Mamavation!

Leah from Bookieboo is starting an AMAZING program, Mamavation, to bring motivation to overweight moms. Right now she she is accepting applications to participate in the Mamavation program. She will accept 1 lucky mom to bare all and get healthy! I am posting this video app and am hoping that I get to be a finalist! Be sure to check it out!

What Does Family Mean to You?

This July 4th - family is on my mind big time. Not only do we celebrate the birth of our great nation, but we will celebrate my baby turning 14! 14? Where did the time go? Saturday at 8:21a, I will sing 'Happy Birthday' to Brian for the 14th time (I first sang it to him in the hospital when I delivered him.). And I will celebrate everything that his 14 years have meant to us.

This got me thinking about what family means to me. And really, I have to say that family is the single most important thing in the world to me. When our son needed us, we left material things behind for him. When my sister needed me, I left my house at 4:00a for her. When I needed my parents to be there for me, they were there - unjudging, unwavering in support: THERE. When I needed someone to talk to about all of the things we were going through with DS - my dad, my two best friends & my sister were there. And anyone who may know me personally, will know when I say my family describes itself as "Dysfunction Junction" that it's not an elaboration. BUT, my family is close knit. We're always there for one another. NO. MATTER. WHAT. We are not petty with one another. We do not try to one-up each other. We are family.

Let me tell you what family is NOT to me: an occassional card or phone call, but no visits or real contact. Someone who smiles to your face, but is nasty behind your back. Someone who can't be bothered to be supportive because it's: A.)Inconvenient B.)Embarrassing OR C.) Is not Self-Serving. Family is not fair-weather. Family does not dislike you because you don't fit the mold. Family doesn't ignore you unless they need a favor from you. Family is not family just because you share DNA.

So in conclusion - YES my family is nuts. We're loud. We're non-traditional. We're definitely not perfect. But we are a family in every true sense of the word. We are there when it counts. We are there when it's inconvenient. We are there when it's painful. We are there when it's joyful. We are there when it's embarrassing. We are there because it's Tuesday for Pete's Sake! And if I didn't get several phone calls a week from my mom, dad, and sister.. heartfelt invites for family gatherings every time we come home.. and non-stop support from those family members who don't share my DNA, but share my heart... I'd never know the true joy of family. And when you are watching the fireworks and eating BBQ with the fam - remember this: family is everything and you get to spend the day with yours. :)

Wordless Wednesday

DS at the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows book launch party at our local library. He was participating in Wizards' Chess.

Are you Going to BlogHer?

How would you like to win a ticket to BlogHer? All you have to do is to visit BlogHer and tell Ford which of 3 vehicles listed you'd take on a Road Trip to BlogHer! But hurry - last day to enter is TODAY!

Wordless Wednesday

The kidlets & Uncle Jon enjoy their balloon animals while at Spaghetti Warehouse.

The One Where I Talk About My Fat Bum!

So recently, I've been none too shy about discussing my big, fat, posterior on my blog. But really, that's only because virtually no one reads it. ;P But today, in an effort to help Fiona and Leah reach out to other moms like myself, who need to make a positive change and need support doing it - I popped on their Blog Talk Radio Show, MomActive, to discuss my big, fat, arse. (Or rather the need to change my big, fat arse.) And I was happy to do it! MomActive & BookieBoo are AMAZING resources for every mom out there. Whether you're already fit and work at it daily or are just getting started or are somewhere in between - you'll find an amazing network of women ready to stand behind you and cheer you on! SO PLEASE - join BookieBoo and MomActive and listen in to their funny and inspirational radio show! You'll be glad you did!

BookieBoo Twitter Party to Celebrate the Launch MomActive is Tonight!!!!!

Tonight is the BookieBoo Twitter Party to celebrate the launch of MomActive. Leah (BookieBoo) and Fiona (BanteringBlonde) are not only hosting this fab little get together tonight, they are also launching their radio show, MomActive, on Blog Talk Radio tomorrow!

Tonight's Twitter party will introduce you to Leah & Fiona's passion for helping moms love themselves; get fit; and stay healthy for life. These ladies are dedicated and supportive. If they could get my butt off the couch, they get certainly help get your butt off the couch!

Be sure to join BookieBoo and MomActive today! And don't forget to RSVP for the Twitter Party this evening - they are giving away some fabulous prizes!

Here's a bit about Leah (who founded Bookieboo) to get you motivated:

From Top to Bottom: Leah Before, During, and After her weight loss!

1) Can you share a bit about your weight loss and your motivation for starting Bookieboo?

I was 253 lbs. when I gave birth to my first son, whom I refer to as Bookie. (When he was a baby, I called him Bookieboo.) I lost over 100 lbs. after he was born. I did it the old fashioned way: diet and exercise. I did it slowly, taking it 5 lbs. a time, and it ended up taking me two years. Fitness and healthy living have become my lifestyle now. It’s something I enjoy doing and something I enjoy sharing with my family and friends.

After I lost all that weight, I decided to combine my interests and create a site that was helpful to moms. I couldn’t find a go-to place where moms could share their struggles staying or getting into shape. I thought moms would enjoy the concept, so I created Bookieboo.

Bookieboo has over 40 contributors, posting about fitness, weight loss or healthy living. Many are certified personal trainers, but all are moms. No boys please. Bookieboo also has over 100 discount codes to share, as well as weekly giveaways, and great women.

I just had another baby, so the moms on my site are losing weight with me again. This time I only have 18 more pounds to lose. Come join me!

2) How do you stay motivated to exercise and eat well?

I don’t do the exercise for me, I do it for my family. I’m a better mom and person when I’ve worked out. I’m more patient, loving, and of course have more energy. The days I haven’t exercised are like mornings without coffee…I’m an absolute shrew. I do it for them, and that is my motivation.

People say you should exercise for yourself and put yourself first, but I don’t believe that. I think some things are greater than you are…like your family. And they deserve it.

As for the food, on days I exercise, I only crave what’s good for me. I know that sounds crazy, but it’s true. It’s the days I don’t get any exercise, I have to think about what I’m eating.

3) What do you think is universally the biggest challenge for moms when it comes to being healthy and/or losing weight after pregnancy?

Having children and getting into shape is tough. I’m finding it tougher and tougher with two. I don’t have all the answers. What works for me may not work for everyone, which is exactly the reason I have Bookieboo. It’s about how to do it all with kids from many perspectives. Moms supporting moms. I get a lot of advice from my own members.

The MomActive radio show will be similar. Fiona & I will be there to support moms in all sorts of fitness and healthy lifestyle endeavors. We are not all the same, but we can all certainly use some support and encouragement. MomActive will be covering all aspects of healthy living on the show. Not only will we discuss losing weight and staying fit, but general wellness and health issues as well.

4) How do you balance all you do—work with family?

I ask for help. I’ve got two mothers as my secret weapon. YaYa is my mom and Grammo is my husband’s mom. They love spending time with the kids, and I love having them. Having an extended family is wonderful. I also have a close cousin nearby that I work out with and bounce ideas off of. She’s equally as brilliant and we are both Trojans! Fight On!

And I also have Kelly Loubet, the Editor/Moderator of Bookieboo and Bookieboo Rave Reviews & Giveaways. She helps me out ALOT with all my projects. You can visit her at Childhood Clothing or follow her @childhood.

5) Tell me about MomActive and any other projects you are working on…

MomActive is the new radio show hosted by myself and Fiona Bryan from The Bantering Blonde. Our premiere is June 19^th at 11am pacific standard time. We are going to have weekly guests that talk all about the same sort of stuff on Bookieboo--How to stay fit or live a healthy lifestyle while being a mom. I’ve already gotten a lot of interest in the show and am going to be bringing on some incredible guests. You won’t want to miss this. I’m going to be my eccentric self and Fiona is going to be her witty self and we are just going to make a go of it, so I’m hoping you all can join us.

MomActive will have a great website as well. Fiona is going to be doing most of the writing. For those of you who don’t follow her, she’s a very witty writer, sometimes I pee my pants I’m laughing so hard at her antics. But of course, I just had a baby, so that’s not hard to do.

6) Tell me about your family, kids—ages, etc?

I have a thoughtful husband and two children: 3 years and 5 months. I’m surrounded by boys, but I love boys, so I have a lot of fun. We include grandparents a lot. Our parents are very good at not stepping on our toes, so we enjoy having them around. Both my kids have red hair—a trait just like mom. Freckles also come with the territory as well.

7) What is your greatest joy as a mom? Your biggest challenge?

I love it when my son says “mommy I love you” out of the blue. He’s been doing that a lot lately. And then getting to see smiley face all the time from Mr. Grumpy Pants, the 5 month old, who might I add is almost crawling…I’m in so much trouble!

Biggest challenge…hmmm…well, my children have a lot of energy, so that is the most difficult aspect of it. They really need to get out, or they go nuts, especially the older one. Chasing after two is twice as hard. Which is why I rely on grandparents so much.

Wordless Wednesday

Whether 3 or 30 - there's always time for beauty! :)

I did it!!! My Very First Workout!

Getting Fit

Link up your blog if you'd like to join Military Mom, BlueFroggie, and I in the EA Sports Active Challenge!

Peaceful Time

I woke up this morning in a frenzy. It seems my internal clock was attempting to communicate that it was nearly 9a when infact it was only 6a. Damned clock. Remind me to get that thing fixed. But, I decided not to go back to bed. Instead, I started a pot of coffee, folded some laundry, washed last night's dishes, and headed to my balcony. Wrapped up in a fluffy cardigan and sipping coffee from my favorite mug (Yes, it has a sheep on it. I am a knitter.), I noticed just how peaceful it was this time of day. Just how peaceful I was in this moment.

And then I started to wonder why we don't put aside more peaceful time in our lives and the lives of our children. Now I know some mother of 4 tiny tots that are as noisy as they are plentiful is staring at her computer monitor and laughing right about now. But I think it can be done. I find that I am in such a better place physically, spiritually, and emotionally when I just take time out for a little peace and quiet. (This isn't to say that everyone in the family will have their peaceful time at the same time.)

Already I do not allow the TV to be on all day. I think it's a time and brain suck, quite frankly. Children need to be active and imaginative if they are to develop properly (in my opinion). But, starting today I am going to promote 'peaceful time' with the kids. I will have each one locate a place in our apartment or just outside the apartment where they feel they can enjoy their peaceful time. And just like time out, I will give them as many minutes of peaceful time as years they are old. (I've still got to be realistic when it comes to their attention spans afterall.) And I will help them to find an activity that promotes their peaceful time. For me, it's simply sitting with a cup of coffee on the balcony, in my Adirondack chair, listening to the birds before the hustle and bustle of the day gets started. For DD, it may be coloring quietly. For DS, it may be knitting or reading.

I am challenging you all to find your peaceful time and to try to incorporate this into your everyday lives. PLEASE, write a blog post or vlog about what you and your family will be doing and link it here. I'd really enjoy reading or watching your posts!

One of THOSE Mommies

Finding Joy

Sugar Jones over at Sugar in the Raw, posted a terrific post about Finding Joy in her life. Like Sugar, I too am a walking barometer. So much so, I truly feel I have a seasonal affective disorder (nothing like self-diagnosing). And I'm a highly sensitive person. If you hadn't noticed my total Ventfest (my last post), you may not know what I'm talking about. I'm the type of person that likes to be friendly with everyone. I typically care a tremendous amount about making others happy and about keeping the peace. It's hard for me to comprehend being rude to someone just for the sake of doing it. So I was feeling badly until I realized that I don't need to allow others to steal my joy. My life has so much joy in it. I'm happy to join in with Sugar and list the 25 things that make me joyful.

1. Cuddling with the kidlets
2. Lazy mornings spent in bed with hubby
3. Listening to my kiddos giggle
4. When my family (hubby and kiddos) spend the entire day doing something together - no matter what it is
5. My in-person friends: Celeste, Katie, Jen, & Mary - you all deal with my ADD, my goofiness, my neuroses, my whining, and my crazy life and STILL accept me for who I am
6. My online friends: Too many to list here - you all keep me sane when I have a day of laundry, scrubbing toilets, and cleaning to look forward to. I absolutely adore the blogging community I've stumbled upon.
7. Knitting!
8. Freshly ground and brewed coffee.
   
9. Jeans that make my bum look smaller.. HELL that's not just joyful, that's damned near miraculous!
   
10. Sitting on my balcony with a glass of lemonade with hubby - just enjoying talking to each other and the beautiful weather
11. Date nights (Thank God for the drop-in daycare!)
12. Crafting
13. Reading
14. sunshine
15. Cooking a large family meal and having everyone love it so much they stuff themselves
16. Nectarines
17. Baking Kuchen and Streudal from my Oma's recipes.. The smell just brings me right back to being 10 years old and baking all day with my Oma
18. Pedicures
19. A nice glass of Pinot Grigio
20. My niece and nephews: Ms. Shayne, Erich, Clayton, and Carter - you all remind me how awesome it is to be an aunt and how glad I am that our family is so close
21. My sister - there was a time when I wanted to strangle her daily and now I can't imagine life without her. Must talk to her several times a week
    
22. Living in another state (away from our families) - it has really strengthened our immediate family. I never imagined we could've gotten any closer, but we have and we're the happiest we've ever been
    
23. Letting go of material things - we were always so worried about having this and that. But now that we've moved, we've learned that we're happier without them.
24. Chocolate!!!!!!!
25. My chocolate chip cookies - nobody makes 'em better (Modest, aren't I?)

Join in with Sugar and link the 25 things that bring you joy!

Extreme Kid Fighting

So yesterday, I vlogged about summer vacation and my hope to balance constructive, enriching time with play time. And sometime between the time I vlogged and the time I passed out in bed - my children engaged in Extreme Cage Kid Fighting! I think I spent a good deal of my day separating the two of them. One would think that a 4 yo and a 13 yo would not fight. They have virtually nothing in common, afterall. One would be sadly mistaken.

First the fighting began over the Wii. DD wanted to play a princess game and DS wanted to play a racing game. Then, it was over cups. They both wanted the green cup for their lunch beverage. Then they fought over who got to play with the dog. (The dog, unamused, went to my bedroom and curled up in my pillows.) Then they fought about one being in the other's room. Then the other one retaliated and went to the other bedroom to just stand there and prove they could be in THAT room.

After a long day of non-stop fighting, I can understand why some moms over-schedule their kids. Today, I think we'll try the library. At least they will have to be quiet while we're there. ;P

Summer Vacation

I Got to Guest Host on Chicks Who Chat!

Yesterday, the VERY supportive, Classy Jen of Chicks Who Chat, asked me to fill in as a guest co-host for the day as Sugar Jones had a previous family obligation and couldn't co-host. I felt so honored and excited about it! Of course, I knew I couldn't be as funny as Ms. Sugar, but I thought I'd certainly have alot of fun. So Jen and I Skyped and tweeted back and forth about the different celeb gossip stories and news stories going around until about 20 minutes prior to the show when she asked if I wanted to talk about Asperger's Syndrome and our son Brian's struggle with it. I jumped at the chance to talk about my favorite subject, Brian.

I really appreciated the chance to talk about Brian and about our struggles. Thank you so much to Jen Hinton and Sugar Jones (who graciously posted my video & blogged about us on her blog/vlog) for supporting us and promoting awareness. You ladies are the tops!

If you get a chance, please listen to their daily Blog Talk Radio show, Chicks Who Chat and watch their weekly streaming show, Chicks Keep Chatting.

Jen Hinton is a self-described life-caster and social media network founder. You can read Jen's blog, Keep It Classy or join her social network, The Classy Closet. She can be found on Twitter as KeepItClassy Jen.
Sugar Jones is a blogger/vlogger & radio talk show co-host. You can read/watch her blog/vlog, Sugar in the Raw. She can be found on Twitter as SugarJones.

Discover & Donate

I'm joining ResourceMommy in participating in the Discover & Donate Campaign to raise money and awareness of Autism for Autism Speaks. Here's a little info from Diane Birch's Site:

Discover the critically acclaimed debut album from new artist Diane Birch. Donate $1 to charity. Automatically.

S-Curve Records and Diane Birch are proud to present Discover & Donate. You discover Diane Birch’s soulful debut album, Bible Belt,then you choose one of six charities to receive a $1 donation from your purchase.

PLUS, who ever raises the most money for charity through their widget by June 23, 2009, will win a FREE PRIVATE PERFORMANCE in the winner’s hometown!! (We’ll even throw in a few refreshments.) More albums sold means more money donated. How cool is that? Want to start sharing?

I'd LOVE to raise some money and some awareness for such a worthwhile cause. Be sure to visit the site to grab a widget for your own blog!

Friday Fun Facts

Today's Friday Fun Fact is brought to you by RandomFacts.org.

The only 15 letter word that can be spelled without repeating a letter is uncopyrightable.

Carry on.. ;P

I've Got a Good One!

I don't often talk about hubby. He's extremely private and embarrasses easily. But I just want to write a little something about how much I love him and just how lucky I am to have him in my life.

DH & I met in junior high school - at a jr. hs dance to be precise. He was hanging out with all of his friends and I with mine. Some of our friends overlapped, but we went in the same circle. I had just danced with a really cute (and popular) boy and I was decidedly NOT popular. So naturally I was bragging, giggling, and over-dramatizing for all of the goils. Naturally. Well, he thought I was a boastful annoyance and when I went to plop down into a chair, he kicked it out from underneath me an I feel HARD on the gym floor. I cracked my tailbone. This was my introduction to him.

A little while later I started to "go out" with one of his friends. I put go out in quotes because really we never went anywhere. We ate lunch together and that was it.

The next year, we started palling around together a bit until we started to "go out." Then we did eventually go places. We started dating at 15. We went off to college in seperate directions. We dated throughout college. Got married. And the rest is history.

Over the years, our relationship has grown stronger and stronger. And recently, with the move away from our families, have really discovered how important we are to each other and have grown even stronger in our relationship.

He's an amazing man: intelligent, handsome, witty, and caring. I love him more than I could ever possibly express to him. He treats me like a queen. And honestly, he's my best friend in the whole world.

So now, after 19 years together. 12 years of marriage. 2 kiddos. I love this man more than ever before. I'm so thankful that he is in my life. And I thank God every day for him.

Luv ya, sweetie. Kar

Supporting the Arts, One Mean Mommy Action At a Time!

You know, I've always appreciated, enjoyed, and supported the creative arts. I myself enjoyed concert choir, show choir, drama club, and musical theater in school. So although my methods for supporting the performing arts and fostering the love of them in my children may be questionable, I think the proof is in the pudding.

Yesterday, the sweet, adorable, little princess decided to climb on the counters and nearly fell and knocked her noggin. So I thought to myself: Is this an opportunity to support the arts as well as teaching my DD that climbing could lead to injury? (Cuz I'm always thinking about the arts first and foremost, dontcha know.) "Why, yes it is" - I said to myself. So I sent DD (AKA Princess) to sit on her bed in her bedroom and set the timer for 4 minutes. Within mere seconds, DD had written a beautiful aria about how mean I am and how much we don't like her. She worked out a beautiful melody and additional lyrics that includes: " My mommy is so meannnnnnnn. I can't take anymore of this, said my mommeeeee." As well as "I don't like sitting on my bed, my bed, my bed.."

Really, when you think about all I do to contribute to the arts, my work should be applauded. I have fostered and continue to foster a love of the arts in my children - one mean mom act at a time. ;P