WW: Summer 10

List your top 10 favorite things about summer growing up

10. Bicycle rides through the neighborhood. Heading to each of my friends' houses to see who was home and could ride with me.

9. Swimming at the local park with my brothers. We would spend hours swimming in that murky water ( that they now have signs recommending not swimming because of amoeba) then head to the playground and see who could swing the highest. 

8. When my aunt would come to visit every year in June. She would come bearing small gifts for each of us and we would spend most of the week taking mini trips to the local stores. 

7. Heading to grandma and grandpa's house when my aunt would go back home. We would ride the Greyhound bus with her. Stopping at the bus stations was one of my favorite parts. She would always buy us a candy bar. 

6. The beach trips. They were few and far between so you made the most of the times you were there. Spending hours in the ocean water chasing the waves. 

5. Chatting on the phone for hours and hours with my best friends. Since my parents worked they rarely took me to their houses so I kept in touch with the ones who didn't live within bike riding distance. 

4. Swimming in the pool. Growing up, we had an above ground pool at my parents house. When we weren't doing chores we spent hours playing marco-polo, wave pool and water volleyball.

3. Before middle school, my younger brother and I were too little to stay at home when my mom worked, so we had to go with mom to work at my parents business.My dad had a pair of doberman dogs that were "supposed" to be guard dogs, but they were more of big playmates to me. My brother and I would spend hours playing with those dogs. 

2. Going roller skating and to the movies with my friends. I used to be a great roller skater. I used to be able to roll backwards and in a circle holing holds with my friend. 

1. Sleepovers! I loved going to sleep overs at my friends houses.It was a chance to get away from being at home doing chores and getting picked on by my brothers. Escape! 

This Thursday post was written for Mama Kat's Writer's Workshop, I chose prompt # 5.

Memories Captured: Bonding Time

I have taken hundreds of photos of my children. Just in the last month.

I have taken thousands and thousands of photos of my children in the eight and half years I have been their mother.

But then there are those photos that you get and you really don't realize that you captured an essence with the photo. I have taken a few that I look at and can see the moment.

I can feel the emotion that was happening at that moment.

I love this photo that I took this last summer of my children at our final beach trip of the summer.
 We walked on the beach to say goodbye to the ocean, the birds, the salt and sand.

We left them behind and we took some memories home with us forever.

I'm linking up with Galit and Allison.

One down, Goodbye Summer

The last day of summer vacation for the kids I was trying

to keep it low key and hang inside the nice air conditioned house.
But they were bored out of their minds and I was tired of
them complaining. So I set up their kiddie pool.
It was actually bought to transplant our fish from
our fishtank but you know how everything
can get turned into a water toy.

I gave Little E his brand new side walk chalk and
told him not to get them wet. Well, Miss K wasn't present for those
instructions. I wasn't upset about it. The water and chalk kept
them occupied for almost two hours.

But the chalk didn't stay on the sidewalk. They used it as body paint!
I laughed and told them they looked like the
people from Avatar.

So the last day turned out to be quite fun for everyone. And I was
lucky enough to have worn out Little E and he fell asleep
waiting for bedtime.

So long last day of summer!
Hello to first day of school for my third grader and preschooler.

5QF: End of Summer

It's Friday!! The last Friday before school starts! Woohoo!!! We're going to meet Miss K's teacher today and I'm so excited! I think I'm more excited than she is. She is going to third grade and this is an important year. The first year of FCAT testing and it is imperative that we have a good teacher. We had an amazing teacher last year and I'm hoping we do again this year. Wish us luck!!





1. Do you close the bathroom door when you are home alone?

Nope. I usually head to my side of the house and try to go as quickly as possible. If I close the door, the kids think I'm doing something fun without them and will head in the direction of that closed door. Like, seriously, what else would I be doing in there?

2. You have to walk around with a word on your forehead. That word describes you. One word. What is it?
Spastic. I wasn't sure of the real definition so I googled it. Here is the use of it in the United States according to Wikipedia. In American slang, the term "spaz" is largely inoffensive, and is generally understood as a casual word for clumsiness, sometimes associated with over excitement, excessive energy, or hyperactivity. I usually have this excessive amount of energy and am going a mile a minute. I talk like that, drive like that, do everything like that. That's me a nutshell.

3. What store do you refuse to shop at and why?

Victoria's Secret. They do NOT make a bra in my size and panties in my size. And I'm going on a limb here I AM not that big. An extra large is not big enough to head to the plus sizes!!! I think the lady who started VS is a big old snooty b!tch.

4. If you participated in arranged marriages for your child(ren), who would you choose for your child(ren)?

Heck, I have no flipping idea!!! I don't know any boys who are Miss K's age that I find worthy enough and brave enough to be my future SIL. My BFF's son is the same age and absolutely adorable, but considering the difference in religion, they would not be able to marry. (according to her)

Little E , I have no idea again. You have to remember, the person they marry has a family and you forever become linked to them.

5. If you could pick how and when you would die, would you?

I don't want to pick when, as long as I've lived long enough to see my children marry, then I'm good. I would like to die in my sleep, just like my sweet grandmother who passed away when I was very young. I don't want to have my life linger in pain.

Summer Fun:It's almost over

Miss K and Little E being silly at my work. The showroom of my parent's business has plenty of room for them to ride their bicycles in. I was snapping shots of them riding but then they started posing for me. Back at ya Miss K!!!


Little E and Miss K stretching out at a friend's birthday party. The party was held at a local gymnasium where the kids got to run through tunnels, walk on balance beams, jump on long spring boards and jump into the foam pit! It was a fun party!


I wanted to take this photo in front of the Shamu at Sea World of my kids. It's been a tradition for the hubs an I. I have a few of myself and my husband, before kids, taken at this very spot.

This was our first attempt to take this shot of the kids this summer. It didn't go too well, thanks to the almighty bright son. Little E would not take his hands away from his face. But it's a cute reminder of one of our Sea World trips.

I am linking this photo up with Shell at Things I Can't Say for her summer link up Summer Fun Show Off . Also, Link up your Summer Fun for a chance to win prizes from Ubisoft.

PYHO:Twelve Days

I know I've said somewhere this summer I couldn't wait for school to start. That twelve weeks was just too long for summer vacation. I think that was me when the last school bell rang and I was thinking, what am I going to do for the next three months with the kids?? Especially since we live on a limited budget which does not allow me to take them on an excursion everyday. How could we possibly fill the time up everyday?

For five different weeks I shuffled Miss K back and forth to either an art camp or a nature camp. I wanted to keep her creative juices flowing through the summer since public school doesn't offer enough art/creative arts/music/science in the curriculum anymore.

But we did squeeze in several trips to Sea World. Thank you Sea World and EZ Pay annual passes-we LOVE you! Shamu does Rock! Summer Nights was the best.

We spent several Saturdays or Sundays at the beach. We made a trek to Tampa and visited some out of town family. We even made several trips to the library. My kids LOVE books.

But now I'm feeling guilty. Many times I have wished that school would start already. Those are on the days when we're having down time and the kids are nagging each other, picking on each other and not just getting along.... I want school back. I feel so guilty.

Here we are just 12 days away from the first day of school and these last twelve days are going to fly by. I'm sad.

I'm going to redeem my bad thoughts and celebrate my birthday and our last weekend of summer fun and take the kids for a four day beach weekend. This Friday the four of us are packing up and heading to one of our northeast beaches. I am so excited! I am not going to think about back packs, schedules, dance classes, preschool or 6 am wakeups this whole weekend.

I'm going to laugh at my silly kids while they play in the pool, dig sand castles by the beach, swim in the salt water and let them stay up late the last weekend they can.

This Saturday is my 35th (gulp) birthday and I'm sharing the celebration with my children. Normally, I would plan an event with my closest friends for a night on the town. But not this year. I'm going to soak up the sweet tenderness of my now 4 year old and 8 year old. My little man is going to be starting preschool this year and my princess is going into the third grade.

They won't be little forever.

I still feel guilty. Where did the summer go?

Where theres water....

What happens when you mix water, two kids and a silly water hose?
Some summertime afternoon fun

Little E squirting his sister

How about a little drink?

A Little bit of this..A little bit of that

In twelve days the summer will come to an end. It seems like only a few weeks have passed during the fun. This by far has been the best summer I have had since I was a kid myself. I have enjoyed beach days, days at the park, playing at the splash pad, picnic lunches. cheap movies, play dates, shopping trips, slushee stops at Target and lazy days hanging on the couch watching television. Those are just among the fun things I have done with my babes.
Today was another adventure with a cheap movie at the theater. Who can resist the $3.00 special that includes a small popcorn and child sized drink for each person? Yeah so what if it's a movie that is already on DVD. The kids didn't care. Watching the movie in the dark, with full surround stereo on the BIG screen eating popcorn with your little friends. They loved it!
Then we enjoyed some Italian cuisine of cheesy pizza at Papa Joe's Pizza and Pasta. I enjoyed a yummy dish of baked manicotti and it was soo delicious! then we headed for some free bowling at our AMF bowling lanes. If you haven't heard of this it's great! We signed up at KidsBowlFree (they have a Facebook page) and each week we get bowling coupons for the kids to bowl two free games each day. The kids loved throwing that silly 6 pound electric green ball down the lane!
The best part was when Little E threw a ball down there and it was going so slow it looked like it was rolling back towards us. It actually stopped rolling and the lane guy had to go down there and get it.

We finished the day with a quick trip into Target for a few items and made our usual stop at the slushee machine. Of course after a few kid arguments in the shopping cart I had to stop in the Starbuck's in the store and get a Frappuchino to go. What a relaxing way to end the day with some fully loaded caffeine coffee yumminess!

These last twelve days are going to fly by! In two days Miss K will turn 7. On Friday my little girl is a year older. Then on Sunday we are celebrating her party. Then next Friday is my birthday, followed by my mother's 60th birthday (shhhh, I didn't tell you that. she's not taking that age well) and then school starts Monday the 16th.

It's crazy. Life flies by. Can you believe that Christmas is 144 days away? Yeah I know. I heard it on the radio yesterday and I wanted to climb into the radio and smack that DJ. I don't need to stress about that now too! Can we get through Labor Day first? Maybe mention it after Halloween?

GTKY: 08/01

Wow. This Sunday I started the morning at a party.
I was enjoying some friendly company enjoying some beers.
ugh, I know.. beer.
I know why I don't like the stuff because it get's warm fast and
then you're stuck drinking half a bottle that is warm.
Anyways I had a blast feeling like a youngin again because in
12 days I will be celebrating another birthday.
YIKES!!So with further ado I am linking up with my girl Keely at
Mannland5 with some GTKY

The Q's..

1. If you were to win an award today, what would it be for? The cleanest house. In spite of my busy mom, friend, 8 hour of work, wife and everything in between schedule I still keep and amazingly clean house. It is my OCD and it's the one upside to having it.

2. What is your shoe style? anything comfortable, I usually just slip on flip flops for most occasions and if it's going out or church I like to wear heeled sandal type flip flops. This is Florida and the only time I'm wearing a shoe is in the winter (haha) and at the gym.

3 Does your car reflect your personality? uh, no. It reflects where I am in life. The minivan~it's a mom thing.

4. If you could take over someones body for a day..whose would you choose? Jennifer Anniston
HOT! She has a great body! If I had a personal trainer and the willpower to eat like she does I'd look close. (ok, yeah I'm dreaming)
5. Love or be loved? Be loved. It's an awesome feeling. Yeah I know that it's selfish but seriously they go hand in hand and if you're loved then you are loving back.

6. If you were on death row, what last meal would you choose? Ribeye steak, homemade macaroni and cheese, caesar salad with croutons, garlic bread and chocolate silk pie with whipped cream. Yeah, seriously I have thought about it before so I know what I would want to eat. ( i love food.)

7. Have you been on vacation this Summer, if so where? no vacation this summer. :( We gave up the summer vacation to take a winter one this December. The most we've done is the beach.

8. What is your favorite food related guilty pleasure?

eating whopper's. I love those things and I will sit and eat a whole box before I realize they're all gone.
They should have the label like the Lay's potato chips used to have
"You can't just eat one"

Happy Sunday Ya'll!! See you on the flip side!

GTKY: Happy 4th of July

Today is going to be full of food, fireworks and
friends.
But before I start standing over my hot stove
making my grandmother's potato salad recipe
I am linking up with Keely
for some Getting to Know You.

1. What do you look forward to the most on the 4th of July? fireworks. I could have said that I enjoyed the gathering of friends but we do that pretty regularly. My mom reminded me of the years when I was growing up and we used to have firework's wars with the next door neighbor. It was so fun! I love watching my kids enjoy the sparklers.

2. Are you a hugger? I used to not be a hugger but now I can't go without getting a hug when I greet family and friends. I thank my mother in law for being the person to change my heart. She never gave up on hugging me and making me enjoy hugs.

3. What is your favorite BBQ'd food? RIBS!! I so wish my daddy was making ribs today.

4. Do you like to watch parades? only Christmas parades. I hate sitting in the heat to watch a parade.

5. Who has stinkier farts..boys or girls? boys, by far!!

6. Vampires or Werewolves? werewolves. I would love it if more werewolf movies were like the Twilight series. I am a dog lover and it would be great to have a hunky guy be your man and "best friend" all wrapped in one.

7. Do you read your horoscope? randomly. I am a superstitious person and I like to see what it has to say. I believe in fate, fortune cookies, psychics, palm readings and spirits. But it's a hard subject to discuss when you're a devout Christian.

8. What is your favorite flavor of ice cream? mint chocolate chip!! It has to be green ice cream though because there is something about it being green.

Thank You VERY Much 07/01

It's Free Therapy Day!! That's right, it's Thursday, which means it's the Thank You Very Much day. The way it works is that you take out all your frustrations on people/things that peeved you off during the week and thank them in a very sarcastic way, for being who or what they are/doing what they did.

This Thursday I am linking up with Kmama at The Daily Dribbles with Thank You Very Much!
But this week Kmama is away on vacation so for this week only, you will need to link up your TYVM with Heather from Oswald Cuties. Heather has graciously offered to host TYVM this week for me while I'm on vacation because I knew that I wouldn't be able to make a visit to your blogs and read your TYVM's.-Kmama

Thank you very much to the County School Board psychologist who called me today about my daughter's testing for the gifted program. When you asked me if I had her Alpha code and I did not you decided you were done with me. As if? Then you told me I needed to call her guidance counselor knowing that she is out of the office until August 9th!!! Thank you VERY much but I am NOT done with you yet!!

Thank you very much to my kids for smearing their greasy little hands on the sliding glass windows everyday this week. I have cleaned them every night after bed and you grease them up daily. I must show you all how to open the door without using your hands on the glass.

Thank you very much to the elderly couple who took the last booth at Chick Fil A today leaving me no choice but to eat at a table. Tables with chairs do not contain small children very well like the booths do.

Thank you very much to the printer and laptop for making my invitation creation for Little E's birthday party take much longer and be so much harder than it should be.

Thank you very much to the GPS in my Honda Odyssey for locating a Chick Fil A on the road I was on and dinging you have reached your location and me realizing that it was in the mall.

Thank you to the gentleman *snort* and his grandson in front of me waiting for the elevator at the science center who didn't read the sign " Please allow all wheel chairs and strollers to enter elevator first". But it worked out well because he wasn't paying attention to the up/down arrow either and got on the elevator going down when he wanted to go up. Too bad for him we got to go down and he had to ride the elevator longer..*snicker*

Post It Note Tuesday-The Good Life

Getting to Know Me-Summer 2

This weeks' edition of Getting to Know YOU err...me
also falls on Father's Day!
Happy Father's Day to all you
dads out there!

The questions..

1. While at the beach, pool, etc..Do you cover up your assets or show them off?
I show them off.
Especially more now because I have been working out at the gym and
I am showing off my mom sexy body.
2. Road trips or Plane trips?
I like both, but I have taken more road trips and you interact more in
the car than on the airplane. I hate the feeling of having
to contain my kids for the sake of others on the airplane. KIDS ARE KIDS.
3. I can't stand it when...?
my husband takes his towel and wipes the bathroom mirror of fog.
It leaves tiny fibers on the glass and it drives me crazy! I have
to get the windex and clean it.
4. Have you ever gone topless at the beach?
Nope. I have never been to a nude beach.
5. How many blog carnivals do you do a week?
Usually 4-5. Monday-Friday. It keeps me on my toes.
6. My favorite thing about the weekend is...?
Spending quality time with the kids and my husband is there.
And lazy Sunday afternoons after church.
7. Pancakes or waffles?
Who can choose...I say both.
Homemade pancakes only and waffles that you
get from a waffle maker.
8. Water Park or Amusement Park?
Ack! Water Park in the Summer and Amusement Park in the
winter. Living in Florida, unless you're a tourist
you don't brave the heat to see Mickey Mouse.

Summer Week One:Friday

Today I took the kids to the beach...
I'm such a prepared packer
but the one thing I forgot was the
CAMERA

So I used my iPhone camera.
The weather was gorgeous at the ocean today.
If I had made the decision to go based on the weather at home we would
have stayed in..
Glad I went with my original decision.
The sun was shining bright, the water was about 75 degrees, clear,
with a green/blue color.
The beach water here has never looked so gorgeous.
They kids had an amazing time jumping the surf.
It was fun, relaxing and the best day of this week we've had so far.
I'm truly blessed to be able to enjoy my babies while they are little.
Thank you God for making this happen for us.
You are a mighty God and for the blesses you giveth me I am truly grateful.
amen.

Five Question Friday! Summer Edition

Yipee skippee!!! It' Friday!
Time to link up with Mama M and do a little bit of 5QF!
I did this in a vlog last night, but unfortunately my iPhone
was having difficulty loading it to the computer and by the
time my hubs found me another camera program I was tired.
So I'm answering this week's the traditional way.

Questions for Friday, June 18th: (Special thanks to Danielle, Sara, Pam, Linds, and Brittany Ciara for their question suggestions! If YOU want to be linked in a future 5QF, c'mon over tomy community and offer up your bestest, goofiest, seriousest, or wackiest questions!)

1. What is your favorite thing about summertime? I love that we get to go to the beach! That my kids celebrate their birthdays and that MY birthday is in the summer! This summer is starting out to be the best because I am NOT working and the kids and I are enjoying every minute! Today we're actually heading out to the beach after I finish this!

2. What is your ideal retirement location (if money didn't matter)? Somewhere in the Tennessee mountains, with about 5 acres of land with horses. Somewhere quiet but not too far from the stores. I REALLY, REALLY want to leave the Florida heat.

3. Do you live in the same town you grew up in?
No, but I'm only 10 minutes away form it. I didn't go far...but I'm never moving back to that town.

4. What nervous habit did you have as a child that you kicked to the curb before becoming an adult?
Biting my nails and rubbing my nose. And what's funny, the video vlog I did for this last night, I actually was still rubbing my nose. HAhaha!



5. What is the most embarrassing thing that happened to you while on the job?
Uh.. which is worse? Getting your period and having to tell your dad that you need to go to the store to get more panties and tampons or having a nose bleed while pregnant and having a wad of tissue stuck in your nose when a customer walks in? Not sure. It' pretty hard to get embarrassed in front of family, since that was my last job that I worked at for 11 years. Not too much exciting before that.

Now it's your turn to link up and head over to Mama M's!!

Post It Note Tuesday: It's HOT Outside

When I wrote that I thought I'd have an answer.
Giveaways are hard to organize.
I'm almost at 200 posts now.