Summer's Coming: Fragments de Friday Free for All

~ Whew, am I glad it's FRIDAY!  This week at work kicked my behind.

~ A friend posted this on his Facebook wall last week, and I found it SO inspiring:

"They can't kill your dreams, so they assassinate your character. Remember, those you don't love you can't hurt you. It feels good to be surrounded by loving friends and family. Everyone isn't so fortunate. #Grateful" 

My dreams will NOT be killed!

~ My girls only have three more days of school left.  I am very much looking forward to summer!  Although, I am slightly in denial that Shelbie will be a SENIOR next year.

~ Is it any wonder that I think my son, Tim,  is the coolest kid guy ever?  How many 20 year old guys do you know who have tea parties with one-year-olds?

I love their expressions.  =)

~ From the "Ya can't make this crap up" files:
I got this email the other day that I just had to share with you all.  I didn't respond at first, so she even re-sent it to follow up.  Can they possibly be serious?

"Cyndy,
We write articles for KennyMyers.com. I came across your site, and thought your readers might be interested in a new article that we wrote. It's called “10 FAMOUS LAWYERS NAMED KEN YOU MAY DEBATE”, and you can find it here:http://www.kennymyers.com/blah/10-famous-lawyers-named-ken-you-may-debate/. If it is something you find interesting and think your readers would as well, you can possibly consider mentioning it on your site. Please let me know if you have any questions. Thank you for your time and I hope you enjoy the article." 


 ....They didn't even offer compensation for this weirdness.
After the follow up email, I replied very simply.

~ The other day my Mom posted a couple of pictures on Facebook from our wedding "reception" party and I wanted to share them with y'all.

Sigh....I adore him.

Such good memories.

Cake Smash!
I love him like a Fat Mama loves wedding cake.
I still love him just as much as I did on our wedding day!
Which was 2.5 months ago.
Hee hee!

~ Check these out ....

On Sunday I am making my first blackberry cobbler of the season.
We are LOADED with blackberries 'round here!  YUM!

Alrighty, my friends!   

Keep calm and Frag On, 
and have a fantastic weekend!

P.S. Those of you who have had some problems with seeing my photos,
could you please let me know if you can see these?
There are 5 photos total, not including the Frag & Free for All Buttons.
Thanks!

End-of-Summer Fragments

Friday is here - time for fraggin'!!

~ Today the little kids meet their new teachers. (Shelbie is in high school; she got her schedule in the mail.) Elayna is SO excited! Andrew is at his Grandma's, and not a big fan of school, so I doubt he is quite as thrilled. LOL

~ School starts Monday. I can't quite believe it. I'm not ready for the early mornings and early bedtimes; we have kept a very different, night-owl schedule all summer and I'm much more suited for that.

~ I have a pretty fun weekend ahead. Tonight I'm going out for karaoke with my BFF Danielle, and on Saturday they are having a huge birthday party for her grandmother, and John and I will be attending. And bringing my world-famous potato salad.

~ They are already selling candy corn and those yummy pumpkins at Walgreens. I love them, and I love fall, but wow....already??

~ I have decided to start a new meme/carnival/whateveryouwanttocallitthingy.

I'm going to call it "DysFUNctional MOMents", and I'm going to share the Dysfunctional Mom Moments that I've had during the past week, and invite y'all to join in! What do you think? I'm going to give it a test run on Tuesday, so if you already have a Dysfunctional MOMent to share (and you know you do!), get it ready! You can post it on your blog and link up, and I'll also have guest bloggers here sharing their DysFUNctional MOMents.

Like that time your daughter was crying that her thumb hurt but you thought she was just being a drama queen and then you took her to the ER the next day and it was actually broken.

Oh wait, that was me.

Okay, like that time you took your son's lizard outside so it could get some sun but you forgot about it all day and it sort of.....baked. To death.

Oh wait, that was me, too.

Okay, enough of my your DysFUNctional MOMents, let's save the rest for Tuesday!

I'm sure you have all heard about the tragedy that happened at the Sugarland Concert at the Indiana State Fair last week. I'm a huge Sugarland fan and wanted to share one of their songs today. It's hard to choose just one; I love almost every song they've ever recorded, but this is one of my favorites. My prayers are with all of those affected by the tragedy.

It's Friday and I am Totally Fragged!

I have lots of fragments for you today!

This whole "job" thing is totally interfering with my sleep! Zzzz.....

I'm exhausted!

Elayna said something hilarious last night. We were watching Family Feud, which is not always exactly "family-friendly". They asked, "What is something you do to get your spouse in the mood?" and one of the contestants yelled "Liquor!" Then it appeared on the board: LIQUOR and Elayna said "Ooohhh, I thought he said LICK HER."

....and I died.

Elayna and I had some one on one time Thursday night. We went to dinner and a movie. We saw Winnie the Pooh, and other than the time when I blinked for about 20 minutes....it was very cute. We had a good time.

My son Tim is now officially enrolled in college. He will start in the fall. He also had an interview on Thursday for a job that will be in his planned career field and will help him towards his goals. I'm so excited for him, and proud of him.

Do your kids (or you) watch Good Luck Charlie? The little girl who plays Charlie may just be the cutest child I've ever seen in my entire life.





When I was about 7 or 8 years old, I had a very good friend who moved to Arizona. We were really close, I have wonderful memories of spending time with her family, and I was so sad when they moved away. We wrote letters for a little while, and our parents exchanged Christmas cards for years.
Last night, I found her on Facebook. I.LOVE.FACEBOOK.




There will be big changes at my youngest kids' school next year. Their principal is retiring after 20 years. It was a sudden decision. I've heard very good things about his replacement though. Also, many of the teachers are switching grades, including the teacher that Elayna SO badly wanted next year. But I'm not worried, it's a great school and I know the kids will be Okay. We ran into Elayna's 4th grade teacher today and she had such great things to say about Elayna. I just soaked it all up! Love it!



Alright, if you have a teenage or preteen daughter and haven't heard this song yet....you just have to hear this!

And as always, don't forget to check out

Half Past Kissin Time for more Friday Fragments posts!

And have a fantastic weekend.

Sundays in My Home-Away-from-Home City

We made a quick trip to St Augustine this weekend, and I played tourist so that I could share a few pictures of this beautiful town with you.

This is the city gate, which is rumored to be haunted by the ghost of a little girl. They say the police frequently get calls around 2 - 3 a.m. by alarmed passersby, who say they saw a little girl playing by the city gate all alone in the middle of the night.

This just makes the kid in me giggle.

St. Augustine is the oldest continuously occupied European-established city in the United States. It is rich in history (and ghost stories). It also boasts the Oldest Wood School House in the USA.

In our county, all fourth graders make a field trip to St Augustine and visit, among other things, the Oldest School House.

The school house and this sign made me think of my teacher bloggy friends, like Mrs 4444s.

This sign briefly explains the history of the earliest St Augustine settlers.
(click to see it full-size)

I hope you enjoyed the peek into St Augustine,
and I hope you had a wonderful Sunday in YOUR city!
Visit Unknown Mami for more Sundays in my City posts.

It's that time of year...

Time for the Back to School photo spread!

I had a roller coaster weekend. Some crappy stuff happened, some really good stuff happened.
I'm choosing to focus on the GOOD STUFF!
The rest of it can kiss my butt!
The kids met their teachers on Friday. We love Elayna's teacher; we're a little unsure about Andrew's teacher but we're thinking positive. We helped Shelbie find all of her classes at her freshman orientation.
We had a pretty relaxed weekend, with 3 extra kids over at various times throughout the weekend.
Then, Monday was the big day. My son, Tim, who is a senior this year, drove himself and Shelbie to school. My co-workers helped me out so that I could leave work early and walk in with the small fries, who started fourth grade.

(click to see 'em bigger)

Tim, texting his girlfriend, no doubt.

Shelbie, wearing her new school's colors.

Andrew & Elayna

Elayna's cool shoes

Layna at her desk

Andrew & John, waiting to go into school

This was the first year of the Uniform Requirements, and I thought all of the kids looked really good. I also found shopping very easy with the uniform requirements. So, no complaints here, so far.

They all had great first days, and I'm kind of glad to get back into the routine!
Tomorrow, the Small Fries will ride the bus home for the first time ever. They're excited but a little nervous. I made them little bus-shaped cards with the bus number on it, because they were worried about forgetting which bus to get on. They loved them! Please cross your fingers that my children make it home on the school bus tomorrow. LOL!

Hope y'all are having a good week.
Did your kids go back to school yet?

Summer's Winding Down....

My kids go back to school on Monday. Today is meet the teacher day! Elayna had a fantastic teacher last year, and I really hope she gets another one just as good. Andrew's teacher last year......well, let's just say I hope he gets a great one this year! ;o)


This year, Andrew and Elayna are going into the fourth grade.
My daughter Shelbie is going to be a freshman in high school, and my son Tim will be a senior in high school. I can hardly believe it! Two kids in high school, and one about to graduate. I know it's said all the time, but...where DOES the time go??


Daily life will be changing dramatically as of today. The summer is over, so the girls will be home all the time now except for every other weekend, when they go to their dads.
Andrew will be coming home Saturday from spending the entire summer with his grandmother. (being spoiled rotten!)
Tim will be with me a little less now, though. During the school year, he is with me from Thursday - Monday, every other week, and is with his dad the rest of the time.
So, more of all of the kids except Tim. And he's so busy with work & anyway!
Did I mention he's a SENIOR? Gah!

Thank you all so much for your comments on my last post. I have been wanting to write about my feelings about Tim's color blindness for a while now. It felt so good to write about it, and then to get your kind comments was even better. Just another reminder of why I love blogging so much!

I am so ready for fall! I've loved summer, but fall is my favorite season and I can't wait for it. Cooler temps, fires in the fireplace, Halloween, and of course....the Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Lattes. LOL

Alright, that's all my brain will allow me to remember today.
Have a great weekend & visit Mrs 4444s for more Fraggin'.

Goals, 2009 & 2010 Edition

I know that I have talked about my goals here in the past. I've reached many of them in the last few years. And for the most part, I'm very content with where I'm at in life.
I work in the field that I have always wanted to work in. I enjoy my job. But I have always wanted to take it further and go to nursing school. I have narrowed down the fields I'm interested in. I even went so far as to enroll this past fall.
But it all comes down to priorities. I work full time. Once I actually start Nursing School, my wonderful employer will allow me to work part time, while continuing to pay me part time. Awesome deal. However, I have prerequisites to complete before I can start Nursing School. And that's the big stumbling block. While I'm completing those courses, I would have to work full time.
It's not that I can't handle juggling work and school; I've done that before. It's not about me. It's about my family.
John would support me 100%, I have no doubt of that. But the issue I have is, my family needs me. Even though my kids are older, that doesn't mean they don't need me. They just need me in different ways. Even the teenagers need their mother's time and attention, although they may not admit it. My youngest, my baby girl, she's very clingy and demanding of my time. She is so happy that I no longer go to work at 7pm two nights per week. I can't imagine telling her that I'm going to be gone in the evenings again, maybe even more often than before. Andrew, my stepson, he has special needs. Extra time and attention is required for him.
Don't get me wrong, for those of you who juggle all of this - full time work, school, and family - and do it well, you have my utmost respect. I'm not knocking anyone.
One day, this will work out for me. I truly believe that I have a calling, and when the time is right, it will happen. But right now, I have to put my family's needs first. Nursing school will always be a goal on the horizon. It won't go anywhere.
So for this New Year, my goal is just to nurture my family, and provide them with what they need. And sometimes....that's me.

Monday Mish-Mash (I just made that up. heh)

It's the Weekend Wrap-Up, Meat-Free/Meatless Monday, Back to School post!
Wheeeee!



Weekend Wrap-Up~~
We went camping this weekend at a Springs located in a State Park. We really enjoyed ourselves. We saw turtles, fish, and deer up close & personal.
The highlight: Elayna saw shooting stars for the first time ever. This place is way out in the woods and you can see so many stars, it's truly amazing. We laid on the dock and watched the sky on Saturday night after dinner. She saw four shooting stars. She was thrilled!
The low-light: I had about 10 years taken off of my life on Saturday afternoon. I won't say the name of the backwoods hillbilly redneck town, we'll just call it ScaryLand. We went to the Super Walmart at ScaryLand to pick up a few things for our cook-out. We've been there before and it never fails to shock and disgust. We've seen people who literally look like they just walked out of a freak show, people whose parents HAVE to be brother and sister, and a man in the women's bathroom. So needless to say, we're cautious about going there. Halfway there, I turn around and look at Elayna, and realize she's wearing nothing but her swimsuit. Fantastic! A cute young girl in a swimsuit at the Super WalMart of ScaryLand. It's too late to turn around. So, we're rushing around, grabbing the things we need, and I turn around and don't see Elayna ANYWHERE. I said, "Where's Layna?" and STILL she did not appear. I swear my heart jumped into my throat. I just knew that a ScaryMan from ScaryLand had stolen my bathing-suit-clad baby. Thank GOD, she was just behind John the entire time! My heart still hasn't quite returned to its normal rate.





Meatless/Meat-Free Monday:
Did you remember to try a day without meat? Tonight we're having bean & cheese burritos with sour cream and salsa, and corn on the side. And, it's day 17 Meat-Free for me!




Back to School:
Today, I had two 3rd graders, one 8th grader, and one 11th grader start school. Old lady say WHAT? I swear I just blinked and this just happened! Don't.Blink. Shockingly, Miss Queen of Organization didn't remember to get fresh batteries for the real camera. *eyeroll* So I present to you, crappy cell phone Back to School pics!

Shelbie...13 going on 21. *gulp*

Andrew, a little nervous!

Elayna, with crazy eyes...(excuse the vacuum cord)

I have the coolest, Rocker Chick 3rd grader in the whole school. I LOVE her style!

my 3rd graders =)

(Tim was back with his Dad so I have no 11th grader pictures! But I talked to him and he had a good first day.)

ONE MORE THING!
Please pray For Ezra tomorrow.

How was your weekend?
Have a great week!