Hunger Games: I Miss You

For those of you who have not read the Hunger Games, please go out and read them ... NOW!

Don't feel stupid that they are in the Young Adult section of the store/library, just get over it and read them.

For those of you who have read the trilogy, here's my question to you:

GALE or PEETA?

I honestly miss the characters. I have been entrenched in the books for the past couple of weeks, devouring every page, getting way less sleep than I should with two young boys who still wake up for some reason or another most nights.  I finally finished the last page of the third book last night during Arthur... ("yes, honey you can watch one last show while mommy finishes this last page"). 

Immediately upon closing the book, I was sad. Happy at the final ending, but sad that I didn't get to read more about the characters and hear more about what happens next. I guess that is the sign of a good story/series.  The only consolation is the movies are coming soon - in less than a year - and I really hope they don't screw them up (cough ... Twilight).

Anyways, still time to go out and grab them if you have some holidays you're squeezing in during August.

P.S. I am Peeta all the way!!

Friday's Fabulous Mom: Erin Wahba

Cashmere & Carrot Stick's Fabulous Mom for this week is Erin Wahba! 

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My name is Erin Wahba and my husband Jonathan and I are the proud parents of Ethan (4), Sophie (2) and expecting baby #3 at the beginning of July.  Our unofficial first baby is our 5-year-old cocker spaniel named Reilly, who we all adore but who at times, can be just as much work as the kids!

Our fabulous Mom, Erin, her kids, Ethan and Sophie, and dog, Reilly

Prior to having Ethan I was an elementary school teacher, but ever since having Ethan I have been a full time stay-at-home mom.  While being a stay-at-home mom has definitely been the most challenging job I have ever had, I wouldn't change it for the world. I treasure these early years with my kids and know that they go by far too quickly. That being said, there are the times when I'm quite envious of my husband's business trips where he is guaranteed both a full night's sleep (or two)  and some adult conversation.
  
What’s on your bedside table right now?
My Kobo! I love to read but life with kids just doesn't seem to allow me to get into books as much as I would like, or I do get into them and then with every spare second that I have, I'm jumping for my reader. If you are looking for two very different but equally good reads, I would highly recommend, "Room" by Emma Donoghue and "Secret Daughter" by Shilpi Gowda.  I managed to polish them off thanks to a four-day trip my husband and I were able to take (just the two of us!) about a month ago and I enjoyed every second of these two books.

Tip/Trick for getting those daily vegetable servings in:
Through trial and error, I have noticed that my kids tend to eat many more vegetables when they are not served with a meal.  Both my kids prefer raw veggies to cooked ones so I started serving the veggies as snacks and appetizers.  I'm not too sure why but veggies will be devoured as an appetizer while they will be picked at as a side!?  Yet another mystery of the toddler/preschoolers psyche!

Something you do as a Mom that June Cleaver would approve of …. And something she would raise her eyebrows at?
June Cleaver would be very proud of the fact that I make my bed every day and insist that my children also do so. Truth be told, when they are out of sight, the perfectionist in me can't help but straighten their sheets and pillows though. Something about a bed made first thing in the morning just sets the tone for starting the day off right.  Mrs. Cleaver however, might raise her eyebrows at the fact that if we are at the park or in the backyard and my son has to pee, I don't mind letting him go in a bush. Given that he sees this as a thrill and he often waits until the very last second when playing, it works for both of us.

Any words of advice for keeping all the clutter and toys from overtaking?
One of my biggest clutter challenges as a mom was what do with the artwork that my children bring home from both nursery school and Junior Kindergarten.  While I didn't want to part with all this treasured artwork of their early years I also knew that the anti-hoarder in me didn't want piles and piles of artwork in scrapbooks.  As a solution, I decided to take pictures of all my children's artwork.  I then print the pictures and put them in a photo album where I write the title of the work, the date they did it and where they did it.  I have found it to be a really neat way and clutter free way, to watch their progress.  The kids frequently pull our their artwork albums and LOVE looking through a book compiled of their creations. Of course, I do still keep a few favourite or sentimental cards or pictures and either frame them for our toy/play room or keep them in a memory box :)

How do you squeeze in the ever-so-important time for just you and your husband?
My husband and I have always enjoyed going out to dinner together - it's one of our guilty pleasures! However, with two kids, busy schedules and finding a babysitter, it really doesn't happen as much as we would like. Our solution to this problem is to frequently have in-house date nights on Saturdays where once the kids are in bed, we are able to enjoy some wine and cook a nice, slow dinner and even better, enjoy it without eating at the warp speed that usually occurs when the kids are around. We love this time together even if we do end up talking about the kids for most of the evening ;)!


Something special/unique that you do for your family that you hope they remember fondly in the future:
Something I do for my kids that I know they don't appreciate yet but hopefully will in the future is that I write them each a letter on their birthdays.  When I was pregnant with both of them and now with number three, I often wrote them short letters telling them how I was feeling and how excited I was to meet them.  Feeling overwhelmed with emotion and disbelief as my first born's first birthday approached I decided to write him a letter which included all the amazing things he had learned/done in his first year and expressed the emotions that I felt over that year as well as him turning one.  From that grew a tradition and each child now has a sealed letter for each of their birthdays which are stored in their memory boxes.  My hope is that they will enjoy reading them when they are old enough and that they will be kept as treasure of who they are, where they came from and just how much they were and are loved on the anniversaries of their births.
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As you can see just from these questions, Erin is a sweet and thoughtful Mom and has a wonderful family. Thank you Erin for sharing with all of us, some of the special things you do for your family and how you make a difference every day!

Friday's Controversial Read

I'm not sure how I came across this article yesterday, but wanted to share it with you.  It's a very controversial story about a family that has decided to raise a "genderless" child.  This does not mean that the child does not have a gender - they definitely have all of the parts of male or female - the parents are just choosing to withhold the gender from anyone but themselves, allowing the child to be free of all of the gender stereotypes and pressures they feel exist in the world. 

It's definitely an interesting story and one that caused a lot of strong emotions to surface within me.  I'm not going to share my opinion on this before you all get to read it. 

If you have a few minutes, take a gander and let me know your thoughts (the link is below):

http://www.parentcentral.ca/parent/babiespregnancy/babies/article/995112--parents-keep-child-s-gender-secret

Lack of Sleep - Can't Blame The Kids

I have been walking around exhausted lately, but I can't blame the kids. In fact, they have been sleeping really well of late (knock on wood).  The culprit is me rediscovering my love of reading novels. Magazines are great and all but their pages are distracting and I find it takes me quite a bit of effort to read a whole page, let alone an entire magazine, not to mention, they never leave me feeling satisfied and rarely like I've come away with any great information.  With novels, you know you're getting a fully story and it's nice to read a page where you know you'll keep up just as long as you follow from left to right, line by line.

Anyways, I have found myself staying up until midnight or after (I normally try to hit the hay close to 10)  tearing up a couple of books - One Day by Dave Nicholls and Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.

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I'm not going to do a full review of each but I'll just say that I really really enjoyed both of them. I literally couldn't put the books down. (But take this with a grain of salt as I also loved the Twilight series and was mildly obsessed for a few months.)

Up until recently, the thought of reading seemed alien. Maybe the fact that I am now able to get through a novel in less than a year means I am exiting the pure exhaustion stage of sleep-deprived mother-of -two toddlers and entering a new stage ... (perhaps pulling my hair out, peace maker and constant supervisor of two very active boys will work).

If you're up for a new book and can squeeze in a few moments during your day (maybe during the Backyardigans), these picks would be a good start. Not too heavy, not too light.  Just enough to get you thinking, not enough to make you depressed, a little love, a little sad, but all in all, perfect Mom read.

My Latest Trip to Chapters

Last week I went to Chapters and picked up these three books:

1) Positive Discipline for Preschoolers
by Jane Nelson Ed.D.
For Their Early Years - Raising Children Who Are Responsible, Respectful, and Resourceful

This was recommended by a friend. Hoping it will provide some helpful hints and solutions to some of the current power struggles. I will let you all know if it holds the answers to all of our challenges!

 2) There's Lead in Your Lipstick
by Gillian Deacon

I happened upon this book when I heard a snipit of the author on CBC one day.  "Organics" and living healthy and clean has always been something I strive for, but something that is very hard to get information about. Sure, "organic" is everywhere and in your face at every aisle and page of a magazine, but finding out real information about what is in our beauty products so we can make our own educated choices (instead of just trusting words and claims on a bottle) is difficult. I have read the first few chapters of this book and with every page I have to pick my jaw up from the floor. The information that is provided and the sad and sick truth about what we slather on our bodies and ingest on a daily basis is heart breaking.  I urge each of you to pick up a copy.

3) The Year of Living Biblically
by A.J. Jacobs

This is a book I picked up for a book club.  Haven't started it yet so nothing to share. Looks like it could be a great blend of humour and serious insights.

 Have any of you read these books?  Started any other good ones you'd like to share?

Any how are those closets looking? Do tell.

If You Have Boys ... A Book For You

Preference in reading material is very personal and unique to each individual, especially parenting books. Each parent has a different set of values, opinions on the right way to raise children, personal experience to draw from and style.  That being said, I'm going to go ahead and recommend one anyways ...

"Boys Should Be Boys: 7 Secrets to Raising Healthy Sons" by Meg Meeker, M.D., is an easy read, paper back that I picked up over the holidays last year for my husband.

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I don't know what it is, I either totally click with a parenting book, or turn my nose up in the air and abort my mission before the first chapter's over.  This book, I like. It's easy to read, easy to understand, and most importantly, talks to a lot of concerns I have - the push to register, register, register into teams and groups and clubs, overuse of television and electronics, the inappropriate depiction of females and relationships (and sex!) in the media and everywhere you look, the importance of strong role models, necessity of values and morals and ... I'll get off my soap box now.

Anyhoo, if you like to read the odd parenting book and are tired of reading Today's Parent, this may be the book for you.  Or if you have family members blessed with beautiful boy children, perhaps a  good present for the holidays.

The author, Dr. Meg Meeker, also has other books (that I have not read, but that seem to be interesting titles and may look into for Christmas):

If you have any must-read parenting books, would love to hear about them - please leave a comment. Another one of mine - The Baby Whisperer.

Educated Style

I am relatively new to blogging and the blogosphere.  During my time here, I have very quickly discovered there are a whole lot of fashion lovin' ladies out there. Blogs devoted to showcasing daily outfits (I commend you, most of my outfits are definitely not world wide web worthy!) and those dedicated to women enthralled with specific stores (J.Crew and Anthropologie seem to be the favs and I'm with you!). 

Which brings me to a certain book I bought a few years back which I think is worth a peruse by any and all females. The Book is titled, "InStyle Secrets of Style:  The complete guide to dressing your best every day" and is by the editors of In Style magazine.
 

A quote from the book's first page has stayed with me since I read it:

"Fashion, by its very definition, is constantly changing.  Style, however, is something else altogether, a distinctive way you speak, act or dress ... to be in style is to express yourself, to live with imagination, ease and confidence."

I found the book to be amazing and a classic staple you can keep on your bookshelf forever, referring back to for helpful hints and ideas whenever you need to. It goes into great depth and explanation about different shapes, fabrics, cuts, styles and what is best suited for various body types. The book includes chapters on everything from Basics and Classics to Sunglasses and Swimsuits. There are explanations on appropriate dress for various occasions, the difference between day and evening dressing and even how to care for various items and fabrics. It doesn't show you how to dress like the runway, which is why I love it. It provides you with the basic elements and rules of fashion and style which then allow you to apply how you wish.

Definitely a great girlfriend-to-girlfriend present, Christmas request or look through during your next visit to Chapters or Barnes & Noble.  Especially for all you stay-at-home moms who may need a bit of inspiration for your daily ensembles.

Hope you enjoy!

Sincerely,

Pear Shape & Proud

Scary to ... Pretty darn good in 5 minutes

I think we all can admit that we have, at one time or another, stumbled upon the show "What Not To Wear" and watched an episode or 50. There's something about watching a makeover that is addictive - that curiosity of wondering how good you could look if someone taught you exactly how to do makeup for you or, more importantly, what kind of retail therapy you could accomplish with $2K in NYC!

Anyways, I'm not sure how I came across the book, but Carmindy (the makeup artist on What Not To Wear) has a book "the 5 Minute Face - The Quick & Easy Makeup Guide for Every Woman".  Last year, right before Christmas when family members were grilling me for ideas, I through this book out to someone and (score!) received it as a present. Honestly, love it! I read the entire thing - very easy and simple read. Made a list of some key makeup pieces I was missing and tried it out.  I was really impressed with the outcome - me!

I'm not a huge makeup person but this book is great because it shows you how to achieve a really simple, clean, natural looking face (without a lot of heavy makeup) in 5 minutes or less. It also explains (and shows you) how to step it up a notch for a more sassy/evening occasion. Perfect for busy women who are not interested in spending (or do not have) an hour to get ready in the a.m., but still really want to look great and put on some makeup.

Don't get me wrong, I do not put makeup on every morning, but now I have the tools to do so if I desire.

Have fun!

Sincerely,

Made up ... sometimes

P.S. Where has tinted moisturizer been all my life?