Whatever: Americans don't give up

We won't let no stinkin' rain ruin our Independence day!

NOPE!

Happy Birthday to the land that I love.

We celebrated with hot dogs, hamburgers, cupcakes and kick ball. 

What could have been a sad holiday (my very favorite one) turned out to be one of the best days this year. Friends and family turned out to play and laugh. Best thing about being American? 

Americans!

Happy July 4th!

Whatever: Happy 2013

Happy New Year!

Whew Doggie...this one is gonna be a great one if my New Year's Eve is any indication!

Not really a new year's eve kinda girl...but we had tickets to see Old Crow Medicine Show at the Ryman this year. The evening was one of those that either was going to make or break us.

We had the following go wrong or at least not according to plan:

#1 We left Chattanooga late

#2 The restaurant we planned on eating that DOES NOT take reservations, took them on New Year's Eve ONLY. (They were full, of course).

#3 I bought the wrong tights.

#4 The restaurant we decided last minute to go to was in East Nashville (East Nasty for those of you who are Nashvillians) and there was NO GETTING a cab to leave.

#5 Ticket Master would not sell us two tickets together. We had seats in different sections 6 rows apart.

#6 It rained. Hard.

#7 There were NO CABS.

Steve, Roy, Minni and me

Christmas Lists

I went to the mall area not once, but twice yesterday.

All my lazy holiday spirit lead to the first trip.

There were last minute "Santa" items that needed purchasing.

The second trip was to take my beloved baby girls shopping.

They were not impressed by the crowds any more than I was.

Actually, I was impressed they were not as bad as I thought they might be.

We had first tier parking, for Pete's sake!

And didn't wait very long in any of the lines we stood in to pay for last minute items. 

We NEEDED to purchase a pair of saved for shoes for my oldest daughter

(baby sitting has it's perks!) and looked for some dresses for my younger "hipster". 

I have to admit it was really fun and once we left, I got out of Dodge with only minimal waiting at one traffic light.

Sweet.

Whatever: Traditions and a cheap mom

*As a "glass half full" person, I am ready for some good news.*

My kids are almost ready for Christmas and the talk of that has taken over the tragedy that is all over the news has quieted down some.
 We are  gathering up our Christmas traditions and celebrating them as much as possible.

I started a tradition a few years ago with my girls that we celebrate the countdown to Christmas with a little gift starting 12 days before. They love it, knowing they get the yearly Christmas pajamas on Christmas Eve and random little things up until then.

Whatever: The family that plays together...

As I said Monday, I survived the holiday weekend.

My sister, Jennifer and her adorable family was here from Wednesday on.

Middle Sister, as my nephew dubbed her, Karen came up for the day Thursday.

She brought her husband and two youngest kids. Her two oldest had other plans and decided to stay in the Nashville area with their girlfriends dad. We missed them, especially as I look back on the family photo and miss the tallest kid 6"1"! 

With both my sisters in the house AND Steve's brother-in-law and two of his three kids, along with several mother-in-laws, we were a large and loud group. The best part was the fact that the women outnumbered the men for once. Love it!

Thanksgiving dinner was lovely and we all behaved once we sat down to eat. 

After a short "break" to digest our dinner, we dove into a rousing game of Cranium, or more appropriately named... "yell at the top of your lungs". Literally, the windows were rattling. 

 

If you have never played Cranium, it is a game of knowledge, creativity, charade-like performance and words. If you would like the experience that we had I suggest you gather ALL of the most competitive and obnoxious people you know, give them several bottles of wine to drink, have them talk a lot of trash, pair them up with the unlikeliest alliances, then tell them to be quiet because the little kids are in bed. 

Most everyone in my family is very competitive. My baby sister has only recently been able to play games because she hates to lose. I personally have gotten more so the older I get. And, my nephew, who literally is the most competitive person I know, seems to bring it out in me even more. So, it is a bit of an understatement to say that it got ugly. 

Everyone was talking  major trash, beginning with our team names and going all the way to victory dances being pranced rather enthusiastically after each round.

(Although, to my great embarrassment, I am the only one who dropped the F-bomb.

Major fail...especially when my niece busted me for " Saying a curse word REALLY LOUD!")

 

  We were really excited to play, especially since all the "kids" are now actually old enough to play. Our children now range in age from 21 to 6, and all but the two smallest and one teen observer played.

  

We all took turns acting out people, places and things, drawing with our eyes closed and guessing at random trivia. 

 Intense is the not the right word for this experience, especially since we had an unusually high number of  "Club Cranium " cards when everyone had to play at once. Arguments and louder yelling ensued. Also, the 100th Club Cranium of the evening was the last straw for me, hence the now infamous uttering.

 After one spilled drink, many rounds of arguing over who was cheating and who was cheated, lots and lots of talking over each other, and much laughter we finally finished hours later after one major declaration of this being the worst game and biggest group of cry babies. EVER.

It was.The best game. Ever. 

Of course, I can say that because, my team won.

Go Team Cuddly Wolverines!!!!

Dirt: The group photo

In case you haven't noticed...

It is still November.

It is still the month in which we Americans give thanks for what we have received and for what we have in our lives. We had a lovely Thanksgiving, full of laughter and fancy dishes.

Grandmother's 20th anniversary china and mother's crystal

I am savoring the 300 plus photos I took over the Thanksgiving weekend.

I want it to last. At least longer than the turkey dinner did.

The hours and days I spent cleaning, shopping and cooking that culminated in just about 15 minutes of a meal on the actual day.  Sigh.

We had a minor speed bump in our plan to have dinner at 1pm. The original turkeys got too warm when defrosting, so we threw them out and started over.

Everyone was notified that it would be moved back 2-4 hours and it worked out great. We had snacks and lots of visiting and laughter to carry us through.  I was really happy to have most of both sides of our family together and everyone seemed to hit it off.

I am thankful for those calves

Bro-in-law and his mom

Middle sister and my mother-in-law

We had a speech given by a very eloquent speaker, who encouraged us to count our blessings before we sat down to a wonderful meal.

Amazing child

While we were waiting for the turkey to smoke, I went out on a limb and gathered everyone for a group photo. Something I wish we had been doing every year since Steve and I have been together. I had someone ask me for photos recently and I was sad to find out that even though I take the most in my family, I don't really have any good "groups". Steve and I have joined that adult group called "Adults without grandparents". The lack of photos from the holidays we celebrated with them is such a travesty as we were both extremely close to our grandparents.
So, while I can't get that back, I can create new photos for my children and my siblings children.
 

One thing to know about my family, we have a lot of women in it. 

A lot of smart and head strong women.

 So there were a lot of directions given to get everyone where they needed to be for the photo.

Negotiations began

No problem with self awarness

So, as of this year, as the official photographer of the family, I have decreed. We are taking the "damn" photo every time we get together. Mine are not as in focus as I wish they were, but they at least capture the "us" of 2012.

Including the dogs. 

Poor baby

Dirt: The priviledge is mine

I have been in a panic for a week.

Trying to figure it all out.

How will we I get it all done. How can I get my house clean, fun planned, food prepped and ready and still work, feed my family and chauffeur my kids around.

The cooking and the cleaning. The planning and the prepping.

Normally, I am a planning fool, ready the hit the road, plans in hand, cooking started on Sunday. Normally, I relish a party or gathering, especially if it involves my family, ALL of my family.

This year, I am paralyzed. How will I get it done? Why am I doing it, to start with?

So I have been complaining to all and any who will listen.

Thankfully, it was a good friend, my mother in law and my sister  to whom I complained about my horrible lot. The friend reminded me graciously, that I am just like everyone else. (Thanks,Cindy!) Everyone else who is lucky enough to have family that speaks to them or is close enough to come to visit. Silently reminding me that I am lucky to have a wonderful family. WHAM!

Then, my awesome mother-in-law, whom I don't thank enough for what she does to keep me sane, offered to make not one but THREE dishes. She is an amazing cook and I am thrilled and humbled  to have her help me feed the crowd. BOOM!

Last, my younger sister put things in perspective for me. She reminded me that no one cares if I have dust and bathrooms that may or may not also be drinking fountains for dogs. She reminded me that we  will all start laughing and having fun. She also reminded me that it is okay that I don't know how to process the feelings I have about my mother's death. That it's normal that I am sad and can't get out of my own sad way.  SMOOTH! 

I am truly a stubborn woman. I ask  God weekly for help in handling the funk that I can't seem to escape, never actually putting a name to that funk.  And, as I told my kids on the way to school this morning, God speaks in a whisper. A soft whisper of a  patient  friend, a helpful and generous mother-in-law, and a confirming sister. 

I will be utterly exhausted come Sunday night, but I will have had my soul fed and my family around me, which is really all I long for anyway. The panic will have subsided and I will be back to normal.

Thank you, God for whispering to me.

Dirt: Friday's Fact...people are weird

Halloween is here.

 

 

My kids are right in the middle of too old and still wanting to celebrate.

We are not a haunted house family. 

But, in my town, it is a huge industry.

Never got the whole " Let's go be scared ON PURPOSE" thing.

But apparently a lot of people like it. Since the 1990's

 it has become a major industry in the United States. 

Weird.

So, as my Friday fun fact, I am sharing the Nightmare's Fear Factory's photos of people being scared. On purpose. For money. 

Weird.

 

 

MORE

My favorite is the group of Jewish kids. The boy in the middle looks like a trip.

Enjoy and Happy Halloween!

Gratituesday: We are family...I got all my sisters with me...

Had a lovely holiday season.

My extended family (sisters, brother, parents and 10 kids) all travel together every other year. This is a tradition we started 6 years ago in an effort to have a holiday where no one bears all the burden of entertaining and no one's house gets trashed. (Did I mention we have 10 kids???). My parents the last two years have given us kids a week at the beach for Christmas. Excellent gift, if I do say so.

So, we go to the beach for the week between Christmas and New Years. It is warmish and we spend a lot of time eating, playing games, watching movies, playing on the beach and generally having fun. We haul our stockings and (this year) a tree down with us for ChristmasNewYear. It's a high holiday for our family.

adults get stockings... made by yours truly

All the kids get to hang an ornament

Our kids are stair steps and they love getting together for cousin time. 

literally...steps

Rarely is there a fallout, but when it does happen, it usually is quick and done. They spend a lot of time digging on the beach. Which I always love about my kids in particular and any kids in general. Any kid who will dig and play in the sand is all right in my book.

some kids are older than others...

how deep?

connecting the ocean to the beach

Hershey kiss?

kid yoga

again...older kids

The adults really enjoy hanging out as we are spread over three states and even those of us that live "close" rarely see each other due to kid schedules, work and life in general. So, we all cook, eat, play games and laugh. We laugh a lot. My brother found a winery in Panama City and the siblings, plus the two spouses who were around all went. We hoped to relive our February winery visit. This one was not quite as special, but it did not disappoint. They probably thought we were "special" as we were cackling reading all the magnets they had for sale, such as "Jesus loves you. But I am his favorite" 

Good times, strange muscadine wine and Florida sensibilities made for a fun hour and a half.

Winery AND store 

We also watched several movies...

Played endless hands of Rummy...

 

 Learned card tricks ...

Put together two puzzles...

rummy and puzzles

And basically terrorized Seaside by showing up en masse to shop or eat or hear a band.

There were 14 of us in this store

and we did this...

and a lot of this

this was later...

Amazingly, we made it home with all our shoes, kids and lots of fun memories. My sisters and sister-in-law and I all laughed and made fun of each other in the way that only someone who loves you can. 

I got all my sisters with me!

Seriously?

I mean...seriously?

And my parents got to bond with the kids as a group. Which really, can be slightly intimidating, but they seemed to jump right in...

Overall, our souls and bodies were fed. We bonded and created inside jokes and texts. We saw a great sunset every night and had a lot of laughs to carry us into the new year. For my hilarious and loyal family, all those crazy kids and my supportive and generous parents, I am truly grateful.

Happy new year...

there are no words

Did we get all our shoes?