Think Socks

It's Friday, time to Fight the Frump with Fussy!

This week I want to talk about socks. Yes, SOCKS. All winter long your socks have been hiding under your pants and shoes. Nobody has noticed the stretched-out tops, holes in the toes, faded, dingy, stained, maybe-matching casings on your feet.

They may be comfy, but they do nothing for your look, unless the look you are going for is Frumpy. With spring here, it's time to get some new socks. But you need to be careful when shopping for socks. You don't want to look like this:

Hello 80's!

Or This:

Gym class anyone?

I don't care who says they are in style. Please, do not wear tube socks in public unless you are a skater or the teen girlfriend of a skater. Even then...I wouldn't wear them.


Instead, might I suggest the quarter sock:

Simple and always stylish, they come in many fun colors. Quarter socks are high enough to wear comfortably with your favorite sneakers and low enough to be paired with shorts (and shoes, never with sandals) without looking all 80's. So go buy some socks, your feet will thank you.
For more fun Fighting the Frump visit Fussy.

Fighting the Frump - Take a Bath

Today is Friday so it is time to Fight the Frump (finally)! My advice to everyone - Take a Bath! Not a you-smell-funky-so-go-clean-yourself-bath, but a time-to-use-those-bath-beads-you-got-for-Christmas-bath. A beauty bath, just for pampering your wonderful self.

STEP 1: Scrub the tub. Find five minutes to attack the tub with some baking soda (it's amazing on soap scum) and spray the mildew with bleach before you leave. (yes, I know YOUR tub is perfectly clean all the time and smells like roses, this is for the rest of us) Pick up any offensive messes on your way out the door.

STEP 2: Find your bath beads. Put together a bag or box full of items to pamper yourself with. Include things like a loofa, bath beads, bath salts, smelly soap, a NEW razor, deep conditioner, a pumice stone, your favorite face mask, fluffy towels, fluffy bath robe, favorite lotion, favorite music and music player, candles, and your favorite (clean) pjs. Put all these things in the bathroom, waiting for you. (out of reach of little hands or they will distroy your box of goodies)

STEP 3: Find the time. Have hubby watch the kids for an hour or dissapear for an hour after you put the kids down for bed. Make your favorite drink and go in the bathroom (bring a refill for your drink). LOCK THE DOOR. Make sure all family members know that you are not to be disturbed for 1 hour, for ANY reason. (I am in a tub full of water, a fire is not a good enough reason to interrupt my bath.)

STEP 4: Run your bath. Light the candles and arrange everything just right so there will be no need to get out of the tub once you are in. Turn music on. Get in tub. Procede to use everything you have gathered and pamper yourself for a full hour (ignore the crying baby, hubby can handle it for an hour, turn music up louder to compensate).

STEP 5: Back to reality. Get out of the tub and into your pjs, making sure to use your lotion and fluffy towels and bath robe. Return to the world feeling refreshed, pampered and defrumpified. Repeat weekly for best results.

That's it, 5 easy steps to a beauty bath. For more more Fight the Frump Friday tips visit Fussy.

Parents visit

My parents just left after visiting for the Artist's 8th birthday. Right now I am missing my mom more than I have since the last time she came for a visit. I have great parents. My mom helps with housework and taking care of the kids and my dad spent the week working on my car and playing with the kids. I am so lucky to have my parents. I just wish they weren't so far away. Ever since I moved away they have made a point to visit for the Artist's birthday and any other time that they can.
Last night my 1 year old, the Tank, was sick. He's fine today, but it made for a late night and a LOT of laundry. Every time something like this happens, I understand my parents a little more. I am actually hoping I get sick before the baby girl, so that maybe she won't get sick (we nurse). I never thought I would hope to get sick. Moms don't get sick days, so I must be nuts, right?
But, back to my main point, I really miss my mom. I wish she was here for me, I could use a nap today and a little help with the house. I know I'll just suck it up and deal with it all, but it was so nice having help for a week.

I joined the league!

In an effort to come out of my introverted shell, I have joined the fabulous Mrs. Fussypants' League of Extraordinary Wives. I also plan on joining the Friday Fight the Frump series next week. (why not this week? a girl can only do so much in one day you know, give me time to get used to the idea of someone actually reading my blog before I go there) So now I have a place to go when I go on-line and I vow to no longer be just a lurker. I will take part in adult conversation, even if it is only on-line. I can do this. I am an Extraordinary Wife!
Visit League of Extraordinary Wives

Late Nights with Baby

Why does it always seem like babies are born with night and day mixed up? My girl (3 weeks old) wakes up around 3am and goes to bed around 8am. My boys start getting up around 10am. Hubby and I like to go to bed around 2am. With a new baby I seriously don't know when I will ever get any sleep. I am so glad that my artist has been unschooling for a while now. I just need to figure out how to make this all work now that Hubby is going back to work. And I want to start writing on this blog a bit more than once in a blue moon. I want to be better at all of this but it is so hard being the mom. At least I'm good at late nights with the baby.

Pregnancy Woes

So I spent a couple hours in the Labor and Delivery ward on Monday just to find out that I have a back ache. Nothing too serious, I'm just supposed to take it easy for a few days and try not to lift anything heavy - like my 20 pound 10 month old. And how, exactly, does a homeschooling, stay-at-home-mom take it easy? I'll just let the maid and nanny take over doing all the hard jobs -- yeah and the chef can get dinner tonight too. So, I'm doing what I can to relax and not pick up the baby too many times. But the real kicker for me are the GREAT pain-relievers they give pregnant women in pain, namely, Tylenol. So, as I sit here in pain that isn't even slightly dulled by Tylenol, I wonder who in their right minds would EVER think that a pregnant, stay-at-home, homeschooling, mom would be able to "take it easy" for ANY length of time. I think I could take over the doctor's job for a day or two and get more rest. Oh well, I'm off to put the kids to bed, er, put my feet up :)

Welcome to My World

Hello to the wide world of bloggers everywhere! I am Java Jo Mama (aka Sarah) a 26 year old mom of 2 boys(I am expecting my first girl just after Christmas). I homeschool my oldest son - he's 7 - and I plan to homeschool all of my children as they grow. My second boy is almost 10 months old and he has been walking and getting into everything for more than a month now. I am a stay at home mom and I wouldn't want it any other way. My wonderful husband just turned 40 and has started going back to school on top of working a 40 hour week. He works the second shift, so our family is on a night-owl schedule so the kiddos get to see daddy every day before bedtime. We live in San Diego, California and try to play at the beach every weekend.
Why do I homeschool, you ask? I did the "normal" thing with Artist (my 7 year old): part-time preschool for 2 years, kidnergarden, and (most of) first grade in public school. But we had some pretty major problems with school. My son wasn't progressing in the reading department as fast as was required and he was bored with everything else in school because it was too basic for him. Bigger kids picked on him at recess and stole the good parts of his lunch. He got in trouble for running at recess. He got in trouble for not paying attention in class. He started becoming a class-clown. So I spent an hour every night working with him on reading, then we would spend an hour on learning about things he wanted to know, followed by an hour (at least) on an art project of his choosing. No play time, no fun family time, and my son was becoming very depressed because he wasn't progressing in the reading department. He got glasses, it helped some, but he was no where near where the school required him to be in reading and would either be held back or made to do summer school. He was WAY ahead of his peers in math and science skills, his advanced vocabulary made it hard for most kids his age to understand him, he knew more about history and literature than kids several years older than he was and his imagination was beyond stellar, not the best canidate for being held behind in my opinion. He was labeled a liar and I was told to get him checked for ADD. He hated school and anything to do with learning at this point. He would beg to stay home sick every morning. So, I made a HUGE decision and pulled him out of school. It was one of the best things I have ever done for us. At first, we didn't do a whole lot. I let him play video games and watch TV, we read books and talked about everything under the sun. I wanted him to get happy again, we're still working on that.
How do we Homeschool? Unfortunately, my son is still pretty scarred from his school experience. He doesn't do "forced learning" as he calls it, and is very reluctant to try anything new because "learning is too hard". We have a basic plan for our days: story time, art project, subject of the day, life skills. We don't unschool, exactly, nor do we follow any set lesson plans. We take it one day at a time, without rushing through anything. He still doesn't read at grade level, or at all if he can help it. I sneak reading and writing into our day by having him write letters to grandparents and keep a daily log of our school activities. He sometimes illustrates his own comic books and asks for help in writing the text. I think he will be ready to read in the next year or so as long as I don't try to force it on him too much.

I decided to start a blog because, well, I don't get out much these days and I really hope to be able to connect with other moms who understand some of what I am going through. I also want to do something for myself. It seems like I never do anything just for me these days, but such is the life of a mom.