Yo! Yo! Yo!  Check it OUT!  My bro – the one and only DJ Splattermonkey is gonna be on the radio!  If you live in or near the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) then tune into CKLN 88.1 FM this Friday @ 5 pm.  I repeat:
Friday May 2nd 2008
Splattermonkey on
Bruk Beat radio!
C.K.L.N. 88.1 f.m.
with Dialect and D.J. Vision
5:00 to 6:00 p.m. Rush hour!

Even if you don’t live in Toronto you can listen to him LIVE via internet at:

CKLN 88.1 FM

Doesn’t he look so adorable holding his niece Brookie?  And Sierra is the biggest Splatterjunky out there – here’s the proof! 

 

 

 

 

And of course, if you can’t wait to hear him on Friday, then you can check out the latest mix by the messy monkey!

"D.J.’s Are Robots In Disguise!"

Right Click the link and select "save target as…" or "Save link as…"

Here is the tracklisting:
Song Title/Artist
1. Ruffneck / Navigator & Freestylers
2. Hang ‘Em High / Dominic Frontiere (Chadeo Re-Edit)
3. Holy Calamity (Bear Witness II) / Handsome Boy Modeling School
4. Chopin’ N***** Up / X-Ecutioners
5. March of the General / Unkle feat. The Scratch Perverts
6. Keep Movin’ / Dub Pistols
7. Base6 / Chemical Brothers
8. 23 Break / Rob Swift
9. Planet Rock Pt. 1 / Mr. Confuse, Info & Kova
10. Platypus Strut / Ohmega Watts

 

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On Friday I stopped by the office of Sierra’s daycare to drop off her $$ for a pottery class the kiddos will be doing this week.  Pottery for 2 yr olds?  Are they insane?  Anyways, while there I asked whether Brooke is able to get in for full time daycare starting July 7th (her 1st Birthday and the fateful day when I go back to work).  I’ve had her on a waiting list ’cause daycare for babies in these parts is hard to come by.  They did a quick look up and sure enough there IS a spot for her.  Ummmm…. yay?   Knowing that we have a great daycare lined up for her where I can even watch her through live streaming video over the internet,is definitely a worry off of my shoulders. But it also brings about the reality that I will soon no longer be her one and only caregiver.  That I will have to wean her partially, and throw her to the wolves.  I will no longer be the mama bear able to protect her from poking by other cubs, sheltering her from all harm.  I will have loosen my apron strings a bit and let her go. 

Why is this so painful?  Why is this so hard again?  It was excruciatingly hard when Sierra was a baby, I felt bad for months.  I cried when I dropped her off for weeks.  I thought this time would be easier, afterall I’ve already been through it once.  But its hard again.  The thought of it brings tears to my eyes.  Brooke is so sweet and happy all. the. time!  I’m so sad that I will have to make my happy baby sad.  I’ve been so reluctant to wean her, reluctant to leave her because I don’t want her to cry.  I’m so afraid that she’ll be so traumatized, cry so much that her caregiver will shake her.  Shaken baby syndrome scares the crap out of me ’cause it could happen so easily.  I know her new daycare is good – they have nothing to hide and even allow us the option to watch our kids anytime over the internet. 

I know, I know…. I’m being WAY over emotional!  But c’mon!  How can I ever leave this sweet little butt scooting baby?:

Isn’t she the most adorable thing ever?  Arrrgh!  July is scooting up on me far too fast!

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Alrightie…. Drumroll please…….  The winner of the super awesome $25 Gift certificate redeemable on any Tea Collection Clothing at the super cool store SKIMBACO.COM is…..:

SUMMER!!

(Summer, I’ve sent you an email.)

Even if you aren’t a winner, you can still buy some awesome super cool kids clothing at Skimbaco.com, they have some really nice stuff, and there’s a fantastic SALE on right now! (I’ve ordered 3 T-shirts for my girls).

Thanks everyone for participating – keep your eyes on my site ’cause I’ll have another give-away coming up next week!

 

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Have you seen this article:

No, I fine. I put pee-pee in toilet
Writing about your daughter’s toilet-training misadventures could net you $40,000 a month and a legion of fans. But some mommy and daddy bloggers are quitting the game in fears that their digital confessions have become exploitation.

If you’re a parent, and you’re a blogger, then go read it!  Then once you’re done reading the article, go read the comments.  Don’t worry, I’ll wait while you read it…..

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Are you back?  Good – The article has really made me step back and reevaluate why I blog and the affect it has on my family (my husband and my kids).  I’ll be honest, I never gave it much thought before.  Sure, I selectively choose which stories to share, for instance I’ll never blog about going away and leaving my house vacant.  I never write about work (yes, dear internet, I do work and will be returning in 10 weeks), and I try to never vent about spats I’ve had with friends or my extended family.  But my husband and my kids?  They’ve been fair game for blog content.  Immediately after reading the article I felt guilty – I pictured Sierra in grade 1 being teased by her friends because there’s a picture of her nursing when she was 6 months old.  I’ve thought about that potty training picture of her on the potty drinking her bottle.  For a long time I’ve been contemplating video taping Brookie scooting around the house on her butt to share with you.  Will she grow up with the nick name "Scooter"?

After taking two days to sort out my feelings I’ve come to the decision that NO!  My children won’t need hours of therapy because I blog about them.  I think they’ll actually like reading the stories about them.  It’s like chronicling history.  There is no way in 5, 10, 15 years from now I’ll remember these cute day to day stories.   In fact, reading this article has now motivated me to write MORE about my kids, so I can remember every detail of how amazing they are, how cute they are, and special they are to me.  I want to celebrate every single one of their moments.  From birth, to weaning, to potty training, to learning how to ride a bike, I’ll write every detail so that I can share them with them once they are old enough.  If, at that time they want me to pull my content down I will, but I bet they’ll love reading how I feel about being their mother.  I definitely don’t write this for money.  Although I have Google Adsense ads up, I only make pennies a day from them.  I don’t write for fame – I have a very small following – not like the big time, full time bloggers (ie: Dooce). 

The comments on the article are very obviously written  by non-bloggers.  People who don’t understand blogging.  It’s like non-runners commenting on an article that satirically bashes running. They just don’t get it.  They don’t understand what we get out of it.  For me it’s an opportunity to record life’s special moments.  Often it’s therapeutic, allowing me to work out my feelings.  I have a ton of draft posts that have never been posted ’cause I was able to work out my feelings, and realized that I’m not angry about what I thought I was angry about. 

My personal favourite is this comment:

Nature Lover from Canada writes: There is only one thing more engaging to the "me" generation than themselves–it is the "mini-me’s". Problem is parents that sit and blog are actually NOT paying attention to their children. You know the old saying "where are the parents." Well their right here in front of you honey, but they are zombified in front of a screen.

Ok – yes my kids are very engaging, but they sure as hell aren’t being left alone while I blog.  Right as I write this Baby Brooke is sleeping, and Sierra is doing her nightly daddy bonding time.  Now if anything is being neglected in this house it’s housework.  I’ll admit I don’t have the cleanest house on the block   But in 30 years from now will it matter if my house is clean?  Nope!  But it will matter that my girls have their "Dear Sierra" and "Dear Brooke" letters – something I never would have thought about doing if it weren’t for my blog.

So there ya have it folks!  I’m a mommy blogger – not getting paid $40,000/month, but I’m going to keep on blogging just like the MILLIONS of other nut-cases out there.  If that’s exploiting my kids then so be it!  OK – enough about that article – Sierra wants some "Hice Cream" before bed.  Good night!

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Dear Brooke,

We just got home from your nine month "well baby" Dr’s appointment.  You’re 16lbs 11oz – bigger than me at 1 yr, but this still puts you in the 5th-10th percentile.  Just remember – good things come in small packages. You fell asleep in the car on the way home and are still happily sleeping in your carseat.  Yes, you are absolutely tiny and still fit in the infant car seat.  It’s great ’cause I don’t have to wake you up when we arrive home, and can just carry you in your carseat into the house.

Read the rest of this entry »

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This weekend was absolutely fantastic!  The weather was actually cooperating for once – sunny and warm enough to wear a t-shirt, 3/4 length pants (what the hell are they called?) and sandals.  But you know what made the weekend so great besides the weather?  My oldest daughter.  She’s really starting to outgrow the terrible twos and is becoming a little girl – complete with her own sense of humour and can even ride a tricycle all by herself!

On Friday, she and I had a craving for popsicles, so we decided to walk to the corner store.  While walking there she decided that instead of a popsicle she wanted a yellow lollipop.  She then went into a story about a yellow lollipop that happened in November!  I can’t believe that she remembered what happened!  Anyways, back to the real point of this paragraph – while walking, a young man in his early twenties was walking ahead of us.  He wasn’t wearing a shirt, his jeans were well below his hips, practically falling off, and his boxer shorts were exposed – you know that baggy style of dress that is all the rage in that age group which doesn’t look the least bit sexy to me now, but was so totally and completely hawt on Marky Mark when I was 16.  Sierra, observing this turns to me and says: "That boy needs his mommy to help him with his shirt", she pauses a moment then observes "his mommy needs to help him pull up his pants – he can’t do it!".  I effing lost it!  I was laughing so hard that the young man turned around to look and see what was so funny.  I’m so thankful that she didn’t tell him what she had just said, as three year olds are so good at pointing out "the rules" to people.

Later in the day, I wanted to put her hair into a pony-tail.  She turns around and says to me in the most matter of fact voice an almost three year old can muster and says: "I can’t mommy, I’m too busy!".  Busy doing what?  Tormenting her sister, the dog, watching Wonder Pets, learning to ride her tricycle?  LOL! 

Learning to ride her tricycle….  A few weeks ago she learned how to pedal her trike.  Since then she’s been working on her leg strength and endurance.  Now she can ride her trike non-stop ALL the way around the block!  Yesterday she told me her legs hurt, ya think?  She hasn’t stopped cycling!  It’s great – I can walk peacefully pushing her baby sister in the stroller while she rides ahead.  No more screaming at her to stay with me, get off of people’s lawns etc…  Walks are now fun and no longer work…. Well until Brooke learns to walk, then suddenly walking will become a chore again.

I’m really enjoying this new phase.  Sierra is such a joy to be around.  She can communicate her feelings, she doesn’t melt down all the time, is no longer irrational and says the cutest things.  I realize that I’m in a calm before the storm.  Brooke will learn to walk soon and suddenly I’ll be chasing a toddler again, while trying to keep my eye on the older one.  There will be fighting over toys, hitting, hair pulling and biting, but for now, things are AWESOME!

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