Hope Everyone Has A Great Halloween!

I hope everyone had a great Halloween!!!

Chicky and Ducky ready for Trick or Treating

Being silly!

Cop giving out candy 

Cool ride!

HALLOWE'EN PSA (Thanks Auntie Mayhem!)

HAPPY HALLOWE'EN!

My Inner JabbaWockeeZ Fought My Inner Pussycat Doll And Won

Dance class is a place that I enjoyed going to every week. I gave me a place to just forget the crap of the week and dance. Now I'm not the greatest dancer in the world but I'm getting rather irked by the class now.

It might just have been a bad day in general. Yesterday after reading that stupid article from Marie Claire, my inner 16 year old came back flooded with feelings that I thought I had dealt with.

I thought that after my rant about the article would be enough and I would move on, but it really did affect me. Because I walked into that dance class thinking that everyone was watching my fat rolls and wondering why I was there.

Our teacher wanted us to get out of our comfort zones and express ourselves. find our inner "sexy". I'm sorry but I'm not really a booty shaking kind of girl. As a matter of fact I'm a tomboy, there isn't a sexy bone in my body. When I talked to her about she said she wanted us all to feel comfortable and have fun. But that's not fun to me.

She keeps saying- "get out of your comfort zone" but when that wall has been built from years of comments, criticism and being told you are not going to amount to anything (thanks a lot to that teacher by the way!), it's very hard to break that down in a forty-five minute class.

So here it is. I'll be comfortable with myself in my own time. I will have set backs, that's normal. Forcing comfort on me will not work, you will only get resistance.

I will never be a cutesy girl. You will rarely see me primping for anything. I like to get dressed up and feel pretty but I'm not one for doing it everyday.
I will never be comfortable dressing or acting like a Pussycat Doll, give me baggy hoodies and jeans!
Ok I think I'm done. Accept me for who I am or don't.

Dear Marie Claire, "Should Fatties Get A Room?" Seriously?!

I'm horrified that I've just read this article on the Marie Claire's website written by Maura Kelly about overweight couples on TV.

The backstory: Maura Kelly was asked by an editor if she thought people feel uncomfortable when they see overweight people making out on television?

The show the editor was talking about is called Mike and Molly. The series follows two overweight people who meet at an Overeaters Anonymous.

First I do want to say that yes, we as a society are consumed with the idea of what is perfect. And there are many health risks associated with being obese. And yes, I'm sure some models are naturally thin.  But you missed the point of the show.

Yes, they do a lot of fat joke and jabs at the overweight actors but your article pretty much sums up what overweight people in America go through on a daily basis. These characters are relatable to every overweight person who wants to lose a little weight and feels guilty when they don't fit that perfect image. People who don't feel "worthy" of having love because of their size.

Why is it aesthetically displeasing for you to see two overweight people kissing? Do overweight people not deserve love and affection because of their size? Can't we have diverse television?

And I would hate to be your friend that you so lovingly call "plump". You are a size-ist jerk. Read the article you just wrote.

"... I'd be grossed out if I had to watch two characters with rolls and rolls of fat kissing each other".  Your words not mine!

You will never know what overweight people go through on a daily basis unless you have walked in their shoes. The show is all about overweight people having to deal with comments, jokes and criticisms that most, if not all, overweight people have to deal with. Mike and Molly put a great spin on finding who you are, finding love in all sizes and learning to be happy with who you are.

Plus to add insult to injury, you finalize your unintelligent (and misspelled) article with health and fitness advice, like after we've read the beginning of the article we would want to jot every word down.

I was under the impression the theme for Marie Claire was "More than a Pretty Face", clearly the theme was not represented well, if at all by this writer.

What's Your Biggest Mommy Mishap?

Hello Monday!!!

I'm going to jump right in on the topic for Momversation Monday. Mommy Mishaps! This topic was brought to Momversation by reader Julie Sutton-McGurk of www.ULTIMISH.com.

Bumps and bruises are staples in a child's life but when you, the parent cause the boo boos.

Here's my story:

When Chicky was just getting into walking she wanted me to hold on to her hands while she wiggled around. One afternoon we were in the living room when the phone rang behind me. I let go of Chicky's left hand to reach the phone, and with the motion of me letting go of her left hand, her entire body weight swung her around, clipping her chin off the corner into the coffee table. She now has a scar under her chin from the incident.

And because I'm not the only one at Base Mayhem to accidentally injure one of the little troops, I'm going to tell you Cpl. Mayhem's biggest mishap.

When Cpl. Mayhem came back from Basic to celebrate Christmas at my parents place in Panama he was so excited to spend time with Ducky, who was 10 months old, he began to throw Ducky in the air to make him giggle. The ceiling at my parents place is HUGE, so there was plenty of space to do that. We were all talking and moving to the veranda to show Cpl. Mayhem the view. He stopped throwing Ducky to go through the door and decided to get one more giggle from Ducky in. So he lift Ducky over his head, and before we could stay stop, Ducky head meet the veranda ceiling and he started to cry. Cpl. Mayhem felt SO bad, he never did it again. At my parents place!

A couple of years later he put Ducky over his shoulders at Wal-Mart and somehow he wiggled free and fell flat on his face bruising his nose giving him two black eyes. Oh did I mention it was right before my brother-in-laws wedding where he was the ring bearer?

So those are some of our good boo boo stories. What about you? What was the worst Mommy mishap?

Technical Difficulties

If you may have noticed I'm having some technical difficulties with my blog header.

Not to worry, there's going to be a new layout in the next week for A Military Wife's Mayhem. So please come back for the new look!!

Am I THAT Angry?!

As I went through my Flip Camera I noticed that there was some footage of me that I didn't know was there.

Ducky had been video taping me while we were waiting in the car.
As I watched the 35 second clip, it dawned on me how angry I was. I gave Ducky this look of "for goodness sake stop talking to me right now", with an additional roll of the eyes, a signature move I've perfected since I was thirteen years old- maybe earlier.

While at the doctor's office, Ducky and I chose a Be Good App for my iPod Touch and put the whole family on there. While we were on my tasks to do, Ducky's first task for me was to calm down.

How horrifying! Am I that angry? All the time?

Over the course of a couple days after viewing the footage I kept tabs on my anger level. What was causing it and when.

Most of my anger came from being impatience. I've never been really good at that. The kids tempers and fighting had a lot to do with my anger as well. Once one started to scream, we all started to scream too. Frustration would turn to anger and stress as well.  I know I'm also angry that I'm the one dealing with it all too. I'm not saying it to make Cpl. Mayhem guilty for going, I knew what I was signing up for. But sometimes I really wish he was here to say "Go and take five, I'll take care of it!"

So I sat down with Ducky and had a talk about how we kept getting so angry at each other and what could we do to make it better. It's a work in progress, but I'm learning to calm down, which helps him calm down too.

I need to smile more!

The Deployment Program had given Ducky a picture of himself on a wheel  with various emotions on it. He now tells me using the wheel first how he is feeling then he verbally explains why he is feeling that way. I use it too and tell him how I'm feeling. It's worked out really well so far and Ducky and I are talking a lot more.

I know Chicky isn't going to change overnight with her terrible twos/ threes but I'm learning to be more patient with her too.

I've started my days with a quick little prayer that goes like this:

Dear Lord,
So far today I've done all right. I haven't gossiped, I haven't lost my temper, I haven't been greedy, grumpy, nasty, selfish, or very indulgent. I'm very grateful for that. But in a few minutes, Lord, I'm going to get out of bed, and from then on, I'm going to need a lot more help!
Amen


I've given myself permission to leave and give myself a timeout no matter what is going on.
I've also started putting myself in their shoes. I'd be pretty upset too if someone bigger than me was yelling at me at the top of their lungs!

I also need to smile more. I carry such a frown on my face it's no wonder Chicky keeps asking if I'm happy or not.

What do you do when you get angry?

Wish me luck over the weekend!

I Love You But Get Off Me!

With Cpl. Mayhem gone it seems that the kids are always on me, near me or constantly whining about something.

It's tiring to have someone in your ear and attached to your leg 24 hours of the day. And yes, I mean 24 hours. Since Cpl. Mayhem went back to Afghanistan I haven't seem to catch a break.

Chicky has now resorted to crying the moment she wakes up to the moment she goes to bed. I now start my morning with a bottle of water and two Advil to make it through the day. Ducky isn't helping much either by provoking her every chance he gets.

I don't need any extra blankets around my house the kids are keeping me nice and toasty while they hang off my neck, legs, arms and back. I'd be willing to let them hang out there if it's to benefit the knots they've left behind. I'm not a jungle jim. I love you but get off me!

Do I get a break at bedtime? Not really, Chicky is now a permanent fixture in my bedroom. 11:30pm she slowly moves into my room and stays there until she has successfully pushed me off the bed.

I could really used my tag team buddy to jump into the ring for me 10 minutes. It's been harder than ever to get them to do anything, or for me to get anything done.

The only nice thing about having them hang off me is I can get some photos of the three of us!

A photo of the three of us!

Wordless Wednesday: Happy On A See-saw!!

Operation Cookbook for Soldier On

The Soldier On Program and the Soldier On Fund aim to improve the quality of life of injured and ill Canadian Forces personnel and former personnel through fitness recreation or sports.

They encourage soldiers to maintain a healthy and active lifestyle, increasing their independence. It also gives them an opportunity for them to socialize and share learning experiences. Money raised helps soldiers purchase prosthetics, wheelchairs and equipment need to develop new skills and achieving goals.

After meeting MCpl. Jodi Mitic at the Army Run on 2009, Jennifer Corbett was inspired to help Soldier On and created Operation Cookbook for Soldier On.

Operation Cookbook for Soldier On is a compilation of 250 recipes from military member and families from across Canada. There is even a section that is titled "Care Packages", recipes that can be made and sent overseas and the food won't spoil!

1500 books have been sold with $9000 has been raised for Soldier On. And another round of orders is going on until  November 12th, 2010.

Get your orders in at Operation Cooking for Soldier On.

Momversation Monday: Risque Halloween Costumes WIN $150 Gift Card To Victoria's Secret

Hello Ladies!

Momversation Monday is bringing us a great topic about Halloween costumes as we are getting closer to this spooky holiday.

But it's not about kids costumes. It's about mom costumes.

As you can see Daphne Brogdon of Cool Mom is wearing her Sexy Snow White costume and they want to know what was your most risque Halloween costume?

I had a couple before the kids. In college I was a naughty school girl, and ONLY because I forgot Halloween was that week so I pulled out my school uniform for lack of time!

I'm not sure if it's risque or not but a couple of years ago I went as a stereotype: The stereotyped Army Wife. I wore my husband's PT clothes bathrobe, towel turban hat, cigarettes in my mouth (I'm not a smoker but so I improvised), a store bought coffee and a telephone in my hand. Some people thought it was funny- others, not so much. But I chalk it up to a lack of sense of humour.

I could never pull off a sexy costume again, I"m not sure why, it might be the fact that I have kids and that it's too cold to pull off a tube top. Would I judge another mom for wearing one? That's a yes and no answer.

No I wouldn't judge because all moms should be able to have some fun and like Rebecca Woolf of Girl's Gone Child said all the power to them! But if you are going to be a kids party and falling out of your costume? Not so much.

This year I'm going as a pirate. I haven't worn a costume since Chicky was born, so I'm taking the plunge and having some fun.

What was your most risque Halloween costume? Tell me, then go tell Momversation, and you have a chance to win a $150 gift card to Victoria Secret!!!

Post Pictures of Kids Online- Celebrity's Kids: The Other Side Of The Lens

Momversation had a great topic about moms posting their kids pictures online.

Now I want to talk about the extreme version of photos of children. Celebrity children.

Over the past couple of years paparazzi have been hunting down children of celebrities to show the world. Simple things, playing in the park, walking with the nanny or shopping with mom. Have the paparazzi gone too far to get a shot of Shiloh or Suri?

Here's where I stand in this issue. YES, 100%, absolutely, no doubt in my mind, heck yeah!

After watching a video of Kate Moss and her daughter literally put in a corner with flashbulbs in their faces, I was horrified. Not only did the airport police do their best to keep the photographers from getting in the way, Kate ended up having to resort to pushing her cart into photographers ankles to clear her way to her car, After telling them to go away they continue to take photos and mock her! Clearly they were not searching for a photo of the daughter because she was taken away by a nanny to the car and visibly shaken by the way. How scary would that be for a 6 year old to be bombarded like that?

Celebrity children are not looking to be stalked and flash bulbed from the moment they were born. How is that fair to them? Stalk their parents! Leave them alone. I don't care what Suri's shoe size is or what these kids are having for lunch.

The paparazzi ( not that it's a credible job to begin with) have taken photos of children to a new low.

- Halle Barry yelled at a bunch of photographers to back away from her and her daughter after the two were leaving a restaurant.
- Julia Roberts ran after a paparazzi car and told them that sneaking around a school with a camera is perverse.
- Reece Witherspoon was trying to have a fun day at DISNEY when a photographer ASSAULTED two park employees while attempting to get a shot of her and her kids.
- Nicole Richie wrote on her blog blasting X17 calling their website "irresponsible and repulsive" for continually sending photographers to sit outside her daughter's school.
- Miley Cyrus flagged down and video camera crew who were taping her and 10 year old sister having lunch with their mom. She asked to leave her little sister alone, only to be told that they were "taping the sign". Now if a teenager is giving adults a privacy lesson, something went wrong in that ethics class.
- Michael Jackson's kids... Enough said.

I don't care if the parents are celebrities, what part of this sentence doesn't look right:
"A grown man crouching behind cars pointing a camera at a preschool".  Creepy much?

How safe is that? Just stick a GPS on them, make them a walking target for obsessed fans and stalkers.
Safety is a big issue for every parent, where do the paparazzi get off stalking innocent kids?
And what about little Johnny or Gracie who just want to go school? If my kids were going to a school where some celebrities child was going, I'd be super pissed to see creepy men with cameras! They've become more aggressive over the years with stopping traffic, pushing people and in some cases blocking cards from leaving all for that shot!

California just passed a new anti-paparazzi law that will bring harsher penalties for photogs found breaking traffic laws or interfering with the operation of a celebrity's car. Which means that those who are found breaking these laws can receive a fine of up to $5000 or a year in prison.

How about this law: When it comes to the safety of children, photographers cannot be parked in or around celebrity children's house, place of worship, school or activity. School emblems or activity logos should be blurred and locations shouldn't be noticible in the photo. And if those who are found breaking those laws shouldn't get a measily fine, lets face it, some of those photos are worth more than 5 grand. Instant jail time.

What do you think?

Momversation Monday: Do You Post Pictures of Your Kids Online?

Happy Thanksgiving Canada!!

Momversation Monday has a great topic that most bloggers will relate to. Posting photos of your kids online.

Heather Spohr of The Spohr's Are Multiplying was contacted by police in London about an innocent photo of her daughter that was found on a computer that had indecent photos of children on it.

For myself as a mom I want to hide my kids from the worst things in the world but I know that in reality that isn't possible.

I don't tell a lot of people where we are located and my kids names haven't been revealed on my blog and our last name is never mentioned here either. Those are the safety things I put into place. In fact, when my son's school or the Family Resource Centre on base asked to sign a form to post photos of my kids on their newspaper or website, I've said no due to the fact the address is on the site itself.

My blog is up for my friends and family to see my kids grow up. But I'm also aware that people who are not my family are going to see them. That's why I make sure I'm the only one posting- which means I'm controlling them.

There are photos on my Facebook which are also monitored and my friends have had them on theirs so the reality of sheltering my kids online are hard to do.
And Jessica Gottlieb of Jessicagottlieb.com is right, it is all a learning process. There have been photos which I've asked people to take down because I only knew them from play dates and wasn't comfotable having them on their sites because I don't know who they hang out with. And I'm a big when it comes to people's privacy too. I do ask my friends if it's ok to have their kids photos on my blog or even to have their name posted on here.

Do you post your kids photos online?

ENOUGH!!!

I'm so tired of this!

The past couple of days I've been reading Twitter statuses and Facebook comments and I'm done with all the mommy blogger drama!

Today a mom blogger is grieving for the loss of her son. Her son had CHD (congenital heart defect) and she blogged about how she also had her son circumcised and there was some bleeding issues.

Instead of this community that I love joining together and stand behind one of our own during this difficult time some have resorted to bashing this woman for the circumcision. On her blog it's clearly stated that the cause of death was cardiac arrest, and they were assured that the circumcision had nothing to do his death.

Where did basic human decency go? When did we all resort to bashing each other on social networks and attacking people while they are already hurting?

And this isn't the only blog war in the past couple of weeks.

What are we all fighting for?

What's great about having a blog? We all get to use our voice. We can give our opinions and express how we are feeling. But we all get a platform that we can voice out concerns, give information and share our experiences because, believe me, my mom experiences are not like yours. 

I'm not saying that a good discussion is bad. They aren't, once again we all have opinions, exchanging those ideas had lead to some great changes in my life. I'm just saying we don't have to resort to catty Twitters and comments that are only meant to hurt.

And it goes with every mom choice we make. Natural birth/ drugs. Home birth/ or hospital. Cloth diapers/ disposables/ no diapers at all. C-sections/ vaginal births. Eat organic foods/ not eating them. Breastfeeding/ formula. Time outs/ talking out. Soothing methods, disciplinary actions, co-sleeping,  vacinations,  the list goes on and on. 

I'm glad we are all so passionate about what we believe in, but there is a place and time for everything.

Have some respect.

Momversation Monday:Morning Routine: Is Yours Crazy?

Good Monday! Or is it?
Momversation today has all to do with morning routines and how crazy is yours.

Last school year, my mornings always seem like the same song and dance. Get up. Fight with Ducky to put on clothes, eat breakfast and get out the door without any bloodshed.

The hardest thing to deal with is the fighting. Chicky is like her father, gets up early and is alert! But myself and my son enjoy sleep and we won't get up until the alarm goes off. Chicky also loves to get us up and that's where the drama starts! 

Do you know how annoying it is to wake up to screaming a crying? It drains me even before the morning starts.

So this year with both kids doing half days at school, I've decided that the madness must stop!

I plan ahead for the school day. The kids get bathed the night before, they pick out their clothes and have them out for them to wear the next day and their bags are packed and at the front door ready to go.

That cuts the morning battle in half. I also plan what the kids are going to eat by setting the table with plates and cups so all I have to do is pour and serve.

What's your morning routine like? Is there a tip you have that you found helps with the morning madness!

Into The Swing Of Things

Hard to get back on a routine after not doing it for so long. Exercise sucks! YES I said it!

I don't love working out but I do to be healthy. Keeps me from eating an entire cake while I worry about Cpl. Mayhem.

But I do have some girlfriends who are going to the gym around the same time as I am, so being accountable to two other ladies is an incentive to stick with it.

I ran on the treadmill today and then did a set of triceps. A little bit of abs and the three of us sat down on the mat and stretched. We realized that maybe we needed a plan for these workout because we all ended up looking around for the next thing we can do. And how intimidating is the gym equipment?

I'm surrounded by old books and programs that I have purchased in the past and only completed 10% of before giving up for one reason or another. I have three programs that I have and I'm looking to complete one of them by the end of the year.

Body For Life- Bill Phillips wrote the 12 week nutritional, physical and metal program. I've done the program before and lost 25 pounds. I could have done MUCH better but I skipped workouts and ate junk food sometimes. I really want to complete it in it's entirety and do it right.

INSANITY-  A product by Beachbody. Created by Shawn T. who is well know for for the Hip Hop Abs series. It's a 60 day full body transformation, they claim that you will see the results that people see in a year in only 2 months. No need for weights, you use your own body for the resistance. But it's not child's play- which is probably why I've started and stopped this program at least three times now.
The idea is taking interval training and making you workout harder with short rests in between rather than doing the typical short bursts of high intensity

Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred- This is a DVD workout program that has interval training mixing cardio, strength and abs. The next week you go to the next level of the DVD.

At this point I think I'm going to stick with Body For Life since that worked for me. I'm going to be more strict on this program this time around. And then follow it off with INSANITY to up the level of fitness. Then I can maintain my weight I can do the 30 day shred and by then I would have the eating down.

What are you guys doing for a workout regimen?