Mama's Losin' It!

Writer’s Workshop: Head In The Sand

Mama Kat — Wed, 23 May 2012 18:00:00 +0000

1.) Write about a time your child embarrassed you in public.

Kainoa played excitedly at the sand table.

“Mom watch THIS!”

He filled a green bucket and covered a pile of shells completely with it.

“Nice Buddy!” I said, even though covering shells with sand is not even remotely cool. It was funny watching him be so happy with a table of SAND.

A woman walked out and he was all “HI!!!” and I smiled on proudly. My kids have always been so timid around strangers and it felt good to see him outgoing and friendly.

“Hi!” she smiled back enthusiastically.

Look how he just made her day! Amazing to think a little four year old can brighten a strangers day. Kids have that way about them that’s so therapeutic for adults.

“I can build a castle!!” he said.

I was surprised at how sweet he had become to this perfect stranger…maybe my boy was really turning a corner in life!

“That’s great!” responded the happy woman.

“I WASN’T TALKING TO YOU!” he shouted.

And just like that it was over.

I’m not sure how the woman reacted…I was too busy burying my head in the sand.

Now it’s your turn!

Choose a prompt, post it on your blog, and come back to add your name to the link list below. Be sure to sign up with the actual post URL and not just your basic blog URL (click on the title of your post for that URL). For good comment karma try to comment on the three blogs above your name!!

The Prompts:

1.) Write about a time your child embarrassed you in public.
2.) You got duped. What happened?
3.) List 10 things you’d would love to give your husband or Dad for Father’s Day.
4.) Share a picture that you think captures Spring for your family this year.
5.) What about school do you miss the least?

Chocolate Raspberry Shortcake Trufle Ala Mode with COOL WHIP

Mama Kat — Mon, 21 May 2012 18:15:00 +0000

The problem with strawberry shortcake comes when you have COOL WHIP whipped topping, but neither the strawberries nor the shortcake.

Never fear.

The solution is to find any possible cake-like substance and pair it with any possible fruit substitute, throw a dollop of COOL WHIP on top and TA DA!

You have a fancy dessert.

Add the word “shortcake”, “truffle”, or “ala mode” to the name of your dessert and you’re pretty much set.

Should the problem arise in which you don’t actually have a cake-like substance in your kitchen, do improvise with cookies. COOL WHIP sandwiched between two Oreos is nothing short of a s’more.

Should the problem arise in which you don’t actually have a cake-like substance OR a cookie-like substance…for the love of God just go grocery shopping already.

Because I can assure you, your fancy chocolate, raspberry shortcake truffle ala mode with COOL WHIP just isn’t the same dolloped on top of a Ritz Cracker.

Ingredients

Cake-like Substance
COOL WHIP
Fruit

LAYER fruit on cake

ADD COOL WHIP

CONTINUE layering fruit and COOL WHIP to heart’s content.

EAT!

This is just one of the many ways I get creative with COOL WHIP, making every dessert more delicious. Share what your kids love about COOL WHIP and you’ll be entered to win $500 cash!

Visit the COOL WHIP Facebook page to see more recipes and to share your own COOL WHIP creations!

Sponsored posts are purely editorial content that we are pleased to have presented by a participating sponsor. Advertisers do not produce the content. Official Sweepstakes Rules.

Writing Prompts

Mama Kat — Mon, 21 May 2012 18:00:00 +0000

Every week you’re invited to join me in Writer’s Workshop by responding to one of the provided writing prompts posted each Tuesday. The directions are simple:

Choose a writing prompt from the list provided that inspires you most.
Write.
Come back this Thursday and paste the URL from your post into the list of links that will be displayed…this way anyone can click on your post thumbnail and head over to your place to see what you wrote.

To view more detailed instructions on how this weekly meme works, check out the Writer’s Workshop FAQs.

Writing Prompts:

Some Favorites From Last Week:

“…He flexed his right arm and guided it back a bit so that he could eject his fist right into my stomach.” –Finally Mom

“It was years before I could go past a miniature golf course without my heart beating a little harder.” –Confessions of a Recovering Supermom

“I wondered if I somehow made her unkind.” –A Little Cup of Comfort

“I swore I would never let my kids dictate life like that. I know better now.” -Bex Built A Family

“Finally! Someone noticed us brown-eyed girls.” –These Days of Mine

Kalia

Mama Kat — Sun, 20 May 2012 18:00:00 +0000

Laina wasn’t always Laina, she was supposed to be Kalia. (pronounced: Lay-nuh and Kuh-lee-yuh). My heart was SET on Kalia. A Google search told me it was Hawaiian for ‘beautiful’ and and that sealed it. It couldn’t be more perfect.

I shared her name with everyone and for seven months that’s what I called my growing belly.

Little Kalia.

Dear, sweet, adorable, chocolate-covered Kalia.

When I was seven months along Pat and I took a trip to Hawaii with Maile in tow. We shared our baby name with the family and the family was all “Kalia’s nice…but it definitely doesn’t mean ‘beautiful’…it’s actually a type of Hawaiian tree”.

And then Pat was all “We’re not naming our daughter after a tree” and with that, my seven months of calling my baby Kalia had ended.

I was irritated.

So WHAT if it was a tree…it’s a pretty name!

When we got home I went to visit my Mom and my sister and I was all “OMG I’m so annoyed with Pat!” and I told them about the name issue and I was all “The thing is I’ve thought of EVERY name possible and I really love Kalia!! That’s it. There is no other name! I mean, I challenge anyone to come up with a name that I might like better than Kalia! It’s just not going to happen and I’m so mad at Pat!”

My sister was concerned. Naming future children is a favorite past time of hers and she felt my pain on the loss of a name I had my heart set on.

She furrowed her brow and when I finished talking she said, “What about….Laina?”

And I was all “oooooh I like that!”

And so we named her Laina.

And my birthday girl just turned seven.

Happy Birthday Laina!
(May be time for a new pair of pants?)

You turned three.
You turned four.
You turned five.
You turned six.

This One Time…I Gave My Cat Away

Mama Kat — Fri, 18 May 2012 18:00:00 +0000

This one time my cat had kittens and I was in cat HEAVEN. I loved cats and kittens and dogs and puppies and just all furry, lovable creatures.

I thought I was a cat whisperer and prided myself on the fact that I could be patient enough to get ANY cat in the neighborhood to come over and let me pet it.

When my cat ‘Kitty’ had her babies I begged to keep one. My Mom is really good at saying no to EVERYTHING, but I was really good at sweet talking her into anything and one day in the lobby at the dentist she was all, “Kathy, your Dad and I decided to let you keep one of the kittens,” and I was OVER THE MOON EXCITED!

When there was one kitten left we let the ad in the newspaper expire and I knew that little bundle was all mine. I named her Tigger because she had stripes and I was happy.

And then these two girls showed up at our gate and they were all “Hi, we saw an ad about kittens in the newspaper and we are so so hoping you have one left!! We wanted to give one to a little friend of ours for her birthday”.

And there I was standing at the gate, listening to their sob story and feeling guilty about the kitten I had in the house when here they didn’t have any at all.

“There’s one left…” I said.

And I went in the house and grabbed my kitten…the only one left…the one that was mine and I handed it over to those girls to give to the little girl who didn’t have a kitten, but was going to get one for her birthday.

“Ohhhhhh!” They delightedly cuddled my kitten.

I walked back to the house feeling 10% glad there was a girl out there getting a kitten and 90% just pissed those girls had to go show up at our gate.

Together Holding Hands

Mama Kat — Thu, 17 May 2012 18:00:00 +0000

Lately the girls have been asking a lot of questions about my Dad. Why did he die, how old was I, do I miss him.

I answer honestly…he was sick with cancer, I was seven, and yes.

For awhile they were just curious, but now I see they are sad for me because they have a Dad and surely they wouldn’t want HIM to get the Cancer.

Last week I overheard Laina’s worried whisper, “MAILE…did you see Daddy has some grey hair!?! Ohhhhh…I don’t want Daddy to die!!”

Clearly they don’t quite get it all the way, but they’re close.

Yesterday in the car we were listening to the radio and in between songs Maile said, “Mommy? Sometimes when I hear sad songs I imagine you and your Dad walking together holding hands.”

And then we got home and she drew a picture.

Of me.

And my Dad.

Walking together.

You know…in case I wasn’t finished GRIEVING or something.

Thanks for ripping that wound wide open Maile!

Writer’s Workshop: Something Kind

Mama Kat — Wed, 16 May 2012 18:00:00 +0000

3.) Write about a time you saw someone doing something kind for someone else. (inspired by Gigi’s Ramblings)

I’m aware that someday my kids will prefer their friends over me. I mean…it’s hard to IMAGINE, because I’m very current and hip, but I know that at one point in my life my friends meant more to me than anything in the world. So it’s bound to cycle back around.

In the mean time, because I believe they’ll have a significant impact on their lives, I have to try to raise my kids to be kind and to pick good friends. How do you even DO that?

Last year I took a frantic Maile to school. She gets frantic about going to school every once in awhile the way a child might get frantic about being thrown into shark infested waters without a life jacket. The compassionate mother in me wants to keep her home during these spells while the disciplined mother needs her to know she can’t choose not to go to school every time it feels uncomfortable to her.

On this particular day I told her she had to go and I was sticking to my guns.

She hated me.

I hated me.

It was miserable. I forced her out of the car and she walked screaming and crying to the fence where her class waited for their teacher.

My heart hurt watching her…knowing how scared she was and feeling like I had just abandoned her.

And then this beautiful thing happened, a little blond girl walked up to crying Maile, squatted down next to her and grabbed her hand. It was the sweetest thing. She didn’t have to do that, but some wonderful mother out there taught her daughter what it means to be kind to people who are hurting and that little girl swooped right in to help.

Hand in hand, they walked to class together.

Thank you thank you thank you!

I knew in that moment, Maile was learning she could find comfort in a friend. And I was learning that it was okay to let go just a smidge and allow her friends to take care of her.

I just hope her future friends are as kind to her as that one was.

Now it’s your turn!

The Prompts:

1.) Share a story from fourth grade. (inspired by Wild Life in the Woods).

2.) Describe where you were when you met a boy. (inspired by Sadie Dear)

3.) Write about a time you saw someone doing something kind for someone else. (inspired by Gigi’s Ramblings)

4.) Name something you swore you’d never do when you had kids, but now find yourself doing. (inspired by Not So Newly)

5.) List the songs that tell your life story (so far). (inspired by Moments That Define Life)

To The Ocean!

Mama Kat — Tue, 15 May 2012 18:00:00 +0000

I thought the ocean would be the perfect place for Pat and I to take the kids this past weekend.

I’ve been along the Oregon coast (you should go) and also to California and Hawaii, but have never visited the ocean in my own state. How does one not visit ones own ocean?** I know!

And then I remembered how much I actually dislike sand and salt water and WIND and I realized that’s exactly why my interactions with the ocean have been so minimal. It’s because I don’t care.

But I decided to care on Sunday.

We ended up renting an electric boat that went no faster than 5 miles an hour while weaving in and out of canals that weren’t actually even attached to the ocean and the kids were in heaven. They saw racoons and baby ducks and deer and I was all “See I KNEW going to the ocean was an awesome idea! WE SHOULD LIVE HERE!”

And then we drove over to the actual ocean and I all was all “look at all the sand and salt water and wind…doesn’t that look like fun kids??”

I had pictured Mother’s Isle…myself on the beach in my retro suit, the children splashing in and out of the water until sundown, but instead pulled my hoodie over my head, wrapped a gigantic blanket around my family and willed myself to brave the freezing wind and sand and saltwater until my kids had had their fill.

Kainoa and Mr. Hawaii were done within five minutes. Pat is convinced my blood is different than his Hawaiian blood and that he is physically incapable of tolerating a cold ocean.

The girls and I forged ahead.

And by ‘the girls and I’, I mean…Maile and Laina actually played in the freezing cold ocean while I cocooned myself in our blanket to protect myself from the elements until they were done.

It wasn’t easy.

But I survived.

We won’t be moving there after all.

In action:

**My sister told me I make it sound like I “grew up in Ohio or something” where water is replaced with corn fields. To be clear, I live near many bodies of water that feed into the ocean within minutes of our home that we visit often. One might argue *cough my sister* that the bodies of water I frequent ARE the ocean, but I say it’s not the same. When I say I “haven’t been to the ocean in our state” I mean like the actual OCEAN ocean…you know…with expansive beaches and large waves and horses and kites and that kind of thing. I do not live in Ohio, but visiting a corn field is next on my list!**

Old People Are Cute

Mama Kat — Tue, 15 May 2012 09:00:00 +0000

Old people are cute…especially when they’re using the computer. Take a look at YouTube’s most adorable old people and try NOT to adopt them as your own.

This webcam captured an adorable old couple trying to figure out how to work their webcam…they didn’t realize it was on the entire time:

The most adorable video of old people playing the piano together that you ever did see:

Grandma’s watch Kim Kardashian’s sex tape…it’s explicit folks. Old ladies can be so VULGAR!:

Writing Prompts

Mama Kat — Mon, 14 May 2012 18:00:00 +0000

Every week you’re invited to join me in Writer’s Workshop by responding to one of the provided writing prompts posted each Tuesday. The directions are simple:

Choose a writing prompt from the list provided that inspires you most.
Write.
Come back this Thursday and paste the URL from your post into the list of links that will be displayed…this way anyone can click on your post thumbnail and head over to your place to see what you wrote.

To view more detailed instructions on how this weekly meme works, check out the Writer’s Workshop FAQs.

Writing Prompts:

1.) Share a story from fourth grade. (inspired by Wild Life in the Woods).

2.) Describe where you were when you met a boy. (inspired by Sadie Dear)

3.) Write about a time you saw someone doing something kind for someone else. (inspired by Gigi’s Ramblings)

4.) Name something you swore you’d never do when you had kids, but now find yourself doing. (inspired by Not So Newly)

5.) List the songs that tell your life story (so far). (inspired by Moments That Define Life)

Some favorites from last week:

“I might have to hide it, but I was never going to be able to hear my son cry without having this visceral reaction.” –Not Just Another Mother Blogger

“…just because I didn’t have a great mother doesn’t mean that I can’t be one myself.” –Mommy Boots

“while you are glorious in your nature and your promising presence brings genuine feelings of hope, I wonder why you take so long to come around?” -blisfulvida

“ There was no better feeling in the world than riding that yellow bike down the big hill with my hair in the wind and my best friend by my side on her bike with her, umm…duck.” –Be Still A Minute

“As long as there are no jelly fish, I’ll make it out to the ocean and just stand there… for hours.” –Stylenerd.net

5.) List the songs that tell your life story (so far). (inspired by Moments That Define Life)