Another bad hair year...

Jack's hair is out of control. It is thick and long and unruly. And he has tonsurephobia...a serious phobia of haircuts.

Back in December, I theorized that when Jack's hair grew long enough to cover his eyes, he'd probably get bothered enough and ask for a cut. I was wrong. And then some.

This is Jack's hair (and maybe if you are lucky you can catch a glimpse of Jack under there):

As a way of coping with his ever lengthening hair, Jack has started to tilt his head to the side so that his hair naturally parts. I fear he's going to end up with a crook in his neck.


(And for the record...no, I do not dye his hair. I have actually had people ask me...maybe it an "only in California" thing? If the child won't let us cut it, he certainly won't let us dye it!)

The other day when he was in the bath I took a picture of him with his hair all slicked back. I miss his face...
He looks like a different kid!

Tomatoes, carrots and sweet potatoes. Oh, my!

Hmmm... Tip or recipe? Tip or recipe? I guess this is both...

My kids eat at least a full serving of fruits and a full serving of veggies for breakfast everyday. It's great knowing that they are getting tomatoes, carrots and sweet potatoes for breakfast.

"What's that kids? You didn't eat all their veggies at lunch? No big deal! I snuck them in your breakfast earlier."
"What? You don't want veggies for your snack today? No big deal! I snuck them in your breakfast this morning."

And best of all there is no whining, no complaining, no "Mama, it's yucky!".

Are you ready for my secret weapon? Do you think you can handle it?

V8 V*Fusion

But I don't just give it to them straight up. I make the easiest smoothie in the world. These are my ingredients: cups with lids and straws, spoon, yogurt and V8 V*Fusion juice:

V8 V*Fusion has a full serving of vegetables, a full serving of fruits and no added sugar. If it were organic, I'd be in heaven. It comes in several different varieties. I like the Pomegranate Blueberry for my boys because in addition to the carrots and sweet potatoes that come in all the varieties, there are also tomatoes and a healthy dose of antioxidants. (And, no, this is not a paid endorsement!)

I dump a couple of healthy spoonfuls of yogurt into the cups and add the juice.

Then I snap on the tops, cover the straw hole with my finger and shake, shake, shake. I pop in the straw and hand them over to the boys.
I also love making their smoothies this way because when I'm done, all that is dirty is one spoon. (Well, and the cups they drink from. But no dirty blender!)

They usually drink them in the car on the way to school each day. That way, if they've boycotted breakfast they still have a full belly for school.

Finally! The recognition I so richly deserve...

All these months, mostly in my "Not me!" Monday posts, I've joked about me being the running for the completely fictional MOTYs (Mama of the Year Award).

But then, lo and behold, Veronica Lee of Of Mice and Ramen actually awarded me the Mom of the Year Award. (It's like that mantra, "you've got to believe it, to achieve it," right?)

Thank you, Veronica Lee. Thank goodness you awarded it to me because if you were to ask my kids, they'd probably never give it to me!



***Mom of the Year Award Rules!!***

~~Rule One~~ Admit one thing you feel awful about involving being a mom!

Ummm...only one thing? It's going to take me an awfully long time to narrow down my long list of things I feel awful about to just one.

How about my inconsistency in parenting? Or the fact that I purchase way too many toys to buy my kids' happiness? No, wait, maybe being short on patience? Hmmm...then there is the fact that I use disposable diapers not cloth. Ooh...how about the fact that my almost 3 year old needs to be sleep trained?


~~Rule Two~~ Remind yourself you are a good mom!

I am a good mama. At least, I'm as good as I can be with the little sleep I get.

Sometimes I can be extremely patient. Sometimes I actually play with my kids, sitting on the floor surrounded by blocks or cars. Sometimes we cuddle in my bed and read. I try to feed them healthy foods. I care about the planet for their sake. Several times a day, I tell Jack and Logan that I love them. I know with absolute certainty, I would do anything to protect them and would defend them with my life.


~~Rule Three~~
Send the award to 5 other Mom's of The Year that deserve credit for being great moms and remind them they are the Best Mom they can be! Remember to send them a note to let each one know you've selected them and add a link to the person who nominated you!

Okay, this is the hard part. It seems as though you, all the mama bloggers I know, are awfully deserving. Though, when I think about it, I guess I wouldn't be reading your blogs if I thought you were a lousy mama. So again, I'm going to take the easy route and pass this award to some of my newer blog friends.

And they are:
Carrie at Martin Manor Happenings
Keri at Life of Logan
Heidi at The Johnson family tales!
Shasta at Crackers and Chaos
Alicia at More Than Words (who's not a new friend but we had a phone conversation this week, which was a first for me...we'll not talking on the phone but talking to a blogger through something other than my computer)

Okay, it's official...this mama is rambling and barely coherent...I'm going to bed.

100 Things About Me - Installment #7

I enjoy reading bloggers' 100-things-about-me posts. However, by the 32nd thing I usually have forgotten who's blog I'm reading. (Who am I kidding? By #11 I've forgotten!)
I thought it might be fun to try and write one but in the interest of anybody-who-might-actually-read-its sanity I was thoughtful enough to break up the list. In 10 easy installments you can learn everything you ever wanted to know, didn't want to know and could careless about regarding me.

I think it's customary to do this list as your 100th post. My 10th and last installment will be my 100th post (if I can remember).

Here is the seventh installment (#61-70):
61. The only lullaby I sing the boys is Slumber Boat.

62. I hate to admit that I'm not a very good friend.

63. Being a military brat, I prided myself on being able to make friends easily as a kid.

64. But I'm not very good at maintaining the relationships that I form.

65. I have adult onset asthma.

66. I lived in Salzburg, Austria for several months.

67. I was a practicing Buddhist for a year...

68. But in typical fashion, I rarely stick with anything.

69. If I do say so myself, I'm a great party-planner.

70. I watch TV every night to unwind.


If you are interesting in reading more:
Installment #1
Installment #2
Installment #3
Installment #4
Follow-up to questions from #3 and #4
Installment #5
Installment #6

The Slumber Boat

This lullaby is the only one I sing to the kids. My mom sang it to me. And her parents, my grandparents, gave me a book of childhood poems when I was born with this printed in it. I'm wondering if my grandmother sang it to my mom...

The Slumber Boat

Baby's boat's the silver moon, Sailing in the sky, Sailing o'er the sea of sleep, While the clouds float by. Sail, baby, sail, Out upon that sea, Only don't forget to sail Back again to me.
Baby's fishing for a dream, Fishing near and far, His line a silver moonbeam is, His bait a silver star. Sail, baby, sail, Out upon that sea, Only don't forget to sail Back again to me.


The Slumber Boat was written by Alice C. D. Riley and the music is by Jessie L. Gaynor. The copyright date is 1898.

What to do while riding the slow boat to China?

Usually my blog is a place where I strive to entertain or at least document my motherhood experiences in hopes that other mamas might be able to relate or commiserate.

Today, though, I'm feeling low and looking for an outlet.

I didn't think the adoption process from China could get any slower. (Though, realistically, it hasn't gotten slower...I'm just "feeling" the wait now.)

We logged in on August 13, 2008, a mere seven months ago. From the beginning I've been telling myself that we'd have an eight year wait. Occasionally, I'll let myself daydream about a shorter wait but I'm trying to be realistic.

I used to read and post several times a day on the adoption forums. Now I stay off of them. And I try not to get too caught up in the monthly number of days referred anymore. With such a long wait, it does me no good to get optimistic or disappointed by a day or two.

To make matters more complicated, I have a bad case of baby fever. Well, not so much baby like an infant...more like 1 year old fever. I have several friends from my sons' co-op preschool that have daughters that age and I am lucky enough to get to see them every weekday. Their curiosity and unbridled excitement and exploration of the world around them...oh, I want another baby. (And Scott, for better or worse, has a constant case of baby fever.)


So Scott and I sit here on this slow, slow boat to China. And now I'm wondering what, if anything, we should do. I had thought we might adopt a daughter from another country while still "in line" for our daughter born in China. A sort of boat detour, if you will. But with the current economic situation, I'm rethinking that plan.

Sorry for the babbling...I really didn't have a thought-out cohesive post. Just a bunch of rambling while sitting on this slow boat...

The girl in the photo is holding a red thread while standing upon The Great Wall. And the quote reads:
When a child is born, an invisible red thread extends from the child's spirit and connects her to all the significant people who will be a part of the child's life. As the child grows, the thread shortens, drawing closer those people who are destined to be together. The thread may stretch or tangle, but will never break.

The other side of the camera - 6/52

I'm participating in what I think is a really smart weekly challenge hosted by Carin at Forever in Blue Jeans. It seems like mamas spend an awful lot of time behind the camera. The idea of this challenge is for mamas to get on the other side of the camera in at least one photo a week.

When my boys grow up they'll inherit hundreds of thousands of photos taken from their childhood, but how many of those will show their mama? At least for this year I can answer 52!

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Last week I wanted a fish kiss picture with Logan which didn't happened. I'm still working on one. But in the meantime, we took this photo at school.


It was my workday and both Jack and Logan were having a rough day. The only way I could get them to agree to sit down and eat lunch was by telling them we could all sit together...just the three of us. Finally...no more tears, no more whining, no more crying. Just mama and her two boys on a lunch date...

Only in California! {Wordful Wednesday}

From reading others' blogs and from some of the comments I've gotten, I'm starting to realize that Californians might be really different from the rest of the United States.

For example, maybe only those in California would:

• worry about waste from balloons
• be approached by nannies in the park asking "Are both those kids yours? Do you need help?"
• serve edamame (soybeans) for dinner
• see "stars" in the daytime but not at night (because of light pollution)
• be served caviar with creme fraiche on a bellini for a preschool snack (in all fairness, our kids were learning about Russia that day)
  
• keep a compost pail on the kitchen counter
• pay $800K+ for 1,000 square feet house
• give their kids waste-free lunches (with Sigg bottles, snack sacks, bento boxes, reusable cutlery, etc.)
• find their kids playing "I found a parking space!" (Yes, Jack actually shouted this with glee when he found a "spot" in the backyard for one of his vehicles. It won't surprise me when the boys start playing "valet.")
• eat dry seaweed as a snack
• let their sons wear blue toe-nail polish
  

For more Wordful Wednesday posts, visit 7 Clown Circus.

"Not me!" Monday

So, the MOTYs have asked for further proof of my exemplary mothering to be considered for the annual Mama of the Year Awards. (Apparently someone is running a smear campaign against me!) I provided them with the following list of things I'd never ever do in order to show them that I'm the best candidate for this completely fictional prestigious award:

I did NOT run out of deodorant and have to use Scott's, much to his disgust. I did NOT smell like a man all day, much to my disgust!

I did NOT know unequivocally that Jack was sick when he looked at Logan dreamily and said, "I love you, brother."

I did NOT have a panic attack when I realized that our take-out menus were missing.

I did NOT order a pizza for delivery so that I could use my dinner-making time to bake a dessert instead.

I did NOT tell the boys that I would play hide-and-seek with them and then let them hide while I "looked" for them by sitting on my butt blogging and shouting, "Oh, where are you?" occasionally.

I am NOT spending way too much time blogging thereby ignoring Jeff and Loyd. Wait...what are my kids' names again?

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MckMama is not hosting "Not me!" Monday today as her youngest is in the hospital having some major heart trouble. I'm thinking good thoughts that Stellan's little heart stops beating so fast and is able to come home to the rest of his family soon.

100 Things About Me - Installment #6

Carrie, mom to two super cute kiddos, at Martin Manor Happenings tagged me. I'm supposed to list 7 things about myself and pass this tag on to 7 others.

There are some rules with this tag:
I need to link to the person that tagged me.
I need to share 7 things people may not know about me.
I need to tag 7 people to share 7 things and link to them.
I need to let them know they've been tagged.

Since I've been slowly working on my 100 things about me list and I'm a bit overdue, I thought I'd combine it with this tag. That means that I'll be sharing 10 things about me in the next section of this post...

And here are my 7 tagees, bloggers that I've started reading rather recently and would like to get to know better:

Wibeche at Beautiful Days
Kirsty at Just Us
Orah at Momma's Happy Hour
Tanya at Maya and Odessa
The Emery's
The Johnson 5 at The Johnson Family Tales!
Michelle at Truly Blessed

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I enjoy reading bloggers' 100-things-about-me posts. However, by the 32nd thing I usually have forgotten who's blog I'm reading. (Who am I kidding? By #11 I've forgotten!)
I thought it might be fun to try and write one but in the interest of anybody-who-might-actually-read-its sanity I was thoughtful enough to break up the list. In 10 easy installments you can learn everything you ever wanted to know, didn't want to know and could careless about regarding me.

I think it's customary to do this list as your 100th post. My 10th and last installment will be my 100th post (if I can remember).

Here is the sixth installment (#51-#60):
51. I have petted a rhino on the Kenyan savanna.

52. I was in labor for 65 hours with Jack.

53. Luckily, Logan's labor was much shorter.

54. I had laser eye surgery several years ago...

55. And can't imagine my life without it.

56. I don't like the taste of coffee...

57. Or beer.

58. I wish I had more time (and more agreeable subjects) to study photography.

59. I totaled a moped on the island of Naxos and luckily walked away without any major injuries.

60. I have a horrible memory.


If you are interesting in reading more:
Installment #1
Installment #2
Installment #3
Installment #4
Follow-up to questions from #3 and #4
Installment #5

Hope Matters

March is Cerebral Palsy Awareness Month. I'm a bit embarrassed to admit that a month ago I knew next to nothing about CP. But then I "met" Keri through her blog, Life of Logan. Keri is mom to Levi and his older brother Logan, a boy who has cerebral palsy, but cerebral palsy does not have him.

Did you know:

• Cerebral palsy is one of the most common developmental disabilities in the US, affecting at least 800,000 children, adolescents and adults in America.

• The average prevalence of cerebral palsy is about 1 in 278 children. This first report of the prevalence and characteristics of CP, the most common cause of motor disability in childhood, are from Georgia, Alabama and Wisconsin. Can you even begin to imagine the numbers if there was a national surveillance?

• There is currently no cure for cerebral palsy and in most cases, it is not preventable. In over 50 years, treatments for CP have not progressed much at all.

To show support of CP awareness and those with CP, like Keri's son Logan, my Logan, Jack and I donned green shirts today.
The boys were happy to wear green but not to sit for a photo.

If you'd like to be inspired, visit Logan and Keri.

Spring Reading

I have always loved to read. It is something I'm proud to have inherited from my mom.

Before having the boys I would spend a lot of time reading...every night before bed, in the car, on trips, in doctor's waiting rooms, curled up in a chair on the weekend. I read about 40 books a year.

Since the boys, I've not had nearly as much time to read. Occasionally I still read at night before bed. Before it was a necessity...a way to quiet the day's thoughts running through my head in order to get some sleep. Now, I've been known to fall asleep fully dressed...barely letting my head touch the pillow before passing out. When I am this exhausted, I don't need to read unfortunately.

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Katrina at Callapidder Days is hosting a reading challenge. Participants set reading-related goals to accomplish between March 20th and June 20 and report back how they are doing.

Here are my goals for the next 3 months:

Read one book about or taking place in China -
Empress Orchid (fiction) or Lost on Planet China (travel) or finish Oracle Bones (history)


Read one book about adoption -
Twenty Things Adopted Kids Wish Their Adoptive Parents Knew

Read one parenting book -
Protecting The Gift or Raising Cain

Read one food science/nutrition/conservation book -
I've started The Omnivore's Delimma but it's a bit technical. There is biology and botany and once they started talking about corn sex, I couldn't stay focused. I wanted to read it. And I wanted to like it. I'm either going to try to finish it or I'll read Food Matters.


I'd also like to read I Was A Really Good Mom Before I Had Kids or get through at least one novel on my shelf, maybe World Without End or The Reader or The Friday Night Knitting Club.


Of the above mentioned books I only own a few. Hint to Scott: Mother's Day!

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I also am setting a goal to read more to my boys. Like everything, we go through phases...some times we read a little, some times a lot, and other times not at all. I plan on reading to my boys every day again. I'm not sure when...before bed is actually really difficult for us. Maybe in the morning? I want to read both picture books and a chapter book...maybe finish Charlotte's Web?

I just realized that the goals I've listed above are fairly wishy-washy. But what's a busy mama to do? I don't want to set myself up for obvious failure.

If you've read any of the books I've mentioned I'd love to know what you thought about them. Or I'll gladly take recommendations if you have any for the above categories.

The kid has mad skillz!

Jack drew this abstract two days ago:


And he drew this (a portrait of him and me) yesterday:

It was the first time Jack had drawn anything that looked like a person. How is it that kids can acquire new skills overnight? I am truly fascinated by how their minds work.

The other side of the camera - 5/52

I'm participating in what I think is a really smart weekly challenge hosted by Carin at Forever in Blue Jeans. It seems like mamas spend an awful lot of time behind the camera. The idea of this challenge is for mamas to get on the other side of the camera in at least one photo a week.

When my boys grow up they'll inherit hundreds of thousands of photos taken from their childhood, but how many of those will show their mama? At least for this year I can answer 52!

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This week I desperately wanted to get a photo of Logan and I giving each other a fish kiss. It's a cute thing we do (well, at least I think so) where we suck in our cheeks, pucker up and move our lips like a fish while kissing. So I asked Scott to get a pic of Logan and I. But Logan had other ideas. He pushed me away screaming "no fishy kiss!"

So I asked Jack if he would fish kiss me. He obliged and Scott managed to get a couple shots. After putting the boys to bed (hurray!) I tried to get the card out of the camera...only to realize...that there was no card in the camera. Opps!

The purpose of this carnival is to take new photos, more photos but for today I'm going to post an old photo. My goal is to get a photo taken today or tomorrow. But in the meantime, I'll post this from Halloween:

Jack is a race car driver, Scott is Indiana Jones, Logan is a pirate and I am, what else but, Super Mama!

Private Investigator Needed...

I hate housework. It's not like I kind of sort of dislike doing it. I hate it. And quite frankly I'm not very good at it.

Besides the usual picking up, lately I've had to deal with some additional and rather unusual housework tasks...

Yesterday, I had to clean up bird poop off the floor. Have I mentioned that we don't have a bird? But, yes, really, it was bird poop!

Then today, I found this:
(My foot is in the photo to offer a little size perspective.)

1. Whose muddy footprints are these? (They are way too small to be our dog's.)

2. On a sunny 75 degree day, how did our mystery critter find mud to step in?

Any personal investigators willing to take the case? Or maybe we need an animal tracker?

By photographing and blogging about it, I managed to avoid cleaning it. How else can I procrastinate? Ooh...I need to leave it so Scott can see it in person when he gets home!

Rock on!

Though I had a surprisingly good time at Disneyland and I usually call Target "my happy place," for the second year in a row the Dan Zanes concert won the award for "my happiest place on Earth!"

If you are not familiar with Dan Zanes you need to meet him.

Wonderful bloggy friends, meet Dan Zanes.
Dan (if I may be so bold as to call you by your first name), please meet my bloggy friends.

We've "known" Dan for about 4 years. (Scott was probably aware of him long before since Dan used to play grown-up music with the Del Fuegos.) We've listened to his kid's music since Jack was a baby. (I remember dancing with Jack, holding him tight, breathing in his delicious baby scent, every morning in his room to Wonderwheel.) And every year for the boys' birthday, we make a compilation CD of songs that have had meaning for us over the year. There are always 3 or 4 of Dan's songs on it.

So last year, when Dan Zanes and his band came to town we jumped at the chance to see them. And this year, knowing how amazing they are live, we jumped even faster to see them again.

This pic was taken from the mosh pit. They allow kids (and parents sitting on the floor) to come up front. The kids start jumping to the music and it looks just like a mini mosh pit.


Somehow, Logan managed to fall asleep in the mini mosh pit! Only Logan!
It was a fun morning of music and dancing. Seeing the happy (and sometimes sleepy) looks on my kids faces made me smile.

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And for the record, we are not getting a cow. I've learned my lesson to not mix fact and fiction in one post...sorry for the confusion.

Giving a tip and taking tips

This is a two part tip post. First, I've got a tip to give. The second part is me looking for some specific tips relating to dairy cattle. Yes, really, I'm talking about milk cows...

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Did you know that denture cleanser tablets will clean some of your jewelry?
Not only will everything sparkle but your jewelry will also be left plague-free and minty fresh!

Another bonus is the price. I bought a box of 108 tablets at Target for about $2. That means that each cleaning is 2 cents!

I just plop one fizzy tablet in a cup of warm water, drop in my jewelry and wait a minute of two. Next, I rinse, dry and wear.


I can speak from experience when I say don't put silver in the denture cleaner.

I have used this method personally on:
platinum
yellow gold
diamonds
cubic zirconium
emeralds
sapphires

Stop by BlogMommas for more tips.

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In our house, we refer to milk as liquid gold. It is so expensive and I seem to buy so much of it. Scott drinks a little but mostly uses it in his cereal. I don't drink it but do use a bit to cook. The boys are our main liquid gold consumers.

I hope this lasts us a week:

So I've decided to get them their own cow. As with any pet large livestock, they'll be responsible for feeding, walking milking, and bathing it. Our backyard is about 1,500 square feet and our Bessy will have to share it with our dog, Marley. The good news is that Marley is part Shepard so if Bessy gets loose into our alley and starts wandering the streets, Marley should be able to round her up and bring her home.

So, I'm wondering if any of you have any experience raising a cow in your backyard. I'd appreciate any tips you can give the boys or me.

I'm off to start looking at cows for sale online. What do you think...Amazon or Ebay?