The new age of TEXTING

I thought I would blog about this because although it is not funny now, it will be a great story to show Brandon when he gets older and has children of his own.

Our boys both have cell phones. Believe it or not, we LET them ride their bikes and enjoy being young boys, the same way Raleigh and I grew up running around the neighborhoods we lived in. Anyway, they use their cell phones to check in with us or we call them to come home. To my surprise, (that's what mother's do...we don't expect our children to abuse their privileges), my son, Brandon has been using his phone to TEXT message his friends and receive text messages. Luckily for him, his father opened the phone bill while he was at work. Here is the breakdown:

Received text messages: 615
Sent text messages: 536
Amount added to our regular cell phone bill: $259.57

And yes, this was in 1 month!!!!!

The thing is, his friends LIVE in our town so he could have easily called them on the home phone and it would have been free and harmless!! Is that so hard in the 21st century??? What an old, old person I am. How did I survive my childhood without texting?????

Needless to say, he doesn't have a phone anymore, and he is my chore child for the rest of the summer. He can not complain not ONE bit!!! I don't think he realizes how much money that is and how long it would take him to work on his own to pay his father back (mowing lawns...etc).

What's really funny is that I told him we were going to get a print out of what he texted and what the text said that he received and read it around the campfire this week while we are in the mountains on vacation. I think he must have sent some messages to a "girl-friend" because he said he was going to put his head in the river and put a rock over it...he's laughing and embarrassed at the same time.

I love you Brandon, and this WILL NOT be the last mistake you make. Just make sure you learn from your boo-boos!!!


P.S. Robby is feeling like the golden child right now!! :-)

Emma's 1st Summer Job

Thanks to our good friend Aleshia, Emma has a chance to earn money over the summer doing something that she loves....feeding horses!!! Every day at around 5:00, we go to a barn with 6 horses and give them fresh water, food, hay, and clean out the stalls if there is a BIG mess. Emma chose her three to feed: Oreo, Trigger, and Sky, and I feed the other three: Duke, Magpie, and Bear. She could not wait to come home from Nay-Nay and PaPa's house on Monday so she could go to work. Mallory was supposed to help, but her pictures will be at the bottom. As luck would have it, she just happened to fall asleep in the car before we got there. So she stayed in the air-conditioned car while Emma and I bled sweat and tears out in the hot summer sun! Emma didn't even care. She did not want to leave and kept looking at the list to make sure there was nothing else she was supposed to do. She is excited about making some money and changes her mind every day on what she will spend it on. She gets paid 10 dollars each time she goes out there. Right now she feeds them every weekday afternoon and then on the weekends she will feed them in the morning and in the evening. So she has a chance to make 90 dollars if we are home a full week to do it! Way to go Emma! Keep up the hard work!

Here are the pictures from her first hard day at work. I took a lot because she was just soooo cute! I wish I would have thought to take the ones of her cooling off at the trough where the horses drink in the arena. She was sticking her hand down in that big tub of water and putting it all over her face and hair. She's a real cowgirl!!!

Here she is greeting Sky when she first got there.

Getting the bags full of feed makes it really easy to grab and go!!

Feeding Oreo...YUM, YUM!!

Introducing herself to the new horse, Trigger.

Shoveling POOOOOO!!!!!

Okay, so this picture was staged. Only because I missed her doing it the first time on her own. All I can say is, "PPHHHEEEWWWW!!"

Okay, here is what Mallory was doing when we got there:

And this is what she looked like when we left...over 45 minutes LATER!!!

She looks real concerned about making the big bucks!!

And FINALLY, here is how Emma felt when she got back in the car:

The End!

Job Well Done Emma!!

Father's Day 2008

I will blog more about my wonderful weekend at my mom and dad's house. This picture was taken on Father's Day, the ONLY day Raleigh has had off in 5 days!!! He is smiling at Mallory because she is giving her "pretty pose" for Nay-Nay. My dad is standing behind me. I will blog more about these two amazing men later, I've been on the computer for too long already. I just wanted to get this picture up!!

If you can't BEAT 'em, EXERCISE

You know the saying, 'if you can't beat 'em, join 'em'...well I've just kinda put a little twist on that saying. Truth is, I have been wanting to join my friends who are jogging, but I've never felt I had the right 'runner's form' and my ortho doctor has actually advised me not to run. She did however say I could train to run 3 miles at the MOST....Okay, so there's the window I needed. Now back to the saying, "if you can't BEAT 'em, EXERCISE!!"

First of all, I need to go back in time. I meant to blog about this on Friday, but I haven't had the time to sit with time to myself and let my thoughts out. I was packing to come to my parents' house for the weekend. It was my mom's birthday on Saturday, and of course Father's Day was Sunday, so I thought I'd kill 2 birds with 1 stone and spend time with both of them this weekend. Raleigh had been working since Thursday and would be until Sunday, then he was to meet me at my mom and dad's to join us for Father's day. Anyway, have you ever tried to pack for a short weekend trip for 4 kids, 2 dogs, and yourself. All the while, my two girls are loading up on what they want to bring in the car and to play with at Nay-Nay's. The car is packed down like we will be there all summer and the kids are loaded up for the trip, and my chest is so tight I can hardly breathe. Then the slight bickering starts and I'm ready to pull the car over and BEAT all of them on the side of the road. Instead, I slam on the brakes a couple of times to scare them all and I turn the radio OFF and we ride in silence while I try to calm down. I know my children must think I am a loony bird. After a few miles, I turn the radio back on and the rest of the trip was uneventful (it takes about an hour and 15 minutes to get there).

I was still quite frustrated when we arrived and I asked my mom if she would serve lunch to the masses while I went for a jog down to the Publix store and back (about a 2 mile trip-there and back). This was the first time I had jogged since I got my ankle surgery and it was 1:00 in the afternoon. But I had to exercise. I needed that jolt of endorphins to elevate my serotonin level or I was going to blow up. And so, there I went, jogging, with my mom's i-pod on my ears. I LOVED IT!! It was just what I needed. I got back around my children and I was able to diffuse an argument my girls were having without even raising my voice.

You see, a few of you who know me already know that I have been on Zoloft since Mallory was about 3 or 4 months old. My OBGYN put me on it back in 2004 because I felt so frazzled and at my wits end all the time. I felt like I was falling apart and I just couldn't hold things together. I was in a new marriage of only 2 years, I had just had my 4th child, I was going to school full time still (I was even nursing Mallory while trying to take on-line tests and do on-line projects), and Raleigh was the only one working so he had to work a lot of overtime, therefore I was home with the kids by myself....very difficult time.

Fast forward to 2008...The weekend of Mother's Day, I decided I was going to quit taking my Zoloft. I had been exercising quite regularly, and I had already cut my dosage in half for over a month, in addition, the children are all older now, my marriage is much more solid, I have a job of my own and I just feel like I'm at a more stable and sturdy point in my life. So I quit taking my medication and I have stuck with exercising to lift my spirits and keep me healthy, both mentally and physically.

I know that was a LOOONNNNGGGG post, but that is the story behind, 'if you can't BEAT 'em, EXERCISE'...so now if you see me running, walking, or riding my bike, just honk and know that I am well within my soul!!! And my children are not getting spanked because I have found an outlet. I walked and jogged a total of 6 miles this weekend and feel amazing. I think being addicted to exercise won't be such a bad thing at all!!

Chonda Pierce

Last night I went to see Chonda Pierce with my great friend, Jill. Chonda is a talented Christian comedian who sings and plays the piano as well. She was very uplifting and a blessing to my soul. I love when Christians aren't afraid to open up and spill out their shortcomings for all to see and be inspired by. I appreciated Chonda's candidness about her life and I walked away a better person because of her relationship with the Lord. Her message was funny, sad, shocking, powerful, and heartfelt to say the least. If only we were all comfortable enough to bare our souls to each other the way that she did. If you don't have an accountability partner that you can talk to and hash out what is going on in your life, both happy and not so happy, you should find one. Find a person you can trust with your pain and joy. Even in a day of where everyone seems to talk behind peoples' backs and cast judgement, there is a special friend out there for each of us. Thank you to my dear friends who are that person to me. Who I can trust with my SELF and they still love me and want to be my friend :)

P.S. While you are visiting, check out the song Shackles by Mary Mary on my Playlist below. Chonda sang it last night and the first thing I wanted to do was add it to my blog music...GREAT SONG!!!!

Why doesn't everyone want the teacher schedule???

I love being a teacher. And I especially love it at summer time. I can't imagine having to worry about what to do with my 4 kids over the summer if I had to work. I'm only kidding about why everyone wouldn't want to be a teacher. I know we all have our strengths in different areas. I just can't imagine a better schedule. I hardly ever have to take a day off of work and I still get so much time off. I cleaned my classroom up today...more for the custodians than for myself. We have to move every piece of furniture, NEATLY, into the middle of the room. They will come in and clean the carpets then move our furniture back to one side of the room, then we have to go back in before school and set our room back up. I love it because I look forward to changing my room around every year. But I'm sure it can be frustrating for those who don't look forward to change and would leave their room the same year after year. Anyway, I am excited about being home with the kids this summer. Here are my pros and cons about summertime!!!

PROS:
-staying up LATE! I am a night owl and I love not having a bedtime schedule!
-sleeping IN!!! Goes hand in hand with staying up late!!
-flip flops (for everyone!!!) I hate socks...I hate washing them and matching them up!!
-shorts and t-shirts....no more worrying about dress code for the kids or myself!!
-working around the house...I can finally put my energy into spunking my house and yard up instead of my classroom!!
-blogging...hopefully I'll get to blog more and post some photos!
-time with MY kids...just like the house, I am excited about spending time with my own children and putting my energy into the 4 of them instead of the 17 who don't genetically belong to me!!

CONS:
-"MOOOMMMM, I'm bored"
-"MOOOMMM, I'm hungry"
-"MOOOOMMM, I'm hot"
-"MMOOOMMMM, I'm thirsty"

I could go on and on about just those 4 cons. Robby and Brandon will want me to take them to a friend's house or have a friend come over, EVERY DAY. Emma and Mallory will eat me out of this house because they are simply bored. Brandon will go through every carton of orange juice, cran-grape juice, grape juice, milk, or any other beverage I put in the fridge simply because he is bored. Robby will sleep and play video games until he is married and has a family to take care of...I hope one day he will get bored, especially bored of playing video games!!

In all seriousness, I do hope you all have a great summer and enjoy the time with your little ones, and bigger ones (they are growing up fast!!).

Chef Brandon

I can't help but brag on my other son today! Brandon is my second oldest child and he is just full of energy and spunk. The girls and I slept on the couch bed last night and Brandon slept on one of our living room chairs (it fits 2 grown people in it). This morning he barely put the leg rest down and stood up before he said, "I'm going to ride my bike." He hadn't eaten breakfast, brushed his teeth, or even peed yet!!! I wish I had his energy. Anyway, the end of the year for me is a stressful time and I had spent most of the day up at the school putting together those end of the year books that Kindergartner's trot home with on the last day of school. I had walked in the door at 5:00 and the first thing out of Brandon's mouth was, "What's for dinner?" UUUUGGGGHHHH...I wish I had my own personal chef like Oprah! I gave him a look of exhaustion and said, "give me a minute, you are asking too much of me." Isn't that horrible??? I can't believe I even said that to my child. My job is to cook for them and I felt he was asking too much...eventually I would have gotten up, but he was starving and wanted food NOW!! So then he says, "Mom, you sit there, I am making dinner tonight." And he went in the kitchen and made macaroni and cheese and hot dogs!!!! He fed the family (Raleigh was at work) and was cracking me up talking about drizzleing hot dog juice over the hot dogs, and adding some garlic salt to the mac and cheese. He was really taking his job seriously and said he loves to cook! Cool!!!! Maybe I am well on my way to having my own personal chef! I may not be as rich monetarily as Oprah, but I feel richly blessed!!! Thanks Brandon!