My first granddaughter, Liza. I took this on a special outing I had with only Liza. We were at Jamestown VA in the Pocahontas village. Liza was grounding her own cornmeal just like Pocahontas would have done. I had so much fun with her, pretending to be Indians… although SHE got to be Pocahontas!
This was taken “from above”… in August, 2011, when she was only 2. I miss our time together.
Baby Girl decided that she HAD to get her drivers permit TODAY, on THE day that she turns 15. No excuses were going to be accepted from me. It didn’t matter to Julia that we didn’t have a copy of her SS# OR her birth certificate. It didn’t matter that I had a million things to do in order to get ready for her birthday weekend. It’s HER birthday so I must comply! I spent some time waiting in lines at different government offices and twisted a few arms in order to get the required pieces of identification. YUK.
Well, let me tell you, it came within MINUTES of not happening. I must have “forgotten” making a promise to pick she and her bff up from school. I had lots of errands to run so I got home almost an hour after she was supposed to get off the bus. As soon as I walked through the door the phone rang. It was Hannah (bff) asking why I didn’t remember to pick them up? OMG! If I got in the car RIGHT then, I could make it to school to pick them up and THEN to the police station, where they give the drivers permit tests, 5 minutes before they close the door… and that’s only if there’s no traffic and everything fell into place perfectly. We all know that when you’re in a huge hurry nothing ever falls into place perfectly. Well, I’m happy to tell you that today was different. We made it with 3 minutes to spare before they closed the doors! lol
NONE of my girls passed the test on the first day. We had to KEEP going back to retest with a couple of my girls because they wouldn’t study the book. Not Julia or Hannah. They BOTH passed TODAY! These girls were dead serious about their NEED to drive and as afraid as I am, because I HATE when teenagers start driving, I am also SO very proud! Hannah could have gone to pass the test a couple of weeks ago because she turned 15 before Julia. But because she’s such a good friend, she wanted to wait for Julia’s birthday so they could go together! I’ve got to tell you, if it were ME, I wouldn’t have waited. She’s a sweet girl though 😉 I was a little worried that Julia would have passed and Hannah wouldn’t… only because that’s the way things usually go. I mean, what if fate decided to punish Hannah for being such a good friend? OR worse, what if Julia didn’t pass the test and it’s HER birthday? Either scenario was bad. Thank JESUS BOTH of them passed. Hannah on her first try and Julia on her second. They’re only allowed 2 tries a day.
Birthday girl get’s her permit! Look at how happy she is!
Hannah was so nervous. She was afraid that if she blinked wrong, the officer would decide to take her permit back. lol
Congratulations to both girls! Watch out world… 2 more teenagers on the road.
My baby turns 15 today! Wow. As if I didn’t already feel old.
Here’s a song Julia grew up listening to (the Dixie Chick version was the only one she knew). To me though, as much as I adore the Dixie Chicks, NOBODY can sing it like Stevie Nicks.
NOW, this song is appropriate. Now, she’s older and I’m watching my baby turn from a caterpillar into a beautiful butterfly. Soon she will fly.
Today, we listened to this song and she cried a little. She’s always cherished being the baby of the family. She’s not sure she wants to grow up but we all know that we can’t stop time. We can’t even slow it down a little.
Landslide
Songwriters: NICKS, STEVIE
I took my love and I took it down
Climbed a mountain then I turned around
And I saw my reflection in the snow covered hills
Well the landslide brought me down
Oh, mirror in the sky
What is love?
Can the child within my heart rise above
Can I sail through the changing ocean tides
Can I handle the seasons of my life
Uh ah … uh ah …. uh ah …
Well, I’ve been afraid of changin’
‘Cause I built my life around you
But time makes you bolder
Children get older
I’m getting older too
Well …
(Instrumental)
Well, I’ve been afraid of changin’
‘Cause I built my life around you
But time makes you bolder
Children get older
I’m getting older too
Well, I’m getting older too
So, take this love and take it down
Yeah, and if you climb a mountain and ya turn around
And If you see my reflection in the snow covered hills
Well the landslide brought me down
If you see my reflection in the snow covered hills
Well maybe …
Well maybe …
Well maybe …
The landslide will bring you down.
I’m panicking! Help please??? My youngest princess is turning 15 tomorrow and I need to come up with something to make this year special. Here’s why… From experience with all my other girls, I’ve learned that this, year 15, is really the last year she’ll be mine 😦 *cue tears*. Everyone knows that Sweet 16 is something very special for a girl. 15 is very special for Mommy!
I’ve always made birthdays for my girls special and we’ve tried to do parties or weekend trips. We’ve pretty much done anything the girls wanted to do within the limits of our financial situation. SO… Julia’s the baby. I’m struggling with empty nest syndrome and I think sometimes, I’m not the one winning. I’m trying to be graceful about losing my mind to the “empty nest”. After all, FINALLY, after FOUR kids, I’ve realized that these girls were not born FOR ME! They are little beings so separate from me and I have so very little to do with their lives – except to give birth and pay for them. They don’t need me after a certain age. My job was to shape and mold them and HELP them to be the decent human beings that they were born to be. Now, I want to celebrate Julia.
So here’s the dilemma. I’ve done a lot of cool things to celebrate her birthday already. Last year, we had a bunch of friends over (her friends) and they spent the night. We spent one day in downtown St. Louis and packed a picnic lunch. We spread a blanket out on the ground at a park and looked up at the Arch. We fed the ducks and geese at the pond we sat near. 
~Here’s everyone eating by the pond under the Arch. It was a pretty cool idea and inexpensive to pack our own lunch. The girls had a blast even though we didn’t spend a bunch of money on dinner reservations~
~Here’s the view of the downtown buildings from our little picnic spot~
~Here they are walking in the rain. They did their best to ditch the parents (Ben and I) but I managed to catch up with them AT LEAST to get this shot. lol~
After eating, feeding the mean geese who took our food and then attacked us, walking around under the Arch and people watching, we took a horse drawn carriage ride all along the riverfront.
~Here’s the whole group of us! The girls had the choice between going up IN the Arch or doing something else. They chose the carriage ride and were SO giddy at being able to wave to the tourists. We laughed so hard and just enjoyed the moment.~
~Here’s the St. Louis Riverfront… view from the carriage ride~
We were done kind of early with the Riverfront and the girls weren’t ready to leave yet. They’d decided to spend the rest of the day at the City Museum on Washington Ave. This was a tough decision because it wasn’t in the budget BUT how could we say no? The cost is $12 a person and $20 a person if you want to go to the Aquarium, which we did NOT. It was particularly scary that day because a tornado went through the city of St. Louis and there were even fatalities right down the road. Thank God the girls were all safe and it missed us. They had a BLAST (despite the crazy howling winds outside) and they closed down the place 🙂
~All the materials used to make everything in the City Museum came from recycled garbage! Basically anything you’d throw away NOT food or sewage related. lol Here’s one of the ceilings. I’m loving the mosaics on the column. Not sure what the ceiling material is made of.~
~This isn’t a good picture but I put it here to show you that there are other aquariums that are free to see. There are fish and turtles everywhere.~
~Here’s my oldest daughter Sumo wrestling a statue at the City Museum. So you see, there something fun for ALL age children. lol~
After the museum, the girls came back here and made their own pizzas. They stayed up all night and left late the next day. We got a LOT of birthday celebrating in that weekend and Julia and her friends are STILL talking about it. So how do I top that?
One year, we took a FEW of her friends to the St. Louis Magic House. We were supposed to go to SixFlags but as luck would have it, and as it seems to do EVERY birthday for Julia, it stormed so they couldn’t ride the rides at Sixflags while there’s lightening happening 😦
~here she is pretending to be a judge. They learned all about the judicial system… among so many other things. Again, having WAY too much fun pretending~
Looking back on it, we’ve done so many things for her birthday. I’m running out of ideas and here’s where YOU come in handy 🙂 I need some ideas! Keeping in mind that we’re only going to have 1 maybe 2 friends this time AND that Julia loves the city. I would absolutely LOVE to get on a train, just Julia and I and go to Chicago for a few days. We won’t be able to do that, most likely, because we just bought her first car. I realize a car should be enough but she’s going to be paying us back for that and to me, it’s all about the experiences we share. Memories need to made AND, like I said before, this is probably the last year that I’ll have her to myself. I fully expect that NEXT year, when she’s 16, I won’t get to be even a little part of her party… well except to pay for it. lol
I’d really love to hear from you guys on this because I’m at a loss.
Okay… I know this isn’t an example of my BEST photography. I think it was taken with one of the first digital cameras I ever own and it probably cost WAY under a hundred bucks, if I remember right. No matter. This one I LOVE because this time in my life began my interest in photography.
Probably the other reason I love this is that it’s a photo of my “wayward daughter”, taken during a time where we were so close. A mirror of each other. I always knew she was going to be a free spirit. She thinks on her own and with a brain that’s SO different than anyone else. A free soul and I think I can see that in her here.
Here’s my representation of “up”. I’m looking up at her while she’s sitting on a giant granite rock at Elephant Rocks State Park in Missouri. A place we loved to go as a family, when our family was together. I miss her but I know God’s got his protective hand on her and I pray that her future always looks “up”.
“When life knocks you down, try to land on your back. Because if you can look up, you can get up.”
~Les Brown~
Here’s a pic taken when Julia turned 13. She’s using the pulley’s at the Magic House in St. Louis, to pull up the construction buckets. She’s with her friends Shelby and Leah.
In the midst of my dark mood, attitude and opinions surrounding the American Education system, more specifically, directed at the “No Child Left Behind” Act of 2001, there is a bright spot. My brilliant niece Aubrie.
Yesterday, my niece and I took some time to celebrate what we like to call Auntie/Aubrie day. Kind of geeky, eh? Not really. Aubrie and I have virtually NO time to spend together because A.) I spend most of my time with her sisters because they’re little and need me more and B.) Aubrie is 13 and involved in 3 different sports, not to mention her rigid academic schedule. It’s kind of sad that we actually have to schedule any time we can spend together a month beforehand. We pack a lot of talking into the few hours that we have together. Right now is a good time to mention that Aubrie is not my biological niece although NOBODY would be able to tell by looking at us. She couldn’t be MORE mine if she were biological and I’ve become her favorite aunt through the years. She tells me that she feels like I treat her with respect and don’t condescend to her. It helps that I’m a good cook and like to take her shopping! lol HER words. She likes that I actually enjoy our time together.
This weekend, Aubrie is competing in the National History Day State Competition in Columbia MO at the University of Missouri Campus (Mizzou). She’s made it this far by placing fourth place in the original competition where she beat out hundreds of other kids making their presentations on the historical figure of their choice. Most of the kids her age gave speeches on past presidential leaders such as George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. *yawn* – Natural and easy choices. Not Aubrie. She went out on a limb, like she always does and made her presentation based on a very strong and successful woman who rose to the top of the fashion industry. Coco Channel became iconic using her own skills and hard work ethics. She started poor and became wealthy, as we already know.
What impresses me so much about Aubrie’s presentation and choice of historical figures is that she chose a woman. Someone Aubrie can look up to and use for inspiration. We’re all strong women in our family and believe that our gender shouldn’t dictate how far we’re able to go in life, we’re in control of our own destinies. We are also very well aware that we’ll have to work harder to get there. Aubrie is well ahead of her game. Before she was allowed to prepare her speech, she was required to create a website. This may sound like a normal skill for a girl her age in other countries. Sadly, here in America, this is NOT normal for a public high school student. She’s only in 7th grade. I’m proud to show you all what her website looks like. It’s her first time creating a website and I think she did a fantastic job! Obviously, the judges of this competition shared my semi biased opinion or she wouldn’t have beat out hundreds of other students. Here’s the link to the website she created about the life of Coco Channel
My niece takes her studies VERY seriously. She worries me sometimes because she’s so serious but I have NO worries about how successful she’ll be in life. When she gives public presentation, especially when she’s competing, she pays attention where her appearance is concerned. Aubrie wants to make a professional appearance. I truly believe this helped her win the competition. Most girls her age made their presentation to judges who were college professors (potential scholarships involved for MAJOR universities) wearing yoga pants or blue jeans and tee shirts. They weren’t allowed to wear provocative clothing but a lot of these girls looked like they’d just jumped out of bed without brushing their hair. Their clothes were wrinkled and they appeared sleepy. Not MY niece. She wore a suit appropriate for an interview with a major corporation. She’s only 13 folks! lol Her hair was up in a neat bun and her make up was appropriately light. She appeared to be a powerful and intelligent woman! I was so proud. The professors actually commented on her appearance and asked the other girls to pay attention to Aubrie’s presentation of HERSELF. They used her for an example of what TO do instead of what NOT to do.
So yesterday, in preparation for her competition on Saturday, we spent our time at the nail salon of her choice. The salon where Aubrie knew the stylists would do the professional job that Aubrie expects. If they don’t do it right, she makes them do it over. Wow. I can honestly say, she makes ME feel like the child! lol
Here she is talking to a teacher for one of our public schools also getting a pedicure. Aubrie is explaining the competition to her and what she expected to win THIS time. She expects to win a substantial scholarship, by the way. I’m placing MY bet now that she’ll WIN that scholarship!
(she cracks me up with how serious she is and how adult her mannerisms are)
(thank the LORD Aubrie is satisfied with her “full set” and the quality of work this stylist does… lol)
I must really rate in Aubries book because she allowed me to talk her into a more playful, age appropriate style. A style that she will have fun with even after the competition and a style that I think will also work for her professionalism. It’s not so crazy of a color that will stand out and make her appear to not be taking her job seriously.
Talking with my little “adult” niece about her plans for the future and the work that she’s doing to make her path clear, only served to make me more aware of how POOR our public school system is. Aubrie has NEVER attended public school. It’s Catholic/ Private all the way for her and it’s certainly ALREADY paid off. Her private school is already preparing the children to write quality university level research papers. They begin teaching the children to do research papers in fourth grade, by the age of 8 and 9. Aubrie tells me that her instructors are constantly explaining to the class that they’re being groomed for COLLEGE (not high school). When I was in Catholic school, they stressed how we were being groomed for high school. It’s different now and I’m glad. Guess when our PUBLIC schools focus on college level work? Tenth grade. My daughter gave me the “Mom is just crazy” look when I shared my opinion on how important it is to teach our children how to create a proper college level research paper. In another related point, do you know that these public school kids don’t know how to address an envelope? They tell me that it’s not important anymore in today’s age of technology. It just seems so simple to me and common sense. Don’t they still NEED to know how to address an envelope? Or the proper way to write a letter, be it business or personal? They SURE know how to “Tweet” and know ALL the “texting” language.
I’m feeling EXTREMELY guilty that I’m not financially able to provide the right kind of education for my daughter. Aubrie’s younger, yet she’s so much more prepared for the real world. She’s been lead to already know the direction she wants her life to go in. My daughter hasn’t been taught to give it another thought. THAT is my fault. I can’t leave it all up to the school system especially since I’m fully aware it’s a FAILING school system and has been since 2001, when the “No Child Left Behind Act” was passed. My back’s against the wall and I’m running out of time here! I asked my daughter to consider switching schools. I realize the choice is not hers but I ‘d feel a whole lot better if she’d share my views for her life! She’s only 14 and in 9th grade. She’s got 3 more years of high school so is it too late? I don’t think so but my daughter actually said these words to me, “Mom, it’s too late for me”. She’s not worried about her social life and losing her friends. She just actually believes that she’s not capable of learning because she’s also very aware that she’s not being taught.
To give you an example of why my daughter believes she’s not being educated, I’ll tell you what happened the other day with her Science test. She’s always (in previous years) been very good in Science. Once she hit 9th grade, this changed. Her teacher almost isn’t even present. He does bother to lecture or do experiments. He tells them to read their book and if they don’t understand something, he tells them to read it again, never bothering to explain. He gets annoyed. My daughter told him that she wasn’t ready to take the test because she only got 2 out of 10 questions right on the quiz. She didn’t even know why she got those questions wrong and she explained this to her instructor. He told her to sit down and he actually GAVE her the answers for the test. I’m pretty sure we all remember what used to happen to US if we were caught stealing the teacher’s answers, or if we “copied” off our “neighbor”, right? This teacher actually GAVE her the answers because he knew it didn’t matter if she knew the subject matter. She was going to pass because NOBODY fails anymore! The rest of the class can’t move ahead if even ONE person fails so he gave her the answers in an effort to make himself appear to be a successful teacher. It looks bad on the teacher if one child doesn’t know the material and for THIS reason (NCLB act) ALL the children are forced to be on the same level. For THAT matter, they’re even integrating Autistic and otherwise learning disabled children into a class of “normal”, learning abled children. They’re ALL being taught the same way. If there’s an Autistic child who’s making a lot of noise in class, he’s allowed to keep distracting the other kids and there’s NOTHING an instructor can do about it. TRUST me, my sympathy doesn’t only lie with our children. What is a teacher supposed to do to gain control of their class and keep their students focused? It’s becoming more clear, every year that passes SINCE 2001, that there’s NO point in our instructors caring. SO sad. Occasionally, we’ll have a rogue teacher who actually takes pride in the fact that they’re forming our children’s future. They know they may even get into trouble for not focusing ENOUGH time to preparing our kids for one federal test or another. This rare “rogue” educator will actually spend TIME discussing and teaching a subject. I need to stress how very rare this is though.
But this isn’t the point of this post. You all know me by now, I get distracted and one thought leads to another, which leads to another and on and on we go! lol My point was to brag about my niece and to pay attention to what she and her educators are doing right. My point is to pay specific attention to the difference between our public school system and the private school system. The differences between the poor and the rich, although there is a DRASTIC difference between our rural area schools and the wealthy public schools in the better suburbs. I’m SO proud of my sister-in-law for making education a priority for her children! I’d always believed education was a priority for MY children as well. However, now that I’m being honest, I can see my tendency toward taking the “lazy” route. I’d been reading for years, about the effects of the NCLB act on our youth. I didn’t want to believe it though and tried to make myself accept that it just takes time to iron out the rough edges of any new program. MY children should have been made a priority, somehow. I shouldn’t have gambled on their futures and I should have sacrificed more to give them the education that they deserve. I made vacations and our quality of life our priority instead.
It’s NOT too late though. I’m done accepting less than mediocre for my daughter. I’ve got to either talk with the scholarship program St. Pius and make arrangements for her to attend, if she’ll even be able to test into their school. OR, here’s my other option. I can do what has been recommended to me BY several educators and allow my daughter to take the high school equivalency test (GED). There’s not ONE bit of difference here, anymore, between a GED and an actual 4 year high school diploma. Many parents have now started taking the advice to take their children out of high school and having them begin college courses so that they can earn college credits. Our educators tell us (in private and off the record) that to send our children to high school is equivalent to sending them to be “babysat” for 8 hours a day. There used to be at LEAST a social reason to attend high school. In present days, it’s becoming only negative social development. Why do I need a babysitter? I don’t and she should have the same advantages as my niece has. I’m ashamed and shocked when I think of how much she’s actually REGRESSED since grade school. Her grades used to reflect a college level knowledge of almost every subject. Now she tests at a grade school level. The only reason she’s passing Science at all is because the teacher provides the answers for her. Don’t think I haven’t tried speaking with the proper school officials. They keep giving me the same answers and even IF I can get them to care, their hands are tied due to the No Child Left Behind Act. They have to follow the rules if they’re to receive federal funding.
I want MY daughter to be a success story also. Naturally she already is in MY book. She was born with an amazing mind and is every BIT as intelligent as my niece is. She just hasn’t been given the same advantages and THAT’S been my responsibility all along. We need to make our children’s futures our priority. After all, they’re going to be leading this world one day. If our government doesn’t care and won’t do anything about it, then the responsibility lies solely on us, as parents. I think it’s time, folks. It’s probably over time. We should have paid more attention to this as citizens of the once great USA.
I’m VERY interested in hearing your thoughts and opinions. DO any of you have a story to share about how our schools have affected (good OR bad) your own children? What would you do? Or do you have any ideas about how we, as a nation can change this? We NEED to care. Even if you don’t have children now. This country will be run, decisions will be made by these children who AREN’T being educated. Who then will run our country? Let me give you a hint. It WON’T be the “people”. I believe they may be doing it this way so that we’ll all become more ignorant. We’ll care even less than we do now (if that’s possible) and eventually our officials won’t be “elected”. We’ll have dictators because we won’t be ABLE to make educated decisions. Is this what they want? It sure makes you think, doesn’t it?
What a CRAZY weekend and week, for that matter! I’m getting TOO freaking old for this, really. lol Today, I talked to somebody about my brother, who is a Leo. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the personality traits of a Leo, they’re just a tad self centered. They’re STRONG and funny, but yes, the world as they see it, should ALWAYS revolve around them. My brother came from the womb this way and he received many an a$$ kicking from me when he was little. I should be ashamed, but I’m not.
This weekend, my brother suggested we have a birthday dinner for me. He planned this with my husband. I have to give little brother credit for even caring at all because I can’t remember a single birthday where he actually did anything for me. Not that I mind… my birthday’s were something I’d like to forget, mostly because the brother that I shared every birthday with is gone. I just wish they would come and go quietly, really. Anyway, little brother planned a dinner. You’d think it would be at HIS house right? Nope. He wanted to have the dinner at MY house so that my hubby can grill. Little brother was going to provide the meat to be grilled but we had to do the sides. He DID offer to HELP Hubby grill.
First of all, you know what having company means, right? I have to clean. The burden of cleaning and getting the house ready for company fell on me and my daughter. I’m sure Hubby would have done it if I’d asked but he’s not good about details. SO, I cleaned AND I made part of the dinner. Once little brother arrived, he was “too sick” to help with anything. Hubby did it all while Little Brother went and laid down in my bed. He had a headache and he was SURE that nobody in the world ever suffered from a headache such as he had. Seriously. I told him I understand headaches because I suffer from migraines but he told me that he knew I wouldn’t be able to LIVE with the kind of pain he suffered from. Hmmm… how quickly he forgets that I have MANY a scar since I’ve been cut from my neck down to my belly button. THAT’S nowhere near the pain Little Brother was having though. So, I left Little Pumpkin to sleep in my bed while we got the food ready.
You might be interested to know what my birthday present was? Okay, I’ll tell you. My brother allowed me to take care of his baby daughters overnight and all the next day. Thank GOD Hubby, Daughter and her friend helped me with this because I, myself, felt like complete crap. Although, I’m sure my pain couldn’t compare to Little Brother’s. I love my nieces, you all know I do. I love them like they’re my own kids and why shouldn’t I? They spend more than 2/3 of their life with me! lol It’s just that I’m tired. And one of my nieces is possessed by the devil. No joke. I love her but she’s got some serious problems! Far be it from ME to mention that to Little Brother because his progeny are perfect, just like him. Oh and he really feels that if he tells me enough how I’m privileged to be able to watch them (because he won’t allow anyone else to take care of the little angels), I’ll look at it as my most honored privilege. Only it’s my BIRTHDAY… so can’t I get a pass at least for this week? Nope, I can not.
Little brother and his wife wanted/needed some time alone Saturday night so my family took care of my nieces. 3 of them. Granted, the oldest one is a PLEASURE and no trouble at all. The baby is also an angel, but you know how much time babies take, right? Even the BEST baby is a handful! lol I could have said no, but I recognized that they don’t have time together (brother and wife). They’re in their 40’s, like me and they get tired too. So, just like he knew I would, I felt sorry for them and tried to FIX things. So how did Little Brother and his wife spend their night together? Little Brother was too sick to pay attention to his wife so he moaned and groaned and complained while she quietly read a book. Wow. What a waste. Can’t he just fake it and TRY to act like he wasn’t the center of the universe? It took SO much for my sister in law to rearrange her schedule just to be ABLE to spend an evening with her husband. This was an evening he said he desperately needed with her. I guess it was all good for him because she got the opportunity to dote on him and be concerned with his sicknesses. She must be a saint. I’d have killed him.
Yesterday, Sunday, the little angels were supposed to go home by noon. They did NOT. After noon, little brother called to tell me that his wife would be tied up at their oldest daughter’s tournaments until 5:00 p.m. Did I want him to come and pick the kids up? HELL YES, I wanted him to come right then! Did he? Nope. He called his wife and asked her to leave the tournament, over an hour away, and come pick her kids up. She couldn’t leave so the kids stayed here until after 5:00. Little Brother had to go to the dump to empty trash and he actually said that he was going to be “stuck” with his kids for this entire week so he couldn’t come get them. He’s a SAHD. He doesn’t much like his role as Mr. Mom. REALLY? His poor wife works over 12 hours a day and still has to take care of the house and her kids when she gets home. She NEVER has a break but my precious little brother needs a break. Seriously, the kids are with me more than half the week, most weeks. I guess I just thought that I would be exempt from having to watch the little darlings on my birthday.
Done with rant… kind of. We made the best of the weekend, still. I DO enjoy my nieces (when I’m feeling good). I do NOT enjoy the devil that resides inside my 4 year old niece. Luckily, Hubby was at home to restrain her from hurting herself this weekend. She went into a RAGE, growling at us and slobbering because Hubby made her put a shirt on to go outside. She feels like she should be naked all the time. That would be fine with me if not for the fact that at 4, she’s getting a little too old and I don’t want some pervert driving by to look at her “business”. lol Hubby doesn’t “lose” it often, he’s got the patience of a saint. However, even though he doesn’t believe in spankings, he had to administer one yesterday. AND hold her so that she didn’t bang her head (on purpose) on the furniture. I really can’t even describe her tantrums because I’ve never seen anything like them before.
Things DID settle down after the restraining incident and Precious Jr. became my Hubby’s best friend! lol Here they are cleaning up the playhouse.
(this old playhouse was one we built for my 28 year old daughter when she was 4! My youngest daughter and her friend ghettofied it with paint a few years ago. Ignore the paint. Besides Hubby and Esme’ are going to paint it white and also make a sign that says “Esme’s Playhouse 🙂 )
Here’s my teenage munchkin and her bff helping to keep the baby occupied so that I could do my birthday dishes. lol These kids were a LIFE saver! Eventually, my daughter’s bff took off because she couldn’t take it anymore. lmao
Once the babies left, we all got the heck out of Dodge and went to Dairy Queen! There’s not much that ice cream doesn’t fix, right? We ended the day with lots of laughs and fun and yumminess 🙂 All is good again at my house!
(Hubby contemplating the Oreo Blizzard that will be coming his way soon)
Hannah the bff, enjoying her ice cream, maybe a little TOO much! lmao BTW… she’d KILL me if she knew I posted this pic 😉 You can see that my daughter didn’t have much time this weekend to take care of her own very special hair needs? hehehe
Life is good again and everything’s fixed, all because of a little ice cream 🙂
Hmmm…. maybe I should pay attention to my OWN hair and grooming needs? Naw. I didn’t give two $hi*$ about who was looking at me. Sometimes, you just have to NOT care and enjoy your ice cream 🙂
Hope you all had a spectacular weekend?
A few of you have noticed that I’ve been gone for a little while and have asked me what happened. One of my blog buddies (Shaun) even thought my laptop must be broken! lol I guess that’s a fair worry because I’m usually around every day. It’s nice to be missed!
The reality is that my laptop is just fine. My family, however is NOT fine. Dad was in the hospital last week with a heart attack and the day after he was released, his wife, my step mother of 33 years was admitted with pneumonia. During her stay, many tests were run and we were told that they believe she has pancreatic cancer. They’re also checking into her kidney’s and liver. I guess maybe they think it’s spread. I don’t know. I have NO idea what Dad will do if anything ever happens to her. He completely depends on her for his complete existence. We’re all VERY worried so prayer, or happy thoughts PLEASE and thank you.
Once my stepmother was released from the hospital, my brother, who is 4 years younger than me had a heart attack! We’re falling apart! Geeze. The scary thing is that his wife is out of town on business and he’s home alone with the babies. Hubby and I rushed to go get the babies and we’ve been busy, busy BUSY taking care of my precious little nieces. The GOOD news is that my brother will be fine and that his health can be controlled with medication. The bad news is that his wife is still not home. I think we’ll be getting 3 of the girls again this weekend.
Soooo… to make good out of a very stressful and bad situation, we decided to have some fun with the kiddos. Sunday was a PERFECT day for the St. Louis Zoo! You guys HAVE to check our zoo out if you’re ever in my neck of the woods. It’s pretty awesome and it’s totally free! That’s the best part, right? lol
After driving for an hour, in search of a parking space, we’re on our way to see the lions, tigers and bears! lol
4 year old niece trying to decide if she should give the seal a kiss like I told her to. She’s not much of a cooperator! lol
Even my oldest daughter came! Here they are playing in the bamboo jungle 🙂
Teenage Munchkin and her bff at one of the HUGE aquariums. This one is called “The River’s Edge”.
Esme’ wanted to see the “Elf-an-nents” first. So by ALL means, we’re going to see the elephants 🙂 The only thing was that we saw more elephant poop than we saw elephants. They all seemed to be hiding! I think his name is Raj.
Here’s me and my precious little Ireland. She was SO tired but didn’t make a peep. What a terrific baby girl.
Esme’ didn’t want to miss out on the family love! lol Nothing like a big ole group hug!
The lion sleeps tonight! lol ALL the animals were lazy!
The zebras weren’t very exciting either 😦
And the giraffes were even trying to hide.
Thanks to the hubby for putting up with an SUV load of loud little kids, teenagers and hormonal women! lol Whew. I’d hate to be HIM some days… but he performs well under stress and painted a smile on his face all day 🙂
Today marks the end of my lil teenaged Munchkin’s self imposed “fast”! I can’t TELL you how excited she’s been to eat real people food! lol For those of you who don’t know, she made a commitment to sacrifice or “fast” for 2 weeks. It was something she felt she needed to do to show Jesus how much she appreciates his dying on the cross so that we can go to heaven. She’s also been praying for His grace and guidance. Fasting for Julia means that she eats only healthy food and mostly just raw vegetables, boiled eggs and lot’s of fish. The best thing she’s had in the past few weeks was on Sunday, when I made chicken and rice soup! Poor baby.
So today, she wants meat! Lots and lots of meat! hahaha I let her choose what she wanted me to make. She chose meatballs and french fries. NOT the most gourmet of meals but something I can do quickly, before she and her friend Hannah go to church tonight. I need to stop here and tell you how EXTREMELY proud that she still looks at church as a fun, social activity. ESPECIALLY when I’m just learning that another one of her bff’s (also 14) might be PREGNANT! Once again, reminding me that it can ALWAYS be worse! Wow.
Oven Baked Parmesan and Herb Meatballs
(revised by me from Pinterest)
Ingredients:
1 lb ground beef
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup milk or half and half
1/2 cup grated Parmesan (fresh is ALWAYS better)
1 cup Panko breadcrumbs (or regular but Panko is better)
1 small onion, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried parsley
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp salt
Directions:
In a large mixing bowl, mix all ingredients together using your hands. Form into golf ball sized meatballs . Place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or foil. Bake in preheated oven, 350 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes.
* I’m eating these right now and they’re SO freaking tasty! I wish you could smell my house 🙂 Smells like home! lol
Okay, next I made my easy oven baked asparagus. This is pretty much the ONLY way we ever cook asparagus anymore.
Oven Baked Parmesan Asparagus
Ingredients:
1 bunch of medium to small stemmed asparagus (with woody ends cut on the diagonal)
About 1/4 cup grated Parmesan Cheese
About 1/4 to 1/2 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil (eyeball it)
2 tsp salt
About 1 tsp garlic powder
Directions:
Toss asparagus with all other ingredients. Make sure each piece of asparagus is covered with oil and seasoning. Place asparagus onto a foil lined cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes or until bright green and cheese is melted.
Easy as THAT and I have 2 very happy munchkins and a husband that can’t wait to get home and eat it all up! I’d tell you about the Ore Ida frozen french fries…. but I’m pretty sure you won’t be impressed with how I threw those babies in the oven for 30 minutes with season salt! lmbo
Happy Eating to you 🙂
Site 1 (unused)
Nurse, Wife, Mother, Passionate Home Cook, Joyful Oversharer
Fighting for restaveks, orphans and vulnerable children in Haiti.
St. Louis news, weather, and sports.
when you're not invited
what am i up to...
the Story within the Story
living life with intention and grace
"Creativity is contagious, pass it down" ~Albert Einstein
An embellished memoir, in short spurts.
The real Italy, as seen from the heart
I Enjoy Long Romantic Walks to the Fridge.
Where life and food come together!
And That's All She Wrote! 