Taking It All In- Wordful Wednesday

I don't know if it's the pants she rolled up all by herself, wearing a sweater on the beach (love that), or the quiet look she has on her face as she looks out towards the ocean, but....I LOVE this picture of my "baby". There's nothing particularly spectacular about it. Just an ordinary picture of an extraordinary little girl in pink rolled up pants.

Oops I forgot my kid, Burnt Bread, and My Very Own Rock Stars-Monday's Mama Drama

You Know You Have Mama Drama When......

1. You are so busy talking on the phone to your best good friend (Amy) and "farming" on what Amy and I have determined is a sick social experiment hidden under the guise of a game called Farm Town that you pick up your son from school about 10 minutes late. But, no worries he knows all the office staff (remember mama used to be a teacher there) and just hung out until I finally came.

2. You are yet again on the phone with your best good friend Amy sitting in the dining room, looking at your son who is standing with his back turned to the microwave oblivious to the copious amount of smoke billowing out of it after he decided to nuke a piece of garlic bread for...I don't know...like 5 minutes!!!! Hmmm...I think I need to stay off the phone when it comes to things having to do with my son.

3. You are at your Dad's birthday party and all 3 of your children ages 3, 7, and 14 are singing karoake-Nickelback's Rockstar. Okay, there are SO many things wrong with this one. A- Uh, karoake at my DADS 55th b-day (enough said). B-My kids chose Rockstar to sing and knew all the lyrics, including the 3 yr. old. They're such nice lyrics too, "girls come easy and the drugs come cheap", "dress my a$$ in the latest fashions" are just a few. C- Mama was their loudest and biggest fan. Hey, those kids have got some potential. How many 3 yr. olds do you know that can sing Nickelback, hold a microphone, twirl, AND do a hair flip without missing a beat??

4. You have bloggers guilt because you haven't been able to make the rounds and visit your favorite sites and leave comment love to all your invisible friends. I'm still trying to establish some sort of routine, but its hard not having regular full time employment. I'm all out of sorts and my time management has gone right out the window. I honestly think I did a better job of being organized when I had more things to do. Now, I find myself "off task" often and my To Do list seems to be getting longer instead of shorter.


If everything could be done twice, everything would be done better.- Costa Rican Proverb

Now This Girl is Oh so Happy!!

I love this picture from the OP's party. It's my very favorite. Her face says it all!

I am participating in a couple of new meme's today - check them out.
see more a thousand words Thursday at Cheaper Than Therapy

and be sure to visit I Should Be Folding Laundry (that is so very true) for You Capture: today's capture is Happiness.

Wizard of Oz Pictures: Activities and Games

I know you have all been waiting for pictures of the Wizard of Oz party. I took so many! So I am going to do this in a couple of parts.

Welcome to the Land of Oz (wish my roof was green)

Here is the birthday girl. Isn't she cute! (it started raining at the end of the party)

First we made scarecrow's out of Terracotta pots.

They turned out so cute and the kids had a ton of fun making these cute little guys.

Then we went on a ruby slipper hunt,

I made these little slippers with clear plastic slippers, red acrylic paint, tacky glue and red glitter. We hid them in the backyard and told the kids to find the slippers before the witch did.

Then out came the Wicked Witch (so stinkin' fun). The kids all took off running. I had put a pail of water on a table and three of the girls grabbed it and soaked the witch.

She melted of course!

Then we played pin the heart on the tin man. A friend had an actual Tin Man - so cool!

After that we had a scavenger/treasure hunt for the Diploma of Thinkology, the Tin Man's heart, the badge of courage and the Ruby Red Slippers to send "Dorothy" home (up to this point she had been wearing no shoes.)

"Think real hard and you will find the Scarecrow's diploma safely tucked inside. Often filled with air, I tend to go most anywhere. Round and round I go where I'll stop no one knows"

"Sometimes short sometimes tall I lurk above all things small. I'm green on top and brown below. The tin man's heart is mine to hold."

"If it's the badge of courage that you seek, you will have to reach in deep. I have no color and no taste. I stink a lot if I escape. I keep you cozy all through the night. Just make sure my lids on tight!"

"In a house made of pine, the Ruby Slippers you will find. It may be small but that's OK, no one sleeps there anyway."

Well there you have it - what we did on Saturday. I did have the Hubs dye our white horse green with lime kool-aide but towards the end of the party it poured, I mean Arizona Monsoon poured, and apparently washed his color off **sniff sniff** I was so sad but the kids, especially the OP, had a fantastic time anyway despite the horse so that is all that matters.

Stay tuned for the food and the cake!

For other Wordful Wednesday's click on over to Angie's. Happy Wordful Wednesday Everyone! Hope your day is extra wonderful.

Who's The BEST Best Friend in the WHOLE Entire World??-Monday's Mama Drama

You Know you Have Mama Drama When.....

**This week's Mama Drama is not mine. My blog partner Amy had one heck of a week getting one heck of a party organized for the OP. Due to the many miles between us I unfortunately was not able to witness with my eyes her mental breakdown. However, many phone conversations gave me some insight into the Mama Drama that befell my poor best friend this week. So, here it is folks....Amy's Mama Drama ala Lady Di.


1. You have so much on your mind that it is not until you are in the shower when you remember that you put your best friend in the WHOLE ENTIRE WORLD (uh, that would be me) on hold while you took another call.


2. You have to call your best friend in the WHOLE ENTIRE WORLD (yes, me again) because you have a major Farm Town emergency. Something about a bad power cord and no power to the computer and the raspberries need harvesting. So the BF of the WEW has to log in as you and harvest for you. All I can say is, "that a girl Amy!" Only you could be waist deep in Wizard of Oz party crap and still be worried about beating that cousin of yours to the next level in Farm Town. Now that's some true competitive spirit.

3. You have to set the alarm to wake you up to get the cake out of the oven that is baking at 3:45 A.M. Yes, you read that right, 3:45 IN. THE. MORNING. My bud in her infinite wisdom decided she didn't have enough to do and had signed the OP up for cheer camp. Cheer camp involved attending a football game (so OP could do a little cheer) the night before the big party and they didn't get home until late. Therefore, Amy and the Hubs (bless him) stayed up until the wee hours of the morning baking birthday cake.

4. You're on the phone yet again with your BF of the WEW on the big day of the party running down the list of things still left to be done. You have the sympathy of said BF of the WEW and even have wishing very badly there were some way she could just hop on a plane to get over there and help, until.....you mention you still have to make HOMEMADE mini corn dogs. Okay, Amy really??? HOMEMADE mini corn dogs?? This is the part when I think you brought this mental breakdown on yourself girlfriend. You know I love you, but I know this place, it's called Costco and they actually sell mini corn dogs. It's amazing, they come already battered and everything. You just have to pop them in the oven.

And Finally.....

5. The Hubs (double bless him) goes out and dyes (yes dyes) one of the horses. You know, for a horse of a different color-it's a Wizard of Oz thing. Anyway, so the Hubs ACTUALLY does this and you have this dyed horse ready to go when what happens??? That's right. It rained and dyed horsey became an undyed horsey in less time than you can say "There's No Place Like Home." I'm sorry Amy, remember I never laugh AT you only WITH you. This sounds more like something that would happen to me. You know, since me and Murphy's Law are like this **fingers crossed**.

Well, turns out that despite the Drama the party was a HUGE success. I knew it would. Amy is the master party planner. Good Job Amy!!

Six Word Saturday: 20 kids, green horses, and Witch - Oh My!

Participating today over at Show My Face in Six Word Saturday. Here is my six words:

READY OR NOT. IT'S PARTY TIME!

Friday Five: One day until the bash! Oh My!

Amy's Friday Five: This is where I share with you five things I learned this week because there is always something to be learned. In the process you might learn a little something about me.

I 'm mixing it up today again. I haven't learned a whole lot this week except that I might just go crazy. Wait I am already! As most everybody knows - tomorrow is the OP's Wizard of Oz Party. So five things that are taking up my time today:

Having coffee with the scarecrow,

lunch with the Tin Man,

perhaps dinner with The Lion,

Trying my darnedest to transform into:

Have a suspicious feeling that I most resemble her:

Wish me luck! Currently on the look out for my ruby slippers and should be back from Oz on Sunday with a ton of pictures.

Oy Vay

I seriously had planned to do Mama Kat's prompts, **sigh** . Such fun prompts this week. Really I did. But I am in the throws of:

Planning a party for the OP on Saturday - It's big! **flexes**

Pulling my hair out (it doesn't need much pulling because it falls out on its own these days) **flinch**

Teaching school to 3 today (sometimes Homeschooling is not so convenient)

Sending The Hubs off with a huge list and tons of instructions for town **shutters**

Dealing with the YP who is sick and has asthma **nervous twitch**

Distant Family drama ( I am taking a I.DON'T. CARE. approach to this) I.DON'T. CARE.

because if I care I will get my feelings hurt.

Planting crops on my Farmtown farm because my cousin is racing me to the last level and she is currently ahead. **growls**

So I can't participate today, maybe later. Can I do that? I hope so.

Leave me some love. I need some love. What kind of day are you having?

A Minor Mix Up- Wordful Wednesday

So yesterday was PICTURE DAY. I actually remembered and for the first day my son didn't go to school with a major case of bed head. Wait ....take that back, I combed his hair the FIRST day of school. Anyway, there was a hairstyling bonus for PICTURE DAY! He not only had nicely combed hair, but his head was germ free as well. What? you say. Oh yes, seems mama had a rough morning and grabbed what she thought was a bottle of Suave hair gel. I mean COME ON, hold your hand over one eye and pretend it's 7:30 in the morning, and you've just got two other kids and a husband out the door already and tell me if YOU can tell the difference??

So, after a while of hair fluffing I realized his hair wasn't stiffening up. Then he comments that the stuff smells funny. I sniff my hands and smell that very familiar smell. You know, we've all been smelling it, with this Swine Flu going around. Yep, that lovely alcohol smell of my best germ fighting friend Purell.

Who says you can't dowse your kid from head to toe in anti-bacterial hand sanitizer? Apparently there are no ill side effects to the scalp or hair follicles. His hair didn't turn some funky shade of orange or fall out and when his hands got grimy, all he had to do was run his fingers through his hair!! I think I may be on to something...

On another note, but on the same subject...this poor kid not only had hand sanitizer in his hair but on Sunday he took a major face plant off his bike and had a lovely scratched/bruised nose just in time for PICTURE DAY. He did not want to take a picture with his nose looking the way it did. I tried to reassure him (although up until yesterday his poor nose was so swollen and red, it looked like he had one of those clown noses on). Alas, PICTURE DAY came and he came to terms with his injury ( I think the hand sanitizer mix up distracted him) and decided he would take his picture after all. He even let his crazy mama take a picture for her crazy blog. Isn't he handsome, scratched nose and all? AND..that hand sanitizer put a nice glossy sheen on his dark hair don't you think?

Wipe Off the Table, Stay In Bed, Did Someone Feed the Dog?-Random Tuesday Thoughts

Okay, time for a peek inside the mind of Lady Di and read some random thoughts going through my head on this fine Monday night.

UGH, I can't stand it when people (mmhmm, eldest daughter) leave those dang eraser shavings on the table!! WIPE. THEM. OFF.

OOhh, my house DOES look pretty with all the fall decor out. I especially like my pumpkin candle holder centerpiece on the dining room table. Would look even prettier without the nasty eraser shavings...

It's a good thing that little girl (my 3 yr. old) is so garsh darn cute otherwise I might go all Joan Crawford on her for getting out of bed for like I don't know, the 100th time.

Where is that dang husband of mine? He is supposed to be laying down with her while I "work" on the computer. Oh, probably asleep with the remote on his head again (refer to last weeks post).

Speaking of the post last week, that reminds me. I wrote about how I am supposed to be going to bed earlier and getting more sleep. HAH! hold on I'm just laughing really hard inside my head.

Ahh, okay have mentally regained composure.

Don't forget, tomorrow is picture day!!! Put the boy in a button down shirt. I know he loves his John Deere T-shirts and its what he wears 179/180 days out of the school year. However, picture day is the one day he doesn't HAVE to advertise that he is the #1 all time fan of tractors.

I hope someone remembered to feed the dog. Great! Guess who gets to go out and check to see if the dog got feed. Certainly not any of the clowns I live with that are snoring away in bed.

Of course, I am the biggest clown of all for staying up and doing all this "work" on the computer.

Oh shoot, I better check my farm on Farm Town while I'm at it before I shut this computer down.

That darn Amy, like I need more computer "work" to distract me from real work. I can think of 12 million things more productive to do than plant imaginary grapes and corn on my "farm".

Of course I list procrastination as one of my top five character traits so Farm Town is just a new way for me to build character.

By the way, I will always refer to my time on the computer as "work". It's from back in the day when I really did do work while I was in my teacher credential program. The kids got used to seeing mom on the computer all the time in the evening so now they just assume that's what I am doing and for the most part leave me alone because "I am working". So, NO I haven't let them in on the little secret that mama really is just screwing around and up to no good whatsoever.

Oh before I go, I can't believe it. That Kanye West was a total jackass for taking the microphone away from Taylor Swift? I know it's just the MTV awards and all but dude, it's still a show, she's still getting an award and allowed to give a little acceptance speech, have some class for crimany's sake.

Licorice for Lunch?, Farm Town Obsession, and Sandy Butts-Monday's Mama Drama

You Know You Have Mama Drama When....

1. You finally get on to that Farm Town game on Facebook to see what all the hub-bub is about and six hours later no laundry has been done, but you are now a Promising Farmer (level 7), and your son comes up and says, "Umm, hey did you know that I never had any lunch?" Me: "Didn't I see you eating something" (out of the corner of my eye as I was feverishly planting more grapes). JD Boy: "Well, actually that was just a snack, I didn't have any REAL lunch." Well, crap...I'm harvesting for someone right now trying to get some extra coinage. Hmmm, maybe if I ignore the "fly" will go away. Harvest, harvest, harvest, nope. Still standing there. JD Boy: "MOOOM" Me: "Oh ALRIGHT!!" wait a tick Me: "hey, how 'bout you just go and get some Red Vines, then go outside and play. By the time your done playing I'll be done, promise." JD Boy: "OKAY!!" Me: "Get your sister some too"

2. That lunch you promised to make your children turns into dinner. Hey, they had Red Vines!! It's not like they were starving. Anyway, it's all Amy's fault. She's a Farm Town enabler.

3. You overhear your 3 yr. old (HRH) giving the 7 yr. old an earful for tattling on her. It went something like this..."Now, you don't tell HER when I am playing on the phone! OKAY!!" JD Boy: " You can't tell me what to do, I'm in charge" HRH (with hands on hips): "Um, no I don't think so." Apparently, when mom is on the computer the children determine they are on their own (quite rightly) and try to establish some sort of hierarchy. My poor son thinks mistakenly that since he is older he rules the roost. However, what he has yet to understand is that lil' sis is a lil' firecracker and what she lacks in size and age is more than made up for in sass and attitude.

4. You and the family are so tired after playing at the river all day that when you get home you just let your son crash into bed all grimy without a bath, still in his swim shorts. HRH had been cleaned upped and changed before we left (hey, now that's some good mama-ing...at least for one kid)

And Finally....

5. Your so proud of your son the next morning because he comes walking in your room all showered and dressed. You think, "Wow, he actually took some initiative on his own and completed the entire task by himself" (which is like a big deal for my boy). So, you are in the moment, beaming full of pride. You take the time to tell him how proud you are and really make it a point so that we get some good positive reinforcement and you're just going on and on about how responsible he is and yada, yada, when he looks at you and says, "Yeah, well I just wanted to get the sand out of my butt." Ohh-kay, well thanks for the 411 son. Me: "Well, did you get the sand?" JD Boy: "Yes" Me: "Then, Bravo son, Bravo. Now go pour your independent self some cereal."


A happy heart is better than a full purse. - Italian Proverb

Sunday in the Land of Nowhere: Sunsets

It's Sunday. Doesn't feel like Sunday but then again I am in one of THOSE moods. A little Melancholy today. However, today is Sunday's In My City, Hosted by Unknown Mami. That always cheers me up. This does too:

and this flower isn't from the Land of Nowhere but I put it up here because I am going to plant them when we move, or find them to put in a vase, or print out this picture in a big 8x10 and put it in my kitchen (we move in just a couple of weeks) to remind me of the beautiful sunsets and my time here in the LON.

On another note..............

The Drama Mamas are in the kitchen. Eat Your Peas is our new cooking blog, well an old blog of mine moved. Lady Di and I love to cook and bake and eat, especially eat. So I think, I hope, I hear that Lady Di is posting a very very yummy potato recipe (her hubs is a Potato farmer in case you didn't know) so she could be considered the Potato Queen. LOL. I think that is what I will call her from now on The Potato Queen. Anyway, The PQ promised a post. A not so healthy but oh so yummy Potato dish. Check it out, CLICK HERE. Maybe I will have The Hubs pick up some potatoes and cheese (oh you know your mouth is watering) on his way home. I am need of a good comfort dish. Happy Sunday all.

Where Were You?

We Were on our way to work. At that time The Hubs and I were in college and worked at the Fresno State Dairy. I was the calf manager and I was running behind that day. We heard it on the radio and just couldn't grasp was was happening. I will NEVER forget that day.

Since today is the anniversary of the September 11 attacks I am doing something a little different. Instead of my traditional Friday Five I am doing 5 things I felt that day:

I felt:

1. Disbelief

2. Scared

3. Sadness

4. Anger

5. Sorrowful

I will never forget what happened and will always remember how I felt that day. God Bless the people who lost their lives that day. God bless their families. God Bless the service men who have fought and lost their lives and those who continue to protect our country. We love you and thank you.

Where were you? How did you feel? God Bless.

Writers Workshop- Marriage To Me: Amy the Romantic

If you want to see the prompts go here: Mama Kat Promts. Unfortunately I don't have a ton of time so I won't be listing them today but I encourage you to visit the prompts and then visit all the people who participate, here. So fun. I plan to. There were a couple of prompts that caught my eye this one in particular.

1. What does marriage mean to you? (inspired by Jon Gosselin)

I could talk about this forever so I will try to keep it short and simple but this has been on my mind recently.

If you lurk around our Mama Drama you have heard me (Amy) talk about The Hubs before. He is the love of my life. My one true love I call him. See because most of us have a first love, the one you THINK is the one, the one who sweeps you off your feet and then drops you like a sack of potatoes and leaves you a emotional wrecking ball. 99% of us ladies have been there, right? If you are the 1% who are fortunate to find your true love the first time around - Awesome. I didn't. My first love was an arse but was necessary in order to find my true love "God bless the broken road that led me straight to you. " - Rascall Flatts

See I believe that there is one person meant for each of us. It is written in the stars. I am a romantic - just ask Lady Di. I strive to have the marriage that both sets of grandparents had. However some of us don't take the time to wait around for that one and only someone. We jump too fast sometimes for good reason. ( I will get to that in a minute) See I think that marriage shouldn't be hard. It should be easy. If you are with the right person and it is a perfect fit then everything just works naturally. Of course things will be stressful at times but those times pass quickly and easily when you share the burden and work through it together.

Marriage to me is a a union, a contract of the heart. A lifelong friendship. It says that I will be with you always and forever, that I will do my best everyday to make you feel needed and loved. During tough times, I will provide a shoulder or be the rock that you need. I will never leave you feeling sad, betrayed, or unhappy because if I do I have failed and failure is not an option. I will always put our family first no matter what else happens in our life because when it all comes down to it family is all that matters. It is the reason we are on Earth, the reason Heavenly Father put us here.

Marriage is a beautiful thing if it is the perfect match. It is ugly and hard when it is not. When both people are struggling, pushing, and walking in different directions - it doesn't work. Marriage means having a common goal and working together to reach it. Otherwise it just doesn't work. How could it? It makes me sad when I see a marriage struggling or when one fails because I think to myself it so doesn't have to be like that. It shouldn't be like that.

Maybe I AM too much of a romantic. I recently had someone tell me that I was full of #!@*. Maybe I am. Maybe I got lucky. If that is the case, hooray for me. I'll take the lucky because I can honestly say that I wouldn't change a thing (well maybe the way The Hubs hangs the towels on the towel rack all bunched up so they can't dry or his horrible habit of cluttering my counter top.) Actually I wouldn't even do that because that is what makes him who he is and I know that I have some annoying habits that drive him crazy - but that's me and he loves me. If the good is perfect then the little things are just so trivial it doesn't matter.

Of course crap happens, right? I said I would come back to this. I came from a broken home, or was it? I recently had a conversation with my mama. It made me cry. She apologized for the crap. I told her not to apologize because the crap had to happen for the blessings to come. They came in the form of two awesome children and 5 beautiful grandchildren. For me they came in the form of an awesome husband and 3 beautiful princesses. Everything happens for a reason. WE are ALL meant to be here. My girls were meant to be here, the union of The Hubs and I was SUPPOSED to happen and so the crap had to happen - broken road. I told her that I was sorry she had to suffer through the bad for me and for my brother to exist but that I was grateful for all of it. I wouldn't change it and I know she wouldn't either. Was life always easy ?no! Is it easy now? not always. But as long as I have The hubs, my girls and my family I have everything I need.

Marriage to me is waking up everyday seeing my Hubs and smiling and thinking, my gosh I love this man more and more everyday and going to bed every night looking forward to the rest of my life with him. Looking forward to the adventures ahead of us.

Just one more thing then I will quit. I will never forget the moment that I saw my Papa look at my Grandmother with such love in his eyes that it brought me to my knees. Still does. See, he died a year ago next month. We were all there. I was there by his bedside when he said all he needed to say through his eyes. He looked at her and held her hand with such passion. They had been married for 62 years. **breathe Amy (and Monica if your reading this)** His eyes said, I love you more than anything in this world. I don't want to leave you here without me. I had never seen my Papa cry until this moment (he was not an emotional man). The moment I believe he knew he was leaving us and nothing else mattered to him but her. The love in that room was so powerful that I can't put it in words. This is what I strive for. What I believe I have found. How could I not want that for everyone?

On a lighter note. While I was typing this the MP cut her hair. A huge chunk. Nice huh?

Thanks Mama Kat, I needed this prompt today!