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These excerpts are taken straight from this book that is sure to make most moms out there feel like they’re not the only one!

1. The real reason we can’t go to your friend’s house? The mommies don’t get along.
2. My son threw up all over the carpet.  I left it there hoping the dog would eat it.
3. I caught myself telling my kids to please leave me alone so I could finish reading a book about being a better parent.
4. I stalk my daughter – and her friends – on facebook
5. I filled breast milk bags with non dairy creamer and water and put them in my refrigerator so my friends would still think I was nursing my 6 month old. Little did they know – I stopped at 6 weeks.
6. I learned the soulja boy dance, video taped myself doing it and put it up on youtube to blackmail my kids so they would behave!
7. I haven’t taught my kids how to tell time yet.  This way I can say it’s bedtime whenever I want.

True Mom Confessions: Real Moms Get Real

The Lovely Miss K is a winner from Honey Grove’s Best Eyes Contest.  It’s certaintly not hard to tell why she won!  Congrats!

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7. Forget the Miata and buy the mini-van. And don’t think you can
   leave it out in the driveway spotless and shining. Family cars don’t
   look like that. Buy a chocolate ice cream bar and put it in the glove
   compartment. Leave it there. Get a quarter. Stick it in the cassette
   player. Take a family-size bag of chocolate cookies. Mash them down
   the back seats. Run a garden rake along both sides of the car. There!

   Perfect!

   8. Get ready to go out. Wait outside the toilet for half an hour. Go
   out the front door. Come in again. Go out. Come back in. Go out
   again. Walk down the front path. Walk back up it again. Walk down it
   again. Walk very slowly down the road for 5 minutes. Stop to inspect
   minutely every cigarette butt, piece of used chewing gum, dirty
   tissue, and dead insect along the way. Retrace your steps. Scream
   that you’ve had as much as you can stand until all the neighbors come 
   out and stare at you. Give up and go back in the house. You’re now
   just about ready to try taking a small child for a walk.

   9. Always repeat everything you say at least five times.

  10. Go to your local supermarket. Take the nearest thing you can find
   to a pre-school child with you. A fully grown goat is excellent. If
   you intend to have more than one child, take more than one goat. Buy
   your week’s groceries without letting the goats out of your sight.
   Pay for everything the goats eat or destroy. Until you can easily
   accomplish this DO NOT even contemplate having children.
 
  11. Hollow out a melon. Make a small hole in the side.  Suspend it
   from the ceiling and swing it from the ceiling and swing it from side
   to side. Now get a bowl of soggy Fruit Loops and attempt to spoon it
   into the hole of  the swaying melon by pretending to be an airplane.
   Continue until half of the Fruit Loops are gone. Tip the rest into
   your lap, making sure that a lot of it falls on the floor.  You are
   now ready to feed a 12-month old child.

  12. Learn the names of every character from ‘Barney and Friends’,
   ‘Sesame street’, and ‘Power Rangers’.

   When you find yourself singing, “I love you, you love me” at work, you
finally       
   qualify as a parent.  Congratulations!

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How to cope when it’s time to say goodbye

The Humane Society of the United States

When a person you love dies, it’s natural to feel sorrow, express grief, and expect friends and family to provide understanding and comfort.

Unfortunately, the same doesn’t always hold true if the one who died was your companion animal. Many consider grieving inappropriate for someone who has lost “just a pet.” Nothing could be further from the truth.

Members of the family

People love their pets and consider them members of their family. Caregivers celebrate their pets’ birthdays, confide in their animals, and carry pictures of them in their wallets. So when your beloved pet dies, it’s not unusual to feel overwhelmed by the intensity of your sorrow.

Animals provide companionship, acceptance, emotional support, and unconditional love during the time they share with you. If you understand and accept this bond between humans and animals, you’ve already taken the first step toward coping with pet loss: knowing that it is okay to grieve when your pet dies.

Understanding how you grieve and finding ways to cope with your loss can bring you closer to the day when memories bring smiles instead of tears.

What is the grief process?

The grief process is as individual as the person, lasting days for one person or years for another. The process typically begins with denial, which offers protection until individuals can realize their loss.

Some caregivers may try bargaining with a higher power, themselves, or even their pet to restore life. Some feel anger, which may be directed at anyone involved with the pet, including family, friends, and veterinarians. Caregivers may also feel guilt about what they did or did not do, and may feel that it is inappropriate to be so upset.

After these feelings subside, caregivers may experience true sadness or grief. They may become withdrawn or depressed. Acceptance occurs when they accept the reality of their loss and remember their animal companion with decreasing sadness.

Coping with grief

While grief is a personal experience, you need not face loss alone. Many forms of support are available, including pet bereavement counseling services, pet-loss support hotlines, local or online Internet bereavement groups, books, videos, and magazine articles.

Here are a few suggestions to help you cope:

• Acknowledge your grief and give yourself permission to express it.
• Don’t hesitate to reach out to others who can lend a sympathetic ear. The Delta Society offers a list of pet loss hotlines for those grieving over the death of a pet.
• Write about your feelings, either in a journal or a poem.
• Call your local humane society to see whether it offers a pet loss support group or can refer you to one.
• Prepare a memorial for your pet.

You may also want to ask your veterinarian or local animal shelter about available pet loss hotlines. Explore the Internet for pet loss support groups and coping information.

For children

The loss of a pet may be a child’s first experience with death. The child may blame himself, his parents, or the veterinarian for not saving the pet. And he may feel guilty, depressed, and frightened that others he loves may be taken from him.
Trying to protect your child by saying the pet ran away could cause your child to expect the pet’s return and feel betrayed after discovering the truth. Expressing your own grief may reassure your child that sadness is ok and help him work through his feelings.

For seniors

Coping with the loss of a pet can be particularly hard for seniors. Those who live alone may feel a loss of purpose and an immense emptiness. The pet’s death may also trigger painful memories of other losses and remind caregivers of their own mortality. What’s more, the decision to get another pet is complicated by the possibility that the pet may outlive the caregiver, and hinges on the person’s physical and financial ability to care for a new pet.

For all these reasons, it’s critical that senior pet owners take immediate steps to cope with their loss and regain a sense of purpose. If you are a senior, try interacting with friends and family, calling a pet loss support hotline, even volunteering at a local humane society. If you know seniors in this situation, direct them to this page, and guide them through the difficult grieving process.

For other pets

Surviving pets may whimper, refuse to eat or drink, and suffer lethargy, especially if they had a close bond with the deceased pet. Even if they were not the best of friends, the changing circumstances and your emotional state may distress them. However, if your remaining pet/s continue to act out of sorts, there could actually be a medical problem that requires your veterinarian’s attention.

Give surviving pets lots of TLC, and try to maintain a normal routine. It’s good for them and for you.

Getting another pet

Rushing into this decision isn’t fair to you or your new pet. Each animal has his own unique personality and a new animal cannot replace the one you lost. You’ll know when the time is right to adopt a new pet after giving yourself time to grieve, carefully considering the responsibilities of pet ownership, and paying close attention to your feelings.

When you’re ready, remember that your local animal shelter is a great place to find your next special friend.

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The results are in and we actually had a tie for second place!  Check my previous post but here are the results

Grand Prize:  Picture #5

Second Place:  Picture #10 and #11

Third Place: Picture #1

Thank you so much for entering!  If your picture was a winner please email me at katie@honeygrovephotography.com  to schedule your session.  All contestants that did not win a mini session will recieve a $50 gift certificate to my studio just for entering.  Please email me to schedule a session if you are interested.

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I can’t wait to see who wins!  Contest is officially closed.  Voting will be held this weekend and the winners will be announced on Sunday!  Good luck to everyone and thank you so much for entering your cuties!

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