mama kat’s writer’s workshop

Joy

Posted on December 19, 2012 Written by Tonya

1. Looking at photos of my wedding day. Not only were my parents there, but also some of my favorite people in the world plus, it was the day I married my best friend (not to be confused with the best friend I mention in #9).

2. Anytime it’s just me and Lucas in the car. He asks a million questions about what he sees out the window and life in general and I do my best to answer him. Such a curious little buddy.

3. Hearing Lucas sing quietly in his bedroom.

4. A workout that leaves my heart racing and my body super sweaty.

5. Seeing the porch light on upon arriving home.

6. The first sip of a iced Chai tea latte.

7. My sister’s hugs.

8. Starting a new book.

9. Sharing a glass (or bottle) of wine with my BFF, Colleen while we compare parenting notes, commiserate over sick children, family members and too much to do, gossip or crack each other up over the great Dylan McDermott/Dermot Mulroney debate.

Joy is what happens to us when we allow ourselves to recognize how good things really are. – Marianne Williamson

I hope your holiday is filled with immense joy, love and laughter!

This post was written for Mama Kat’s Writer’s Workshop and yes, it is my second entry for this week, Prompt #5 List the top 9 things that bring you joy.

Yearly Visits

Posted on December 19, 2012 Written by Tonya

Last year, Natalie of Mommy of a Monster and I did a fun linky to share your Santa photos. We had planned on doing it again this year, but I totally dropped the ball. Sorry, Natalie!

I’m glad Mama Kat included it as one of this week’s Writing Prompts.

Here is a retrospect of Lucas’ last four visits with the big man. 2010 is still my favorite!

This post was written for Mama Kat’s Writer’s Workshop. Prompt #1: Share your Santa pictures!

Fourth Photo

Posted on October 11, 2012 Written by Tonya

At first I was reluctant to join a Mommy & Me group. Lucas and I had a good thing going with our daily walks, bi- and tri-weekly outings to Target and counting down the hours until Daddy got home; why on earth would we need a playgroup? At three months old, he wasn’t even playing yet.

The first meeting we attended was at a Starbucks on a warm August morning, there were maybe 10 of us. 20 if you count our children. Our babies unable to do much else just laid in their car seat carriers. The eldest child was seven months old and gave the rest of us a preview of what was to come.

Our conversations were exactly as I had dreaded, but very much needed to be a part of; from how old was your baby when he first sat up/rolled over/discovered his feet/slept through the night/smiled and you knew it wasn’t gas? to where did you get that toy/onesie/hat/play gym and what do you think about that stroller, those diapers/burp cloths/setting up a college fund/diaper bag?

Sort of mind numbing stuff to anyone but a new mom, but all the topics that weigh heavily on the minds of novice parents as we navigate through that first crucial and confusing year of mommyhood.

It’s was comforting to share with and learn from other new moms and a relief to know that they were going through the same frustrations and concerns that I was.

Right from the start, there were a couple of moms in the group that I could see being friends with (i.e. participate in activities outside of the group) and I definitely relished in the social interaction and adult conversation!

Our group celebrated it’s third year, much like many of our children, this past September and now most members have added a younger sibling to the group. It has been a joy to see our babies grow into little people and I wish that Lucas and I could see our friends more often.

I can’t remember when Jenn joined our group but I liked her right away and her son Jackson is darling. He is the subject of the fourth shot in my Instagram queue:

Jen isn’t a blogger or on Twitter, but she is a fellow mom and friend.

This post was written for Mama Kat’s Writer’s Workshop. Prompt 5.) Open Instagram and scroll down to the 4th photo shared by a friend. Share the photo, link to the person who posted it, and let it inspire a blog post.

As Seen On Pinterest

Posted on September 24, 2012 Written by Tonya

Let me first preface this post by saying I am not the craftiest mom on the block and I have burned rice at least TWICE, but I can ~~usually~~ follow instructions.

Pinterest, while it may be somewhat of an obsession for me, (I have pinned over 5000 things) it mostly makes me feel inadequate about my life, my body, my homemaking skills and my craft quota.

I daydream of being that wife and mother that presents her family with four course homemade meals daily, decorates to the nines for each and every holiday, (or and day that end in -y) travels to far-off exotic destinations, always looking stylish and chic while doing any of the above, hand makes everything and knows how to decoupage, macrame and fishtail braid.

Every once in a while, however, I come across an idea I fool myself into believing I can pull off.

Pinterest is a great place for inspiration but the the outcome rarely resembles the picture, at least in my case. But at least I try…

Here are three of my latest attempts that are worthy of sharing!

The Pin – Book Cover Art Work

Click on image for source and how-to.

The Project

I’m pretty happy with the way this project turned out and actually like it better than the pin. Lucas was very excited about it too, although you wouldn’t know it by his expression. O_o

SIDE NOTE #1: I was a little disappointed that I e-mailed the original crafter for some help and have yet to hear back.

SIDE NOTE #2: 3M Super 77 multi-purpose adhesive is super nasty sticky stuff! If attempting this project, wear gloves at all times. Just saying.

The Pin – Photo Ideas For Boys

Click on image for source.

The Project

Lucas is crazy about cars and was really into this shoot, especially the set-up.

The Pin – Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread

Click on image for source and recipe.

The Project

A complete and utter fail!

Photos of food always look better than the real thing, so please refrain from licking the screen.

Ack!

This was a complete disaster, AKA #PinterestFAIL.

After cooling for over an hour, I shook the loaf out of the pan and it fell into itself. Maybe I used too much pumpkin puree, my other ingredients were old, or I missed a step but clearly this did not turn out the way it was suppose to.

For more Pinterest projects that I have tried, visit my board, aptly titled Pinterest Projects I Have Tried. Clever, no?

Have you made any Pinterest projects come to life lately? How many have gone awry?

Click on image for source.

Linking up with Mama Kat’s Writer’s Workshop. Prompt #4 Choose an item you recently pinned on Pinterest and…TRY IT! Was it a success or failure?

Sound Off

Posted on September 12, 2012 Written by Tonya

Lucas is asleep after a busy morning of swim lessons and errand running. Charlie Pasta is napping at my feet. My gentle typing reminds me that I am on borrowed time.

I know school is out because children whiz by on the sidewalk on skateboards, scooters and bicycles chattering at one another.

Cars drive down our street too fast. It’s one of the few things we have always disliked about this neighborhood.

I’m on my second load of laundry for the day and the clothes in the dryer whirl around and around. I can hear zippers and buttons clanging against the metal.

Soon the annoying buzzer will beckon me, but until then I will get lost in Dave Matthews Band’s latest offering, Away from the World. The lyrics to Drunken Solider, a song I have only heard once before are coming out of my laptop and they are stunning and demand my attention:

Make the most of what you’ve got
Don’t waste time being trying to be something you’re not
Fill up your head and fill up you heart and take your shot
Don’t waste time trying to be something you’re not

A large brown van slows to a stop in front of our house and then slowly backs up along the curb. BEEP BEEP BEEP. Alas the delivery is NOT for me.

The quiet bubbling filter on the fish tank is in the background.

An airplane rumbles overhead.

I sneeze and the dog decides he needs to go out.

All of a sudden, as if they planned it, I hear the familiar squeak of my three year old’s bedroom door opening.

What do you hear?

This post was written for Mama Kat’s Writer’s Workshop. Prompt #2 Listen to the sounds in your house for 5 or 10 minutes. Write about what you hear. (Inspired by The Aums)

Looking Forward

Posted on July 25, 2012 Written by Tonya

I have been so down in the dumps lately with our infertility journey coming to a much needed break (for now) and the recent damage I’m having to deal with at my parents house that when I saw Mama Kat’s Writer’s Workshop prompts for this week, I couldn’t help but pick #1: Share one good thing you’re looking forward to.

I have found that it is so important to see the good in your life, especially when you feel like the walls are caving in around you and all you want to do is cry.

Mine is a very blessed life and I have so much more to make me smile than frown and came up with not one, but SEVEN really great things that I’m looking forward to:

1. Seeing Iris with my sister this weekend.

Click on image for source.

2. Celebrating our five year anniversary in San Francisco next weekend.

3. Bringing home our puppy home on August 7.

Taken on July 24. Puppy is 7 1/2 weeks old!

4. A new pile of books to tackle! I just read The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern and if it is possible, it made me fall in love with reading all over again. Seriously, if you haven’t read this book, please do, it’s absolutely magical.

Here are three others I’m anxious to snuggle up with!

5. Duran Duran concert with my girlfriends on August 11!

6. Mastering the camel pose – someday, I hope! And look this elegant while doing it. Sigh.

Click on image for source.

7. More moments like this with Lucas, someone I look forward to being with every single day:

What are you looking forward to?

This post was written for Mama Kat’s Writer’s Workshop Prompt #1) Share one good thing you’re looking forward to.

This Time Last Year

Posted on June 27, 2012 Written by Tonya

It’s been a while since I participated in a Mama Kat’s Writer’s Workshop, but I have had the best intentions each week as I review the topics. It’s one of my all time favorite link-ups and always gets my creative writing juices flowing.

This post was written for Mama Kat’s Writer’s Workshop Prompt 1.) Share what you were blogging about last year at this time…what has changed?

One year ago I was getting over the shock that one year from then I would be turning 40!

So far, so good.

Just over a year ago we celebrated our little Lucas’ second birthday with balloons and a BBQ in the backyard. There was family and friends, cupcakes, a bounce house and Thomas the Train.

This year we celebrated three with balloons and a BBQ in the backyard surrounded by family and friends, cupcakes, a bounce house, a TRAMPOLINE (thanks, Grandma and Grandpa) and Cars. Lots of cars!

This time last year Lucas had been enrolled in preschool and would be starting in August.

Tomorrow is Lucas’ last day of preschool before his summer session begins (yay for year-round school) and he loves it (apart from the monthly fire drills that is).

Last June we were gearing up for a week in Hawaii!

This year we went to North Carolina. BIG difference!

Last summer I was counting down the days to BlogHer ’11.

I won’t be attending BlogHer ’12 in New York City this year, [insert sad face here] but I LOVE being able to call so many people I met last year friends.

It was just over a year ago that we started secondary infertility treatments.

After two failed IVFs, two miscarriages and two “missed” cycles, we are still struggling but remain hopeful.

It seems the old adage is true, the more things change, the more they stay the same. Sigh!

What were you doing one year ago?

February 9, 2002

Posted on February 8, 2012 Written by Tonya

Ten years ago on this day, it was a Saturday and my now ex-husband’s sister’s two sons, our nephews, ages four and six were spending the night with us for the first and last time.

All night.

I hadn’t spent that much time with children since I moved out of my parents house (my own sister is almost 12 years younger than me). I was equal parts excited and nervous.

With their mother’s approval, I took them to see the movie The Lord of the Rings.

A three hour movie!

What was I thinking?

They were both up for it, so I thought what the hell. What did I know?

About 30 minutes into the film, the elder of the two started and kept carrying on about whatever latest video game device my ex had and wanted to go back to our house to play with it. I gave in, got my money back and we headed home.

My ex was probably on the back 9 and ~~didn’t want to be~~ couldn’t be reached and I had no clue how to work the video game. There was whining and I’m sure tears, but like I do now with Lucas, I distracted them with what I can’t recall and before long they (sort of) forgot all about blowing stuff up while zoning out in front of the TV.

The next morning came too soon, not only because I was enjoying playing house, but I remember thinking I hope all children don’t wake up this damn early. Ha!

I remember I made pancakes because that’s what families did on Sunday mornings and I vividly recall envisioning myself being a mother someday as I gave each of the boys a turn mixing the batter.

Three months later, my marriage unraveled and I wouldn’t become a mother for another seven years.

Fast forward ten years and I still miss those two boys, who now have a younger brother and think of them often. I wish that there could have been some way that I could have remained in their life, remained their aunt.

This post was written for Mama Kat’s Writer’s Workshop Prompt 2.) Start with the phrase: “Ten years ago on this day, I was…” (inspired by Business 2 Blogger)

For The Love Of All Things Pinned

Posted on February 1, 2012 Written by Tonya

Pinterest is all the rage. If you still don’t know what Pinterest is, good. Stay away for your own sake. There’s an app, people so you can pin anywhere, anytime and it’s as addicting as crack. I am not exaggerating. Not that I’ve ever tried crack.

It has become one of my favorite ~~ways to waste precious time~~ pastimes.

I have gobs of fun finding new things to pin, repinning others, attempting to make, bake, cook or create things I’ve pinned and of course poking fun at the whole damn pin thing.

With 41 boards, almost 3500 pins and over 500 Pinterest followers, I pin a lot!

I pin stuff I like to look at, products I want to check out, words and photographs that inspire, comfort or make me giggle, ideas for arts and crafts and other activities to do with Lucas, clothing I wish was in my closet, places I hope to see someday, celebrity crushes (both male and female) and an ever growing wish list. The Internet is your oyster!

These are my five recent pins as of Wednesday, February 1, 4:27 PM. NO JUDGING!
I have no idea how to credit this pin… I found it on my friend Rachel’s board, Wine Humor, repinned it to my board, Cheers and followed it back six pinners deep and still found no original link.

Who knows how many times it has been pinned? I’m guessing a lot because it’s hilarious. My point is, this is a big no-no in pinning! Always give proper credit to pins is the #1 rule of pinning!

Rule #2 Never pin when you’re hungry. It’s just stupid. I am SO making these!

OMG, YUM! Click photo for source.

Rule #3 Just because you haven’t been out of the country in years, doesn’t mean you won’t again someday. A girl can always dream. Can’t she? And make sure her Passport is valid.

Shangri-La Vilingili Resort, Maldives. Click on photo for source.

Rule #4 A Wish List is just that! It doesn’t mean you’re going to rush out and buy whatever you’ve pinned, but one of your many kind followers could. Just sayin’!

I heart DMB and must have these! Click on photo for source.

Rule #5 It’s my time to waste. As long as there’s a carton of milk in the fridge, the laundry is done, everyone else in the house is asleep and I have absolutely nothing better to do. So there.

The Ryan Gosling "Hey Girl" series cracks me up! Click photo for source.

This post was written for Mama Kat’s Writer’s Workshop Prompt 2.) Are you on Pinterest? Share the last five items you pinned, choose one and let it inspire a blog post.

She Knows

Posted on December 8, 2011 Written by Tonya

Bound, determined and ready to deck the halls for the holidays this year, I dug out our Christmas decorations just after Thanksgiving; two enormous plastic containers buried under a box of clothes Lucas has outgrown, two boxes of books and a duffel bag full of tools.

It has been four years since we’ve decorated our home for the holidays. You can read why here (!).

As I carefully unwrapped each ornament, it was like seeing long lost friends for the first time in far too long. My mind flooded back to the time and place I had been given or purchased the ornament and my heart smiled; a small wooden Pinocchio from our trip to Florence, several miniature Eiffel Towers, a porcelain rocking horse and my alma mater mascot.

I laid all the decorations out on the guest bed and put a stack of flattened tissue paper back inside one of the containers. In doing so, I found a plastic bag containing a beautiful holiday table cloth my mother had given me. I pulled the table cloth out of the bag, shook in out and in the folds discovered something that had been missing for almost 10 years: a stocking handmade by my grandmother when I was six months old.

I swore my mom had it packed away with her holiday treasures and she was adamant I had it in mine.

All this time, she was right.

I wanted so badly to pick up the phone in that moment and call her and tell her I had found it.

My mother died four years ago so that’s a phone call I’ll never be able to make. Somehow though, I think she knows. She has always known.

We put up our tree last weekend and hung the stocking from the fireplace mantle with care.

This post was written for Mama Kat’s Writer’s Workshop Prompt 1.) Have you decorated your Christmas tree? Share a favorite Christmas ornament.

Natalie (Mommy of a Monster) and I want to see your children’s photos with Santa , so link up to our Santa Photos 2011. There are some awesome prizes to win!

Yearly Visits

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