Mom on the Make

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Happy One Year Blog Anniversary to MOTM

March 31, 2013 by Mom on the Make 3 Comments

Well, its been a whole year since I started Mom on the Make.  Looking back at myMOTM Logo first post, Seatbelt Bags, brings back fond memories of the beginnings.

I had purchased my domain name the prior week and was determined to write several times per week.

I have accomplished that feat during most of these past 12 months, and much more in some months.

My topic focus was uncertain in the beginning.  I thought I would need to narrow down my thoughts and focus on a theme.  What I found is that a focus is not really necessary.  I decided to just write about whatever was on my mind that day.

For the seatbelt bag post, I remember being in love with my Harvey’s seatbelt bag in the champagne color, large satchel style.  I just had to write about handbags that day.

When my family would watch a movie together, I wanted to share how we liked it.  When we went on a fun outing, I wanted to share.  When I loved a book, I wanted to write a review as soon as possible.  When I made a recipe that we all loved, I couldn’t wait to snap photos and share with my readers.  It became such a fun outlet for me and, of course, still is today.

A few months into blogging, I found a kids literature blog hop hosted by Mother Daughter Book Reviews.  Both of my daughters love talking about their recent reads, so I decided to interview them about their books, then post it onto MOTM.  Earlier this year, Bam Bam, my five year old, decided to jump into the book reviewing game by discussing Pie Rits.

Back at the beginning, I remember obsessing about what the first post would be, then finally telling myself to “JUST WRITE”.  And, I did.  I’ve tried to keep this attitude going every week.

I know people say this a lot, but blogging really is one of the best forms of therapy out there.  Writing and interacting with others from around the world is a great adventure.

In the beginning, I was so excited to check out my Alexa ranking that I would click on my Alexa icon every day to see how I was doing.  What I realized after a few months though, is that it really doesn’t matter. If writing and connecting with other bloggers is fun, then its productive and successful.

Spring Break is about to start, and it reminds me of our trip to Disneyland last year.  I couldn’t wait to get back and write about our day at the big park.  I would take notes on my evernote app while waiting in lines.  🙂

In this second year, there will be more posts about photography as I learn more about my DSLR.  There will be more book reviews and delicious recipes posted consistently, and, of course, more random stories about my day to day life as a Mother of 3 (under the age of 12).

Blogging gives us all the opportunity to journal, divulge, connect with other, and record our memories. Doesn’t get much better than that.

Thank you to all of my readers for making this a great first year for my little corner in the blogosphere.

Happy One Year to MOTM.

Filed Under: Family Tagged With: blogging

My Ten Favorite Posts of 2012

January 2, 2013 by Mom on the Make 3 Comments

I began blogging at the end of March, 2012.  Two Hundred and Nineteen posts later, we have arrived at the endMOTM Button 2 of 2012.

I wanted to record our family adventures, share recipes, and review books on my blog when I first started out.  This is still my goal, but it is also so much more.

In addition to writing several times per week, I discovered blog hops, social networks, and blogging groups.  I have met an incredible group of people in bloggers.

I only wish I had begun sooner.  Having said that, I’m also very glad that I started at all.  I cannot imagine not having a place to write and share and connect with people interested in the same topics as I am.  Its really incredibly fulfilling.  My blog will provide a journal of our family events for my little ones to read and enjoy one day, and that feels great (and productive 🙂 ).

Writing and connecting is the best form of therapy out there, and I just adore it.

My blog has gone through several re-designs throughout these nine months.  I have become a bit addicted to changing the look of my header, the colors of my post titles, the look of the home page, and the list goes on.

But, through it all, I have tried to always focus on the content, above all else.

It’s difficult to pick only 10 of my favorite posts from 2012,  but I thought it would be fun to look back a year from now, so here it goes……

1. I love posts that make me smile, laugh, and create a warm fuzzy feeling.  When I interviewed Bam Bam, my then four year old, I was laughing so hard, I was crying.

Interview with Four Year Old Bam Bam

2. This year, I have also learned how fun it is to write about bits of my childhood.  I found a prompt to write about one of my best childhood memories, and I wrote about building forts with my brother and sister.  I love this memory.

One of my Best Childhood Memories

3. I also really enjoyed writing about “the most important 15 minutes of my life”.  This was another prompt I found and I forced myself to go with the first thought that popped into my mind.  Its a bit silly, as you will see…..

The Most Important 15 Minutes of my Life 

4. Food, I found out this year, is very photogenic and super fun to write about and share with fellow cooks.  I have shared many recipes this year, but one in particular is my favorite and received a great deal of attention…

Rocky Road Brownies

5. Family outings are always really fun to document and share.  We love going to the Monterey Bay Aquarium several times per year.  This year, I took photos of the aquarium life as well as the rest of the places we visited, and this was the resulting post….

Monterey Bay Aquarium

6. I found that I enjoy writing about movies that our family watches together.  I always appreciate an in depth review of children’s movies before I see them, so I thought I would contribute to the cause.  Here is a review of “We bought a zoo”.  I just loved this movie….

We Bought a Zoo

7. Conversations around the dinner table can get pretty interesting in our house, especially when our five year old adds to the discussion, as is outlined here….

Dinner Conversation with a Five Year Old

8. As parents, we are always learning as our kids grow.  In this post, I shared how important Trust is in the parent child relationship….

Giving Our Kids Space to Grow

9. Since writing consistently was a goal for this past year, I found a new “me time” activity, and that is observational writing.  In this post, I sat in one of our local parks, and described the surroundings….

A Breezy Park Day

10. I felt the need to write about how blogging has changed my life and allowed me to enjoy the day to day more thoroughly.  This is the resulting post….

Slow Down and Blog

That’s it, my top 10 for 2012.  Looking forward to 2013.

Filed Under: Family Tagged With: blogging, family activities

My New Blog Find: Elements of Style Blog

December 17, 2012 by Mom on the Make 1 Comment

I love it when I stumble across an exceptional blog by chance.

As I have mentioned several times on this blog, Sophie Kinsella books are at the top of my list for uplifting, funny, feel good reads.  Her heroines are always quirky, kind, funny, hard working, and extremely likable.

Recently, I have really been enjoying reading interviews with authors of books that I enjoy.  I decided to search in google for an interview with Sophie Kinsella and landed on Erin Gates’ blog, “Elements of Style”.  Gates comments on how she was delighted to receive the email requesting an interview on her blog with Kinsella.  She remembers reading her books on the beach and loving the stories.  I agree, and I think its difficult to not enjoy her stories.  They’re just so darn fun.

Anyway, after reading the interview, which was really well done, I started perusing Gates’ site and just love her style.   Although her emphasis is interior design, she adds a personal touch to her posts as well.  She posts about her life, fashion, home makeovers, and really anything that happens to be on her mind.  She writes in a manner thats fun and personable.

Gates’ blog was founded in 2007 and has been growing strong ever since.  She is an interior designer and decided to take a year off back in 2007 to work full time on her blog, her creative outlet at the time, and has not looked back.

tassel-detail-square-shaped-shoulder-bag

Super cute purse on Gates’ favorites list.

I love it when bloggers put a list of their “favorites” on their blog.  You know, like Oprah’s favorites show she used to do every year.

Gates has a widget in her upper right sidebar that has a slide show of her favorites. Everything from jackets to purses to shoes to jewelry.

Since I love yelp so much, it makes sense that I am drawn to lists created by people who have actually used a product.

As I have mentioned before, I love purses.  There is a super cute purse with tassles (see photo on right) on Gates’ list from a store called “Oasap” that I had never heard of before.

The Oasap site is awesome, and that purse, although they don’t seem to have the turquoise anymore, I still want the ivory one.  It really is cute.  Just look at it.  See what I mean?? 🙂

I really enjoyed my stop into the interior design and fashion world on Gates’ blog.  I’m a new subscriber and looking forward to keeping up with Elements of Style.

Filed Under: Family Tagged With: blogging

How to Make your Own Avatar

December 10, 2012 by Mom on the Make 2 Comments

Face your MangaI recently found a wonderful “make your own avatar” site, and just have to share.

The site is called Face Your Manga.

My 11 year old daughter, Broadway, grabbed onto this site quickly, and was whipping up avatars with the greatest of ease.

The interface is very user friendly and the options for your own unique avatar are endless.

Best of all, its totally free to create your one of a kind avatar.

Broadway created an avatar for herself and Imagineer as well.

She will create ones soon for Mountain Man and Bam Bam too.

Broadway’s Avatar…..

make your own avatar

Imagineer’s Avatar….

face your manga avatars

If you’re in the market for an avatar, I recommend you check this site out.  Very easy, FREE, and super fun!

Filed Under: Family Tagged With: blogging

Kid Lit Blog Hop #6

December 5, 2012 by Mom on the Make 2 Comments

I am so pleased to be hosting Kid Lit Blog Hop #6 this week.  This is a hop I thoroughly enjoy visiting twice each month.  The joy of reading is something we try to instill in our kids’ lives each and every day.  Writing reviews about kid lit helps others find amazing stories to read with their kids.  My daughters also love writing reviews, so this has become a family activity and we all relish it!

Here’s the info for this week’s hop……..hope to see you linked up!

Welcome to the 6th Kid Lit Blog Hop. These Hops take place on the first and third Wednesday of each month. Thank you so much to everyone who has linked into the Hop previously and welcome to those of you visiting us for the first time! Every week we’ve been seeing a mix of new and familiar faces. So join in, link up, and hop around to make some new friends.

The Holiday season is coming up fast and it is a busy, busy, busy time of year for all of us; therefore, we will only be having ONE Hop this month. You’ll see us back at it on the SECOND Wednesday of January – that’s the 9th! For just the month of January, the Hops will take place on the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays of the month.

 

Kid Lit Blog Hop
<div align="center"><a href="http://motherdaughterbookreviews.com/category/kid-lit-blog-hops/" title="Kid Lit Blog Hop"><img src="http://motherdaughterbookreviews.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Kid-Lit-Blog-Hop-Button-Sep-2012-e1349976901756.jpg" alt="Kid Lit Blog Hop" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

Suggestions For How to Participate:

1. Although not mandatory, we ask that you kindly follow your hostesses and co-hostesses. You can follow us any way you choose (Email, GFC, Twitter, Facebook, G+, Pinterest, etc.). If you leave us a comment on our websites, we will be sure to follow you back.

Hostesses:

Renee @ Mother Daughter Book Reviews

Jaymie @ Snacks for Max

Heidi @ Geo Librarian

Sue @ Kid Lit Reviews

Our Co-Hostess for This Week:

Cheryl Carpinello, Author

Melinda @ Mom on the Make

Shaunna @ Mudpies & Melodies

2. Link up any Kid Lit related post. This can be a link to a children’s book review, a discussion about children’s literature/literacy, or a post on a recently-read children’s book or one that you love from your childhood.

* Don’t link directly to your blog, it must be a specific post*

* For Authors, we prefer you to link to your blog if you have one *

* Make sure you include an image relevant to the POST (e.g., book cover), not your blog button or photo of yourself.*

* Feel free to link more than one post.*

3. Check out some other books. Don’t be a stranger, go see what books other families are checking out, and leave them some love in the form of a comment. We are trying to build a community of bloggers, readers, parents, authors, and others who are as passionate about children’s literature as we are so please CONNECT and follow any or all of the blogs that interest you!

4. If you like, grab the button above and put it somewhere on your blog, preferably the post you’re linking up. If you’d prefer, you can just add a text link back to this Hop so that others can find it and check out all these great book links!

5. It would really help us get the word out about the Kid Lit Blog Hop if you would be so kind as to tweet, share, and spread the word about the Hop!

Interested in co-hosting the Kid Lit Blog Hop? Please email renee @ motherdaughterbookreviews (dot) com and put Co-Hosting Blog Hop in the subject line.

Happy Hopping!

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Filed Under: Books, Family Tagged With: blogging, books

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