Writer's Workshop-it's starting to look alot like spring around here

Wow it's been a long time since I have gotten in on a Writer's Workshop with Kat but this week I couldn't resist #5

5.) Share some photos and stories as well as what you love about spring.

See it is really starting to feel like Spring around here. The weather has been warm for days, I am scared to write this because I know it is sure to jinx it all and bring on a terrible cold snap.

Spring around here means lots of things will be happening, no more cabin fever!

There are many favorite things about the warm weather, but almost everyday we will be spending time in the garden. It is a definite obsession, mainly on the hubs parts he pours lots of hours into that thing. I do love digging in the dirt and going out to my backyard and picking something to cook for dinner, I mean seriously you can NOT get any fresher than that.

Monday my dad came down with his tractor and broke up the garden. Shane was out there that evening planting:) we now have onions, lettuce and peas with tons more to come.

After my dad was done, he took Abby for a ride around the yard.


And what little girl could resist a dig in the fresh dirt?

notice the shorts and tshirt? aren't those of you in the still frozen north jealous?:)

wanna read more?

Writer's Workshop Thursday

We are onto Thursday now and that means it is time to jump in with MakaKat and get some inspiration from her on what to write about today.

The Prompts:

1.) If You Give A Mom A Moment...
Inspired by Heidi from Sacred And Profane)
Hello a moment is never enough

2.) What's the message you would craft
(inspired by Heidi from Sacred and Profane after she read this post at Minor Catastrophes)

3. look below I chose this one

4.) If your pet could talk, what would you want to know?
(inspired by KK from Kamp KK (but not the KKK))

What do I gotta do to get to sleep that many hours a day and only be required to look cute to have someone feed me. Oh wait Jet does have to go swimming in subfreezing waters fetching ducks to earn her keep so I guess I would want to know from her just how cold does that water feel:) and from Drake my old man I would want him to tell us when it is time:(

5.)If you could only focus on three things in life and pursue them fully, leaving everything else, what would they be and why?
(inspired via tweet by Sarah Mae from Like A Warm Cup Of Coffee)
Oh this one is too hard

3.) Your Fall favorites.
(inspired by me)

Oh I love everything Fall. I love the nice warm (not hotashell) days, the chilly nights, the smell that seems to fill the air. The colors, oh the colors they are awesome.

I Love Halloween. I admit I hate the cheesy costume that I must buy my son because he is to old for me to choose for anymore, but Abby is ALL MINE. I will make her the most cutest costume ever and parade her around the neighborhood (someone else's not ours) and get me I mean them tons of free candy!!

I love the tradition we have. We always go to the pumpkin patch, we have gone to the same one since Wyatt was itty bitty. Our first one didn't go the way I had pictured it in my mind. Picture 3mth old hungry baby and you can figure that one out pretty quick. But we have made tons of fun memories over the years.

We pose with the same props every year




They always have a huge pumpkin


There are lots of forced smiles so mommy can get another family picture:)

We always buy really expensive pumpkins and eat granny smith apple slices with warm, gooey, melty caramel and nuts on them.-oh it is fun

We went to a different one last year with Wyatt's class and it was huge and awesome but I still made Shane do a family trip to this one just because it is our thing, I am not sure what we will do this year. The thought of us not going makes me sad-is that weird?

We also like to have fires out in the back yard and roast hotdogs and make smores:) and those fall cool evenings are perfect for it.

There is one main thing that makes fall a not so fav though-Hunting Season is upon us here in the house. That means alot less of daddy hanging around on the weekends and alot more of our alarm clock going off at godawful times of the morning. We only get glimpses of him from fall deer season all the way through winter duck season.

Want more Writer's workshop?

Writer's Workshop Thursday

It's been a long time since I have jumped in on the game but there were some good prompts this week so I had to join in, after all I know you guys are sick of hearing about our awesome beach vacation.

The Prompts:

1.) Who made you red hot this week? It's been a pretty good week so far so I have stayed relatively calm.

2.) A day in your life...recap.
really it is pretty boring. Let's recap a normal stay home do nothing (yea right) day.
7am out of bed after almost an hour of Shane hitting the snooze-yes it is obnoxious but I have no control it's on his side. I let the dog out to pee, yes I know I said she was not my responsibility but I hate to wake the beast aka Wyatt to let her out.
I make some sort of breakfast for the hubs and kiss him bye.
Kids that I get paid for show up and the fun begins;) changing diapers, making bottles, wiping butts, naps, lunch, more diapers etc-I know very glamorous
They leave around 4:30ish then I try to figure some sort of dinner that the entire family will eat, since I am not a short order cook I fix one dinner and one dinner only!
Evenings are my favorite part of the day since hubs is home and I am down to 2 kids we usually lay in the hammock, check out the garden and do some sort of work, practice a little baseball and generally be lazy.
Bedtime comes somewhere between 8&9 for the kiddos then I get to play on the internet uninterrupted. bed time comes then it is repeat, repeat, repeat for the rest of the week.

3.) What decision are you having a hard time making?
It use to be are we done having kids, but I think that one has finally been decided. Having someone else's baby during the day helps with the baby fever and I get to give her back at the end of the day. Babies really complicate things so if I can talk hubs into a permanent fix we are officially done.


4.) How will you enjoy your last days of freedom (aka summer)?
I can't believe it is almost over here. I dread the whole school routine starting up again. This week is lazy maybe I will be inspired to make him do some sort of school work so I can make sure his brain hasn't turned to mush these last few weeks of nonstop tv, leggos, DS games, and computer time. BUT then next week we are off on a mini vacation!! back to the beach for us!!!!! I am SOOO excited to get to do the beach 2 times this summer, I would seriously stay for weeks if I could. We will leave next Wednesday and return on Sunday-I hope no one goes crazy on this trip as it will be a house full of people including 4 kids, oh I hope they behave. Then on Monday he has registration at school then back on Wednesday.

5.)List your 7 most favorite summer items!
I am sure there are many things but I am drawing a blank right now.

Wanna read more? Visit Kat

Writer's Workshop Thursday

The Prompts:

1.) Create a video for your blog (vlog) and participate in Tim's "vlogemotions" by talking about an emotion you've felt this week. -Yea I don't have time and plus the kids are so freaking loud it would drive you insane!

2.) Do you want a baby? -Um yea NO, well if we get like mega rich and I can have a big ol house with a nanny and a housekeeper I would have 2 more because even though I puke my guts out a majority of the time and I barely sleep I loved being pregnant and birthing kids is a piece of cake for me:)

3.) Who got in big trouble this week? -Can we make a list?

4.) Write a poem for your mother.-Um yea NOOOO haven't I mentioned her craziness

5.) Time for a trip? Where are you headed this summer?...Or where would you go if you Could. -OH yea this one is right up my alley.

Well like I mentioned yesterday hubs and I are headed somewhere out of town in a couple weeks ALONE!  Can I get a woooohoooo! This is what we are doing for our anniversary, we have never been anywhere out of town with out the kids.  Don't get me wrong I love my kids but I spend all day everyday with them and mama needs a break!

A couple weeks ago I made our reservations for our trip to the beach. Oh yea I am so excited I LOVE the beach and would go for like a month if I could. Unfortunately it will only be a week long trip though. This will be year 5 that we have gone to this place and we Love it.

So come July these will always be close by as I sit on the warm white sand and listen to the waves


There will be lots of lounging in the sun, floating in the ocean, eating yummy food, and just generally being lazy. Oh and I will be forcing my family to pose for lots of photos!




Then maybe if I can convince my hubs, come August we may take a short trip to The Outer Banks and meet up with his sis, her hubs and 2 kids. Heck it is Free we just have to get there why the hell wouldn't we go don't you remember I love the beach!

Want to see some more Writer Workshops?
Go visit Mama Kat

Writer's Workshop Thursday

Ok so here's the deal: Go to Mama Kat's get your assignment and turn it into her and the rest of the bloggy world.

I chose #2 Ten Things I can do in Three Minutes. I wasn't sure if she meant all the things together in three minutes or 10 separate things so I chose the separate cause the first seems to hard.

Unload and load the dishes even though this is one of my least favorite things to do.

Wake the sleeping beast that is my son, make his breakfast and the hubs and finish Wyatt's lunch for the day.

Sort and start some laundry another not favorite

start the bath and make Wyatt wash the stinking boy smell off before bed

Change a diaper and get paid for it-no not my kid the girl I watch:)

play ring around the rosie enough times to get VERY dizzy which isn't hard BTW

make lunch for 2 kiddos and myself

feed the dog

read and comment on a couple blogs

check my emails

I also liked #1 I Use to Think....

I use to think getting older would be so fun, um yea I was wrong. It was so much funner having zero responsibilities. Bills, kids to feed, dogs to feed, car rider line, changing diapers, no money, BILLS, sick kids to take care of......

I use to think 30 was OLD now I am 30 and feel ok and only a little old

I use to think I I would grow up and marry a prince, wow I got one right

I use to think how much I would LOVE to be a mom-oh another one right I am on a roll

I use to think staying up late was the thing to do, um yea no I live for bedtime 10pm!

I use to think I would NEVER drive a mini van, then I had baby #2 and found out soon that I love my mini!

I use to think life was going so slow and I would never grow up and be on my own and be able to have fun. No it all seems to be going to fast and I am trying to have all the fun I can have and enjoy it all.

I use to think I had to go to college to be somebody, but after a few yrs of college and not finishing because life got in the way I have found even though I don't have that little piece of paper I am somebody and I don't need no stinking piece of paper to be a good mommy!

I know there is more but that's all I can get out of this brain right now

Writer's Workshop Thursday

Choose a prompt, post it on your blog, and come back and sign Mr. Linky!!

The Prompts:

1.) If you were starring on American Idol TONIGHT and HAD to sing, what song would you choose and why. -Um yea I don't sing for a crowd only the kids who are forced to listen in the car

2.) Take a picture of yourself right this minute without primping and explain to us why it is you have not washed your hair today.

3.) I just asked Pat to help me with a writing prompt so here's his: "What do you think about the NBA All Star game"...blech. -Maybe if it was hockey I could do something, but I don't ever watch basketball so I have no clue-I did hear though that Kobe and somebody else shared the MVP-see I told you I don't really have a clue.

4.) What's your number one pet peeve? Develop a punishment for anyone caught in the act. -Oh my there are SOOO many I am a pet peevey person I dislike lots of things, I guess my worst is not putting your kid in a carseat because that is just plain STUPID of you!

5.) Write about something mean you did to a sibling growing up. -Me mean NEVER I was the best little sister oh yea did you know I had a sibling? I think I heard a story of one time she was stuck upside down in a tree and I walked ever so slowly to the back yard to inform my dad while all the blood rushed to her head:)

So I guess that leaves #2 which is very scary but I have looked and saw some other brave mommas doing it so I thought what the heck-so here ya go this is me at 9ish in the morning. Coffee in hand (that would be the favorite Chicago mug I spoke of before), no shower cause well it is only 9 that will hopefully happen later today, yep still not really dressed-just enough to be able to not be embarrassed when dumping Wyatt out at school, Abby is watching Imagination Movers and coloring there behind me

want to see more?

Writer's Workshop: A favorite picture taken

The Prompts:

1.) Tell us about a memorable blind date.-Never been on one

2.) Other than the birth of a child or your wedding, write about a joyous moment.-I was a homeowner before 21 that was pretty joyous but not that interesting to write about.

3.) Write about one of the most difficult decisions you have made in your life.-Never had to make a terribly difficult decision

4.) Share the best picture you took last month and explain why it's your favorite.-Seeing I take 84,000 pics a month this is surely to be the easiest, but which one to choose.

OK so this may not be the "best" picture I took last month but it is pretty freaking funny, well at least it is to me. See it was right before Christmas it was a Friday-woohoo payday. I had to go do some shopping for Shane & it was late afternoon so I ran thru the drivethru at McDonald's to get them some food so they would make it thru said shopping trip. I then pulled into the bank (which is across the street for McD's) I tell them to hurry and eat and be done before we get to the mall. I open Abby's chicken nugget box and sit it in her lap she starts eating, I pull up and wait to put my $$ in the bank (so I can buy said gift). I turn around and see this: Notice the nugget in her hand trying to make it to her open mouth.



I burst out laughing and immediately started snapping pics-exactly why I always have my camera in my purse you never know when a blog worthy moment may present itself. It was so funny she was trying to eat but she was so sleepy she couldn't decide which to do.

Soon the sleep won out over the hunger.


But it was a pleasant trip to the mall because she stayed asleep until we were just about finished purchasing the gift. Which also led to her subsequently telling hubs what the gift was just days later. note to self:don't trust the 2yr old with any major secrets!

What to see more: Mama Kat

Writer's Workshop: Snow Day!

3.) Last night it snowed buckets and you are forced to spend the entire day at home with your family...what's the plan!?!

Well we didn't get buckets of snow, but we did get enough to close school-which in TN isn't saying much:)

Here you never now how much snow will come or how long it will stick around so when it does happen you better get right out in it and play, and that is exactly what we did-in the Dark!!

The kids loved it and it was worth the numb fingers I got while out snapping pics of them playing.


So the next day there was no school and what's the plan? well playing in the snow of course! Like I said we never know when it's coming again! So even if it was only about 1 1/2 inches we were playing.

This time we dressed a little better for the occasion.




Then we came in for some hot chocolate and a warm breakfast, yep we played before we ate! The rest of the day was spent being lazy and watching some of the snow melt.

Writer's Workshop: High School

2.) Are you still friends with you high school friends? Describe them

I actually have more than one friend from high school that I am still friends with. One I just happen to live with. I am sure all of you know that Shane and I are high school sweethearts and met way back when I was 16 and a junior in high school. I am thinking this counts as still being friends with someone from high school.

My Senior Prom 1996


But just in case he does not count as a "friend" I will include more examples. Liz and I met in 9th grade and were pretty good friends, although she was much more well behaved than me back then so it took a little while for us to become bff. We did some things outside of school together but it was mostly a school friendship and we chatted during classes.



Fast forward to 11th grade and me meeting Shane; see his best friend in high school just happened to be her boyfriend (no this is not even how we met in was just a coincidence). We began hanging out together all the time and going on "double dates". I quickly corrupted her and helped bring her over to the bad side :) We were pretty much inseparable during high school. When our men graduated HS and went off to college together we cried on each others shoulders (you would have thought it was the end of the world). Over the years there were many FUN and care free times together with no real responsibilities in life other than who was gonna have the next party and party we did. I actually found lots of fun pics but decided it may be best not post them on the world wide web!




Then in 2000 when I got married real life started to smack us in the face head on. There were real bills to be paid and real jobs to go to.

We have shared all of the most important days in our lives together, she was my maid of honor and I was her matron of honor.




I had Wyatt in 2002 and it was so fun and easy for she and I to run around with this cute little baby, now 4 kids later it's not so easy. She was there just moments after Wyatt was born, and when I got pregnant both time she was the first one to hear about it. The second time around was great since she became pregnant just weeks later with her first.


(just to clarify this is her baby shower and I was HUGE and Abby was born less than a week later)

Here is when I look a little less huge at her baby shower for #2


So yep we are still very close friends and talk on the phone pretty much every day. But unfortunately we are guilty of letting life get in the way. Back then it was so much easier.

Oh and that other girl that is in all the pics, yep we are still friends also but she doesn't really count for the assignment since I met her WAY back in 2nd grade :)

**ETA**
So you know how I mentioned that guy she was dating when hubs and I met, the one that played a big part of her and I becoming so close? Well they did not stay together, she went on to marry a wonderful guy and he met and married a really nice girl they had a baby and that is the little girl I babysit! Yep we have come along way since high school.

For more:

Writer's Workshop: Just a few of my pet peeves.

Since I was a slacker and did not do my homework last week I thought I better think of something this week. If you want to get a writing assignment jump over to Mamakat and she will help you out!

I chose to write about 10 of my Pet Peeves.

1. Bad Drivers-I think this is the top of every ones list, especially if you are driving with your kids in the car and some idiot almost runs you over.

2. Parents who don't use a car seat! OMG I could flip out every time I see this, seriously are those people just completely stupid? As you can see I feel strongly about this. It also amazes me what I see in car rider line, for example the 1st grader who is riding in the front seat of his mom's SUV.

3. People who smoke around me or my kids, I am sorry all you smokers out there I hope not to offend you, BUT you chose to smoke not me so Please keep it to yourself and do NOT blow it in my kids face. Do you know how happy I was when they passed the smoking ban in all restaurants in our state? Oh and people who smoke in the car with their kids!

4. Rude kids, not the itty bitties that may not know better yet, but the ones that are old enough to know better. I can get your 2 yr old acting up at the store or restaurant (been there done that), but your 7yr old? really

5. That no one in my house knows how to replace a toilet paper roll but me.

6. When hubs shaves and leaves his little hairs everywhere in and around the sink! He has gotten better since I threatened to divorce him, but there is always room for improvement. ((waving hi honey))

7. When my neighbors don't cut their grass or take any bit of care in the outside appearance of their house.

8. The totally unaware parents at the playground, you know the one she is more concerned with talking on the phone or her friend who she met there and is totally unaware that her little terror of a child is being a playground bully.

9. Constantly having dirty dishes, I swear I feel like the dishwasher (or sink) is always full.

10. Waking early in the morning. I am not a morning person and if I had it my way I could sleep til at least 8am everyday, winter time maybe later!

Want more?

Writer's Workshop:Creating

Jump over to Mama Kat's to read more of her prompts for today's writer's workshop.



Well I knew exactly what I would write about when I read the prompt "What do you love to create?" but then I read Mama Kat's post and I thought oh she will think I am copying her so I will take mine a step further.

She says she loves to create memories and that is also my answer. I am BIG on creating traditions from us going to the same beach every year, going to the same pumpkin patch since Wyatt was only a few months old, to all of our Christmas traditions (trust me there are tons). It is just I want to make great memories for our kids so that they can look back and say "Wow I had a great childhood" and then when they have kids they will continue to make family traditions to create those wonderful memories.

So I will add to mine so as not to look like a copy kat. My other big thing I love to create that will also allow me to always remember those wonderful fun times is Scrapbook pages. I love to dig deep for my creative side and make these wonderful pages.

Here are a few I have created.

Christmas 2003 the one on the right is Wyatt the one on the left is Shane 1978


Meeting his new baby sister

I always add journaling to the pages the poem reads:

"I have a new sister, they dress her in pink. I don't know where she came from, but she's staying I think.
Mommy and Daddy are now ours to share; they'll love us both and I know they'll be fare.
I'll kiss her and hug her with all my might; and I won't mind if she cries in the middle of the night.
I'll help with her diapers and with her bath too; she needs her big brother, she's so tiny and new.
I'm ready for the challenge; on me she can depend. I have a new sister, I have a new friend.

Fall 06


His fifth Bday


This is my new obsession-Digital Scrapbooking
Beach 08

Some from her 2yr pics