11-28-11

I didn't post for three days because there was just so much going on and I was trying to soak every last bit of it up.

Wednesday~ we left around 5 am and stopped at Hardees for a fine southern biscuit for breakfast. We had only a slight deviation from the itinerary for a quick stop at Walmart near the Tennessee line for a coat because one of us left theirs at home. We had to stop for lunch at Pal's for a Pal Burger and some Frenchie fries. After we fortified ourselves we made the trek through the beautiful Smokey Mountains to Gaitlinburg and up Ski Mountain Road to Ober. Ski Mountain Road is the kind of road that has a sign at the beginning saying, "In the winter months only cars with chains are allowed." Mike and I thought this would be a good way to break up the long trip and it was.

We rode the ski lift up to the Alpine Slide. It was quite chilly on the side of that mountain so one of us was really glad we stopped and bought that coat. We picked up our sleds and got in line for our trip down the mountain. They let you go two by two so I rode on one slide with Shelby and Mike rode on the other with Abby. Abby was a little apprehensive because she had never done it before and you can go pretty fast. Well, somehow we weren't even in line so Abby went ahead of us. That wouldn't have been so bad but a guy lost his cell phone on the track and they wouldn't let anyone go until it was located and all the pieces cleaned off because it could've caused someone to wreck. Mike and I were getting a little panicked because Abby is going down this huge slide on the side of a mountain and we were stuck at the top waiting to go. We thought for sure she would be at the end and freaking out because she was all by herself. We shouldn't have worried. When they gave us the green light all three of us took off down that mountain to "rescue" Abby. She wasn't even to the end yet. We laughed and laughed because she was going so super slow that Mike caught up with her before she even realized she was alone.

After that ride, we rode the ski lift again but this time we rode it all the way to the top of the mountain. I'll tell you one thing, that view NEVER gets old. I have mountain blood running through my veins and the sight of them just makes me feel at home. It was really, really cold on that mountain top.

After that little detour, we got back on track just in time to get stuck in some holiday traffic. When that busted loose it was smooth sailing all the way to Jessie's house where we followed her and Trevor to our ridiculously cheap hotel room. Not cheap as in a bad room, cheap as in "we feel like we're stealing this is costing us so little". The room was perfect.

Stay tuned for more detail rich posts about our trip because I want to document it for our family.

Aren't these pictures lovely? They're from the trip the kids and I took to see my parents last summer.

Why am I posting them now, you ask? Thanks for asking but if I answer that question I will have to tell you about one of my finest moments in parenting~NOT!

I was browsing through our pictures and came across a folder marked 'Recovery' and I cringed because it made me remember that ugly afternoon in June when I reverted back to a bratty 5 yr old.

When we went and visited my parents we took lots of pictures~the Amish country, the boat ride on the bay, exploring Ft. McHenry, the aquarium, the light rail ride where we got thrown off the train, you get the picture, right? (haha)

On the drive south to visit more family, Abby thought she accidentally erased all~ALL those pictures.

Here's where my finest moment began~ I reached into the backseat of the car and snatched the camera away from my precious daughter's hand, tried to get the pictures to reappear on the screen of the camera and when I wasn't successful I threw the camera down in the floor board.

Oh, yes! It was a lovely display of, of~~~errr immaturity, stupidity, ignorance. You can take your pick.

Oh, wait I left off one vital piece of information. Ummm it was Shelby's camera AND I broke it. She got that camera for Christmas and her mother in a temper tantrum broke it.

Now here comes the ignorant part~Mike was able to get every one of the pictures off the card. I felt like a heel and still do.

We couldn't take pictures of our trip to Virginia because that was the only camera we had taken.

Isn't that just the grandest display of parenting ever?

OH THE DREARY LIFE OF A BOOTBLACK

If you have read this blog AT ALL you know that we have a teenage son.

A teenage son that got his drivers license in October.(He had been driving for a year with his learners)

A teenage son that got a ticket in December while driving home from work.

He disclosed this info on myspace so I feel okay to share this with ya'll~and truth be known most of you probably know by now anyway.

My sweet hubby and I discussed what punishment he would receive. Of course, without question, he would pay for the ticket out of his pocket. He will go to traffic school on Monday.

We also felt he should have some kind of consequence from us.

This is what we came up with:

1. he was not allowed to work more over Christmas break.(He only works 2 days a week, Fri and Sat but they are almost 12 hour days.)
2. he was not allowed to drive for recreation for one month.

He was not happy but later came back and said he was just mad at himself for getting the ticket in the first place. He took his punishment like a man and this Thursday he broke his month long restriction from driving for pleasure by taking his girlfriend, Jessie, on a date.

Don't you love it when your penance is paid and you are free.

Along this thought, we have tried to keep away from being "fair" parents.

Trevor will tell you that my favorite come back for the phrase "That's not fair" is "Do you think it was fair that Jesus had to die on the cross for YOUR sins?"

That usually shuts the offended child down right away.

We don't think that if one child gets ______ (insert toy, food, present, money, praise for something specific, etc.) that the other kids are entitled to get the same.

Entitled is pretty much a dirty word in our family.

I can't stand it.

So, sometimes just for fun one child gets a cookie and the others don't. Or, one gets to go to a party or an outing and the others don't.

Why? Because life doesn't work that way. Just because So&So down the street gets _____(again, insert new bike, scooter, new car, cruise, a big atta boy, etc.) doesn't mean you get one too.

I've heard that in some families when a child has a birthday all the kids in that family HAVE to get a gift.

WHAT!!!! I don't think so! Why? Because someone might get their little feelings hurt that the birthday child got a gift and they didn't.

Give me a break. Can we say "I am trying to raise brats"?

Okay, I'm done now. I think I'll go get a cookie and dare my kids to ask for one.

TRICKIN' & TREATIN'

Abby posin' at Project Pumpkin

Abby, Shelby, and Mike (the soda jerk)

Shelby and Abby at Trunk-n-Treat at church Sunday night.

We had a blast tonight at Project Pumpkin. The college kids do a real good job every year setting up games and lots of fun stuff for kids to do.

Trevor missed it this year because he had to work and oh, by the way, he DROVE himself to work today. He just called to let me know that he is on his way home. It is exciting to seeing his metamorphosis into manhood.

Hope everyone had a great Halloween. It is late and I am tired from this pleasant day.

Have a humdinger of a weekend. We're going to try our best to achieve one:~)

AND THE RAIN KEEPS COMIN' DOWN

###update~I took the music off because it was driving my husband crazy when he gets on at work:~) I will put it back after a hiatus:~))) Also~~we purchased another vehicle so we are back on track with schedules. My brother will be happy to know that we bought a Chevy:~)He loves that bowtie ;~)


We have had blissful rain yesterday and today. It it glorious. We needed it so bad. It has been a long time since we have had any.

That last bullet point from yesterday~I was actually able to pull that off!! After supper the kids cleaned up and I crashed on the couch. When they finished, Shelby and I played checkers and Mike and Abby played Dominoes.

I love to play games but I don't make it enough of a priority to do it. I need too!! We have educational games that we could play as part of school but I am sad to say that I don't work them in as much as I should.

I was telling my SIL about an article I read a couple of months ago and decided to put the link here so you could read it to. Go here and read about being a status symbol if you stay at home. This article talks about women with no kids but I say it applies to us women that are moms too!!

How is it that if you stay at home with no kids it's a status symbol but if you stay at home with kids it's degrading??? I will admit that staying home AND loving it took a while because of the ideas society pushes on girls at a young age. Let's face it Homemakers are not on the list at a Job Fair. They are not in textbooks and they are NOT promoted at school as an option for your future.

I have a friend who said that when she was in school she was asked by a teacher what she wanted to be when she grew up. My friend replied that she wanted to be a wife and mother. The teacher proceeded to tell her that on top of being a wife and mother she needed a career. My friend could have taken away from that conversation that being a wife and mother was not enough~but thankfully her mother taught her differently at home.

Today I am dwelling on the goodness of staying at home and serving my husband and my children.