Wash It...Working At The Car Wash....

You may not ever get rich...

But, let me tell you; it's better than digging a ditch...

There ain't no telling who you'll meet...

A movie star or maybe even an Indian Chief...

Working at the carwash...

Another Field Day...Another Thing To Do This Summer...

Hadley had a field day at school too. It took place a week after Ella's field day. They didn't do a lot of relays though. That suited Hadley just fine!

Layton helped me work the concession stand...

Well, maybe he ate a lot from the concession stand first! HA!!
Then, he helped!

He did a really good job of helping take money and put it in the money box. I was so proud of him for being such a big boy!! Notice he even got to wear a visitor sticker too!

Hadley threw her name in the hat for riding lessons this summer, and she WON!!! She will be taking English Equestrian on Thursdays this summer!! She is super excited about it since she loves horses more than anything. I am excited for her. I have never won door prizes or raffles, but I think she hit it big this time!!

Rock A Bye...

This is not an ordinary rocking chair in my eyes. This is a rocking chair that my grandfather bought for my mother, so she could rock her children to sleep.

I love to rock a sleeping child. To me, there are few things that feel as nice as rocking a small child. I could rock babies all day long!!!

When Hadley was a baby, we had a green glider rocker. It rocked a lot of miles. We got a nice green and creme rocker to match Ella's bedding when she was a baby...her bedding was green and creme toile. I used the same rocker in Layton's nursery.

The rocking chairs seem so empty now though. The checkered green and creme chair is rarely used. It sits by Jay's computer desk so lonely. The dark green glider rocker is in the den and squeaks so loudly that it isn't practical.

I just don't know what to do with them now that my babies aren't babies in need of rocking anymore. Some days, I think it's time to sell them or take them to Goodwill. Other days, I cannot imagine parting with chairs that gave so much comfort in the wee hours of the morning. Some of my fondest memories of my children are those moments in their rocking chairs. When the house was dark and all other creatures were sleeping, I would rock and love my babies. It was so quiet and peaceful, and those moments were just for the two of us.

How do you part with such a treasured chair?

Oh, Sweet Child of Mine...

Check Out the Paris Hilton, Red Carpet Pose...On Ella...

The peace sign? Check.

Crossed Legs? Check.

Grinning like crazy? Check.

Watch out Paris, Ella is on the scene!! She's rocking her halter tops and wedge sandals....she's posing and peacing....she's not flashing the paparazzi or getting DUIs...but Ella is on the scene in Downtown!!

And, Layton is still behaving like Richard Nixon. I still don't understand why he sticks his tongue out and closes his eyes for this, but he does!!

I'm thinking of buying stock in Eli Lilly....I might need a prescription for Prozac before I get these two raised!!!

Hadley, on the other hand, won't even get in the picture 98% of the time.

No, She's Not A Drama Queen At All...

Did I mention that Ella is a drama queen?

Maybe the over sized sunglasses and need to pose do a good job exposing the melodramatics!! I've got an even better one coming up soon....let's put it this way...Ella can out pose Paris Hilton!

You Spin Me Round....

Just a picture of my adorable little man playing in the lobby before he got his hair trimmed....

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He's Walking On History...

I keep forgetting to tell you all about the reason I love the park too!!! The park that I take Layton to just happens to be the same park where Jay asked me to marry him!! On this very bridge...

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It was a sort of cold night, but we were plenty warm. I kept going on and on about the beavers that had built a dam in the stream. It was a wonderful night!

This Is Just Nasty...

Last week, the children and I met Jay in Huntsville for dinner. We had been in Madison dealing with some things, and just decided to make a night of it.

We decided to visit a local "natural" food store. It was APPALLING!!! None of their products were individually packaged. So gross. You had to use a dipper to get the amount of rolled oats you wanted and then weigh them. No rolled oats for me! Who knows if the last person to get oats even had clean hands? Icky!!! Products that should have been in a sterile environment were just laying on the shelves!! Does anyone know the health department's number?

I ventured in the back area where the coolers were.....I wish I hadn't.....I nearly got sick when I saw their empty cooler with empty liquor bottles and nasty stains....

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Yep. This is what one of their coolers looked like. Needless to say, we will NOT be going back to that store and didn't buy anything.

On a more positive note, an Earthfare store just opened on the highway. Obviously, if you want organic food or local produce, this is the place to go....not the Pearly Gates Store on Mock Drive.

Back Seat Bad Boy...

This hat is WAY TOO small for Layton, but he keeps wearing it anyway!!!

He had it on in the backseat with his sunglasses right before I took this. With the pirate shirt and gangster looking hat/glasses combo, he looked like a total bad boy!!

Smiling at the Park...

Layton loves the park. He really, really loves the park!! He likes to go to the park before we pick up the girls from school. I try to take him at least once a week. Here he is with a piece of bread that he was feeding the ducks...

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Yes, I decided to let the curls go free! I did get his hair trimmed a little this weekend. I had an inch taken off, but only because his hair was starting to get in his eyes and bother him! He still has a fro though!! I'll post some pictures as soon as I remember!

D-Rama...

Don't get me wrong; I adore my girls. BUT, they are so much drama!!! Especially my middle child, Ella...

She is full of emotions and flaunts them all the time. She poses for pictures and models clothing. She cries and screams. She is a complete drama queen!!! If she gets a new dress, she wants shoes, a hair bow, and a purse to match. Dirt? Forget it. She wants to stay clean and girly! Girls are so much work!!!!
Layton was different from the day he was born. He is fine in last year's nasty t-shirt and blue jeans three sizes too small. He gets incredibly dirty every day! Sometimes when I put him in the tub at night, I expect the water to turn brown! He doesn't fall out crying when I tell him that I am not buying him the shoes to match an outfit. He never begs for expensive Vera Bradley bags. He doesn't care if his hair is combed or not.
Girls are Drama!

Sleepy Time on the Floor...

Layton was playing in the kitchen with a sticker book when the urge to sleep was to strong to resist...

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I don't know how, but he managed to sleep on the kitchen floor for several minutes. I had to grab my phone and take a picture because it was so cute!

Hadley's Gift...

Hadley went shopping with her grandmother and felt compelled to buy a present for me.

Yep. She bought me a set of hilarious napkins.

Pro Choice...Pro Life...Who Cares?...

Starting a War of Words. That's what happened earlier this week when a popular Mom Blogger announced that she would no longer allow Susan G. Komen ads on her blog because the organization gave grants to Planned Parenthood. She's devoutly pro-life, and called SGK an organization that "supports abortion." Her words, not mine. Her tweets explaining all of this really got my feathers ruffled.

SGK is the world's largest organization that provides breast cancer research and support. The organization has raised more than $1.5 Billion for breast cancer. I think we'd all agree that is impressive.

And now, one mom blogger is suggesting that an organization that has granted an immaterial amount to Planned Parenthood is not to be supported because PP is the largest provider of abortions in the United States. PP provides so many other services though, and it is being suggested that if you don't believe in all of an organization's policies, you can't support the organization at all.

To me, this is the same as homophobes boycotting Sharp. That's right. If you don't like homosexuals or believe in their rights and freedoms, throw your Sharp appliances in the ditch. George Takei is one of their spokespeople, and he's gay.

I have friends with very different opinions to my own. We don't believe the same things about God, creation, abortion, etc., but we are still friends and can see beyond our differences.

You don't have to believe in 100% of an organizations policies and procedures to still believe in the good that is being done. Why sacrifice awareness and life saving research to start a war of words?

Furthermore, who cares?

Infidelity...

Infidelity. The word sounds dirty. Why do people cheat? I've been thinking about this topic A LOT lately.

I have a couple of friends who have had to deal with infidelity. I have to be honest. I don't know if I could be that strong.

My grandfather had an affair and my grandparents went through an epic divorce battle as a result. Epic may be an understatement. They had been married for decades when they divorced. In fact, both of their children were married, and my mother was pregnant with my brother at the time. Their divorce colored every holiday, birthday, graduation, wedding, and special occasion.

I honestly don't understand it. Why cheat?

The thing I really don't understand is how anyone has enough time to perpetrate an affair. I'm being serious. I don't know how I could possibly squeeze an affair into my already hectic schedule. I don't know how my husband could spare the time for a mistress. Apparently though, when someone really wants to have an affair, they will find a way to make the time for it.

So, why cheat?

Tug of War...

I failed to include a picture of Ella during the tug of war on field day.

She was absolutely adorable! Her class won the tug of war!!!

Scoot Over...

...for fun.

The river isn't quite ready for summer...but we are...

The Morning After...

I love camping! It is so much fun.

Even the next morning....

...sitting in robes around the fire...

...smiling about burnt marsh mallows from the night before...

...cuddling to stay warm while waking up...

I love camping!

Field Day Fun With Ella...

Field day was something my elementary school put on toward the end of the year every year. I'm sure other schools call it different things, but it was field day for us. The day always started with relays. Here's my little Ella in her relay line...

She ran so hard!!! She did her absolute best!!

The hurdle event was not her favorite event. She actually ran around the hurdle!! It was so precious!! She knew that the hurdle was too tall for her, so she just went around it!!

My favorite relay that she participated in was the water balloon pop. The children ran from one end of the field to the other, grabbed a water balloon, put it in a chair, and sat on it to pop it. Ella tried to sit on it once. She very quickly realized that she did not have enough mass to pop the small balloon, so she picked it up and threw it on the ground to pop it!! My pictures were blurry though, so I haven't posted any of those!

I'll Have S'More....

Seriously, would anyone go camping and not take the makings for smores?!!?!??!?!!

This was Layton's first smore ever! He seemed to like it pretty well...he ate several! I am not a smore lover. I guess you could call me a purist. I like my chocolate straight! :) Even though I don't like smores, I don't camp without making them for everyone else...

Camping...

The first camping trip of the year has taken place for us!! We drove to the farm, set up camp, and started having fun!!

We have two tents. One is large, and one is small. The children sleep in the large one since there are three of them. Jay and I sleep in the small one.

The fire pit started out small and got progressively larger as the temperature dropped....

This is my dutch oven. We were heating up some chili that had been cooked earlier. No one likes cold chili! HA!

I took a ton of pictures and will have to do more than one post about our time in the woods. It was a blast!! The children cannot wait to go again!!

Wanna Know How Much Money I Make?....

Jenna recently tweeted about http://www.spokeo.com/. I went to the website and did a search for myself. All kinds of information came up....

...my address...phone number...email address...zodiac sign...whether or not my house has a fireplace...and how many people live in the house...approximate household income...my age...education status...

It was almost all incorrect though! If you're going to violate my privacy, at least be accurate about it! Right?!!???! Where did they get this junk? Certainly not from my blog; the information would have been accurate had they read my blog. I'm not on Facebook. Have I really tweeted too much about myself? Should I check the bushes outside my computer room? Maybe the spokeo spy is watching me type this!!

I followed the steps to delete my profile and then thought to search under my maiden name. Boom! There it was. All kinds of inaccurate info under my maiden name with the address listed as my mother's house. It even provided a middle initial...not my middle initial but one that's close.The really strange thing is that I have never slept a single night in my mother's house she lives in now. She moved there a year after my father died, and I was already married and had two children when she took up her current address. Who in the heck runs this spokeo website????? At some point, a litigious personality is going to see this site and get ticked off by the wrong information being given out.


So, I deleted the profile for my maiden name too. Time to search for the hubs. Jay is not my husband's name...it's just what his family calls him. There was nothing on him under his real name, but boat loads of  incorrect information under his nickname. However, his actual twitter profile picture was shown. His education was listed as "some college." I laughed out loud at that one; the man has multiple degrees in math and electrical engineering. The biggest mistake was that he was listed as living in another city. With another wife. With other children. With a totally wrong age but correct zodiac sign.

You can see how I got a little nervous at first. :) I emailed the link to the profile to him and asked if he needed to tell me anything. Ha!!

Seriously though, shouldn't this site be monitored a little more closely??? Or have to ask your permission before telling the world whether or not you have a fireplace???? Incidentally, we do have a fireplace, but spokeo says we don't. Maybe that thing on the far wall that has fire in it isn't really a fireplace...spokeo says it's not.

In a nutshell, I am thinking about making the blog private. Please let me know if you think I should go private or stay public. If I do go private, you will still be able to read the blog if you send me an email. :)

A Group of Girls...And Layton...

He's already reeling in the girls! HA! Those curls and dimples do the trick on me every time!! :)