts... but I'm really just too busy! School has gotten intense, I'm either at school or work for pretty much all daylight hours, and I'm somehow supposed to work quality time with Buddy in there, as well as keep my house in shape.

I haven't had time to take any pictures, or do ANYTHING fun. I'm hoping that this weekend when Buddy goes to his father's house, I'll be able to catch up on stuff and things maybe won't be so hectic. Otherwise, until December 18th I'm going to be one busy lady.

I'll try to post some, but I doubt I'll be able to keep up the twice a week standard that I set for myself. Sorry!

Sunday, November 6, 2011

I Take It Back.

It's not that he's a wimp, he's an artist! I bought him a paint by numbers kit a few days ago. We finally busted it out this afternoon (it's been a long week, I needed a quiet activity) and he worked in complete silence for about an hour. I love it.
The concentrating face is my favorite.

I kept trying to capture it perfectly, I couldn't get it.

upside down picture!

"OK Mom, if I sorta smile at you will you get that camera out of my face?"

Parenting Problems

Ladies and Gentleman, I have a confession to make.
I have raised a wimp. My kiddo is a sweet, smart, funny, charming kid. He is also a total scaredy-cat.
I feel like I've done something wrong! This Halloween, when we were trick-or-treating, he was so terrified to go to certain houses that he stiffened like a board and cried at the thought of taking a few more steps, to verify that the "scary things" were just plastic toys. He begged me to just go collect his candy for him! (Of course, I refused.)
This weekend, we went to an indoor water park to celebrate his birthday. I wasn't even trying to convince him to go on the big scary slides, just one medium sized enclosed one. He wouldn't even try it. Again, cried, stiffened up, went hysterical.
Last night, sleeping in the hotel room, we turned off the lights and he was so terrified of the dark that he begged to hold my hand. Then, kept his death-grip on my hand for about 45 minutes before finally falling asleep.
I don't know what I've done wrong to raise such a wimpy kid, but I think I need to try something seriously different. I've been reading about "Free Range Kids" and although I personally think it's an awesome idea, I think that Buddy wouldn't ever want to try something on his own!
Anyone have any suggestions? How to I turn my little domestic chicken into a free range-r?

Friday, November 4, 2011

My Baby is 5!!!

Today was Buddy's birthday. Although, since he's so old, maybe I should just start calling him Bud! He's 5 years old today, and though his "party" (sleepover with 1 friend, but at an indoor waterpark!) isn't until Saturday...
There was no way I wasn't doing something special today. So:

This is actually a toy Bud got a week or 2 ago, for his baptism. But it's as ridiculously expensive and fancy as his new present (an Imaginext Samurai Castle) so it totally counts as a present! (plus, as a broke single mommy, I couldn't afford either toy. So thank god for affluent relatives!!!)

My presents to my kiddo were a Spiderman Puzzle ($2, thank god for Fleet Farm) and a kid-proof video camera! We already put together the puzzle, and guess what? Although it has 5 corners, it's missing 1 middle piece! I guess that's what you get when you buy a $2 puzzle, but Bud didn't really care at all :)

The video camera was a stroke of genius though, he's already taken 13 videos that he decided were "worth it to keep" and you will probably be subjected to some of them soon!

Other than that, I tried to keep his birthday a fun, non-materialistic, event. We went outside and drew a beautiful picture/mural/ "awesome thing"... you can guess who named it the "awesome thing":




The rest of this evening was spent with his dad and that side of the family, which I'm assuming went well after the "samurai castle" incident!
When he finally got home, we tried to calm ourselves down by telling a birthday story. I was a little stumped about how to explain, since his birth (and life so far) have been anything but traditional. But I found this wonderful story online (which I lost the link for since I'm a putz) that gave me a good start, so I just told how a perfect angel was up in heaven and really wanted a chance on earth so he waited and waited until he found his perfect mommy and his perfect daddy and he came to earth.
Then we went through special moments of each year he's been alive. He absolutely loved it, I kind of hope he's interested in it forever so it can become a tradition! And yes, it was an AMAZING birthday.



Thursday, November 3, 2011