Howl-o-ween!

Typically I hit the day after Halloween sale and pick up costumes for the following year. I didn't do that last year so instead of steering my children to love the costume we picked a year earlier I found myself asking them what they wanted to do. I sighed a huge sigh of relief when they both picked costumes from our dress up clothes (CHEAP!) So on Halloween this year I'll be hanging out with Cinderella, a ferocious Lion, and a sweet baby zebra. Who will you be hanging out with?

Glad to be here!

Hi Everyone! My name is Brianne Ralston. I am so excited to be a new member of this blog. I heard about it from Cassi. (Her baby sister just married my baby brother! Yay!) I have loved reading the fun stories and good advice from other moms here! I can't wait to read more!

25 Things About Me...
1. When I am sick or sad the only things that make me feel better are baths and scrambled egg sandwiches.
2. I love to read. If I really like a book I've probably read it 10-20 times.
3. All 5 of my best friends live within a block of my house.
4. My husband knew right away that we were going to get married. It took me a while longer to decide. But, it was the best decision I ever made. We just celebrated our 5th anniversary!
5. Kevin (the hubster) and I figured out we were in the same place at the same time a few times years before we met. We even both have notes from the same institute class.
6. I taught 4th grade before I was a mommy. I loved it! Someday I want to go back and be a librarian. I now teach preschool out of my home. I love every minute of it!
7. I am awesome at Math.
8. I am horrible at Spelling. (Sorry!)
9. My very best friend died 5 years ago. My grandma. I think about her everyday.
10. I am in love with my son’s smile. It brightens everyday!
11. I am working everyday to become better friends with vegetables.
12. When I was little I aspired to be a country singer/actress.
13. I was recruited by a talent agent in high school. But, in my wisdom I decided Hollywood was not for me.
14. I was an EFY counselor for 4 years. I loved it so much!
15. I love to color! (No I am not too old!)
16. I got laughed out of a college interview because I told the interviewer I wanted to be a mom.
17. I have 2 gorgeous little ones. Taryn is 3 & 1/2 and Beck is 1 & 1/2. They are pretty much miracle babies. Don't know how many more we will be able to have. So grateful that we got such good ones!
18. I absolutely love my calling right now. (ward humanitarian specialist)
19. One of my favorite pass times-plucking my eyebrows.
20. I love my husband's family as much as my own.
21. My daughter is just like me. She never shuts up either.
22. I would pay big bucks for some extra sleep right now!
23. When I grow up I want to be just like my little sisters.
24. I love reality shows. If I watch one episode I have to watch them all. I even watched the last few episodes of one on animal planet about dog groomers. Yuck. Boring!
25. I wish I lived at the beach.

Dream House

Hello Mommies!
It's that time again for us to learn a little about you! This month we want to hear about your dream house!! Even if you never expect to actually live there, tell us what your dream house looks like! Inside and out, and of course... where is it located?

And Happy Mother's Day this week!

Hello!

I'm Brenna and I'm really excited to be a new author the Mommy Diaries!

I'm a 23-year-old SAHM of an 18-month-old daughter named Bridget and the hubs and I just decided to start trying for #2!

Before my baby girl came, I was in the nursing field, working in Labor & Delivery (so much fun!). But I wanted, and luckily the hubs also wanted, me to stay home. I always said that I wanted the "I Love Lucy lifestyle", but without all the crazy antics. I wanted to stay home, keep a clean house, raise happy kids, and have dinner on the table when hubby came home from work every night. Well, I have a happy kid. I try to have dinner on the table every night. It seems like I go through spurts of having a hot dinner every night then I get into a "fend for yourself" slump. As for a clean house, I really try hard to achieve that. If my house is messy, I feel really anxious and can't rest until it's clean. I love cleaning products and I like to be as resourceful as I can when it comes to cleaning. For instance, I make my own laundry soap and dryer sheets, which I'll post soon.

My wonderful husband is Mike. We have been married for 2 1/2 years. And even thought she was 5 weeks preemie, we were blessed to have our daughter born 10 days before our first anniversary because we were able to take her with us when we were sealed in the temple. I wouldn't trade that experience for anything in this world. The best day of our lives
made better by having our beautiful 12-day-old baby with us.

Mike is an HVAC technician (heating and air conditioning) and at night he picks up dead bodies. We also live next door to a mortuary. Our current goal is to get completely out of debt so working for the mortuary is a great thing for us. They give us a house to live in, and in exchange Mike picks up bodies and works at viewings in the evenings. I am blessed to have a hard working husband who is willing to do anything for his family.

I love being a wife and homemaker and everything that goes along with it. I'm the daughter of an Italian chef, so I love to cook. I also love to craft, coupon, clean and sew.

I recently got called to be 2nd counselor in the Primary Presidency. I'm terrified. I feel like I'm way too young to be in any kind of leadership position. But if that's where the Lord needs me, I'll happily obey.

So that's me.
And here's a current picture of my angel:

Easter

Well this is a REALLY late "about us" question for March! But with Easter this weekend I thought it would be fun to hear how everyone celebrates Easter. So what do you do to make the day special?

Valentine's Day

Dear Mommies,

We're at the start of the most loving month of the year and we want to know how you plan to celebrate Valentine's Day! Do you have a romantic dinner in or head to your favorite restaurant? Do you make Valentine's for your kids or buy them gifts? What do you plan to do/give to your husband? What do you want for Valentine's Day this year? Do you have any Valentine's traditions that you just can't live without?

Leave a comment and help us get to know all our readers better!

Love,
MD Admins

Hi, I'm Debra

I was introduced to Mommy Diaries by my fabulous friend, Bridget. I am grateful to be an author here and to learn from all of you!

A little about me. I am a mom to a 1-year-old girl who is the sunshine in my life. She is the world's pickiest eater (seriously she lives on vanilla wafers,) and so a lot of my exploits and recipes come from trying to get her to eat. I spend almost all of my time as a stay at home mom.

I am a professional photographer who used to support her family but now just does it as a side job to be able to stay home with her little girl. My business Joyous Moments Photography now is just a hobby that I love.

We live in very, very South Texas. My husband teaches 6th grade science at a middle school that you can see the Mexican border from. We stick out like sore thumbs down here but we love the culture and the sense of family (and the Gulf of Mexico being so close helps too.)
I am an avid blogger and I write children's books that I have always been too scared to publish for anyone other than my little girl. I have a degree in print/photo journalism from Utah State and I bleed Aggie blue.

Things I love:
Photography, Blogging, Writing, Cooking, Crafting, digital scrapbooking, Family History, The Church (I am a sunbeam teacher!), Web Design.

Things I hate:
People who think stay at home moms just sit around all day, ironing and sweeping my floors.

2010

Happy 2010! We hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and New Year's!
And since we're just starting out the New Year our "about us" question this month is; what are your New Year Resolutions for 2010? And what are you hoping 2010 will bring to you and your family? Are you moving, having a baby, or did you set some goals for yourself? Let's hear it!

Most Embarrassing Moments

Happy November everyone! We hope you all had a wonderful Halloween!
We've learned some fun things about our mommies in the past months and now we want to hear some funny stories! So this month's About Us Q (for authors and readers!!) is what is your most embarrassing moment? Come on, don't be shy! Share it with us! :)

TV Night

Hey there Mommies! Are you all having a good September so far? Enjoying the start of school?
One thing I know a lot of us are looking forward to this month are all the fun Fall TV shows that are about to start back up. So our About Us question this month is: What are some of your favorite TV shows? Are there shows you can't stand to miss an episode of? Do you have one family favorite or a show for every night of the week? Are there any new ones you're looking forward to this year? Let's hear about your favorites!

Love At First Sight?

It's the first week of the month again! That means we get to find out more about our great mommy authors and readers! And make sure you scroll down and see Kara's awesome craft tutorial afterwards!
The question for this month is: How did you meet your husband? And/or how did he propose to you?

Every Mom Needs a Vacation (at least once in a lifetime)

In our attempt to get to know our contributors and readers more we have our monthly "About Us" question. So far we've discovered what you'd do with some extra cash, what your favorite blogs are to read (other than MD, of course), and what restaurants are the best.

This month we want to hear from all of you "What is your dream vacation?" Or better yet... "Where have you vacationed that you loved?"

Hi, I'm Danielle!

I found Mommy Diaries a few weeks ago through a friend's blog and I love it! I am so excited to be a contributor here and I hope that I can share some sort of insights every once in a while...we'll see.

So, about me. I live in Northern California, near Sacramento, with my best friend and husband, Sam, and our two kids, Hailey and Taylor. We have been married for four years this July. Hailey is 2 years and 3 months old, and Taylor is 2 months old.

My husband and I both went to BYU, him for computer science, and me for an English degree. I then went to court reporting school and so when I'm not chasing our kids around I am a stenographer for depositions about one day a week.

I love being a mom! I am still learning how to be a better mom, and how to be a mommy of 2 instead of 1, so I can't wait to learn more from the more experienced moms here.

I enjoy traveling, scrapbooking, reading, movies, playing with my cute kids, anything outdoors, and spending time with my family who live close by.

I'm excited to share my ideas and get some new ones from all of you!

Hi, I'm Staci Kramer

I was introduced to Mommy Diaries by my good friend Kiera and I was instantly hooked. Its taken me much too long to post my introduction because I just don't know what to say. There are so many things about myself that I could share but I guess the most important thing about me is that I am a mother. I love being a mother. I have two sons. Jack is 5 and Abraham is 1. I dream of having a hundred kids. I want to see how each one would look and what their little personalities would turn out like and I would want to snuggle them and kiss them all day long. For now the two keep my busy enough and with a little luck we will add a third sometime soon.

My husband is a police officer for the Town of Gilbert and he is a great hero for my boys. We have been married for 6 and a half years and been living here in Queen Creek, Arizona for the last three years. We live right next door to my sister and her family. She has four children who are basically being raised with my children as siblings. There are so many awesome advantages to having my sister so close. I never have to go to the grocery store with my kids and there is always someone around to hang out with when my husband is at work. We take turns making meals and do combined Family Home Evening etc. I don't know how anyone survives without their sister next door.

I am an aspiring writer and an avid blogger. I have written half of a novel and it is my goal to finally finish it and get it published sometime before I die. I am a pretty opinionated person when it comes to politics. I have been called a right-wing nut job and I consider that a great compliment. I love our country and the constitution I am so thankful for the freedoms we enjoy.

A few more things about me:

Thinks I like:
Shopping (my only vice)
Trivia (I'm a Jeopardy nerd)
Traveling (I don't do much anymore, but I do love it)
Church (I teach Gospel Doctrine and I love the gospel)
Makeup (I could spend two weeks in Sephora and not get bored)
Animals (We have three Chihuahuas, one parrot and 3 tortoises)

Things I hate:
Exercise (unless I can talk someone into doing it with me)
Cleaning my house (I throw parties to force a deadline upon myself)
Nuts (they have been responsible for ruining far too many chocolate chip cookies)
People who think being a mom is easy or doesn't require intelligence and skill

Above all I love to get to know new friends and I can't wait to be apart of the MD community!

Out to Eat

Sorry for the delay in getting our "about us" question up this month.  We love getting to know all our mommy authors and readers!

So this month we want to know where is your favorite place to go out to eat?  Whether it's somewhere fancy while your kids are home with a sitter, somewhere inbetween that the whole family can enjoy, or even a fast food drive thru.  We want to hear it!

We hope you all have a HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY tomorrow!!

Terésa signing in!

Hi everyone! I’m Terésa (pronounced Ter-a-sa with a hard ‘a’ sound- to get the accent, you can just copy and paste -- Hey my parents named me. If I had a say it would have been something like Sophia or Josephine- Oops digressing). I’m from Idaho. I haven’t gone private with my blog (yet?) so that’s as specific as I’m willing to get... o.k. Idaho, but not the Boise area :).

I’m married to the love of my life, and we have two beautiful children (I know we are all wondering who has the ugly kido's, but mine, non-the-less are beautiful) a boy 11years old, and a 2 year old PRINCESS in every sense of the word. And we were sealed for time and all eternity last May.

Hmmm... More specifics?? I have blonde hair, I home-school my son, I’m a cosmetologist on the side (mostly do it for fun. How many people can say their job is like playing... oh, and the discount on hair products.) I was raised in the church, my husband is a convert (and he’s from North Las Vegas- the ghetto part. I have to remind him all the time that he is white.) You can read more about us here.

I enjoy crafts... any that I can get my hands on, cooking, and being a mommy! I’m excited to get the chance to show some of my work here, and hopefully it helps some of you... some one... o.k. I’m not making any promises ;). And I’m excited to hear from all of you!

Favorite Blogs

Well Bridget must be a mind reader because her post was a perfect lead in to our "about us" question this month!!

We want to know from all of our readers and contributors: what are some of your favorite blogs to read??

(Besides your own personal blog, and this one of course!)

Extra Cash

Since our blog had expanded far beyond MN and we now have several mommies that we don't know, we thought it would be fun start doing "get to know you" questions. So the first week of every month, instead of doing a tricks of the trade question, we (the admins) will ask a question that's more about you and not so much about motherhood. So we hope to hear from ALL our authors on this question and get to know all of you a little better! And of course we always love hearing from our readers as well!

So this week's question is:

The hot topic lately seems to be money (or lack thereof). So I want to know, if you had some extra cash today what FUN thing would you buy?? No, you can't say you'd put it in savings. This is extra extra cash that you have to spend on something fun. Let's say around $100. So what is it? Clothes, shoes, a massage, entertainment, jewelry, something for the house, something for the kids? Anything goes as long as it's a want and not a need!

Hey Everyone!

My name is Kiera Ethington, I have been a member for a little over a week now and finally found some time to do my intro!

I'm so excited to be able to be a part of this mommy blog, I've been checkin' in on it every so often since day one and think it's a really fun idea!

I am Cassi's sister (how I knew about this blog), and she has given me some great recipes to try that always come from here..so I should actually say thank you for some great dinners/ desserts to all of you!

I just have one little baby boy, so I'm just new to the mommy thing! I live in Arizona and my husband helps run his father's Dairy farm, mostly raising the baby calves. hm.. maybe he should be a part of this! jk! I did a lot of sports in High School, but nothing really stuck! I sadly do not have much in the way of hobbies either :( I just love being around friends and family, love having fun and feel great when I accomplish something! I got an AA in general studies and my mom and I are actually going to school for Interior Design together!

My baby is almost 3 months and I have loved every second of his life, good the bad and the ugly, I love it! I can't wait to learn from all of you and get great advice (I get so much from Cassi already) and I hope to be able to find stuff to contribute (and apologize if it takes me awhile to get good at it, since it's all so new!) But I do love being a mommy so hopefully that's a good place to start!!

I am...

Katie. Also, I am so in love with this blog!

I've been a follower of the blog for quite a while (well, not officially, I've been more like a stalker, then the other day I became a follower) and sweet Bridget invited me to contribute, and I am so excited about it! I hope I have as many neat things to contribute as you all do.

Anyway, who I am. My name is Katie, and I live in Utah. My husband and I are both attending school ... I'm just working on general's right now, with a million ideas of what I want to major in, so basically no plan whatsoever, and my husband is a Military Science major, enrolled in the ROTC. We have two little girls, and they keep me very very busy! When I'm not being wife/mommy/student (or ... maid/chauffeur/housekeeper/court jester/doctor/cook/cheerleader, etc. etc. etc.) I love to read, sew, cook, and attempt new crafts! My favorite hobby is writing, and I love to spend time with my family and friends! I'm excited to be a contributor, and excited to learn more tips and ideas from you all!

Thanks Bridget (and the administrators who I don't really know but hope to get to know!) for letting me be part of this!