My Lifetime's Not Too Bad!

Well, we're kind of almost done with football season. Jason's team (Junior Varsity) has only one more game, and the Varsity will be done around Halloween. I never really know what to pray for during football season - if we pray for a great year, they could have games all the way to Christmas (I'm depressed just thinking about that!). But how can you pray for a lousy season??? Even though I didn't exactly pray for it, they've had a lousy season this year. Oh, that's too bad...(wink, wink).

Every year, though, I get into a good routine on Friday nights right around the time a lousy season would be finishing. This time, Dub & Bo's  Nana & Pop took them to several of the games, and even let them spend the night a couple of times. That was awesome (for them AND me!).  Even when they are here at home, though, I get to have several hours of "free" time once they are all in bed. And I like to have Lifetime Movie Network on during that free time.  Of COURSE I don't just sit on my hiney and watch TV for hours...No, I clean the entire house, and cook all of next week's dinners, and iron every shirt in the house, and paint the shutters, etc.  While I'm busy doing all THAT, though, I like to have the TV on as background noise.

Let me just tell ya - these movies can be so terrifying! Not in the Poltergeist kind of way, but in the "Oh, man, she had everything going for her and just lost her mind for ONE SECOND and her entire world caved in around her" kind of way.  Jason & I joke about how it's usually the Man's fault. If an alien is getting all its information from Lifetime, it would assume that All Men are evil, and Women are either extremely strong in character or the most vile, vindictive, heartless, backstabbing creatures...maybe that's why they are staying away from earth!

Anyway, last night's movies were especially terrifying for me. The first one, which I caught just the very end of, was The People Next Door. It had to do with a childless couple who kidnaps the kids next door, and the mother(single, obviously) who never gives up searching for them. Fortunately, she finds them after more than a YEAR. Y'all all know that's my biggest fear (losing my kids).

The next one was based on a true story - The Familiar Stranger.  It was about a man who embezzles money from his employers; he decides the best way to "save" his family is to commit suicide, leaving behind his faithful, loving wife, and two sons, ages 12 and 9. A decade later, they find out that he is still alive, and had only run away to start a new life.

The last movie I was able to see (or not see...) was also a true story: The Stranger I Married.  The husband is on his way home and has what should have been a fatal car crash. He survives, though, but after coming out of his coma they find that he has amnesia. He doesn't remember his wife, his kids, his life before the crash, really not even anything about himself at all. The end of the movie doesn't even satisfy me because it isn't resolved in a nice little package where all his memories come back.  I guess that can happen with true stories!

It's a shame to have to admit it, but those movies made me count my blessings.  Even though my kids are wonderful and adorable, they can absolutely get on a nerve!!!  But I would so much rather have those nerves gotten on than to not have those kids, whether I never even got to have them at all or to have them taken away from me in some way. I am extremely thankful for the opportunity and privilege of being a Mom.

And Jason - he is not perfect. I complain about how he's either too ____________, or not nearly ______________ enough, or even that he "never" or "always" _________________. (The blanks are because my complaints change daily.)  But as bad as my complaints seem to me, they could be infinitely worse!!!  So I am thankful for my husband, warts and all. :)

Lifetime Movies have a way of making me realize how scared I am of things I didn't even know I was scared of before I saw the movie. Maybe I should lay off of them? Well, football season is almost over, so it will be almost a year before I get to see any more. You know Jason won't watch them with me!!! But that's ok.  At least they aren't making any movies about MY life! I'm ok with boring, if boring means extremely blessed with a good, normal family!!! I LOVE YOU GUYS!

The Visitor At Church

We all learned our lesson at church last night. There was a visitor....


This visitor came in without anyone noticing. He found his spot, worshipped along with us, and decided to stay for classes. That was when he was finally noticed.

He wasn't the best looking visitor, bless his heart, and once people saw him they moved on to other seats, some of us as far away as possible.

Yes, I was part of it. I didn't like the looks of him, so I sat as far away as I could. I really wasn't trying to be ugly, and in fact I didn't even notice until I heard some other ladies talking about him. But I sure didn't try to be friendly with him!

I listened to some of the others talking about him, and I even got in on the talk a little bit. It really was pretty funny what they were saying. They were saying that someone needed to go over there and escort him out, but we couldn't pick the right person for the job. He was dirty looking and diseased (probably) and he just wasn't right for our church!

Well, class time was finally over, and we all got out of there quickly without making any eye contact. But someone did manage to take a quick, discreet picture with her cell phone:

Even a mouse needs the Lord!!!

By the way, the story is true (more or less - there really was a mouse) but that's not actually a picture of our visitor.

Still a Newbie

I had this super-cool slide show from photobucket all ready to go as a "Wow, it's been a long time since I've posted anything, so instead of just writing about it, I'll show pictures" catch-up post, but for some reason I can't stick it on here (great grammar) as anything but a gadget. It just goes to show that
I have NO IDEA what I'm doing!!!
It worked so wonderfully last time.  And I wanted to have a link right here to that other slide show,  but since it wasn't an actual POST, I can't get a link right to it.

I miss Arrow. :(  My little computer geek wizard brother.  Yeah, Kenny's good too but he's got 500 kids (actually 3, like me) and an insane work schedule.  And wonderful AMAZING Holly - she really does have 500 kids, plus she says she just plays with it until it looks right...so she obviously has more patience than I do!

We'll all just have to live with that slide show being a banner on every page until I get sick enough of it to fix it.  And actually, I'm going to keep trying.... 

Hopefully this post will be obsolete in a while! :)

A Visit From SUPERMOM

Yesterday started out like any other day.  Dub and Jason went on to their respective schools like normal, and the rest of us went about doing whatever it is we do when we don't have real plans for the day.

But the day took a turn.

On Wednesday, Jason dropped his somewhat new cell phone in a glass of water, and although it wasn't ruined, the touch screen would no longer work.

That's when Supermom first showed up.

Supermom came and immediately found the resources needed to FIX the cell phone.  She didn't even have to reset the whole thing and therefore lose all the data on the phone.  Phenomenal!

Poor Bo got bored with the day pretty early.  He asked if we could "go somewhere."  Like where? He suggested Target because he knew I would probably go for it.  But no, Supermom was here, so we didn't settle for Target!

Supermom packed up and took Bo and Little Lady to the playground!  Oh, but wait, it gets even better!  Supermom also packed a good lunch for them and we had a nice picnic at the playground. Unbelievable!

Supermom decided to stick around for a little while longer.  After school, when all the kids were begging for a snack, they were not given the usual pretzels or 100 calorie packs.  No way!  Supermom whipped up three beautiful and extremely healthy homemade strawberry and blueberry smoothies, and all three children were sent away with a pat on their heads and a smile on their faces.  Amazing!

The day wasn't over yet, though. Little Lady was supposed to take a nap, but she just wasn't having anything to do with slowing down.  Regular mom almost took over, which would mean LL would go to her bed anyway and Dub and Bo would be sent outside to play in the yard.  But Supermom said, "Hey, guys, wanna go to the pool???" Oh yes!  The pool will be closed after Labor Day, so we took advantage of the hot day and went to play.  Supermom is a little crazy, though - she let Dub and Bo go to play in the "big" pool while LL and I stayed in the baby pool.  Regular mom would probably have said no to that. They had the best time ever at the pool, and burned off some of their excess energy.  Incredible!

The last thing Supermom did before she flew away was cook supper.  She does not do huge multi-course meals like you might think.  But she does cook kid-friendly meals that happen to be very healthy!  We had Chili Cheese Burgers (kind of like sloppy joes), and all through supper we heard comments like, "This is the best supper EVER!"  Even Little Lady ate her food!  Astounding!

Too bad Supermom can't live here.  But I love it when she shows up!

Take Out Your Violins, Please

Cue the Sad Violinist and his pity party music:

Have you ever just had one of those weeks?  Or is it just me?  I mean, I am really trying here, but I feel like I'm swimming upstream.  Or climbing Mt. Everest.  In my bathing suit.  With high heels on. No, wait - heels would help me dig in and get up faster.  Ok, I feel like I'm digging a mile-deep hole with just a baby spoon. Or sweeping the dust off a concrete floor.  Whatever, I'm not the greatest at imagery.  It's just that I have too many things to gripe about right now, and since blogging is much cheaper than therapy, and I don't want to scare off my family and friends by complaining to them, I'm letting it all out here!

And so now it's time for the Airing of Grievances:

We all got sick on Saturday; well, three of the five did - Jason, me, and Dub.  I know that happens.  But does it always have to happen on the weekend???  We couldn't even go to a cousin's birthday party because of it.  We didn't even get to go to CHURCH!  At least it was "just" a 24-hour deal; but that was a really rough 24 hours.

Dub was out of school Monday because of that sickness.  He missed being at school, which makes me feel good that he's having a good time.  But he blamed ME for "making" him stay home since he didn't feel sick anymore, and now he's got "all this make-up work to do."  Which is also homework for me, by the way.  Let me reiterate, I could NOT homeschool!!!

Bo started Mother's Day Out again today.  That's great.  But he begs and PLEADS for me not to make him go. Ugh, talk about guilt trip!  I have tried asking all the questions to get to the root of why he really doesn't want to go; so far there doesn't seem to be anything specific, he would just rather play here with me & Little Lady.  Sweet, but....  You know, I kind of think it's out of habit that he keeps whining about it, since he really does have a good time there.

No one will take our dog.  Yeah, that sounds harsh.  But we really can't keep him here!  He's too big & energetic for our yard. We've put an ad out on Craig's List (twice now), but no one has decided they can't live without him yet.

Jason has a new additional position at school.  He is still a teacher & football coach, but now we can add Business Manager to his resume.  We never get to see him during football season anyway, but it's even less (less than never???) with this new position.  He has to go to EVERY home game of every sport that sells tickets.  Did you know that they sell tickets to volleyball games?  I do now!  Jason said that this week there are 11 home events that involve tickets sales.  Guess how many next week...one.  Can't they spread them out???  I volunteer to make the schedule!

To be a little too personal (but it's my blog), I have been trying very hard to start losing the three-baby weight that I've been sporting since, well, since I was about 8 years old (can't blame the babies for it all, then!).  I found my new favorite website about three weeks ago, Calorie Count, and at first I zoomed down about 6 pounds.  Then nothing.  I am so frustrated!!!  I'm not even cheating!!!  I mean, if I weigh the same whether I eat healthy or eat whatever I want, what's the point???  Y'all, life is NOT FAIR!!!!!  Have I mentioned that I am SO FRUSTRATED?????

We're taking Financial Peace University at church. YAY US!!!  We are doing our very best to live on our one teacher's salary (yeah, plus the extras now) budget.  And we're doing pretty good so far.  We have class on Monday nights.  Guess what else is on Mondays? EVERYTHING! Including Jason's football games.  And that's only because one little bitty coach decided it was too inconvenient for him to have his games on Thursdays like they've always been, and he pitched his little hissy fit to the right person and they changed it for HIM.  I'm not even exaggerating (too much)!!!  Poor Jason can hardly catch his breath, much less use that breath to talk with me (whole 'nother issue, I'm not even going there....)!

And this past Monday, at our FPU class, the lady doing the child care for this week did NOT show up!  At least not until almost 45 minutes late.  So everybody left their kids with the three teenage girls, who honestly are extremely reliable, but that's about 25 high-energy kids with these three girls.  We decided to keep Little Lady with us in the class (of about 33 couples, so 66 people), hoping that the lady would show up.  Well, sweet LL is not a sit-around and do nothing type of girl, and so as she tried to occupy herself she squealed a little.  I didn't think it was too disruptive, considering the size of the fellowship hall, but we were CALLED OUT!!!  We were told rather loudly, "Uh, there's child care in the back."  This guy had the nerve to say that he would have no problem leaving his 13-month old (if he had one) in that small room with all the other kids, with only teens watching over them all.  YEAH RIGHT.  I think we should call DCS on him retroactively!!!  My only alternative was to go on and take her home, since I wouldn't be able to participate in class that night anyway.  I mean, we all paid for the course and were promised child care; if there's a problem, we ALL HAVE TO ADJUST!!!  Do you really think I would skip out on child care?  I'm ALL FOR child care!  Maybe I'll just sing him the Guns 'N Roses song, "Just a little paayyshheeennssse [patience]...yeeeeaaa - eeeaaaaahh...."

*Sigh.* Well, that's about all I can think of right now.  I'm sure I'll think of more as soon as I hit "Publish." 
Or probably more things will happen so I'll have to do a Part Two.

I'd say thanks for reading, but you're probably not reading this anyway.
-Eeyore

The Fark

Hahahaha, that title makes me laugh so much!  We told Dub and Bo that we were going to the Wilson County Fair, and they got tongue-tied, combining "Fair" and "Park," and out came "FARK!"  It has stuck.  I don't know if we'll ever go to just a fair or a park again.  It will always be The Fark.

We went to the Wilson County Fark last night...which happened to be in the middle of one of those nice little thunderstorm systems that sticks around for a few hours.  Great planning, I know.  But we couldn't go any other night, so it was worth taking a chance on it.  We waddled through many puddles in our flip flops (again, great planning), and at first all we did was look at the exhibits.  That's one of my favorite things anyway!  We got free pens galore, little (junk) toys, pamphlets, samples, notepads, etc. etc. etc., plus all the popcorn and peanuts we wanted.

(Little Lady helping herself to some popcorn)






Even some lemonade (picture courtesy of Dub):

Finally, the rain let up and we got to go to the Midway.  We are on a budget (who isn't?), so we couldn't get armbands this time.  We got a few tickets and told Dub and Bo they had to choose wisely which rides to use their tickets on.

And here, I would like to give a shout-out to the very classy carneys...

Please notice the cigarette that he so skillfully held onto while ensuring my kids' safety:

I know Little Lady wanted to ride everything her big brothers got to ride, but she didn't complain too much.  She was especially happy when we let her out of her stroller to stretch her legs.

Always with the milk, that girl.  :)

So anyway, that was our trip...it wasn't perfect, but you know what?  Dub and Bo were so excited the entire time, and they thanked us over and over (without prompting!!!) for taking them.  It kind of made me wonder about my own perspective.  We don't have to have all the money in the world to have a good time at The Fark!  We can choose our favorite things and have just as much fun.  And who cares about the rain?!?  We weren't miserably hot and it wasn't crowded at all.  Two years ago when we went, the temperatures were still over 100 degrees after 8pm, so the cooler temps were a REAL treat.  And we didn't even give in to the funnel cakes...or caramel apples...or deep fried whatevers...meaning we saved tons of money and calories.  I might even call this one of my favorite and most memorable trips to The Fark.

We're already planning for next year! :)

This video is so wrong...but so funny

Dub and Bo (especially Bo) love love LOVE to play outside, no matter what the weather is like(unfortunately for me!).  Like mailmen, neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these little darlings from the swift completion of their appointed outside play.  Oh, and just to get off the subject for a second, we have found apparently the ONE THING that will keep mailmen from the swift completion of their appointed rounds: yard sales.  We had a yard sale, and since we live on a cul-de-sac the cars had to park in the roundabout; our mailman delivered to only about 3 houses on our street and then moved on!!!  To my knowledge he never returned (until the next day), but I could be wrong.  No, I'm not. :)

ANYWAY, this video was taken recently while we were outside playing.  Dub wanted me to record him doing something - I forget now what it was - and Bo was going about his own business.  The video is only 4 seconds long....  You can laugh - I did.

He's ok, I promise!!!  He did cut his knee, so I got to play nurse.  Believe it or not, these guys don't get hurt too often, which means they did not get their sense of balance from me.  Thank goodness my name isn't Grace!!!  Yes, Bo has broken his arm before, but that was just from being too daring, not from being "uniquely coordinated," like me (also known as clumsy).  He's a tough one, that Bo!  He got up and went right back to playing as soon as he could.  So you can add "scooter accidents" to that list of things that will never keep them from their outside play.  100% boy, and I love it.