© 2009 This Full House – All Rights Reserved.
I was unsuccessful on both counts.
Little did I know, the tears I shed that day would be no match to the gut-wrenching pain of watching my 15 year-old child walk out the door, without saying goodbye…again.
Welcome to the This Full House 3rd Annual Spring Break Staycation — where wearing our pajamas and sliding around the house in dingy socks are standard issue — this year, the kids and I have got lots of laid back and fun things planned for the next few days:
Especially, since Heather (formerly known as, Thing Two) received a clean bill of health from her surgeon…can I get HANDSLAP!?!?…and, after 6 months of riding the emotional roller coaster from hell, my 13-year-old is ABSOLUTELY THRILLED that she won't be getting back on the operating table, anytime soon…can I get a YEEHAW!?!?
[deep sigh of relief]
It's so great to be able to, you know, breath….again. So, I'm taking a few days offline, with the exception of one quick and very important blogging date, to spend a low-tech-timeout with my kids.
Except, for the totally tricked out car we get to drive around in…for little while, at least…but, more on that later.
Oh, and my husband Garth (not his real name) started a new job, so he can't get any time off right now (no worries, he's very, very happy to be working…period) so, I'm leaving Doofus-dog in charge.
[lick]
Have a great week, everyone!
© 2009 This Full House – All Rights Reserved.
Heather and Mike Spohrs' (a.k.a.The Spohrs are Multiplying) gorgeous little Maddie passed away unexpectedly on April 7, 2009 after being admitted to the hospital for respiratory problems.
No, I don't know Heather or Mike (personally) still, as a parent, I can't help but feel connected to them. I know that they must be absolutely heartbroken at the loss of their precious Maddie.
It's like my friend Mrs. Flinger says:
I feel sick at the thought of their loss and I can't imagine the pain that Maddie's parents are going through…right now…but, I can sure help.
Sadly, it won't bring their little Maddie back — DAYUM, that is SO unfair and NOT right — but, with help from friends like Meghan (a.k.a. A Mom Two Boys) sure, I am more than willing to share their story.
For the love their precious little Maddie.
Please give.
© 2009 This Full House – All Rights Reserved.
It's the first Monday of the month and you know what that means
[sound of crickets chirping]
I'm hanging with the Imperfect Parent, today — talk about dirty hands and smart mouths, my son hates the b-word — oh, and I'm also getting my house in order for spring break, which starts on Thursday this week, the same day I take my 13-year-old back to the pediatric surgeon and find out whether my middle girl's going to need some more emergency surgery, or not.
Sounds like fun, yeah?
So…um…yeah…aaaanyway…did you know that my first time blog crush Mindy's going to be on Oprah, this week — along with some other mom blogger called Dooce — talking about the Secret Lives of Moms, so I thought I'd do a quick public service announcement for parents-to-be and folks who strive to be raising teenagers, one day:
You're welcome!
© 2009 This Full House – All Rights Reserved.
It's hard to believe that my middle girl was only 7 years-old when I started This Full House in 2003 and now…DAYUM!…but, look how we've BOTH grown!
So, what's this about then?
It's all Mrs. Flinger's fault — I've been reading my blogging friend Mrs. Flinger for a long time, now. She's a very lovely mom, a wickedly talented html coding diva and her Tweets make me snort coffee through my nose (she is THAT funny) and we've both been around the Internets for a while and can still remember when Dooce was just a girl who couldn't spell Dude.
Even though Mrs. Flinger admits she's just a girl with a blog, she's a mentor to about a bazillion people (like me) who read her blog and come to love her over the years…and she doesn't even know it.
Let's face it, blogging isn't what it used to be and I've been talking to a lot of [ahem] "old school" mom bloggers who have said the same exact thing — how it's hard NOT to get all wrapped up in stats and feed reader rubbish — yet, we keep typing along with the best of them.
Wonder if Dooce feels that way, too?
I had the pleasure of being interviewed this week (I don't know how that happened, either) and was asked to provide some insight on my six year love/hate relationship with the Internet and penchant for using the word "mom" and "blogger" in the same sentence…oh, and wow…they actually printed it and nobody's more excited, or surprised, than I am, trust me!
However, the first question asked is one that I happen to get, a lot:
How do you manage to raise a family AND update your blog on a regular basis?
My husband, Garth (not his real name) and I love attending open houses
– especially, if it's a home that we've admired, or wondered…you
know…what the heck is going on in there?
Welcome to the Open House Blog Tour where everyone (and anyone) is free to come and leave links (PG-13, please) telling us about your individual blogging events, fundraisers, giveaways, book tours, contests, or if you have a burning blog post and just need a shout out, go for it…I'm listening!
I mean, who couldn't use a little linky love? Okay, I'll start:
Comment (or, don't if you don't feel like it) but, make sure you leave a link in the Mr. Linky fields below along with a short description of the event.
And if you forget…don't worry…it'll be here, every Thursday…linked permanently in my archives (see sidebar on left) here and on my review blog (two linkies for the price of one entry) so, if you happen to stop by whenever, just go ahead and leave your link…oh, and let me know where I can mail the check!
Feel free to share – here's the button and the code to use:
<a href="http://www.thisfullhouse.com/"><img
src="http://www.thisfullhouse.com/badges/this-full-house-open-house-blog-tour-150.png">
ALREADY SHOWING: Open House Blog Tours
Happy blog hunting!
© 2009 This Full House – All Rights Reserved.
My 13 year-old thinks I have mad "mommy face" skillz…it's my new Twitter look…way different from the more professional and much happier-looking me (see sidebar at right) right?!?!?
My husband, Garth (not his real name) comes from a long line of Thompsons, whose family roots date back to early American history, while I am descended from…well…pretty much everyone (who would admit it, anyway) or, nearly every East European nation, depending on where its border was situated, at the time.
You think that's funny, you should have seen our wedding!
My husband agreed with the wedding planner (who just so happened to be, you know, me) that we should give up the tradition of separating the groom's side from the bride's side at the church and opted to toss everyone in and mix 'up both sides of our family, but good.
Or else, risk the chance of befuddling our guests into choosing between the extremely wet and wild crowd stuffing each other full with tissues, or the more straight-backed and dry-humored side of the church.
Guess which one my side of the family would have sat on and guess who cried SO HARD, just the other day, our kids thought it somehow MUST have been their fault and quickly started blaming each other (big time) and then BEGGED to move in with their grandparents???
Go ahead, I'll wait.
Last Christmas, over 100 of my blogging friends and I got together and blogged about the This Bank Can't Fail campaign (spearheaded by my blogging friend and fellow Jersey Girl Deborah Smith of JerseyBites.com) to Blog Out Hunger on behalf of the Community Food Bank of New Jersey and families in need across the garden state.
Growing up, our family was no stranger to hunger.
Well, I asked my friends at Stop & Shop if they would like to help sponsor This Full House with a call out for donations in support of Blogging Out Hunger and they seemed to feel that it's, you know, a pretty good idea.
Stop & Shop offered to donate $1.00 for each comment (up to $300.00) to the Community Food Bank of New Jersey.
THIS FULL HOUSE READERS HELPED TO RAISE OVER $200.00 — THANK YOU!!!
Today, I'm very excited to be able to tell you guys that I have the extreme pleasure of co-hosting the Stop and Shop New Jersey Mom Blogger Event on April 15 (open to all Mom BLoggers in New Jersey) held at the Frog & Peach Restaurant in New Brunswick, New Jersey.
Why?
Well, because they asked me and made me an offer I simply could NOT refuse.