Bear sighting..It's what you see in the movies

We packed up and headed to Ocala National Forest. We spent a whole week preparing for this trip. We brought along 2 other families, one being a black couple. They are very close friends of ours, but have never been camping. They pull into the driveway and they say "Are we ready?" we head out thinking, "This is going to be interesting." We have a couple here that continue to reiterate the fact that "blacks don't camp" our friend Dave told me "You wait Stacy, I'm going to poll this whole campground and I bet I don't see one black person"  and he continued to say "I better not see any other things that are black either, like black bears." I just kinda laughed and said, "you may or you may not, but either way you are going to have fun." We pull into the campground 2 hours later, and I start looking at their facial expressions, they were quite the abnormal. Jon gets out and starts to look around and realizes we are in Mosquitoville City, not to mention in the middle of the forest. We were graciously greeted by the owners and presented a binder of useful information. On one hand, I felt it was quite good information, but on the other hand, I had friends that didn't quite feel the same. I look at the cover of the binder, it read something like this....

"Welcome to Lake in the Forest...Black Bear Resort" 

I was thinking, oh great. Dave and Kim see the binder and when we opened it up it said "The guide to living in bear country" I started to breathe heavy and kinda panicked, for them I tell you. I continued to remain positive and I said it's all good, lets head over to camp and set up. Kim said "Yea, it's all good for you until we spot a bear, and she chuckled. I tried to give positive conversation pieces, but I'm not thinking they went over as well as I planned. I think we finally got past the whole black bear scare and we unpacked and set up camp.

The kids made themselves at home as the guys continued to set up the tents and gather firewood. The mosquitoes were outrageous and us girls did everything we could to find repellent. As it got later into the evening, our third family arrived and they got all set up as we continued to prepare for our smores and fire stories. The night was prolonged by an array of things and I finally was able to get some sleep about 1:00 am.

We woke up to our 3rd family having all of their bread, donuts and chips that were left in the bed of their truck, demolished. As you can imagine, that started the first of the bear stories. I tried to remain positive and do all I could do to blame it on the coons, but I'm not quite sure how well I pulled that one off. We had a great day doing ceramics with the kids, as we swam, played football and sang karaoke by the fire. As it became dark Saturday night, we all made dough babies over the fire and that was a first for me. Growing up camping all my life, I was pretty sure I had done it all, but a boy scout leader showed me different.

4am and I hear "Hey, Jon man, JON!!!!! Jon jumped up and said "What?" Dave said, "It's Dave man, get up, there is a bear right here in our camp" and we both were thinking he was pulling a joke on us. We unzipped the window in the tent, and son of a gun if there wasn't a black bear about 350-400 lbs sitting just a few feet in front of us. I said, "Dave, where are you?" He said "We are right here watching this bear with some other campers from up the way" Jon grabbed his gun and we proceeded to walk out very quietly and calmly. At this point, all I could help to think was, my raccoon stories were squashed. All I could see was a bear not budging, ransacking our trash can. The other campers came through our camp and brought their dog that continued to bark and bark as the bear slowly scampered away. Did I really just see a black 400 lb bear just a few feet away from me? I was like "KIM, grab your camera and she ran over to her tent and was rummaging through her stuff to find it, as she approached the bear closer, her flash was unable to produce a clear picture. She continued to tell us that this was the 2nd bear they had already encountered this morning, the first one was a bit smaller and he decided to climb on top of Kim's hood of her car and look in her window because he smelled food. So, the bear stories continued all night, as the other families slept through it all.

We really saw a bear!!! The crazy thing was, our friends that we joked about it with and then was handed a book on it, I thought "Nah, bears only invade campsites in the movies" I guess they do until you have to do a bathroom run." We are a week passed our camping trip and the bear stories are still traveling town. It was quite the experience and one I will never forget. I guess I can't tell anyone anymore that they won't see any bears. The kids were sad they missed it, but I'm not.

Braden got mad at Jon while at the campsite, and he ran into the tent and started pouting...Jon said "come here Braden" he said "I'm not coming out until you take the mean face off." 

Have a great week. Hope you have the happy face on!

Stacy
xoxo

Can you take a number please?

That's about how I am feeling right now. I leave for a little mini vacation with a friend of mine, and it seems like I have taken part in a time warp. I go and sit down today and say to myself, "I'm feeling really guilty for not blogging in a month, and then I sign on today and I see that I am not the only guilty victim. OK, so after getting "the" text from my mother-n-law that read "I don't like to criticize, but it is not nice to get someone hooked on your blog and then just stop blogging!" She told me "the only thing saving you is Facebook" I was needless to say, feeling quite culpable and decided I'd better get back in gear of things.

So you ask, what have I been up to? Well, we have had quite the summer thus far. Nickelodeon Hotel was a great escape..Lots of sun,sun and more sun! Camps out the kazoo, and lots of time with the honey. In the midst of it all, I was inspired to loose wight, so on top of all my summer activities that I have been ambushed with, I have managed to eat extremely well and I started the Atkins diet a month ago, and today I am down 10 lbs! Boy is this diet hard, but when you want something SO bad, I guess you will do whatever it requires to get there! SO..on top of my diet, I have been faithfully exercising and keeping busy and am so excited about my accomplishments, I just had to come on a blog a bit and share it with the world!

My summer is far from winding down..my 3rd cousin flew in today from DC, and she is staying with us for a month and Morgan and Skylar are only a year apart, so it's always good to have her. This next month will be a busy one for all of us, as we continue to do all of the fun things that kids do in the summer, on top of gearing up for the fall football season that both boys will be playing in. Jon will be coaching and I will be team mom. Whew, boy do we have a busy half of year left!

Well It's sure nice to be back on here and able to share a little of what has been going on. I have been doing tons of scrap booking and have actually just finished the boys football albums and I just started my vacation theme next, so I am attacking all of our family vacations starting way back when..It's fun and such a great way to cherish the memories.. How is all of your summers been going out there? Anything you just can't wait to talk about? I am hoping to sit down tonight and catch up on all my bloggers...It's good to be back..I promise I wont take this long off again..Truthfully, it wasn't intended to be this long..time just gets away from you...

Braden told me last week "You know what? You are soooo mean...you are mean as the Hulk...(I didn't respond as usual with this type of behavior) so he sat and pondered a minute and he said, Oh yea and you are quite ridiculous, too! It took a while to digest that one!

Have a great week! Some summer pics of the kids below..

S~

Summer fun

It's nice to be able to sit down and blog today. It's been awhile, and I have felt many times, the need to blog, but just haven't seem to be able to fit it in with all going on. Anyone else out there feel that way? I sure hope so..

My three older kids left for church camp this week..They have been SO excited to go. Morgan and Chase are counselors this year for the first time, and Zach is a camper. We spent all weekend getting them ready, washed clothes, packed, last minute trip to Wal-mart, we all know those, and then off they go. The preparation for this was exhausting, I tell you. Everything I bought, it was X three. Bug repellent, suntan lotion, bible and notebook, bedding, washcloths, towels, pillows, all the bathroom necessities of course. I was thinking "Man, I am going to need a vacation myself after this." Needless to say, everything was checked off the check list and I just got it done, ya know?  Sunday as we were finishing everything up, I told Zach "You must be going through a growth spurt, because none of his clothes I tried to pack, fit him." I told him "You need to stop eating so much" and he kinda laughed.

Sunday evening approached and it was time to get them all showered and bags by the door. I looked at my front door, and it looked like I had a soldier going off to boot camp. I had them all get ready for bed, showers, snacks and off I sent them, since we had a early morning ahead. It wasn't but 15 minutes after Braden and Zachary went to bed, that I hear Braden pouncing down the stairs. As of late, Braden has become Zach's messenger (I know someone who is going to get a kick out of this) when they go to bed. Braden says "Mommy, Zachary is still hungry" I said as always "Braden, go to bed" five minutes later stomping, stomping, "Mommy, Zachary's ribs hurt"  Braden, go to bed! Ten minutes went by this time and Braden comes down the stairs very quietly.."Mommy, Zachary says he is hungry and needs to eat because he is going through a grope spurg" really? the kids doesn't miss a beat. I think it is hilarious.

Well, the kids are gone and Braden and I have been little fish all week..We haven't been out of the pool one time. I have taught him in 2 days, how to swim, dive to the bottom and retrieve swim rings and jump into the deep end and swim to the side..I am just amazed at how fast he has learned and it's just amazing to Jonathan and I. It is definitely a Braden and Mommy week and we are sure living it up! By the end of the week I should have a good case of sunburn, exhaustion, exercise and swimmers ear!

Hope everyone is enjoying their summer as much as I am!

S~

Servant Mom

Wow! It's Sunday night and I can actually sit down and say..<sigh>  What an interesting weekend it has been. It was the first weekend in many weeks, that we just didn't have anything scheduled, so we just kinda took it easy and did things around the house and spent some quality time with Braden, since the other kids were out and about for the weekend.

We headed out to Sonny's Friday evening for a carb free salad bar, well close enough and we had to listen all the way there "I'm not eating at Sonny's, you are taking me to McDonald's" and I just had to kinda keep reminding myself who the parents were and we continued to drive on. We passed McDonald's and I heard the scream get louder, and of course the "I want McDonald's got louder too." We pulled into Sonny's, ordered, ate and then Braden said "I'm not eating here!" Jon and I continued to eat, when he said "I want a grilled cheese" I laughed and said "coming right up." I knew once we got there he would be OK, and the cycle continues..We headed out and asked for our drinks to go. Braden was walking out and said "hold this Servant Mom" I kinda said "doo what?" Jonathan said "NO SIR!" Braden said nonchalantly, "What?" I said "you don't talk to mommy like that" he said "ahh, it's just what they say on Backyardigans" I had to laugh as I continued to get rained on as we walked to the car.

We made our umpteenth stop at good old Wally World, picked up a few things, and of course the McDonald's trick didn't seem to work in his favor that night, so he pulled the all time famous "I just want to go to the toy section for one minute to see if they got any new toys in, but I'm not gonna ask to buy one" of course we didn't fall for that one either, and we headed on home for the night. Strike 2...

We are home, getting ready for bed, not 15 minutes later, he came crawling in to the room, with the "I'm scared, mommy" I said " Braden, go get in your bed" well guess what? He slept with us...No strike 3 for him that night. I guess after Mcdonald's, and Walmart, he finally got what he wanted...that day, the next day, and the next...Even managed to get some bubble time in there..

Much DVR time calling my name! xoxo

S~
                                                      Braden having some bubble time

                                              

Low Carbs..IKES!

So, I have started the "Carb Diet." I went on a great vacation to North Carolina to see my husband's Aunt and Uncle and when I got there, it had been exactly one year since I had seen them. I had seen pictures, but of course nothing is like the real deal. I truly think I was in disbelief when I saw his uncle Wayne and he was literally eighty some pounds lighter than he was this same time last year when we were visiting. I was like "Wow" the pictures were for real! I of course, started on the questions and the prying for all the secrets. He had a lot to tell us, and he did a great job at it, too. I kinda had to sit and ponder a bit, and think...how on earth can I give up candy,cookies,bread,pasta and everything else that I so dearly love. I mean, Chocolate? Luscious, lumpy load of love..I can't give that up..or..can I?

That is the question...

So I continued to eat what I wanted over vacation, and I kept thinking, how do I program myself to a low card diet as in 20 carbs a day, when my body is SO use to consuming way more than that on a daily basis? Well, I kinda planned it all in my mind and told myself that it is as simple as I make it. I need self discipline..I can handle that..Maybe. So I get home and head out to BJ's all pumped up and bought all veggies and meat. I looked in my cart at the register and I was thinking, "I use to talk about people that had carts like this" but yet I was one proud chic at this point. My fourteen year old daughter is even watching her carb intake now. So much, that she texted me tonight from her friend's house and said " Hi mom, I am really hungry and there isn't anything here to eat without carbs" I told her "It's 10:00pm and you need to drink yourself a HUGE glass of water (thanks Wayne) and go to bed." she wrote back "All they have here is well water, goodnight mom, I will survive" I thought to myself, wow..she is really serious. Well, I have completed day two of twenty carbs a day..I am feeling great, and my husband even told me tonight "I like eating like this babe, we need to eat like this more often, so I guess I scored a healthy point there." I am very motivated and I know I can do it..I pray I don't cave, but I turned down several temptations today, that any other day I would of said "Ah, it wont hurt."

I feel good, I have lost weight already and I am really motivated...I pray I can keep it up..Braden told me today " I need dinner..not what you are making...YUCK...I need a PB&J and so that's what he got.

Hope you are having a good week..Thanks for stopping by, enjoy your carbs!

S~

Mountain Memories

As I sit outside on the deck and here all the songs of the birds and the bee's buzzing, I can't help but to reminisce on my lovely week long vacation my family and I have had. The routines have definitely been some good ones to get into the habit of. I can't help to think that the mountain agenda contained some pretty interesting events, but the one that just doesn't leave my memory is the one known as the crashing cardinal.

We arrived at the mountains a week ago today. We were greeted by the "let's eat a seed and crash into the window, cardinal." I seriously could not believe it when I seen it. I started singing and mocking his songs, as he repeatedly sang right back everytime. I would continue to sit in the sunroom and read and sing, and he would continue to sing and crash. His crash course came from the enemy we all knew that he was trying to fight off, the enemy of his own reflection. So it's been a week of one amazing thing after another.

There is nothing like a vacation in the mountains, except another one. We have woke up, drank our coffee, watched the neatest birds ever, eat from the feeders, read books, talked, talked and talked, took multiple jeep rides, went to the creek, made s'mores, looked in the telescope, chased and caught fireflies, and started all over again the next day. The best part was having one side of the family all here under one roof for the entire time. Memories were made that I will cherish for a lifetime.

As I close and go enjoy my last day here with Uncle Wayne and Aunt Debbie, I have to say we have all grown from this trip, and learned a lot! I learned what goes up must come down, thanks Wayne! I learned I must trust someone who proclaims that they are a professional jeep driver, I learned not all drinks are kid drinks, right? I learned you really really need four wheel drive up here before you go testing out where you are going to drive, lol, and the best one I learned was, don't ever dare a kid to do something for money if you truly have any doubt in your mind that he will really do it. It's been a blast, I am dreading packing up my van today, and going back to the sunshine state as some call it, when I bet it will be pouring down rain on our way in.

I can't wait to get home and scrapbook all these pictures and savor the memories. I will leave you with a thought from Braden, as I always try to do...He went around the mountain house and collected all the bungee cords that he could possibly put his hands on, and took them outside and attached them from one side of the deck to the other and when they were all connected he decided to declare "I have now made laser beams and you can't cross them or you will get burned" as Aunt Debbie would reach out and touch them and say "ouch" and of course he felt as though his mission was accomplished!

Back to the real world,
S~

The ever so RUDE NEIGHBOR

I was leaving for the store the other day, and Morgan was in the van with me. I saw a  guy that lives a few doors down and he was walking his dog as he does, everyday. As he approached my house, he allowed his dog to walk up into my yard, poop, and then spin out with his feet for fifteen seconds and  tear up my grass. As Morgan and I sat at the stop sign looking over to him, I was in complete disgust. I thought "OK, I know he is a dog, and I have no problem if he poops in my yard and he picks it up, as he did. However, he continued to sit and watch him tear into my grass as if it was "OK."  I really didn't know what to do except one thing. I rolled Morgan's window down, I said "Excuse me, sir" he said
"Yes" I said "Can you please not let your dog come up into my yard by my shrubs and tear up my grass" He said, "Oh, it's OK Mam, he is just cleaning off the bottom of his feet"  Are you kidding me right now?  I said politely, "It's my yard sir, and I would really appreciate it if you wouldn't allow your dog to come up into my yard and tear it up."He said "Mam, it's no different than what a rake does to a yard" I kinda just sat there in disbelief that I was actually debating this with someone I shouldn't have been wasting my time with. I said to him "I do not care if that is what a rake does, this is my yard and if you want to let him poop and tear up a yard, take him to your own yard" at this point I was just flabbergasted by his actions towards me and I was speechless beyond that point. He said, "Mam, you made your point so go on now, A**hole" At that point, My thirteen year old daughter was sitting there and of course how rude and inconsiderate can some people really be? I drove away thinking, wow, I can't believe that just happened.

I called Jon on the phone and he was on his way home from work and I explained the situation to him and told him he was at the park now. He said, "are you sure it's the guy with the red retriever?" I said "Yes,babe It is." He was so upset that I guess he made it home from work in 7 minutes when it usually takes about 15. As he entered the neighborhood, the guy was gradually making his way back to his house and Jon flew in and pulled his jeep up to the curb. ( I was kinda glad I wasn't here at this moment of time) He jumped out of his jeep and said "Excuse me, Sir" the man said "How can I help you" Jon said "are you or are you not the gentleman that stopped by my house the other day as I was pruning my tree's and chatted with me? He said, "Why yes, I do believe that was me"  Jon said "did you not say to me that the good Lord takes care of your trees for you now because you can't do them anymore" and did I maybe mistake you for a christian at that time? The man said "Um,um, well yes, I would say that I am a christian, yes sir" Jon then said "Then what gave you the right to call my wife a curse word in front of our 14 year old daughter?" I do not believe there is anything christian about that. Jon said the guy started stumbling over his words and tried to say he called his dog the curse word, and as Jon decided to get back in his jeep, he looked at the guy and said "do me a favor, please do not ever step foot back on our property again not you or your dog, and oh by the way, I will pray for you" He got in his jeep and drove into the driveway. Are neighbors really that rude,self centered and selfish?

I am off to finish packing for a much needed mountain vacation, which we are headed out to tonight at midnight. A funny thought to end this with..Braden saw the luggage topper on top of the van today when we were headed to the park to play some baseball..He looked at me and said "Oh, you put that on there for us to have a hot tub in the mountains, that's a cool idea" All I could do was just laugh, and I said "No Braden, that is a luggage topper for daddy to put all of our luggage in so when we go to the mountains tonight" and he said "Oh yeah, duh, I get it now."

Thanks for stopping by, will have some great pics to post soon of the mountains!

S~

Dinosaur eggs

So it's the weekend, and I have been anxiously awaiting it's arrival. I found a really cute book at a garage sale yesterday for Braden. It is called "Little Dino's Egg" and it is the cutest book EVER! It has a little fabric tunneled shape that runs through each page and portrays a dinosaur's body. While reading the book, every time you turn the page, the little body goes with you. I got home and surprised Braden with it, and he was ecstatic! He said "come on mom, let's go read it" so we did. I started getting all the questions about dinosaurs, how they hatch and how long it takes for the whole process. He decided to tell me that dinosaurs still hatch today and if I see a pink, blue or yellow egg, then it's either a bird or dinosaur. I tried to explain to him the best way I knew how, that dinosaurs are ancient and they do not exist anymore, kinda like the horse and buggy. He was completely unobjectionable and sat and processed our conversation for some period of time.

We had a nice evening. We went to Morgan's best friend's school graduation ceremony. It was nice. They fed us a four course meal, and of course it was my husband's favorite to boot, Ziti! We headed back home for a very quiet evening, while we only had two of the four kids, and decided to call it an early evening. Jonathan decided to share with me that he thought he felt himself getting sick. I didn't seem any what surprised, since two of my boys are just getting over strep throat. He took himself some thera-flu and headed to bed. We both thought "Does this always happen right before vacation?" I guess it could be worse we both agreed, since it is "Before" vacation.

Hope everyone has a great weekend. I am cutting up watermelon for an afternoon football party, folding laundry, trying to entertain Braden with hidden pictures, and somehow through it all, managing to find time to quickly blog!  Happy Saturday!

Hugs!

Braden's Blankie

I can't believe it is already Thursday! I feel like I haven't accomplished anything this week that I intended to do. I am hoping I am not the only one in this rut. Monday, my mom drove over to pick Braden up for pre-school since I had to leave at 6:30ish and head to Miami with Zac all day. As she dropped him off, she didn't check the back seat to notice the lovely blankie that was left all balled up in the back. She drives back home and on Tuesday, she decides that she is going to head to the grocery. She gets home and I get the dredging phone call that I oh so much hate to get. " Stac, hi it's mom, you aren't going to believe this"..I was thinking that right at this moment, I wasn't sure I wanted this call. She said "I was unloading my groceries just a minute ago and you aren't going to believe what I found? I was thinking, "what on earth could it possibly be?" She said, "I opened my back car door, and there lay  Braden's blankie." For those of you who have a four year old or any age for that matter, that has an attachment to a blankie, you can kinda relate right now, what I am going to say. I was like, "Really mom?" She said, "Oh, I'm so sorry honey, I just didn't know he had his blankie when Morgan brought him out to the car today." I thought, "I am in Miami right now, and I can't even deal with this." I hung up the phone and luckily later that night, he fell asleep on the couch and didn't realize he didn't have it..shew!

Day 2 of no blankie...we are about to leave church last night and Braden starts with " I really need my blankie, daddy" Jon says to me "your mom still didn't bring the blankie?" I kinda sat there like I didn't have the answer that he was looking for right at that time. I instantly started thinking of all the ways I was going to try to distract him for one more night without the blankie and Jon said "call your mom right now and tell her she needs to meet us with it." All the way to my mom's I had to hear " I need my blankie, I really really need it." Jon said, If he is saying this at nine years old, then we will have a problem, but for now, I guess he is gettting the blankie.  I try to put myself in his shoes and think back to my childhood years if there was anything I had as a security, but I just couldn't recall. I didn't suck my thumb or drag around a blanket like Linus did. For what it's worth, it was a quiet evening..I'm so glad we made the choice to get his blanket. We did all sleep well last night.

Anyone out there with the blankie issue? Please please tell me you would of drove 30 minutes for the blankie, too?

On another note, Braden just ran out into the living room and said "It's fixing to get ugly up in the beauty salon" I was like "do what?" He said, oh it's just from Jesse...and walked outside with his brothers. Hope everyone is having a great week. I am off to pack for my sooo needed vacation to the mountains. Thanks for stopping by!

 

Casa Infinity

A day in Miami..

So guess what?  I spent a day in Miami today with my little model man himself, Zachary. He was direct booked for a Southwest Airlines job and all he had to do was "Swim all day" what a tough life. This one in particular, was pretty amazing. We hung out at a beautiful "Exclusive Miami Estate" that was very lavish. It was above the top, and for sure, a destination I have never been to before.

The modeling job consisted of 3 kids that got to jump in and out of a pool all day over and over again. The best part was, it wasn't just "A pool" it was "The Casa Infinity Pool" and for those of you who don't know what an infinity pool is, well I can say this, An infinity edge pool (also named negative edge, zero edge, infinity pool, disappearing edge, or vanishing edge pool) is a swimming or reflecting pool which produces a visual effect of water extending to the horizon, vanishing, or extending to "infinity". We walked up to the house to film at, and Zachary said "Really, mom? This is like a mansion" I had to sit and think for a minute when the last time Zac had actually been to a mansion...Uh, never. As he met everyone in production, all he cared about was jumping in that pool. He walked over to the edge and looked down into the Miami Bay, and he saw a huge piece of coral, it was beautiful! Of course, I had to take a pic.

As I sat with the other parents, one of the mother's decided to google the price of the home we were shooting at, since it was for sale on the market. She came back and said "Six Million dollars?" I was speechless, but I thought in my mind, this is Miami, so it wasn't unusual. The discussion for the next half hour, was everyone putting their two sense in about how they would never pay that for a house and etc., etc.

The shoot went well, Zac loved the photographers, the production crew and of course "The pool." We were fed a great lunch and snacks all day as we usually are when on set, and about 4:30 we concluded up and made our way to the car. A few of the crew stopped me and said "We want you to know, you have one beautiful child, he was a pleasure to work with and coming from us Texans, he had some pretty impressive manners."I was like "That made my day, I know it made his too." We headed home, and before I was even back to interstate 95, Zach was snoring. It was a very eventful day and a lot of fun too! I have to say one thing.. I do love being a "Model's Mom" my kids make me so very proud.

I think I want to go back to Casa Infinity tomorrow...I wonder if I could pull it off?

The Results of Having Gone Through Labor Day

By the time this hits cyber space, I am guessing it will not reflect Mother's day, but as I sit here and write, it still is, and what an awesome day it has been.

Today, I celebrate gracefully, being a mother to four of the most amazing children in the world! The labor pains I endured for each one of my blessings, I would lay back down and take every one of them again, without an epidural..Well...I think I may stretching the truth right there just a tad.  No matter how you slice it or dice it, I would die for every one of them, tomorrow. Now that everyone knows that I went through some MAD labor pains for these kids, I must brag just a little, on how great they were to me today. ( My husband played a key role in today's success, just didn't contribute to the labor pains.)

I woke up and ran to Walgreen's, while everyone was sleeping. When I got back, my husband had gotten up, made me coffee, and made the GREATEST egg and cheese sandwich, ever! Morgan, fired up the skillet and made homemade chocolate chip pancakes and bacon. DELISH! I was proudly handed my Mother's Day cards and gifts, and much love was shown through them. I got the most beautiful Pandora "MOM" charm and a gift certificate for a massage. I was like "WOW, I think I am a pretty special mom right about now." I instantly started planning in my head, how I was going to schedule this and when.

Spent the rest of the day down at my Mom's and was really wishing my other mom was there with us to spend the day as well. The best thing to keep my mind off it, was to know that we will be spending a week with her in 9 days and the 23rd of May cannot get here fast enough! We had a wonderful day with my mom, both brothers and their families. All of us watched part of the Marathon of  "Undercover Boss" and of course for all of you who know me, I cried like a baby. Overall, the day was another day behind me that I will cherish forever. I may not have any stretch marks to prove the labor I tolerated on those 4 days, but I will tell you this:

I have 4 of the most beautiful kids God could of ever blessed me with, and until the day I meet my Jesus, I will continue to celebrate the results of having gone through labor, and I know I wouldn't change them for the world!  Happy Mother's Day to all the mom's in the world! You guys ROCK!

Thanks for reading,

S~

Hollie goes home on IDOL

Ok, so who watched IDOL last night? *Sigh*

I have to say that I am soo dissapointed in the outcome from last night's American Idol. I truly did not ever expect Hollie to go home. I guess I am just flabergasted at the results because I was a fan of hers from last year and I truly thought that she would make it to the end..I guess I really thought that she would...well..win.

I sat there when they called her name out and I was like, no way, not Hollie! Well, yes way, and it was Hollie. So now what? I have to pick someone else to go for? I have to vote for one of the 3 left? I guess I will be going for Jessica Sanchez, only because I really do think she is the best one that is left..I can't believe someone her age can have that kind of talent. I am thinking what hurt her the most was when she received some criticism for her performance of "I Can't Make You Love Me," which mentor Jimmy Lovine said she didn't really understand the meaning of. I do think he is a great mentor and as much as I hate to say it, I believe he was 100% right. I do believe that America's votes are 100% influenced by the mentors and judges. We all know, good old Simon Cowell may have been a rough tough cream puff, but somehow he still seemed to always persuade America's votes based on his feedback. Ok, so Hollie Cavanagh is not the next "AMERICAN IDOL" so who is?

Do you think Hollie deserved to go home? Who do you think will win American Idol?

Hope you are enjoying your Friday evening...thanks for reading!

National Love Bug Day

Sooo..It's Thursday night and I can't believe I have made it everyday thus far since I started. I have so much to say and cover today, but I got the third degree last night from the "NEWLY BLOGGING HUSBAND HIMSELF" and he said to me "Babe, I was reading some tips yesterday and they said you should try to keep your blog as short as possible to keep your readers interested" and I kinda just sat there and pondered on his comment...All I could think of to come back with was "Well thanks for your advice, but this is my blog and you can make yours as short as you want to" LOL... so here goes.....

I woke up to my alarm and thought "Oh, it's that day" My thirteen year old son was scheduled for his braces today. We have been counting down these days for a few months now. Of course through it all you have Morgan, his fourteen year old sister that just got her braces off, so listening to her is not exactly what he wants to hear. "You know what, now you are going to see what it's like to not be able to chew gum.Oh, you just wait...You better learn how to floss 3x a day" and the list goes on. I just sit back and laugh, because I had braces as a teen. I remember all the foods I couldn't eat, and all the names I was called. Do you remember the all time favorite? "Brace Face" or better yet, "Metal Mouth" of course this is what he has to look forward to.

So he came out of the office and was like "Mom, Mom, Look!" I was like,"Wow, they look great on you, Chase."  The next favorite question came, "Can we go to McDonald's for a shake?" He sure knows how to milk the system. (He got a vanilla shake) We went through all the check points of the braces, and he was like any kid, "Yes, Mom" so I shut up. I am driving home and I hear on the radio that today is National Love Bug Day. I was like, "No kidding, really?" I can't even look out my windshield without love bugs splatting and dying every one second. Wow, the rate of that makes you really think, they had to really make a " National Love Bug Day?" That is almost like the National Donut Day..I think I'd rather celebrate that day since at least I don't have to watch bugs go SPLAT all day. I'd rather eat donuts.

On another note, I got home today and Braden said to me "Watch out mom, don't step on my booby trap" I was like.."DOOOOO What?" He said "My booby trap, that's where the cops put everyone when they are bad and they go to jail."My husband said "I guess that's the new one this week" I said "I guess so"..He says some pretty crazy things for his age..I guess that's one good thing about blogging..I will always be able to remember them. Hope you are having a great week out there... Thank goodness tomorrow is Friday!



Spring Cleaning

So I woke up this morning and realized, WOW, it is actually the first day that I didn't have to come down stairs and wake up the kids and tell them "It's school time, get up." I walked around and was like " Really?"  I couldn't fathom that school was really out and I didn't have to walk around and play hall monitor anymore. I just started spring cleaning, and couldn't stop. I was like, one lady and a mop. I started looking around and thinking " So this is really what a clean house looks like?"

Jonathan came home for lunch and of course I had soo much to tell him, he was like " You haven't had this much free time on your hands since school started." I thought, no kidding. Ha. As I continued to spring clean, I came across so many things that I haven't been able to find all year. I hope that I am not the only one this happens to. I was like " Looky here, how I sure could of used these the other day when Morgan was doing her final project." You kinda just have to laugh and continue on or you will sit and beat yourself up over it like I tend to do. I got all the cleaning done, all the kids awards lamenated for their portfolio's and I got my scrapbooking room back in order in hopes to attack some football pictures very soon, since I now have 2 seasons I am lagging behind on. When I was all done, and felt that my performance was to my satisfaction, I took a much needed break. I looked at Morgan and said " Nap or scrapbook?" she said " I vote for the nap" I was like, that's a no brainer coming from a fourteen year old that just finished school, yesterday.

I grabbed my blanket and crawled up on the couch next to my sick little Braden, which of course is my four year old, who has had a 102 fever all day from getting his shots on Monday,and I decided to curl up next to him and take a much needed cat nap. I awoke to Morgan using her very boisterous voice saying " Mom, Mom, come on, I need to go to my ortho office and get my retainers reshaped" needless to say it was 4:00 and her Dr office is 35 minutes away. I told her " Are you kidding me right now?" I was just having a nice little snooze when she came pouncing out. I told her we would go on Monday, and she said " ohhhhhhh k" and walked back to her room. I felt like right at that moment, how much sometimes I wished she had her own car, but boy do I not want to rush it. It's just some moments that you are like " Ok, drive yourself" but I do not want that day to come any faster than it will.

I decided in the pouring rain that I was going to head up to BJ's and get some much needed groceries. Morgan and I grab our purses and head to the van, when we get outside and its pouring down rain. We make a run for the van and head to the grocery. Morgan and I are a great team, we filled the cart as high as we could and the heard " Good evening shoppers, it is now 8:45 p.m and our store will be closing in 15 minutes, please bring all your final selections to the front, and we will be reopening in the morning at 9:00 a.m and thank you for shopping at BJ's." I couldnt believe it was already 8:45 and I wasnt done shopping, but I was now. I gathered my last selections and headed to the front. We loaded up the van and headed home. At least the rain had stopped. It's one of those things that you hope you dont get stuck in with groceries piled high in your cart and no bags to boot.

It's been a long, yet an eventful one, and I'm soo ready for more of them..American Idol is calling my name...

Part 2....

It was 1:45 and time to head to the home school group for presentations and awards. I arrived and walked in and sat down next to Morgan as she was finishing up labeling all systems of the body. All I know is I looked over at her as she gradually drew the parts and labeled them and I thought " Boy am I glad to be out of school." Her teacher came in and informed us that our children requested no videos or photography,well needless to say, none of us parents respected their wishes. Within minutes, all of us parents had our phones out and all you could hear was the " DING" sound as our IPhone's started to record. "Really, mom?" I kinda just laughed as I tried not to disturb Chase as he presented his Apologetics paper. As I was sitting patiently, I was still pondering with madness on the fact that this was "THE PAPER" that my husband raced around this morning trying to proof read and print for him, yet at the same time, I was feeling a bit of joy inside because I was SO very proud of his accomplishments. As he finished up his paper, being the only boy in his group of seven girls, he said "OK, Morgan it's your turn, NOW, let's go!"

Morgan said " No Chase, you are not my boss." Of course I had to laugh along with all the other parents in the room, as I said " Go ahead Morgan, you are next."She graciously walked up as she tried to refrain from looking at the class. She explained that her paper was on "How The World Just Couldn't Happen" and she proceeded to read it out loud. I have to say that, at the beginning of the year, she could not even speak in front of people. As I sat there and recorded her, I began to think in my mind, WOW, she is reading her last paper of the 8th grade. I began to swallow and felt the big knot that we have all felt at some point in our lives, as though we have something stuck in our throat that we can't seem to swallow." Was my fourteen year old daughter, really about to be graduating from the eighth grade and entering high school in three months?" No way! I hear her say "The End" and I thought again, "NO! NO! NO!" Please keep reading, but as I thought that, she came back to her seat with a look on her face that resembled a sense of relief and at that time, I realized it was really over. I continued to listen to the other kids present their papers as Mrs. E gathered up their awards to present.

Mrs. E started out by calling out the children's names one by one and calling them to the front of the room, to take a moment to recognize their individual accomplishments. As she called Chase up to the front, I watched him as he grinned ear to ear. She said "Chase, I want to first tell you, what a joy it has been teaching you all year and I want to present you with an award that honors you academically and for your character.You have shown Academic Excellence in Exposition and Composition and Character Excellence in the area of Boldness." Chase didn't ask any questions, he took his awards gracefully and Morgan was called next. She presented Morgan with Excellence in Rhetoric and Character Excellence in Steadfastness. Needless to say, they were both truly amazed at their awards and I have to say, right at that time, I was one very proud mother, who nearly forgot all about the last minute assignments.

We loaded up the car and headed home from what you would call a very long day. As we got home, Braden my four year old reminded me that he has preschool tomorrow and I needed to make sure I packed him some marshmallows. I asked him " Marshmallows, why?" he said " Because, Mrs. W tells us that when we talk when she is talking, that we must put a marshmallow in our mouth, so can you please pack me a few? I sat their in disbelief and I had to take 2 to process what he just spoke of. I looked at him and said "You are asking me for marshmallows so you can have permission to talk out of turn when your teacher is talking?" he said "Yea, I just need a few" so at that moment, I had to think to myself, here is another moment of what you would call me sitting in complete AWE and all I could do was laugh.

Jon got home from work at 5:00 and Morgan, Jon and I loaded up and headed to the beach to do some of what we call " Gold Digging" which is also known as metal detecting. He sat on the lifeguard stand and rummaged through the Internet trying to learn up on some home gardening, as Morgan and I hit the sand. We didn't have much luck until I came across a beep and I was like "Finally" as Morgan dug and dug to end with $1.25 in quarters and I thought to myself " This won't even pay for our gas back home" but of course that wasn't the reason we were out there in the first place. As I felt the cold sand on my feet, and watched the waves crash ashore, the beeps became fewer and fewer until we decided it was probably time to go.

As we headed back to the lifeguard stand, Morgan looked out to the water and noticed a fairly large black fin in the water, and then again and again. She said " Mom, there is a large shark in that wave, and there is a surfer right out there by it "So of course the compassionate child that she is, yells "Hey you" and she waved him in. He approached us, as he walked out of the water and Morgan proceeded to tell him what she noticed in the waves and he was very concerned. He did ask her "Are you sure it wasn't a dolphin" she said, "Well I cannot be 100% sure of that, but what I am sure of is, you are crazy if you hang around to find out." He kinda laughed at her, smiled and said "Thank you, young lady" and we continued on our gold search. Well, we didn't leave with any gold, just a few pop tops, $1.35 in change and a very tired arm.

Goodnight!

Introduction

I truthfully never thought I would sit down and blog. Here I am, actually becoming " One of those blogger's" thinking of all the things that everyone sits around and blogs about. I am, in no way a professional writer or author. I did not sign up for this to be able to win any awards or merits. My husband and I just decided that we have such and INTERESTING life, why not. So here it goes...

Today is of course no ordinary day. It turns out to be my two "know it all teenagers" last day of school. They decided at the last minute last night, that they would tell my husband and I, " We have two finals, a PowerPoint and paper to write, and they are all due to tomorrow. " Are you really kidding me" I just wanted to go and crawl up inside a shell and stay there. I should go ahead and fill my readers in a little bit about my family. I am married to the most awesome man in the universe. I have four amazing children. One daughter who is fourteen, a son who is thirteen, a son who is eight and a son who is four going on twenty four. I home school all of my children and of course you ask " What are you thinking" yes, I ask that same question day in and day out. So, now that you can visualize the children my two older ones are probably not excited that they are at home school group today.

10:00 p.m last night and they have how many finals due tomorrow? I don't think anyone wanted to be in my house at 7 a.m this morning. " What's for lunch" there isn't anything. " Quit smacking, please" "It figures we are going to be late", " I am so glad today is the last day of school" and the list went on and on. " Really?" I don't think I could answer any of these when they were being directed towards me, since my husband was already late for work, printing what we call the midnight madness reports. I just patiently as I could, walked over and poured my coffee as if I was still in my own little world and I kind of just blocked them out or who knows what God would of had me say. I anxiously grabbed my keys and coffee, and said " Whoever is going with me, let's go" at first, no one moved. I was like " I am not the one who is going to school" let's go NOW. They started to crawl, then moved a bit faster. Was I really dealing with children who were upset and mad at the world for their own irresponsible selfish behavior? I think I already feel better about the situation since I can actually blog it now and hopefully come to a sense of understanding that others out in our world must relate. I drop off the kids to school, and have a peaceful ride home and I cant help to think that while they are complacent with themselves, I am driving home wondering how in the world did I ever make it as a teen?

I walk into the house and decide that today is the day that I have to blog. I sit here in peacefulness and my eight year old and four year old just laugh. Really? I wish after the night I had last night that I could laugh with them. They just do not have a clue at that age. My four year old says " I think its past the hungry time, I still have no cereal, I would like chips with that please" I guess at this point in the day, my coffee has kicked in and taken over and I said " You got it, whatever you want" Sun chips and fruit loops it is. I have to sit and ask myself after his 4 year old well check-up yesterday and 3 shots, can he pretty much persuade me into anything at this point? Well, yes. As I listen to the younger two upstairs fight and argue and try to win one another over, I quietly type away before I know that I have to go intervene. I think for a mid morning blog, I will wrap it up for now as I go fix another cup of coffee and go play referee. Happy Tuesday.