enjoying a house devoid of children

First, let me say that I love my children. I enjoy them a majority of the time. But lately, there's been a lot of family togetherness, and I was ready for them to find some other pursuits. Enter my mom...she took them off our hands for a while today. Hubby and I had a chance to go for a quick motorcycle ride and lunch. We got a little wet on the way back, but it was still a nice little ride. When they came back, I was happy to see them.

Thank God it's summer break soon. I'm tired of activities.

Ugh

I had a major migraine today, and I'm still nauseous and feeling week. I'm off to nurse this horrible feeling.

A beat of a different drummer

My Monster, who is definitely the baby, has always been a unique person. He is neither a follower or a leader. He prefers to small groups or his own company, but is content to deal with crowds at times as well. Kids his age don't flock to him, but if asked, they all like him. He has a HUGE imagination and shares it freely with anyone who will listen. Luckily, we've only encountered people who appreciate his stories, and don't point out the flaws, or that dragons aren't real. (Good thing, since we live with 124 of them at last count).

So it was really no surprise to me when he asked for a mohawk last Saturday. His father asked him if he was ready for the annual summer buzz cut, and Monster impishly but matter of factly stated that he wanted a mohawk. So daddy took him out and gave him one. And he's very proud of it. Several people that know him pretty well have decided that it suits his attitude perfectly. And several others have commented on the fact that they couldn't believe we allowed him to have this hairstyle.

DDS and I believe that our children should be allowed to express themselves. They are finding out who they are, and I want them to have the freedom to explore and discover what that means. I always felt self-concious as a child, and would never have dared something so extreme. I'm proud that my kids are a little off the main stream sometimes, and that other peoples opinions of these things doesn't really bother them. PB has a really cute outfit consisting of a pink polka dotted shirt and madras plaid pink shorts. Sounds awful, but she sure pulls it off. I've heard several teachers, friends, and parents comment to her that they don't know many people with the ability to pull that off, but she does.

So here's to learning to love yourself this Love Thursday. It's something my children are teaching me.

Yes, I'm still alive

Sorry for the sudden run of posting. My bestest friend came to visit me for the first time in 5 years, so the posts were all started last week and I kept forgetting to actually come post them. They'll be coming up.

Work is crazy. This is a crazy time of year, as our fiscal year ends June 30th, and that's what my job entails...budgets. On top of that, since 2 weeks ago, today was only my second day in the office. I was off with my Hubby during his eye surgery, and then off to visit with my Picasso. Soooo...I'm swamped. And my personal to do list is a mile and a half long. Thank goodness it's almost summer.

Off to post more...:)

It was a sad day

I had to take Picasso to the airport today. She called a bit ago to say that her plane was stuck on the runway due to a weather delay. They decided to shut down the engines to save fuel, and then they couldn't get the plane restarted. They managed to get them back to the terminal, and called the mechanic, and finally she's on her way home. To a part of the country that is still cold today. From here, where it was a balmy 80 some degrees. I feel for her. And tomorrow, back to the grind.

Night!

Fun Monday - Vacation memories

Our host this week is RDHmom. I love the subject this week!

Vacations...this is the time of year when most of us go on vacations. Show us and/or tell us about your favorite vacation - where you went, what you did, etc. Pictures would be great. Let's all take a trip around a the world via our FM friends!!

My favorite vacation...that would be really tough. Several years ago, we went on a cruise, and that was really fun. Another year we went amusement park hopping and camping. Fun. Last year, we did the day trip and hang out at home thing. Fun.

The best one? I think it would have to have been 5 years ago. We took the kids to Disney. We drove from here to Florida (a two day drive) with our children convinced we weren't going to Disney. Seriously. They thought we were driving to Orlando, staying in Orlando, and not going to Disney. They believed this until the morning after we arrived. My husband and I dress them, and while videotaping them, we explain that we're going to Disney. Bug says "yup, in a few months." PB gets it right away. We had to convince Bug we were telling the truth.

That first day, we met all the characters and then...we rode one ride before the monsoon of all monsoons came in. They closed the Small World Ride due to tornadoes in the area. For 5 hours, the only thing you could do was go in shops and eat. So we decided to call it a day and go back to the hotel. But the shuttle? It didn't come. Nor did the next one. Finally, a bus from that company going elsewhere called and got a van to take us back. We were so wet...I've been in showers and been dryer. But my girls, they were troopers (Monster was a baby, and he's a water baby anyway, so he was having a blast). They laughed and splashed and said that the important thing was they could say they've been to Disney World now.

We managed to get a few good days of weather. My hubby and I expected the rain showers every day, but this was non seasonal downpours for hours on end. It sucked. But we still talk about that trip today.

Off to the beach

We're off for a little sun and sand. It's a great temp, a nice sunny, breazy day. We're going to drive up on the beach and search for shells and build sandcastles. Then it's into town for pizza and some rides. Hope you are all having a great weekend!

Picasso and Roomie

Back when I was a Purdue Undergrad, I met this nice girl in a class the first week of classes. She was friendly and local, and we became friends. She talked me into going to a Little Sister rush with her and her best friend. And surprisingly, I walked away from that house knowing I had found my home on campus. When your pledge period is over, the Little Sister liaison from the fraternity gives you a nickname. The best friend had become my best friend, and we were the three amigos together. My name was Roomie, and her name was Picasso. The third girl, the one that brought us together...we eventually lost touch. Her life changed, and she left school well before us. But Picasso and I, we stuck it out. We lived in a one bedroom apartment together for 2 years, then moved into a 3 bedroom with a crazy chick, and then I shared her efficiency for several months. And almost 17 years later, we're still best friends. We have never managed to live closer than 12 hours apart, but we're still friends. We still have the same thoughts and views on so many subjects. She's PB's godmother, and their honorary Aunt. And when she got off the plane, she had the same pair of shoes I had in my closet at home, just in brown (mine are black).

Let's not wait another five years.

I'm So excited...and I just can't hide it

So yesterday was the day my Picasso arrived. And I have big plans for hanging out and chilling and catching up on five years of stuff. So, talk amongst yourselves. Tell me about your bestest friends. Why are they the greatest? Tomorrow, I'll tell you a little more.

Fighting for what you love

A while back, three really cool blogging ladies started a website named Sk*rt. And it was cool. And then some not cool people that have a magazine but apparently aren't very web savvy decided that these ladies were infringing on their name. So they caused a lot of problems by filing a lawsuit. And they lost. But they made sure that these really cool ladies would not be allowed to enjoy their win, filing yet another lawsuit. So the ladies decided to change their name. Sk*rt was so 2007 anyway.

And now, these ladies, who really are cool and love what they do, they've launched the new Kirtsy. It's the Sk*rt you love, only better...with a better name. Same letters, just in a different order. Go, check it out.

Wordless Wednesday

Feeling nostalgic...my bestest friend is coming to visit.

Thank God I'm A Simple Girl

Another trip to DC today. Thankfully, it's the last one. And it was the killer. We had to be there at 7:30. That meant leaving our house at 5 am, and we were still 10 minutes late (stupid Beltway traffic).

I was born in Baltimore, and then we moved to Indiana when I was 9. After 13 years of living in smallish towns or the country, I was ready to move back to the East and try some city living again. After one year, I knew it wasn't for me. I moved to the smaller town and met my husband and here I am still. While I know that I can live in the large city and handle the driving and all, I'm so glad I don't have to live that way. That type of stress and time suck is not healthy for me. I'm not saying that it isn't right for other people, but not for me.

Fun Monday

Yay, I actually got signed up for it!

Mariposa is our hostess this week, and the subject is...

Collections... We all have them...and if you don't, you do....you just may not realize it. For some reason or another we all collect something and we collect it for reasons that will definitely make for good reading. So on Monday, I want to see your collection. If you don't have or don't want or CAN'T (wink) show us a picture, then tell us what the collection is in 10 words or less. Then tell us why you started collecting it.

Hmm, collections. Well, I collect sewing and crafting stuff. Way too much of it, but it's useful. I also collect hobbies. I have so many interests, and I can never resist getting involved. It makes me have a lot of undone projects. I also seem to collect books, but I try not to keep most of those after I read them. Let's think. Hubby and I have also been collecting DIY magazines. There's all kinds of info in them that we know will be useful someday. I'm hoping to organize them and create a sort of index system, but that's somewhere down the road.

I don't really have many other collections. In the last few years, I've developed a streamlined outlook and don't keep a lot of "stuff" around.

Make sure you visit all the other Fun Monday participants.

Busy Busy Busy

Today is my grandmother's 84th birthday, and then this afternoon the fam and I will travel to Washington DC to spend the night. Tomorrow we will hit Walter Reed first thing in the morning for the last appt for a month, and then we will embark on an educational family field trip. We have plans to hit a few monuments, maybe a Smithsonian or two, the National Zoo, who knows. I know that I have lots of work to do both at home and at work, but I'm going to take this time while I can.

Another love post

I love our home. And 5 cubic feet of mulch later, it looks so fresh and ready for spring...and I'm exhausted. So that's it. Now I'm off to watch a movie with my family in the back yard.

Friday

Another foray into Washington, DC. I'm so glad I chose to stop living in this area. Home briefly, then off to a spaghetti dinner at church, a nap, and then resting up for working outside tomorrow.

Love in many forms

I saw a lot of love today. My hubby had PRK surgery on his eyes at Walter Reed Medical Center. Members of the Army from all over come here to receive services. Some are bussed in as groups from far away bases, and some come all on their own. They are required to bring someone with them for the actual surgery day (they have 2 appts before the day of surgery and two after, so 5 visits in 5 days) and for the 2 follow up visits. I saw fathers and wives with babies there, waiting patiently for their loved ones. In the hallways, I saw visitors bringing gifts to soldiers there recovering. I saw soldiers with their kids. What I saw the most...love and pride. It was a very nice experience.

And let's add to the love. Love is driving 5 hours round trip 3 times in 5 days into a major metropolitan area. But I do love him, and the ability to see without contacts or glasses is something he has pined for since before I knew him, so I'm happy to do it for him.

Wordless Wednesday - helping dad

I wanna

Change the look of my blog. But it's going to have wait until summer. Maybe then I'll get a break from the constant running and be able to learn how to code. Maybe.

I'm trying to organize the childs summer schedule...argh.

Fun Monday

And I'm not participating again. I'm hoping next week will be better. But right now, I'm swamped.

We're having some really crazy weather here. Coastal flash flooding and high winds are really doing some damage. DDS had to go out and help evacuate some families this morning. I'm thankful that just a few branches were blown down in our yard.

Happy Mother's Day

I'm exhausted, but pleased with the day. We purchased new digital cameras for both of our mom's as well as those cute little digital picture keychains. Both moms were very surprised and pleased, and it was nice to actually be able to afford something nice for them. They both do so much for our family, and it was a great feeling to be able to show them our appreciation. We had a late lunch, and then they hung out and played Mexican Train Dominoes for a while, then desert. I was exhausted, but it was a good day.

The girls both had to play handbells in church this morning, so it was a very early morning. Sitting in the service with my Monster cuddling on my lap, sniffing his sweet little boy smell, I was so overcome with the feeling of blessing. I am so blessed to be a mom to these children. I truly thank God for allowing me the privelege of mothering them. And he's getting so big, there was a little nostalgia for my baby boy's babyhood. It was a very sweet moment for me.

And then he stuck his fingers in my nose.

Gotta love being the Mama.

Is it over, yet?

Tonight was the last night of Brigadoon, Bug's school musical. It was a very good performance, but I realized why I don't watch a lot of movies. I just don't have the patience. 20 minutes from the end I was aking if it could just be over. And that is totally not a reflection of their performance, just my attention span. I'm just glad it's over...towards the end it seems to take over our lives.

And these are the days of motherhood

Jennie (sorry I spelled your name wrong, I'm off to fix that next.) posted this today as well. I love it.

Chapstick (told by the mother)We had this great 10-year-old cat named Jack who just recently died. Jack was a great cat, and the kids would carry him around and sit on him and nothing ever bothered him. He used to hang out and nap all day long on the mat in our bathroom. We have three kids, and at the time of this story, they were 4 years old, 3 years old, and 1 year old. The middle one is Eli. Eli really loved Chapstick. LOVED it. He kept asking to use my Chapstick and then would lose it. Finally one day I showed him where in the bathroom I keep my Chapstick and explained he could use it whenever he wanted to, but he needed to put it right back in the drawer after he finished. That year on Mother's Day, we were having the typical rush around and try to get ready for church with everyone crying and carrying on. My two boys were fighting over the toy in the cereal box. I was trying to nurse my little one at the same time I was putting on my make-up. Everything was a mess, and everyone had long forgotten that this was a wonderful day to honor me and the amazing job that is motherhood. We finally had the older one and the baby loaded in the car and I was looking for Eli. I searched everywhere and I finally went into the bathroom. There was Eli. He was applying my Chapstick very carefully to Jack's ... rear end. Eli looked right into my eyes and said, "Chapped." Now if you have a cat, you know that he is right -- their little bottoms do look pretty chapped. And, frankly, Jack didn't seem to mind. The only question to ask at that point was whether it was the FIRST time Eli had done that to the cat's behind or the hundredth!?! And THAT is my favorite Mother's Day moment ever because it reminds us that no matter how hard we try to civilize these glorious little creatures, there will always be that day when you realize they've been using your Chapstick on the cat's butt.

Seven Facts meme

I was tagged by Jennie to do the Seven facts meme almost 2 weeks ago. I haven't done a meme before, but I'll see how badly I can screw it up. Here are the rules (that I'll ignore.)

1. Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog.

2. Share seven facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.

3. Tag seven people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.

4. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.


Oh lordy.

1. I am really shy. People who've known me for a while or meet me in a setting that I feel very comfortable in won't believe me when I say this. But put me in a room full of people that I've never met before and I clam up.

2. I have a bit of a potty mouth. I try really hard not to use those words, but they do slip out when they really shouldn't.

3. I hate chocolate cake and chocolate ice cream.

4. I can shoot a gun fairly well. I may not kill with one shot, but you will be hurting.

5. I have a college degree in Agricultural Economics with an emphasis on Food Marketing. And I was a little sister at an Agricultural fraternity. This is ironic, because when I graduated from high school, I swore I wouldn't have anything else to do with farmers or farms. But after less than one semester, I found that what I had left really wasn't that bad.

6. I do not work in Agriculture or Food marketing at all.

7. I was a cheerleader for one season in middle school. I quickly realized that I didn't fit in as a cheerleader.

Whew....that was hard. And I don't even know who to tag, cause most of the people I read have already done this. Guess I'll just tag anyone who's interested.

Wordless Wednesday

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ.

(What? It's not a word unless you're Big Bird).

I got nothing

Really, I'm so busy that I don't know if I'm coming or going. Later this week I'll rant about the stupid class I've had to take, or rave about the yummy food we're eating, but today, I'm too tired and stressed.

Fun Monday?

Call it too much birthday, or just too much, but I never even figured out who was hosting this week. So I'll just say happy Cinco de Mayo. I hope you had a margarit for me (since I don't like them anyway).

the day after

So, today was much better. Sunday School this morning, and then the kidlins and I came home and took care of a boat load of laundry that needed folding, straightening the kitchen up, and cleaning up their messes for yesterday. After that, we went to my moms for a birthday cook out, and then home to mow and do the usual Sunday night running. But all in all, it was a good day. Of course, having the Monster try and melt his own little plastic beads with my new iron sucked, and him trying to wash the car with the windows down wasn't great either. But I have clean sheets that I will be crawling between with my hubby in a few, so it's okay.

It's my party...

Edited below...
It must be the year for crappy birthdays. Mine doesn't rate as high on the crap scale as Jennifer's, but it hasn't been inspiring so far. My kidlins have been in that arguing, sarcastic, not listening phase for the last few weeks, and today it was driving me crazy. Then an afternoon party at that big Rodent's nasty pizza place. I'm ready to just go to bed and call it a day.

***ETA...It was redeemed...hubby took me to a good restaurant for a nice dinner dressed up as grown ups. Good end.

Jumping out of my skin

I've been burning the candle at both ends a bit this week, and this morning the candle broke. I could barely pull myself out of bed this morning, and was even 20 minutes late doing so. I somehow managed to take the kidlins to school without killing any of them, but let me tell you, it was difficult. Bug has a tendency to get in these "I'm a teenager, so I'm better than all of you" moods, and and then every comment out of her mouth is sarcastic or cutting, and it drives me batty. Monster has hit the non-stop talking age. In the car every morning we are treated to a long game of 20 gazillion questions. But the rules of this game are different...there's no subject, whatever he feels like asking is okay. And sometimes, his questions are like this one...."Mama, you know that thing? Where did it get that thingy from?" Yes, really, he asked that out of the blue one evening. When I asked him to clarify what thing, he said, "you know, the one with the thingy?" Very clear now. Anyway, I digress. Yesterday was no exception on that chattering, and I seriously felt like I could jump out of my skin. I was so over-stimulated and exhausted that I wanted to just throw myself down on the ground and cry. I decided (amazing how rational you can be when your feeling crazy) that I wasn't fit for public consumption, so I went home, took meds for my headache, and slept for 2 more hours. Amazing what that did for my disposition. I was feeling soooo much better.

I will never take drugs. If that's what withdrawal is like, I don't want to feel it.

New shoes

I found a cute pair of shoes yesterday and wearing them today was a blast. Lots of people commented on them, and my feet weren't killing me when the day ended. And that's my love Thursday post. New shoes that other people admire and that don't hurt my feet.



Happy Love Thursday Y'all.