The Heart of CMOM Productions

What is CMOM Productions?  Since this blog began, I've been learning the ropes and finding my niche.  My blogging description has always been:

CMOM Productions is all about my thoughts, experiences, and other randomness in my life that are currently in production. From my struggles and triumphs as a wife and mom of 2 boys, to my own personal goals and dreams, and everything frontwards, backwards, sideways, and in between! Welcome to my blog, my name is Melinda Marie.  

While it's not set in stone, Mondays are geared towards writing about experiences in this life.  Do I write for a fan base?  Ummm, no.  Many of my readers are considered friends (such as fellow bloggers)  and family, not fans.  On Monday, CMOM Productions is more of an outlet for my reflective focus.

When Friday rolls around I showcase another side to my personality.  My crafty sense is revealed via Stampin' Out The Work Week.  I'm a Stampin' Up Demonstrator, but I'm more than that (actually Stampin' Up is much more than stamps too).  "I'm a Craft-a-holic" should be stamped on my sleeve.  Don't be surprised if you find out that glitter and acid free adhesive flow through my veins.

CMOM Productions is more than just a blog name to me.  It's my family.  In fact, our initials (in age order) are C M O M.  From our crafting, to our crazy adventures, to our everyday life, our productions are what makes this blog.  My family is the heart of CMOM Productions.

It is with great joy that I share our latest moments...  
On Sunday, August, 17, 2011, my two boys asked Jesus into their hearts!

When another explanation of communion was requested after church, I didn't expect that my boys would understand it all at that moment.  After communicating our remembrance and reflection of Jesus' suffering and acceptance of it and God's gift to us, some of the most precious words were spoken.  My youngest, with the joy shown only by a child, piped up with the words "I want Jesus in my heart forever!"  My oldest son responded with the same, while his eyes showed that he was deeply pondering the sacrifice by Jesus.  His thoughtfulness was not hesitation though, but of understanding.  The reality of what our Savior did for us seemed to sit on his heart.  Knowledge of Easter's miracle quickly followed his statement.  While my boys have heard this story from the time they were babies, the amazement in their expressions is nothing short of heart warming.  After both boys explained their understanding of what being a Christian meant, both said a special prayer.

My heart is filled with such joy and gratefulness.  A mother's prayers for her children are unending.  Yet, God answered two very special prayers of mine that began as soon as I knew I was expecting each child.

"Tonight I'll count my blessings,
I'm thankful for each one.
Then close my eyes and go to sleep,
Until tomorrow comes."
-From "Thank You, God" by Holly Bea

For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.
John 3:16

Hectic Holidays & Holiday Blog Hours

'Tis the season!  You know, the season for food, friends, family, and festivities.  Not too mention stress, dread, and exhaustion due to some of the previously mentioned holiday staples. 

I find myself beginning to embrace the overwhelming tasks of the upcoming holidays and wonder if I am biting off more than I can chew.  Normally I have most of the Christmas gifts well underhand, but this year I have unpredictably put off purchasing presents until this month of November.  I was wise enough to pick up a few crafty holiday items after Christmas last year.  These will come in handy, as my boys typically do a homemade gift for grandparents, aunts, and uncles.

Thanksgiving is on it's way in 1 1/2 weeks.  We are preparing our home for family visiting from out of state.  Plans of a possible dessert party for the evening of Thanksgiving are underway.  The days are quickly winding down, 10 days to go to be exact.  From that point on, things don't slow down one bit.

How many of you are counting down to Christmas?  If you haven't figured that out yet, it's only 39 days away.  As you are well aware, I'm a crafty mama.  Which means that my holidays are filled with homemade gifts and fun projects.  Bring on the overwhelmed feeling mentioned above. 

As crazy as things may get, I still wouldn't trade my seasons full of sewing, baking, and other general crafting activities.  My homemade holidays will always be full of great memories to share with my children.  I hope they will do the same with their kids someday. 

With this being the busiest time of year for just about everyone, especially Santa, I've come to the conclusion that something has to give.  Through the seasons of thankfulness and Christmas cheer, I will be cutting back on the amount of blog postings each week.  You will see a blog post on every Monday, but Meet Me On Monday will be more random as it was originally described.  I'm hardly at work on my WIP (work in progress) and have officially dubbed my Wednesdays as WIP Wednesdays until I'm able to make a vast amount of progress on it.  Which brings me to Fridays.  Fridays are going to be unpredictable-- yes I know this is just a more interesting way to say random.  Unless I have something really exciting or interesting to say, I probably won't be posting on Friday.  I'm referring to this as Holiday Blog Hours.  When January 2010 rolls around, I'll be the first to throw the confetti in the air and get back into the regular swing of things.  Regular blogging hours should return at that time.

How are you planning to keep up with the hectic holiday schedule?  Is your Thanksgiving filled with and abundance of food, family, and fun?  Do you wait until the last minute to do your Christmas shopping?  Is your calendar full over the next 1 1/2 months?  Do you have to cut a little out of your normal schedule to handle the heavy holiday load?

Germ Busters

As I opened my eyes this morning, it hit me.  Today is Friday!  Hooray!  TGIF!  Woo hoo!  Woot!  *insert your own personal happy dance or excited exclamation here*  I'm breathing a big sigh of relief at this very moment.  My oldest son, O, has been through 4 days without breaking out into a fever and made it through 3 full days of school (well, after today that is) this week!  My youngest son, M, kicked the fever quicker than O did and is doing well today. 

With good health on the rise in our home, I still am unable to let my guard down.  Germs are still attempting to hang on in places unseen to the human eyes, of this I am certain.  As I go into action mode, I grab my favorite weapons for just such a battle...  Lysol & Clorox wipes!  Let's just hope I make it out of this one.

Have you figured out what my day and upcoming weekend hold in store?  Yes, that's right, the cleansing of the palace.  Without it, nobody can truly be safe.  As the safety and health of my family is at stake, I must leave you with this very unimportant and silly blog.

***

I apologize that this blog was posted so late today.  My day was full of turbulence.  It doesn't help that the pilots of this bird miscalculated on the decent, as they picked their noses, and landed me in a field of cow manure... you know... a bunch of bull cr*p.

Check back Monday for some insight on a few things I’ve learned recently through reading books.

The Dream Times

What do the Jonas Brothers, their parents, an ABC Soaps star, and multiple negative newspaper editorials have in common?  No, they are not featured in the latest tabloid (at least not as far as I know), but they were all major parts of my dream last night!  What an interesting drama it was.

In this dream, I seemed to be fresh out of high school and family friends of the Jonas family.  When your boys watch Disney channel's JONAS at night, they apparently make a guest appearance in your dreams while you sleep.  Seriously, these boys (um, men or young men I guess) are everywhere!  There I was, hanging out, laughing, and listening to music with the family when in walks One Life To Live's Viki (Erika Slezak). 

The wrinkled forehead, raised to one side mouth, and concerned eyes showed me instantly that she was not here to join in the relaxed atmosphere.  In her hand, she held a current newspaper that was folded in half.  "I thought you would want to see this," she said as she held the paper out to me.  Without a word, my eyes went to the page in front of me.  Before me, 3 negative editorials and my photo starred back. 

Within seconds, the over publicized brother band was behind me.  As they read out loud over my shoulder, the "who would do this?" comment popped out of someone's mouth.  I shook my head and simply stated, "I know who."  The family of Jonas offered words of support while I grabbed my phone and dialed my Mom's phone number.

When she answered, I asked instantly, "are you okay?  Did you see it?"  Of course she had, and she knew who was responsible.  My mother quickly filled me in on the fact that the person I expected to be the culprit was unhappy with me coming forward about the abuse in my blog.  This was their way of seeking some sort of vengeance.  "Great!" I thought.  "I should have expected it, even if I was trying to do the right thing by coming forward."

Shortly after that, I woke up to see my youngest son standing next to my side of the bed.  He wanted to sleep in between mom and dad.  "You got it buddy," was my response.  What a crazy dream.

How often do your daily activities or recent events affect your dreams?  Have you had any really crazy ones yourself?

Let's Get Personal, Reflections of Me

Before I get into today's topic, I would love to share a sweet little song that my oldest son made up and sang to me moments ago.

Mom I love you
Because you are so sweet
I'm glad you are my Mom
And you will always be
EVERYDAY

Did he want something? Maybe, but it was still adorable and made my day!

***

Okay, let's get personal. I've been looking forward to personalizing my blog page for a while now. My husband is a computer nerd, he knows I mean this as a compliment, and can help me figure out what I can't handle on my own. I'm not a generic soul, so this weekend we are hoping to upgrade & update my background. It may be unveiled for my "Meet Me On Monday" blog! That's the plan anyway.

I would love to make my blog space a simple statement of who I am. With a personality that is multi dimensional, I'm not sure how I'll be able to achieve the simplicity. I have high hopes that my husband, with a little help from me, will be able to create a look that "pops" as much as I do at times. He is good, but maybe this is an overwhelming tasks for anyone. I know I must exhaust him with my energizer bunny routine. I'm no "busy body," but I do like to keep myself occupied. I'm not sure how exactly to create a reflection of me that touches on all of these activities, hobbies, and "likes." Does that make me complex rather than simple?

I have a few questions for those who know me, or have gotten to know me recently. How do YOU visualize my page? What colors do you see on it? What about me would you expect to (or like to) see represented? What would you be surprised NOT to see?

Are you a blogger yourself? How do you personalize your blog? Do you give it a unique look or background? Do you say "who cares if the background is generic, because the writing sure isn't!" What makes your blog "you?"

***

O just sang me a new song, with plenty of kisses from M throughout. Do you think they are up to something? Oh well, I'll take the extra love any day!

Three Days A Week

Today is the big announcement... drum roll please...

The CMOMProductions Blog Spot will be producing new posts every Monday, Wednesday, & Friday!!!

I'm keeping this blog brief today, but come back on Wednesday!