THAT MOM

IT IS OFFICIAL....

I am becoming that mom, you know the one, the weird homeschooling one.  Come on, you all know that one person who you all think is CRAAAZZZZY that homeschools her kids.  Not that normal has ever been my MO, but once again I am going against the grain.

You want to know what I find the most funny?  The girl who is forever trying to be accepted by others, have the approval of people I care about could actually CARE LESS what everyone else thinks.  It is nice to have this conviction that you are doing the RIGHT thing for YOUR family.

There are 8 million reason why I am sitting where I am sitting today....but the biggest one is the most simple.  No matter what, hands down, the best method of teaching is one on one personalized tutoring and really, who cares more about the education of my sons than their mother?

I know, I know what about socialization?  Really, our life is not going to change that much, he just won't be forced to spend most of his waking hours with a very small and not very diverse group of people his age.  

Bliss x 15

Today we celebrate 15 years of wedded bliss.....hah!

So anyone who has been married more than a week or two knows marriage is not about bliss.

It is completely and totally about choosing to DO LIFE with the strange-cute-frustrating-charming-annoying-loving-silly-relentless-weird person that was made for you.  It is about leaning on each others strengths while forgiving each other for their weaknesses.  It is recognizing that the goal of marriage is to HONOR GOD with this relationship that he blessed us with.

In every marriage more than a week old, 

there are grounds for divorce. 

The trick is to find, 

and continue to find, 

grounds for marriage. 

 ~Robert Anderson 

This union we are in is not quite perfect but is very real.  Real can be so beautiful and so terribly not, regardless, we have learned to do real and I hope to be doing real with this guy until death do us part.

$20 Motorcycle

Kimber:  Mama, how many do I have to be to ride a motorcycle?

Me: 20!

Matthew: 20 dollars?

In the back seat talking amongst themselves, if we save our "monies" together we can get one faster.

Me:  20 years old....not $20!!!!!

Matthew:  But mama, 20 is SO OLD.

Anatomy of a grocery shopping trip

1)  Arrive at store early-ish so as to obtain one of those monstrous race car shopping carts that will hold and kind of entertain both kids and aforementioned groceries.

2)  Immediately head to the bakery to obtain free cookies, all the while being judged by the bakers for feeding the children cookies early in the morning.  Little do they know, these children have been up for hours and have had a somewhat nutritious breakfast prior to the sugary cookie consumption that are not witnessing.

3)  Referee cookie eating.

4)  Pick out produce while negotiating with children who want to buy everything, and touch everything and well, taste everything.

5)  Keep track of list and coupons.

6)  At aisle 3, reassure children we will stop and see the lobster swimming in their super nasty tank at aisle 14.

7)  Try to match list with coupons.

8)  Remove items from cart the boys think they "need".

9)  Let boys out of cart because they are bored, and now threatening spankings if they do not quit wrestling, running, etc up and down the aisles. 

10)  Put boys back in the cart and referee the fighting.

11)  Child #1 hits child #2 with box of crackers on the head, child #2 picks up a can of mushrooms and whacks child #1 on the head in retaliation.....drama ensues.

12)  Carry the wailing child while pushing the monstrous cart, thinking well at least I am getting a workout in, right?

13)  Give up on the remainder of the coupons, figure out what I have to have this week and proceed with shopping.

14)  Check out...while the checker continues to tell me how cute my kids are.  Really, did she not here the chaos that was the last hour with these two? 

A little bit crazy

After studying my drivers license picture Matthew says, "mama, you look a little bit crazy in that picture", in my head I immediately retort with why yes son, I was a little bit crazy.  You try spending HOURS in the drivers license issuing facility with a one year old, you too would look a little bit crazy!

Sunshine Sunday - GIRLS

I am a mom to boys, and I am convinced that is the way it should be.  I love all the boyness that surrounds me, I love being the only girl in the house, I love how much these boys love their mama, and don't fight their mama, well, most of the time.

On the other hand, I am very thankful for the little girls that I get to experience, that my boys get to call friends and that I get to snap little glimpses of periodically.

Sunshine Sunday - WORDS

Words:  A gift, a weapon, a remedy, they have such power (and I think we forget that sometimes).

A friend (or acquaintance), I would like to be her friend but we are both super introverted and that makes the reaching out part HARD, so whatever she is, she shared this and it so helped me.

Here are the WORDS that spoke to me so loudly.

And my personal favorite....


9. Parenting is like climbing the big mountain. Look for the base camp. That's where you rest, meet other climbers, take in oxygen and acclimatize. Base camp is what makes summiting possible.

I never cease to be amazed by the power of words.

Sunshine Sunday - Mother's Day

I am blessed to be a MOM. 

It is the best job.

It is the hardest job.

It is the job that I have loved more than any other job.

The benefits package is incredible, the paid time off..not so much.

These boys that call me mama, that hold my hair, that make me crazy, that want dinner every single night, that create dirty clothes at warp speed, that love to snuggle, that love "helping", that tell me I look pretty, that are ALWAYS thrilled to see me, that overstimulate me are by far the greatest earthly gift I have been given.

Our beach house....9 months ago

So, funny story, I lost the memory card that contained all the pictures from our adventure, and after moving our bed during a little spring cleaning I found it...so the post may go on...9 months later.  

So, a few weeks months ago we rented a house in Seagrove Beach, Florida with two other families and spent some much needed time together.  By the end of our visit Matthew told me repeatedly that he just wants to live at our "other" house.  I wish son, I wish.

The weather was gorgeous, the sand was...well EVERYWHERE and the kids loved digging in it, the water was still a bit churned up from Isaac but that didn't keep us out of it.  Kimber was a little fearless with the waves, Matthew got to snorkel with Willie and thought that was AWESOME.  We had this big giant table we ate most of our meals and there is something dream come true-ish about gathering 10+ people around a big table.

There was a lot of cheeseball consumption.

and a lot of sunscreen applying, though not so many pictures

and a lot of digging

and a wedding

that we may have crashed...well technically they crashed our vacation as we 

claimed our shady spot a good 8 hours prior to their ceremony???

 

and some wrestling

 

and some bucket duty

 

and some pirating of ships

and some eating

and a little resting

 

some hand holding

We were glad to get home and feel ever so blessed by our Alabama family. 

Sunshine Sunday: Minutes, Impromptu Dinners, Almost a Nap

After incredibly busy weeks I crave time, time to sit and snuggle, time to actually talk to my husband, time to enjoy a meal around a full table with friends and this Sunday I was blessed with all of those things.

Explanation

I heard someone say the other day that they don't understand why people blog, it got me thinking and for purposes of clarification.

Personally speaking, this blog exists for a number of reasons;

A baby book..more complete than anything else that chronicles the lives of the small humans that reside here.

Proof, that I can still compose somewhat intelligible sentences, sometimes.

Forces me to sort pictures into folders and post a tiny portion of them in lieu of them getting arbitrarily deleted in a frenzy of I-want-to-take-a-picture-but-my-camera-is-full-so-I-must-delete-something-FAST.

A way for far away...and not so far away family and friends to get a glimpse of TEAM RIGGLE and what makes us laugh, cry or any number of other emotions in a given moment.

Annual Strawberry Picking

We finally made it out for our annual excursion to the strawberry patch.  This just might be one of my favorite traditions, and I have visions of teenage boys rolling their eyes at me in ten years as I make them fill their own buckets.  For now, they mostly love it and certainly eat as much, if not more, than they pick.

The patch was especially muddy this year, miraculously my two stayed pretty clean.

The second best part to picking them, the JAMAPALOOZA that follows.  We had a new team member this year, between the three of us we canned (53) half-pint jars of strawberry deliciousness.

First World Problems

Kimber was very opinionated about who should drive one night last week and we thought it was weird so we asked him why he wanted mama to drive versus papa.  His response, "when mama drives I have more room for my legs".

Willie and I looked at each other and cracked right up.  I mean in other parts of the world 3-year olds find themselves responsible for working the fields or carrying water for hours on end. 


His biggest problem at that moment,

  
                                                                breathing room for his little legs.

EASTER 2013

Life seems crazier than normal these days so we thoroughly enjoyed our time together.

We started out the day with little boys peeking into their little baskets.  They were most impressed with their new shovels...and the fact that they got to eat candy with their eggs for breakfast.

We headed to church where we got to serve for the 9:00 service and then took the boys with us to the 11:00 service.  I had the pleasure of attempting to teach 8 very sugared up kindergardeners....wow..what an interesting experience.

We made it back home and after a few pictures we set about cooking and picking up in preparation for our guests.

We had 8 adults and 8 kids and that number doesn't seem that big, but when the weather is icky and we are mostly stuck inside it was well...cozy.

Milk baked ham, green bean casserole, broccoli casserole, deviled eggs, cheesy macaroni, potato salad, green salad and strawberry cake filled our bellies.  Once the kids could not stand it any longer Lisa and I went to hide nearly 100 eggs.  They hunted them quite well and set about ingesting nearly every ounce of sugar.  Thankfully some of the eggs had stickers, crayons and even money inside.

Wordless Wednesday

Not there

My heart has just not been that into running lately, I am not exactly sure why?

I have a few theories that include but are not limited to the following:

* Kindergarten decisions
* Work committments
* Weather
* Feeling incredibly behind ALL OF THE TIME
* The hubs and his crazy schedule
* The blahs
* Feeling like a cow....and cycling between severely limiting calories and then pigging out.
* Exhaustion

I need to hit it a little more, I always feel better when I do.  Twice a week is just barely keeping me sane.

I have logged 68 measly miles this year and it might sound like a few but it is just less than a 10K a week and way behind the target I need to be hitting to stay on goal...not to mention I have another half coming up in 4 little weeks and my longest run this cycle has been 8 miles.

I am hoping the coming sunshine helps push me a bit more...soon.....very soon.

Will he or won't he?

Mauser has been a part of our family for 16 months and I have a few a lot of moments in those first 6 months okay maybe it has been for all 16 months I wondered if he was going to make it.  We have made it through potty training, have mostly gotten him over the chewing of anything that stands still phase, of course the monthly cash outlay of $40 for chewies helps, the shedding, well, that part is still something I come to terms with on an hourly basis.

This weekend he "endeared" himself to us in new and inventive ways.  William and I were standing in the kitchen talking and looked out the kitchen window to see Mauser, standing up with both front paws on our barely two year old peach tree just devouring the plump pink blooms right off the branches.  Later the same day, I found brussels sprout transplants proudly displayed on the picnic table........oh I had to walk away and take some deep deep breaths.  That dog!

Those that know me know that I say this all in jest, he is our dog and will be as long as he is one this earth, barring the chewing of my children of course but boy, he has no qualms about testing my dedication I tell ya!

Gardens and Guns

Spring is finally raising its little head and boy have we been enjoying the nicer days.

A few weeks ago we went on a shooting adventure to Tennessee.  Matthew is getting quite proficient with his 22 on his own.  Just a few months ago he needed help steadying it but is getting the strength and agility to do it all alone now.

We pulled up some gorgeous but overgrown sunlight hogging forsythia bushes in the fall and added another big bed to our garden area. 

 Before....

After


I will miss their bright yellow giant display in the spring.



This past weekend we did a final till, layed down newspaper (for weed control) and  planted broccoli, brussel sprouts, onions, garlic, carrots and radishes.   If I can just keep Mauser out of it I will be a happy camper.

 We also tried something new this year in lieu of the seed starting trays.  We always had a hard time hardening our seed starts off outside so I read that a milk carton, left outside from initial seeding until transplant time is the perfect little greenhouse so over the past few months we saved all our milk cartons and have a nice little collection of mini-greenhouses happily protecting our seeds.