Am I the Only Mom Who.....

Am I the ONLY mom who...

tells the toddler to stop eating dog food?
has to lift the toilet seat to make sure the little hobbits flush?
can't remember the last year I mopped my floors?
can't remember the last day I took a shower?
finds half full tippy cups under the couch with mysterious white chunks inside?
sometimes has an urge to sedate my kids?
potty trains kids by letting them run outside naked?
bribes farmers with cookies so my kids can ride in their combine?
really didn't enjoy pregnancy...at all!
prefers teenagers and toddlers over infants?
can down an entire 2 litre bottle of Diet Pepsi...and then feels compelled to hide the fact from my husband?
can't adequately function without large doses of caffeine?
feels like I've spent the summer raising houseflies?
feels like this summer is already gone by too fast?
wishes I was deaf, or that my kids were mute?

Really, am I the only one?

I Heart Faces Challenge - Babies

I love this shot I took of Yahoo giving me a kiss and thought it would work well in I Heart Faces weekly challenge.

Homeschooling; Favorite Educational Websites

My last homeschooling post on writing will be on Wednesday. Today I am going to quickly share with you a bunch of websites the boys and I like to visit. In our technological age I feel it's important for children to become comfortable with technology early, which isn't hard. Kids are drawn to it and pick it up quickly! However, I do limit the boys time on the computer and haven't yet taught them how to search the internet on their own. Every time I come across a website I think the boys would enjoy I bookmark it. Then during their computer time I'll give them the choice of a few different ones they can use. I always try to find educational but fun websites and activities. So here are some of them. Hope you find something you and your munchkins can use.

PBS Kids..of course

Printable Family Tree
Where we Come From - family history and geography
Newspaper Activities


Printable Books - I don't use this site much, it's just easier for us to go to the library.
Letter People - Were you a child of the 80's? Then you remember the Letter People. I printed this off and made a matching game for the boys. They also race me to see who can put the alphabet in the correct order first. You also need to watch this Letter People Video.
Letter Games


Cool Math Games, these are geared more to upper elementary and older. DR and I love this site because of the addicting games.
Math with a Deck of Cards
Design your own Math Worksheets


National Geographic for Kids
Science for Kids - lots of activities here!
Energy and Kids
Weather for Kids
Preschool Science Activities - tons of stuff here for little ones!


My Favorite Art Blog for Kids, she has GREAT stuff everyday to do with all ages of kids.
Crafty Crow
101 Frugal Ways to Share Art with Your Kids. Our favorites from this site are 82. Make Your Own Flowers, and  50. Paint a Greek Vase
Dumpr, manipulate your photos.
How to Make a Feather Quill Pen, not as hard as you might think!

There are so many more out there. These are just some that we have used in the past. I'm glad I did this post because I've found some sites I think we need to revisit. What about the rest of you parents out there? Do you have any great websites for kids of all ages to share? I'm always looking for things to do with my kids as they get older.

Remembering Who I Was...And Who I Am...

Before I became a stay at home mom (SAHM) I was an independent young art teacher. Not so young anymore and as many SAHM's have come to realize, sometimes it's hard to remember a life before diapers, runny noses and schlepping kids around. Kids, as much as I love em', totally consume your life until there is time for little else. Then one day, if you are anything like me, you realize you have split personalities and they are conversing with one another.

I'm an artist!!
Oh, really? When was the last time you drew/painted/sculpted anything?
Uuummm.....
Yeah, that's what I thought....
Wait! I made that small sculpture of the horse, remember?
Yep, I remember..it was made out of play dough and you made it for your son's cowboys to ride.
Well, what about.....
No, that doesn't count either.
But, but...I'm an artist!
Whatever!!

Man those voices are starting to get distracting! Anyway, my original point...sometimes us SAHM's have a hard time remembering or finding the time for all those things we used to do before we had kids. I just wanted to share a little corner of my world with you today that reminds me of who I was...and who I am.

I have a large easel with a large drawing sketchbook set up in one corner of my bedroom. My wonderful husband bought it for me a few months ago. It doesn't take up a lot of space but I see it as soon as I walk in the room. I can't ignore it...it stares me down when I enter.  It is my little space to create whatever I wish.

And I wished to draw an alligator in pastels. I've been working on it for a few weeks. It's a bit different than what I would normally do but I'm happy with it.

 My little corner takes me back to who I was and who I'll always be....no matter what the voices in my head say!! Do you have a "corner"? What's it like? What do you do there? I'd love to hear from other SAHM's.