Thank You (Memorial Day Tribute)

To all those who have served or are serving...

Image Credit

Image Credit

Image Credit

Thank You.

She Was Wrong

This was absolutely the last time
I would be stuck
In a car
With my mom
Driving drunk
But I was 14
What power did I have?
When she picked me up
After school
The stench of stale beer
Filled her black monte carlo
With rust around the wheel wells

I always knew
She would die
Young
Her drinking
Her partying
Her moods
Sooner or later
Once, I told her
“Mom, I don't know what I would do if anything ever happened to you.”
She said, “Oh don’t worry, nothing is ever going to happen to me.”
Six months later
She was gone
She was wrong

Author's note: For those of you who don't know, my mom died in a one-car accident when I was 14. I miss her a lot and loved her very much, imperfections and all.

The prompt at the Red Dress Club was to start with the words, "This was absolutely the last time" and end with "She was wrong."

The inspiration for the photo came from here.

My Baby is THREE!

How did this happen?
It seems like just yesterday, my water-birth born baby boy
was placed in my arms.
And now, he's...

THREE!

Since my hubby is an avid bike rider, what else would he give his son for his third birthday...

a bike! 

He already had a Strider balance bike, but since he was tearing up the neighborhood (and the lawn) we knew it was time for a pedal bike. Just look at that smile!

Cubbie said he wanted a Curious George cake...

A monkey for my little monkey!

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Hold On For The Ride!

Link up at Mrs. 4444

1. Friday, DH has the orientation for his RN program that starts in August. AUGUST! Can you believe that!?! No, I can't. My hubby, Chiropractor for 12 years, is going back to school in 3 months! I'm so proud of him, yet nervous too. How will we pay the bills on 1.5 incomes? How will he get any homework done in a house with two rambunctious boys and a demanding wife? What if he has hot looking coeds in class with him? (Kidding on that one...sort of ;-)

2. Sprout's last day of preschool was Thursday. Their spring program is next Tuesday. I can't believe he starts Kindergarten in the fall. KINDERGARTEN! How did that happen?

3. Cubbie turns three this week (B-day post to follow.) THREE! My baby, my tiny little guy is turning three. Where did time go???

4. I'm really excited to volunteer in the infant nursery at church this summer. I use to be a youth leader before we had the boys and I truly enjoyed it. Now, finally, we are at a point where I can start giving back again. And get my baby fix at the same time! 

I guess you can sense a theme here. Lots of changes, everyone getting older and bigger, new challenges, renewed interests. It all just seems to be happening so fast. I guess all I can do is pray for God's guidance and hold on for the ride!

Choking on Your Smoke

Sitting in the back of my dad’s cherry red 1971 Charger

Windows rolled up

My dad and step-mom puff and puff and puff

I want to gag

But they don’t care

“Please, can you crack the window” I plead

Down it goes, half an inch

Until we get on the freeway, then it goes back up

Thirty years later…

Jogging in front of the State Capitol yesterday

Congressman or Senator

I know not

He puffs and puffs and puffs while on his cell phone

I run by, holding my breath

And I want to shove it up his bu—

* * * * *

Author’s note: Sorry, I’m not normally so blunt, but I saw this prompt at the Red Dress Club and just wrote the first thing that came to mind. Just being real.

A Scary Thing Happened at the Park

Last Saturday, we were at the county park. Sprout and Cubbie were running around the large play structure while DH and I watched them. Suddenly, I heard a boy, about 13-14 years old, call out Sprout’s name. Since Sprout’s real name is fairly popular and the park was pretty busy, I figured the boy was calling to a different child. Then, I realized Sprout had gone over near the boy, who was hanging out inside a tunnel with a teenaged girl. Before I got to him, Sprout said something like, “What? You have candy in your car?” I immediately called Sprout over to me and told him to not talk to strangers. Sprout said,

“But he’s not a stranger, he’s a boy.”

I told Sprout that even boys you don’t know are strangers. Just then, DH came over by me. He heard what Sprout had said about candy too. Needless to say, our antennas went up. The rest of the time while the boys played on the playground structure, we stayed right by them. A couple of times, when Sprout would do something like climb the large rope net or traverse the obstacles, I heard the boy say, “Good job, (Sprout’s real name).” Finally, DH had had enough. He went up to the boy and asked where his parents were. The boy said at the campgrounds near by. DH told the boy not to talk to Sprout. DH said the boy just blew him off.

Now, I know I should have been more concerned, especially given my profession, but honestly, I just figured the boy was slightly autistic, so I was giving him the benefit of the doubt. I told DH just to ignore the boy but keep a close eye on Sprout. Cubbie and I headed over to the beach to play in the sand. A short time later, DH came over with Sprout. Suddenly, DH said,

“He spying on us!”

I looked over by the pavilion and sure enough, I saw the boy peaking around the corner of the building. Again, I told DH to ignore him, he was probably autistic. We then headed to the picnic grounds. I took the boys with me while DH headed to the car to get the snacks and drinks I had packed. After sitting at the picnic table for the longest time, I finally walked the boys to the car to see what was taking DH so long. Here, he was on the phone with the park service. After he got off the phone, he said that while I was walking with the boys towards the picnic table, the boy was calling out Sprout’s name, telling him to “come here.” DH said the park service couldn’t do anything, it was a public park.

At this point, we decided to just eat and get out of there. Enough already. As we ate, I saw the boy and his girl friend peaking out at us from inside the men’s bathroom. Once we were done eating, we headed to the car. As I strapped Sprout into his car seat, I saw the boy heading towards us, not taking his eyes off of us as he walked between cars. Finally, he walked right out in the open, went to a part of the play structure that was closest to us, straddled it in what I can only describe as a very cocky manner, crossed his arms, and glared at us.

I had had it. Finally, my cop brain kicked in and I realized one thing…

His actions were intentional. He was stalking my child.

I yelled at DH who was almost to the car to stay with the boys. I walked across the parking lot directly at the boy. I was pissed. He sat there for a moment until I got close enough that I think he could tell I was ticked. He jumped up, ran around the play structure, and yelled for his girl friend. Since he had ran off, I then turned to two parents sitting on a bench, one who was playing on his cell phone, and told them that the boy in the red shirt had told my four year old son he had candy in his car and they might want to keep an eye on the boy. They both immediately jumped up and yelled for their sons, who were playing quite a distance away. We then left the park.

Now, in hindsight, I wish I would have called the sheriff’s office immediately. The park service was wrong. What the boy did constitutes disorderly conduct and borderline harassment.

Why am I telling you this? Because I want YOUR children to be safe. This is an example of how we need to educate our kids that other children can be a danger too. I don’t know what that boy’s intentions were or what would have happened if we weren’t right there with Sprout, but I’m glad we didn’t have to find out.

(Photo credit)

The Best Mother's Day Gift

On Sunday, after church and Subway and Target, we headed home to get ready for my in-laws. Cubbie fell asleep in his car seat and instead of laying him in his bed and getting the house ready for our visitors, I decided to let Cubbie sleep on my chest.

And I'm glad I did. I listened to his little breaths, held him close, and just enjoyed holding my baby boy. 

(DH took this shot with his cell phone. No, I'm not crabby, I was actually dozing off too! ;-)


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Bring on Spring!

Last Sunday, the boys were taking a nap, so I snuck outside once the rain stopped and snapped a few shots.

I was so happy to find at least a little color in my yard. Other than these pink buds, there wasn't a whole lot blooming yet.

But at least it's getting green!

Ok, enough with the April showers, now where's our May flowers??? Or I should say veggies! 


Bring on Spring!

What are YOUR favorite veggies to plant/eat???


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