What is this blog for anyway?

I arrived home from Blissdom with a heavy heart.

Mind you, I had a fabulous time (with a capital F) and learned a lot.

I also realized that I had strayed from my passions- the passions that led me to start this blog in the first place almost two years ago.  I have been working on shifting my focus back to sharing life from my heart with my readers.  (All my product reviews, giveaways, professional organizing advice, etc. will be on my professional organizing site starting March 1st.)

I blog about life.

Life as an adoptive mom of a child with severe emotional and behavioral issues, life as a mama of all boys, life as a mama of all tween/teen boys, life as a wife, life with multiple sclerosis and lupus, life as a former foster child, high school drop out turned teen mom who found Jesus and has never been the same since!

I blog about cutting through the clutter of life…the things that distract us from seeing and enjoying the life and purpose God has for us. When I speak at mom’s groups and women’s events, I usually am either sharing my testimony or sharing how to get control of your calendar, manage your time, set realistic goals and priorities and handle money the way God intended.

I’m glad you stopped by if you are here from Kelly’s Korner and invite you to read my About Me page and/or listen to my intro video to learn a little more about me and this here blog ‘o mine.

Multi-Tasking Monday

I am starting my own theme for Mondays as I have so much to share…

First, my vlog for Monday Mingle, hosted by Eighty MPH Mom.

The questions this week were:

Do you have siblings?  Did you want more or less siblings when you were growing up?

What was your wedding song?

Did you do anything special for Valentine’s Day?

Tell us something special about your spouse/partner

Here are my answers:

Then I need to give you my Mamavation update.  I am down another 2.3 lbs this week (which is absolutely amazing considering all the awesome food we had at Blissdom).  I have not been able to walk outdoors because there is 4 feet of snow on the ground but the hubby and I did a lot of unpacking/cleaning so I am assuming that is where I burnt off most of the calories.  I continue to drink ice water and the occasional glass of juice with club soda.  I know that staying away from soda is really helping with the weight loss.  We have switched completely to whole wheat bread (still getting a little complaining from the family on this) and brown rice in my quest to make the switch to whole grains.

Last but not least is my Bible in 90 days progress. Confession time:  I am behind AGAIN.  Having the hubby, kids and 3 dogs cooped up in the house with me all week, after falling behind while at Blissdom, has me still in Job when my #b90days gals are in (one of my favorite books) the Psalms.

I have a plan to catch up (that is how I caught up the last time I was behind) and with the kids (hopefully) going back to school tomorrow I can get back in to my normal routine.

I also need to say that it was amazing to meet so many other women going through the challenge.  Some of us got together for coffee Friday morning at Blissdom and sharing our thoughts, struggles, insights and more was incredible.

That is all for this fine Monday morning!  Head over here to see my menu plan for the week and to enter to win some money saving coupons.

Made for relationship

Today I listened to my friend Amy talk about friendship on her radio show.  Coming home from a weekend like this leads one to think about friendship, about connection, about how our Creator intended for us to be in relationship with others.

Relationships that allow us to take off our grown up hats and put on our play time hats (or boas and beads as the case may be)

Relationships that allow us to relax.  To lean back into the knowledge that we are accepted for who we are in this moment.

Relationships that allow us to celebrate each others success without thought of competition or glory.

Relationships that make our hearts smile and our spirit sing

~A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart, and can sing it back to you when you have forgotten the words~

Author Unknown

Today I am thankful for my friends.  What are you thankful for?

Monday Mingle

I love participating in the Monday Mingle, hosted by Speedy at Eighty MPH Mom.  You get to know other bloggers, see their sweet faces and interact through another medium (other than our standard font LOL)

This week the questions were:

If you could be any literary/movie character who would you be?

What is your biggest phobia?

Do you have pets? What are they and what are their names?

And here are my answers:

Join us for the fun on video or leave me your answers in the comments!

Expect the Unexpected

Today for Thankful Thursday, our host Lynne chose the theme of being thankful for the unexpected.

Ha! That could be the theme of my life so I decided to do a little time line post of how God took the unexpected (to me, not to Him) and worked it for good in my life.

• Time in foster care When I was a tween girl my family imploded.  The result was myself (and eventually my brothers) being removed from our home for a time.  While I am fortunate that my time in foster care  was not long term (about a year and then I went to live with my grandparents) I am thankful for it now.  It softened my heart and created a passion in me for orphans and foster children to have forever families.
• Teen pregnancy While it can be argued that pregnancy should not have surprised me, given my promiscuous lifestyle at the time, I was nonetheless shocked when I learned I was pregnant at 16.  Those of you that know the rest of the story know that being a teen mom is what led me to finding the redeeming grace of Jesus.  How can I not be thankful for that?
• Chronic Illness I certainly never imagined that diseases I cannot control would have such an impact on my life.  But, like only He can, God has used my inability to maintain my previous break-neck speed lifestyle to woo me back to His side.  I have such a feeling of purpose and peace that I didn’t know before I became ill.

I could go on and on about the way God has used unexpected trials to produce unlimited blessings and growth in my life.  And I am so thankful for every one!

Mamavation Monday

Last week, I had my friend Katie guest post about her campaign to be one of the mamavation moms and I am happy to report that she won!!!!! Congrats to her.  She really put in a lot of time and effort and I am very proud of her.

But, back to my weight loss/get healthier journey:

I have lost 2.6 lbs in the last week!

I have walked everyday (even in the rain, I have a pretty umbrella)

I am drinking water like it is fine wine!

What I want to add this week:

Add in a workout video at least twice a week (and do workout video when children are not home so that I do not get made fun of during double time on Tae Bo) I’m sensitive (ha!)

Think I can do it?  We shall see!

For more Mamavation motivation, check out Bookieboo.com.

Aircut Review

I am so excited to partner with Aircut and let my readers know about this innovative product.  Vacuum hair clippers…so cool.  Gone are the days of sweeping hair off the floor after my husband would use clippers on our three boys.  Gone are the days of the boys complaining of the itchy hair on their neck and shoulders- boy, do I wish these had been around 10 years ago!

In the last few years, with the whole I-am-too-cool-for-my-tween-britches thing going on in our home, the boys have been going to the hair salon.  My husband’s philosophy was crew cut or hair salon.

The fabulous thing about the Aircut is that with all the attachments and tapered 1/2″ attachment, Mike can accomodate the boy’s haircut desires without the expense of the salon.

Here is our first experience with the Aircut:

The boys were comfortable with the Aircut and the hubby wasn’t nervous.  In the past, using traditional clippers, some injuries occurred- cutting an ear by accident, etc.  You don’t have to worry about that with the Aircut as the attachments make the possibility of skin contact impossible.

Be sure to visit Aircut’s website for 10 reasons to buy an Aircut and a graph of how much money you can save by cutting your hair at home.

My husband is going to cut his hair next…be on the lookout for that vlog.

**Disclosure:  AirCut is a sponsor of Multitaskingmama.com and provided me with an AirCut to facilitate this review. All opinions are mine and not influenced by anyone.

Green glasses? Who knew…

I was recently offered the opportunity to review the new Airwear ® lenses in my glasses.  The review opportunity came at just the right time, as I had just been given a new (and much stronger) prescription at the opthalmologist’s office.

What I like about Airwear ® lenses:

They are truly light weight.  They are up to 30% lighter than standard lenses and after almost three weeks of wearing them I have certainly noticed the difference.

They are thinner than standard lenses.  The Airwear ® literature says that these lenses are up to 25% thinner than standard plastic lenses.  This is another claim that held up. I have horrible vision and have always had thick lenses that protruded from any type of frame. These don’t! Honest!

You would think that being thinner and lighter, these lenses would not be as strong as standard lenses.  Wrong! These lenses are virtually unbreakable and 12x stronger than standard plastic lenses.  In addition, these lenses provide 100% UV protection against harmful UVA and UVB rays.

Airwear ® is concerned about the environment. This means that not only are the lenses lightweight and strong but they are also recyclable. They are manufactured using 100% recycled water as well.

Be sure to watch the video for my full review and check out Airwear’s website for more information.

Thank you to Mom Central and Airwear for this opportunity.

I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Airwear and received a pair of Airwear eyeglass lenses to thank me for taking the time to participate.

Invisible Tuesday (on Wednesday)

Tune into MomTV today(Wednesday) at 1pm EST for the latest episode of The Invisibles.

Today’s show will focus on Optimism and Chronic Illness.

Here are some links I mention in the show, in case you weren’t able to catch them and the outline of what we will be discussing.

The Power of Attitude:

American Autoimmune Related Diseases Assoc.

Great book: Living Well with Autoimmune Disease

How to have a positive attitude:

• Educate yourself
• Take care of yourself
• Manage fatigue
• Enjoy yourself
• Maintain healthy relationships
• Mind over matter
• Expect bumps (fmaware.org)
• Stockpile fun distractions (fmaware.org)
• Find a hobby (helium)

Are you an optimist or pessimist quiz?  Lifescript

Remember that if you miss the live show, it is available for replay anytime!

Invisible Tuesday

Some of you know that I host a MomTV show on Wednesdays (at 1pm EST) called The Invisibles. The show focuses on living well with chronic/invisible illness.  To help my listeners and to educate my readers, I am going to start posting on the same topic that my show will focus on each week on Tuesdays.

Tomorrow’s show topic is Minimizing the Impact of Your Illness on Your Loved Ones.  Here are some tips related to what I share on the show.

• Your family member’s are not stupid, don’t treat them like they are.  Don’t say “I’m fine” if you aren’t.  Trust is an important component of family life.  Don’t become someone your family doesn’t trust.
• Remember that there are things children do not need to know specifics about (including finances and treatments)
• Resist the temptation to downplay your hubby’s headache when everything on your body hurts. Don’t make it a “one up” type of situation.
• If you lash out in anger, forget something important, etc.- apologize.  Don’t apologize for your illness but for your behavior.
• Plan your day so that you are at your best when you are around your family.  If that means taking a nap before they get home, it is worth it.
• Don’t buy in to the lie of the Devil that you are a burden or problem to your family. They love you and need you.
• Reach out.  Don’t shut out.

For all my tips and thoughts on this subject watch the Invisibles tomorrow.

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