Recently

Happy Sunday!  The weekend is coming to a close, but hopefully y'all got to enjoy it.  In my most recent Thankful Thursday post I mentioned that I wanted to be more present here on the blog for the reminder of this month.   And what better way to do that than to share some of the recent things have been going down in the YUMMommy household?

Cooking

Recently, I roasted my first pumpkin. It was a mini pumpkin, but a pumpkin nevertheless.  We first got the mini pumpkin to use as Fall decor with plans to scoop out the seeds at some point.  However, the pumpkin ended falling into a pot of boiled water and the outside started to shrivel up.  Then, Moo got the awesome idea that we should just eat it.

So, after a week of bugging me about it, I finally cut it open, took out the seeds, sprinkled it with some sugar and roasted it in the oven.  We tried it and kind of liked it.  Plain pumpkin has almost an earthy taste to it in my opinion.  Most pumpkin food and drink items that I have tried are sweet (see here) and when I'm making my pumpkin pies, I usually purchase pumpkin filling from the store.

After eating half of the one of the sides, I decided to scoop the rest of roasted pumpkin into a ziploc bag to save until I could figure out what to make with it or until we were ready to roast our two bigger pumpkins and make a pie. Then I woke up Saturday morning craving biscuits and I decided why not make some pumpkin biscuits.  They turned out pretty nice.  I still need to tinker with the recipe a little bit to get the taste I want, but I'm happy with how my first batch turned out.

Daydreaming 

Last week, I chaperoned Moo's class field trip to The Hunter Farm and had a blast.  I'm from a small town aka the country aka backwoods SC.  My mom grew up on a farm, several of my great cousins have or have had farms and we used to live across from a farm here in the Queen City.  Yes, there are farms here in the QC!

When I was younger, I dreamed of owning a farm.  I love animals, nature and the comfort of having a country feel.  I could totally see myself collecting eggs, grooming horses and even milking a cow.  Since, seeing Gentle Bessie there at the farm, I've been daydreaming again about skipping the whole house hunting business and just buying some land on the outskirts of the city and building my dream farm. 

Moo is down with it too.  And I have no doubts that living on a farm would be a lovely adventure for JJ. However, my husband is very much a city man.  Chasing chickens and scooping cow poop is NOT on his radar.  He's not about that country life at all.  The horses might not be a big deal if he didn't have to clean the stables. 

Sampling

I've been a member of the House Party network/site for a few years now.  They recently launched Chatterbox, where you can pretty much sign up to review products and then share your opinions via social media.  A few weeks ago, I was selected to try out the new Bear Naked Layered Granola Bars.

I'm no stranger to the Bear Naked brand and was confident that the bars would be good.  And oh boy were they good!  The Fruit and Nutty flavor is hands down my favorite.  It's chewy, crunchy, sweet and salty.  Can't forget the chocolate.  Even though chocolate does a number on my skin, I still love it.

I ate the first box in two days while I was out on outings.  Moo and JJ are allergic to nuts so these will mostly like have to be kept in the car locked up in the glove box for me to enjoy when I'm riding solo.  I don't want to chance anybody climbing the pantry shelves to get one of these and ending up in the hospital.  Definitely, recommend these if you are into granola bars!

Reminding

Recently, I've been noticing that my little guy has just been going through a roller coaster of emotions.  He's not feeling his therapist and shows her the door pretty much immediately.  He's cranky and moody out of the blue.  And don't get me started on his stubbornness.  

'No' has become his all time favorite word aside from 'chip,' 'juice,' and 'Tom' (Thomas the Train).  For me all of these things are a bit frustrating.  It's not so much the fact that he's doing them, but more of the fact that I don't know the reasons why.  Then, it dawned on me that maybe he's getting frustrated because he can't fully express himself the way the he needs and wants to.

I had to remind myself that motherhood is not just about me.  It's mostly about my children actually.  Or at least it's supposed to be.  I hate the fact that I can't put myself in my son's shoes to better get a read on what's going on with him.  For so long, I've been used to him being so easygoing and chill with the exception of jumping off of couches and climbing on tables.

There was a post circulating on Facebook about a mom with a special needs son and she stated that she if had had a choice, she would have killed him.  That for me is such a disturbing statement, but also a heartbreaking one to know that this mom has fallen into such a rut of despair dealing with his special needs and disabled son that she no longer sees his life as being of value but just a burden.  I don't even want to end up feeling anywhere close to that about my son.

I've always believed that his being special needs was never a burden on me.  Is it tough, hard and unfortunate?  Yes. A burden? No.  Pregnancy and birthing babies comes with a lot risks.  This is why you have to truly prepare yourself for reality and not the rainbows they sell you on tv or in these magazines.  Thus, I'm committed to doing all that I can to help my little guy get back to his usually cheerful self.

Tears maybe shed, tantrums will undoubtedly be thrown, and JJ may never be able live on his own, but I'm in this motherhood game for the long haul no matter what challenges arrive.  At the end of the day it's important that both Moo and JJ know Mommy is ride or die for them.  There is no hopping off the wagon just because a few more bumps got thrown in the road.

Preparing

Moo's birthday and Christmas are right around the corner pretty much.  And I'm getting prepared.  No waiting until the last minute.  Gift shopping and wrapping has commenced.  We were all set to throw Moo a party this year with a Strawberry Shortcake theme and some of her school friends, but she has changed her mind.  We just could our first American Girl store and she has requested that we spend the day there sans friends.

I was bummed at first, but not anymore.  Moo has always been about family and keeping it simple on her birthday.  I'm honored that she wants to spend her special day with just us.  Besides, I have plenty more years to come for birthday parties, God willing.

So, what have you been doing recently?

When A Rough Day Turns Great

You always hear people saying perspective is everything.  Well, that has never been more evident than a day like today.  These last few days I have been pretty sleep deprived.  Monday morning, Moo couldn't hold down her breakfast, but otherwise seemed ok.  Then, over the weekend Moo and JJ seemed to have morphed into Tom and Jerry.

Seriously, at one point I sent them to their separate corners on Sunday because I had had enough of the foolishness.  My tolerance level for chaos of any kind is not high.  I'm chalking this hiccup in their sibling relationship to age.  Moo is in adolescence and JJ is still a toddler very much in toddler mode.  Plus, he's becoming such a boyish boy now- rough play and all.

Then yesterday I discovered that Moo has a second row of teeth pushing BEHIND her baby teeth instead of just pushing in regularly and knocking the baby teeth out.  Long story short it's caused a big gap in her bottom teeth that seemed to happen overnight and some crookedness.  So, I had to hunt down a new dentist that takes our insurance.  Around 11 PM, I was just ready to call it night until I heard Moo get up.  

I thought she was just using the bathroom as usual, but then I heard a strange almost muffled noise.  I fast walked to her bathroom and there my poor baby was puking all over the bathroom floor.    Honestly, being grossed out never crossed my mind.  That look of utter helplessness in eyes as she saw me standing there is like forever stuck in my brain.  

We got her cleaned up, but then it started all over again.  I had literally just finished getting her bathed, redressed and cleaned up the bathroom.  So, I moved us all to the living room because the bed in the master bedroom is too high off the ground to set a trash can near it for her to reach.  In the middle of this JJ woke up and thought it was get crunk time.  I literally wanted to pull my hair out because in the back of my mind I was thinking "Gee, this would be a great time to have a husband who works days so that when stuff happens in the middle the of the night, I'm not juggling it alone."

I'm pretty sure when I went to sleep at 7 AM this morning that was the last thought on my mind.  Needless to say when my alarm went off just a few hours later to get up for JJ's therapy session, I was feeling some type of way.  I just knew my rough day wasn't going to be better.  The clouds of negativity had descended and I was content to let them stay.

But then I had to check myself.  Y'all so many people didn't wake up this morning.  If all had going on in my life was a little sleep deprivation, a sick kid, etc then so be it.  At least, I'm alive to experience these moments.  I made up my mind right then and there to change my attitude and adjust my perspective.  Rough days happen. 

This wasn't the first and won't be the last.  I can't control the fact that Moo caught a stomach bug, but I did make sure I did everything to ensure that she was comfortable.  I can't control the fact that JJ's boyish ways are driving her (and me) crazy, but I can give him opportunities to burn off his energy and teach him how to be more gentle his play and distract him when his sister wants her space.  I can't control the hours my husband works (the Gov don't play that).  However, I can be thankful that he has a job and that he works hard.

Want to know what else helped to change my perspective today?  Well, I've finally mastered the art of a rocking twist out! No joke, I got my life even more (Tamar reference) after I saw how fabulous my hair turned out today.  I even got complimented it on it at the library this afternoon.  Speaking of the library, we scored cool prizes for completing the Summer Reading Program!  Y'all we've read over 100 books since June.

Then, I hopped on Facebook and saw that my She Inspires feature was live on The Young Mommy Life!  If you aren't following that blog, you're missing out.  Tara is making moves and knocking down barriers for young moms. I'm not going to be surprised when she gets interviewed by Oprah.  Remember you heard it here first folks. It made me think, I can't be inspiring others today with a funky attitude.

I don't want to write book here on perspective, but to wrap this post up I just want to say that life happens and it doesn't always happen nicely or the way we think it should.  But you either choose to focus on what you can't control and be miserable or change your perspective, get happy and turn a rough day into a great day!

How do you check yourself when you're in a funk?

Wish Me Luck

Hey YUMMs!  Have you guys missed me these last five days?  I've missed y'all.  But I've been absent for good reasons.  While I don't usually post on the weekends, Monday was the Mr's off day and JJ's therapy session.  Then, I had a meeting with his caseworker to talk about my concerns and future therapy schedules.  After that we decided to make it family day went to the library.

When I got to the library, I saw that they had early voting and I voted.  Then we hung out reading books and playing in the children's section until they closed. Tuesday, the Mr had a procedure to get done and then I spent the rest of the day and pretty much all of today preparing for a pretty sweet opportunity that I will have tomorrow.

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I'm going to pitching an editor from a major publishing house an idea for a novel I've started writing!  Yes, I'm writing two books at once now.  It feels a little weird because I wasn't sure I could do it, but now that I am, it's not that big of a deal.  Forever Branded is almost finished and I'm excited to be soon debuting the cover for it.

So, I'm pretty nervous about having the opportunity to pitch an editor in a one on one setting.  It's different from writing a query letter because then you have months and months to agonize over what the response is going to be.  This time around all feedback will be given to me upfront.  I'm super nervous for a variety of reasons.

For starters, there's the rejection aspect.  I know it's not personal and rejection is part of life, but I really want this opportunity.  Also, I haven't met the editor yet, but I've read a lot of about her and we have so much in common.  At the end of the day, even if I don't get offered to be taken on as a client to have my manuscript published, I just want to make a good impression.

Since, my pitch will be my first impression, I want to make sure that it's flawless and very well written.  I don't want to look like I don't know what I'm doing or that I didn't take this opportunity serious because I am.  Also, I'm nervous because what if my manuscript does get picked up?  What then?  I'm not anywhere never finished with it.  Then, you always hear that when you sign on to a publishing house, they try to edit your voice a little bit.

That worries me a lot, but still this is an experience I want to have for myself.  Every author's journey is different.  I think the editor that I'm pitching is really cool.  I don't think she would try to get me to force my characters into a story that isn't them.  People who don't write books don't always get that often characters write themselves.  The best way I can describe it is that it's like having a bunch of people inside your head telling you their story. 

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Sure, they start off as ideas, but then they take own lives of their own and we the authors simply become their communication device.  Anyways, I don't want to draw this post out and bore you guys.  I know a few other people who are pitching tomorrow too.  So, I ask that you all wish us good luck and send up prayers for us!  I'm not tagging them in this post because they may want to wait until they know where their pitches have been accepted or not before letting anyone know or they may not want anyone to know at all.  

Nevertheless, cross our fingers, cross your toes, wish on a star, etc.  I'm excited for this chance and look forward to whatever comes from this opportunity.  I will wait until tomorrow evening to post my Thankful Thursday post and let you guys know the results then.  Off to finish working on my pitch!

Surprises & Winners

I want to start this post off by thanking everyone who entered my giveaway for the animated movie, The Nut Job!  It's really a good movie for those of us who have young kids and who enjoy family movies without all the adult content.  It is came out yesterday on DVD and Blu-ray.  So, I had originally planned on giving away just one copy and thought it would be just the plan DVD, but I woke up to the best surprise Tuesday morning.

Guess what it was?  It was news that I would have two more copies to giveaway any way that I wanted.  So, I decided hey why not pick another winner from the Rafflecopter entries and then I decided to giveaway a third copy to a deserving family that I know.  And guess what else?  It's just the DVD copy, but all three winners will be getting the DVD & Blu-ray combo pack that also includes a code for a free download to your smartphone, computer and tablet!  

I love it when my surprises trickle down to my blog readers.  You guys are the best and continue to support me day in and day out.  I don't giveaways often, but when I do I look at it as my way of saying thanks for reading my review post.  And I'm thankful to the companies who are gracious enough to provide free product for you guys when I ask.  Yes, I'm thankful for them giving me free products, but I always like to ask if they can chip in something for my readers since their main intention is for you all to gain awareness about their product/service by reading about my experience here on YUMMommy. 

Also, I don't want y'all to just take my word for it.  I like to give you the opportunity to try out the product/service and see how you like it for yourself when I have the opportunity to do so.  So, thank y'all for entering and don't forget that I have another giveaway going for The Little Rascals Save The Day!  

Be sure to enter it.  I'm not sure if they will surprise me with extra copies of that one, but you never know.  I got another AWESOME surprise today, but I will save all the details for tomorrow's Thankful Thursday post.  Just know it involves traveling and one of my favorite brands!  Also, another surprise that is on the not so good end is that my friend from Life of Rylie...and Bryce too has had to make her blog private due to a safety issue involving her family.

I feel so awful that there are some people in this world who would threaten the lives and safety of other bloggers and their families.  But by no means, do we have the right to stalk, send threats or violate others.  I will miss her because I had been following her blog for a while before we got to meet in person at my first blog conference.

Keep her in prayer and pray for the other party or parties who are behind this nonsense.  It's situations like this that have made me take pause and caution about sharing photos of Moo and JJ and while I did say that I was going to be revealing their real names soon, I've started to rethink that as well.  However, I will continue to share about our journey as a family and remain as transparent and honest as I've always been.

I've read about bloggers who have had similar issues, but I didn't know them or I wasn't reading their blogs.  This hit home for me because this time it is someone I know and a blogger I've been following and supporting for years.  The good news here that they are okay.  Who knows, she maybe back blogging a year or so from now depending on the situation and how she feels.

Anyways, look below to see if you were one of the blog winners for The Nut Job! 

April Goals And To-Do List

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Happy April!  I know that I have been scarce around here as of late, but that's because between trying to spend more quality time with the Mr and the kiddies, writing my novel, trying to do reviews and other stuff, I have just felt slightly overwhelmed.  But I'm back and I'll definitely be more present this month.   I've been looking back over my New Year's resolution/vision board/goals and I've decided to set monthly mini goals to help me stay on track with reaching my main goals.  Let's get in to it!

April Goals & To-Do List

• Get A Pet:  Moo has been talking my head off about getting a pet!  Seriously, if I have to hear the word pet one more time, I might need to start doing shots of the hard stuff.  She asks at least twice a day.  I think last month she missed two days of asking.  If anything, my baby girl is persistent!  She wants a poodle but I definitely don't see that in her future.  Her second choice is a hamster and my choice is a gold fish.   We'll see which one we end up with.

• Family Outing:  Well, I put on my list of resolutions and goals that I wanted us to do/attend two family outings/events and we have.  We went to the ImaginOn, which counts as a family outing because the Mr tagged along and we don't go there often, and we went to a private screening of Disney's The Pirate Fairy this past Saturday! Review coming up on that.  But I'd love to attend and have one more family outing with the Mr in attendance.  Moo has requested a family picnic.

• Send Cards/Letters:  Obviously, if I haven't had time to blog, I haven't really had time to be on social media or my phone either.  With Easter coming up, it's the perfect excuse to buy some cute stationery and cards to send out to my friends and catch them up on what's been going on with the family!

• Publish Novel:  I'm really cracking the whip on myself to get Forever Branded by the end of this month.  I think I had started to get writer's fright (kinda like stage fright for actors) and took a few days off from working on it.  I'm back though and it's chugging along.  I have the ending halfway written out, a few chapters in the middle done and the beginning.  Now, I'm just filling in and connecting the dots.  No, I don't write in chronological order.  My mind just doesn't work that way when it comes to writing fiction.

• Exercise:  I have really been slacking on this, but I'm determined to get my body more toned.  I don't need to drop anymore pounds because even the new pants that I got for Christmas are a little loose on me now.  Plus, the Mr has been getting on me because he thinks I'm going to end up looking like a skeleton.  I'm going to be honest and say that I wouldn't mind being back in a size 4 from my early college days but I'm going to be content with my size 7/6.  I've worked hard to get here (I was a size 18/16) and now I just need to exercise to maintain it.

• Vlog:  I have about three videos that I need to film, lightly edit and upload.  I'm thinking about taking a stab at daily vlogging for a week but idk about that.  We're still not comfortable with the kids being on YouTube, especially since Moo refuses to go by her nickname in person anymore and she prefers to call her brother by his first name.  I'm not ready to reveal their real names just yet.  I am planning on doing it, but you'll have to wait to see how I do it and when.  Feel free to leave your guesses at to what you think their first names are in the comments.  Hint:  JJ's first name doesn't start with a J!

• Finish Blankets:  I'm crocheting a few blankets for a few different people right now and I need to finish them up and ship them off.  I'll be posting pictures and maybe even doing some crochet vlogs.  I hear so many people talk about how hard crocheting is but honestly it's not.  I taught myself as a teenager using a book.  

• Get More Active On Author Blog:  Yes, I have an author/writing blog!  Check it out here.  I'm really looking to publishing a few books and I want to build up my readership and share more about my journey and process.  You'd be amazed at how easy people think writing a book is.  Fiction is really hard to write because you're not stating facts but relying on your imagination.  You battle with wondering if your imagination is good enough to create a story not that others will love necessarily but that YOU will love.  There's nothing like writing 40-80,000 words only to get to the end and realize you hate your own work.  

• Experiment With More Hairstyles:  I'm still Team Natural.  And I have been ditching the ponytail, but the issue now is that I've become obsessed with milk braids.  I wear them all the time.  It's time to switch it up.  I think that I'm going to try out some crochet braids or get a good silk wrap and just wear my hair down for a week or two.  We'll see.

What are your goals for April?

Dude, Where's My Grill?

Happy Monday folks!  Hope that everyone had a lovely weekend and that you remembered to change the time on your clocks.  Hopefully, nobody was late for work this morning.  So, speaking of the weekends, ours was pretty good until Sunday night.  What happened?

Well, after a few days of rainy and chilly weather, Sunday turned out to be a really beautiful day.  The temperature here got up to the low 70s and the Mr was off.  So, he decided since we hadn't been to the park in what seemed like ages, that it would be nice to go and enjoy some family time.  What could be better than some family time outside?

The kids were excited.  We loaded up and headed to the park.  We mention something about the weather starting to warm up.  And y'all know what warm weather means... grilling season!!!  Yes, we love to grill in this house. Spring, Summer, Winter or Fall, we are grilling out.  We haven't been able to really grill out much in the last couple of months because the Mr has been working like crazy and once again we had this insane rainy/storm season and then the snow storms.  Curse you, Polar Vortex! (Maybe, not really since I like snow.)

But anyways, Moo has taken to wanting to learn how to grill.  I already told you guys, she's going to be a chef when she grows up.  I'm sure of it because loves anything that has to do with food.  And I had started letting her be my assistant when I grill.  It's a great bonding time for the two of us and gives JJ and the Mr bonding time while they're in the house.  So, needless to say, I start mentioning how we can pull out the grill this week.

We stay at the park until it's black dark outside.  Like the street lights are on, the temperature has dropped and everything.   On the way back home, we stop and get something eat because after playing and chasing two really energetic kids around the playground neither of us wants to cook.  Everyone is happy.  The car is full of bubbly chatter as we pull into our parking space.

Then, the Mr asks, "Did somebody steal our grill?"  I'm all like, "No, it's on right there on the porch."  Of course, it's dark out and our porch has vertical spindles that are close together in between the railing.  So, at night you really have to be on the porch to see what's on it.  Plus, we didn't leave the light on because we weren't expecting to stay at the park until it got dark.

He gets out the car and goes on the porch to see if the grill is there.  "We have been got," he says when he comes back to the car to help with the kids.  I'm still in denial because the grill has been sitting on the porch since we moved here.  "Maybe, you moved it to the back porch," I say hopefully.  He goes to look.  Guess what?  No, grill.

We have been got folks.  Somebody has straight up walked up on our porch and stolen our grill. That grill wasn't even a year old.  I was too pissed (and I'm still kind of pissed) because here I am making plans to grill some turkey burgers, but I don't even have a dang grill to grill them on now!  The Mr is actually taking this missing grill situation better than I am, but I seriously wanted to call the cops and have them dust for prints and the whole nine.

I didn't though.  I know they have more important cases to attend to and chances are whoever took the grill didn't leave behind any prints.  The bright side of all this is that they just took grill.  We do have an alarm system and keep the sign the company gave us on the front lawn.  So, that probably discouraged them from trying to break-in and that I am grateful about.  I just wish that people would stop stealing and just doing bad stuff in general.

Of course, our grill being stolen has put Moo on edge because she knows stealing is bad and now she's a little apprehensive.  You know they make criminals and bad guys in kid movies so scary.  I kind of wish the Mr had just waited and said something about it in private.  And I wished I hadn't have gotten so upset about it in front of the kids because more than anything I think my emotions transferred to her a little bit.  I hate it that she doesn't feel completely safe.  She asked me if they were coming back to steal anything else and I told her no.  I think that calmed her down a little bit.

So, no grilling out this week y'all.  Another comfort in all of this is that we're getting ready to move and I have already started packing.  To say that I am going to be overjoyed when we are free of this apartment and neighborhood is an understatement!

Have you ever had anything stolen from your front porch or yard?

Still Kicking

Happy Wednesday!  I know I've been missing around these parts since last Thursday, but rest assured we're still kicking. And yesterday as well as Monday, I had a really cool post on National Reading Month that I wanted to post,  but my internet was acting a straight fool!  I'm telling y'all, Time Warner is lucky that they are getting any of my money because our internet spends more time being down than up it seems.  The sad part about all of this is that we actually upgraded to a faster and stronger connection package.  I'm just confused...

"Mama, I wanna to be on YouTube!"  I kid y'all not, these were the words that were spoken to me two weeks ago by my five year old Moo.  She knows that I vlog now and watch vlogs on YouTube and she's insisting that she gets in on the action by being in one of my videos.  "I can help you," she told me while trying to con me with a smile.  I'm sorry to burst her hopes of becoming a YouTube sensation but for now the Mr and I have made a decision to not put the kids in my videos.

It took him a while to get comfortable with their pictures being up on the blog and Facebook.  He's very private.  And for me, I'm very protective of my children.  YouTube commentators are the worst.  They will talk trash for no reason and I don't play that about my children.  Say the wrong thing in regards to my children and forget having to worry about my husband coming for you, I hold my own!!  And yes, I'm still working on not being so quick to let people's ignorance when it comes to my children get me so fired up, but in the words of Steve Harvey, "He [Jesus] ain't through with me yet."  I'm still a work in progress in that area.

JJ has really been extra affectionate lately.  I told y'all that he was going through a stage where he was acting like he was too cool for kisses and hugs let alone to held.  However, he's singing a different tune now.  And I must say that I'm loving it!  If you're a parent then you know that getting affection from your children is better than EVERYTHING!!  I think now that maybe it was just from him being overwhelmed with therapy and he had to cope somehow.

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I'm just glad that he no longer runs the other way when I ask for a hug or a kiss.  And he voluntarily climbs into my lap and we snuggle for hours.  It's the best feeling.  Moo joins in too. I can't tell y'all how much those moments make my heart swell.  Theses moments also help me to cope with my baby fever.  Like, I know I have a lot on my plate already, but I've been thinking about babies ever since before Thanksgiving when we had that pregnancy scare.

I know we set a date for when I would come off my birth control and we start trying for number 3, but honestly, I don't know if I can wait that long. Well, I can obviously, but I don't know if I want to.  However, this isn't a decision that is just up to me to make.  I know I could probably convince the Mr to get on board, but I don't feel like I wouldn't be doing the right thing for JJ.  He needs my undivided attention right now while continue to navigate through this therapy and get him to where he needs to be.

I would feel awful not being able to give him my all because I'm tired and on bed rest or running to OBGYN appointments.  So, I guess we're waiting until at least the end of this year and going from there.  And while I'm on the subject doctors and medical stuff, y'all I woke early this morning and noticed my eye was sore.

I was intending to get some water and go back to bed but when I looked in the bathroom mirror and saw that my left was swollen halfway shut, I about had a fit!  I haven't had a stye in years.  I'm talking about since I was 10.  I spend most of the morning with it covered up so that I wouldn't touch it and make it worst.  Moo told that I looked like pirate.   Way to help the situation.  Thankfully though it's gone down, but every time I bend down to pick up something this thing hurts something awful.

So, send up prayers and keep your fingers crossed that it doesn't get worst or spread to the other eye!  I have two vlogs I need to film and I don't want to be looking like a one-eyed Jane doing it either.

How would you feel about putting your children in your vlog videos?  Any advice on coping with baby fever?

A Wish Come True

Today my wish came true.  It's snowing!!  I was sure that is was going to be like the last few times we had snow and melt before it hit the ground, but when the Mr opened the door to leave for work, he told me that is was snowing.  I went to look and sure enough it was.

Still though, I was skeptical that it would last long.  We've had "snow" three times already.  None of it stuck to the ground.  So, I went about my business.  Moo kept asking if we could look out and see the snow.  I finally caved in, curious myself to see if was in fact still snowing.  I didn't want to get my hopes up.  So, to the front the door we went.  And......

Looks like it's sticking folks!!  We haven't looked outside since I took this picture, but I'm hoping we have nice amount on the ground in the morning.  On a sad note the Mr might be stuck at work. :(   At least he'll be safe.  I don't want him out there slipping and sliding on the roads.  This snow was just what I needed today to cheer me up after getting some potentially bad news.  I'll wait until I have more information and share that story at a later day, but let's just say I've learned a valuable lesson.

Are you getting snow in your area?

My Weekly Ambition

I missed linking up over at Ambitious Curls for My Weekly Ambition for the last couple of weeks.  But I am back on the wagon.  About my last MWA post, I totally did not exercise for 30 minutes like I was suppose to everyday.  Does chasing after kids count?  I have been managing to write for an hour everyday.  However, I tend to self edit as I write and that doesn't make for very good progress.  I did manage to start and end my days on a positive note though! 

To exercise for 30 minutes everyday.  I'm not working out to drop pounds because I think I'm good where I'm at weight wise.  However, it's time to tone this tummy and these legs back up.  I have drifted away a little ways from the college freshman body, I had when I first met my husband.  He's not complaining, but I sure as heck am!

To work on concepts for my book cover.  My book is not finished but it finally has a title (click here to find out what it is) and I have a rough mental picture of what I want the cover look like.  I need to just refine it a little bit and then get busy networking and making some calls to get the proper people on board to help me execute the vision.  

This book is like my baby and I've been guarding it with my life.  I don't just want to be putting a bunch of words out there.  I'm so passionate about writing because it is my art and I want readers to be able to feel that from cover to cover.

To have more patience.  I am more patient with kids, but I still need to work on my patience with the Mr.  I think that the year we took apart and then all the time we had been growing apart up until that point got me used to having my space, coming and going as I wanted and interacting more people my age.  When I first met my husband, gestures of affection (i.e.-hugging, holding hands, cuddling) weren't something he was into at all because of how he grew up.  He just didn't see affection, but the opposite.

My parents on the other hand were very affectionate before things went down hill and as a result, so was I.  But I eventually adjusted to my husband's comfort levels as time passed.  We split.  Now, we're back together and I just don't feel like making the adjustment back to the old me.  Therefore, when he's in my space a little too much , I tend to get annoyed easily.

Honestly, I feel like old me who was more affectionate and wanted him in my space got her heart broken.  So, new me still has a wall up because I guess at times the hurt still feels fresh and the fact that this one car situation makes it hard for me to get out as much as I want to.  However, I am devoted to my marriage and will work on getting this wall down and finding a way to bump up my income so that I can get this second car fund back up.

What's one challenge that you want to overcome this upcoming week?  Did you notice anything different about the blog today?

Playing Catch Up

This whole time change thing has my body out of sorts.  The clock says 10 PM but to my body says it's 11 PM.  Throw in the fact Moo has been staying up late every night, JJ has been extra cranky during the day and I feel like I'm a doing a million things but not seeing any fruits from my labors and you get me spending today play a game of catch up.

While I haven't completely neglected my novel, the only time I have to really work on it is at night after I finally get Moo down.  By that time I'm so drained my creative juices feel nonexistent.   And I meant to finish the chapter I was working on last night but I fell asleep.  Friday, I did make a little bit progress, but ended up falling asleep on top of my glasses and bent over the laptop.  I'm so glad that screen on this thing folds all the way down because I would have broken it.

I did manage to push the top of one of my lens out.  And now I can't get it to go back in.  I've tried pushing it back in and almost snapped my frame.  So, now I have to fit in a visit to the eye doctor.  Some of my friends have already finalized their Thanksgiving menus, taken recipes for test drives and more.  I just started looking at turkey prices.  I do have my menu finalized though. (Look for a post about it this week).

I also caught up on some reading this morning.  In January, I set a goal to read 150 books this year.  Sadly, I haven't even read 50.  I've even been slacking on reading to the kiddies.  So, the plan is read at least book every night.  And for me, I'll be completely a minimum of two books a week.  I'm determined to at least finish this year out with 50 books read and yes, I'm including the books I read to the kids.  A book is a book.

I caught up with a cousin of mine and found out he's been living here in the Queen City for 8 years!!  8 year y'all and I didn't even know it until today when he told me on Facebook.  He actually thought I had just moved here.  The truth is I've been here longer than he has.  I haven't a clue how we haven't run into each other at the mall or the movies.

Do y'all know how much stuff and how many important events went down in these past 8 years that he could have been a part of.  He missed out on being at my college graduation, visiting me in the hospital after I had the kiddies and hanging out for the holidays.  All because we didn't the other person was here.  I've never been more thankful for Facebook than I am today.  

We've exchanged numbers and I'm looking forward to the kids meeting him and reconnecting.  He's 4 years older than me, but we grew up together and always had fun with my other cousins and siblings at family cookouts.  Then he went off to college and we lost touch.  Looking forward to reuniting though.

I'm also catching up on my Bible study because tomorrow is Monday, which mean my Bible 365 post needs to be done.  Well, I'm off.  See y'all on Monday!

What have you been catching up on this week?

Life Gets Hard

When were young, we couldn't wake to be adults.  Now that we're adults, some of us can't wait until somebody invents a time machine and we can turn back the clock and be teens again.  I've been feeling the stresses of being an adult lately.  In the mist of trying to get prepared to celebrate my third wedding anniversary (which was Monday), life decided to deal me a few lemons.

It all started on Sunday at 1:28 AM.  The kids were in bed sleeping and I was on my way to join them in dream land.  The Mr was at work as usual.  Just I'm finally drifting off into a peaceful slumber, I hear a crash and the sound of breaking glass.  Immediately, I shoot up straight out of bed and hit the panic button our alarm system.  

It was not a drill folks, somebody had indeed just busted out our bedroom window where the kiddies and I were sleeping.  It all happened so fast.  I thought that my heart was going to explode because it was beating so fast.  My legs and hands were shaking but in the back in my mind I just kept telling myself to stay calm because I had two kids to protect should the vandal decide to hurl his/her body through the window next. 

I gathered up the kids and put them in the living room. Called 911 and the alarm company to make sure that police were on the way. They were.  I called my husband at work and told him what happened and the he needed to come home right away.  I phoned our landlord and left her voicemail telling her what happened and that we would like to speak to her as soon as possible about getting the window fixed.

During all of this the same vandal launched a huge stone through our neighbors bedroom window as well.  Initially, I thought they were trying to break out our kitchen window.  At that point I had already armed myself with my trusty steel baseball bat.  I had every intention of taking the intruder's head off when they stuck it through the window.  Sadly, they got away before the police came and because the neighbors didn't have their back porch light on we didn't get a good luck at who it was.

Now, let me state for the record that we live in a mixed income neighborhood.  There are several families, an nice apartment complex and a park in area.  Our street is pretty much quiet and everybody is pretty friendly and keeps to themselves. There is a police sub station less than five minutes away.  That being said, I believe wholeheartedly that whoever targeted our apartment was not a resident of our neighborhood.

Anyways, you would think that our landlord would immediately call us once she got our voicemail.  At the very least, you'd think that she'd want to see if any other damages were caused and to see if we or the neighbors were hurt.  Nope.  We don't hear anything from her.  Instead, we hear from her nephew who she sends to make sure we have boarded up the window and to tell the neighbors to board up their windows.

Like really?!  So, at that point the Mr is pissed off because it's obvious that she knows what happened but has not tried to reach out to us personally.  She decides on Monday.  The Mr tells us her that we were not pleased to have not heard from her and asks when she will send someone out to look at the window for repairs?

Y'all guess what her reply was?  She had the nerve to tell him that we were responsible for the window and that it was her belief that my husband had broken the window due to us having a dispute!  Are you kidding me?  I promise you, I can't make this stuff up.  Like lady we've seen you all of five times, two of those times my husband was not home.  She doesn't know us well enough to make assumptions about issues within our marriage.

More importantly, if I was having any kind of dispute with my husband, I'm sure I would have told that to the cops and the neighbors would have told it to them as well.  Long story short she is refusing to fix the window.  And I started to let this bother me and put me in a negative space.  I was a little happy when we moved in here because it seemed like she didn't have any problems with making repairs.  However, I see that was clearly a front.

And I don't do fronts, fakes or phonies!  But I kept my cool.  You see, my faith is stronger than it was at the beginning of this year.  I prayed on it and asked God to not let me moved by the situation because I knew He would work it out for our good.  And you know what, He is. 

Since, our landlord won't listen to us or go by the terms of the lease that pretty much state in plain English that she is responsible for all repairs, except in cases of negligence, we decided to get the city involved.  They sent out a code inspector today and he assured us that here in QC landlords are responsible for all repairs even in cases of negligence.  That's what security deposits are for.  And if damage done under negligence does exceed the amount of the security deposit, they have to take the tenant to small claims court for the difference.

In the words of Tamar Braxton, "Won't He do it?!!"  She now has 60 days to get the window repaired along with some other issues the code inspector found inside and underneath the apartment.  This has taught me that I truly don't have to fight every battle.  God is more than willing to step in and send the right resources our way at the right time.

All it takes is maintaining the faith and not allowing yourself to be moved.  Life gets hard, but my faith is becoming harder.  It's morphing into an impenetrable force field.  I only have one life to live and I will not live it stressing about the hardships that will I encounter along the way.

Acting Accordingly



If there is one thing that motherhood is teaching me, it is that time is precious.  Each minute or hour I spent doing other things that take me away from kids is value time that could have been spent playing cars with JJ or snuggling with Moo.  It's time in which I could miss out on an important milestone.  And if there's anything that watching my Aunt G brave her health condition has taught me is that life itself is too precious to waste.

I admire Aunt G's no nonsense approach to life.  She truly doesn't have time for bull and takes no shit from anybody.  She's quiet and reserved but gives off this air that let's you know she's nothing to play with!  I love how she's always been able to live her life doing what she wanted.  She's not afraid to say no and not think twice about changing her answer no matter who it is or how much they nag.

She doesn't those people or situations that don't benefit her in some way (emotional, physical, etc) the time of day.  And when she has something to say, she tells it like it is and to your face.  Being back home has put a fire back under me to stay on track and live my life on my terms.  I have only been given one life.  Sadly, I've spent too much time already living the life that others have wanted for me because it benefited them.

I had my whole adult life planned out by the time I was 16.  I knew what kind of career I wanted to have, the college I would attend and where I wanted to live.  Somewhere between then and the present I allowed myself to get lost.  I've found myself a few times along the way but in the end I've seemed to always get sidetracked by some scheme that pulls at my heartstrings.  I put what I want on hold knowing that opportunities are probably once in a lifetime because of others.

And do you know how those people repay me?  Some have acted like straight up asses, while others continue to be inconsiderate, unappreciative and nonsupportive.  Well, it's time for me to start acting accordingly.  I'm taking a page from my Aunt G and letting go of those situations and people who do not benefit me or my family.

I'm getting back in touch with the 16 year old me and the plans that I had made for my life.  I'm saying no to things that aren't worth missing time with my kids.  I'm rid of friends and family members who toxic and who only know me when they need something.  I'm aligning myself with a new group of people.  People who are about something and not just going along with the flow because it's the road most traveled.

I'm ready for change.  I crave it.  I desire it.  I think about how different my life would be with it.  I dream about it at night.  It's just calling to me.  And I think it's about damn time that I give in.

I took a leap starting this blog.  I took a huge leap becoming a mommy.  And I'm going to take another huge leap by falling back in love with myself and chasing after my dreams.  I may have to leave a few people behind, but at this point I am okay with that.  I know that anything and anyone that gets removed from life will be for a reason.  It's lonely at the top except for those select few who stay loyal to you and God.

But the only thought that keeps going through my mind is that I'm ready to act accordingly and live MY life!

Thankful Thursday

Happy Thankful Thursday yall!!  Did you remember to vote for me in Circle of Moms Top 25 Southern Moms?  If not be sure to click on the little button to your right.  This week has been pretty low key.  And I'm very thankful for that because I've needed the time to sort through my hundreds of emails that piled up while I was away.  So, if you sent me a message and haven't heard back I'm getting around to it.

I'm also thankful that we had a great time at my cousin and friend's wedding this past weekend.  It was such a great feeling to be all glammed up and celebrating with my family and friends.  Speaking of friends, I made a new friend at the wedding.  She has her own business that focuses on women empowerment.  You'll be seeing a post about that soon. She's really trying to do something great and I would love it if all my YUMMs would support her as well!

Last night we put Moo in a big girl bed right next to ours and she did well.  She's not quite ready to go to her own room yet, but this is progress.  A part of me is happy that she's making even more strikes toward independence.  However, there's also a side of me that's a little side because soon she probably will be comfortable sleeping in her own room alone.  I'm not going to get too started up about it.  

JJ is becoming more talkative.  I can see that he's learning because he already knows that the remote works the tv, the toothbrush is for brushing teeth or scratching gums and he can take his pants and diaper off.  Not sure if I'm too happy about those last two.  One night while we were at my mom's, I woke up thinking his diaper needed to be changed and he had taken it off already and flung it to the foot of the bed!  Thank goodness he hadn't peed on me.

I'm thankful that fall is almost here!  Summer was good but I'm anxious to see if we'll get some snow and to pig out for Thanksgiving.  I've already started Christmas shopping and wrapping presents.  All that's missing is a fireplace for me to light a few logs in.

Lastly, I'm thankful that my baby sister will soon be a Queen City resident as well.  It's going to feel good to have her just 30 minutes up the road.  And did I mention, she'll be attending the same college I went to?!!  I'm beyond proud of her.  It's not easy to leave a school where you've already made friends and start over again.  I'm confident that all will be ok.

What's on your Thankful Thursday list.

Searching For A Rainbow

This past week has been a very ROUGH week for me to say the least.  January's not even over yet and already I'm searching for a rainbow in the mist of this rain.  I keep reminding myself of Ecclesiastes 3:1 that reads:

"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens..."

I started 2012 off on a good note and I'm determined to get it back on track.  I can't allow these recent obstacles to throw me off my game plan.  I know that God never forsakes me or leaves me stranded.  I just have to trust Him and believe that He will show  me the way out of this situation.

Source

On a more positive note (for me at least), the Patriots are going to the SuperBowl!!!

Source

How do you stay on track during difficult times?

Game On

I was talking with my bestie Thursday night and we started talking about weddings.  Her wedding to be exact.  And she drops the bomb on me that they've decided that they want to get married in March.  No, not March 2012, but this March.  As in two months and a few weeks away!

I thought I would have at least four months before I had to be special event ready bodywise.  So, much for wishful thinking.  Looks like it's game on as far as shedding these extra pounds.  I gotta get it right and get it tight for these wedding photos.  Not to mention, I don't want to be girdled up so tight I can't cut a rug on the dance floor.  

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I'm not saying I'm on Usher or Chris Brown's dance level, but I can crank dat and Superman it out. LOL.  Well, I recently took on a freelance position away from home. So, that means I won't be able to hit gym.  Yes, another month of my share of the gym membership wasted. (Sorry honey)  So, the dilemma becomes how do I shed these extra pounds?

If I had access to FiTv, I would just turn on some Gilead Total Body and get busy.  But I don't.  So, to all of you fitness gurus and workout at home readers:

What is your workout at home routine or tips?

Chasing the Call

As I write this, it's a little after 1 AM and while I know that should be sleeping because the kids will be up bright and early, I can't sleep.  Ever since my high (not from drugs) from earlier yesterday, has got me thinking. I've been talking these few moments of quietness while my little ones sleep to dig deep and ask myself what do I want to do with my life?

Seriously, this is a question I have been pondering for quite some time now.  And as I approach my 26th birthday, I can't help but wonder why I haven't figured this out yet?  Or better yet why aren't I doing it?  Yes, I love blogging and freelancing every now and again but I can't help but to feel like there's some bigger picture.  There has to be.

I've been chasing my calling for years it seems.  And for years it seems to keep eluding me like a thief.  When I look back on my life, I don't want to have regrets when it comes to this area.  More importantly, I don't want to look back and wonder if the example I set for my kids in this area was a good one.  Being a stay at home mom has been blessing, especially with Moo and her many allergies.

However, it's not enough.  I don't feel complete.  I feel like something's missing.  And because of that I feel like I'm chasing the impossible.  I thought I had my life all mapped out.  Well, I did have it all mapped out but then I went off course.  Things changed. Heck, I changed.

So, having pondered this until I'm quite honestly pondered out, I've come to this conclusion:

My calling is to help others.  At the end of the day, nothing gives me more joy (except motherhood) than helping others.  I think the fact that growing up so many people stepped up for me, now I want to return the good karma to the universe by doing the same.

I want to make a difference on a bigger scale but now I just have to figure out how.

Choosing Happiness

These past few months, I've been going through an emotional roller coaster.  I've had deal with a lot regarding sickness within my family.  I'm also in the process of trying to solidify myself as an extraordinary freelance writer as well as working on expanding the YUMMommy brand.  Then pile on being a mom of two, a wife and a domestic diva.  You could say that I have my hands quite full.

While, I started off strong at some point over the summer everything just kind of started to take its toll on me.  I found myself lacking true happiness.  Don't get me wrong, I wasn't bummed all the time.  There were moments when I was excited or anxious and even moments when I felt ok.  And I'd been asking myself "why can't I feel happy?"

So, after a few weeks of asking myself that question, I decided to pray.  For me prayer is a place I turn to for comfort, help, and understanding.  Anyways, last night I was reading Live Your Best Life Now for Moms by Joel Osteen when I stumbled across this:

Starting right this moment, I'm choosing happiness.  I'm not going to allow the negative and stressful things, people and situations get to me.  I have made the conscious decision to take back my joy.  We only get one life to live and I don't want to look back on my younger years and think about all the moments, I didn't truly get to enjoy.

I know that my stumbling across that passage was not a mistake but a message from God.  And I hear Him loud and clear.

What is it that you choose today?  Happiness, joy, love...?