Stay at home mom, yeah right!

I'm not sure who decided to coin the phrase Stay at home mom. They clearly didn't know what they were talking about. I'm rarely at home. After getting them off to school I rushed out to get some grocery shopping done, order Jasmine's birthday cake, drop off groceries at home, teach a cpr class, grab lunch, pick up written prescription from the doctor's office, pick up Pampered Chef order, drop Sarah's order off at her house, and rush home to put away some laundry, get kids off the bus, help with homework, make dinner, and go to rescue related meeting. I started my morning at 6:45a and I finally stopped moving at 11p. I honestly believe my husband thinks I do nothing all day long. He has no idea! Being a mommy is hard work. I don't get a vacation or a decent break. Even on my business trips I'm still being a mommy but from a distance. Tomorrow will be here only too soon. I will get up and run around some more because I love my family and they would have a hard time surviving if I didn't do all I do. So, moms you are doing a great job no matter how unappreciated you may feel.

What really happened

I started out the morning as usual, hoping the children would wake up wanting to do everything to please me. Well that didn't happen. lol After suppressing my desire to scream so much that I'm sure my head did pop off a little, they all got on the school bus with butts still attached. I got the pleasure of hanging out with little Patrick today. Patrick is 15 months old and full of curiosity. We explored ALL of my cabinets, Jaden's room, and the new play set. He made sure every one of my doors worked appropriately. He was just as excited about eating grapes for the first time as I was that he didn't have an allergic reaction to them. While heading out to the swings we listened to the rescue radio as Miss Sarah suddenly called for a policeman to respond to Main and Ellett for a pedestrian on bike vs. vehicle. Since her voice was 5 octives higher than normal I figured she must have either seen it or been involved in it. Not to mention she was sooo excited she couldn't even remember who she was on the radio. Patrick found enjoyment as I paced back in forth in front of the swing waiting for more voices on the radio to tell me everyone was ok. I finally got enough info to make me feel better. It turns out Sarah is a magnet for special people on bikes who don't have brakes. Love ya Sarah but you can't take out members of our community with the responder. It just doesn't look good.

Not Me Monday

So my friend Sarah fell in love with a blog where people talked about what they "did not" do. She loved it so much that she has started a similar blog and convinced me that I need to join in the craze. So here I go.

I started out last week with great anticipation of the kids starting school and getting my house back. I did not dance in my front yard when the bus drove away while my mother took pictures of me. I did not have to convince my Polish neighbor that it was too early to start drinking alcohol to celebrate the kids going to school. I had such great hope and long list of things I was going to accomplish that first day. Well, I did not completely lose that list and spend the morning comforting my friend who just sent her first child off to school for the first time while realizing I too was a little sad about my last child starting school too. I did not squeeze in a quick birthday lunch with the hubby and rush off to do grocery shopping including finding him a present. So the college students are back and the parking lot of Walmart was deceiving. The aisles were packed full of rude parents and their clueless freshmen. I did not dream of running over them with my buggy full of after school snacks. I did not giggle while listening to parents explain to these same clueless freshmen how to do things my 5 year old already knows how to do like shake the orange juice container before they pour it. I did not whisper morons under my breath while walking by more clueless students who's mommy was explaining that buying the extra large box of goldfish was not a good idea just because that what mom buys for home. I mean really, are they that stupid but they made it into Tech. I did not then tell everyone I know about how pampered and clueless the new freshmen I ran into appear to be. After fighting the crowds in Walmart and reminding myself to have the doctor prescribe me xanax before I ever go back in that store again, I rushed home to put away the groceries and sit in silence for 10 minutes before the bus arrived home. I did not welcome them with open arms and admit openly that I really did miss them.

CKC Charlotte

So it has been 3 years since my last CKC. I'M BACK!!! I have escaped the nut house and am on the loose with Sarah. We arrived this evening and having been enjoying the freedom of no rescue pager, children, or dishes. I will go to bed tonight without telling someone 100 times to get back in bed. I will sleep tonight without the soft roar of snoring beside me. The best part is I don't have to change any diapers. We have a class bright and early so it isn't a sleep in vacation. I'm ok with that cause I get to use paper and scissors and I don't have to share.

Where did the summer go

So I realized today how quickly the summer has gone. In only a few short weeks I will be packing lunches and shooing kids out the door. I remember my summers being much longer. We got out before June and went back after Labor Day. There were so many activities I wanted to do this summer and now I have less time to do them. Oh, well there is always next summer. lol

Today one of the restaurants in our area honored first responders. We were given free meals. I took the kids and met up with my partner in crime, Swalker Paramedic, and a few police officers. My kids aren't ever gonna be able to do anything wrong in this town when every police officer knows their mommy. They will immediately be hauled home. lol I almost feel sorry for them. It is nice to live in a small town where everyone feels like family. The kids had a great time surrounded by cool people in uniforms. There was even a clown there who painted faces.
They were willing to let me wash their face after I took these pictures. So, thank you Texas Roadhouse for the honor and the free steak. It was very yummy.

What now?

So a few months ago I decided the store was more than I could deal with right now in this economy. My focus was so scattered any way. So the question comes, what now? I am finding myself scrapping more and stressing less about advertising, shipping, researching... Having a store was awesome while it lasted. It allowed me to do fun things and buy awesome stuff. I can happily say I was able to go to CHA. It was a blast. I have a nice amount of scrapbook paper left over to use and share with my friends. It was an experience I'm glad to have had. Now I turn my focus to the husband, kids, and rescue work.

The play set
After many years of begging, pleading and whining, the husband finally bought the kids a play set. We spent the entire weekend putting it together. Every ache and pain later was worth the squeals of laughter that float through the air. I have gotten more "thank you mommy" and "I love you mommy", than I ever have before. The neighbor kids are peeking out and waiting for my kids to emerge so they can come over for a little outdoor fun. Jasmine decided it should be titled, The Earley Monkey Gym. I think I like that. It fits!

Playing Catch Up

Ok so it has been a while. I have had some time to scrap but not as much as I want. So much has happened in the last few months. On Christmas Eve I got a new niece. Her name is Chloe Lynn. She is just beautiful. I can't wait to meet her next week.

My adorable nephew is still living here. As much as I love him he has helped me get over wanting another baby. I didn't realize how much I'm over the middle of the night feedings, diaper changes, and projectile vomiting. This cute little bundle looks like he needs an exocist after a feeding. I didn't realize such a small baby could spew vomit so far across the room. The diapers clear half the house. But his smile will melt you into a big puddle of goo. Jamie is 3 months old now. He is at that age when he thinks the ceiling fan is the funniest thing in the world. You can't find a more proud aunt than me. I even have his laugh as my ringer. He gave me one of the first chuckles. I found the tickle spots. He has become my favorite photography subject. My kids are still cute but they move to fast. Jamie isn't mobile yet so he has to suffer through my snaps.

We have had so many days out of school but no real snow. How am I suppose to get these snow layouts out of my head I we don't get snow? We keep getting the dusting/sleet/single digit temp without the real stuff. My feeling is give me snow or give me heat.

They held still

We haven't done a kid photo for a long time. The last one was like pulling teeth. While I enjoy my snap shots of my kids, I have wanted a professional photo done. With the new nephew in tow we headed to the mall photo studio. It was painless. Ok, almost painless. We had to convince Jasmine that the 5 missing teeth could not be in the photo. If it were not for molars that child would live off of soup and mashed potatoes. She agreed to a closed smile. I think we have finally reached a point of paying someone else to take their pictures.

Thanks to Lee Ellen

The featured layouts on the site are compliments of Lee Ellen. Lee Ellen is a very talented artist. I will be adding more layouts over the next few weeks. If you would like to have your layouts posted on the site let me know.

Mommy broke tradition and it wasn't good

I broke the family tradition and I made a little girl very unhappy. Every year we go to the pumpkin patch, do the hay ride, and buy a pumpkin. It makes for great scrapbook shots. Yep, I think about the layouts with each shot I take. Well this year the school sent home flyers about a new pumpkin patch not far from our home. It was a great flyer enticing me with petting area, snack counter, hay rides, and pumpkins. I am all about buying from the small business. I just didn't know how small. We drove out looking for this place only to find a folding table set up with syran wrapped goodies for the snack counter. The petting area had a goat, a sheep, 3 chickens, and a rabbit. I did get good shots of the kids feeding the animals. We got on the wagon and went out to the patch. Once the wagon stopped we looked around to find a large field with about 5 pumpkins. Now I know we waited until the last weekend to get a pumpkin but this was nuts. The pumpkins were either blue in color or rottening. It was pitiful. We settled on a tiny pumpkin that was actually orange and not soft to the touch. My oldest looked like someone ripped her off and I agree with her. We got back in our car and rushed out to the other patch only to find it closing. That is when the tears started. Taylor was crushed. She had been looking forward to this trip for an entire year and the disappointment was more than she could take. We ended up at Walmart and let them pick the two biggest pumpkins Wally World had. By the end of the night we had smiling children but it was touch and go there for a bit.