Mom of 2 boys, BMBH, and Poop

                                                    Please do NOT wake sleeping children!

M.O.B. Society First Annual Boy Mom Blog Hop

Welcome to any new Boy Mom Readers!

Yesterday I wrote a short blog that was titled "So Tired" because I was so tired :b  It was a very short post that I said I would try to continue, but I think I knew in the back of my head that the post would never be finished and it was really just a chance for me to vent.  So why was I so tired?

Because I'm a mom of two boys!  In general I think just being a mom of any amount of children and any gender is going to make you pretty tired.  But there really is just something about boys.

  I'm doing okay today, but yesterday was rough.  It started with my 2 1/2 year old waking up around 5 something.  I tried getting him to fall back asleep but he was set on going downstairs.  So we went downstairs to lay on the couch and thank goodness we both were able to fall back asleep for a short period.

It was my 5 year old's last day of camp, so we drove the 40 minute drive that I've been doing for 3 days a week the past 6 weeks to get to Hockessin (it was an excellent camp, so it was totally worth it).  Then me and Chunka (my 2 1/2 year old) went to Kmart to return an item.  Then Chunka had Little Gym at 10 am.  Then we stopped at a store to pick up a baby shower gift.  Then I picked Beluga (my 5 year old) up from camp.  Then we drove 40 minutes home so we could be home in time for Chunka's speech therapy.  Chunka usually loves playing with his speech therapist but yesterday he was just in a mood.  He didn't want to do anything he was asked.  He is also at his "me do" period where he wants to do everything himself.  So he had a complete meltdown when I wouldn't let him cut up his own strawberries.  Then I tried putting him down for a nap which had quite a few interruptions due to the fact that he now almost daily goes poop in his pull up at nap time. He pooped twice yesterday during his nap, the last one requiring a bath and the end of his nap.

                                        (Not poop, just mud, although it could very easily be poop)
                
And that's where I was at yesterday when I wrote that I was so tired and still had lots to do for the rest of the day (which included physical therapy and swim class).  Mind you all of this could have been exactly the same with two little girls, but in my experience (which isn't a lot because I have two boys!) boys are especially great at pushing things.  And I can't speak for all boys, but mine are especially energetic.  Most days you will see the two of them running around and around the coffee table yelling and laughing.  One a their favorite parts of the day it when daddy comes home, he has about 7 minutes to get changed before hearing "Daddy, let's wrestle!"  Yesterday I was worn down, but most days I love it more than anything!!  I always imagined that I would have at least one girl, because I'm so girly.  Plus my husband had one sibling, a sister and I had one sibling, a brother, so that's what we were used to.  But now I think it is so nice that to see my boys being brothers!  It's a really unique special bond that they have.  Plus I'm girly enough for our family. 

Chocolate, not poop, although this child did eat a worm once.

Have you noticed a difference between raising boys or girls?
Please note: the writing of this post was interrupted because I heard Chunka up from his nap.  Why? Because he was poopy of course!  Also, please note, spell check does not recognize poopy as a word :b

So tired!

I'm soo tired right now.  I have a whole list that I could write about my day and my kids (one in particular) to explain why I'm so tired, but I'm too tired to write that right now.  So for now I'm going to hope that my 2 1/2 year old stays down for his nap so I can sit down and eat lunch.  Maybe after that, I'll vent some more about my day.  Until then,

To be continued, maybe.

Wordless Wednesday- Date Night

Date Night Picture: Since I have yet to do a post :)

Monday's Grants: Green Thumb Challenge- Deadline 9/30/11

Monday's Grants

As we all know, women play so many roles, we're mothers, we're daughters, we're friends, we're wives, we're amazing!  One of my roles is that of a social worker.  I've been a stay at home mom for the past 5 years and I have loved it!  But during that time, I also continued my education and received my Master's in Social Work.  I really believe that I was put on this earth to make a difference in people's lives and be a change agent.  In order to provide change as a social worker, you often need funding!  I keep updated on grants and funding that is available and I thought since I'm doing the research anyway, I might as well share my found information with individuals or groups who could also use it. So I've decided to start Monday's Grants. I will post grants weekly that may be useful to nonprofits, groups, teachers, individuals and more.  Many grants will be RFP's (Request for Proposals), but I will try to include a selection of different grants. Enjoy!

Green Thumb Challenge

Deadline: September 30, 2011

Amount: $5,000 

Green Education Foundation (GEF) and Gardener’s Supply Company have teamed up on an exciting funding opportunity for established youth garden projects nationwide! The organizations are calling on schools and youth groups to submit chronicles of their garden projects in a race to win a $5,000 prize. The award is designed to support the continued sustainability of an exceptional youth garden program that has demonstrated success, and has impacted the lives of kids and their community. Green Thumb Challenge participants may submit any of the following, or a combination. (Not a member? Click here to sign up for free!)

• An overview describing your garden project
• One video, up to ten minutes long
• A digital portfolio, comprising up to ten photos with captions
• Scanned artwork with descriptions

Videos, photographs and scanned artwork will be uploaded to the Green Thumb Challenge website.

Please submit the following information with your mailed or emailed submission:
Completed Grant Application (View Application in PDF Format)
Completed Contest Disclaimer (View Disclaimer in PDF Format)

Deadline: September 30, 2011

Eligible Contestants: Garden programs involving children currently in grades K-12, from schools and youth groups nationwide.

Grant Guidelines:

• To submit a grant you must first sign up on our online community. (Not a member? Click here to sign up for free!)

• Entries must be submitted by designated deadline.
• A class/group/school may enter the contest only once.
• Submissions must include garden materials (as outlined above), application and completed disclaimer
• Awards must be allocated towards the sustainability of current garden program
• Winners will be selected through a fair and impartial selection process by the Selection Committee appointed by the organizers.

Remember to include a completed disclaimer and general application with submission. Projects that have been submitted without completed disclaimers will not be entered into the contest.
Note that by entering the competition, you have assigned copyright of your garden project materials to the organizers. Photographs, videos and other submitted media may be further utilized in exhibition, websites, posters, publications, etc.

Mailing address:

Green Education Foundation (GEF)
Attn: Green Thumb Challenge Award
153 Washington St., 4th Floor
East Walpole, MA 02032

To apply for Grant, please go to:

Green Education Foundation

Our version of The Upside Down Show

My 5 year old is all about videos, he watches them on youtube and he's made a few of them himself.  They usually revolve around Thomas the Tank Engine, but for his last video, he wanted to do the Upside Down Show.  If you've seen the Upside Down Show before, you will get it, if you have not, you will not.  Sorry it got cut off, my camera ran out of space!

Monday's Grants- Ruddie Memorial Youth Foundation- Deadline 7/27/2011

Monday's Grants

As we all know, women play so many roles, we're mothers, we're daughters, we're friends, we're wives, we're amazing!  One of my roles is that of a social worker.  I've been a stay at home mom for the past 5 years and I have loved it!  But during that time, I also continued my education and received my Master's degree in Social Work.  I really believe that I was put on this earth to make a difference in people's lives and be a change agent.  In order to provide change as a social worker, you often need funding!  I keep updated on grants and funding that is available and I thought since I'm doing the research anyway, I might as well share my found information with individuals or groups who could also use it. So I've decided to start Monday's Grants. I will post grants weekly that may be useful to nonprofits, groups, teachers, individuals and more.  Many grants will be RFP's (Request for Proposals), but I will try to include a selection of different grants. Enjoy!

The first grant I'm bringing to you is from the Ruddie Memorial Youth Foundation

Ruddie Memorial Youth Foundation Accepting Applications for Innovative Youth Program Evaluation Grants

Deadline: July 27, 2011
Amount:  Grants will range from $5,000 to $30,000.

Evaluation grant

RMYF helps assess the effectiveness of innovative youth programs by offering Evaluation Grants. These grants range from $5,000 - $25,000. Evaluation grants are targeted to innovative programs or innovative components of programs serving disadvantaged youth. These are the only RMYF grants available to first time applicants. As the purpose of these grants is to identify effective innovations in the field, RMYF will not fund the evaluation of programs that are not innovative. Applicants that use traditional approaches to serving youth are asked to seek funding from sources that fund such approaches. In addition to learning about the effectiveness of their innovative approach, grant recipients are expected to use evaluation results to improve their services and possibly replicate the program. If an organization demonstrates through their RMYF-funded evaluation that their innovative methods are effective in helping youth reach their full potential, RMYF will encourage them to apply for replication or dissemination grants to help spread the use of their innovative approach elsewhere. We highly recommend that you have an evaluator review, or participate in, the development of your evaluation grant application. There are many types of evaluation. For example, some evaluations measure satisfaction, others measure program day-to-day operations, and others measure cost-benefit ratios. However, RMYF funds a very specific type of evaluation, called utilization-focused outcome program evaluation. This type of evaluation meets the following criteria: Outcome-based - We help programs measure the degree to which their services effect meaningful changes in the youth they serve. Logic-model-based - The logic model is a way to approach evaluation where that which is measured (in this case, outcomes) is the logical extension of the program's overall strategy. For example, in a logic model, the outcomes are a direct extension of the mission and are achieved through the programs activities. For more on the logic model, see the University of Wisconsin - Extension Web site . Quantifiable- We request that the evaluation collect data that can be expressed in numbers - for example, data that are absolute numbers, scales, or categories. Valid - We request that the evaluation meet minimum standards of validity. E.g., that it measure what it purports to measure. Utilization-focused - While research is very valuable, RMYF does not fund general research. Instead, it funds evaluation that is designed to generate findings that are usable by real people in the real world to help underprivileged youth reach their full potential. Professional - Although we hope that programs are closely involved in their evaluation, we require that the evaluations we fund be conducted or overseen by a professional evaluator or someone with equivalent credentials, experience and expertise. For suggestions on identifying an evaluator, see below. Abiding by experimental design (if possible) - Although we don't require evaluations to follow the experimental design (e.g., have a comparison group to test causality), we favor those that do.

Replication grant

Replication Grants fund the growth of practices that RMYF-funded outcome evaluation have shown to be effective in helping disadvantaged youth reach their full potential. The purpose of Replication Grants is to increase the number of youth that benefit from a newly-identified best practice. For example, replication grants can support the expansion of a current program or the creation of a new program that uses the newly-discovered effective practice. These grants are open only to organizations that have received RMYF Evaluation or Dissemination Grants in the past. These grants range from $5,000 - $30,000. Former RMYF grantees make a request for more info: contact@rmyf.org.

Dissemination grant

Dissemination Grants fund the diffusion of practices that RMYF-funded outcome evaluation has shown to be effective in helping disadvantaged youth reach their full potential. These grants fund, for example, conference presentations, articles, Websites, consultations and other methods for “getting the word out” on a newly-discovered effective practice. These grants are open only to organizations that have received RMYF Evaluation or Replication Grants and range from $5,000 to $30,0000. Former RMYF Grantees make a request for more info: contact@rmyf.org.

Wordless Wednesday- Beach with Cool Pop

My boys at the beach with their Cool Papa Bob aka their grandfather/ my dad.