Photo Hunters

This weeks theme is I Love ____ (fill in the blank).

This was both an easy one and a hard one for me to decide on. There are so many things that I love. I love my family of course. I love coffee, which makes dealing with the youngest members of the family easier first thing in the morning. I love ice cream. So you see that was my problem, to many things to pick and chose from. But then I was reminded about how fast my kids seem to be growing up before my eyes. And so I decided that what I really love is being there for some of the milestones that we parents get to enjoy. Here are two that are just from this week alone.

The first time they learn to ride a bike without training wheels.


The first pre-school presentation that your child is in.



Hope you enjoyed my take on this weeks theme.

For other views on this week's theme visit TNCHICK.com or PhotoHunt

Best Turkey Ever

Tomorrow is the big turkey lunch that my son's school has to celebrate Thanksgiving. When Z. realized this he got so excited and declared that it was the best turkey ever.

Now me being me, I had to question him. How can he possibly think this since he eats my turkey every year also. Doesn't he know the turkey they serve him in the school cafeteria is probably some kind of compressed processed meat. Quite unlike anything we have on our Thanksgiving table. But Z. being firm in his declaration of his school turkey, says mom it is the best turkey ever. It's juicier. What! My nine year old has suddenly developed a sophisticated palette and says my turkey is not as juicy as the cafeteria variety.

What else can I do but throw up my hands. So I remind him how one day when he fondly remembers his mama's turkey he will suddenly realize how much he is mistaken. But for the time being I think I do know who has the best turkey ever. It's me, and he is asleep in bed now dreaming of his turkey lunch tomorrow. And just for the record my turkey is juicier.

I'm Five and I play Basketball

That is the new greeting you get from Hoss nowadays. He will tell anyone who appears to have a pulse and has even eyed the fence post lately.

He told the man at the grocery store, he told the lady at the register. He ran up to the fireman and paused just long enough to say "Hi Fireman" before he launches into his I'm Five and I play Basketball. He tells anybody who will listen.

This is because he has his very first basketball practice tomorrow night. It's his first time playing team sports. He has always been a spectator at all of his big brother Z.'s games. Now he realizes that it's going to be all about him. And in a family with four kids, lets face it...that's big time. We get to take him to practice and we all get to go watch him play his games. He is so excited that he can hardly stand it. He has been practising for over a week now at home and feels ready to go make lots of baskets at practice tomorrow night. That's pretty big stuff if your five.

Might as well be homeschooling

I've noticed a trend with my fourth grader lately. He goes off to school for eight hours a day. He comes home and he and I will work on various homework assignments for at least another hour and sometimes even two. All so he can do well on his TAKS test in the spring. I am doing so much proofreading and editing of his writing that it feels like I am in the fourth grade also.

So when I stop to think that my son is essentially doing school work for a total of ten hours a day, I often think homeschoolers have it right. They can spend what I hear is on average about four hours of true school work in the morning and the rest of the day is filled with other activities. Then I realize this is me we are talking about. There is no way I could ever be a homeschooling mom. I don't see myself as having the patience to deal with all that it truly would it entail. So where does that leave me...I guess back in the fourth grade doing a bunch of editing.

Worldess Wednesday

Two Tongues are Better than one!

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Fall Into Reading- Sailing to Capri

I just finished reading Sailing to Capri by Elizabeth Adler and thought I would review it for the Fall into Reading over at Caddapiller Days. This was an impulse by at the store the other day. I was looking for a quick and easy read and this one totally fit the bill.

The story is about how a wealthy English tycoon dies mysteriously but leaves a list of six people who could have had something to do with his murder. He has hired a P.I., Harry Montana, to investigate it along with his dear friend and assistant Daisy Kean. They are instructed to get the six people on board a luxurious yacht and go on a cruise off the coast of Italy. There they will waiting for the real killer to make himself known somehow. Along the way both Harry and Daisy start to fall for each other. The real killer is naturally found out at the end and it proves to be quite the surprise.

While this is what I consider to be more of a light and easy read, I enjoyed it. The romance part of it didn't get so detailed as to make you think it was actually a true romance. But at the same time the mystery/suspense details didn't get so detailed that you were afraid to stop reading. It was a good combination for both. If your looking for a relaxing book with lots of great details for you to imagine the lavish lifestyle, then this would be a great choice.

Circus Time

Hubs and I took the kids to the Shriner Circus last night. We packed the kids into the van and left for our forty-five minute drive of torture to Ft. Worth. Four kids in the van that long, knowing they are going to the circus, well I think my husband and I deserve medals for having patience on that drive. They were bouncing off the windows to say the least. But, I must admit we big kids were pretty excited about it also.

So we get to the venue an hour before it starts. Where we find out it's open seating. So now we are faced with the dilemma of do we continue on our original plan and go grab a bite to eat before the circus at a restaurant. Or do we go get super good seats and let the kids play on the bounce houses, pony rides, etc. and spend a million dollars on bad food. So for once in my life, I was wishing we could go to MacDonald's at the very least. But the kids begged and pleaded (which honestly didn't take much convincing for dad) and went inside to spend way to much money. I must say we were warned however. The old man in the ticket box told my husband flat out, "Oh, there is all kinds of crap in there for you to spend your money on." And I must say, he was right.

We spent forty dollars on 3 boxes of popcorn, 3 cokes, 2 orders of nachos and 2 day old "fresh pretzels". Oh how I was missing MacDonald's about now. But we did get great seats and the kids got to go down and bounce on the bounce houses and ride some of the rides. We were also lucky enough to spend way to much money on cotton candy and plastic light up toys.

But the circus itself was great. The acts were a lot of fun for the kids and us. I truly don't know what people are thinking when I see some of the stunts that they do. The clowns were cute and did a great job making the kids laugh. It wasn't the big Barnum and Bailey Circus I had seen before, but I thought it was actually a bit better than that one. And to top it all off, they stuck someone into the human cannonball and shot him out of it. The kids really liked that. And they keep going back and forth about what was their favorite act. So they enjoyed themselves and so did mom and dad. It was a great family night out, even with the day old "fresh pretzels".