School Days

 

You know there are several different kinds of mothers.

• Mothers who start counting down to the first day of school the day school gets out for the summer.
• Mothers who get to August 1 and are at the end of their rope and can hardly contain themselves.
• Mothers who leave their kids on the schoolhouse steps and never look back.
• Mothers who get knots in their stomach at the idea of leaving their kids all day.
• Mothers who don’t want to be alone, therefore hate leaving their kids at school all day.

Me-I am a combination of all these.

I don’t countdown the days, but by the end of the summer my kids need to separated.  From each other and me! I know that they need the social aspects of school just as much as they need the education. We go to a smallish Christian school, I leave them knowing they are in a great surrounded by people that love them and want the best for them.

How about you?

Which kind of Mother are you?

Because I'm the Mom thats why!

The words..."Because I am the mom, that's why"! Never get me anywhere with my kids. Now, don't think I don't use it from time to time, usually when I am to lazy to explain myself or take a different approach.

Here is my question to you. Do you ummm......there is no nice way to say this. Bribe your kids? I totally do. We could call it negotiation, but even if we give it a pretty word its bribery.

Its a tool.
A very valuable tool.
Used in the right way, it makes my life easier.

Here is a recent example that comes to mind....

My four-teen year old daughter wants a Ralph Lauren swimsuit with little embroidered ponies on it. Umm...no! Not gonna spend $145 on 2 teenie little piece of fabric. Fast forward 6 weeks to our vacation, we pop over to the Ralph Lauren outlet at the last minute to "grab" something appropriate to wear for beach photographs. You know how good photos look on the beach when everyone is wearing the same color. Shopping with an almost fif-teen and almost twelve year old trying to get them to agree on ANYTHING is next to impossible!!

I digress.
often.
sorry.

Little missy spots above mentioned swimsuit from across the store on the clearance rack. She tried it on, of course it is adorable. At this point I have been sucked in. So, I put on my poker face and act like there is noooo way this swimsuit is coming home with me. Take a look at the price tag. $39.99!

HA done deal.
Must.keep.poker.face.on.

After we leave the fitting room, I make a show of putting the swimsuit back and tell them we need to get back on track. What are we wearing for the pictures?? More discord in the middle of the store. Finally I look at the big girl and say. "I will buy you that swimsuit, IF you wear whatever I want you to wear for the picture" She didn't even have to think about it! OK-she is all the sudden the happiest kid at the mall! My younger daughter, couldn't be bought that day.... :( We went to 4 different stores looking for something....came up with nothing. Finally, I gave up.

We end up wearing clothes we all had, in our suitcases. A quick load of laundry, I think the pics turned out cute.

Santa Rosa Beach

August 1-8, 2009

(excuse my squinting, the sun was killing my eyes)

I'm invisible

Well--you can't see me can you??

invisible-incapable by nature of being seen; inaccessible to view

After a week of a fabulous vacation with my biggest concern being whether or not the kids were sunscreened, it seems as if I have new concepts to ponder. And this concept of invisibility, not a good one. This morning I needed to run a quick errand, (if you must know I broke a nail and needed to go see the nail guy) jumped into the closet to get dressed. Then I just stood there.....looking....I have so many clothes in there and NOTHING to wear. Which I usually think nothing about, however it immediately popped into my head that last week while vacationing I didn't have this problem! In the suitcase I packed only clothes that fit, and were casual enough for my week of doing nothing.

Did you notice that I said I packed only clothes that fit! Why do we do this to ourselves?? It feels like I am in a box, and some days there are not enough ventilation holes in my box to take a deep breath.

On my way into the shopping center to see the nail guy, I had to stop for a steady stream of people coming out of the grocery store and it occurred to me that I dress like I am invisible! Too many days I act like I am invisible. Why is it that I do this to myself?? I get dressed like no one can see me...of course they can! At some point I went from not caring what other people think about me to not caring what I think about me....

it is time to climb back out of that hole.

Love "Cliftoned" me

What does that mean you ask? Last Thursday my husbands Grandpa went to join our heavenly Father. He was a wonderful Godly man. Not sure if I mentioned that my husband (he is 41 years old), until last Thursday had all 4 of his grandparents. Still married, both sets for 69 years. Grandpa was an amazing man. A godly man. A lifelong educator, and basketball coach. He LOVED his Missouri Tigers, and Kansas City Royals baseball. Last, but certainly not least he loved his family. Some of the most endearing qualities of my husband, he picked up from his Grandpa. He was so loved, I am grateful for the unconditional love he showed me!
I almost forgot to tell you about Love Cliftoned Me. When Grandpa was a boy, the would sing the hymn, Love Lifted Me, he always thought they were singing Love Cliftoned Me. Please say a quick pray for hubby, he is going to give the eulogy. He has written an outline but going to speak from the heart.

More in a few days when we return home.

How to find your lifes purpose.

And other questions that a facebook couldn't possibly answer!!

Hi, my name is Lynn and I am a facebookaholic.

Nice to meet you, {your name here}

I have an addiction. I am working on the assumption that you are familiar with facebook. If you have/read/like blogging you have access to the internets. The only way you have not heard of facebook is if you have been under a rock. (and your way too pretty to have been under a rock) :)

I digress. Back to facebook.

Surely, you have also taken one of those insane quizzes that has no basis on fact/reality/actuality. But, in an effort to let you know more about me I want to share some of the answers I have received on these unreal quizzes.

"What Cute Love Quote Are You"
with the result:
If I Can Only Be With You In My Dreams, Then Let Me Sleep Forever..

(seriously?) umm...no. I think I could live without you. And what in the world is cute about that quote? I am a southern girl and when we say sleeping forever we do mean death! Most likely written by someone who thinks vampires are hot.

How Country Are You?
My result is: Weekend Country

(good to know I am not Weekday Country. Does that mean I don't say ain't or y'all during the week?)

What personality type are you?

Melancholy

(shocking, just shocking)

How Psychopathic are you?
You got Normal

(again-how could they know? I think of myself as a bit more psychopathic than normal....)

What colour is your soul?
You got Green

(Green? Why green? I wanna be more fun that green...green is so boring.)

The best part about these quizzes, I think they are written by teenagers! As most of them are not only poorly written but totally misspelled. Which just make taking them that much more interesting. Cause what in the world do teenagers know about life??

Lets's start shakin' things up!

So....you are reading the blog of an older more mature blogger. Yes, it is my birthday. Today is the day I will turn 35 years old!! My husband tells me I shouldn't complain, after all I am younger than most people I know. And he is right. I have not had a birthday yet that bothered me!

What is bothering me is my hair! It is nasty.......I am considering going back to the "Rachel" that was so fabulous back in the mid-ninety's! Crazy? What do you think? Is anyone wearing that style? I want to be somewhat stylish, I just don't know what to do.

It is almost like I want to reset back to a happy time.....in computer terms my last known good configuration. I am wanting a change and the hair seems to be the most obvious!

Really---what do you think??

It takes two to make a thing go right.

it takes two to make it out of sight!-DJ Jazzy Jeff from the movie the Proposal. This afternoon I took my aunt who in town visiting, along with my girls and a couple of their friends to see the movie the Proposal! I cannot tell you when I laughed so hard at a movie. It had many many funny parts. If you are looking for something to do...there were are some racy parts that were borderline questionable for their age. Not sure how you feel about innuendo, it had a couple of pretty strong sexual parts. I also think it will be out on video around the time hunting season starts. We love to watch chick flicks then when daddy is gone to deer camp!

We have also been on waiting for a call that my husbands grandfather has passed on. He is 90 years old. Until the last 5 years he was able to enjoy life. It has been hard on the family, we know he is going to a better place to rest with the lord. They live 6 hours from us and right now my husband is up there visiting his family, trying to give his mom and grandmother the support they need. Grandpa is in hospice. Shane is spending the night on a cot with him. I tend to not always talk of him with all the love I truly feel. My husband is a wonderful family oriented man.

Please pray for peace for the family members. Pray that we can be at peace knowing grandpa is going to heaven to sing with the angels.

I wanna....

Live!!

I do not enjoy life nearly enough!

• I want to ice skate.
• I want to ride go carts.
• I want to go to the public pool....and not be self conscious!!!
• I want to enjoy a day on the lake.
• I want to walk around the amusement park without being winded.
• I want to learn to play golf.
• I want to roller skate.
• I want to bicycle.
• I want to not be worn out after an hour in the mall!
• I want to feel like peeling wallpaper and painting.

It seems like a successful day for me is keeping laundry kept up and meals fixed. And I do mean fixed, I have not cooked in ages!

Ugh! I know its up to me....no one else is gonna light a fire under me!

Boom, Boom, Pow

As you can see I have been playing with sizing and such..perhaps I can get this figured out soon. I also wanted to put a watermark on the photos for protection.

Hello! Hello? is anybody out there?

Welcome to another week of love from Amber and the peeps that frequent her blog! She gathers us once a week to share our struggles with eating better and becoming a more healthy person.

Here is how my week went! Like crap......I seem to be stuck. I guess I shouldnt complain too much, I am stuck at my lowest weight in the 8 months. But its just so frustrating. As I have said in the past few weeks, I would see more progress if I put more work into it!

My fridge went out on Monday. (the part wont be in until Friday) My biggest problem here has been no ice! Crap, I love me some ice. I refuse to drink anything without ice. Even if it is cold from the fridge it must have ice. I dont even drink coffee b/c warm drinks make me GAG! Ick.

And with the holiday this weekend I dont think things are going to get any better. Our little town has a parade, and a festival. After the parade instead of spending our money at the festival we host a neighborhood potluck. Kids swim, we shoot off fireworks, then we take our golf car to go watch the HUGE fireworks show that is done by the city to conclude the festival. We gather on the golf course where the country club sets up a bar for us to "visit"! Because fireworks and alcohol go together so well..........

The post where I tell y'all how blessed I am.

Thanks for your words of encouragement after my last post about being down in the dumps. I have had several bad weeks that seemed to be a culmination of things.

But.........things are looking up!! My mind seems to be getting back to a more level place. I feel more in control of what is going on inside that scary brain of mine!

Thanks again-this is what blogging buddies are for....you make me realize it is ok to be me! Love You Guys.

...It'll be alright, come Monday I'll be.......

In the gym by daylight??

Probably not but it sounds good with the song.

One of my very good high school buddies has decided to join us for EMME. Please take a minute today to stop over, read her story and welcome her into our group. Click on link to go Tricia's blog.

Thanks my blogger peeps!!! You are the best!

Down in the Dumps

My story is very involved. I will just keep it brief and tell you my older sister died in a motorcycle crash 2 months after her high school graduation. This day was also my 11th birthday. The world as I knew it changed drastically. My mother went C-R-A-Z-Y! Now that I have children I get it. My 11 year old self didn't get it.

Everyday I get up and struggle with depression. Some of it is genetic, I really try not to play that card-it is too easy to slip into my life sucks and nothing is going to make it better mentality.

This week my days have been better. I really wish I were not so emotional. However, this is the life I have....

I want to enjoy it. But I don't.

There is really no good reason.

Except my mind is not right.

Just wanted to put this out there so I can look back and see where I am.

Extreme Makeover Me Edition

Here we are it has been another week. Be sure to visit Mr. Linky at Amber's website to learn more about her EMME!

Yesterday morning I was feeling thinner, I weighed and was down 2 pounds. In my effort to actually keep things real I went ahead and weighed this morning and found yesterdays 2 pounds....yep! I am right back where I was last week. I really am feeling better. Everyday I am trying harder to drink more water. (with the help of my Sonic cup) My arms are feeling smaller, my face looks smaller. This week I am going to embrace that small victory and let myself enjoy the progress hopefully it will emerge in the form of motivation! (let me just get out my ring for the wonder twin activate in the form of positive self talk) If you didn't get that....sorry! If you did-well you know what that means!This weeks question posed to all of us is.......

"Who is your biggest supporter/motivator in your weight loss? Do you have anyone around you that tries to sabotage you by "talking" you in to eating the not so good stuff?"

My husband is supportive, would do anything I asked him to help me out. (I just never ask) He would never make a comment about what I am eating or not eating. Exercising or not. Unless I specifically ask him to. And I don't. I don't like that kind of accountability. It makes me so much more likely to "cheat" when he is not around!

I did say in my last post that my daughter has been all about the exercise! She is very active and really happy to push me into working out...and if I slip into calling myself fat, she is quick to say "your not fat" its nice to hear, even if I know better. (I am just sayin')

That leads to to the biggest sabotager (is that a word?) that would be me. I am too laid back. It shows in my diet! Which also shows in my butt.......

What would this world be like without Daddies?

I want to wish a Happy Father's Day to my 2 favorite Daddy's in the world! It may not be politically correct to mention my own Daddy first, you know since I knew him first! He has been the #1 parent in my life! I blogged about that some time ago...if you are interested in learning more about why I am the way that I am, read here. It touches on how great my dad is!

The next daddy that I must talk about is my wonderful husband Shane click on his name if you want to read the thankful post I wrote about him on Thanksgiving last year. I cannot share with all of you just how great he is! No really, I can't! (: Just trust me he is great! And some (notice I didn't say all) is more than I deserve!

And a shout out to all of you...love your dads, love your husbands. And even when its hard love the father of your children, just remember it is for your children and we all want whats best for the kids!

The way I are....

I am about to share something with you blogger peeps.

I am judgmental!

Why, you ask? Oh, you didn't? Let me tell you anyway....

Really, I have no idea why! I have been trying very hard for the last couple of years to not just make judgements about things I don't know about, or people whether I know them or not. Just thought I would let you know that about myself. I am also very sarcastic. People say that sarcasm is a shield or a defense mechanism, or a crutch. Could be! Could be that I am just a smarta**.

p.s. If you were sitting near the man on the flight from Dallas to Little Rock Friday afternoon that lost his vodka from the night before lunch sorry about that! That man may or may not be my husband.

Go me!

Welcome to another week of EMME! Amber hosts this weekly support group of women trying their best to improve their lifestyle. Be sure to click on the photo below to visit her site and all the other great ladies.





This was a good week for me. Remember I didn't weigh last week so the 2 pounds I have lost has been over a two week period. But as I have said before its better than a poke in the eye.


Last week while traveling I pretty much ate fast food. I did make good choices and do my best to cut down the soda consumption. When I have fast food I really like to drink iced tea, I am not a good iced tea maker, but I really do like to drink it.



I have been noticing that my arms and legs are smaller. We switched to AT&T uverse a couple of months ago. We have a channel called FIT TV. My oldest daughter has found this channel and appointed herself my personal trainer. Talk about motivating...she wants to spend that hour with me. Maybe its only so she can laugh at me trying to exercise but sadly she is at an age where I take what I can get.



Amber gives us a question each week to help us learn from each other. This week the question is:

Post a picture of the contents of your fridge so everyone can see how much healthy food is (not) in it.

In my attempt to keep it real I didn't try to neaten or rearrange anything even though I cringe everytime I open it these days.....summer is killing me!! My daughters have best friends that are sisters and they are always at our house or theirs. That gives me not 2 girls but 4 girls! I shouldnt complain, they do not mind fixing their own food! But then I end up with this, things just shoved in! BTW: look hard, not much healthy in there. *hangs my head in shame*

Show us where you live....

It's another show us where you live Friday...that I didn't get to until Sunday. Click on the picture above to visit Kelly's blog and the bathrooms of MANY others.

Welcome to our bath:

this is the entrance from the master bedroom!

The prints are some canvases I bought at Gordmans a couple of years ago. The table is from Pier 1 was labeled as a desk, it has 2 small drawers.

Vanity area. We took the ceiling to top of vanity mirror! It was huge! I really like these that came from Garden Ridge at $99 for each. I wanted to hang them vertically but the sinks are not centered and they looked stupid. They could not hang lower because of electrical outlets. You can tell a man made those decisions. Not a good one. I would have sacrificed those outlets as I have outlets inside the false drawers below the sinks.

Back in 2004 I framed this picture of the girls taken in 2/1998. E was 3 SJ was 5 months old. This was the day before SJ spent 4 days in the hospital with RSV.

The evening I put this picture out SJ wrote this note to E!! I still laugh everytime I see it. I keep it behind the picture in the frame.

The black leather rectangle ottoman came from IO Metro. Most of their stuff is too modern for my taste but a great store.

Our small chandeleir, I love the ceiling medallion! We used a lighting designer from a small local hardware store that didn't charge anything if we bought from him. He spent a couple of hours here at our house helping me to pick fixtures, ceiling fans, and cabinet and door knobs that I ordered as I could.

Both doors are entrances to the L-shaped closets. Our other 2 bathrooms are nothing special and I was too lazy to take pictures and talk about something so uninspiring.

Lynn Needs:

I was over reading some old posts on Connie's blog and she posted some of the thing.s she needs per google.....me being the follower that I am thought this might be fun! Here is what Lynn needs according to google.

Lynn you need to figure out a special way to deal with your stress girl. Another way besides food. Go for a walk, a hot bath, ...
Lynn need some hugs from you!!
Lynn Needs Help With Her Baby Y'all!.
LYNN needs help
(no lie-those were the first 4 things google tells me I need)
Lynn needs a blog {there is one we can take off the list}
Lynn Needs Your Help Again -- Vote for her in Flex Magazine's Bikini Contest! She has posed for Playboy and was on VH1's Most Smartest Model. {I am guessing this is not the same Lynn that needs to find a way to handle stress that is not food}

I am cracking myself up!!!

On the upside....

no scale to weigh myself. :) On the downside....too many mirrors. For some reason I never look at myself in the mirror at home. Maybe I am acclimated to them?? I imagine I divert my eyes when I see them! So staying in a hotel ALL by myself I am running around with mirrors everywhere! This is the week at Cheer camp.....luckily no one expects me to do any cheering-that could get ugly quick!

The girls are staying in a fairly new dorm room at one of the State University campuses. Their room is on the 3rd floor with no elevators. And in true college fashion nothing is close by, everything is a bit of a walk. In case I forget to mention it-I LOVE cheer camp!!! I cannot tell you when I last had so much fun. (sad, I know)

On to business. Its time for another week of Extreme Makeover Me Edition. Amber hosts our weekly support group (click on picture below) please go and support all of my buddies in this attempt to improve our health and our lives.

This weeks question "What's your favorite thing to drink while you're losing weight? We all know how important it is to get that water intake up, especially with summer almost here. What's your favorite way to spice it up?" is easy for me. I am not really a spice it up kind of girl. I have been getting a large water with extra ice from Sonic every morning! Yes it costs $.47 and its so worth it. After I finish that water I have enough ice to refill a couple of more times!!! My water intake has risen in the weeks since school got out and I have been doing it this way!