Motherhood Comes Naturally, by Scary Mommy

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Hahahahahahahaha.

Naturally. HA!

The lies we’re told about motherhood before and after we give birth are hilarious, and Scary Mommy is out to prove that with her new book.

As someone who has commented a time or two on the confession boards at Scary Mommy (Go ahead TRY to guess which are mine :-) and as a regular reader of her site I was beyond thrilled to meet Jill Smokler of Scary Mommy the other day! A bunch of local bloggers met up for coffee thanks to Mommy Niri (she’s all connected and stuff ;-)

Jill read from her new book, Motherhood Comes Naturally (and Other Vicious Lies)while this old man pretended not to listen.

He cleared his throat quite a few times and rustled that paper loudly. She was reading about sex after kids from the lie chapter entitled Parenting Strengthens a Marriage. I actually like to think that we were the highlight of his day.

She’s funny and smart and lovely and you should go buy the book. It should be a fun summer read. In the middle of August, when maybe I can get two effing seconds to myself, that’s what I’ll be doing.

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The link above is an Amazon Affiliate link, FYI ;-)

Smoothies are Green

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I love that, in our house, smoothies are green. They started out all pink and pretty. Somewhere along the line it all changed and we never looked back. Someone, somewhere told me they put spinach in their kids smoothies and that they couldn’t even taste it. Really?

Intriguing.

So one day I said “How about we make our smoothie green today? Who wants to help?” They jumped up on the stools and said “Let’s do it!”

All I did that day was add some baby spinach to a smoothie that they already liked and the rest is history.

It has evolved to include kale, swiss chard, and avocado. And yes they still drink it. They ask for it. They ask for seconds. It makes me so happy.

I promise your kids will love it. I make this smoothie at least three times a week. When we are pressed for time and I want them to have something I know is healthy and quick. Smoothie it is. Make a batch put it in some mason jars (pro tip – mason jars are great for shake and serve leftover smoothie). Always on hand. Awesome and easy.

I don’t measure these things so all of these are approximate.

Nate’s Green Smoothie
1 cup Plain Kefir
1 cup Orange/ Banana/ Strawberry juice
2 tbsp Vanilla Protein powder (why not) I have used both whey and hemp
baby spinach
baby kale
baby swiss chard
1 Banana
half an avocado
1/3 cup frozen strawberries
1/3 cup frozen mango

I load the blender with the greens all the way to the top. Then I pour the kefir and juice over the top. Add banana and avo, protein poder and fruit. Add water or ice as needed for the consistency you or your kids like. We like it a little thick.

A few weeks ago I headed on out to Whole Foods at Fresh Pond for a #SpringSmoothieSummit and introduced everyone to Nate’s Green Smoothie. The nice folks there gave us all some gift cards to do some serious fruit and veggie shopping. We all came back and made our smoothies. It was a hit there and it will be at your house too!

Maybe some of my bloggy friends who were at Whole Foods that day will share their recipes too!

Blankies for Boston

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My wonderful future sister-in-law (if my BIL ever gets off his duff) is running a project called Blankies for Boston.

They are collecting 1000 comfort blankets for victims, victims’ families, and first responders of the Boston Marathon bombing.

The four women organizing this project met knitting and crocheting scarves for the children of Sandy Hook Elementary School, which collected over 3500 scarves!  In just two days, Blankies for Boston, had participants from the UK to California.

Sometimes in tragedies like this, people feel like there is nothing they can do to help. Yes, of course you can give money, to funds like the One Fund (and you should) But this? This is different. It is a little piece of the soul of someone’s heart knitted all up into a blankie of love and sent to someone that really needs that love right now. Doesn’t that sound awesome? :-)

Know how to knit? Head on over to the Facebook page and check out the specs and get knitting? Know someone that knits (um MOM? Can you hear me?) then send them this link.

There are a ton of people from other parts of the country helping out, but now they need help getting the word out locally.

Get the word out my bloggy friends. Get the word OUT!

Also, please message them if you are directly connected to a victim or first responder, so that they can get them a blanket.

Thank you my lovelies.

#BostonStrong

Babba Box – Crafty fun on your doorstep

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I went to an event at Barefoot Books last week and I won the door prize!

There were actually two parts to the raffle that were equally exciting. The first was a credit from Urban Sitters! Can you say Date Night?! I have been itching to use Urban Sitter ever since my speed dating experience with them a while back. But I needed a sitter with a car, and lo and behold AT the event I found a sitter with a car that lives in my town. Squeeeee!

Then as if it couldn’t get any better, the other part of the prize was a 3 month subscription to Babba Box. BabbaCo and Barefoot Books had been keeping my kids busy under the watchful eye of the Urban Sitter while we learned all about Babba Box from its founder Jessica Kim. Jessica is a mom of three and as cute and smart and genuine as you can get. Can you say Girl Crush?! Too far? Ok.

But look! She hand wrote every blogger a lovely note on our goody bag.

See? Aren’t you crushing on her a little bit. Handwritten notes rock! I so need to do this more.

But it’s all about that other thing she does – the Babba Box! From the website…

BabbaBox is a monthly subscription activity box that is delivered to your home with ALL the physical materials plus know-how content to really engage with your kids. Watch the video below to see first hand what the box is all about!

 

So in the next few months I’ll let you know what we get and how the kids like it. As an admitted non-crafty mama, I am super psyched for the help!

Fisher Price-apalooza

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When the kids and I go to the Nana and the Papa’s houses consecutively, as we often do for conveneince, we call it NanaPapalooza.

A couple of weeks ago I went to two Fisher Price events in a week! So…

Fisher Price-apalooza!

The first event was put on by Mommy Niri called Tots and technology. We all let the kids play with the i’s. You know, the iPhones, the iPads, the iTouches :-)  Well Fisher Price makes these handy little covers that not only keep your devices safer but make them a little more kid friendly (as if that’s necessary). My 2 year old loved the iPhone cover and the 6 year old loved the iPad cover because it made it more portable – a carrying handle.

Cute, no?

Then Charlene Chronicles had little bubby and I over for a Fisher Price playdate. She had lots of toys for the kids to play with that were really fun! Our favorite was the Little Peoples Wheelies Swoops and Hoops Amusement Park – FUN!

With three kids we’ve had tons of toys pass through this house, lots of them Fisher Price. But it’s always nice to be reminded that new toys come out all the time and I should keep my eye out.

Images from BlogHer12 NYC

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I am still processing all of the things I learned at BlogHer12 so this isn’t a recap post. Since I can’t impart the learning just yet I will give you what I saw…