Barbara Walters I Am Not

So, my sister T. was in town for Not Enough Time again, but OH! the fun we had! I've been just short of an all out depressive episode since she left on Sunday. Absence does make the heart grow fonder, my friends. But the good-byes?

They pert near kill me.

So while she was here I kept good on my promise to interview her. Let me just say something about my interviewing skills.

They stink.

I couldn't keep a straight face if my life depended on it. We giggled more than a gaggle of 6 year old girls. I should know this. I have a gaggle.

(Ooo fun....giggle AND gaggle...how often does one use both of those words in the same sentence?)

Anyway, here it is: Interview With My Sister ~ The Untold Story of...Stuff.


Me:Can I tell blogdom your real name or do you want to be all mysterious and only be known as "T"?

Her: I don't care. (So much for mysterious)

Me: So does that mean yes?

Her: Yeah, sure.

Me: Her name is Teresa everyone.

(hold your applause)

Me: Do you really read my blog every day?

Her: Yep. It's one of the first things I do every morning. I work out, eat my breakfast, read a little bit of news and then your blog.

(She works out. I hate her.)

Me: What do you eat for breakfast?

Her: I eat a Yoplait Fat Free yogurt, a quarter cup of cereal and soy milk with raspberries and blueberries.

(Who eats a quarter cup of cereal?? Really? Of course, this would be why she's lost 30 pounds and I "moo" when I walk)

Me: Did you know that fat free and soy isn't the best for you?

(I'm lookin' for a fight, can you tell?)

Her: You just think you know everything. The Chinese have been eating soy for years and they're healthy. Don't believe everything you hear.

Me: I'll send you some info, okay?

(really trying to push her buttons with that one)

Her: Whatever.

(Shoot.)

Me: Do I sound the same on my blog as I do in real life?

Her: Yea...hehe...yea.

Me: You like me the best in the family, right? ::snicker::

Her: (smirking) Of course.

Me: Is my house crazy?

Her: Absitively, posolutely nuts!

Me: What's the best part of being at my house?

Her: Umm...it's just crazy. We go shopping and I love going shopping with you guys cause you crack me up. AND...I always get to come down and see a new niece!! (raucous laughter!!)

(Notice the word "crazy" is key in describing my home, right?)

Me: (laughing) THAT was funny!

Her: I sometimes miss my boys being little and then I come here! hahaha! (my nephews are 27 and 29)

Me: What's the worst part of being at my house? (me smirking...she's gonna say somethin' about the animals, I just know it!)

Her: The dog hair and cat hair probably

(Told ya! ding! ding! ding!)

Me: I agree completely.

Me: Was the cake I made for Grace's birthday party today totally awesome?

Her: Yea, it was!

Me: I'm cool aren't I?

Her: Yea, I think you're pretty cool. Well... you're okay.

Me: Does my backyard look like a Bosnian mine field?

Her: (laughing) Yea, it does. You have to play hopscotch out there.

Me: Hope does a pretty good job avoiding it though, doesn't she?

Her: Yea, she does.

Me: Did you feel guilty when you started throwing up the other night and thought you gave my whole family the flu?

Her: I was like, "I don't wanna go in there and tell her! She's gonna be so mad! I felt like crap though!"

Me: This is the first time I've used the word crap on my blog. How do feel about that?

(Again..me pushing buttons)

Her: If crap's the worst thing I say then I'm not doing too bad.

Me: You aren't staying awake for me tonight, are you?

Her: (Eyes closed, head laying on couch) Me? No, I'm fine.

...profuse giggling...

Me: Going back to my childhood...was I brat?

Her: (Nodding) Uh-huh.

Me: Really?

Her: Well, yea. You were the baby and you were babied too much.

(Well now. She doesn't mince words, does she?)

Me: What's the worst thing I ever did to you as a child? Puke in your hair when I was 5?

Her: Didn't you tell on me once and get me in trouble for something?

(Once? Once?)

Me: The Monopoly set?

Her: What?

Me: I called mom at work and told on you and D. (our brother) for playing Monopoly when you were supposed to be cleaning. Then she burned it in the fireplace that night.

(Our mother did NOT play around. As evidenced by the charred "Get Out of Jail Free" card!)

Her: Oh yea!

Me: Or how about the time I told you your boyfriend Paul got caught in tornado? Remember that?

(evil giggling)

Her: Oh yea, I vaguely remember that...

Me: Remember the time I bit my tongue off? (Not completely, but pert near)

(I really did. I was 5 and chasing a little boy around in Sunday School when I slipped and fell because of my black patent Mary Jane's. The only time in my life I've cursed a cute pair of shoes.)

Her: Oh yea, as a matter of fact Hope was running in the house yesterday and I thought, "she's gonna do exactly what Michelle did and fall and bite her tongue off?" I felt so sorry for you. You could only eat baby food.

(Banana baby food ROCKS, by the way!)

Me: Do you remember that they thought I would have a speech impediment?

Her: Yea!

Me: They were wrong about that one! HA! I even went on to play the trumpet! ( a musical instrument that requires the use of the tongue!)

( Teresa played trumpet too. At this point we offered to sing taps and demonstrate the Taps "echo" for Madison, but she declined. Hmpf.)

Me: Am I the most unorganized person you know? Be honest.

Her: Well, you're not thee most unorganized person, but you are towards the top of the list. (profuse laughter)

Me: You have to admit though, I'm better that I used to be and I even have more kids, right?

Her: Yea, that's for sure, you are better.

Me: So there's hope for me?

Her: When all the kids are gone and all the animals are dead!!

(LOUD BURSTS OF RAUCOUS LAUGHTER!)

Me: Do you think I'll have another baby? (major smirking and laughing on my part)

(At this point Madgirl interjects with, "Answer honestly, but don't encourage her!")

Her: (humming music to Jeopardy) Can you repeat the question?

Me: Come on now, all of blogdom wants to know....

Her: Let's put it this way....I think her name will be Emersen!!

(MORE LOUD BURSTS OF RAUCOUS LAUGHTER!)

Me: Final question. Do I spend too much money at Target?

Her: No. Not enough.

(Ha! She's my girl!)

Me: Monk's gonna hate you.

Me: Are you gonna miss me?

Her: Yea. It's gonna be quiet.

Me: Yea. Well it won't ever be quiet for me though.

~~~~~~~~Interview over~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


And yes, things are too quiet for her today and not quiet enough for me. We miss each other terribly and are already plotting our next meeting together. In a little over 2 months! Woot!

Sisters are a good thing, y'all.

A really. good. thing.

iHeart Faces ~ Pets

Oh boy. This was a hard one for me. Harley (the chocolate lab) is a complete and total pain in the patooty, but boy is he photogenic. Fat Otis, however, is just plain cool.

I chose the cool one. Also, he pretty much owns the place and he might eat me in my sleep if I don't use his picture ~ his name ain't FAT Otis for nothin' you know.

Head on over to iHeart Faces to catch some more animal action ~ I think it's just puuuuurrrfect! Oh wow. That was cheesy.

Nine

I would be remiss if I didn't mention that this girl....



...is nine years old today.

She is a precious gift from God and we are SO thankful to have her.

She is helpful and loving, generous and compassionate. She is the most tender of all our daughters and tears come easily for her. Not in a crybaby sense, but in an endearing God-given gift that allows her to feel deeply.

She loves cute clothes (she hearts Target very much), American Girl dolls, donuts, hamburgers with ketchup, Coke (hmmm...wonder where she gets that), fixing her own hair and most of all... reading books.

This is her last year to be in the "single" digit numbers and it's hard for this momma. It's hard to watch my chubby baby girl start growing into a beautiful young lady. Monk and I want to stop the growing cause we like her just fine right where she is. Unfortunately for us, it doesn't work that way.

We know God has a special plan for this girl and that's enough for us.



Happy Birthday Sis! We love you sweet girl!

I Assure You, She Did Not Come All the Way Here to Throw Up

Just doing a little pre-weekend check-in with y'all to let you know what has been goin' on since my sister arrived. I'm gonna just hit the highlights and perhaps elaborate on a few points, K?

1. She arrived safe and sound Wednesday morning. I managed to have all the girls dressed, myself dressed and all of our hair perfectly coiffed before arriving at the airport ON TIME! I KNOW!!

2. After a lovely breakfast at Cracker Barrel we came back to our house where my sis ooohed and ahhhed over my new floors and paint.

3. The girls talked her into playing Wii bowling and tennis. I think she laughed and screamed as much as they did. I had to keep warning her not to work so hard at the tennis or she would be sore the next day. She has an extremely lethal backhand. Just ask Harley.

4. I made a boatload of guacamole and homemade pizza and we pigged out.

5. My Boy came over and he, my sis and myself all loaded up and went to...yeehaw...the Wal-Mart. I had to buy a few things for Grace's B-day cake that I could only get there. T. was becoming VERY tired at this point.

6. We trudged on and went to TARGET! It was SO much nicer than Wal-Mart. We bought a few things there and then headed home.

7. T. and I ate a second round of pizza and then topped it off with vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce. I told you we like to eat. T. was exhausted and decided to sleep on the couch in our family room.

8. The next morning I get up to find out that Fat Otis had driven her crazy half the night, bugging her and knocking over her water. AND!! She THREW UP TWICE AND THOUGHT SHE HAD THE FLU!! Oh YES! My sister flew all the way from Michigan to get the flu and throw up in my toilet. We are a hospitable bunch, let me tell you.

9. I make her a fresh bed in the girl's room, give her a Zofran (anti nausea medicine) and send her in there with a bucket and her Hot Flash Fan. I block off the hallway and ban the girls from that part of the house.

10. I proceed to the dentist for a filling. I got the nitrous oxide this time. I was like, "what filling?". I like happy gas. 'Nuf said. This deserves a blog post all it's own and will post it next week.

11. Found out my wisdom teeth DO need to come out. The dentist said, "you will need i.v. sedation for that." I said, "YA THINK?"!

12. Came home and my zombie sister came out of the bedroom a new woman! She felt a TON better and we think she was just overly tired which led to the puking. She had been up for 20 HOURS the day before. Um....yeah. Probably a wee bit tired.

13. I happy danced that I wouldn't be cleaning up puke for the next week!

14. Found out my sister was VERY sore from playing Wii tennis. I tried to tell her.

15. We went to Lowe's a proceeded to buy a veritable wonderland of beautiful flowers and plants and such for my front porch and a portion of my yard. Then find out that this crazy Texas weather is taking another cold spell on Saturday! Make up your mind all ready!

16. Came home, unloaded, got ready and Monk and I took T. out to a really nice restaurant where we ate salad and steak (medium rare, of course) and had real live adult conversation.

17. Came home AGAIN and totally vegged because we were both too pooped to do anything else.

I know it's weird to end on #17, but frankly I'm too tired to muster up three more highlights. Today and tomorrow are going to be crazy busy, but I really hope to take some pictures and interview T. She's gonna be in Super Fast Mode, so who knows if I can pin her down.

And guess what else?

Nothing.

I'm too tired from all the laughing, talking, eating, and worrying about puking to find anything else intelligible to say. Y'all are just gonna have to trust me when I say...

I'm having a good time.

Thar's A Yankee in Town!

That would be my sister T. who's comin' in from Michigan bright and early this morning! Woo-hoo! I only get to see her about once a year, twice if I'm lucky! This year I'm gonna be lucky because she'll be here this week and then I'm going to see her in June!

I've done all the Panic Cleaning I can do and I can't do no more. There's still dirty blinds, dirty windows, a dirty fridge and the back yard still looks a Bosnian mine field with all the dog poo, but you know what? So what.

There I said it. So what.

Those things don't matter to her, and let me tell you she is impeccably tidy, and she'll probably offer to tackle something for me while she's here. Cause she's that way you know. I like her. A lot. She's a lot like me, just on speed. She's does everything in Super Fast Mode. Me? I'm more like Mosey Along Mode. She talks and works, while I have to stop and use hand motions when I talk. I really am quite frustrating sometimes.

Thus, my organizational nightmare.

And Oh. My. Word. can we both talk! And eat! We do a lot of talking and eating while we're together. And laughing too. I'm telling y'all, we are a regular PAR-TAY, us two!!

Anyway, she doesn't know this yet, but I think I'm going to interview her for my first ever Monk's Wife interview! Won't that be fun?? What sorts of things should I ask her? What do y'all want to know? She'll just tell y'all how much she loves me! Because you know, I am rather lovable. ::cough::

And hopefully I won't get sidetracked and I'll take lots of pictures! I'm getting my tripod this week so maybe I can actually be in a few, ya know?! Oh! The possibilities!

It's gonna be a busy week for sure. What, with all the talking that we do, plus Grace's birthday is Friday and we are celebrating her and Madgirls (her 16th is next Wednesday!) birthday's on Saturday.

Sisters and Laughing and Parties, OH MY!

Oh my! I am exhausted just from talking about all of it y'all! But OH WHAT FUN!!

I think I might be a little manic right now. Whew!

Alright, somebody might just hafta slap me! Okay y'all, I'm outta here. I'll be seeing you later this week!

The Alone ~ It's Good

As I sit and write this, it's not from my normal spot on my tan, comfy couch. No, it's one of those rare moments in my life where I am completely alone. No children, not even the baby, are with me right now. I'm seated at a small table inside a local Starbucks, drinking a Cinnamon Dolce Latte (AGAIN!), waiting for my Madgirl to finish her violin lesson.

I have approximately 22 minutes of alone time. For me. All alone. No one else.

I brought two books: Photoshop for Dummies ~ I am still very much a boob in this area, by the way and a John Piper book, my Bible and paper. All for 22 minutes. Apparently I have some wicked time management skills. That or a totally unrealistic perception of just how long 22 minutes actually is.

(Yes, most of this blog post was actually penned rather than typed. It felt weird writing. I couldn't write as fast as I was thinking and I found it quite irritating. It also dawned on me that my children may never have a written memento of me, seeing that my blog is my journal of sorts. Is that sad? Should I actually write more?)

Most of you are probably thinking that I fall into the unrealistic category, huh? Well, you're right. You see, 22 minutes of total alone time, with no one crying, no one yelling, "Momma", no one coming in to ...ahem...assist me in the bathroom (Hope is quite the TP Operator in case you're in the market) is something that only happens around here maybe once every few months. These moments are golden and you better believe I'm going to give myself options as to how I'm going to spend that valuable time.

It's all about the options people. Options are a good thing. Martha would agree.

Honestly, I thought I would read. Then it struck me just how totally weird I felt to be alone. I felt almost...naked. (No visuals people, no visuals. Resist the urge.) I tried to think of the last time I had been alone, truly alone and able to think alone. Not shopping, running errands, just quiet. I couldn't remember. I almost opted to go into Starbucks bathroom and just sit there for a while, taking it all in. You know, unrolling my own toilet paper, without shouting, "yeah!" and clapping at my accomplishment. But I decided that might draw me a little unwanted attention and I just decided to write instead. I'm sure y'all appreciate my courtesy to you in that area.

Anyway. Me alone AND thinking (watch out, I might injure myself here). Here are my thoughts:

When I'm in the day to day chaos that goes on in our home, I don't really think about it. It's normal. It's the status quo. I don't know anything different. And most of the time I wouldn't want it to be any different. Quiet is not a word I would use to describe our family though. I've grown quite fond of our large litter of loud, giggly, moody girls and picking up hair clips, stepping over Barbies, folding Tinker Bell panties, filling sippy cups and breaking up spats over who's bossing who is something I'm used to and frankly, in no hurry to rush along. Even their shrill little screams don't bother me anymore. Much.

But this quiet? It's like honey for my ears. A balm for my soul. Valium for my nerves. I need it. I crave it. And I'm thankful to have it. For me, the quiet clears my head, allows me to think real live logical thoughts and reminds me that I need to do this more often.

Why more often, you ask? ( You did ask, didn't you? I thought so.)

Is it because I want to get away from my husband and children? Shirk my household responsibilities? Drink expensive froo-froo coffee and look like all the other hip, Starbuckish people?

YES! Aw, y'all know better than that....of course NOT!

It's because during these moments of quiet, when I can really reflect on things, that I become totally aware of how truly thankful for all that I have. I find myself again. And upon finding myself I remember that I really LOVE being a wife and a mother! It's who I am and I'm glad for it! It also recharges me, rejuvinates me, allows me enough decompression time to really thank God for all of those things with which He has blessed me. I'm going to go home a better wife, a better mother and definitely hopped up on a little caffeine!

Does it make me perfect? Nope. Because I'm human. I'm still tired and honestly, I'm still a little grouchy. But it's giving me enough time to breathe. Just breathe. And sometimes, especially as a wife and mother, that's all we need to do. Breathe. And eat a little chocolate. And it's perfectly okay to eat it in the form of a giant chocolate chip cookie with one's froo-froo coffee.

Not that I would know, of course.

So if you walk into a Starbucks somewhere in the the great state of Texas and happen upon some woman with a really awesome red dye job, drinking a large froo-froo coffee, pen in hand, writing feverishly in front of a stack of books, walk on over and say "hi".

Better be quick though. I'm only there for 22 minutes.

Really..

A really good cuppa froo-froo coffee...







....a really, really good slice of Lemon Pound Cake...

...with a really, really, really good friend...

...made for a really, really, really, REALLY great afternoon of conversation.

Where, Oh Where Has My Little Blog Gone..

Have no fear y'all. I am still here!

::cricket:: ::cricket::

Life (LIFE!) has been happening all around me this week and I just haven't had a smidgeon of time to blog about it. Nothing actually noteworthy has taken place believe it or not. Unless of course, you consider sweeping kitty litter up from the laundry room floor noteworthy. If that's the case then boy, do I have a story for you. But other than that...nothin'.


I even took four kids 8 and under to the Procuts yesterday, totally anticipating something to go horribly wrong. Nada. They were great. Hope even cooperated for her haircut with no physical constraint or bribery in the form of chocolate.


So, in honor of everything being perfectly boring around here lately, I'll just touch on some highlights of the week, okay?


Highlight #1:

Our church had baby dedication on Sunday and our sweet Charlotte (aka Charlie, aka Baba, aka Chuck) was dedicated. It was sweet. The pictures that were taken during the actual service didn't turn out to well; as in they were a little blurry and I look as if I'd sucked on a dozen or so lemons (WHY the frowning??). And my extended family hightailed it outta there and so we didn't get a family picture either. I know!

Anyway, here's a sweet shot of Charlie I snapped after we arrived home.

I also wore this really cute coral, denim jacket (from where else??) I bought at Target. I wore it over a cute, simple streeeeeeetchy black dress (cause the stretch is good these days, my friends) with some new peep toe shoes and new cheap, flashy inexpensive, colorful jewelry to match. OH! And my freshly coiffed hair to boot!

I looked dang cute if I do say so myself. Of course, there are no pictures to prove it with exception of the lemon sucking few and I'm not about to post those here. Nope. Not gonna do it.

Highlight #2


Tuesday we went and spent the day with one of my good friends. She lives on a little property and has some chickens. The girls enjoyed collecting eggs and basically stalking the chickens. So much so that they had little tablets out there taking notes.


Really now. How much is there to write about the life of a chicken?


Cluck. Peck. Lay an egg. Repeat.

The egg comes out of where?!?!

Highlight #3


I'm getting totally stoked because my sister T. is coming to town next Wednesday!! I always get over the top excited over this because she only comes to town once a year and it is a Big Deal! I've called and texted her so much she's probably wondering if her airline ticket is refundable!


She's a Master Gardener (not for a living ~ by day she's a nurse) and she's gonna help me figure out a landscape plan for our front yard. Woo-hoo! What about the backyard? Well, it has so much dog poo on it right now it looks like a Bosnian mine field so we're going to concentrate on the front for now.

(BUT! I will be getting things ready to start putting the garden in soon!)


Highlight #4


I made the dentist appointment for next Thursday that will decide as to whether or not I have to have my wisdom teeth removed. ::screeching fingernails on a chalkboard:: (I'm now wondering it this is truly a highlight? Perhaps a lowlight?)


Y'all, I hate the dentist. Not the man, just the profession. It makes me physically ill to have to have my teeth cleaned, much less have two pried out of the back of my mouth. I am not in my happy place over this at all right now. At all.


I can feel them (the wisdom teeth)coming in and so I pretty much know the inevitable is going to happen. The good news is I only have two (well that explains a lot!). The bad news is those two still have to be pried from my mouth. But for now I'm just in denial. I like it here.


All I can say is I.V sedation has never looked so good.


Well, that's all for me this week. I hope y'all have a fantastic weekend!

I Heart Faces ~ Green

In honor of St. Paddy's Day tomorrow, the theme at i heart faces this week is GREEN! How appropriate is that, eh? The picture doesn't have to be St. Paddy's theme, but it does have to have some green in it. Oh yea, and a face. Faces are always good.



Last week I bragged on one of my children being highly photogenic, right? I hadn't dismissed Liv's photogenic ability, I just didn't have her in the same league as Sis.



That is until I snapped this at the park.







Ah, bliss.

Head on over to iheartfaces and check things out. I think you're gonna like what you find.



And that's no Blarney, my friends!

Not Me Monday ~ Monk Style

This week I'm participating in Not Me Monday over at Mckmama's blog. I'm having a hard time doing this because I would absolutely never admit to anything stupid or foolish that I've done during the week on such a public forum as my blog. Not Me. Ever.


Ahem.


I would also never admit that I denied 6 year old Liv a piece of my chocolate this week because she wouldn't let me pull the front tooth that had been hanging there for the past week. Then, when she succumbed to my pressure and finally let me try and pull it and then it wouldn't budge and I made her cry did I offer her many pieces of chocolate as a peace offering for my futility. I would never do such a thing because that would be bribery in parenting and I am not that sort of parent. Definitely Not Me.


I also did NOT tell her that the Tooth Fairy didn't come because I had stayed up too late and so she must have passed by our house. Then I most definitely did not give her two bucks for the tooth just so she wouldn't try to put it under her pillow again. Ha! Such a bad parent that would be! That is so Not Me!


And while Hope was once again attempting to drink from the dog water this week did I sit idley by and let her do it because I knew I had just rinsed the bowl and put fresh water down. I would never do such an appalling and disgusting thing! Not me, EVER!


(Just so you know, she only got a few sips in before I eventually stopped her...)


I certainly didn't wear the sweatpants I wore on Wednesday to bed that night and then again to a chiropractor's appointment the next morning. Wearing sweatpants in public is bad enough let alone DAY OLD DIRTY sweatpants. I would never even consider such a thing! Not me!


And above all, I would NEVER take Charlotte from Grace because she was fussy and attempt to smell her backside WHILE I was looking at the computer screen only to realize upon feeling something wet on my lip (OH, YES!!), that I had, in fact, given myself a poo-poo mustache. Because we all know that baby poo on one's upper lip would be one of the most vile, disgusting and certainly inappropriate things to EVER post on one's blog and I am WAY too classy to admit to something like that on MY blog!! Most definitely NOT ME!


If you're interested in finding about what more people did NOT do this past week, just hop on over to Mckmama's Carnival today and have a great time realizing that you're not such a bad person after all.


Actually, you've probably already realized that just from reading my blog. But I'm not laughing about it because I would NEVER do that.


Not me. ::snort::

Hold On to Yer Panties Folks! We're Goin' for a Ride on the Bi-Polar Express

Oh. My. Word. I'm at it again.


Contemplating, pondering, deciding, worrying. You know....thinking. It's one of those things I don't do often, but boy howdy, when I do you'd better watch out! Somebody could get hurt.


I'm in one of those pickles of life (you know what a pickle is, don't ya? The in betweens..) and just trying to make decisions is making my brain hurt. Or perhaps explode. Not that it would matter anyway because at the moment it is pretty much mush. I need the contemplating, pondering, deciding and worrying to stop. In general, I just don't wanna have to think.


Just ask Monk, I'm not a good decision maker. I can't even decide between Ding Dongs and Twinkies most days, much less the Big Things of life. Okay, Ding Dongs. That was a bad example.

SEE!

So what am I contemplating, pondering, deciding and worrying about? Would you like the exhaustive list or just the highlights? Yea. That's what I thought.


1. This blog
2. Homeschooling
3. My hair color
4. The state of my house
5. My age
6. Deep spiritual thoughts and questions
7. Photoshop
8. The economy (not really, it just makes me sound sorta smart)
9. Computer time
10. Food in general and its affect on my Mommy Muffin


The whole blog thing has me in a dither because I keep wondering if I should keep it going. I absolutely LOVE to write and I intended for this to be an online journal for my children or grandchildren (Lord, help me) some day so they could see just what a crazy old lady I truly was/am/is/are.


Now, I wish I could say that there was some sort of collective air suckage out there that occurred upon the mention of me possibly giving up the whole blog adventure. But...I know better. Honestly, I could slip quietly away from blogdom and it really wouldn't matter a whole heck of a lot. If I were, say Boomama, there might be a small coup with much wailing and gnashing of teeth. Quite possibly an intervention from President Obama, himself. Or Paula Deen. But me? Not so much.


But. (Have y'all ever heard the saying "Everything before the but(t) is bologna"?) Well.


I love to write. Plain and simple. It's my outlet and these days, trust me, I need (NEED!) an outlet. I just need to quit putting so much emphasis on what people are thinking. Stop trying to be validated through my blog, you know? If I feel compelled to share the story of breast milk squirting onto my computer screen and keyboard while nursing Charlotte (gives a whole new meaning to surfing the web, I assure you!), then I need to go with it. It's Who. I. Am.


It took a long time for me to be able to realize that it was okay to just be me on this blog. I looked around, saw what others were doing and tried to imitate it. Not me. Didn't work. Now I'm comfortable in my own skin (just wish it were size 8 skin), but I still worry about what others think or if I've offended someone or if my grammar is correct


( I really do worry about grammar, y'all. I am not making that up. And my grammar is off quite a bit. I truly don't know how I ever passed Mr. Farrah's 12th grade AP English class.)


Anyway, that's where I am. Did you get off the Bi-Polar Express at the last stop? Obviously not if you're still reading. You shoulda stopped at the title, I'm tellin' ya.


Look there, I didn't even cover numbers 2-6. Actually, #3 is being taken care of this morning. I've called Marinelle (Mary -Nell...isn't that adorable?) and she will be performing her Hair Coloring Genius on me at 10 am. Before y'all have even had your third cup of coffee. Pictures to come. (Do you suppose it to be a bad thing to get a cut and color on Friday the 13th??)


I guess I'll have to save the other Great Ponderings 'o Life for another post. Too bad, huh? ::snort!::


(Welp, technically I've touched on #9 because I'm up at midnight writing this thing!)


But for now? I blog.


Y'all have a great weekend!

'Nuf Said

The Photographic One

I would never want anyone to think that I prefer one child over another because I don't. Ever. Especially when one is throwing a screaming fit. Because I can assure you that I am the picture of patience when that is happening.

ahem.

However, when it comes to photogenic ability, my Grace really stands above the rest.

There is just something so pure and natural about her face and her expressions that it's a true joy to actually photograph her. I don't even tell her what to do most of the time. She just does what she does. And she do it well!

While on our little camping adventure I took advantage of the great scenery. I love old barns and houses anyway and this was my kind of place. Throw Grace in the mix and I so loved some of the pictures I came home with.

She was telling me a story and I just started snapping pictures.

We found this old chair back behind the little cabin house. A late 60's, early 70's discard, but oh, the personality it held.

While she naturally has some amazing blue eyes, if I could ever figure out how to use stupid Photoshop Elements I could really have some fun with her eyes. ::sigh:: Somebody help me grow a brain, please!! But I'm not bitter.

Unfortunately, Blogger (or my nincompoopishness) doesn't make the pictures as large as I would have liked. Her eyes are really stunning in this one, but you can't see them.

Ah. Love this pretty girl. Hopefully she'll never tire of me snapping beautiful pictures of her.

We Went Camping! Sort of.

I don't think that I've ever mentioned here before that I've never been camping. I went once when I was 14, but I'm not sure if you could technically call it camping as there was electricity everywhere, nice showers, flushing toilets....the term "roughing it" does not come to mind when I think of that particular trip.



This past weekend, however, a group of my peoples loaded up and headed over an hour a way to our friend's property. This was a Friday thru Sunday excursion. Now before y'all think that I am some Survivorman wannabe, let me clarify something.



We went on Saturday from about 1 pm until 6 pm.



Yes siree, we camped for 5 solid hours! I KNOW! Y'all are impressed, aren't you! I was too!

Actually, while I..uh.. Monk..uh..the girls would have looooved to have stayed the night, Monk and I decided to take it for a test run before making any commitments, you know? I mean it's one thing to nurse a baby in the comfort of your own bed when the temperature is a comfortable 68 degrees in the house. It's a whole 'nother thing to nurse a baby in the middle of 400 acres, in a tent, on an air mattress with the temperature in the low 40's. Her milk is still the same temperature regardless. Unfortunately for me, there is a certain amount of, um, exposure I will not endure no matter how much I love that girl. 'Nuf said
already.

I'm also relatively sure that the other folks in our group didn't want to be awakened at 3 o'clock in the morning with the sounds of Hope screaming things like "PACI!" or "CUH!" (cup). And I'm fairly certain that Grace and Liv, otherwise known as the "Tinkle Twins", would not have appreciated midnight excursions to the outhouse in 40 degree weather.

So to prove that we roughed it in the Great Outdoors for all of 300 minutes I took pictures. Lots of them. But for y'all, just a little smattering of what we did for 18,000 seconds.

(By the way, if the math is wrong on that just keep it to yourselves, okay? I never professed to do math. It sounded right so I put it down. Leave it alone.)

A bonafide campfire. It cooked food, kept us warm and nearly choked us because of the wind. I even put wood on it!

And official tire swing, or "whang", if you are our dear, sweet, little Hope. She love this thang!

Liv was pretty fond of the thing, too. I was hoping that somehow it could've knocked out her dangling front tooth. No such luck and Snaggletooth is still roaming around the house with that thing in!

Daddy lovin' on that baby girl. That baby girl did NOT like her first camping trip. The wind was very windy (I am profound, am I not?) that day and it made for one very unhappy baby. Later that night I found soot in her ear. Look, tents!

Sis loved hanging from this thing. That is until she found out it was for hanging dead animals on to weigh and gut them. It lost its appeal after that little tidbit of information. Ah, those city girls.

This is only a small, very small example of the dirt that was on this child that day. We were there for 5 hours! I could not even imagine what these children would have looked like after 48 hours.

And my favoritest picture of all...Monk coming out of the outhouse. See, we really did rough it!

Okay, so maybe it wasn't real camping since we didn't stay all night, but it was training for when we do go for real, right?

And honestly, I don't mind nature near as much as I thought I would.

Well, except for the dirt. The dirt was just....dirty.

Bald is Beautiful!

My two favorite baldies...

Milk and Bread ~ for My New Restaurant

After a great Care Group meeting at our home last night, Monk and I realized rather late that we didn't have much milk. With this group of unruly hooligans little girls we knew we would have to have some milk by morning or the chances of a throwdown at the breakfast table would be almost certain.

(Unfortunately, they are addicted to cold cereal. A bad habit started early on that has been impossible to break)

So this morning I was at Kroger by 8:30 am. An amazing accomplishment for me these days. I needed 2 (TWO!!) items: milk and cat food. The cat's gotta eat too, ya know.

I walk in and grab a cart because I know me and I know better than to NOT get a cart. I immediately remember that we are low on fruit so I go and grab some basics: organic bananas, green grapes and a bag of apples. Good thing I grabbed the cart.

Madgirl had expressed a desire for a certain type of bakery roll to make some sandwiches for her lunch, so I pick up a bag of rolls. My memory is then jogged that I needed some Ezekiel bread, so I go and grab a loaf of that. No milk OR catfood at this point.

After a few other odds and ends and grabbing the bag of cat food I finally make it to the milk case. I grabbed two gallons of milk. I should have walked away at this point, but as usual, I did not. Since I can eat dairy and chocolate again (in small amounts and yes, I forgot to post about it ~ just know that I can, okay?), for some unknown reason I've been craving those two things together ~ in the form of chocolate milk. So I grab quart of chocolate milk.

(at this point I will NOT admit that right there in the middle of the dairy aisle at Kroger I proceeded to open up that puppy and take a GIANT swig!)

Then I remember the Lemon Poppyseed muffins I want to make require buttermilk, so I grab some buttermilk. Then I spied some 1/2 gallons of milk marked down to 75 cents a 1/2 gallon (I KNOW!) and I grabbed two of those, which in hindsight I realize I should have grabbed about four to six! I blame my lack of judgement on the fact that the only thing in my system at this point was the chocolate milk that I had just thrown down and I must have been in some sugar rush stupor! That or I'm just dumb. Both are a viable possibility.

At that moment I turn around to leave only to see the bakery lady FILLING the day old bread cart. Well, my natural Carbohydrate Loving Fat Cells can smell the gluten, thereby taking over my body in some Exorcist sort of fashion, forcing me against my will, to go look upon the unnatural white bread goodness bad stuff. Y'all remember the last time I went to the bakery store, don't you??

Well, my head starts to spin and I start grabbing sub rolls marked down to 79 cents so I can make meatballs subs! Then I grab the wheat rolls for sandwiches! And just about the time I start trying to chuck 4 packs of cinnamon rolls into my cart I had a Supernatural Healing and was released from my Carbohydrate Bondage! That and the bakery lady was looking at me all weird like.

I'm now starting to think it may have been my chocolate milk mustache.

Anyway at this point my cart contains:

- 2 gallons of milk
- 2 1/2 gallons of milk
- 1 quart of buttermilk
- 1 quart of open chocolate milk

- 1 bag of bakery rolls
- 1 loaf of Ezekiel bread ( because I WILL be healthy!)
- 2 bags of sub rolls
- 1 bag of wheat rolls
- 1 package of Tostada shells

refried beans, taco sauce, catfood, natural deodorant and fruit

I proceed to the checkout where...no lie...the cashier asks,

"Do you run a restaurant?"

Me: "Huh?"

Her: "Do you run a restaurant?" (nodding her head towards the bread and milk)

Me: Long pause....

Me: "Uh...Nope. We're just pigs."

Conversation over. Apparently her Stupid Question quota for the day had been met.

And I left with my milk and bread to go home to my restaurant family.

Found Some Green at the Goodwill

I haven't shopped at Goodwill much lately because I have come to believe that they think they are some sort of subsidiary of Neiman Marcus. In other words, they think a little too much of their junk.

I just can't justify paying $3 and $4 for a child's shirt at Goodwill when for a $1 more I can buy a brand new one at Target. That just doesn't make good cents sense to me, my friends.

I also found that more and more, I was finding less and less. Stained and torn clothing is not my idea of thrifty. It's my idea of more work, more of my time and then maybe I can make it work.

(Again, one more reason to shop at Target. And no, I'm not always looking for excuses to go there. Only sometimes.)

Anyway, the other day I scooted into the local Goodwill to buy a gift certificate for someone and my eye spied these little beauties (behind the checkout glass ~ that's where they keep some of the fan-cee stuff). I paused, wondering if they could maybe, possibly be the right size. I asked to see them and was plumb tickled to death to see that yes, they were the perfect size!!

Hope liked the color!
















Monk liked the price!

And Momma just thought they were dang cute!

(started uploading pics directly from Picasa and am STILL having formatting issues....grrrrrrr..)

I Heart Faces ~ Beginners Week...

It wasn't enough for me to announce to Blogdom that I am a Photoshop Boob....complete and total. Nope. Now I had to go and enter a contest.


(By the way, thank-you for all of your nice, encouraging comments...ya'll are too sweet!)

iHeartFaces is having Beginners Week this week and I qualify ~ because of the whole Photoshop Boob thing, you know. Go check them out!

The theme? Messy.

Around these parts that's usally not too hard to find.

Too Much Wigglin' to Be a Baptist

It's Monday morning, I'm grouchy, I'm tired, the painters are coming in an hour and I just don't feel like gettin' my tail moving.


Until this. It took my tired, grouchy, tail and made it smile. So I wanted to share 'cause this little girl is gettin' a little slain people. Of course, it's easy to get slain while listening to a little Selah.

And as usual, Blogger won't embed the actual video so y'all click on the link and go smile a little.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_VknTKQQhw