Picture a day in May, Day 14: Dad

A walk down Memory Lane.  This was my Dad's birthday in 2004.  Happy Birthday Dad!

Five Minute Friday: Deep Breath

I have really enjoyed a blog I stumbled upon called Pitterle Postings, and I have loved reading her Friday posts especially.  Patty is a gifted poet and writer!  She links up to "Five Minute Fridays" over at Gypsy Mama and I have been intrigued...So, I decided to give it a try.  I AM IN NO WAY CLAIMING TO BE A WRITER.  I am a rambler-that is probably why 5 minutes of just typing about a topic interests me.  So, here goes.  (This is the dialogue that went through my head this morning...)



The alarm is going off...already?  Deep Breath...I can do this.  I can get up and start the day...But I really don't want to...REALLY Deep breath.  I'm up, I'm up...Great Jake isn't up.  He is so grumpy when I have to wake him up!  It is such a better start to the day when he wakes me up....Deep breath.  Quick prayer.  Wake the poor boy up even though he was up late last night (late for him at least-the boy needs his sleep-he is only 9 1/2...almost 10 really...Where has this decade gone!?).  FOCUS!  I am starting to doze-WAKE UP!!!  Deep breath.  I am still in bed...Did I put the clothes in the dryer last night?  I hope so otherwise we are wearing unmatched socks again today.  I have got to remember to get dog food today...I wonder if Blogger will be working today...Did I just snore? DEEP BREATH...Aaron should be home soon.  How does he work 3rd shift-full time and go to school full time?  Because he loves us, that's how.  I married a great man.  Deep Breath.  If he can stay up all night for us, I can get my lazy self out of bed and wake up by almost a decade old baby...Where does the time go?  Deep breath...Another day is here...

How fun!  It is like a brain declutter and typing frenzy all in one!  You should try it!!  Link up here and join the fun!

Picture a day in May, Day 13: What we did today...(after we did the stuff we had to do..)

After work and school we headed to the Monroe Mall with my friend from work, Sharlene and her daughter Autumn to check out the animals that we kept hearing so much about.  Customers kept coming into Bi-Lo (local grocery store) and telling us all about the amazing array of animals in a tent in the parking lot.  So we decided that we would take the kiddos and check it out.  Despite the 86 degree weather (yes already...one of the downfalls of living in the South) we had a really fun time.  See for yourself by the next 1,000 pictures I took:

Jake and Autumn riding on a camel. 

Posing with a lion cub. 

The handler smelled a wee bit like alcohol...I'm just sayin'...But seriously look at that sweet baby!!!

Posed with a snake.  I hate snakes...a lot.  For some reason I can survive with out fleeing if they are in a large box and if I can't see it's head.  Did I mention that I hate snakes?...And someone actually choose to pose with this snake rather than the lion cub.  I freaked at that and had to flee...

A sweet Lama.

Feeding the goats and cows.

A kangaroo.  I felt so bad for the animals...What a crappy life...They were adorable though.

The black leopard we were trying to wake up to get a good picture of. We were calling it like a kitty cat...It didn't really work.  You can't see from the picture but it had beautiful leopard spots in different shades of black.

The white tiger was snoozing too.

They both woke up when the lady that smelled like alcohol came over to check them out and make sure they were okay.

And they got to pose with the lion cub again because they couldn't find the first one they took to print for us.

After seeing all the animals we went to CiCi's pizza for dinner. Sharlene and I talked while the kiddos played a few video games.  It was so much fun to get out and do something for the second weekend in a row! (I still haven't posted what we did last Saturday...I will get to it..)  Aaron was at home trying to get some much needed rest.  Last night was his first night off from 3rd shift after a week off (I haven't posted about that either...I will...), so it is going to take some time to get back into the swing of it!

When we got home we showed them how much Sadie has grown and then after they left, some how this happened:

Sadie's first experience with a sprinkler. :)

Needless to say, she loved it.

And so did Jake. 

It was a good day.  I almost forgot!!!!  I also told my boss I had to have the summer off  (...I didn't have the heart to tell him that even in the fall I won't be coming back to work and working 5 days a week like I have been...) and he said he would keep me on the payroll as long as he needed to without working me because he didn't want to lose me.  Cool!  I am going to be down June 8th (Jake's last day of school) and go in once a month to help with tags (pulling tags when sales end and putting up new ones)!  YIPPPEEEE!  The countdown for summer is really on now!  This time we actually know the official last day of school so we really can count down!

Bummer...

I actually got to work early because I couldn't blog. :) Also, my yesterday post just popped back up (I thought it was lost), but without the comments that were there yesterday. Strange...

Simple Pleasures and Picture a day in May, Day 11 &12: Being Spoiled.

This month I have already been very spoiled and that is my simple pleasure today.  The main thing that brings me such pleasure (I LOVVVVVVVE IT!!!!)  is my Mother's Day/34th Redo B-day gift:

I also love, love, love, my little pill case:

The open space is for asprin-I need to get some more.

And my beautiful ring...I realize I could never be a hand model...

My guys spoil me and let me know I am loved.  Thanks Aaron and Jake!
What are your simple pleasures?  Join the fun and let everyone know over at Chocolate on My Cranium!

Picture a day in May, Day 10: Mother's Day recap

This is my picture of the day:

They always make me breakfast in bed on Mother's Day.  See how cute face is that Jake made out of the food he cooked all by himself, except the bacon (or meat candy as Aaron likes to call it), that Daddy cooked? See the cute little gift?  I picked it out for myself at this adorable little store in downtown Monroe and they put it in the cute bag for you-that is their bag!  I gave it to Jake and told him to give it back to me and we could call it a gift from him. :)  We went to a BBQ festival on Saturday (I will post that tomorrow...) and since it was Mother's Day weekend they guys willingly let me check out the little shops I have heard about, live 5 minutes walking distance from, and still haven't been too!.  I will have to take a picture of the awesome ring I got myself  Jake got me for Mother's Day for $6.95 and this adorable little pill case (to put tylenol in your purse. It is perfect because it has 3  little spaces in it. I have been looking for something like it for ages!), for $5.   Here is my sweet Jake that worked so hard on my perfect breakfast:

Here he is sitting with me while I ate my breakfast in bed.  Aaron took a picture from the end of the bed of us, but it was one of those looking up your nose pictures-not my best angle-so we took this one instead.  Aaron was being a P.T.P.P so there aren't any of him.  But he did make a quick lunch after church (I had a pounding headache and they took good care of me by letting me take a 2 hour nap), and my request of his famous, delicious shrimp'n'grits for dinner, so that made up for it. :)  It was a wonderful Mother's Day as usual thanks to my guys! 

I finally finished "Laddie, a true blue story"!

I finally finished Ladie, a True Blue Story by Gene Stratton-Porter and it was so good!  It was much longer than I thought it would be at 564 pages (on Kindles is doesn't tell you the page number it tells you the percentage you have read so I had no idea how long it was!).  Not that it seemed too long, it just the list of books I want to read this month is long, so I anticipated being done quicker.  I was hoping to finish it last night because the last few chapters really answer all the questions that you have through out the story, but at 12:30 I couldn't keep my eyes open in a longer.  After I dropped Jake off I came home and read for about 10 minutes and was done.  I wish there was 564 more pages!

  This book paints such a picture of the farm it took place on that I wish I could live there too...or at least visit in more than just my imagination!  READ THIS BOOK!  You will love it.  It takes place after the Civil War and is about what I would call as close to perfect a family as you could ask for!  It teaches the importance of having God in your life and the joy it brings.  Father even gave up some of his land to build their church on.  It teaches how important family is.  I love this quote that from the book when Shelley (one of 12 children the Stanton family was blessed with) is going through a hard time over a broken heart:  "Of course you do, child," said mother. "Families were made to cling together, and stand by each other in every circumstance of life-joy or sorrow.  Of course you need your family."

This book also teaches about the importance of education.  Little Sister (the little girl who is the narrator is nicknamed this by her beloved older, perfect brother, Laddie) loves to be outside and puts off going to school for 2 years and then has a hard time wearing shoes (she goes barefoot everywhere but church and school), and sitting still in school.  She is truly educated at home and her parents don't push her to go to school until she is ready.  She knows all there is to know about the world around her on the farm and seems to learn even less in school.  Of school she said: "Schoolhouses are made wrong.  If they must be, they should be built in a woods pasture beside a stream, where you could wade, swim, and be comfortable in summer and slide and skate in winter.  The windows should be cut to the floor, and stand wide open, so the birds and butterflies could pass through.  You ought to learn your geography by climbing the hill, walking through a valley, wading creeks, making islands in them, and promonotories, capes, and penisulas along the bank.  You should do your arithmetic sitting under trees adding hickory-nuts, subtracting walnuts, multiplying butternuts, and dividing hazelnuts.  You could use apples for fractions, and tin cups for liquid measure.  You could spell everything in sight and this would teach you the words that are really used in the world."  That sounds like the best kind of school to me! Mother tries to explains to a grumpy neighbor, Mr Pryor, how it is their children seem to have been so well educated.  She explains how they did it by saying: "By educating ourselves before their coming, and with then afterward. Self-control, study, work, joy of life, satisfaction with what we have had, never-ending strife to go higher, and to do better."  At one point in the book Father is talking to Dr. Fenner (the local doctor) and is concerned that Mother doubts she can ever teach Little Sister to sew or become a housewife. To this Dr. Fenner says:  "She isn't cut out for a seamstress or a housewife, Paul.  Tell Ruth not to try to force those things on her.  Turn her loose out of doors: give her good books, and leave her alone.  You won't be disappointed in the woman who evolves."  It seems Little Sister was born early and I spent the whole time I was reading thinking how intelligent and observant she seemed, but not really knowing her age (maybe I just missed it.  It says she put off going to school 2 years..Back then they didn't go until they were 7 right?  Maybe she was 9 when the book starts?  I am going to have to go back and see if I missed it somewhere..). I found myself wondering if she had a learning disability based on the discussion between the Dr. and Father.  I doubt it though. Maybe she is just a late bloomer...She seems SO bright and full of life, but there are parts that make me try to diagnose her with today's childhood issues, rather than just assuming she is just a little different from the other girls in her family.  You have to read this book and let me know what you think!!!   If you read it, you will love it.  It is a true classic! 

Read it and tell me what you think!  I haven't even gone back to reread this so sorry if it makes no sense. I was just too excited to wait.  Now I have to get ready in record time to make it to work!!! :)

Picture a day in May, Day 9: A trip down Memory Lane to when laundry was fun.

This is my little helper at the ripe old age of 3 (2004).  His laundry was still little and cute...Now I can only tell which socks are mine because there is pink on the toe.  And a pair of b-ball shorts that look similar to Aaron's (they are both burgundy.  They aren't the same size yet, but closer than they were back in 2004), have made it in to our clean laundry basket on more than one occasion.  I need some little socks, that aren't stinky and sweaty. :)
The only thing I like about laundry is the way clean clothes smell (and I LOVE that smell.  I will go with out food rather than switch from my very favorite detergent!  Now so more than ever since I know my nephew thinks of me when he smells it!!) and the fact that, for an instant, the laundry baskets (or floor) is empty of stinky and dirty clothes.  I am an awesome stain getter-outer, but for today the stains are going to have to wait.  I have got to go and Zumba dance!  

Picture a day in May, Day 8 (a day late): Jake bucks

I can redeem these Jake bucks to play board games or do anything I want to do.  The million dollar one is for him to play Othello with me, because he is not a fan of that game. :)

I am rich in Jake bucks!

More on Mother's Day and the rest of the weekend later...Hope you had a great Mother's Day!

Picture a day in May: Day 7... more on this one later...

Picture a day in May, Day 6: Guess what I got...

Let's see which book am I going to read today?...I think I will read a little Anne of Green Gables.

Wait a second this isn't a book (anymore at least!)...It is the AWESOME book safe I won from Cocoa!!!

(I love how they left a few pages to cover the secret spot to hold your treasures... )  

I know that is totally cheesy, but I couldn't help it...It came in the mail yesterday and I was so excited.
I thanked Cocoa again and she let me know that my earrings would be coming next week.  She told me the lady that made them moved the beginning of the week so she didn't get to send them out yet...


I am sure you can imagine how surprised I was when I got home today and there was another package with these in it:

Aren't they amazing?!!  I love my beautiful prizes!!!  For some reason my camera didn't want to pick up the exact color of the earrings-they have the sweetest hint of blue...You can see how gorgeous they are even with out the full color affect, so imagine them even prettier!!!!  I am a lucky girl. :)

It is really hard to take a picture of earrings in your ear...

Thank you Cocoa!!!  This is a great start to what I am sure will be a wonderful Mother's Day weekend. :)
Thank you Ella Belle Boutique and HollowBound for my amazing new treasures-you guys totally rock!
(Pick whichever picture you like the best and we will call it my picture of the day...I couldn't pick just one-I had to show off my new bits of happiness!!!)

A Short (maybe) and Sweet Brain Declutter.

*I loved this post so much I had to do a post just to link to it...If you blog, it is a MUST read.  The author is pure genius...So how many of you will go check it out without me even saying what it is referencing?  (Trust me it is worth it...and it is on Mormon Mommy Blogs so you know it is clean.)

*Happy Cinco De Mayo!  Is that how you spell it? Although I am not Mexican, any chance to have a mini party works for me!  We had shredded beef nachos and a few different flavors of some soda from Mexico.  Here are my 2 P.T.P.P posing so willingly (sarcasm) for a picture.They were hungry and ready to start watching "The Sorceror's Apprentice" (which was just okay for me...I started making desert half way through it.)

 I also tried to recreate a desert (is it called Sopapias? sp...) that is so yummy.  That counts as trying a new recipe, even though I didn't use a recipe I just guessed, right?  I am counting it.

 I don't fry things...and this reminded me why.  I HATE the smell in my house after things are fried.  I have 3 candles lite and I sprayed the house with Lysol nuetra-air.

 Just about anything tastes good when you put cinnamon sugar on it.

*Aaron you were right. I waited to long to Zumba...BUT I WILL get up at 5:30 in the morning to do it.  That is the only goal I have for May that I haven't been very diligent at haven't done at all.

*Thanks Jamie for telling me how to cross words out.  :)  It really is amazing that I love to blog so much and yet I hate don't know how to use computers any form of technology.  I am really going to get annoying with the crossing out, I can tell already. :)

*That last one isn't completely true.  I know how to use my cell phone, ipod shuffle, and my early Mother's Day/34th Birthday Again gift: MY KINDLE!!!!!  The price has lowered on Kindle's to $114 and it is SOOOOO worth it!  THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU AARON!  I finished Anne of Avonlea  and am half way through Laddie all on my Kindle.  Not to mention, I have read my scriptures every day on it.  I maybe slightly addicted to it already and I just got it a week ago...

*I am listening to the Republican Presidential Debate in the background...Ron Paul is crazy. I am liking this guy named Herman Cain...Cane?  Never heard of him until right now and I didn't listen to the whole thing, but what I heard I liked...And he has never been elected or held public office.  He sounds perfect to me-he isn't a politician-I like him already!!!

*I did this post about my goals for May.  I have thought of my #10...about a million times but keep forgetting what it is!  This is why I blog: to remember things that I don't want to forget, but will, if I don't put them down on paper my blog.  :)  Oh----I just remembered!!! We are going to write as many letters to Nee and Papa, on their mission, as we can this month to make up for how slack we have been on doing it!  We can call them whenever we want...That is the only excuse I can come up with.  Prepare to be swamped by mail Mom and Dad!!! (In the 1st 5 days of  May we have sent 2 mother's day cards, a Mother's Day package, and a late Easter/Spring package.  Papa's b-day is next week so he will have a bunch coming to him too!

*Okay, so this wasn't short at all.....I need to get in bed so I can get up early tomorrow!!! Good night. :)

Saku, you just made my day...

This is my sweet nephew Saku, last summer when we visited my sisters family in DC.  It is one of my favorite pictures ever because it is just so "Saku"!  Don't you love that feeling when you take a picture of a moment you want to remember and you just capture it-just the way you wanted to?  Okay I am already getting off topic...They live in a whole different country now(Can I say where Tina?  I think if I looked back I probably already have at some point in my blog...) and we miss them!!!

I just got home from dropping Jake off at school and I decided to check my emails. I am so glad I did because I got an email from my sister that just made my day. Since May is "my month" I decided to post it here because it makes me feel so loved and I never want to forget it. Indulge me please...

Carrie,

I wanted to tell you something that happened last night but I figured if I didn't tell you right away I would forget and it is like 2 or 3 in the morning for you...so I figured an email would work!

Last night as Saku was getting ready for bed he picked up his pillow sham and smelled it. (I had let Ben sleep on it for his nap and he ended up sweating on it so I was worried...) Saku said, "Did you wash this?" Me, "ummmm, what do you mean?" Saku,"It just smells really good and clean." (pause) "It smells like Aunt Carrie!!!!" And then I realized that you were probably the last one to wash it (it is Jake's old car and plane one) and it had been packed away when I stashed it in our UAB so we would have something nice to make our beds with earlier on. I was so happy that he has such a happy memory of your smells!!! Isn't that cool! (ok...so it sounds pretty weird when you write it down but hopefully you know what I mean!)

Hope you are having a great day...or that you will!!

love,

tina

I have happy tears in my eyes thanks to you Saku!  It is great being an aunt. :)  Thanks to my sister and sister-in-laws for having such great kiddos.  Happy early Mother's Day to you!!!!

Picture a day in May, Day 4: Simple Pleasures: Reaching a goal with one little piece.

My picture of the day...

Over at Chocolate on my Cranium, every Thursday is Simple Pleasures day.  Today my Simple pleasure is...well, simple! It is reaching a goal for the month already.  I finished my 1000 piece puzzle (finally) and putting in the last piece was like a small victory.  I thought for sure a couple of pieces would have been lost or eaten by Sadie, but they were all there and it made me so happy to finish it.  What is your simple pleasure today?

Wordful Wednesday: What I have learned from being a Mother.

Where do I even begin?  I have learned that I can survive with my heart outside of my body.  I have learned that even when I think I need a break and want to get a way, I just wonder what my child is doing while I am gone.  I have learned that even though I am a sound sleeper, I always wake up when my child calls to me at night.  I have learned that you need to be prepared for anything and big bags can help with that.  I have learned exactly what I sound like when I get upset, because I have seen my child act the same way.  I have learned that even though it is hard to be a mom, I am doing better at it than I think I am.  I have learned that while you wait in a doctors office, it helps pass the time if you trace your child on the paper they put on the table you lay on and let them color it in.  I have learned that in the summer you should always have extra clothes in the car because you never know when you will have the chance to swim.  I have learned that the sound of your child's laughter fills your heart to bursting.  I have learned that hearing your child cry can rip out a piece of your heart.  I have learned that if I am in a bad mood my child will be too.  I have learned that I can never take enough pictures of his sweet face.  I have learned that the 2's aren't terrible at all.  I have learned that each year will go by faster than the last.  I learned that if you make a mistake as a parent your child learns a lot from you if you apologize.  I have learned making your child a little paranoid about germs isn't a bad thing.  I have learned that baby drool on your shoulder is a good thing.  I have learned that there is no such thing as enough hugs and kisses.  I have learned that no one can teach your child as well as you can.  I've learned that talking to the Principal about a bad teacher will make you feel better, but also worse-because she will tell you if you think she is bad now you should have seen her before...  I have learned that amazing things happen to your child when they receive the Holy Ghost after baptism.  I have learned smart kids are unorganized.  I have learned that camping with a tent in the living room is awesome.  I have learned that the most amazing accomplishments in my life aren't really mine-they are my child's. I have learned the true meaning of unconditional love...I could go on and on, but you get the point.  The day I became a mother is the day I truly became me.

What have you learned in motherhood?  Share your experiences and check out other mothers at Cocoa's blog.

Picture a day in May,Day 4: "May the 4th be with you."

Get it?  Today is May 4th...May the force be with you...? (Aaron said it to me today)  Today is Star Wars day apparently.  I didn't even know that is existed until Aaron told me. Jake without knowing the important holiday that it is, wore this to school: 

Hahaha!  A Wookie ate my homework.  I saw this a few weeks ago and knew that I would be the world's best mom if  I got it for Jake.  Between Jake and Aaron we have at least 6 or 7 Star Wars t-shirts in our home.  Aaron said we need to celebrate Stars Wars day by playing Lego Star Wars the Clone Wars on the Wii with Jake. :)

Picture a day in May, Day 3: Sadie is a "Moosette" and the name of our home school...

This is my picture of the day:

To quote our vet:  "Sadie is going to be a moose!  Come here Moosette, let me check you out."  She weighs 33.6 pounds and is 18 weeks old today.  She got her "big girl" (rabies and others...) shots yesterday and will be jingling everywhere she goes between her I.D. tag and rabies tag.  We are used to big "moose" dogs in our house  (Emily was 100 pounds), so we are ready for it.   
Sadie loves to play in the hose (which we did yesterday),...her water bowl, puddles...If it is possible this dog loves water even more than Emily did!  After she gets all wet she runs in to the bushes and rolls around to dry off.  The picture above is what she looks like when she pops her little head out.  How can you resist this future moose face? And these are just bonus shots of our crazy, water loving, "Moosette".

On a completely unrelated topic...I left a note to speak with the principal about all the fun emails and "stuff" going on in Jake's class...I hope I don't break down and cry in her office when I do get to talk to her...I talked to the receptionist (who I love), when I gave her the "blue slip". She used to be an assistant to Mrs. P and she wasn't completely surprised to hear it has been a long, rough year! The blue slip is a sheet you give the school to let them know you are not going to be attending next year. :) It is almost paper work official! I just need to print off the form, fill it out (which includes naming our home school-in NC you have to have a school name...Any ideas?), and bring it to the Superintendents office!