Thankful Tuesday

I'm grateful for...
my sarcasm and my friends who I can call on a whim to be sarcastic with. I honestly don't know if I would be able to survive this week without it! (and it's only Tuesday)

when...
I get to spend time with Heather on our Monday Night dinner dates. So fun!

for the roof over my head....
that is ready to feel some FALL weather....seriously.

for my kid....
who cracks me up daily!

that the coming week...
I will finish planning our 2nd annual girls weekend --Can't Wait!!!!

I'm a Lazy Mom, too.

I found this earlier and fell in love with it. I can't believe how incredibly true it is.....and i think that it may be part of the reason kids are so stinkin disrespectful sometimes. When I was a kid i had chores, a bedtime, family dinner time. I couldn't backtalk ANY adult or else (i am not really sure what would have happened but I knew I didn't want to find out) My parents were fairly strict but not in a military sort of way......i just knew without a doubt what i could get away with and what i couldn't. I didn't walk all over my parents and we still had an awesome childhood. (IMAGINE THAT!)

So, you can imagine my excitement when I found this list. It literally made me think of all the people who could read this and relate to it. I know I am guilty of a few CRAZY Mom scenarios....I try very hard not to. Karley has chores such as laundry from start to finish, she unloads the dishwasher and sets the table for dinner. She gets up and dresses herself and gets her own crap ready for school. She is responsible for making sure her dog has food and water and all of her toys and what not's are picked up daily. She knows that if she has friends over to play and don't help pick up it is then HER responsibility. Bummer, huh?

This past weekend I had a pretty dramatic encounter with the neighbor girl who tried to whip out a bag of sassy pants on Me. It was not pretty---what made me even more upset is that she went home and told her mom who laughed about it. Like it was a joke? I should have known since I regularly hear this child talk to her own parents, teacher, siblings and even the bus driver on a daily basis like this. I was still shocked. UGH!

Don't get me wrong, I have never, and never will win the mother of the year award but I can actually say I try my hardest to make sure karley is respectful, polite and has good manners.

Okay....enough rambling.....read this, get a few good laughs like I did and then tell me what you think.

Here are ten ways that you can tell if you are a "crazy" mom or a "lazy" mom:


1. A "crazy" mom spends every night gathering together the things her children need for the next day. Then, she proceeds to pack their backpacks and lunches. A "lazy" mom spends some concentrated effort in training her kids to be responsible for their own things and to help pack the lunches. Then she will never have to pack a backpack again.

2. A "crazy" mom does everyone's laundry. Then, she spends hours folding it and putting it away. A "lazy" mom teaches her children to do their own laundry. When her children are toddlers, she teaches them to fold washcloths. By the time they are 7 or 8 years old they are doing their own laundry and she never has to do it for them again.

3. A "crazy" mom cleans her whole house herself, every week. A "lazy" mom trains her kids to do the cleaning. If she has many children, she won't have to do any of the regular cleaning herself.

4. A "crazy" mom goes through her house, picking up glasses, dishes, shoes, dirty socks, and toys, in an effort to keep the house clean, in spite of her children. A "lazy" mom calls the child to pick up after him/herself. She will even resort to dishing out extra chores to kids who won't stop leaving messes around. Her goal is to never have to pick up after her children again.

5. The "crazy" mom encounters an overflowing trash can and takes it out herself. The "lazy" mom has assigned one of her children to be in charge of trash and calls him/her to take it out. She even has a child to take out the recycling.

6. A "crazy" mom cooks a wonderful dinner, sets the table, serves the meal, clears the table, and does the dishes herself. A "lazy" mom has a cook's helper, a table setter, and a server. She sits down and enjoys her meal. The dishwashers take care of the cleaning and the washing. Who are these helpers, you may ask? Why, her children, of course. She took the time to train the children to do these chores and then assigned the jobs to them.

7. A "crazy" mom drives her children to sports, lessons, meetings, and more. A "lazy" mom arranges her life to stay home as much as possible. She limits her children's outside activities to one, or at most two, outings a week. She finds that she and the kids are happier at home and many special projects get finished.

8. A "crazy" mom often feels taken for granted and may begin to resent her family's dependence on her. A "lazy" mom is free to do little things for her kids, out of love, and to honor them. Things she used to feel she had to do, now become thoughtful favors for the ones she loves.

9. A "crazy" mom may find her children are not equipped to face adult responsibilities when they leave the nest. A "lazy" mom can rest in confidence that she helped build maturity in her children and gave them the skills they needed to build strong families of their own.

10. The "crazy" mom loves her kids and is just doing what she thinks she should. I hope she reads this article, and starts being a little "lazy". The "lazy" mom, well, I guess she isn't really "lazy" at all, just smart.

Note: © Copyright 2001 Theresa Gibson

Update Time

School started off with a bang. It made me realize that maybe, just maybe, I should have spent some more time with homework-type things this past summer. WHEW! We are at the end of week 2 and Karley has already taken 7 tests and had a major spelling test. I am talking major. Words like constitution and habitat.....UGH.

On the flip side, since she has done the testing we are starting to see the results. She scored super high on reading. (no big surprise) and is doing very well in math (thanks to the hour each night of workbooks we have been doing at home to refresh) We are so proud of her.

Last night she started with this nasty cough and watery eyes. I am pretty sure it is allergies....she goes through this every year but this year is super horrible......After 4 hours of sleep last night due to coughing I sent her to school today groggy and medicated. MOTHER OF THE YEAR. I just kept thinking that it is too soon for her to miss a day this early in the school year and i am about 99% sure it is actually allergies. Turns out it was a good decision.....she had a major test in social studies and tons and tons of busy work that I am sure we would be doing all weekend otherwise. Second grade is hard work! I am shocked at the curriculum that our school has. When I talk to my friends who are in other school districts they are NOWHERE NEAR doing the amount of things we are. Is this a good or bad thing???? I sometimes wonder.

Karley is enrolled in dance 2 nights a week this year. She goes to hip-hop Monday night and Tap/Jazz/Ballet Tuesday night. She is loving it! I am happy to get it all out of the way early in the week. :)

Now, it's the weekend again. Todd had the worlds worst week at his job this week and is stressed to the max. I hate seeing him like that. It's very frustrating. People not paying attention to what they are doing, people not caring, people needing to leave to do crap they should do on their "off" time and just pure LAZINESS....the list goes on. When I ask him he says it's the same old sh*t and he wishes he had Joel back. Poor guy. :(

We lost (and found) our dog yesterday. The little crap got out from under the fence and took a stroll through the neighborhood where he found a couple of Much bigger dogs to play with. Our neighbors around the corner found him in their backyard pestering their dogs. Todd's job tonight is to put up more boards along the fence to try and keep the little booger in. Time will tell.

Hope you enjoyed the update! I will post some pictures soon. Have a good weekend!

First Day of 2nd Grade!

This morning we got up bright and early for the first day of 2nd grade. Karley did better than I thought considering last night she told me she wasn't so sure she wanted to go......We go through this every year. I think it's just an end of summer thing and knowing she is going to school all day--every day. I get that.

Here she is all ready and eating her banana bread for breakfast. She was a little chatterbox this morning talking about anything and everything. We had to get a photo of her and Mr. Max.

This was on the way to the bus stop with our house in the background.

This photo is sort of a tradition. This is the tree in the front yard. We have been taking her photo in front of this on the first day of school and the last day of school every year. Just think....By the time she is in high school this tree should be super tall. (sniff. sniff)
Here is Karley and her friend Kayden. They were in class for first grade together and now 2nd grade as well. It's funny because they don't really hang out outside of school (even though they live just down the street from each other) but they showed up at the bus stop with the same haircut and backpacks......even almost the same outfits. At school they share a locker too. They got a kick out of it.
Showing off the backpacks.

Here is the Wexford Crew---and this isn't even all of them. Our bus literally stops at the street before us, our street and the one after and then is busting at the seams with kids. They ride the bus for maybe 2 minutes and they are at school. CRAZY!
Okay. There she goes. I didn't even cry!!!!! This is HUGE PEOPLE! I was sad and felt like crying but i didn't do it. WOO HOO!!!

After we got all the kids on the bus we headed down to our house for First Day of School coffee. This is a tradition where the neighbors and my cousins come over and we catch up....It was fun!

Todd took the day off work and we power washed the house, washed the outside of the windows and got the yard picked up and mowed, and knocked down some WASP nests. WHEW!

Now, I gotta go.....it's already 2:30 and i still have to get the after school party put together!

Enjoy your week!!!

Meet the Teacher Night

Tonight was the Big Night at sas-a-fras's school. We just got the list of who her teacher is for this year yesterday afternoon. Today we had to wait all day to go to the school and put up her school supplies....it had to seem like eternity for her. She was so ready! After Killing time all day by shopping we headed home to wait on TZ to get home from work. Here she is all ready to go with her new hair do and all. LOVE IT!!! ( side note...ignore the messy kitchen....it's on my to-do-after-school-starts-list.) I took this picture of us before we left. I like it but I am not sure when I grew such a turkey neck. ICK!

Here she is with her new teacher Mrs Scott. This is who she wanted and we couldn't be more thrilled. Why? Well, I had her for second grade when she was Mrs Slaughter and Jamie had her too. In fact, I am pretty sure I have this same photo of Mrs. Scott and Myself from waaaayyyy back when. It's going to be a good year!!!
School Starts Monday. When we were getting ready for bed tonight Karley told me she can't wait until it starts now. I LOVE THAT~~! I will, again, be the mom at the bus stop with tears watching the bus take off......It never gets easier.

In my previous life.....

I was cleaning up files from my computer today and came across this which was written when Karley was 3 or so. It made me cry a little remembering how fast life really goes when you're having fun.
I figured there was no better time to re-post it then right before she starts 2nd grade.

My Previous Life
In my previous life, before I was reincarnated as a mother of one, I wore clothes that fit and matched. I wore makeup and curled my hair every day. I had my eyebrows waxed and my nails done. But no one gave me cherry kool-aid kisses. No one ever told me how pretty I look in sweats.
In my previous life, I read People magazine and the newspaper. My regular television viewing did not include Blues Clues and Sesame Street, and I read all the bestselling novels. But no one asked me to read 5 little monkeys at bedtime. No one ever requested If You Give a Mouse a Cookie.
In my previous life, I had a career and friends who were more than three feet tall. People asked for my opinions and entrusted me with important projects and confidential information. I had conversations where not once was mentioned snacks or potties or the zoo. But no one asked me my favorite color or why the sky is so blue. No one ever wanted me to sing.
In my previous life, I had a life. I frequented the malls, restaurants and the movie theater. I hosted parties where the themes had nothing to do with Care Bears or Elmo. I shopped for myself and slept late on weekends. But no one made me Valentine cards. No one ever gave me dandelion bouquets.
In my previous life, I had fun, and my destinations did not hinge on theme parks or swimming pools or nap schedules. The newest Clubs, Great trips, Spontaneous Excitement . . . these were my playgrounds. I was the queen of the world and my destiny. But no one asked me to push the swing higher. No one ever invited me to splash in puddles or roll in the snow or play in their tent.

In my previous life, I held my emotions in check. I did not stomp my feet or grit my teeth. I could not easily be diminished to tears or tirades. I considered my demeanor as laid-back and easygoing. But, no one made me care enough to cry. No one ever just loved me, anyway.

In my previous life, I was free. I could carve my own path and follow my dreams. Nothing stood in my way. But the path was unsure and the vision blurred. No one ever gave me purpose enough to soar. Now, I endlessly rearrange piles of laundry, crumbs and toys. I am pulled and tugged, hassled and harassed, yelled at and critisized, stepped on and sat upon, and desperate for some solitude. I am sweats-clad and juice-stained, bleary-eyed and graying, underpaid and overwhelmed. And, sometimes I wonder who I am and what I've become.

Then, my daughter shouts, "Mommy, I need you!" and it is perfectly clear.
I am the center of the someone's Universe. I am her MOM.

Karley's Room Re-Do

Today we finally finished Karley's room re-do. There are a few things that need to go on the walls still and i need to hang her mirror on the dresser but it is ready to go~

She couldn't be more excited and I think it turned out pretty awesome! Bold colors are fun if you are brave enough to do them!

Here is her new bed and bedding. New-ly painted furniture and some art-sy things we made for the walls.

This shot is looking into her closet.

We need to add more photos to this board but I think she did an awesome job on her very own crafts for the walls of her room.
WHEW! What a project! It was exhausting but super fun.....The best is that she is so excited about it.
Have a good week!!!