Mommy Blogger Mondays...MoBlogMo

We don't get paid for wiping butts. Not often are we thanked for cleaning toilets. Our laundry efforts certainly go unnoticed, except on the days we DON'T do it. But I don't know many moms who would trade their jobs for ANYTHING!

Although we live sometimes harried, frustrating lives we make time to go vent where it is safe. Where we won't get blamed. Where everyone out there has 'been there, done that'...the Mommy Blogosphere!

It's our haven of comfort, of information, of tips and advice, reviews and ridiculosity I know it's not a word...but it fit!)

So, I want to CELEBRATE this phenomenon of camaraderie that keeps me coming back over and over to share my life and read about YOURS.

Every Monday will be MOMMY BLOGGER MONDAY! I will feature a different Mommy Blogger and give her "the floor" so to speak. This is where you can come each and every Monday to meet a new mom, make a new friend or just giggle at the not-so-typical interview that plays out. It's a great way to get the word out about your blog, speak your mind, and gather new readers.

There are so many amazing moms on the net who touch lives every single day with their blog contents...There are moms who blog for a cause, moms who inspire us, moms who write books, moms who write books AND make us laugh, moms who help us lose weight, crafty moms, why not take advantage of that and get to know as many as we can, right here on My SOS!

It's quite simple. Just leave me a comment with your blog link and email address and you will go on my list of Mommies-to-be-interview. Interviews questions will be emailed to everyone who leaves a comment and Mommies will be featured in the order in which interviews are returned.

Nominate someone else or leave your OWN info. Either way, it's going to be fun...the first person to send back their interview info will be the FIRST to appear the Monday on MOMMY BLOGGER MONDAY! She will win an extra special gift, too!

Blog link, email address in comments - GO!

How many moms does it take to...

ONE!

The answer is ONE!

The question?

Who cares! It only takes one mom to do anything!

Do you know how I know?

Because I have been THAT mom for a week now.

If you need a recap...read about my day last Thursday!

Well, the next day my husband came down with the flu...the real thing, not just the generic sick feeling that can self-diagnose as something like the flu. I mean the real, honest-to-goodness FLU with handfuls of pills to be popped every morning and every night! Ick!

I have to say that I was not very sympathetic. I posted this.

I complained to my mom about the ridiculous state of health in my house and my obvious annoyance at my husband came out in that rant. She asked why exactly I was MAD at him for getting sick. And I blurted, "Because when I feel myself getting sick, I fight it. I just decide I am NOT getting sick and I don't!"

She returned with, "Well, Shel, not all of us have your super powers."

Hmpfh!

Point taken. My mood softened. I stopped being annoyed at the man who almost NEVER takes a sick day. I'm sorry, sweetlips! I'm glad you're feeling better.

Well, the only person better is my pre-schooler who had the (not-ringworm) ear infection! My husband is going into work for 1/2 days and my poor daughter is STILL on the couch. Strep knocked the wind out of her this time.

When did God get my attention and soften my heart? (He has a habit of doing this when I least expect it!)

Last night, everyone went to bed on time and I was starting to feel like things might be back to normal soon. That's when my oldest son came running into the living room sobbing!

"Mooooom! I think Punk's dead!"

We ran up and I took a deep breath as I looked into the cage of his 6 month old hamster...ummm...yep, no doubt about it, the little Punk had expired and by the looks of it, I think he committed suicide. (Stop laughing, I'm kinda serious) He was sprawled out on his bedding with blood coming out of his nose. The little freak was one of those rodents that thinks he's a circus act. You know, the ones that end up on America's Funniest Videos. He would run up the wrong side of his wheel and dive head first to the bottom of the cage on a daily basis. But I think this was his last dive.

It took quite some time for me to console my poor big kid. We talked about how in Heaven Punk wouldn't have to be in a cage because there are no predators where Jesus lives. We joked about the fact that Punk's new best friend could very well be a snake or a zebra. We giggled at the thought of him hoping on his striped BFFs back and taking off through the clouds and we cried because we missed him. My son even said he thought he could use this to write his first kids book! Ahhh, now there ya go, buddy, write your heart into a book! He's MY KID!

So, the sickness is s-l-o-w-l-y making its exit. Punk will probably be buried today. My sick hubby is taking a 1/2 day. And THIS MOM is headed to the SALON. I think I might get one of everything they offer just so I can HAVE to stay there until Tuesday.

All-in-all, as much stress as I have endured this past week, I wouldn't change it for the world. My kids and my husband are my life and I am so thankful for every situation that we get ourselves into because that's what makes a family. The good, the bad and the ugly.

So, how many moms does it take to love a family? Just ONE. This one! And it's more love than any of them could ever imagine! Sometimes we play the "I love you more" game.

I love you more than the grains of sand on the earth.

I love you more than the ounces of water in all of the oceans.

I love you more than all the snowflakes that have ever fallen.

I know my son could FEEL that love last night as we laid in his bed and snuggled.

(Oh, and my husband just might get lucky tonight)

One mom. This mom!

Tell me your tender moments!

The Mommy Handbook: Chapter 2

SICK HUSBAND

Ignore him.

The end.

This was NOT in the HANDBOOK...

You know, the MOMMY Handbook...the one that they give you when you leave the hospital...the one that gets addendums at each well-baby visit...the one that has chapter upon chapter added at each parent/teacher conference...

What you didn't get one of those? Yeah, me neither. I would like to complain to someone's supervisor b/c someone needs to create this HANDBOOK! My job as "Mom" got exponentially harder today...on the outside, it very well may have looked like I was a pro. But I know for sure, on the inside it sure felt like it was this doofus's first day on the job.

I have been doing this mom thing for over 11 years...I should be able to juggle anything. I did. But it almost killed me! It would have, if I wasn't so unstable that I was twitching and giggling my way through the chaos.

My daughter was knocked on her hiney last night with a high fever and wickedly sore throat. Poor thing. I gave her some Motrin and put her to bed knowing we would be heading to the doctor's once I got the boys on the bus in the morning.

First thing this morning, as I was outside waiting for the pre-school bus, she got out of bed and puked...all over her carpet. As I waved to my little guy, my oldest yelled from the front door about the YUCK that ensued upstairs.

I got an appointment for 10:15.

My oldest has been struggling with anxiety and was a bit unsettled this morning as we headed toward the door to catch the middle school bus. I hate sending him on the bus when he is struggling to keep it together. And this morning, I certainly wasn't going to drag my pukey one to the car so I could drive him, so he got a free day home. Call it a mental health day.

With bucket in hand, my daughter and I headed to the doctor, my oldest stayed home (our doctor is 5 minutes away). We had our fingers crossed for Strep just b/c that means medicine that will ease the discomfort. Strep it was! We could start the recovery stage and maybe feel better in time to enjoy the weekend.

I decided to take her back home, then head to the pharmacy and the store for a few goodies that would encourage her to eat. When we got home my son recited a phone number from the caller ID (he's a good boy and doesn't answer when I am not home). The phone number was the preschool but there was no message. "Whew!" I thought, "thank God it's not anything serious."

I headed to the pharmacy and called the preschool from my cell.

"Hi, Mrs. Brownlow. Don't panic, he's OK but we think he has ringworm, you will have to come get him, NOW!"

Now, this would not be a big deal if his pre-school was right around the corner. But my little guy is bussed to a integrated preschool because of his special needs. His preschool is at least 35 minutes away.

I did a U-turn. Grabbed the big kids and figured my sickie could just sleep on the trip as I didn't want to leave them alone for that long. I turned back onto the road that I felt like I had been on 406 times so far and it was only 11am. That's when I heard it...

S-P-L-A-T!

She was puking, again!

U-Turn!

Back home we go!

I carried the puke bucket to the door and set it down to get the door unlocked. A gust of wind came and I think I even heard it laugh. It picked up the waste basket/puke bucket and tossed it UPSIDE DOWN all over the driveway. Nice. Now, I have to hose the puke off the walkway to our door. Yum!

I called my husband who (is AMAZING!) offered to go get the baby and bring him home so I could, for the 407th time, head toward the pharmacy.

Now, when I was on the phone with the preschool teacher she said, because ringworm (eewww!) is so contagious he would need to be seen by a doctor and he couldn't return to school without documentation that he was treated.

I headed to the pharmacy and called to make ANOTHER appointment at the doctor's.

In line at the pharmacy, I actually watched the people ahead of me grow older. One snot-nosed kid graduated from high school, two 'tweens ended up married and one of them got a loan for in vitro and had NINE-tuplets! The news was there and everything. THAT'S HOW FREAKING LONG IT TOOK TO GET THIS PRESCRIPTION FILLED! ARGH!

Met my husband at home and I made everyone lunch. The doctor called and said we could bring in "Wormy" at 4:15. Thank God he was oblivious to the band-aid the school nurse had put right behind his earlobe on his neck...apparently, if you itch worms, they will spread. He couldn't see it so it wasn't an issue. The band-aid stayed put, even through his nap.

As he slept, I remembered the mark on my daughter's arm. I have never seen ringworm, but she had a perfect circle with a dark ring around it on her arm for the last couple of weeks. My older two have eczema so I just assumed that's what it was.

Even though I risked more puke in the car, I wanted the doctor to see her arm when he checked behind the baby's ear. We headed back to the doctor's @ 4:15.

The doctor laid my little guy on the table, adjusted the light, I held my breath. He peeled back the band-aid...he looked closer...then he looked at me...he looked back at what the band-aid had revealed...

NOT A FREAKING THING! THEREWASNOTHINGUNDERTHEBANDAIDNOTHING!

He kind of giggled and said, "Do you want me to just check him over, since you're here and Strep is already in your house." I told him I would like that, and a mojito, too if he had one!

You know what he found when he looked in his ear? A whole colony of ringworms having a picnic. LMAO! No, I am just kidding, that was just too perfect of a set-up. No! No ringworm...just a really bad ear infection! And the spot on her arm...just eczema.

Anxiety.

Strep.

Ringworm.

Eczema.

Ear Infection.

So, back to the pharmacy. Another call to my husband b/c I was NOT waiting for this one, he could pick it up on his way home.

Tacos for dinner and a big FAT Mike's Hard Lemonade.

Had that scenario been in the HANDBOOK, I may have been prepared.

What would you like to see in a MOMMY'S HANDBOOK?

A mom addicted...

I thought I had a problem...I questioned the time I spent doing it. I felt guilty. But I couldn't quit. Then I moved on to harder "stuff."

First it was FACEBOOK and now it is TWITTER! I need therapy!

I have thoroughly enjoyed facebook for finding old high school friends and sorority sisters! How awesome! It has also proven itself as an amazing networking tool. Many of my 300+ friends are agent and editors from around the country! Updating my status allows them to peek in on how I am coming with the projects I promised I am working on.

Twitter is just bizarre, though. I have collected over 1,000 tweeps but I don't know what to do with them. LOL! I just think it is a popularity contest that we play in our heads..."NA NA NA NA NA NA...I have more friends than you...." I question WHAT we can do with it?? I suppose as a freelance writer I could organize interviews, etc.

Either way, I use them too much, they make me stay up too late and sometimes I waste time on them thinking I am networking instead of jut putting pencil to paper and writing my next big idea! But it's fun and I am all about that!

But I tell myself I don't need them....I could do without them....no cold sweats...no shivers...

I just went to check Twitter...and got this...

Twitter is currently down for Planned maintenance. We expect to be back in about an hour. Thanks for your patience.

What??!!!!! Are you kidding me???! But I need to check my list...I need to see how many @ replies and DMs I have...

Addicted? Nope. Not me.

What do you use Facebook and Twitter for?

My muse is back...

Every once in a while my muse comes and hangs around for a while even if I can't sit down and jot down everything she says. I kinda like that she is working WITH me this time because I have an amazing picture book idea that has even got a thumbs up from a HUGE kids' book legend! WOOHOO! Thank God for Facebook and its networking opportunities.

In fact, this "legend" told me that when my manuscript was tweaked, polished and written in blood he would love to have HIS AGENT take a look at it. *passes out*

So, I am finishing up an article and an illustration for Girlfriendology.com and then I am jumping right into a book dummy about this timid little guy who has an all-too-common little friend.

I may also be speaking/presenting at the BlogHer '09 event. For those of you who are registered with BlogHer.com please go check out the Room of Your Own listings and click on "Giving Back Thru Social Media" then click "I would attend this session." If there is enough interest then MOI could possibly be a presenter during the BlogHer weekend! I was humbled by the gracious outpouring of support and love on this blog for my sweet Julian who passed away in January '08. If you are new to My Semblance go back to my December 3rd '08 post and start reading! Stuff like this should make it on the news. Lives were changed, strangers rallied and miracles made!

Well, I am off to stroke my muse and drain her of her ideas! If you have any tips, connections or ARE an agent or publisher, I welcome your comments and advice here! :) I'm not too proud to beg!

Peace, people!

Our Valentine's Dinner...in pictures

This is my way of showing my love to those who mean the most to me! I love you guys...ALL THE TIME!

Valentine's Day Vlog...

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Valentine's Fun for Families...

I love Valentine's Day! It is an excuse to let the give lots of hugs and eat lots of chocolate! That's a WIN-WIN for this mom!

My favorite thing to do on Valentine's Day is to prepare a BIG dinner with a red theme. We have meatloaf and KETCHUP, PINK mashed potatoes, STRAWBERRY Jell-O in wine glasses, brownies with STRAWBERRY and CHOCOLATE syrup, etc. I hang RED and PINK cardstock hearts (and now that I have my Cricut this will take a LOT less time!) from the lamp over the dinner table, I use a RED table cloth and I make cards for and give small gifts to each of my kids and my sweet husband. They love it!

I have found some really sweet Valentine's ideas that you still have time to do before Saturday. Click on the photo to go to some great recipe and craft ideas from Family Fun and Kaboose!And...don't miss another MKB Original coloring page at the bottom of this post!

For a different twist, these Rice Krispie Teats would make a great breakfast Saturday morning! Add some fuit and you are set! Make ahead and display on a sweet pile on a cake plate for your sleepy-eyed loved ones!

These adorable fruit treats look like they came right out of cupid's bow. Made with watermelon, orange slices and skewers. If watermelon is not available try fruit roll-ups cut with cookie cutters.

Everyone LOVES salt dough! These sweet hearts can be made quickly and with a pin hot glued on the back makes for a GREAT teacher gift...hurry, you still have a couple days to prepare these!

These little baubles could be used for bracelets, gift tags or in a mobile. Your kids will enjoy making these while you prepare the above RED/PINK themed dinner for them! Stock up on pipe cleaners and beads! Enjoy the coloring page below...just click and print!

What are your favorite ideas for the BIG RED DAY?!

We met Jon...yep, Jon Gosselin!

If you have been reading my blog for a while you know that we live close to the Gosselins, we know the same people and I am convinced that one of these days Kate and I will cross paths and become close friends! (I know that sounds stalker-ish to those of you who haven't followed me for any length of time but those who have will tell you how sincere that statement is.) We are really alot alike and I admire qualities about her in the way I admire the qualities of my very best friends. I am not one of those FANS. Honest. I just KNOW God would give us BIG things to do and I just KNOW we would have a BLAST!

So, I have met Kate (and given her gifts for the kids) and recently we were at a local church function...just so happens to be that Jon & Kate's church is 30 minutes from my house...and the special guest was Jon. Had I known we were going to meet him, I certainly would have made a big stink about it here, but it was a last minute plan and all of a sudden HE WAS THERE.

It was quite funny because my kids were just as excited to meet him as I was. But I kind of stood back and let them chat with him, I just waved. You know how I HATE to be "that fan."

Here he is:

Michael Phelps...Yay or Nay?

First of all, thank you all so much for your comments and emails about the latest MOM SHOW episode!! Those of you who haven't registered yet...go...go...go!

Now...onto the major news of the day... MICHAEL PHELPS and his BONG!

I have to say, the first thing I thought when I saw the picture was, "Oh, his poor mom!" Then I thought of all the kids (like my own) who look up to him and think he is the most amazing human on the planet (besides their mom, of course...and well, maybe dad, too).

But, my kids are not allowed to watch the news. I don't want them to open their little heads up and have all the CRAP that goes on around the world dumped into it. I want to keep their little "slates" clean for as long as I can so they can develop their OWN thoughts and feelings toward right and wrong without the help of Britney Spears, OJ Simpson, Anna Nicole Smith and other derelicts of our society. Of course, a couple days in school and I am sure they will hear it from a friend and come running to ask me, "Is it true? Is it true?"

Here's my take on Michael Phelps and his choices. Quite honestly, what the guys does in his own time is HIS business and I couldn't care less. BUT, he dropped the ball when making a choice to do something illegal and harmful to his body IN FRONT OF PEOPLE WITH CELL PHONE CAMERAS. I do believe he has probably missed out on much of his childhood and young adult years b/c of swimming. I get that. (and NO, I am NOT saying that smoking a bong is something we all need to do to say that we have "lived" a true young adult life...I am NOT SAYING THAT AT ALL!) But the pressure he is feeling b/c of the responsibility he now has to the WHOLE world (Imagine that! The WHOLE WORLD!) must be hitting him hard and he caved.

His choices of HOW to deal with that pressure were poor.

But I don't think we don't need to knock him down, trample him and make him suffer, though, do we? Some of his sponsored have pulled their contracts. He's been punished to the tune of a couple million dollars. I bet we can all think of ONE THING we have done in the last 10 years that if it was splashed across the news we would want to crawl into a hole and die?

Maybe it was a Mommy-tantrum @ WalMart or in your own home.

Maybe you have been unfaithful in your marriage.

Maybe you have taken prescription drugs just a couple times too many without an actual ailment.

Maybe you have bounced a couple checks.

Lied to a friend.

Faked it!

You finish the list....

Wouldn't we want our friends, family, and the strangers that witnessed our BIG PUBLIC OOPS to show some grace? Have a heart? Give you a chance to start fresh? A public do-over?

Yes, what Michael did was a poor choice. Yes, many children will see that choice. But, we as parents, need to stand up and turn this into a HUGE TEACHING MOMENT. A lesson in poor judgement, how it affects others and a BIGGER lesson in showing grace. Michael's mistake could be a blessing in disguise for your family. Have a chat with your kids about it tonight.

I wanna hear your MOM PERSPECTIVE on this.

Wait for it...wait for it...

It's all coming together and I am loving every minute of it! This whole production thing is amazing! I love doing The Mom Show! I have gotten some great feedback and tips from other blogging moms, too. So, a big shout out to those of you that popped in to give me a tip! LOVE IT!

This second episode has turned into something bigger than just me blabbing about my own ankle-height self-image! It may just become the next reality show! LOL! OK, I am joking....but it would be cool, though, right?!

Today was one of those ordinary days...one of my kids stayed in time out almost until lunch, trapped himself in the dryer and pooped in his "unnawears." My dishes got done but the sink is full, the rice pudding I attempted to make has been in the over for over 2 hours and has not set as of yet, I got my period and my gut feels like there is a knife sticking out of it, BUT MY SHOW WAS SO FUN TO PIECE TOGETHER so it makes it all OK!

Well, someone is climbing on the counter yelling, "Thank you, Mom!" I need to go see what I am being thanked for!

Show should go up on YouTube tomorrow!

Check it out and subscribe @ THE MOM SHOW!