A week before a historical vote...

Here we are a week before a possible historical electorial vote & I found Senator Barack Obama's "closing argument" speech in Canton, Ohio very interesting. I wonder if this will be the landslide people are predicting...



Then there was this news about John McCain's proposed health plan & what affect it would have.

Not so well...

The past few days my toddler nephew has been in the hospital with pneumonia. My oldest brother said everything is okay & that my nephew should be able to go home in the next day or two. It's always worrysome when the patient is a toddler though so know our family can stop worrying!

UPDATE: My nephew is home & getting better now!

Where would you like to go?

If you like to travel but don't get the chance to often, check out Postcrossing to explore the world from home!

It's all about emotions!

What kid doesn't have temper tantrums? Maybe this craft will help teach them some control as they get older!

"Expressing emotions appropriately can be a challenge at any age. Young children especially can become overwhelmed by feelings they have not yet learned to control. Learning to express and control emotions can be especially important in new social settings like school or daycare. Connecting facial expressions to different emotions can help young children learn to cope with their feelings."

Here's an activity to try called 'Feelings and faces collage':


Materials:

• Pieces of construction paper cut into shapes of faces; use different shades of paper for different skin tones
• A variety of pictures of eyes, ears, mouths and noses cut out from magazines; choose pictures that reflect diversity in age and ethnicity
• Strands of yarn in different colours reflecting hair colours: Brown, yellow, black, white, grey, red
• Containers such as bowls or aluminum pie pans to sort the different facial features and yarn
• Glue
• Hand mirror (shatterproof)

How to do this activity:

1. Give your child some face shapes and the hand mirror. Ask, "Is your smile showing or hiding your teeth? Can you make a mad face? How does your face look when you are sad?" Explain that our faces can tell people a lot about what we are feeling.
2. Help your child create faces with different expressions by arranging and pasting each feature on a blank face.
3. Talk about the emotions on the faces your child creates. This helps him learn the words to describe his different feelings.
4. Encourage your child to talk about a time when he has felt these same emotions and what caused them. When you give your child the words to describe his feelings, similar situations can be dealt with differently, perhaps in a calmer and more constructive manner.

Haunting time...

Last week Son heard the song 'Physical' by Olivia Newton John on the radio & said 'Oh Mommy! This is from your rehearsal, right?" Can you believe that after only seeing my musical twice he remembered just three lines from it & connected them to the song (which wasn't even played during the musical)? The details he retains about everything just floors me!

Speaking of the musical, I am happy to be back to normal schedule & spending time family again. Although I do notice & miss my 'alone time' away more often now, especially since Hubby has been in crunch time for the past few weeks (days, nights & weekends) getting the family business travel site fully active. Everyone is working hard to get the site live soon!

In the meantime, things are crazy as always the last few weeks before any holiday. Believe it or not, we have five to six (yes you heard that right) children Halloween parties to go during the next week & a half! Crazy, huh? Now since I grew up where my parents dressed up for Halloween with us (in fact my Mom still does!), I love dressing up for Halloween so we get lots of use out of our costumes. This year Son is a transformer, Daughter is The Care bear Tenderheart & I am a dark angel. It's obviously been so crazy I haven't been able to post anything in, well... a while. Things will calm down during first few weeks of November... at least until Thanksgiving when holiday rush begins!

So prepare yourself & get into costume. Use that imagination & show yourself what fun Halloween can be, no matter how old you are!

All about staying home 'eating bon bons'!

With two kids & running everywhere, I finally got the first floor clean with the exception of my office. As your kids become toddlers & grade-school age, I'm starting to believe that organizing your home is a constant work in progress until they leave home!

Hope you enjoy these links for all you whose job description is... "the family CEO, the day care provider, accountant, chauffeur, counselor, chef, nurse, laundress, entertainer, personal stylist, and educator!" What would your salary be?

• Sexy Moms
• The Go-To Mom
• Saving money
• What every stay-at-home parent should know
• Funny 'mom' secrets
• Pros & cons of stay home
• Online parental resources
• Ddefinition of homemaker

What is your alias???

What are your 'other' aliases?

1. YOUR ROCK STAR NAME: (first pet & current car)
2. YOUR GANGSTA NAME: (favorite ice cream flavor, favorite cookie)
3. YOUR "FLY Guy/Girl" NAME: (first initial of first name, first three letters of your last name)
4. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal)
5. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you were born)
6. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first)
7. SUPERHERO NAME: (“The” plus 2nd favorite color, favorite drink)
8. NASCAR NAME: (the first names of your grandfathers)
9. STRIPPER NAME: (the name of your favorite perfume/cologne, favorite candy)
10. WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother's & father's middle names )
11. TV WEATHER ANCHOR NAME: (Your 5th grade teacher’s last name, a major city that starts with the same letter)
12. SPY NAME: (your favorite season/holiday, flower)
13. CARTOON NAME: (favorite fruit, article of clothing you’re wearing right now + “ie” or “y”)
14. HIPPY NAME: (What you ate for breakfast, your favorite tree)
15. YOUR ROCKSTAR TOUR NAME: (”The” + Your favorite hobby/craft, favorite weather element + “Tour")

You're going camping when???

Hubby & I had an interesting (& probably true) conversation a few years back about winter camping. Hope you get a good laugh like we did!


"I used to love winter camping in Boy Scouts."

"Yeah, but wasn't it cold?"

"Nah. I had one of those mummy sleeping bags. Keeps you real warm."

"Hmmm...but does your mummy bag sleep two?"

"Ha! Like I'd ever bring you winter camping. You need a quilt if the air conditioner is running."

"True. And remember this winter I might be pregnant and hormonal."

"Oh God. What a horrible way to die."

What cancellations???

Hubby & I have a history of finding great television shows only to have them cancelled shortly afterwards. Isn't that so frustrating when that happens? A few years back, it seemed that everytime we found a new favorite show they cancelled it soon after. Anyhow, it appears that some of our seasoned favorites are up for possible cancellation. What about your favorite shows? I've read that this site is pretty accurate for predicting cancelled tv shows.

That gave me chills!!!

The other night I went to check on Daughter to make sure she was covered up since she moves into an entirely different position at least three times a night. I think I discovered why! When I opened her bedroom door, she was sitting up in her crib completely silent without making a sound staring at the door. I immediately backed up & closed the door again. She didn't make a peep nor did I even hear her move even then! When I checked on her again an hour later, she was asleep again. It was so weird & very unnerving!

"She's callin' my name again..."

Last weekend we had people over (outside of immediate family) for the first time in... well, quite some time & frankly we had a blast! Daughter's birthday party went very smoothly. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves, the weather was nice (although a tad chill in the shade) & we got a lot of compliments on our patio & the kids' behavior. It was absolutely wonderful to see family & friends again.

The Strawberry Shortcake themed Pinata proved she was MUCH tougher than she looked & yes... we used an actual pinata versus one of those 'pull-a-string types'! It took my 12 year nephew quite a few swings to break it open enough for the candy to fall out. Unfortunately I wasn't thinking & has cracker & cookie bags in it; some of which were completely crushed!

Daughter loved the birthday cake & being passed around from one person to another. Ironically she had no interest in opening gifts so all the kids helped instead which was crazy but fun! The evening ended with some quality time spent with our friends (J&K) while the kids stayed up late & then fell asleep watching a movie. My youngest sister stayed the evening & spent time with the kids in the morning. Then we went to one of Son's friend's birthday party at Chuck E Cheese when we had a great time & Daughter loved all the lights & action.

I have lots of pictures to post which I will try to do next week sometime. It's another beautiful weekend coming up so everyone have fun before the cold arrives!