Childrens Personalised Books

Wow! Hard to believe it is 2010 already…where has time gone is always the question?????

Time waits for no one…time does not wait for you to reach your goals and then proceed.

Though it would be so nice if we could say, “Time stand still a minute or two while I to get this done.” I would be saying that all day long. Time stop! Time go! Time stop! Time go!
Yep, I could become addicted to those words so would everyone else. The utter chaos it would cause..

I have had a couple of people tell me this year ‘What have you lost but time..not a big thing.’ I’m looking at them thinking ‘amazing, time is not a big thing.’ Time is a major component of your day, success, life and it’s not important? What planet are you from?? A second lost is a second you will not get back. We definitely had different view points on time. Not to say I haven’t wasted time, but time has become a “precious commodity” that I’m becoming more respectful of and enjoying more of.

Time is always in perpetual movement. Make this the year that you organize your schedule/time so you get the most out of your day to accomplish your work and personal goals.

Lost, yesterday, somewhere between Sunrise and Sunset, two golden hours, each set with sixty diamond minutes. No reward is offered, for they are gone forever. ~Horace Mann

One step closer to creating a life of being deliriously happy…  ~Ann Marie~anessa.me

A family tradition that was started in my family long before I was on this Earth was going to Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve….

I remember Christmas Eve…..I use to spend most of the day listening to Christmas music and keeping an eye on the gifts being put under the tree….. spying for the packages with my name on them…waiting for a time when no one was in room with me….when the opportunity arose I would shake the gifts to see if I could figure out what was in them….and of course looking at the size of the gift…typical kid…..

I was put to bed early evening and was awaken around 11 pm or so….I got ready along with the rest of the family and we would walk to our church which was up the block from us….It usually was a beautiful night…..with a blanket of snow on the ground and new snow falling….the air would be cold and crisp…nothing said Christmas more then that…

The first thing we would see when we arrived at church was the beautiful life size (or so it seemed) Manger scene…We would enter church, the choir would be singing songs and church would be packed….after Mass we would start our journey back to the house…singing Christmas carols at times…

When we got home my dad, mom and who ever else would make a big breakfast with eggs, bratwurst, cinnamon rolls, bacon, toast and sweets…after our bellies were full it would be off to bed so Santa could come…I would still got up at the crack of dawn to open gifts…

To me Christmas is not Christmas without going to Midnight Mass….my kids go with me at times…but we never have breakfast like I did…but maybe someday…between the Mass, the Carols, and the generosity of the season that is what Christmas is all about…

One step closer to being deliriously happy….http://www.anessa.me

I was thinking of how happy I was not to deal with snow anymore now that we live in a warmer climate. My thoughts soon went back to when I was a kid and how I loved to play in the snow all day long. I remember putting layer upon layers on to keep me warm. When I came in from playing in the snow my hands, legs and feet would be red and cold and my clothes would be hard and stiff from the snow. Funny how as kids the cold never seems to bother you or I guess I should say some kids.

After a snowfall the plow trucks would push the snow into huge piles on the corners of the block were I lived. We seen this as great opportunities to build forts, caves and have some fun. We were pretty good little engineers and we didn’t have many cave ins. Lucky for us no one was ever hurt. Course we never gave thought that someone could get hurt. We were just kids having some fun.

The relentless task of using our feet and hands to build our caves and forts gave way to the hours of fun, laughs and excitement for the day. We enjoyed climbing in and out the caves and on top of the caves. Building caves with partners to have snowball fights with the other group and take ownership over their caves was so much fun and still brings a smile to my face. Great memories that have lasted my life time.

Great snow memories that have help create one more step to being deliriously happy.. ~aaworkingmoms~ anessa.me

I recently had an opportunity to have a talk about homeschooling and grades. Wow grades I have not given much thought about it since I was in college and took an American Culture class where the Professor stated we would all get A’s in his class as long as we participated in his class. When he stated that all of us who got 4. + could not believe what he was saying. Remarks were made and he defended his belief, what do grades mean. When you graduate do they look at your grades and say WOW you got a 4. +, do you get a pay increase for graduating with a 4. and so on. Another professor stated he would rather have a C student taking care of him in the hospital then an A student. His rational thinking was that rarely do you have a book smart person with common sense which is needed in life. I understood both of them and respected their beliefs. I worked my booty off to graduate with honors at the top of my class which I have to say has not given me any extra privileges though I’m sure it would’ve helped if I continued on but it was not in the cards for me.

I had a daughter who would get upset and depressed if she did not get 100% on all of her school work. We took family skip days when she started getting stressed out. Her teacher and the school councilor were in agreement about the skip days.  Needless to say she is like me with grades.

My wee ones are homeschooled. Their homework is sent in and graded and emailed to me. They have no idea what their grades are nor do they ask. They get all A’s but don’t even know it. They simply get to enjoy their studies and be kids with no worries about their grades. We concentrate on making sure they understand what is being taught. It makes our job of teaching easier and it is less stressful for them. It is a win-win situation for us.

To me grades do not make a person and grades do not have to control a person’s outcome. There have been many people who graduated at the top of their class and they never amounted to a hill of beans and others who barely passed who have become very successful. They had ambition and the will power to succeed. Some extremely smart people I have known committed suicide because they could not handle failure and the need they had to be on top. One cannot help but to think this may have been focused on at an early age because of the stress to be at the top of the class. Many kids are bored in school for one reason or another which diminishes their ambition to learn. Everyone has their own way of learning that works best for them and schools are set up for kids who can sit at a desk quietly and work. For everyone else, it makes it a bit harder to learn. The main thing is not everyone who gets ‘good’ grades comes out on top and not everyone who barely passes is stuck at the bottom of dead beat job.

One step closer to becoming deliriously happy. ~Ann Marie (A&A Workingmoms)

The joy of fussy kids! Are they really fussy or are they just singing songs out of tune? I have 9 babies and have not figured out the answer to this question.

Are their fits to get their point across or to drive you utterly insane. I know, they are learning at a young age which buttons to push to drive you nuts and which buttons push to get what they want. The have a photographic memory which holds the answers to these questions and they are able to retrieve the data at a moments notice to use it to get anything they want from you. They are cunning but oh, so lovable and fun.

The cute beautiful sneaky creatures that they are, so brilliant and deceiving a great combination! They fool you with those cute little checks that are so irresistibly pinchable and top it with sweet innocent smiles. The icing on the cake is all the kisses and hugs their unconditional love. One of their greatest gifts that they bestow on you.

With all that being said, I have figured out away to get them back a tad all in fun of course. I love to irritate them, bug them with hugs and kisses. Chase them and pick on them. Do all sorts of silly things which have the wee ones fussing and the big ones yelling “MOM”. I’m the cunning devious mother who has way to much fun irritating them. A goal which I accomplish everyday according to them. LOL

We have lots of FUN everyday. There is not a day that goes by that kisses, hugs and I love yous are not passed out to everyone along with me bugging them. I would never trade the babies in for anything in this world. No matter how fussy they are, for if they were not here to drive me insane and irritate me who would do that and what would my life be like. mmmm wait minute, what am I saying. I would love to have a quiet life with no fussing fit throwing kids. If only I would of thought about that before I had kids. Just kidding; maybe!

To me having kids is one step closer to being deliriously happy!~By Ann Marie (aaworkingmoms)

There has been many debates on social media and kids; with arguments ranging from how it rots a child’s mind and turns it to mush, no educational value in social media, and it contributes to poor health because all they do is sit at a computer. In my opinion this is true for adults as well. Anything in excess is not good for anyone no matter what the age is but there are also good benefits to social media and kids.

Social media has made the world a smaller place and has forged relationships that we normally would of not had the opportunity to have. It plays a role in every aspect of life today from the mommy blogger, to the actor, to news media, corporations, churches, and even some schools. Social media has made it easier for people to connect, whether it be for business or for friendship. Technology has come such a long way over the years.

Jem started twitting with me when she was 8 years old. She instantly fell in love with it and wanted to learn more about social media, blogging and about our business. She wanted to blog so away she went and the domino effect happened with the other two kids who were 6 and 10 at that time. As adults its hard enough to get people to read your blog; can you imagine how hard it is to get people to read blogs from kids. I came up with an idea while I was blogging for Saronti, a children’s website. I thought how great would it be if this site had an area for my kids to blog. The owner of the site thought it was a great idea, so we did a feed and she published their blogs. I will never forget that day, the kids excitement and sense of accomplishment to see their blogs published on Saronti. It was very exciting to me as a parent because who would have read or even publish a kids blog. It is no longer a pain staking task to get them to write. They write about all sorts of things from dinosaurs to whats going on with them. It is a way for them to express themselves as individuals.

Jem was still wanting more social media for kids and wanted to start a business so she came up with an idea of a social media site for kids.The domino affect happened again and her brother and sister jumped onboard. She loves connecting with kids from around the world. So the site was created with their help so they could meet more kids and make a difference in the world.. Connecting with kids from other parts of the world/country is a great learning experience for kids. They can learn how other kids live, what they think about and what they have in common. They can play games with educational value, practice their writing skills with blogging, learn to put what they think and change it into thoughts, create groups to voice their opinions and make a change/difference in the world. Kids connecting with kids to make the world a better place. Who says social media has to be just for adults.

I wanted to share my happy place with you. It is a place that I visit with family and friends. Even a picture of my happy place can calm me and bring peace to my soul. My happy place is the beach, the ocean and the waves. The ocean is so tranquil, calming and magnificent but at times can be the scariest most intimidating place on earth.

I love to watch the waves hit the sand and deposit gifts from the ocean. Gifts of shells fish and yes, let’s not forget debris. The ocean sings joyous stimulating songs to the souls who love her. She invites everyone that visits her to take in her unending beauty, play in her yard but she commands respect from everyone. She has and will always continue to teach us about life and at times she gives up her secretes but she still stays mysterious, dark and cold. She is strong, powerful and fearless. She can rage her anger and turbulence like no other but the same time calm and relax the turbulence within a person. Astronomically amazing she is.

I just recently realized how much I love the ocean at night. The water is so black and the waves are white the combo make an extraordinary chillaxin dual. The smell of the water and wind blowing while you are sitting on the beach in the dark is a great place to release your inner struggles and rejuvenate your soul. I long for a house on the shore of the ocean with deck overlooking the ocean so I can sleep hearing and smelling the ocean. One step to becoming deliriously happy.

WOW!!! Have you noticed that is what most parents say when they realize their wee ones are having a birthday? We are faced not only with our children having a birthday but that means we have another year to add to us. Of course us as parents have long since stopped having birthdays and don’t like to be reminded of such nonsense. OK well, at least I have. Yes, my babies keep increasing their age by numbers but the older kids have jumped on my “ban-wagon” and stopped keeping track of how many years have flipped by. Let’s correct that I have just gotten some of wee ones to jump on now. Love my parental influence.

I have 5 babies that will be having birthdays this next month. I’m happy they are here to enjoy them but I think we should throw the age and birthday thing out the door. I have called my birthday my “Earthday” for years. I never have to think about my age until someone asks me and it always happens. How old are you? How old are your kids? You don’t look old enough to have that many kids and you surely are not old enough to be a grandma, another word that I don’t use. LOL I get asked this because I was blessed with looking young and acting even younger. Mostly because I refuse to grow up or grow; won’t use the other word.

I guess if society as a whole was not so stuck on the age thing and everything was not centered on having fewer wrinkles and being young I could handle it. I have had this age issue since I was 13. Yeap, when I turned 13 I decided to stop having the birthday thing and stopped telling people how old I was. Seriously at times I have forgotten. Of course until I have to flip out my drivers license or at my doctors office. Yes, here I’m sitting in the office and they announced my birthday to everyone and continued to do the same to everyone. I happened to be the youngest there and the most applaud or the one that has a big enough mouth to say something. Well, did they get a huge ear full from me. I even told them that I would refuse to go back if they kept this up. They have since stopped doing this. I thought it was just wrong. If I wanted everyone to know my freakin age I would plaster it to my shirt. NOT.

Even though I gotten many compliments it doesn’t matter because at some point people start saying you’re too old for this and that. They attach age to everything even if age has nothing to do with what is going on with you or the situation.
When I first started having kids I got harassed because I was a baby having a baby by most standards. Then I got told I was too old to have a baby and how did I expect to carry my child’s luggage to their dorm room, nothing like a slap in the face. I had years to go before I would even turn 4….well you know what I’m trying to say. On the other hand, many use age as an excuse not to do something. I can’t go back to school, change jobs, have kids, move, etc. because I’m too old. Everyone is an age critic.

Don’t get me wrong I’m thankful to be here because I’m not ready to be pushing up the daisies yet. But for us chronologically challenged people and for society as a whole I think the world would be a better place if we got rid of the age stigma. If people just looked at people for who they are and for the knowledge that they posses, instead of attaching an age to it. My personal step to becoming deliriously happy creating happy thoughts and free from age restrictions. ~~A&A Workingmoms~~ www.anessa.me

What inspires you? There are many things that inspire me such as people, things, quotes, stories and calamities. Yep, calamities the situations that bring you down, slap you in the face and turn your life upside down. No, they haven’t always inspired me and sometimes it is very hard to find the light in the calamity to inspire you. If you look hard enough you will find the light. It might be very small and not easily identifiable but it is there. What you do with this little light of inspiration will have in impact on the rest of your life.

The impact can be positive or negative, but as we all know negative only brings more negativity to your life. One of the hardest lessons that I have learned is to find the light in the calamity that has hit you in the face, but when you can turn it into a positive situation you will enrich your life with growth and strength. Doing this is no easy task and simply very painful at times, but it is your choice whether you want to live in the pain and let the pain suck the life out of you or do you want live and grow from the pain. You have only one life and spending in the dark levels of pain will only bring you down further and more negativity. Now that does not mean you can not have time every day to cry and feel down about the calamity that is slapping you in the face but only allow so much time every day to do this. Again, I know this is not easy but to survive in life this is one thing that everyone needs to learn how to do.

So the next time you have a calamity use it to inspire you. Find the light, and if you need help to find the inspiration find someone who is a good listener, nonjudgmental and who will not interfere. Remember to grow from this calamity and don’t let it eat you. One more step to being deliriously happy.

Everyday I watch this little girl go after everything she wants with unending determination and unyielding will power. It would drive most people nuts, insane, crying out for Calgon to take them away. This determination and will power is 24/7 for her. She never gives up….

First thing in the morning when she hits the floor, she is running around yelling babies, babies; that is what she calls the kittens. She runs as fast as her little feet can take her from one end of the couch to the other end. Give up, no way. She tries to cut them off at the end table and gets mad and cries for them because her plan to catch the kittens has failed and they escaped her trap. She gets stuck under the end table and cries help. She will do this non stop all day until we bring the dog in. Then the kittens get a break and then she cries baby again but this time it is for the dog. The dog seems to handle the baby torture. She is constantly hugged, kissed, poked, sat on and snuggled by the baby. Poor doggie. LOL!!
You ask is this the only time she acts like this, nope. When she wants something she will cry for hours until she gets it. No lie. When you wash her blankets and she sees, she will stand by the washer and dryer until the blanket is done and run back and forth to us crying for her blanket and wanting us to help her. She has this same behavior with everything she wants. You just have to laugh at her and try to redirect her which usually never works.

Silly child has this same determination about not wanting a diaper on. She wears one at night and for nap. She will take her diaper off so she does not pee in it. She will then pee in her bed. So every morning her bed is wet and her diaper is dry. She cries because she is wet. LOL!!

I applaud her determination and will power it makes me laugh. She is strong willed and never gives up. She has more determination then most people will ever have. Yes, I love it when it is her nap time and bed time. For that is the time I can have peace and quiet. She is a great baby. She does listen except when she has a baby brain freeze and is stuck on one subject then her will power and determination will kick in.

I’m working on having the same determination and will power she has. She is my baby “idol” lol.!! She is my inspiration with helping me accomplish my goals. One step closer to being deliriously happy which I’m. ~Ann Marie  nojobwanted.com

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