Hey Again, Y'all!

The Help

2011-07-30T21:20:00.003-02:00

I was invited to read The Help by Kathryn Stockett for a book club. Yay! A book club! How fun! I ran out and bought the book the next day. While reading over some of the comments people had written for the book club on Facebook, someone questioned if everyone else was reading the book in a southern accent. This made me even more curious.

I cracked open the book and the first paragraph read, "Mae Mobley was born on a early Sunday morning in August 1960. A church baby we like to call it. Taking care a white babies, that's what I do, along with all the cooking and the cleaning. I done raised seventeen kids in my lifetime. I know how to get them babies to sleep, stop crying, and go in the toilet bowl before they mamas even get out a bed in the morning." See, didn't you read that in a southern accent?

The Help chrocles the lifeof Aibileen, a black maid in 1962 in Jackson, Mississippi. She and her friend, Minny, who is a maid with a quick toungue join together to work on a project, to write a tell-all book about what it's really like to work as a black maid in the white homes of the south.

Yesterday, while reading the new Southern Living Magazine, there was an article on Kathryn Stockett. Very funny lady! I really like her!!!

I can't wait to dive into this book further. This is definitely going to be a pleasure read and is bound to be hilarious!

The Stolen Life

2011-07-29T21:06:00.000-02:00

I have set a goal for myself to read more. I haven't picked a number just yet, because I am not willing to set myself up for failure. I WANT to read so badly, but have a hard time finding the time. I find the quietest time of day for me to read is actually, at night. Problem is, as soon as my body goes horizontal, I pass out within seconds. I am good to get through a chapter a night, but that works for me, for now.

While flipping through channels one day, I came across an interview with Jaycee Dugard by Diane Sawyer. Her story intrigued me, number one because it is an amazing story of survival, number two, from a spectators point of view, she seems rather normal. That in itself is amazing to me.

Jaycee Dugard was an 11-year-old girl in the Summer of 1991 when on her way to school, she was abducted by a man and his wife, all while her step-father looked on.

She was to help her abductor, Philip, with his sexual problems, so that he would not have to hurt anyone else. Jaycee was locked in a backyard building for three years before Philip and his wife allowed her to go outside. This after she had birthed his first child!

Jaycee eventually becomes the mother to a second child and she, her two daughters and her two abductors essentially become a family.

For eighteen years Jaycee Dugard was not allowed to speak or even write her own name. She survived an impossible situation.

Finally on August 26, 2009 she was finally rescued. This book is written in her own words, the way she remembers her very unfortunate ordeal.

The book is very detailed and graphic and is sometimes hard to read simply because I don't have a clue how this little girl survived this. So far, I can barely put it down. I highly recommend this one.

A Little Bit of This...

2011-07-28T21:02:00.000-02:00

Emma is modeling a size S white t-shirt with our Back to School embroidery design. She is ready for a fun school year this year. Any color t-shirt available. Sizes 4T to L. $10

A Little Bit of This...

2011-07-27T20:58:00.001-02:00

Back to school is coming up for our county in two more weeks! Go to school in style with this cute first day of school embroidery. It will welcome your friends and teachers back to what hopes to be a successful year! This design can be put on just about anything, book bags, t-shirts, dresses...you name it, the skies the limit. $5

A Little Bit of This...

2011-07-26T20:52:00.000-02:00

Here is what we affectionately call a Sun"frock", named by my favorite kiwi. We have Emma modeling again, the Blue Leopard Sun"frock" in a size 7. The are available in many different fabrics and all sizes, little girls to big girls. $25

A Little Bit of This...

2011-07-25T20:48:00.001-02:00

A Sundress that we have available modeled by the gorgeous, Emma. These are available in whatever length wanted and in many different fabrics. Emma is wearing Blue Leopard in a size seven. $25

The Kitchen Project

2011-07-24T11:49:00.000-02:00

Alright, so...here is the kitchen now...Let me tell you the problem areas in this kitchen...it's small...and to add to the smallness, there is an island in the middle of the kitchen that we all dance around. I could take the island out, but I lose counter space.

Ventilation. Big problem. It gets hot in here quick. We can't keep the back door open all the time. I do love the light this door gives off.

It's hot!!! You see that stove? Barely, but I think you can see a corner of it. It's a gas stove. The oven is off 75 degrees. The gas eyes do not understand high or low and you certainly should not ask it to set on medium. If the stove is used in this enclosed kitchen you might as well just open the oven door and turn the heat to broil! My poor friends that I try to entertain have to wear layers of clothes to my house. When they step into the kitchen, they start peeling them off. Men, that is your cue to come to my house when I am cooking. I have a lot of pretty friends.

Also, to open it up, I have toyed with the idea of taking out the wall that you see with the pink kitchen aide Mixer on it. If I knocked this out, the dining room is directly on the other side and would really open it up. Don't know if the FIL is willing to let me go that far, but it is worth a shot. Then I would lose counter space also, but it is not as if I used that counter to prepare meals, it is mostly used for storage.

That is the door out of the kitchen, into the dining room. This is the one cabinet that is open. I wouldn't mind putting frosted glass in the cabinets with some lights in the cabinets. I have seen that done on Trading Spaces. I would rather not have one cabinet open and one cabinet not.

I already know that I am going to put hardwood down. Believe it or not, I had a kitchen with carpet in it at one point. Ridiculous.

Next, light. You see those two globes. They are frosted and dim. I believe we have 60 watt bulbs in them, but it doesn't matter. There is still no light in here. Also, that fan. It has got to go. I am all for a fan in the kitchen, but it has to be updated! I would love to mount some kind of lights under the counters, nothing real bright, just something GIVE ME LIGHT!!! Also, with the glassware, that I plan to use, I think it would be pretty.

Here is the dishes I know I want to decorate with, but I can't decide, one color, two colors, all three? This is Tiara Glassware made by the Indiana Glassware company. It was sold from the 70's until 99, just like Tupperware. The ruby red is my favorite, but it is rare and more expensive. Next would be the cobalt blue, which I would prefer in the kitchen if I was to use only one color. Next is the emerald. I am thinking I may use the ruby in the living room...and that my friends, is a whole nother post.

That yellow/beige color is what I am thinking of painting the walls. This is a Tiffany style chandelier that hangs currently in the dining room. I love it!!! If we open the kitchen up, this will tie in nicely and I can keep it. If we don't open the kitchen up, this will tie in nicely and I can keep it... :) Currently, as you can see, the kitchen is painted a sea foam green...or robin's egg...or vomit, as my sister calls the color, apparently she doesn't like it. You say tomato, I say tomato. Judy, my mother-in-law, had some paint chips placed up on the wall for as long as I can remember, orange and yellow, as in the primary colors. I just don't think those colors are going to work with my jewel tone glassware, do you?

While I have picked apart the things that I do not like about this kitchen, I also love this kitchen for the following reasons...we dance around the island, the back door is always open with friends and family meandering in and out to the big back porch, my MIL's recipe's are held here, her cooking utensils reside here, she cooked here. It was her favorite place to be.

The good thing about renovating her kitchen...I will still get to use those recipes. I will still get to use her cookbooks. I will still get to use her utensils. She is still going to be dancing all around that kitchen with me.

Hey Again, Y'all!

2011-07-23T11:18:00.007-02:00

Things have changed...a lot...since Princess Unaware was up and running...I have moved...again...my mother-in-law became ill and passed away...I no longer work...eh hem...well...I no longer get paid for working...and we now homeschool, about to begin our second year. A lot can change in a year.

So, work...I started a little company...I have a business license and everything. It is slow going. It is so hard to get your name out there without spending a lot of money. The company is called A Little Bit of This...We produce just that, a little bit of this and a little bit of that. I am in business with my mother, who currently works a full-time job. She is my advisor and my rock in this company. I couldn't do it without her. We currently do most of our advertising on Facebook. We tried Paulding Meadows, which is a local craft show, but just weren't ready yet. I have tried a local forum, but was out of my league on that too. It is going to be a word of mouth company for a while and then hopefully, I can find a decent website to host our product. It is a work in progress, but we have fun doing it too.

I hope to accomplish a few things by starting the blog up again...I would love to finish The Malia/Paula Project and then perhaps begin a new chef. First, I have to find the cookbook, which is somewhere in one of these hundreds of boxes that are still lying around.

I want to chronicle our homeschooling, hopefully that way you will understand homeschoolers more instead of assuming they are "weird", as my husband has done. Our first year of homeschool I feel was a success. We learned so much and failed so many times. We have adapted and overcome obstacles. Tried new things. Tried new subjects and had fun all the while. We are looking forward to this upcoming year where one of my children will be learning French and one will be learning Spanish. I will be learning both because I have never had a lick of teaching in any of them.

Also, yes, I am still struggling with weight loss...sigh...my constant, personal battle. A big step though, is that I joined a gym. Now, I haven't been in about two months, but when I was going every day...I saw a change. Planning on getting back in there very, very soon. I just have to get the food under control....and the Coke.

I will be also chronicling a new journey I have been turned onto. Genealogy. I dabbled in it and now I have full on almost made it a daily job. I travel. I dig. I discover and I connect. I love it.

Last, but not least, having moved into my in-laws home, I was told to make it my own. While I appreciate that, I am on a budget and I need help executing design. I love my mother-in-law, she was a red head, who loved to cook and who loved the 70's. She liked dark colors, earth colors....70's colors. I am the complete opposite. I like a modern look, light colors, bright sunny colors...00's colors. Two projects that are spinning around in my head and that I have full support of my father-in-law with...the hallway and the kitchen. I am most excited about the kitchen, but I also think this will be the hardest feat. The kitchen needs some kind of ventilation brought in, probably a new stove, new flooring and new counter tops. The house is about 30 years old and a lot of the workings are original. Y'all...I am going to need your help. I want your suggestions, your critiques and your praises. Without you, life would not be worth living.

Welcome back, Y'all!

Nothing to say....

2010-01-05T23:38:00.002-02:00

Except....

I believe the roles of men and women have changed, although, the man never did EVERYTHING.

There is no such thing as getting ahead, when it comes to finances.

A most important lesson when you have multiple children, what you do for one, you must, must, must do for the other. Learn it.

People sometimes surprise me. In a good way.

Unfortunately, some people never surprise me.

Georgians go crazy when the weather man mentions the word s-n-o-w.

Hollywood is dying.

I want to know why I can't sale a cookbook with pictures from my own kitchen for $28 a pop, so that I could stay home with my babies.

I wonder if I will actually finish school.

I wonder what field I will go into if I do finish school.

Thinks Jackson's teacher is tough, but he has the funniest stories, which is good for the kids.

.....and, that is all I have to say about that.

Malia

Settle in for a Story.....in 'French

2009-12-24T04:50:00.002-02:00

A story, as related to me by Grandma....

Emma had a pad of lined paper and was writing.

Grandma--What are you doing Emma?

Emma--I'm writing.

Grandma--What are you writing?

Emma--I'm writing in French.

Grandma--Gasp! Oh! I didn't know that you knew French Emma! How nice! Such a smart girl! What does it say?!

Emma--Grandma!! I don't know how to read in French, I only know how to write it!!! (DUUUHHHH!!!)

Malia

Tips

2009-12-01T16:35:00.002-02:00

Jackson: Here you go mom, here is your tip for cooking Thanksgiving supper. (He digs deeeeeppp, into his pocket.) .17 cents. That is your tip.

Dylan: Here mom, I will throw in......02 more cents. Thanks for cooking.

Gee....thanks.

Dream

2009-11-22T00:55:00.005-02:00

I...am a dreamer. I dream of the nice camera that I will one day hold in my hot little hands. I dream of the beautiful pictures I will take. I dream that my phone will ring off the hook with people only wanting me to take their priceless photographs......but, for now, it is only a dream, which is exactly what I realized one day while driving Emma home from dance class.

I was dreaming of Savannah, naturally,... and Emma in her wedding dress standing below the oaks of Wormsloe Plantation, her hourglass frame perfectly curved, mimicking the spanish moss and it would be my keen eye that would capture the most fabulous wedding pictures EVER!!! Then I remembered, I will be close to dead before I can afford the kind of camera I want. Emma will at that point have four children, one of which will have children of their own, Emma's figure will be shot to hell and her beautiful golden hair will be a wirey grey.....so thank God, I found Vanessa, or so I thought.

Can you picture it?

"Emma, when you get married, me and you are going to go to Savannah and I am going to bring Vanessa and we are going to shoot you 'below the oaks of Wormsloe Plantation' because you are going to be the most beautiful bride and I just can't wait!!! Okay!"

"Ummmm, Okay...but, I already told you, .... I'm not getting married."

"What!!! You have to!!! I have to have more little Emma's around and the only way that is going to happen is if you have them!!!!"

"Ummmm, okay, but I am not having any babies either."

"Ugh!! You know what, fine!!! But you will go to Savannah! And you will wear a white dress 'below the oaks of Worsloe Plantation' and you will let Vanessa shoot you!!! Because you will be the most beautiful giRL IN WHITE THAT I HAVE EVER SEEN AND I WANT PICTURES OF IT!!! OKAY!!!!"

"Ummmm, ..... okay."

See, Vanessa is really good at this and she HAS already agreed to it.

Emmaisms

2009-11-22T00:11:00.002-02:00

"Sigh"

Emma comes up and hugs me, as she always does when I am sad.

"Moooom" (It's the same way she says it when she catches me crying while watching General Hospital, you know, like I'm a dork or something.)

"Mommmm, stop"

"Well, I'm just sad. Why can't you just stay a baby? Why? Can't you just stay a baby?" (sniff, sniff)

"Noooo!!! I'm not magic!" (Duh!) "Maybe you can die and I can die...(Emma!!! Don't say things like that!)..."Well, Jesus can just bring us back to life and you and me both can be babies again. Would that be okay and not make you sad?"

"Hmmmmm.....you know what, let's go to Target and buy you some bigger clothes. You're gonna have a lot of growing to do."

November 19, 2003 I saw Red.

2009-11-21T23:01:00.003-02:00

Dear Lord, Thank you for this day, thank you for the food that you have given us, may it be a nourishment to our bodies. Bless the hands that prepared it. Please keep our family, friends and us safe throughout the nights and days to come. I pray that you will keep Memaw well. Please forgive us our sins. Amen.

This was my usual nightly prayer, but one night, when thinking of the bulge in my belly, probably because she was kicking me, I added......Lord, please let this baby be a girl....a healthy baby girl...we just want her to be healthy....Amen....and please God, .....don't let her have RED hair. Amen.......Okay, I just want her to be healthy, but if she HAS to have RED hair, Lord, then please let her have beautiful blue eyes, like Pepaw. Amen......but, God, PLEASE don't let her have red hair. Amen.

Fast forward a few months later.......

"Okay, mom, here she comes.....one more push....goooood.....okay....you have a beautiful baby girl and she has........blonde hair!!! (blonde? Cool! Weird, but cool).....no, wait (?)......actually, it's red!"

"Red?!!! Are you sure?" (I mean, there's gook and stuff, I'm sure she just needs a bath!)

"Yep, it's definitely red, strange, huh?...congratulations!"

Then, that little red-headed girl was laid on my chest.....she looked up at me with the bluest-eyes and hair the color of golden silk. My precious, red-headed, blue-eyed baby girl. Healthy and blue-eyed...... because.......she had red hair. Just the way I had ordered her. That God, he's a funny guy.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY EMMA LOU!!!! I love you.

Cause Daddy Said So...

2009-08-11T02:23:00.004-02:00

Tonight, I saw for the first time, the love of a father to protect his daughter....

Jackson and Emma are now the proud owners of some razor scooters. They have been watching some kids ride them at the ballpark and all they had to do was think in their little brains, how much they would like to have one, and Peepaw will make their wish, his command.

So, tonight, while Dylan was playing an awesome game of baseball, one that warranted ice cream afterwards, Jackson and Emma occupied themselves with some scooters.

Wade had to call it an early night because he had to be at work soon, so he headed off towards the car. He didn't get very far before I heard a familiar little girl's voice say, "Daaaaaddddyyyyy, that boy took my scooter." I turned to see what was going on and mine and Wade's eyes met. His eyes said to me, "Damn it! I am going to have to kill a little boy right here in front of everyone! You gonna bail me out, woman?"

Momma's eyes: Go get 'em daddy!...

Daaaadddddyyyy: Well, that just ain't gonna work!

Emma: But, he won't give it back to me!

Meanwhile, Wade is walking toward the boy who is on the back of my princesses steed. Now, I don't know if all of you have seen my husband, but....he looks mean when he's not smiling. If I was the little boy...I would've been scared.

Daaadddddyyyy: He really doesn't have a choice!

As Wade got about 10 steps from the boy, the kid dropped the scooter and headed in the other direction.

The girl....she hopped back on and rode into the sunset. All thanks to her noble knight, who saved her!

Later....

Do you know that that little boy took my princesses steed again!!!! This time the Queen had to get off of her throne!!! UGH!!!...to go knock the evil jester of off the steed and tell him he had better not take it again....or else.....off with his head!

All was once again, well, in Fairytale Land...and that little boy, he came up the last time and asked if he could ride the steed. I thought, oh, how nice, he learned a lesson....."No!"

Maybe next time, he will try asking FIRST!

Michael Jackson, poor guy.

2009-08-08T15:41:00.002-02:00

Jackson: Mom, (because remember, every sentence...)...how did Michael Jackson die?

Me: Well, he had a doctor that gave him....

Emma:.......................................because he had a disease that made him turn white and made him look like a girl. Mmmm hmmm.

Me: Ok...that about explains it.

Jackson: Really?!

Me: Well....

Malia

Just for Fun...

2009-08-06T04:08:00.001-02:00

My friend Marion, from Savannah, Georgia, home...of the girl scouts.

Malia's Hoooouuuuusssseeeee

2009-08-06T03:28:00.002-02:00

Have you ever watched Run's House on MTV? Yeah, me neither, well....actually, I have watched a few episode's, but couldn't stand to watch anymore. Point is, at the end of each of his shows, the scene changes to Run in the bathtub with bubbles and candles and his iphone or Blackberry or whatever and he is typing some kind of inspirational message, because he is actually a reverend ya know, about his family's trials and tribulations for the week. So, tonight, I am Run, except I am not in a bathtub...well, because bathtubs and shower walls give me the creeps, so I try very hard not to touch them, no, I think I will be in a big bed, all alone, with about 10 feather pillows in my white satin robe, texting this inspirational message on my white phone of some sort (I know nothing about phone brands).

Today, algebra brought me to tears. For. Real. There was me. Sitting in class, sniffling. Thinking, "oh. my. God! This sucks! I hate this! This is stupid! Math is nothing but some crap that someone made up! I mean all these rules! Someone had to make it up! Someone had to decide that if you square a square root, then the square can be unsquarerooted! Who made this crap up!? Who has done this to me!!!!!!!!!"

Then the teacher, who calls herself, the best teacher ever, says, "I did something bad." "Do you want to know what it is?"

"Um, no, not really. You have ruined my life because you love algebra, you evil bi..."

"I made your mid-term multiple choice. That way if you pick C, and the answer was A. You got it wrong. Period."

"Sweet Jesus, thank you!!!!! You just saved me life! She really is the best teacher ever!"

So you see, just in case you doubted..... there is a God. He has nothing in common with imaginary numbers, though he is as complex as a quadratic equation. He can even show up in the middle of algebra class when you are fixing to make yourself look like a blubbering idiot and give you multiple choices.

Multiple choice and Jesus dried my tears.

Malia

2009-07-20T18:21:00.006-02:00

What's this, you ask?

Holy Schmoly!!! Why, that looks like.....

I know mom! A new baseball bat!!???

Nooooo......

Oooo, oooo, oooo, I know mom, it's a new boyfriend for me!

Um....no.

Oh yea! A new item for my farm collection.

You are so close Jackson.

This is the first fruit of our gardening labors! Yikes! I may have overgrown it a bit. I checked on these right before we left for vacation on 7/3 and there was nothing.....I can't wait to see what else might be out there.

Malia

My Savings 6/28

2009-06-29T03:53:00.003-02:00

Some of you have heard me talk about how much I have been saving by couponing. While I vowed I would not be "one of those crazy people", I have become more and more excited about how much I can actually save. Whether or not you want to learn how to save more money yourself, or if you just want to look on in amazement as I save more, I thought I would begin sharing some of my trips with you.

I started out shopping at Walgreen's, CVS, Riteaid, Publix and Kroger. Occasionally, I would find some deals at Target. I have since, shut out Walgreen's! (Waaaay too complicated and no one was on the same page as to how their rewards system worked.) They actually lost me over $2.00. Oh well, their loss. I will not include Kroger in any of my pictures because....this is where I do my main grocery shopping and I buy things there that aren't always the best deal. I will be posting my Publix, Riteaid and CVS shops for you and any other great deals I find.

I hope you enjoy and I hope it inspires you to see just how much money you can actually save.

For this shop, I bought some extra stuff because we are going to Six Flags in a couple of days and will need some sandwich stuff, snacks and drinks. Also, we are going on vacation next week and I wanted to stock up on some snacks and such for that also.

So, here we are at Riteaid. I know this does not look like a lot, but you have to realize, those two sunscreens right there, cost over $10 each.

The total for these items: $39.53
I paid OOP(Out Of Pocket): $12.21
Total Saved $27.32!!!

That is a savings of 69%!!! Not bad, not bad AT ALL! I will end up saving more in the end because everything I bought, has a rebate attached to it. I will receive my check at the end of the month. Sweet!

How did I do this? Well, the Stayfree were BOGO, the sunscreen was BOGO and the nuts were BOGO. I had $4.50 in coupons and I had a $5.00 gift card that I had earned from Riteaid. I can use the nuts for snacks on vacation and at Six Flags and we will need the sunscreen all summer with the fair child and all the baseball time spent outdoors. Of course, the Stayfree....well, who can't use that? Oh, right, men! I was very pleased with this shopping trip.

At CVS, you earn Extra Care Bucks or ECB's. I have to start fresh because when we were in a money slump this past month, my ECB's from my last trip exprired. Usually, you have a to pay nothing OOP or very little if you have some ECB's from previous trips, but alas, I am starting fresh.

Again, I am shopping for more stuff than usual here because of vacation and Six Flags.

The total for these items: $44.29
I paid OOP $25.74
Total Saved $18.55!!!

That is a savings of 58%!!!! Still over a 50% savings!! Woohoo!!! While I wasn't too excited about this trip, I still ended up coming out better than I thought.

This is how I did it. I had coupons in the amount of $3.00. The Softsoap body wash was BOGO. We go through body wash like water around here! I wouldn't have normally bought those magazines, but it had some coupons I needed in it. While you may be asking the same thing Wade did, "So, you had a to spend a dollar to get a coupon that saved you $.50?!", this is not so. The coupon was work $1.00 each AND it is a coupon magazine, so it will have other coupons I need in it. It has already paid for itself! On this trip I earned $6.00 in ECB, which I can use like cash on my next trip!

Tuesday I am going to hit Kroger, which unfortunately will be a big shopping trip because my stockpile is WAY low! I may hit up Publix this week, but still not sure. We will have to see what deals I find first.

Hope you enjoyed watching me SAVE!!!

Malia

Southern Savers Giveaway

2009-06-11T12:39:00.002-02:00

Southern Savers is giving away $50 to the Southern Savers grocery store of your choice. Go to Southernsavers.com to see how to enter and tell them happy birthday!

Malia

Christy Says......

2009-06-03T12:27:00.003-02:00

I have a friend that I work with and she just keeps me in stitches....the things she comes up with are just unbelievable. So unbelievable, in fact, that I have decided to give her, her own section on my blog. So, without further ado, the first Christy Says.....

Christy: (speaking about a co-worker and her husband) They are really nice. I went to church with them.

Malia: Oh? Did you like their church?

Christy: No, not really, it was all, you know....broomsticks and fire!

Malia: (thinking: What the hell are they? Wiccan?!)

Just for Fun

2009-05-28T19:19:00.000-02:00

A church in Savannah

Malia

Typical Emma

2009-05-28T17:41:00.002-02:00

The teachers at Emma's school sent home all of her artwork for the year at conferences a couple of weeks ago. Also in this stack were the notes that have to be made about their development. I have no idea what development this was except maybe "how to defy my mother" or maybe this is the note that will be forwarded to her kindergarten principal as a child to watch out for.

Emma: Mrs. Cindy, can I go change. I don't like to wear dresses.

Mrs. Cindy: Does your mama get sad if you don't?

Emma: Yes, but I don't care, I don't like 'em.

And they think we don't know what goes on when we're not around.....thanks teachers!

Malia

Just for Fun

2009-05-27T04:03:00.003-02:00

A restaurant in Savannah.
We were afraid that "Debi" died from food poisoning, so we skipped this restaurant.

Malia

Bravo!

2009-05-27T03:42:00.006-02:00

Emma had her second dance recital of her life on May 22, 2009. There is no comparison to last year with this recital because the school she was at last year....well, ....it sucked. Of course, Emma was great in it, but her potential to grow there......none!

After seeing this year's recital with Axis Dance Center, I am so happy I moved her. I didn't want the show to end!

Emma had three costumes, one she liked, the others she hated....but don't worry, I WILL get her picture in them....she just doesn't know it yet.

We were not allowed to take pictures of the show...for pedofile reasons, but here are some I got after the show.

Oh, and here's Jackson....before the curtain was even brought up....he really enjoyed himself.

Emma was invited to join some of the older girl at some of the competitions, so hopefully, if I stay on my game, you will be seeing many more of these types of beautiful photographs. Until then....

Malia

I Got Nothing....

2009-05-16T00:39:00.000-02:00

Nah-da.

Malia

I Know He's There

2009-03-17T00:12:00.002-02:00

Yesterday, Emma and I were the only ones that made it to church....(I didn't force any of the men in my household to go because I was trying to let guilt do it's work)...(it didn't).

After church, since she did so well, I thought we would have a little girl time, so I took us out to lunch at the local Mexican restaurant. We ate, shared cheese dip (there was even some left, obviously because there were no boys there, I shared some of my lunch, she shared some of her cheese pizza with me, complete with little teeth marks, which she swore were mine???

She and the boys had gone to the new museum in Cartersville the day before, so I asked her about all of the things that she saw there. She talked about dinosaur bones and rocks, she saw her birthstone and some bones that were super tall, bigger than her even, but "you couldn't touch them". After a lot of talk about bones and rocks, I asked her if there was anything else she saw, you know, something girly, like flowers or butterflies.

Emma: No. Nope, there weren't any flowers.

Me: Well, what else was there? (Acting disgusted at such things as bones and rocks)

Emma: Weeellll, we went into this place where we had to go in and lay down and look up and it shone purple on us.

Me: Oh, the stars were shining on you?

Emma: No. It wasn't the stars. He was talking about space.

Me: Who was talking about space?

Emma: God.

Me: (Puzzled) God?

Emma: Yeah, I couldn't see Him, but I could hear Him and he was talking to us, so it had to be God.

Malia

2009-02-07T03:50:00.001-02:00

Uh, waiter? I'll have a little of what he is having...please.

Malia

I Hate That....

2009-02-06T00:50:00.002-02:00

I hate that...I always feel that a black cloud is not far from me.

I hate that...I will NEVER feel that I measure up.

I hate that...I will NEVER be the favorite.

I hate that...there are things that I feel I have to keep secret.

I hate that...I have something on the tip of my toungue, but I can NEVER release the words.

I hate that...I will never be thin enough.

I hate that...I am an ugly crier.

I hate that...I worry what other people think.

I hate that...I try so hard, only to get little in return.

I hate that...he doesn't know how to love me.

I hate that...he drew a line in the sand...and then crossed it.

I hate that...he put a damper on my holiday.

I hate that...I am not Martha Stewart.

I hate that...he believes the lies.

I hate that...she won't leave me and my children alone.

I hate that...they think I am the problem.

I hate that...sometimes I think, maybe I am...the problem.

I hate that...I hurt...constantly.

I hate that...I can't give him what he wants.

I hate that...he so easily began believing a warped perception of me.

I hate that...my pride and wounds won't let me run to him and beg him to listen and remember who I am, not who he wants him to believe I am.

I hate that...this is eating at my heart.

I hate that...he got to him.

I hate that...she sat and looked me in the face and had a conversation with me and went home and called him.

I hate that...I am ugly.

I hate that...I can't keep up.

I hate that...I can't stand up for myself without breaking out into hives.

I hate that...I can't pick up and leave.

I hate that...I am alone.

I hate that...no one just. gets. me.

I hate that...my best friend isn't there for me.

I hate that...this world is self-centered.

I hate that...someone will read this and think I am being dramatic and emotional.

I hate that...I will never be the prettiest.

I hate that...I am me.

Malia

Soon

2009-01-16T12:25:00.002-02:00

Soon, I will be underneath the Spanish moss.

Soon, I will be walking through the squares.

Soon, I will be strolling again through endless tombstones.

Soon, I will be succumbed to the smell of pralines.

Soon, I will be drowned by the southern charm.

Soon, I will be perusing the city market.

Soon, I will be hypnotized by the song of Marion on River Street.

Soon, I will be in my own personal paradise.

Hot Girls

2009-01-15T02:37:00.002-02:00

While discussing the future...again...I also made Emma cry, but we came to a solution with her. I had told her that all she had to do was have a baby girl when she grew up and she could name her Emma, that way, I would have the grown up Emma and the baby girl Emma. This is when she began to cry and claimed she was not getting married and she was not going to have any babies. Perplexed of course, because, I mean, this is Emma, the five-year-old girl with constant boys on her brain, why in the world would she not want to get married. Not to mention, she loves playing with her baby dolls. I thought for sure she would want to have babies.

"Why don't you want to have babies, Emma?"

"Because it hurts."

"Oooohhhh, well, why don't you want to get married?"

"Because I don't want to have babies."

"Well, Emma, if you don't get married, then you can't have any babies, so....how am I going to have a baby Emma when you grow up if you don't get married and have her?"

"I know," and with that, she turned to the boys and announced, "Boys, boys! You need to grow up and marry a hot girl and have babies and you need to name your baby girl Emma, so that mom can have a baby Emma and a grown up Emma, so go find you some hot girls and marry them."

I Don't Want to Grow Up

2009-01-14T17:43:00.003-02:00

When I was a kid, around 10 or 11 I specifically remember sitting in the floor in front of my closet, playing Barbie's and suddenly being filled with sadness with the realization that one day, I was going to grow up and this would not be acceptable. It would not be okay for me to sit and play Barbie's. I saw no way around it. I couldn't play Barbie's, pretending I was doing something else. Not only would there be no Barbie's, but there would be no stuffed animals either, no Care Bears...no Jem! It couldn't happen. I had to grow up. I sat in that floor and I cried. I mourned the young me. The young me that was not yet passed away, but in the future would definitely be gone.

Yesterday, I sat with two of my children in my lap. (The oldest one doesn't sit in my lap anymore, he is too cool with his computer games and friends on MY cellphone...but, whatev) Me and the two younger ones were talking about the future. I told Jackson, "I sure am going to miss you when you grow up." He looked at me all confused, concerned really. I realized he was thinking something horrible and quickly responded, "I mean, I am going to miss the little boy Jackson when you are a grown man!"

The little boy Jackson with the soft heart began to cry. "What's wrong?!" I asked, worried that I had upset him.

"I don't want to grow up!", he said, as he swiped the big alligator tears from his eyes, gasping in between sobs.

"Well, why not? You are going to have so many adventures as a grown man, you will have a wife and children....."

"Because! It means that you will die quicker!"

What could I do, but hug him, close to my heart.

I sure do love this little boy Jackson of mine, who loves me so much. Bless his bones.

Malia

Christmas 2008

2009-01-04T21:11:00.003-02:00

This about sums it up.....

in more ways than one.......

Malia

Washed UP!

2008-12-01T00:50:00.003-02:00

Why is it, that when you get to a certain age, the only people that flirt with you are, old men, married men (ahem....don't be bothered with the fact that I am MARRIED, that is not the point here), toothless, smelly men or.....ahem.... women? What is up with that? You know, it would not hurt a girl's self-esteem for someone that looks like they may be able to count to 100, to flirt with her a little, to make her think she's still got it.

When this does not happen, it makes you think you are fat, run down, a has been, frumpy or you have hair growing in weird places, or something on your face, or that you are just plain undesirable! So how about it men, er, I will even take the women at this point, how about telling me I'm pretty, tell me I smell good, tell me you just like my hair! Tell me the color of my shirt brings out my eyes. Tell me that my milkshake brings all the boys to the yard! Ask me if I would like some fries with that shake? Tell me you would like to thank my momma for my genes....

Help me to think that my poor husband is not suffering with a frumpy, ugly, grey-headed, hairy, old hag!

Brrrrr!

2008-11-30T23:49:00.000-02:00

Phillip Johnny Bob

2008-11-30T17:54:00.008-02:00

Dylan, Jackson and Emma received a package on Friday that said it came all the way from the North Pole. It even had a message with it that said that "the man" was aware that they don't clean their rooms like they are supposed to, they don't help keep the house clean and that he would be watching.

They were eager to open the package and see what was inside...

It had an official Santa seal on it.

Oooooooooooo....

Inside was a book with very specific instructions not to touch and....the box also contained....an elf....

...which we all agreed, was creepy.

And so, the groveling and being good began.

We gave the elf a name and began our best behavior because we knew that he was watching and that he would return to the North Pole each night and give Santa a full report. Where oh, where will Phillip Johnny Bob be hiding next?

Malia

Twilight

2008-11-25T01:21:00.003-02:00

I like to read. I wish I could read more. I never read because when I try, I fall asleep. Probably because by the time I actually get into the bed, I am exhausted and I am out before my prayers are finished.

But recently, I was challenged. I am pretty sure there was some bargaining going on. Something about seeing Wicked and my ticket and it disappearing if I didn't join my friend in reading. Reluntantly I agreed and the deal was that after we finished the book, we would go see the movie together. I can't remember what date it was, but I went and bought Twilight the next day. That night, I settled into my bed, snug under the covers with my husband looking at me like, "What the hell are you doing....reading?" "Yeah, I can read, ya know." "Okay," he said, but he still shot me a look.

I talked to my friend every day and she quadrupled her way through the book from the pace I was reading. You have to understand how I operate. I want to make sure I read every word and if I didn't get the emotion right, I will read the sentence over and over. I don't want to miss a thing. I was hooked by Chapter two. I was invested in this relationship. Each night after reading, Devin and I would text. "When is he going to kiss her?" "Oh my gosh, I love Edward!" "Bella is so stupid!" She was ahead of me, so basically all she could do was tell me to hold on, it gets nothing but better. The sexual tension between Edward and Bella had me running to bed each night, one night reading until 3 a.m. All I wanted was for Edward to kiss her! I was bitten. Devin finished way before me, flying through all four books. She is now done and I am savoring the time I have left with Edward. I expect a great depression once I am done with the books, so I will have to settle for the movies.

Devin and I went and saw the movie, as promised, and while the movie in no way did for me what the book did, I can't wait for the next one. The main thing that did not disappoint was, of course, Edward Cullen. HOT!

My husband has my heart, but Edwared has my neck. I am in love with a vampire. I am waiting for that silver Volvo to pull up in the driveway. Bite me Edward.... What?! What do you mean Edward's not real? Don't make me go "Volturi" on you!

Malia

Worst Mom Evah!...How Fun.

2008-11-20T16:24:00.002-02:00

What fun would it be to be a mom, if you couldn't have fun at the expense of your children's torture?

Imagine this, you, as a child, suddenly finding out that your parents were going on a week-long vacation and you were being shipped off to some distant cousin, whom you may have met, but you don't remember, and just being left there. How horrifying!

Normally, our children go to Wade's parents on Fridays and sometimes on Saturdays, depending on our work schedules. This is something the children look very forward to. Not sure if it is because of the endless cool places they get taken to every weekend, or maybe the toys that are showered upon them, or it could be that they just like the company of Grandma and Peepaw, but regardless...they love it. Well, this weekend, Grandma and Peepaw are heading to Nebraska and so I have had to come up with some other arrangements. While my children are begging to go to Memaw's house, I told them that she will be at her sisters and Grammy will be working, so my only other alternative was to send them to my cousin Chris' house. While I do have a cousin named Chris, I don't see him often, like maybe twice a year, so they have no recollection of him. I am sure that Chris is a perfectly wonderful indivdual with a car dated in the 2000's and DVR, Internet and every game system out there, but the Chris that I have told my lovelies about.....he has rabbit ears on his television, no Internet, no game systems, he lives out in the woods, with no children, and a rusty old truck that only has a few holes in the floorboard and to just make sure they keep their feet away from the holes and they'll be fine.

It's evil, I know, but just think about how much more they will appreciate Memaw when they find out they are really going there.

Please forgive me Santa...

Belated

2008-11-20T15:07:00.001-02:00

Someone had a big birthday yesterday and you know I will blog about it, but my camera batteries are dead, so, as soon as I can AFFORD to buy some batteries, I will make a birthday post, complete with pictures.

Malia

Big Baby

2008-11-20T12:52:00.003-02:00

As I've gotten older...or maybe it was once I had children...I don't know, I used to be able to hide it more, but now I don't...because I can't, but I just cry over everything. Yea, I am one of those, I cry over Downy commercials. It is annoying because I am an ugly crier.

I will be watching General Hospital and apparently I make this face when I see something sad because every time, Emma, catches me. She'll say, "Mom, stop making that sad face!" Because she knows what comes next and she doesn't understand tears that are not pain-induced or really, really sad-induced tears.

There is a reason my boys do not play sports. At Emma's last cheerleading game one of the little boys got "hurt"..really I think he got the wind knocked out of him and that was it. It was clear he was not very wounded, but there I sat, blubbering in the stands watching this little boy cry.

Now, yesterday, there I sit, watching Army Wives and there I sit just crying. I can hear a song about children growing up, or having cancer or a little girl's wedding and that will be all she wrote, the mascara is gone.

I love it. I love the way I feel, the way it touches me, that to me means that the movie, song or situation served it's purpose, but I hate how I look, mascara streaming downt the face, red faced, snotty!

I think maybe it just means that I have the compassion thing down pat. Maybe. Either that or I'm just a bit baby.

Moms are made for...

2008-11-20T02:12:00.002-02:00

Me: Here Dylan, open this can of spaghetti sauce, just put the blade part of the can opener into the slot, squeeze the handles and turn the knob....yep, it's hard isn't it?

Dylan: Mom, this is hard....that must be why this job was made for moms.

Me: Made for moms? Why is it made for moms? Cause I'm the strongest?

Dylan: No, because that's what your made for, cooking small meats and opening cans.

Me: Really?

Dylan: Yeah, and dads are made for cooking big meats....and boys are made for opening jars.

Me: You hear that Wade?

Dylan: What? It's true, dad you cook big meats like hamburgers and steak...mom, you cook little meats, like chicken and hot dogs...and pork chops.

Turkey

2008-11-20T01:38:00.002-02:00

Outside of Emma's Pre-K door they had a poster hung that had a question and all of the children's individual repsonses written under the title.

The question: How does your mom cook a turkey?

"Emma-Put it in a pan. Turn the stove on. Boil it. Cut it up. Put it in the oven. Put it in the microwave."

Hey, at least I get the turkey cooked all the way through. I am a stickler about uncooked meat!

Hated

2008-11-19T15:10:00.002-02:00

Today I watched the season finale of Army Wives. It is probably two months old because that is how far behind I am in my DVR, but alas! I hated it! It made me feel sad, I cried, I laughed, I felt every emotion. It was just the best show EVAH!

Malia

Acidic Hootie

2008-11-16T06:43:00.006-02:00

My mom sent me an e-mail last week with a song from Darius Rucker, formerly Hootie of Hootie and the Blowfish. Note: She did not send me a mascara alert, so I am, that's cause I'm so nice. Mascara alert! I'll wait while you go take a listen, meet me back here in 3 minutes and 21 seconds, give or take a few.

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=32649804

Gets you right there duttin' it?

Tonight though, I looked at it from a whole 'nother perspective....if you recall, we have all been sick...every one except Dylan. I thought surely this had all passed. Everything has been bleached and Lysoled. Everyone had gone back to school and gone about our normal lives again. Party planning has taken place. Invitations have been sent out and there is a party here, tomorrow. Carpets are clean, house is almost clean and I was making good time.

Dylan asked if he could go lay down at about 6:00 p.m. last night and that I is when I began to get this fear in the pit of my stomach. I kept checking on the boy and he was sleeping. I finally decided that everyone was going to go to bed early tonight and we all hit the hay at 7:00 p.m. (Y'all wish you had my talent don't cha?!) Everyone was snoozing and I had woken up for some reason and then got Wade off to work. I was lying in bed watching The Locator when I heard something fall. I paused the show and listened and then I heard it. The splash that you don't want to hear. It is not the splash of your child dropping tea in the floor or splashing in the bathtub, no, this was THE splash. The splash that said, "Ho, oh, oh, you are going to be up for quite a while!" I rounded the corner to peer into the bathroom and there he was, praying. Pale. Pitiful.

(Oh thank God, he made it to the linoleum and didn't get the carpet!) I threw down some towels as a makeshift bridge between he and I. I noticed then that he had missed the toilet a slight bit, but luckily, there was the mop bucket! I can't decide if he didn't make it because he didn't have his glasses on or if he just had bad aim.

I got him up, got him back in his bed and went to survey the damage.

(Oh man! Not my flat iron!) I began the tedious task of cleaning the flat iron off, all the cracks and crevices were caked! I thought back to the song above. It was my new mantra, but it was now for cleaning up vomit...off my flat iron. This won't last that long...

Let me just admit something right here! I have a pretty weak stomache when it comes to some things. I don't do pimples, I can't handle farts and I can't do vomit, unless it is from one of my children. When it's my husband, I can't do it. Number one, he is LOUD! I am sure if I absolutely had to, I could gag my way through it, but ....really, I would rather not.

So, the bathroom is all shiny and smelling fresh again. My flat iron is ready for tomorrow's party and, oh yes, the party will go on...you try telling a five-year-old that her diamond-themed bling party is cancelled because of a little vomit in your flat iron.....

....and so you see, even vomit can make you sentimental.

S-P-E-L-L-I-N-G B-E-E

2008-11-13T00:46:00.002-02:00

Someone has a very big day tomorrow.

And he's nervous.

He is representing his school.

He told his brother he was going to say the wrong letters on purpose so that he doesn't win anymore.

Because he is nervous.

He told me that he was going to try his best.

I believe the latter because that is what Dylan does.

He tries his best.

And he excels.

He makes us proud.

Go get 'em, son.

Malia

Reminiscing

2008-11-12T13:18:00.003-02:00

Wade and I were talking the other day about one Christmas when he and I were so sick, we were both vomiting on the hour, every hour. This was luckily before we had babies. It was horrible. At that time, I thought I was dying.

Then there was this one time that I was about seven months pregnant with Dylan and I had gotten so sick, diarhhea, vomiting, etc. I asked Wade to call the nurse to see what I could take. I was sitting on the toilet and throwing up in the trash can and he came in and said, "The nurse wants to know what is wrong with you." WHAT IS WRONG WTIH ME?! Do I really have to do everything?! "Tell her I am puking my guts out, have raging diarhhea and I am seven months pregnant, (BLECH!!!) THAT'S WHAT'S WRONG WITH ME!"

Then there was the November of 2005. The children had gone to Memaw's to spend the night and I believe it was Jackson who had begun to vomit there. He came home and the next thing you know, we were all sick. Sore throat, vomiting, diarhhea, fever. This was the month that I seriously thought I was going to die. I thought there was no way that death could be worse than this. All five of us had intestinal strep throat! It was horrible! I fear strep throat to this day because of that time.

It seems that since then, every November we have all gotten sick. Last November, Emma started vomiting, then Jackson, Dylan and then Wade. I was the only one who somehow, miraculously, did not get it. I remember at one point, trying to make myself and Dylan a sandwich, because he was over it by then, and in the middle of the making the sandwich, I had to stop three times to go wipe a brow or a mouth.

It is November again and we are sick. It started with me having something that this stupid doctor could not diagnose. He wanted to take my blood and do a chest x-ray, but I told him that was dumb. I just had a fever for one day and he wanted to take the blood to see if my white cell count was down. Well, duh, if I have an infection of any kind...it will be. Good try, but you are not going to screw the insurance company out of money, so that they can in turn, screw me. Not helping! He said he wanted to do the chest x-ray to see if I had pneumonia! Hello! My chest is barely affected! It is my throat. Can you say new doctor? Anyways, I got halfway over that, went to the ballet, had a chocolate milkshake and what do you know, Emma started vomitting. No more chocolate milkshakes for her. Then, I had a dream, I dreamed that I was vomiting. When I woke up, I found out it was real. Then Jackson came home from school, went to get a package off of the front porch and BLECH! What a site for the people driving by. So, there we all piled in my bed. The sick bed. Wade has had a sinus cold for about a week and a half and he declared that he wasn't feeling so good either. He never puked, but alas, the only one that has come through so far, is Dylan. Hopefully he stays well because he has a very big day on Thursday.

I always send you happy pictures, so here are some sick pictures (no vomit included, promise)

This is me, in all my misery.

Add in Jackson.

And better add in the one that started it all. Good thing she is so cute.

Malia

The Ballet

2008-11-11T00:37:00.020-02:00

I'll post some pictures too.... so you don't get bored:

For Emma's birthday, I wanted to see if she was ready to go see The Nutcracker before I shelled out a bunch of money for something she would be bored with from the first twirl with a wooden man.

I get e-mail from Ticketmaster and a ballet called The Magic Toy Shop caught my attention. The tickets were cheap and since they sell them on Ticketmaster, it must be good, right?

Well, at least we looked good!

We got all gussied up in our ballet finest and my mom, Emma and I set out to The Gwinnet Center for Performing Arts. The same place I recently saw New Kids on the Block, so again, it must be good, right?

I was expecting The Nutcracker, only with cheaper dancers. I got high school students who take lessons from a dance company. While it is better than Emma's last dance recital, I was disappointed.

Emma, she had to bring out the bling! Didn't even know she brought it with her, but you never know what is in a girl's silver sequined purse....you. just. never. know.

Emma had a great time though. While I can see that she is nowhere near ready for The Nutcracker put on by The Atlanta Ballet, the time spent together getting ready, getting pretty and then walking into an auditorium where everyone else was in jeans, was worth it all.

Yeah, definitely NOT ready for the Nutcracker!

We saw a REAL ballerina and her hair is the same color as mine!

One of my fav's.

A night at the theatre will do that to you.

Malia

Amen

2008-11-10T11:58:00.001-02:00

Dear God,

Thank you for saving my refrigerator, which in turn, saved Christmas.

Amen.

Coollll!

2008-11-10T00:22:00.002-02:00

Kept the boys entertained for days.

Malia

Priceless

2008-11-07T14:27:00.002-02:00

Yelling 528,468,456,125 times at your boys to get their room clean = AGGRAVATING!

Threatening them with no trick or treating to get it done = IRRITATING!

Watching you have to ask your four-year-old sister to tie the garbage bag for you because you don't know how = HILARIOUS

It's All in the Hair

2008-11-06T17:13:00.002-02:00

I can remember being in the second grade and having a mock election when Ronald Regan and ....some other guy were running for president. Mrs. Bowman was my teacher and I was at Fitz Hugh Lee Elementary School. We were shown the pictures and I am sure we were given some facts and we voted. My decision was simple and clear cut. I voted for Regan. Why? Simple. He was an older man. I love older men. He reminded me of my Papa in looks. Now that I think about it, they really didn't look that much alike, just the dark, wavy hair. That was why I chose him though. Turns out he won and I always did like him. I even cried at his televised funeral, watching Nancy tell her husband goodbye. It was heart wrenching.

Turns out, the apple does not fall far from the tree:

Dylan: Mom, what are you doing?

Me: I'm studying, trying to figure out who to vote for for president.

Dylan: You should vote for McCain.

Me: Oh yeah, why?

Dylan: Because....that's who I voted for.

Me: Why?

Dylan: I don't know...because.

Emma: Mom, mom, you should vote for the guy with white hair.

Me: Why?

Emma: Because?

Me: Because why?

Emma: Because that is who I voted for.

Me: You voted?

Emma: Yeah, I voted for John McCain.

Me: Why?

Emma: Because he is handsome.

Malia

This is Halloween, Halloween, Halloween!

2008-11-02T23:01:00.005-02:00

Star Wars Boba Fett and Star Trooper(or whatever they are called) costumes = $40 each

Three pumpkins = $5.49 each

Belle costume = $20

Your brothers crashed in the backseat by 8:45 p.m., so the loot is all yours for the taking = priceless

I'm sorry, forgive me, but....

2008-10-31T02:39:00.009-02:00

I just can't help it!!!! I mean, look at them!!! And...they can sing....and...they can move....I mean...c'mon!

Mom, this one is just for you!

Aaaaannnndddd...one for me...

One for you Jessica....

And....another one for me

Here's one for you Erin....

Now, we can't forget me...

And one more for you mom

Now, one, everyone can enjoy!

You're welcome!

Malia

Round the Block....to the Waffle House

2008-10-31T02:26:00.007-02:00

Last night Donnie was letting the crowd know that they would be at the Waffle House later that night. He and Joey both thanked the south for having Waffle Houses and continued to promise that they would be there. We just had to figure out which one.

Would you please just take a look at who I found frying bacon with a Waffle House apron on?!!!

Donnie Wahlberg, you may fry my bacon any 'ol time you please.

Hello!

Mmmm, mmmmm, mmmmm...

Love the apron! Strange how he still looks good in one.

I just CANNOT wait to see them again!!!

Round the Block

2008-10-30T12:08:00.003-02:00

I had the "highlight of my year" last night with none other than New Kids on the Block!!!

We bought our tickets in June and couldn't believe how far away the concert was and how long we were going to have to wait.....forever!!!

All of a sudden, here it was...

Melissa loving Donnie.

Me and Jessica loving Jordan. I mean, look at him.

And Erin loving Joey.

Everyone has their favorites and our favorites DID NOT disappoint last night.

Jessica cried, Melissa and Erin danced and I found myself feeling a mix of emotions. Sad that this could be the last time we ever see them again (it kind of all depends on you), elated that I am seeing them again, nostalgic for old times when I worshiped them...okay, I am still a major fan, and high because they put on a great show. They worked it out! Big time. Did I mention that they are all still very hot...if not hotter!

I cannot wait to see them again! I am on an NKOTB high right now.

Thanks guys!

Autumn

2008-10-27T15:15:00.003-02:00

God is.....

2008-10-27T13:13:00.001-02:00

...moving hills

...working on moving mountains

...clearing vision

...revealing truths

...opening minds

...opening hearts

...very busy

...answering prayers

...AMAZING!

No One Mourns the Wicked!

2008-10-26T21:35:00.011-02:00

That above was my face all night long, well, minus, the "holy crap it is freezing, hurry up and take the picture" look on my face. The smile. That is what I was talking about.

I had tried to get through the book, Wicked, but had a hard time and eventually, put it down after chapter 2. It is not an easy read. Some of it even a little...well...raunchy.

My buddy Devin had burned the soundtrack for me a year ago and I liked it. Especially, track number 7, Popular. The rest didn't make sense. She absolutely eats, breathes and sleeps Wicked. I didn't get it. Alfalfa is in Wicked?

I have wanted to see the play since last year, but alas, tickets were going for near $100. Devin kept telling me it was worth it, but I passed. I was green with envy. I vowed I would go this year.

Again, ticket sales came and went and I passed again....ugh! Pesky bills!

I kept kicking myself thinking I should have gotten the tickets any way. Sometimes you just have to do things or you will never do it, but, it was too late. Then, on Thursday, I got the call.

Devin: Why would I be calling you instead of texting you?

Me: I don't know, maybe because I AM GOING TO WICKED!!!!!!!!!

Devin: That's right....

Someone had been unable to attend with her group...and she chose me!

Me: AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! Yeeeeeaaaahhhh!!!!

One problem. How to get to Atlanta. I had no one to ride with. I was going to have to make the trek alone. Thank God for the person who invented the GPS. That thing is amazingly wonderful.

The show didn't start until 8 and I didn't want to get there and have to walk in Atlanta by myself in the dark! Gasp! That would be just...wicked! So I arrived early, 6:42 p.m. It's okay, I brought a friend along just for this exact situation, Edward Cullen. Whatev. He has left and now I hate the book, so I put him down, "told him to act as though I never existed." Stupid vampires. So unpredictable.

It was time. I crossed the street to The Fabulous Fox Theatre and entered into the rushing crowd.

The singing began. No One Mourns the Wicked. Then Galinda appeared. That's Guh-linda. I thought about how beautiful Emma would have thought her dress was. Then the lone green character. The stage was amazing. The singing was beautiful. Dare I say I preferred Carmen Cusack's singing over Idina Menzel? Sorry Devin, but I do.

Along with the wonderful songs that now made sense to me, the show was funny. Katie Rose Clark was hilarious.... toss, toss. She even lost her shoe during the song Popular, but never missed a beat. She just worked it in.

Then the climax. Elfaba rose to great heights, literally, with Defying Gravity. It was amazing. Words escaped me. Devin cried...again. I was so grateful at that moment that I got to experience it and thought how the children would love it.

The trip to Atlanta alone was worth the three hour show, yes, three full hours. I won't miss this opportunity again.

Loved it, loved it, loved it.

Makes you look at The Wizard of Oz in a completely different light.

I plan to revisit the books again and see if it will make more sense now. First, I am going to give Edward one more chance. Pesky vampire.

Malia

Defying Gravity

2008-10-26T20:37:00.002-02:00

And that is what I was doing during this high note from my trip to see Wicked. Amazing I tell you!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snWBrgsogCI

Just....ugh!

2008-10-20T23:56:00.002-02:00

Emma is taking ballet classes and I try to challenge her by trying....yes...trying to do the steps myself.....okay, whatever, I am challening myself!

I have never taken a ballet class and have learned that ballet....it is hard. It looks beautiful and graceful and flowing and like it takes nothing to do it, but I am here to tell you, there are black eyes and floods in ballet....well, when I do it there are.

I was torturing the children right after prayers for the night by trying to show them that I could do these teeny ballet jumps called.........teeny ballet jumps...I don't know the techinical term, something french, but anyways....I did them, or attempted, just as she does them here..........

http://www.expertvillage.com/video/36085_ballet-steps-small-jumps.htm

Jackson immediately begins his gut laugh, holding his chest with both hands and barely can get the words out....."Mom, when you do those...ha ha ha ha ha.....your things right here...haaa haaaa haaaaa haaaa haaaa....they jump up and down.....haaaaaaa...haaaaaaaaa....haha....haaaaaa.haaaaaaaaa.....

Lord, the child would have died right then and there if he also would have known that I peed a little too....

Malia

Snooping

2008-10-20T12:42:00.002-02:00

Actually this was added 23 days ago to my to-do list and I just happened to get to it.

I had to clean out the bookbags. Amazing how it shows the personality of each child.

Dylan's contained:

4 chapter books that he is currently reading

Jackson's contained:

A note that he was exchanging with a girl. She said, "Blah, blah, blah." He said, "I am not your friend."

Emma's contained:

A pink stuffed kitty cat that wore bling, a tiara, a diamond ring and makeup.

Malia

21 Names of God

2008-10-20T02:24:00.002-02:00

I found this to be ...... awesome.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5-6gwssX0Y

Malia

Love

2008-10-20T01:36:00.002-02:00

I learned something new tonight. Something I may have heard many times, but today, I got it.

He always loves.

There is never an "I'm not feeling you today."

"Nah, you didn't return my call, so forget you."

"You hurt my feelings. I can no longer love you."

No matter how much I screw up. No matter how many times I get it wrong.....or get it right. When I am brilliant....when I am an idiot. When I am selfish....when I am giving. When I am mean....when I am nice. When I am hurt...when I am broken..........when I am whole.

God always loves.....me....you....us.

There is never a time when he doesn't. Never.

Malia

Who's the Boss

2008-10-19T22:45:00.003-02:00

I have a heart for animals. What? You didn't know? Oh, when I get to Heaven, I can just picture it. I will be walking up that hill towards that light and there will be little shadows of gerbils, dogs, cats and birds of many generations running to meet me. They will tackle me and I will fall back and they will lick my face and wag their tails. Probably 100's of them before it is all said and done. There will be Tigger, Booboo, Bailey, Chester, Noname, Pixie and Dixie, Scooby, Tambo, oh, and Duke, Socks, Peeper, Snowball, I can't foget Charlie, Kujo, Milo, Freebee, Storm and Lightning, Hopper, Thunderdor, Mojo, my goodness there are a lot of them.

Well, I have found another....he calls out to me. A Cocker. I have always wanted a cocker. Ever since my aunt and uncle had two. I can't remember their names, though I believe one was named Shiloh. I can remember their smell though. I just loved those dogs. They were so soft.

I was discussing with Dylan about this dog because what I do better now than before, is not make a rash decision when it comes to the furry kind, I plan to discuss first and then we all make a decision together.

Me: Dylan LOOK at this DOG! Isn't he so cute!!! He says, "take me, I need you!"

Dylan: Ooohhh, he is cute. I like him. Why don't you get him.

Me: I'm afraid dad won't like him, Dylan. He doesn't really like Cocker's I don't think.

Dylan: Mom! Don't let dad be the boss of you!

You know, I always said that Dylan was the smart one of the family.

Malia

Good Kitty

2008-10-19T01:06:00.005-02:00

You all know the story of Angel and how he came about. You know about how his brother went away and he is now the kitty that will go to college with Dylan.

Well, today it was a blistery day in the 100-Acre Wood and so, we opened all the windows, turned off the A/C, saved some money and helped the environment. A productive day I would say.

Later in the evening while screaming at the boys to get their room cleaned up, traumatizing Jackson by declaring that he had to donate at least half of his stuffed animals, traum.a.tized. I tell you. Folks, I currently have 26 stuffed animals in a bag. Yes, that means that there were 52 stuffed animals on my boys' bed. I don't know where they have been sleeping.....

Anyways, interrupting my screaming was Wade, wanting to know if I let Angel outside today???? Well, yeah? Duh?!

Wade: Well, he's inside.....

Me: Okay??? and....???? (Please note, that I was already aggravated because, number one, he told Jackson that he could just take some of the stuffed animals to his mother's house) Yes, yes, that would solve the problem, let's just take them somewhere else and let that be someone elses problem. I am sure your mother would love that. (No. 2, he wasn't helping) and (no. 3, he was interrupting my yelling by talking about the stupid cat! I mean sweet Angel)

Wade: He brought you something....

Me: What?!!!

Wade: How did he get in?

Me: Well, I have the windows open in the sunroom. There are no screens. What does he have Wade?! WHAT DOES HE HAVE!!! IT BETTER BE DEAD! WADE!! DON'T LET HIM IN! KILL HIM! KILL HIM! GET IT OUT! GET IT OUT! WADE DO SOMETHING!! WAIT, LET ME GET THE CAMERA!

Look mom, look what I brought for dinner!

Look, he's fun! There's enough for everybody.

The next sound we heard was windows being closed!

Malia

Blueberry pie

2008-10-18T17:15:00.003-02:00

Emma and I were watching none other than Paula Deen one night, she was coloring, I was lying down watching t.v. and she was in the crook of my arm.

We were talking here and there, she was not really paying much attention to me. Just picture it, her paying attention to her coloring, me paying attention to Paula.

Paula began to make some fried apple pies. Now, I am no chef, but I can follow a recipe.

Me: Emma, don't those look good?

Emma: (still coloring) Uh huh.

Me: Don't you think we could make those?

Emma: (Not looking up) Yeah.

Me: (Trying to get her to be a little enthusiastic) We could wear our new aprons.....

Emma: Mom, remember when you made that blueberry pie?

Me: (Thinking back and trying to remember) Oh yeah....

Emma: (Not worrying about my feelings) It tasted really bad.

Okay, maybe not....

Oh Pooh!

2008-10-18T16:09:00.002-02:00

Emma: (Seriously pondering) Mom, why is Pooh Bear named Pooh? Is it because he has poo his feet?

To a T

2008-10-17T12:47:00.000-02:00

Hazel eyed people are very emotional people. They love to be loved, but if you hurt them they hurt deeply for a while. They are very down to Earth and friendly people so it's pretty hard to hurt one of these people! A great person to befriend, they will never let you down. Unique, lovely, and genuinally nice, hazel eyed people are truly one of a kind.

I just want to say, is this me to a T or what?!

Ouch!

2008-10-13T13:46:00.002-02:00

Last Monday, I thought I would do something nice for my husband and mow our grass. I was just going to do the back yard, but then decided, I would be SUPER nice and mow the front and the sides too.

I had not eaten yet. I was beginning to feel a little bit woozy after two hours, so I thought I might need to go in and refuel.

Now, when you mow grass, you have to be fashionable, for you never know who is going to see you. I had on my blue jean shorts, a longer flowing t-shirt and a wisp of hair down in front of my eye.....yeah, whatever, the shorts were from the day before, the t-shirt had stains on them and that stupid wisp of hair kept falling and would stay back.

As I headed inside, something popped my eye! A bee! Owwww! OmG! A bee just stung me in my eye!

I ran inside and called...my mommy!

Me: Mom? A bee just stung me in my eye. Since it is in close proximity to my brain, do I need to worry?

She came over later to check on me. My eye was fun. I didn't pass out. My eye didn't even swell shut for a cool story at work the next day.

Poor thing was only defending himself. He flew right into that wisp of hair and thought he was a goner.

See if I do a good deed anymore!

Sacrifices

2008-10-12T20:58:00.002-02:00

Emma had her first cheerleading competition today and I couldn't go, so Wade took her. There were several teams competing, so Wade and the boys took off to support Emma. I got the following text messages:

From Wade: I think I am dead.

seconds later

From Wade: And I went to hell.

Christmas Shopping

2008-10-10T10:39:00.003-02:00

Me: Here y'all look through these Christmas books. Circle anything you want for Christmas.

I go back to checking out what is going on in Paulding County on Paulding.com.....

Emma: I want a sista for Christmas!!!

Me: Well, sorry, but they are all out of stock.

Emma: Well, then, can Jackson have a brother?

Malia

Inspiration

2008-10-09T02:35:00.002-02:00

During this time, I have questioned, "Why". What is the reasoning behind this. Everything happens for a reason. Am I being taught a lesson? Is someone else being taught a lesson? I didn't talk about this situation at all really, except here. But there was this one day...while counting the money in some robots...me and a lady from work got to talking....and we just talked about it all. She mentioned that she had a half-sister that she didn't know and the sister has tried and tried to get to know her, but this lady wouldn't do it...simply because she didn't know her.

Tonight, she called me. She said that she had to tell me that my story inspired her! I thought, "what story"? Me, inspiring?

She wrote a two-page letter to her sister, letting her know that she wanted to get together and get to know her, ask questions about her childhood, find out what they had in common and just to give them a chance to be sisters.

I'd do it all over again, as long as it kept bringing family together.

Malia

De-clogging

2008-10-09T02:13:00.002-02:00

Another English lesson:

Blog: 1. a Web site that contains an online personal journal with reflections, comments, and often hyperlinks provided by the writer ; also : the contents of such a site

Some of you were offended, some of you took it personal and some of you got angry at me. Last thing I needed. I will no longer clog your e-mails. It will no longer be mailed out. If you would like to participate, you can visit my blog any time you would like at Malia--newbeginnings.blogspot.com.

Pulling the Plug

2008-10-05T23:33:00.010-02:00

I reached a low tonight. I was okay, for one. week. Then, it was placed where there was no way I wouldn't see it. When your name pops up, there it is. The picture. The one I didn't know about. The trip I didn't know was taking place. But others did.

You see, those people there, that is one of the sisters I told you about, the father, I mentioned, the stepmom and her dog, and although that hurts, what hurts the most is the man in black in the back and the sweet blonde seated beside my sister. You see, every year that family, minus the blonde and the man in black, they go to Florida twice a year, every year without fail. Me and the man in the black aren't invited. I don't know, maybe he is and he just never told me, but he doesn't go. He hasn't been, that I know of. Come to think of it, maybe they all have always gone and I just never knew.

So tonight, not long after speaking with my journey group leader, ironically, I told her, I was okay, until in another couple of weeks when I felt I would be hit again by something hurtful because that is just how it happens. I didn't tell her I was meeting my sister that night. I don't know why I didn't, I guess I didn't want to bother her with the details. Well, that couple of weeks came early.

Tonight I went to my sister's house to pick up something of mine she had. It hurt. There was a pain in my heart. It doesn't go away. I hate this. It was a very short exchange. Maybe one minute. Then I was gone. It hurt. I told myself, "Keep your emotions in check." I prayed on the way to her house that God would give me the wisdom of saying the right words, not having hostility...and not getting emotional. I guess he granted those prayers, but it hurt. But she was hiding something. She looked me in the eye and she knew.

I came home. My hubby checked on me, knowing how hard this has been for me, bless his heart, and I assured him I was fine. I ate my pizza and signed into Myspace.

There it was. I don't even have to enter her page. It pops up automatically. Pictures from Florida trip 2008. I can't help myself. I look. I thought it was just she and her husband on a little trip together. I had no idea what I was digging into. First their dog. Then a picture of she and my aunt. Then the two sisters... ouch. But the next one, has a girl. A girl I don't recognize, but I recognize all the others. She has a hat on, so I can't see her face. There's my father, my aunt, my sisters and their respective others, my other aunt and uncle, my stepmom, but who is that girl in the hat? That isn't one of the cousins that usually attends. So, I go to the next one. It is like I am being guided, but why? Then the next picture, is the one that does me in, there he is. The answer to the girl in the hat. It is my brother. The one I don't want dragged into any of this. The one whose phone calls I did not answer on that first fateful night because I was sobbing and didn't want him to know. The girl in the baseball cap is his girlfriend. The girlfriend that I now see is one of Erin's friends on her Myspace page. The girlfriend I didn't even know had a Myspace page. She is cuddled up to my sister. He was there. He had been invited. He is smiling. I get a sick feeling in my stomach.

I click to the next to see if my blurry eyes are playing tricks on me, but no...it is reality and the next caption reads....

"The family...wait...where is Lauren?"

The family. There they are. The family. I didn't even know it was going on. I am sure this trip wasn't planned in the last two weeks since I received those surprising e-mails. Trips don't happen like that. "Where is Lauren?"!!!! Where is Malia? She knew I would see it. She had to know I would see it. I don't understand it. I can't make sense of it. I don't understand what I did wrong. I wonder, "am I singling myself out to make someone else feel guilty?" Is that what I am doing? Singling myself out? I feel betrayed by him. Then I feel guilty for that because why shouldn't he go?

I called my lifelines. Strange that she actually answered. She was just going on her lunch break. I asked my mom if she knew where Brian had been this week. She giggled and said she did.....she giggled. She knew. She said she knew tht he was going to Florida with my father and the girls....my trust had been broken. She had been hiding it too...she knew I had been struggling with this. She giggled? I broke. She told me I had to turn it off. Like a light switch. Turn it off?! Could someone please tell me where the switch is? She doesn't understand. I ended the call. I left my house.

I called Melissa. I cry to her, just begging someone to please help me make sense of this. Her phone died. She didn't recharge.

My phone did not ring again. He hasn't called... she giggled ....and she didn't recharge. It still hasn't rung. I feel so alone. I feel desperately alone in this. I don't understand. I can't comprehend it.

I'm worried. I'm worried about the conversations that went on there. Did they think of me? Did they think of me like I have thought of them all week? Did they give me a thought while they were together there? Have they cried like I have cried?While they were having their family time, did they think of me? Did anyone bring me up? I had to have come up. How could I not? Did they give her thoughts of me that don't put me in the best light? What about him? Did they sway him too?

I'm wrestling with where to go next. What to do. I am alone. The minutes are ticking on. The world continues to spin.

Malia

I Know You

2008-10-05T20:57:00.002-02:00

When you have children, it doesn't matter how many, it is a struggle to get out the door in a timely, fashionable manner.

We are always late... but if you used the cardinal rule of adding 10 minutes to my scheduled time of arriving, per child, then you would see that technically, I am usually only a few minutes late.

As we were trying to get out the door last week, I went into my usual speel of:

Turn off the light in your room, get your shoes on, did you feed the rabbit, get your bag, where is your sweater, close the door to your room, turn off your light, turn off the t.v., get your shoes on, TURN OFF YOUR LIGHT, get your sweater on, WHERE ARE YOUR SHOES, GET YOUR SHOES ON, get in the car, get in the car, get in the car, buckle your seatbelt, get on the other side, GET.IN.THE.CAR, get buckled, get buckled, get buckled.....

Sometimes, they don't seem to hear me....I don't know why, I don't get it....so, I have to make threats. They are empty, but I have them fooled, or so I thought....the older one, he has me figured out.

Me: (Going through my speel) Okay, you know what, that's it, you are not going to Grandma's, you are just going to have to stay home by yourself...

Dylan: You can't do that, I am not old enough...I have to be 13! It's against the law!

Me: I don't care! I'm doing it anyway! I. HAVE. TO. GO. TO. WORK....LIKE 20 MINUTES AGO! So, you can just stay here. I am going to go drop Emma off, but you and Jackson are not staying there....

Dylan: You're just kidding.

Me:(GASP! What?!)...No, I am serious, you'll see!

Dylan: No, your not. I know you. You're kidding. I. KNOW. YOU.

Me: (Who told him!!!!!!)

Dylan: Jackson, don't worry, she is not serious. We are going to Grandma's. I know her. She is just kidding.

Me:(Crap! I wonder if he would believe...murder?)

Blind Babies

2008-10-05T17:57:00.002-02:00

On the way to school one day:

Dylan: (Remember, every sentence has to start with...) Mom, remember that one time that you said we were going to school and made us bring our back packs and y'all ended up taking us to the aquarium instead? You tricked us.

Me: Yeah! That was fun wasn't it?

Emma: Did I go?

Me: Yes, Emma, you were a baby I think. It wasn't THAT long ago.

Emma: I don't remember it.

Dylan: That's cause you were just born Emma.

Me: No...she wasn't, she was like one or two..

Emma: I couldn't see it because I was just born, mom, and babies are born with their eyes closed and so I was blind because that's how babies are!!! You just need to take us again!

Hopscotch

2008-10-05T16:37:00.002-02:00

I think this is a darn good hopscotch board. Drawn by none other than Emma herself. Wanna play?

Clean Your Room!

2008-10-04T14:07:00.006-02:00

Me: Emma, clean your room please.

Emma: Buuuttt, iiittt'sss toooooooo hhaaarrrrddddd!

Me: Emma, just go get it done!

She disappears and reappears in .2 seconds

Me: Emma, is your room cleaned?

She nods.

Me: Okay, I am going to go see and if it's not.....

Emma: Buuut, Buuuut, it's too much woooorrrrrrkkkkk!!!

She proceeds to "clean" some more....because of course, she had not touched a thing.

30 minutes later, we go check on her....because ..... really, why haven't I seen her every .2 seconds in the last 30 minutes?

Me: Emma? Emma? Is your room clean?

Me: EMMA! WHERE ARE YOU!!!!

Me: Gasp!!! Is she breathing?!

Me: You know, I wonder if that would work at the office? I can just sleep under my desk when my job gets too hard!!!

Cheer Nation

2008-10-02T10:00:00.004-02:00

We have a cheerleader amongst us. And she is rather cute!

A cheerleader in action.

Malia

Bed Brothers

2008-10-02T01:25:00.002-02:00

He even shares a pillow.

malia

Eyes Wide Open

2008-10-01T15:08:00.003-02:00

My grandmother made the mistake of telling me about two cats that had appeared on her front step last year. My mother warned her...it was a bad idea. She didn't listen. So, we aquired two new members of our family. You may remember them, Milo and Angel.

Sometime in June, Milo disappeared. This is the cat that I could swear would end up going to college with Dylan. They were best buds. His brother Angel, ended up in the pen. We bailed him out, sad, honestly, that Milo wasn't with him. We went to and from the pound for two months hoping to find Milo, but alas, he has never returned. We miss Milo.

Angel, on the other hand, has proven that he is so grateful for being out of that place and has stepped right into his brothers...er.... shoes?

One night, Jackson fell asleep watching t.v. ......with his brother.

Yes, Jackson really is asleep, the eyes open thing is something he inherited from my mother....it is really creepy.

And, yes, Angel is alive, just struggling to breathe a little.

Malia

U Can't Touch This

2008-09-30T00:45:00.003-02:00

While Dylan and I cooked supper tonight, because, yes ladies, I am teaching my boys that they can help cook the meals if momma has to work an eight hour day just like daddy....yeah, send your daughters over, we can start interviewing for wife positions now....whoa! Where did that come from?....ahem...as I was saying, as Dylan and I cooked supper tonight, I instructed Emma to start practicing some cheers. We went through a couple, Jackson going right along with her, when we got to the one they call MC Hammer. MC Hammer goes something like this:

Turn around like MC Hammer
Touch the ground like Salt and Pepper(it's supposed to be Pepa, duh!!!, but they haven't figured that out yet)
Shake your booty like tooty fruity
Go, Raiders, go!

Dylan stops the cheer dead in it's tooty fruity glory by asking, "Who IS MC Hammer?"

Wade and Me: (In unison, looking shocked, of course!) WHO IS MC HAMMER?!!!! I mean, he was huge, like, just last year!

Me: Babe, pull MC Hammer up on the computer and teach this baby something....

I watched from the kitchen until I heard the familiar beats: oh,oh,oh,oh,oh....oh,oh,oh...Can't Touch This....

I ran over all excited, a little bump in my step, to Wade and the three children standing around the screen....I get ready for everyone to start breakin' it down!.....

Dylan: (Laughing with a pathetic twang in it) What's wrong with his pants!!!

Oh crap, here we go!!!! Have we really entered that stage already?!

&feature=related">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjYaAO1GvE4&feature=related

I mean, c'mon, you remember the pants, right......they're cool, right....I mean...they're still pretty cool.....right?

Sealed With.....Spit?!

2008-09-29T23:00:00.002-02:00

Emma: Here mom, it's a message.

Me: (As I take the crumpled peice of copy paper from her hand) Oh, a message?...Well, it is all...crumpled...is it trash? (Why do they keep using ALL MY PAPER!!!)

Emma: Noooo, it's a message...you have to OOOoooopen it! (Duh!)

Me: (You know, they have like...1 gazillion notebooks with their own paper....) Oh, okay, let's see, let me get this open. Oh, I see the message...let me see what it says.

Emma: (Big cheezy grin)

Me: (Oh, she even used my special floral stationary..how nice....) Can you help me read it Emma? It's kind of dark in here.

Emma: (Reading her own wavy lines across my message) (Big breath) It says, "A message. To Emma's Mudder. From Emma Wiermann." (Another, big cheesy grin)

Me: Emma? Why is this paper wet? Ewwww, it's wet all over! Why is this paper wet all over?!

Emma: Because I licked it.

Me: What?! You licked the whole thing?! Why!?!

Emma: BECAUSE! IT'S A MESSAGE!!! I had to close it up!!

Malia

Wake Up!

2008-09-29T15:03:00.004-02:00

Emma...still sleeps in our bed. Yes, I know, she is four going on 24, but she is the baby and....I don't exactly have the money to fix up her room....yes, she has a room.... but we just use it as storage....you know, for lots of toys....and....her dresser....and yes she has a bed in there......oh, FINE! I just don't want her out of my bed, okay, I want her to stay right there, in the crook of my arm snuggled up nice and warm until she's 104. There. I said it.

Every night, Emma and the boys go to bed before me. Whenever I get ready to go to bed, I jump in and....I wake her up. Wade gets so upset with me, telling me, "Leave her alone! Let the girl sleep!" But this, this my friends, is why I just have to do it!

Me: (In a whisper) Emma, Emma, Emmmmmaaaaaaaa! Wake up.

Me: (Shaking her a little more violently....and a little louder) EMMA! EMMA! WAKE UP! I need you! I need you to snuggle with me!!!

ME: (Finally giving up) Emma.... (I kiss her on her cheek for my one final attempt)

Emma: (In a very sleepy and sometimes annoyed voice) What?!

Me: (All excited) Emma, scoot over here and snuggle with me.

Emma shimmies over and gets in the crook of my arm, laying her head on my chest.

Me: Emma....

Emma: What?

Me: I love you.

Emmma: (With eyes still closed, near sleep again.) I love you too.

Me: I love you more.

Emma: (Rolling back over to her old position) I love you the morest....

And then we sleep....

Malia

2008

2008-09-29T12:17:00.002-02:00

Me: Emma, what is that on your hand?

Emma: It's a stamp, but you can't see it very good...it was a pumpkin.

Me: Well, why do you have a stamp on your hand?

Emma: Because I got the answer right.

Me: Oh...what was the question.

Emma: Two hundred thousand and eight.

Me: Huh? Two hundred thousand and eight? What does that mean?

Emma: That was the answer. It's on my calendar.....

Ain't Skeered!

2008-09-25T00:20:00.003-02:00

I am scared of the dark. My ears become HUGE! I get panicked. I just KNOW someone is watching me and is in that dark room with me. So, to make sure I am safe...I just make one of the kids go downstairs with me to do the laundry if it is after dark.

Me: Who wants to go with me downstairs?!! (I sing it, so it makes it more appealing!)

Emma: Me!

Jackson: I do!

Emma: Nooooo! I'm going!

Jackson: Nuh uh, I said it first!

Me: Hey! Hey! We can all go, come on, get your shoes on. (Strength in numbers right?)

Emma: I'm not going to wear any shoes because I'm not scared of bugs...they don't scare me!

Emma leads the way...Jackson takes the tail.

Emma whips around after her first step....: Mom, you go first!

Me: What?! I thought you weren't scared.....

Emma: (Impatient and in her don't embarass me voice) Mom! Just go....!

Ah! Shoot! Y'all call somebody if you don't hear from me again in the next 10 minutes!

My Final Rant

2008-09-24T19:22:00.004-02:00

After this...I am going to move onto happier subjects...maybe not forever...but at least for a while...I hope.

This year, we have had many trials. Wade lost his job. We have had car trouble constantly...with both cars...at. the. same. time! This paired with a struggling economy and rising gas prices has put a strain on my small family. A lot of times Wade "complains", for lack of a better word, about us not having money, our furniture is crap, after 11 years of marriage we have nothing to show for it, etc., etc. Really, this is his way of venting. I vent, but usually it is in my head...or on here,.. bless your hearts. I try to remind him that we are rich in so many other ways. We have each other....because that is what family does. When someone is down on their luck, you help them. You don't talk to behind their backs about how they didn't save money for times like this, how she shouldn't have bought those boots last week....you don't kick your family members when their down.

My sister wrote to me in one of many hurtful e-mails this week that "the concept of family has fallen apart". While I think that she was right regarding family in America, I can assure you that she was wrong in what my concept of family is.

First, what does family mean? Well, here is the dictionary version:

1: a group of individuals living under one roof and usually under one head : household

This is definitely NOT my family, so this can't apply to me.

In my concept of family, you love each other. No matter what. When you are up, when you are down. Everyone has faults. Every. one. The only perfect being that ever walked this earth was Jesus Christ. I am certainly not Jesus Christ. And neither. are. you.

In my concept of family, you talk to each other. Not through e-mail. Not through Myspace. Not through text messaging. And although the telephone is a great invention, you need to put that down sometimes too. You need to see each other. Feel each other. Look at each other's faces. Look into each other's eyes. How can you truly know each other when you can never touch? Feel their flesh. See through those eyes, into their souls. See their smiles. See their tears. See their frowns. Fellowship with each other. You take on their hurts and you take on their happiness.

As I was growing up, I had two separate families. My father's family and my mother's family. Up until about the age of four, my brother and I didn't see my father. He didn't come. He wouldn't come. She tried to get him to come. He had more important things to do. It's the truth. It is cold. It is hard. But that is just the truth.

I remember one time when I was five. He was supposed to come get us for the one weekend of each month that was his. There we sat, with our suitcases, waiting....he never showed up. No explanation. No phone call. He just didn't come. We were 8 and 5. Memorable ages. I am 31. I still remember that defining moment. I can see the color of the suitcase. I can see out the window where we watched.

Eventually, we did begin to go to my father's house regularly....and we spent the day, from the time we were up and had breakfast in us, until it was dark....outside. He...was inside.

We didn't spend time with grandparents, aunts and uncle's or cousins from that side very often, we may have seen them three times a year for a couple of hours at a time. It wasn't the same. Brian and I, we were outsider's because we weren't there. Wasn't our fault. We didn't have control over it.

At one point, one of our aunts said that we were the black sheep of the family because we were the children of divorce. How sad! This blame was put on children, who if they could have changed their situation, you bet they would have. These children did not set the boundary of one weekend a month and they certainly didn't choose how that time was spent.

Children only want to be loved. They come from the womb wanting to be cuddled and held close. It is in their nature. It is the human nature. It is what is taught and what is given that teaches them to hate instead of love.

My mother's side of the family is the polar opposite of my father's side.

When my Papa was alive, we were at their house at least one Sunday a month and every holiday. I don't mean the big ones, just Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc. I mean, anytime we got a chance to get together, we were there, Labor Day, Memorial Day, Fourth of July, etc. The room was filled with laughter, loud chatter, all the women in the kitchen preparing the meal together, the cousins hanging out talking about school and whatever else was going in our lives at the time. Prayer at the beginning of the meal and hugs and kisses when coming and when going.

When we weren't at Memaw and Papa's house, we wanted to know when we were going. We wanted to know how "Angie was doing" or "wasn't that funny what Steve said the other day". There were no hidden resentments. There was no backstabbing. There was no cattiness. There was love. You felt it when you walked into that house. You were never an outsider. We would often bring friends. They were immediately accepted into their hearts. Never black sheep.

This is what family means to me. This is the kind of family that I want to teach to my children. I want to teach them that to love someone, you have to love them unconditionally. You have to love all of them. You have to love their faults. You have to love their good qualities. You love them whether they have a drug problem, whether they are an alcoholic, whether they are from a divorced family, that the black sheeps are the ones that need our love the very most because they are the ones that have been shown the least love and are hurting the most.

Things have changed in my mother's family. We don't get together as much since Papa passed away. Our families have grown, some have moved away and it is just harder to get together. We miss each other. We have to keep in touch through Myspace, blogging or the telephone. We all have different families. Some have divorce in them, some don't. We continue to love each other.

There is one holiday that we never miss. Christmas Eve. We have always had Christmas Eve at Memaw's and Papa's and I have never missed one in my 31 years. But if you come into that home on Christmas Eve, you would never know that we had been apart. Our children now all play with each other, talking about school or whatever, the women are in the kitchen preparing the meal, there is laughter, loud chatter and prayer before the meal. We have even had a surprise wedding. You would never know that we had not been together for months. We love each other. We love each other's faults. We love each other over the distances. We hug hello and we hug goodbye. We hold tight in those embraces. They are heartfelt. That is family.

There are some things that go on that we may not agree on, but we love each other anyway. Someone may have done something that hurt someone's feelings. It is never intentional and we would never purposely set out to hurt each other's feelings.
It's okay. None of us are perfect.

My concept of family is very well intact.

It has been a tough month for me....I am having a very hard time dealing with a lot of things that are going on in my life...all of which seem to be hitting me all at the same time.

I miss my Papa. He would have loved my children. He would have been impressed with Dylan's intelligence, he would have loved Jackson's vigor and I think he would have just adored Emma. I miss our drives. I miss his stories. I just miss him.

We are having a hard time financially with the job loss. I know there are many in America who are, so who am I to complain, but it just seemed that right when we were getting it together, it started falling apart.

I miss my children. I hate when they are at school. Now, my best friend started pre-k.

My little sister got engaged...I learned about it a month later...on Myspace.

My sisters both e-mailed me several times in a couple of weeks, one blaming me for "ruining her wedding day", the other "blaming me for keeping my children away from my father", claiming that "I single myself out to make other's feel guilty", amongst other hurtful things, but then they say they love me.... but that it can't be the same... that our relationship is nothing more than exchanging Christmas gifts....

This my friends, is when family should be flocking to our side....not berating us with hateful e-mails...which, by the way, "are not meant to be hateful"......

Stop and think about what you are doing...think about the things you say....sometimes it is not all about you...and it's not about me either....

For the first time in my life, I have had, yes folks, I have actually entertained the idea... thoughts of suicide, of running away, of just wanting to get away from all of it. I want to be alone. You think those e-mails helped my sanity...no...if anything...they are helping to push me to the brink. Thanks girls.

The thing that brings me back to sanity, my family....my husband and my children...because....they...love me...they love me for me. They love all of my emotions, they love all of my faults, they love my hair-brained ideas...they, love me unconditionally. They....even think that I am cool!!!...for now.

I am an emotional person...can you tell :)....I cry, I wear my heart on my sleeve, I am an ugly crier, I go mute when I cry...I take things to heart...very easily...I want to be everyone's friend, I hate it when people are mad at me because I try my very best to be a people pleaser, I don't want to disappoint, I get emotionally high sometimes and just feel like doing something crazy like leaps through the yard, tried toe touches the other day....ouch...this is me...it is who I am....love me unconditionally. High or low. I remember things that hurt...I take forever to heal! Like my brother, he told me last Christmas that he didn't want to bring his new girlfriend around yet because me and my mother were too judgemental. Ouch! Didn't know he felt that way. That...still hurts.

As we enter into my favorite season, I am hoping this helps to bring spirits up, I love the smells, the colors, the oranges, the browns and the reds, fall would make a great wedding time. I look forward to the Christmas season, especially now that my Christmas list has been trimmed down by a few people, less money going out. Yea!

We are entering soon into the season of love. A season of family and friends. A season where there are love songs of people being apart and coming home on Christmas. A season of Christ. Christ is love. Love is what He taught. Love one another this season. Unconditionally. Put down the hateful words. Put aside differences. The world is harsh enough without us beating each other up. I am hurt. I am broken. I can't change some things. I can't change the past. I am not perfect. But I can love. That is what I have for you. Unconditional love.

Love Me.

It's Not About You

2008-09-23T01:04:00.002-02:00

It's not about me either.

Say this to yourself. a lot. Mostly, the second part.

It was nice of you to show up. Nope, you didn't say or do anything wrong. Ya just didn't do anything at all.

Remember, it's not about you. Go home and write it, front and back. Til. you. get. it.

You can all go back to your regularly scheduled lives and I will go back to singling myself out to make you feel guilty.

Broken

2008-09-23T00:39:00.002-02:00

1: violently separated into parts : shattered
2: damaged or altered by breaking: being irregular, interrupted, or full of obstacles c: violated by transgression, a broken promise d: discontinuous , interrupted
3 a: made weak or infirm b: subdued completely : crushed , sorrowful, a broken heart a broken spirit

He holds the universe and still, He runs to the broken.

I am a visual thinker, better yet, hands on, so when I think of this statement, I try to think of a child. A child who is hurting. A child that is me. 31 years old. Hurting. I can't visualize a father because in my mind, I don't have one. He has never been there. He has never held me. Not when I was broken, not when I was whole.

I often wonder, if this is part of my struggle for my relationship with Jesus. Not that I don't believe in Him, but that I have a hard time visualizing Him, drawing near to Him.

"When you are broken, draw near to Him, like a child to a father. None are closer to Jesus, than the broken."

So tonight, as I sat in my car, my child cheering her heart out, oblivious, I first tried to visualize Jesus and I drew near to His chest and he held me. And I cried.

Then Jesus turned into my Papa and I sobbed.

Amazing

2008-09-22T19:33:00.004-02:00

I start remembering school really well, at about fourth grade. I remember a little bit from the prior years, like some things from daycare. I remember the day that my mom forgot to pack my swimsuit, so I had to miss the field trip to the pool that day. I remember being paddled on the hand by a ruler because I wet my cot at nap time.

I remember my first grade teacher, Ms. Shelley, mainly because it reminded me of my best friends name, Michelle. She was in the class across the hall from me, in kindergarten and I thought that was cool.

I remember trying to guess my parapro's age and putting it on her Valentine's day card. I don't think she was impressed with my estimating skills.

I remember my second grade class. Like, a Japanese kid we had in class who taught us all origami. I remember being the only child in class that finished all of their times tables through 12. I was sent to the principal's office to tell him and I was sure that it was some hoax and I was really in trouble. I remember that one of my classmates' mother was my teacher and I thought how cool that would be to be able to spend the ENTIRE day with your mom. He probably thought differently. I remember in the same class that we got to do a mock election for President Regan and whoever it was that was running against him. I voted Regan, because I thought he looked like a sweet old man. We made reindeer decorations that year out of pine cones. It was my idea, so she let me bring all the stuff and lead the class that day.

I remember the fear I had of Ms. Cannon in a new school in the third grade. My mother assured me that I remember her because she was so strict.

Now fourth grade....that was the year that I had Ms. Guest and Ms. Kilpatrick. I was terrified of Ms. Kilpatrick because I thought she was going to Kil us. That was the year we got to write in pen. It was the year Bo Bice came into my life. It was the year we began writing in cursive. It was a hard year. We had to learn so much in that year, I never thought it would end.

Fast forward 10 years....okay...just fast forward a lot...I will tell you when to stop.......STOP!

I now have a son in the fourth grade. I bought him pens when I bought school supplies. A pack of blue, a pack of black and two red. Just like mine. He has two teachers. Just like I did. He has begun to write in cursive and has to edit his papers with that red pen, just. like. me.

There is one big difference between he and I. School is easy. It wasn't for me. It is for him. Or at least he makes it look that way. I got his progress report Monday. The kid got all A's....oh, except that pesky little A+ in math. Not only did the kid get all A's, he got all 100's, well, except for that pesky 100 and something in math.

"Hmmmm", he said, "That's strange, cause, I don't even really like math."

His teacher's comment: Dylan is an amazing student.Amazing....I'll second that.

Malia

Gifted

2008-09-10T13:48:00.003-02:00

I believe that we all receive gifts from God. My Memaw and my friend Melissa, for example, I believe have the gift of nurturing, the caregiver. Mine, I believe, is mercy. I listen. I am the ear. I feel compassion for your problems, your trials. I try to offer my advice. Sometimes, advice is not wanted. Sometimes, all you want is an ear. I've listened about husbands, I've listened about divorce, I've listened about broken trust, I've listened about new beginnings, I've listened to your lifestyle changes, I've listened to how your too busy, I've listened to how you don't want to take up my time, I've listened to your joy, I've listened to you rejoice and I've listened to your triumphs. I carry your trials, trying to think of ways to make it easier, better for you. When you talk, I care. I truly care.

Sometimes...mercy needs mercy. Mercy talks and you don't listen. Truly listen. Pay attention. Don't cut mercy off in the middle of a sentence, don't tell mercy you're too busy You have to read between the lines, look beyond what is actually being said, listen to the tone, listen to the voice, listen to the sighs, listen to the silence. Stop talking and listen. Find time for mercy. Lock yourself in a room, away from the daily noise. I need you, just as much as you need me. Sometimes, it's just an ear, sometimes I just need to hear that you are on my side. A lot of things are locked away, not mentioned, because no one cares to listen.

I've listened, now it's your turn.

Malia

The Seven Deadly Sins

2008-09-01T00:06:00.002-02:00

Me: What do you guys want to eat?

Jackson: I'm not really hungry, but I'll eat.

Me: You know that if you are not hungry you shouldn't eat, number one, it's not good for you, number two, it's one of the seven deadly sins.

Jackson: What's that?

Me: Well, gluttony, that is when you eat too much, like when you're not hungry, but you eat anyways, it's wasteful and called gluttony. God doesn't like it.

Jackson: ....oh...

Insert time lapse music here.....

Me: Jackson, you want some cream of wheat for breakfast?

Jackson: Yeah, oh, but wait, I'm not really hungry?

Me: (Oh crap! What have a I done?!) Jackson, it's okay, you HAVE to eat breakfast, lunch and supper and a snack in between. It's required.

Insert time lapse music here...

Jackson with a pack of licorice at about 9 p.m., looking happy and excited: Mom, look how about.....(look of sadness and worry coming over his face) oh wait...I'm not hungry though....

Me: JACKSON! IT'S OKAY, WE CAN HAVE A PIECE OF LICORICE!

Bless his heart!

Malia

Something's Fishy

2008-08-31T14:15:00.003-02:00

While in the Seafood department:

Dylan: Mom, (Because EVERY FREAKIN' SENTENCE HAS to start with this word) what is a scallop?

Jackson: Duh, Dylan, it's the thing on your head!

Malia

Avoiding the Inevitable

2008-08-22T12:03:00.007-02:00

This month has had a lot of firsts...first dealings with a job layoff, first year of cheer leading, first year of school for Emma, my first very best friend passing away (that would be my dog), my first dance class in..., oh my gosh...has it really been, 20 YEARS???!!!...some firsts bigger and more life changing than others...so far, I have avoided talking about the inevitable, Emma going to school...mostly because I couldn't. Even the thought of it would cause a flood of emotion. Her gymnastics coach asked me a couple of weeks ago if she was in school yet, simple question, but I couldn't answer. Of course the answer was obvious and she changed the subject quickly, probably thinking I was insane to cry over such a simple question. It's funny, here I sit crying just typing about it. Fact is, this is a close of a chapter in my life. This chapter ending means a lot of things for me, for one, I am that much closer to death! (Yes, I honestly think about this...daily...several times....like 27 times...at least!) Two, my baby is not going to be a baby much longer and I can't stand that. I don't want anymore babies, so she is it and I have to hold on to that as long as I can...or...I can just hold onto your baby? :). She is already trying to be more grown up than she is, wanting to wear her hair like the girl she saw in dance class or cheer leading, wanting to wear make-up or wanting to wear her skirt on her hips, like the big girls wear. Three, I am that much closer to becoming a grandmother, which at this point I am even looking forward to cause I know that is THE ONLY WAY I will have another baby to hold. In essence, I have to tell myself every day that 31 really isn't that old, although, your children growing up can really make you feel that way. I find myself comparing myself to celebrities on t.v., by age..."See Malia, Christina Applegate is older than you and Jennifer Love Hewitt will be 31 in February! You are NOT that old!

So, as you see there are many complex reasons in my little world that would have me crying at the mere mention of the words "Emma" or "school". So, yes, this is another post about her...the one and only, Princess Emma. (Yes, the boys are still alive and will be blogged about soon, I promise).

On this day, Emma's first day of school, we woke the Princess from a deep, deep sleep. She awoke with the most beautiful smile, bright blue eyes and blue birds sweeping her beautiful golden curls from her face.

We fed the Princess poached quail eggs on toasted rye spread with only the finest mayonnaise. You may think that is the remnants of mayonnaise on her face, but alas, it is the gleam from her sparkling white teeth.

The Princess then instructed us what clothes to dress her in and had us fetch her bag.

Then off to school we went, first dropping off the Princes, knowing that the Princess would most likely need us to linger in case she had a bout of shyness.

Out of the carriage we three piled, I grabbing Princess Emma's hand, lead the way across the parking lot and down the hallway of education. We got to her classroom door and....

she let go....

She walked away...without a whimper, without a word, without blinking an eye and certainly without a tear...

I walked back down that Hallway of Education, not making eye contact with anyone, praying that no one would speak to me, expecting an answer back, running to that parking lot as fast as I could, so that I could let out that flood that I was holding back. She was gone.

Later I would catch myself looking at the clock at least every hour and wonder what she was doing and if she was looking at the clock in the classroom wondering what we were doing. We remembered back to this day five years ago when a young Prince Dylan entered the Hallway of Education. He lingered. We wondered all day what he was doing and sat on pins and needles waiting for the clock to strike two.

So here I sit, five days afterward, still being emotional, still watching the clock. It ticks by too fast. A day that seems like forever until the clock will strike two also sends the years spiraling far too fast.

These are the moments that don't last long enough....

Malia

While I Was Out....

2008-08-14T01:58:00.004-02:00

Apparently, someone, was playing house....

These are her, as she explained to me yesterday, "Like...four kids."

Hmmm...some black high heels....and some trash? Mmmm...momma must not have gotten to the vacuuming while feeding those, "like, four kids"...

There is that sweater....I mean....(sob)....onesie...(sob)

Wow, look at all those shoes! What in the world are these doing in the hallway?

Hmmmm.....

Another one....ooooo, those are cute!

Into the bedroom we go, another one....

Aaaaannnndddd a purse.....
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Ah ha! The culprit...a tuckered out little mommy

Malia

Just When I Thought the Waterworks Had Dried Up...

2008-08-13T16:12:00.003-02:00

Me: Emma, look, I found some of your baby clothes. You can play with your baby dolls with them if you want to.

About an hour later....

Emma: Look mom, I found my sweater, and it still fits!

Me: (Sobbing) That's not a sweater it's your 0-6m onesie! (More Sobbing)

Malia

Growing Up...and Breaking Hearts

2008-08-10T05:28:00.002-02:00

MINE!

I can't believe that in eight days, my baby is starting school.

Malia

The Playground of Youth

2008-07-16T22:40:00.006-02:00

There is a little park in Chattanooga, Tennessee that we found while waiting for our departure on The Southern Belle Riverboat. It is the strangest thing though, it seems that none of the children were playing because, well, all the adults had taken over. Just have a look for yourselves and see if you see the strange phenomenon that I saw....

This seems to be the dad that started it all. I remember seeing him give his wife "the look". You know the one, "Ha, honey, watch this. Here, hold the camera...."

It did not stop there....

See, next thing you know, something came over grandma's eyes. It was like a gleam. Like someone had switched on a light switch....

This is a mom from a different family. She just started playing...

Here again...it is just strange. Do you see any children playing?

Now, is she going to scale OVER the wall?! Grandma, I don't think that is what they want you to do...

Look! Another dad!

Dad? Where is your child?

Another grandmother?! This place is magical!

Oh no, it's another one...

Grandma just had to bring her in on the cult that is the Playground of Youth...

Whoa!...

Tsk, tsk, tsk...

Oh, Wade, no, step away from the light....
Waaaaade!!! Come back!!!!

Okay, I give, I wanna play!...

Malia

Hey Again, Y'all!

The Help

The Stolen Life

A Little Bit of This...

A Little Bit of This...

A Little Bit of This...

A Little Bit of This...

The Kitchen Project

Hey Again, Y'all!

Nothing to say....

Settle in for a Story.....in 'French

Tips

Dream

Emmaisms

November 19, 2003 I saw Red.

Cause Daddy Said So...

Michael Jackson, poor guy.

Just for Fun...

Malia's Hoooouuuuusssseeeee

My Savings 6/28

Southern Savers Giveaway

Christy Says......

Just for Fun

Typical Emma

Just for Fun

Bravo!

I Got Nothing....

I Know He's There

I Hate That....

Soon

Hot Girls

I Don't Want to Grow Up

Christmas 2008

Washed UP!

Brrrrr!

Phillip Johnny Bob

Twilight

Worst Mom Evah!...How Fun.

Belated

Big Baby

Moms are made for...

Turkey

Hated

Acidic Hootie

S-P-E-L-L-I-N-G B-E-E

Reminiscing

The Ballet

Amen

Coollll!

Priceless

It's All in the Hair

Archives

This is Halloween, Halloween, Halloween!

I'm sorry, forgive me, but....

Round the Block....to the Waffle House

Round the Block

Autumn

God is.....

No One Mourns the Wicked!

Defying Gravity

Just....ugh!

Snooping

21 Names of God

Love

Who's the Boss

Good Kitty

Blueberry pie

Oh Pooh!

To a T

Ouch!

Sacrifices

Christmas Shopping

Inspiration

De-clogging

Pulling the Plug

I Know You

Blind Babies

Hopscotch

Clean Your Room!

Cheer Nation