lately

It's been awhile since I've done a "lately" post, so excuse the photo dump!

SidMo and her new "sunnies"

Minnie Pearl, Buddy Bob & Rudie - looking like prisoners!

Who is this big kid and where's my little baby Sidney?

RJ approves of the windows down!

Sidney & her Pops

Endless sea of fishing stuff

Cutest baby kittens EVER!

Karate Sid

RJ's first boat ride!

Again with the fishing stuff

Getting a picture of the two of them together is getting near impossible!

Unless I catch them off-guard!

Our family of four according to the four-year-old

Sweetest smiley-est baby ever

Rhealen spotted her sister! 

Those eyes, that curl. 

Sidney's two most favorite boys in the world

Again with the eyes and curl. You're killing me, Rhealen Jo! 

Lake time

Trying to beat the heat! 

Flashback Friday

I haven't been swimming at the lake in almost two years, which by my standards (and love for the lake), is INSANE. I totally plan on rectifying that situation this weekend.

It's Memorial Day - go outside, play with your kids, eat lots of good food, spend time being lazy, have a campfire, put the kids to bed, drink a little, stay up late, sleep in and do it all over again. The kick-off for summer 2012 is here, baby! Y'all enjoy those three days! 

Because I F@%$!&G Love Movies!

A few months ago, I saw a post by Adam, also known as Avitable, or as I like to to call him The Guy Who Gets Real Creative With His Balls Around the Holidays. Anyway, I saw this post about movies and I was inspired. Isn't that the way it always goes?

He saw a post somewhere else, then he did his own thing.

I saw his post somewhere else, now I'm doing my own thing.

Get it?

So without further ado, here are some reasons I love movies. (Clicking on the link will take you either to a video clip or the movie's IMDB info - if you'd like to be creative and guess which movie is which, leave me a comment below. And be sure to let me know if you do a similar post on your own site!)

Because you can die, too, for all I care.

Because it's not a space shuttle launch, it's sex.

Because I'm merely remarking upon the paradox of asking a masked man who he is.

Because  if you tell anyone about this, especially your brothers, I'll beat the shit out of you.

Because face it, girls, I'm older and I have more insurance. 

Because I'd like to get my hands on her "ample nacelles," if you pardon the engineering parlance...

Because I tell the swamp donkey to sock it before I give her a trunky in the tradesman's entrance and have her lick me yarbles!

Because you're a virgin who can't drive.

Because I never miss. 

Because this is my happy face. 

Because I could shoot you in the middle of Mardi Gras, and they couldn't touch me. 

Because I am sick to death of this whole center of the universe, holier than thou, nothing is ever enough. Oh, how I've suffered, nobody understands me. Somebody fix me a drink and hand me a Nebutol, worn out Scarlett O'Hara... thang!

Because there's nothing wrong with my face! I got character!

Because this is a house of learned doctors.

Because I'm not Josie Grossie anymore!

Because this is one doodle that can be un-did, Homeskillet.

Because a mental mind-fuck can be nice.

Because it's called a lance, hello!

Because he's gonna be very popular.

Because God, I just wish I could get it back.

Because I'm not afraid to hurt your feelings.

Because that's my boat.

Because it's not everyday you find a girl who'll flash someone to get you out of detention.

Because why don't you make like a tree and get the fuck outta here.

Because last week he wanted to marry her; now he wants to have her committed.

Because cragged salt like a sailor's stubble! Flip the switch and let the cauldron bubble!

Because I'm a cross-dressing homosexual pacifist with a spot on my lung.


This post was a lot of fun (and months in the making) so expect some more down the road! 

These Kids (A Journey into Free-Writing)

There's these kids, and they're my kids. And they run around wild and crazy and free. There's not a lot of material surrounding them, but instead love and light. Are these their memories? Will they remember piles of bodies in the floor laughing or racing trips around the house? Will they remember the weekly get-togethers and the playdates and the little things?

My kids are young and so much is ahead, but I look at them and feel my heart swell. They've got so much going for them, so much love and friendship in their future. There's deep history rooted beneath them, generations of traditions and stories to hear and share. They've got labels across their foreheads, but they are so much more than that already. They are bred of the mountains, raised by a mother with an ocean for a heart, a father with the strength of a lion. They have parents and grand-parents, great grand-parents and cousins, uncles and aunts, friends. They have fields to run in and creeks to cross. There is so much life bubbling up out their little bodies.

My mind races to the future, looking for ways to spread their stories around. I want them to be a part of this area, this history; a part of these people. I want them to feel loved and hopeful, bound by the family they belong to but free of our past mistakes. I want them to have honor, pride, civility. I want them to get scarred kneecaps and dirty toes, spend hours outside exploring and look to the stars in amazement. I want this fairy-filled existence for them rooted in the "here and now". I want it all, all for them.

My kids, these kids, so much in them I want to help them find, to know themselves better than they know anyone. To feel bonded as sisters, woven from the same cloth and torn from my heart in two pieces. I have love for them, hope for them. I hold them in my heart, covered by the shield of "mother" and protected from the darkness. I edge them towards the light, pushing them to spread their wings.

They are so young yet. I have days and years but minutes left. Many hours will pass before they leave me and still they are already gone. They started leaving me the moment they began to breathe in this world, pink bodies finally separated from mine. Each day has been has been a step to that moment. The moment they are grown and gone, independent from my heart but always in my soul.

I want so much, have so many dreams for them. If they could but see in my head and heart, they'd have a world unto themselves made perfect by my desires. These kids, my kids. My girls, my little women, my warriors. My babies among babies, the sun rises and sets in their blue eyes. This life has so much to see and give, even if they only stand still. Even if they never leave. They will find home here always, home within themselves, home always in one another.

--


This is what free-writing looks like; rough at the start but tied together in the end. Incoherent thoughts trying to be coherent on paper. I highly recommend free-writing as a way to clear your mind and say what's on your heart. It's not the easiest thing, but the results will surprise you. 

Flashback Friday

Before volleyball or basketball or football games, we all used to pile up and go eat at the Red Stone. I would always order the grilled chicken sandwich with bacon, mayo and lettuce only and tator tots. Cassie would always get a cheeseburger steak and fries; she'd always leave one bite of her steak left, which Dobby couldn't help but always eat, no matter how full she was.

I miss the "old" Red Stone. I miss high school (this part about high school, not the whole school part, mind you) - and I miss those grilled chicken sandwiches.

Ah, memories.