Query

I totally stole this idea from another blog that I read. I am a complete blog stalker, and I am not afraid to admit it!!

Maybe I should take a deep breath and remember that I got this covered!!

I love that baseball/t-ball season is almost over. Don't get me wrong, it has been so awesome to watch my boys, but in 106 degree heat it is awful!

People would say that I am slightly crazy, and I would say that crazy is SO MUCH MORE FUN than normal.

I don't understand why so many places can be flooding while other places are having devestating wildfires, and we can't figure out a way to get all that water across the country.

When I wake up in the morning I thank God that my husband rises earlier than me. He has gotten up with the boys almost every morning this summer.

I lost some certificates for my students at the end of the year, and I haven't been able to get back into my classroom to find them or print off new ones. NICE!

Life is what you make of it. If you aren't working for it, then don't complain about it not happening!

My past has been seriously rocky at times, but it made me who I am. I try to live with no regrets. Move on, go forward, learn from mistakes (whether mine or others) and dream.

I get annoyed when people don't watch their children. This is really just the elementary teacher coming out in me. I sometimes use my "teacher look" on kids I don't know. I am not ashamed of this either.

Parties are so great, as long as they aren't surprise parties for me. I am not kidding when I say that I do not like surprises. I will walk out of my own party. Do not test me!

I wish I could fly. No, I am not singing that Seal song. It has always been the super power I would love to have.

Dogs are something I want in my family's near future. I just have to win over one person.

Cats are okay, but I just really don't dig them. They kinda freak me out a little bit.

I have a low tolerence for people who make excuses. Not saying I don't ever, but really, I have a job, two kids, a husband who works his butt off, and somehow I find the time to _________. You can fill in the blank with anything like: workout, read, visit with friends, call home, start taking classes for a new degree.

I am totally terrified of spiders. Don't like them, don't need them, don't want to be around them, will scream and climb on furniture if I see them. I will even let my almost 5 year old be brave and kill them for me. H.A.T.E spiders. Snakes are a close second, but I don't run into them as much.

I wonder why I didn't appreciate those high school/college friendships when I had them. I feel really bad that I don't keep in touch with people better.

Never in my life have I been to an auction. I would love to go to one where they were screaming out stuff really fast. I think I would like to go to one of those storage building when they are auctioning off an abondoned one.

High School was pretty good for me. I had friends in different groups, so I don't feel like I was pigeon-holed into one set of friends. I don't think I would go back though.

When I am nervous I sweat like a whore in church. Sorry for the languague, but if you have ever been around me when I get really nervous you know!! I get so hot it is seriously embarassing!

One time at a family gathering I wore a black and white bodysuit (if you don't know what this is, you obviously didn't grow up in the 90's) and black jeans. Not so bad you say? Yea, I wore it at the beach! What was I thinking, and why didn't someone say to me "Hill, you look ri-dic-u-lous!

Take my advice if you think your child isn't ready for Kindergarden, they aren't. If you have any doubt AT ALL about starting your child, please wait a year. I can't tell you how many times I have heard from parents of 5th grade students, "If I had just waited to start him/her."

Making my bed only happens when the cleaning lady comes. It makes me so happy to see it when I get home.

I am almost always thinking about a gazillion things. What mom/teacher isn't?

I am addicted to exclaimation points evidentally!

I want someone to be nice to someone else, who will in turn be nice to someone else, and it will start a chain reaction like that commercial. I try to start the chain every now and then in hopes that it carries on without me knowing.

Our Destin Vacation

Oh my! I guess I didn't really understand how much I missed the beach until we went back! If you don't know, or you aren't a "friend" on FB, we just returned from Destin. It was a wonderful week with a few sad moments.

From early on in my life, summers were spent on the beach. We would pack up as much as we could fit in our maroon mini van and drive from Arkansas to North Carolina. We would meet up with my older brothers and sisters, and we would spend a blissful week in paradise. There were many nights of Jenga. There were also many night spent at the local arcade on the beach (I think it was named Breakers). I think of those summers with love and laughter. I loved all of the time together, and I laugh at the fact that when I grew older I would make "friends". Each year going back, we would see some of the same people. My family would joke, "So Hillary, how old are you this year." It became such a tradition to go to the beach that when I turned into a real adult, summer didn't seem the same without sand and waves.

We tried a couple of years ago to plan a trip to Destin. Obviously BP had a different plan for us. I watched in horror, praying that our beach would be saved from the nastiness while I prayed for the poor souls that lost so much more. We probably could have gone that year, but we decided to head north to St. Louis to be safe. We spent another week in St. Louis last year enjoying all of the sights and museums.

Finally this year it worked out for us. I researched the places trying to find a perfect fit for the 10 of us. We needed a pool (just in case), laundry, and enough places to sleep everyone. We wanted to be on the beach (or at least in short walking distance). Allison picked the place after much research and discussion.

I can't tell you the excitement I felt knowing we would be seeing and smelling the familiar and memory invoking sights and sounds from my childhood. Granted it is a different beach, but same idea. I was so ready to introduce my boys to all of the fun that can be had! I started list making, laying out everything we might need, and planning meals/dinners out WAY TOO EARLY!

Two days before hand I started annoying everyone in the house.

"Hey Boys"
"Yes mom"
"Guess what"
"What Mom"
"We are going to the beach, and we leave tomorrow!!"
This refrain would repeat itself every few hours until they were groaning and laughing at how excited I was!

By Friday morning they were tired of me :). The drive really wasn't that bad, but that probably had to do with the fact that Justin wouldn't let me behind the wheel. What is a girl to do with that much time on her hands you might ask. I read, napped, and generally chilled!

I won't bore you with all of the day to day details. We arrived, we hugged family, we played on the beach, we swam, we ate good seafood, we played.
I woke up earlier than I would normally so I could enjoy the mornings. I took walks when I would normally sit. I took in as much as I could because I really didn't want to miss anything.

We all were really sad when the Archers had to leave early. Due to a family emergency back in Las Vegas, they flew home on Wednesday morning. Those of us that stayed missed them and prayed for safe returns and healing in the difficult days that faced them. It was hard to see them go knowing what they would face when they got home. After they left it was a little quieter around the condo.

The White family (from OKC, but originally from FSM) came down to spend a couple of days with us on the beach. It was fun to watch the kids play together, and they caught LOTS of crabs. They also attempted to build a village of sand castles. The waves were rough, but that didn't keep us from trying our best to get out there and conquer them.

We enjoyed our week. We enjoyed each other, the atmosphere, the food, the place, everything really. We would have enjoyed it more with everyone there, but there is always NEXT YEAR! I really hope I can convince everyone that we need to go back.

What's Happenin', Captain?

You know when you feel like you just want to scream? Or maybe you can relate to times when you really need to escape? I will tell anyone that will listen that I am a BETTER mom because I work. I love my job, and I love my children.  I just really love the fact that I don't stay home with my children! Don't get me wrong, I am excited that I have a couple of months off to relax. I just know that I get along better with little Squishy and big Squishy when I have not seen them for 72 hours straight.

Justin went out of town for the weekend. My FIL has a place on East Lake (which is an oxbow lake--if you don't know what that is we can discuss it later), and it is really nice!! He had a different place, but with the floods of 2011, he had to demolish and start over. He recently purchased a new manufactured home (trailer), and I am seriously impressed with the new digs. We went down for Memorial Day weekend, but I didn't get any pics. Justin went back this past weekend for some quality time with his dad. My man works so hard during the school year with football and track that I understand he needs some time away. I didn't really mind either. I get kind of used to him being busy with coaching, and when things really slow down, we are kind of stepping all over each other.

He left early Friday, and I had already planned a day of swimming at a friend's house. We had about 3 hours of fun in the sun (thankfully I remembered my sunscreen this time), and then home to rest before Russell's late game. I have said before that I love watching my boys play ball, but I don't love the crazy parents!! I have been dug out mom for the past two years, and I was wishing I was still in there Friday night. I felt like screaming, "Come on folks! No one is getting a college scholarship from this game!" It is ironically funny to me that we play in the "church league", but most of these people don't act very church like!

Saturday consisted of hanging out and going to watch Madagascar 3. I think I laughed more than the kids! It was a seriously cute movie--way better than #2. The rest of the day we just vegged out. I was really busy reading a serious novel Fifty Shades of Grey, and I only came up for air to make sure the boys hadn't killed each other. If you haven't read the series I would highly suggest you get the books! I bought the first one on my Nook (greatest invention ever) Friday after the ball game, and I finished the third one today. I read pretty fast, but I also couldn't put them down. So many people had suggested the books that I finally decided to succumb to the peer pressure. I am so glad I did!!

Justin returned on Sunday, and the evening was spent with good friends around the pool. We are gearing up for vacation, and I will definitely be posting pics when we return. Till then, enjoy some of these recent ones.

Don't they look so cute in their ball outfits?! Disregard the date on the pic (obviously).

I took a photography workshop recently that I really enjoyed! This is the product of said workshop.

So what have you been up to? Big summer plans? Prayers that you can come up with activities for your kids?

You might be surprised. . .

I saw this post on another blog that I read, and I thought I would try it out. I am supposed to tell 10 things that people would be surprised to know about me. Most of the people that would read this blog probably already think they know everything about me, so I will reach really deep for these tidbits.

#1  I have my motorcycle license. Yes! I had to get it in my past life for reasons I don't need to go into, but since I had it then (and it is on my driver's license) I will have it forever. The really interesting part about this fact is that I didn't have to drive a motorcycle in order to pass the test. I just had to answer the written portion. That is really scary to me!

#2  If I won the lottery I would want to become a roller coaster enthusiast. That is someone who travels the world and rides the biggest, baddest, most loop-de-loop coasters. I would LOVE to have that title under my name when someone interviewed me!

#3  I can draw just about anything if I have an example in front of me or a picture to go by. Don't ask me to come up with something on my own--not going to happen. This year my students figured out this little piece of info early in the school year. So I decided I would let each of them pick something they would want me to draw, and I drew it on a piece of white paper for the student to have.

#4  I don't like any animal that scurries. Almost everyone knows that I hate spiders and most bugs, but my dislike is spread evenly for all animals that scurry. This could include, but doesn't limit itself to: hamsters, small rodents, really little dogs, lizards, etc. This list is really long. Just know that I don't discriminate to only bugs.

#5  I have a hard time spending money on clothes. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE TO SHOP.  I just can't see dropping a bunch of $$ on clothing. I have gotten better in my older age, and I can see now that buying better quality pieces that last longer is a grown up thing to do. I just hate spending that much in one sitting.

#6  I LOVE to organize. I especially love to organize other people's things. I would love to open my own business where I go into people's houses and help them get rid of things and organize the rest of their stuff. I love when I get everything in it's place, and when everything is nice and neat. It is probably a serious case of OCD, but who cares!

#7  As vibrant and colorful as my personality may be, my house is not. I am a neutral shade kinda girl at home. I like to keep things simple, I don't over decorate, I have a hard time hanging things on the wall, and I don't like things on the table tops.  Part of that goes back to #6, but really, with boys in my house (that throw balls inside), it is just safer to keep things off the tops of tables.

#8  As much as I might complain about the ball field, I secretly love it. Not the heat, or the sun in my eyes, but I love watching my boys play!!

#9  I have always wanted to write a book. I just don't know what I would write it about. I used to think I would write one and tell funny stories about school. Then I thought I would write one about Moms with boys. Then I decided that writing a blog was hard enough!

#10  I am not good at keeping in touch with people. I really hate this about myself. I am seriously bad at sending cards for special occasions. I am glad we have things like Facebook and texting because it makes people like me feel better.

so that wasn't too bad! I hope you learned something, but if you already knew all of this about me, you ROCK! I also probably forgot to send you a birthday card, so happy late birthday!