The Beach!

We all keep hearing stories of oil and tar balls and I have been saddened to see some of the pictures that fellow bloggers and friends have been posting. So, I was a little apprehensive about taking our family vacation to the beach this year. However, we left on Sunday to head down to Panama City for our first family vacation since Mr. Wonderful and I got married a year and a half ago. Our in-laws generously allowed us to stay at their wonderful beach home for a few days of rest and relaxation. We left on Saturday evening and arrived in time to unpack and head straight to bed. We got up Sunday morning to the kids, all 4 of them (we were minus L.J. Cool J as he stayed behind to watch the fur people for us), already dressed in swim suits ready to go. We headed to the beach and to my surprise it was beautiful!!! No oil, no tar balls, white sandy beaches and beautiful waves. I was so impressed. We lathered the kids up with sunscreen, gave them their boogie boards and they were off and running! We had such a wonderful time. We made some great memories and had alot of laughs........Family time at the beach, it just doesn't get any better than that..............Well, maybe alone adult time at the beach might be just as good and girlfriend time too!!!! So, don't stay home, take that family trip to the beach. We went to Panama City and it was AWESOME!

Send me some happiness!

I am needing some happiness this morning!

I am tired of hearing about oil and seeing pics of wildlife and marine life that are covered in oil.

Pics of tar ball covered beaches.....

Terrible stories of loss and tragedy...

Just for today, send me some flowers, candies, butterflies, kisses, imaginary playmates or worlds where life is good and happy all the time..........

The art of Compromise

Compromise…..

a settlement in which each side gives up some demands or makes concessions
a. an adjustment of opposing principles, systems, etc. by modifying some aspects of each
b. the result of such an adjustment
3. something midway between two other things in quality, effect, etc.
4.
a. exposure, as of one's reputation, to danger, suspicion, or disrepute
b. a weakening, as of one's principles
Ever hear that word a lot and wonder about what it truly means. Well in our house it means learning to give a little on both sides to achieve something that we can all “live with”. Let me tell you about a recent compromise that I made with my two, count them two teenage daughters…..Or as we affectionately like to call it the estrogen house of horrors…
Mal has been wanted to streak her hair with purple for about the last year now. She is the one who likes to jump outside the box and stomp on it just for good measure. Her dad and I have repeatedly told her no, they are not allowed to wear un ”natural” colors in their hair at school. So, one weekend she went off and came home with pink hair, then blackened it with a sharpie at school one day. Really, she has looked quite funny at times. We have grounded her, taken her cell phone and told her if she does anything like this again, we will cut all that beautiful blonde hair off. She finally gave up and decided it was just not worth it. She has been such a good girl for the last six months and for Mal that is huge! Good grades and behavior that had astounded me from where we had been. Well fast forward to the summer time and I was getting my hair done. My stylist is prone to funky hair colors and it is interesting to see them each time. I was telling her about the temp hair colors and she told me that she could do it and showed me the colors and promised it would be out before school began this year. Hmmmm, I thought let me just see how much fun this could be. So, I went home with a bright red streak called a “peek a boo” hidden in my hair and the girls went wild for it. I talked to my hubby and he grudgingly agreed to allow this one thing. He said this will give them license to do all kinds of things if we give in. I told him; actually this will enable them to see that by following our rules they can be rewarded with something they really want. Well I told the girls and they were giddy with excitement over this new grown up thing I was about to let them do……We went and had it done on a Friday afternoon and they thought they were the coolest girls ever to walk the face of the earth. All their friends were jealous and they loved it! I felt good about that compromise and that is what life with a teenager is all about. As my mom always says raising teenagers is like trying to nail jello to a tree!

Life is funny!

Ever feel like you live in a crazy world? Well come on over to my house sometime. I live in a house with anywhere from 3 to 5 children on a daily basis, a wonderful hubby, 3 dogs, a cat that lives in my bedroom, 2 turtles and a fish. Life is crazy and hectic but never dull in my house.
On any given day there are multiple other children running in and out with a constant "shut the door" followed behind. It is a beehive of activity and a hormonal house of horrors. I laugh constantly at the things the kids say and do and there is always some sort of crisis going in our soap opera life.
I would not change it for anything. Well.......almost anything depending on the day. J is getting ready to graduate from high school and we have to keep reminding him that he is still just 18 and not ready to be out on his own. At the end of next week we will have one who just graduated, one in high school, one in middle and two still at the intermediate school. Summer is just around the corner and it should get really interesting at that point! Stay tuned for some funny summer activites and life lessons......Never a dull moment here!

I'm Just Sayin......

I am going to post about something that I have written about before. Parents constantly amaze me now days with the way they parent and teach their children no respect for adults or other people. OMG...If I had dared speak to an adult the way I heard some children and teenagers speak over the weekend, I would have been "knocked" into next week. My dad always said " never speak with disrespect to an adult". If you have a problem and feel that an adult has over stepped their bounds, come to me and I will take care of the problem for you. You have not earned that right.....I Have! And he was so wise in the things he used to say. I to this day tell my kids the same thing. I better never hear you disrespect an adult. It just blows me away that thirteen, fourteen and fifteen year old kids are allowed to speak to adults like that and the parents just sit back and say nothing.
I volunteered at a festival that we have each year in our town over the weekend. It is an annual event that I enjoy being a part of. I was asked to work the kid's event area. I said sure not a problem....Those 3 LONG hours reminded me why I hate parents today!!! I watched little kids (I am talking 2, 3 and 4 year olds) running wild with no supervision, throwing rocks, pushing other kids out of the way with parents either no where to be found, or just sitting back and not saying a word. I think I would have killed mine if I had seen them do half the things I watched these other kids doing. I mean really, and we wonder why our society is the way it is today? I saw a thirteen year old in a pair of shorts that would have had Daisy Duke raising her eyebrows, hanging all over two boys who looked way older than this young girl....OMG, where were the parents? What are we teaching our kids today? That it is ok to treat people, whether they be adults or other children with disrespect. What ever happened to love thy neighbor as thyself? Or even better, spare the rod, spoil the child. I pray every night that my children do not turn away from what they have learned in life when they become parents. I have taught my children that you should love and respect each other but you honor thy mother and father......I know we are not supposed to talk about religion or politics anymore but dang....Our country and all that we were founded upon is in peril and the way of life that I knew as a child is all but gone. I was spanked as a child and made to be accountable for my actions. Am I in therapy because of it??? NO! Do I work hard every day? YES...Was I handed everything by my parents? NO..They taught me the value of hard work and discipline. I washed clothes, ironed my dad's shirts, cleaned the house, cleaned my room, helped set the table and do the dishes afterward. Did I get money for it? NO. It was part of being a family and contributing to that family. I really think it is time to get back to the old fashioned values set up by our grandparents and parents...If we don't, I am afraid of what the future holds for us. I am looking forward to being a grandmother later in life....But lord help me if my grandkids are brats!!!

Southern Attitude

I am a southern belle!!!!!


I have often been teased, made fun of and laughed at due to my southern slang and southern ways. So, I have decided that it is time to set the record straight. We southern women are not slow or stupid contrary to the way we are portrayed on TV. We are what you would call steel magnolias or southern belles. We are soft on the outside and tough as nails on the inside. We are passionate about our families, our football and our friends. We believe in the traditions of our grandparents, aunts, uncles, second cousins twice removed, and so on and so forth. We believe that tailgating parties, afternoon picnics, nights out with the girls, weddings, funerals, ballgames, dance recitals and any other occasion that comes along is a reason to show off our “culinary skills” and “southern bred manners”.
We live by the unwritten code that southern food, wine and a good old fashioned “hissy fit” will cure anything that ails us. We use what the Good Lord gave us to our full advantage to get the members of the opposite sex to do what we want, when we want it, and how we want it. We believe in the saying “use what your mama gave you” to the fullest extent of the law.
We say things like “bless her heart” and well “you know who her kinfolk are” when discussing another southern woman or transplant who obviously makes faux pas in southern etiquette. We believe that the whole world is one big happy family and we say “hello” and “how are ya” to perfect strangers in the grocery store, nail salon or hair salon. We believe in intervention when one of our fellow “magnolias” has a problem or needs to step down off her high horse. We enjoy the steamy weather and humidity, which gives us a chance to congregate out by the pool (once again to show off our culinary skills) and discuss anything that needs to be discussed at that time. We know just what our girlfriends need in times of sorrow, stress or pain without even having to ask. We know all about their families, children, kinfolk and anyone or anything that is important to our southern sisters. We can give you a family tree that can rival any other person’s in the world with a little embellishment to make the story a little more exciting.
We still stand for the pledge of allegiance with our hands over our hearts and do not look kindly upon those who do not. We are patriotic, flying our flags on Independence Day and Flag Day. We believe in the power of chicken and dressing, homemade cornbread, nana pudding and sweet tea!
So, for those of you who do not live in the south, come and down as see us ya hear! And remember one motto we live by “American by Birth, Southern by the Grace of God!

Really....Can life suck at times or what?

I have to tell you that sometines life just sucks! It is not always fair and I have never thought otherwise. My mom always told me that it is not fair and she is right. However, as a mama bear we all understand that it is not the same when it comes to our children. We want life to be fair to them and they should be able to have whatever they are willing to work towards and get it....Right???
Well hell....that is not always correct. I watched last night the disappointment in my daughter's face when she realized that she did not make middle school cheerleader. It was really hard for me to see the sadness, disappointment and despair rolling across her face. Then the tears starting to fall. OMG just rip my heart out and stomp that sucker flat! Those crazy judges...What were they thinking? My daughter is good and worked so hard for this and they just ripped it away and squashed her dreams. Let me go find an ice pick and punch a hole in their tires.......That was my initial reaction. And please, don't tell me that you as a mom have never felt the same way. If so I am going to tell you that you lie!!!!!!! It is our natural reaction as mama bears to want to protect our cubs from anything unpleasant or unhappy. Needless to say life sucked in our house last night! It will get better I am sure. But sometimes life just sucks!!