I have truly enjoyed being a blogger here at TweenBeat!!  It has been so much fun to write posts specifically about my oldest child, Lincoln.  He will be eight years old in a little over a month.  I have watched him grow from my chubby faced baby into a darling snaggle-tooth tween.  I have had the opportunity to play sports with him, snuggle him, read to him, discipline him, play trains with him, cry with him, tease him, home school him, wrestle with him, photograph him, teach him and most importantly…LOVE him!!  My tween is a special boy to me and I am so grateful to be his Mom!!

I have also loved being a blogger for MomTalk, here at TweenBeat.  I think it is such a wonderful place to connect with other Moms.  I love reading their stories, their struggles, their opinions, their worries and heart-aches.  It is truly a place for Mother’s to connect and find strength in each other.

I have also made friends here at MomTalk that I have a deep respect for.  MomTalk is a great place to spend your time and a place I will continue to visit and learn from!!  Thank you MomTalk for being such a great part of my life!

Our family will soon be moving from Jacksonville to our new home.  Thank you Jacksonville and all the wonderful people who have helped to make it such a special place in my heart!!

Until me meet again – Heidi Russell

I have been a Mother for almost eight years now.  Maybe a little bit longer if you count the time I was pregnant with my tween.  I remember how excited my husband and I were to be pregnant with our first child!  I have always been one of those girls who dreamed of being a Mother. Having our first son was also a dream come for me. Motherhood was a little harder then I thought it would be. It wasn’t me just goo-ing over my perfectly dressed child all day!  Since that first child, we have been blessed with two more children. Blessed being the key word, we have been so blessed!!

I continue to love being a Mother!  I love staying home with them, learning from them and growing with them.  I was also a young Mom, I had my tween when I was 22 years old.  My life has turned out exactly how I planned it out. I am currently finding myself at this place where I am feeling a little lost though. Maybe a mid-life crisis (I’m only 31….so it can’t be that) or something. My life really is a dream, yet I am struggling personally.

The time has come for me to focus more time and efforts on myself…remember that 22 year old Mom who has been raising kids for the past eight years. Remember my talents, my strengths and my work ethic.  In this quest, I will only be posting one more blog post before I step down as a Mom Talk blogger for Tween Beat.

I want to be the VERY BEST version of Heidi that I can be for myself, my sweet husband and my children!!  Until then….Heidi

**This photograph was taken by Kristen Hassell, a talented photographer here in Jacksonville.

I tell you one thing, my tween is always growing.  I feel like I get him a new pair of pants for church and by the next month he has outgrown them already!!  It is time consuming to keep on top of his wardrobe.

I also feel like he is at the point where I have to take him shopping with me to make sure things fit correctly.  Right now, he has outgrown his white button down shirt for church and his pants are a little too snug.  A shopping trip for church clothes really needs to happen before next Sunday.

I remember the days when I could pick up 3T, 4T and 5T – they fit perfectly and we were good to go!  Those times have gone far too quickly!

Here is a list of the winter staples that my tween always needs in his wardrobe and is always outgrowing;

- A nice pair of khaki pants (Gap has my all time favorite khaki pants for my tween)

-A couple pair of jeans (Gap is also my favorite for these)

-A pair of tennis shoes (I love the black Adidas indoor soccer shoes – comfortable and easy to get on and off)

-A pair of  brown dressier church shoes

-A white button down shirt

-A good comfortable sweatshirt

-Long and short sleeve t-shirts

-A nice warm jacket

Come summer time, this list will change from jeans to shorts and jackets to swimming trunks!   Good luck keeping your growing tween dressed and comfortable this year!

What are some of your all time favorite clothing items for your tween?

In our family, we love movies!  Watching movies as a family is probably one of our favorite things to do!

I have always been a movie buff and so is my husband.   As parents of tweens, we are very careful with the tv, movies and video games our tween views.  There are so many great movies out there for them and also so much garbage for them to view.

Here are a few of our current favorite movies to watch as a family;

*  Disney’s Tangled

*  Despicable Me

*  Where the Red Fern Grows

*  Swiss Family Robinson

*  Remember the Titans

*  Transformers

*  Mary Poppins

*  Night at The Museum

*  Up

*  Madagascar

*  Hook

*  Rudy

*  Veggie Tales

*  Robots

*  Star Wars the Clone Wars / Star Wars

*  Evan Almighty

*  Over the Hedge

*  Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium

*  Elf

*  Kung Fu Panda

*  Cars

Here are a few more classic movies I would like to add to our list of  favorite Family Movies…..

Mildest:

Milo and Otis,   You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown( Musical),   The Land before Time,  Spy Kids,  Pete’s Dragon,  Swiss Family Robinson,   Mary Poppins,  The Secret of Nimh,   Honey, I Shrunk The Kids,  The Last Unicorn,  Flight of the Navigator,  Bedknobs and Broomsticks, Batteries not included,   Indian In The Cupboard,  Newsies,  Annie,  The Music Man,  The Sound of Music,   An American Tale,  Short Circuit,   Black Beauty(1994),   Ewok Adventure,  The Land of Faraway,  Water Babies 

Milder:

The Neverending Story,  The Karate Kid,  Cloak and Dagger, Oliver!, Spy Kids,  Flight of Dragons,  The Wizard of Oz,  ,   Rudy,   The Adventures of Robin Hood (Errol Flynn version),   20,000 leagues under the sea (Kirk Douglas version),   Journey to the Center of the Earth (1959),  Fantastic Voyage(1966),  Old Yeller,   E.T.,   Where The Red Fern Grows,   The Quest-Frog Dreaming,   Masters of the Universe( He-Man),   Invaders from Mars,   The Black Stallion(1979),   Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,   Superman, (1978)

Mild:

The Last Starfighter,  Legend,   Willow,  Labyrinth,   The Princess Bride,  My Science Project,  Suburban Commando,   Explorers, Buckaroo Banzai,  Krull,  The Dark Crystal,  Meatballs,  Bill and Teds Excellent Adventure,  Mannequin,  Close Encounters of the Third Kind,  War Games,   Dragonslayer,   Jumanji,    Harry and the Hendersons,   Little Monsters,   Jason and the Argonauts (1963),  Clash of the Titans,

**** I think I am going to print this list off and rent some of these classics for my tween and our family!!

So grab your popcorn and snow caps and have a fun movie night!!  Do you have any to add to the list of family favorites?

I don’t think it is a surprise to anyone that we are HUGE Gator fans around here!!  Along with being a Gator fans, we are also huge Tim Tebow fans.

Recently, we watched a special on Tim Tebow with our tween. It was about Tebow preparing for the NFL draft. It showed how much hard work he put into preparing for the draft. We continue to be so impressed by the incredible athlete and positive role model he is to our tween.

He recently filmed a commercial for FRS sports drinks. In the commercial, he talks about how people always told him he wasn’t good enough, fast enough or strong enough to be a quarter back. It is a really awesome commercial and quite inspiring .

As parents, we need to find these great role models for our tweens. The media is full of quite a few scum bags (in my opinion) that I find it so refreshing to find such a good person and athlete as a role model for my tween.

I hope that Tim Tebow continues to find success in his NFL career with the Denver Broncos.  I hope kids can look to him as an inspiration in their lives rather then half naked singers who teach them that partying and beauty are more important then a strong character and work ethic!!

Way to go Tim Tebow, keep up the success and being such a great role model in the lives of our children!!