Randon is as Random does:

So the other day I bought the cutest shirt. I love it, I get strange looks but I think it really suits my personality....

Now that being said, I'm sitting here typing this wearing a yellow shirt of mine that I adore even though yellow makes me look like a bird flu victim on crack...but I love it. Let's revisit a Utah memory to see it in "person"....

"Country Girls Get Dirty Too" it's my 4x4-ing shirt. And in Utah it was constantly raising eyebrows which is probably why I wore it so often. Cause speaking of random, this shirt came to mind when a friend told me she was attending a women's show in Utah that was showing women of Utah how to dress appropriately. Hmmmm, appropriately...... yeah we know... cleavage is illegal....got it. Lived it for 3 years so this is probably why my current bathing suit looks like I stepped out of 1930. I really want to smack myself upside the head for that one.

And another reason why this photo from last summer is dated....I cut all my hair off after moving to Texas at Christmas. Rv-ing with really long hair was just not easy. That said, I can officially say that after my surgery late last year, I needed a couple big changes.....which is exactly what they say don't do after a life changing event, but pooh pooh on them, I thrive on change. Hence rv and short hair. Now you and I probaby see short hair as something completely different than me. I'm talking right below the shoulders....I bet your thinking tinkerbell........so, stop that. And thanks to Texas humidity, after letting it airdry I look like I tripped over something and stuck my head in a light socket, girl has got some tall, full, curly hair these days....geez.......but my straightener trips the breaker everytime so I'm all natural around here these days. I ain't winning no beauty pagents peeps.

Now, where was I going with this? Hmmmm, I forgot.

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*Comes with Warning Labels*

I should come with a few warning labels. You know like that bottle of pills. Instead of those beauties, I've been thinking of what my "labels" should be and since I'm attempting to curb my potty mouth let's see how to word these appropriately:

WARNING:

- highly allergic to stupid people
- irritable before noon, speak at your risk
- is not couthe: will argue politics, religion, and gas matters at dinner settings
- has no uterus but still capable of PMS
- is not short just fun sized but will still throw a tall girl fit
- has short temper, will throat punch without warning
- is Southern so when she says "bless your heart" in a sugary voice it means "eat sh*t and die"
- drives like she stole it

Did I miss any?

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Another "Look" From the Man

So Dave constantly tells me I'm too naive and that I need to be more aware of my surroundings. This from the guy who is more than happy to run me through burglar simulations". Nothing says I love you like teaching you the best home defensive positions in the middle of the night. So yesterday came another moment in my life where he stood with his hands on his hips, lips pursed, worry wrinkles on the forehead and just shook his head, this = the look. To be honest, I don't get this look alot but I hate getting this look.

Sigh. So I ran by Sonic before we got home to grab some drinks and some sonic bags of ice when it happened. Broad daylight, decent neighborhood...I pull in lower my window and push the button. Since Murphy was along, Princess had her rear window down half way cause he likes to do the "hanging out the window with my beard blowing in the breeze" thing. A youngish man suddenly appeared at that back window and got this far "Do you have a couple dol....ARGH" before Murphy had to be dragged back through the open window cause he was trying to eat this guy. The guy wanted money and was approaching a car full of women. Turns out he had no clue that the car also held 20 lbs of "not my family" people hater Murphy. Turns out my little "snottie" dog is bred to be protective and I'm so glad he is.

But when I was explaining to Dave why there was a tiny extra steak on the grill last night, for Murphy, the hero....I got the look.

So today I promise, once again, to be more aware of my surroundings. I really need to start thinking like a cop, suspcious of everyone and everything. I tend to think more like a CareBear, all glitter, clouds, and songs. There's gotta be a happy medium.

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Good Grief

Well it's been an interesting life surviving four months in an rv. Since we are super strict with our kids over what they watch (hey, they can be teen agers when they are actually teen agers so till then nothing PG13 or over for them) that means that since we all share the same 32 inch tv that there is nothing I can watch that they won't also watch.

So thank you Lord for the internet. And earphones, and my laptop....

The Good Wife: go Alicia, can't believe it took so long to say those two little words!
Nurse Jackie: disappointed, gonna stop watching the same as I did with United States of Tara
Big Bang Theory: hysterical, plus it lets me get my geek on
Modern Family: asner city...love it!

So what shows am I missing that are awesome and I won't have to spend three months on episode catch up?

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Naughty Me

Okay, I just made it worse. Not only did I break my Christian music only streak....I just set up a playlist dedicated to "My Boys" cause honestly I heart heart heart me some Springsteen (even though he be a big ole democratic) and Segar....cause honestly who doesn't love them some of the boys?

So if you saw me taking trash to the bins at 0700 this morning in my pjs with my ipod on....yep I was dancing and jamming my way across the parking lot. And if you were wondering why I had a whole lot of hip action going while cleaning out my car....yep ipod jamming. And nothing makes me feel like a rebel than singing along and dancing to music only I can hear.

So yeah I'm naughty. And I'm pretty sure Dave has figured it out as I came to bed with my ipod on and was humming along to Fire in the dark. He poked my shoulder and held up a finger to his lips........pretty sure that means "shut up or I'll beat you with my pillow cause I'm sleeping here you freak".

I can lose my phone and I take on the "it'll turn up one day" attitude, I can lose my keys and simply dig out my spare. I can misplace or lose alot of things but my ipod. I totally lost it recently and freaked out. Dave knew there would no sleeping for me as I continued to dig through everything over and over so he graciously and sweetly handed me his as he doesn't us it much. That man is a saint. In his honor, "Like a Rock" was my first song in the playlist. Cause that song is totally my guy.

So if that is his song, I wonder what my song is........hmmmmm...a facebook question for sure

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I Dream of Bathrooms

What do you dream of? I dream about bathrooms. Big shiny bathrooms with crome fixtures, a very deep tub, gorgeous sinks with hot water that rolls out plenty and plenty of hot water. I have taken complete advantage of the never ending hot water of my past........cause we get 6 gallons at a time. It's freaking tough. But I get to snuggle to my guy every night now so that really makes up for the lack of hot water. But I miss hot water. I now compose ditty songs to hot water in my head.

For our 11 year anniversary, Dave drug me (okay okay, I begged and he said yes) to Vegas. I don't travel alot, or I didn't so I don't have hotel preferences. I did book travel for VIPs for many years so I know what hotels appeal to those guys but when it came time to book a hotel for Vegas all bets were off. So I did priceline for a good hotel on the strip.

Oh baby, Planet Hollywood was amazing. The food was good, the gaming was okay if that is something you like, the bed was comfy, the room theme was Pulp Fiction which was fun. But the bathroom: oh sweet baby jesus..........the bathroom....I climbed in the sunken tub fully dressed and stayed in the dry tub until Dave drug me out for dinner. I probably spent most of our four days in Vegas getting pruny in that tub.

So see bathrooms are super important to me. And although my rv has a tiny little bathroom, the thought of a big ole bathroom is the only thing tempting me back to a normal life. So the solution the best I can tell, is to plan the girls and I a field trip that requires an overnight at a hotel....chosen on the size of the bathroom alone.

It's amazing that as we have spent 4 months on the road, we actually talking about doing this till next summer. Our goal is to have Princess back in regular (Christian) school by 7th grade. So since it's unlikey to get a tub in an rv, I'm gonna have to step up my long distance field trips.

I'm just saying.

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Homeschooling: ?

So we homeschool. Yep, we b freaks of nature who people stare at when I parade into Wally World with my peeps at 10 am on a weekday morning....but we like it. I'm surprised to say this. I like homeschooling. (waiting to see if a bus runs me over...nope, I'm good)

The one thing I've noticed is how different homeschool is from public school. The whole outcome is completely different. The whole curriculum feels different. Starting out in the middle of the year (Christmas time) when we embarked on our "following my oil field guy around the US, although we've been in Tejas this entire time so far" journey, I thought it safe to start with a set. I spent quite a bit and purchased full grade appropriate book sets from A Beka for my kids. We started at the beginning for review and have quickly moved to where they are learning new things. Now, having 4 months under my belt I have realized what is working and what is not. So I'm "interviewing" new curriculum, I'll be purchasing piece meal from different companies now. Reading with A Beka is great, Math is okay, History and Science is not enough, there is no Art to speak of. So we're branching out and getting more comfortable with ourselves.

The other difference I've noticed. My kids' vocabulary. They talk using bigger and more educated words. I always pause when my first grader uses a big word in the correct context. Such as telling the dog that "you've lost your car privileges buddy!" Or asking when her next "vaccinations" were, when she used to say shots. My oldest is big on checking out bibliographies from the library, today she was intent on telling me all about how Clara Barton founded the Red Cross and why. I love the confidence that comes with this type of schooling.

However, I'm quickly learning that for all my lesson plans, we're becoming a relaxed homeschooling family. M-S we have school sometime during the day, mixed in with errands such as laundry, groceries, appts, and field trips. We average about 4 to 5 hours a day of schooling but sometimes we are at it still when daddy comes home at 8 pm. Crazy but it is working for us. There are days when I call school altogether, if daddy has an unexpected day off or if someone is sick, but frankly my kids are rocking. They are holding great grades while dealing with much harder school work than they had in public Utah schools. The math levels alone are a grade or two higher than they have been doing but it's so worth it.

Today, Princess wrote a book review on Sunshine Country, did a spelling test on medical terms, worked on fractions, and did read/think comprehensions. Duchess worked on cursive writing, a math review, phonics, reading aloud in her science book, a lesson on baby animals, and is now writing a summary in her own words about baby animals. I can't tell you how much I love seeing them learn at their own pace and gain confidence from that.

It's not perfect though. I often feel like a ringmaster. No kid is dying to start school each day so it's a juggling act. Princess is going through her pre-teen daydreaming stage where I feel like I spend most of my day refocusing her attention but frankly I'm glad that it's my job to do this, I'm glad that I'm their teacher.

That being said, Duchess just misspelt her last name so I should get back to work. She swears it was just a sloppy letter but frankly it looks completely wrong. See, I'm telling it how it is around here. A circus.


** on a side note: found some amazing supplimental and/or homeschool sites to help:
Spelling: Spelling City - free
Notebookingpages.com - free writing sheets for primary or regular school work
zoodles - fun 1st grade math games
edhelper.com - 19.99 a YEAR and it has all the school work you could ever dream of

will add more as I come across the gems

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Double Jeopardy

You know you can't be tried for the same crime in the same jurisdiction after an aquittial or mistrial...the courts basically get one shot at you. Lucky crinimals, Dave got two shots at me. He drug, um took us hiking again yesterday after church. My poor legs are like rocks right now and my arms are noodles and there is an insect bite on the back of my neck that is starting to look like the growth of my second evil head. It was so much fun.

I can totally see his point. We got up and ran our errands. Dropped off all our dirty clothes for the laundry lady and then made it to church on time. After church we did up Kohls for mommy some hiking shorts so I didn't have a repeat of the sweaty jeans jiggle. It was at Kohls that I actually had some mommy time. We split with him and the girls heading off. I tried on about a million pairs of shorts (being so short I buy my shorts in the teen department which means elbowing through giggling fashion divas and trying to find something my butt didn't hang out of, seriously what is it with girl fashions lately.....letting our kids put it all on display) and after doing all that trying on finally settled on a fab pair of camo shorts and a pair of nylon shorts. I get to the register pay for my poop and set out the truck hoping they hadn't lost patience with me. I had my speech prepared about the million pairs of shorts I had to weed through.

Except they weren't in the truck, they were inside. I ran inside to meet them and came up on the thunderstorm face that is my husband when he is seriously pissed. Both of my children had the guilty look, as if they'd just boosted some tvs from their local electronic store. There is such a thing as mentally girding your loins, and yep that is just what I did. I mentally prepared myself for what was to come, cause it had to be good.

And was it. Seems my husband wanted to try on some t-shirts (cause I'd pointed out earlier that he seemed to wear the same 5 all the time, ignoring the rest of his tshirts cause he didn't really care for them - yep all my fault). He'd gathered some up and then took them to the dressing room where he'd asked the girls to wait on the bench outside the dressing room door for him. As in the bench still in the department store but right outside the dressing room where he could still hear them. It would have been easy cheasy...right. Well before actually going in, he walked over to look at one last shirt and when he turned back, our sweet baby girls were playing cowboy and horse, with Duchess riding Princess piggy back through the mens dressing room. The same mens dressing room that naked men were changing in. Oh brother where art thou? What a mess.

My sweet babies are grounded for a week from tv and frankly they deserve it. We're big on doing what your parents say and so when they out and out disobey like that.....it's gonna hurt. So no Dancing with the Stars, no Survivor...........they are out of luck. Not to mention the lecture on the way you treat a men's dressing room just like a men's bathroom.......off limits.

I was exhausted and ready to nap at this point. But no, we grabbed laundry and put it away then strapped on our new hiking shoes and hit the trail.

This time we took a 2 mile dead end trail. So 4 miles all together. Which wouldn't have hurt so bad if my knee hadn't started aching at the first 1/2 mile, but I sucked it up and went with it. This trail was NOT my favorite. It was wide and sandy which means my feet sunk with every step. I didn't complain constantly like I wanted to, Duchess was doing a fine job of it, but man I wanted to. At our turn around point, we opened our bag to dig out snacks and I was so freaking excited. I had packed a cliff bar I liked and when I opened it, was covered in those tiny little ants we get in the trailer. Damn ants found a way into my sealed cliff bars. I hate ants and it's a constant battle to stay ahead of them in the rv. I was not a happy camper.

Which is why the entire way home, Dave sang cadence songs to the kids to keep our spirits high. Even more hysterical, he tried to rephrase them all so they'd be clean appropriate versions, I have never laughed so much in my entire life. The man just makes my day.

So with my swollen knee, stiff ankles, rock hard thighs and noodle arms I managed to eek out my papers for school by midnight. I'm thoroughly exhausted. And the kids want to go swimming today. I think after school, mommy is taking a big FAT nap.

I have earned it---double jeopardy

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The Griswalds take to Hiking

So we spent all day on a hiking adventure. Before we even left the house I dropped the poker case (shiny steel) on my foot and did the hop around and punching the wall thing to which Duchess drops her shoes, runs to get a bandaid and is chasing me around in my hopping circle trying to put it on my boo boo. Dave announces that he found the circus and we were worth the entrance price. Turd. Then we all got new hiking shoes and after lunch at Jason's Deli where I had a REAL TUNA SANDWICH on their new yummy, awesome gluten free bread, I damn near cried. I forced myself to eat the entire thing after giving everyone a bite. It was huge and good. So good the manager stopped by to ask if it was okay cause I was sniffling and trying not to cry and I begged for a loaf. Turns out all the "test kitchens" got 2 weeks worth of GF breads and it was only a week into it and they were all almost sold out! So he said tuesday he'd have a loaf to spare when the truck came in. Apparently there are alot of peple like me. I heart Jason's.

Then it was into the woods with Murph-ster. We started (Dave's idea, he was ringmaster of this circus) with a 2 mile path. Me and Duchess in jeans rolled up, Dave and Princess in khaki's. We were covered in sweat by mile 1 and Murphy had gone from "pee tree happy crazy" walking to merely leading at a trot. Then mile 2 saw us dragging Murphy and Duchess. After we stopped for them to snack, where Dave realized that he'd eatten the only snack that didn't have wheat in it, we hit the bathrooms at the ranger station and headed on for another path. The next one about killed me. A "fitness" path, whoever thought of this is an evil person who really needs to be run over with my car. Every 1/4 of a mile there was a workout station (stretching posts, push up bars, pull up bars, sit up stations, etc) where Dave and the kids were all pumped about trying out etc. Man the 7 bottles of water I'd drank up till then hit and I wound up doing the peepee dance for 2 miles. I was not a happy camper. Too many people on the paths to pee in the woods and my peeps stopping constantly to "fitness". Finally we get back to the truck, hit the ranger station for me to pee....where I had to PEEL my jean capris from my body cause of the sweat! Nasty right? It was only in the mid-70's too. Crazy sweat I did.

Then Dave went to water Murphy and realized that I'd drank 7 of the 9 bottles of water he'd brought. What? My hands were swelling so I needed the water, duh. Besides he was wearing the backpack, can't believe he didn't count them as he was handing them over. So we stopped for Murphy some water, as Dave is in the store buying more water, Murphy empties the contents of his stomach into the backseat of Dave's truck. Little man was clearly not up to such a hike. Spoiled dog.

I'm pretty sure I was snoring and drooling in the front seat off and on the way home too.

But we finally got home and showered where I promptly about died from hunger, remember they ate my snack. I ate like a trucker for dinner then promptly fell into a coma. I'm exhausted....but after church we're doing it again. I think there is something wrong with us.

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Rain Rain

make up your mind, either rain or not....the sprinkle sprinkle stuff is driving me insane....

taking the kids out rollerblading, which means it'll probably come a flood when we are about a mile from our "house"

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Silly Sentences

Part of Duchess's spelling work each week is one day where she uses her words in silly sentences. It aimed at helping her learn her words while getting better at putting together sentence structures. It's also hysterical where her brain goes: this week....

1. I will pray to God. (pray)

2. The ship went running on the grass. (ship)

3. Mother will serve dinner at 6 oclock. (Mother, serve)

4. The goat will not eat snow. (snow)

5. I want a horse but we live in an rv. (horse)

Oh dear.......that last sentence is scary.

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Wow...Google

Just realized when glancing through my visit stats that somehow I'm getting google popped. Just about every post is pulling some random stranger from google. And my perserve nature must to this now:

baby gator ate truck houston texas rv roadtrip from hell life with my kids 24/7 how to survive a long marriage why rednecks are still alive do republicans go to hell where is my mother do mardi gras beads all taste the same can you get a virus from the gulf water why does the canadian flag fly lower at my rv park than the american flag why do old people get up at 4 am to take all the hot water at the rv park when they have NO where to be why does continental breakfast equal sucks

Okay so there are some random thoughts for some google happy person to lead them like a breadtrail back to my blog where they'll read this and their head will pop off.

I'm amused and going to bed now.

Hugs!

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Opps

Well I broke my all Christian music streak this morning, not even thinking I logged in to watch Glee and then put the new songs on my ipod and rocked out while doing my morning run with the kids. Dang I just really love music!!!!!!!!!!!! So I'm having a major guilt trip this morning over really enjoying that.

In other news, I got my kids up and decided today was the perfect day to start our morning runs. I technically can't run due to my knees but what do doctors know? So I wog, which is walk a lot, jog a little. Princess has this jogging thing down, she jogs ahead and walks back to me, jogs ahead...you get the idea...but Duchess.......OMGosh........urgh. This kid HATES to exercise and whines and drags behind and gets all red faced and flat out gives up during our jog. So we'll now be doing this every morning because this is not cool. We all need the exercise so in addition to our park play time and our softball playing and our swimming we'll be adding the morning wog.

Another totally random thought........my kids have always had nicknames. I gave them their blog royal monikers in the hopes of trying to keep their identify a secret. Really, who wants to google themselves at school and see this stuff. But at home, being that they both have older, Victorian names, I find myself nicknaming them various things. Dave doesn't help, his nickname for our youngest is now the primary name her Pappy calls her, I hold they shake this habit by high school. But after the Harry Potter thing hit our house years ago I began calling them Fred and George after the naughty Weasley twins. It's seemed to fit, trust me. And now, they'll totally correct me in public quoting movie lines when I mess it up....

"Mom, I'm Fred.. Seriously woman you can't even tell your own son apart"

Stuff like that. Except this morning on the jog I told George to pick it up and get a move on it and an old lady walking by tells her husband, "what an unfortunate name for a girl".

Gasp! About wet my pants over that one.........

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Yes!

Last night we sold our other rv. Cause it's a little redneck to have not one rv but two rvs. So I feel a whole lot better about life with that done. It was the original rv that Dave bought and lived in before the fam joined him. It was his "good enough for me but not my family" rv, and last week we finally got around to making the time to list it and we sold to the second person who called about it.

Cause the first person was a typical craigslist conartist. If you've sold on craigslist than you know what I mean.....the sob story, the low ball offer, the "can I wire money to your bank account to hold it for me till I can look at it" person. Trouble for them is that Dave turns all, and I do mean ALL calls over to me which means I'm a research queen and after googling the number I needed no more information. I did the whole, yep it's a rough economy, nope we can't go any lower and we take cash in person only, and by the by, you should change your cell before running your next scheme cause it's popping on google like butter corn!

So we are once again, a single rv family.

Speaking of rv, I've realized that the best time to clean my "house" is in a rain storm, yep....old timers get out with their water hose and "wash" the windows, screens and roof during the storms. Kinda makes sense.......kinda.

We've hit the bank, we hit the library, post office, laundry mat and finally oh finally Hobby Lobby so we can attempt to make our own hair accessories....work with me here, this is gonna be interesting. Last homemade project was for Duchess' school project in which I superglued feathers to my hands and it took THREE days for it to all come off. Nothing says sexy like picking dried glue and feathers off your hands at various places: church, grocery store, car at the red light......fun times.

Okay, off to finish school

Update: Yep, managed to superglue two fingers together, sweet.........but hairbows are in progress

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Are you wondering what we've been up 2?

We've went on science field trips learning all about populations and the use of statistics in just about everything.

We've studied Ancient Times, going over Egypt and then taking a field trip to see a real dead mummy.

We took a playday in Houston, leaving Murphy at the doggie daycare after which he needed his own Rt 44 ice water.

We went to Narnia after reading the book together. Took forever to get Narnia "snow" out of my hair.

We took in the sites of Houston, realizing that we DO NOT MISS urban living. And parking a jacked up F250 in a parking garage is a feat of amazing strength.

We studied reptiles and then went to visit a gator farm where we got a private tour and learned 90% more than I ever wanted to know about alligators and crocs. So proud of the intelligent questions my kids' asked.

We feed the gators, safely from a distance.

We went to the Gulf of Mexico and took over a whole area of the beach for us and Murphy.

I love how amazingly close my kids have become during this "trip of a lifetime"

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Oh the Blessings Just Pile Up

My goal this year is to become a prayer warrior. That is what I want most for my family and friends, to be able to pray for them and bring good things to each one through prayer. That said, prayer can not be the only weapon in your fight against the world. I'm coming to realize that giving is just as important. And boy do I know that people get funny where money is concerned but lately I've noticed something amazing happens whenever I faithfully give: the blessings just pile up.

Oh I haven't won the lottery and I didn't stumble upon a bag of money. But peeps, the Lord provides more than enough for our needs. Going from a two income family to a one income family, well that's amazing to me that we have more than we need.

But this past week, we didn't get a paycheck as Dave was previously in crane school for a week to get his national license. So I left my purse in the car at church as I knew that we didn't get paid or therefore there was no tithing this week. However, church was an amazing feast this week! And when it was time to giving, I felt the urge to run to my car and amazingly enough I did. I left Dave with no word and took off running out the back of the balcony, through the kids services, down the stairs, around the back to my car where I grabbed my purse and headed back. I made it back red faced and gasping for breath which Dave thought was hysterical. And I told him that I hadn't planned on giving as we didn't get a check this week but I felt like we needed to anyway. He said okay and I told him instead of tithing we should give to another fund or even the love gift funds. He was onboard and we swiftly filled out of check and lifted it up for prayer. I felt so much better and than promptly forgot about it.

Work with me, I'm heading somewhere.

So yesterday Carmax called and said the warranty work on Dave's truck was done. Rusted through oil pan on a new truck sucks but we got the truck from North Carolina by the ocean so shouldn't be surprised. So we picked Dave up at 4 and heading into Houston, almost a 2 hour drive. Now this wouldn't be too bad except my car was having issues, so only Dave could drive it.

You see, the driver seat wouldn't move forward after Dave pushed his setting so he could drive it. We have two programed settings. His = lost of leg room and Mine = not a lot of leg room. The seat was stuck in Dave drive mode. So for me to drive it, I had to drive with pillows behind me, reclining back like a ghetto driver so I could reach the pedal...barely seeing over the dashboard.

So off to Houston we go. We finally get there and get his truck. Pay our deductable....and we leave. Dave and Duchess in my car and Me driving with Princess in the truck. We were excellerating onto the freeway during rush traffic when it happened. Something blew on the truck, gun shot blew.......big loud scared me to death blew. So I eased it over on the barely existant shoulder of the onramp. And watched and my car went bye bye....busy watching traffic, Dave hadn't noticed that I'd pulled over.

Needless to say, we got safely out of traffic, reversing carefully along the side until we had extra shoulder room. I almost shot the tow truck driver who appeared out of nowhere at my window but thank goodness for Houston's freeway policy of having tow trucks out during rush hours. Dave made the quickest loop around coming back to me with superman speed. We get the girls carefully bundled in my car and I get my "recline" on and drive my car with him driving the truck behind me back to the dealer. The dealer which was closed. So we had to leave it outside. Dave was furious and more furious I believe cause it happened when me and the kiddo in the truck.

Turns out a hose or two blew off the turbo, the same system they had just repaired. So it's fixed according to a phone call earlier, but we are now negotiating with them to bring the truck to us rather than us go back to them!

And in the midst of all of that, a coworker of Dave's sent me to a small town mechanic for my seat this morning. Where a grouchy old lady at the main desk told me to get comfy cause they were booked solid. 30 minutes later, I was told "fixed, no charge" seems the coworker used to work there and had called a favor in with the owner. Yeah us, I can drive like a normal person again.

The points here I making: that extra and above gift of giving has already repaid itself this week in vehicle problems/solutions ALONE! The truck broke down on the onramp rather than in full out traffic where we could have been hit or injured....the cost is minimal all the way around....

So many blessings! I'm def learning that prayer and giving work together!

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Merry Go Round of Llife

I love the ride we're on.....ups and downs, this life is truly what you make of it. I am so thankful for the stage my life is in right now. I love my 30's. I learned from the lessons of youth, I have become comfortable with "me" and frankly I like myself. Although I tell myself all the time that I need to do something about those eyebrows all the time!

Times aren't always roses. There are times when I get cabin fever living in such a small space. There are times when I go outside and do meditation to get over aggravation. There are times that the sheer amount of errands drive me nutso crazy.

But strangely enough I don't miss my house. In fact, I don't even think of it as my house since my renter is proving to be quite responsible and awesome. The kids and I have taken to saying stuff like, "when we settle..." meaning when we get another house, we need this. I love that they are embracing this decision as much as Dave and I are.

Being around so many bigger cities, Beaumont, Houston (mega-city) has me realizing that I'm not missing urban living at all. This surprises me somewhat, cause I totally adored living in San Diego, Tulsa, and Chicago. But lately it's the wide open spaces that are calling me. I casually mentioned the other day to Dave that I'd be interesting in buying some acerage somewhere to eventually build on and the man gave me the biggest sweep off my feet ever. I think at some point we all return to our roots. I want my kids to know the joys of growing up in small small town area. But we'll see.

But for now, I'm gonna enjoy the merry go round of my life.......

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Rustic

I'm feeling quite like a old timey pioneer woman lately. It could be the very limited contact with anyone not in my immediate family, or the spider I killed off my neck, or the cabin-ish feel of our rv....who knows.

Thank goodness for my friends who actually know and use my cell number. They are my sanity checks during my day. Shout out time: Mom, Mae, Case, Nic, and Mary...you keep me going! You guys listen to my Griswald experiences, understand my strange humor and keep me posted on big events, cause really there was a big earthquake in Cali on Easter weekend?

I like our rv, it's small and contained but cooking is a challenge. I seriously need to measure my kitchen so I can share the exact measurements with you but take my word on the fact that it's small. Smaller by quite a bit than my first apartment kitchen! The bathroom is so small that I regular get claustrophobic and bust out panting. We are looking to get a larger rv with more living space but honestly it can wait. We have other priorities right now. But I can totally get the whole prairie house thing. I have everything put away just so.......in it's own little place. We don't buy things we don't need cause we don't have the space. We use our storage to keep exercise mats, rollerblades, and etc to keep us active but honestly I feel like I'm missing something.....like I should have chickens or goats.......or something.....

I really like this though, it's like we've been "pulled" out of the world for awhile. It's good. No more rat race, no work dramas, no trying to do and have it all.......life is good.

I totally get why my buddy raises goats now......

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mommy's boy...

So this morning was a late one for my homeschoolers, since Dave is wrapping up his assignment here in Beaumont he is working 16 hour days. Poor guy, so I let the pe-pods stay up till he gets home to spend a few minutes with their daddy. Late night...

But as they are up and moving about, Princess doing study hall, which is my affectionate term for "you have an hour to get homework and projects like your book reports done" and Duchess wrapped in a quilt staring at the wall, sleeping with her eyes open, Murphy is all over in the mix. He and Princess wrestle every morning, which is hysterical cause it always ends with my 20 lb "snottie" dog yelping cause he is mad at her, running to my lap and wanting "kisses". He tattles on her, it's the cutest thing and I can set my clock by it every morning.

For someone who is NOT a dog person, this little momma's boy has me completely wrapped around his finger. I even scoot over at night so he can sleep next to me on the edge of the bed leaving me snuggly stuck between Dave, who sleeps all over and Murphy, who has to lay his head on me with his body all stretched out. I get very little bed room.........it must be love.

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The Music In Me:

My life is like one big musical. I blame West Side Story and Grease for setting my life to music. Both were seen at an early age when I was learning that I had to keep everything on the inside because the outside had to meet expectations. So I bottled and I bottled well. So music was my outlet. It wsn't until I burst free from expectations and became "me" that I realized how much music meant to me.

So I go through stages. Hard rock, classical, christian, oldies, punk, alternative, country...you name it, I go through it each year. But since I'm trying to let the Lord run my life I'm working on listening to more appropriate music, so far oldies and Christian music are the only things that meet those requirements.

However, today I met a brand new genre. My kids are truly the music in me. I'm so very proud of them and their accomplishments. In a world focused on getting ahead and the "me" factor, Dave and I wanted to raise our girls to think of others first. So we have incorporated a service factor into their homeschooling. Since we travel alot we have to look for areas where we can serve others in a short term capacity. Luckily here in this area, we found a nursing home where my kids go one morning a week to paint nails, give hand manicures and color with those residents in line. Watching them interacting with seniors in this long term facility makes my heart soars.

Duchess coloring with her "friends" while Princess and I paint nails. The way they wake up and are sooooooo ready to go, getting dressed ahead of time. The way they run to the front door when we get there. The way we drop our stuff and they head off in opposite directions to gather up their favorites, who await them in their rooms cause they love having the kids come hunt them down and driving them to the activity room. They know their names. It makes my heart sing to see them put themselves out there for others. And when we leave this area and move on, they'll do so knowing that they helped out in some very small little way.

So very proud of my babies

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This Is What I Sing in the Shower:

My life has changed so much in the past 3 months. We have now been traveling with Dave's job, and Dave for 3 months. And I love the way my life has changed so much in that short time. I have absolutely no "me" time but it's okay. I have an amazing insight into my girls and I have never been so stress-free and happy. Even if I do sing along to things like the above in the shower. Our tv time is seriously limited since we refuse to allow our kids to watch anything PG-13 or above. There will be time enough to grow up in the future, for now, I want them to be carefree happy kids. Hence my life as narrated by Veggie Tales. My kids came to VT kinda late but it's their absolute favorite now. Princess even stopped in the middle of a history test to tell me that the answer to one of the questions was in a VT movie we own. :)

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What R U Leaving Behind?

I had to remind myself that this is MY blog hence I get to say what I want, cause frankly.... I am not a fan of President Obama, I'm not a fan of his big ole happy health plan. And since I'm sure I'll now incur a file with the FBI, please be sure to spell my name correct, cause it's a toughy!

Parts are long needed things: insurance for those with pre-existing conditions....long overdue for EVERYONE. But most of the rest, oh boy......

That said, I've always been really open about being a Republican, mainly because I'm very free in my opinions as most people know. I try to live my life by a few simple principles, one of that being: don't give my opinion unless its asked for. That simple little thing has really matured me over the years.

But I gotta say this:

In my opinion, we are breeching new territory and not in a good way. I really dread the rest of this presidency.

I am just one little American, born and raised with expectations of a free country. Today when teaching my kid the different types of government, she totally didn't get that we were a republic.

I will never be famous. Good. I will never make millions. Good.

But I always want to be free, and frankly I always want that for my kids. Less government, please!

Cause otherwise what will we leave our kids to inherit?

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Languages

We all speak different "languages". Seriously if you think about it each person has a unique way of communicating. Last night during a very long chat with a good friend of mine (who is always the one I call on long road drives as it's our catch up time, cause we can't seem to talk for 20 minutes, nope we be the 2 hour peeps) it occured to me that I speak "guy".

Me - guy speak: let me explain

Me - I'll call you back (click)
Guy speak - not today but sometime this week, cause I get preoccupied

Me - that looks fine
Guy speak - there is no way I'm telling you that it doesn't fit all that well unless you are truly wanting to know and noone ever does, if you say "really, tell the truth"

Me - I'll get to it
Guy speak - when I have nothing else to do

Dave - minimalist speak

Dave - Love you
MS - you are my world

Dave - yep
MS - I totally agree with you, or absolutely you should do that

Dave - (click)
MS - bye, have a great day, or see you later, or ok, talk at you soon

Dave - hmmmm
MS - I am commenting on that extremely long and weird story you just told cause I honestly have no opinion on what you said....... or I don't agree with that and I have completely different views or you are a jackass and I'm done with this conversation

A girl I worked with once: airhead speak

Her - I don't have it ready yet
AS - I'm too busy blogging

Her - I don't know
AS - I'm too busy doing my party planning to look it up

Her - (dumb look)
AS - why do people think I know this........

My previous boss: military speak

Him: Get it done
MS: Or I'll kill you

Him: There's no coffee
MS: Someone is gonna die

Him: My office now
MS: Someone is fixing to die, NOW

Him: Speak
MS: I better like the answer or you will die

So......I'm trying to figure out what language my kids speak? So far, I'm learning they quote movies like their dad in response to my questions way too often and they laugh alot too. I'm thinking....they must have developed their own language. Little stinkers.

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Personality

One of the things I enjoy most about homeschooling my kids is the freedom it gives me to oversee their curriculm. I have found little ways to tweek what they are learning and when they are learning it to suit it best to my kids for instance: Duchess is now doing 2nd grade math in the 1st grade as it's the challenge she needs and MOMMY IT'S FUN! Princess had a month of straight math review as her Utah curriculm was behind in what the A Beka curriculm considered 5th grade math.

However, here is another one of those proud mommy moments for me. Princess has been a poor speller for ages. Honestly she gets it from me as I stink at spelling. Hello spell check! However, the A Beka curriculm is meant to teach our kids a lesson while educating them.

Case in point: Princess' spelling words for last week, the subject was Personalities: The Traits you want to Possess

Energetic
Optimistic
Generous
Trustworthy
Serious
Humorous
Individuality
Faithful
Dependable
Honorable
Diligent
Reliable
Humility
Joel (book of the bible)

Honestly, would I see this spelling list in a public school?

I have never yet.

I'm so thankful that the Lord led us to homeschool my kids. They aren't the only ones learning so very much.

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Taco Hell......

The third day after eating some wheat, I'm a miserable bloated grumpy bastard-ess.

And it's the third day after the kids begged for a quick lunch at Taco Hell....

I'm sucking big ole nasty .... stuff.

Oh my lord am I so regretting eating those corn tacos, there was some contamination in there!

And this is why I'm totally not even tempted to knowingly eat wheat.

Gluten is the devil.

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