The Captive Mommy

A few days ago Bo (3 1/2) comes to me with his toy cell phone and says “Mommy let me take your picture. Say CHEESE!” So I do. He says thanks then says “I’m going to woodyandbuzztoystory dot com on my buzz cell phone to play games!” all the while pressing buttons and studying the screen.

It’s amazing the things kids pick up from us! Hehe I can’t take the credit for this one…I don’t have internet on my phone so he must have gotten it from hubby

Something else Bo does that he got from his daddy…he sings “Psychosocial”…not exactly the kind of music for a 3yo…it use to come out as “Cycle Soaper” but its getting closer and closer to the real thing…at least he doesn’t know what it means, right?

His vocabulary is sometimes enough to catch me off guard.

Bo: “I need water before bed.”
Me: “Why?”
Bo:  “Because I’m not hydrated enough.”

Um okay…it shocked me enough to let him out of bed for a drink.

So this morning I was happily updating my portfolio over at SPS and I decided I wanted to include my awesome design of this blog.  I bee-bopped over to take a screen-shot and a moment of sadness nearly overcame me!  I could hardly believe it had been so long since I updated this blog.  Everytime I’ve thought of CM I knew I needed to update but things kept getting in the way.

Captive by what?  Family, work and Facebook.  LOL!  My family is doing great.  The boys are growing (way too fast) and the holidays are fast approaching (AHHHHH!!!!).  Here’s a pic of us in front of my Mom’s “The Great Pumpkin”

The Great Pumpkin

You’ll notice Levi’s look of horror…well Daddy tried to get him to sit on top of the pumpkin (it’s the blow-up kind and not very sturdy) and for all Levi’s bravery he wouldn’t have anything to do with it.  Bo named the decoration “The Great Pumpkin” from his favorite Peanuts movie.

As for work…well SPS is flourishing.  After a business remodel (thanks to my adviser’s prompting — that’s Chip by the way) SPS is keeping me very busy.  My current count of custom website designs is 26 (Yay!)  For two years of work, that ain’t bad

In my spare time (when I should be sleeping) I am usually on Facebook.  The first step to curing addictions is admitting you have a problem…well I don’t have a problem   What has me so ensnared?  Games.  I love Facebook games!  Some of my favorites are developed by Zynga.  My top 3 are:

• YoVille (virtual town where you go to work to earn a living, buy homes and decorations and clothes)
• Mafia Wars (snuff out rival mafias and work your way up to the boss)
• Cafe World (run your own cafe, decorate and make tasty-looking dishes)

Some of the other games I like are Sunshine Ranch (it’s not very well developed and has a LOT of glitches but it’s still fun and VERY colorful), FarmTown (my original game obsession that has kinda fizzed out since I have the biggest farm and almost all the stuff) and FarmVille (similar to FarmTown).

So now that I have renewed my blog I promise I’ll be back soon and keep you updated!
~TTFN

Apple iPhone…everyone has one or everyone wants one…or atleast it seems that way…I’m the latter.  I want one of these cool phones SO BADLY that I’ve entered several contests to try and win one.  One of the contests can be found here: http://www.quickpwn.com/2009/06/win-a-free-iphone-3g-s.html

I’m sure you will hear me from here if I win one

Tonight the ladies from my church are getting together for Fiesta Night! I volunteered to bring the makings for sopapillas! If you’ve never had a bite (that’s all it takes to be hooked for life) of this delicious dessert you are definitely missing out! Our favorite local Mexican restaurant, La Parilla serves them and they rock! So what are they? How do you make them? Here’s all the info and the recipe.

Sopapillas are fried flour tortillas or flat bread flavored with honey. Of course I jazz them up a little   You can increase or decrease any of the ingredients based on your personal preferences (besides the tortilla).

* (5/9/09) I modified the recipe and added the photo after the party to reflect how best to make them.

When I stay up until 12 or 1 with Levi I usually end up hungry before I go to sleep. Last night my snack was a couple of brownies and milk (everything is always better when accompanied by milk). Most times I can eat (or drink) anything — even coffee — before bed and it doesn’t bother me, but last night…whew! My dreams were enough to make me stop eating brownies (or any other type of chocolate) before bed!

I wrote about being one of the last people I know to read Twilight. The first book was good. So good I ordered the box set off Amazon with next-day shipping just so I can see what happens next — it’ll be here tomorrow. Last night we had a girls night and watched the movie. So that was fresh on my mind.

On my way to my friends’ house I had some sort of epiphany. It was a seemingly very good idea for another of my random writings so when I got there I wrote it down. Mommy brain causes me to forget things easily so at least this way I’d have some sort of way of recalling the idea(s). This idea was still forming in my head right before bed.

Another part of my strange and bazaar dreams was the song “Dead Man” by Jars of Clay. I bought the song on iTunes yesterday and added it to my iPod. Hubby really likes it and the beat is very catchy so I was singing it all day yesterday…and all night last night.

So these dreams were a mixture of Twilight, my new novel idea and this song. Something like this: Edward Cullen in 1850 England to the tune of “Carry me! I’m just a dead man lying on the carpet, can’t find a heartbeat. Make me breathe. I wanna be a new man. Tired of the old one, off with the old man.” If you know anything about Twilight and have heard this song (if not click here) then you know how ironic this combination is. This is an inspirational song symbolic of our dead life without Christ. Twilight is about vampires. Where 19th century England comes into all the irony has yet to be seen, but it did make for very strange dreams.

I say dreams (plural) because when I’m asleep and happen to be having a dream if I’m provoked to semi-consciousness (like hubby leaving for work at 5am) I can usually return to the dream in progress. The dream usually takes a turn of some kind, new setting, new plot, etc. but overall the dream doesn’t stop. This equals the same type of dream in different settings with different things happening. Thank the Lord above (seriously) that I don’t remember most of the dreams. They freaked me out enough while dreaming them I have no need to be tormented while I’m awake trying to figure out what they mean. I do have a theory of what they were trying to convey:

STOP eating chocolate before bed! Well I’m out of brownies now so at least until I make more…maybe next time Edward will tell me the secret to actually finishing one of my novels so I can become a famous author! Ha!

I’m NOT wishing my kids to grow up faster than necessary but Bo is already building up the skills to be a good daddy one day. Of course he has the greatest example to go by. Hubby always makes time for him and his little brother no matter what. Bo has this stuffed lion — he has a whole zoo he sleeps with but this lion is his favorite — named Steve (as in Blues Clues). This morning I was just getting Levi out of bed and Bo says “Steve is my baby!” I can’t even begin to explain the cuteness of it all but more importantly he seems to know exactly how to manage a ‘baby’. He cuddled him close and whispered “It’s okay, Steve. Don’t cry.” I almost teared up!

Hoping to get the most of this special moment I asked him some questions

Me: So you are Steve’s Daddy?
Bo: Yes!
Me: What does Steve eat?
Bo: Umm..(thinking)…baby lion food…oh and coffee!!
Me: Do you change Steve’s diaper when he’s wet or dirty?
Bo: No! (apparently he’s planning on having the mommy do that)

The coffee thing is another funny story. Whenever Bo is around and I’m drinking coffee he always wants some. Well more than some. If I didn’t stop him he’d drink it all. We aren’t big on letting him drink things with caffeine so the occasional sip of coffee isn’t the end of the world. I think its the ‘adultness’ of the drink that makes him want it. Hubby and I have Starbucks gift cards and Bo found one this morning (prior to Steve drinking it) and he asked if he could have some coffee. I always use times like this to help him pretend so I gave him a cup and said go to Starbucks and get you some coffee.

Another thing he does a lot lately is push his shopping cart around ’shopping’ for groceries. The cart is usually filled with monster trucks, Steve and other various toys. This is also something he gets from his daddy. Hubby is the best grocery shopper in our house. Somehow (don’t ask me how) he can take the same list and amount of money and come home with twice the groceries that I would. We often go shopping as a family so Bo sees this first hand. He thought it was cool when I told him that Kroger has a Starbucks inside and he can shop for groceries and drink coffee. He promptly plopped his ‘coffee’ cup into his shopping cart and off he went.

One of my favorite things to do is read. I brag that I can finish a *good* 300 page book in less than 24 hours. Perhaps not such a feat, but I do have a hubby, two kids, and a business tugging for attention. Anyway I love reading. The only thing that can make books better is someone reading books to me. I don’t want just anyone reading to me though. A nice sounding reader is essential. Audio books open up a whole new avenue to reading. When listening to books I can accomplish lots of other things…blogging for example. I can eat without worry of scarring my precious books. Currently I’m listening to Twilight. Yes I’m probably the only person on the planet who hasn’t read it yet. Yes I’m talented enough to listen to a audio book and type at the same time. I’m a multitasker through and through

All of my other audio books are Jane Austen classics: Emma, Sense & Sensibility, Persuasion and Pride & Prejudice. I prefer the unabridged versions which are usually 10+ hours of listening time.

Comment question: Do you prefer paper books or audio books? What is your favorite book?

I have been wanting, for several weeks now, to recreate Captive Mommies into a more personal blog, shifting from the “club” type feeling. I wanted this for several reasons the main two being that I wanted a place to blog random things about my life (besides my family blog) and that the whole ‘meeting place for mommies’ just didn’t catch on like I had hoped it would. With that said I hope I still have at least one or two readers and if not then that’s okay too. I will build up my blog. I will build up my blog. I will build up my blog. If I say it enough maybe it will happen.

So here’s your official “Welcome to the New-ish Captive Mommy Blog!” Who is the Captive Mommy? Me that’s who! LOL! Okay so right off you know I’m not good at humor (at least not intentionally). My name is Sara Brooks and I am the Captive Mommy. I am captivated (or held captive) by many things. Just to name a few: my faith, my family and my business. I am a Christian. If you dislike that then this isn’t the blog for you. I am a stay-at-home-mom to my two sons (currently 3 years old and 7 months old). Hubby and I have been married for 6 years and we live in Georgia. I’m southern and I type my accented words just as I’d them. If that bugs you well…sorry. I also work from home and I have my own business, Sara*s Pixel Studio, where I design everything from websites and blogs, trademarks and logos to business cards and letterhead.

In the past (particularly after I had my 2nd son in Aug 08) I relied mostly on articles to carry the weight of this blog. I usually scheduled the posts three-four days apart and just left it until I knew the posts were about to run out then I’d add some more. I figured out this is NOT the way to blog and expect to still have readers (duh). With this new approach I knew it [the blog] needed a new look. Something creative, random and personal. I have seen so many blogs lately that are so ‘corporate’ or just thrown together and I did not want that type of look. One of my favorite blogs is KevinandAmanda.com and she always has the cutest blog layouts! (Check out all of her awesome FREE handwriting fonts too!)

I decided to try making a blog layout with a digital scrapbook kit — I figured this blog is kinda like a scrapbook. I shopped at goDigitalScrapbooking.com and found a great set by Snowflake Beach called Ashlyn’s Love. Making the layout from the scrapbooking kit was super easy, but getting the layout to work in WordPress…well that was harder than I thought it would be. But I hope you’ll agree that it was well worth it!

So welcome, kick back, grab some chocolate and/or coffee and don’t forget to post your comments with your blog link so I can come see you!

UBP 2009 Visitors: Sorry for the error! Click here to see the party.

It has always been my understanding that all toddlers to through a question stage.  I completely understand this phase and welcomed the day that my son would start.  He is very smart and we encourage him to ask for help and ask questions so that he feels he can always come to us for answers.  Honestly I wasn’t looking forward to the repetitive questions that come with this stage — you know the question they ask about 100 times every day until you scream at them to stop.

Most toddlers I’ve heard ask ‘why’ or ‘what’ questions like “What’s that?” (pointing) or “Why Mommy?”.  Bo does ask a small amount of ‘what’s that’ questions — usually when I’m driving and can’t look at whatever he’s pointing at.  So I fully expected this what/why stage.  That is NOT what I got.  His favorite question starts with ‘where’.  Imagine my frustration when he asks questions like “Where is the noise that leaves make?” (actual quote from my 3 year-old).

Here’s a typical question/answer session:

Bo:  Where is Aunt Carrie?
Me: She’s at work.
Bo:  Where is her work?
Me:  She works at the bank.
Bo:  Where is the bank?
Me:  Danielsville.
Bo:  Where is Danielsville?
Me: About 10 minutes from here.
Bo:  Where is Aunt Charis?
Me:  She’s at work, too.
Bo:  With Aunt Carrie?
Me:  No, she works at a different bank.
Bo:  Where is Aunt Charis’ bank?
Me:  In Colbert.
Bo:  Where is Colbert?
Me: Near Aunt Erin’s house.
Bo:  Where is Aunt Erin?
Me: Probably at home.
Bo:  Near Aunt Charis’ bank?
Me:  Yes.

This usually goes on and on, but for the sake of time and space I won’t continue.  So how do you explain where cities/towns, resturants, businesses, etc. are to a 3 year-old who has no concept of time or space?  His obsession with ‘where’ usually plops me into plundering the ‘where’ of things myself (as if I didn’t have enough to think/worry about )  I try to consider the best way to explain things to him so he won’t re-quote me to someone else, making me look like a moron for giving the easy answer of “back yonder” — I’m southern, don’t judge me by my accent — and I only gave this answer once then soon realized it had been immortalized.  Did I mention he has an amazing memory?

Back to the noise of leaves question.  I thought myself pretty smart for my answer — which he quickly showed me that he ‘knew that all along’ and I’m not as smart as I thought.

Bo:  Where is the noise that leaves make?
Me: It’s where the leaves are.
Bo:  Where are the leaves?
Me: You know where the leaves are.
Bo: On the trees?
Me: Yes.  Sometimes they are on the ground too.
Bo: Huh?

Another of his favorite things is “Huh?”.  Okay YES he gets this from me and his father — we say it far too often — but does every conversation have to include that annoying three-letter word?  I mean really?  I’m looking into his adorable little face, speaking in my best English and he follows it up with “Huh?”, a quirked mouth, and furrowed brows?  Normally I laugh.  I can’t help it — that is a natural reaction when he looks so cute.  Of course that throws him for a loop and he laughs too, making the ‘huh?’ yet another tool to get everyone to laugh.  Great!  As if he needs another way to make everyone smile and laugh…this kid should be on the comedy channel already. And I still have to repeat myself.

So for now I suppose I’m stuck in the world of ‘where’ and ‘huh’ at least until he moves on to other, harder, more debilitating questions like “Where do babies come from?” — oh wait that starts with where…