Sometimes things don't go as planned...

Day one of my new adventure did not start off the way I hoped. I decided that today I would finally put the museum membership my husband purchased in December to use. I got the kids ready to leave and when I went to grab the membership card I couldn't find it anywhere. I searched all over the place and still could not locate the little slip of paper. I even called my hubby who had no idea where it could be. Eventually, I called the museum who said they would be able to look up my membership. This was great news, but I already tore apart my house looking for the stupid card, so now I need to clean... again.

We arrived at the museum and had no problem getting in, but once I took my kids to the children's section of the museum I was sad to see that close to half of the kid's exhibits had been removed and were replaced by folding tables. I let the kids play for a little while until I ran across a museum worker who informed me that the annual wine and food classic of corpus christi was going down tonight at the museum and so the entire museum had folding tables all over the place. The kids were bored of the children's area after about fifteen minutes, so we decided to walk the rest of the museum. I maneuvered around all of the folding tables to let the kids look at the exhibits that were still intact, but they weren't enjoying themselves as much as I had hoped. We decided to go to the outdoor portion of the museum so that Cindy and Zeke could look at the Columbus replica ships. Cindy enjoyed running around the different activity centers outside. We went back in and walked the remainder of the museum, but then I was ready to go.

We decided to head to McDonald's for lunch so that Cindy could play at the outdoor play area while we ate. I should have noticed that it was really windy as I was driving to the restaurant, but when we got all set up outside I certainly noticed that our food would not even stay on the tables. I let Cindy play on the equipment for around ten minutes, but then I could not take the wind anymore. We packed up our food and headed home to finish lunch.
I told Cindy after we finished lunch that we would do an arts and crafts project. I thought that she might enjoy making a mask, so I headed over to the computer and found a website that has mask templates. (www.activityvillage.co.uk) My printer did not want to print the templates, so I decided to free hand it. We cut out the masks and painted them. Cindy loves being artistic and her mask is cute. She put so much paint on it that I don't think it will be dry until tonight, but I know she will be so excited to show off her craft to her daddy.

After we cleaned up our craft I let Cindy help me put together the dessert we will have tonight. I bought little Keebler graham crusts to make mini pies. We made some vanilla pudding and filled the little pie crusts with the pudding. Then Cindy topped the pies with fresh blueberries. This girl loves blueberries. I think she ate as many as she put on the pies.
Now the kids are napping and I am exhausted too. I hope they tired out some from our busy morning. I have found on my first day of my new mommyhood that things don't always go as planned, but my kids didn't really notice. I sometimes make a big deal out of things that are really small in the whole scope of my life. Today has not been a perfect day, but it has definitely started me in the right direction toward helping keep my children well-rounded. I am not sure what I will plan for tomorrow, but I am surprised how easy it has been to keep the tv off for the day.

Introduction

My name is Arianne and I live in Corpus Christi, Texas. I recently moved from Colorado to south Texas and I have found it more difficult being a stay-at-home mom once I left the comfort of an area I knew and friends I could depend on. Sometimes I feel like I am all alone down here, but then I look at my two beautiful children and know that is certainly not the case. It is harder to find ways to occupy our time now that I have no idea where to take the kids, but I know that eventually this place will become home and I will look back as these times with a smile. ( I know that these will be the times that I will grow closest to my kids because we don't have anyone else to fall back on.) I am married to a wonderful man named Mike, but we work opposite of each other, so we rarely get to spend time together.
Let me explain why I chose to be a stay-at-home mom. First, I love my kids. I can't imagine not spending every day with them. They truly light up my life. Second, I don't want someone else raising my kids. I worked at a daycare for a little while and I understand the care and attention that those children receive. I want more than that for my children. (I understand that some people have no choice but to put their kids in daycare. I feel that if you have a choice then you should raise your own kids.)
I have two wonderful kids. My first child is a three-year-old girl named Cindy. She is very spunky and keeps my hands full. She loves to sing, dance, and do arts and crafts. My second child is a boy named Zeke, which is short for Ezekiel. He is my little passive child. He will turn one on Feb. 2nd and I can't believe how big he is getting!
I want to end by explaining my motivation for posting a blog. Like a lot of other stay-at-home moms I am becoming a little bored with life. I know that I need to spice up my days and find new ways to entertain myself and kids. I have turned to the tv too often to keep my days moving and I think that enough is enough and my kids deserve better than this. My blog will be a way to hold myself accountable to finding new activities and outlets to not only entertain my children, but teach them as well. I want to provide an amazing childhood for my kids and I have not been keeping up my end of the deal. Starting now I am going to have a daily activity planned with the kids that will educate them and keep them happy. I want to turn the tv off and help my kids blossom into well rounded children who run and play outside. I am going to do a better job from this point onward and I hope to inspire other mommies to turn their tvs off too and join me in raising kids who don't just sit in front of the tv all day and who enjoy other activities. I can and will do this!