A #GNO, a Guest Post, and a GIVEAWAY!!!

TONIGHT is the night!

Mom It Forward and Fishful Thinking are hosting a Positive Parenting #GNO on Twitter!

(I know it's the LOST season premiere too. How I love DVR! Mine is already set and ready to go.)


They are also giving away a Fishful Thinking prize pack with a Canon digital camera!!!

How cool is that?

No twitter account? Never participated in a #GNO before? I didn't/hadn't either until a couple weeks ago, and if I can do it, you can do it. BELIEVE ME. Just go to Mom It Forward for all the details and to read my guest post about Mastery Moments, missing socks, and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. There are some cute pictures of my kiddos too. :)

I'm so excited to be one of the panelists (@writingthewaves) for tonight's event and to discuss all the great parenting ideas and tips that Fishful Thinking has to offer.


Dr. Karen Reivich will be there typing away, live and in person, to share information and answer questions too. This gal knows her stuff...(click the arrow to see what I mean.)

Fishful Thinking and other moms want to hear your thoughts and ideas too so if you haven't yet RSVPed, click on over and check it out!

Fishful Thinking Thursday - Be still my heart...

A couple Saturdays ago, Pat and I took the kids to Barnes and Noble - one of my favorite places in the world! I could stay there all day camped out in the children's section - and we practically did. After a bit, I noticed Pat getting a little ansy as the kids and I were still pulling books off of the shelves. I didn't even realize we had been in the store for almost two hours. Talk about total engagement.

I was proud of myself though. I exercised restraint this time and only ended up buying the kids a cookie, although there was a book that I really wanted - vibrant colors, clever rhymes, and every animal you can imagine constructed completely out of hearts!
Click here to see the trailer on the book's website for the full effect! Abby and Noah watched it probably ten times when we got home that afternoon. It's genius!

Not only is it clever and cute, but it is the perfect book to help younger kids recognize and describe their feelings.

Emotional awareness is the ability to identify and express what you are feeling and to have empathy for what others are feeling. It’s the building block of a healthy emotional life. Children who are comfortable with the full range of feelings have an easier time connecting with others, are more at ease with themselves, and are strong communicators. Fishful Thinking^SM teaches parents how to help their children express their feelings in healthy ways and how to cope with sadness, anxiety or embarrassment.

With Valentine's Day coming up, I thought I'd give My Heart is Like a Zoo to my kiddos as part of their gift (so much for restraint). And if I can get my act together, I may even throw them a little Valentine's "savoring" party. Everyone could bring an item that they LOVE to "show-and-tell". We'll read the story and make heart animals. Then we'll dance to a little Mood Music!

Okay, now I'm excited. Now to come up with a (small) guest list...

*And speaking of parties, Fishful Thinking is hosting a Twitter #GNO event this Tuesday, Feb.2nd from 9-11pm EST all about positive parenting. (Pepperidge Farm is also giving away a FT prize pack that includes a DIGITAL CAMERA!) I finally jumped on the Twitter bandwagon a couple weeks ago (@writingthewaves) just so I could join in. I'm SO excited to be a panelist, and I'm in major need of a GNO, even if it's only virtual. I'll take what I can get.

Done any Fishful Thinking this week? Link on up!

WfulW - I can take a hint...

Last week, my mom sent us a package, just out of the blue, with stickers, Melissa & Doug write-a-mats and crayons, and a couple bags of cookies for the kids. They loved it. (Thanks, Mom!) It's so nice to get something in the mail other than bills.

She also included a couple of things for me...

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I actually love this kind of stuff...or at least the idea of it. My mom gives me a calendar like this every year, and I swear I would give my right arm for my house to look even close to the pictures in that magazine.

I was an elementary school teacher for heaven's sakes. Everything had its place.

That's not so much the case anymore...

Since having kids, my organizational (and housekeeping) skills are not what they used to be.
Oh, to have alphabetized spices and be able to find something without rummaging through antacids, cookie cutters, playdough, and fish food.
These pictures are mild in comparison to the state of my house right now. But I tell ya, I'll pick up everything off the floor, put all the laundry away, do the dishes, etc...and by this time tomorrow, it will all reappear, like I never even lifted a finger.

"Cleaning your house while your kids are still growing
is like shoveling the walk before it stops snowing."
- Phyllis Diller

You're telling me.

For more Wordful Wednesday posts, click here!

P.S. I'm on Twitter now at writingthewaves - just one more way to avoid housework. :)

Makes My Monday - 100th Day of K!

Today marked Abby's 100th day of kindergarten! She couldn't wait to take her poster to school this morning. (It's been ready to go since last Wednesday.)

Her enthusiasm, her sweet smile, her cut- out heart covered in stickers, her new outfit (clearance at Children's Place) and butterfly necklace that she was SO excited to wear - all definitely make my Monday...

but especially the fact that the school year is more than half way over. I can't wait to have my baby girl home with me (& Noah) this summer. I am counting down the days. :)

Link up to MMM over at Twinfatuation and celebrate Cheryl's 700th post!

Saturday Snapshots - BOOK IT!

This little gal was BEYOND excited last Saturday to go and redeem her BOOK IT Reading Award at Pizza Hut.
Not only was it her first reading award, but it was also the first time we'd ever taken the kids to Pizza Hut. Noah was stoked too. He LOVES pizza. Abby? Not so much. She does not like "the sauce".

Tomatoes? Yes.

Tomato sauce? No.

Even still, she was so excited about that reading award and getting her own PEPPERONI personal pan pizza that she ate the whole thing! And she kept saying how "delicious" it was. (Ours was really good too. It's been awhile since I've had a deep dish pizza - yum!)

The waiter made a BIG deal out her award too and had her sign a poster that was up on the wall and then gave her and Noah two quarters each to put in the plastic egg toy machine and get a prize! How nice is that?

When we got home, she kept reminding me to make sure to write the other books we've read on the calendar in her assignment book so she can earn another reading award for January.

I just hope we have the same waiter again next time. But in case we don't, I'd better make sure to bring some extra quarters.

For more Saturday Snapshots, click on over to Cheryl's place!

"The Can Do Challenge" a la Fishful Thinking

*My Fishful Thinking pal Cecily told me to link this up to Photo Story Friday too. Don't mind if I do! Thanks, Cec.

Noah loves to help me do the laundry. As soon as he hears me lift the lid to the washer, he runs in the laundry room, "I will help you wid da laundry, Mom!" he exclaims. He especially loves to spray the stain remover on the clothes. "I can do it, Mama! I can do it!" And he does a pretty good job. I usually get spritzed a couple times in the process, but if his enthusiasm for this dreaded chore lasts through his teenage years, it will be worth it.

As I was folding clothes, I was thinking about how I could "transform this activity into a mastery moment" for him. One of my goals for this year is to start working with Noah more on mastering those preK skills - writing his name, identifying letters and numbers, sorting, etc... So I asked him to find all of the black socks in the pile and count them. He was so cute lining them all up on the bed. He counted 11 of them and then announced - "One sock is missing!" I was so surprised - not that the sock was missing, I swear my dryer eats socks, but that he realized one of the pairs was not complete. He was really paying attention.

I was also surprised this week when Abby got the bread out of the pantry, a piece of cheese out of the refrigerator, slapped 'em together, and made a sandwich all by herself. She even surprised herself.

"Look, Mom! I made a sandwich ALL BY MYSELF!" she announced with the biggest grin on her face.

The next day she insisted on making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich - a bit messier process. I had to fight the urge to intervene, but she was so proud of herself that she could do it. Noah had to get in on the act too. It was funny listening to Abby tell him exactly what to do. I did have to assist him a little bit to save the bread from being completely mangled, but yesterday, I did let him do it 95% by himself.

FT Empowerment tip: Creating space for a child's exploration of independence can be challenging, but the opportunities for the growth and confidence it provides are worth celebrating!

So I am challenging myself to The CAN DO Challenge! - resist that temptation to always do things for them (even though it would take me half the time), foster their independence, and create more opportunities for those mastery moments.

I can do this!!! (unless I'm running late somewhere - another one of my goals for 2010...)

Done any Fishful Thinking lately?

PSF - Once There Was a Snowman...

We had high hopes for a couple inches of snow last week, but alas, we only got dusting. Still, the kids were determined to make a snowman...
Abby took this picture. Abby's snowman is on the right and a that's a "snow dog" in the middle. Noah's snowman is on the left. He wanted to take a picture too...

The kids tried to give them faces, but being that they were only about five inches high, even chocolate chips were too big to use for eyes, and a baby carrot nose was definitely out of the question.

Hosted by Cecily