Front Row: Christie Ingram, Lexi Rodrigo, Sharon McMillan Second Row: Kelly McCausey, Leesa Barnes, Tisha Lee, Shannon O'Keeffe, Cathy Ichkhanian, Carol Bremner, Cindy Bidar, Third Row: Angela Wills, Kim Smith, Sarah Zeldman, Imie Belanger

What an awesome time we had last week in Toronto!  Kelly, Tishia, Cindy, and myself took a road trip to meet some of the long-time friends we have made online through Mom Masterminds.  Mom Masterminds is a group of women (mostly moms) who work from home (WAHM).  We represent many, many occupations and have varied skills and talents.  Personally, I think they are all brilliant!

In no particular order:

• Kelly McCausey of Mom Masterminds, WAHM Talk Radio, and a bunch of other sites–our fearless leader. 
• Tishia Lee is an awesome Virtual Assistant and a total sweetheart–it was so great to visit with her again!
• Cindy Bidar is new to the Mom Masterminds community, but has done an internship at Sparkplugging with Kelly.  I even hired her to do some copy writing for me this week!
• Christie Ingram is a brand new mom with an adorable baby girl!  I’m anxious to check out her new site:  WAHM Hacks — sounds great!  She was also an intern with Kelly and continues to help out on WAHM Talk Radio blog and podcast.
• Lexi Rodrigo is an internet marketer and copywriter, as well as the new owner of The Natural Moms Blog.  I had the pleasure of being on a live interview call with her and Kelli Claypool recently and enjoyed it very much!
• Sharon McMillan was our gracious hostess for the event.  Her planning was excellent and her hospitality was beyond compare.  Sharon is an amazing woman and I’m so glad we were able to meet face-to-face!  Sharon is a Business Communications and Public Relations Specialist.
• Leesa Barnes is poised and intelligent and speaks with authority.  She also has a beautiful speaking voice!  Which is good since she’s a podcasting and social media expert!
• Carol Bremner was new to me.  She has a GREAT calling, though–she teaches the very casual user about computers.  This takes a great amount of patience and it takes a special person to do this job!
• Angela Wills is an expert Affiliate Marketing Manager.  She is teaching online classes on how to earn money with affiliate programs.  Sounds like good stuff!  She recommended The Super Affiliate Handbook to me, which she recommends to all her students…I may just have to check it out!
• Sarah Zeldman was also a lot of fun to meet–she has a great sense of humor!  Her specialty is providing Solutions for Busy Moms…and she should know!
• Imie Belanger is all about helping Canadians (mostly moms) shop from home–in fact, her main website is all about that!  She’s very big into online marketing, too.

1- Keep your thoughts positively aligned.

Certain thoughts can bring sadness. If we allow our minds to dwell on them, we will consequently feel the sadness. The solution to this is realizing that negative thoughts have come into our minds. When we see this happening we can redirect our thoughts to a more positive perspective.

2- There are different ways to see the exact same event.

To illustrate this fact, let’s take a real life example. Some people think that birthday parties are a waste of time and feel very annoyed if they have to plan one. They can either throw the party while grumbling and complaining or they can change the way they look at birthday parties and be joyful while planning them. A positive way of looking at birthday parties is that they are great for the person’s self esteem and provide a wonderful opportunity to bring family and friends together for a fun time.
The same event can be seen through a positive light or a negative one. The power is in our hands to choose the perspective that we want to have in any situation in life. We can do the same task with happiness or with gloom. It’s completely up to us.

3- Be aware of your internal dialogue.

Everyone has an internal dialogue going on in their minds. Some people are more aware of it than others. The more aware you are of what goes on in your mind, the more power you have over those thoughts. It may be that you are feeling positive and all of a sudden anxiety and stress start to take over your soul. Some kind of negative thought took hold and it can happen in just one moment. The second you see this happening you need to tell yourself that any negative thought is not true. Simply decide that you won’t accept them and start to repeat good, uplifting and positive thoughts to yourself until you feel your soul be free of sadness or anxiety.

4- Incorporate certain habits for a more relaxing life.

Tension and stress don’t leave a lot of room for us to experience joy. The more you can do each day to relieve tension and stress the more happiness you will feel. Take certain steps to be have more peace and calm in your daily life. Listen to calm instrumental music, talk to a fun friend on the phone, take breaks in between tasks, take long hot baths, practice a sport at least 3 times a week. Reward yourself when you finish a difficult project. Life is not just about work work work. Give yourself permission to simply rest and be entertained. Your soul needs it.

If you do these things you will be creating a lifestyle that is joyful. By the way, the image in this post is my watercolor painting that’s called “Tree of Joy”.

Eren Mckay is a stay at home mom to 3 boys. She has a website with creative baby shower ideas. You can find different themes such as the ladybug baby shower , rubber duck baby shower and resources like monkey baby shower invitations on her site.

Plan ahead of time.

In order to have a really smooth shower, the best thing that you can do is plan ahead. The more time you have to get the details in order, the less stress you will have to deal with. Personally I like to plan way ahead of time because it makes it much more fun to not have the time constraints when buying all of the details for the party.

Plan for more.

One of the biggest things that I have found is that it’s always good to plan for more guests than you actually invited. Having more food and more favors left over is better than not having enough. You want everyone to leave the party feeling happy and taken care of. You can always give away what was left over (if that happens).

Make lists.

Making lists will help you understand where you are in the planning process and what still needs to get done and bought. The main lists that you need to make are: guest list, foods, beverages, favors, decorations, disposable plates, cups and utensils, and a schedule for the events at the party.

The other way to organize your tasks is to create action based lists. This kind of list is based on a time frame in which the tasks will need to get done. There are things that can only be done on the day of the party or a day before. Having that list of things that you will do the day before and the day of the party will relieve the stress of having to remember it all, giving you room to enjoy the special day.

Have fun games.

Games are a wonderful way to break the ice between the guests. They always bring a lot of fun to the event and make everyone feel like they participated. Plan at least 3 or 4 games to play so that the momentum of the party keeps going. Here are the instructions and printables to the name that candy bar baby shower game. That game is one of the funniest games to play at a baby shower.

Make it theme based.

Ask the mommy to be what theme she would really like. There are many different themes that you can choose from but having the mom pick the theme will be sure to make it an unforgettable experience for her.  If she doesn’t know which theme to choose, here are some baby shower themes ideas for you to suggest to her.  

You might even want to use favorite characters from movies or cartoons. Here are some princess and the frog baby shower decorations and a big list of ideas if you want to have a frog themed shower.

After your theme is chosen then planning the rest of the party is much simpler. Invitations, decorations, favors and even the food can follow the theme.

It’s a lot of fun to be able to mix and match and use our creativity when planning a baby shower. By doing these things everyone will be sure to have a blast!

A frail old man went to live with his son, daughter-in-law, and four-year-old grandson. The old man’s hands trembled, his eyesight was blurred, and his step faltered

The family ate together at the table. But the elderly grandfather’s shaky hands and failing sight made eating difficult. Peas rolled off his spoon onto the floor. When he grasped the glass, milk spilled on the tablecloth.

The son and daughter-in-law became irritated with the mess. ‘We must do something about father,’ said the son. I’ve had enough of his spilled milk, noisy eating, and food on t! he floor.”

So the husband and wife set a small table in the corner. There, Grandfather ate alone while the rest of the family enjoyed dinner. Since Grandfather had broken a dish or two, his food was served in a wooden bowl.

When the family glanced in Grandfather’ s direction, sometimes he had a tear in his eye as he sat alone. Still, the only words the couple had for him were sharp admonitions when he dropped a fork or spilled food.

The four-year-old watched it all in silence.

One evening before supper, the father noticed his son playing with wood scraps on the floor. He asked the child sweetly, ‘What are you making?’ Just as sweetly, the boy responded, ‘Oh, I am making a little bowl for you and Mama to eat your food in when I grow up.’ The four-year-old smiled and went back to work.

The words so struck the parents so that they were speechless. Then tears started to stream down their cheeks. Though no word was spoken, both knew what must be done.

That evening the husband took Grandfather’ s hand and gently led him back to the family table. For the remainder of his days he ate every meal with the family. And for some reason, neither husband nor wife seemed to care any longer when a fork was dropped, milk spilled, or the tablecloth soiled.

On a positive note, I’ve learned that, no matter what happens, how bad it seems today, life does go on, and it will be better tomorrow.

I’ve learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way he/she handles four things: A rainy day, the elderly, lost luggage, and tangled Christmas tree lights.

I’ve learned that making a ‘living’ is not the same thing as making a ‘life.’

I’ve learned that life sometimes gives you a second chance.

I’ve learned that you shouldn’t go through life with a catcher’s mitt on both hands. You need to be able to throw something back sometimes.

I’ve learned that if you pursue happiness, it will elude you, but, if you focus on your family, your friends, the needs of others, your work, and doing the very best you can, happiness will find you

I’ve learned that whenever I decide something with an open heart, I usually make the right decision.

I’ve learned that even when I have pains, I don’t have to be one.

I’ve learned that every day, you should reach out and touch someone. People love that human touch — holding hands, a warm hug, or just a friendly pat on the back.

I’ve learned that I still have a lot to learn.