This week I did not wear a stained white shirt, yes stained in THREE places, for almost two days straight. Seriously, this is gross. And just because I didn’t go anywhere or do anything but play with the kids, do laundry and clean the house, I would still be looking my best at all times. This saddened state might have kept me from going anywhere in the first place because it just felt like too much work to get ready.

I have not learned more than I ever could have imagined about SVT due to MckMama's son, Stellan, and his heart condition. I was not watching a rerun of Gene Simmons Family Jewels and saw the episode in which Gene slips into SVT during a stress test. I did not watch as they decided to give him IV medication to try to slow his heart rate. I did not wonder why they weren't telling us the name of the heart medicine so I could better understand how they were treating Mr. Gene Simmons. When the medication failed to lower Gene's heart rate and the doctors began discussing shocking his heart back into normal sinus rhythm I did not wonder why they weren't trying vagal maneuvers first. I could not understand why they thought shocking Gene's heart was less traumatic then say...ice packs or hanging Gene upside down by his toes. I do not think I'm an expert when it pertains to SVT and I do not think I know better then Gene Simmons' doctors when it comes to treating him.

I did NOT let Elek walk around the house with only a diaper on (more than once) just because I was too lazy to put his clothes back on after an extremely exhausting diaper change.

I also did not tell my kids (more than once this week) that there mother had run away so they could stop yelling "MOM" at the top of their lungs to tattle or just to hear themselves yell "MOM".

I did not scream like a 14 year old at my second New Kids On The Block concert in 8 months. Jen and Sherri didn't scream either. In fact, we were the most reserved people in the crowd.

Sunday Seven

(Photos courtesy of my friend, Monica, who had much better seats than I did. I was out in the lawn.)

Things I Need To Do This Weekend

1. Go grocery shopping.
2. Buy birthday card and gift for Maddy's softball buddy, Savannah.
3. Drop Mad off at Savannah's house for sleepover.
4. Do approximately 5,873 loads of laundry.
5. Go to the movies and see My Sister's Keeper. I read the book a few years ago. Must remember to bring lots of tissues.
6. Pick Mad up from Savannah's.
7. Make another batch of strawberry jam.
8. Try to decide if it's my sinuses making my tooth hurt or if I really have a toothache. Either way, I have no insurance and it's going to cost me $$$.
9. Madison's Tournament of Champions game tomorrow Taylor South 3:00 p.m. I get to listen to her coach scream at them more. Oh boy!
10. Clean this house.

I ♥ Faces - Week 23 "Sepia"

Here's my entry for the kid's category of I Heart Face's Sepia-Toned challenge.

It wasn't me who has spent far too much time on a game on facebook called Farm Town. It's not way too addicting. And I shouldn't be ashamed of myself because I've worked on my farm more than I've worked on my actual house.

This weekend I did NOT regress to a teenager and find myself responding to my soon to be teenager, like a teenager. Ugh, how embarrassing and what stellar parenting that is, huh? I mean, you know, NOT, because I didn't do it, Not Me!?

I did not pour my cereal into my orange juice. I am fully functioning, wide awake, alert, and enthusiastic in the morning because I love the hours before 7:30 am. On a side note, Post cereals should not add Honey Bunches of Oats with Oranges to their product line. Seriously.

I am not allergic to bug spray so I did not use what every resourceful mom uses to kill ants... Lysol! lol

My Entire Family Is Super Excited For This

I'm Free!!!

today was my last day of work until september 8! yipee! one of the blessings of working for the school district.

i'm hoping that there will be more blogging from me. i will certainly have more time, so i won't be able to use that as an excuse anymore. only a week left until baseball/softball season is over. unless maddy makes it to all-stars, but she is secretly hoping she doesn't because her coach will be the all-star coach and let's just put it this way...she doesn't like her coach. not liking would actually be an understatement. let's just not go there.

it's been a while, so i will update you on our lives lately.

i have been taking a ton of photos. been reading up on apertures and exposure and iso and all that good stuff. i am really enjoying it.

maddy got straight a's again this trimester. actually the kid had 100% in every single class, except spanish and social studies. she got a 106% in spanish and a 103% in social studies. she is the classic overachiever. she has decided she will be going to vanderbilt for college and has not yet decided on a major. i'm thinking that she has plenty of time to worry about it considering...she is only going into 7th grade!!! lol she's now the catcher for her softball team and loves it. the only issue with it is that mad gets lightheaded and nauseous when she get overheated and with all that gear on it's happened twice now and she's been moved to 3rd base.


ian did extremely well too. at 3rd grade they don't use letter grades just achieving, grade level, working toward grade level, underachieving. he was achieving or at grade level in everything. he is finally reading above grade level. this is HUGE for ian. he has been behind in reading since kindergarten. he has improved a ton and is now reading at a 5th grade level! we are beyond proud of him. he has decided that he wants to be a meteorologist when he grows up and watches the weather channel 24/7. he also gets on the computer several times a day to check the doppler. his favorite movie is twister. the other night there was a tornado warning several counties away and he wanted me to drive him there so he could chase tornadoes. ha! he has a love/hate relationsip with baseball. sometimes he can't wait for his games other times we have to drag him to the field. he is much happier with swimming and thankfully was able to go back on tuesday. he was finally diagnosed with asthma a few weeks ago and now has an inhaler that he has to use once a day. i've suspected asthma for years and i am thankful that it was finally diagnosed.

elek is a sweet little man who is into everything. if we don't move the computer chair, he is constantly climbing up and banging at the keyboard and moving the mouse. his favorite place to sit is on the kitchen table. that child is always climbing something. he has totally given up his 2nd nap and finally isn't getting up in the night! praise the Lord! the next step is getting rid of his bottles and i'm not looking forward to it. honestly, he only gets a bottle of water when he lays down for naps and bedtime. other that that he gets sippy cups. he so dependent on the bottles when he lays down though.

michael is pretty much the same. still working. still a kid's ministry leader at church. still the same great provider and fabulous husband and daddy he's always been. every single night he and ian are outside playing catch. he's an awesome dad.

that's it for now. need to clean house, looks like one of ian's tornadoes has been through it.

bad girl

just to let you all know...i've updated my project 365.

AN OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT OBAMA

By Lou Pritchett



Dear President Obama:

You are the thirteenth President under whom I have lived and unlike any of the others, you truly scare me.

You scare me because after months of exposure, I know nothing about you.

You scare me because I do not know how you paid for your expensive Ivy League education and your upscale lifestyle and housing with no visible signs of support.

You scare me because you did not spend the formative years of youth growing up in America and culturally you are not an American.

You scare me because you have never run a company or met a payroll.

You scare me because you have never had military experience, thus don't understand it at its core.

You scare me because you lack humility and 'class', always blaming others.

You scare me because for over half your life you have aligned yourself with radical extremists who hate America and you refuse to publicly denounce these radicals who wish to see America fail.

You scare me because you are a cheerleader for the 'blame America' crowd and deliver this message abroad.

You scare me because you want to change America to a European style country where the government sector dominates instead of the private sector.

You scare me because you want to replace our health care system with a government controlled one.

You scare me because you prefer 'wind mills' to responsibly capitalizing on our own vast oil, coal and shale reserves.

You scare me because you want to kill the American capitalist goose that lays the golden egg which provides the highest standard of living in the world.

You scare me because you have begun to use 'extortion' tactics against certain banks and corporations.

You scare me because your own political party shrinks from challenging you on your wild and irresponsible spending proposals.

You scare me because you will not openly listen to or even consider opposing points of view from intelligent people.

You scare me because you falsely believe that you are both omnipotent and omniscient.

You scare me because the media gives you a free pass on everything you do.

You scare me because you demonize and want to silence the Limbaughs, Hannitys, O'Relllys and Becks who offer opposing, conservative points of view.

You scare me because you prefer controlling over governing.

Finally, you scare me because if you serve a second term I will probably not feel safe in writing a similar letter in 8 years.

Lou Pritchett


Note: Lou Pritchett is a former vice president of Procter & Gamble whose career at that company spanned 36 years before his retirement in 1989, and he is the author of the 1995 business book, Stop Paddling & Start Rocking the Boat.

Mr. Pritchett confirmed that he was indeed the author of the much-circulated "open letter." “I did write the 'you scare me' letter. I sent it to the NY Times but they never acknowledged or published it. However, it hit the internet and according to the ‘experts’ has had over 500,000 hits.

Love This!

i do not know these people, but i just sat in total content creative happiness while watching their wedding invitation. i bet you will too. the music is perfect. (vampire weekend-LOVE)
and when he wrings himself out after swimming?
i clapped in my seat!