Red Stick Mom

My husband, Bill, and I recently took a baby care class at Woman’s Hospital. The official name for the class is “After Baby Comes (ABC): Baby Care and Parent Care. I’m now about two months from my due date, and with the holidays on the horizon we elected to go ahead and take the class in October. A word about our prior “experience” with babies: I’m a typical gal who loves to hold babies and who did her fair share of baby-sitting growing up. I also have seven younger cousins; so for the majority of my childhood, there was at least one baby hanging around. But I’ll admit that I've probably changed one diaper in the past five years and...

I REALLY love to craft. However, as a homeschooling single mom to 3 kids I have very little time. (Don't we all?) This year, I have hatched a plan to get my 5, 4, and 2 year olds into the crafting spirit! Plus, who doesn't have wonderful memories of those homemade ornaments you made when you were that age? I'm pretty sure my mom still has some popsicle stick angels in a box. This year I want to spend the holidays with my kids in the moment. Last year was my first Christmas as a single mom, and I did not even put up a tree; but this year is going to be a wonderful homemade Christmas packed with memories! Pinterest it up! We...

This post is a part of our Red Stick Moms Blog CONNECTS series for the 2013 Holiday Season.  This post is all about CONNECTing with your favorite person. Read more about our CONNECT series here. Not to be confused with Play Dates, “Day Dates” don’t actually involve kids at all.  They are what we grown ups like to refer to as “QT” or quality time together.  Recently, my hubs and I celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary, and after 6+ years with kids, our quality time together is few and far between.  Why? Because at the end of the day we are just spent.  After a long day of work, followed by homework, meals, bath, & bedtime, we love nothing more than...

About a year ago, I decided to attempt to teach Matthew, my oldest son, some thematic lessons.  You know…D is for Doggie or P is for Pumpkin (or W is for What Was I Thinking?)  I kid.  However, as a former teacher to much older children, I quickly realized that I was seriously lacking in Early Childhood Education skills.  I decided to do our first thematic unit on A is for Apple.  This was pretty basic and I knew there were resources everywhere. We quickly discovered the lovely book Apple Farmer Annie by Monica Wellington.  This sweet story chronicles the duties of an apple farmer while highlighting the many uses for apples.  The story depicts Annie as honest, hardworking, and...

This Saturday, December 7th from 12 Noon to 3PM, the Mall of Louisiana will be bringing "Reindeer Games" to life!  Join us at the Mall of Louisiana for a holly jolly afternoon of Free Family Fun! Kids ages 2 - 10 are invited to take part in holiday-themed, family friendly activities including make-and-take crafts, games, prizes, face-painting, music and dancing! It's a first-time event for the Mall of Louisiana, and we've got a behind-the-scenes look at what to expect. Kids can create their own snowflake photo-frame magnets, as well as color and wear their own Rudolph® antler ears.  They'll play a game called "Reindeer Flight School" where Rudolph® and friends will soar through the air and aim for "targeted" locations.  The first...