Naptime Blog

Well, my non-traditional Thanksgiving didn’t happen. Turns out that my two pals both decided to stay home. One decided to cook for her siblings and the other was so burnt out by work that she wanted to stay home. I decided then to visit my father and his girlfriend for a bit before going to my cousin’s house. (My cousin happened to text me an invite to her house for turkey day a week before.) After a couple of hours with my father (who I had already seen two days that week for childcare – love my dad), I then traveled to my cousin’s house. My cousin V hosted Thanksgiving with a bunch of our cousins all from my mother’s side of the family. I realized how much I liked my family and how easy it was to crack jokes. I also realized how much I missed my mom that day – especially her cooking. V’s cooking is amazing along with everyone else who cooked that day (I brought wine), but none of it was the same because it wasn’t my mom’s. But, for a few hours I had a great time, laughing, joking and chatting away with my family.

That was until my son reminded me that we were also invited to stop by his godmother’s for Thanksgiving as well. She and I aren’t very close anymore, but kiddo loves her very much so I took the trip for his sake. The last few hours of Thanksgiving found me sitting mostly by myself with a few conversations here and there while kiddo played with the other kids there. I’d have been happier with ending Thanksgiving at V’s house, but kiddo had a great time at his godmother’s so it was worth it. Thank goodness for Thanksgiving.

It’s official. Kiddo has a loose tooth and swollen gums. For those of you who don’t know my son, he’s very curious and loves to see what things are about including his teeth. After several calls to the local dentist, I finally made an appointment with an emergency dental clinic nearby. Due to the holiday, the local dentist office was closed from the Tuesday before Thanksgiving until the Cyber Monday.
I think all of this happened as well because of my own dental trauma. My metal mouth days have come back to haunt me with a vengeance. I was in the seventh grade and it was decided (not by me) that I needed braces. Somewhere in my development, two of my teeth headed way north in my gums and tried to make a line all by themselves. I spent the next three years in braces. Thus the geek trifecta was complete – bad hair, check. Glasses, check. Braces, check, check.
As a result, I’ve been a bad dental patient. I’ve got a horrible track record of going to the dentist and even taking kiddo. He has been checked out by dentists while in school, thank goodness. And he’s pretty good about brushing his teeth. Though now, I will be making yearly trips to the dentist with kiddo to make sure his teeth are okay. I just hope I can sit through the sounds of dental brushes, rinsing water and drills. Yikes!
The emergency visit turned out well. Kiddo only needed an xray to see what was happening and was instructed to keep wiggling the tooth until it fell out. He was also told that he would need braces in the future. Sigh. At least kiddo’s okay for now. Any dental horror stories?

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I can laugh about it now… so I thought I would share!

Twas three weeks before Christmas, sleeping boys and girl
Not a creature was stirring except for a squirrel!

The house was all decorated, our village and tree
We were ready to sit down and watch the TV.

The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of electronic toys danced in their heads.
Paul on his chair after we cleaned up our mess
Were getting ready to watch The Good Wife on CBS.

When on top of the couch i saw something stir under the slipcover.
I sprang three feet in the air and ran fast for cover.

Off his chair Paul sprang and called for a hammer.
Not ideal if course, but I was all for the slammer.

At first we thought we might have a rat in the house.
There is nothing that grosses me more than a rat or a mouse!

When what to our wandering eyes should appear
Out of our couch a squirrel, oh dear!

My brother hit it twice with a broom to get it out the door
Instead it went back into the couch once more!

Paul and my Dad got the couch into the yard
Getting the squirrel out of the couch was quite hard!

Now scrubbing! Now cleaning! Now bleaching the house! On wiping! On washing! At least it was no rat or mouse!

To the Christmas tree I went, I noticed a mess and ornaments on the floor
Our Christmas village too! My glass snowman was no more!

We got the sucker out, we cleaned up our home
And it ran away unharmed, back in the street to roam!

Not quite the night we planned, and certainly a pain in the neck,
Every word of it is true, and yes, I was a wreck!
But I have to exclaim, because it is just and right,
“Happy Christmas Mr. Squirrel, and to all a good-night!”

This is a true story. This happened to us on Sunday night!

With four kids, it is often difficult to get one photo of all of them for our Christmas Cards. I try every year and there is always someone who isn’t looking or has a silly face… and then someone gets tired or cranky and it is all over. This year, I decided to dress them in festive clothes on an early fall warm day and take them in the yard. I also wanted to put individual pictures up of the kids because they have all grown so much since last year. I have to say I am happy with the results, considering I did it one afternoon by myself!

I was offered to do a review for Mixbook on their line of Photo Christmas Cards. I went onto the Mixbook site and clicked Christmas Cards and was immediately drawn to one design – “Jingle All the Way”. I put the group shot on the top and made a collage of the individual shots that I added to the bottom. Then I played around a little with the special effects and LOVED the mirror image I was able to do!

I really can’t stop raving about the special effects you can play with when designing your cards. Plus, everything is editable… I wanted to move one of the elements in the card them and was shocked and thrilled to be able to! And the prices are pretty good too! 30 cards for about $30 is pretty standard, but once you factor in how much you can customize these cards, the price can’t be beat! I am very happy with my order and I will use them again!

You can “like” Mixbook on their Facebook page or “follow” them on Twitter! Once you become a fan on Facebook you can get a coupon for your order!

This Christmas, amaze your kids and Catch Santa on Video! TheSantaVideo.com allows parents to create a fun, high quality, video of Santa Claus visiting their very own home. Utilizing green screen technology, parents upload a picture from their home, select a Santa Claus scenario, and let our software superimpose Santa Claus right into your living room! Parents can then visit their streaming video online or download an HD copy to burn to dvd, edit, or add to youtube.

Creating and purchasing your Santa video is easy and fun! The video process consists of three simple steps, 1. choose a picture, 2. select a video of santa (skit), and 3. select music (optional) – Then click “Done”. The video can then be reviewed and purchased for $14.95, or $10.95 after receiving a coupon for “liking” them on facebook. Once purchased, the user will receive the video “Instantly” by email, and they can then share the video with a unique streaming link, or download the video to share on youtube, facebook, or perhaps burn to DVD or edit further.

HINT!!!!! As you probably know all too well, kids don’t miss a thing! Your video should have as close to the same background that your house will have when your children go to sleep that night. If you know ahead of time that the presents in the video are wrapped a certain way, and that the cookies we used are chocolate chip, etc. they will be able to go through the process more smoothly on Christmas Eve. You can also make your video on Christmas Eve!

One of the things I love about Thanksgiving is being thankful for the things we have as well as to do things that allow us to share our blessings with others. Every year, kiddo and I attend church. We bring along canned goods to donate to the pantry. And we also donate goods to his school. Kiddo has many opportunities to share his blessings. Not only do we say what we’re grateful for, but we also try to show it by sharing what we have. The great thing about this is that kiddo has learned to be a giver. He wants to share his toys with other kids and is sweet to others. This year, we’re taking another step in showing our gratitude by participating in a potluck luncheon. We’re going to donate goods and bring a dish to share with our friends.

But, Thanksgiving isn’t the only time I talk/show kiddo about being thankful. I also talk to him about the people who came before us – my mother, father, my grandparents – all of who in some way helped us to have the life that we have. I’ve told kiddo about the struggles they all went through just to pay the bills and feed their families. I’ve also kept pictures around so that he doesn’t forget that he needs to be thankful for them. It is because of them that he has so many blessings. My hope is that in teaching kiddo about the wonderful blessings he’s inherited, he’ll be able to continue sharing with others. How do you teach your kids to be grateful?

Every year, my husband and I go out early Friday morning to go Black Friday shopping.  The last two years, we actually left the house just before midnight on Thanksgiving to start early.  We always do well, getting laptops, cameras, printers, etc.  This year, we do not have any “door busters” that we really need to get, so I am still on the fence with whether or not to go out Friday morning.

Actually, I have seen so many sales that we can do online for this coming week.  I may take advantage of a lot of those.  As a matter of fact, I have been compiling a list of sales and will share what I find with you later this week.  I like the idea that Walmart allows you to shop online for many of their door busters, as does a few other stores. 

Have you started your holiday shopping yet?  Will you be going out early Friday mornign?

As Thanksgiving is just around the corner, I’m making up my list of people to invite for turkey day at my house. Between 2005 – 2008, I found myself having Thanksgiving mostly with kiddo and not with my family. I’ve still got my father, my sister and three brothers – plus aunts and uncles. The problem – no one gets along with one another. My sister can’t stand my father, my older brothers can’t stand my younger brother and well, a true family gathering is tough for me.

So I started a new tradition for Thanksgiving 2009 – a “Single Moms” Thanksgiving. By 2008, I was home around 6pm from a friend’s home feeling alone and deflated. It reminded me of when my mom passed  away – as if I lost my footing. And I did. So I got two of my fellow single moms and their kids and celebrated the first Single Moms Thanksgiving. And we all had a great time, such a great time that I did it again last year. Granted, there was a change in characters, but I had a blast.

This year, I got a jump on Thanksgiving by asking my father early last month what he and his companion would be doing. Last year, they spent Thanksgiving in Puerto Rico. This year, she stated that she was going to stay home. And then I invited them both. I’m so excited to have a semi-traditional Thanksgiving with my father, his companion, my son and my best friend and her son. Can’t say that I’ve been more excited and nervous in a long time to cook for my father, but I’m very happy. Parents – do you have Nontraditional Thanksgivings?

I took a survey yesterday about baby formula (yes, even though I am slightly passed that stage now with my youngest being two).  They wanted moms’ opinions on their preference for baby formula, even for moms who have slightly older children.  I always have been passionate about my baby formula, so I happily obliged to complete the survey.

When my oldest was on formula, I used the brand name formula.  I was a first time mom and fed her what they gave me in the hospital and what my pediatrician gave me samples of, which was probably Similac.  But when my twins were born six years later, I could not justify paying all that money for double the formula and had to seek out another alternative.  That is when I found Parent’s Choice.  My son Louis had acid reflux, and the Gentle formula worked wonders for him.  I was able to purchase their formula for much less at Walmart, they were happy, I was happy, and everyone was happy!

When the baby came, I didn’t think twice but to stick with Parent’s Choice.  By then, diapers.com started to sell it online, which made my life even easier!

I also nursed all four of my children, but formula supplementing was the best for me.  And there is no doubt in my mind, if I had to do it again, store brand formula is the only way to go!