Keep up if you can...

Have you heard the BuZZZZ? And I am potentially going to get in trouble for dog-napping.

Austins All-star team is the Buzz. Kinda funny name huh?  Anyway... had our first game tonight. Didn't go so well. They put us up against a team that we could not compete against at all.  And so you learn another life lesson. They put this team together but had no intention of telling us that we would be competing against teams that have played together for 5 or 6 years and play 60 games in a season as opposed to our 16. It was ...should I say   hugely unbalanced. Anyway, they hung in there. Austin played well. Made some great plays but it was an eye opener. Still having trouble with his " just newly surfaced" asthma (as of last football season) It get a little scary sometimes.

One more game and we are done. I myself am in great need of a break. Need some time to myself and a little breathing room from constant "boy duty" . Will have to do that here soon. Very soon.

Ok, now bout the dog part of my title.

I may seriously just kidnap this dog. Oh my goodness!!!

He belongs to a boy on Austin all-star team. He is a minature dachund and his name is ...get this...Stanley.  He is tiny .   

You cannot tell tell from these pictures just how tiny he is but he is like... 4 pounds tiny. Yes, I did state 4 lbs. He is half the size of my cat and shes a small cat. She might could even eat him. Thats a bad visual (sorry)

And I ...cannot stay away from him. It's pathetic. I wear the dog out. But he is so cute, I may just keel over from dog-itis. Is ther such a thing? anyway...

 When I see him coming...well it's all over.  But I'm not the only one. He's magnetic. Everyone loves him. It's maddness.

 

I'm afraid that while I am holding him I may slip him into my bag. I mean... I could,    he's THAT flipping small!

Who knew I would become such a dog fanatic. It has shocked me, let me tell ya.

  See he's about the size of his owners shoe size of 6  1/2. Can you stand it? I cannot. I'm in trouble. I think I need vacation or something cause I am like seriously considering more dogs. No, wait no,... no... no I'm not.

 Ok I'm good. Whew sometimes posting pics of painfully cute dogs or just being round Stanley can do that to me. And if you saw him it would do that to you too, and if the sight of him didnt do that to you, I would be seriously worried bout you, is all I'm saying. Grown men stop to cuddle Stanley. It's criminally precious.

Anyway thats all I have to say about that one and  I will continue to stalk cute puppys and post pics of them here.

 Cause I have issues. 

DIY Home Improvement and other crazy shananigans.

Ok so most of you know about model homes, some not so I'll give you a quick run down.  The "model"  home is there to entice the interested parties with a  glimpse of what their future home would look like or at least resemble somewhat. After all the lots in the neighborhood are bought and built on, then they sell the model.

Well, we purchased that model. About 7 years ago.  Fully decorated with window treatments and wall papers to coordinate. It's all so very purposeful. Anyway during the purchase process they deducted the price of all the treatments so as to allow the buyer to "re-do" the treaments to fit their own personal taste. Some of the existing decor was actually beautiful. Athough some of it was not at all to my liking I could most assuredly live with it. And with a  with a busy 4 year old and a second baby on the way I didn't see way to make any changes at that time.

Fast forward seven years later, now with two busy boys,a dog, a cat, one lone hamster and lots of peeling wall-paper, heavily dusty window treatments, not near enough storage and some seriously nasty carpet, repair and changes must be made. It's time. Can't procrastinate anymore, it just has to be done. 

So here I am

Doing my best to start the process.

This is the downstairs half-bath. It was the worst. Peeling wall-paper and well Morgan. Thats all I have to say really, but the problem is he likes to peel  uh...wall-paper and has added to the peeling problem during his "business transactions" at potty time. Nuf said. 

Problem was, the professional installers used so much dang paste it took me forever to do this small space.

This is the paste I scraped off the wall after I got the paper off. All the paper is off now but I'm still scraping paste. Does the word MODERATION register with all you wallpaper hangers out there for crying out loud.

As my sister says "wallpaper is from the devil"  She should know she removed it from 3 rooms in her home.

Its evil I tell you E V I L!!!   So with one room down I only have 3 more to go. Happy, happy, joy, joy!!

Anyway lots to do. With the boys coming home to be home schooled, we need storage (built-ins) , their is need of storage solutions in the garage and just basic changes to be made to update and make the house more family friendly, as of now ...its not.

I leave you with this happy face. Went over to grill with some friends of ours the other night and here is their new addition

 

This is Hershey, he's a labra-doodle. A lab and poode mix. And he has BLUE EYES!!! Oh my goodness, can you stand it!!!!

For the love of all thats good and right in the world what is it that makes a puppy steal every bit of your heart and attention and has you completely forget the chaos of man (and bad wallpaper hangers)

I don't know but it makes me want ten of them. Ok not really I'll just go visit my friends who have new puppys. That should work.... I hope.

Until the next episode of Home Improvement starring Sonja "the-tool-woman" Chandler. Wish me luck. 

Several bits of news comin at-cha.

The regular season is over for us. We made it to the second playoff game. We held the #2 team to a 3-3 score for most of the game until  the 5th inning when the other team took the lead. Tough loss. But as far as I'm concerned, we won. We surley outplayed them. But Austin was still bummed. He wanted to advance to the next round. He sure did his part. 57 strikes outs for the season, only 4 walks. In that last game he had 7 RBI's 3 doubles and made some great plays infield. I could not be any more proud or happy for him. He listened, played hard, concentrated. and well....he made a difference. Thats what we asked of him, and he did it. Keith did some great coaching as usual. Only got a litttle up-tight a few times.(smile-smirk-giggle)

But since Austin made the All-Star team, its off to new adventures. We'll have to see what that holds for him.

This one was named MVP agian this year. The coaches said some very nice things about him and again we are so happy for him  being  honored for all his hard work and passion to play. This one has me wrapped completely. 

And in the midst of gaining a trophy he lost a tooth.  Now entering into serious boyhood here people.

He got (as he puts it) "a whole six dollars"! Man is that tooth fairy ever generous!

 Fathers day breakfast. Full spread, with eggs, grits, turkey bacon, blueberry muffins and fruit. I'm pretty sure Keith enjoyed it, seeing that I never really get to whip up that sort-a thing very often. Yumm-o. We went to see the Iron Man movie (since Keith is our very own personal Iron Man) -now wasn't that clever,    and later we made cupcakes and took Blaze to the dog park. Fun times.

  Now we are back to monday and the list is long. Got several things to do round the house. Our T.V. died friday. Cleaning things out, moving things around. Getting set up for homeschooling soon. The garage is a disaster-gotta fix that. Lots to do people. Got two helpers though. I knew I got hard workin boys for a reason.

I'll leave you with this...first blooms from one of my hydrangea bushes.

  So happy to see these beauties. They did not bloom last year for some reason.

But they sure did this year. HELLO LOVLIES..... where ever have you been hiding.

Enjoy!!!

WE miss Aunt Jenni and we have a SUPA-STAR!

WE love it when aunt Jenni comes!!! She's a fun spot in our lives, a ray of sunshine really and good golly...you can't not love that smile.

  She she gets smushed on when she comes to town. Crushed like a empty forgotten soda can. Well not actually cause shes not forgotten and shes really not empty cause well....as she says this is just her getting her love tank filled.

So that was a bad analogy.

l

Anyway she came to see the boys play baseball.

Austin threw his 45th strike out for the season and HE MADE THE ALL STAR TEAM!!! We are very proud and excited for him. He worked hard for it.

Morgan played reguardless of his foot.

 I personally declared him "IRON-MAN "award recipent for the season. The kid is tough, you have to give him that.  

He played with all heart in the 98 degree heat.

Aunt Jenni was impressed.

She says she has the best two nephews on the planet. 

Are you surprised that I agree totally.

Thanks for coming Aunt Jenni we missed you two minutes after you walked out the door. We are coming up there next.

Love you!!! 

a waterlogged team, 3 fractured metatarcels and yipee... aunt Jenni is coming!

The eternally young Coach Chandler thought it a good idea to soak the baseball team (Austins) after practice last night. The boys didn't know what hit'em and quite honestly it was downright hilarious.  

.  

 

There were several super-soaker water guns, a whole case of football water bottles and a cooler full of water dispersed upon the unknowing White Sox team. It lasted all of about 5 minutes but they cooled off fast after all that drenching and well all I can say is paybacks are....well you know how the saying goes.

  Fun times people, fun times. The dads all were in on it too. Fun, fun times.

Now some not so fun times.        Morgan.

 Thats all I really need to say but I'll go ahead and tell you the whole sordid affair. Ok, it's not really a sordid affair it was actually just one of those "mother of a boy moments" where you sit a think to yourself....hmmmm  would girls have been easier and is there a place for trade-ins?  Just joking, I really love my punk boys ("long sigh") but anyway where was I...Oh yeah Morgan...well he asked to jump on my mini excercise trampoline I got 6 months ago when I got this great idea to bounce my way back into a size 8 (I would have even settled for a 10) that I've only used twice since then because it didn't work and because the only thing I "bounced my way to" were saggy-er breasts (if thats possible) and well lets just say my bladder has never  really been the same since birthing babies and the trampoline did not improve this aspect of my life either but you didn't really need to know all that did you.  But Morgan... well he asked  me so nicely and of course me being the wonderful encouraging mother I am and sort of being in the end of school year/back from Phoenix trip decompression phase, I said "Oh sure go ahead, just be careful"     Famous last words. Those are not only my famous last words but some days they are my only words. The words  I use most frequently as the mother of 2 boys. "BE careful, oh please be carelful. Hey boys please be careful alright, just remember to be careful, boys make your mother delirously happy and be careful today...I sound like a broken record, anyway, he did not actually fracture it by jumping,  it happened when he made a sideways dive off of the trampoline and slammed his foot into the metal frame of the trampoline. But we did not know it was fractured for a day because well... Morgan really does not cry nor does he feel much pain and he had to hobble around for awhile before my mothers intution kicked in (its kinda slugggish lately) and I said we gotta have that checked. Well, 2 doctors and  4 x-rays later determined 3 fractures on his 1 right foot and now I need 8 maragaritas. Can I get an AMEN sisters!!! Thank you...thank you very, very much. 

But he likes his boot.  He says it looks like Knights armour. Isn't that just like a boy to enjoy the brutality of a moment like this. He thinks its cool. I think bottles of wine are cool and  when my sister gets here this weekend we are going out to have one and I  am going to make a toast. 

 

    A toast to the joys of boys and all that comes with that. Broken meta-tarcels and all.     

Back from the desert

Our Arizona trip was a blast. Lots of fun and family and sun, yes lots and lots of sun. This is the boys at my uncle and aunts resort pool. They thought they had died and gone to heaven. It was big fun.

 Way fun. It was my dads birthday. He's 71 years young and it was a good time. Lots of cousins.

This is Bailey. Her and Austin are closest in age and had a great time.

 Then there is Bennett and Bryce. They're twins and cuter than cute. Here they are with their auntie Christy. Shes my cousin too. Lots and lots of cousins here people.  And then theres Bella. We can't forget Bella. Well no one can forget Bella cause shes so darn cute. Too cute for words and well ya just can't forget about Bella. (can ya shelly? Ok I'm only teasing-inside joke here people-between my cousin Shelly and I who just happens to be Bella's mommy, and Bennett and Bryce and Bailys mom too) Man that woman is busy!!! if I do say so myself.

Then there is these two adorables.

This is Gabriel an Dominic. Very beautiful children. They belong to my cousin Amber who is also due with a little girl in about 4 weeks. Whew we have some serious fertility going on in our family I'll tell ya. And these two just happened to think Austin was REALLY funny. And Austin really loves little ones so he took a real liking to Dominic...well because hes little and cute. And he made them laugh and giggle and then he did this a lot.  

He carried Dominic around alot. It was cute. Now my cousin Shelly suggested that we girl cousins pose for some pics together which I thought was a smashing idea but then we did not do it and now I have no pictures of them to show you, so that was kind of  dumb, but hey it gives me a good excuse to make another trip out there...right?

Now we went to celebrate my dad birthday but we got to see all the family which was really wonderful.

Like my soon to be 94 year old grandmother. Who is quite amazing, if I do say so myself. We got to sit and talk a lot

which was very wonderful. She gets around and

does for herself really well. It's awesone to watch.

    

An then theres sweetie -pie Josh. So very glad I got to see him. He wanted to see me too which

made me feel so very special.

We basically just stayed at the house and swam and played. And what a house it is. My aunt Judy and uncle Steve built it a little over a year ago. It's quite beautiful. My dad has a tiny apartment so we could not all fit there, so  getting to stay with them was quite a blessing.

As Austin put it "This is like being on vacation Mom!!" And then I quickly reminded him that we had never stayed anywhere that nice on vacation before.

 

He also stated that it was "way more than he what he expected". Quite a funny guy that Austin is.

They mostly played in the game room

partaking in shuffleboard and pool and occasionally watching a movie on the big screen. 

They played alot in the back yard.

In fact Keith and my Dad had a lot of fun playing crochet (spelled?)

See!!

But the best of all was the pool. The boys were crispy by the time we left, But oh what a wonderful time they had. We all did and we are grateful.  

ch ch ch-anges

A final walk. Completing elementary school. Moving onto middle. Big change. This is the fouth graders final walk throught he halls of David Lipscomb Elementary. Sad for some, a big celebration for others. For us it's a celebration. We are excited.

This guy has worked hard, had fun and really learned to endure. He did say it was a bit sad for him, leaving and all, especially since we are not coming back at all next year. But he is excited for next year and said to me this morning "Mom your gonna be a great teacher"  Love that kid, really do! It will be an awesome and great adventure for us all. Morgan... well he said he will miss (take a guess)   the gym. Go figure. He even did a little fake weeping "scene" at the gym doors this afternoon when we were saying our goodbyes.

   Goodbye hallways, goodbye purple and gold, goodbye seven and half hour days/35 hour school weeks. Goodbye. Goodbye and good luck. We wish you all the very best your heart can hold. Thank you.

 It's been fun. Have a great summer.

Oh yeah and goodbye to my hair Got it cut off the other day. I suppose it was time, but I cannot make it look like my stylist does and it makes me REALLY mad. Why? because its kinda why I don't like having "a hair-syle" You have to style it and well....I can't do that. Looks nothing like the day she did it. Nothing like it. And whats even worse, it took me 40 minutes to do THIS. Oh well, is all I can say.

We are off to Phoenix for my Dads birthday. He is turning another brighter and we thought we needed to be there for that. My aunt and uncle just built a new house and we and excited to see it. They have offered us a stay there and we are taking them up on it and are grateful.  I'll post pics when we return. Sinora ya'll! 

Elvis has left the building, but not before he stole the show!

                                                                                                 I have been waiting to post this story because I wanted to get a clip of the video we took from the night and post that too but that is proving to be  a bit to "techy" for my brain to handle at the moment, but I'll get to it later... but for now... picture the scene if you will. 4th grade play. They had been practicing for weeks. The play was about our great state of Tennessee and all the historical and celebrity details of this beautiful part of the country. Austin was given the part of Elvis. Very approporate for those of you who know his "entertaining" personality. Well, there were a quite a few classmates that decided that they were jealous that Austin got this part and proceeded to mentally beat him down about it until his confidence had all but diminished. He had not told me this until one day I unexpectedly dropped in on practice and stood at the back unnoticed. When his part came up I expected to hear his rendition of "nothing but a hound dog"  loud and clear, but what I observed was a red-faced boy, looking at the ground,  very quiet, mumbling the words of the song and his music teacher saying "Austin YOU HAVE TO SPEAK UP"! ,while several kids snickered and stared at his apparent melt dowm. Kids are just so delightful aren't they?. Imagine my surprise. What could be wrong I wondered. In the car he confessed that several kids were saying things like "you should not have got the part and that so and so could have done it better" or here's a good one... one of the two girls who were playing the  parts of  "the Elvis fans" told him he was stupid and to shut up. Kids are just so adorable don't you think (my saracasm level is higher today than usual) The tears welled in his eyes as he went on about it and then we had the talk. You know the "kids are jealous because they can't stand for someone to be good at something that they're not good at" talk. We talked about how because he was good at singing and entertaining that he would always have people who would want to say untrue and unkind things about him or basically take him down. And that the whole reason for their hateful words were to stop him from doing what he was good at. I said "they are hoping to stop you Austin, they want you to not perform well" He was amazed. Then I told him "It's time to show them how little you care about they're dumb comments and much you care about being the person God created you to be. He got quiet for awhile. I told him the best way to do that was to give a performance that would make them all shut up. Go out there and do what you do and what could they say then. He understood that. He got that they would all be shocked if he just gave the performance of all performances. And he listened. He kept on practicing and well...                   He blew them all away. Even his mom and dad.

If the audiences reaction was not enough to convince Austin of his great efforts then the compliments and pats on the back from parents and grandparents and even people that he did not know sure did. He was hilarious and sang out with great projection. He swung those hips and swooshed that cape and at the end he did the big Elvis "arm circle" thing and went down on one knee (we put that in at the last minute for effect-none of the kids or teachers had seen it before then) And he had so much fun he almost laughed himself out of  a few of his own lines. While the audience continued laughing and clapping he laughed too.

A lot of the kids even came up to him and gave him his due congrats.

One mom said "he irrefutably stole the show Sonja"

I have to agree. And what  a lesson learned.. Now some of the kids never did say anything to Austin especially the ones who had originally said unkind things but for Austin it just proved what he had learned. Some will never like you simply for you being who you are. And he's ok with that.

And I hope he always remembers the feeling of a "give it all you got" performance and a job well done.

And as he said.....

Thank you..thank you very much!   

 

Peonies, just for me. Ok, you can have some too.

This is my favorite flower. Hands down. Simply adore it. If fact my brain believes God created it just for me. And I'm thankful. I'm thankful a lot. Oh, now I do like other flowers, yes, I mean I love roses too, especially cabbage roses and cally lillys are supurb, and I can't forget my mothers favorite..tulips and begonias have me at hello. I could go on and on but the peonie has first place in my heart.

While at the market yesterday I spotted these little beauties. They were sitting their so abundant yet gentle and kind and they sort of winked at me and then wispered my name and said, we really need you to take us home. I think I needed them as much as they needed me. Now I perfer any peonie but the ones that have a nice pink blush of color have me at hello and I cannot resist.

  These are white and can I just say... ridiculously beautiful. They light up the entire kitchen. I'm going to plant some here soon. I want bunches and bunches. So I can share. See, I may be irrefutably convinced that God had me in mind when he made these little gems of velvety gorgeousness but I'm a very generous person and I will give you some. Just as soon as I grow them.

So what's your favorite. The sunny sunflower, the dancing daisy or how bout the maginificent marigold? Which one did God artfully piece together to capture your heart? I would LOVE to know!!   

5 hours, several bruises, one x-ray and a 2nd black belt.

Keith's black belt testing was saturday which makes for a very long day.  You see, he already has a black-belt. See here... see that black-belt around his waist, yes he is already a black-belt but you see there are many levels of black-belts. Yes, its true. Nine to be exact. I think there is only one 9th degree black belt in the entire world and let me just say, if I was in any sort of threating altercation, I wouldn't mind knowing the guy. But I don't know him and quite honestly I'm fine with that because I  now have a 2nd degree black-belt in my midst, and what a 2nd degree can do in connection with anyone trying to do me any bodily harm well... let me just say I'm feeling pretty good about knowing Keith right now. Anyway, so saturday we had a gruelling 5  hours of patterns, sparring (hand-to-hand combat) and board braking. And that takes a lot of endurance. And sweat. As you can see here on his dobok jacket. Lots and lots of sweat here people. No one wanted to touch Keith after this. Nope, not even other sweaty people.

Ok so there were patterns, patterns and more patterns.I began to believe I just might could sew a dress with all the patterns floating around there but anyway, lots of good patterns. Keith is very precise about patterns. He's OCD like that. When he saw this picture he was upset because his back foot was not in proper position. Not happy bout that one bit.

Anyway on with the story.

Ok, then some sparring. See, this is precisley why I could never, ever, ever, never, ever, ever, ever, never, ever, ever do this sport. It's hard core, punching, hitting and kicking. They try to kill one another in cold blood. Ok, not really, but for heavens sakes people, I could never enjoy standing there punching someone or being punched all in the name of self-defense. But I do like to shop. So anyway's....

Then there are the skits. Where they get to showcase how the self-defense moves would come into use in a real life-threatening and dangerous situation. Here Austin is helping Keith with his skit. It was on how to defend yourself when dealing with irrate and violent sports figures, such as Pac-Mac Jones for example. It was very informative and funny. Very, very funny.

See here Keith is taking down the newly traded to the Dallas Cowboys Pac-Man Jones (see the corny made-up Dallas hat Keith rigged up) after Pac-Man tried to rough Keith up when he asked for an autograph. (I can't believe Dallas wanted the felon) I mean what I meant to say was, wasn't that a neat skit Keith came up with?

    

See Keith beat Pac-Man Jones into submission here. It was a beautiful thing. I meant to say that Keith has great form in this area.

Ok, so here's where the x-ray and the board-breaking comes in. Not in that particular order. And this is another reason why I could not participate in this ridiculous,  I mean fun and entertaining sport and past-time. You gotta break boards. A lot of them. With like your bare hands and feet. I have one little question..why...once again I mean look at how awesome Keith performed. He blew through his boards so fast I barely got this one shot fired off out of my camera. Well, that actually was the truth. But the last one proved to be a bit of challenge.

This is a very difficult kick. See he is going across his body and that takes a lot of power and strength. But HE DID IT... but not before he nearly broke his foot, well, not really. Itt was just really bruised and  he kind of limped around for awhile and so he went and had it x-rayed and they said, it was ok and now all is fine and well in the land of Tae Kwon Doe.

So now he has another one of these, and

   

another one of these.

And we all are very, very proud of him and I'm a little grateful he cannot test for another 2 years for his 3rd degree.

Amen and Hallalujah!!

Congratulations we are truly glad to have your mad skills close by.

A Mom Day.

It was a mom day for me the other day. I was missing my mom. Sometimes I have a mom day here or there. Not as frequently as I use to but they can pop up from time to time. When I say I was missing her I mean I was missing her in form. Her smile, her great hugs, her amazing ability to understand and her listening ear. I need a listening ear badly lately. Someone to really hear me. And she was the only one who could do that best. Of couse, because she was my mom. Now there are some days are so busy and crazy that I don't even know where the 24 hrs disappear to and the thought of her never even passes my mind but she is still with me. Her energy, her love and all she instilled within me. But the other day was a "I'm missing her being right here" day. Maybe it was because I had to go to the dentist last week and I felt this overwhelming need to call her and say HELP ME MOMMY PLEASE!!! I'm a big wuss like like. Especially when it comes to dentists. But who knows for sure. She will have been gone from this earth 5 years this August and although I know shes here more strongly now than before, I tend to revert to my selfish ways and want for her bodily presence. I then tend to sit and wallow in the question of why she really had to go and then I get even more goofy, but..... then something wonderfully amazing happened to me. I jumped in the car to run to the grocery and I started singing that Dolly Parton song you know the one where she is kinda of speaking the song instead of singing it, the one Whitney Houston sang too. Well, I am not a huge Dolly fan but I knew some of the words and its as if I was hearing the song for the first time. It was not on the radio and I had not heard it before I got in the car, but I sang slowly and listened very carefully all at the same time....

"If I should stay, well I would only be in your way, so I'll go and yet I know that I'll think of you each step of the way"

I felt my mom speaking to me. I didn't cry I just sat in amazement at the words driving down the road on my merry little way to get milk and eggs and so I kept singing (in the Dolly version -not the Whitney version-the Whitney version would have been to big for me to pull of)

"Bittersweet memories thats all I have and all I'm taking with me". Goodbye please don't cry, cause we both know I'm not what you need, and...... I ... will always love you..... I...... will always love you.

And then these next few lines really got me... "Now I hope life will treat you kind, and I hope that you have all you ever dreamed of, and I wish you joy and happiness, but above all this I wish you love....I will ALWAYS love you.

And that was that. I still did not cry. (I didn't do that til I sat down to write this) But I felt and knew that it was from her. Truly!! Thanks Mom. I love you too. ALWAYS..I will always love you.

I know this for sure, letting go and realizing that those we think we have lost but haven't really, is a process. You can tell someone that but until they accept that truth for themselves, that our loved ones can help us tremendously more once they passed is to hard for some to believe. It was for me for awhile. But know I know, it was the best thing that could have happened. It was time for her to go. And it is in that very letting go, in the surrender and the relinguishing of control that we find true unending peace and at that moment that life for me became a dance for joy. Truly.

Now I'm off to spend a mom day with Morgan at the kindergarteners Mothers Day Picnic. He's gonna sing. I can't wait. Must go enjoy every second.

Pain.

I think we all woulld agree that we don't particularly enjoy pain. I know I don't. Even though I have a ridiculous and uncanny high tolerance to it I still don't really want to go through any sort of pain, be it physcial or psychological at any given time. Pain is suppose to tell us something.  It was created by God to alert us of a potential problem. So why don't I listen. I'm not sure why  but at times I think certain boughts of pain are fun little challenges to overcome and I have no idea what I think I'm proving by doing so. Its not like I'm going to win some "Female pain fighter of the Universe" trophy or something. Geez, I need to let that go. Now withstanding and overcoming pain can be helpful at times I'm sure, like with the birth of Morgan. He came flying out without even so much as a wimper from me. (sorry for the visual on this one) My doctor was not ready for this, the delivery coming so fast and all. As  he sat there in ruffled surprise, the nurse  said "we did not even dose her epidural". He then  peered up at me through my knees and with a deeply concern look on his face and asked "are you sure your ok". Oh yea, I'm great I replied!!! Good time for high pain tolerance. It did not bother me one bit. But I think Keith needed some attending to after that. Anyway I do tend to overlook pain from time to time and its not always for the best. Like last week. I've had a nagging toothache. I decided it was time to head on in to the ye' ol' dentist. Now the tooth in question was already filled. 25 years ago. So I though why the heck is it hurting. Well found out fillings wear out. Yep, just like shoes. Who knew? So they did alot of work, cleaned some stuff up and sent me on my way.  Alot more problems in their than I had anticipated. Big pain in the wallet too. And then there was still some physical pain. Not a lot, just a slightly uncomfortable amount and I, being the professional pain fighter that I am, took it on like a champ. Only this time being able to laugh in the face of my throbbing gums wasn't so wonderful. There was a deeper problem and over the weekend it became increasingly apparent I could not win this match.  I have to return tomorrow for a (take a guess) root canal. Yep, don't that just beat all. More pain and more money. All for teeth. Problem is I can hardley function at this point cause of the pain. Pain reliever is helping some, but this ones a doozy.  Had I just went in months ago when it started to hurt, I may not be in this position. Pain is trying to tell us something people.  So I'm done with the trying to beat pain.. Yep I'm throwing in the towel, retiring from the pain beating business and I going to be a full out wimp from here on out. No, not really. I'm just joking with ya. But I will not let pain get out of hand anymore. From now I will will sit and listen to what pain is trying to tell me and then boo hoo and cry and complain like a baby till I get help for it. Yep, from here on out it's wimpville for me. You have been warned. And if you haven't gone in awhile...get to the dentist quick. Really,  go,      go now before crazy things go on in there like it did with me. You be happy that you did. And remember...listen to the pain from here on out. Its trying to tell ya something. Really is.

Protect this house!

This kid can be tough. Normally he's a sweet, kindhearted and a very loving child. Always has been. It's just in his personality to think of others. Not all the time, but for the most part he "thinks" correctly in terms of being kind to others. I guess what I'm saying here is he's not a bully. No. Not in any fashion. With the exception of his brother, which he can at times be controlling and pushy and I guess somewhat of a bully. But thats brother stuff. But he will protect his brother too. Oh yes, don't mess with his brother cause he won't stand for that either. He can be tough.  But overall he's really a sweet kid to those considered his peers. Unfortunatley some of his fellow students...well lets just say we can't really call them sweet or kind. And thats a nice way of putting it. This year in particular we have had several incidents with a group of children that for the most part leave a little to be desired in the "well behaved" department and quite honestly it has gone beyond ridiculous, but worst of all it is never been addressed. By anyone. Teachers, staff or parents. Although I did hear one fathers comment after his son was caught in a particularly bad stunt say  " well, boys will be boys" I said alright then if thats how you would like to approach the problem, lets rethink things here. I mean I thought putting my son's in a christian school who's motto is " to serve students so that they may master knowledge and skills appropriate to them and become Christlike in attitude and behavior"  meant that things would be a little different. But I guess not. You learn as you live I suppose, and well....I said ..lets reposition ourselves here. 

It happens almost with every generation I suppose. When I was in third grade April Tisnado, a hispanic girl who came from a rough and troubled family thought it was her God given right to frequently, and profoundly make everyones life a living hell. And being the special girl that I am  she singled me out specifically. I've always been lucky like that.  After one really difficult week with little miss bully, when I realized I couldn't take any more of her cruel cutdowns and pompus threats I went home and confessed the whole horiffic tale to mom and dad. They're advice... "stand up to her". Gulp. How was I suppose to do that when the mere sight of her sent me  packing in the other direction. While I was trying to figure out how I would heroically stand and proclaim that I was no longer going to be the target of her brutal attacks she was plotting to "take me out". Not to lunch or to a movie. No. She was mapping out how she would jump on my back and beat my perfect little combed head (always with a cute little barrette) into a ugly shade of black and blue. Well, let me just tell ya people... instinct kicks in at the most necessary of times. I suppose its survivor mode. But after I drug her by her hair the entire length of the basketball court she mysteriously didn't have any problems with me anymore. In fact after sitting in the principals office for a long duration of time  she actually (can you believe this)  wanted to be (I know its hard to believe) friends. Some people have a really twisted way of getting that acoss but to be exact, her and I went on to be really great friends.  Weird and unusual I know...anyway...on with the Austin story.

Austin has had "several" bully's mess with him this year. One just yesterday. Came up while he was walking to the bathroom and kicked him in the shin while several others laughed and asked if they could hit him too. (the irony was that it is was a kid that I personally helped in the library 2 days ago and also asked him how his baseball game went saturday after we saw him at he ballfield)    Maybe some of them are just trying to see what they can get away with. See what they can pull with Austin, who I describe as "the nice kid who, looks cool but does not act like the cool kids act. Who is both athletic and artistically talented, yet does not play the role of cocky tough kid. So they want to test him. Try him out. Ok, well , Austin got a little lesson last night. Protect this house. Stand up for yourself. Sorry if you are a "turn the other cheek" kinda person. You might want to find a corner, curl up and suck your thumb for awhile, but last night we gave Austin full and complete permission to lay out any kid who messes with him again. Yep, FLAT on their back. Five years of football as a middle linebacker will help ya with that. So we instructed him to use those skills. We told him, if knocking the kid on his back was not condusive to the area where the problem was taking place,  then just pop them in the nose. Little blood is good sometimes. Wake'em up a bit. But until this school calls a "zero tolerance" rule ob bullying and fighting and until still school is out for summer (cause we are not returning there)  my child will protect himself with whatever instinct that kicks in. And my response when they call me about the incident "oh well, boys will be boys"  Yes they will.

Hurry up last day of school.

Austin and his school buddies. They are ready for summer break. They want out. Trust me I can tell. The zombie like looks on their faces as they stagger through the halls are enough to show that they want to hit the road, jump in a pool and well.... just be homework-less for awhile. Here they are on yet another field-trip. We have been on 5 in the past several months. Teachers way of saying "we want out also, out of teaching your children. No not really, I'm sure those lovely reachers would go all year round if they could. But they field trips are wearing me out.

Anyway we are not returning to school next year. Not this school anyway. We are entering the Chandler school for worn out and weary boys. Actually thats just a fancy way of saying I'm home-schooling my punks next year. Yep, I'm diving in. Gonna take matters into my own hands and straighten those boys out, just kidding they don't need straightening out. that just sounded like I was really takin charge Anyway, I have been thinking about this for a long, long time now. Austin was in 1st grade when I thought "are these people at this school crazy or what", no I did not really think that but I was wondering if I could perhaps, ya know, being his mother and all, be better able to understand, teach and communicate with my child rather than someone who had never met him before the day he walked into their classroom. But it was just a thought at that time. A little pebble rolling around in the back of that gray matter between my ears. It was not till this year when Morgan began kindergarten that I really had a major awakening.  Morgan Chandler...umm I mean Mr. social, everyone loves him, top of his class, busy-bee Chandler. The one who spent his entire summer dreaming, planning, readinging himself to go to the school his big brother has attended for so many years now. Yea, that kid well surprise, surprise ....... he did not like school one bit. The excitement lasted about three weeks then  WHOA NELLY we could not get him out of the bed. So I revisited the homeschooling idea. Scooped up that pebble rolling around in the back of my brain and sat down to examine it. I made a list. Ya know, pros and cons sort of thing. These are some of the reasons I am choosing to homeschool.

1. Austin and now Morgan do not enjoy the school day one bit. (they may have a subject or two they enjoy but thats it)

2.School dictates our entire lives. All four of us. (we even have trouble fitting haircuts in) and Dr. and Dentist appts. are especially  difficult.

3. My children spend 35 hours a week in school. An adult "full time" job is 40 hrs. They are 10yr and 6yr old. They are not adults. And I never see them. Plus they are seriously exhausted when they get in the car at 3:00 pm everyday. Won't be long and they will be out in the working world, for now they need to be kids and to learn and enjoy. And the 7 and 1/2 hours they spend in the school is evidently not enough time to get work done cause they keep coming home with it every night. Sounds like a time-management problem on the teachers parts to me.

4.Some of what they choose to teach I would never even bother to inform my children about. ( global warming, saving energy, etc.) once again- waste of time.

5.We can travel when we want to. Leave for spring break vacation earlier or later, take a 3 week christmas break, take trips anywhere, whenever we want. Basically choose to live our own lives.

6. The stress of waking at 6:30 am getting dressed, hair combed shoes on, fixing breakfast and lunches and rushing through traffic to get somewhere by 8:00 is borderline insanity. No wait, it is insane.

There are many, many more reasons. I could go on, but for us the "cons" such as not seeing long time school mates and teachers everyday that we did enjoy are not reason enough to stay in a place where the boys don't thrive and enjoy life and learning. It's just not worth it. They should love learning and love getting up in the morning (at a decent hour) and should be excited about life and all there is to know and discover and right now that is not the case, and especially for Austin it has not been a good experience for him in a long while.

So The Chandler school for the weary boys will be in session starting next fall, and I know there will be and adjustment phase and we'll all have to get use to seeing each other a whole lot but I know it is absolutely, positively, without a doubt the right and most perfect decision for our family. And I am so at peace.

Yee haw and Amen 

   

      

In full swing.

Our baseball season is well underway and Austin is pitching this year. We did not know he had this skill, but it is apparent that he is very good and is becoming better every week. We are so happy for him. Four stike outs (two in a row). Staring pitcher for his first game of the season then he had a save for this past weekends game  to close his team out with  a win. So far they are 2 and 0 and are having  alot of fun.

He is a very accurate pitcher. Throws a lot of strikes that the kids actually swing at as opposed to super fast pitches that kids refuse to swing at. He's Greg Maddux-ish like that. But I'm his mom and like to make those sorts of comparisons.

He likes to get it right across the plate. And does a good job if I do say so myself. I like to brag on him cause again I'm his mom. Maybe it makes me sort of feel like I had something to do with it. Who knows. Its a mom thing.

  But what I do know is he gives it all he's got and well... that makes me proud. Cause I told him to and .. he listened. Thats really nice.

Lots of intensity. Yep this kid loves to pitch. And it shows. Lots of intensity here folks.

His coaches gave him the game ball after his first game. We were happy for him. And well... I just love those dimples. Its a mom thing.

And this one...well sheesh people just look at him. No one wants to go up against this one. No way hosea. Hes a lean, mean, baseball hittin machine, and well...thats all I have to say bout that one.  Recruiters want him, chumps fear him. Again its a mom "braggin" thing.

I think my kids are great..just ask me I'll tell ya. Can't help it. Well I can but I'm not stoppin. Nope, sorry.

He is one good hitter at 6 yrs old and a serious 3rd baseman. Very Chipper Jones-ish if I do say so myself. There I go with the compairsons again. It's that mom thing.

But we do have an true athelete on our hands here people. I always tell those who comment on Morgans uncanny abilities that some were just made to be on a ball field and well, I think this may be one of them. This will be funny to read back on in 20 yrs if he decides to go into engineering, but its fun to dream right along with them, don't cha think?

Look at this pic guys. I love this one (its a mom thing) I can hear Keiths comment..." PLA-YA's right here ya'll " (thats a Dad thing)

Ahhhh yes... this is how we will be spending the remainder of our summer. Having fun at the ball field and bettering our God given skills and abilities. Its a beautiful, beautiful life ya'll. Really is.   

   

A quick note reguarding the last post.

Keith and I would prefer to be called something other than what Morgan has choosen to call us concerning our outward form. Which he refers to as "fat". We are hoping you will oblige us with "pleasantly plump" if you don't mind.  Thank you for your consideration.

This one

says some interesting things.

Like the morning I woke him up for school and asked him how he slept (like I ask every morning) and he replied on this particular morning.  "I don't know... I closed my eyes and then I opened them, thats all I know" Wish I slept like him.

Then driving home after ball practice the other night he asked "Mom have you ever seen a shooting star?" to which I answered "yes, have you?" Then he replied "never in my whole life...then came a big longing sigh, then he replied "man.... I REALLY wanna see one" . Wish I aspired to find the small joys in life the way he does.

Then while all of us were on our way to get a bite to eat a few weeks ago and he exclaimed from the back seat "me and Austin are the only skinny ones in this family!" Keith and I looked at each other and then I asked, "well if you two are skinny, what are Dad and I?" to which he bluntly replied "your fat!" Wish I could call things like I see them sometimes they way he does. It would make my life so much easier. Or maybe not.

Don't you just love kids?!! Especially this one.

I simply adore this dog.

I do. And how could you not, I mean look at him...cute perky ears, darlin little black bandit masked face and that pink tongue. Can you resist? I can't. Especially when he does this...

  I want to hug him forever.

Hug him and smell his stinky little dog smell and feel his still soft puppy fur and well....just hug him forever.

I also love it when he makes this face..

It's funny. Kinda like hes' tryin to smile for me. (see those teeth) Personally I think he is smiling for me. I think he is the smartest dog on the planet and that he like totally knows what a camera is and totally understands me when I say smile and so he does it. Like totally. Well I do. So..... who cares what you think. Anyway. I also love this...

When he watches the boys play ball. See, he's watching one Morgan has just cracked out of the yard. He' s a good "watch" dog. No pun intended.

Then there is this endearing trait. Tolerance. Unending tolerance. I wish more humans had this trait. True tolerance. Non judgemental, non controlling, easy going, truly accepting tolerance. See that punk cat of ours, she is in HIS water bowl and just before that she was in HIS food bowl.

See. He is watching her ever so closley yet does not disturb her in any way...except....

when he decides to bless her with a proposal to play with him.

In which she immediately reponds with a  "get out the back jack, no need to be coy, roy, just get off the bus gus" refusal.  A big Hiss is what she gives him really.   The nerve. But he does not  mind people. Really.

He retreats, tolerating her rude refusal, all the awhile happily relinguishing control over of HIS water bowl to the cat. And sits with her while she drinks away her worries. It's a beautiful thing.

I won the lottery in the dog department. Yep I did. I simply adore this dog.

I simply adore this dog.

Side note here. Oprah had a show last week that shed light on the 10,000 dog mills that are currently running in this country that supply dog stores with puppys. It is brutal and unacceptable behavior that these dogs must endure, some of the dog spending their entire lives of 10 yrs or more in a chicken wire cage, their paws NEVER touching ground. (most of them don't know how to walk when released from the pen) And some female dogs are made to have as many as 120 puppies in her lifetime. It is bewildering and insanely cruel but it can be stopped. Do not purchase puppys or dogs from a dog store. Supply and demand here people. If we don't buy the dogs, the dog stores won't purchase pups from the dog mills, then dog mills shut down or at least  will decrease in activity. If your buying from a breeder (which is totally wonderful -you don't always have to rescue a dog) make sure it is a top notch breeder. Good dog breeders will take back a dog they have bred and sold even as much as 7 yrs down the road  if they are no longer wanted, because they care about and love the animals. The dog mills main focus is money. Anyway good info there people. I am grateful to Oprah for this kinda stuff. Log on and find the show to find out more info here www.oprah.com.

And go love your furry animal children right now!!   

   

OOOOOOOOklahoma where the winds come sweeping down the plains

Actually, Nashville where the country music stars are thick as molasses. It was Pioneer Day for this kid. This is a big day. A right of passage really. Only fourth graders get to participate in Pioneer day and all those little underclassmen punks....well they will just have to wait.

See this is a big deal. They do all kinds of cool pioneer stuff. And I know about pioneer stuff cause I read this little ladys blog right here all about pioneer'in  www.thepioneerwoman.com . Is pioneer'in a word? Oh, Ok,  anyway, I know about it cause Pioneer Woman tells us all about the ups and downs of a pioneer life. And I love her for it. Why might I be interested in the going-ons of a pioneering life? Cause Pioneer Woman is funny. F U N N Y! And heartwarming and kind and funny and crazy and loves photography and shes funny and agoraphobic and she calls her kids punks like I do and picks her toes like I do (which is uncanny and slightly scary-maybe we were separated at birth) and she has a 4th generation rancher for a husband (who by the way is the most amazing mix of strength and tenderness)  and shes funny, and has the cutest kids, and the most adorable cows and she loves her husband dearly and shes funny. And she posts great recipes. Did I forget to mention that shes funny? Good Ok, and I like all those things. Thats why I'm interested in the going-ons of the pioneer life. Like it was any of your business anyway. Now...on with my story.

Oh yes... Pioneer Day.                                                                                       

We dressed him up best we could to look like a pioneer. Please overlook the Johnston & Murphy, wallstreet, brass clasped suspenders. They dont look very pioneerish but its all we had. And that is one of Keiths oversized plaid Old Navy shirts. Its all we had. And I bought the hat at Wal-Mart bout 4 years ago when I thought I wanted to start sportin the "cool cowgirl look"  as you can see that didn't quite work out for me. Its more like the "cute, plump stay-at-home mom look" that I'm pullin off these days- but I'm ok with that. Really. Just don't bring it up again. But the hat.. its all we had. And so this is how we sent him out the door. So very cute. Just look at those dimples!                              

Wait.....we need a little somethin here.

Ahhh..there we go. Definately more authentic now. (minus the suspenders) But better. I'm having a problem with those suspenders.

So. He started the day by sawing logs. Really and truly. He really sawed logs. But I missed it, cause I got there late. I'm a bad mom like that.

Then they wittled. Honest. But I missed that too. I'm ashamed of myself.

Then they started this here stew fer dinner.

(please overlook the cameras on the table-they did not have those in pioneer days. No. Not at all.

Then they cooked that stew over a fire and added a bottle of ketchup and worschester. No, they didn't actually have those in the real pioneer days, but our stew tasted much better.

We just got plumb full to the top on that there stew.

Then they made candles. Pioneers didn't have electricity. But I'm hoping you already knew that. Because I would be wonder'in about you if you didnt is all I'm saying. Please overlook the Nike tennis shoes. They did not have those either.

After all that work he felt the overwhelming need to breakout in a jig.

Where did ya come from, where did ya go, where did ya come from Cottton-eyed Joe. 

OOOOOO-Doggie. that boy was just side-splittin funny to us.

It was a knee-slappin time.

The Justin Timberlake of Pioneer day. Trust me we were ALL crackin up.

                                                                                               

Ok..he lost the hat people. This is where things got out of control. So this is the end of our trail. Happy trails to you Thank ya for stoppin by. Ya'll come back now ya here. Mosey on over any ol' time. Yee Haw.                                                            

Moments like these...

I can't resist. They make my heart sing They have me snapping  ALOT of pictures. They make me want to scoop this child up and gobble him down. They make me want to have 3 more just like him and... ok.. not really , I'm not that crazy now people. No. No way. But ...these moments right here are quite honestly the best life has to offer. Undeniably.

The best ever.

Like a moment such as this one moment where he heard the snap of my camera and stopped and turned around and he looked at me and I looked at him (and then of course he looked the other way for a moment right when I snapped the picture - dadgum it)  And well I just looked at him and then I took in a deep breath of gratefulness and then he turned around and went off on his merry way. Thats a moment. For sure. And I just had to explode inside with joy because...well look at him. You can see it. He's an eternal well of cuteness, joy and unhindered energy. A huge gift.

It's really quite magnificent to watch. Moments like these,   I'll tell ya. Just awesome. My heart ..well it just giggles with pleasure is what it does. Truly.

Moments like this moment. First practice of the season. He's REALLY watching that ball.

And this moment, the crack of the bat and then the energy really starts flowin.

Then this moment here, when he is watching one head for the outfield.

And then of course a moment like this because of his up-close profile that.. well... its just the concentration he's got goin on here people. This was a moment. I took every bit of it in. Eyes open, heart open, (camera ready of course) but I was THERE.  And I took in every little bit of this moment.

And a moment like this. (the tongue really helps in a situation like this)

And this moment.  I just had to slip this one in, and while this one makes my heart giggle in a whole different kind of way, its still a moment to take in. For sure.

(Good coach and Dad here people - very good- trust me I know..I've seen it with my own two eyes)

Moments like these are too good. Priceless really.

I cannot ask for more.

No way. I just can't.

I'll trade ya.

Ok so I joined this group online of lady artists. It's on this incredible ladie's site right here..

www.teresamcfayden.typepad.com . I love this. I am having a great time with the fabulous projects and have to say, I truly enjoy meeting people I would never get to if not for the internet. Truly, truly truly. Especially being a creator myself who enjoys making stuff all the time. It's nice to know I am neither crazy nor alone. Its good stuff people.

Ok so from time to time they have a swap. Yes, a " I'll trade ya" sorta thing like we use to do when we were kids. With our stuff. As little girls it might have been barbies or plastic jewelry.As big girls it's more like nice tea cups and handmade art. This is awesome!! Awesome I say. It's my first swap, and well... it may be just the first of many I will participate in, it will not be the last and I certainly was going to do it up "Sonja style". I know my family members reading this will be rolling there eyes saying thats the way I do everything, but ya know what, we should all give our best everytime, right? Right!

I wanted to show ya'll what I did. The theme was a the "Queens Tea Party" sort of thing. Fun, right? Well for me it was anyway. Here's what I did...(I already had a lot of things I wanted to swap/give)  I made a few of the other items and then purchased the rest on the budget we were given.

Here's the tea party I was planning for my fellow "Queen". I did not know her personally which made it all the more mysterious and fun.

I could not send her a real bouquet for her tea table, so I made one. The petals were images of Victorian ladies and roses and button centers, of course. I REALLY enjoyed making these.

Never underestimate the power of a single flower. (even a paper one)

Made this little door hanger for her.

   

Here's the reverse side, it says" Time for Tea, please do not disturb her Royal Highness" -every Queen needs one.

Here are a couple of my great finds.

A tiara and a tea chest from Michaels. Both a "major" bargain. But oh so very perfect for my swap. I am hoping my recipent Queen who heralds from the great land of California (thats where this "Royal Parcel" will be sent) will love these. I hope it overjoys her little socks off.

                                                                          I packed in some delightful tea, dainty cookies and a napkin or two.   

Made a quick "royal scroll" announcing who the package belonged to and adorned it with her initial. My fellow Queen holds the royal name of Michelle.   A tea party fit for a well.... a Queen for sure.  The pleasure was all mine really. All mine indeed.

I hope she enjoys every little bit of love in there.  I think thats all a Queen ever really wants anyway isn't it?! sure.                                                                                                                                                                  

Hope you had a very colorful Easter.

A little chilly here in our part of the planet but we enjoyed the day reguardless.

This was a quiet Easter for us. Keiths mom and Dad usually make the trip here to spend the holiday with us. Unfortunately for all us she is still healing and getting better and therefore could not make it this year. And si