My Husband's Wedding Ring(s)

Remember a few months ago when I was looking for a wedding band that I really wanted to wear? I was shopping around because I needed to replace the one I had. It was most definitely NOT my style. It was also not easy to wear without causing pain to others. I found a new wedding band and couldn't be happier with the choice.

Well, not it's hubby's turn. And not for any reason other than he went and lost his. You see, the size of his fingers tend to rise and ebb based on 100 different reasons. The day he lost his ring, it was too loose on his finger. He took it off and put it into his pocket. The same pocket where he keeps his money wadded up, his handkerchief, his keys, etc. At some point, the ring was pulled out along with something else and lost forever. I have to tell you that we spent less than $20 on it and you could tell. It was pretty beat up, with little dents and scratches in it. At this point, I can only hope that someone finds it and gets some good use from it.

So, we're in the market for an inexpensive men's wedding band. I had my husband look around online for a while so he could get an idea of the style he would like. Once he emailed me a list of links, I went to work on narrowing it down. No, I'm not going to get him the one with the Harley Davidson logo. What was he thinking?!   I did notice that he had quite a few black titanium rings on his list. And, I have to admit, they look pretty cool.

They cost a little more than the twenty bucks we spent on his original ring, but I think that it is worth it. And, when compared to some men's wedding bands on the market, they cost next to nothing! Titanium is very strong and will be able to withstand the punishment that my hubby will throw at it. It's also lightweight. This may not seem like much (how much can a ring weigh, anyway?!), but with his physical disabilities, it means a world of difference!

I have settled on buying hubby's ring from Titanium Style. Their prices are right, they offer a ton of styles, and offer both a lifetime warranty & a 14-day money back guarantee. Additionally, they offer a ton of free services that many companies tend to charge you for: Lifetime refinishing service, shipping on orders over $99, and even a ring-sizing set. We can even choose to have them create a custom ring for my husband with engraving inside the ring (I'm thinking, "If found, please call..." LOL) Now I just have to save up a little bit more money and I can probably order and have the ring here in time for our anniversary on Leap Day. I have read the reviews from their customers, and one thing they all mention is the fast turnaround time from the time they order to the time they have a ring in their hand.

If I can save a little extra, I'm considering getting him a titanium bracelet, too. Kind of as a surprise to him. I just know he's love the titanium bracelet with engravable I.D. plate. And, this time, I would have it engraved with our phone number. If you've read much of my blog, you know that he tends to get "lost" from time to time and I'd feel much better knowing that he's got some form of I.D. on him. Or, maybe I'll just get him these dog tags.

Have you ever bought or owned titanium jewelry?

What did you think?

**Disclosure: I will receive compensation for this post. However, I have written truthfully and all opinions are my own.

Mindful Parenting Collaboration - Topic 5: Take Care of YOU!

If you’re reading this, you might have the feeling that you want to change some of your parenting practices or, perhaps, you're curious about “mindful parenting” and what it could be. Well, congratulations for taking a moment from your day to click on the link. Erin of it’s OK and I are going to be working together over the next 40 weeks (!) on a journey toward more mindful parenting and would love to have you join us. To learn how we envision The Mindful Parenting Collaboration working, please read the introductory post HERE.

Now, here's a topic that I can't stand to deal with. Yes, I know. This is one of those pieces of advice that everyone gives, yet no one seems to actually take. How in the world am I supposed to find time to do what I want when I have to take care of all of these people and make sure the house is clean, too?! Wanting to do my own thing just feels too... indulgent. Until recently.

You see, I've been becoming increasingly resentful toward my husband and sons. They constantly ask me for things, even expect them to be done, and I don't get much reciprocity in return. Christmas was the breaking point for me. I had so looked forward to the holiday. Planned lots of fun things to do, had high hopes for getting a chance to bake and craft, and wanted this to just be a great time of excitement for the kids. But it was all a struggle. Now, I'm not going to say I took on too much or expected too much from everyone. I asked my husband and oldest to PLEASE take turns hanging out with Little Guy for one hour a day so I could do my own thing, which was essentially to "make" Christmas for them. It worked for about a week, then they were too busy (watching TV, eating, and playing games on the computer) to help. "Why don't you just wait until he's taking a nap?" And the resentment wasn't just aimed at my ungrateful hubby and teen. Little Guy, who loved helping me in the kitchen just a few weeks earlier, decided that he was bored with it all and preferred to run like a heathen through the kitchen, grabbing everything he could reach and throwing down the stairs. So, yes, I was not too keen on his "help", either.

All of this resentment came to a head on New Year's Day. I woke up in a great mood. New year, new outlook, let's start fresh, blah, blah, blah... My oldest woke up and very snottily informed me that we were out of milk, as if it was MY fault and MY sole responsibility to get more. Little Guy, upon hearing of the milk situation, demanded warm milk and honey to drink. The demands became ear-piercing screams because my oldest (who is very lucky I didn't decide that my no-spanking policy was shit) was holding the empty milk jug in Little Guy's face, saying in a cheeky tone, "What's wrong with you? Are you STUPID? There IS no milk! Mom didn't get us any!" That's when hubby came out. "Will you guys keep it down? I can't hear the TV." He decided to go take a shower (which I hadn't gotten a chance to take in a week, by the way, because no one would hang out with Little Guy - he needs to be paid attention to while he's sleeping, too, because he tends to wake up and be very stealthy!)

"SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP! 

I AM SO GODDAMN SICK AND TIRED OF 

YOU PEOPLE BEING HELPLESS IDIOTS. 

OLDEST - GO TO THE F***ING STORE AND 

BUY SOME F***ING MILK!!! 

LITTLE GUY, JUST F***ING DEAL WITH 

THE FACT THAT THERE'S NO MILK. 

AND, HUBBY, IF EVEN ONE DROP OF WATER 

TOUCHES YOUR BODY BEFORE I GET A SHOWER,

YOU'LL REGRET IT FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE -

WHICH WILL NOT BE VERY LONG!!!!!"

You could hear a pin drop. They all stared blankly at me. I pointed at my oldest and he RAN into the bedroom to change his clothes for his trip to the store. My husband jumped at the teen's movement and ran to pick up Little Guy. He got him some hot tea to satisfy him until the milk showed up. Little Guy did the best thing of the three of them: He ran over and gave me a big hug and said, "Sorry, Mama." I took my shower and felt 100% better... physically. I apologized to my family and they all looked at the floor guiltily. They "got" why I flipped out.

Now, I told you this because this could happen to you if you do not take time for yourself. You can become burned out, miserable, resentful, and may even begin to wonder if you really want to be "mommy" and "honey" to these people you live with. You slowly forget who you are, what you want out of life, what makes you happy. You're there to please others. Period.

So, this week, I suggest you try to remember who you were before hubby and the kids. What did you expect you'd be doing at your age? What kind of things do you enjoy doing? Do not make a list of things that you need/want to do around the house. It doesn't count. Make a dream list. Next, see if any of those things on your list could be modified to fit into your life right now. I expected to be an artist. While I have neither the money for supplies, nor the time to devote to this, I can take a little time each week to just create... Pinterest, here I come! Next, make yourself a list of realistic things you'd like for yourself. These could be as simple as "Take an hour-long bath." or "Give myself a pedicure." Nothing that takes a huge amount of time or money. Do one each day. Yes - each day.

Love on yourself. If it makes you feel guilty, think of it this way: You want to be a mindful parent, right? In order to be a mindful of others, you need to practice on yourself. I was angry at my family. Looking back to the weeks before my New Year's Day Fireworks, I was not treating my family mindfully. Heck, I was not treating them well at all. I did all the things I was supposed to do, but there was no smile on my face or love in my heart while I was doing them. I fought for every second of time to be able to do those things and, by the time I actually got that time, I was ticked off at my family.

This week, I will make sure to take time for me. Creatively, physically, and emotionally. In fact, I've already started tonight. But, I'll wait until next week to tell you about it!

I'd like to invite you to link any posts you have written on the topic of being mindful of yourself in the linky below. I'd love to hear your ideas and thoughts on this subject. I really need all the help I can get - I do not ever want to feel that way I did about the most important people in the world, nor do I want them to ever witness the explosion from me the way they did first thing in the morning on the first day of 2012!

Get Your Own CODE for This Linky

I Cut His Hair

Yep, Little Guy got his first haircut on New Year's Eve - right before bed. I really didn't want to cut those gorgeous little ringlet curls. I had no idea if they'd come back or not. The top of his head had straight hair! I asked a few barbers what they thought and no one could predict whether the weight of the hair was weighing down so much that it became straight, or if it was just growing that way. BUT, he had been asking be to borrow my barrettes regularly. Yeah. He couldn't see his Hot Wheels when he was playing, it was poking him in the eye when he jumped on the bed, and he was getting really frustrated with the fact that it was ruining his paintings - he'd paint, turn his head to re-load the brush, and turn back to find that his hair has brushed the paper and messed up his artwork!

BEFORE

The final straw was when I washed his hair on New Year's Eve. When his hair was wet, it reached half-way down his back. I noticed black hunks of ??? at the ends as I was pouring on the water. Upon closer inspection, those hunks were fuzzies from blankets. They had become entangled in his hair and were beginning to turn into mini-dreads! (I didn't notice before because his hair brush has gaps that are too large, so I'm on the lookout for one that is smaller right now.)

I started the haircut by simply cutting out the gnarly wads of ick. Then, I decided to layer the back a little. See if the curl would come back. As his hair dried, it began to curl up - even on the shorter pieces! So, I thinned it out some more and then moved to the front. Now, this is where I've always screwed up my oldest's hair. Either I don't cut enough and his hair was back into his eyes in a matter of days, or I cut too much and it would take months for him to look like a normal little boy again! (I give him money to go get his hair cut now. There's no way I'm sending him to high school with a screwed up home haircut!) Anyway, I started out by just cutting a little bit. It curled up! So, I cut more until it was the right length. You see, my oldest has very straight hair, so there was no way to hide mistakes. But with Little Guy's crazy curls, I could have probably taken a huge chunk out and it wouldn't have been too noticeable.

So, without further ado,

Little Guy's New Haircut:

AFTER (I had forgotten what he looked like!)

What is Political Partisanship?

I have to admit that I'm not one to pay much attention to politics. I should be more involved, but I just get so frustrated with the state of our government and the world in general. I believe that there are tons of others out there who feel the same as I do and, if we could just band together, we'd be able to stop some of the bullshit that is going on behind closed doors - and, often, right in front of us!

So, what is political partisanship? I have heard the phrase thrown around enough to have had a good idea, but I needed to know more. This phrase is being used more and more and, with this being an election year, I really need to have a full understanding so I can make some important choices in the coming months. A partisan is someone who fully supports a group's ideals as a whole. So, political partisanship is completely agreeing with everything that the political party you are affiliated with says you should agree with. To me, it's like being a "yes man" (or woman). These people don't stop to think of whether the side of the issue that their party supports is morally (or even humanely) correct. "If the party says so, I agree!" maybe they don't agree, but in order to climb the ladder toward more power, they can say they agree, right?

Photo by: Rennett Stowe

Have you ever had an argument with someone who just, plain refuses to even contemplate what you are saying? Since many of my readers are long-term breastfeeding advocates, let's use that as an example. You've probably been there -  You're at a family function and your 18 month-old comes to you and asks for "milkies". You excuse yourself and nurse her (you can't do it right there because Uncle Bud tries to get an eyeful and Aunt Phoebe tsk-tsks you every 30 seconds.) When you get back to your seat, Aunt phoebe makes a general statement about how all children who are breastfed past 6 months turn out being clingy brats and their teeth rot out of their head by the time their five. You give her some facts from large studies that have concluded that breastfeeding well into the preschool years is actually good for children and then give her some of the health benefits to boot (you did your research yesterday so you'd have fresh facts because you could see the confrontation coming!) Aunt Phoebe won't have a word of it. She starts making up her own "studies" and citing imaginary articles she read in last month's Reader's Digest. No matter what you say, she's got some silly comeback. It's like talking to a brick wall.

Political partisanship is like that. You could tell an incumbent that the Great Lakes are dying and, if nothing is done about it, we'll lose them. But, if his political party thinks that tapping the lakes for bottled water to sell abroad is a good thing, he's not going to listen to one fact that you give him. Now, anyone with half a brain could easily see how this could be detrimental to our own fresh-water resources, not to mention all of the environmental impacts that will spiral out of control and eventually leave us with a few toxic puddles of water. But this guy won't even acknowledge that you might possibly be making an ounce of sense. "Bottling Lake Erie is good! Closed case!"

So, when I saw the opportunity to share the petition campaign below with my readers, I jumped at the chance. The petition is not written in the normal "Stop Doing This" type of language that most petitions are written. This one actually has humor! 

It is basically a petition letter to the American Medical Association (with copies going to the President and Congress) with a plea that they seriously consider labeling "Political Partisanship" a disease. Though the letter has a humorous tone, the content is serious. It describes how, with so much partisanship going on, our government is in a virtual dead-lock and nothing (good or even bad) is getting done. I absolutely love this petition and would be excited to know that other like-minded people will sign it. You can click the link in the widget, below, to read the petition letter and learn more about why this is important. (If, for some reason, the widget is feeling glitchy, here's a direct link: http://www.change.org/petitions/stop-the-disease-of-political-partisansip# )

Change.org|Start an Online Petition »

Don't Just Sit There, Shaking Your Head...

Be the Change!

*I will be compensated for this post. I want you to know that, although there will be a very small payment made to me, I would never post anything that I did not believe in. I think that this petition, and many of the causes on Change.org, is worthy and I would have shared it with others via Facebook and Twitter anyway.*

My Version of Melted-Crayon Art {Creating}

My final product!

We've all seen them by now - those canvases with crayons line up at the top and colorful wax dripping below. The first time I saw this was on someone's Pinterest board. I immediately re-pinned. This was just TOO COOL! I had to make one of these... eventually. You see, crayons are special around here, and a brand new box is better than candy to my kids (and me!)

Pink and Green Mama - the first time I saw this genius!

Then, I cleaned out my crafting drawers. Guess what I found: two 24-count boxes of Crayolas, brand spanking new! Since both of the kids have shoe boxes full of crayons, I knew that these were all mine. I set them aside (after smelling them - Is that weird?!) for my project. I knew I'd get around to it... someday.

Last week, I saw my inspiration (and pinned it!) Thrifty With Triplets took the main idea and changed it around:

Thank you for the inspiration, Thrifty with Triplets!

 As you can see from the first photo in this post, I came up with my own version of the melted-crayon art. It took me a long time. I had little guy paint a piece of cardboard blue and white for me, then we glued on the crayons and used our hair dryer to melt them. Then I stalled for nearly a week. I'd set the picture up in different rooms, with different sides as the top. I'd gaze at it while doing dishes. I asked hubby, my oldest, and even little guy what they envisioned. Little Guy came up with the idea: Rain!

I had the main idea, so I needed to focus on how I'd do it. Slowly that plan came together: Clouds on top, flowers on the bottom. I really wanted to marbleize paper for the clouds, with little wisps of bright colors swirling to create the cloud pattern. But it couldn't be done the way I wanted. Plus there was the mess involved and the potential for disaster as Little Guy has decided he won't take any direction whatsoever right now. So, I got out the watercolors. He painted on his easel and I painted a pale rainbow piece of paper to turn into clouds.

Then there were the flowers to think about. Thrifty with Triplets simply used scrapbooking flower stickers. This was a project that I didn't have a penny to spend on, so I needed another idea. We could draw them on, we could make flowers from paper, or something else... The idea struck! I had a box of teeny-tiny star-shaped pasta that had been in the cupboard for nearly a year. I don't know what I was thinking when I bought it - we never have a need for pasta that small! Little Guy and I dyed it a rainbow of colors with alcohol and food coloring. *Don't use gel coloring! It doesn't work and you just end up with clumps of coloring floating in a baggie of alcohol. Trust me on this one!*  I simply cut a green box that made its way into our house at Christmastime into thin strips for the grass/leaves of the flowers.

After everyone went to bed, I got to create! Let me tell you, it was so nice to just have peace and quiet to do my thing.First, I glued down the green grass. Then, I lined up the colors of the pasta under the corresponding colors of crayons, then went to work. I'd put glue down at about 2" at a time, slowly adding the flowers, one by one, until I got the look I wanted.

Finally came the clouds. These were tough! I cut the paper into a few cloud-shaped pieces. They all blended together whenever I tried placing them  over the crayons. So, I traced around the edges of each with a pencil. This did the trick. I set them back up on the crayons, moving them around until I liked how they were laying. But there were big spaces where the crayons showed through. I am so glad I'm a crafty hoarder. I saved some cotton from a jewelry box that someone had thrown out (I saved the box, too!) I tore it apart and, with fabric glue, stuck little bits of the fluffy stuff here and there.

All-in-all, it was a pretty involved project. I loved every minute of it, though, and really feel as though I got to use some of the creativity cooped up inside me. As I was making this, I thought of all of the possibilities for melted crayon art. Maybe using a giant piece of cardboard, with crayons along the top, I could tape down blank cards? It would make unique thank you and birthday cards! I could melt crayon down the center of a canvas and create a waterfall scene...

What ideas do you have for melted crayon art? 

I'd love to hear them - 

maybe you'll send me off on another inspirational creative vacation!

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High Hopes for This Year's Mindful Mama Carnival!

I am so honored that the one post I wrote for the Mindful Mama Carnival last year was one of Kelly's favorites! Thank you for choosing it, Kelly. You can see all of the stats and some of her favorites HERE. One of my plans for this year is to participate as much as possible in this carnival. Since I am really working toward becoming a more mindful parent, this is the perfect venue for me to share my thoughts and to make me think more deeply on the subject.

Are you interested in joining Becoming Crunchy and Touchstone Z in this endeavor? Go check it out HERE!

What We Did Last Week {Wordless Wednesday}

Discovered that art easels can be used as forts!

Designed a puzzle.

Went for a (very cold) twilight walk.

Took lots of naps.

 And...

Created a work of art!

(Frame made with cardboard & a few paints. Fancy, huh?)

We received the Master Kitz Gustav Klimt Tree of Life painting kit from a giveaway sponsored by Kidzaw on 2 Boys + 1 Girl = 1 Crazy Mom. (Thank you!)

Organizing My Blogging and Some Plans!

So, I've managed to clean up around the house a little. I am proud that I've been able to keep the kitchen in order for a whole week - that place gets out of hand within hours! I'm taking steps to give Little Guy the full attention he needs every day by doing projects, reading together, or just watching him play with my full attention. I haven't been blogging much or even thinking about it. Until last night, that is.

Photo by: danielmoyle

I have been blogging for about a year. At first, I had absolutely no idea what to write about. Slowly, I found some topics to write about that others actually wanted to read. I still don't feel as if I've found my real niche, but I have some ideas as to where I want to go with my blog and am going to give it the old college try. Here's how I'm doing it:

First, I wrote down all of the topics that I like to write about and ended up with six that I really would like to concentrate on: education, crafting, recipes, parenting, green/alternative topics, and cool shops/products that I'd like to share. Then, I made a list of the blog carnivals, etc. that I'd like to get involved in -  Carnival of Natural Parenting, Mindful Mama Carnival, Mamatography, Sunday Surf, etc. Finally, I listed the regular memes that I take part in - Wordless Wednesday, Mindful Parenting Collaboration, etc. I also perused the Web for hops and linkies that I'd like to take part in. For instance, I love to share my child-centered posts on the Sunday Showcase and my crafty posts and recipes on the Chic & Crafty Party. I matched up the six subjects I'd like to focus on with a few of these hops and linkies - I'm going to have to sort through them and choose one or two that take place per day to add my posts to.

Next, I got out my calendar. Each subject will (hopefully) be a weekly post. Right now, for example, I have my crafty posts scheduled to go up on Thursdays. I left space for me to write a brief title for each subject so I can just jot it down when inspiration for a subject hits me. Then, I penciled in the topics, due dates, and post dates for the carnivals that have schedules posted. Finally, I filled in the dates of the postings for the memes that I already take part in.

I am hoping to be able to have a weekly review or giveaway, tentatively set to post on Saturdays, if I can find the sponsors. I don't want to take any reviews that happen to come my way - I'd like to concentrate on items that are handmade, green, and/or related to parenting. (If you're a business owner or PR rep and would like to get in touch, I have a nice little "Contact Me" page and form you can fill out - Hint, hint!) I got way too overwhelmed with this type of thing in December and need to make sure that I space things out and plan better!

One more thing that I plan to do is make a point to visit other blogs more often. I tend to read posts via Facebook, Google reader, and my email subscriptions. I don't leave comments very often. I have a goal to leave at least two comments on other blogs per day, two comments on Facebook updates per day, and tweet or re-tweet two posts per day. None of these little tasks take much time, so it should be no problem. There are so many bloggers/writers who I admire, who make me laugh, and who teach me something new. I feel like I owe it to them to let them know that their posts have meant something to me and to share their words with others. So don't freak out and think I've suddenly become a stalker if you see more and more comments/shares/tweets from me!


So, I was checking out my page stats on Blogger last night, too. I've always used Google Analytics to see my stats, but it is geared more toward larger bloggers and other, business-like Web sites. The Blogger one is much easier for me to understand. I found out my top five posts for last year and was quite surprised. I also saw that I had many more people actually reading posts than I thought. I guess I was gauging how many were reading by the number of comments I received. Boy, I was way off! So, just like 90% of the blogger out there, here are my top five most-read posts of last year:

Bubbles! May 13, 2011, 5 comments 2,982 Pageviews

Ready for Spring? Make Seed Bombs with Your Kids! Feb 25, 2011, 8 comments 1,026 Pageviews

I Can't Believe I'm Doing This!!! {KY Intimacy Exp... Jun 28, 2011, 452 comments 963 Pageviews

StickerYou! {Review & GIVEAWAY!} Mar 4, 2011, 200 comments 723 Pageviews

Super-Easy Crafting with Kids {Plus a GIVEAWAY} Apr 13, 2011, 141 comments 647 Pageviews

I hope that you all have a great year and continue to stick with me. I really feel positive about the upcoming "organized" blog plan I have going. I am sure that I'll fall off of the horse once in a while, but I'll be sure to jump back on!

If anyone has any suggestions about hops, memes, carnivals, blog post topics, linkies... anything, please feel free to leave me a comment or get in touch via my Contact Me form. I'd love some suggestions!

Start the New Year with a WIN! - Tuesday's Giveaway Linkup {1/3}

<a href="http://www.classifiedmom.com/search/label/Tuesday%27s%20Giveaway%20Link%20Up" target="_blank"><img alt="Classified: Mom" src="http://classifiedmom.webs.com/TGL.png"/></a>

Welcome to Tuesday's Giveaway Link Up with your hosts Aimee @ Classified: Mom & Karen @ Tots and Me & Alicia @ McCrenshaw's Newest Thoughts!

This link up will be posted Monday at 7 PM est. and run all week long! Make sure you stop in as often as you can to list your latest giveaways.

Here is how to use the Giveaway Link Up

1. Post your reviews and/or giveaways, as many as you have, be sure to add the end date (family friendly please)

2. Help spread the word about the giveaway link up by grabbing our button, Tweeting or posting on Facebook. (Not mandatory- but it helps get more exposure to your giveaways as well!)

3. Take a moment to enter any giveaway that strikes an interest to you!

If you would  like to follow the three hostesses, we will gladly follow you back! Simply leave us a message to do so.


Thank you for linking up with  Aimee @ Classified: Mom & Karen @ Tots and Me & Alicia @  McCrenshaw's Newest Thoughts! 

Mamatography - 366 Pictures in 2012

I love taking photos, want to learn more about using my digital camera, and keep a journal in pictures for the year. That's why I've decided to join Luschka of Diary of a First Child in her Mamatography 2012 Challenge. I will take a photo each day that kind of reflects what our day was like, whether it's the pile of dirty dishes that I repeatedly walked past (feeling guilty) or a project that the kids and I worked on.

This is a creative challenge, so you can go anywhere with it! Maybe you want to take a photo of your kids next to the same wall every single day to show how they've grown, or perhaps you want to take some risks and attempt to take an artsy photo each day? Whatever floats your boat goes here. And, if you miss a week or two - no problem. Just pick up when you can. You can post just photos, captions, or even little explanatory paragraphs of each picture. (I think this will help me with my major UN-Wordless Wednesday problem!)

I've just learned of this challenge today, so I may not have all of the facts straight yet. But, from what I can understand, there will be a linky posted on Diary of a First Child on Wednesdays to link up. If you're interested in taking part, you can visit THIS POST to learn more and sign up.

Let me know if you plan to join and I'll try to make it to check out your progress every week!