Although I haven’t done any funny kid conversations or sayings lately, trust me it isn’t because they don’t happen on a daily basis. There are far too many times when we need to keep a straight face and deal with something calmly and seriously with them and simply have to leave the room to get composure because they make things far too amusing.

With Little Bug M, every day he has something to monologue about, this is absolutely NO exaggeration. The way that his monologues are delivered would set the best actor in the world to shame, it is quite entertaining.

Now, that’s not to say that Monkey E doesn’t have his fair share of moments that quite literally have us laughing until we cry. He says really big words at the most interesting times… but uses them completely how they should be used… it’s definitely made us stop and stare on several occasions.

The noses…

So… let’s first get this out of the way, since it’s obvious in the photo that both of them have the exact same scab in the exact same spot on their noses. You aren’t the first to notice, it’s been a source of great confusion and amusement at school, as the staff thought that only one had it and delivered him to the class they thought was his, only to discover they both had this nose thing.

But I digress…

You see, it is a trampoline burn {trampoline version of a rug burn}. I wasn’t watching the very moment it happened, there were several bigger boys out there and the three youngest were sitting nicely on the trampoline, so I decided to run inside and start making dinner.

The story, as all three of them tell it is that J-Man decided to tell both of the Twinkies that they needed to lick the trampoline. What on earth possessed either him to tell them to do it, or them to actually listen, truly is beyond all comprehension to me. But they did!

Somehow both fell forward at exactly the same time, in exactly the same way {I have to wonder if they weren’t nudged… just saying!} resulting in exactly the same nose thing. It’s one of the wonders of the universe, but there you have it.

Just your general run of the mill interactive morning breakfast table type conversation…

This is a conversation I wrote down recently. Apparently I came in toward the end of a breakfast time monologue given by Little Bug who isn’t always sure how he feels about being home every other Friday.

Bug: We can only watch baby shows on Fridays… but not Chicken Little because there’s an invasion and they don’t like invasions.

Me: Babies don’t like invasions… good to know.

Tater: Especially not when told by Chickens!

Stay tuned for more Crazy Kid Convos in the very near future!

I can’t begin to recall how many times I have received a hand picked boquet of Dandelions that have been presented by a sweet little boy with the sweetest little smile on his face. My reaction to said boquet has always been… well… not so enthusiastic.

I detest Dandelions with all my being. I have all but shunned their very existence, especially when the nasty things are brought into my house. So when a sweet little boy delivers a bouquet of them, my immediate reaction is and always has been, “thank you sweetie, can we keep these outside though?”.

So when I got the adorable project featured to the right here, complete with Dandelion Poem. And I saw his adorable cuteness, holding a bouquet of the aforementioned detested weeds, I found myself taken back.

It didn’t just make me stop and think, it all but made me kick myself in the rear for all my mistreatment of those precious Dandelion bouquets. Suffice it to say, there were tears involved on my part, and a commitment made to never again shun said bouquets.

Dandelions

Guessing your favorite flower
Shouldn’t be all that hard.
I’ll bet they’re green and yellow
And grow all over the yard.

I only pick the special ones
Because they’re just for you.
They’re my way of saying thanks
For everything you do!

And even if these flowers
Only seem to last for a day,
The love that they are given with
Will always be there to stay.

For when it comes to picking
The mommy that’s the best,
In my precious little eyes
You stand out from all the rest!

In the hubbub of everyday life, and even days like Mother’s Day that are intended to celebrate us, it’s all to easy to lose sight of the little things that make it so special. I’m so very thankful for this reminder that came in such a simple and thoughtful gift.

I hope you all had a wonderful Mother’s Day!

Just a note… or two:

1. I do not know who to credit for writing this poem.
2. In an ever present attempt to find fun projects for the kiddos to do during the summer this one definitely stood out to me as a fun idea. It’s a simple one, where they can write out the poem and at the bottom there’s a little space for them to write their own note. Great for Preschoolers through about 3rd grade.

Here’s another post from the archives that I thought you might all enjoy today. As I look back on it, I remember the emotion that created the passion with which that post was written, but I love the fact that the message is as true today as it was then… for me, and for anyone else who needs to hear it.

A Matter of the Heart

(originally posted August 11, 2010)

The heart…

The heart begins beating less than a month after conception and continues (of course) until the day of our death. It is one of the most incredible muscles of the body and was perfectly designed.

It is what we refer to not only for it’s technical life giving aspect, but also in regards to relationships, love, feelings, and much more. I guess you could say that much of our lives rotate around the heart.

{Read the full Article here…}

If you’re planning on joining me in Writing Life and still just haven’t quite found that perfect journal, be sure to check out my Writing & Journaling Pinterest board. I just started it, but ALL of the ideas featured in this post are there with links to the source. Be sure to check back often for amazing ideas to find and make the journal that’s uniquely you.

Artsy Creative & Mish-Mash {yes, that’s a real word} Journals

I have already pinned the fantabulous SMASH folio, and I just have to say that if you’re the kinda gal that loves to just smash it ALL into your journal and go, this is so the one for you and I am GREEN with envy… yes, seriously.

You see, I love that artsy type of journaling, it appeals to my innermost color loving self…. filled with snippets of this, doodles of that and bits of the other. It’s creative, collective and colorful… but my mind simply does not function that way easily. I am a creature of habit and doggonit, that Holly Hobby diary had simple lined pages… somehow it’s taking a lot to break out from that.

Calendar Journals

Another type of journaling that I love and highly recommend for nearly any kind of mom… especially the busy kind {which pretty much means I just talked myself in a circle} is a calendar journal.  These are great for moms that prefer to write snippets through the day instead of a full page.

Again, you can be so creative with this, you just need to find the right size and composition of calendar for your needs, or create your very own perpetual calendar.

This is also a great place to start if the idea of trying to sit down and write out a full page totally overwhelms you, yet you still want the option of just jotting notes everyday.  The perpetual calendar {right image} can be found here and the artsy journal calendar {below image} can be found here.

Despite my insistance that I’m more of a traditional journaler, I have to admit I’m more than a little intrigued by these journals and definitely plan to give them a try… the craftiness is almost oozing out of me about now from all the time I’ve been spending on Pinterest…. I feel a Crafty section coming on {oh dear Lord help us all!}.

Traditional Journals

For those of us who are more traditional sit down and write-like-crazy types, there’s still some beautiful and fun options. There’s something about writing on a pretty page that really just makes me happy… I know I’m a little nuts.

Basically there’s a journal for nearly every type of person. It doesn’t have to be fancy, but if you’re even a little like me and want something that’s pretty, or otherwise unique, there’s just so very many options even at your local supermarket’s office section, office supply stores or online.

Again you really don’t want to miss the great ideas on my Pinterest Board!

A few of you may have noticed a little nostalgia going on around here. What you can’t see is that a few years worth of posts (well, several years worth actually) did not fully transfer when I re-installed this site a few years ago. It’s a long drawn out and frustrating story, but the point is that in order to restore the lost posts I have had to go back through the one archive I had and copy/paste all of the content to each post. Yikes!

All of that to say that I have had the unique opportunity to revisit some great posts from the past and it has inspired me to encourage all of you to get writing! Now, before you panic and go running the other way, hear what I have to say.

I firmly believe that every single woman has a truly unique and unbelievably wonderful story to tell and only she can tell it, even if she’s her only audience.

You see, as I have been looking back through these posts I see glimpses of my life before depression. I see a light shining through that didn’t have the fog that I still sometimes try so hard to push out of the way in order to really live again.

Being able to look back through these old posts has been inspiring, motivating, bittersweet and above all encouraging. I want this for all of you as well and right here, right now, I want you to join me in Writing Life.

Telling your story, one day at a time, as it’s happening is a priceless adventure. Not only will you never get today back, but you’ll also never remember it in the same light with the same emotions and the same feelings you have today. Tomorrow you will forget as each new memory is created and left behind.

It’s a simple process that can be done on paper, on your computer or even on an online blog (public or private). The choice is yours, but choose one and WRITE!

Wondering what to write about? How often to write? How to write?

That’s the beauty of it, all you have to do is have a moment of inspiration and just a couple minutes of time (yes, both are fully attainable trust me). To help you out, I’ll be offering a writing prompt and a few tips once a week.

For those of you who are wondering, a writing prompt is a great way to inspire writing. I’d love to hear that all of you are simply jotting down life moments. Or jotting down what you are feeling or thinking during a certain occasion, event or moment. But, for those of us who need a little extra inspiration, a writing prompt is a great way to take writing to the next level.

So, this week I’d like to encourage you to prepare to write… do one of the following three things (if you don’t already have one)…

• Go out and buy a beautiful journal and a great pen that you love.
• Or create pretty paper on your computer or iPad, etc. that you will use as your journal, make sure you have a folder to save all of these into.
• Or sign up for a free blog at Blogger (you can choose to have it be public or private and it’s quite simple to navigate).

Ready? Set? GO!!!!!!

Today, I’m updating some posts that for some reason never fully transferred when I moved my blog to a new server due to problems I was experiencing. As I have been going through them, a few have really just been such a blessing to re-read! So, here’s an excerpt of one (plus link to full article) that I truly hope blesses you as well.

Breathe

Originally posted August 10, 2010

One day at a time.

One adventure at a time.

One child at a time (ok two in the case of the twins).

One moment at a time.

Breathe.

Sometimes being a mom feels like a balancing act. Ok, a lot of the time. There are little lives in our care and we are totally responsible for the health and well being of those little people (or not so little as the case may be).

I can’t tell you how many times that thought alone has overwhelmed me. I in my totally fallible humanity, have been put in charge of the lives of 6 boys. To help shape and form who they become and to prepare them to enter society when they get to that age as a socially responsible person. WOW!

Just Breathe.

{Read the full article here…}

Long ago (October 28, 2010 to be exact) I posted about Starfall.com and all the amazing possibilities for preschool learning that it offers. Did I mention it’s free? Well, I tell you all about that and much more in the original post.

I just wanted to give all of you a super quick update to say that Starfall.com now has an App for iPhone and iPad. I was so excited to find this to help my littlest guys with the letters they are still struggling with a bit.

Be sure to check it out. Although it’s not free, I definitely still recommend it. It’s only $2.99 and will be an educational tool that you will use frequently and is used for far more than simple letter sounds and recognition. As seen in the second image on this post, it’s used to help kids learn sight words and more.

Our family of 8 just got back yesterday from a long weekend. The timing ended up being interesting because the kids had all been sick earlier in the week and that made the packing and preparing very last minute.

In light of our recent adventuring though, I have a couple tips that I think you’ll enjoy.

Tip 1: Car Snack Packs

This is something I have done in the past, but don’t think I have shared it. Traveling snack packs are a great thing to take for kids. You can pack travel friendly snacks in lunch boxes or little containers as shown in my photo.

What do I mean by “travel friendly”? Travel friendly snacks are foods that are less likely to contribute to travel sickness or be very messy for a child to eat in the car.

As  you can see, each boy had a little box filled with crunch Clif bars (the peanut butter ones are actually HEAVEN… but I digress!), a Go-Gurt, a little cutie type orange and a pack of Goldfish crackers. Many many variations on this would work great!

This will look a little different depending on child ages, etc. Since my kiddos are a little older, putting in a Yogurt tube and an orange works. Better yet, put in a bag of apple slices in the place of the orange (no peel to contend with) and raisins or other dried fruit in the place of the yogurt.

For drinks, stick with bottles of water or as unsweetened fruit juice as possible. Heavy and/or sugary foods can contribute a lot to car sickness.

Tip 2: Length of Stay

Although we stay at this very same location for a full week in the summer, we discovered that this was actually the perfect amount of time for our family to get away and feel like we’d actually had a little vacation. One day shorter and it would have felt too short, but the amount of time we were gone was absolutely perfect!

Our long weekend details:

• Length: We left on Thursday at around 4pm and stayed until 2pm on Monday.
• Vehicle: Car trip that is about 3 1/2 hours if you do not stop.
• Place: We stayed at our time-share condo on a lake
• Available activities (spring): Swimming Pool, playground, mini-golf (for a fee), basketball, tether-ball, beach, and more.

In this household you will hear many many genres of music. I love music and definitely listen to different styles depending on my mood. My guys on the other hand seem particularly drawn to country music, so when I heard about Rascal Flatts’ new release Changed, I knew I had to get in on that and let all of you know about it too.

Although country is not necessarily on the list of music I personally listen to most often, I do love a few artists in particular and Rascal Flatts definitely falls into that category. Their music is inspiring and for the most part uplifting and I love that. Admittedly, when you go into the realm of country, not all of it is necessarily appropriate for kids to really be singing around the house (you know what I mean!), so I love artists that I can trust in that department.

Changed features some amazing songs and is, of course, an excellent album that my oldest son CJ definitely gives a huge thumbs up. He couldn’t wait to play it and kept calling me back into the room to listen to this song or that song that he was enjoying! It was great!!!

Changed is this musical trio’s 8th studio album and is filled with great songs like “Changed” and “Banjo” which are both great songs! Be sure to check out the Banjo video here and grab this album for yourself, if you like country music at all, you’re sure to love it!!!

Disclosure: I received a copy of Rascal Flatts Changed cd as part of a One2One Network campaign. As always, all opinions expressed are solely that of the author and are honest regardless of compensation. You can read our full disclosure policy here. 

Hello everyone, it is that time of year again and the Ultimate Blog Party 2012 is upon us (well actually it started midnight on Friday), brought to us all, of course, by my absolutely beautiful friends Janice and Susan of 5 Minutes for Mom. So once again it is time for me to reintroduce myself and my little corner of the blogosphere.

My name is Shera and I’m the mom behind A Frog In My Soup (yes, I really do have 6 sons). This blog was born in September 2006 as an outlet to journal about my boys. My love of writing quickly took over, and when that was combined with my passion for interacting with and supporting other moms, the site became oh-so-much-more! Feel free to read about me and about my Frogs while you’re here.

I welcome you to browse around all the topics we cover here. We talk a lot about Family, Cooking (and meal planning and recipes) and amazing Products. We do a lot of giveaways and love to talk about many other great topics from travel to health.

I’d also love to introduce you to my amazing assistant Nancy, who has a great blog of her own called Stuff Mom Loves. Nancy really helps keep things flowing ever so nicely around here as my Review Coordinator among other things. I especially love her amazing tips and info on great family travel destinations. In fact, I’m so excited to see what she shares with all of us in the near future about their family’s recent trip to Aruba!  I’m so totally jealous hehe!

I have been so very blessed to have been part of the mom-blogging community for so long. The friendships I have made through the years from working with bloggers (like Janice and Susan in various capacities as a writer at 5 Minutes for Mom) and meeting bloggers at various events is simply priceless!!

Please feel free to subscribe to A Frog In My Soup, follow us on Twitter, like us on Facebook and/or follow us on Pinterest for all the latest updates. We’d love to have you along for the ride as part of our family .

A word of warning… the ride is often crazy, nutty, silly and almost always completely and totally unpredictably wild!!! As my little Bug would say…

“That’s just how we roll!”