Invisible Mom

That's it. That's the title.

 That's the way I was feeling on September 3rd 2015. 

It had been almost three months since we were rear ended on Hickman Road by some guy on a cell phone. All I had in my drafts was that title, "Invisible Mom". 

What happened? Pain, depression, separation 

 later on divorce... 

more pain, raising the kids ALONE!

That's what happened. AND A LOT MORE...

Have you read Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison?

Graco Comfy Cruiser Travel System in Stratus

I was recently contacted to review a Graco Click Connect Comfy Cruiser Travel System. I was super excited to say the least.  The system arrived and I couldn't have been happier. I received the Stratus style system and I really like the contrasting blues and the sky print pattern. The stroller was super easy to set up we were rolling twenty minutes out of the box.

The carseat itself is lightweight and the stroller can be folded and unfolded with one hand. The only thing that wasn't a winner for me was that the carseat insert wasn't full enough to support baby's head. There would be times when his head would tilt or bend over to the side because there was so much room in the seat without a cushion to support him sitting upright. Even still, this is an uber nice system and it's moderately priced so that you could purchase an infant head support separately. Personally I'm waiting until he is a few months older to use this system because I love the stroller too much to let it go  and I'll continue to have him in another carseat.

Diapers, diapers, diapers

While I was pregnant I seriously considered cloth diapering. I know...
It sounded amazing. First, I got excited about the idea of all natural cotton against my baby's skin and how less chemicals meant less incidence of eczema,  which my kiddos all have had at one time or another.

Then there was the cloth diaper gang...
"You'll save a ton of money" they said. Yeah, eventually. First you'll fork out a few hundred for your adorably addictive practice to begin with.
"Don't contribute to the billions of diapers in our landfills...yada, yada, ya.  I'm here for helping the environment, I'm in tune with Mother Nature.  I'd like to think we live a green lifestyle, okay pale yellow but the point is... we try. 

I researched a lot and invested a little. Finally settling on whats called the prefolds and cover method. Until the reality of life and laundry for a family o eight drop kicked me back to my senses. So we're using disposables...for now. 

Check out Honest brand diapers if you're interesred in real, natural and pronouncable  ingredients against your little ones skin.

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30 day Green Smoothie challenge complete!

So I've completed the thirty day Green Smoothie challenge!! I'm proud to say that I didn't miss one day. Well technically one smoothie was made and consumed after midnight but I still had at least one smoothie every twenty four hours for thirty(32 technically) days. Yay! I feel great! 

I think we all do! Here's a look back at some of our favorites!

This was Spinach, Pineapple and Coconut water.

Blueberry, Cherry & Strawberry. Another favorite, sometimes I'd add Almond milk and ground flax seed as well.

Of course you just can't go wrong with Blueberry Banana. Yumm!

Back 2 School al'Ready!

This year we'll have five kiddos in some form of school. Preschool two days a week, kindergarten five, a middle schooler plus a second and fourth grader. I've been thinking and pinning some ways to make our back to school transition and our school year a little more organized. I thought about changing our backpack station in the garage and creating a "mudroom" type of area but realized the garage was as good a mudroom as any so the backpacks stay.

Then I thought about all the paper work I encounter for each child with doctors visits, schedules, permission slips etc. I mean it's not even Open House and I have five pages of supply lists and three different calendars.
*I love it all!* So there needed to be a MORE pinning and clipping room and maybe assigning each kid a pinboard would organize the chaos. So this system was purchased and hung...

And with that. ..we are almost ready, already :)

Getting Back2School Ready with Cricut

This will be my first year teaching fourth grade and I'm a little nervous. I've started my classroom prep and decided that we'd have a word wall that also includes the ASL alphabet. My Cricut Expression2 machine allowed me to cut these letters with minimal frustration.

I like that I can connect my Cricut to my computer and access all the same great images available on cartridges. Once you get used to operating the Design Suite it's actually easier than using the Cricut alone. 

Cricut has a brand new machine out now, the Cricut Explore. If you're interested there's a link to the right. Meanwhile, check out there awesome machines, tools and crafting technology with the link below.

 

Where To for a Large Family

With summer travel in full swing I've been getting a lot of questions about "where to stay?" Especially where to stay for larger families. We are a family of seven and most hotels cannot accommodate our family size without asking "if we want two adjoining rooms???". No! With five children under the age of twelve we never want to pile all the kids in a room alone and ummmm, it's not a vacation if my husband and I can't share a room(we'd might as well be at home) lol!

Our go to place when traveling(outside of Disney that is) is Marriott's Residence Inn. Residence Inn offers one and two bedroom 'residences' equipt with all the amenities families need. Kitchens with apartment sized stove, refrigerator and dish washers; of course microwave, iron and great television channel selections. Most importantly they offer excellent breakfast buffets and awesome pools. Here are some photos of our most recent stay.