It's Here...

The candy that is.

Tanner had his school Halloween party today. And then he and Breckin both had their daycare parties too. I got home today and Jake had their buckets of goodies just sitting on the table...why hadn't he hid them yet? (From Tanner, not me...ok, mostly from me.)

But I'm going to keep my word from the previous post. No Halloween candy for me! I'm going to start off this holiday season right. (It's going to be seriously hard...sugar is my weakness.)

Now just to make it through the carnival tomorrow and the actual trick-or-treating...

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Writing Prompt: 22 Things I Have Done

I'm linking up with Mama Kat again for her weekly writing prompts. Last week, I chose the prompt: 22 Things I've Never Done and this week, she's posted the opposite choice:

22 Things I Have Done

1. Ran in a 5K. (Many of them!)



Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure 2011

2. Lived in Southern California.

View of Main St. Huntington Beach from the Pier

3. Confronted a hoodlum in a parking garage that was going to break into my car. (The adrenalin was flowing and I had definitely gone a little crazy.)

4. Been hit by a car.

5. Taught fitness/dance classes.

6. Won 2 spelling bees.

7. Danced competitively.

8. Been to St. Maarten (honeymoon ♥)

9. Dyed my hair. (Blonde, blonder, brunette, strawberry, burgundy, you name it...)

10. Gotten a tattoo...or 4.

11. Pierced my tongue (twice).

12. Pierced my nose (twice).

13. Pierced my navel.

14. Earned an Associate's of Science in Graphic Design.

15. Been a realtor.

16. Changed a tire.

17. Had a baby (twice).

18. Been to Vegas.

19. Done the splits (still can!)

Circa Summer 2007, but still got it!

20. Started a garden.

21. Swam in both the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans.

22. Been to DisneyWorld and DisneyLand.

Writing Prompt: 22 Things I've Never Done

Another Writing Prompt Linkup with Mama Kat this week:

1.) Follow the template I copied from The Pioneer Woman without her permission and list 22 things you’ve never done.

22 THINGS I'VE NEVER DONE

I'm 28. And one-half. Plus 5 days. And I've never:

1. Gone skydiving.

2. Bungee-jumped. (Photo below is the Perrine Bridge in my hometown of Twin Falls, ID - listed #7 on the top ten list for best bungee-jumping spots in the world)

3. Piloted a plane. (But the good news is, I've never crashed one either.)

4. Streaked. (Except from the bathroom to my bedroom on occasion.)

5. Gotten hair extensions.

6. Gone on a Caribbean cruise. (That should be changing early next year!)

7. Had a daughter. (But don't be sad for me, I have the two most wonderful boys a mother could ever ask for.)

8. Gotten my Bachelor's degree. (Looking to change that very soon. Got the Associate's.)

9. Ran a marathon or a half-marathon. (Looking to change that soon as well.)

10. Been to Europe.

11. Starred in a movie.

12. Danced in a pop music video.

13. Taken a cooking class.

14. Written a novel.

15. Broken a bone.

16. Ridden in a hot air balloon.

17. Gambled a large amount of money.

18. Played a sport professionally.

19. Ran for office. Any office.

20. Sported a pixie hairstyle.

21. Gotten rid of my sweet tooth.

22. Given up on myself.

Writing Prompt: Facebook Photo

Linking up with Mama Kat this week for her Writing Prompts. I chose to do a couple, so you'll see couple more posts this week on them. Here is the current prompt I chose:

4.) Share the story behind your current Facebook and/or Twitter profile photo.

This is a photo of a painting I started 5 days ago and just finished last night. It is my first painting after years of not painting. I used to be an artist. Even my college degree is in Graphic Design. I loved drawing and painting and it was a very therapeutic past-time for me.

Almost 9 years ago, my car was stolen. Inside my car at the time was my backpack and my portfolio. Both were gone when the car turned up. In the backpack were all of my digital art files from graphics work I had done in school, and my portfolio of course had all of my original paintings and drawings. It was so sad...it felt like someone had literally taken something from me that I could never get back. And really, though if I tried, I could have recreated most of what was in there, I just didn't have the desire...I had literally lost my desire to create. Years of my hard work and pieces that meant something special to me...gone. That moment was pivotal. It was pretty much the moment I dropped my brushes. It would be years before I picked one up again...to truly use my artistic talent. I've dabbled in it on and off since, but never really tried to create anything wonderful...or I would just create little cutesy art stuff with my son, who is as artistically inclined as Mommy once was.

I don't know what sparked me this past week to pick up the brushes and paint again. I was at Wal-Mart picking out some Halloween craft things for Tanner when I saw they sold stretched canvas. Without thinking, I picked up a few of them. After the boys went to bed that night, I pulled out my acrylics and brushes, dusted off the easel and started messing around. My first attempt was pretty quick - created a sunset in less than an hour that was albeit OK, but nothing spectacular. The next night, I tried to mess with it a little more and over the course of the next few nights, it became a completely different sunset. One I'm a little more proud of. Not by any means my best work, but some of my old techniques still have yet to be rediscovered.

I set up my easel and supplies in a nice area in my guest room...so I'll be more inclined to go in there and use it. I'm so glad to open up this part of myself again...eager to see what I will create in the future.

Writing Prompt: Don't Ask

Linking up with Mama Kat again this week.

Here's the Prompt:

A List of 10 Things You Should Never Ask Your Spouse

10. What's taking you so long in there? (C'mon, you KNOW. Just ask him to use the air freshener when he's done.)

9. Does this make me look fat? (If you're asking, it's because you know it doesn't let's say, "highlight your best features", so you're just setting him up to fail or fishing for compliments. Both are frowned upon.)

8. Do you think she's prettier than me? (You're asking because you think she is, and you're probably right. He probably thinks so too, but no worries, he LOVES you.)

7. I'm out of tampons, do you mind running out to get me a box? (You should be ashamed of yourself if you've ever asked him to do this. Even more ashamed if you let him go through with it - if he was non-masculine enough to say yes.)

6. What shade of yellow (or green, or brown, or blue, etc.) do you think will go best with our decor in the kitchen (or bath, or living room, or bedroom, etc.)? (Trust me, he doesn't know the difference between forest green and seafoam green. To him, green is green. And all greens match each other. Take this one to your best girlfriend, or your mother.)

5. What are you thinking about? (The answer is one of three things: sports, food or sex. None of those answers will be the wonderfully philosophical conversation-starter you were hoping for.)

4. Do these shoes go with this dress? (He has no idea.)

3. Would you remarry if I died? (Seriously, don't be so selfish.)

2. If you could only save one of us, who would you choose? Your mom, or me? (You DON'T want to know the true answer to that. Ignorance is bliss.)

1. For directions.

Jake and Morgan, will be married 4 years on November 22nd, 2011

"That's Your Wine."

So my little Tanner has always been quite the little artist. I literally buy him a pack of computer paper and the kid will go through it in a week. (I've since had to ration it out more carefully.) Anyway, every now and then, I'll pick up one of the hundred or so drawings he has around the house and try to analyze it to figure out what everything is...it really gives me a deeper understanding of what's on his mind.

Well, the other day, I see a drawing of what clearly is a house and three people standing outside it...which I could only interpret to be Tanner, Jake and me (by the way, he left Breckin in the house by himself - but that's another analysis for another day). Well, so it was a cute, happy little picture except I happened to notice one interesting little detail - this is what Mommy looked like:

Yeah, I pretty much wanted to hand over my parenting rights right then and
there.

Well, so anyway, the next morning at breakfast, I showed the picture to Tanner and this is how the conversation went:

Me: "Tanner, can you tell me what everything in this picture is?"
Tanner: (Pointing out everyone) "That's me, Daddy and Mommy and that's our house."
Me: "Where's Breckin?"
Tanner: "He's inside the house."
Me: "Oh, but we don't really like to leave him in the house by himself now do we?"
Tanner: "Yes we do."
Me: "OK. What is that in Mommy's hand?"
Tanner: "That's your wine."
Me: "Why did you draw wine in my hand?" (I really should have never asked.)
Tanner: "Because you always drink it."

There you have it, folks. Mommy's a wine-o, and even my 5-year old knows it. Dang, and all this time I thought I was keeping it on the DL.

Disclaimer: This "glass of wine" that I have in my hand is symbolic of the glass I have a couple nights a week after the kids have gone to bed, or with my dinner. Let us keep in mind, he did not draw a bottle of wine in my hand. Thanks! :) A glass of wine a day keeps the doctor away!

Autumn Pic Share!

The weather in Charleston has been so wonderful lately. I've been enjoying running in the evenings after putting the boys to bed, taking them to the play park in the late afternoons and having BBQs and fire-pit gatherings in the backyard. I think Fall is officially my new favorite time of year. The summer can be a bit crazy-hot in Charleston when you have to tote around kiddos, so the autumn breeze is a nice change and much easier to endure. Here are some pics of my beautiful boys enjoying the autumn season:

As I like to say, Happy Fall, Y'All! Thanks for checking out my pics! Post a comment and be sure to include a link to your blog, especially if you have pics of your little ones to share as well!

Writing Prompt: Reservations

It's been a while since I participated in Mama Kat'sweekly writing prompts...and well, I'm void of a topic to blog about, so I thought, what better time to jump back on the Mama Kat bandwagon? Out of the 5 choices she gave this week, I chose #5:
5.) I have no idea where the following message originated from, but it’s been floating around Facebook for the past week…who does it make you think about?:

"If someone wants to be a part of your life, they'll make an effort to be in it. So don't bother reserving a space in your heart for someone who doesn't make an effort to stay."

This quote struck a chord with me. I feel I do reserve places for family and friends in my heart. I always care, I'm there at the drop of a hat if necessary and I always give my all. I may come off sarcastic at times, but I never want to see my family or friends hurt, and I would bend over backwards to keep that from happening if that's what it took. However, I would say maybe about 10% of the people I do that for actually show me that same love back. Maybe I'm "too nice"...but can you ever be TOO nice? I mean, I thought being a nice person was a good thing - something people wanted in a lifelong friend...but lately I just feel like it gets me walked all over. Would it be preferable for me to be a complete selfish asshole and "me me me" in order to win over my family and friends? Maybe a lot of those people I do care for could care less that I care for them? I think someone's care and concern for you is a gift that should not be taken for granted. Not to say that I'm not guilty of it, because I'm sure I am...but I definitely don't make it a conscious effort.

Life in general is kind of like that. You make a reservation at a hotel. But without calling to cancel, you simply just don't show up. Not only have you wasted the concierge's and housekeeping's time in prepping the room for your arrival, you've made it so they can now not make money off that room for that night because they had it reserved for YOU. But do you think you care about those people that you inconvenienced? You probably don't even give it a second thought.

I find that as I get older, the true friends and good family I have, would never purposefully inconvenience me or leave me hanging. But more and more of the ones that I thought were friends, I feel are not even giving me a second thought. There are some people I call my friends that I don't know the last time we even spoke on the phone (Facebook does not count as primary means of communication, people!)...that the thought of even just calling them out of the blue feels awkward because I feel we've drifted so far apart. But would I still be there for them if they called and needed me? You betcha. I just don't know that they'd do the same for me. I know life gets busy and some people can get put on the backburner, as I said, I'm not so innocent either when it comes to that. But when it goes months, maybe even years, since you've physically spoken to a "friend", how can you even believe you're a part of their life anymore, or how long can you keep telling yourself that they are a part of yours? So when do I pull the plug and "cancel the reservation" so to speak? It's hard to say. You know it's when you finally do that and actually stop caring that they finally come back around. And God willing, the good ones will.

Disclaimer: This post is not aimed at any one individual and is not intended for the purpose of hurting anyone's feelings. I love my family and my friends. But if there is any reason that you think this message is aimed at you...pick up the phone and call me :) xoxo. Love you all.

Not This Year, Candy Corn

If you know me, I mean truly know me...then you know candy corn is my favorite candy.

It really sucks because it comes out at just the time of year when the holiday season kicks in...and you know that candy-wise, it's all downhill from there. My fall (and I mean the actual act of defeat, not the season - no pun intended) begins with candy corn.

But not this year. No sir, not me! I will not even so much as look at a piece of candy corn. I've been working so hard since having Breckin and doing a good job at it so far...I just can't let this holiday season take all of that away. I won't.

Beginning today, I am officially just saying no to candy. I'm going to make it through Christmas...that means all of my favorites - candy corn, Tanner's trick-or-treat stash, Christmas M&Ms, Hershey's Kisses and candy canes. Not this year... No sir. NOT me.

The idea is, if I can make it through the holidays, then I can make it through the year...because we all know that the holidays are the hardest. It's a good thing candy corn is seasonal (as long as I keep telling myself those little 99-cent bags of it at the pharmacy year-round don't exist. So far, that has been working.)

Happy Fall, Y'All!