‘Toy Story 3’: You’ve Still Got a Friend In Me

I don’t know who was more excited to see “Toy Story 3” Myles or me.  My husband and I took him to see it.   I loved it as much as the first two.  I will not give away the movie, but you all probably know the plot… Andy is getting ready to go off to college and Woody, Buzz and the gang aren’t sure what their futures going to be.  I’ll just leave it at that.  In the beginning of the movie they flashback to when Andy was younger and played with all his toys. Randy Newman’s “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” played in the background as you watched Andy getting older and older.  I got a little misty eyed thinking about Myles and one day how that is gonna be him.  It’s so hard to think about him growing up and knowing he’ll be a grown man.  It truly takes my breath away.  It’s almost hard to put into words watching this process before my eyes.

When we got back home my husband and I looked at our dining room table covered with Myles’ toys thinking one day we’ll be watching him pack up all his favorites to give away.   Luckily, we have some time before we get there.  For now, I will continue to enjoy watching Myles utilize his imagination as his plays with his toys and grows from one fad to the next.  I’ll be curious to see how long Thomas the Train, Lightning McQueen, Woody and Buzz stay in his life.  I still have my very first Cabbage Patch doll someone made for me.  She’s in the garage still in great condition.

Alright back to the movie, Myles liked what he saw of it.  He drank too much fruit punch and had to go to the bathroom a few times.  Then he got restless and wanted to change seats a few times and in the process he lost a shoe.  We found it while the credits were rolling.  It’s hard to believe I was able to see the movie with all that going on.  Timing is everything when taking a 3-year-old to a movie.  I realized after Myles was tired.   He passed out in the back of the car minutes after we left the theater.

As for me… I think the folks at Pixar are genius.  They know how to make movies that both kids and parents alike can enjoy.  “Toy Story 3” had action, it made me laugh and it tugged at my heartstrings.  If you don’t have kids you don’t need to borrow one to take with you to enjoy it.  I’d see it again without Myles.  It’s a winner in my book!

Natural Hair Rut… Help!!! What to do????

I usually write about my son Myles, but this post is about my hair and me.   The picture seen here is my best style yet thanks to my fabulous stylist.  However, too bad for me I could not recreate it ever again which brings me to my natural hair crisis.  I’ve had it natural for a little more than a year now and it’s awesome to be free of the relaxer.  I wouldn’t trade it for the world!  The one thing I didn’t truly realize is that natural hair is a work too.  Not as labor intensive as straight hair, but it still requires routine maintenance, which I just don’t have the time or patience for.  I don’t have 20-30 minutes to really work the Miss Jessie’s Curling Pudding through every little strand of my hair.  Reason… I go to work at 4am and I have a 3-year-old, so I just don’t have the energy to fuss with hair.  I want to wake up and go.

Well, I’ve been waking up and goin’ and I’m not happy with the end result… it’s not cute!  What I have now is a big dry bushy afro-puff that’s unruly!  It’s such a mess I didn’t even want to post a picture.  Now, I’m starting to hate my hair and very tempted to cut it super short so it won’t even be an issue.  My stylist is encouraging me to keep my length and wants to try to texturize my hair so it will be easier for me to maintain.  I’m game, but now my concern is six months down the road I’ll be back in this same position wanting to pull it out again!!  I am actually considering dreads or sisterlocks, but I haven’t come across any super cute short styles yet.  Trust me I’m looking!  I’m also not sure how I would handle the process of growing out the dreads.   I know they require maintenance as well but it couldn’t be as bad, right?  I’ve also thought about twists and braids but they don’t last as long as I want them too, which would be pretty much six months or forever.

So, I am calling on all the natural hair bloggers out there… what’s a girl to do when you fall in that natural hair rut. If you have any suggestions or hairstyle ideas or pictures of cute easy to maintain styles… please bring it on! Share your natural hair experiences and advice with me.

Flashback Friday: Chaka Khan

Tired as usual I picked Myles up from camp and took a trip to Target.  After walking around aimlessly for an hour in the store I got into the car and turned on the 80’s station and heard Chaka Khan’s “I Feel For You”.  I love this song!!!  For a few minutes I got a burst of energy, a smile on my face and some good car dancing in.  It’s Friday, so put all your stress behind you for a few minutes and listen to a jammin’ song that gets ya’ in a good mood. Enjoy! Tell me what blast from the songs get you movin’ and groovin’ when you’re dragging?

Never Enough “Me Time”

Ahhh the days of having “me time” seem so far and few between.  I’m not talking 30 minutes here or an hour there I’m talkin’ good quality “me time”… like 5-6 hours or even better a whole day!  Being a mom, a wife and juggling a busy career somehow finding “me time” seems almost impossible.  What’s so funny is I think about the days when Myles was an infant I thought that was so hard (and to a certain degree it was), but back then I actually had more “me time”.  All he used to do was sleep, eat and poop.  Now, I’m starting to learn the older they get the harder it is and the more exhausting it can be.   Here’s a perfect example of what I’m talking about… I had a pounding headache today, but instead of resting I took two Advil and dealt with a 3-year-old tantrum for like 30 minutes over Thomas the Train.  Ugggghhh!!!

Don’t get me wrong… I love spending time with my family, BUT…  I daydream of spending a night alone in a hotel, eating junk food and watching what I want on TV instead of PBS Kids, Nick Jr., Thomas the Train or any other kiddie programming or my husband’s video games.  I know you ladies understand what I’m talking about.   I feel like I’m constantly scurrying around like a rat here and there… just in constant motion stopping for a few minutes in between.  By bedtime it’s feel like an extra effort just to floss or wash my face.   I feel like I get so caught up in the daily grind of life I just forget to take time out for myself.  I do know some moms who make sure they get that time and kudos to them!  Why I torture myself like this I don’t know… perhaps I think I’m “super mom”.  But even superheroes get a break, right?

I just need to embrace the concept that I don’t have to do it all.  I need to retire my superhero cape and take the “S” off my chest. I have a great supportive and capable husband who can handle things too.  I don’t know if it’s a mommy thing or just a me thing that I need to take on everything, but I don’t!!!  I just need to be better about taking a time out.  Who knows I could probably be a less stressed wife and mother if just took the time to recharge for a minute.  Alright,  so now that I’m putting this out there I just need to make sure I follow through and do it.  While I know this is not a new topic.. clearly it’s an issue that just doesn’t seem to go away.  Any advice?  Do you get enough “me time” and if so how do you make sure you do?

Crafty… Not So Much!

My mom was really crafty and very good at it. Me… not so much, but I try. The other day I got the brilliant idea to do an art project with Myles.  I found some orange juice cartons, a paper towel roll, a cereal box and a few other items in the recycle bin and thought we could do something fun with those things. So, I searched the internet for milk carton crafts and found this cool space ship to make.

Somehow, this ended up just being a “mommy project”.  Myles just went about his business playing with his cars and trains while I stayed committed to making this space ship.  I started and stopped a few times because I was barbecuing kabobs, making pasta salad and a pitcher of lemonade so I was doing an art project in my spare time!

Now mind you once I was done it was not pretty, but I guess it sort of resembles a space ship. Yes, I know it looked like a 3-year-old had made it, but Myles thought it was the coolest thing in the world.  He had a blast playin’ with it.  Seeing his face made it worth the time. Doesn’t take much to please ’em!

However, next time we’ll (or should say I will) just make something super simple and less time-consuming like a milk carton bird feeder.

Adventures in Toddler Cooking

I have loved cooking ever since I was a little girl.  My grandma used to let me help her in the kitchen and now I am doing the same with my son Myles.  He’s only 3, but he loves to help.  Recently, we made pizza together which is easy and fun for kids to do. We bought to pre-made dough from Trader Joe’s and then I gave him a little and let him go to town.  While I was making our pizza for dinner Myles did his own thing and totally amazed me.  He made a pizza shaped like a race car…wheels and everything. I just thought it was the coolest thing.  I didn’t have the camera or my phone nearby to take a picture, but trust me it truly was awesome.

I’m big on the full breakfast on weekends when I have the time to actually fix things.  I like to make waffles, french toast pancakes, scones or muffins.  So, I decided to let Myles let me help make  banana muffins.  He helped me mix the batter, and he smelled the cinnamon so he can learn aromas of different spices.  He even got to scoop the batter and put it in a mini-muffin pan.  We baked them in the oven and voila Myles made muffins.

He was so excited he ran upstairs and showed them to my husband.  When he my husband wanted to taste one Myles said he couldn’t because he had to wait for them to cool off.  Too cute!

It’s nice to be able to share something I love to do with Myles.  Hopefully, he’ll turn out to be a terrific cook someday.   At least I’ll know later down the road when he’s college he won’t starve or he’ll know how to jazz up his Top Ramen.   In the meantime, it’s just something fun we can do together and be our little thing.