Oh the Invisible Mother

Can you find the “Hidden” Moms in these pictures?

Hello to my first installment of Motherhood Mondays. The first blog to turn me on to such a weekly topic is Cup of Jo. She’s a professional writer, who lives in Manhattan with her husband and toddler son. Her blog covers everything and anything that comes to her mind or happens in her life.

Last Monday for her Motherhood Monday piece, she featured a link from Retronaut, which showcased old-time photos of children. In actuality, the mothers of the children are in the pictures as well, covered up by what often looks like a sheet, blanket or rug. This was so that child would hold still so a focused picture could be taken. Remember, taking a picture back in these days required patience, stillness and time.
All in all, these are hilarious but I also can’t help seeing the truism in the picture. How often do you feel invisible as a mom? And not only by your children but by the people around you who are too focused on your children?



Make sure to go to the original link to see all the pictures Retronaut has gathered (I’ve only picked out 3 to show you), and check out Cup a Jo for some great blogging and insight.

Tootles,
Sarah

Pondering Some Changes…

I finally figured out how to follow several blogs at once. At first, when I’d find a blog I liked, I’d save it to my favorites. But this list would get long and not all blogs were updated regularly. And then I seemed to switch go through a few computers over a short period of time which resulted in not all the blogs getting transferred over.

And, with my old system, I’d literally have to go to each blog site everyday to see if they had been updated. Then we had London and following blogs and other online activities got more difficult. Especially when she learned that the computer meant skyping with Grandma and Grandpa. Cameron and I cannot even pick up the laptop in London’s presence without her expecting a Skype session, which means we don’t unless we are planning on a Skype session. This limits my free online time even more. Not to mention this is also my time to work on crafts, blog myself to keep everyone up to date, clean the house and just have some me or hubby and me time.

So when I do have free online time going from site to site to find something just wasn’t worth it. Until I got bored at work and looked into Google Reader. I wish someone had told me about this handy little Google App ages ago! It literally is one place I can login from any computer and read all the blogs I follow in one, central location. No more bookmarks, per se, as once they are book marked here, they are everywhere I can access the internet. Now I follow 75 80 blogs! These blogs are everything from the professionals who work for Martha Stewart and other publications, to the stay at home mom, DIY Decorator and home crafter. Which has me thinking…

Maybe I should expand the content of our little blog here. I started this blog to keep family and friends up to date on our lives and have occasionally shared a craft projects or home project. It also has served as a creative outlet for my writing. Why can’t I turn this into one of the many blogs I follow?
What I really would want to do, it to create ways to blog more often, share more and make my blog more of a destination for you, my friends and family. But also open it up to the writers of the blogs I follow if they so choose. Here are some of my thoughts of what to add:

Motherhood Mondays or Toddler Tuesdays – this is inspired from many of the “Mama” blogs I follow. Basically, these blogs would focus on some topic in parenting or something that happened with London.

Wordless Wednesdays – this is also inspired by some of the blogs I follow. The task is to simply post a picture that captures life at that moment and post it. The idea is the picture says it all.

Happy Hour Fridays – This is one is all me. Building on Lynde’s and my “Champagne Fridays” I’d share a simple home cocktail to be made for Happy Hour. It would have already been tested and approved by me previously. Another rule is that most ingredients would be easy to find at a grocery store or liquor store if not already on hand at home.

I'll also try to share more on the projects around the house and how I go about accomplishing each. With following all these DIY Blogs, I can already feel myself looking at something I would like to buy for our house and trying to figure out a way to do it DIY style for less. The latest has to do with the mirrors I want for London's bathroom, and I think I've found a possible solution. Stay tuned...

Another thing I plan to do is share with you all these lovely blogs I’ve been following when a particular post gets me so that I can possibly expand the blogs you follow. And if you haven’t signed up for Google Reader I highly recommend it. It’s easy to use and FREE.


Of course, I'll keep posting about our family adventures and London.

So what are your thoughts? Should I go for it? What would you like to see more of on this blog?

Oh, I’m also contemplating a name change. The Duck Call is just left over from my UC Davis class project, but I don’t like Cenedella Family Musings any more either, especially if I open this up. So far, most new names I come up with are already taken. One I am mulling over right now is “When A Hunter Meets a Crafter” It would fully read “What happens when a hunter meets a crafter…” in the title area, and I’d add some pictures to make it more punchy. Another one I thought of was "Simply Sarah" or "Sarah. Simply Stated." but there are variations of these out in the blogosphere. Do you have any Blog name ideas for me?

Tootles,
Sarah

Resolutions – Part 2

At last! My 2012 Resolutions. At first I wasn’t sure I really had any and in some ways I’m just repurposing last years, but for fun, here you go: 

Never Have a To-do list longer than…
6 items on the weekend
4 items on a weeknight

Also, I cannot get upset at myself when one or none of the items does not get crossed off. Life happens. Spending time with my husband and child is far more important than crossing something off my to-do list (no matter how much satisfaction I get from doing such :). Weekend To-do lists need to have equal parts Fun items and not so fun items. The 4-mile run from two weekends ago did count as fun. And it was! Weeknight items also need to mix fun with no-so fun items, but also be attainable. That would mean "putting away Christmas Candles" but not "pick up the loft" (especially the loft's state of destruction until yesterday - see pictures below for the before). I've done pretty well so far. I crossed everything off my first weekend list (two weekends ago), 3 of my 6 items on this last weekend's, and have crossed one, two or everything off four of 6 weeknight lists.

Make the stack of old, read magazines disappear!
When I read, I fold corners and mark with pen things I like, draw inspiration from, want to make etc. I have a file storage box ½ full with torn out magazine pages and several binders full of organized magazine pages. At the moment I plan to keep the recipes and workouts in torn-out magazine page format, but the rest I plan to convert to my new favorite site, Pinterest! Here's a pic of that file box and the stack of magazines I read last year.

Pinterest is a great way to categorize and organize everything you see online. Most of what I read is also available online (I just like the feel of a real magazine in my hands and a real magazine is safer to read while soaking in a bubble bath!) What I cannot translate to online will be debated and most likely tossed, just because I will probably already have 10 other things just like it online. Goodbye binders, box and stack of old magazines.

Part of the reason I have these binders and torn pages are for home décor ideas, which brings me to my home décor "focuses" for 2012 (note I didn't say "resolutions" as these could change and already have….

The Master Suite
11 days into 2012 and I’m already well on my way with this one. A big thank you to my hubby for purchasing the dressers I have been eyeing at Ikea for almost an entire year. They were his Christmas present to me. And another thank you to my dad and his generous Christmas gift that allowed us to buy the matching 3-draw chests which we are now using as night stands, as well as the new gel foam mattress pad we have been enjoying since before New Years. Having real, matching furniture in our room has made a HUGE difference in the feel of our room and I hope encourages us to keep our room clean rather than the dumping ground it has often been over the years.

I know the room will not be completed this year, but I do hope to get some paint on the wall and a few small DIY design items done to bring it, and us, even more into the adult world.

I know my home decor photography skills still have a long way to go, but at least its natural light!

I’m also adding in last year’s challenge of completing the master bathroom resolution into this year's focuses, since really the two areas are very much connected and one. Again, the room won’t be “complete” by the end of the year, but paint, a border to the large mirror and some small DIY décor items would go a loooong, long way.

Front Room.My Office
For the most part, that rounds out my home décor focuses. I will continue to work toward completing the Family room and will touch up the paint in powder room downstairs. We are also looking at turning the front room/my office area into an actual room, all with an actual door, and move Cameron’s office downstairs so that we have a spare/guest room upstairs.

Cameron’s already sourcing contractors for this one, so we’re already headed in the right direction. In the meantime, I’ll be working on cleaning up the loft area (as until yesterday held the old dresser and night stands and a rather large pile of left over pine needles from the Christmas tree) so that I can then begin moving all that is residing in the front room up to the loft until construction is complete. Check out these pocket doors I saw on Pinterest that we would like to incorporate into the new office.

Laundry Room
One last area I would like to focus on a little more, is our laundry room. The main objective will be to get it organized and make it easier to get to the litter box so I clean that more often (hopefully every day). And maybe, if it isn't such an eyesore, I'll enjoy going in there a little more often to get my laundry done. Currently, I wince every time I open up the cabinet that holds the liquid detergent as there is a pile of semi-solid liquid detergent that has built up on the bottom. I can only imagine what this is doing to the cabinet wood. This is one item Cameron and I were discussing when I failed to put the blankets in the laundry last night. When I tackle this room, it will definitely take a day. I'd also like to get it painted.

London's Bathroom
And until last night, this item had fallen off my list of home decor focuses, but Cameron brought it back. With Contractor's coming in and quoting, we figure we can see about having them take the large mirror down and replacing it with the ones I like at Lowe's. Add in a little paint and this room would really be done. We even almost bought the paint last night at Home Depot while picking up some RoundUp. At least we know the paint color, finally. This after several months with three possible colors painted all over the bathroom.

A Final Note on Resolutions
Last, I plan to not just make resolutions at the beginning of the year, but actually make one at the beginning of each month. To start, my January 2012 resolution is to get the house picked up and begin a deep cleaning. This means dusting each slat of every blind, dusting the top of the ceiling fans and light fixtures and dusting the floor boards. Right now, the pick-up process is in progress and hopefully, by this weekend, the deep cleanse will follow. For February, I’m thinking of finishing small projects or getting some painting done, but all this could change, depending on how January rolls along. Stay tuned!

Tootles,
Sarah

You know you’ve done too much cleaning in one day when…

Sorry for the delay. I promise my Resolutions for 2012 are coming. The post is written. I was just waiting to get a few pictures of our bedroom looking all adult and pretty. The thing is, this needed to be done with sunlight coming in (at least in my mind this is when it needed to be done). I want to try and take alright pictures for this blog.

The problem was, I couldn’t take such a picture all week. The sun isn’t up, nor Cameron out of bed, when London and I head out at 6:45 AM and the sun is almost completely set by the time we get home at 5 PM thanks to these short winter days. I'm more interested in using my last few minutes of daylight to get a 30-minute run in versus try for a half-ass picture. I was able to take the pictures Saturday, but then got caught up in a cleaning frenzy Saturday morning and most of Sunday.

Saturday was a mad dash to get downstairs in order with friends coming over at noon to watch the 49ers game. We were a loud, rowdy bunch as the 49ers were winning, losing, winning, losing and finally winning the game! The loud hoots and hollers took a number on London at first – she’d been down for a nap when the game started and was not expecting the scene before her when she woke up. She was pretty clingy until Cameron showed her that when we got loud, she should to, along with clapping and saying yay! She had this down by the end of the game.

Jeremy & Alyssa were some of the friends to join us that day, including their 4-month-old son Brayden. Alyssa and Brayden came near the end, after a visit to the Bay Area that morning, which was when the game got real exciting and nerve-racking. Poor Brayden. Our howling definitely scared the beegeesus out of him with all the back and forth scoring. Being in his dad's arms at the time probably didn't help as Jeremy was one of the loudest in the bunch.

But it was on Sunday when I literally over cleaned, past my mental capacity. Cameron took London up to his mom’s in the afternoon since the daycare was closed today in observance of MLK Jr. day. Not so for Cameron and me, as we had to work. The alone time in the house allowed me some free time to crank up the music and tackle the loft. Cameron was also taking our old dresser and nightstands up to his sister’s, so those had been cleared out of my path.

I’m happy to report there is no longer a pile of Christmas Tree needles in the middle of the loft! But I also got so consumed in the cleaning that the last load of laundry I meant to do didn’t actually happen. I’d called it a day in cleaning but still had a little laundry to do. I started the load and went back to my glass of wine and London’s stocking while laying on the bed and watching last week’s episode of Parenthood. Probably 20 minutes later it suddenly occurred to me that I may not have actually put the blankets in the washer.

When I mentioned this to Cameron, it dawned on him that he hadn’t see me do this either – he’d watched me put the laundry detergent in and we’d discussed the cleaning that needs to be had in our laundry room, but nope, no recollection of blankets actually going in to the washer.

Upon further inspection, by Cameron, he confirmed my goof. I was already bowled over in a laughing fit, tears streaming down my face. Oh well, I guess that’s a true sign you’ve cleaned yourself out! The blankets made it into the wash tonight. And that 2012 Resolutions Part 2 post is on its way!

Tootles,
Sarah

Resolutions – Part 1

Happy 2012! We spent New Year’s Eve with the McGraths, Moes and Millers (yes, we were out of place without an “M” last name) and their growing broods. The kids were ready to party well past midnight (albeit London being cracked out from the lack of sleep, and purposely slamming her forehead into the wall) but Cameron and I were ready to pack it in as soon as midnight arrived. We lasted just a little while longer, but were home by 1:30 AM, London crashed out in her car seat and easy to transport to bed – we’d had the good sense to bring her to the party in her Pajamas (we also decided to rock the sweatpants for ourselves – I think some people were a little jealous they hadn’t). We had a great time, but look forward to the day we can leave the older kids in charge of the younger ones – we’re about 4 years away, we think.

With the New Year comes new resolutions. But how did I fair with last years? I fared ok – in my mind. That’s to say that resolutions aren’t absolute (to me) and if I decide to go a different path, I’m alright with that.

Update: Get Healthy and Lose Weight
I’m on and off track this one. I’ve taken a little break from running since the Thanksgiving 10K and haven’t really run since. But my mom got me a bunch of new cold weather running outfits and I have a ½ marathon in March, as well as a Super bowl Day 10K in February so I’ve got to get my butt in gear. I plan to run 4 miles this weekend and get as many 30-40 minute runs every week between Monday thru Thursday. I can’t say I’ve really lost any weight – maybe just those last 5 baby pounds, but I’d like to loose more, of course. What I can say is I do feel descent about myself most of the time and proud of the steps I’ve taken to make mine, and my family’s lives healthier. Cameron even asked me to make some Zucchini Lasagna again (a recipe I made after finding on Skinnytaste.com).



Update: Finished Decorating the Family Room
While I didn’t accomplish this completely (will it ever be done, per se?), we did make progress. We found and created the perfect entertainment center, as well as mounted the TV. All we really need are some throw pillows (which I remind myself I really want every time I lay down on the couch) and a little display on top of the entertainment center, under the TV. This will include a clock, as we now have AT&T and their DVR/Cable boxes don’t have clocks on them! A trip to HomeGoods should take care of it and now with HomeGoods in Folsom, it will be less of a trip to get there.


Update: Get all Bathrooms Decorated
Powder room: Pretty successful – I just need to do some touch-up re: paint


London’s Bathroom: Fail. Not that this is a big deal to me. All I really need to do is paint, but I don’t want to do that until we remove the big mirror and replace with some smaller ones I’ve found at Lowe’s. I also want to add some bead board/wainscotting. This could or could not happen in 2012. We’ll see.



Master bathroom: Fail. But again, not a big deal. I’ve recently had some new ideas for it, and wouldn’t have come up with these ideas had I done what I originally planned. Stayed tuned for these ideas in the next post, as it is part of my 2012 resolutions.

Update: Start and Stay up-to-date on London’s Baby Book
Start: Success
Stay Up-to-Date: FAIL

It’s definitely one of the top of my projects to do list. Along with London’s Stocking.

Update: Finish Cross Stitching London’s Stocking.
See above. I’m close – I just need to finish the blue background and turn it into an actual stocking. I won’t take 8 months off this year either!


Update: Catch up on my magazine Pile
I’m caught up minus two magazines from December. I’m half way through one. Both are fitness based, so I pushed them aside to read all my other December magazines in the actual month of December and save these for January since I know they will mean more this month any way. This pile does make a re-appearance in this year’s resolutions, but in a different way that I can’t wait to share with you, next post.