13 more months!

In 13 months I will be 30 years old. I wonder how my mom will take her baby turning 30? Probably not as good as I will. As I am sure you know, I have 3 kiddos. One of which is 11 years old. Yes, I got pregnant at 16 years old. I made the decision to grow up and keep my child. To me, it wasn't even a choice but that's just how I felt about it. I had another child at 23 and then another at 25. They were planned. I was married and wanted to have children with my husband so it seemed the logical thing to do. But, here is the thing.

I get the weirdest looks and stupidest comments when I tell people I have 3 children. First thing they usually ask is my age and then when I tell them they say, "You're just a baby!". OK, yes, I was a child when I had my first but not with my second and third. But they say that before they even know how old Little Man is. All they hear me say is that I am in my 20's with 3 kids. It's like some people think that people in their 20's can't be mature enough to have children. The crazy thing is that 99% of the time it is women that I get this from. The other day I was at my brother in laws house and a woman asked who Toot and Smiley belonged to. I told her they were mine and she looked shocked and asked how old I was. I told her and she said "2 kids at 28, that must be hard." I then told her that I actually had 3 kids and the oldest was 11. You could see her doing the math in her head and then she said "You poor girl." I said, "WHY? I love my life and wouldn't change a thing about it. It's no harder for me than any other mom of 3". My sis in law could tell I was irritated and stepped in and said "She is one of the best moms I know. Her age doesn't matter."

I know a lot of women nowadays are getting their careers going and then having kids and I see nothing wrong with that at all. Not all women want to do that though. What is wrong with being a mom first? How would they feel if when I found out they were in their 40's with 3 young kids I said "But you're so old"? They would probably call me a bitch.

Yes, I have made mistakes with my kids but who hasn't. I don't think it has anything to with the fact that I am in my 20's. I also have very good kids that respect others and are well behaved. That also doesn't have anything to do with the fact that I am in my 20's.

So, I am looking forward to turning 30. I just think once I can say I am 30 that people will quit giving me weird looks and saying stupid things when they find out I have 3 kids. It's not that I care what they think, I am just tired of dealing with the stupidity.

My new niece!

Miss Cali was born on the 28th and her daddy (my big brother) and big brother Jase are so wrapped already!

Grandma and Grandpa might be too!!!!!!

Pics

I have been super busy this week but had to show yall these pics. The first one is of my niece and nephew. It just cracked me up. I think Santa has to be on something in order to just keep on smiling. The second one is of Toot at the Christmas play at church. She is just too cute!

Dear family...

Dear Mom,
Thank you so much for everything you have done for me all my life, but what all you have done this month for me really means the world to me. I don't know what I would do without you. I am the luckiest girl to have you as my mom.
Love,
Your VERY grateful daughter


Dear Toot,
PLEASE quit asking me 50 times a day if it is Christmas yet. I know you are excited but dang girl, you are driving me crazy. I promise I will not let Christmas pass without telling you. I also promise that we will make Santa cookies on Christmas so don't worry. I have everything under control.
Love,
Your pinky promising mama

Dear Smiley,
I love the way you are. You are perfect in your own little way. There is just one thing I need from ya. Now I know most parents would love what you haven't been doing but I need a little help. All you have asked for Christmas is a truck and a REAL train. I'm gonna need a little more to work with babe. So, give it some thought and let me know.
Love,
Your mama that is out of ideas

Dear Little Man,
OK kiddo. It's get that it is almost winter break and you are excited. I get that it's almost Christmas and you are excited. And, I get that you are so excited about going to Boy Scout camp right after Christmas. BUT, do ya think you could tone down the attitude a tad. And when I say tad I mean A TON. This arguing with me over EVERYTHING is getting old real quick. And so is talking to me like I am your child. I don't let adults talk to me like that and I sure as heck am not going to let you. So, just go back to your sweet self and all will be well again.
Love,
Your mama that happens to know where she can get some coal

Dear Benny,
Quit stressing. I have everything under control.
Love,
The woman who hopes you are a gullible as your daughter


For more Dear someone letters head on over to ShortMama's place. It's all warm and cozy over there. You'll love it!

Global Warming?

Today is Dec 2nd. It was snowing this morning in Dallas, TEXAS! It is suppose to snow here Friday and they (the news) said the snow could make it all the way to Houston! WTF! Usually IF we get snow it is in Jan or Feb. So, where is this global warming I keep hearing about. I haven't seen it.

I didn't see it this summer either. Our hottest month was JUNE! We only had a few days in the 100's over the whole summer. Usually August is one 100 degree day after another but not this year at all.

I don't really mind the snow, its the ice I don't like. It is suppose to snow AND rain Friday and then get into the 20's that night. Glad I don't have to go anywhere Saturday morning but Benny does leave for work at 5:30am and doesn't have his 4X4 truck anymore. Sucks to be him. He is starting a new shut down that day and will be in a metal building all day. He is going to FREEZE!

So, once again, I am a little worried we will have another ice storm this year. Ugghhhh.

Everyone is healthy and happy and that is really all that matters. And the kids will be so happy about the snow so I guess it's not that bad. I'm just not quite ready for it yet. I don't even know where my winter coat is or if I even still have one!!!! Man, my head is gonna get COLD!!!!

Random randomness

So I have some stuff to say but not enough for a whole post so here is some randomness for ya.

A little back ground. My dads best friend was a school teacher for 30+ years. Over that time, he became good friends with the school nurse that is an RN. He just retired recently after his quadruple bypass. OK, now he has a B-12 deficiency and has to get a shot everyday for 5 days at home. His wife wont do it so you would think he would have his nurse friend do the shots. NOOOOO, he wants my mom to drive over there every morning and do them since Little Man gets shots everyday. He said he wants someone that knows what they are doing. Don't nurses know how to give shots? Thought so. He is just a big whiney butt.

Little Man's step mom is stuck in Germany. She went to see her hubby (my ex hubby) for a 3 day weekend 2 weeks ago and can't get back home. Is it bad that I think this is funny. She flew on a military plane to get there and is now just waiting for one she can get on to get back home. They are hoping she is home by Thursday. This made me giggle to know she is stuck alone in a different country. (Yup, sometimes I am a bitch) Don't worry though, she knows German so she should be fine. And they actually want to take Little Man over there this December. This is not the way to convince me it is a good idea!

This weekend we have a festival going on and the dental community will be there giving fluoride treatments and sealing the kids teeth for free. That is a $170 dollar treatment for free. I will be there with Toot. I had my teeth sealed when I was little and never had a cavity until I was pregnant with Little Man. Definitely worth it.

Hope everyone has a great weekend. I plan on it.

Dear Family

Dear Little Man,
I am so glad you finally got to come home. I hope you enjoyed your week with Grandma but now it's time to go back to normal. I do my best to keep you from getting sick because of your diabetes and sometimes that means shipping you off when we are all sick. It's all for you babe. I hope we don't have to go through that again for a long time.
The woman who missed you dearly,
Mama

Dear Toot,
I know you love your harmonica and all but it is driving me crazy! How about you only play it outside or in your room with your door closed? I don't mind if you do it in the living room as long as I am NOT watching my favorite shows. I hope we can come to an agreement on this little annoyance. And yes, I do believe you will be a superstar one day.
The woman with the ringing ears,
Mama

Dear Mom,
Thanks a ton for giving Toot a harmonica for her birthday. She absolutely loves to play it ALL THE TIME! Appreciate it.
The woman who still has ringing ears,
April

Dear Benny,
I understand that you do this every year but when it is the last weekend you are gonna have for 2 months, don't ask me if I am excited about it. You wont like the answer. I promise. Lets just not talk about it and just let me get through it. I love you and have never bitched about it so lets not mess that up this year. I will miss you and really hope you have fun so lets just leave it at that. OK?
The woman who will miss you while you party it up at squirrel camp,
April

Dear Smiley,
DUDE! Seriously! What is wrong with you?! You have already poured out 3 pounds of sugar, 5 pounds of coffee, God knows how much salt and a few boxes of cereal. Was it REALLY necessary to crack open a dozen eggs on MY bedroom carpet?!!!! I don't get it. You KNOW you are going to get into big trouble when you do it but don't seem to care, why? Can you PLEASE stop? I am really sick of cleaning up your messes while you hide from me. I am begging you know. This is getting so old!
The woman who is SOOOOO tired of the extra cleaning,
Mama

For more letters, go visit Shortmama. And if ya want to play along, make sure you go link up!

Dear Carrin, From the Family

Dear Carrin,
Thank you so much for being friends with April and coming down for the weekend. It takes a lot for her to become good enough friends with someone to actually open up our home to them. I had a blast and so did she. The tequila rose was pretty good, huh?! I am glad you got to see what all we do in this little town of ours. Also, sorry about smacking you on the ass. Force of habit!

The man that knows all the backroads,

Benny

Dear Carrin,

Thank you so much for my awesome glasses, purse and make up. I love them so much. Also, thank you for listening to me babble on and on. Can't wait to see you again.

The chick with the rockin sun glasses,

Toot

Dear Carrin,

Thank you so much for my book and markers even though my sister keeps stealing them. I really do love them and got to color a lot with them yesterday. I almost finished the book which is good because I have lost even more lids. Thanks for also playing ball with me. I don't get to do that a lot inside and had a blast! I had fun tickling you in the truck and can't wait to do it again.

The ball throwing boy,

Smiley

Dear Carrin,

Thanks for making the trip down here. I really had a lot of fun. From the time that we picked you up at the airport until we dropped you back off was a blast. Next time you visit, we will get you in the water (if it's warm). My kids loved you and Benny thought you were one cool chick. I really hope you had as much fun as we did and enjoyed our little corner of Texas. Also, Little Man said he wished he had got to meet you and told me to tell you THANK YOU for the awesome helicopter. They put it together last night and it only took 3 hours!!! He has it set up on his dresser now.

The woman who will always be a friend,

April

For more letters, go visit ShortMama and see what everyone else had to say.

Dear Family

My good friend ShortMama is starting a new thing and I thought I would join in. It is to write letters to whoever you feel needs them to get get out what you want to say. This week (a day late) I will be writing them to my family.

Dear Benny,

I totally understand that there is a tube leak at one of the plants and that it is your job to fix it BUT, do you think you could still do some of the stuff on my 'honey do' list? It usually takes only one, sometimes two, days to fix those leaks so if you could just do some of it Sunday, I would love you long time. The two most important things are to mow they yards and burn the trash. Then if you feel up to it, I would also love for you to get the trampoline out of the tree. That would be great!

Your wife that desperately wants this done,
Me

Dear Little Man,

I get that Toot can be a, well, a little toot sometimes but do ya think you could go a whole day with out coming to me every 5 minutes about it. 99% of the stuff she does you can handle yourself and the other 1%, just ignore her. She knows how easy it is to bug you and if you just calm down about it, I am sure she will stop. She really does love you and just wants to play with you. It is starting to drive me crazy when my biggest tattle tale is a 11 year old boy.

The woman who is tired of all the tattling,
Mama

Dear Toot,

As funny as it is sometimes (OK, most of the time to you) driving Little Man crazy is in turn driving me crazy. Do ya think ya could slack up a little bit? I know that it is your main job right now as a little sister but come on, it's really getting old. Besides, if you quit pissing him off, he might play with you more. Just a thought.

The woman who is still tired of all the tattling,
Mama

Dear Smiley,

If only one person actually pays attention to these letters, I hope it is you. Could you PLEASE stop pouring out the sugar, salt, pepper, coffee..... every time you get your hands on it?! It really makes a HUGE mess and I really don't like cleaning. That just really puts me in a bad mood and I don't want to be in a bad mood. While we are at it, do you think you could just stay out of the cabinets all together. I already had to put a lock on the fridge because of you feeding the cats all our ham and hot dogs (a bunch of times). I don't have enough locks to lock all the cabinets. Picking up a whole box of cereal AND mac and cheese was NO fun at all yesterday.

The woman who doesn't like all the extra cleaning I have had to do,
Mama


I love my family but if they could just do these small things for me, it would help out my life so much. I don't think I am asking for a lot so this shouldn't be hard, right?

Tuesday whatever's

I know a few of you do the Random Tuesday thing so I figured I would add to it.

• Little Man starts Jr High Monday. It seems just like yesterday when he was Smileys age. It won't be my weekend to have him so his step mom gets to take him to his first day. That sucks.
• Speaking Of Little Man going to Jr High, he decided to be in band and play the trumpet. Is it expensive to sound proof a room?
• I worked out yesterday and was surprised when I wasn't sore this morning. So, I am either in better shape than I though I was or I just did a wimpy work out. I'm going with that I am in better shape than I though.
• Smiley and Toot just about drove me crazy yesterday. They were in rare form for some reason. Somehow Smiley put a hole in Toots head and Toot spent the day torturing Little Man. Needless to say, they both took naps so I wouldn't go completely insane.
• Last night Benny and Little Man played a Sims game on the Wii. That is the MOST BORING THING TO WATCH. I watched them for about 3 hours and finally went to bed. It may be fun to play but I just can't handle watching that again.
• And lastly, if feels so good to have everything done. I have everything in order right now. Nothing to stress over just things to look forward to. The next few weekends are gonna be so good. This weekend will be just hanging with the family with no stress, the next one I will be going on a trip with my mom and the one after that Carrin is coming to see what is so wonderful about being in TX. Can't wait.

That's about it for now. For more randomness, go here.

Beautiful

Talk about one of the longest days in history. I woke up at 3:45am Saturday to get everyone ready and out the door. We got there about noon and the day began. The wedding started at 5:30 and was so beautiful. My niece and her man looked so happy. It was such a beautiful wedding and I hope more than anything that they are always as happy as they were then.

My other niece pulled the brides baby girl down the isle in this cute little wagon filled with flowers. I thought that was such a great idea.

Toot pretty much stayed in the middle of it all. She stayed in the room with all the girls before the wedding started.

She also had a real hard time staying away from the cake. She was totally being encouraged to have a little taste by a few adults.

This is all of Benny's immediate family.

So it all turned out really great and they now have plans to get their life on track. I really think they are determined to make this work and I pray for the best. It's all up to them now.

A little if this and a little of that

Just some randomness for ya.

I watched a show last night and I couldn't tear myself away from it. Benny actually said, "No wonder you went to school to be a drug and alcohol abuse counselor". It was "Steve-O, The Demise and Rise". I like Steve-O. I think he is insane and so funny. But, he was OBVIOUSLY very drugged up for the last however many years he has been on TV. I think it is wonderful he has made it over a year of being clean and sober and hope he continues to do good. I was also great to see that he could still be crazy and funny without the drugs. And yes, I am one of those that watches Jackass and Jackass 2 over and over.

In a town about 2 hours from here, they had a protest with the black panthers and skinheads. The KKK decided against a rally so it was about 200 black people vs. 15 white people. They had the cops standing between them with their shields and everything. OK, this all seems very weird to me. Lets see, we have the black panthers, skinheads, and the KKK. Really? Why? I understand that the black people in this town are pissed because nowadays EVERYTHING is race related against them (being sarcastic). But why would the skinheads or KKK care. I don't get it. Life has got to suck when your world revolves around race. Do the Black Panthers and KKK just sit around and bitch about each other all day? Sounds fun (more sarcasm). The town I live in is about 50/50 black and white and has made national headlines for things that got turned in to racist activities. It wasn't the people of the town that turned it in to that though. It was the NAACP and the media. We didn't have protests and rallies and the shit got handled right. I guess the people in my town aren't as ignorant as others.

I feel a little better today. Now I am just really dizzy and weak. I hope I am all better by Friday because we have family coming into town to visit. For one night, I will have my cousins 5 year old son staying with us. I am sure Toot and Smiley will have a blast. Little Man will be staying with my mom that night to stay away from all the craziness I am sure will happen. Smart kid.

I am loving the weather we have had this week. It's hasn't reached 90 degrees all week!

And lastly, Benny bought me some fancy chocolate last night because he felt bad for me. It is soooo freakin good. He is the best husband EVER!!!

This sucks

It just keeps getting worse.
My sis in law that is getting a divorce from my brother has been around as long as I can remember. I actually remember her better than my brother growing up. I really looked at her like a sister as she did me and we have been really close for the last 12 years. They were the ones that went to the races with us the other day.
She just deleted me from her friends on Facebook. That is how me and her always talked.
This sucks. I think I just lost my sister of 26 years.

I'm back

So that was a fun week and a half we just had. Lots of laughs. Now, we are all back to real life dealing with real life stuff.

In the last 3 days, I have gotten some pretty bad news. Nothing that really effects me personally, but people I love.

Found out Saturday that my brother and his wife split up for good. They have been together since I was 2 years old. They also have a 13 year old daughter that is being drug through this all and I feel so bad for all of them but especially her. This is going to be one nasty mess before it's all over. I can already tell. I wish parents would just always think about what is best for the children instead of how they can hurt each other the most. Unfortunately, a lot of people don't think like that. Glad I did and do.

Then, this morning, I found out that my dad's best friend's wife has to have surgery on her throat that will cause her to never talk again. Without the surgery, she would die. I can't even imaging what it would be like to know I only had a certain amount of days left to talk for the rest of my life. I just pray the surgery goes good.

So, after a fun filled week and then a very emotional two days, I am freaking exhausted! If ya would, say a little prayer for these people. They need it.

Your questions, my answers!

OK, here we go with the Q & A. I got some really good questions. Thanks to all that wanted to know more.

Carrin asked:
What do you want to be when you grow up?
I want to be happy. If I am happy then I must be doing what I want. Right now, I am perfectly happy being a stay at home mom.

What is your favorite memory of Benny?
I am not a good dancer. The only person I ever liked dancing with was my dad. He is a great dancer and can lead real good. I use to love going to street dances with him. When I met Benny, I found out he loves to dance. He danced different and lead different than my dad and we were kinda awkward. One night we were out driving around and he pulled over on a dirt road. I asked him what he was doing and he said "Gonna teach you to dance with me". He cranked the radio and we danced in the light of our headlights. I will never forget that night. Now, we dance really good together.

When you found out you were pregnant each time, what was your first thought?
When I was 16 and found out I was pregnant with Little Man, my very first thought was "OH SHIT". Then I called my mom.
With Toot, we had been trying for 11 months. My first thought was "Did we even do anything last month?" No joke. I thought the test had to be wrong for a split second.
With Smiley, first thought was "That was fast". We had JUST started trying.

Would you eat a rolly poly bug for $5?
Hell no. I don't eat nasty shit! I always said I could have done great on Fear Factor if you didn't have to eat the nasty stuff. Benny said to tell you that he would!

Bethany asked:
Do you believe in capitol punishment?
Yes ma'am, I do. Especially now that they can test DNA and stuff. My only problem with it is that it takes to damn long for them to do it.

Would you rather have sex twice a day everyday for the next year or go with out?
A year is a long time without BUT I would choose to go without. Here is why. When you have to do it everyday, it becomes a job and not something you look forward to. There is other ways Benny and I can please each other with out actually having sex (I'm using Clinton's definition of sex). Then, imagine the fun we would have after a year. Never mind, don't imagine!

Trudy asked:
How did you and Benny meet?
I did post the long story here but I will shorten it up now. We met at a bar. He was in the band and I was there with my folks. When we were introduced, he leaned down, kissed me, and then walked off. Not one word. Then later that night, he asked my mom if he could keep me. We have been together every since.

What is your favorite color and why?
Red. I don't know why but it has always been.

If you could only eat one thing for the rest of your life, what would it be?
This is easy, Taco Bell. Specifically, bean burrito with no onions add extra cheese. I have loved those ALL my life.

Gwen asked:
If I told you that you had 2 weeks to live, how would you spend them?
With my family. I would ride backroads everyday with them. I would pile my folks in there with us and we would just ride and talk. This is one of Benny and my favorite things to do. We very seldom have the radio on and it gives us a chance to talk and listen to each other and the kids. They can talk with no interruptions and we can really connect with each other. We talk about any and everything. And sometimes we just stop and dance. I would dance with my dad, Benny, and my kids. Hell, probably my mom too. I can't think of anything I would rather do.

Amanda asked:
Besides Benny, what is your guilty pleasure?
Beer. I LOVE beer. And Taco Bell.

If you could pick one person who has already died (someone you knew or not) that you could have 3 more days with who would it be?
This one was the hardest to answer of all the questions. I thought about this one a lot. I have only had 2 people close to me die. One was my great grandmother who was in her 90's. The other was Benny's dad who was only 62. I would pick Benny's dad. Reason is, he passed when I was 7 months pregnant with Toot and he never got to meet any of Benny's children. It bothers Benny so much that out children didn't get to know him. He still cries when he thinks about it. I would do that for Benny and our children.

Is Benny feeling a little less sore after the anchor tried to take him out?
Yes, his is still sore and has scabs but he does feel a lot better.

How do you really feel about Obama? Just kidding!
I will go ahead and answer. I can't stand the guy AT ALL.

Yaya asked (in a different post):
Really? People just wave at strangers?
Here is the deal on that. Most of our roads are one lane. If we pass someone, we wave. Not if you are on the big highway or something like that or you would be constantly waving (and they wouldn't even see you). If someone is walking down the road, we wave. If someone is out in their front yard, we wave. When we are out in the boat and another boat passes, we wave. I can tell you that 99.9% of the people I wave out, I don't know. And it's not a big wave, more just like raise your hand or finger (the good one) or nod. If we are within talking distance, we say hi. It's just common courtesy/southern hospitality.

Ya got a question, I will answer. Thanks for all that asked.

Weekend stuff

So over the weekend, we spent everyday at the lake.

Friday we went to a lake right by the house but it's a shallow lake and real dirty. I don't like going there but we didn't even head to the lake until about 5:30pm so that is where we went. The lake is shallow and dirty enough that it isn't even safe to swim in after July. They actually post signs telling you not to swim in it halfway through the summer. As soon as we got home, I threw both kids in the shower. We wont be going back!

Saturday, we went to the lake we love and Benny's brother was there with his in-laws. He has two brother-in-laws that are really cool so we had a great time. At one point, we were tied to his boat and forgot we put the anchor down. When we took off, the 20 pound anchor came flying up into our boat and hit Benny in the shoulder and head. If it had been about 4 inches to the right, it would have hit only his head. THAT SCARED THE SHIT OUT OF ME!!! He is still REALLY sore but he is managing (as always). There are two anchors on the boat. One in front and one in back. We will never use the one in back again! Luckily, both the kids were in Benny's brother's boat at the time.

Sunday, he was really really sore but still wanted to go out on the boat. This time we went to the river and met up with my folks. The water is a lot smoother out there which was good because Toot decided that she wanted to knee board all by herself. So she did. She did so great.

I was so excited about it because I knee boarded all the time (by myself) at that age. Man they grow up way to fast. We also stopped and just swam for awhile. Actually, I just laid in the boat while the kids swam but got some cool pics of the Spanish moss. It's actually the tree I was laying under.

So that was our weekend. I am sick right now (don't know why but it sucks) so I didn't do anything at all yesterday. Trying to do more today because I have got to kick this.

To be the best...

MamaKat has her prompts up and I chose #2 today. What do you aspire to be?

This has been a topic of discussion for awhile around my house hold. What do I want to be when I grow up? The reason we have talked about it is because in just a few short years, all my kiddos will be in school full time. There really wouldn't be a reason for me to be home all day.

I came up with nothing. Oh, a lot of things got thrown around (real estate, physical therapist, accounting...) but nothing made me say "Yes, that is what I want to do for the rest of my life".

But, MamaKat isn't really asking what I want to do but rather what I aspire to be. Big difference I think.

That one is easy for me.

I aspire to be the best mom I can be for my kids. I want them to always feel they can come to me with anything. I want them to be comfortable enough with me that they feel they can tell me everything. I want them to not mind hugging me in public when they are grown. I want them to always be happy in this family no matter what else is going on. I want them to be happy with their life. I want them to always know that I love them no matter what. I want to teach them family values as I learned them. I believe I can be their friend AND still be their parent but I want them to understand why sometimes I can be their friend but other times I have to be the parent even if they don't like it. I want my children to be very well balanced, respectful, well behaved, loving, happy children and then adults. That can only happen if I continue to keep trying everyday to be the best mom I can be.

I also aspire to be the best wife I can be to Benny. I want him to always know that I love him with all my heart and soul. I want him to enjoy coming home after work and not dread it. I want for him to always be my best friend. I want him to feel comfortable enough with me that he can tell me everything. I want him to always be happy that he is my husband. I want to always be able to have fun with him and for him to always have fun with me. I want to have a marriage where it doesn't matter how much money we have, how many material things we have, or even how clean the house is because I want the love we have for each other to be what matters most. When we are done with our life hear on earth, I want the world to know that our life together was like a roller coaster. We had our ups and downs but the ride sure was a blast. In order for that to happen, I have to keep trying to be the best wife I can be.

Those are the two main things I aspire to be. For me, that is the two most important things because those four people are the most important people in my life. If I don't try to be my best then why should they?



On a side note, to read a really great post, go check out Amanda's post today. I really loved it and think you might too.

I'm NOT a baby!

That's what Smiley said to me yesterday. And I guess technically, he's not.

He will be 3 in August. He's not wearing diapers anymore. He never wore pull-ups. He can talk better than most kids his age (thanks to Toot). He feeds himself and can even cook popcorn by himself.

When he said that, Benny just looked at me and laughed. After I gave Benny a dirty look, I said to Smiley "You will ALWAYS be my baby boy!". He just laughed along with his Daddy and ran away.

Kinda made me sad. I don't have any babies anymore. I never will. That part doesn't bother me because I don't want anymore children. Trust me, three is plenty! And I really love sleeping through the night. And I REALLY LOVE not wiping shitty butts anymore.

But the truth is, they do grow up way to fast. In a blink of an eye they go from tiny babies that can't even hold their head up to crazy kids that run away when I try to clean their face. Then to 10 year olds that think they know everything. It all just happens way to fast but they will all always be my babies to me.

About an hour later, Smiley bumped his head on something. He came to me with his blanky, crawled up in bed with me, and cuddled about 10 minutes. I looked down at him and asked him if he was still my baby boy. He shook his head yes.

And then I looked at Benny and stuck my tongue out at him!

Summertime Fav's

Gwen wants to know our 5 favorite things about summer. She is such a sweety so I thought I would go ahead and let her know.

1. Fun family time. We have fun all year but not like in the summer. Summer for us is ALL about spending time with the family and all about having a good time.


2. Outdoor activities - As if that isn't already obvious. Benny get's 3 day weekends all summer long and I guarentee you, those days wont be spent indoors. We love to go camping, boating, swimming, golfing, grilling.... You name it, we probably do it (unless it's something just totally weird and way out there). Speaking of grilling, check out how Benny was grilling last night! Our regular grill is out of gas so he used the one from the camper. He was cracking me up in his boots and pj's.


3. Longer days. In the winter, when Benny leaves the house and when he gets home, it is dark. In the summer, there is still a few hours of daylight when he gets home.


4. Ice cold beer on hot days. Soooo good!


5. The tan I get. I am one of the lucky ones that don't burn, just tan. Sounds silly but I love it.

So, if you haven't done this, what's your favorite things about summertime?

The races and lots of beer

This weekend was so much fun. Friday night we went to the races and one of my brothers and his wife joined us. That was my first time at the races and I gotta say, there will be more. It was awesome.

A tone of people from Zachry (Benny's company) were there but all the foreman's from his office were drunk before they even got there so it made for a real funny time. Afterwards we went to the bar with my brother and then stayed at his house.

This was on the way. It's a sonic bag hanging out the car. Too funny!

This is Benny's kinda sorta boss. He was TORE up!

They were having the Indy races on Saturday so we got to go into the Indy garage. This was my favorite car.

Headin over to see the trucks.

Benny's company's truck.

A cute fireman I was chatting it up with. He usually worked NASCAR and this was his first truck race.

Only took this pic because I know Carrin loves Target.

I have know idea who this is but I had to take this pic because this just cracked me up!

Finally sitting down for the races. Benny had a tongue thing going on all day.

My sis in law but she is really more of just a sis. They have been together since I was 2 years old.

My oldest brother.

It was actually REALLY hard to get a good pic of them racing. They were haulin ass!

Out at the bar. My brother is a goof ball.

That's my brothers hand again.

Tongue thing again.

We were all pretty drunk by this point!

As we were about to head out.

After the bar, we went to Mc Donalds. Somehow I got the guy at the window to sing me happy birthday (not my birthday) and he accidentally left his mike on so the car behind us heard it all. Then, the guy in that car sang to me too. It was soooo funny!

It was a great night and I can't wait until we can do it again!