Some Days You're the Pigeon, and Somedays the Statue

I am blogless tonight. I am so tired. Being a mom was very challenging today. Well, actually it was the afternoon that went downhill. I was glad to see them go to bed. I needed a moment to regain sanity. Wouldn't trade it, though. I guess that's what they call unconditional love. Bless the teacher's heart today for having Slade from 8-3. Bless my heart from having him 3-9. Bless me again for having Finley 14 hours today. They fight and fight and fight and cry and hit and scream and tattle. Lord, give me the strength to awaken tomorrow morning renewed with hope of a lovely day with my calm, calm, well behaved children. I really do love the little rascals! I wish I could have that day in the picture back. Just for an hour. Look how precious. Nana bought that blanket for Finley to come home from the hospital in. I bet I'll want this crazy day back again someday, too. So I'll put it in a little box and store it in my memory chest in my mind.

Oh, I almost forgot. I got to go visit my old pals at Cooper yesterday. So much has changed, so many new faces. I barely recognized the place I spent my first six years of teaching. It's kinda sad to think that the world goes on with out you. They never missed a beat. I was replaced. But I got to keep a few awesome ladies as friends. Well worth it. Hopefully I helped a few kiddos along the way. Go Pirates.

I leave you with my funny quote of the day.

Always borrow money from a pessimist. He won't expect it back.

Happy Bday to ME!

Ok, before I speak of the birthday festivities, I must tell you this story. I watched Oprah one day last week and Jenny McCarthy was there speaking of her new book, Mother Warriors. I plan to read it-it sounds awesome. But there is a story in there about this mother who got this terrible infection....... I won't tell you the rest. Go to this site and read the story on Oprah.com http://www.oprah.com/slideshow/oprahshow/20080910_tows_monica

Just do it-you will think your life is pretty peachy. You'll be embarrassed that you griped about anything this week. You'll feel truly blessed and thankful.

I had a nice birthday. A few weeks ago, Kyle and I went and picked out a new camera for me(it was on sale that week, so I got it early). I am totally excited and it takes awesome pics from far away. That's what I wanted. I'll post a few pics from my new camera today. You know me and pics-love them!!! My sister gave me a sweet, sweet necklace and bracelet that my friend, Angela, made. It has my kiddos name in little silver blocks. I love it. I watched a movie with a few of my sweet friends on Friday. On Saturday, Kyle gave me the best present ever - a 3 hour nap! My gosh, I'm not a napper, but I needed it and it was WONDERFUL! I cannot forget to mention Slade and how well he did at his soccer game on Saturday. He really hustled and "attacked" the ball. How's that for soccer lingo. He got some really good kicks in and helped assist in some goals. I was very proud of him.

Funny or shall I say embarrassing story of Saturday. After Slade's game we went to Logan's for my birthday lunch. It had been really hot at the game. When we left the house, though, it was cool and I was worried about the mosquitoes eating Finley up at the soccer fields. So I dressed her in a light weight long sleeve outfit. I was hot during the game and she drank, water and Gatorade the whole game. I didn't think much about it because my kids drink like camels. When we got in the car to leave, she sucked down a CapriSun apple juice. We got to Logan's and the hostess walked us to our table. Right before we all sat down at the booth, you guessed it. Finley barfed and it splattered all of the floor. Kyle sat down really fast and I was apologizing profusely to the girl. Then Finley pukes again all in the seat. Kyle was like, "she'll be Ok". I looked at him like he was crazy. I told him that our daughter had puke all over her, the floor and seat were covered in barf, and we just disgusted all the poor people around us. We were LEAVING. So let me formally apologize to all the patrons of Logan's on Saturday!

So Very True

Sugar is Sweet and So Are YOU

I have decided to blog twice today, so don't forget to scroll down. In the spirit of Fall/Thanksgiving/Thankfulness/Blessings/etc., I will pick a person in my life that is special to me and tell you why I love her/him. I hope that they might read this blog and get a little tingle when they know just how much they are loved. And buy me lots of gifts-just kidding. We are looking for the bright things in life. The news is depressing, so I will try not to be. Today's Precious Person - And the winner goes to Ms. Pamela Mitchell!

I taught school with this special lady for six years. I love her because she is bubbly, strong, energetic, and so very generous. She would give you the shirt off her back-even if the the shirt is too tight for you because she has new great perky boobs. But still, she would stretch the shirt out with some kind of contraption she found for $1 at a garage sale, and give it to you. She is a single mom and does a darn good job at it. Kuddos to her-it's hard work. She loves to bring you little cute gifts and will drop one at your door with no holiday or special occasion in mind. Once I came to my door at school and she had a little outfit for my baby girl I was expecting, hanging on my doorknob. She is the best garage sale shopper and can make a tiara out of a stick. Kinda like MacGyver. She has the cutest shabby chic house and everything she buys looks good on her wall, table, etc. She can sing the whole Hawaiian Christmas Song, Mele Kalikimaka. I can think of the funniest things with her in mind, like the time we forgot to take Susan White to the movies with us. I could go on and on why I love her.
I found a funny quote that expresses our friendship.

A true friend is one who thinks you are a good egg, even if you are half-cracked!
- Author Unknown

Boo Hoo

I had a moment, and my poor neighbor happen to call in the midst of my moment. We just don't have enough space in our house, and really who does. There is just more stuff than my kiddo's rooms can accommodate. Spoiled a tad - yep, too many toys, too little time. Anywho, I was hanging clothes and contemplating the space in Finley's room. It would give her so much more room if her crib was gone. I have a full size bed in there, but it has to stay for my weekend guest (mom and Nana). So realistically I should buy a little side rail and put it on the big bed and do away with the crib. So I pumped Finley up and told her she could start sleeping in the "big girl" bed. She was like, "Sleep with Daddy?" I said no, you can sleep in here in the big bed. I went to get the screwdriver and sat down on the bed. I just started bawling like a big baby. Oh my gosh, this could very well be the last crib ever in my house. I mean I would like a third, but Kyle says no. And it is really hard to haul babies everywhere when your other kids are in sports, etc. Yes I know this because my niece travels everywhere I have to go each day. But bless my little heart, it's just plain sad. I was sad about putting the bottles away, but not distraught. I am always a little melancholy when I put the old season's clothes away. (I got the word melancholy from the movie Titanic - like it?) But never have I broken down into a full out, snot-running, cry. I mean, get a hold of yourself. I wasn't even very sad when Slade went to Kinder. Blame it on hormones. Blame it on my 31st birthday in three days. Blame it on the rain? Who knows. I was really, truly sad. My neighbor, bless her heart, pumped me up and helped me to reason out the situation. I'm sure she was sorry she called. Finley really does love her crib and tells me to put her in it most nights. It really is only a space issue. What is a few more months in the scheme of things.

Cry me a river. The crib stayed.

Ol' Iraan High, We Sing Your Praise Today!

HHHMMMM, what shall i blog today. It is already "hump day" and I don't think I've blogged in a few days. Todays main thoughts 1.) Should I or should I not go to Iraan for homecoming? 2.) What should I set out to cook for dinner? 3.)When did I get "old" - I think I have an "age" spot on my face, I should call the dermatologist. Not earth changing thoughts, I know. Let me tell you a little about thought #1. Homecoming in Iraan, Texas. It is a big deal in Iraan. We only have it every other year. There is an Ex-Student's Association that works on homecoming for a whole year before. My grandmother heads up the group and has for years. She was in IHS class of 1948 to be exact and a cheerleader. (She once was in an ex-student pep rally!) They actually have a book that has every student's address (if they could find them) from each class back to like the 30's. You have to know also that Iraan is a small town of about 2000 folks. So it's not like the classes had 500 people in them, but a book of that magnitude is still impressive to say the least. The festivities begin with the Friday night football game. During halftime of the game, they do the typical homecoming queen in high school, but we also have an "ex-homecoming queen". Every fifth class from back to the thirties has a nominee and walks out on the field. If you pay your due ($5), you can vote for the Queen. Little confused-let me explain. For instance, this homecoming there is a nominee from the classes of 1960, 1965, 1970, 1975, 1980, 1985, etc. It moves in five year increments, so next homecoming it will be 1981, 1986, 1991, 1996, etc. You see, it takes planning people. I personally voted for Marge Stuard, class of 1945. She is a friend's grandmother and bakes the best cookies and sweets ever. She would also let us all come over and read her Danielle Steele books and eat sour cream cookies when I was in high school. She was also the mom to, Ronald, who was in my mom's class of '68 and she now cooks at the new hospital in Iraan. When I was home this summer, I went to eat there and she made us really good chicken fried steak and yummy cobbler. (Am I voting for her because she cooks good? Perhaps.) She also lives across the street from Nana.

Some of you reading this can relate to small town living. You know everyone and probably their grandparents. You know who lived in that house three families before, and don't know actual street addresses. You know who's house is next the theirs and that's how you give directions. If you are reading this and you grew up in a big town, you'll never really get it. You will never know how to cruise the "drag". You will never understand that the one time you rode a pump jack, your mother knew before you got back into town. Right, Brandi? Or maybe it was the black crude oil left on your white pants. Anyhow, small town living is a story in itself. It ain't for sissies, either. There are no Wal-Marts, McDonalds, or Sonics (not in Iraan anyways). I'm sitting here wondering how I made it all those years without a Sonic Happy Hour diet vanilla Dr. Pepper.

Back to Homecoming. After the game, there is coffee at the cafeteria and some serious visiting. Saturday is a catered lunch, more serious visiting, a parade, complete with the Ex-Queen nominee float. Crape paper and poster board signs, people. Then everyone congregates at the Auditorium (which has been there since my Nana was in high school). They actually tried to tear it down and build something more modern. I hope they don't! I love that building-afterall, I was in the Miss Pebbles Pageant (1st runner-up) and the 6th grade Valentine Pageant there. They have a speaker at the gathering after the parade. They give awards to the oldest ex, the ex that came the farthest, class with the most present members, etc. And if you dare, if you were a member of the IHS band (1930-present), you are welcome to come play the fight song and school song with the instrument you played in high school. The afternoon consists of people having their own "class parties" and a dance at the new Civic Center till 1am.

Beat that homecoming all you small town peeps! Big town folks are out of the running, no comparison.

A Little Piece of Heaven

As most of you know, we go to Devil's River on a family trip in July. It always falls on Finley's birthday and she gets to celebrate "at the river" on her actual birthday. I just have to tell you that it is one of the most beautiful places ever, and I feel so peaceful when I'm there. Devil's River flows into Lake Amistad and is located in ValVerde County. Springs that feed the river actually pour out of the side of the mountain and are ice cold. It is really amazing. The lease has been in my family since the 1940's. We were able to go back on Labor Day this year and take Shane and Kyle, neither have ever made the trip. I love it and wanted to show you my pics from this year. It was so much fun and my kiddos love it.

We Love Cita!

My mom is here this weekend and can I just tell you how much I love her to come up. She is so much help with my kiddos, she helps me keep Campbell, she walked Slade to and from school. She is just an awesome mom. The most wonderful thing she did for me today was at CVS, she bought me diapers. Ten years ago, I would have thought you were crazy if you would have told me how excited I would get at a pack of Huggies! At $15.99 (on sale and with a $1 off coupon) a pop, that is a chunk of my change. She also bought my lunch and changed a poop diaper. What more can a daughter ask for. It's her birthday on Saturday. She will be 29ish. My birthday is a week later. When she was pregnant with me, she walked and walked and tried to have me on her birthday. Sorry mom, but I still made September. You'll just have to settle with your two grandkids having the same birthday.

On a different note, I volunteered at Slade's school this morning. Thanks to mom again for watching my girls. Ok, so it is really different at Preston Smith. They are some volunteering fools up there. Not like Cooper at all. I'm still trying to get used to the idea, but not sure I would be too crazy about it if I taught there. There is a parent in the room that helps with centers every morning on most days. Yes, she does need the help-23 kinders are alot to handle. But it's just a far cry from what I was used to at my school. I want to tell you that Slade's teacher is just precious. She is a really, really good teacher. I have always said it takes a special person to teach kindergarten, and I know that what I have said is right on. When will people realize how valuable teachers are to society? Not just any Joe can good job with children. When will they pay them what they are worth? It's a selfless job. I love teachers. You'll have a jewel in your crown when you get to heaven. Thank you Ms. Shultz, Mrs. Smithson, and Ms. Vargas-Prada - three of my favorite teachers.

Funny saying of the day, or shall I say "card" of the day. I found this card in the birthday section. It had a picture of Hillary Clinton sitting at the Oval Office with a tag reading, "President of the United States". Open it up and the card reads - "There are some things scarier than turning a year older!"

Reality Check

Well folks, the day has come. I'm officially old. One of my old students carried my groceries to my car at United today. She was in the first class I taught when I started Cooper at mid-year. She is a junior this year. Yikes! I should only be a junior in college-or that's how I feel anyways. And where did these two kids come from? And this mortgage? My great-grandmother always said that she felt the same as she did when she was 18 years old. She lived to be 96!

Everyone wants to live forever, but no one wants to grow old.
~Jonathan Swift~

Mood: Frustrated

Can we say 180? That is the degree of turn my mood has taken since yesterday. Maybe I should watch The Bucket List to inspire myself again!!!! Let's just say that not all days are inspiring with a two year old. Finley is a doll, but man she really pulls some good'ole terrible two fits. She really has been showing her true colors lately and her music class was no exception this morning. She is really energetic and feels very comfortable there since she has gone since last spring. But she may be a little too "comfortable". She thinks she can do just about anything she wants, including being the very center of attention. So I fought that the whole class, plus a few outbursts as I tried to be inconspicuous as I dealt with her discipline issues. For those of you that can identify or sympathize, you cannot reason with a two-year-old. With about five minutes left in class, I got onto her for something and she turned around and hit me on the head. Not the face slap in the movies, but a little smack-the kind that said, "I wonder what she will do if I do this?" I calmly got up and walked out of the classroom, hoping that no one saw her, and popped her behind after I had the door shut. I took her into an empty room and got right in her face and pinched her cheeks together. I said "you will not hit me in the face again!" She sat there in time out till she said she was sorry to me. The day pretty much went downhill from there. I was sooooo embarrassed. Do I have to go back next week? Oh, yes I do. Cita already paid for the month.

Being a mom can bring you to your knees some days. Today I swallowed my pride. But.....I have decided that I will pray tonight and thank God that I have a child healthy enough to act like a two-year-old that embarrasses me. If you don't have kids yet, or your baby is still small and sweet, don't think you won't have this happen to you. You will never escape the wrath of a two-year-old.

Have the you heard this saying? Some days you're the pigeon and some days you're the statue.

Today it was a bulls eye hit!

Mood: Inspired

I guess you can call me a sap. I cry over sad movies. I gush over babies. Have you been to a myspace and seen where you can pick your mood? If you went to mine today, it would be inspired. Most days blessed and some days nostalgic. But today it's inspired. I just finished watching The Bucket List. Wow, I highly recommend it if you haven't seen it. It wasn't one of those Academy Award Winners, but it's a feel-good one. I give it a thumbs up. It will give you a rich outlook on life. So yes, my sap blood runs freely today as I sit and think about it. One of my sister's (and mine) favorite sayings is by Abraham Lincoln.

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take,

But by the moments that take our breath away.

I love that. Everyone is so crazy busy these days. It's not like to old days when people enjoyed conversation and sitting out on their front porch at night. I hope everybody can stop and smell the roses once in awile. Be appreciative of the little things - a beautiful sunset, the smell of fresh flowers, Finley's little giggle as she runs through the room with only a diaper. I try to make a point every day to look at my kids and remember that moment-they'll be grown and gone before I can even imagine. I bet my mom remembers "a moment" with me and I'm about to turn 31. The picture I'm posting today is of a "moment" in my mind. My mom, Brandi, Nana, Slade, Finley, and I all walked down to the creek at my parents house. Finley was a baby and Slade was running all around that place as we were telling him to watch for snakes (my mom's favorite saying). Nana was sitting up on top of the bluff of rocks with Slade talking to him. My sister snapped this picture of her. I love it. My grandmother is a most wonderful lady. That was one of my best days.

So I'll leave you with another favorite quote of mine and promise to loose the sappiness tomorrow. Beginnings are scary, ending usually sad. It's what's in the middle that counts the most.

I wish you all really good middle.

Niagra Falls

Can you say, "Mucho Rain". I mean we have lots of water around here. The rain started yesterday morning and continued all day long and into the night. Around 8:45 last night, the mayor declared Lubbock in a "State of Emergency". Wow, I've never been anywhere that was in a "state of emergency". We drove around last night before it got dark (probably not one of the smartest decisions I've ever made) and looked at all the water. I have some pretty good pics I'll post that show just a slight bit of wetness, haha. I was slightly stressed going to bed last night - it was still just raining straight down and continued to do so until after 3am this morning. As an added bonus, to Slade anyways, LISD canceled school today along with every other school district around here. But darn it, that will use up one of our snowdays, oh well. And just to let you know, I'm no longer looking at the glass half full as in my previous post about rain. Stop Raining! Stop Raining now, we need no more rain. Nada, zip, zilch! My husband has got to work, people. The glass in now completely empty in regards to rain.

Funny story of the day. I'm a cool mom-I mean, I'll let my kids get dirty, they'll wash. We do art projects, paint, draw (although I did throw away the markers yesterday after Finley wrote on Slade's furniture and walls), science experiments, etc. We have a special table cloth that we put over the table for our messy projects-Thank you Target for the plastic cover that wipes clean. So, in all my mom glory yesterday, I let my kids cut loose and run in the rain. I mean full out, raining straight down, rain. Finley rode her scooter in the stream rushing down the street and Slade plowed through water on his bike, splashing like crazy. It was an awesome photo session for my scrapbook, which I'll admit was at least 50% of my motive. I love a great photo for my scrapbook pages. They had a blast and were wet little dogs. End of story, right. Nope. At the end of the news last night, the newscaster told everyone to keep their children out of the water tomorrow. The run off water could be contaminated and probably is not safe.

Maybe not such a cool mom move yesterday. My mom glory was deflated like a balloon poked with a big fat safety pin. Does anyone know where Alexander Fleming lives?

Clean as a Whistle

Today has been a major cleaning day for me. I started at 7am going through the usual "picking up" before you can actually clean. It's really been interesting the two years I have stayed home. I spend most of my day picking up. Maybe my children are messier than others. Maybe we just have more junk since I have another child. Maybe I am not as organized as some (I won't name names - Brandi, Beth, Melissa, Jennifer). But I do think the number one reason is that I am home to look at all this mess and it drives me crazy!!! When I taught school, I left by 7:15 and usually didn't walk back in until after 5. Plus we are here to get it messy. Finley is the queen of dumping out all her buckets, just for the fun of it. And can I just tell you how much more household "stuff" we use. I mean toliet paper-yes, we use so much more toliet paper. Paper towels, Pledge, paper plates, juice - it's crazy all the stuff I run out of all the time.

Ok, so I do have a point to this ramble. I am pleased to tell you about my Deal of the Day. I don't know if some of you know this, but I love a great deal, and really love coupons. I am a regular CVS goer-ExtraCare bucks!!! Fun stuff to the stay at home mom. Anyways, I ran to CVS to get some Pledge and Tilex Mildew Remover. They were both $4.79. I thought that was awfully steep. I mean some people would have to work an hour just to by two cleaning products. I stood there and thought, I am not paying an almost perfectly good ten dollars for this. So I jumped in my car (in the rain) and ran over to Dollar General. The Tilex was $2.50 and the Pledge $3.75. What a deal!!! I was so pleased - I used the extra three dollars I would have spent and bought salt, and two cans of tuna. Kuddos to me.

Sorry to diss my ever so trusty CVS, but in all honestly, you really have to watch the sales. Not everything is a deal. BTW, I'm posting a sweet pic from the past. They really were once very sweet. Sniff, sniff!

Singing in the Rain

I absolutely love the rain, but find myself torn. Being raised on a ranch, you pray for rain and welcome every little drop. One the other hand, my husband can't get his work done in the rain and we have to pay bills. But honestly, there's nothing better than a rainy day nap! Let's look on the bright side where Kyle is concerned-the grass will be longer and greeener when they finally get to mow! How's that for the glass is half full.

Ok, funny little story of the day. I have been diligently going to the gym, some mornings at 8am right when I drop off Slade. I have been run-walking and yesterday I was soooooo sore. I got home from walking Slade to school and sat down on the couch. I was sitting there thinking how sore my body felt, and Miss Finley runs into the room and says, "Let's go to the gym, mom!" If that's not motivation, I don't know what is.

Yes, I got up and dragged to the gym.

Cheers to my new Blog!!!

Ok, so I am finally attempting to get with the "blog" program. I love to look at other people's blogs and the great photos, so why not I??? Let's see, where do I begin? I suppose I'll start with September, which I personally feel is an excellent month (my bday month). This has been an eventful month, most importantly with the start of my son's academic career! haha Slade is a big Kindergartner this year. He started at Preston Smith, has Mrs. Hendrix(who has a cute little blog that I just found today) and absolutely loves it. Thank goodness.

Ms. Finley is a crazy two year old - she goes about 100mph at all times and she just started her music class at Joyful Noise yesterday. She loves to sing and dance around. Typical girl.

I just wonder if anyone will read my blog? I'm not sure that we are all that interesting, but I do enjoy reading other folks. Hopefully my writing will improve with time.