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Happy Holidays

the mom-team — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 16:58:36 +0000

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I have been too busy. But busy in a good way. Lots of changes going on with my other business that is taking all of my time. I am sorry to all of my mom-stuff friends for the absence of posts .

It is now time for the Christmas Season. This is my favorite time of the year. I love the music, the lights and the overall feeling of goodwill. I wish it could be Christmas all year.

At www.mom-stuff.com we have lots of great Christmas ideas for you. Here are your links for family fun and easy gifts.

Family Fun

Christmas Recipes
Christmas Recipes . . . keep reading

Christmas Games
Are you having a Christmas Party and need some games to play? We have a few ideas for you. . . . keep reading

My Christmas Tradition
Christmas Traditions . . . keep reading

Simple and Inexpensive Christmas Gift Ideas
Simple and Inexpensive Gift Ideas-These have also been nic named neighbor gifts. . . .keep reading

Christmas Kids Crafts
Snowmen craft, Candy Countdown, Christmas Tree Countdown and Santa’s Beard Countdown are fun crafts for you and your children to enjoy this Christmas. . . . keep reading

Gift Ideas

Christmas FRIEND Gifts #4
Candy Canes, Rudolph’s Nose Repair Kit, Lotion( A Friend) Cookie Cutter and What is Christmas Mug. These are great for teachers, neighbors, co-workers, housekeeper, delivery person or anyone you don’t know what to get and don’t want to spend a lot, but want to show your holiday spirit. . . . keep reading

12 Days of Christmas
The 12 Days of Christmas . . . keep reading

Christmas FRIEND Gifts #3
Large Candy Bar, Grinch Candy Canes, Santa Kisses and Snowman Kisses. These are great for teachers, neighbors, co-workers, housekeeper, delivery person or anyone you don’t know what to get and don’t want to spend a lot, but want to show your holiday spirit. . . . keep reading

Christmas FRIEND Gifts #2
Snowman Poop, Snownman Soup, and Reindeer Droppings. These are great for teachers, neighbors, co-workers, housekeeper, delivery person or anyone you don’t know what to get and don’t want to spend a lot, but want to show your holiday spirit. . . .keep reading

Christmas Friend Gifts #1
Christmas FRIEND Gifts Christmas Dish towels, Help with the Mess, Candy Cane Seeds and I Ran Out of Time. These would be great to give out at work, to neighbors, for people you don’t know what to get and don’t want to spend a lot, but want to show your holiday spirit. . . . keep reading

It is my wish for all of you to have the best Christmas Season ever with family and friends.

Dianne

Classmate Valentines

the mom-team — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 00:17:12 +0000

Our Classmate Valentine has been one of our most popular Kids Crafts on Mom-Stuff.com. The comments from our moms have been amazing. These are so easy to make and they look so cute.

The patterns are made to be printed on colored paper with very simple details. I made them last year with my granddaughters, one was only two. Pick the pattern from your child’s cutting skill level or per cut them your self. Have some fun with the children in your life. Crafting can be great family time. Get your FREE patterns at mom-stuff.com.

Let’s Begin 2011 on the Right Foot

the mom-team — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 16:57:12 +0000

Mom-Stuff.com Featured Resources to help you start 2011 on the right foot.

Tips to Help Your New Year’s Resolutions Stick
Setting New Year’s resolutions may be a time-honored tradition but unfortunately making last-minute vows during a champagne toast isn’t an effective approach. How can you ensure that you’ll stick with your goals beyond January 15th? You’ve got to make sure that your goals possess a “STICKINESS” factor. . . .

Setting Goals and Shaping your Future
Each year on the first of January, I take the time to reflect upon my goals from the previous year. I like to evaluate what I have accomplished, and review everything that has manifested throughout the year. It always makes me smile, how things have unfolded for the goals which had a strong enough WHY even if I did not really know at the time how I would get them accomplished…amazing how that works! . . .

Organizing For Taxes – For the Unorganized
My taxes are a mess, or rather doing them is. I run a small business to make it even worse, am I am semi organized at best. Today found me with a large pile or receipts for just about everything that needed to be organized and tallied and more . . .

To Sick for School?
Kids health questions. Is your kid to sick to send them to school. Parents can use the following symptom-based guidelines to help them decide whether to keep their child home or send them to school.

Recipe Overhaul
Do you have had a stack of recipes to go through each time you cook? Here is some great tips for recipe organization. I started with a spiral index card book in High school, then went onto a small ring binder for index cards, next was a small album with sheet protectors, and now I have FINALLY found a great strategy that works for me. Let’s go about this in 5 steps! . .

A Christmas Tale for Mom’s

the mom-team — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 17:09:25 +0000

‘Twas The Night Before Christmas…Mom Style

‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the abode
Only one creature was stirring & she was cleaning the commode.
The children were finally sleeping, all snug in their beds,
while visions of X-Box & Barbie flipped through their heads.

Yes, and dad was snoring in front of the TV,
with a half constructed bicycle propped on his knee.
So only the mom heard the reindeer hooves clatter,
which made her sigh, “Now what is the matter?”

With toilet bowl brush still clutched in her hand,
She descended the stairs, and saw the old man.
He was covered with ashes & soot, which fell with a shrug,
“Oh great,” muttered the mom, “Now I have to clean the rug.”

“Ho Ho Ho!” cried Santa, I’m glad you’re awake.”
“Your gift was especially difficult to make.”
“Thanks, Santa, but all I want is time alone.”
“Exactly!” he chuckled, “So, I’ve made you a clone.”

“A clone?” she muttered, “What good is that?”
“Run along, Santa, I’ve no time for chit chat.”
Then out walked the clone – The mother’s twin,
Same hair, same eyes, same double chin.

“She’ll cook, she’ll dust, and she’ll mop every mess.
You’ll relax, take it easy, watch TV and rest.
“Fantastic!” the mom cheered. “My dream has come true!”
“I’ll shop, I’ll read, I’ll sleep a night through!

“From the room above, the youngest did fret.
“Mommy?! Come quickly, I’m scared and I’m wet.
“The clone replied, “I’m coming, sweetheart.”
“Hey,” the mom smiled, “She sure knows her part.

“The clone changed the child and hummed her a tune,
as she bundled the small one in a blanket cocoon.
“You’re the best mommy ever. I really love you.
“The clone smiled and sighed, “And I love you too.

“The mom frowned and said, “Sorry, Santa, no deal.
That’s my child’s LOVE she is going to steal.
“Smiling wisely, Santa said: “To me it is clear,
Only one loving mother is needed here.

“The mom kissed her child and tucked her in bed.
“Thank You, Santa, for clearing my head.
Sometimes I forget, it won’t be very long,
before they’ll be too old for my cradle and song.

“The clock on the mantle began to chime.
Santa whispered to the clone, “It works every time.
“With the clone by his side, Santa said: “Goodnight.
Merry Christmas, dear Mom, you’ll be all right.”

As a mom it’s easy to get discouraged and there are days that you want to sit down and throw a temper tantrum. On the days when you wished for a clone, take some time for yourself and remember the joys of being a mom. Please have a happy holiday with friends and family. I wish for you all of the joy and peace of the season. Merry Christmas Moms from mom-stuff.com

As the Season Change so do Our Lifes

the mom-team — Sat, 09 Oct 2010 20:29:45 +0000

I found this story on Mamapedia and it expressed my feelings of the season change so well I wanted to share it with you. The picture is the color of Payson, UT last weekend.

Changing Seasons: A Lesson in Letting Go

Donna Scrima-Black of “MommyBest”

Donna Scrima-Black is an author (MommyBest: 13 Inspirational Lessons Derek & Dylan’s Mom (and maybe yours) Never Learned in School) and mom.

Although I feel excited by change, whether it’s the seasons or a different place to vacation, I often struggle with adjusting to the varying conditions that accompany it.

I still remember those “butterflies” in my stomach during the first month of school, when I was a student and after I became a teacher. Family, friends and even strangers often warned me time would be fleeting when my children were born. I never really understood why I heard this comment so much.

Then I realized, until you experience parenting first hand, it’s hard to imagine the brevity of each magical moment. To all new moms and dads, please know baby’s first few years truly are over in what seems to be a mere blink of the eye—so enjoy them as much as you can!

Every year as the weather changes and a new season is upon us, I procrastinate the sorting and storing of my boys’ clothing. “It’s such an arduous task”—-I mumble to myself—-each time I stuff more garments into their already overloaded drawers, all filled with items from last season. Once I finally begin surveying their inventory, my practical side reassures me my children will be able to fit into these outfits for “just one more year,” even though my pragmatic side secretly knows my boys’ growth spurt has been constant, so they will most likely be unable to wear much of their previous year’s wardrobe. for the rest of the story and to leave comments http://www.mamapedia.com/voices/changing-seasons-a-lesson-in-letting-go

One more of the 200 pictures I took enjoying the leaves and the wonder of the changing season.

Easy Halloween Decorations

the mom-team — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 23:41:26 +0000

Last year I wanted to make some glamour pumpkins. I found some at Roberts Crafts that I loved. They had spray painted pumpkins with a silver paint and added some glitter. The affect was gorgeous. I have just finished re decorating my house so I decided to paint my pumpkins with brown and then glam them up, using the idea I had seen at Roberts. Well I spray painted the pumpkins and loved them so much I did not add anything to them. They look like chocolate covered pumpkins and they look really good with the new decorations.

Public Bathroom Tips with Children

the mom-team — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 18:40:48 +0000

I was traveling this weekend and had some bad experiences with public restrooms so this morning when I found this article at Mamapedia I had to share it with you. I hope you can relate and that it makes you laugh, too. Here is the link http://www.mamapedia.com/voices/never-underestimate-the-joys-of-a-public-bathroom-with-two-kids?fbc1=1 I was traveling to see the wonderful colors of the autumn leaves. I will post some pictures for you soon.

Never Underestimate the Joys of a Public Bathroom with Two Kids by Alex Iwashyna

As an avid caffeine drinker and a mother of two young children, I spend an exorbitant amount of time in the bathroom (mostly trying to shirk my parenting duties).

So I’m sharing some public bathroom tips to at least give you the heads up to not touch me or my children post-pee.

Public Bathrooms, Children Edition

Tip #1: If someone can watch your children while you run into the bathroom, ASK. Unless your children are acting up and you tend to take a long time peeing. Then the person will think you jumped out the window. And will catch you halfway out when they come looking for you.

Tip #2: Ask the people in the bathroom if they’re waiting. They may be fixing their hair. Enjoying the free soap. Singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. AND STILL WAITING FOR A STALL. If you cut in front of them, they will hate you forever. (FOREVER you old biddy.)

Tip #3: If the stall doors do not lock, you cannot use it. I REPEAT. DO NOT USE THE BROKENSTALL. You need one hand for wiping, one hand for wrangling the children, one hand for keeping the door closed. Since you presumably only have TWO hands, you are left giving your fellow bathroom mates a full-frontal.

Tip #4: The baby seat provided will not have a working buckle and will be located as far from the toilet as possible. So let go of your germ phobias and put the baby on the ground. The whole ordeal will go much faster if you put the child down. And if they aren’t mobile, balance them on the baby bag. If they are, sing and coo from your porcelain throne. And hope that the kid doesn’t crawl into the stall next to you because this may shock the woman in the other stall. Enough for her to miss. Then you’ve got more than hands to wash.

Tip #5: Post-bathroom crawl you will have to choose whose hands to wash, yours or your babies. And you have five seconds before your oldest child leaves the bathroom with your stall buddy who peed on your kin. Choose the baby. As the adult, you are slightly less likely to put your hands in your mouth. And you can always tell yourself and the strangers around you that you will use hand sanitizer afterward. But you won’t. You’ll forget while the baby cries because her hands are wet and the other kid says: I have to pee NOW, Mama.

You’re welcome. Although after writing this I thought: WHO NEEDS TIPS ON PUBLIC BATHROOMUSE? And then I realized. The answer was me.

This post is written by Alex Iwashyna, a happily married mom with a BA in Political Philosophy and a Medical Degree and the drive to become neither. She blogs at Late Enough mostly about life, parenting, marriage, politics, culture, religion, and her inability to wake up in the morning and not hate everyone. Find her on Twitter or Facebook, too.

Words of Wisdom from a Mom of Multiples

the mom-team — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 18:54:20 +0000

Today I found this great post at Multiplemama. I laughed out loud so I just had to share it. Thank you, Andie for your wonderful talent to share the humor of motherhood. She is such a great Mom Blogger.

You can buy all the books like What to Expect when you’re Expecting, Sleep Training for Dummies, and How to have a Zen Baby. But when it comes down to it and that little baby is in your arms you learn a few things your mother and all those books never even mentioned. Most especially your mother because she had her career as a grandmother at stake.

1) Your abdominal muscles are not going to forgive you anytime soon.
Recovery time after being stretched like a Gumby doll is going to be at least twice as long as the time it took to grow that baby. And exponentially longer if you had more than one in there at a time. But, they most likely will not ever look the same.

2) Breast feeding can give you stretch marks on your boobs. Which by the way are not going to ever be half as perky as they were before. But no matter because they are now more commonly thought of as a snack bar, and all cuteness is pretty much out of the question.

3) You thought granny panties were big, wait til you see the ones they give you to wear in the hospital after delivery.

4) Motherhood causes one to refer to oneself in the third person.
And no not by the name your parents gave you but, “Mommy.” “Mommy said no.” Will become your go to phrase for quite some time.

5) But not to worry. Because even when the kid is older you will be, “so and so’s mommy.” So you can practically forget using your real first name and not even notice it’s gone.

6) There are teams to be chosen. Breastfeeding vs. Formula, CIO vs. Attachment, Homeschool vs. traditional school, mom jeans vs. still trying to be a teenager jeans, green organic mommy vs. diet coke and fries mommy, and the list goes on so choose wisely and carefully the members of these teams mean business.

7) Laundry is now the driving force behind your sanity. And don’t be fooled that little seven pound bundle of joy can produce his own weight in dirty laundry by the hour!

8 ) The more kids you have the harder it is to carry on a conversation with friends who do not have kids. This boils down to one factor. Eye contact. Before you had kids you could afford to have eye contact with whomever you were speaking to. Now you must keep your eyes on the wandering children and keep tabs at all times on locations and activities. People without children will stop talking when you look away and never be able to complete a sentence let alone the conversation.

9) Yes, it does get easier. People will tell you that a lot. But, not let on to the fact that the minute it gets easier they get mobile. So, while that little guy may be able to feed himself his own breakfast now. He can also tun through the halls screaming after tearing off his own diaper.

10) It is even more fun than you thought it was going to be. But, you have got to be fast if you’re gonna keep up so wear some comfortable shoes!

Go and visit Andie at Multiple Mama and make comments. Let her know how much you appreciate her blog.

Mom-Stuff Back to School Pages

the mom-team — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 18:11:42 +0000

08/07/10

News and Up-dates

Back to School Featured Articles and Resources at mom-stuff.com.

Getting the Best Value when Back to School Shopping

Getting To and From School Safely

8 Great Tips To Organize Kids’ Rooms

Back to School Artwork Books

Make your own Large Felt Flower Barrette, Spunky Headbands, or Rockin Bobbie Pins to match your new school clothes.

Promote your mom-stuff affiliate. You can use any of these articles and links. Always use public links (these are free links) when promoting your mom-stuff affiliate. If you have not signed up for your free affiliate with mom-stuff do it now. We can all use an extra income stream in today’s economy. It is really easy, just pick your mom-stuff banner linked to your mom-stuff ID, post it on your site. Our system does all of the tracking and you make 50% commissions on all of your friends who join. Then they join and make money from their friends. It is a win/win system. We are keeping the membership fees low so everyone can afford this opportunity. It is less then .30 a day. Mom-Stuff is all about moms helping supporting and educating each other. Please email any article you want to share on Mom-Stuff.com. If you feel that we do not have a category that your information will fit, no worries, we will create one.

AS THE KIDS GO BACK TO SCHOOL LETS DO A SELF-CARE CHALLENGE

the mom-team — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 18:10:19 +0000

I found this article at Mamapedia. Renee has some really good food for thought. After reading this article I am going to get her book and read it. Here is her article I wanted to share it with you and challenge you to do a self-care challenge. as you send your kids back to school.

Sometimes I feel like a broken record, constantly advocating the benefits of self-care and how it has transformed my life over the last ten years.

But this past week confirmed that this message is one we all need to hear, over and over again.

I recently led a workshop for woman entrepreneurs at all life stages on how to work less and experience more. I call this approach the Empowered Entrepreneur —a topic I’m very passionate about.

Toward the end of the workshop, after covering a lot of essential ground related to running a small business, I touched on the importance of self-care; especially, for moms. And interestingly, this arena is where the most lively, passionate, emotional dialogue erupted.

They all seemed to grasp that self-care—cultivating an awareness for and responding to their physical/emotional/spiritual/mental needs—was fundamental to their well-being. And, they understood intellectually that they couldn’t build a business—much less function—when they were exhausted, harried, out of synch with themselves and running on empty.

But, were they ready to change their behavior and mindset to be more compassionate, nurturing and responsive to their deepest needs?

My ah-ha moment and initial motivation to learn more about self-care (read The Transformative Power of Self-Care from my book), came after having my son and realizing how vital it was for me to teach him to honor and nurture himself—something my sweet mother who battled depression most of her life, was never able to teach me.

What will it take for you to make this shift?

Consider the following “gifts from self-care” I’ve received over the years. When we renew ourselves by attuning and responding to our needs:

1. We feel more generous and can avoid building resentments toward others who demand our energy and time.

2. We naturally feel more loving, which makes us better friends, partners, parents and more enjoyable to be around!

3. We validate and honor our own worth, our essence, which naturally enhances confidence and self-esteem and lowers susceptibility to depression and anxiety.

4. We feel more alive and whole; we’re able to function at our best and do more of the things we want to do.

5. We renew and restore our energy supply and create energy reserves so we’re able to weather unforeseen challenges more easily.

6. We’re more present and calm; we can respond wisely, intuitively and effectively to a variety of circumstances.

7. We begin to step into our personal power (realizing our potential), which is our birthright.

8. We feel good on the inside, which leads to looking good on the outside. Nurturing your essence—inside and out—promotes well-being and vitality.

AS THE KIDS GO BACK TO SCHOOL LETS DO A SELF-CARE CHALLENGE

I invite you for the next thirty days to begin to become aware of how you’re feeling and what you need. Try a quick body scan before you even step out of bed in the morning. Just lie there for a moment and check in with your physical and emotional health. Are you overscheduled, do you need to lighten your load? Do you need to move your body or spend more time in nature? Are you dehydrated or are you eating something that is not enhancing your energy level? Do you need to say “no” to something or ask for help? Do you need to build in a day or evening to just rest (A radical concept, I know!). I have been focusing on self-nurturance for ten years and I still have a long way to go. But, hands down, this has been the most life-changing practice I have ever embraced. And the gifts that come from cultivating more compassion and love for myself, continue to greet me daily. I’d love to hear your comments around the theme of self-care. Cancer survivor Audre Lorde says it best, “Self-care is not about self-indulgence, it’s about self-preservation.”

Renée Peterson Trudeau is a nationally-recognized career/life balance coach, president of Career Strategists and the author of the award-winning The Mother’s Guide to Self-Renewal: How to Reclaim, Rejuvenate and Re-Balance Your Life. Thousands of women around the U.S./Canada are joining and becoming trained to lead Personal Renewal Groups based on the Guide, as a way to enhance balance and well-being in their lives.

As you send the kids back to school spend the next 30 days focus on your self-care.