What is the crazy attraction we have to cars?

Why are we so attached to our vehicles? It's as if they are a member of our families.... uh, it's a hunk of metal/fiberglass? Right? One big hunk that I have paid more for than all three of my children's hospital bills from their births? Go figure? It is also the same vehicle that cost me more than our first home? What is wrong with this picture? Why am I so reticent about giving up this vehicle? Is is the fact that my children and I have traveled well over 100,000 miles in this ride together while screaming, laughing, and crying (and often all three at the same time!)? Is it that we, as a family have shared numerous meals together in this vehicle (yes, we eat in the car, on the run...more times than I care to admit to)? Is it that the lady at Sonic automatically knows my drink order when she eyes me in the drive through? What is the weird fetish we have for our cars? And why is it so hard to move on?

Oh well, the time has come to move on to smaller and less expensive rides! I am going to attempt to go car shopping this weekend. Provided I can find some way to make my husband a little more excited about spending his Saturday with his whiny, uh... uh... b*tchy wife in the 100* heat walking around on car lots - I am really going to have to dig down deep to pull this one off! (This one is going to call for more than just an evening of fun and frivolity... ya know?)

The current gas prices have me scared to death and each time a fill-up in my SUV is getting more and more painful! Not to mention the A/C just went out again for the THIRD time in the last 4 years, so it's TIME! Momma wants a new(ish) car and I have every intention of getting it! (Do you have any doubt that I won't get my way?) There's something wrong with the picture when your 17 yr old daughter and your husband have newer and fancier cars than MOMMA! It's cruel and unusual punishment that I am being subjected to... Pity? Any pity ?from anyone? I'm waiting....

Wish me luck! This could just be the weekend that makes me or breaks me! LOL Or my marriage.... it's not going to be pretty! But never fear, I will come back on Monday and share with you all of the gory details of my weekend adventure! Who knows? There might even be pictures?

Have a great weekend!

So we end this chapter in our lives...

A suprising twist for us is that she graduated with Honors! I had no idea? I guess I'm not as involved as I should be? LOL.... oh well...I have two more kids to be involved with, or not!

I'm much more personally satisfied that I have a teenage daughter that graduated from High School without being pregnant, not married, not on drugs, and without a criminal record! From what I hear she is a rarity!

It's HERE.... Today... FINALLY......

Yes, this is my fine upstanding Sr. teaching her baby sister the finer talents in life! (Such a typical day in our home!)

13 years of homework, cheerleader camps, secret pal gifts, teacher gifts, uniforms, girlfriend dramas, softball games, cross country track meets, crazed prom dates, pricey school pictures, worthless counselors, hateful principals, and relentless projects have come down to one thing... A DIPLOMA!! WOO HOOO..... Tonight is graduation for Brittany! Can you say it with me? WOOOHOOOOOOO.... I made it, or should I say? She made it!!!

Although her plans are still uncertain as to what she is going to do with the rest of her life, which is totally understandable.....I am just glad to know that my primary responsibility to produce a functioning adult in society is coming to a close - sorta? I don't know why exactly, but it feels as if a huge burden as been lifted off of my shoulders - the Drama Queen is pretty much going to succeed or fail from here on out on her own terms...ya' know? I can lead said Drama Queen to college, but what she decides to do there is her own responsibility. I am very proud of her and I know that she is going to eventually turn out to be a responsible member of society, but I'm just not so sure when? LOL

She will begin taking Psychology class at the Jr. College next week, so hopefully she will be a bit enlightened about what a PSYCHO she is! lol I can hope can't I? If all goes well, when she finally heads off to the University in the fall she will already have 18 hours of college credit, which I don't think is too shabby for a 17 year old?

So anyway - moving on.... IT'S THE LAST DAY OF SCHOOL!!!!!! Awards ceremonies are over, Field Day is done, final exams are completed and everyone is moving on to the next grade! Not that there was any question about the girls passing, but it does a mother's heart good to actually see it in print - PROMOTED.

Now the real challenge begins - how to entertain my monsters for 13 long weeks?

Yes, I'm shallow....I'm a Flip-Flop Diva

I've crossed over.....but give me a break! I have very few splurges or times that I can just be frivolous and childish - and flip-flops are my weakness! This weekend as I cleaned out my closet, I realized that I own about 15 pairs of some-sort of flip-flop! Most of which I wear to work on a regular basis, well unless the temperature is under 40*, and then I'll choose a shoe with a closed toe - but that is a rarity!

So anyway, I recently purchased these two fabulous pairs and I must admit, they are a bit outside of my 'box', but I just couldn't help myself.... they were screaming out my name.....what was I to do? These are Yellow Box brand and for any of you flip-flop divas, you will totally understand that these are the most comfortable flip-flop I've ever worn! I'm even thinking about going back and buying a pair with a little bling-bling! LOL Oh did I mention that I just had another cortizone shot in my heel so all the years that I've worn flip-flops are now erased, well... for another few months anyway! What I won't do for fashion?

Okay, so I know you've got a hidden secret of splurges in your closet.... so what is it? Shoes, purses (oh, lets not go there, I will spend more on a cute purse than on food!), sunglasses, lipstick, or what? Come' on... spill it!

It's not a good hair day!

See this? Rain and more rain... the radar has been like this ALL day and we are expecting more of the same through tonight and tomorrow. I guess this is good for our weeds and trees. Oh well? Hubby has to do the mowing... not ME! (insert evil laugh)

Ahhh... Tuesday...NO? It feels like a MONDAY!!

Even though it is actually Tuesday, my gang and I had a super hard time getting out of bed this morning! I am so glad that we are almost out of school - the hectic pace can slow down an itty bitty bit! (I'm dreaming here...)

We did the Memorial Day Weekend with friends and festivities involving parties and cookouts - desserts and the most fabulous Tres Leches cake I've ever tasted. (well okay, I've never tasted one before, but I'm a believer - NOW) This cake was to die for.... YUMMY! Of course I cornered our hostess for the recipe and I am going to give it a whirl - This was the closest picture I could find on google, so you get the gist of it! This was the most perfect light cake for the heat of the day. It was just sweat enough to fill that urge for cake and light enough to not make you sick in the heat of the day.. ya' know? :)

I am officially in the mood to start trying out new summer recipes and new smoothie drinks!

I'm even ready to get my ice tea maker out from under the cabinet and place it in its official 'spot' on the kitchen cabinet - LOL -It's summer time, don't ya' know?

Heres the recipe for the Tres Leches Cake

*1 yellow or white boxed cake mix

prepared by package instructions (except for the water amt)

use 1/2 as much water as the recipe calls for and substitute pinapple juice for the rest

*Bake cake as directed

*Mix together one can of Evaporated Milk

one can of Condensed Milk

one cup of heavy whipping cream (mmm.... I need to wipe the drool from my chin)

**can also use coconut milk in this mixture**

*Pour milk mixture on top of cake and let cool overnight in fridge.

*Next day, cover cake in whipped cream and garnish with fruit (strawberries, blueberries, kiwi, mandarin oranges...etc...)

Let me know what you think of this recipe if you give it a try?

Or what other variations of a light summer cake you have? I'd like to find cake/pie recipes that use wine coolers in the ingredients! As tasty as those are, surely someone has baked with them?

TGIF & Happy Memorial Day!

I don't know about the rest of the world, but I'm so glad that it is finally Friday! Is it a full moon? Are we on some weird planet rotation? This has been a crazy week -If it could go wrong or wonky this week, it has - everything from my work related items to my kids! They are all crazy I tell ya'.... all of them! Or else this is their sick attempt to finally have me committed to the funny farm! I swear it is as if all common sense has left their bodies and I am the only one left with my feet on the ground and a brain in the room! UGH!!!


I am so ready to just run far away - and no I don't need to up my Lexapro dose.... but at the same time my boss is text messaging (at 3:15 am) me from the Phillipines about some stupid chandelier that we are having delivered from Mexico and my kids are screaming about taking a board game to school for 'game day'... uh hello... CALGON take me away! I am completely stressed! I am so looking forward to a three (3) day weekend and a stiff holiday drink! Bring on the Hard Lemonade! Believe it or not I rarely drink... if ever... but the recent events of the week and my teenager daughter's antics warrant a good cold one!

OH, and it's Prom weekend - so hopefully I'll have some pretty pictures to show everyone of Brittany in her sleezy prom dress! LOL If you are a mother of a teenager, I'm sure you understand my 'sleezy' statement!

Part 3 - 4-Wheeler incident

Here's the cast! Bailey's arm is definitely broken, but the good news (if that's possible) is that although the break is an inch or two from the growth plates in her wrist, the break is 'stable'... so according to the Dr. we shouldn't have any problems with it healing on its own! All she has to do is suffer through 6-8 weeks in a green cast (her choice in color) without swimming (in Texas in the Summer HEAT- UGH) and she should be good to go!

1st Grade Picnic

Woo Hoo.... end of the year events are taking place and we are counting down the days until Summer vacation! As of today, the girls only have 7 days of school left - that's it.... SEVEN!!! YIKES!!!

So, last Friday I joined Briley for her 1st grade Picnic and enjoyed her playing and interacting with her friends... The kids got to fly kids, play with bubbles, sidewalk chalk, balls and just whatever else they could think of. Here are a few pics of the kites that we flew.

This is Briley's kite - we got it in Florida on vacation last year and we have really enjoyed it.

This fire truck with wings is one that another kid brought to school, all of the kids thought it was 'cool'! LOL

And now a pic of my B-Bop enjoying her afternoon....

What a goof! Can you tell? This is her forced smile - because according to her, I take too many pictures! LOL Tough! I'm the Mom, I can! :)

Bailey & 4-Wheeler PART 2

Well..... It's BROKEN! Friday afternoon after school we took another close look at her arm and the swelling just didn't look 'right'. It was swelling in a strange spot on her arm, about 2 inches above the wrist. So we spent Friday night at the Emergency Room - UGH - and after a couple hours and about 5 xrays, the Dr came in to tell us that she has a WRINKLE in her bone? HUH? He described it as a break that went inward instead of outward.... Oh good grief! Now she's in a partial plaster cast and we are awaiting an appt at the Orthopedic's office this week. Just from the sounds of things, this can't be good!

On a another side of things, softball is OVER for Bailey for the remainder of the Summer Season - UGH - and she's already complainging of being bored! LOL Any other time she would be perfectly happy sitting in front of the TV, but this weekend she was not in the mood to deal with a broken arm - I'm sure you can imagine the attitude that went along with the pain! LOL

Bailey and the 4-Wheeler

So last night after dinner, Bailey and Briley went out to ride their bikes and play with the other neighborhood kids, as they were walking out the door I specifically told the girls that they WERE NOT allowed to ride the neighbor's four wheeler. (Lots of issues there, but onward with the story....) I continued to clean up the kitchen, do my usual washer-dryer swap and started folding clothes. All the while I'm watching REBA and minding my own business. Now, as a general rule the girls have to come in around 8:00 pm which is before the street lights come on and before it gets too dark. This time also allows plenty of room for their showers and winding down before bed and getting ready for school the next day.

Anyway it was about 7:45 and I made one last look out the front door to make sure that I could still see their two heads bobbing around the neighborhood and I did, so I figured it was safe for me to go ahead and change my clothes and put on my comfy pj's...which included removing the BRA!!! About 2 minutes after I had settled in to my PJ's the man across the street (that owns the 4-wheeler) is ringing my doorbell and telling me that Bailey has rolled it on top of her and she is hurt! Okay, my heart sank and I began to run out in the middle of the road - braless and all!!! (Why oh Why do I have such bountiful abundance?) Oh well... my baby was hurt and I was determined to help her....

Once I get to her I quickly survey and notice that there's NO BLOOD! Okay, so now I'm just getting madder because she knew better than to ride this thing and to top it off she didn't take time to put on the helment - about now there is smoke coming out of my ears! How much more specific do I have to be when I say, "you cannot ride that 4-wheeler"?

Oh well live and learn ~ Bailey is now the proud owner of a severely bruised and swollen left hand/wrist. Once we dried the tears and calmed her down none of us (including my neighbor nurse) felt like it was broken. Off we went back to the house hobling and crying and holding her wrist and my boobs just a swingin' in the breeze. UGH!!!

Whew... another trip to the ER averted. I promise if we show up there one more time with a kid needing stitches, they are going to call CPS!!! So after a pretty severe scolding from me and then later when her dad got home, I don't think she'll be getting back on the 4-wheeler in the next few days! (I hope we scared her enough to make her think about what could have happened?) Bailey did make it to school today and I sent instructions for the trainers to look at it and wrap it for her. I really hope this doesn't blow up in my face and we discover that there's some hairline fracture - that would be just my luck! Good News is there's no softball tournament this weekend and it wasn't her pitching hand! LOL Priorities Don't Ya' Know? LOL

Because God Made Me Upside Down

As we were going through and sorting my tubs and stacks of photos from the past 20 years or so...We came across some precious pictures of Bailey. Ahhh... Bailey - the never smiling and always frowning baby! I have more pictures of her frowning forehead than you can imagine or else she's glaring at the photographer with a "go to H*LL" look. I'm serious!!!! Although she was quite a handful as a small child (and is a really big handful as a teenager), Bailey has a sweet and sensitive heart. She is kind to babies and animals, so what more could a mother hope for? Right?

When she was little (just toddling around and talking), we would snuggle and hug and once I asked her, "how did you get so cute", and from out of nowhere - other than her own head - she responded with "because God made me upside down." You can imagine the laughter that errupted in my already hysterical household. Now how cute is that? And I guess technically, she was right - God did make her upside down! lol From then on, that was her response to any and all questions! Even now she tries to pull that line on me when I get on to her for not cleaning her room of finishing her chores. Only now she's expanded the thought that since she was made upside down, there's a part of her brain that just doesn't compute or comprehend the whole cleaning process. Uh.... I don't think so! Original idea - alright - but not going to cut it!

Graduation Invitation Inserts

These are the little goodies we made to put in each graduation invitation for Brit. The color really didn't come out as great in the pictures as I had hoped, but you get the idea. The first batch of these were on Royal Blue Cardstock with orange and white polka-dot ribbons. This is the second batch and I couldn't find the same ribbon, so we did the Orange Cardstock with the royal blue ribbon.



Next up... we have a fun picture of Briley! Yes, that's mustard on the side of her face because she had just come in from playing outside with her friends and inhaled a homemade sub-sandwhich! LOL The reason her hair is a curly mess is because the humidity in the metroplex is horrible this week! UGH.... it's actually kinda hard to breath and forget about a good hair day - it's just not going to happen. Anyway, back to Briley - she had been outside with the neighborhood kids trying to catch crawfish in our ditches that are full of water! Now I ask you? Do city kids get to have this much fun? I think not! LOL When I asked her what bait she was using, she just looked at me like I had a horn growing out of my head and replied, "Well duh Mom, chicken!" Oh,I guess everybody knows you can only use chicken? I guess you learn something new every day! Or atleast I do?

Happy Birthday Paw-Paw

This is my Paw-Paw...a fine upstanding German man! Can't you just see the accent in his face? He didn't learn to speak English until he went to school in South Texas. He didn't even recognize his own name when it was written on the black board! WOW! What a change in our cultures? The older he gets the worse his English becomes, he is returning to speaking more and more in German. I guess maybe it just processes easier for him? Anyway, his father was a baker and his grandmother was a wonderful cook, as well. I've seen pictures of her - uh - I think I inherited her love of eating and my body seems to be proportioned much like her's! :) My Grandfather finished High School in a one-room school house in Monthelia, Texas where he met my grandmother and they were later married. The majority of his life my Paw-Paw spent gardening and farming and he later worked in chicken houses for a living! Talk about getting up with the birds? Wow... now that was a manual labor job!

Ahhhh, I love this ole' feller - he's 95 years old! I just have to mention that he's out lived his wife of nearly 70 years (I think he did that to get the last word in! LOL), buried three of his 4 children when they each died at the age of 55 (each)...yes, I know it's creepy, but they all died of different kinds of cancer (my dad included).

Until last fall, he was living by himself and just needed the assistance of someone to drive him to the Dr's. office. However after some recent minor health complications, my Uncle thought it best that he move into a Nursing Facility, which we all agreed was probably the best idea. He seems to be doing well and is happy and adjusted to living there. I hear he's a pretty 'mean' 42 player (dominoes). But then again, he always was the domino king around the family table! LOL Any youngster coming up in the ranks and learning to play the game had better not mess up when making your bid - Paw-Paw would catch ya'!

I try to keep him up-to-date with pictures of the girls and various blurbs about what we are all up to. I really wonder though how much he really cares? Ya know? I think he's got 400 great grandchildren, (well maybe not, but my cousins were a pretty fertile bunch!) He's 95 - Good Gravy - maybe we should just let the man eat his brownies and watch westerns and whatever else he wants to do? Ya know?

Just Another Evening Around My Table

Since we are quickly approaching graduation for Brittany, my dining room table has been turned into an assembly line of graduation invitations and little scrap-booky things that we are including in each invitation with her picture. However, someone has to put these little trinket things together? Yep,you guessed it... MOM!!!

So last night I was cutting out the paper and cardstock and gluing like a crazy person, Briley was using her tiny hands to tie the little bows in the ridiculously tiny ribbon, and Brit was hot-glueing little bows onto cardstock. The inserts really did turn out cute and lets everyone know what her plans are for college, but we all have a new appreciation for the time and detail that goes into these little goodies.

Well while Arts and Crafts class was going on at one end of the table, Bailey was given the task of organizing and restacking photos....it's not a hard task, I promise! Basically I just wanted her to transfer piles of pictures from an ugly plastic tub to a cute decorative box that I bought to just dress-up my shelves a bit! (Yes, I know...noone cares but me!) Anyway this seemingly easy task was perfect for the short attention span of Bailey - all she had to do was basically dump from one to the other.... WELL.... nope! That's not what she wanted to do! But then I'm sure you already guessed that? Bailey proceeded to look and discuss every single picture! OMG!!! Since the beginning of our marriage and Al and I were both skinny and he actually had dark hair! :) Then after about an hour of her comments on what we 'use' to look like - she moved on to each of their baby pictures and discussed the furniture in the background, and what how we lived in or whose house the picture was taken at! OH. MY. GOSH!!!!

I thought she never would finish that task - but she finally did - and it only took her about 2 hours! I simply cannot make you understand how annoying she was going through those pictures - words just don't do her level of obnoxiousness justice! LOL But then again, what 12 year old isn't obnoxious? Ahhh... Bailey ... you just gotta love that quirky gal!

This just speaks to me.....

Once upon a time, a guy asked a girl 'Will you marry me?' The girl
said, 'NO!' And the girl lived happily ever after and went
shopping, dancing, drank whole bottles of wine, chatted for hours
on the phone to friends, always had a clean house, watched chick
flicks without feeling guilty, never had to cook, did whatever the
hell she wanted, never argued, didn't get fat, didn't have to pay
for dual view tv, travelled more, had a career, had many lovers,
didn't save money, and had all the hot water to herself. She went
to the theatre, never watched sports, owned every remote control in
the house, never wore fricken lacy lingerie tha went up her arse,
had high self esteem, never cried or yelled, and felt and looked fabulous all the time.
THE END

Quick! If you know of someone about to take the plunge... pass on a few words of wisdom or at the very least a little bit of humor to make their bad days a little bit better!

Mamma Gets A New Pair Of Shoes

Yes, let's all rejoice together in the magical day that Mamma gets some new shoes!!!
WOOO HOOOO....... (Hey, I even bought myself some new socks... and they match! What a concept?)

After spending another day walking around in $9 flip flops and regretting it for the next two days, I finally broke down and went shopping for some new sneakers! Now, let me preface my purchase with the fact that I NEVER get new shoes! EVER!! (Unless of course it's new flip-flops! DUH!) So anyway, after hobling around and cursing my feet I went shopping and went straight to the Nike Outlet store and bought the most expensived pair on the shelves! I have no idea if these are going to make my feet and back feel better, but they helped my ego a little bit! I have never in my entire life owned a pair of sneakers that were $100!!!! Now $100 for sandals... well yes... my Born's...but that is a no-brainer! They are flip flops - another - duh moment! LOL

Here are the infamous sneakers that are now resting on my feet!

I remember that most of my life my grandmother owned many a pair of Nike's in various colors that would match her dresses, so maybe my feet angst is inherited? If she had lived long enough for me to know that I was going to suffer the same with my feet, I certainly would have picked her brain a little more about this foot trama/fetish I seem to have!

I really don't know if this is inherited and I really don't care! All that matters is that Mamma Got a NEW Pair of Shoes! It's nothing short of a miracle! I also left the box with the whopping price tag just lying around in the house.... I just dare anyone in my household to question me over spending so much money for sneakers! Just go head... stick your head out - you'll pull back a nub! LOL