The irreverent musings of a slightly crunchy mother of 5-the astronaut, princess, the squirrel, side salad, popcorn-and elementary school teacher. I am a semi-crunchy, slightly attached, cloth diapering, breastfeeding mama.
Thursday, April 25, 2013
Lemme Upgrade Ya!
Thursday, April 11, 2013
What I've been doing
The school year is winding down so I'm making plans for the summer and for the fall. This summer, I plan to do a home summer camp with day trips for the babies. I got the idea from Pinterest but I haven't full mapped out my plan. I need to sit down and give it some focus. I also plan to get my business off the ground.
Yes, business. I'm a Thirty One consultant. Check out my website. Go ahead, take a peek.
I am also thinking about the fall, whether full time is the way to go. Lots up in the air so I probably won't post much over the weekend. Sugar baby turned one I'll post pics ASAP.
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
50 things about me
2. My mother, my oldest daughter, and I have the same middle name.
3. I love me some Facebook.
4. I love playing board games with my brothers.
5. I'm the oldest of four and the only girl.
6. I have five kids.
7. When I was in third grade, I wanted to live on a farm with my eight kids.
8. In my senior book, I wrote that I wanted 3 boys.
9. I had my first child when I was 18. I had been out of high school four months.
10. I didn't know I was pregnant until I was about six months. He kicked.
11. I breastfed all my babies, sometimes for a pretty long time. As of February 2013, 56 months and counting.
12. My husband is 3 years younger than me.
13. We met at Burger King. I worked there.
14. I have a B. A. in elementary education.
15. I scored in the top 15% of test takers on the PLT. I have never taught full time but I'm still certified.
16. I'm three classes shy of my M.Ed.
17. Grilled cheese sammies are my fave.
18. Cilantro disgusts me. It tastes like soap.
19. I love each of my kids the best. They are each my favorite.
20. I cloth diapered my last two kids.
21. No, my tubes aren't tied.
22. I don't know if I want more kids.
23. I like going to the movies by myself from time to time. I can see what I want and I don't have to share my snacks.
24. I still want go live on a farm.
25. If I was super rich, I'd buy an island and go off grid.
26. I recently relaxed my hair. I needed a change. It was a hard, hard choice.
27. I don't eat many veggies.
28. I eat lots of ice cream.
29. I took 3 years of French (I, III, & IV) and 2 years of Latin I'm high school.
30. I took Spanish in college.
31. I'm not fluent but I can speak passable Spanish
32. 4 of my kids have Hebrew names. The other's name is Welsh bc it was the only one on which we could agree.
33. All of my girls' names have to do with water: dew from heaven, autumn rain, and a brook or stream. Water calms me, even though I'm a fire sign.
34. I drive American cars. Especially Dodges.
35. I love Modern Family.
36. And Real Housewives of Atlanta.
37. I'm Team Kandi.
38. My fave ice cream is mint chocolate chip.
39. I have a problem with cloth diapers. I am obsessed. The most I've paid for one-$43. For one diaper.
40. Yes, I had a goodmama. I lost it, though. Just have an insert now.
41. I've never stolen anything.
The Restashing Project, Part 4
Monday, April 1, 2013
Party Planning
Sugarbaby turns one on Saturday. One. A whole year old. We are throwing her a party.
I hate throwing parties. I basically overdid it, OD'd on parties with the first three. They had shindigs every year, themed galas with magnificent cakes and entertainment. Marionette puppet shows, costume parties, I was that mom. Mind you, astronaut and squirrel's birthdays are nine days apart, followed by Halloween 12 days later, Lettuce's birthday 20 days later, Thanksgiving up to a week later, my birthday 2-3 weeks later, princess' birthday 3 DAYS later, Christmas a week after that and then New Year's.
Exactly. 10 hellish weeks.
Then, I realized that I was creating my own misery by falling into the birthday party pressure. I realized I was spending a lot of money for something the kids wouldn't even remember. I realized that I myself am only certain of 2 parties-my first and a sleepover when I was 11 or 12.
Yet I continued to get older.
So I stopped. Cold turkey. My friends were shocked.
That is not to say we don't celebrate birthdays. We do, with cake and presents and a family dinner. Birthday kid's choice. They love it. It's their day, their special day.
And guess what-they keep getting older.
But Sugarbaby is turning one, and a party she shall have!
Friday, March 29, 2013
Sugarbaby has a cold
This is no fun for me. She is fussy and demanding all night. But It's not like her regular brand of demanding. It's something much worse.
Usually she just demands to have all night access to the milk bar. Fine with me, she can feed herself. When she's sick, though, she wants more. Much more.
Sugarbaby's list of demands:
#1 access to the milk bar for pinches-she just pinches me over and over again like she wants me to be equally miserable.
#2 my pillow-she lays on it. Except when she doesn't.
#3 my head-she lays on it, too. Except when she doesn't.
#4 my abdomen-she lays across it. The better to pinch me; I guess.
I must not have met her demands because she woke me up Wednesday morning by sneezing a mass of sticky, yucky baby snot on my left eye. I had to shower to get it off.
Get well soon, sugarbaby.
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Remember when...
Blogs used to be a two way convo? Remember when people used to comment with their thoughts and share? This sense of nostalgia is brought to you by the reading of my old blog. I miss the back and forth conversation with my readers. It was more like I was sharing, as opposed to talking to myself.
Darn you, Facebook. Those blurbs have squeezed out quality musings. Twitter's even worse. It is so hard to condense my self to 141 characters.
Even Facebook kinda sucks now that all people do is share the same pics.
So...what brings you to my blog?
Monday, February 25, 2013
The Restashing Project, Part Three
Mary from Timbutt2oos created this fluffy goodness for Popcorn/Sugarbaby (we're going through a name change).This package consists of one fitted, one hybrid fitted, a wet bag and half a dozen wipes. If ever there was a contender for my dear lovefluff ODCs, I have found it.
Before I gush about my dipes, let me tell you a little about Mary's customer service. I detest poor customer service. I don't like sellers who are non communicative or very curt or unprofessional. Mary is super sweet and kept me updated on my fluff status with pics. PICS. I LOVE that. I will most definitely be ordering from her again, like today.
The dipes themselves are thick and plush, just the way I like them. They are not too bulky but they are one sized dipes so there is some bulk as Sugarbaby/Popcorn is a skinny minnie. They have a nice soft velour snap in soaker and another lay in soaker underneath. I am a big fan of detachable or semi attached soakers to help reduce dry times so this is a plus. The Punky Pirate print I got specifically to match an Olive Jane cover I got a while back. The Diva Kitty has the cutest detachable ruffle. It is a hybrid fitted. We all know I love fitteds but I hate covering them. Well, Mary added an extra layer of fleece on the inner so that it won't soak through as quickly. Not only is she super nice, she's super SMART! The result is I get to adore my dipes.
Not that these soak through quickly. I am impatient so when I got them, I immediately slapped one on Sugarbaby so I could take a pick:
Thursday, February 21, 2013
A quickie!
Restashing is going well. I've fallen in love anew with another brand. I have a great review coming up and-my first sponsored giveaway!
Stay tuned!
Thursday, February 14, 2013
A bowl of delicious
I like potatoes. This is evidenced by my generous curves. I also like to try new recipes. Plus, cooking from scratch allows me to control what's in the food-which is vital when you have a child with food anaphylaxis.
I picked up some leeks the other day on a whim and the first recipe that came up when I googled was this potato and leek soup. I love potatoe soups in general and I had most of the ingredients so I gave it a whirl.
Dear Baby Jesus, thank you for Google.
It was AH-MAZING. It also smelled absolutely divine!
I made a few changes-no white pepper ot white wine, because I had none. I also added garlic because I love it so. I also separated some for Princess before adding the cream. I tried to take step by step pics but after a while I stopped.
I attempted to control portions by serving it in mugs but that just caused my family to forgo spoons and drink it. It was that good.
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Monday, February 4, 2013
The Restashing Project, Part 2
Sunday, February 3, 2013
Restashing, Part I
So I've finally begun to rebuild my stash and it's crazy fun. I just scored an ODC on Spots. If you've been here long or on my old blog, you know I love my Oranges. This one Lettuce selected (or, to be fair, he saif the print was nice which I interpretedas permission to buy).
I am too in love to be objective so just enjoy this photo collage.
Monday, January 14, 2013
Goals, resolutions, whatevs
I don't like the word resolutions as it pertains to those of the new year kind. They reek of failure. I do have goals, though, and I thought I'd share them.
#1 Financial Goals: I'd like to increase my credit score. This recession took a toll on our finances. My credit score took a hit of about 100 or so points and I'm sick over it. We have no savings left at all. It sucks and we really need to buy a house like next year.
-Increase my credit score by 100 points. Duh. I want my points back.
-Save some dough. I'm doing this gradually. I started saving by putting a dollar in an envelope the first Sunday od the year. The second Sunday I'll put in two dollars. Next Sunday, three dollars. And so on. The last Sunday, I'll put in $52. And I'll have over $1300 saved. Do the math. It's real.
-Get a full time position at my beloved school. Preferably in the science lab. Or 2nd grade. Or third. Or fourth. Shoot, even fifth.
#2 Health: Other than my obscene cholesterol, I'm good. Obscene like it has never been below 250. Even when I was a kid. That's related to genetics, not diet. But I want to better.
-Eat less red meat and pork.
-Eat more veggies.
-Dust off my work out DVDs and get jiggy with it.
#3 Personal: Continuing the theme of the best me,
-READ THE BIBLE MORE.
-Spend more one on one time with each kid. Now that popcorn is getting big, that should ve easier.
-Spend more time with the hubby.
-journal consistently.
Do you have any life goals for the new year?
Friday, January 4, 2013
It Matters
This year we moved from a very diverse, urban/suburban-ish school district to a much less diverse one in more affluent area. I have mixed feelings about this as a teacher and as a parent. My kids attend much newer schools (brand spankin' new!)with much more technology. Astronaut has an iPad. Squirrel has them in her class. Princess checks out Nooks from the library. The students as a whole are more focused and there are far fewer behavioral issues.
But there are major drawbacks. My kids stick out like grains of pepper in a bowl of rice. It's a new experience for them, though not necessarily a bad one. They've made new friends, really nice ones, especially the Astronaut. But there are definitely some drawbacks. For one, their idea of a open door policy differs greatly from what we've been used to. They don't like parents to come into the children's classrooms. I'm used to sitting in, helping teachers. Also Princess and her teacher had some issues. And today I noticed that ina school with over 750 students, there are zero black teachers. What are the odds of that? They also failed to put my boy-who is state identified as gifted-in the proper courses.
Before Princess made her entrance, there was only one black girl. I guess she was The Black Girl. Now there are two. She and P have had "friendship problems" because she feels like P is "taking her friends." We'll call said girl, Frog (this is not in any way related to her looks. She's a pretty child.). Princess is slender, slightly above average height, has smooth chocolatety skin, big brown eyes with lashes so long they look like butterfly wings, long hair (down past her shoulders, though she rarely wears it out). I've only seen her twice but Frog is light skinned with very long hair-about mid back length-the same texture as Princess' but a little lighter in color. These details will be relevant very soon.
Today, Princess told me that Frog is not black. Now I've seen Frog and it is very clear that she is, in fact, black. It's not that she's ambiguous, like the singer Miguel. She's a light skinned black girl. So I ask "Well what is she then? " I expect her to say Guyanese or Dominican or something like that-something with enough melanin to fool the eye at first glance. Princess tells me that Frog says she is white.
Apparently, Frog is mixed. I had no idea. And since her mom is white, she's decided she's white, too. Now that she can't be TBG, I guess. Let me say, this child is not black, per se. She is biracial. I am not suggesting she should deny her whiteness.
You wonder why I care, don't you. It's because I care about kids and their wellbeing, even when they are mean to my kids. I'm a teacher. Kids are my life. My students, I love them like I birthed them.
I care because this is a little black girl and I'm a mama of little black girls. It is a cold world for little black girls. The world goes out of its way to tear them down. Traditional ideals of beauty are very eurocentric. Additionally, the assumption is that intelligence and class have an inverse relationship with complexion.
I care because this child is being set up to be ridiculed and embarrassed. No one will treat her like a white child. Yes, this is America. Yes, it is 2013. Yes, black people are STILL treated differently than others. It's just the truth. Furthermore, no one is going to trear her black, then find out she is "white" and treat her differently. I understand that her mother is white-she is not. It's like hair color. If your mom is a blonde and you've hot auburn tresses, you're not blonde. She will be looked at a bit funny by everyone for calling herself white.
I care because this could impact her school performance. Yep, black pride is good for black kids, says Harvard. It gives the the tools they need to survive and thrive. By denying what is clearly true-that she is biracial, her mother is implying that there is something wrong with being black. She's attaching shame to it. And self shame can morph into self hate, a dangerous thing in girls. Self hate leads to self destructive behaviors such as eating disorders, promiscuity, drinking, cutting, etc.
My heart breaks for this precious child and the utter confusion she must be feeling. I'm scared of how real things will get for her.
Or perhaps I'm just reading too much into it.