S Club Mama

I am an introvert-extrovert. Sounds odd but my friend, Cari, is too. Following this oddness I have many friends (as an extrovert would) but I have a small band of close friends (as would an introvert). I love my girls very dearly and never have enough time with them. "The Gift of Friendship" edited by Dawn Camp is a compilation of stories shared from many women (only a few names were familiar to me: Holley Gerth, Liz Curtis Higgs, Tsh Oxenreider, Crystal Paine, Myquillyn Smith, and Lysa TerKeurst) about their friendships. Each story was a grand reminder of how awesome it is to be loved and to love girl friends. image via Amazon I believe I read this book at just the right time. I have felt...not lonely necessarily but kind of a in a funk with a new baby. I just have very little energy to pour into friendships so I haven't reached out like I normally would (maybe this is my introvert self taking charge). However, I am so blessed with a few key friends who have rea...

I have the best friends ever. Seriously. They threw me and Baby Girl a baby shower. It was PINK! I love pink, so this is not a problem with me. I thought I'd share some pictures from the shower. Please ignore my facial expressions; I look silly in most of these pictures (we'll blame it on the pregnancy). My friends, Rachel & Kim, who threw me this awesome shower to welcome our girl! This beautiful quilt not only matches the baby's room but it was made by my good good friend/mentor, Linda. My storytime boss, Kim, made this beautiful blanket. I love the pattern and colors. Very girlie. The food was delicious. I could eat that popcorn every day. The watermelon was perfect. And the leftover gumballs have made the boys very happy, even if they were pink. There was a headband making station. This girl's bald head is going to be beautiful!  A pink ombre cake. It was SOOOOO yummy!!! and beautiful! Baby naming game. Not sure...

Last night, I was thinking back to Moose's parent-teacher conference. Really great (for both kids, actually). He's participating in class - raising his hand in math, focusing. He only leaves the inclusive classroom for a few sensory breaks as needed. It's really hard to believe how far he's come in the past 4-5 years. For those of you who didn't know him as a two-year-old, the young man he's becoming is incredible. The only downside to his conference was talking about him socially. He is SUCH a friendly person. He says hi to everyone, is really nice, has a big ol' heart. BUT. He prefers to play by himself. And when he plays with other kids, it's always them playing what he wants to play. It's difficult as a mom to watch your son purposefully keep himself apart from others. Now, I don't want kids who just follow the crowd (who really does?) but I want them to have friends. And elementary school is a pivotal time to make those friends or at least...

My friend, Erin, from Home with the Boys is hosting 31 Days of Being a Woman on her blog. This past weekend, she wrote about influence - how we influence others and others whom influence us. She asked us to write a post about the woman/women who influence us. What a hard prompt. I have women who influence me in different areas (fashion, parenting, loving others, being a wife, fitness). I don't have ONE woman, ONE friend who totally influences me in everything right now. While I still haven't found that one person who I can call when I'm feeling down or who I feel I can talk to about everything, I've come to realize I don't need one person to be the BESTEST BEST friend ever. I have different friends who are in my life for different reasons. Not every woman in my life is going to be referenced but each one does influence me in one way or another; whenever you're in contact with a person, you are an influence to one another. In the area of mothering, I dra...

I know I've talked about friendship and mom friends and other friends before. I just am having a hard time with this. I was having such a bad morning (arguing with Big A, not enough sleep, cranky baby, toddler who only wants to watch tv, didn't get to go visit doggies at the shelter...you get the idea) and I had no one to call. And I know I'm not the best friend in the world to the few (one? two?) I have. I don't call. There are two reasons for it: a) you have lives (either children or work) and I don't want to interrupt and b) fear of rejection - what if you don't pick up? What if you're too busy for me? I know that sounds very grade school but it's definitely a fear of mine. I was reading a blog post about someone whose been friends with this other girl since she was 12 and all I could think of is that I don't have a friend like that. Most people have a friend from elementary school, high school. The only person I talk to from that far back is my c...

My new bloggy friend, Emma , is passing on an award to me (I knew I liked her!). Here it is ladies and...children reading over mommy's shoulders: Rules: 1) Add the logo to your blog 2) Link to the person from whom you received this award 3) Nominate 5 blogs 4) Leave a message on their blog – letting them know that they are ‘One Lovely Blog’ The 5 lovely blogs I am passing this award on to are: A Pretty Cool Life Not So Usual It Ain't Easy Being Cheesy Jenerbug - Queen of Crafty Ambitions Honey Mommy Also go check out Emma's blog, Me, the Man, and the Baby - it's really cute and her son, Oli, is such a sweetie pie!

I have met some of the most amazing women through this blog. I know I don't have a huge following but I have some serious sweeties who comment. I've received prayers, encouragement, and even some gifts from some spectacular people. And I've won a couple of giveaways, too! Most recently, I've won a really cool thermometer so I can stop using the rectal one on Moose (he says, thank God). And Aubrey has been really encouraging through my sleep process and just my pre-baby blues stuff I'm going through (you should go over and tell her how amazing she is, because...she is). In the spirit of Paying it Forward, I really want to host a giveaway. I'm not quite sure what I want to give away though. I'd like it to be something special (I'd really like for it to be homemade, but I'm not sure if I have the required craftiness to take on something like this). So, let me gestate on it for a few days, possibly the weekend. You can submit ideas, if you wish... Check...

...but, how do you make friends? I promised Moose I would make him (and me) some friends when we moved back here. Now, I know we haven't even been here a month, but I just have no clue how to go about making friends, especially pint-sized ones. I've never been the best at making friends. Really, I don't have a lot of close friends (mainly 2, in fact). I have quite a few good friends, but just not a lot of friends in general. Friends I can have play dates with, you know? Well, and we're limited on that because they would have to come here; we have no way to get anywhere. I mean, we could meet at the small park around here, but it would still be them coming to us. Not that I wouldn't LOVE to go somewhere (Children's Museum, zoo) and meet them; we just have one vehicle though and I'm so not walking that far! But I'm not exactly who you would describe as "cool." I'm one of those in-between people who gets along with generally everyone. But I ju...

As you know, our friends (the Spiderlegs) are moving away. On Sunday there was a going away party for them at this really beautiful park nearby. I named myself the unofficial photographer of the evening (which was weird because I now realize that I didn't get pictures of Mr. Spiderlegs or his family - I did but they turned out blurry so it's like I didn't...oops). Anyway, here are some pictures from the affair. Cake #1: It doesn't matter if they move to Timbuktu, home is where the heart is! Cake #1: LJ's favorite colors! LJ's mom and niece Moose alongside LJ & K's nephew the men by the grill LJ's brother playing with Moose LJ with her nephew old friends chatting it up Moose made a new friend our friend Cale with the original Baby Cale (aka Moose) looking good, ladies! (Almost) Plain White Ts LJ's nephew helping K's cousin's kid tie his shoe Moose knows just where to find the football Anyway, the day was fun. After the cookout/hangout time...

I borrowed this movie from Mrs. Spiderleg & have been waiting a week to watch it with Big A. We're watching it, and it's super good. It would be an amazing movie for middle school-aged children to watch, especially if they have bully problems or just general "fitting in" problems (who doesn't at that age?). But (and if you haven't seen the movie...stop reading) then *BAM* she dies. What?!?! I thought this was a happy-go-lucky fantasy movie for kids. I would not recommend this movie to children younger than tween age, even if they are "mature" for their age. I do recommend you watching it, whoever you are. If you need a good friendship story, if you feel like you don't fit in, if you need a creative outlet, if you have a sibling, if you're an only child...mother, father, tween age child, grandmother, grandfather...etc. You get the idea. It's super good. Grab your Kleenex.