My Baby's Birthday

Tweet Usually you will see bloggers post sentimental sweet thoughts on their children's birthday.

So sweet! And tiny! And non-verbal!

You know we could never be that normal over here at Not Blessed Mama.

Today is Spawn#3's birthday. My little guy is growing so fast!

And he's making me crazy. He is the most emotional, loud, stinky, obnoxious little 4 year old punk that I have ever met. He draws on the walls. He spills food constantly. He breaks stuff. He hits his siblings. He needs to do everything his way, on his time- or it's "I hate you mom!" and stomping down the hallway. He's quite advanced in the "I hate you" stage, so I suppose that's something to be proud of. Showing such initiative. The first word he could spell was a-s-s. I could go on and on.

Okay, okay, I love him to death. He's adorable. He has the face of an angel. He will constantly tell me that I am his best friend, and he's my best boy- or that he loves me (when he's not busy hating me, that is). He's utterly hilarious and makes everyone laugh. He has a great memory and loves quoting movies (one of his first movie quotes was The Fantastic Mr. Fox's "Are you referring to my wife?").


And he's my baby. Happy birthday, baby boy.

Hey Guys, I Don't Want To Alarm You- But

Tweet I found this in my blog stats last week:

Should I be worried? (Because I kind of am.)

Aging Gracefully? I Guess Not

Tweet As I was driving the other day, something caught my eye in the rear view mirror. I looked again. And again. I peered closer. I couldn't stop looking. I finally decided to pull the car over to get a good look, and I was floored at what  I saw.

A white hair. 


Right there on my forehead, in the middle of my bangs, front and center. Standing at attention. Brazenly, really. "I can't believe I have a white hair!" I squealed at The Spawn, who were all irritated at my antics.
"What's the big deal, Mom? You're pretty no matter what," said Spawn#1. My heart melted.
"Yeah Mom, you pretty!" chimed in Spawn#3.
"Mom, you are as pretty as the flowers on that tree that I want for my birthday," said Spawn#2. She's an odd one, but it was a sweet sentiment none the less.
I continued driving, but I couldn't get that damn white hair out of my thoughts. I'm only 32! I thought. Do people get white hair at 32? What the hell is going on? This isn't fair!

And you know what- I have no idea why I am freaking out over a white hair. If you know Not Blessed Mama in real life, you would know that vain is not a word that could be used to describe me. Hell, I don't even brush my hair half of the time- so why would a little white hair bother me? (Or three- I knew that sucker had to have friends hiding in there somewhere, so I went on a white hair witch hunt as soon as I got home- after angrily texting my mom to complain about my faulty genes.)

I wish I had some wisdom to impart here, or some story about how I saw the light and am no longer afraid of my three white hairs. But I don't- and I don't know why. I wanted to pull those suckers out and be done with it, but that felt like cheating. I feel like I need to keep those white hairs and rock them as a badge of honor. But god dammit, I'm 32!  Almost every time I walk by the mirror, I go searching for that little rogue and his buddies. I stare intently, wondering how that little hair wound up on my head- I keep thinking he belongs somewhere else, with someone else.
Oh well. At least I'll get a discount at IHOP.

One of you whipper snappers get me my cane!

Wordless Wednesday And A Few Words: No, That's Not Blood

Tweet I found some oldie but goodie pics when transferring files between computers-

It's really true- if you are busy taking a photograph, you are much less likely to beat your children .

I Appreciate You

Tweet Not Blessed Daddy said something I didn't appreciate this weekend. Well, you know, he probably said a million things that bugged me, but one stood out: "Why didn't you clean out the car this week? You were supposed to get that done." Now, that may not sound like a big deal. And in the grand scheme of things, it's not. It was the implied meaning that really got my goat (not that I have a goat).
"Why couldn't you clean out the car while you were home alone with the kids all week? Why can't you cook, clean, nurture, educate, shop, bathe, and JUST DO EVERYTHING??"

Well, damn. I always do everything- and it gets really tiring sometimes. Day in, day out- year in, year out. It's exhausting! It makes me tired to think about it.
So to all of you mothers out there, I would like to say:

I appreciate you!

I know you do everything. Behind the scenes, without recognition, you work your ass off. Every single goddamn day. Even if you are sick or exhausted, you take care of business.  And I think that's awesome- you rock! And this isn't any forced Mother's Day sentiment. This is just me, saying thank you for washing those 5,000 dishes. For cleaning up the puke all over the sheets. For washing the dog because no one else will. For those million boxes of macaroni and cheese you have lovingly prepared (almost) without complaint. 

I thank you for what you have done today, and every day that has come before it.

And I thank you for what you will do tomorrow.

And the day after that. And the day after that! And the next.... oh man, I need a drink.

{this moment}

Tweet Inspired by Soule Mama, blah blah blah, sentimental crap bleh.

What better to do on a Friday than put blue streaks in your hair?

Not Blessed Mama's Unwanted And Unsolicited Product Review: The KwikSip

Tweet

So, if you are a regular reader (I love you, regular readers) of Not Blessed Mama, you may know I have a slight affinity for As Seen On TV products. I just love weird stuff- and of course, I just love to write about weird stuff. I'm also thinking, if I keep writing about weird stuff, eventually some company is bound to send me one of their weird products. I can dream.

The other day I saw this gem on television- The KwikSip. An invention so groundbreaking, it claims to be THE GREATEST INVENTION SINCE INDOOR PLUMBING. Quite a claim to make, no? The idea is you snap this little spigot onto your faucet to turn it into a drinking fountain.

Are. You. Kidding. Me? It only took me about 2 seconds into this commercial to realize immediately what this would turn into- a device to turn the kitchen (or bathroom) into a water park. I bet it would take the Spawn even less time to figure out how to squirt each other with this. Really, KwikSip? Don't you have any mothers working for your company? They would have given you the heads up about what a ridiculous idea this is. I thoroughly read the website to see what guarantee they offer that my Spawn will not shoot water into the nearest electrical socket, and there was none. See how high the water shoots in that last pic? No thanks. 

Please note, Not Blessed Mama does not own the KwikSip. I am simply judging it's ridiculousness based on it's commercials. To the makers of KwikSip: if you would like to send me your ridiculous product to give a fair (ridiculous) review to, drop me a line. 

Finally- My Post About Nuts

Tweet With my three crazy Spawn, I think we all knew that a post about nuts was coming. It was inevitable. There was just no stopping it.
I mean, they get their clothes so dirty! So when I saw the new Soap Nuts from Hip Mountain Mama, I knew I had to try them! (Why, what nuts did you think I was talking about???)

I have made my own detergent before. It's cheap and easy (and made me feel like a virtuous hippie), but it does take some effort. Even though it's minimal, that may be energy I am not willing to spend on laundry. Enter Soap Nuts: these funky looking little dried fruits mainly from the Himalayas.

Ok, these babies are not winning any beauty contests.  

They couldn't be more easy to use- you simply toss them in the washer in the included cotton bag, and wash your clothes! The saponin in the outer shells of the fruit naturally and gently cleans your clothes. They've been used for centuries but are just now becoming popular in the US, and I can see why. Biodegradable, organic, compostable- they're really an amazing detergent alternative.

I used my Soap Nuts in a cold wash even though a warm is recommended when using the nuts straight (wow, does that sound weird). My laundry came out smelling exactly how I like it- like nothing! I did purchase the Lavender Essential Oil to test though, and it gave the laundry a fresh, light scent. And while your laundry smells fresh, the nuts themselves smell kinda funky (you know I am enjoying writing this post!). The few drops of oil on the bag covered that up. If you are looking for an alternative to traditional detergent that you can feel good about trying, then check out these nuts! You can get a sampler bag for only $2.25 to try out, and I have used that to wash 3 loads now- all with spectacular results.

As always, the people at Hip Mountain Mama are too respectable to buy anyone's opinions, so I purchased this product and reviewed it as part of the Hip Mountain Mama Sisterhood. 

Wordless Wednesday... And A Few Words- Better Late Than Never Edition

Tweet Not Blessed Mama does not worry too much about material things. Deep down, I am a dirty, hairy, happy hippie at heart. Well, except for my designer purses- but I only have a few. Or five.
Today Not Blessed Mama got a NEWer CAR! Now like I said, I'm not too worried about these things, but look at my shiny, beautiful car...

My Grandpa drove a hard bargain, but we were able to work it out! (Actually he didn't at all, I am grateful for the dirt cheap price he gave us. Very grateful!)

And to further explain why I am so grateful for this shiny machine, take a gander at the old Not Blessed Mama Mobile-

Don't be mad at me, dear Mazda. You got me everywhere I was going, and I thank you for that. But you were getting to the point where we were going to have to break out the duct tape, so it was time for you to go.