90 of 365 memories....a much needed moment

When I was growing up my grandma and paw paw were a big part of my life. My mom was young when she had me and her parents help her with me. My sperm donor was not ever really a part of my life, so I don't have any remembrances of him. The first memory of a "man" in my life is of my paw paw. Maybe it's just from stories that I remember hearing over the years but whatever they are they always take me to a very good place in side of me.

My paw paw died when I was only about 10 or so, he has been gone longer than I knew him but the connection we had was strong. I was his little girls little girl and really it doesn't get much sweeter than that.

I often tell my kids stories about him and sometimes my boys will start a fishing story and say "mom remember when you said this about your paw paw". He is always around us, this I know. But sometimes I'm reminded by little things, that he is forever holding my hand and watching over me as I continue on my journey everyday.

Hannah and I pass a set of railroad tracks twice a week to go to her swim practice. We have been doing this twice a week since August. Same time, same days, every week since August. We have NEVER seen a train pass on these tracks. For the last few days I have been thinking about my paw paw more and more. My grandmother is still alive and well and lives in a retirement home about 15 minutes from me. The last few days, I've been trying to get some different things straight with her and her living arrangements and maybe that's why my paw paw has been on my mind more than usual.
Today as Hannah and I left for swim practice she asked me, why didn't we ever see a train go along the train tracks by her practice. I explained the trains run on certain times and maybe we just have always been there at the wrong time.
Today as I was sitting at my daughters practice, my paw paw came into my mind very strongly. His voice, (which sometimes I think I have forgotten and then its right there again) his eyes, he was a dark complected man with light eyes (those coon ass are mixed with only goodness knows what :) I just felt him. I don't know why but for a minute he was there and his hand was on my shoulder and everything in the world was good.
And then it was over......
How I would love to have him stay and sit with me and watch his great granddaughter swim a 100 IM.

But God gave me a moment, that I so desperately needed today and then like all good things it was gone.

And I was so thankful for that.....

And then

he was back again. As my daughter sat in the back seat jumping for joy about seeing the train here for the first time, I wiped my eyes and caught my breath and once again thanked the Lord for his beauty and for my wonderfully complicated life!!

Keeping the faith...

On most days I am a pretty optimistic person. I try to start the day positive ( I am SO not a morning person) and end it positive. This is not always easy but I love a good challenge. I am a allergy sufferer. This time of year just about kills my mucus membranes. I've been Benadrlying and Netty potting and now I'm just about to stick my head in the ground and have Brian come get me when Spring is over.

I'm sorry what was I talking about again.... rambling, no, oh yes, optimistic.

So I TRY to be. Why would it be that a person that you hold so very near and dear to your heart would try every moment available to break you.

Not just break me but my spirit?

Is it a conscious thing?

I hope not.

Whatever it is, it hurts.
And some days it hurts more than others.
Today I was talking to a, not so old but very dear friend (by the way, thanks girl for listening to my ramblings :) her and I have a lot in common when it comes to "our pasts". We have a lot in common when it comes to hurt. Sometimes until you have a person like that to talk to, you don't understand your own feelings. And when you hear someone else say things that you have said before, it's like, THANK YOU LORD, I'm not the only one!!

There are more CRAZIES just like me. ( she knows that I mean that with all love).

We both have our knights in shining armor. Hers might be a little hairy and mine might be a little grumpy but WE have THEM!
And they love us for all of us, CRAZIES and all.......

Thanks again girl :)

89 of 365 memories...he works hard for the money!

Hey, I gave him a break on Saturday!!

88 of 365 memories....Home Depot here we come, AGAIN!

Today has been a rather chilly day, 48 degrees at the end of March is just too darn cold for me. But the good thing was it was a good excuse to burn our last log. We LOVE fires in our house. They feel and look so cozy. As the log burnt out a few ours later, I looked at Jakob and said I'm a little sad to see it all gone. He said mom we can always just get a fire pit and burn them outside.

So guess where I'm going this week on my day off :)

87 of 365 memories....Go Fish

One of our favorite rainy Saturday activities!

And yes she beat!!

86 of 365 memories....SLUMBER PARTY!!

This is the face of a boy who hasn't had sweets since Lent started (33 days ago, but really who is counting??) and is getting a "free pass" because its his birthday party!!

Happy Birthday (again) to Jakey boy!

There he blows!

get the fire extinguisher

the sleep over crew!

Friday we celebrated Jakob's belated birthday party with his friends. With his broken arm and all the kids activities its been hard to schedule something where his 3 best buds could be at together. This weekend was a complete rain out, so it was perfect because all activities were CANCELLED!

We went to the movies and saw, Monsters vs. Aliens (very funny), then we had pizza and then home for a sleepover! Why don't kids say slumber parties anymore, or is that just a girl thing??

Whatever it is called, a good time was had by all.

I think I only sent out prayer requests for my sanity 2 times that night on Face book, hey that's pretty good :)

85 of 365 memories....Hannah Montana coma

Hey there little girl, did you hear me??

Hannah!

Hannah Marie!!

HUH???

I said nice socks :)

Swanson Pan Sauteed' Chicken with Vegetables and Herbs

We have had some nasty weather here since Wednesday. It is suppose to clear up tomorrow and tomorrow can't come soon enough. We had Jakob's belated birthday party last night. 3 friends, the movie Monsters vs. Aliens, pizza place and a sleepover.

It all went well and now it is Saturday and nasty!

So today I will be cooking, A LOT......

It makes the day go by and it gives EVERYONE some much needed use of pent up energy.

A few weeks ago I made this recipe and it was a huge hit.
I'm making it again today but I'm changing a few things up, it was good but we N'Awlins people are always looking to spice things up.

I'm sharing the original recipe and listing my "extras" in parenthesis.

I hope you get time to make this, it really is worth the effort......


Swanson Pan Sauteed' Chicken with Vegetables and Herbs

• 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon paprika
• (1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes)
• (1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper)
• 2 tablespoons all purpose flour (I use whole wheat flour)
• 4 bone in chicken breasts halves ( I used 5 really fat boneless chicken breasts, about 2 pounds worth and cut them down the middle to have 10 pieces)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 small red onions, cut into quarters
• 1 lb. new potatoes, cut into quarters
• 8 ounces fresh whole baby carrots, about 16, green tops trimmed to 1 inch (I cut the green tops all the way off)
• 1 1/2 cups Swanson chicken stock
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano leaves
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme leaves

Here we go........

• Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Combine black pepper, paprika, red pepper flakes, cayenne pepper and flour. Coat the chicken with the flour mixture.

• Heat the oil in a 12 inch oven safe skillet over medium high heat. Add the chicken and cook until it's well browned on all sides. Remove the chicken from the skillet.

• Add the onions and potatoes to the skillet and cook for 5 minutes. Add the carrots, stock, lemon juice and oregano and heat to a boil. Return the chicken to the skillet.

• Cover the skillet.

• Bake at 350 degrees, for 20 minutes. Uncover the skillet and bake for 15 minutes longer or until the chicken is cooked all the way through and the veggies are tender.

• Sprinkle with the thyme.

HAPPY COOKING!!

Darn you South beach!

I feel as though I should apologize before I even start.

Between the allergy medicine, the pound of cantaloupe I ate and my sweet tea, I AM BUZZING........



Last August my husband and I went to Miami for the weekend for a Vitamin Water party. If you want to read about it again you can go here and then work your way up. There are like 10 posts total from that trip, YES we had that much fun!!

Anyway, one evening while we were walking around South Beach, they has this BEAUTIFUL Latino woman walking in front of us. She had on the cutest pair of jeans.
Now let me be honest and say that at first, me and Stephanie (my partner in crime that weekend:) thought , this girl is crazy.
It is like 510 degrees here, why in the world is home girl wearing jeans?

Have you been to South Beach, in late July early August?

You know those welcome signs you see when your leaving the airport?

Well the one at Miami International should read, WELCOME TO MIAMI, better known as HELL.
And these words are coming from a Louisiana girl, I'm used to hot and sticky, but this was, it was, the only words I have are, I now know why the people are always almost naked there.

Anyway, so do you see why I was fascinated by these little chick in front of me with the jeans on. Now granted she had on what appeared to be a portion of a shirt, so maybe that was how she kept cool.

I could see the waste band on the jeans, you know because she was topless and all.
And there was a little Buddha looking guy on her jeans.

After the trip I looked on line for the jeans with the little fat man on them.

Isn't google amazing??

Put in, designer jeans and Buddha. And WHAM O, True Religion pops up.

I looked at a few sights, and found the pair that I had seen on the South Beach babe.

And then I saw the price tag.......239.00 dollars!!
Unless the jeans are going to turn me into that South Beach babe, I'm thinking NO!!


And I was done with it.

Well at least I WAS done with it until 2 weeks ago when I was shopping at my favorite place, T.J. Maxx.

Guessy whaty I foundy on the racky?? (Oh spell check is going to go crazy with that line :)

MY JEANS, 3 pairs of them!!

And guess for how much??

99.00 dollars :(

That still was a crazy amount of money for a pair of jeans.

I knew that I needed to take the kids shopping for summer stuff and new bathing suits.
So they were once again, not going to be mine.

I told some of the girls at work about them the next day.

Why didn't you get them, they asked??

and why didn't I get them, I thought!!??

I didn't have a reason.

Wednesday I made my bi weekly trip to T. J. Maxx.

And guess what, 1 pair was left in my size.

I thought, really should I?

Could I?

On a house and with a mouse, I do I do like green eggs and ham, sorry Hannah has been reading Dr. Seuss for her book report and maybe I like the stories just a little bit to much!

So I did!!

I did, I bought them!

I brought them home.

I tried them on, I walked around my bathroom in them, topless of course :)

I LOVE them!

And then I took them off and looked at the price tag again.

100.00 dollars for 1 pair of jeans.

Not a purse or a pair of shoes (yes because in my mind, handbags and shoes can be purchased at that price)

So, I sat there and I did what I do in any sticky situation I have.
I call my girls for back up.

Lena said, do they make your butt look good?

Well actually, yeah they do.

Then keep them, she says!!

Carol came over and looked at them and said, OOOO these are CUTE! Keep them!

And y'all they are cute!!

But yesterday, I went back to T.J. Maxx and returned them.

As I was crying bidding them a final farewell to the clerk, I thought about that Miami beach babe. And wondered if she had such a moral dilemma with her purchase as I had had.

My guess was no, because I can promise you that if those jeans would of made my behind look like hers, I'd be sitting here typing to you all in them right now.

I am cheap, but I'm not stupid.....

You can't buy a butt lift for a hundred dollars this days.
Not that I have looked into them or anything :)

84 0f 365 memories...you are getting sleepy

My daughter LOVES the Children's Miracle money thing at Wal-mart.

We always stop on the way out and clean out my change compartment in my wallet. She knows the money is going to help kids that are sick and that means a lot to her, but really she thinks the machine is the COOLEST thing ever.

Those were her words exactly!!

83 of 365 memories....peace dude!!

(Yes I am driving and taking a picture with my phone at the same time, hey I am REALLY good at multi tasking!)

Hannah was flashing the peace signs to the drivers next to us and the people were honking and waving to her.

She said mom, do we know those people??

No baby, their doing that because your doing the peace sign.

Oh she says, I was just trying to give you bunny ears in the mirror :)

Gotta love a 6 year olds imagination while stuck in traffic!

82 of 365 memories.....the wheels have come off

Is it


Friday yet!!!

It's just been one of those weeks.

Nothing major has happened, it's just been LONNNNNG!

Maybe because after next week is Spring Break.

Maybe because my kids have has so much homework that I don't remember what my kitchen table looks like without papers, pencils, binders and erasers.

Or maybe, just maybe somebody is counting down the days 7!!!!, until her Vegas trip.

HMMMM I wonder which one it could be :)

81 of 365 memories...he's with the band!

Jakob's music class put on a small play for the parents last week. The kids sang all the songs and made up their own moves, including 3 dance sequences and 4 basketball routines. They are definitely a talented group of kids. I guess it doesn't hurt that we have one of the best music teachers in Cherokee County either. See is AWESOME and the kids along with the parents ADORE her!!

80 of 365 memories...one of the "firsts"

Alex getting ready to go to his first boy girl party.

And yes he gave me permission to blog about it!

79 of 365 memories...my track stars

And they look cute in the running shorts too!

Isn't that the most important part??

Really? Is it just me?

This weekend Alex went to his first boy girl party. DUN DUN DUN.....

We took him shopping Saturday to get a new pair of jeans and a shirt. You know a NEW shirt that LOOKS old.
Come on people its the the style.
On this journey of parenting Alex and I have gotten to the everyday seems to be "a first".

A few months ago he went to his "first" dance.
He had his "first" girlfriend breakup with him.

Well Saturday as we shopped for him, we had another "first".

Men's clothes.

Yes, you heard me, men's clothes.

He no longer fits in "boys" sizes.

The last pair of jeans I bought him were 16's!!

16's?? (Pausing for my friend, Mr. brown paper bag, deep breaths in)

We had to buy a men's small shirt.

Really, am I ready to shop for my 13 year old in the same section as my husband??

I am, kicking and screaming not making it a big deal.

It's all apart of life, RIGHT??

He had a great time at the party.

Brian and I had a party to go to for his work that night and the kids slept at my in laws. They picked him up from the party. He called me after and told me all the details about the party. (He has a crush on the birthday girl. She already has a boyfriend)

Yesterday after we picked the kids up, he went right into, let me tell you EVERYTHING, mom.

So I listened and listened and was so grateful for his enthusiasm to tell me all about his fun.

His shirts that we picked out looked so good on him I went back today to Target to get him a few more colors.

I first stopped in Dress Barn, Brian and I are going to Vegas in 2 weeks for the Country Music awards and I went looking for an inexpensive dress. I received two 20% off coupons from them and was very excited to use them. I found a dress and 2 Las VegasE type shirts. I went to check out coupons in hand, only to hear that the coupons don't start until Wednesday. The super nice sales lady that was helping me said she would put them on hold for me until Wednesday. She helped me for almost 45 minutes. She zipped me, hoisted me, she dried my eyes when I couldn't fit in the dress I really wanted and helped me find a nice dress for a cheap good price.
So Wednesday after work I will head back and retrieve my goodies.

After that ordeal I headed to Target to get my boy, oh excuse me my men's small, some more shirts.
First I stopped to potty and another "first" happened. A woman flung open the stall door on me. Apparently the lock didn't work and I briefly and not very attractively exposed all my groceries to this woman. She stood there apologizing over and over and then FINALLY closed the door. And as she sat in the stall next to me, continued to apologize OVER and OVER.
I finally said, girl I have birthed 3 babies, I have no more shame in my game. My groceries have been seen by more people than I care to count.
She didn't say sorry anymore, she just laughed uncontrollably.
I was hoping she was laughing because I was just so FUNNY. But really I'm thinking she was recalling that she just opened the door while a strange woman was wiping her VA JAY JAY.

I gathered up my groceries :) and went on my way to buy some more shirts.

As I was leaving the store, I had to laugh at my afternoon and all the "firsts" that happened in the last few days.

I went to a business party with my husband and REALLY enjoyed it. ( I HATE those types of things)

My son went to and REALLY enjoyed his first co ed party.

I exposed all my STUFF to a stranger.

I do have two more activities with the kids this evening.
I'll keep you posted on any new "firsts" that pop up!!

78 of 365 memories....Is it good for your colon??

4 out of 5 mom's say that feeding their kids green leaf lettuce leads to happy kids and healthier coats hearts.

Let's see what the lab rats kids say......

Kid # 1, crunchy and good.

But not as good as PEANUT BUTTER, I LOVE PEANUT BUTTER!

Kid # 2 Not bad, but not good.

But my mom is a freak and makes me eat it anyway!

(Yes he's right, I'm a MEAN MEAN MOMMA:)

Kid # 3, what you talking about Willis, this is the best stuff I've ever had.

Well not as good as King Cake :)

So there we have it ladies and gentlemen, no matter what our kids try and tell us (and believe me I have heard it all) they will not DIE, SPONTANEOUSLY COMBUST, or SHOOT THEIR EYE OUT, by eating salad. And yes, mine have tried it all!

And yes Jakob, it is good for your colon......

A pretty Green color...

So I have decided to start college in the Fall. Excuse me while I scream at the top of my lungs..... OK ALL BETTER NOW :)



I really am excited.
I'm scared shitless, apprehensive and excited wrapped up in one big ball of WHY DID I GIVE ALCOHOL UP FOR LENT nerves.

So the next question people ask is, so what are you going to be?

You mean I have to be something?

Like, Like a GROWN UP??

EXCUSE ME AGAIN...........alrighty then I'm better now.


First I have to explain that me going to school, means starting with one popsicle stick and working my way up. And I don't see one of those fancy popsicle stick log cabins being finished in my future anytime soon.



I would love to toy with the idea that I will graduate college before my oldest son does.
But honestly, as sad as it is (you know because he is only in 7 th grade) that probably won't happen......


I'm not putting a time limit on myself, just go, enjoy the experience and try something new.


Why do those words sound and feel so much better when I'm telling one of my kids that?


I want my kids to experience the world. And I really do mean that. As much as I will miss them when they grow up, I want them to do ANYTHING and EVERYTHING they want to do. With nothing holding them back. Especially a broken hearted mother. I will be fine after the medication sets in fact :)


I wish growing up we would of had talks about college and challenges that will be met in life. And always knowing that I could do anything that I wanted to do.


So now I am a 33 year old college wanna be or is it an almost be, since I am going to go?


Whatever it is, I'm excited, shitless and all.



So what would I like to be??



SERIOUSLY??



A writer....



There I said it, I'll wait for your snorting laughter to die down.... you better now??



As simple and silly as it sounds, that's it.



Will that happen?



Well it kind of already has.



Were all writers on here, telling our stories.



You all have allowed me into your homes and hearts with my silly ramblings about my beautifully crazy world.



I have received such nice comments and emails about my writings from people all around this wonderful blogging world.



You all have given me a healthily dose of confidence to be able to say those words OUT LOUD!



(Yes, Heidi you really did say it out loud)



Now will I make anything with those feelings in the outside world??



Maybe.



One day.



But not today.



Today I'm painting my kids bathroom :)



Popsicle sticks people, popsicle sticks!!

77 of 365 memories....scences from my porch

Jakob has a small little play at school today during his Music class, so Brian is working from home today....YEAHHH!!

Well I was excited for a minute, until he informed me that he REALLY has to work from home, like REAL work. Oh well, maybe I can get a quick lunch date out of him!

76 of 365 memories.....Am I Irish?

no but he is and Hannah made her daddy a cute little hat to celebrate!

75 of 365 memories....American Idol Season 9 baby!!

74 of 365 memories...dogs or vacations??

This is the question my husband asked my kids on Sunday morning.

Would they rather have our dogs and never go on vacation again. Or have no dogs and go on vacation ever couple of months.....

I'll give you 3 guesses what their answer was and the first 2 don't count :)

73 of 365 memories....will work for beignets

The newest additions to Haggar's window display.

72 of 365 memories.....as good as it gets

After Jakob's birthday dinner my father in law attempted to get a picture of all of us for me.
We had just finished consuming Copeland's finest.
And, well this is as good as were going to get.

Just A Little Piece.....

Do you all remember these things??

Huaraches......

As I was browsing at Target on Friday, I came across these little beauties....

I was immediately transformed back to 7th grade, oh the good ole days.

Pimples, having to wear a bra with nothing to put in it, menstrual cycles.

Gotta love puberty and Huaraches :)

"THE" talk....

Well the bad thing about that statement is it's not "THAT" talk, its another "THE" talk.

When we were growing up our parents talk consisted of.......don't get pregnant.



But how do you get pregnant?



Just don't!!



Now a days its a little more complicated than that.



I have had the "birds and the bees" talk, can anyone explain to me where the saying the "birds and the bees" came from.

Because I don't know about you all, but where I was growing up I never saw a bird or a bee doing anything.

Now my neighbors dogs, now that was another thing.



I can promise you if they would of said you see those dogs??

Now don't get pregnant!!

I probably would of turned into a nun that day!



But anyway, back to the "birds and the bees".



Yes I have had that talk with my oldest son and my younger son. My older son's talk has been reintroduced every 6 months or so, or every time Oprah and Dr. Oz have some more valuable information for me :)

With Alex every time I talk with him, I can see his body language is a little bit more relaxed than the time before. I find that talking with him in the car just the 2 of us, really is good. He doesn't have to look right at me and he can't see me holding in my smirks or swallowing my vomit.....



So lets see we've had the kissing talk, the body talk, the smirk sex talk, the smirk smirk and close your eyes when your saying it oral sex talk. After I had these talks with my son, I drank heavily feel a lot better and really felt like we could talk about ANYTHING.

And then came a little thing called Sexting.....text messaging people, either sex talk things or worse, picture of body parts or I just threw up a little bit in my mouth videos of KIDS having sex.

My son does not have a phone but one day he will.
He does have an email account and he and his friends forward silly emails back and forth to each other.

The whole moral issue is obviously the first thing that we as parents think of.
But more than that, some of these young kids that get involved with this and have been caught, have been prosecuted.

So say little Pauly's is 17 and his girlfriend little Debby is 16 and she decides she is going to take a picture of her body parts, because she has no life and needs a hobby is bored. She sends it to him either over the phone via text message or over the computer via email.
The next week little Pauly finds out that little Debby has been kissing little Johnny. So he says oh man I'm going to send all of our friends these pictures of her because she cheated on me. Well as soon as little Pauly sends those pictures he can be charged with child pornography. Because you know that some body's momma will see these pictures and then its all over after that.

Nothing happens to little Debby for showing her ho ho's and nutty bars but because little Pauly now distributed those pictures, he can go to PRISON! And kids have. The child porn laws have not caught up to the technology of today. It's sad but true.

So last week as I was driving my son to one of his practices, I try to work text messaging and pictures and ho ho's into our conversation.

We talked about the importance of ALWAYS using your self respect. And if someone sends you something like this through your email or one day through your cell phone, to tell me or his father immediately.

He told me a story about someone who went around and told people he took a picture under a girls skirt with his phone. Someone over heard this ding dong kid and reported it to the office. He was EXPELLED. There was no 3 strikes, it was you have a problem and you need some help.

I asked Alex what he thought about that kid.

He said with a disgusted look on his face, mom that kid must of had something wrong with him.
Then he said and that kid also had a sister.
How would he of liked it, if that was his sister??
(He really does listen....HALLELUJAH!!

We went over, just for old time sake.....all the other things again.

I am not even going to sit here and say that talking about these things with my 13 year old is easy.

But if we think that just teaching them the "birds and the bees" is enough, we are sadly mistaken....

Think about this, how often do we have to UPGRADE our computers, our phones, our lives to keep up with the world around us?

You have to UPGRADE your relationship with kids 15 times more!

I know that my kids will make mistakes along the way, I'm just hoping that talking with them about all of the things in the world today, will help them make these mistakes when they are 90 much much older.

OH THE JOYS OF PARENTING..........

71 of 365 memories....double digits here he comes.

You all are going to have to bear with me on this, I am trying to breathe deep into the paper bag while I'm typing this :)

MY BABY BOY IS 10!!

I'm so excited for him!

This is an awesome time in his life.

I love the young man that my son is turning into.

His personality, his compassion for people and animals.

And lord can I just tell you about his eyes and that one dimple that shows up when he is REALLY smiling.

Happy Birthday mommas Jakey boy!!

I love you baby!!

70 of 365 memories....cast #2 gone!

Hey there little momma, do you want to take the man test??

Jakob's cast is off and now he is in a splint for 2 weeks.

The doctor said he is only to take it off when he bathes and if he is sitting STILL on the sofa doing NOTHING!

Well at least he can take it off when he is in the tub :)

Thanks for all your prayers, he is healing up well and on his way to his next insurance claim I'm sure, GOD LOVE HIM....

Just A Little Piece....

Last week my son Jakob came home and said, "mom do you want to take the man test??"

Son, do I look like I want to take the man test??

Yes, you do!!

What is the man test?

Well today I asked my friend Hayes if he wanted to take the man test and he said yes and HE DID IT!!
So do you want to take it??

(me taking a deep breath and counting to 3) Son, FOR THE LOVE OF CHEESECAKE, what is the man test??

OK, the man test is....take you nose and put it right into my cast and breathe in as hard as you can....

Jakob, you had your FRIEND do this?

Yes....

And he is still your FRIEND??

Yes....
so mom do you want to do it??

No thanks, but I'm sure your father will be home any minute and he would LOVE to do it :)

69 of 365 memories...wiping away the cob webs!!

Today I have been trying to get some MUCH needed cleaning done around my house.

Why do I feel like I have told you all this before??

Just a mere 5 years ago, my husband and our 3 wonderfully delicious children lived in our "starter home". Our house was a whopping 1000 sq. feet and I would DREAM about the day when I would have a bigger house. As I have learned throughout the years, be careful what you wish for :)

Bigger means more dust, more toilets and more crap things to put in places.

Anyway today as I was trying to clean out some closets and some drawers, I found some pictures and a note that I had written to myself when Brian and I were flying to New Orleans a few weeks ago. The note said "don't forgot about the pictures on your phone". And guess what, I had forgotten about the pictures on my phone!! So these last couple of posts were those pictures. There from the 3rd week of February. The only 2 days we ventured out of our house were the last 2 days of the break.

(one being the day my son broke his arm!!)

These pictures were one's that Alex (my 13 year old) took.

Please look away from the beverage cups. We hit Taco Bell on the way to the hair salon. If you try and black mail me with these, I will find you and HUNT YOU DOWN!!

FYI: my husband works for Coca cola!!

But we all need a bean burrito fix every now and again :)

ENJOY.....

who me, no I'm not at Taco Bell:)

no not me either!!

remember we WILL find you!! My pawpaw has PEOPLE!!

They will never be able to prove that it was me mom!!
(I'm sure the LSU colored rubber bands don't give them any information!!)

68 of 365 memories....taking it all in.

Whenever the kids and I have a break from school, it always starts off sweet as pie. And usually by the end of it, some kids have a few battle scars and mom always has a few more gray hairs :)

I love being home with my kids. I could not imagine doing anything more important than what I do. The 3rd week in February our school had Winter Break. My husband was out of town for most of that week, so it was pretty much me and the kids AGAINST THE WORLD, or at least Woodstock!! We of course had some fighting and high drama. But then we had some days that were

PURE

GOLD!!!

Who knew a day at the salon with mom could be so much to smile about!!

67 of 365 memories...boy fun!!

Jakob and Alex enjoying the day with dad, at Amicalola Falls.

Hannah and I can't wait to go back with them next time, the pictures look BEAUTIFUL!!

66 of 365 memories....my American Girl Doll

Oh momma and Ms. C, look at how big our girl is!!