Let There Be Mess

I am particularly organized in every way, but when it comes to fostering creativity on my child I just let the mess take over. I read that creative spirits should freely focus on creating and not be distracted by the need to keep the workplace in order. My toddler is no exception. You should see the mess he creates when he kneads, cuts, and rolls those play dough. My consolation is hearing how he labels every shapes he created out of the dough, his imagination is really working. I just let loose and not become too critical about the mess during creative play. I try to nurture and cultivate my son's ability and desire to be creative.

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Obsessed With Me?

My three-year old son is attending pre-school twice a week and I must say it has been a welcome treat for me to get some time off from him. But that time without him seems still not enough. I still struggle keeping up with chores; online work and studies. My son doesn't take a nap in the afternoon anymore unless he's got a pretty rough day. He literally zaps my energy out during the day so at night I don't have enough energy to go through my usual routine.

There's a mom in my son's pre-school whose son can play by himself for hours so she's able to do a lot of things during the day. Though I find that odd, I wish that my son could play by himself for longer time too. He's all over me all the time. He wants interactive play. He wants to get involved in everything I do in the kitchen, laundry, even when I just take a pee in the toilet. No kidding, he would stand there and hand me toilet paper; new pantyliner and even flush the toilet for me. When I put anything on like my pants, socks or shoes, he'll get excited and would offer to help me. He is playing 'mom' to me, imitating the things I do to him. His words would always include "Let me help", "Let me do", "I do it too mommy". Sometimes I feel like my son is obsessed with me, and its pretty exhausting lol. I guess I just have to cherish these moments huh, like what every moms I know would tell me. He will grow up sooner than I expect and hopefully he would be this helpful and involved in my life too ;-). We'll see.

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A Great Web Hosting Site for Busy Moms

I'm sure busy moms like myself would agree with me that 24 hours in a day seem not enough to do everything around the house. However ways to save and maximize the time in a day to get more things done are a welcome treat. While I want to make my life simpler, I also have a habit of browsing through the net and comparing products and services all the time to get the best deal. I don't just plunge into buying anything.

I also don't have the luxury of time sitting at the computer continuously. I've been trying to search for dedicated server in a while and while searching through the web for dedicated server, I came across WebHostingGeeks.com, a website that provides a list of the top 10 web hosting providers. This site really makes it easier to compare and choose the right provider that fits anybody's needs. Instead of going through sites after sites to compare the pros and cons and prices of a web hosting provider, at Web Hosting Geeks this won't be a problem anymore. WebHostingGeeks.com caters to everybody's needs when it comes to choosing the right web hosting provider as it has the best resource for web hosting reviews and ratings.

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EC Top Droper Day - June

Here are my top 10 droppers for the month of June. Thanks guys for dropping here regularly. Check out my sidebar for some linky love.

Life's sweets and spices
A work-at-home-mommy who loves to cook, bake and read. A frustrated chef, now a dedicated blogger. Blogging makes me happy and this is where I share my thoughts, ideas, [sometimes] feelings, my love for food and then some…
The Modern Mom
Moms like me are becoming more and more housekeeping savvy. From stretching the family budget to diy's, smart solutions and more.Being a wonder mom is now no sweat with all these wonderful alternatives.
Take a coffee break...
Coffee. Can’t start the day without having my cup of hot, creamy, not-so sweet morning booster. This blog is all about my favorite kicker and its benefits, with some teasers on other great tasting beverages.
A Simple Life
A 40 year old mother of two who likes to write just about anything. A baking enthusiast, a crafter and a hobbyist. This is about me, my views, my interests and my favorites.
Yummy-as-can-be
I’m a mom and a wife to picky eaters which prompted me to search for yummy and healthy recipes, and modify so my family can enjoy them.
Mommy's Little Corner
A blog that talks about my adventures of being a wife and a mom. This blog also focuses on food, nutrition and health.
Life's Tricky Situations
“Do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Let the day’s own trouble be sufficient for the day.”
moms..... check nyo
I’m a 40ish year old mom of two. I love to bake, cook, plant herbs (in pots cause i don’t have a garden), cross stitching, hardanger embroidery, bowling and just like any typical pinay moms i love watching telenovelas.
Cacai's Step and Journey
My personal blog talks about my own wits, views, reviews, thoughts, beliefs, happiness, and my day to day experiences in this beautiful world we're living in, of good quality standard for which everyone of all ages is welcome. ***Adverts, I welcome you all, feel free to ad. (~_~) ***
Online Marketing
I Learn Online Marketing

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ABC's and 1,2,3's

I used to worry about my son not having interest on identifying alphabet and numbers while other playmates his age can identify them very well already. I read in the book "What to Expect the Toddler Yeas" that children who can recognize letters and numbers before school may only enjoy temporary edge from other kids. Studies show they don't retain it, as other students quickly catch up. Not having interest in academics at age 2 or 3 does not in any way suggest that a child won't be a good student. Don't belittle a child if he isn't ready to count or learn the alphabet. There's plenty of time ahead for these before first grade. Make learning fun and exciting, like my son and I count together when climbing stairs. Let toddler be and enjoy as he is, but stimulate learning by talking, reading, and counting with them.

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A Fun and Safe Summer for the Family

After what seemed to be an endless cold season, now the weather is really becoming warmer for good. Having come from a country with tropical weather, I really prefer the warm season over the bitter cold ones. Warm weather means grill season too. Grilling is a very important endeavor during the warm weather. Most families spend more time in their backyards; getting together with family and friends; and enjoying their all time favorite grilled food like barbeque, hamburger and hotdogs. My family is not an exception to this. In fact, as soon as the weather became a little warmer, we right away moved our Friday night dinners to the deck.

But in as much as grilling and eating out are two exciting things to do, there are however 'uninvited' guests lingering around that prevent us from enjoying our meals to the fullest. These pesky mosquitoes not only can be very annoying, they can be health hazards too as they may carry the dreadful West Nile virus. I saw the mosquito magnet review at MosquitoMagnet.com and I was really impressed at how this mosquito magnet gadget works.

Like the testimonial from a guy who lives in a forest with lots of trees. They are usually swarmed with mosquitoes during the summer when they go out to their backyard. But with the use of a mosquito magnet, they are able to go out and enjoy their backyard. And I was surprised to see how much mosquitoes this mosquito magnet collected after a month and a half at work in their backyard, enough to eat them alive.

Since we've got tons of trees in our backyard as well, we also experience being attacked by pesky mosquitoes and bugs. This mosquito magnet is a very good investment, it will be a great help for us to enjoy our grilling and eating out in our backyard even more. Mosquito magnet will zap all the pesky mosquitoes and even bugs so our summer will be more fun and safe.

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The Smile Award

This is a very long overdue tag from my blogger buddy Mize of Night Clicks. Mize is a terrific person and one of the sensible bloggers that I came to know through blogging.

This tag has a rule: Click copy/paste, type in your answers and tag four people in your lists. Don’t forget to change my answers to the questions with that of yours.

~ 4 places I go over and over: Hongkong, Canada, Philippines, New England states
~ 4 people who email me regularly: family, relatives, friends, and a lot of spammers.
~ 4 of my favorite places to eat: British Beer Company (English), Minerva (Indian), China Pearl(Chinese), Ginza (Japanese)
~ 4 places you’d rather be: Philippines; Victoria, BC; London, UK; Hongkong
~ 4 TV shows I could watch over and over: Home & Garden, Food TV Network, Health Channel, Discovery Channel

Here are the qualifications to receive this award:
A. Display a cheerful attitude.
B. Love one another.
C. Make mistakes.
D. Learn from others.
E. Be a positive contributor to the blog world.
F. Love life.
G. Love kids.

The Rules:
1. Please link back!
2. Post the rules
3. Choose 4 people to give it to
4. Recipients must fill the characteristics above
5. Create a post to share this
6. Thank the winners

* * *

I want to share this award to my other friends who certainly possess the qualifications above:

Carlota @ Dashing Smiles
Dhoy @ Simply Irresistible
Yen @ In My Shoes
Lanie @ I Thought So

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Student Loans and Financial Aid Resources

Sending our kids to college can be very tough, but it is the greatest achievement that all parents can accomplish. However, not all parents can afford to send their kids to college, so they look for financial aid resources or federal student loans to help pay for their children's education. To save parents the time, stress and confusion in looking for the right financial aid process, there is a company called Student Loan Network that can help them.

The Student Loan Network is one of the nation's fastest growing providers of student loans and related information. They have been in the business for more than 10 years and have helped students and their families access financial aid resources such as federal and private student loans, scholarships and consolidation funding for undergraduate, graduate and continuing education. The Student Loan Network is a member of Edvisors family of companies, a global leader in online education marketing and financial services.

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Is There a Best Season for Potty Training?

Potty lore has it that summer is the best time (some members of the older generation would say the only time) to start teaching a toddler to use the toilet. And there's undeniably some wisdom to that tradition: A toddler who's dressed lightly (or better still, not dressed at all) has a better shot at making it to the potty in time than a toddler who's decked out in layers of winter wear.

But, seasonal considerations should take a back seat to toddler readiness. Spring, summer, winter, or fall, the best time to teach a toddler about toileting is when he or she is ready to learn. If your toddler turns out to be ready in the winter, keep the house a little warmer than usual so that he or she can run around lightly clad. The minimum amount of clothing will allow for maximum success with toileting.

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A Worry Free Stroll in the Yard

Wherever I go, there goes my little tot too. Now that the weather is getting warmer, I'm sure we will be spending a lot of times in the yard again. He just loves playing in the backyard while I do my gardening chores. But I worry about deer ticks that might be lingering around as we get few visits from deer looking for food in the woods.

I have a friend who has Lyme disease and her children got them too while she was pregnant with them. It is a horrible disease that makes them really sick. So I am just worried about my little tot getting this dreadful disease from the ticks brought by the deer while enjoying himself in the woods. To get my mind off worrying, I searched for information online to learn about deer control. I need to have some kind of deer repellent to make my backyard safe for my family especially my little tot.

I found this Havahart Deer Off II Battery Powered Sprayer that not only repel deer but rabbits and squirrels as well. So it means that I can also see my plants and vegetables bloom to the fullest and not be feasted on by these animals before I can even harvest them. The sprayer is very convenient to use and can be carried around without a problem. I love it that the deer off formula is safe to use in organic gardening as it is made from natural and food based ingredients. This also means that it will not harm the environment and I can use it directly on bulbs, plants, shrubs, and flowers. This is certainly a great buy to keep my plants alive, but mostly for my peace of mind.

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Listening Tips for Parents & Caregivers

My little tot is always busy as a bee. He is very energetic and is always up to something. I'm sure moms out there can relate to me that it's hard sometimes (or most times) to settle down busy little tots to listen up. Listening takes practice - so does getting young children to listen. I found these tips on listening at the back of a book by Elizabeth Verdick, the author of Listening Time.

(Photo: I opened my little tot's bedroom and found him reading a book to his stuffed toys. Now he's talking to little puppy, as if saying "Listen.")

Use the following tips to help just one child or a group of toddlers settle down and listen up:

• Be a listening role model - Try quiet, soothing tones when you speak to your child. Avoid shouting across the room - instead, use proximity (stand or kneel by your child) to get attention. You may wish to play soft music to create a relaxing atmosphere.

• Use hand signals - Show how you can say "Quiet" without speaking a word - by placing a finger to your lips or tuggling your earlobes. You may also teach how hands can "talk" so mouths don't have to. For example, a child can tap a finger on your shoulder or raise a hand in the air to signal that she or he needs help.

• Talk about how eyes "listen" - We may hear through our ears, but our eyes help us "see what to do." During listening time, remind children, "Look at my eyes, please," or "Eyes on me." This makes it easier for each child to hear your directions and follow them.

• Model an "indoor voice." - Demonstrate how an indoor voice sounds compared to an outdoor one. Make the phrase "Use your indoor voice" a part of your daily reminders.

• Teach steps for settling down - Getting toddlers to quiet their busy little bodies needs to happen in stages. Try to do this sequence: First, get them to sit cross-legged on the floor and place their hands on their laps. Next, ask them to make their bodies calm and still. Finally, have the children pretend to zip and lock their lips with an invisible key and put the key away. Or try the "if you can hear me" option: "If you can hear me, touch your nose. If you can hear me, sit down. If you can hear me, don't speak. If you can hear me, sit and listen quietly."

• Practice circle manners - Circle time can lead to wiggles, giggles, "I want to sit by her," and " He bumped me!" Show children how to keep their hands and feet to themselves and respect their neighbors. Create lots of opportunities for practice.

• Give light-hearted reminders and praise. - You might say, "Let's use our listening ears," while you tug on your earlobes. Or pretend to zip and lock your lips and hide the key. To reinforce that it's time to listen, use this chant: "I'm quiet as a mouse. I'm still as can be. Who's ready to listen? Me!"
  

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EC Top Dropper Day - March

Another month is over and it's time to acknowledge my top EC droppers once again. I really appreciate the time and effort that everybody is putting in, for consistently dropping their EC's here. But the following top ten droppers will get a special spot in my sidebar for a month with their links.

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A Bug-Free Lawn

Spring is my favorite season of all. I refer to this season as the 'coming back to life' season. After a long cold winter, the trees and plants are sort of awaken from deep sleep and then will show-off their vibrant colors for every gardener's sight-seeing pleasure. I just love to get my fingers dirty digging up and freshening up my garden. It is always something to look forward to. But pests and bugs are also coming out of their hideout to feast on the plants. They are indeed every gardener's nemeses and even the professional ones are not exempted.

I love flowering trees and shrubs of any kind and every year we try to add a plant or two in the yard. But there are pesky insects that feed on these plants that more often prevent them from living longer. So it is frustrating to see that beautiful and expensive flowering trees and shrubs just die in no time. Anyway, I recently learned about a safer way to protect not only the trees and shrubs but also lawn, ornamentals and flowers from killer insects using an organic pest control called Safer Brand Bug Patrol. This organic bug patrol kills over 40 insects on contact. While it can kill different damaging insects, it is however safe and will protect the environment because it is organic. This product is very economical and convenient to use. You just attach the solution to the hose and you're ready to spray and kill both hard and soft bodied insects. Wow I can now imagine having a bug-free lawn.

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What to Do When Kids Act Up

Finally winter is almost over, though it is sunny for most days but still a bit chilly, at least you don't need too much gear to put on anymore. When the weather was still very bitterly cold and tons of layers need to be put on especially with young kids, it is always a hassle going out of the house. It's so frustrating when we have to go somewhere and my son acts up and won't wear his winter jacket, boots, hat and mittens, not to mention he's arching his back sometimes when you sit him in his car seat too, whew! I would sometimes literally drag him just so we won't be late for an appointment. It's always hard to head out in time when things like this happen.

Here are some common problems that moms encounter everyday and suggested quick solutions:

• PROBLEM: Your child screams uncontrollably when it's time to get dressed.
• HOW ABOUT: Making it a matter of choice: "Do you want to wear a dress or jeans?
• NO LUCK? TRY: A change of scenery. Getting dressed in the kitchen might be more fun

* * *

• PROBLEM: Your child clamps her mouth shut at the sight of a spoon.
• HOW ABOUT: Taking a bite yourself. It will look less like you're forcing something on her.
• NO LUCK? TRY: Giving up - for now. She won't starve, so pick your battles.

* * *

• PROBLEM: Your child refuses to share at a playdate
  
• HOW ABOUT: Putting her leadership skills to work: say "Teach Kristen how to play with the toy."
  
• NO LUCK? TRY: "Two more minutes, then it's Kristen's turn. Decide what to play with next.

* * *

• PROBLEM: Your child won't go to bed.
  
• HOW ABOUT: Letting her rest on the floor of her room.
  
• NO LUCK? TRY: Turning off the lights and TV's. With no reason to stay up, she may go to sleep.

* * *

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A Better Alternative to Getting Prescription Eyeglasses

I've been having headaches the past days. I thought that maybe it is due to my lack of sleep or I may have been staring at my computers too long. But even when I got rested already, the headache is still there. So I figured it might be that I need new glasses already. Well it's been almost a year now since I got my present eyeglasses and I wonder if I need a much stronger prescription this time. Oh geez, even if I have optical insurance, a pair of simple eyeglasses will still cost me too much. Especially that I add more features to them like anti-glare, anti-scratch, UV protection and more.

It 's good to know there is a better alternative I can go to online, it's called GlassesShop.com. GlassesShop.com is an online prescription eyeglasses expert that offers Wide Selection of Eyeglasses at very affordable prices. It is committed to providing its customers with the best and most affordable prescription eyeglasses with high quality and stylish frames plus high index lens; anti scratch; UV protection; quality case and cleaning cloth. The site of Glasses Shop is very easy to navigate so you can right away find what you are looking for. The eyeglasses are arranged by categories like price range; frame styles; material; recommended eyeglasses; and gender. It also has prescription sunglasses and special glasses like bifocal or progressive.

One of the things that I liked about GlassesShop.com is its Virtual Try-On feature that allows you to actually see how a certain style of frame will look on models with similar shape of face as yours. Or you can also upload your own picture that shouldn't exceed 1MB and see how they would actually look on your face, how cool is that? Since my eye doctor appointment is coming up soon, then I can get my own prescription and order online for additional eyewear. I already have the style of frame in mind and ordering online is such an easy step. I'm glad to have learned about GlassesShop.com because with them I can afford to have more than one pair of prescription eyeglasses at a price even much lesser than only a pair I could get at my regular eye doctor's clinic. This is a welcome savings for a frugal mom like myself.

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Quick and Easy Weight Loss Surgery

If you are obese and have tried different diet plans and exercise without any favorable result, you can perhaps consider an obesity surgery as another option to losing excess weight. LAP-BAND system is considered the safest and proven weight loss surgery. The procedure uses a laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding procedure that is completely reversible and adjustable for life. The laparoscopic surgery is performed by a lapband doctor on an outpatient basis, so you basically get a surgery in the morning and be discharged to go home a few hours later and enjoy the comforts of your own bed that night. Get a quick and easy weight loss with LAP-BAND

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My Son's Favorite Bedtime Story

My son's favorite bedtime story is "Goodnight Moon". He actually has memorized the lines in the story, that whenever I read it, I will always pause and he supplies the missing words in the sentence. This book was a gift to him by a friend when he was 14 months old and until now it's still his favorite of all. I even memorized it myself, that even when he flips the pages ahead of me, I can still catch up. Here is how the story goes:

GOODNIGHT MOON
by Margaret Wise Brown

In the great green room, there was a telephone and a red balloon
And a picture of, the cow jumping over the moon
And there were three little bears sitting on chairs
And two little kittens and a pair of mittens
And a little toyhouse and a young mouse
And a comb, and a brush, and a bowl full of mush
And a quiet old lady who was whispering "hush"
Goodnight room
Goodnight moon
Goodnight cow jumping over the moon
Goodnight light and the red balloon
Goodnight bears
Goodnight chairs
Goodnight kittens and goodnight mittens
Goodnight clocks and goodnight socks
Goodnight little house and goodnight mouse
Goodnight comb and goodnight brush
Goodnight nobody
Goodnight mush
And goodnight to the old lady whispering "hush"
Goodnight stars
Goodnight air
Goodnight noises everywhere

The highlighted words above are the words that my son say himself while we read the book. Sometimes he would insist to read the book to me instead. And on the part of the 'old lady whispering hush' he would say it softly with his index finger on his lips. I just point to the pictures to encourage him to identify them. How about you, what's your son's or daughter's favorite bedtime story?

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Less is More For Busy Moms

For busy moms like myself, less is more. I want to simplify things so I can accomplish more. When shopping for example, I would rather do it online since I'm mostly online after my tot's bedtime anyway. That way I can hit two birds with one stone - doing some online work and shopping on the side wearing only my jammies. I don't need to take a trip to busy malls with an unpredictable tot in tow, and come home with only half of the things in my list. That is if I'm lucky. And when shopping online, I don't just shop at any shopping sites. I look for reliable sites that offer great deals as far as discounts and shipping are concerned. I find ShopWiki.com a very reliable and helpful site in the sense that it returns more results from different stores when you search for a particular product.

Like when I was looking for shoes the other day particularly running shoes for me and rain boots for my little tot, it gave me different stores that carry the style and features I wanted. So more stores means more options to compare and more savings in the process. The way ShopWiki works is it crawls and seeks out every store on the internet the same way as Google works. So unlike the traditional online sites that will only show stores that have paid for placement, ShopWiki will give more information regardless of whether they earn anything from it. Not only that, the best feature that I find very useful at ShopWiki is the Buying Guide they offer that you won't find in other sites. Aside from results I got from searching for shoes, I also got the top picks, video reviews, foot type, shoe types, controversy, insoles, quick tips, major manufacturers, related buying guides, external links and related searches. Basically you won't go to any other sites anymore to get more information, you can find everything at ShopWiki already.

So to my fellow budget conscious and practical moms out there, or to future wives and moms searching for wedding shoes, ShopWiki is our one stop shop in the net.

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It's Not Easy Being a Woman

I'm sure a lot of women will agree with me that it's not easy being a woman. There are so many situations that we have to deal with at every stages of womanhood. Like the discomforts of menstrual period; the risk of pregnancy; the pain of child birth; hormonal imbalance; post-partum depression; the pain of going through mammogram procedure; hot flushes and vaginal dryness caused by menopause and so on and so forth. Add to that the challenges and sacrifices of rearing a family 24/7 without monetary compensation. I just wonder why some men would even have the heart to hurt women considering all these.

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Who Wants to Be an XML Grand Master?

If you are a student or professional well-versed in XML; database technology; or hardcore programming skills in DB2, here's your chance to be recognized for your skills and win fabulous prizes at the same time. There are 5 contests you can register for and each xml contest has separate recognition and sets of prizes in store. Before you can participate, you first need to take a Quick Quiz once. You will earn participation points for each entry that you make. And whoever garners the most participation points will be crowned as the "XML Grand Master".

Register now for one of the following contests:

• Video Contest - Invent a creative use of XML, XQuery or DB2 and record yourself doing it
• Gadget Contest - Develop a downloadable gadget or widget leveraging DB2
• Query Contest - Use XQuery to find 5 answers. The best queries win the best prizes.
• Ported App Contest - Port or develop a new app for DB2. Enter as an individual or assemble a team.
• XML Contest - Win by building useful, user-friendly XML apps from scratch. Enter as an individual or assemble a team.

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