Monday Favorites - A Blog Feature: Diary of a Stay-at-Home Mom

It's been a while hasn't it. There has been lots going on so I apologize for my absence.

Last week I was at all 3 of my jobs (Fieldhouse, Gale Woods Farm and Children's Place)...whew, had a soccer coaches' meeting, helped with 4-H events, met coach for Benjamin's soccer team and met the kids from the soccer team I'm coaching as well. Plus I managed to turn another year older in there. ;) We've also been following the news/Internet about the flooding in Fargo and other parts of North Dakota. Many of my friends still live there and have been in the midst of the flood fight. One friend has a secondary earthen dike close to her house, while another friend had to be airlifted by helicopter from the field across the stream from their house (which grew to a raging river) because they were surrounded by water. Lots of memories from 1997 when I was in Fargo and helping to sandbag then. Soooooo, now it's time to get back to normal (what is that again???)

Today's blog feature is: Diary of a Stay-at-Home Mom

This blog is written by Sandra, an Air Force wife. She is a stay-at-home-mom to 2 kids. Read more about her here. Sandra writes about a variety of topics, including book & movie reviews, cooking, photography as well as the adventures of her family. Here are a couple of her weekly features I enjoy.

Happy Homemaker Monday: Mondays she writes a feature where she talks about the books she is reading, movies she is watching, recipes she has tried, crafts she is working on, favorite photo from the past week, etc, etc. She is one busy lady!

Slow Cooker Thursday: This lady loves to cook! Every Thursday she features one of her favorite slow-cooker recipes.

Wanna-Try-That Wednesday: This is a new feature of her blog. Each week, she plans on listing an ideas she has come across that she wants to try. I'm always looking for new fun things to try and I can't wait to see what she comes up with. (Maybe I should try this blog feature too)

This blog of Sandra's is just the beginning of her mom-blogging life. She has a food blog, a reading nook where she reviews books. She also has several other features you will find on the right side of her blog under the listing of "My Places"

Thanks for a great blog Sandra. Check it out for yourself.

Wordless Wednesday

Two Boys Laughing

Sam & Benjamin

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Mrs4444 from Half-Past Kissin Time corrected me in that she didn't start Wordless Wednesday, she just participates. She can't remember who started it either. ;)

Ceres Women's Fraternity

On March 19, 1994, Ceres Women's Fraternity came into existence at North Dakota State University. Ceres Women's Fraternity is an international fraternity for women with an agriculture interest. Ceres is committed to providing opportunities in growth in leadership, academics and fellowship. This fraternity was named Ceres after the Roman Goddess of Agriculture to indicate pride in and the importance of our agricultural heritage.

I was a member of the NDSU chapter of Ceres for many years during my time in college. I was also one of the founding members. I chose to become of part of Ceres because of the values and ideals that this organization was founded on. I have so many wonderful memories of Ceres events and activities. There were Founder's Days, Homecomings, community service projects, attending Conclave in AZ, living in the Ceres House for my last senior year and so many others. I even got engaged at a Ceres meeting in the Prairie Rose room of the Memorial Union. ("There comes a time in every woman's life.....")

More than that, it was about the people who belonged to Ceres, the women I met from all over North Dakota, Minnesota or wherever they came from to NDSU (even Canada...love you Wenda!). It was about the friendships we developed and connections we made during our times as part of this wonderful organization. We shared many happy times, sad times and times where we laughed so hard we almost peed our pants. All of the women in Ceres, both yesterday and today, are my sisters. Life-long friends who are so special to me.

The reason I write about Ceres today, is because it is a sad time for our chapter. After 15 years as a chapter, the NDSU chapter is disbanding. This weekend will be the final Founder's Day celebration. It is a tough time for college organizations, including fraternities and sororities. The college experience for young people today is different that it was years ago. The sense of belonging to a group (like Ceres) doesn't have the same meaning for young people today. There are struggles to recruit new members and chapters are forced to make tough decisions. Ceres at NDSU had to make this decision due to the fact that numbers have dwindled. I admire the determination of the chapter to hang on as long as it has. It's been a tough fight.

Honestly, it's a decision that brings me to tears. I know that the friendships will survive and we'll all live on, in the virtual world like Facebook and the world-wide-web; face-to-face meetings, Christmas cards, weddings, babies and funerals. It's not going to be the same and I'll miss it terribly.

So for one last time ladies, join me in saying.....
"The object of our Fraternity is to build the whole person, to effect bonds of sisterhood, and to unify Ceres as a comprehensive entity. Ceres is committed to building qualities of leadership, to building meaningful fellowship, and to building a desire for scholastic achievement. Our commitment to Ceres is predicated on the values and ideals descriptive of a rural environment and offers lifelong sisterhood to women with an appreciation of agriculture. Membership in Ceres may at times require the sacrifice of time, pleasures, and comforts."

Here we go Bison, Here we go!

By the time you read this post, I will be on my way to witness history. This morning at 11:30 AM, the NDSU Bison will be playing in their very first NCAA men's basketball tournament against defending champions, Kansas.

For years NDSU had been a Division II school, but 5 years ago the school made the change to Division I. Many people were skeptical about the jump, questioning NDSU's ability to compete with much larger schools. There were growing pains along the way but also glimmers of hope. After a LONG 5 year waiting period, they finally became eligible for post-season play. The timing couldn't have been more perfect. They qualified for the NCAA tournament in their first year of eligibility by winning the Summit League tournament earlier this month. That hasn't happened to a team since 1970. And to add to the excitement, the NCAA selection committee blessed Bison fans by putting them in the Midwest Region which happens to be playing in the Metrodome in Minneapolis. WOW, this story gets better by the moment.

For fans, alumni, students and players, the anticipation of this moment has been building all week...all month....all season....and for 5 years. Travel plans have been made, tickets have been purchased and fans are now converging. It's a sea of Yellow and Green along the streets of Minneapolis this morning. The wave is moving into the Metrodome. The stampede is coming Kansas, watch out for the Herd!

A Visit to the American Girl Bistro

The Mall of America recently opened an American Girl Store and Bistro. Several months ago when Lauren heard about it, she made a special request for Grandma & Auntie Molly to join us there for lunch. On Saturday, we made a special day of shopping for her First Communion dress and had the opportunity to visit American Girl too.

The store itself is quite the experience as it carries all the dolls, clothing, books, accessories in the American Girl line. Girls can also bring their dolls to get their hair done in the salon. The dolls can join you in the Bistro for to eat and if you don't have your own doll, you can borrow one there.

Lauren making sure her doll is comfortable at the table.

She borrowed this doll and named her April.

Teaching her doll to wave

Grandma Petersen fixing the bow in April's hair.

Lauren

Wordless Wednesday

Guess what he found?......lovely

Happy Spring

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For more Wordless Wednesday, please visit Mrs4444 at Half-Past Kissin' Time

Look what he can do!

Benjamin rode a bike without training wheels tonight! All last summer he was too scared to even try. Tonight, Dave asked him to give it a go. He literally put Benjamin on and pushed the bike once down the street and he did it! After about 5 minutes of riding, he then taught himself to start too! WOW!!! That was too easy.

Benjamin Rides a Bike

Monday Favorites - A Blog Feature: Northern Cheapskate

Today's featured blog is Northern Cheapskate. This blog is authored by Christina, a stay-at-home mom of 3 boys who lives in the woods in northern Minnesota. She writes articles on coupons, freebies, money-saving tips, living a frugal lifestyle. Basically, about anything that has to do with you and your money. Learn more about Christina here.



I really enjoy this blog because the information is more local. Several other blogs like this I read are more national in their offers, information, etc.. Christina does an awesome job of offering advice for people that don't necessarily live in a large metropolitan area either. Recently she wrote a thought provoking article about whether your kids creativity would be hampered by embracing a frugal lifestyle. Check it out here.



Thanks for a great blog Christina. Check it out for yourself.

A Death in the Family

It with sad regret I report the death of Miley Strei. Miley came into our lives just a short 2 weeks ago along with his/her brother/sister Starburst. (Sorry, I don't know how to tell the gender of a fish). Despite our best attempts to care for this fish, he/she was discovered belly up on the fish tank one morning. Lauren was heartbroken and Benjamin was intrigued with why the fish was floating. Noah on the other hand didn't know one of the fish was missing until days later. RIP Miley. We're now taking bets on how long the other fish will last. :)

Friday Fragments

It's been a great week at our house. Lots of activities, both for kids and parents There wasn't any school Thursday or Friday due to conferences at school. Maybe one of these weeks there will actually be school all 5 days. ;)

**Lauren and Benjamin have started to learn how to use the sewing machine. That was one of their goals for 4-H this year. They have been practicing tracing patterns on a piece of paper without the thread. Benjamin is doing surprisingly good especially since I expected him to use the foot pedal to operate the machine just like the accelerator on a go-kart. We might try real fabric and thread soon.

**I discovered this week that Lauren has been wearing mittens to bed at night. I'm not sure when that started (and yes, her room is plenty warm enough grandma!). She just said she like doing it. This also comes from the same kid who used to wrap her blanket around her head, including her face, until she created a individual sweat lodge like experience. UGH.

**Benjamin braved his 6 year old well child visit to the dr. last Friday. He passed with flying colors including the vision and hearing screening. He was so proud of himself in showing the dr. all the things he knew how to do, had learned in school, etc. Of course all those things went out the window when the nurse came in with the needle for a shot. We had to pull him out from underneath the chairs to administer it. I'm pretty sure the people in the waiting room could hear him screaming.

**Noah loves going to preschool. He attends every Tuesday and Thursday morning. I go with on Tuesday for a parent education time and he goes by himself on Thursdays. Every morning he gets up and asks if he has school, if he doesn't he ends up in a heap on the floor in a "disappointment fit" When he asked Thursday morning, I said that he was going by himself after which he proceeded to lose it again. I was very confused by what was going on so I asked him. He said to me, with a very whiny voice, "Mom, I can't go to school by myself. I can't drive!!"

Have a great weekend.

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For more Friday Fragments, visit Mrs4444 at Half-Past Kissin' Time.

Wordless Wedneday

It's all fun and games until someone puts your face in the snow.

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For more on Wordless Wednesday, check out Mrs4444 at Half-Past Kissin' Time.

Monday Favorites - A blog feature: MotherLoad: The MomAdvice.com blog

Welcome back to the continuing feature, Monday Favorites - A blog feature.

Today's featured blog is MotherLoad: The MomAdvice.com blog. The blog is authored by Amy Clark, who lives in Indiana. Amy is a stay-at-home mom who created the MomAdvice.com website when she couldn't find what she was looking for on the internet in one place. Read more about Amy here. MomAdvice is a collection of "well researched and in-depth articles on frugal living, saving money, work at home opportunities, inexpensive recipes, and tips for organizing your life."

Amy actually has several blogs that she writes, all which are part of her MomAdvice website. The blog I enjoy the best is the MotherLoad. Several days of the week she has different features that are interesting to read, including Amy's Notebook (see 3/4/09's entry here) and Freebie Friday (see 3/6/09's entry here). She just spent the entire month of February in a No-Spend Challenge too. I am going to participate in her Notebook Experiment sometime in the future since her blog is one site I have downloaded ideas, recipes from the most.

Thanks Amy for a inspiring blog. Check it out for yourself.

Interview about Mom

A friend on Facebook recently did a survey of her 4 year old son about what he knew about his mom. After reading the answers and laughing my head off, I knew I wanted to do this with my kids. I interviewed all 3 of my kids last night to see what they knew about me. The results were interesting, hilarious and disturbing all at the same time. Enjoy



My Mom - by Benjamin, age 6

1. What is something mom always says to you? Yes and No
2. What makes mom happy? When I give her a card
3. What makes mom sad? When I hit somebody
4. How does your mom do to make you laugh? By tickling me
5. What was your mom like as a child? Like Lauren
6. How old is your mom? 35
7. How tall is your mom? Big
8. What is her favorite thing to watch on TV? Cyberchase (I have never seen this show!)
9. What does your mom do when you're not around? Go on the computer
10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for? Handing out ice cream (LOL)
11. What is your mom really good at? Teaching
12. What is your mom not very good at? (didn't have answer)
13. What does your mom do for her job? Works at the Fieldhouse
14. What is your mom's favorite food? Pizza
15. What makes you proud of your mom? when she gets me ice cream
16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be? Luke Skywalker
17. What do you and your mom do together? play games
18. How are you and your mom the same? We have green eyes
19. How are you and your mom different? That we both have different clothes
20. How do you know your mom loves you? She makes things for me
21. What does your mom like most about your dad? When she kisses him
22. Where is your mom's favorite place to go? Wild Wings


My Mom - by Lauren, age 7.5

1. What is something mom always says to you? Great job on the test
2. What makes mom happy? When I do my best
3. What makes mom sad? When I make the wrong choice
4. How does your mom do to make you laugh? By telling me funny stuff
5. What was your mom like as a child? You liked space ships, you wanted to be an astronaut
6. How old is your mom? 35
7. How tall is your mom? Bigger than me
8. What is her favorite thing to watch on TV? Wheel of Fortune
9. What does your mom do when you're not around? Play with Benjamin & Noah
10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for? Knowing the most about space
11. What is your mom really good at? Reading
12. What is your mom not very good at? Gymnastics
13. What does your mom do for her job? Works on a farm
14. What is your mom's favorite food? Celery
15. What makes you proud of your mom? Because she is special
16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be? An astronaut
17. What do you and your mom do together? We sew & read
18. How are you and your mom the same? We both like space
19. How are you and your mom different? Mom has black hair and I have brown hair
20. How do you know your mom loves you? Because mostly she is nice (I love that she said "mostly")
21. What does your mom like most about your dad? That he likes space
22. Where is your mom's favorite place to go? The moon


My Mom - by Noah, age 4

1. What is something mom always says to you? Put on your coat
2. What makes mom happy? Noah!
3. What makes mom sad? Didn't get there in time (to the bathroom)
4. How does your mom do to make make you laugh? Your hair (I have no idea what this means)
5. What was your mom like as a child? You were baptized
6. How old is your mom? 5
7. How tall is your mom? (hold hands apart about a foot)
8. What is her favorite thing to watch on TV? Basketball
9. What does your mom do when you're not around? Read a book
10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for? For laughing (he laughs)
11. What is your mom really good at? Sewing, playing in the snow, driving
12. What is your mom not very good at? Training wheels
13. What does your mom do for her job? Do it on the computer, Fieldhouse, farm
14. What is your mom's favorite food? Giant Pancake
15. What makes you proud of your mom? Takes me to Safari Island
16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be? Mickey Mouse
17. What do you and your mom do together? Dress up as Star Wars and make you laugh
18. How are you and your mom the same? We have green eyes to go through sandstorms
19. How are you and your mom different? We dont' have green eyes
20. How do you know your mom loves you? Gives me hugs & kisses
21. What does your mom like most about your dad? He gives zerberts
22. Where is your mom's favorite place to go? Safari Island

Have you stopped laughing yet? ;)

Friday Fragments

Last Friday night the whole gang headed to the elementary school for the Family Dance. Mostly the kids dance and the parents sat on the sidelines and watched the chaos. Lauren spent most of the night front and center of the stage, cause "you know mom, I'm gonna be a rock star when I grow up" Noah's dance moves involved some sort of weird combination of tapping his feet as fast as possible while trying to do the splits. I'm positive those dance moves came from dad. Here's a video clip of Benjamin (in the red shirt) practicing his very best air- guitar & head-banging. Aerosmith, eat your heart out!

It was Pet Week at preschool and somehow I got roped into hauling 2 new acquired goldfish to school. Noah thought it was absolutely fabulous.

A Christmas present from Grandma Petersen got put to good use this week. Each of the kids received a pillowcase made by a friend of hers. They were supposed to have made their way onto a pillow. But I turned my back for a second and I saw them "boing, boing, boinging" down the hallway. Those cases have been jumping around the house all week.

I started back to work at Gale Woods Farm this week. For the next 5 weeks, I'm going to be working with an after-school program. The 1st-3rd graders come directly from school to help with farm chores and learn about the farm. Thursday was the first session and the kids were able to watch the annual sheep shearing. At first the other educator and I told the kids that they were female sheep but as the wool came off it became quite obvious they were the boys. I even overheard one of the kids whisper to his friend "oooh, I saw some private parts!" Ahhhh, yet again, another fun-filled summer at the farm.

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For more Friday Fragments, visit Mrs4444 at Half-Past Kissin' Time

Wordless Wednesday

A new friend (eek!)

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For more on Wordless Wednesday, check out Mrs4444 at Half-Past Kissin' Time.

4-H Project Day

On Saturday, Lauren & Benjamin participated in 4-H Project Day. They could choose 2 different workshops to learn more about a 4-H project. The sessions they chose were "Bread in a Bag" and "Exotic Pets"

Bread in a Bag was exactly what it sounded like. They learned how to read a recipe, measure ingredients and mix it in the bag. Once the ingredients were combined they kneaded it on the table. Benjamin had the most unique kneading technique by far. (check out the picture below). We got to take the bread home and bake it too. mmmmmmm

Lauren mixing her bread

Benjamin "kneading" AKA punching

The Exotic Pets workshop introduced them to a 3 year old boa constrictor snake. The kids all got to get up close and personal with the snake while asking a lot of questions. (No kids, we can't have a snake as a pet!)

Benjamin petting the snake

Lauren holding the snake

Monday Favorites - A Blog Feature: Because I Said So

In a previous post I mentioned that I read over 70 blogs a day. After my husband called me and said "you read HOW many blogs a day?!?!?", I feel I should clarify myself. (Don't worry honey, the kids are playing with sharp knives and matches while I'm reading.)


1. I don't read all of my blogs every single day. I would get exhausted after about the 10th one. I usually just browse through some of my favorites each day. Maybe I'm in the mood just for some humor or am looking specifically for a good deal on my next shopping trip.



2. Blog entries are various lengths. Sometimes they are a quick couple sentences or perhaps a longer entry. They don't take a very long time to read at all. I am a fast reader so I get through them pretty quick.


3. Most blogs have a feature that lets you know when they are updated so that you don't have to visit them everyday to see if the author added a new entry.


So you may be asking yourself (and if you aren't, why not?!?!), which blogs on your blog roll are worth reading. Therefore to help you with this questions I'm going to feature a favorite blog on my blog every week to help you get to know them. I figure that way I have at least 70 weeks worth of entries...LOL.

Here's my first one....

Because I Said So

http://www.becauseisaidso.com/

Because I Said So is a blog started by a mom, Dawn. According to her website & bio, Dawn Meehan (aka mom2my6pack) grew up in Chicagoland where she began her writing career at the age of 5 with her widely praised, The Lucky Leprechaun, an epic tale of a leprechaun who is– yes, you guessed it, lucky.
During her school years, she repeatedly heard the phrases, “You’re not working up to your potential” and “If only you would apply yourself, you could do so much better”.
Because of her less than enthusiastic response to school, Dawn opted to skip college and get a job instead. In 1992, she married her husband, Joe. The young couple talked about having children and concluded that they’d like to have 2 kids. Naturally, after the 6th was born, they decided they were done. For real this time.
Dawn started her blog in June, 2007 in an attempt to earn a little money while staying home with her children. She placed an auction for a pack of Pokemon cards on eBay which took off and went viral through cyberspace. It drew the attention of tens of thousands of people to her blog, including her wonderful agent and her publisher, Guideposts.
Today, Dawn stays busy changing diapers, cleaning pudding off her ceiling, tackling insurmountable piles of laundry, and pulling her kids out of trees.

This blog was first introduced to me by my cousin Stacey (Thanks Stacey!). I think that this is one of the most hilarious blogs I have ever read. Dawn is so funny and does such a great job of sharing her stories about being a parent. I know that many times I end up laughing so hard I'm in tears after reading it. Dawn also has a book coming out near Mother's Day, which many fans are excited to read

Thanks Dawn for sharing with us. Be sure to check out her blog.