Whatcha Reading?

I finished reading The Shack quite awhile ago. And then I reread The Shack. And now I think I'm ready to discuss The Shack. My aunts were the ones that told me about this book originally. They said it was somewhat controversial. After reading it I can see why some people would find it controversial. But for me it really reinforced some views that I have about God, Jesus, and Christianity in general. Let me explain.

One of the more controversial aspects of the book are how God and Jesus are described. God is described as a large black woman with dreads and Jesus is a middle eastern man. It is explained in the book that God comes to the main character as a woman because that is how he will best accept God. I get that. While it is not a "traditional" view of God I know I believe that God can do all things, be all things, see all things. So if it would improve a relationship why wouldn't God come to a person as a woman or as a black person or as a shoe if it worked. So that wasn't that controversial to me. Also the idea of Jesus as a middle eastern man was refreshing to me. In fact when I was in confirmation classes at church as a 7th and 8th grader I argued this issue numerous times with our pastor. There is no way that Jesus had blonde hair and blues eyes and lived where he did when he did. It just wouldn't be. And eventually pastor agreed with me that it wasn't likely. So I was THRILLED that Jesus was middle eastern in the book.

I really didn't find anything else in the book that could be portrayed as controversial. I thought it was an okay book. Not a great book. I liked how the book really pushed the idea of faith as a relationship. That it wasn't something you just have. That real faith and a belief in something is about putting that into all your relationships. But really that can be said for any religion, not just Christianity. Anytime you believe in something and share that in a relationship with the ones you love you grow.

So if you have read the book what did you think? Did you feel like it was controversial?

Clickin Mama

Roman Polanski

Roman Polanski is making headlines once again. He has now been arrested and is being held and facing extridition back to the US to finally be held accountable for the rape of a 13 year old years ago. So why do the headlines not read "Rapist Captured" or "Rapist on the run no more"? Instead I keep seeing headlines that say things like "Flimmakers demand Polanski's release." It makes me want to throw up!!!

Seriously folks we need to take a long hard look at this. Since when does being a film maker mean you can drug and have sex with children. Since when does having a tragic incident in your life (his wife was a victim of Manson) allow you to victimize someone else? And why in the hell do we continue to allow people that are famous behave unacceptably. Just because you can make a movie does not give you the right to harm a child. It does not give you the go ahead to break the law, evade the law, and hide from the law!

I bet if we went to a prision and talked with the prisioners we could hear all kinds of stories. They could probably tell us about the tragic incidents in their lives. They could probably even tell us about some really wonderful accomplishments that they acheived prior to their incarceration. And I would even bet money that quite a few of them have family and friends that would like to demand their release. But no one has given these folks a free pass. No one has flown them to another country to live freely for years rather than face the fire for their crimes. Are we going to start giving all sex offenders a break now because they may do good things too or they may have a sad background?

Let's hope the legal system doesn't give into the hype. Let's hope that soon Roman is on a plane back here to face the music. And lets hope that this trend of excusing poor bahavior for celebrities comes to an end someday soon!

Clickin Mama

Picture Perfect

Friday night I had a senior picture session scheduled with the lovely Miss M. As it got closer to the time for our appointment the clouds kept getting darker and the wind picked up. I knew a storm was coming and I was just a hoping we could beat it and get some outdoor photos done. Miss M was driving in from out of town and I didn't want her to have to reschedule. Luckily she was brave and between the high winds and the off and on rain we got some amazing pictures! She was a great sport and really so much fun to photograph. She reminds me a lot of how my sister was when she was a senior in high school. Just a neat gal!

So here are some of my favorites of Miss M!

 

 

Clickin Mama

Not Me Monday!

This week I did NOT send The Hulk off to his Aunt Heather and revel in my alone time. I did NOT enjoy the quiet one bit! I did NOT sleep in, eat when I wanted, watch a movie that did not involve a red fuzzy monster, and just simply relax. And I can promise you that I did NOT enjoy every minute of my alone time.

I also did NOT go a little crazy with the yard work this week. My yard had NOT turned into a jungle that needed to be attacked with a machete. So in my attempts to clear dead branches out of the trelis I did NOT actually pull the entire trelis down in the backyard. I am NOT super strong like that!

Speaking of crazy I can promise you that mismatched socks or lone socks did NOT push me over the edge this week. I would NOT throw away all the socks in this house and spend $15 to just start over. And there is NO WAY I would use a sharpie to number all of the socks in an attempt to keep them matched. NEVER!

So what did you NOT do this week?

Clickin Mama

Great Weekend

This was a really great weekend. Very relaxing! I had photo sessions Friday night and today but otherwise it was all about relaxing. Oh and yard work. But relaxing and yard work are good! I got a lot done in the yard that really needed to be done. Since Heather kept The Hulk for me on Friday night and all day Saturday I was able to just work and work and get a ton done and still have time to chill out and start missing him before they got back here.

I am having a big Fall photo session thing at my house for kiddos on the 17th of October. I'm setting up some fun Fall scenes in the backyard to use. I'm excited to do it. I think it will be a blast and hopefully a decent money maker. But since the yard is still pretty scary I have to really keep at it the next few weeks to get it pretty and ready for a crowd.

I'm gonna spend the rest of the evening editing pictures and then it's back to work tomorrow. Hope you all have a fabulous week!

Clickin Mama

Barking

Well my dog has a barking problem. The problem is that she barks CONSTANTLY! See my neighbors have about 30 cats and that is not an exaggeration. And whenever she sees a cat she barks like crazy. With that many cats around that pretty much means she barks all the time. So I was at my limit and about to go crazy. Rather than killing the dog or the cats I decided to try one of those ultra sonic bark stoppers. I wasn't very optimistic that it would work but I went ahead and spent the $29.00.

Oh friends that is the best $29 I have ever spent! It works amazingly well. She starts to bark and I press the button and it stops. Like it instantly stops. Not only does it instantly stop but I've noticed that it has started to prevent her from barking so much in the first place. Amazing!!! I love it.

So the real question is do you think they make something like that for toddlers?

Clickin Mama

Da Da Heather

 

The Hulk has taken to calling Aunt Heather DaDa. I think it is pretty cute. He sure knows who he loves! And because DaDa Heather is so fabulous she actually kept The Hulk for me last night and is going to bring him home this evening. So I am actually enjoying 24 hours of child free time! I needed a little break so it's been wonderful so far. I actually slept in until 10:00 this morning! I haven't done that since before The Hulk was born. Amazing! And now I'm off to get some things done. I hope DaDa and The Hulk are having as much fun as I am!

Clickin Mama

Finally Fall

Fall has finally arrived! Oh how I love it. It really is my favorite time of year. The cool weather and changing leaves just make me happy. I love wearing jeans and sweatshirts and my sweaters that Darby hates. I like the pumpkins and mums. Makes for a beautiful time of year.

While I love this time of year and am very prepared for it I guess my motherly instincts about fall time haven't quite kicked in yet. Because when we awoke this morning it was very cool out. The Hulk was shivering as soon as he woke up. So I went to dress the poor freezing kid to head to daycare and realized that he doesn't have fall appropriate clothing. Mama needs to do some shopping.

So I found the longest pair of shorts he has and put those on him. And then I pulled his socks up really high so they almost met making his legs almost covered. I did have a long sleeve shirt so I put that on him and a jacket. But he kept covering his ears up so I stuck a stocking cap on him. And he of course wanted to wear sunglasses. So he looked like a fashion disaster leaving the house. If we weren't running so late I would have taken a picture.

So this evening I did a little online shopping for the boy. He now has two pairs of jeans coming from Old Navy. He already has lots of long sleeved shirts that we got from Darby. Caden's old clothes are coming in handy! Just need some pants. Old Navy did have some good sales this week on jeans. $10 a pair. So if you have put off fall shopping you can at least get them at a discount.

Clickin Mama

Single or Alone

Am I really a single mother or am I just a mom that is alone? Some days I'm just not sure. Today was one of those days. When I think of myself as a single mom I picture it as a choice. I am choosing to raise this beautiful boy on my own. And most days that choice is right for us. Most days I want nothing else but to be his mom and not share him with anyone.

And then there are days like today that I just feel like I'm alone on this parenting ship that is floating down river fast without a single oar. On those days I wish I had a little help. It's the things that I think most two parent households take for granted that I wish I had some help with. And when I hear people complain about their spouse not doing anything to help I just wanna slap them. Seriously? Nothing to help. Come on now. Come visit my house and tell me he is doing nothing!

I'd love to have another adult just present in the house after The Hulk is sleeping so I could go on a walk alone or make a quick trip to the grocery store. Or how about someone else to say no and redirect him one time out of the 874 times that needs to be done each day. Or here this is a good one. Maybe someone else could take a day off work when he is sick. Or even better yet maybe just maybe a second set of hands would be helpful to do all the other stuff that needs done while I do the kid stuff. Maybe they could pay the bills, or empty the trash, or answer the phone, or change the sheets that have been peed on.

You are probably wondering why I'm ranting about this. And it's simple. I have heard one to many married or in a relationship women say they feel alone. I'm sick of it! I don't want to hear it anymore. And the next woman that says it to me is getting an ear full! You wanna feel alone? Have your baby have a seizure in the middle of the night. Imagine you are terrified, don't know what is wrong with him, and can't help him. Then imagine you turn to call for your husband for help, or to lean on, or to call 911 for you. And then imagine he isn't there. Now that is alone!

Enough said!

Clickin Mama

Bathroom Redo

As I mentioned awhile back I redid our hall bathroom or The Hulk' bathroom recently. That is one of only two rooms that has not been repainted multiple times in this house. And I was just tired of the old look. It really wasn't us. But I just wanted something very simple in there. So I went with a cream colored paint that I already had sitting in the garage and navy with silver accents.

 

I had a credit with Uppercase Living that I've had for more than a year. So I used it to order the Splish Splash decal to go above the tub. So that cost me nothing! I even have $7.00 left to use with them at some point.

 

As you can see The Hulk is happy with the new look. In fact he is just pretty much happy anytime he is soaking in the tub. I found the shower curtain and silver shower curtain rings at a garage sale quite awhile ago. They were still in the packaging and cost me a whole $2.25!

 

I just reused the picture frame that was already in the bathroom but replaced the picture. Since it is a The Hulk and Mommy orignal it too was free. The Hulk thinks finger painting is really fun and I'm a big fan of his artwork. So that is what is gracing the walls. I think it's silly and fun and just us.

 

I did get new rugs for the bathroom. They are just simple navy rugs and were the cheapest ones at Wal-Mart. They were also on sale and I used a gift card. They did cost $6.00 a piece so it was $12.00 total. I also had to get a few painting supplies, roller, etc and that cost me another $6.00. So that brought my grand total for the bathroom redo to $20.25! I really wanted to do it for under $20 but only going over .25 isn't bad.

What can I say I love to decorate cheap!

Clickin Mama

Not Me Monday!

This week I did NOT have to break into my own house. I do NOT expect the garage door to always open. So if it for some reason did NOT open I would have had a house key with me. I would NOT have crawled in a window...

I always check my outfits in the mirror before I leave the house. So I did NOT wear a shirt inside out for half of the day before I noticed and corrected it.

I did NOT let my toddler listen to rap music at a very loud level just because I think it is hilarious to watch him dance like a fool! I am always concerned about his ear health and would NOT let him listen to music that has references to smacking big booties. He also does NOT know anything about shortie fires on the dance floor.

I was NOT exiting the shower with a towel wrapped around me when The Hulk happened to trip and fall in the bathroom. Since he was NOT falling he did NOT grab the towel to catch himself. He also did NOT grab hold of anything else and rip it from my body during the fall. I did NOT scream a million curse words and then wonder how in the hell anyone ever survives a brazilian wax!

So what have you NOT done this week?

Clickin Mama

A Boy and His Melmo!

 

Well as you can see from the pictures above I gave in and got The Hulk a stuffed Elmo. And oh how he loves his Melmo! Melmo even came with a cool book. What a good deal! And this stuffed Melmo is a real bedtime hit. The Hulk even folded Melmo's hands together for prayers last night and tonight. It's pretty sweet and so is my boy! Thanks for all your suggestions about what to do. This little Elmo will fit nicely in the freezer to kill the dust mites or he can take a tumble in the dryer. He is soft and he was cheap. And since The Hulk loves him so I think he could even be considered priceless!

Clickin Mama

A Blur

This week has just kind of gone by in a blur. It's hard to believe it's been one week since The Hulk' seizure. It feels like just yesterday. But we were sick and out of our routine for so much of the week that it's just all jumbled up. We are so scheduled that when we get off course it really throws a wrench in everything.

But I'm thrilled to say that he has done wonderfully this week. He has just been in a great mood and seems to be feeling very well. I'm so thankful that he is okay! I'm even starting to feel better also. Hopefully we will have a nice fun relaxing weekend!

As a side note my very pregnant best friend Darby is now on bed rest. She is doing great and will be 35 weeks pregnant with twins tomorrow! But her blood pressure was a little high so the doctor says no more working 12 hours shifts in the ER. So she doesn't have to do strict bed rest but mainly more rest then tended to crisis these last few weeks of her pregnancy. I'm hoping to maybe get some maternity pics done for her this weekend! I'm afraid if we don't get them done soon this little people will make their debut.

So that's the plan for us for the next few days. Are any of you doing anything fun this weekend?

Clickin Mama

Help

Okay I have a little dilema with The Hulk that I'm hoping one or some of you can help me with. He has become obsessed with Elmo or "Melmo" as he calls him. He wants to watch him all the time. That part is easy to deal with. I can turn him on and shut him off when I want. But now the new dilema has started. When I put The Hulk to bed at night he fusses a little and then usually goes to sleep. Well the other day when he woke up from his nap I noticed that he had a clean diaper in bed with him. He got it out of the diaper drawer. Well now when I take him to bed he stops and gets a diaper and says "Melmo" and takes it with him to bed. His diapers have an Elmo face on them. So my child is snuggling with a "Melmo" diaper at night. The easy fix would be to get him a stuffed Elmo to sleep with. But he can't have stuffed animals or Elmo's because of his asthma. So any ideas of anything else that has Elmo on it that he could sleep with. There is an Elmo DVD case that he kisses all the time but I think that is to hard to sleep with...

So any ideas??? The idea of snuggling with a diaper seems a little weird to me...

Clickin Mama

Emotions with The Hulk

Annoyed

 

Ecstatic

 

Happy

 

Serious

 

How are you feeling today?

Clickin Mama

Pumpkin Plans

The Hulk and I both love pumpkin. Not just the pumpkin carving and decorating. But we also like to eat pumpkin. And I'm always looking for new recipes to try using pumpkin. I found a recipe I kinda liked but then I had to change it up a bit to meet our needs. So below is my recipe for pumpkin pancakes or pumpkin muffins.

2 eggs
1/4 cup splenda (or sugar)
1 cup milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 t. vanilla
1 can (15 oz) pumpkin
2 cups flour
2 t. baking powder
1 t. cinnamon

Blend all ingredients together until they are mixed well. You can either cook as pancakes which The Hulk prefers. Or you can cook them as muffins which I prefer. If you cook as muffins I cooked them at 375 for about 25 minutes.

Easy to make, cheap to make, high fiber and not to much fat. And if you are diabetic this is one muffin that doesn't shoot my blood sugar to the roof. So hopefully it won't for you either! We like it and hope you will too!

Clickin Mama

Feeling Better

 

The Hulk is feeling much better! Today we went to our regular doctor for a follow up and he also agreed that the seizure was brought on by the fever. So I am trying to allow myself to relax and let go of the paranoia. The Hulk has been fever free for over 24 hours now so he is clear to go back to daycare. In fact today he was pretty silly. We had a dance party as usual. He loves Akon, Shakira, Miley Cyrus and Clickin Mamae McCartney.

I even decided to set the timer on the camera and take a couple pictures of us together. I don't have many of the two of us and decided it is time to change that. I don't even care if they are out of focus, bad hair day, crap in the background pictures. We just need some proof that there are two of us. I was looking through pictures the other day and determined that the kid looks like an orphan. He goes places and does things all by himself if you just look at the pictures. So I'm gonna figure out a way to do more of us.

So The Hulk is mended and all is right in our world again... except he shared his virus with me and I'm starting to get sick. Boy I love that kid!

Clickin Mama

Not Me Monday!

What a week! Plenty of not me's to go around this week!

For starters I did NOT have my car towed. That would NOT happen to me. I do NOT get a crazy amount of parking tickets because there is no parking around my office. If that happened I would always pay them on time so there is NO way my car got towed.

I did NOT wake up my very pregnant with twins friend Darby in the middle of the night freaking out about The Hulk' seizure.

I am always a calm keep it together mom so there is NO way I was hysterical. I did NOT panic a bit after I got ahold of 911 and was just waiting.

I have NOT allowed my child to watch hours upon hours of Sesame Street videos the last couple of days. We do NOT watch television so I would NOT be letting this occur.

And if that might be happening I would NOT be enjoying the old Sesame Street movie Follow That Bird. I also would NOT be singing along to every Sesame Street song made!

I would NOT be letting my child sleep with me to make sure he is safe.

And if that would happen he would for sure be safe. Therefore, it would NOT be possible that in the middle of the night last night I would hear a wiggle and a thud as he fell out of bed. That could NOT happen since the whole reason for sleeping together is to minimize risk.

And I am NOT going stir crazy in this house. I do NOT miss adult contact. I do NOT feel like I'm about to scream from lack of adult conversation.

So what did you NOT do this week?

The Hulk Q&A

Thank you all so much for your prayers, comments, well wishes, emails, etc. I really do have amazing blog readers, friends and family! The Hulk is hanging in there and doing well I think. He still doesn't feel very good but he is coming along. That pesky fever is still trying to hang on but I'm doing my best to keep it low! I've had quite a few questions about The Hulk so he actually gets his own Q&A post today!

Has The Hulk ever had a seizure before?

NO! Even when he was so sick last March he never had a seizure. Hopefully he never will again!

Does this mean he has epilepsy?

No it does not. This could be a one time occurence. One seizure is not indicitive of an epilepsy diagnosis. I have been told that it is "normal" for some children to have seizures when they have a fever. There are also some children that have seizures and then grow out of them. At this point everyone believes this seizure is directly related to his virus and fever.

What kind of virus is it?

Good question and I wish I knew the answer to that. He does not have a cough or ear ache. He is just pretty lethargic and seems to feel yucky. He does seem to have a little bit of a tummy ache but he has not thrown up. He has a little bit of a runny nose but again nothing dramatic. Other than the seizure I would have thought this was just a run of the mill little kid sickness.

How high was his fever?

When the EMT's checked it is was 101.9, at the hospital it was 102.4. It went up very quickly and came down very quickly. Right now it is staying right around 99.5-100 with Tylenol and Motrin. The dr at the ER told me that children under 5 can have seizures if their fever goes over 101.

Wouldn't you feel better if they had kept him at the hospital till he was all better?

Not necessarily. If they felt like he would probably have more seizures I would have wanted to stay. But since I can manage the fever at home, have a best friend that is an RN and can get him back to the hospital quickly I would rather be at home. We are heading into a very bad flu season and with his asthma I really don't want to have him exposed to any other yucky stuff if I can avoid it. And he always rests and eats so much better at home then in the hospital. But of course if he gets worse or has another seizure we will be heading back quickly.

Hope that answers all the questions about Mr. Man. I'm off to watch more Sesame Street! Fun times!

Clickin Mama

One Scary Night

Last night The Hulk woke up around 2:00 a.m. I figured he woke up and was so upset because he had soaked his diaper and pj's. So I changed him and put him in bed with me. He felt a little warm but not bad. Then about 2:30 I felt him shaking and thought he was shivering. But he wasn't. He was making a horrible sound and when I flipped on the light I saw it was a seizure. That is a vision and a sound I could never hear again and it would be too soon. I immediately called 911 and tried to keep him comfortable and safe until the ambulance arrived.

The 911 dispatcher was amazing and four EMT's arrived in about 5 minutes (but it felt like 2 hours). They quickly rushed him to the ambulance and then the hospital. By the time we got in the ambulance he stopped seizing (it lasted about 15-20 minutes total). But he was still really rigid and not with it. But he was finally screaming instead of making the other weird seizure sound. What a beautiful scream it was! I'd listen to that scream all day. That means oxygen to me and I was so worried he would quit breathing.

My best friend Darby who is also an ER nurse met us at the hospital. Originally they were going to transfer him to a children's hospital in a bigger city. But as time past he became more alert. Still lethargic but not so ridgid and he started reacted to us and following us with his eyes, moving his head, etc. They were running labwork and did a CT scan of his beautiful brain. None of the results showed any injury, infection, etc. Though he did have a fever.

So about 7:30 this morning they let me bring him home. They believe that it is probably a seizure caused by his fever which is probably caused by a virus. Supposedly it is fairly "normal" for some small children to have seizures from fevers. I'm hoping that we never again fall into that normal category. So I'm just supposed to attempt to manage his fever well and keep it down, push fluids, and encourage rest. All things I can do. They didn't mention never leaving him alone even when sleeping or keeping your hand on him at all times while he sleeps but I added those directions myself. I don't know if I can bring myself to put him to bed alone for awhile.

I'm just so thankful that he is okay. I was so very scared last night. More scared than I have ever been. I felt so helpless. And when he didn't seem to know I was there and couldn't respond to me I was terrified. What a horrible moment in time. I'm just so very very relieved that he is home with me and resting comfortably on his favorite blanket a few feet from me. We are blessed!

Clickin Mama

Walkabout

I took my camera with me today when I went on my walk. The weather was beautiful and the flowers looked fabulous! I think I caught some good shots. I love that Fall is fast approaching but I'm gonna miss everything in full bloom. If I had a magic wand I'd keep it 65-75 degrees year round with Fall colored leaves and flowers still blooming beautifully. Oh and I'd do a lot of other things with that wand too. Until then I'll just have to settle for the nice days like today....

It's About Respect

We all know that I love me some Obama. I'm just a fan. Plain and simple. Do I always agree with him. Absolutely not. But do I think for the most part he is doing alright. Absolutely! However, as the health care situation heats up I am struggling. Not so much with the debate about it. I see some pros and I see some cons. I can view both sides and agree to disagree about some portions of the plan. However, I'm really struggling with the way this is being handled.

I'm horrified that Joe Wilson actually yelled during President Obama's speech last night. And I'm even more horrified that he called him a liar. Is Joe Wilson entitled to his opinion. Of course he is. Just as you and I are entitled to our opinions. But the way he spoke to the President of the United States is disgusting to me! The office of the President is bigger than one man. It represents much more to me than President Obama. In my opinion disrespecting one President is like disrespecting all Presidents. And Joe Wilson should not have done it.

I also disagree with parents refusing to allow their children to watch President Obama's speech directed towards the students in this country. What lesson did that teach their children? It taught them that if you don't agree with an authority figure you can just ignore them or brush them aside. Shame on you parents! Rather than handle it that way I would have my child watch the speech and then take the time to discuss it with them afterwards. Debate the pros and cons with your child. What a great idea, take an active parenting role with your own child! AMAZING!

It's all about respect for me. I will raise my child to respect those in authority. Does that mean you bow down to them? NO! It means you listen, and if you disagree you do so appropriately. You do not yell, you do not name call, and you do not just ignore them. Funny that we need to be teaching middle aged politicians manners isn't it? Again it's all about respect.

And as a side note. Joe Wilson if you were my son you would have had your mouth slapped for that behavior. No one in this house speaks to anyone that way and they sure as hell won't speak to the President like that! Shame on you, shame on you!

Clickin Mama

The Three Musketeers

My lovely nieces Mattie and Kerrington are back from their long stay in Michigan with their Grandma. I missed their little faces like crazy! So since they were back home we decided to have a family bbq on Sunday. The kids played so well together. I think The Hulk and Mattie really missed one another. They played and laughed and there was NO fighting at all! In fact the only thing I had to get on them about was opening and closing the bedroom door. We were afraid that someone would get fingers smashed. Other than that the only thing we heard from them was laughing and silliness.

That was until they started getting hungry. I was in the kitchen trying to get food together and Shawn was grilling burgers and dogs outside. So the kids all thought they needed to be in the kitchen with me. Well three children under three under foot is about enough to push a woman over the edge! At least this woman. So in an attempt to keep them safe from spilled hot food or my fat foot stepping on them I gated them in the living room/toy area/fun rooms and out of the kitchen. You would have thought they were little refuges the way they acted.

Even though there are tons of toys in there and lots of fun things they all congregated at the gate to beg, or whine, or whimper, or scream. And they all somehow created a little role for themselves. Mattie is the most verbal so she did the begging, "peas let us in", "open this gate", "him real hungry", "Clickin Mamasssiiiiieeeee puuuuhlllleeasse". Lord that child can work it! Kerrington can only cry which she did plenty of. She can also pull up some so she pulled her little face up to the gate and squished it there and whined. And The Hulk is the muscle and the mouth of the group. He did the yelling and attempted to climb the gate or knock it over.

And since one day I'm going to tell them how crazy they all were I had to take pictures to prove it. Don't they look like a sad, pathetic, starving group of children. Those poor babies! Someone should really let them out of prison and give them a hamburger!

Clickin Mama

Ugh

Oh how I love the three day weekends! Oh how I hate the return to normal after a three day weekend. The Hulk and I just didn't want to get back into the swing of things today. He didn't want to get up, I didn't want to go to work, and the rainy weather left us both in kinda crabby moods. We finally got going but it was just a crazy day. It was so busy at work today that I never even got my email checked! That is never a good thing. It is almost a promise that tomorrow will be just as hectic or worse. Sometimes I feel like the punishment of having time off isn't worth the actual time off from work. Does that make any sense. The playing catch up just kicks my butt!

So with that said I'm worn out and I'm calling it a night! I hope you all had a better return to the week then we did.

Clickin Mama

The Truth About Boys

I used to think that I knew some stuff about boys. And then I had a boy. And now I know a lot more about boys then I ever thought I would. But a lot of my friends have girls and no boys. I can't imagine a house without a boy in it now that I have one. But to help those folks out that don't seem to know the whole truth about boys I'll share a few of my most prized nuggets of information.

• Boys are born obsessed with their penis. I thought this started when boys were older but it actually happens as soon as they exit the womb. For some reason boys are convinced that a penis snatcher exists and they must frequently check to make sure their penis is still attached to their body!
• The ability to make truck sounds and gun noises is not learned it is genetically engineered into their very beings. My boy has never heard a gun shot and has never seen a video or me open fire on a field of animals or people. However, he can now use blocks as guns. He also one day just began to make truck sounds out of the blue. This must be implanted in them and then just appears around 18 months of age.
• Again I always thought that as boys got older the selective hearing began. But no this also begins as soon as they enter the world. There are many times throughout the day that I could use a bullhorn to call my child back to me or ask him to pick up something and you would think that he was deaf. But no his ears work wonderfully well when he wants them too.
• I also firmly believe that boys are born with an adoration of their mothers. There is something about a boy hug that just melts your very being. I think it is the fact that they can be in the middle of using their fake guns to slaughter all of their little people animals and then they catch a glimpse of you and soften long enough to pat you gently or hug you tightly. They can be non listening penis players with weapons but they also are such kind and gentle souls. They are just amazing little beings!

So that's the truth about boys as I know it. Like I said I can't imagine my house with my noisy, destructive, rough housing, loving, wild, funny, silly, wonderful boy!

Clickin Mama

3 Day Weekend

Oh how I love three day weekends! For some reason that one extra day makes me so very happy! We have really been enjoying ourselves so far and we still have two days left! FABULOUS! Today we hit the zoo and the park and had a blast playing. The Hulk is getting much braver on the playground. He thinks the slide is pretty awesome and attempts to climb up it as much as he goes down it. But the swings are still his favorite. That child would swing all day if I was willing to push that long.

Since I wore him out playing he took a 3 hour nap this afternoon which worked great for me. I redid his bathroom while he napped. I painted it and cleaned it top to bottom and did some other stuff in there. I'll post pictures tomorrow once I download them. All I have to say is I love it and I did it all for less than $20.00! I'm going to figure up how much it was exactly and I'll post. I am very proud of myself. I'm a dork but I love being thrifty!

So now Mr. Man is fast asleep and I'm going to work on editing some pics and then I'm hitting the sack too. I hope you all are having a great weekend also!

Clickin Mama

The Amazing Z

This beautiful little girl "Z" was one amazing model! Talk about photogenic! Miss Z has quite a personality. She is spunky, sassy, and super sweet! She practiced all of her "poses" the night before and showed up for her session ready to work it! I've decided that arranged marriages should come back in style. I'd love to nab her now as The Hulk' future wife. Now wouldn't that be an adorable couple. And Miss Z had this to say about The Hulk... "Ah he is real cute and he is black just like me!". God love her! I just wanna bottle up some of her energy and sell it!

 

 

 

 

Clickin Mama

My Favorite Things

Today marks the three year anniversary of my mom's death. That blows my mind! How that is possible I do not know. But I'm trying really hard to stay positive today. So instead of focusing on the one day she died I am trying to focus on the wonderful years she lived! So here are just a few of my favorite things that I ever did with my mama!

We would go to the pumpkin patch together every year. It's my favorite time of year and Halloween is my favorite holiday so we always made a big deal of our trip to the patch. One year we bought more than 300 pounds of pumpkin! One pumpkin alone weighed 112 pounds!!! And there was one year we got totally lost on the way home from the pumpkin patch. We took a "short cut" that took two hours. We laughed so hard we cried that day.

My mom always told the funniest stories. She had a way of being animated that killed me! She would pretend to be a raptor dinosaur from Jurassic Park and jump up on our coffee table. She talked like Edith Ann and would leave me funny messages on my answering machine. And she loved costumes! She would put on wigs and just act like a fool! I don't know how many afternoons we spent listening to her silly rhymes and laughing together.

I loved eating dinner with my mom. In fact it is one thing I miss the most. I loved just talking to her about things over a delicious meal she cooked. She could serve grilled cheese sandwiches or a fancy meal and it was always wonderful. She also didn't mind a little grape throwing fight at dinner from time to time.

And my most favorite thing to do with my mom was lay on the couch or sleep in bed with her. I know it sounds silly but I never feel safer then when I'm curled up next to my mom. She always let me lay on the couch and put my head in her lap and she would rub my head. God it would relax me like nothing else! And whenever I slept with her she always reached over and put her hand on my head or hair. I loved her touch.

So those are my favorite things! Now if your mama is still alive call her, hug her, and go love on her.

Clickin Mama

Visiting Grandma Dee

Last weekend Heather and I took The Hulk to visit Grandma Dee. Of course we know she isn't really there but it's her place. And we like going there. It really is a peaceful and beautiful place. So we loaded the boy in the car and took him to visit. And visit he did!

 

I always figured that if my mom was alive and The Hulk went to visit he would tear her place apart. He is pretty wild and she always had nice things. And that hasn't changed much. The Hulk explored and rearranged everything we have decorating her grave. He even took off with some rocks and had to be chased down. Heather and I got a good laugh about it all because we know she wouldn't care a bit. She would get a kick out of his antics. So when he wasn't stealing things off graves he was running in the open, soaking up the sun and enjoying the fresh air. It was a beautiful day and we just enjoyed our time outside and together!

 

Whenever we are at the cemetery we always make sure to clean up around the place. We pick up the flowers that have died, reset overblown knick knacks, etc. And I guess The Hulk is now the official headstone vase cleaner! He took it upon himself to dig all the nasty leaves and debris out of the vases that were filled with old rain water. What a great helper he is! Crazy boys!

 

Overall it was a very nice visit. I'm so glad we picked that place for mom. It really is a wonderful place to go. I figure we will go back next weekend and pack a picnic lunch. We are getting more rain this week so I'm sure there will be work for The Hulk to do.

Clickin Mama