Things I am thinking

Sorry it has been so long since I have dropped in to say hello. Not that I have been busy...I think I was just in a "Blog Funk"....nothing really exciting to post about, no big news, no funny stories....so I just took a break.

I did however keep reading post from all of you.

I really don't have anything planned to post today so I will just leave you with a few short comments on things that have zipped through my mind(or what little I have left of a mind)

~ I am so ready for Spring & warm weather that I have thought about packing up and moving farther South.

~I am sick of the Olympics!!!! I know some of you have really enjoyed watching them but to be honest...it just makes me cold!!!!

~I am ready for my grass to turn green and my flowers to bloom.

~I am ready to feel my feet in the sand.

~ I really need to paint my toes....maybe it will make my pale feet look a little better!

~ I am so ticked off that everyone on Idol this season seems to SUCK!

~I can't wait until Chris gets transfered back closer to home!

~ Need to get started making my spring wreath for my front door....maybe that will hurry the warm weather along!

~I think I hear my Rainbow flip flops screaming my name from behind the closet door!

~ Wondering what in the world happened while I slept last night that made gas drop .24 cents from yesterday....I don't think I will ever understand that.

So what is running through your minds this morning....hmmmmmmm?????

Sgt. "SnOwens"

when our snow came, we of course had to build a snowman. It was the perfect snow for it too! We rolled & rolled & packed & rolled some more. After we had him assembled Chris decided he just "wasn't complete" and ran inside to grab a few "items"...hehehe

There....thats much better!

Complete with Sgt patch & badge......my yard feels safer already!

And one last picture I had to take to show you just how tall Sgt. SnOwens was. But he didn't last long. Sgt. SnOwens was later involved in a horrible 10-50 (thats the 10 code for a wreck)
invloving a wild teenage boy on a 4-wheeler. Yep, Kyle thought it would be so funny to plow Sgt. SnOwens over with the 4-wheeler. We have no put off letting Kyle get is drivers license until he turns 21!

Oh well...maybe he'll come back next year!

Unleashing Momma Bear

One of my good friends and "new momma" and I had this discussion the other day.
Where does it come from? Is it a trait that is taught or has to be learned? It is just instinct?I think not. I think it is a deep inner feeling, so far deep inside of you that it can not be measured or hardly put into words.
The protective nature we have for our children where at any given moment we are ready to attack anyone and anything that becomes the smallest threat to our child. I admit I have made mistake after mistake while raising Kyle (like the time he was a few weeks old and he fell of the couch, or the time he was 4 months old and I didn't have the handle properly locked in place on his carrier and he flipped out and fell to the floor, or when he was a toddler and crawled into the bathroom and got a disposable razor out of the trash and put it in his mouth like a toothbrush...ah geez, I could go on and on) and I am sure there will be many more along the way.
I think as mother's we have earned the right to unleash the Momma Bear and I think at times it just happens, it's not something we plan or plot against others...but when you cross that fine line...beware!
I also believe it is something even a father cannot understand or comprehend. The love and protection a mother has for her child is unmatched by anything else on earth and that only God's love is stronger.
If you are not a mother, this is a feeling you cannot fathom. Not to step on any toes of my readers who are not mothers, but you will never understand until you have a child of your own. How you would go to the ends of the earth for that child, how you put their needs before yours at all times. If I was asked the question, would you walk across hot coals to save Kyle's life? Absolutely! Would I claw through a brick wall with my bare hands to get to him if he was in danger? In a second! And if you hurt my child, watch out because I will not hesitate to rip you a new one!
And I don't think the childs age matters in the least. Yes, the situations will change, and we begin to step back and let them learn from their own mistakes but as a mother, we are always there. We hate to see our child in pain or their feelings hurt. Or how hard it is to see your child be punished by a teacher or coach for not following directions. Or have silent lunch because they forgot to have a test signed.
I could not begin to imagine how a mother feels that has lost a child or had them kidnapped. The closest I have come to this feeling was last year when Chris and I lost sight of Kyle while we were at the beach. In a split second he was gone, that fast. We didn't even know where to being. Do we start in the ocean were he was last seen on his boogie board? Or do we race down the shore with the hope he has just drifted down and not paid attention. I was at a loss for words, my mind was racing and I was almost to the point of being physically sick to my stomach. And at that moment there was the Momma Bear...but how do you fight the ocean? I took off running one way down the beach yelling his name and Chris went the other. I am not sure how my feet even moved since everything seemed to going in slow motion. I was in tears when I finally saw him running toward me dragging his boogie board behind him. He was missing for only 15 minutes but to me it felt like years. And to this day that is the worst feeling and the most helpless I have ever felt.
If you are already a mother, I am sure you too have unleashed the Momma Bear and for those of you that are future mothers get ready to polish your teeth and practice your growl!

Snow in the Carolina's

Well we woke up yesterday morning to a blanket of snow!!! It started Friday night about 8:30 and kept on til almost 6am.

Our house looks VERY cold covered in snow!!!!!

This is the view from the back porch, I amost considered taking from inside the house cause I didn't want to trudge out into the frozen tundra. But Momma sucked it up and pulled out all her old warm Kentucky clothes and headed out for a day of fun with my boys.

This is Chevy and his buddy Maddox(aka the theft dog next door!) They had just as much fun as the kids did playing the snow and trying to catch snow balls. Chevy will even ride on the four wheeler with Kyle and slide down the hill on a sled...cazy dog!

I think that is Kyle inside all that warm camo???? He loves riding the four wheeler in the snow.

This would have been a really good picture of Chevy but Kyle caught his attention at the last second and he turned his head...dagnabit

This is what caught his attention. When he hears the four wheeler start he thinks he has to go to! So off they go with Kyle trying to ski behind it.

See they made it back safe & sound! THen they broke out the boogie boards and we all took turns being pulled behind the four wheeler on it. We all had a great time and I am so sore this morning from all the playing that I can barely move!

And last but not least, me making my snow angle....I think I look more like the Stay Puff Marshmellow Man than a snow angle all bundled up.....but I was warm!

another favorite thing of mine

ahhhh....another favorite item of mine...and it has to do with Kyle. You guys beginning to see another pattern here...yeah, I thought so to!

This is a pencil sketch that a friend of my mom's did of Kyle. He is almost 2 years old in this drawing and still had his oh so adorable chubby cheeks. And no, he did not pose for this picture....are you kidding me....Kyle...NEVER! He moves more than a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs!

She used a close up snap shot as her "model".

I was thrilled with the way it turned out. I tell ya, this lady has such great talent(she also painted a model of Chris's patrol for me as a Christmas gift) and there was such detail that it blew me away!

Wasn't my bubba just the cutest.....of course he is!!!!

Dear John Review

Okay, for those of you who have not seen this movie or don't want me to give it away for you...STOP READING THIS POST NOW!

I read the book before seeing the movie and I have to say, the movie was better than I thought it was going to be. You know how the saying goes "the book is always better than the movie"...but did you know that the producers & directors changed the ending to this movie the last few weeks before the opening....neither did I!!!!

But as I sat there watching the movie I couldn't help but think that this movie was written about Chris & I and that Nicholas Sparks must have shrunk himself and was running around in my head......{{ouch}}....why is that you ask????

Well, for starters John & Savannah met eachother at the beach...so did Chris & I.

Next, John was enlisted in the Army...so was Chris!

John had to go back and finish his tour and was only able to contact Savannah through letters....Chris did to (well it was to Texas and Georgia, not technically Iraq, but still!!!)

Are you guys beginning to see a pattern here or is it just ME!

John promises to write Savannah and never lose contact with her...so did Chris, and he kept his promise!!

Thier long distance relationship was alot like the one Chris & I had to endure until we could be together again, well except the part were she writes him to break up because she has fallen in love with someone else ( I never did that cause I would NEVER stoop to that level...and I guess it made for a better story line than ending happily ever after like ours does)

But man it was kinda erie to see the beginning of the movie unfold and think back 15 years ago when that was Chris & I that had met on the beach and spent such a short time together before being a part for almost a year(minus a few monthly trips in between).

So when I got home and told Chris about the whole movie and how it was so much like ours he says...

"man we were sitting on a goldmine of a story or at least a Sunday night movie and didn't even know it. Maybe you should have wrote a book about us!"

....oh well....Nicholas Sparks already bet me to my OWN love story!!!!

Not much our way

I have not done a post since Saturday, why you ask????? Cause there has not been much "goings on" around our house.

We had a peaceful night hanging out around the house on Friday and then Kyle headed of to "the Girlfriends" on Saturday and I head out for a "girl night" to see Dear John and then went out to dinner....which by the way was a total mess and I sent a complaint email to Applebee's to let them know about it too(since we asked to see the manager on duty twice and he never showed he face....CHICKEN!)

Kyle started baseball tryouts for his school yesterday and will be going back again today for round 2. Please say a quick prayer for him that he makes the team. He is not the best baseball player you have ever seen but he has a great arm on him and he is by far the cutest(just sayin)! He also had to get ALL his hair cut off to even tryout for the team.....YIKES....the ball coach is a HUGE stickler on the short hair deal! I think it is tad over board but he's the coach so off we we went to the barber......and when I say we I mean Chris! When Chris brought him home on Saturday after he got it all cut off you could have knocked me over with a feather!!!! I have not seen his hair that short in almost 3 years.....

"who is that strange hairless boy standing in my bedroom and why is he calling me mom?"

I would post a picture for the "new do" but he refuses to let me take a picture....

he no likey!!!!

And if he doesn't make the team we will never hear the end of it!

PLEASE LORD LET HIM MAKE THE TEAM!

Clarification on clean

For those of you who have left comments on the pictures of my house saying "how clean" it is and how you wish yours could be that clean. But then you ask how that can be possible with your hooligans running rampid????



Trust me when I say "my house is not always this clean"!!



No siree...she has her EVER so nasty moments when I would just die if someone dropped by unexpected. But, I have tried to train my dust bunnies and their MANY offspring to run and hid under the couch and far away in the corners when company is coming....sometimes that works...then there are times when we are casually sitting on the couch watching TV when the heat or A/C cuts on......... and out of the corner of my eye I see a HUGE dust ball that looks like a tumble weed rolling across my livingroom floor!



I also have not showed you the pictures of my laundry room that has mounds of clothes, sheets and towels waiting to be washed, dried and put away, nor I have a graced your eyes with the horrible sight of Kyle's domain (aka the bonus room)...the main reason being, it's a never ending mess and I am scared to go up there because something that has grown out of last months Mt. Dew can may be large enough to tote me off into the gates of "you know where!"



Then there is Chris's weight room that is strown with every piece of equipment, dumbell, weightbench, free weights, elpicticle machine and ab slide that have ever been invented (and yes, he does use this room and works out like it is his second religion....PUKE!!!!) I personally get totally exhausted just listening to the weights clanking and his controlled breathing.



Then we have our guestroom, that for the most part stays clean, except for right now,cause all my tax crap is spread out all over the bed along with insurance junk that needs to be filed away(but there is no room in the filing cabinet cause that needs to be gone through and mess shredded to make room for more mess!)



And there is enough sand and grit on my tile floors that I bet if you went to the NC coast right now it would be empty with a note saying they have relocated to the Owens household courtesy of Kyles two feet, hands, clothes, hair and whatever else he has wallered around in!



So no ladies, my house is not always clean! I have always been a tad of a neat freak since I was small. When I was younger I would go in my room, shut the door and not come out until my room was totally clean and even move my bedroom furniture around! I guess it is just the way my brain works. I know a clean home does not make me a better parent or wife....but if you do just one thing each night it's really not that hard to do...and make sure everyone picks up after themselves...........THAT MEANS YOU KYLE!

Foyer & Dining Room Combo

Today I will show you a small view into my foyer and dining room. We have 19 foot ceilings in the foyer & our livingroom(which I had another fit to have...are you guys starting to see a pattern here???) no really, I don't ALWAYS have to have my way....just most of the time.

I very torn on just having one colored accent wall or painting the entire room red...bet you can guess which choice one.

Another one of my favorite parts of this house are the solid hardwood floors that is, until I have to clean them.....takes FOREVER..and when the sun shines in the window and I can see all the dust sitting around...IT DRIVES MY CRAZY! (the swiffer sweeper is my best friend!) I think I have used enough of those little white swiffer pads to diaper every child aroung the world.

This is the view from our dining room looking into the foyer and livingroom(sorry about the open bedroom door, I should have closed it)

oh good lordy, if you look close the bed is not even made(I must tell the maid to stop being a slacker or I'm gonna have to let her go!)

So, there ya have it, another small peek into my home. next up, Kyle's bedroom(and if we are all lucking, the good Lord will see fit to come and save us from that misery and take us all home to heaven).....hey, a mother can dream can't she????

Whats a Mom to do????

Okay loyal readers & stalkers I need some help.....

Here's the problem, Kyle's 8th grade social is coming up and "all" the boys(or so he says) are renting a tux for the dance....NO WAY...A TUX....for an 8th grade dance...I know what you thinking, "you can't be serious Trish!"

yep, WAY serious...no joke!

just wait, it gets better...then they all want to pitch in and rent a stretch Hummer to ride in ($40 per couple)

Not to mention,paying for dinner for him & Morgan...oh crap...I forgot to tell you guys they were back as a couple again...sorry for the delayed info!

okay...where was I...

...oh yea, dinner and then there is the corsage he will have to buy her and money to have their pictures taken at the dance(which by the way is held a hotel in town and not even at the school)

ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!!!!!

The only thing I was excited about in 8th grade was moving on to High School!!!

So here's my question....

Do we spring for a tux rental of $150 bucks, or just buy him a black suit that he can get more than one use out of?

Do I drive them to dinner and then to the dance...or drop another $40 for them to ride in the hummer?

Do I let them eat at the swanky, fancy steak house where "all the other kids are going" that would be another $50 bucks...or make them eat at Applebee's for $25?

I just think this all just way to much for an 8th grade dance..I mean...If you the tux, hummer nice dinner, plus a flower & pictures, what does it leave them to look forward to with the Sr. prom....hmmmmmmm?????

Am I being unreasonable and cheap?

So here's the run down as I see it now.

Tux Rental $150
Hummer $40
Dinner $50
Flower $15
Pictures at the dance $20
Tickets to the dance $16

Grand total for an 8th grade dance....hold your breath...here it comes.....

{{click...click...tap...tap....slam...slap}}

...is this adding machine broke????

....there is no stinkin way....

$291.00!!!!

Or do we choose Plan B and do this

Buy a suit $100 (able to wear more than once)
Parents drive $0
Dinner $25 (eat at Applebee's and not the swanky steak house)
Flower $15 (okay guys, I not that cruel!)
Pictures at the dance $0 (I can't take plenty and have copies and even wallets made)
Tickets to the dance $16 (no way out of this one unless they shimmy in through an open window)

New Grand total...

$156.00....ahhhhh...my heart rate is beinging to slow and my rapid breathing is slowing

So what do ya think...any ideas????????

My Treasure

Do you ever stop to think what items you would risk your life to grab out of your house in case a fire, flood ot tornado happened? Well...as strange as it may be...I do...yep...I sit around during my spare time and ponder things like this.

This is one of my most treasured items.

It's a shadow box I made of Kyle's baby items. I know it looks like a fairly simple item but it's contents are worth all the gold hidden in Fort Knox!

The outfit was the one he wore home from the hospital and says "Daddy's Boy", there is also the tiny plastic arm band he wore, along with the knit cap put on him the moment he was born. Another item in the box that is close to my heart is the small red "pappy"...not passie...but "pappy" as Kyle so fondly called it. This pappy was the one the nurse in the NICU had to give Kyle after she took him off the ventilator and he no longer had that tube to suck on...that made Kyle VERY upset...so thus, the little red pappy was given to sooth his screams...it worked like a charm. This little "red life saver" can be found soothing Kyle in almost EVERY newborn photo. As he grew older this pappy was put away in my drawer for safe keeping and replaced by several more, but they never held the memories and meaning of the "red pappy"

I also added his newborn hospital picture and a set of his baby spoon & fork.

(doesn't he look like one of those cute little Munche-che dolls from back in the 80's????)

Welcome to my Master Bathroom

Yes, I had a fit to have these double glass pane doors going into our master bath. I just LOVE them and I think they add so much to the room and gives it a little extra charm.

This si our HUGE soaking tub(which I hardly ever take the time to use). To be honest Kyle enjoys it more than I do...sad...I know!

We each have our own sinks on either side of the tub...please ignore all my crap beside my sink(hot rollers, 2 curling irons, hair dryer and a plastic container of nail polish).

This has to be the best part of the entire bathroom. Not that Chris and I every get ready at the same time, but it's just nice to have you"own space". Except when I brush my teeth( for some strange reason I always do that at Chris's sink....I guess the water taste better over there)

As you can tell, we optted not to do a shower stall door and use a curtain for the shower instead...when I was told it would be around $800 for the stall door (versus a $15.00 fabric shower curtain....YIKES!!!!)

I also LOVE the color I picked out for this room(Pompay Orange)......except when it has tooth paste spit splattered on it....oh well!

Ice-1 Kyle -0

See what happens when you leave a teenager home alone on a snow day......yep....he was out goofin off and acting silly when his face all the sudden decided it needed to hit the frozen ice...ouch!!!!!

Now my sweet Bubba's face has been embellished with a not so pretty,icey, swirly thingy...thank goodness there are no hot dates or school pictures coming up this week!

Ice, Sleet & Snow

...and a little wind and no power thrown in for good measure....yep, that was my weekend!

We rushed out Friday night to pick up a few things from the store, get Kyles hair cut, take off the trash and get gas for the 4 wheeler. By the time we were heading home it was just starting to flurry.

Saturday morning I woke up to the sound for ice & sleet hitting the windows. The ground, trees and anything else that would stand still was covered in a sheet of ice. So what better thing to do than all 3 of us pile on the couch to enjoy some family movie time....or so we thought....30 minutes into the movie......zap...power goes out!

{{trish grabs blankets, a deck of cards & several candles}}

So we spent the rest of the afternoon playing cards and pinball on Kyles Netbook. Luckly the power came back on just in time for me to get supper in the oven(and a homemade apple pie). Cause you know when you are snowed in all weekend all you want to do is eat, eat and eat some more!

Chris and Kyle tried to play in what little snow we had but mostly just had fun sliding around on the ice...even Chevy enjoyed having his turn sliding down the hill on the boogie board( he would even push with his back legs to get his self going).......crazy dog!

So that was our weekend spent together in the house. We really enjoyed spending time together playing cards, eating, playing games, eating,watching movies(once the power came back on)...oh and eating!