Friday, July 29, 2011

Some bragging, followed by love and thank you's.

Afternoon followers. And a very hott one it is.
With supper finished and things calm for the moment I decided this was a perfect opportunity to sit down and blog.
It has been a crazy couple of weeks. Preparing for school to start and trying to get in ever little thing  we can with the boys before school starts. I know I joke and say it can't come soon enough, but the truth is I am sure gonna miss em'. It's been a fabulous Summer and they have all been great boys.
Peyton has really matured this Summer. He now has a job. He has been working regularly for Byron and Connie Jeffries. He is in bad health. Peyton has been doing what he can for him by mowing his yards and farm property, weed eating and other odd and end chores. On top of that he mows for his grandparents and he trims for a friend down the road. He's always said he'd like to mow for people. He's off to a fine start. I have had several compliments on how well behaved and respectful he is and how their children would never get out from in front of the TV long enough to take out trash. That to me is the greatest compliment a mother could have about her son. I know I have already blogged many times comparing my childhood to theirs but, it's made me who I am. and it's helping me make them who they are. Wait, that did not come out right. It's helping me guide them to be great boys. I guess I try to lay the path and they take it, most of the time. As they walk down it, they make it their own.
There are several things I do differently than my parents did. There's equally if not more things I do identical to them.

I was raised very old fashion. Men always ate before the women and children. That still to this day is something I still do. After I cook, I do not eat until the boys have eaten and the meals dishes have been washed and put away. Partly because it's how I was raised and partly because I don't have time. I stay busy filling glasses, getting napkins, washing dropped silverware, scooping out more food.  Usually I eat about 10pm after every one is tucked away for the night. I remember Mommy never eating until very last more times than I could ever count. Usually it was standing at the kitchen counter while still in her apron. Yes, guilty of that too.

Mommy wasn't the only ones I watched. My Granny and Grandpaw were my favorite people to stay with. My Grandpaw had my Granny wrapped around his finger. He done absolutely NOTHING for himself. he was not by no means lazy. he worked very hard. But he checked his time card at the back door! He always ate in his recliner with his plate and soda on a food tray in front of him. He'd shake his empty glass and the ice would make a very distinctive sound rattling in a empty glass. That was Granny's cue to fill it up, and she never missed a beat! I am guilty of that too. I take very good care of my boys. They do a lot for themselves, but I also wait on them alot too. I hope I am setting the bar so high that they will never find a wife that takes care of them like their mother did. Wait.........that's wrong. I didn't really mean that. I hope they find someone better. Danny stays on me alot about them being Mommy's Boy's. Evyn and Zackary especially. He says that all their wives will ever hear is "that's not how Mommy does it" and the most common words the boys will hear is "go on back home to your damn Mommy then!"

One thing their wives can thank me and their Daddy for is the work ethic we instill in them. I have mentioned before that they are rather spoiled, but they have very little that they have not worked their tails off for and earned. The majority of the time they are the men of the house here. They sure pull their own weight, too. I would have been a worn out mess had it not been for the steps Eli and Peyton have saved me this Summer.

So, I just want to take a minute and say thank you boys.  I get up in the mornings for you. I live and breath with your best interest at heart. Your smiles light up my life with a joy I had never known until you were layed in my arms. I know there are times I don't seem like I'm listening, but I want you to know I memorize ever word you say. Ever funny thing you do goes to a special place in my mind and will stay there forever. Each and ever one of my favorite memories include you. I love you, I love you, I love you. Ever thing I do, or don't do is for you four.

Sunday, July 10, 2011

*Daddy was a Milk Man and Mommy was a Canning Fool.

Summer Break is speeding to a end. We have done so many wonderful things. Yesterday, today and tomorrow are crammed pack with giggles. (and a few screams) Yesterday we spent the day at the lake riding jet skis. Eli's birthday was last week, and he said he had wanted to ride one his whole life. :)
Today we will take the kids to see Cars 2 and just kinda relax in preparation for tomorrow. Holiday World.

Over the weekend while I was catering to the boys and what they wanted, I was reminded of my childhood. By no means was it unhappy, but it wasn't exactly glorious either. My parents were very strict and very set in their ways. There was a lot of things I was not allowed to do that most of my friends did. I thought of a few things over the weekend that I shared with the boys in hopes they'd appreciate what I try to do for them a little more. I guess they think all children have it as good as they do. I wish that was true.

It never fails when we go to Glasgow the kids want to eat at McDonald's, as I'm sure ever child in America does. Some days we eat there twice. They love it. They eat good there. It suits me perfectly fine. Maybe because I had NEVER ate at McDonald's until Iwas 16 years old and bought my first #3. I was hooked. My parents never took there. They hated it, therefore I was expected to hate it as well. When we went to town it was always the Colonial House. To this day a buffet makes me puke in my mouth! And I should add, we very rarely at out! Usually only for some type of reunion or family get together. My mother and grandmother always raised a huge garden. She had no help other than what came from me or volunteers. Daddy worked a public job and farmed. For many years he milked then eventually sold the Holsteins for Santa Gertrudis. All summer we ate from the garden and all winter we ate from the garden. Mom was a canning fool. And I mean no disrespect. I don't know how to describe how much canning and freezing these women did. They done all the gathering in the mornings and canned and froze till way in the night all summer long. I got so sick of butter beans, corn and tomatoes that when I moved out I swore I'd never eat them again. That attitude lasted maybe two weeks before I went home to raid the basement and left with a trunk load of goodies. I done my fair share of working in the garden while I was little. I broke butter beans here and there and shucked corn a lot. In 2008 my mother was under the weather come time to gather in the garden. I learned quickly I didn't pay close enough attention to the canning and freezing process. It was rough, but me and my sister in law and lots of help from neighbors kept it was going to waste. Mom would have had a fit had she gotten home and realized her garden ruined. They depended on that food to feed them all winter, still. Wow, that was a rough Summer. I wanted so badly for her to come home and be proud that I had handled her precious garden. She was so proud that the Summer of 2009, a week before the garden was due to come in, she had no worries when she fell down the basement steps and broke her pelvis. She knew she had a daughter and daughter in law that knew exactly what to do with it all. My boys would die if I handed them a bucket of corn and told them the shuck it. I guess they'd throw it because "shuck" sounds like alternate word for "pitch it".

Today we will be going to the movies. Again, something I didn't do when I was a kid. I saw my first theater movie when I was 15. Batman Forever. Mom and Dad didn't care for new movies. They were vulgar. At home I was allowed a few shows. Little House on the Prairie, Murder She Wrote, Andy Griffith, Matlock, The Waldens, the weather, and possibly a couple more that will come to me later. We watched these on a 13 inch black and white tv equipped with rabbit ears. We had a antenna outside that we turned with a huge wrench. It took two people for this process. One to do the turning and one to stand at the door and relay to the turner wether the picture was getting better or worse. The first color television that was in our house was one bought by my brother, David. It was huge. A floor model Zenith. The Waldens never looked so good to me! I think around the time I reached my teenage years Dad bought a new antenna. This one had some sort of contraption on it that allowed us to turn in from inside the house. I never had satellite or cable. If I watched movies it was at friends houses. When I was 14 I got a VHS player for Christmas. I used that thing for 15 years. They sure don't make DVD players like that anymore. For the record. Each of my children have their own flat screen tv and cable. We have two cable boxes in this house. Two cable boxes means four different programs can be playing at any given time here. On occasion you might catch me watching some Andy and reciting the dialog word for word.

I don't recall ever being at the lake as a child, but I spent many hours at the ponds with a fishing pole. My boys do too. I guess that's something we have in common. I even recall swimming in a few ponds. My boys would NEVER do that!! I can't say that I would these days either tho. It's spoiled us to have a pool in the back yard. I always wanted a pool as a kid. I never had one. I remember even sitting in a cattle waterier and concrete minnow tank. What would my boys say if I drained the pool and told them to go swim in the waterier. I guess it never made no sense for us to have a pool. I wasn't allowed to wear a bathing suit. Too revealing. I do remember getting a Wet Banana one year for a birthday gift. I played on it till I made Moms yard muddy and she put it up and it was never allowed back out again. They had well water and city water. I had to use the well water for that sorta thing so I didn't run up the water bill. The water was muddy out of the tap. We took baths in well water too. Before running my bath water I would have to let the water run for a few minutes. It seemed to be less muddy if you let it run a while first. It's nothing for my water bill to be 60 dollars a month all Summer. Peyton would die if he had to bath in brown water before school.

And church. I was there every time the doors were opened. During the Summer we attended revivals all Summer. I didn't play sports cause it caused a conflict with attending church. I went to 4H camp one year, but only because my mother was a 4H leader and went as well.

I had very few friends because they approved of no one. I was allowed to have friends over but never allowed at their homes. I'm assuming because I might witness someone drinking or using vulgar language. Vulgar was a word used very often. Anything and everything was considered vulgar. I never heard my Mom or Dad cuss my whole entire life. I am 31 and still have never heard my parents utter any shape form or fashion of profanity. I was not even allowed to say words that sounded like a cuss word. Heck sounded like hell. That was a no no. Shoot sounded like shit. That got me spanked a few times. Darn it was just as bad as dammit. I lost Little House on the Prairie privileges for two week once for that word. Yesterday while driving to the lake Danny met a car on the wrong side of the road. Naturally I scream the f bomb and Eli very seriously said "my boys are still back there somewhere". We all laughed hysterically. Had Mom and Dad been in the car it would have gotten us both popped in the mouth and a quick ticket back home to a switch, no tv, no visitors. I guess had I uttered something like that, I would have had to work in the garden all Summer with absolutely no opportunity to swim in the minnow tank!!

My boys have Xboxes, Wii's, ect. I had a Nintendo. I worked and bought it myself. I had only the games that it came with. I shot ducks till the gun stopped working. It was never replaced and I never had another gaming system.

We took a few trips when I was little. I never picked the destinations like my boys get too. I figure there will be time for seeing things I want to see when they are grown and have families of their own. And honestly, I can't think of any place I'd rather go Monday then to Holiday World with my favorite men.

I hope each and ever one of you have a wonderful week. May you raise your children the way YOU see fit. Give them what YOU want too. Don't let anyone tell you what YOUR children can or can't live without. Some may call my boys spoiled and that suits me just fine. They are happy boys. They are smart well rounded young men. They work hard and are rewarded well. Things aren't always giggles when we become adults. I intend to set the mood for many many giggle while I have them under my roof. I hope one day to read something they have written that starts out something like this: There was this one time, when I was a kid that.....................








we went fishen with Mom.




rode jet skis with Daddy.

                                                                       saw fireworks and Band Perry on the 4th of July.

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Change.......blah.

2011's 4th of July is in the bag. We watched Fireworks and Band Perry at Louisville on waterfront Sunday. everyone had a fabulous time. Almost. When you have 6 family members sometimes you just gotta settle for 5/6. There's always going to be a party pooper. These days it's always the oldest. 13 hasn't even rolled around for him quite yet and he's already a hoot to be around the majority of the time. (hoot was much nicer then the word I really wanted to use)

Eli's birthday is in 2 days.

I have a sweet young lady and her son who wants photographs taken of them tomorrow. I am honored that she ask me to do his 5 year old shots! What a wonderful compliment!

Today's mood hasn't been anything worth writing home about. days like today I feel terrible that I haven't came up with some grand scheme to entertain the boys that would be worth going back to school and talking about.

The Casey Anthony verdict came in today. I was pleased that she was found not guilty. The justice system done it's job. There simply wasn't enough evidence to prove her guilty. Something about that gal has grabbed my attention since the very beginning. I'm sure theres more to it then we all will ever know and I think if anyone should be in prison, it should be Casey's Dad. Congrats, my dear. I hope for your sake on judgement day you are truly innocent and my gut wasn't wrong. I hope your Father and brother rot in hell if the alleged things they done were correct. That will be all I ever say about this trial.

Evyn has hit some pretty major milestones. He now has a rather decent vocabulary that includes dirty, mommy, daddy, eli, nite nite, ba ba, mamee, poppy, bye bye and uhh ohh.

School starts in less than a month. I have 3 school supply list as long as my leg. 3 boys whom have managed to outgrow everything from socks and boxers to shoes and jeans. After cleaning out their closets last week I discovered either I need to win the lottery quick or they will be going to school in highwaters, barefoot and underwareless. (is that a word or did I make that up?) If I guesstamant (I kow thats a made up word, but it's one of my fav's) correctly I figure it'll take roughly 900 to send them back this year in new clothes and supplies. Lord help me.

I am back on the kick of school again. I'd love to take some online classes while Evyn is young. I want my boys to be proud of me and I don't feel I'm doing a very good job of setting a example for them right now. I don't know where to start or even if some online only classes at Western are even possible. Guess I need to take in my tax returns and see what  I can maybe get paid for. I'm not taking money from my kids to better myself. I'd never go if I couldn't possibly have the majority paid for. Is that wrong for thinking that? What I really want to do takes a 6 year degree. I could never attend full time and raise a family. It'd take more like 10 years. I'd be 41. OK, so maybe school is outa the question after all. Never takes me long to talk myself out of a good thing. I'm bad about that. I hate change.

I still have not got to do that one great big thing this summer with the boys. I hope some wonderful idea falls in my lap soon. Time is dwindling down.

On a lighter note, I just learned Evyn LOVES Salomi. A man after my heart!

Now since I'm clearly rambling from fireworks to Casey Anthony to Salomi it's time I wrap this one up.
I hope your summer has been filled with memorable moments so far. As for me, I'm going to go cut the watermelon that's been chilling in the fridge since yesterday.

Sunday, July 3, 2011

Bubbling Over

Lightning is the devil. Left me computerless for a couple weeks. I was absolutely overjoyed when a diagnostic test on the computer reveled it would be covered by insurance and would be more economically smart to be replaced as opposed to repaired. Then, I was informed my deductible was 500. Dammit! I hate insurance. Just one more example why you need to know your policy better.
But, because it was a Saturday and  I didn't get a Wednesday gift this week........I was presented with a very lovely HP laptop yesterday. (Thank you, dear!)

Now. catch up! I can't illustrate everything with pictures, cause they are on my desktop that passed away. The wonderful computer doc is retrieving those for me!

Now, here's a run down.

We Kayaked 7 miles down Green River with 4 kids. Evyn sat this out and Ash tagged along and doubled up with Pey while Danny and me hauled with either Eli or Zac. We chose a the Selfbather (?) Kayaks and LOVED the first 3 miles. About halfway I felt like I was padding up hill. We want to go again tho. Fabulous idea. Who's idea was that anyway..........oh yea.......MINE! Tehehehehe.

We Tye Dyed shirts. Terrific idea by Emmy. Thank you again! The boys loved it.

If your on my FB, check out the pictures.

I have planned some great things for the boys. Eli turns 8 Thursday. We intend to rent Jet skis for a day for him.

Peyton has been such a big help here this summer for not only me but Mom and Dad, my brother, the neighbors. What a fine young man he is growing in to. He has a hellava surprise coming up from me, Danny, Mike and Lacy. Sorry. Even Pey won't know what it is until it's in front of him.

As for today we are headed to Louisville in a few hours to hear some music, eat some food and watch the fireworks. I have always wanted to see Thunder .I hear this is the second largest event next to Thunder. The Band Perry will be preforming tonight. I gotta admit.......I'm bubbling over.

How are yall entertaining yalls kiddos on a budget this summer?

Have a great 4th.