My reminder on Mothers Day

The day you become a Mom can be the scariest and most amazing feeling in the world weather it be through birth or adoption you are now responsible for another human being. Your responsibility has just quadrupled in a matter of seconds. You are handed a miracle, and no matter what the age, or how they came to you a miracle is exactly what they are. When you are pregnant you prepare for a newborn. A baby that will cry and poop, and eventually smile and walk. We prepare for all of the long sleepless nights when they are babies, but no one tells you that you will never again sleep well again. As babies they awake because they are hungry, as toddlers they are scared, as teenagers you wait up countless hours waiting for them to arrive home safe and you are still not sleeping. Their first fight with a friend, their first bad grade, the first time you have to move and they have to say good-bye. No one tells you that it is likely that you will feel the pain more then then will. That you will spend hours not sleeping and shedding tears because you are more worried about them they you ever could have imagined. The laundry will pile up on occasion and your house will be a disaster. You will clean up more vomit then you ever thought possible. You will become an expert at "kissing the pain away" and wiping snot with your hand because we all want our child to look great, who cares if we are the ones with stains and messy hair as long as they look amazing. It is OK to say no sometimes and I promise that it will hurt you more then them. Some times you are going to have to be "the bad guy" but when they are grown I promise you that they will thank you for it. As a Mom you will want to smack the first child that teases your child on the playground. You will want to hurt the first boyfriend that break your daughters heart. You spend countless hours being the best listener and back rubber ever when she just needs to cry. You favorite gift will no longer be that Coach purse, or $150 running shoes. They will be breakfast in bed, a clean house, and homemade "I love you Mom" gifts. You will long more to brag about how much effort your child made with their homemade gift and look foolishly at those days that you were happy that you longed for expensive ones. Sometimes you are going to get it wrong and that is OK. Our children love us and even if we screw up once in a while. We all learn from mistakes and no matter how bad it seems at the time, I promise you that they will forget that you didn't know the answer to their homework, or that you had to work during a school play. They will still love you. As they grow up you will be reminded of how quickly the time passes. They may hate you today, but I promise that they will love you tomorrow. Never give up on them and I promise that they will never give up on you. As for tomorrow, hug them, kiss them, and no matter how angry they get at you, promise them no matter what they did wrong you will be there for them, and I promise they will do the same for you. Today you are a Mom. Tomorrow you will still be their Mom. 20 years from now they might be a Mom themselves but you will still be theirs. The worry will never go away, but I promise you neither will the love. So cut yourself a break. No matter how messy the house is, no matter how many mistakes you make, they love you. Happy Monthers Day.

Paying it Forward

I am a strong believer in paying it forward. I believe in Random acts of kindness. I believe in having faith in humanity when reality tells me that humanity is not always worth being faithful to. I am one of those people that just wants the world to be good. Earlier this week I was taking a friend to pick up her car. I didn't think twice about helping, I only was concerned that I would forget that she had asked when the day came! I just asked her to remind me nothing more. As we were driving to her car, a lady was walking her dog and the dog was being jumped all over by another small dog and as we pulled up the lady asked if we knew who it belonged to (I didn't). I didn't want the dog to go to the pound on post. If they end up with the dog, or the MP's pick up the dog, not only do the owners get in trouble, but they have to pay a fine. I chose to spare the owners the fine, and the trouble. I picked up the dog and posted the dog on all Facebook groups I am apart of for the local area. Within 30 minutes Snoopy had found his way home. When I took Snoopy back home I told the owner that I just took him to my house and posted him because I did not want them to get in trouble or fined. She had no idea about he post policy and was grateful for what I had done. She told me that she would have to pay it forward if she ever saw a dog loose. When she said that it never dawned on me that I was doing anything out of the norm, I just did it because I had a friend who's dog had gotten loose twice and I didn't want anyone to have to go through the hassle or the fees if I could help. To me it was just normal, it didn't dawn on me that others wouldn't do the same. Fast forward a few days later, I lost my ID card. I was so upset, my husband was frustrated, and I was almost in tears. I searched for hours knowing that I could have only lost it at the coffee shop that I had been or in my driveway. I knew I had it on my way to the coffee shop, and when I was driving home it was gone. The people in the coffee shop were incredibly rude when I called. I asked one of them if they could check the couch area where I was sitting and she said that she would and then hung up on me. If she had found my ID card how would I know??? My husband and I chose to just drive out there and when I got there she was sitting on the same couch while another employee was backed up with customers. She asked if I was the one that called about the ID card. I said yes. She then proceeds to get up and tells me that she didn't find it but I was welcome to look. Another customer helped me move the couch and check the cushions that needed to be cleaned out (gross) while she sat on her butt! No ID card. I went home and felt ill and panicked all night I had an appt for my post solicitation permit the next day and I was not sure if I would have to show my military ID card so we decided that it was gone and we would just go first thing in the morning. The next morning as I was getting kids off to school I received a phone call from our local Clinic. Someone by a name I did not recognize. I thought that they were calling to tell me that my daughters strep test had come back positive, so I was completely caught off guard when the man on the other end said that my ID card had been turned into him! I was then confused how it got to the clinic on base when I had been no where near there. He explained that my ID had been found outside the coffee shop and that not only does he work on post, but he has an office right next door. The person that found it had checked with the coffee shop to see if anyone in there was missing one, and they said no (this information that they just forgot to tell me when I called and showed up there looking for my ID). Anyway, they knew that he worked on post, and turned my ID into him. He did a google search and found me through my blog and sent me an email that I did not receive until after he had called me. When he did not get an answer to his email that night he went to the clinic and looked up my information through their system to get an accurate contact info. I am so grateful! I am s grateful that rather then turning it into the MP's or anything else, that he made the effort to track me down, just as I had done for the dog. I never gave much thought to what I did with the dog, but I did give great thought to what had been done for me. I was payed forward and had the owner not made a comment to me about it being payed forward, I never would have thought twice about what I had done for them as being something out of the norm, just something that you just do to help. So, pay it forward people! You know when you are really helping someone out by simply doing "the right thing" The thing that so many people often do not take the time to do anymore.

Winners of the USA Kids Cups Giveaway!!!!

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***It's Giveaway Time******

Remember those super cute cups that I told you all about a while back from USA Kids Cups?  Well they have agreed to do a Giveaway right here on my blog.  We all love awesome free stuff don't we!

Well now is your chance to enter.

Two winners will be selected to receive a 4 pack of kids cups, so spread the word!

Please keep entries to USA residents only.
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April is Month of the Military Child, how will you honor these Special Kids?

April 1 is the start of Month of the Military Child.  A month to honor those  special kids that sacrifice so much being the child of a service member. 

I know many of my readers are non military, but maybe you know someone who is, or maybe your children go to school with the child of a Service Member.  Now is your chance to show that child that you appreciate all of the time they give up with their parents while they are away.

For most people when they think of deployments they think of the Service Member.  They think about care packages, and letters, and farewells as they head off to war.  What most people do not think about is those left behind.  The spouses and the children.  The worry that comes with being the family of that person serving our county.

Military kids celebrate holiday's, birthday's and even graduations minus one very important person.  Be it a Mom or a Dad, that special person usually misses a year at a time.  Even when they are not deployed, the hours are usually long, and there is no schedule in their day.  Life is unpredictable.

Moving, loss of friends, trying to make new ones.  There is so much to the life of a military child.   That have to grow up must faster then their civilian friends because they have to be prepare for whatever is throw at them.

This April I challenge all of you to show that military child just how special they are.  Saying Thank you does not have to mean anything expensive, or even time consuming.  A simple hand drawn card, a flower with a note attached, just any simple ways that you can find to show that child that you appreciate all they go through.

If you are looking for ideas, I found a website http://www.monthofthemilitarychild.com/
Please take the time to let these children know just how special they are.

Best Nike Find Your Greatness Commercial - The Jogger

This morning I saw a segment about this commercial.  a Nike commercial showing a very overweight child running.  This commercial has gotten a lot of slack for many different reason.

Personally when I see this commercial I see inspiration.  Hope for America.  This commercial says that no matter who you are, what your age, you too can inspire and you can do it.

Weight is something that most people I know struggle with.  We live in a world where everyone is over scheduled and on a budget, and lets face it, eating healthy is not cheap.  When you are on the go, and running kids from school to appointments, to activities, it is not the easiest to stay on the healthy eating track.  Unless you get into the routine of packing healthy foods every time you leave the house, at some point you will end up eating something not so good for you. 

So my thoughts on this commercial.  Inspiration.  Motivation.  Success.  This kid has taken a lot of slack for his commercial, but like he said in an Interview on the Today show, no matter what you do someone is going to criticize.  There is always going to be someone in better shape, or better looking, but what matters is that he is doing it.  He is working towards his goal at 12 years old to no longer be at an unhealthy weight.  To no longer be unfit.  He is making the changes.

Would love to hear your thoughts.

Made in the USA?

I saw an article online one time about a family that went on a made in the USA challenge.   They decided that for one year they were only going to support companies who's products were made in the USA.  She stated that when they started the challenge that they thought that it would be easier then it actually was.  They found that they were having to skip buying certian products because they could simply not find anything in that particular category that was made right here in the United States.

I got to thinking about my own purchases.  How much of what I bought (including what I purchased on our military instillation) was made right here in the US.  Not much.   I considered doing the challenge but I decided that my life was just too hectic and my family too large to attempt her made in the USA challenge.   She stated that what she found was that they were spending a lot more money.  That the stuff made here was quite expensive. While I would love to participate, with my family of 8 this seemed out of reach.

This article howevere did get me to start paying attention more about what I purchased.  Unless I am in a rush I try and pay attention to where stuff comes from.  If there is an alternative to what I am buying and it is made in the United States I will often by that other item, but cost is also a factor, and I have to take that into consideration.  If the cost is comparable but slightly more I will buy it. 

I was excited this past weekend when we attended an Easter Festival at our base and they were giving away sippy cups that contained a sticker on the side "made in the USA".   I was happy to see such a product, and although I am past the stage of sippy cups with my kids, I have lots of friends that have kids with toddlers, and I have had to throw out all of my old cups.  I sent my kids up to get one so that I could have a stash here at home for when we have friends over which is quite frequently.  These cups were made in the US and BPA free.  They are super cute I might add.

I did a little research into the company because I was curious  as to where you could buy these cups and their price.  I was happy to find them so easily available, and at a price that is actually cheaper then most. http://www.usakidscups.com/  is the company website, and I learned though them that these cups are available at good old Wally World.   You can buy them HERE.    The price is great for cups made here in the US.  $11.94 for 4!  So check them out.

***Disclaimer.  I was not paid by USA cups, nor was I contacted by them.  I just love to rave about products that I love, especially ones made right here in the USA.