February hummmm drumm and more....

I don't know if it is just because winter is still dragging on or not but I seem to find myself in a strange funk. Over the last few days I try but it seems I am just feeling the dumps. Winter, although I really do enjoy it, drags on longer than I would prefer. I have spoken to God many times about this trying to rally support for a Thanksgiving start of winter and a Happy New Year good bye to winter. He doesn't seem to take my ideas to heart though. Once again I'm sure that my tiny myopic view doesn't understand his master plan but from where I sit anyway the winter should be OVER! I am ready to see the first pops of the crocus and daffodils in our yard. I do have to admit I felt so much better.... even had a spring in my step after buying Kendall some over the top cute spring and summer dresses! Funny how for a moment shopping makes everything better.

I also have been a bit more than mildly upset that the government seem to be again messing with us regular people. As I understand in a very short time there will be new regulation in place that will prohibit resale stores from selling products unless they have been extensively and expensively tested for lead. While I am not wanting anyone's children to get hurt in any way I think that this regulation is going WAY over board and more families are going to be hurt by an ever dropping economy. I personally like shopping in the resale shops. I like that things aren't going into the landfill, I love dressing my crew in name brand clothes for less. I feel so bad for the work at home Moms that supplement or make their family income working on the cool crafty stuff that we all love to buy. Why at a time when so may of us are struggling to make ends meet is the government making it harder??? I have yet to see any positive comment for this rule that will take effect at the end of February.

What are your comments on this.......... if you have any reason that this is sane let me know. Really, I won't bite your head off or anything. Just trying to make sense of it.

Not Me Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.


So here I am pouring my heart out about all the mis-steps and goof-ups that I have had over the last week. Now understand I did NOT have that many. We will keep the list short ...... how about I confess by the day?!?

Monday
I did NOT start the week by shoveling the icy driveway in a pair of old spiked shoes from the girls softball days. I did NOT still BITE it bad! I did NOT secretly hope that the neighbors would zip down the drive on their tractor and see me in distress and scoop us out in a minute instead of me shoveling for 45 minutes. I did not start to stress about a dentist appointment that I will have in one week, NOT me. That would be childish and silly........

Tuesday
I did NOT tell the boys that I was sure tennis lessons were canceled because of the roads when I knew they weren't. I just knew that I would have to hop over to my favorite shop and buy Kendall more clothes. Clothes she has NO closet space left for. I have SO MUCH more will-power than that. So we stayed home and the boys missed their lesson this one time. I mean really...... it's not like they will be playing tennis anytime soon here in Ohio. I did not finally get a fancy (complicated) new phone to replace the one that Kendall used as a weapon last week. I DID get one that has the same charging connection (yea....) It did NOT take me over an hour to figure out how to call on the phone and then it was four days before I recognized the frogs and cricket noises as my ring........ the boys and I wondered where those animal sounds were coming from......

Wednesday
We were so busy and industrious... we finished school by 12:00 and we even made it to kids bowling on time! We did not have a good time with all the other kids and then go out for a snack with all of them. When we got back in the van it did NOT do "its thing" and start. It plays this game with me just every once in a while. If you give it a bit it will start..... you just have to be humiliated. We did NOT try to look like we were "waiting" in the parking lot on purpose. The humiliation joke is on the car though..... it has happened for so long and been looked at so much by the "experts" (and cost so much $$) that know when it happens the boys just whip out one of their fabulous prayers and then at some point off we go so no humiliation in our car! We just use the time to stop and reflect......... or growl, grump, and snarl.

Thursday
I did NOT decide that we were going to cut out the junk food and I was going to start cooking only healthy food. 2 hours later I was NOT hiding in the laundry room eating a Hershey bar I found in the frig. Now I think the rest of them should eat healthy and I have NOT got a stash of goodies for Mommy.

Friday
Tim and I did NOT get into a knock down drag out (well not really) fight because he was being COMPLETELY ridiculous and not listening to what I needed. I was completely in the right......... well I thought so until I wanted to run over 3 cars on the way to the store while singing Amazing Grace all the way there and then all but mowing down any poor person that dare get in my way while at the store. I did NOT grab 2 candy bars on the way through the check out. hmmmm ..... should I just whisper that I am NOT a bit PMS'y right now.

Saturday
I did NOT completely decide that I wouldn't even talk to Tim for the day and then realize that his parents were coming over and that plan wouldn't work well. Still thinking that PMS is hanging around because after about 1 hour of the whole family I wanted to run from the house screaming. I did NOT head out to do chores only to find that all that ice had turned to MUD. So nice and sloppy deep that your boots kept getting stuck in the mud...... after almost loosing them I finally did NOT loose my balance and then end up in the mud! I love Ohio........ I love Ohio..........I love Ohio.... I need a vacation.....

Sunday
I did NOT spend most of the day working tirelessly on the Valentines Day boxes with the boys. I did NOT wish I had a creative bone in my body so that we could come up with something catchy and cute. I did NOT almost BLOW when my DH couldn't keep the baby out of the sun room while I made business calls. He couldn't seem to stop playing the Wii with the boys long enough to help me out. I completely had to leave the room when he told me that he "couldn't" keep her in the room with him, she was uncontrollable. Lastly I am NOT just about to jump out of my skin about the dentist thing.....I LOVE going to the dentist and I know that there is nothing to be afraid of. It is NOT an out of control fear. I would NOT trade giving child birth consecutively to all my children with no drugs again as a trade......... nope NOT ME!

Say a little prayer for me this afternoon as I face the giant...... or dentist as I like to call her.........

What about you????????????

When you were little............

what did you think your life would be like? How close to the mark have you come? I remember vividly when the girls were little Tiffany would stand and say "when I get big I am going to be a Doctor and a dancer..... Oh yea and occasionally she would say and I'm only going to have one baby and I am going to be a mean Mom like you are." This always happened when she had to go and sit on the step. Courtney on the other hand held to the dream that when she grew up she was going to be a unicorn. Now Logan tells me he is going to be a scientist, and Taylor well he thinks a race car driver..... let me just say this one has me a bit concerned. Funny how the oldest of each set is more of a "real" job and the younger is more of a dreamer.

As for me as a child I was sure that I was going to be a Mom, I wanted that from the earliest memories that I have. I had dolls that were my babies for years.... I just wanted to be a Mom I wanted to bake cookies and be home. I also knew that someday I would have a cat and a dog IN the house. I was never allowed as a child and I thought that would be the best. Well, if you fast-forward I AM a Mom of 6, and I LOVE it 98% of the time. The pet thing well, it is much bigger than I ever thought. I went from the kid not allowed to have a pet to the adult that in a few short days will be able to say that I have been in the "llama" raising, showing, judging business for 20 years! We have 12 llamas here now, but at times we have had up to 48 llamas. I have delivered near 100 cria. Wow, although the chores are sometimes yucky and I have been "up to my elbows" places I never dreamed not bad for the town kid that once in a while got to have a fish.

Oh yea and I also got to have the dog in the house. We don't have a cat inside anymore but there are about 20 outside all tame and all with names. None in the house because we also have a large parrot named Max.

So tell me........... what about you?????????

Wordless Wednesday

Not Me Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

Well it's that time again............. can you believe it???? time to unload about all the things we did NOT do the week before. You know the ones....... the ones that you pray nobody who really knows you ever finds out. Thanks to MckMama and her blog for giving us all this much needed therapy at such a rock bottom price!

This week I did NOT feel a bit jealous that not one but 2 people that we knew were breaking free from the bulk of their kiddos and taking cruises. I did NOT wish as I was shoveling 10 inches of snow off our Looooong driveway that I was basking in the sun on our private deck.

I did NOT make a teeny mistake in the checkbook and double enter a deposit. Well, see it really was NOT my fault! I over heard my dear husband talking on the phone and distinctly heard him say Wow! That is great I didn't think we would get a bonus." Upon hearing this I did not excitedly call the bank the next day and record the amount given on the automated system. I also did NOT actually speak to a customer service person and have them tell me that the 3 deposits I was speaking about were in the name of my husbands employer. I did NOT then quickly and deftly write checks to the tune of 1,800.00 and feel so proud that I whittled our national debt down a bit before my husband could spend the money. Great plan but the deposit was from another time and I over drew our account in the exact amount! Argh.............. I did NOT then wriggle and wriggle and find ways to pull us back out of the red without telling my dear husband. He would NOT have been upset at all, NOPE........ he would be ever so understanding.

I did NOT catch my sweet little girl treating my cell phone like a ball bat and then start to freak out (in the mind only...no children were hurt or affected in the making of this nervous breakdown). How in the world would I live without my cell??? And until this morning it worked fine............. now ummmmm well no calls can be made or received. The only good thing about it is so far the phone directory still works.

I did NOT once again put off the dirty detail of logging in all our information to get things ready for the tax preparer. I wouldn't do that............... I was too NOT busy dreaming about ME being on a cruise ship!

I did NOT have bad dreams the last two nights............... creepy real ones. I love to dream about dark scary things.... yea its a favorite thing of mine.

I did NOT just put the puzzle back in the box that Logan got out. 500 pieces of confusion, my attention span is not up to the lovely waterfall with the tiny flowers ALL over it. TINY pieces that don't seem to be very clear...... are there more than one place that these pieces fit???? and NO I do NOT need glasses. I have perfect vision and am not near old enough to be needing glasses. I also just LOVE to change my hair clolr slightly every 6 weeks or so .... I have NO gray hair..... not an old person here....................yikes!!


I did not post these pictures of my sweet youngest baby because she was so adorable. And that is NOT a McDonalds french fry that she is holding onto. I wouldn't give her that kind of junk to eat. No, not ME!






Last but not least I did NOT post on the BLOG about a Seriously cool magazine. Just pop back and see the post.

I can hardly wait till next week!

Serious Life

Hmmmm the title can conjure up all kinds of images in your mind can't they? Life is serious.......... life can be serious in so many ways. How many times have you worried needlessly about some issue that you think will just pull you under? I read my Bible and read.... try to convince myself that worry is a sin. It's right there in the pages of the Bible. Do not worry about what you will eat or wear. BUT we humans seem to love to worry don't we? We love to think that we can can control and steer our lives. Who do we think we are kidding anyway!?!?

So I am working hard to realize that no matter what is trying to drag me under, there is always someone else in more need than myself and I should get off my pity pot and help someone else, isn't that part of the plan?...to be a blessing to others. I have become one in an army that have come to love a little girl named Abby. A little girl that I will probably never meet. A little girl who is beautiful with an infectious smile. A little girl with Dad who is blessed with words. A little girl with a spidey brother named Landis, a little girl who was brought here to the United States to be loved by a forever family...... oh yea and a little girl that is bravely fighting a battle with cancer.

This post on my blog is for the Riggs family and their magazine and I hope you will all take a look at it. Real life and the people that live it. Won't you give it a try??????

No words...................

When I logged in yesterday bright and early I did my normal and checked out all my "bloggy" friends sites to get the prayers right. Once again too soon another family has had to release their sweet child from their clutching fingers to heaven where God in his mighty wisdom has called them home. Little Tuesday has been healed and is dancing with Jesus. This little girl just grabbed my heartand now it is breaking.

I know all the flowery, "religious" quips....... been there said them, had them said to me. There is still a very human part of me that just has to scream and cry out...
THIS STINKS GOD!!! I love you with more than I am, I will always follow you and I try to never cry out in anger at you for circumstance. But my heart just breaks for families that just wanted to raise their babies, watch them grow and get gray hairs from them.

I know they will be spared all kinds of human trial, like a get-out-of-jail-free card they are living the high life. But here on earth the buckets of tears just keep running over.

Hug your kiddos, tell them how much you love them and praise God for his love and mercy.