This is a picture of SuperBoy last Monday in Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World Resort.

No, he didn’t fall and hurt himself.

Amidst screaming, ranting and yelling while I directed him to a less people laden location, SuperBoy threw himself on the ground in one grand finale meltdown.

I struggled with posting this picture, which I snapped to show him in our post-meltdown breakdown.  I don’t ever want to embarrass my child, but a picture is worth a thousand words, right?

Tired, hot and dealing with a dad who was also tired and hot…. I had been waiting for this meltdown to occur.  I was prepared.  I had a plan of action. I knew I would carry out our normal melt down protocol right there in the middle of Disney …. so that SuperBoy would continue to learn how to bring himself out of these situations…and so that he would know that even in the most magical of places…. I will not tolerate that behavior.

It was harder than I thought.

I felt sorry for him.  The kids really had been holding up amazingly well.  This was day SIX …and the first sign of major meltdown.  I thought we would see it by day TWO.  This was not a melt down brought on by selfish desires, it was pure over stimulation on ten different levels.

I was embarrassed.  Horrified, actually.  Part of his melt down routine is to yell and scream about how I’m hurting him when I place my hand on his arm to remove him from a situation.  He stayed true to form and screamed and  yelled, loudly, in Hollywood Studios, that I was hurting him and to “Please just LET. ME. GO!”

The most awful part of this whole situation?

The judgmental looks and scoffs I got from the parents around me.  Parents who apparently have angels for children, or are only on day ONE of their trip.  When I removed SuperBoy from the Muppet 3-D attraction I took him to what was the most remote area I could find in the immediate vicinity.  One mother sitting across the street from us (reading a book while her baby apparently slept in the stroller) shot me a dirty look, huffed and puffed and then moved up the street and complained to the strangers around her about “some parents”.

The older couple that had been sitting next to her did not move, watching us without even pretending to look away, shook their heads and whispered to each other.

When I see other parents suffering the trials of a child melting down I either give them the silent, knowing and supportive nod … or I inwardly smile and breathe a sigh of relief because it was them….and not me.  Most of the time I do both.

Part of my strategy for addressing these melt downs is to simply be in his space, but to be silent.  I let him scream and yell and fuss….until he can pull himself together.  We’ve tried talking, we’ve tried rationalizing.  He’s old enough to know those words by heart … he needs to be able to soothe himself.  When he is ready I will hold, rock, hug and kiss the daylights out of him …but not until he has calmed himself down.

As I sat on the curb waiting for him to pull it together a mom walked up and looked at me with disdain (I really don’t think I’m exaggerating)…then went to SuperBoy and asked him if everything was okay…if he needed help. (?!) He looked at her, very confused, then continued on his tirade.  I looked her squarely in the face and said “He is over stimulated, overly tired and having a temper tantrum.  He’s six, he’ll get over it.”

I half expected someone to call the authorities on me.

After half an hour (yes, half an hour) SuperBoy pulled himself together.  We went on with our day and enjoyed the rest of Hollywood Studios.

During his meltdown I was encouraged greatly by the support I received on Twitter from my fellow Disney Social Media Moms parents…. reminding me that Disney World is the meltdown capital of the world (for kids AND grownups!).  It also served to remind me, yet again what a great group of people I had the opportunity to meet and spend time with during this phenomenal event.

Our total stay at Disney will include the three days of the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration, Thurs – Saturday, and three-ish additional days, Sunday – Tuesday morning experiencing the magic on our own.  Having chosen to extend our stay, we have to shorten our travel time.  Add this to the “It costs HOW MUCH to fly five people to Florida?!” factor and you have a family of five with three kids six and under driving to Walt Disney World Resorts …from Kansas….in less than two days.

The first and largest piece of our trip will be driven overnight (by she who drew the short straw) and in an attempt to keep my kids as comfortable and therefor asleep as long as possible …. I decide to deck out their car seats with these seatbelt pillows.

I’ve seen such things around the inter webz….stores specializing in kid gadgets sell all kinds of versions of these…usually around $25-$30.  Hmmm…. 3 kids x $25 …. we are starting to defeat the purpose of not flying.  I figured I could make them myself.  I toiled.  I stressed.  I analyzed.  Then I came up with the simplest pillows that the SuperKids have fallen in LOVE with…

These pillows came out at under $5 each!  MUCH more reasonable!  A little brainstorming and I was on my way.

The pillows are roughly 4″ wide and 25″ long.  I stuffed the inserts with shredded foam and then made fleece covers with velcro tabs that wrap around the seat belt without interfering with the safety of the belt. There are no sharp pieces and the pillows down’t come between the kids and the seat belt.

I chose to make inserts because, well…. my kids are droolers….. and SuperBaby still pees UP sometimes when he sleeps.  I wanted to be able to take the covers off and wash them.

I used a standard Queen sized pillow case cut into fourths, lengthwise to 24″ long x 6″ wide.  (I left half in tact in this picture because I’m making a larger one for SuperDad and I to use also!)

When I had the sides sewed up I filled them with the shredded foam through one open end.  This may have been the most difficult part of the whole thing.  That foam wanted to go everywhere.  I ended up making a funnel of sorts out of a cardboard box that was headed to the recycling bin.  This worked MUCH-ish better.

When filling them with foam you have to compact the foam to get a nice firmness.  Pushing the foam down with the spoon is helpful.

*Side note:  While I was making these the kids kept bugging me, “What are you making? Is it for me?”.  I may have told them I was making “whacking sticks”….. While I was stuffing them I grabbed one end of the insert and started swinging the pillow like a billy club to get the foam to settle.  I turned around and SuperBoy was standing behind me with a look of horror on his face:  ”I thought you were KIDDING!”    Oops.

When the pillow is full you will need to slip stitch the end closed.  This makes a nice finished end. (Here is a great video tutorial on how to sew a slip stitch.)

Next, cut your fabric.  I cut my pieces 26 ½” long x 6″ wide.

*Another side note:  When I took these pictures I was getting VERY frustrated because I kept missing the focus.  I took about a million pictures trying to figure out what was wrong.  It occurred to me MUCH later that I was photographing FLEECE and the damn stuff looks out of focus because of how its made.

Next, cut 4 – 6″ x 6″ pieces of felt for the tabs.  Fold these in half  lengthwise with the right sides together and sew up the short ends.  Flip it right side out. These tabs will hold the pillow to the car seat.

Lay your long pieces of felt out with their right sides together.  place your tabs between the two layers with the raw edges matching up.  When you are spacing the tabs remember that you need space at both the top and the bottom of the pillow for it to fit freely in the car seat.  Place your tabs closer to the center of the pillow.

When you pin it all together it will be very thick where the tabs are, this is okay…just sew slowly to make sure you get everything sewn together neatly.

Be sure to leave 1 ½ – 2″ at the top of your slipcover un-sewn.  These “flaps” will tuck in/over after you place the insert inside.

Sew the fleece up, I used 1/2″ seam allowance and then trimmed it down after the seams were sewn.

Turn it right side out and add your velcro.  I used no-catch velcro so it wouldn’t stick to everything.  You will also need to use the kind you sew on, not the stick on kind because sewing through the layers of the tabs will give them more strength.

Place the insert inside your cover, fold the top flaps in on each other and tuck them inside and you are done!  The tabs will wrap around the seatbelt and velcro together like this:

I’m not a huge fashion designer, and this is the first thing I’ve sewn in over 15 years… so it is a no frills kind of project.  But you know what?  The SuperKids are THRILLED with their whacking sticks pillows!

The true test will be next week when we head out on the open road…. I’ll let you know how it goes.

I like to do up breakfast around here but with my inability to get out of bed shiny-happy-June Cleave-style our dairy-free/gluten-free family members it can get a little overwhelming. This Gluten-Free Caramel French Toast Casserole can be adapted to encompass everyone in one dish.

Whilst parusing Pinterest, I discovered this casserole at Six Sisters’ Stuff and decided it was one I MUST have.   I’ve made a few adjustments to make it gluten free and dairy free for our family.  This is so quick and super easy and you make it ahead, letting  it set in the fridge overnight making a no fuss breakfast in the morning.  My biggest challenge is getting out of bed to preheat the oven and pop it in before everyone is ready to carve ME up for breakfast…

For the Caramel You Will Need:

• 1c. Dark Brown Sugar (I’ve made this with light and dark sugar….dark is definately best when you are making a caramel sauce)
• 1/3c Heavy Whipping Cream
• 1 Tbsp. Light Corn Syrup or Honey
• 6 Tbsp. Butter or Margerine
• Chopped Nuts (I used Pecans)

Melt everything together except nuts in a heavy saucepan stirring constantly.  Do not let this boil (the sugar starts to crystalize and you are going to get actual caramel instead of caramel sauce).  When it is all melted together, toss in the nuts (if you’re feeling nutty) …then pour it in the bottom of a greased 9 x 13 glass baking dish.

For the Bread You Will Need:

• 1 Loaf of French Bread (I used 1 Loaf of SuperDad’s Favorite Gluten Free Sandwich Bread and it worked fantastically)
• 3 Eggs
• 1/2 c. Milk, Soy, Rice or Lite Coconut Milk
• 1 tsp. Vanilla
• 1/2 tsp. Salt

Beat the eggs, milk, vanilla and salt together in a shallow dish.  Cut your bread into 8 -10 slices around 1/2 – 3/4″ thick each.  Soak…and I mean DRENCH your bread in the egg mixture, use it ALL up. If you have some mixture left in the dish when you are finished …use a basting brush to dab it onto the tops of the bread.  (French Toast Casseroles are known for being soggy and, frankly, a little gross…so I can understand your hesitancy when it comes to this step…but I promise you that this will not be soggy…it is perfection.)  Lay your soaked with eggy goodness bread on top of the caramel sauce, cover it with foil and stick it in the fridge until you are ready for it the next morning.

Preheat your oven to 400°F and pop that casserole in, uncovered.  Bake for roughly 20 minutes, until the tops of the bread start to turn brown.  Pull it out of the oven and let it sit for 3-5 minutes.  THIS IS CRUCIAL. Flip the 9×13″ pan over onto a like-sized platter and serve your ooey-gooey mound of goodness. (If you don’t wait those few minutes when you pull the casserole out of the oven?  When you flip you are going to have a bigger mess…those couple of minutes give the caramel a chance to thicken ever so slightly.)

Our family is lucky enough to have no egg allergies and since SuperDad’s gluten intolerance is just that: an intolerance and not an allergy, we can mix the gluten free bread with regular bread in the same dish…. but I tried it with the gluten free sandwich bread and it was equally delish.  This caramel french toast casserole is polished off in our house each time I make it …and those are some of the quietest breakfasts we’ve had (disclaimer: that isn’t saying much).

Enjoy!

It’s no secret that we struggle with SuperBoy, but when he is given more responsibility, he seems to do better.

It has been almost three weeks (knock on wood) since we suffered one of his earth shattering melt downs.  I’m not sure what we are doing differently, or if what we’ve been practicing is finally paying off….but I’m not one to look a gift horse in the mouth.  What we DO know is that he thrives on responsibility and the praise of being a “big boy”.

Lately I’ve been vocalizing my frustrations with the state of the house: my firm belief that if everyone quit leaving things wherever they finished using them and put their own things away….and my belief that one person cannot do this alone…that if everyone chipped in and helped our house would be a nicer place to live.

Tonight as I rushed around getting the little kids through their baths and ready for bed I walked past the couch and found a beaming SuperBoy and what USED to be a pile of towels that needed to be folded.  He had folded and sorted them all.  He had delivered towels to my bathroom (and hung them up on the towel racks!) and the kids’ bathroom and wanted to know where to put the rest away.

I nearly fell over with shock.  He was SO proud of himself…and I was so proud of him.  To take initiative, to follow through and do a thorough job and to recognize that this was helpful to me.

After thanking him and giving him a giant hug, he asked me “What else can I do to help?”  Late in the day I found myself getting ready to put him off “Oh honey, I don’t know…why don’t we do some more tomorrow?” … but I stopped and looked at his freckled, smiling face and took the 5 seconds to stop and think…then gave him the broom and had him clean off the front porch, something I had thought about doing every time we walked in the door…and promptly forgot about until the next trip.  He did a great job again.

We went through a similar situation with SuperGirl last year sneaking food….at our wits end my mom suggested that we just give her a little more independence…a little more room to grow up and maybe it would stop.  Sure enough it did.

Perhaps I need to realize how big he really is getting and pay a little more attention to designing a routine that embraces this big boy… that provides him more responsibility and independence…. and then I can privately mourn the loss of my little baby boy.

When I stepped into Aldi on Wednesday morning I intended to purchase only fish and frozen fruit…but when I saw strawberries for $0.99/lb I knew I’d be stocking up and making some strawberry freezer jam.

I’m a huge fan of homemade goods.  Before we moved last year we had a very productive garden and I spent a lot of time canning.  As much as I love that home grown goodness all year round…. I do NOT enjoy the anxiety anticipation surrounding a kitchen full of jars, hot liquid and a steaming vat of boiling water thatI will be toiling over for hours.

Not my idea of “fun”, exactly.

Freezer jam is a great alternative for stocking away some homemade goodies without sweating away the day and because it is more successful when made in small batches, you don’t have to break the bank stocking up on fruit…you can make a little OR you can go overboard and make a lot. For strawberry freezer jam you can get about 2 half pints of jam out of one pound of strawberries.

Let’s get started!

Wash, dry and hull (cut out the stem/core) one pound of strawberries.  I like to quarter them as well because you will ultimately end up with smaller pieces in your jam.

Next you are going to smash the strawberries.  I do this in a deep dish pie plate because you want the berries to be in a single layer so that they all smash up evenly.  You can use a fork but I find that a potato masher works the best.  Smash them up until they are nice and juicy but you still have some nice pieces left to give your jam bulk.

Measure 2-3 tablespoons of Ball’s Instant RealFruit Pectin into a small bowl and mix it with 2/3c. white sugar.  Two tablespoons will give you jam with a very thin texture: spreadable but liquid enough that it would be super tasty on say….ice cream…or brownies.  I’m guessing.  I certainly would never dump pour any on top of a giant bowl of ice cream and dive in while everyone else in the house is sleeping… 2 ½ tablespoons should be just about right for a firmer jam that won’t slide off of an ooey gooey peanut butter sandwich after the first bite.

Mix your mashed berries in with the sugar and pectin until it is all combined and juicy.  Let the mixture sit in the bowl for about 3 min before pouring it into your jars.

• A word about jars:  I’ve used plastic freezer jars and plain old Ball glass canning jars.  Both work well in the freezer and as long as they have smooth, straight sides you shouldn’t have any problem.  The jars can be at room temperature, but you still want to make sure they have been properly washed and dried before you add your jam.

Ladle your jam into the jars leaving at least ½” of head space at the top of the jar.  This leaves room for the liquid to expand when it freezes.  Let the jars sit out for 30 minutes then put the lids on and move them to the fridge or freezer.  In the fridge your jam should last for 2-3 weeks (who are we kidding?  In my house it will NEVER last 2-3 weeks), in the freezer 6 months.

See?  Quick and easy!  And because it makes up so quickly, I make my strawberry freezer jam in small batches. Smaller batches seem to firm up  better, when you start making larger batches the jam tends to stay very liquid.  Ball recommends that you not make more than 6 half pint jars in a recipe but I find making one pound of strawberries at a time just works better.

You can use this recipe with lots of other fruits, you may want to adjust the amount of sugar depending on the sweetness or tartness of your fruit.  If you are using peaches, you will want to add about 1 tsp of lemon juice to the mix.

Now you can take advantage of those fresh fruit sales that will be rolling in over the next few weeks and months….and enjoy the fruits of your labor all year long!

We are spending part of the week at my Grandpa’s as part of our Spring Break and loving every minute of it.  With SuperBaby’s new affection for all things water and hand washing related …we’ve been going through lots of soap during this visit.  The foaming hand soap dispenser on the bathroom sink was almost empty today so I looked around for something to replace it with. I found a mason jar on the kitchen counter labeled “soap”.  Hmmmm.

When I inquired about a refill, Grandpa informed me that he thought that was what was in the jar and that my Grandma had tried to refill the pump at one point but it didn’t work…so she dumped the soap into the mason jar.

Or something like that.

The point is…he didn’t really know what to do with it and so it continues to sit on his kitchen counter, a glaring reminder of what he has to learn to do for himself and one of the many “systems” my Grandma had that he is trying to decode.

So I taught him my secret for DIY foaming hand soap refills.

As long as you have an existing foaming hand soap pump this will take you about 2 minutes:

• Pour 1 TBSP regular hand soap into the empty pump bottle ( a larger bottle like the Method one that I used today will need a little more soap, closer to 1 ½ TBSP
• Fill with warm water leaving roughly 1 – 2 inches of space at the top.
• Swish around.
• Pump the bottle a few times to get the soap moving and voila! You know have a refilled foaming hand soap dispenser for pennies on the dollar.

Enjoy!

Turning off of the interstate today to pick up some lunch for the kids I headed down the street with a Subway to my right and McDonald’s on my left.  I was steeling myself for the debate regarding sustenance of choice when SuperBoy piped up in the back seat:  “Can we go to Subway?  My tummy feels better when we eat there, I don’t really like McDonald’s anymore…”   reeling from the shock I hear SuperGirl pipe up “Yeah, me too!”

To say I was thrilled would be an understatement.

As we picked out our sandwiches and the kids asked to go and pick out apples while I refilled their water cups…. I was thrilled with their decisions.  Decisions that I will allow myself to take partial credit for because while we have had the flat burger meal on occasion, I have made a conscious effort to discuss healthy choices with them…to limit their intake of sugar and gross processed foods and I have spent time talking with them about how their bodies feel after they eat! 

Your tummy feels yucky?  Do you think you ate too much sugar?  Maybe next time you should try an apple instead of a cookie.  Do you think you are really hungry for a snack? When was the last time you had a glass of water?  Did you know that your body can feel hungry when it really just needs more water?

I’m hearing some of these things echoed back to me around the house…and now I’m seeing it in their actions!

While the kids making the choice to dine and one establishment over another is a Little Thing, seeing an essential piece of my parenting efforts come to fruition most certainly is not.

Parenting #FTW!

Last month I wrote about the Listerine Oral Care Challenge for National Children’s Healthcare Month and how our family had accepted a challenge to brush and rinse 2x each day and to floss each day.  How did we do?  Well….it was a learning experience.

I learned that we cannot brush together as a family.  Our kids are too little and SuperDad and I are needed “hands on” to help with brushing…especially for SuperBaby who tries very hard:

But just doesn’t quite get it right every time:

Besides that….have you ever put three small kids to the task of brushing their teeth together?  It starts off great:

Then they start to get silly:

Someone decides it’s funny to yell, “SPIT” and then everybody spit at the same time:

And then…all hell breaks loose:

We learned that while SuperBoy is a huge fan of rinsing….. he can’t do it with me in the room because I apparently make him laugh and then, well then I have to clean the mirror.  I’m not a big fan of cleaning the mirror.

I learned that while I’ve been putting off rinsing for AGES…despite the repeated “suggestions” from my dentist….the Listerine Zero does not burn my mouth the way rinses have in the past.

I’ve been flossing religiously for a couple of years now….and while I gave it an honest shot…. I still prefer the Oral B floss picks over old fashioned floss on a roll.  I just can’t put my hands inside my mouth like that.  *shiver*

There is a lot of good information for both adults and kids at the Wal Mart/Listerine Healthy Habits site… take a quick look and find some useful information.  My favorite piece of information?  The one I think parents are misinformed about repeatedly…including by their own dental offices???  Is this:

The American Academy of Pediatric Dentists (AAPD) recommends parents schedule an appointment with a dentist as soon as the first tooth appears.

Not “by the time they turn three” and not “Before they start Kindergarten”…. As Soon As the First Tooth Appears.

Preventative care is essential for instilling proper oral health care habits in our kids.  I know that when routine visits to my dentist became….routine….(after many years of “fixing” what I’d done …or not done to them…)….visits became much more pleasant.  I can only imagine that children who are used to seeing the dentist when it isn’t scary or painful…will be much more inclined to take care of their teeth in the long run.

After my first trip to the store when SuperDad committed to a gluten free diet I quickly realized that among other things, I would need to learn how to bake gluten free bread.  Gluten free sandwich bread, to be more precise.  While some of the brands available now are pretty good….they are very expensive.

After several failed attempts (did you know that failed bread attempts can be revived as bread crumbs?) I found this recipe and it is the one we have stuck with.  Not only is it simple (it uses only brown rice flour instead of a combination of small portions of sixty different types of unique flours and meals), but it is quick and most importantly, SuperDad likes it! I’m still messing with the rising time (I think I’m leaving it too long and the top of my loaf keeps falling), but the recipe is so simple that I don’t feel like I’m investing a ton of time.

Ingredients for Gluten Free Sandwich Bread

Dry Ingredients

• I make this recipe in our KitchenAid stand mixer and it mixes up in about 10 minutes, but it does take a couple of hours to get a finished product. The dough needs to rise for an hour followed by one hour of bake time.

• Make sure that the warm water used to proof your yeast is between 112º – 115° F when you add the yeast.  Use a thermometer to obtain an accurate temperature.  The reason for this is that if your water is too cool, the yeast will not grow and if your water is too hot, the yeast will burn or “die”.  Either way the end result is that your bread will not rise.  Not sure if your thermometer is accurate?  Read this article on how to calibrate your thermometer.

• If you are new to gluten free baking you should know that the dough has a very different consistency than “traditional” bread dough.  This dough will be more of a paste, or like a very thick cake batter.  There will be no kneading and you will use a spatula to scrape the dough into the bread pan.  I tell you this so that you don’t continue to add flour in hopes that the dough will “ball up”.  It won’t.

• If your recipe calls for you to loosely cover your dough with plastic wrap while it rises, and to leave that plastic on until the end of the rising period and the oven is at full baking temperature…..like this one does….and you use your oven to proof your dough …. like I do…. you will want to be sure to remove the loaf of bread from the oven during the pre-heating phase.  I’ve heard that if you leave it in the oven as it warms up, the plastic will melt, giving your bread a shiny, shellacked surface.

Of course,  I would never let that happen in my kitchen.

• The instructions call for you to take an internal temperature of your loaf at the end of its bake time to ensure that it is done.  This is an important step, eyeballing it could lead to a very moist dough ball masquerading as a loaf of bread.

• This bread will go south very quickly.  Storing it in the refrigerator will leave your bread cake-y.  This gluten free sandwich bread does freeze well however.  You will need to slice it and then freeze the individual slices.  Tip: Flash freeze the individual slices by laying them on a cooling rack and setting it in your deep freeze for roughly an hour and then place the pieces into a freezer bag or other storage container.

Gluten free sandwich bread makes an excellent addition to SuperDad’s gluten free diet.  He uses it for sandwiches and toast and we have successfully substituted it in various recipes that call for traditional or french breads.

Eliminating gluten from your diet doesn’t have to be as difficult as it often sounds, half of the battle is just finding the right recipes.

Did you know that Walt Disney World has stroller rentals??

Fabulous idea!

Expensive idea….and a little difficult to manage logistically…. the stroller can’t leave the park…and apparently are not the most comfortable devices around.

Now what?

Kingdom Strollers is stroller rental company in Orlando that will not only rent you a stroller during your stay in the Orlando area, they will deliver the stroller to wherever you are staying and then pick it up when you leave.  You can take the stroller with you between parks, from park to resort…even around to other attractions/stores/venues in Orlando during your stay.

There are several different types of strollers:  doubles and singles of varying size and “weight class”.  I was able to book the City Elite Double Stroller  which is long enough for children up to 50″ tall and its weight capacity is up to 100lbs.  It comes with a rain cover and an attachable cooler … and every stroller is standard with cup holders for the grown ups.

This means it will fit SuperBoy (who I’m sure won’t THINK he’ll get tired)...and one of his SuperSiblings.   It also means we will have a stroller to use at the end of the day when we head back to our resort….when we shift from one park to the next…and when we are done the good folks at Kingdom Strollers will come and pick it up for us.

All of this for the same price as the Disney World stroller rentals ….and more comfort to boot!

Unless, of course, you are attending the Disney Social Media Moms 2012 Celebration.  If you are …. Matt over at Kingdom Strollers would like to offer you a 15% discount off of your stroller rental during your conference stay! (During the conference and any adjoining days your family stays at Disney World.)  Simply enter code BLOG101 in the “Notes” section at checkout and they will credit 15% of your purchase back to your card after check out.

How did I discover this great discount on a Disney World stroller rental?

Well, it turns out that Matt at Kingdom Strollers is not only friendly, he has a good sense of humor, too.  (And by good sense of humor I of course mean: He thinks I’m funny.)

I’m a little paranoid about having our name plastered on items used by my children so when I picked out a “NameTag” for our stroller, I naturally went with “SuperJenn.com”.  This sparked Matt’s interest.  Emails and a phone call were exchanged and voila! A beautiful new friendship was born.  Not only am I sharing with you the 15% discount for conference attendees, I’m going to post a review of not only the stroller, but Matt and his team’s service after our stay.

What do I get out of this deal?  Why…. a stroller rental, of course!

Disney Social Media Moms attending the 2012 Conference in April…. if you are looking for a Disney stroller rental, Kingdom Strollers is not only logistically (and aesthetically) a good deal…. but with the 15% discount code BLOG101 …it is also a great way to save some extra money on your trip!

The SuperFamily is embarking on our first life-sized family vacation in just a few short weeks!  In true “I’m a blogger, it’s part of my life” style…. it will be a hybrid family vaca and social media extravaganza.

For the third year in a row, Walt Disney World, in conjunction with Resourceful Mommy Media, Mom Bloggers Club, Mom Select and 5 Minutes for Mom is hosting the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, FL.  This awesome combination of Disney Magic, Social Media Bliss and Family Adventure is happening April 26 – 29 and this year, attendance is by invitation only.  You can imagine how excited I was when those first invitations went out on January 25 and I found one in my email.

How amazing is it that I get to be a part of this conglomeration of cool?!

I am waiting anxiously to hear what the conference has in store for us this year….past years have seen speakers like  Renee Syler, Chris Brogan, and Guy Kawasaki.  I get to spend 3 days with some of my favorite people in the blogosphere (I’m not going to name them…less I miss any!)….and I get to meet their families!  In these interwebs and at conferences we do form amazing relationships with other bloggers….people who “get” what we do.  Those people are in large part who they are because of their families….to have this opportunity to meet this other part of their lives and to share mine with them?  Extraordinary.

I’m not going to even try to play cool when it comes to the fact that I get to take my kids to Walt Disney World.  I mean:  WALT DISNEY WORLD!!  I have been there once before….for one day….when I was in college.  That’s it.  I can only imagine what is in store for us….but what sits in the front of my mind is the look of sheer amazement and joy on the faces of all three SuperKids when they see that castle looming before them….or when walking down the street towards them is:   Mickey Mouse!  Not a lot in this world can make me happier than sheer joy emanating from my children.  Shhhhh…We aren’t telling them where they are headed until we arrive at the park!!

Like the crazy adventurous people we are, SuperDad and I have decided to road trip our little ol’ family down to Florida.  That’s right:  2 adults and a 6, 4 and 2 year old in the minivan….headed for fun.  Sounds sort of Griswoldian, doesn’t it? (I blame Shannan for making it sound feasible).

I’m planning like a mad woman.  I’ve researched tricks and tips for car travel with the kids (and by researched, I of course mean I scoured Pinterest).  I rest comfortably in the knowledge that even if everything goes to hell in a hand basket out the window, our disastrous misadventure will at least make for good blog fodder.  I may be blogging for my sanity.

A few weeks ago SuperDad convinced me that it was time to buy myself some new clothes at my very favorite store, White House/Black Market.  I was giddy, ecstatic! I wrote a post.

So I have these fantastic new clothes just burning a hole in my closet…waiting to get worn out on the town…. or perhaps to Disney in April for the Disney Social Media Moms conference.  But I was having some trouble with the shoes.

Enter Earth Footwear.  The wonderful women at Global Influence and Bookieboo, LLC (the fabulous behind Mamavation) offered me the opportunity to review a product from Earth Foothwear’s new spring line…. with their new “positive heel” and their more affordable pricetag.  Win on both accounts!

I’m going to admit straight out that when I received the shoes I was not overly thrilled.  The style that was sent to me is not one that I would pick up and try on in the store….honestly,  I wouldn’t even give it a second glance.  I put off trying the shoes on for a bit…but when I did I was so excited about the positive heel that I started to take a second look at the shoes overall.  When I began to pair them up with some of my new clothes, I was more than surprised (and pleased!) to find that they would round out the outfits nicely!  (My mom used to tell me over and over not to discount clothes until I had actually tried them on…. she’s right again!)

Versatile shoes are always a plus, so I tried them out with a more casual outfit….plain ol’ jeans and a black tank top.  An outfit like this I can wear out for lunch with the girls or, if the star align, out for a fun Girl’s Night Out!

Earth Footwear is known for its “negative heel” shoes.  This new line has a “positive heel” that allows for some height without putting your feet through the trauma that high heeled shoes often do.  I love high heeled shoes but they do not love me.  With the onset of fibromyalgia during my pregnancy with SuperBaby, high heeled shoes are something I save for a rare occasion.  An occasion I will have time to recover from the next day with sore feet and legs.  These new Earth shoes have a padded heel to displace shock, a reinforced arch to help stabilize your feet and a multi-density latex cushioning layer for extra support.  These shoes were sounding better and better.

Sure enough, I can wear these shoes without feeling that swelling and aching in my feet that I normally get when I wear shoes with a heel.  Yeah!

You can learn more about the new Earth shoes by visiting their website and following them on Facebook.

To help celebrate this New Year, New Wardrobe New Earth campaign, Earth Footwear is offering up an amazing giveaway: you could win a trip to a Special Place on Earth, Free Shoes and $$ by clicking this link and entering today!

I was compensated for this post by Global Influence  as part of a Bookieboo LLC campaign w/ Earth Footwear and received a free pair of Earth Shoes for the review.  These wonderful people know all too well that I speak the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth….and they continue to hire me anyway.

 

But just like everything else …um…quirky… in my life I’m determined that I won’t pass this along to my children.  They have all been visiting the dentist since they were a year old and I help them brush their teeth every day.  They do not see me squirm or go white when its my turn in the dentist’s chair (our dentist is very tuned in to my reactions and sensitivities and works with me to provide positive experiences for our kids).  This is especially important since it appears that both SuperBoy and SuperGirl will have an extended relationship with the local orthodontist.

Apparently, our efforts aren’t enough.  SuperGirl, who is 4 years old, has had two cavities filled.  Our fantastic dentist has reassured me that her teeth are so pitted, her grooves are so deep, that it was nearly inevitable.  So now we’ve done sealants on all of the kids and apparently, we need to step up the teeth brushing routine.

Come to find out, February is National Children’s Dental Health Month.  I know this because SuperBoy came home from school with a bag full of goodies (new toothbrush, toothpaste etc) and a bright red chart on which he is to mark off his diligent tooth brushing regimen. Of course big brother’s enthusiasm has carried over to the other kids as well.   I will admit that I had a small fit of cursing the school system for instilling this new found fervor for tooth brushing around our house…it is a slight irritation to have to ward off SuperBaby from the bathroom sink every 15 minutes.  I mean..I’ve found him brushing not only his teeth, but his shoes (inside and out), the walls and my dishwasher.  This is really a good thing and as intended, is going to help me step up my game.

Did you know that brushing alone misses 75% of your mouth?

Did you know that NOT using a rinse like Listerine means you are missing 70% of plaque and 36% of gingivitis?

Did you know that kiddos should starting brushing as soon as they have their first tooth? And flossing once they have two teeth touching?

Just about this same time, the SuperHousehold received a challenge from Listerine and Wal-Mart … a 3 Week Oral Care Challenge.  We are to brush our teeth 2x each day, rinse 2x each day (a new thing for us) and floss once per day.

We received a swanky little box full of toothbrushes for the family, toothpaste and several different types of Listerine Mouthwash (I’m talking Barbie, Phineas & Ferb, BATMAN…and even Listerine Total Care Zero which is perfect for people like me who already have issues with a dry mouth but still want the benefits of a rinse. I had the opportunity to sit in on a call that provided me with so much useful information (some I wish I didn’t know…but am now glad I do!) and some tips to help us make the most out of the time we spend cleaning our teeth (have you ever considered flossing before you brush your teeth?? Makes sense in hind sight, doesn’t it?!).  You can find more tips for yourself on oral care HERE.

The kids went bonkers for their new brushes and their rinses….SuperBoy is alternating days between Phineas and Ferb and Batman….and while we are not typically Barbie fans….well, it IS pink…so SuperGirl is over the moon.

We’ll be working on tightening up our oral health routines over the next 3 weeks, including brushing as a family (working on overcoming some of those mouth issues SuperDad and I have) …. creating habits and routines that will hopefully stick with our kids for a lifetime!  Be sure to check in and see how we are doing!

I received products and compensation from Johnson & Johnson and The Motherhood as part of my participation in the Oral Care Challenge. As usual, the thoughts, opinions and random musings within the post….are my own.  No one else would claim them.

When we moved into our new home last March, we found ourselves in a new school district.  A new destination for SuperBoy’s Kindergarten Adventure.

We were told repeatedly that we needed to request Teacher A.  She has been there for years… our neighbors with teenagers told us how great she was with their kids, friends with kids heading into kindergarten told us “You really should request Teacher A.”

We got Teacher B.

She seemed a little nervous at “Meet the Teacher” night…. her voice was shaky.

SuperBoy returned from his very first day to report that Teacher B was really smart.  I took note.

I volunteered a couple of mornings with Teacher B.  I was mesmerized by how she was melding those little minds.  She read to them with animation.  She taught them how to make graphs.  When they were loud she did a cool little clappy thing that got them all to quiet down and pay attention.  She said it was okay if SuperBoy wanted to bring his iPod to class to make videos.

When my mom went to visit SuperBoy at school on Grandparent’s Day she mentioned that Teacher B didn’t seem as organized as Teacher A…and Teacher A’s room looked much more “decorated”.  I told her that I didn’t think that much mattered….Teacher A had years of ideas stored away in her room….Teacher B had fresh ideas taking hold.

One day after school, Teacher A got very stern with me because I wasn’t moving out of the pick-up lane quickly enough.  SuperBoy was trying to get buckled in and I was trying to get Teacher B’s attention (as instructed per the school manual, kindergarten round-up, Meet the Teacher night and the first PTO meeting…) to let her know I was taking him home.  “Make Eye Contact with Your Child’s Teacher”.  Teacher A got downright rude and told me to get moving.

Teacher B continues to impress me.  My son loves her class.

Yesterday SuperBoy had an accident at school that involved his front two teeth being knocked out.  He was hurting, he was sad, he was worried about what he looked like and wondered if everyone would laugh.  In an email I sent last night, I mentioned these things to the school nurse, the principal and his teacher.

When I picked SuperBoy up today he told me all about the Tooth Fairy book they read during carpet time, about how everyone loses their teeth sometime.

At the end of Parent Teacher Conferences tonight Teacher B told us that she had asked her husband to dig up a picture of her from childhood and would be emailing it to us as soon as it came through.

We got that email….a school picture of a smiling 2nd grader who was missing her two front teeth.

SuperBoy’s eyes got wide…and a big grin spread across his face.

Be still my heart!

Teacher B will forever top my list of the best things to happen to us this year.

Little Things like breakfast made with love are important.  This year I made little heart pancakes for the kids, served as always with my homemade pancake syrup (corn syrup is okay if you put it in your own recipe, right?).

It turns out, this was the highlight of the day.  The hours that followed were a mixture of chaos, unprecidented application of Murphy’s Law and downright bad luck.  I’m so glad that I even though I was exhausted and the kids were crabby and bickering…. I stuck to my guns and got this breakfast on the table.

We called it quits on V-Day by noon….so I’m glad the kids will remember a Little Thing like heart shaped pancakes filled with love on their breakfast table this Valentine’s Day.

Little Things like a snuggle from a warm little body can add perspective to the worst of days.

Today is one of those: a lousy, no good, rotten, very bad day. SuperDad and I were on the couch, staring at the walls (okay, the television…whatever)….when SuperBaby wandered in, groggy from his nap and climbed into my lap. His warmth and his smell flooded over me bringing calm and gratitude for all little things.

My Littlest Valentine.

A Little Thing like new clothes can make a girl feel fantastic.  If those new clothes come from your favorite store, the one you have avoided shopping at for FIVE YEARS because you wanted desperately  to enjoy the shopping experience; to have the clothes fit and look good, to not cry in the dressing room and  more than anything, to look in the mirror and see YOU looking back …. it becomes monumental.

After five years, I am comfortable with my body again.  I’m not perfect, but I’m good.  Many thanks to SuperDad who took me shopping this weekend because “it is time”.

Turning down the sheets when its time to get in bed is something that gives me great pleasure.  I also thoroughly enjoy seeing my nicely made bed every morning.

There in lies the rub:  I almost never make my bed.

My bedroom is the single most neglected room in the house: always at the bottom of a never ending to-do list.

Last weekend I went kamikaze on our bedroom….it isn’t completely done but it is 8,ooo times better than it was.

Today when I got done feeding the kids breakfast and stumbled back into my room to get dressed (ok…to brush my teeth…I’m still in my pjs).. this is what I saw.  My husband had taken a minute to make up the bed before he left for work.

I’m such a perfectionist about things like this:  I like the tops of the sheets ironed so they lay flat, I like the pillow cases and the duvet to be wrinkle free, I want it made “just so”.  When I can’t accomplish all of these things (which takes a monumental alignment in the heavens) I always opt to not do it all:  If you can’t do it right…don’t do it.

What a DUMB thing to do to myself!

In the spirit of full disclosure:  My ridiculously over-the-top control freak self couldn’t even “snap” this picture without messing with the bed a bunch of times to make it look “just a little better” …because all of those things I listed above weren’t done.  I could KICK myself.

Today I’m grateful that my husband took the time to do this one little thing to brighten my day….and remind me of what is important and what is not.

Sitting in my living room with the windows wide open this February First I decided that a Root Beer Float would make a mighty fine treat.  Did I wait for the kids to wake up from their naps?

No.

Did I selfishly indulge all by myself?

Yes.

Sometimes a little thing like an afternoon treat, enjoyed in silence, can change the tone of the rest of your day.

It appears that the idea of posting little things I have accomplished each day has turned into more of a gratitude journal….I think I’m okay with that.  Taking the time to capture the moment in a photo…and then share it…makes its impact on my day more significant.  Besides, taking a picture of a root beer float is much more interesting than the 5 loads of laundry I did….. and if I waited to take a picture of ALL five loads…they probably wouldn’t all get put away, anyway…

The second of our three vehicles is now paid in full….and ahead of schedule!  We now have our Honda Odyssey and our Toyota Tacoma paid in full.  We have had the van for 2 ½ years (we paid cash) and the truck for almost 2 years.  The only thing left is the motorcycle…which we’ve owned longer than any of them.  Guess what?  I’m paying that one off THIS WEEK!

Okay…this isn’t really a LITTLE thing…it is a HUGE accomplishment….but it was the little things that got us here: buying used cars, following a budget, skipping a lot of “extras” and committing to the goal of not having debt.

My husband, in particular, often struggles with “the big picture”:  “How do I work so hard and I can’t have X”   This escapes my realm of reality.  I think we are doing FANTASTIC!  Our home and student loans are our only debt.

The little things can literally add up faster than you think.  One penny at a time.

Add to that the fact that I took these pictures in my car, pulled over on the shoulder of I-29, while it was freezing cold outside and semi-trucks kept whooshing past and scaring the crap out of me (not to mention making the ground and my camera shake)…. I think I did okay.  Click on the photos to get a larger view …they look a little better that way. (I said a little….what do you want?!?!)

These photos were all taken from the exact same spot….over a course of about 20 minutes. I changed my angle, my zoom, my ISO, aperture and shutter speed…. but sat in the exact same spot.

They also have very little post processing. Obviously. They are sort of very dark…. I’m still not getting the hang of post processing….but I think that comes after I get the hang of the whole taking the picture thing.

I like the tiny details of life below the vast expanse of sky…. the small farm and the old school iron bridge….

The small pools of water that show up in thanks to a little reflection of what is left of the sunlight make me happy.  Even more so….. the layers of clouds that give the picture a little bit of an illusion:  looking closely you could swear there were mountains in the distance….. there aren’t.

The ferociousness of the storm front that worked its way through sunset was awesome in of itself, add to that these rays from heaven showing promise behind the fury…. goosebumps.

My favorite of them all.  Behind the storm and right as the sun is ready to slip from sight, this is like two pictures in one:  If you focus on the top…these clouds look like a winter scape to me, drifts of snow blown smooth across the prairie.  On the bottom you see the sun set and those illusive mountains (which are nothing but more clouds in the distance).

A smile is not always a little thing;  sometimes its the hardest thing to conjure….but it is always the easiest thing to give away.

When I drop my son off at Kindergarten each morning, I park in the parking lot and walk him across the drive.  I could wait in line and throw him let him jump from the car as I glide past the entryway….but this little bit of extra effort makes him happy.  It is less stressful to him (and, frankly, to me) to hold his hand and walk up to the classroom door where I can hug him goodbye and plant one large, embarrassing Mom Kiss on his face as I send him off into the world.

This morning when I was returning to my car, one of the women who very faithfully directs traffic and monitors the parental drop off craziness each and every morning said to me:  “I just love seeing you every morning, you always wear such a great smile”.

Happiness.

Despite my harried mornings, despite my often dragging spirit and the bags under my eyes… I’ve been smiling…and apparently it makes someone else’s day.  THAT is something to smile about.

It’s the little things in life that make the difference….and not always just to ourselves.

This photo was taken by my friend Kristen from Dine and Dish during a photo shoot that my other fabulous friend Sandra from Sandra Hale Photography was doing during our (not so) recent get away in November.

A little thing like making a list can make a huge difference.  Just breaking it down and facing what most needs to be done, a place to ground yourself and refer to when life starts to spin out of control.

I fell under the bus last week.  Well, really at the end of the week.  Making cookies for SuperBoy’s birthday treats at school….then putting his party together on Saturday….

I’m back on track for this week. The next two weeks are relatively event free so I want to make the most of them to get caught up around the house and with my work…really get back on track from the holidays…FINALLY.

I started with this list…not for the day, but for the week.  Tomorrow I might try to break it down into a daily thing but today is already rolling.

I wanted to make a quick run by the Apple Store in Leawood today because, well, we were in Kansas City and I really wanted to get the camera connection kit for iPad to use during my photographic outing tomorrow.

All three kids (ages 2, 4 and 6) in tow… I steeled myself and we headed into the store.

The kids were immediately wide eyed and in a manic trance when they spotted row after row of sleek iPads and MacBooks.  Having been pre- threatened warned advised to keep all hands and feet to themselves, they ran frantically forward yelling “Mommy!  Look at THIS one!!” and before I could look they were on to the next shiny object.  At one point SuperGirl exclaimed, “This store makes THE BEST THINGS!” 

Why yes, yes it does my brilliant child.

I quickly filled my Apple employee in on what I needed and told him to “run like the wind” as it would be less painful for all of us.

He did.

Poor thing looked shell shocked.

He was all of 24.

Maybe.

He was friendly; while checking us out he said to SuperBoy, “Maybe if you’re really good YOU will get one of these one day!”

SuperBoy looked at him with what I thought was a look reserved solely for me when I require something obscene from him like “Change your underwear”.

“We already have our own iPods. Mommy and Daddy have iPhones.  Mommy just got one of those iPads and her computer has that Apple on it, too…I just don’t know what its called.”

Like, DUH.

SuperGirl, who was whirling by, stopped for just a moment and chirped:

“Don’t forget the Apple TV!”

I have a baaad habit of dumping my suitcase on the floor when I arrive home after a trip.  I’m always exhausted and I just don’t want to deal with it.  Inevitably I live out of the suitcase, as least in part, for days on end.

I’m trying to change some of these bad habits.

Last night SuperBaby and I returned home from our whirlwind trip to Nebraska at 11:15pm.  I managed to unload everything from the car…and I put it all away…including emptying the suitcase and sticking it back in its storage space.

Ridiculous, I know.  But it’s the little things that add up, right?

A shiny sink….go FlyLady!

When I first got pregnant with SuperBoy six and a half years ago I became infatuated with FlyLady.  A small group of women who I met on BabyCenter and I put on our purple wings together and started down the rabbit hole that is, the FlyLady.  We took pictures of our projects; before and after and shared them with each other.  We would post out our “To Do” lists every morning and check back in at the end of the day.

Ahhhh, life before kids.  So much follow through.  So many accomplishments.

One thing I’ve held on to is that when I am drowning….. I need to have a shiny sink.  The very first step according to FlyLady is to shine your sink.  She’s right.  It is FANTASTIC to wake up to a clean, shiny sink.

Today was one of those days…. three kids to appointments in Kansas City, home late…dishes from last night never quite got finished…..BAH.

I’m back on track for tomorrow!

I got the recycling out today!

Back in November, PayPal put a fancy little freeze on my account for “security reasons”.  All I had to do to get it unlocked was follow a series of very simple steps that never worked or allowed me access.  I fought with this until finally getting it unlocked at the end of December.  The only bill I have that pays out of PayPal is to our recycling company; in the process of this simple PayPal snafu… our recycling service was cancelled because the payment couldn’t be withdrawn from PayPal.

I kept thinking I’d deal with it later.

But I didn’t.

Then Christmas hit and brought with it eight million cardboard boxes and six tons o wrapping paper.  All recycling.

I got the service reestablished the same week his truck broke down.

Last week I filled the van and hauled off a big portion of the recycling to WalMart.

Today I sorted through the PILES of recycling in our garage and got the majority of it out to the curb…and it was carted away.

I’m a little disappointed; this picture does not do justice to the 45 minutes I spent on this project….but very thrilled that I can now make my way through the garage again.

At least the part that used to contain the recycling. (#MoreforAnotherDay)

Other friends are laying out business plans, publishing books, losing weight….the adventures go on and on.  I’m feeling lucky to climb out of bed these days.

I’ve got a lot on my mind, a relatively heavy heart.  This year will bring many challenges for me as an individual, as a mom, as a wife.  I’m not feeling terribly prepared.

I AM feeling sorry for myself.

Time to pick myself up and carry on.

My favorite pic from my Facebook PhotoStream

Yesterday I finally felt like getting my act together.  After weeks of illness and feeling like crud…I could see a little light at the end of the tunnel.  I chose to do ONE thing:  I cleaned the living room floor.

That sounds so silly; but ever since Christmas our living room has been transformed into the toy room: Legos everywhere, half colored pictures, colored pencils, whoopee cushions (thank you Uncle Matt),  puzzle pieces, crayons….the list goes on.  When I got the flu I set up their craft table in the middle of the living room so I could just lay on the couch as much as possible and still keep them alive be able to claim “supervision and enrichment”.

So yesterday I cleaned it all up and vacuumed.  The overwhelming sense of relief and gratitude made a world of difference on this “poor me” attitude I’ve been sporting.  Then it occurred to me:  it really IS the little things that add up and make a difference.   I need to recognize them and give myself a break.

So here it is, my project for the new year:

I’m going to attempt to catch a picture each day of something I’m proud of accomplishing.  Just one thing to remind myself that I DID get something done.  It doesn’t have to be huge but I’m hoping this transforms into me getting the things done that I’ve been putting off….the proverbial “to do list”.  Some positive attention on accomplishments should work to turn my negativity around a little bit, and it might snowball and become encouraging, too!  It doesn’t have to be a fancy-schmancy picture…it might just be Instagram (which is pretty cool, too)…. or just my little ol’ iPhone.

So here it is:  I’m pretty darn happy that I can see across my living room floor…..I’ve wanted this done for DAYS and DAYS…and now it is.

I got something done today; it’s the little things that make a difference.

This is a picture I took of our dog, Maggie, using my new 24-70mm f/2.8 Nikon lens.  I’m just getting used to the lens; it takes some beautiful pictures, but it is so heavy that I’m having a difficult time getting a good focus.  I’m going to have to implore use of my Manfrotto Monopod, no matter how silly I feel using it if I ever want to get a nice clear shot!

Of course, I edited this photo a little bit.  I lightened it using a new technique that is a “healthier” way to lighten your photos according to Amanda at Everyday Elements.  (Go read this tutorial to find out how…its so simple!)  I did a little bit of spot healing to remove the super gross chunks of doggie eye goober from her eyes (ruined the entire photo….really), cropped it and then I applied Amanda’s new “White Sands” Action that she is giving away for free until January 4th.   It is a really pretty action that just adds a little bit of haze…or glow to your pictures.  What I really love about this action is that I don’t generally like “artsy” actions.  I really want my photos to look like what I see.  This seems to simply enhance the photo to make it more beautiful!

Here is my “Before and After” of this picture….Maggie’s photo straight out of the camera, and her beautified photo:

I happened upon two boxes filled with clothes of mine that I had completely forgotten existed.  Clothes from when I ….. worked.

(Side note:  I can’t wait to show SuperBoy who has been fascinated with the idea of me working in an office since I first showed him my old office building in Kansas City… “YOU had a JOB like DADDY?”….uh…yeah…)

So anyway…. I went through these boxes and was pleasantly surprised to find the clothes were in decent shape and I believe they will fit me…if they aren’t a little big!  These aren’t clothes I’ll wear everyday…or really very often…but it will be nice to know I have a few outfits for those occasions when I have to speak, teach a class or hob nob with the real bloggers I know.

I reached the bottom of the second box and found something I was not prepared to see:

When I was in high school my mom bought this sweater for my dad. He looked very handsome in it.  Being the fashion savvy teenager I was; I thought it looked better on me.  I used to swipe that sweater when he had left for work and I would wear it to school.

I thought I was cool.  And sneaky.

Never mind that I stretched that thing out to no end…. it was a grunge thing.

It became a point of contention…. I wouldn’t stop wearing that sweater, dad would holler at me for wearing the sweater.

When I went off to college I remember hearing something akin to “You’ve already ruined it …just take it with you!”.… or possibly that is how I assumed the conversation would go as I stuffed it into the bottom of my suitcase.

That was nearly 20 years ago.

I loved that sweater.

While I absolutely adore Christmas and have so many wonderful memories attached to it in my adult life (SuperGirl was born on December 26th for starters!)…there is a corner of my heart that aches.

This is a difficult time of year to remember… my dad’s last Christmas was spent in the hospital, just weeks before he died on January 13.

I loved my my dad.

Tonight I drift off to sleep wrapped in the memory of his love;  in this stretched out, faded, wonderful sweater.