Moms

The votes are in and we have a winner! A big Smarty congrats goes out to Charlotte Shackleford, our 2012 Jennifer Lisman Bunich Smarty Mom of the Year! Charlotte beautifully represents what we look for in our Smarty Moms each week and we’re honored to feature her as our Smarty Mom of the Year! CSP {hearts} Smarty Charlotte (hmmm, we’ve heard that phrase before:-)!

We love each and every one of our Smarty Moms/Dads/Tweens, all of them are such an amazing asset to our community. If you have a Smarty nomination, please email us. We’d love to hear from you!

Here’s Charlotte’s Smarty Mom profile!

Photocredit: Dawn Freeland Photography

Smarties, we’re thrilled to introduce you to Charlotte Shackleford! We recently got to know Charlotte with her passion for the Isabella Santos Foundation. Charlotte is a champion for this organization and we support her every step of the way.

Charlotte recently took on the role of Director of Mouzon United Methodist Weekday School. Her dedication for children is evident in all aspects of her work.

Anyone who has had their identity stolen knows how vulnerable and angry it makes you. It’s an inconvenience contacting the bank, credit cards, etc. – to let them know that that somebody out there in this big world is trying to be you.

Lately, I’ve been experiencing a different kind of identity theft. One that still makes me feel vulnerable and angry at times and often requires explaining to others. I’ve been overtaken with being a mommy. It hit me like a ton of bricks when one day my husband told me that I wasn’t as fun as I once had been. At first it shocked me and made me mad. But he was right. I noticed that I hadn’t been laughing as much, wanting to do as much away from the baby, plain and simple…I wasn’t being my old self.

I’ve come to the realization – I’ll never be the “old me”. I’m super excited about that, because that means I’ve come into something more amazing. Having a daughter has made me a different person, but in a good way. There are certain aspects of my identity that I’m working on reclaiming, as I don’t want to lose myself while being a mama.

Smarties, we’re thrilled to introduce you to the latest shoe diva in the north, Danielle Frye, owner of the Shoe Zoo in Davidson. Shoe Zoo is the only children’s shoe boutique in the Lake Norman area and they are dedicated to making your shopping experience the best ever, catering to all things kids!

Smarties, let’s meet Danielle!

Danielle’s Smarty Mom Stats:

Mom of: 2 daughters, Addison (8 ¾), Emerson (6)
Married to: My best friend, Jay
Years in Charlotte/LKN: 12
Hood: We live way out in the country on some land that we like to call Deep Fryed Farms!
Hometown: Pell City, Ala.
Occupation: Prior to becoming a mom, I worked in public relations/communications in the NASCAR arena, as a publicist for a few drivers and then as a Sr. Mgr of Communications for NASCAR; I got married, and worked as a radio announcer/pit reporter for the Motor Racing Network; after dragging our girls to races all over the country, my husband and I decided to ease up their travel schedule! Currently, I along with my husband, am the owner of a new children’s shoe boutique in the LKN area, Shoe Zoo!

Smarties, we’re thrilled to introduce you to TWO Smarty Moms this week, the women behind the fab children’s boutique serving Lake Norman and the Greater Charlotte Area, Elliott Gray. Meet Sara Gray and Kate Stables – we bow down to these ladies for helping bring fashion and fun to children’s attire in the LKN area!

Sara Gray’s Smarty Mom Stats:

Mom of: Harrison Hollingsworth Gray
Married to: David H. Gray
Years in LKN: 6 great years
Hood: Davidson
Hometown: Vicksburg, MS
Occupation: Owner of Elliott Gray, mom, and wife 🙂

Photocredit: Dawn Freeland Photography

Smarties, we’re thrilled to introduce you to Charlotte Shackleford! We recently got to know Charlotte with her passion for the Isabella Santos Foundation. Charlotte is a champion for this organization and we support her every step of the way.

Charlotte recently took on the role of Director of Mouzon United Methodist Weekday School. Her dedication for children is evident in all aspects of her work.

We’re honored to feature Charlotte Shackleford as Smarty Mom this Thanksgiving Saturday. Let’s get to know Charlotte!

Let me introduce you to this week’s Smarty Mom, Dawn Hamilton! Dawn and I met years ago – she was the brave soul who asked my friend and I if she could join our running group. We weren’t an intimidating pair but it takes guts to ask to join a group – LOVE that about her!

So after that one fateful day, we’ve been running together from the Harris Y . The same route. Same pre-dawn time. For SEVEN YEARS (we think – we’ve kind of lost track and try to gauge it based on what babies were born when – that’s how mamas keep track of time isn’t it? We have 8 kids in between us so it gets a little confusing). That’s a whole lot of miles covered and minutes spent getting to know each other. (You might see us on your way to work or school trudging along Sharon Road…honk if you pass us!)

Dawn and her husband, Graham, have four beautiful daughters ages 4-11. She first started contemplating homeschooling when her oldest daughter (who is now 10) started kindergarten. She opted to go the public school route back then, but has always had the feeling deep in the pit of her stomach that homeschooling would just be a better option for her family. After much thought and discussion, Dawn took the plunge this past fall and pulled her older two girls (4^th and 5^th grade) out of public school and is now homeschooling them. Her 2^nd grader is still in public school, and her 4-year-old is in preschool.

Think her days are busy?

I’m SO proud of her for taking on this challenge. The decision to homeschool is a huge one – I know that more than ever after discussing the pros and cons over miles and miles of Sharon Road – but for some families it’s the best decision.

Dawn is an incredibly fun, loyal, and beautiful wife, mama, and friend. I am so excited for the rest of you to get to know her!

Smarties, meet Dawn!

I had an idea of what to expect as a new mommy…but I wasn’t so sure about my husband when it came to being a daddy. Okay, well, I had an idea…I knew he would love our little guy unconditionally. I knew I’d melt when I saw the two of them staring into each others’ eyes. But there have been some surprises along the way.

Case in point, on one of their first outings sans mommy, my husband refused to carry a diaper bag. So, instead he took a plastic grocery store bag and put a diaper and a bottle in it. That’s all. Not even any wipes or a change of clothes. Just a diaper and a bottle. And they were gone, for a couple of hours. Ugh, I cringed when I found out. Okay, maybe I more than cringed. But there was no reasoning with him. I eventually realized he’ll learn the hard way. It’ll be inconvenient for Caleb perhaps… but a lesson learned for daddy. Nowadays, he’s upgraded to carrying the “essentials” in his gym bag. I’m still not sure if he takes wipes.

Smarties, it’s my honor to introduce you to Smarty Warrior, Erin Santos, Founder of the Isabella Santos Foundation in memory of her baby girl Isabella who is now in heaven. I just cannot imagine the level of pain Erin has endured over the years. My hope is that by sharing her story with you, together, we may all make a difference in fighting the pediatric cancer battle that is undeniably underfunded and often too little too late. Erin is a true warrior in my book. I’ve followed her Caring Bridge site for almost a year now and so wished I could have done something to change her outcome. She has strength and courage that I only hope to have if I ever walk in her shoes, which I pray each and every day that I never do. But as you know, cancer does not discriminate – it knows no bounds and can come into your life overnight.

So we ask you to share in Erin’s story this beautiful Saturday morning, halfway through Pediatric Cancer Awareness month. Make sure you visit the Isabella Santos Foundation site to learn more about how you can help.

Smarties, meet Erin Santos.

Today would be Jen Bunich’s 41st birthday, man do I miss her. So much has changed in just 4 1/2 years. I feel like I’ve aged 20! Jen would be so incredibly proud of what this Smarty pink & green movement has become. For those of you new to CSP, here is how it all started.

Three weeks before Thanksgiving in 2007, two Smarty Moms & besties were holed up in a Hilton Head, SC hotel room. We brought 3 of our 5 young children with us (see photo to right) so we had a valid excuse for a weekend getaway hall pass (now adays, we are WAY more empowered and know that we should have taken that journey solo, sans kids, but you live and you learn:-). The birth of CSP was about to take place.

We kept it on the downlow because we just weren’t sure what people would think of it. This was before facebook was on anyone’s radar, the term “social media” was in it’s infancy stage, and most people didn’t even know what a blog was. But we did. And we knew it was going to be life-changing. Before we drove home that Sunday afternoon, we scheduled our first week of blog posts. We hand-picked our closest hundred friends, sent our email, and hid for a week.

I’m proud to introduce you all to Laura Gibbs. She’s a long-time follower of Charlotte Smarty Pants and I’m excited to feature her. She is one heck of a working mama, as you’ll see below. She is juggling a family full of boys and work and does it all with a smile. As an outsider, she makes it look so easy. She’s going to share her tips with us and how she manages to tackle it all!

Laura’s Smarty Mom Stats:

• Married to: Rusty Gibbs
• Mom of: Mason (4), and twins Holland and Lane (3 months)
• Years in Charlotte: 13
• Hails from: Born in Miami, FL; grew up in Charlotte
• Occupation: Account Exec at local Marketing Communications firm