thepunkrockmom: blogging

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Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Photo Challenge Winners #3! :)

Here are the winners of my 3rd photo challenge!

The challenge was Story Time! See all the contest info and all of the entries here.

1st place goes to...

Sarah from Loving My Life!

Here is your button Sarah! Congrats!

2nd place goes to:
Shannie from Wiz Man'll Never Fit You Like The Wiz Kid Did!

Here's your button Shannie! Congrats!

3rd place goes to:

Dina from 4 Lettre Words!

Congrats Dina! Here's your button!

4th place goes to:

Kimberly from Bugaboo, Mini, Mr and Me!

Congrats Kimberly! Here's your button!

Honorable mentions are...

Katie from Kaite's Clicks!

Caroline from Caroline Atelier!

Angela from Just Me Photography!

Congrats ladies! Here's your button!

And here are you TPRM favorites!

Natalie from The Franklins!

Molly from Molly's Country Memories!

Anika from Pasando!

Darlene from Darlene Weber Photography!

Deanna Leigh from Deanna Leigh Photography!

Anna from Absolute Anna!

Congrats ladies! Here is your button!

Congrats to all of my beautiful winners! And thx to all of you that participated! You guys rock.

Winners go here for your prize info.

Coming up next- photo challenge #4- only one more to go before the vote off!

Love you guys.

<3tprm

hello again

Hi there.

I haven't posted a blog in over 10 days. I've been meaning to. Plenty of blog worthy things have happened to me. Well funny things I think would entertain you. Or at least make you smile. Laugh maybe.

I just, well, theres no good excuse. I've just been, well, overwhelmed lately.

I have my hands in too many pots I guess you could say.

Trying to make money from home. Trying to be creative. Trying to make money being creative. Trying to go to school. Trying to simplify my life. Trying to learn photography. Trying to learn photoshop. Trying to make this blog awesome.

Trying to be a good wife. Trying to be a good mom. Trying to follow Jesus with all my heart.

Some of these things are way more important than others. I find myself putting more time in to some less important things and less into the more important things.

This is because I have no decent schedule. My time floats by all willy nilly. I need a daily schedule badly. I need to figure out how much time I should spend on each thing I want to do daily, and stick to it.

I have more troubling problems that compound this.

I am lazy.

I am a procrastinator.

I start many things and finish few.

I am easily overwhelmed.

When I'm overwhelmed I tend to hide. From everything. Taking a break at first seems refreshing. Then as the says go by, I get more worried. I need to start again. But I'm starting to get overwhelmed cause I missed too many days. Then the days just add up and starting again at all seems harder than starting over.

I'm not trying to whine. I've been blessed beyond recognition. Pretty much everything I've said is my fault.

I guess I'm just telling you why.

And I'm sorry. It's hard getting back in the habit.

And I promise to try better.

<3MaryAnne

ps- Thx to those that sent me messages of concern. I'm ok. Just a little lost right now.

Photo contest winners coming up...

Friday, September 17, 2010

Sign Language in Early Education

*I was contacted by the lovely Emily from Primrose Schools. She asked if I would look over this article and to decide on whether or not I thought my readers would benefit. I read it over, and I really loved what they had to say. I have always been interested in sign language, and the integration of sign language into early childhood education seems like an awesome opportunity in my eyes. Read on to learn more...

Early Childhood Education – Acquiring Sign Language

One of the keys to surviving in a tilted economic system in which opportunities to achieve a decent standard of living will be limited is versatility – and the ability to communicate articulately in a variety of ways with the widest possible audience. This includes bilingual ability as well as the ability to communicate in non-verbal ways for the benefit of the disabled – primarily the deaf.

At the same time, a growing shortage of qualified interpreters fluent in American Sign Language has led to more career opportunities – and if current trends continue, it's likely that skilled ASL interpreters will have little problem securing lucrative employment in a society where such a commodity is destined to be in short supply.

Signing Before They Can Speak

A great deal of research has clearly demonstrated that the early years – ages 2 to five – are the best time to educate children in different modes of communication and language. This goes beyond the spoken word (though it is an optimal time for children to learn a second language); many young children have an aptitude for signing as well.

This is not as odd as you may think. As you know, many indigenous peoples around the world, including American Indian nations, have used sign language for centuries to facilitate communication with other tribes with whom they do not share a language. Some paleontologists and anthropologists theorize that Neanderthals – who apparently lacked the vocal mechanism to produce many spoken words – depended a great deal upon hand gestures to communicate.

In fact, recent research suggests that sign language is innate. An article published in the Boulder Daily Camera in 2003 presented strong evidence that babies as young as six months old communicate with their hands:

                        "...by 6 to 7 months, babies can remember a sign. At eight months, children
                        can begin to imitate gestures and sign single words. By 24 months, children
                        can sign compound words and full sentences. They say sign language reduces
                        frustration in young children by giving them a means to express themselves
                        before they know how to talk." (Glarion, 2003)

The author also cites study funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development demonstrating that young children who are taught sign language at an early age actually develop better verbal skills as they get older. The ability to sign has also helped parents in communicating with autistic children; one parent reports that "using sign language allowed her to communicate with her [autistic] son and minimized his frustration...[he now] has an advanced vocabulary and excels in math, spelling and music" (Glarion, 2003).

The Best Time To Start

Not only does early childhood education in signing give pre-verbal youngsters a way to communicate, it can also strengthen the parent-child bond – in addition to giving children a solid foundation for learning a skill that will serve them well in the future. The evidence suggests that the best time to start learning ASL is before a child can even walk – and the implications for facilitating the parent-child relationship are amazing.

Co-written by Emily Patterson and Kathleen Thomas

Emily and Kathleen are Communications Coordinators for the Zionsville child care facility, a member of the AdvancED® accredited family of Primrose Schools (located in 16 states throughout the U.S.) and part of the network of Indiana child care preschools delivering progressive, early childhood, Balanced Learning® curriculum.

*Disclosure statement: I, TPRM, have not been paid or compensated by the previous groups or individuals. I am posting this article freely because I believe my readers will benefit from this message and information.
<3tprm

Oh I forgot to brag...

...So 2 of my pictures were finalists in 2 different challenges last week! I meant to put them up earlier, but I'm sure you've read about how much I procrastinate aka suck.

So anyway, here they are, and also my awards! Which I proudly accept and display! I'm so psyched to get them and you better believe I'm gonna show 'em off worse than some mama whose kid just made the honor roll!

I got into the Top 3

in the photo challenge by

Tiffany from They Call Me Mama

Here was my winning (ok, placing) pic!

(the description/ commentary is by Tiffany :))

"I love vintage from vintage clothes, pictures, decor I LOVE it! So I definitely loved this photo!"

I also received an honorable mention

in the photo challenge by

Natalie over @ The Franklins!

I was truly psyched to be picked in each challenge, and I proudly rock my awards buttons on my side bar!

So if you are a photophile/ photo junkie like I am, head on over to these two lovely ladies' blogs and see what they have in store for you. Their photos are always amazing and they are always running contests, so get over there! I dare you. :D

Check out my guest post!

My friend Heather recently asked me to guest post for her blog. She wanted me to do so because she was going to be welcoming home her husband from his first deployment. I was more than happy to help her out.

Her blog is He Wears Combat Boots, I Wear Stilettos and I highly recommend it! She is a personal friend of mine and she is one of the sweetest people I know. She blogs about everything from her 30 day challenge, to her obsession with Army Wives :), and from her passion about current events that affect her life and the lives of many, to her playlist of songs for deployment.

So here is my guest post. It's full of drama and intrigue! Oh who am I kidding, it's just full of drama. Drama I can expand on if you're interested! Go check it out! :D Tell me what you think here! And tell Heather what you think there! She is such a beautiful sweetheart and I'm so glad she and her hubs and their little girl are back together again. Check out their super sweet reunion pic and tell me you can resist visting her blog. You can't! It's impossible! ;)

<3tprm

Winners! Photo Challenge #2- All the small things :D

Hello loveys! Sorry I am always so late with posting winners of my challenges. I promise to be better about it in the future, but as a life long procrastinator- this ailment is hard to beat. ;)

And this week was especially hard since I messed up the Linky closing, left it open an extra day, and then got a day behind on posting a new challenge and picking winners, and yadda yadda yadda, I suck. But since I was the judge this week, it was even more daunting since not only am I a procrastinator, but I also can't make decisions worth a flip. Can't figure out where to eat dinner? Heck! Don't ask me! I don't know!

And this is especially hard when I love all of the people and pix that were entered. I really want to give you all a prize! But then that wouldn't be fair. And the whole 'challenge' part would pretty much be a lie. Cause if everyone got an award, where would the challenge be? Might as well send in a picture of soggy cereal, cause you know you're going to get an award anyway! Well, I take that back- a pic of soggy cereal sounds like it could be very interesting... LOL! See where I'm going?

I'm indecisive and it was so hard to pick this week's photos, because I truly did love all of them. They were all so diverse and beautiful, and while I loved picking my favorites, I truly hated having to leave people out. I would basically be the worst coach of all time. "Everyone's a winner!" Like Will Ferrell in Kicking and Screaming.

I am basically Dustin Hoffman's character, dad to Ben Stiller, in Meet the Fockers. This is what my kids' rooms are gonna look like. Except for the Gaylord part. But you see where I'm going. Poor my kids.

Jack: "I didn't know they made 9th place ribbons."

Bernie: "Oh, Jack. They've got 'em all the way up to 10th place."

So anyway, I just wanted to say again, thanx for entering, and congrats to all of the winners! And I hope you all will enter my new challenge which is posted up right now! Click the button below to check it out!

Now on to the good stuff... the winning pix! Yay!

(If your pic wins or places, go here to check out your sweet prize! :D)

In first place we have, drumroll please...

Katie from The Journalings of a Julius!

Here is her winning photo:

Congrats Katie! Here's your button!

In 2nd place we have:

Kimberly from Bugaboo, Mini, Mr & Me!

Congrats Kimberly! Here's your button!

In 3rd place we have:

Tiffany from They Call Me Mama!

Congrats Tiffany! Here's your button!

In 4th place we have:

Emily from Just the Two of Us... and a Cat!

Congrats Emily! Here's your button!

Our honorable mentions are:

Kiley from Home and Away!

Caroline from Atelier Caroline!

And a 2 way tie, both from Tezzie from Not Always Picture Perfect!

Congrats ladies! Here's your button!

And now for TPRM's favorites! Yay!

Shannie from Wiz Man'll Never Fit You Like the Wiz Kid Did!

Ashley from Ramblings and Photos!

Anna from Absolut Anna!

Elissa from Punk Rock Parents!

Vidya from The Dreaming Press!

Natalie from The Franklins!

And lastly, but certainly not leastly,

Kakunaa from Spermination Station!

Congrats ladies! Here's your button!

So there you have it!

Congrats to all the winners! (Your featured post will be up soon!)

And if you didn't win, don't worry! There's a new challenge up right now!!

And I know these past two weeks have been kinda off, but I want you join me here EVERY Tuesday for a new challenge! I promise to keep 'em coming! :D

Thanks to everyone who participated and made my second photo challenge even MORE EXTREMELY awesome than the first time!! (Even though that was awesome too :D)

You guys rock!

<3tprm

PS- Don't forget to check out the new section of my site- http://thepunkrockmom.blogspot.com/p/photo-challenges.html

This is where I'll keep an archive of my challenges and the winners! Tidy! :D

Oh and PPS- Also don't forget that if you place 1st thru 4th, your pictures will be entered into a vote off at the end of this round of contests (3 more to go, 5 in total). There will be 20 pix up to vote on, and I will leave the voting poll open for 2 weeks. So make sure that if you place, to tell your friends! But I will have more info on that when the time comes! :D

Thursday, September 16, 2010

I'm it!

So the oh-so-lovely and wonderful mommysankey from Surviving Motherhood has tagged me in a game of bloggy-tag!

She qouted the oh-so-eloquent and amazing Kimberly from All Work and No Play Makes Mommy Go Something Something when describing tag:

"Remember playing tag in grade school? That game was totally invented by parents. Like you ran like the dickens and didn’t even know that you were secretly burning all the sugar you consumed in your morning Pop tart. Parents are genius. Playing tag made for some good times except when the person who was “it” was a known nose picker and was trying to hunt you down with cootie ridden boogie fingers. So not cool."

The rules are to answer 4 questions that she picked and then create 4 more questions of my own and then tag 3 more blogs.

So here are mommysankey's questions for me!

1. What is something you regret NOT doing thus far in life?
2. What is your most favorite thing to do with the kiddos?
3. Why did you start blogging?
4. What is the one thing you hate doing most?

1. The thing I most regret not doing thus far in life is traveling. I have always been so afraid to fly, so I have just always stayed home. Home as in America. But there is so much in the world that I want to see- Japan, London, Jamaica, Hawaii, Thailand, India, and on and on forever. I also regret not pursuing my dream job as an artist any farther than I have. But hey, the night is still young! Maybe one day?

2. My favorite thing to do with the kids is to take them anywhere where they can be social with other kids- the play ground, Chuck-E-Cheese, the play place at the mall, and so on. They are such social little guys, I love watching them interact with other kids, and how they make friends and play together. How they help each other out and chase each other, screaming that awesome outside-voice-scream-laugh that they have.

3. I originally purchased thepunkrockmom.com domain in 2007, when I was pregnant with my first son. I felt a huge lack in support for punky moms. I had a lot of great vision for the site, but never the time or money to put in to it. Fast forward to now- I still don't have the money, but I have the time available that I want to spend reaching out to and supporting other moms- lifting them up and loving them. So I went the blogger route. (With plans to develop my .com in the future! Somehow!) My site is definitely geared towards punky moms, but I love all you mommies out there and my blog is open and welcoming to you at all times. So my main purpose in blogging now is to share my little self with the world, and to love and support those who share themselves with me. :)

4. This one is tough, since there are SO many things that I hate doing! LOL! The easy answer is dishes. We don't have a dishwasher- so that's all you need to know about that. And the fact that my husband is an amazing guy and usually does all of the dishes for me. Love you babe!
The harder answer is probably being honest with myself. You see, I have a very hard head and I am very willful and uncooperative. Except I do sit down with myself regularly and really dig deep. I'm always finding things I don't like, but ultimately because of this- I am able to at least try to change myself for the better. I am definitely a work in progress. :)

So here are my questions:

1. Whose team are you on and why? (Team Jacob? Team Aniston? Team Tom Cruise? Team Snooki? Etc :))
2. What is your favorite thing to cook for your family? (Recipe please! :D)
3. If you could go forwards or backwards to one day in time, what would it be, and why?
4. What is the best movie, book, tv show, or song that you've loved lately that has really affected your life?

The 3 bloggers I tag to be it are:

1. bouffe e bambini - She says her life is about food and babies, and hey! I dig it! Perfect scenario for me!
2. Chelsea's Psycho Babble - I just heart her. She is so funny and lovely. I love reading her blog!
3. Circus Children - Amazing woman and soon to be mommy. She has an awesome blog! Go visit her!

Thank you mommysankey for tagging me! If you haven't been to Surviving Motherhood to check her out, I strongly suggest you do! She is an amazing woman and mother and all of her posts are wonderful and so sincere. She has me laffing my head off and making me tear up on a daily basis with all of her amazing posts. Do yourself a favor and get over there right now! :D

<3tprm

Ps- Don't forget to enter my photo challenge for this week! :D

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Post for my winners!

Thanks to all who entered my first photo challenge about perspective. The winners were all amazing, as were all of the pix! Thanx so much for your passion and enthusiasm in your shots! :D

So one of the prizes for the winners, runners up, and honorable mentions is to have each of their blogs featured on a post of mine. So here's that post!

(And the winner and runners up get a featured spot on my side bar for a week as well! :D)

The winner and first runner up was Tiffany from They Call Me Mama!
   If you like photography, crafts, and a whole lot of family goodness, go check out her blog! She has an amazing family and her photography is gorgeous! Get over there! Like now!

The 2nd runner up was Anna from Absolut Anna!
   Anna is a small town girl living the big life in Bali! If you like gorgeous photos, advice and recommendations about amazing things, and posts about life as a wife and mom in Bali, go check her out!

The third runner up was Katie from The Journalings of a Julius!
   If you're up for more amazing photography, do not miss this blog! She is super sweet and has the most amazing and wonderful adventures with her husband (not to mention their amazing adventures in dining out!). Don't miss out!

The honorable mentions were:

Vidya from The Dreaming Press!
   Vidya is a wonderful photographer. She always catches the most amazing moments on film.
She is an amazing artist and cook, and she always writes the most beautiful posts. Go see for yourself!

Ashley from Ramblings and Photos!
   Ok, it's Ashley Sisk. Need I say more? Amazing blogger, excellent photographer. If you haven't been there yet, you don't know what you're missing!

Kakunaa from Spermination Station!
   Kakunaa is one of the most wonderful bloggers I know. Not ony does she take amazing pictures, but she has an amazing soul as well. She blogs about her trials and awesome triumph over infertility. Can't wait to meet baby! Get over there and say hi!

Hope you all can go visit these lovely bloggers! I hope they touch you like they have touched me!

(That's what she said! LOL!)

<3tprm

New photo challenge!

Hello all! Long time no see! (Well for me anyway- this has been a very blog-lazy week :))
I made a mistake with the Linky timing for this week's contest, so I corrected it and left the challenge open an extra day. So that has me thrown off with my judging dates, and yadda yadda yadda, I suck.

But that's ok! I will judge the photos tonight and have the winners all ready to roll tomorrow! (I will be judging this time around since I of course waited to late to ask any one. Plus I picked the theme, so I'm psyched to pour over all of your interpretations for it! :D)

So since I am starting this challenge late on this fine Wednesday, I'll leave it open till next Thursday till midnight PST. BUT since I want to continue to have contests on Tuesdays, I'll still be putting up a new challenge next Tuesday. Promise this time! :D (Oh and I haven't forgotten about the prizes- I'll be writing those features and putting up those buttons of winners tonight! :D And Tiffany- I still owe you your prize! I'll hit you up on fb :))

So here we go. If you are new, or need some refreshing, please go here for all prize info and most importantly, the RULES.

I will simply say this: follow the directions of the challenge below (# of pix you're allowed to enter, theme, etc), grab my button and put up a post on your blog about the contest and the pix you are entering. If you are entering MORE than 1 pic, EACH pic needs to be entered into the Linky.
Sounds like a pain in the arse, but it's not a rule that I made just to be annoying to you. It's so that the judges know exactly what pictures count towards the contest. So if you have 3 pix to enter, but only link to 1, only that 1 will be judged. If I was judging all of the contests, it might be different cause I know what's what, but since I will be having guest judges, it's easier for them to just go ahead and judge the Linky entries.

So remember, LINK EACH PIC you want entered, and make sure you link back to the post about the challenge, not just your blog. :D And of course you can put up as many pix about the theme on your own blogs as you want. I always find it hard to narrow it down when I enter photo challenges! :)

Ok, now on to the good stuff- the pix!

In my photography class, we are gradually moving towards my pictures telling a story.

So this week's theme is... Story Time!

You can enter up to 3 pix. They can each tell a different story, or be three parts of one story. But they have to tell a story. Story abt grocery shopping? Awesome. Story about your baby's first tooth? Great. Story about your crappy commute? Sweet. I want those pix to tell me what you can't with words.

Link up at the bottom of this post!

So here are my examples of story time- they say a lot with a little. (I was going to caption them, but I thought that would take away from the spirit of telling a story with a pic. So look at them, and imagine your own story to go along with them! :))