My Little Life

Hey friends! Before I get to today's post, I've gotta tell you a little somthin'...I'm the guest blogger today for the Crayon Wrangler ! Tuesday's are her new blog hop, " If You Teach a Mom a Lesson ", which was born from her wildly hilarious "Lessons Learned" posts! So, today, I have a Lessons Learned post up over on her blog! You should totally check it out...and join in! It's an amazingly fun, easy post to come up with! Now...onto my post for today!! ------------------------------------------------ You know...about this time last year, I made a tongue in cheek comment about not being ready to be a First Lady . Mr. Wonderful had just been elected to our (small, private...but elected, nonetheless) school's school board...and I was excited about his potential impact on our children's many children's Catholic education. Not to mention, I was totally looking forward to getting the insider information about the "hot button"

Today is Memorial Day...a day to remember our fallen soldiers and an opportunity to thank the ones who are currently serving our country. Our US military, and their families, make me so incredibly proud and humbled by their service...I sometimes find myself in tears. So, with that...thank you. Thank you all SO much for what you do and how you give. I am an incredibly grateful US citizen who appreciates the men and women, and their families, who sacrifice so much to protect our freedoms and what American stands for. I am amazed at your dedication to our great country, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart. All my love, respect, and admiration, PS...if you haven't seen the submissions for The Pioneer Woman's "Coming Home" photos, you should check them out. They're amazing. Breathtaking, heartwrenching, and simply amazing. Make sure to grab a tissue...

It has been a non-stop fun weekend...with AMAZING weather (except for today...gloomy, upper 60's, blah...) and FABULOUS fun! We have another fun filled Memorial Day event planned for tomorrow...and then only THREE more days of school for my kids! Yippee!!! I live for summer vacation. Sleeping in, beachin' it, popscicles and slip and slides. Morning activities, garden watching, camping and s'more making. I LOVE it! Do you love or loathe summer vacation? I'm gonna start a thread over in the Fencepost (<------click there to go there!) on this very subject! Check it out! Okay...it's Date night! This week's Date of the Week is: "I am a southern girl, born and raised in Georgia. Living currently in NC. I am wife and mother of 3 with the oldest at 21 and the youngest is 3. My blog is about my life and my experince as a Doula (Professional Labor Coach). I share Birth Stories, cooking ideas, pictures of my children and any cooking ideas I can find. Currentl

YOU are amazing. If ever I thought I was an adequate mom, I was put right in my place when taking care of a friend's twin boys. Honestly...HOW do you do it? Granted...their daddy forgot bottles for them, and we've long outgrown bottles and thrown away our BPA laden Avent bottles of old, but still. Wow. I would settle one of the adorable little guys and the other would start up. I had nothing to offer them but applesauce. Real. Adult. Applesauce. Good thing they've already had some solids! Honestly, I was about ready to whip out a boob...since that was always my own go to tactic with my kiddos! Okay...I really wouldn't have let them nurse. I mean, if I had milk, then yes. I think I would have (I was THAT desperate!!), but since the milk factory's been shut down for a while, it was a no go! You should have seen those little guys when their mama did arrive! The nuzzled in and nursed like they hadn't seen her in hours. Which...okay...they hadn't. Mother's

Alright...so, I mentioned vlogging it...and I'm all jacked up on adrenaline at 12:34 (ha! 1, 2, 3, 4!) at night (er...morning) so, what the heck! Why not!? Warning...it's a whopping 7++ minutes long! Sorry!! I got a little wordy and a smidge punchy, but, as always, I had fun! Rules for Five Question Friday : Copy and paste the following questions to your blog post, answer them, then c'mon back to link up! If it floats your boat, you can even grab the blog hop code! I would love it if you'd link back to me, Mama M., but that's not a requirement! ;) If you don't have a blog, but want to play along...feel free to answer the questions in the comments of my blog, or any blog along the way! And remember, the linky is always open til Sunday night...so any of you who are late to the game, can still play along! (Aren't I thoughtful?!!) Questions for Friday, May 28 th : (Special thanks to Lorilynne , Erin , Sandy , Kyrsten , and Renee for their question suggestio

Happy almost Memorial Day weekend!!! I am so looking forward to this long weekend! Then, just a few more days of school and summer VACAY ! Wooo hooo !!! Time for our Thursday Night Five Question Friday Sneak Peek!! Remember...this is your peek at the questions...the linky will be up tomorrow morning! Perhaps, I'll even try to vlog it. But, I'm not promisin ' nuthin '! Rules for Five Question Friday : Copy and paste the following questions to your blog post, answer them, then c'mon back to link up! If it floats your boat, you can even grab the blog hop code! I would love it if you'd link back to me, Mama M., but that's not a requirement! ;) If you don't have a blog, but want to play along...feel free to answer the questions in the comments of my blog, or any blog along the way! And remember, the linky is always open til Sunday night...so any of you who are late to the game, can still play along! (Aren't I thoughtful?!!) Questions for Friday, May

I'm having a hard time with something. Something that I've never gone through, but will certainly experience again. My baby is growing up. He's a full fledged teen-ager, more man than child, now. Shaving, going to dances, interested in girls. Is it weird if my heart is breaking just a little bit? That I get teary over these things? In one week, he will have "graduated" from 8th grade. He will make his venture into public school and high school next fall. I'm not ready for him to grow up. I want to keep him young forever. I know that these teen years are a struggle for a reason. I know that we are now taking our first steps into the separation that will come when he graduates from high school. And I am SO not ready for it. For any of it. I hear this gets easier. With each child...but WOW! I had no idea that this whole "growing up" thing would be so hard on me! Excuse me please...I need to grab a tissue.

For the past week, I have been woken at 5 am. Not by a child that needs me. Not by an alarm clock. Not by my husband. I've been woken by this vile creature: And can you see what he's doing? Pecking on our gutters. Our METAL gutters. "Yo, Woody!" This is war. You better watch your back, buddy. ' Cuz I'll getcha when you least expect it.

Hey friends! I decided to join along with the Crayon Wrangler's brand spankin ' new "Tuesday's Tips" blog hop! It's a spin off of her "Lessons Learned" posts! Today's topic is: Cooking with Children -If you cook with children, you're a better mom than me. -Letting a small child crack eggs will certainly result in a crunchy ending. -If "crunchy" is what you're aiming for, let them crack away! -Cooking with small children will result in many deep breaths and totally frayed nerves. -Totally frayed nerves are cured only by chocolate. -Chocolate chip cookies with a mysterious crunch are not quite the remedy you were looking for. -Next time, you'll just do it yourself. There ya go! Join in and have some fun!!

Update : More photos available...AND, we broke in the picnic table tonight!! Er...ah...that sounded bad. What I mean is, we had our first picnic on the table!! (Phew! Glad we straightened that one out...) Hand crafted for me by my strong, handsome, incredibly wonderful husband. I can't believe I once thought that I DIDN'T want a homemade picnic table. For some reason in my brain, I did not equate "handmade" with "superb" and I mistakenly thought that a store bought picnic table would be more superior. I must've forgotten who(m?) I was married to for a second. Mr. Wonderful Perfectionist. This picnic table is divine. You know, if wood and screws can be divine. Large, sturdy, heavy, indestructible . Just look at the super wide top! No picnic table at WalMart has gotta top like this! My life is now complete. I have my picnic table...I can die a happy woman. But, I can't die before I finish this: My kids would never forgive me. Once upon a time (like

And tomorrow...I will show you photographic proof that I did, in fact, receive an awesome, homemade, huge picnic table! I love it! I love it so much that I started dismantling an old wooden futon frame to make a picnic table for the kids! I'll take some pics of that tomorrow, too...I really have no idea what I'm doing, so I'm not sure what we'll end up with...but it's been a fun little project! I worked this weekend and it was busy ...and it totally interrupted my blogging. Stoopid work. BUT, I could NOT go to bed without announcing this week's Date of the Week! If you're new to the Date of the Week fun...check out my Personals page by clicking the link above, in my nav menu, or by clicking Personals <------- right there, and get all the details on how YOU can get listed! And now...without further adieu...I bring you this week's Date, who is... Bowl of Oranges I’m Lua, a twenty something aspiring writer from Istanbul, soon on my way to the Universit

*Yawn*... Mornin ' friends! I'm a ti-RED mama today! I had to work until 4 am... LOTSA babies being born last night! Doesn't surprise me, since every time I've been out and about lately, every other person I've seen has been hugely pregnant! Anywho ...welcome to Five Question Friday...or 5 QF ! If you haven't ever played before...join in!! It's sooooo much fun! Rules for Five Question Friday : Copy and paste the following questions to your blog, answer them, then c'mon back to link up (on Friday, of course!). If you'd like, the blog hop code is available for you to grab! I would be a very grateful mama, if you'd link back to me, Mama M. ! If you don't have a blog, but want to play along...feel free to answer the questions in the comments of this post, or any blog along the blog hop way! Questions for Friday, May 21st: (Special thanks to Pam , Jil l, Liz , Erin , and Lula Lola for their question suggestions! Wanna be linked in a future