Letter to my Dog

My Luigi

They say dogs come into our lives to teach us about love, and they depart to teach us about loss. I’ve heard plenty about pets and dogs these last few days, as friends and family try to comfort me from my recent loss, and I realize everyone has a special story about the bond they’ve once shared with a four-legged buddy. This is what I would tell my buddy if I could hold him one more time; I always did think he could understand what I was saying…

"It is impossible to put into words the happiness you brought into my life. You filled my days with laughter, light, life and unconditional love, and for that I will forever be grateful. Originally you belonged to someone else, but only now do I understand you were always destined for me, or maybe I was destined for you.

You’re not here anymore to greet me every time I come home, you don’t follow my every step around the house, you don't wag your tail when I smile at you, you don’t sleep or wake by my side anymore. The whole house feels quiet, too quiet and lonely; Oh! you can’t imagine how lonely it feels. Now there is only pain, a lot of it. Your absence, the absence of your smell, your many sounds, the sight of your wet paw prints all over the house… just the memory of you hurts. They say it will continue to hurt, until one day it won’t.  They say one day it will stop hurting  and someday I will be able to smile again when I think of you and the brief time we shared. 

They also say eventually I must move one, whatever that means, but for now, just for now I want to hold on to every memory I have of you, every smell, every wag of your tail I can remember, every look you ever gave me, every toy you ever fetched, every trick you ever taught me, every white thin hair I still find on my black clothes…

You were taken from me too soon. But maybe you’d taught me all I needed to know about loyalty and love. Maybe you needed to leave me on my own to be able to put in practice everything I ever learned from you. But Oh! how I wish you hadn’t…

It doesn’t cease to amaze me how much a tiny creature could do for my soul. You were the most loyal companion I’ve ever had. You taught me about unconditional love more than any human being ever has. You changed my life. You changed the way I love and my understanding of love. You made my days brighter. You kept me company at the worst of times, you cheered me up, you brought me back to life. You saved me. I wish I could’ve saved you back.

And to those who say or think you were "just a dog", I can only wish for them that once in their lifetime they are lucky enough to encounter, recognize and love a creature as marvelous as you were.

I will continue to miss you, even after it stops hurting. Until then, I’ll hold you again in my dreams tonight…"

Make your own Snow Globes and Calm Jars!

I've been wanting to make a calming jar for a while now, finally had the perfect rainy afternoon on sunday.  I've seen them all over Pinterest and love how fun and beautiful they are and the idea behind them! Calming Down Jars, Calm Jars, Time Out Jars, Mind Jars or just regular Ol' Snow Globes, whatever you decide to call them, these fun tools can be made in a jiffy and can actually come in handy when your child, or yourself, are feeling stressed, moody, upset or overwhelmed. 

The idea behind a Calming Jar is you can use them when your little ones are feeling anxious, angry, rattled or shaken. You shake the contents and watch as it slowly settles down. The glitter represents our agitated thoughts and feelings. Watching it slowly fall into place, can give us a few minutes to organize these thoughts and feelings.  It's actually extremely therapeutic and are even used as meditation tools. They are also a great alternative for time outs...but look great even when they're not in use.

I tried two versions. The first were your regular snow globes, though super fun and beautiful, the glitter settled pretty quickly (I skipped the glitter glue on these). Don't know if they'll serve the calming down purpose, but these were my six year old favorites, probably because they were Disney inspired and she'll love anything Frozen. I think these would be beautiful to make around christmas time with holidays motifs. 

What you'll need:

• A empty jar (glass or plastic, think mason, jam or peanut butter)
• Glue Gun or water resistant glue
• Glitter
• Plastic Toy Figurines
• Water

Optional: 

Glitter Glue (contents will take longer to settle) or Food coloring. 

If you can't find small toy figurines, which I doubt... You can use lego pieces, glow in the dark stars, glow sticks, you name it! 

Glue the figurines to the jar's lid (Floating figurines make great fun too!)

Empty the glitter into the water. Super fine glitter will float to the top when jar is at rest. (If you are using glitter glue water must be warm to hot, otherwise you'll end up with a gooey mess which will have the complete opposite effect of calming!)

Secure lid, turn over and shake contents well.

Watch as the glitter slowly settles...

...and Voilà!

To make your own Glitter Glue Calm Jar, empty a bottle of glitter glue into a jar, add warm to hot water, and shake vigorously for five minutes until the glue is completely dissolved. Water temperature is key people! You can add additional glitter if desired or combine glue colors. These are ideal for time outs, as the contents will take longer to settle. Feel free to throw in miniature figurines. For extra Glow in the dark fun, you can empty the contents of a glow stick into the mix (I've not tried this myself!)

 Empty the contents of a large glitter glue bottle of the color of your choice into an empty jar. 

Add hot water and shake well until glue dissolves completely.

Your Calm Jar will look something like this when shaken. 

I found it does take a while for contents to settle, so unless you are planning to give your child a two day time out, do not expect for the mix to settle completely. Water will likely remain the color of the glue.

 Keep Calm & Craft Away!

XO

The Real Parenting Guides

The truth about motherhood is, well; nobody ever tells you the truth about motherhood. It sure is a fun ride, like nothing else in this life, but it can be equally scary and boy can it be hard. It can be even harder if you are doing this alone, clueless, for the first time, and trying to live up to ridiculous standards set by outdated parenting guides, Hollywood; and frankly anything or anyone who ever told you it was easy. 

I am a mother of one (Yes, just one, as I am often pointed out). I had my five year old way before most of my friends were even married. Hadn't it been for a couple of friends who were a couple of months ahead down the same road, I pretty much did this clueless (just like everyone else, as I realized later on). My mother frankly couldn't even remember at what age I started walking. I had all these questions and nobody outside my pediatrician's office who actually cared. I didn't know if it was normal my baby wasn't crawling by the time she was 10 months, didn't walk until she was 16 months  or didn't say much by the time she was 2. And those were just the regular bits all new mothers wonder.  Then came the late postpartum depression, and there I was feeling completely alone and guilty for hating breastfeeding and wanting to occasionally doze off on the old cough medicine and just getting some actual sleep. 

Every time I searched for answers in the classic parenting guides, I ended up even more frustrated.  My kid wasn't eating, sleeping, talking or walking, and frankly I wasn't enjoying this at all. Surely enough, I was finding answers to all my textbook questions, but I wasn't relating at all to all the parenting BS. 

With time I've learnt I wasn't alone. And just when I thought I didn't need these parenting guides at all, I found an entire movement of Mommies all over the world speaking, blogging, posting, and writing and surprisingly, laughing their guilty, tired, amateur, sleep deprived heart and brains out.

Here is a list of my favorite kind of parenting guides: The Real Ones. Written by Moms all over the world who don't actually take themselves (or parenting) too seriously for us that still do, who share the common thread that binds us all: the undying love for our little earthquakes.

Click on each title to buy directly on Amazon and make sure to visit the authors' blogs. 

1. I Heart My Little A-Holes: A bunch of holy-crap moments no one ever told you about parenting, Karen Alpert

2. I Just Want to Pee Alone, by Jen of People I Want to Punch in the Throat

3. Moms Who Drink and Swear, Nicole Knepper

4. Sh*tty Mom: The Parenting Guide for the Rest of Us

5. Confessions of a Scary Mommy: An Honest and Irreverent Look at Motherhood - The Good, The Bad and the Scary by Jill Smokler

6. Motherhood Come Naturally (and Other Vicious Lies), Jill Smokler

7. Ketchup is a Vegetable: And Other Lies Moms Tell Themselves, Robin O'Bryant

8. Second Helping: A Collection Of Popular Columns, Robin O'Bryant

9. Reasons Mommy Drinks, Lyranda Martin-Evans and Fiona Stevenson

10. I just Want To Be Alone

Okay so number 10 is not technically a Parenting Guide, But if you enjoyed I Just Want to Pee Alone, you'll love I Just Want to Be Alone, a collection of the funniest essays dedicated to the Men in our lives. 

Happy Parenting!

X0

5 SUMMER LIGHT READS

I'm not going down the "there's nothing like a good old page turner on a white sand beach in the summer" road on this one, mostly because when it's summer in most places around the world, in my hemisphere it's rainy season. However, every summer, or every winter in my case, when everyone else is getting excited about spending a month at the beach, I get excited about newly released titles. Early may I begin browsing summer reading lists, from Buzzfeed to The Huff Post to Lauren Conrad's. I mostly stick to chick-lit, so if your are looking for deep, philosophical, life altering reads; yeah this might not be the list you're looking for. If, however, you are looking to disconnect from your own troubles, and have a peek inside fictional, girly, fun and relatable character's lives, you might just enjoy these. 

These are my summer picks, three of which I've already breezed through. 

Click on each title for book reviews, plot summaries and to buy directly on Amazon.

1. The One & Only, Emily Giffin

I love anything Emily Giffin, but never in a million years would I have thought I would make it through a novel about and around college football, and little did I imagine I would actually enjoy it. Well, I did. I can already picture Kevin Costner playing a mature sexy Coach Clive Carr in an imaginary big screen adaptation. 

Other Emily Giffin Oldies but Goodies:

HEART OF THE MATTER

LOVE THE ONE YOU'RE WITH

SOMETHING BORROWED SERIES (If you ever saw the film adaptation, please forget it even exists and give this three book series a chance. The dil doesn't do justice to any of the three books!)

2. All Fall Down, Jennifer Weiner

I must confess this one is still in the process of being devoured, and I must say I am currently fascinated with Allison Weiss 's struggle with her prescription drugs habit, and what I think might be Jennifer Weiner's best work to date.

3. The Vacationers, Emma Straub

This is the first novel I've ever read by Straub, and must say I enjoyed every turn of the page. Join The Posts on their family vacation to Mallorca, as the secrets of this slightly dysfunctional family are unveiled. 

4. The Matchmaker, Elin Hilderbrand

You know it's summer when a new Elin Hilderbrand novel hits the stands; the queen regent of the easy-breezy summer read: as The New York Post calls her.  Okay, after reading plot summaries and reviews, this might not exactly turn out to be a ''light read'. Filled with tragedy, lost love and heartbreak, you'll be transported as in most of Hilderbrand's novels, to the idyllic island setting of Nantucket, where Dabney Kimball Beech, who has a gift for matchmaking, has lived all her life, and now encounters her own past choices and second chances.

5. Tempting Fate, Jane Green

This novel was actually released in march, and read it literally in four days. I completely forgot to shower, as it usually occurs when I begin reading anything Jane Green. A complex and honest story of love, infidelity, family and ultimately of redemption, as a happily married forty-two year old Gabby has an affair and changes everything for her family.

Other Jane Green MUST-READS:

PROMISES TO KEEP

ANOTHER PIECE OF MY HEART

SWAPPING LIVES

JEMIMA J

MR. MAYBE

Happy Reading!

XO

Summer Fun Bucket Lists

I hate summer vacations. There I said it. I'm sorry but I really do. This is around the only time of the year I really dread being a mom of just or only one, because this means it is up to me and only me, no teachers, no classmates, no older or younger siblings, to make everyday some kind of fun for my five year old. So, being the compulsive pinner that I am, I gathered the best Summer Bucket Lists I could find on Pinterest. I still have one more week of summer camp (and sleeping in till pick-up time at noon) before we set ourselves to actually trying any of these, but I'm guessing they should be fun. Best part of most of them, is you can have great summer fun at little or no cost at all! Apparently fort building, bubble blowing, sprinklers and basically anything that involves throwing water at each other are a sure hit.

If you are feeling inspired and would rather come up with your own Summer Bucket List of things that can be more likely done in your area, you can try your own Summer Fun Brainstorm Session tonight at dinner. Have everyone come up with a number of activities they'd each like to do before Summer's out, jot them down, and toss them in a box or jar. Every day, or okay let's be honest here, every week, each family member gets to randomly pick an activity and everyone can join in the fun. 

Summer bucket lists (which yes, only work if you actually do whatever is on them) are a great way of sharing, bonding, creating priceless memories for the lil' munchkins, and learning to appreciate the simpler joys in life. And hey, who knows? maybe it'll be back to school before you know it! (hello again, mornings to myself...)

Click on the links below each list for more Summer Fun ideas, crafts, freebies, DIY, and recipes

1. For more, check out yellowblissroad.com

2. For other Summer Fun Ideas, visit familysponge.com

3. How great is this weekly schedule? For Bethany's 2014 Summer Bucket List, check out Inthiscrazylife-bethany.blogspot.com

4. Want more 2014 summer fun ideas? Go to MOMS CONFESSION

5. For more crafts and fun stuff, check out BEE PINK

6. For more than 100 creative things to do this summer with your kids, visit Glued to my crafts blog

7. For hundreds of ideas and many other bucket lists check out The DailyDigi

8.  For this and other freebies, go to Laura Winslow Photography

9.  For this awesome list and other great tips on surviving road trips with kids and hot to encourage outdoor play, visit KidtoKid - The Blog

10. For this and more printables, recipes, DIY and projects for kids, visit Christina Williams

XO!

Life*.

wordsbrand.com

Wow. A month since I last posted. Just like that. Let me warn you before you proceed. This is the kind of post I usually write for myself. If you do decide to accompany me in this journey, please bear with me, in my heart it all does make sense.

We were recently on vacation with my husband, when we witnessed the life of a middle-aged man being claimed by the clear blue waters of an apparently tranquil ocean. A blonde fragile woman was kneeling on the white sand beach holding her late husband's hand, refusing to have his body covered and removed from the scene as all attempts to bring him back to life were unsuccessful. It was truly heartbreaking and even if I didn't personally know this couple my eyes teared up and could almost feel her pain as my own. 

I've been thinking about this tragic scene every single day since. This couple was probably on holiday just like we were, probably celebrating an anniversary too, or maybe a birthday, a retirement. They had probably waited years to take this trip. He had probably woken up that morning and after a hearty breakfast had decided to go for a swim, had even probably scheduled some golf for that same afternoon; little did he know his heart had decided to stop that very morning.

I could only imagine the pain his wife was feeling as she knelt on the sand refusing to let go. Her pain as she returned home alone. Their children had probably planned a surprise welcome home party. They would probably be eager to see the pictures, hear the stories, tell their parents how much they missed them.  I wonder when was the last time they told him 'I love you'...

This got me thinking, what if it had been my husband that morning? What if it had been me? What if it had been my very own heart that had suddenly decided to stop as I swam the same clear blue waters that claimed this man's life? What if it decides to stop tomorrow, maybe? Right after having breakfast, ready for a quick shower, with a day full of plans ahead. I would have said goodbye to my baby as she left for school with my husband, just like everyday, unsuspecting this would be the last, the last everything; ever. But how many things would I leave undone? How many I love yous would I leave unsaid? How many words would I leave unspoken? How much time would I have wasted? How many hugs and cuddles would I leave ungiven? How many dreams would I leave unaccomplished? How many regrets would weigh my soul down to this world?

It often takes an event this tragic or even just a thought like this to reflect on the fragility of life. Death should be no surprise, it is in fact the only constant reminder that we are here just in passing. No later, no soon, no tomorrow should be ever taken for granted.  No "I forgive you", or "I'm sorry", or "I love you" or "I miss you" should ever be left unspoken. Tomorrow is too long a wait.

The more I think about this scene the more I prefer to imagine this man left nothing unsaid or undone. I like to think that that very morning he spoke on the phone with his children and grandchildren, as he always did, and told them how much he loved them and missed them and how much they were enjoying this trip. Maybe he told them about how the day before he had tried something new, something he'd never done before, like diving, or snorkeling or parasailing. Maybe they had laughed to tears over the phone. Maybe that was the very same day of their anniversary, and on that same morning he kissed and thanked his wife for a beautiful life together and the loving family they had created. Maybe as he swam into the vastness of the ocean he smiled as he thought there was no clock he would turn, for he had lived and loved fully with no regrets, and maybe, just maybe; he even felt ready.

Valentine's Day Crafts & Treats Ideas for Kids (Big & Lil' Ones!)

Every major school holiday or special occasion such as Christmas, Valentine's, Easter, Summer or Halloween, I like to make a little something for my daughter's friends and classmates. I started doing this when she began pre-school and loved being able to share some quality time with her and teach her new fun creative ways of putting her little hands to work, and teaching her at the same time, the concept of sharing and giving. She loves having an active roll in the making of these crafts and treats so I usually let her work with me, delegating a specific task that will make her feel special, whether it's assembling the finished treat bags in a box for her to take to school the next day, writing her name, or anything she'll be proud to announce she made it herself.  So I've spent the past couple of days on Pinterest browsing for ideas for this upcoming valentine's day. I can't believe how many loving creative mommas have been so kind to share their own crafts, many of them including step by step instructions and great free printables on their sites. I've included links to their sites so you can visit their amazing blogs for other creative and fun tutorials and ideas on crafts, baking, decor, design, party planning and whatnot. Now you can also PIN directly from LADV to your Pinterest boards in a jiffy!

I tried to include mostly healthy snacks, though it is hard to resist the cutest m&m tic tac toe game! (Remember it's better to stay on the safe side - no nuts- in case of diet restrictions and food allergies) If you'd rather steer away from food altogether, at the end of this post, you'll find great craft ideas with small toys and party favors.

We are still undecided between the cereal craft or the goldfish treat bags (she'd do one of each if she could!) but here are plenty of ideas to choose from! Some of these would even make great treats for the older kids and even your office co-workers! Remember it's the thought that counts!

thewinthropchronicles.com

hellobee.com

Icanteachmychild.com

blissfullydomestic.com

momsandmunchkins.ca

simplyradiant.blogspot.com

babble.com

marcicoombs.blogspot.com

twomoreminutes.com

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 sallyjshim.com

cupcakecutieesparty.com

domesticatedlady.com

crazylittleprojects.com

craftingintherain.com

blissfullydomestic.com

asmallsnippet.com

3garlandgirls.blogspot.com

funkypolkadotgiraffe.blogspot.com

onecreativemommy.com

hellobee.com

eatdrinkbecrafty.blogspot.com

eighteen25.blogspot.com

asmallsinppet.com

ourthriftyideas.com

www.dandee-designs.com

blissfullydomestic.com

armelleblog.com

thecreativemama.com

www.dandee-designs.com

eighteen25blogspot.com

lizziejanebaby.blogspot.com

madetobeamomma.com

Craft Away! Happy Valentine's Day!

XO!