Nautical Blue Monday

I stopped by Old Navy the other day to pick up TT a new pair of jeans. The boy is growing so fast, and he is so hard on his jeans. 2 pairs with holes, 2 that are a little snug, and 1 that was way too tight. While we were there I got a bit distracted by these two lovelies, that of course had to come home with me. I love all things nautical so I just could not see passing them by.

I did have a coupon after all!

Pink Saturday, Pretty Pink Cake

The Princess had a birthday recently. Her gift is going to be a trip to the American Girl Store in Atlanta, so we had a very small family party for her rather than a big bash. My oh-so-talented sister-in-law made this gorgeous cake for the occasion. Princess was THRILLED with it. 

Isn't it just darling? I love the shopping bag on top and the monogram on the cake. It was delicious as well!

Friday Fragments 2/10/12

Happy Friday Y'all! It has been a LONG time since I've joined Mrs4444 for some Friday Fragmenting.

***Ever have one of those seasons where life seems to hit you in the face and keep you hopping, and you never can get caught up?
Yeah, I am doing that now. It seems like no matter what I accomplish, the "To-Do" list keeps getting longer. I don't know what it is. I am not going to whine about it, just stating a fact. I know plenty of others are busier than I am. Heck, Man O Mine's "To-Do" list scares me silly, no way I could get all that done! Anyway, here are some random fragments and updates as to what has been going on in my world...

***It has been seven months since we moved back "home" to SC. This is a temporary move while Man O Man is on an academic billet. Not long after we moved, we began to question if we had done the right thing. Things didn't seem to be falling into place. More on that in a future post. Then we had a few things happen that confirmed that we are indeed, where we need to be, for now. Again, more on that in a future post (I am working on one titled "You can't go home again".) Long story short, in these past seven months, my beloved MaMa had a stroke, went home, then had seizures, we nearly lost her, but she survived and is now in a nursing home facility. We take turns going and sitting with her and assisting her with meals. The day before the seizures, my stepfather was admitted to the hospital. He went because he'd fallen and hurt his arm, but bloodwork revealed something scary. A series of tests revealed he had colon cancer, then that it had spread, and there was nothing that could be done short of keeping him comfortable. He passed just over a month later. I am so thankful that I could be here for Mom through this. My stepfather and I were not exactly close, but Mom and I are and even more so now.

***Lighter note. I am addicted to Pinterest. Of course if you follow me on Pinterest you might think I am crafty, and I cook really well, and I'm always dressed well (including accessories) and my daughter's hair is always fixed, etc. The truth is I like to experiment with recipes, but I don't always cook nor cook well. My craft projects often look like they were completed by my 4 yr old rather than me. My typical outfit is a cute top and jeans, I am horrible to forget to use one of my many scarves/necklaces/etc. Princess' hair is typically in her eyes. A girl can dream though, right?  I have actually accomplished some fun things from Pinterest that I would not have otherwise. I hope to share some of them in the near future.

***Today is my sweet Grandmother's birthday. She is 91. She is such a sweet, loving person, truly an inspiration. She and my dear Grandfather had a beautiful marriage and a love like most people only dream about. He passed away just over 3 years ago. As a matter of fact, one of my first blog posts was about his passing. You can read that HERE if you are so inclined. I don't visit Grandmother nor call her near as often as I should. I let this busy-ness take over. I have got to deal with that. We never know how few precious moments we have left...

***One last plug...I love to shop. I have mentioned that quite often. One of my favorite shopping sites is RueLaLa. It is one of those invitation only sites that has "boutiques" that last 1-3 days. Designer brands at discount prices. I've seen (and bought!) some fabulous things on RueLaLa...Lilly Pulitzer, Coach, Vineyard vines, American Girl, Crocs, Cole Haan, Marc Jacobs, Absorba, you name it. Starting Friday, Life is Good will be on there! Yay, I love that stuff! If you sign up here, you GET $10 to spend. Who doesn't love free money?? Check them out at RueLaLa.

Okay, I know that is not much, but I am trying to start back into this slowly. No guarantees that I'll make it more than a few posts,  but we shall see. 

Shiner's Family Tree

A Thousand Words Thursday

I think I have found Shiner's family tree.

Shiner is our dog. He joined our family a little over a year ago and we love him, but he is one more nutjob of a dog. He is part Blue Heeler, with a little lab thrown in. He loves to play, eat, and sleep (especially on place he is not supposed to sleep, like people beds). He even has his own Facebook account. Yes, Man O Mine got a little silly one night and created it. 

Here is the real thing, our "ferocious" Shiner and a happy Shiner. 

Thanks for dropping by!

First Friday of September!

Happy Friday Y'all! It has been a LONG time since I've joined Mrs4444 for some Friday Fragmenting. I am going to jump in with both feet and maybe get back on track. Ha! Me, on track??

***Since my last Friday Fragment, I've moved halfway across the continent. Big change! I miss Texas, I really do. I love South Carolina though! So torn...in a way, they are right when they say you can never go "home" again. Yet, here I am, in my hometown. Most of my family is still here, I know where everything is, yet it is different. Maybe I am different. More on that in another post.

***Man O Mine has returned (AGAIN) to school. The man would be happy if he could find someone to pay him to go to school. They say never stop learning, and he takes that seriously! So the other day he came in from school, and told me he'd seen something he'd never seen before. We've seen people driving and texting, driving and on the phone, driving and reading, driving and eating, driving and putting on makeup, but this one was new. He passed a lady on IH-26 that was driving and KNITTING. Yes, she was knitting what appeared to be a pink baby blanket. Sigh...what ever happened to just driving?

***The kiddos and I will kick off the school year on Tuesday. Princess is so excited, TT not quite so much. He is not looking forward to getting up earlier, and having to complete assignments before he gets to play. I am really excited about homeschooling here in SC. There are so many resources here! I found the most wonderful bookstore (it is like Wonderland for the homeschool Mommy, aisles and aisles of books in a metal warehouse building!), we've joined a support group that does monthly activities (field trips, holiday parties, plays, etc), and we even found a Lego Homeschool club! Each month we go to the nearby library with a Lego creation that fits a certain theme. We study the theme ahead of time, build something to fit it, and then present it. Then the kids get to just play with legos and each other for an hour. TT is so excited about it and the new buddies he is making.

***The move has been hardest on TT. We went from a neighborhood in which he literally had a little buddy in almost every house on the block, to what we jokingly call "Heaven's Waiting Room". Here almost every one of our near neighbors is 60+. They make for great neighbors, but not so much for playmates. TT has been missing being able to go outside and immediately having 2-3 friends running around with him. Fortunately there are the aforementioned clubs, church, and Scouts for him to get some good buddy time in.

***My sweet MaMa had a stroke about a month ago. Talk about a shocker. We honestly expected that there might be some health issues while we were here with one of the grandmothers (Man O Mine and I have 3 grandmothers left between us). MaMa was the strong one though, we didn't expect her to be the one. She is a tough one though, and here she is, a month later, and back at home. She can manage pretty well, but can not be left alone anymore. There are some balance and vision issues that make it dangerous for her to be alone. This afternoon I will be "MaMa sitting". It is nice to be able to sit with her though, something I so missed while in Texas. She does not really need anyone to do anything, just to be there. Please keep her in your thoughts/prayers as she continues to recover and as the family and paid sitter take turns making sure everything is safe for her, yet giving her as much freedom as possible.

***I love shopping. Have I ever mentioned that? Last weekend, I participated in a big consignment sale here in town. I was thrilled with it! For one thing, the majority of my things sold, so I got a nice check when I picked up the few things that did not sale. For another, I am back in the sweet Deep South, and I was able to pick up a couple of darling dresses for Princess. She is now the proud owner of two gorgeous smocked Bishop dresses (one blue with pink/green smocking and one pink, with the Carolina Moon and Palmetto smocked in it!). I also found her an adorable little halter dress in garnet checked print with USC embroidered on it. Guess what she is wearing tomorrow for the first Carolina Gamecock football game? OH YEAH!

***Following the picking up of that lovely check, I braved the mall with three kids yesterday. I was planning to just go to bath and body works for hand soap (when you have a child that does not always wash his hands, scented soap is a surefire way to know for sure!) and to a children's store that was having a sale (on top of a coupon I had). We hit those two, and were on our way to the door with bags in hand (success, 3 tops for each boy and 4 soaps) when Boom announced he HAD to go potty. We made a quick detour through Dillards to take care of that. The children's shoe section is right by the bathrooms, so we noticed a large table of shoes on sale. TT is in need of shoes, so we stopped, because I spied boxes of Sperrys on that table! They had the brown leather classic Sperrys on sale for $15! Yay! Of course it was hilarious when TT put them on, and said something about needing socks. The sales lady and I both immediately said "Oh no, you don't wear socks with Sperrys!" Once we explained that Sperrys are "boat shoes" he was very happy, he is all about beaches/boats/ships. We might have stopped by the adult shoes on the way out the door and someone may have purchased some adorable blue plaid Sperrys for $20 too, but I am not going to name any names.

Well I better stop for now. The two little kids are way too quiet right now, so there is no telling what is going on...

Is there anybody out there?

Poking my head out to see what is going on in the blogger world. I haven't done this for months! A little over 4 months to be exact, my last post was 4/15. So much has happened in that time. We've moved halfway across a continent for one thing. I am really struggling with getting "settled". I still have things that need a permanent place in our new (to us) home, and we've been living here 2 months. I am finding myself to be more scattered and unorganized than I've ever been. This is really NOT a good thing. I am usually the one that keeps up with everything. I can not tell you how many times a week I am asked things like "Where is X?" or "When do we have to go to X?" or "When is X due again?".  I am looking forward to starting school next week with the kids, and sincerely hoping the return to routine will help.

I am not going to make promises about blogging. I want to blog. It is soothing, and helpful. I just don't know that I can keep up!  

Friday Fragments 4/15

Happy Friday Y'all! Time to join Mrs4444 for some Friday Fragmenting Fun! 

***I had a coffee date with my friend Kay this week. We actually scheduled a phone call for when I would be sipping my morning coffee (which I do after the kids are fed/dressed). Since she lives in the DC area and I am in Central TX, it is as close to having coffee together as we are going to get. We did discuss the possibility of a Summer get together, I am so hopeful that will happen! Since both of us are busy Moms, the majority of our conversations are via text and email these days. I miss the days we could meet up at the park, or at each other's homes, and talk for hours while the kids played. 

***On a much more somber note, Man O Mine performed a funeral this week for a soldier killed in Afghanistan. The soldier was a young officer, son, husband, and father. He was well loved and respected by his men. Please keep his family in your thoughts as they grieve. 

***The Boom has learned to dress himself. Unfortunately, he has not learned about the concepts of "dressing for weather" or "matching". For example, recently on a day when record highs of 90* were predicted, he came out dressed in brown corduroy pants and a green St Pat's tee shirt. Another recent combination was olive green shorts, a blue tee shirt with a map of the US on in, and red/gray striped socks. He also put cowboy boots on over those socks. I love it. 

***Speaking of "matching", I recently purchased these adorable sandals for Princess at Target. The designer, Miss Trish, does a line of sandals for ladies and girls every Spring. Last Spring I grabbed a pair for myself that are white with starfish on them. This year I wanted to get Reagan a pair. There were several to choose from online, but in our store there was only this pair in her size. She absolutely loves them, and has worn them every time we've left the house since I bought them, matching or not! At this rate I may need a back up pair!

***I am thinking that we may not install a "land line" when we move this summer. For one thing, rarely does anyone we know actually call our home phone. Most of the time people that know us call our cell phones. For another thing, I am getting SICK of sales call and such. Even with us on the Do Not Call list, there seem to be plenty that either the list does not apply to, or that simply don't care. There are also collection calls. No, these calls are NOT for us. You see, due to Man O Mine's profession and position within the unit, we opted to be listed by our first initials in the phone book. I did not want soldiers to be able to look up our home phone number and call at any time during the night (and yes, the will call at 1am). There is an on call chaplain for crisis during the night. However, this opens us up to random calls for anyone that shares our initials. I finally asked a company that kept calling us, when they called the 34th time, and for the 3rd different person. She told me that they call any initial/last name combination that matched. Just this morning I had one call for "Jessica" that shared my last name (and obviously, my first initial). The call was one of those that you press 1 if you are her, 2 if not, then 1 if you have to get her, 2 if she is not home, 3 if it is a wrong number. I hit 3, and immediately a real person started talking, wanting to know where "Jessica" was. I explained that this was not her, she didn't live her. I had to confirm that this was not the physical address that they were looking for before she would remove us from the list. So Jessica, they are looking for you!

***I love watching my children learn. I love "teachable moments". One of the joys of having multiple children is watching the older ones teach the younger ones. Of course, sometimes this can be a problem, as the older ones often teach the younger ones things they do NOT need to know, like how to burp on command. This week TT and I have been working on US Geography, learning regions and states. I am a stickler for geography, it makes me crazy to see studies of how high school students can not point out "Idaho" on a map. I was pleased to come across this "teaching" session this week. TT was teaching his sister and brother the states:

Thanks for stopping by! I hope y'all have a wonderful weekend!