Summer Must have's

Since it has already hit the 90's here in North Carolina, I thought I would share with you some of my ultimate summer must haves. If you are an avid reader/stalker you already know how much time my boys & I spent at the beach and out on our boat. So here are some items I never leave at home.

This baby right here is Nutri- Vitamin Spray from Aloette. It is made for 100% pure pharmaceutical grade aloe. I use it after tanning or boating and it is the best thing EVER invented for sunburn(it is also great when you put in on after shaving to reduce redness and razor burn)

I love my(or should I say Kyles) IPOD. We have over 1000 songs downloaded and it goes everywhere with us.....we are a family that loves our music (country, big hair bands and all the old school mixes too)

I love my Chapstick w/ SPF. Chris always puts at least one tube in my stocking every year at Christmas and it will last me until the next Christmas. Nobody wants burned lips!!!!

This is another MUST have. I started using this product last summer. It is Avon's Skin-So-Soft body gel. You can use it after you shower and it doubles as your moisturizer and bug repellent all-in-one(since we do live here in the South and raise mosquito's big enough to tote a small child off into the night!!!!) It also has a very soft wonderful scent!

I LOVE all of the body mist by Victoria Secret but this is my FAV! It is called Sexy Little Things. I usually switch to the body sprays in the summer because they are lighter and not as heavy smelling as perfume.

And last but not least...and definitely not forgotten...my flops!!!! Not only flops, but Rainbows flip flops. Never leave home without them!!!!! The match everything(even cute summer dresses and skirts paired with a short jean jacket) I have to say that flops and purses are my #1 fetish. I hate for my feat to be covered....it drives my INSANE! I hate socks and slippers...my feet gotta breath, so as soon as the temps rise above 50 my toesy's come out!

Hope you guys enjoyed my list...no go get some of these for your self!

My Daily Dozen

My friend Cathy over @ Tales of the TCKK Family has be doing this fun game for a while now. So today I thought I would join in on the fun and play along.

1. Define a great relationship.
Having total trust in your spouse. If you don't have that, there is NO relationship!

2. What is the last food or drink your purchased trough a drive-through?
Breakfast this morning at Chick-Fil-A

3. What is your favorite breed of dog?
Well a Chocolate Lab of course!!! I would love to have a Great Dane but I don't think I could afford to feed it!

4. If you moved to another state, besides the one you currently live in, where would you move?
South Carolina or back home to the Bluegrass state of Kentucky!

5. If you could change anything about the way you were raised, what would it be?
I guess less spankings...I know I deserved them but man they hurt my feelings and my butt too!

6. Who is the funniest person you know?
That would be Kyle, hands down! That boy cracks me up everyday. You never know what is going to come out of his mouth.

7. Did you get enough sleep last night?
Nope, never do!

8. What is the first thing you thought about this morning?
What the heck is that beeping noise.....oh, it's the alarm clock!

9. Grilled or Fried?
Depending on what it is. The hubs grilled steak is the bomb and I love fried chicken too.

10. Are you afraid of the dark?
Nope, I love for the room to be pitch black when I sleep and have passed this trait onto Kyle.

11. When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up.
I wanted to be a jockey or a Veterinarian(when you grow up in KY everyone wants to be a jockey)

12. If you had one word to describe yourself what word would you choose?
strong willed(oops that's two)

Bling Toes!!!

Nothing like a little ***bling*** on your toes to make it feeling like spring!

and my rainbow flops help too!!!!

What would you be?

What would you be?

If I were a month I would be November.
If I were a day I would be Friday.
If were a time of day I would be sunset.
If I were a planet I would be Venus.
If I were a sea animal I would be a dolphin
If I were a direction I would be South.
If I were a piece of furniture I would be a beach chair.
If I were a liquid I would be sweet tea.
If I were a stone I would be a sapphire.
If I were a tree I would be a Cherry Blossom.
If I were a tool I would be a hammer.
If I were a flower I would be a Peony
If I were an element of weather I would be wind.
If I were an instrument I would be a fiddle.
If I were a color I would be pink.
If I were an emotion I would be pure bliss.
If I were a fruit I would be a strawberry.
If I were a sound I would be laughter.
If I were a body part I would be hands.
If were a bird I would be a hummingbird.
If I were a smell I would be clean laundry
If I were shoes I would be flip flops.
If I were a season I would be fall.
If I were a song I would be "How Great Thou Art"

What would you be?

April Fools on ME!

I think the people at McDonald's decided to make me a part of their April Fool's joke this morning. I stopped off to get an oh so yummy Mocha this morning and when I went to take the first sip, the Mocha spilled all over me, the seat and the console.....and it was HOT! And When I say spilled, I mean spilled! I just assumed the lid was not pushed down tight, so I pulled off and grabbed up all the napkins I had stashed in the glove box and went to cleaning up the mess...and ME!

Once I took my hand sanitizer and napkin "bird bath" I went to take another sip before pulling back out onto the highway.....and dagnabit.....it did it AGAIN! It poured out ALL over me!!! At this point I want to flip down the mirror to see if I have a huge hole in my lip that I may have not have noticed this morning...nope, no hole...so what gives!!!!

So, I decide to take off the lid and assess the situation. There it was.......a huge hunk had been ripped away from the top of my cup then lined up oh so perfectly with the part on the lid where the coffee comes out......VERY interesting!

Coincidence???? I think not!

~We have a winner~

Attention ladies!!!!

I am pleased to announce that we have a winner for my $25.00 gift certificate giveaway to The Vintage Pearl!!!!

I am so excited, I must say the response I had was HUGE, so thanks to all of you who played along.

And the lucky lady who will walk away with $25.00 to spend is..........

......................................hmmmmmmm....................................

did you hear how pretty the weather is going to be this weekend in North Carolina?

Did I tell you guys that we went and picked out Kyle suit for the 8th grade social this past Saturday? No, I forgot to tell you. Well, we started out a TJ MAXX, and..........

....what?

what did you say?

oh, I was suppose to be announcing the winner for my giveaway????

oh, that's right, where was I???

let's see....let me dig WWWAAAAAYYYYYYYY down to the bottom of my blue plastic bowl full of names here (yep, cheap plastic bowl, I roll large ya'll)


{{{{{{drum roll please}}}}}}}}


And the lucky lady is........

Becky @ http://www.becky-inthetrenches.blogspot.com/


Ya-HOO.... Congrats girlie...... You deserve it!!! I can't wait to see what you pick out.

Please send me an email to claim your gift certificate.

Words you don't want to hear

Me "Kyle are you getting ready?"
.....silence......
Me "Kyle!" (this time with a firmer tone in my voice)
.....silence......

I then decide it would be a good idea to lay my curling iron down and go see where he has wondered off to when he is suppose to be in the bathroom getting ready for school.
The light is out in his bathroom...hmmmm..I stand a listen...silence again...no TV noise...no cell phone vibrating...no music....nothing????

Me "Kyle!"

Kyle "ma'am"

Me "where are you? You need to be getting ready for school!"

Kyle " I AM! I'm ironing my shirt"

........everything in the world comes to a screeching halt!
I bet all of you felt it...right???...about 6:40 this morning...yep, thought so!...............

Welcome to my mornings!

Fun #10 picture game

I saw this game on another person's blog last week...don't remember who...or where...cause I stalk so many...hehehehe!

But I thought it was a cute idea. All you have to do it go into My Documents, open up your saved pictures and pick your 10th picture. Then do a short post with the picture and tell us the story behind it...who...when ...where...why....ya know...the normal stuff.

If you want to play along let me know so I can drop in and check yours out!

This is a picture of Kyle(of course). It was taken 2 summers ago at Top Sail Beach. Kyle and Chris where digging in the sand to find sand fiddlers(I guess the fish love them, but I think they are GROSS!) and away he ran to show me the "big catch of the day"

SEEEEEEE MOM!!!!!!

Boy he sure has grown alot! He doesn't even look anywhere close to this anymore...{{{tear}}}

So now it's your turn to show me your #10 picture......I'm waiting...{{tapping foot}}

Don't forget about my GIVEAWAY!!!!!

Don't forget to register for my giveaway....times a waisten' ladies!!!!
It ends Wednesday so time is running out!

Here how to enter...

Just leave a comment on this post (1 entry)
Become a follower or already be one (1 entry)
Visit The Vintage Pearl and tell me your favorite piece (3 entries)
Blog about my giveaway (5 entries)

Good luck! I will announce the winner on April 1st!!!!

~Always Remember~

~Whenever God closes a door, he always opens a window. And when the window is shut and you think there is no other way out, look for the small crack with the light shining through. You just have to fall to your knees to fit through it~

Why I need a "Teen" Sitter!!!

Some of you with small children have not reached the point in life where your kids are old enough to be left alone and you still have to find a sitter or after school care, but let me tell ya...it is wonderful....or so I thought!

Kyle had an "early out" school day yesterday, which means that school lets out at 12:30 for some stupid reason I have yet to figure out.

Anyhow, back to my story. When I get home I failed to notice(BAD MOM) that Kyle had the back tire off his 4 wheeler! I know, I know...how in the world does a mom miss seeing something like that, well let me just cover myself by saying that I park my truck in the first bay of the garage and the 4 wheeler was in the 3rd bay hiding between the boat and Chris's truck...so there!

I must say that after the initial shock wore off I was very impressed! Now keep in mind Kyle is 13 years old is about 5'4 and weighs 93 lbs soaking wet. So I was a tad perplexed as to how this child was strong enough to lift the 4 wheeler high enough to place it on a cinder block and a 4X4 block of wood....not to mention loosen and remove the bolts(which I was later told were technically called LUGNUTS...whatever!) and then remove the back tire all by his self, shoot I get worn out just thinking about it!

Without thinking, the first words out of my mouth were "does your dad know about this?"

and after that the conversation when like this....

Kyle" no"

Me "well why did you take the tire off?"

Kyle "my barring was stripped"

Me "your who, was what?"

Kyle" the barring, ya know in the shaft (takes his hand and wiggles this metal thing at me) this right hear...see?????"

me "oh, I guess"

Kyle " so I had to take the tire off so I could check it out and see if it was just stripped or broke"

Me "well how in the world did you get the 4 wheeler jacked up on the cinder block and get the tire off all by yourself?"

*****Note to self: this is not a good question to ask a child with ADD & ADHD*******

**I think I should have changed clothes, made popcorn and settled in with a warm blanket first**

***also keep in mind that this is no small 4 wheeler but a HUGE Honda 350****

Kyle " well I had to back it in, then got the cinder block in the right position, then I had to use the lift jack and ........................

after that, everything I heard seemed to be spoken in pig Latin cause I didn't understand a word that came out of that child's mouth!

I swear if I would have had the camera to take a picture of it you guys would not believe your eyes!!!!!! This boy had the 4 wheeler(and not the smaller version of one) just perfect,all lined up and centered on the block, tool kit out, lug nuts removed, tire off, and rigged up extension cords with lights...the whole nine yards!

When you leave Kyle unattended you never know what is going to happen. Don't get me wrong, he is a good kid, he just loves to work on things and get muddy. I guess he is just being a boy.

I don't know about you guys, but I now terrified of him getting a truck in 2 years!!!!! I can just picture coming home one day to a huge 4X4 truck all taken apart and up on block in my yard....good Lord, what will the neighbors think!

New York City here I come.....again!

Yep...I am heading back to the Big Apple....again.....this will be my 4th time in a year....whew!

Anyway, I thought I would mention this to my North Carolina blog friends to see if any of you would like to hop on the bus and join me....hmmmm....maybe???

If so, just shoot me an email or leave me a comment with your email address and I can give you more details about the trip. Trust me, if you go, you will have a wonderful time...its a BLAST!

Oh, just in case, here are a few quick details on the trip.

We will leave on Friday night at 10pm May 14th from Smithfield, NC. Arrive in NYC around 8am Saturday morning. You can shop, sight see or take in a show...do what ever you want to do all day...as long as your little hinney is back on the bus at 10pm Sat. night. The cost is only $85.00 per person and well worth it!

So, if you want to join in on the fun let me know!!!!!

Why didn't I think of this?????

This cartoon just tickles me to death!!!!!!

You know I am all about saving some money and since I will be turning 35 this year and things have already started heading south for early retirement I will have to run this idea by "my girls" and see what they think.......

..........who knows maybe I will start a new fashion trend on the beach!

BIG SECRET-Update

So I have left you guys to ponder and wonder all weekend what my big secret is all about.

First off, lets get one thing straight right from the get go shall we???

I AM NOT PREGNANT!!!!!!!

whew....now that I have said that, I can move on to the real news.

In honor of my 1 year Blogversary(can you believe I have been doing this for almost a year???) I wanted to do something neat, maybe a giveaway of some sort...but just what should I do????

Then it hit me...why not do this????

That's right girlie's!!!! I am hosting a giveaway!!!!! I have feel in love with everything on her site and I just love the piece I had her design from a giveaway I won. I get so many complements from people when I wear it.

So now it's YOUR turn!!!!!

The lucky winner will win a $25.00 gift certificate courtesy of Erin @ www.thevintagepearl.com.
You can spend it any way you choose. She has so many beautiful items it will be hard for the winner to decide....TRUST ME!


I will make it very simple for you to win. Here is all you need to do.

1. Comment on this post & leave me your email address (1 entry)

For EXTRA chances...and we all loves those.....

2. Be a follower or become a new one (1 entry)
3. Visit The Vintage Pearl and let me know your favorite piece (3 entries)
4. Blog about my giveaway (5 entries)

Please post each entry under a separate comment so I can keep track of them.

I wish you all the best of luck!!!!!

The winner will be announced on April 1st....
but I promise it won't be a joke!

~I HAVE A SECRET~

....now that I have your undivided attention......let me start by saying I have BIG, HUGE, exciting, earth shaking news!!!!!

{{cheers, whoops & hollers from the crowd}}



.....okay, well mabe not that big.......



I am so excited I could almost pee my pants!!!!!



But ya know what?



the only bad part is.....................



...........................................



........................................



.......................................



I just can't tell you yet!!!!!!!!!



{{boos, hisses and mean faces from the crowd}}



But stay tuned, I promise I will tell you soon....I've never been good at keeping secrets!!!!

Not a good morning!

If the rest of the day is going to be as bad as this morning has been I am calling it quits and going back to bed, pull the covers over my head and not come back out.......EVER!

At 7:43 this morning as I was almost pulling into work I get a text message from Kyle. First off that is not a good sign since his skinny little butt should be already on the bus and heading toward school.

The message says, just as Kyle typed it "mine as well go ahead and b grounded"

hmmmmmm.....that's an interesting text...............

Mt first thought is that he missed the bus and that I will have to turn back around and driver 30 mins back home gpick him up and drive him to school...... instead I text him back and asked "why?"

A minute or two later a new text comes in and says:

"I let Chevy in the house for like 5 mins while I got ready and I told him to stay on the tile while I went to get my shoes and when I came back I was lookin at the tv while I was walkin and he was on the hardwood and I bumped into him and he slid and scratched the hardwood"

At that moment my heart starts to pound hard in my chest and I am sure I had smoke coming out of my ears! He knows better than to let a 115lb Chocolate Lab in the house!!!!!! I am sure I now have a huge crater dug out of my hardwood the size of the Grand Canyon!

But being the great mother I am all I ask is "r u on the bus!?"

Kyle "yea, am I in trouble?"

Me "turn your ph off and we will tlk about this ltr!"

As I head into my office still fuming I get another text.

"so am I in trouble"

let just say I didn't respond to that one and at this point he is much safer in the public school system than to be within arms reach of me!

2010 Census

Have any of seen this thing yet???

Ours came in the mail last night and Chris decided he would go ahead and "knock it out" while I was finishing up cooking supper......

.......BAD IDEA..........

For those of you that don't know, the hubs has very little patience at times, but I wasn't gonna argue with him and decided I would let him go ahead and play 20 questions with the government......hehehe!

Q#1 How many people live in yout house as of April 1st 2010?

Chris "well first off it's not even halfway through March!"

Q#2 Which type of home to you reside in ?

Chris " well why in the world does it matter if I live in a house, trailer, hotel room or cardboard box!"

Q#3 What is your phone number?

well folks this is when things started to get ugly....Chris was not happy about putting our phone number on the from. He hates telemarketers, political calls and not to mention we have a non published number due to his job and having people call our house with threats (yep, we have even had people pull up in our driveway to confront him more than once for stopping someone in their family)

Next the form wants the names, birthday, age and race of every person living in the house.....(at this point I thank God that we aren't Jim Bob and Michelle Dugger with 19 kids!!!)

This is when Chris gets ticked again....if you remember back to an earlier post of mine Kyle brought home a form from school requesting the parents to complete the childs race and sign and return it to the school. Well Kyle forgot to give the form to us and had to have silent lunch. Chris saw red to say the least and added a nice little note to the bottom of the form when he signed it that said Kyle is still as white as he was on the first day of school when we filled out the first 50 billion forms and he was pretty sure he was going to stay that way all the way through 12th grade....let me just say it wasn't pretty folks!

When he finished the cenus I told him to leave it on the counter so I could "check over his work" before sealing it up and mailing it. It was so funny to look at each question and you could tell by the sloppiness of each X he made on the blocks that he was getting more irritated. The first question there was a nice nea perfect X....by question 4 the X was sloppy,misshaped and had grown to the size of my finger nail.

So if you haven't completed your 2010 Cenus...good luck to you and I hope you have plenty of patience!!!

My North Carolina Life

WOW!

Has it been that long already????

It sure doesn't seem like 13 years have gone by, and so quickly they have faded into a memory pushed back in the file cabinet(somewhere in the dusty back corner of my brain).

...but if my fingers have done the math correctly(and I did recount twice and carried my one) it has been 13 years since we packed up the truck and car(complete with crib, highchair, enough clothes to get us all by for a few weeks and a zip lock bag full of passies) and hit the road to move here to North Carolina.

Kyle was a mere 7 months old and as long as I kept the passies coming every time he threw one toward the back window or onto the floorboard he was a "happy camper". Our move happened fast by Army standards...Chris was given an Honorable Discharge a going away dinner and a plaque and we were off to begin our new life in NC.....all the while praying the Army would not screw anything up while packing an moving the rest of our belongings(I tend have a slight OCD when it comes to packing. I like to do it myself, that way it is done right & I know where everything is...for instance...MY SHOES?!?...but more on that later)

I thought moving to NC would not be any different than coming from Georgia or South Carolina but boy was I wrong! The small one stop light town we moved to was a HUGE shock to me....not to mention the town had no Daycare Centers, only "at home" childcare...hmmmmm????

I have learned so many things since I have been here.....

Like how fast I learned to drive with one hand at the top of the steering wheel, because everyone you pass coming the other direction is going to wave at you.

Or how you need to allow extra time for tractors, plows and combines when you go anywhere.

That the trunk of a car is called the "boot"

How every sentence ends with "Sir" or "Ma'am"

They will have a Pig Piggin at the drop of hat(birth, death, graduation, marriage,homecoming)...if it happens to ya...a pig is gonna die!

That everyone older than you is addressed as "Mrs. So & So or Mr. So & So"

And that the Volunteer Fire Dept. whistle will wake you and your toddler out of a dead sleep at all hours of the night...and then blow again at noon to signal the farmers it was time for lunch!

Also, you could come home on any given day to find that "some kind neighbor" has left you a watermellon, a basket full of corn or even a bottle of homemade wine!

I have to say, that after living here for 13 years I still learn new things all time time about "life down South". I love it here, it has become my home. I will always be a "Kentucky Girl" at heart, but there is no doubt,that the remainder of my life will be lived out here in North Carolina.

Oh, and if your wondering about my shoes???? I finally found them while putting up the Christmas decorations....yep...they had packed my shoes with the Christmas stuff...now why did I never think to look in that box?????

Warming it up

Nothing like a new page layout that brings a little water & sand your way, huh?
Can't wait til I can head on down to the beach, set out my chair, grease up with oil and soak up the sun rays....ahhhhhhh........

Letter to the teacher

To Kyle's Teacher(no names will be mentioned here)

I understand you are concerned with Kyle's diarrhea of the mouth (which is what we call his never ending ramblings around our house) during your class time. However, what I don't understand and agree with is the fact that you never gave him a verbal warning to stop his behavior. Instead, you move him to another seating area and proceed to complete a written write-up that is to be sent home and signed by me and returned to you for his file. Any logical and half way intelligent person would review the form for errors before neatly folding it and placing it in a sealed envelope(complete with scotch tape and your initails over the seal to deter any grubby hands from tampering with the eveidence!). Let me just state for the record...not that I am trying to do your job, but next time, you may want to fill in the blank where it says DATE and if it's not too much trouble, sign the BIG fat blank at the bottom where it reads TEACHERS SIGNATURE!!!!

Oh, and by the way, you may want to bring it someones attention that if the parent is required to sign the form it would be great if there was a space provided for that too...just sayin. But until then, I just scratched my initials at the bottom. And do I get any extra credit for adding the date too?

Signed,
Love seeing my tax dollars at work

well now that's just GROSS!!!!!

I would love to say that Chevy was the one who drug this little finding up from the woods...but nope....it was Kyle. I swear that boy can find the most gross things and bring them home for "show & tell"...pay no attention that my son's hair is so long he looks like Cousin It!

He was so excited to show us his treasure. If you look close you can still see some of the deers skin stuck to the skull....{{{gag}}

Now he has to show me all it's teeth...nice Kyle! And Chevy has to show his too!

And now he tells me to get a close-up of the hair still attached around his eye....{{{double gag}}}

Now, go put it back in the woods where you found it (cause I'm pretty sure Santa is missing a reindeer)and come back to the house so I can hose you down with bleach!!

I swear that boy will pick anything up!

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!