A picture's worth a thousand words & I'm speechless!

Christmas cards, I know it's not even October yet but we're having our family picture taken professionally this year, which is something we have not done for Christmas cards before, so I need to start preparing for this, like yesterday.

Where should we go?

What should we wear?

What says Florida that's not the beach?

What will scream, "yep that's the T family!" when you look at the picture?

Should the picture be just of the girls or all four of us?

Dogs or no dogs?

The latest craze seems to be open fields with old chairs or benches. We do have the perfect place close by for that. Hmmm, that may work?

Whatever we do I don't want to wear black, white or grey. Seriously, I hadn't realized how often I had used those colors! I was thinking any combination of khaki, chocolate, denim and Tiffany Blue.

What are your thoughts? I need a good idea! I'll be right here, tapping the desk,waiting less than patiently for your stupendous suggestions!

Here are the family pictures we have used the past 6 years {that's all I have digitally}, I usually add a picture of each girl to the card as well.

2004 ~ Florida

2005 ~ Grand Canyon

2006 ~ Utah

2007 ~ Florida

2008 ~ Florida

2009 ~ Wisconsin

What about a more traditional family portrait? Maybe at the house? Geesh, I'm on Christmas card overload already!

I am...

Honey was tasked with writing an I Am Poem at school. She needed to print the poem and mount it on poster board with pictures. I at first thought it was a rather juvenile project for a sophomore in high school but after reading it I no longer feel that way.

This is what she wrote.

I Am<3

I'm from living in a big city to a small homey town,

from the little girl looking for cars to cross the street to being the driver.

I'm from NSYNC to Rascall Flatts, Kindergarten to high school,

I'm from being the baby of the house to having a baby in the house.

Braces to Bombshell, from dressing my American Girl in high heels to wearing them.

From Lizzy McGuire to Jersey Shore.

I'm from Oops I Did It Again (sweet girl Britney) to If You Seek Amy.

I'm from the ice cream man being a sweet old man to a creepy old dude,

where zebra was out and now it's totally in.

I'm from playing "college" to applying to them,

I'm from Lindsey Lohan in Parent Trap to trapped behind bars.

I'm from reading Junie B. Jones to the Twilight series,

I'm from a family who all love each other unconditionally.

I am from those moments snapped before a budded leaf off the family tree.

Wow she really is all grown up isn't she?

Steer Clear

Honey turned 16 in August. She waited abut 10 weeks to get her permit, something she is very sorry she did. She's counting down the next 39 days until she becomes a valid Florida driver. As that date draws closer Babe and I have been looking into ways to save on insurance, adding a teenage driver to your policy is not cheap!

We use State Farm, they offer a program in most states called "Steer Clear". To qualify for the discount you have to watch a video, read and sign a commitment form and complete a 60 hour driving log. Easy enough!

I sat down this afternoon to get everything ready for Honey. While the forms were printing I watched the video. I ugly cried! I have a knot in my stomach and an ache in my heart for what I saw and heard on that video! I no longer want my baby girl to drive. I want to sell her car and rewind time so I can keep her safe!

The statistics of teenage fatalities due to auto accidents is staggering! I drive by crosses on the side of the road and can't help but to think that some Mom is not going to see her daughter in her homecoming dress this weekend. That a Dad will miss his son scoring a touchdown at the homecoming game or not see their child in the marching band. My heart breaks for kids that have to live without their best friends or worse, the guilt of knowing they were the cause of their death!

If you have a child who drives please make them watch this video! If you don't, watch it yourself, just because we're adults doesn't mean we are perfect drivers. We too are capable of becoming distracted while driving. I will be leaving my phone in my purse from now on, no text or email is more important than the safety of the precious cargo I carry every day. "Slow down" was something they said in the video. Most of the accidents showcased could have been avoided had they not been speeding. I am sometimes guilty of driving too fast trying to get from point A to point B and back to point to A on time. From now on I will be doing my best to allow myself enough time to just slow down!

I'm sorry this is so preachy, especially on such a heavy topic, but preparing myself to see my daughter drive off without me is not coming easy!

Not what she had in mind, I'm sure!

I'm pretty sure when Sami over at Symmetry in Motion , came up with the Tootsie Roll as the first candy for her new blog party the first thing that came to her mind was not the same thing that came to mine!

I'll be honest, I don't like Tootsie Rolls. At. All. Actually they almost gag me. I don't like their color, smell, shape and especially their taste. I was however born in 1970 so I have had my fair share of Tootsie Pops. Seriously, what 10 year old back in the day didn't want to find how many licks it took to get the center! I would lick and lick and lick but being the extremely impatient person that I am I would always end up biting the cherry sucker off by lick 12 and throwing that nasty brown goo away.

As a result of my distaste for the Tootsie Roll my girls don't care for them either. It may be because I've never brought them in the house, those and brussel sprouts have never crossed the threshold, but whatever! I always knew when they got a Tootsie Roll when trick or treating. They would turn towards me with a huge sigh, heavy shoulders and trudge back to the sidewalk where I stood waiting, " great another stinking Tootsie Roll". Tootsie Rolls and Popcorn balls, yep those two things got them every time!

Anyway, the first thing that came to mind when Sami announced the Tootsie Roll was the song from 69 Boyz....Let me see your Tootsie Roll, your Toostsie Roll....then I immediately thought of Peanut and her ummm, shall we say unique style of dancing. I told her about this new blog party and asked if she would be willing to help me out. Of course she said yes. Her very protective big sister however wasn't nearly as enthusiastic as we were and was fearful people will think poorly of me us once they viewed the video. I hope you're wrong Honey, I hope you're wrong!

So here is my Symfully Sweet Saturday {yes, I know it's Sunday} project. Sami herself said that this is "Not your everyday candy-a$$ competition" so being true to who I am here's my video and there is nothing candy-a$$ about it!

Six Words Saturday

Sleeping late is Saturdays greatest gift!

What a long week! I'm so thrilled that Babe is home, being solo for 6 days was too much for me! I don't now how wives with traveling or military husbands do it. Ladies, you have my full respect!

I'm planning on having a lazy Saturday. Hopefully I will sleep in a little {I'm writing this before I go to bed but technically it's Saturday} before I run to the post office to send a package to California. Then I will sit my butt poolside for some much needed vitamin D before I head off to softball practice with Peanut and the night will end with me spending it with my hubby at his brothers birthday party. Sounds like a perfect Saturday to me!

A little more than six words I know but it started off with just six, that should count for something. Go visit Show My face for more Six Word Saturday posts, maybe they'll be more successful than I was.

...at the old ball game!

Softball is back and Peanut couldn't be more thrilled. Her sister on the other hand is bored out of her mind while at the fields but refuses to sit home without us and also refuses to keep her complaints to herself when the game goes any longer than it absolutely has to. Babe is also not very thrilled because fall-ball is the instructional season. This is the time to fine tune your skills and learn new positions, which is perfect since Peanut moved up to 12U {they use a bigger ball and subsequently a bigger mitt, which also meant a trip to the sporting good store for new equipment}. As a result fall-ball is not competitive. Not being competitve is something that Babe is not very good at!

I wanted boys so very bad, twin boys actually. I really wanted to give Babe someone that could follow in his athletic footsteps. Someone who could not only throw a punch but take one in return. I even had his name, Dominick James but never DJ! If I had twins I would have been forced to name the second one "Boy" because Dominick James was all I had. Honey now wants that name for her son and has officially claimed it and informed her sister that if she takes her name she's "going down". I choose Dominick because it's a good Italian name {it had nothing at all to do with one very hot Dominick I knew when I was younger} and James after my Father. I had it all worked out. God on the other hand had something all together different planned for me. What is that saying? "Want to hear God laugh, tell Him your plans". That is so very true! God so knew what was best for us. He knew that if we had boys I would be raising them solo because Babe would be serving a prison sentence for beating up the Blue, the coach or another Dad. Who am I kidding, it would be because he took all three of them down! Yes, God is an all knowing God who knows just what you need! We have been going to some of Honey's high school football games where my husband has gotten to his feet, more than once, yelled at the refs and loudly given the coaches his opinion on their coaching abilities. I have to continually remind him that we do not have a boy on the the field, to sit down and let the players Daddy's TCB!

Wow, I just totally acted like an ADHD dog seeing a ball being thrown in the opposite direction!...BALL!...

Back to Peanut. She is back at the softball fields and had her first game Friday night. She absolutely loves it and is quite good at it too, which is always a plus! She told her new coach that she wants to play first base, a position she has not played before. She has a great arm and as a result has always been put in the outfield {she threw a ball from mid-outfield directly to the picture during tonight's game!}, she views the outfield as a less than good position and wants to be where the action is. Seriously, I can't blame the girl. Babe wants to see her at 2nd base or short stop and I just want to see her still have the desire to be a girly-girl and have all of her teeth when she smiles! Is that really too much to ask?

Making a great stretch to catch the ball and get the out!

She has a "hitch" in her swing, whatever that means, but still managed to smack the crap out of this pitch!

Peanut and one of her good friends "M". They have not been on the same team yet, maybe spring-ball?

I have a question for y'all.

Am I the only one that thinks having WW as a sponsor for a youth team is wrong? Especially a girls team. Don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled that they stepped up in this economy to support our team but with body image issues being what they are was this a wise decision? Should WW choose an older crowd to cater to? Should our organization seek out other Sponsors? I know WW is attempting to reach out to the parents and the organization just needs to bring in enough money to keep our costs down and I also know that WW teaches a very healthy well balanced "life style change" not a diet. "M's" team is Mobile Meals, a delivery service for most local restaurants. The girls not only noticed the team sponsors but talked about it during dinner after the game. Am I putting more into this or does anyone else see where I'm coming from? I'd love to hear your thoughts on this one!

P.S. Thank you WW for giving us your support in these tough times even if I'm not 100% I agree with it!

I got my craft on!

I can be a very crafty person and from time to time I even come up with my own ideas. However, both the desire to be crafty and the ideas have been few and far between lately!

As I was putting my fall decorations out I looked at my faux pumpkins and thought 'dang they really do look fake don't they!' Then I remembered this post Vivienne did last fall. She took her pumpkins from fake to fab in just a few easy steps. I quickly pulled up her post and made my very own pumpkin transformation! I will tell you that I changed things just a bit. I used water on the first one and found that it wouldn't allow the paint to stick. I also added some orange paint to the copper, to me they look more natural this way. I'm thinking Vivienne and I had must have started with different pumpkins because her finished look is fantastic!

Then while reading Tatertots and Jello last week I saw the most adorable Halloween specimen art! I knew right away I would be making these! I have a thing for Halloween, it's a little obsessive but whatever. I ran to Michael's Friday to pick up the supplies that I didn't have on hand and made my specimen art Sunday afternoon. I think they turned out super cute!

Sunday was my craft day and with a little help from Peanut {straight from bed and pouting that she had no one to play with} the pumpkins were done in no time!

To quote one of my favorite little guys..."Dat's more bedda!"

I cannot wait to hang these up October 1st when I put my Halloween decorations out!

What are you doing to get ready for Halloween? Come on Inquiring Minds want to know!

Falling for Fall

Fall has fallen...no

Fall fell...nope

Fall is here...definitely not!

Hoping for Fall...yep that's me!

It's hard to get into the seasons here in hot n' sunny Florida. Enjoying the four seasons here is something I have to make happen. I love Fall and Christmas but when it's still 95 outside it makes it a little difficult to get in the spirit. I can at least make the inside look and smell the part, I'm not in for an electric bill any higher than it already is so I'll stop there.

Here's a little peak at my Fall decor.

Front door...

Living room...

Dining room...

And kitchen...

What does Fall look like at your house? Post some pictures so we can take a look. You never know what fabulous decorating ideas someone else may have that you can steal use.

Look at Me!

WELL????

Do you love the new look?

I do!

When I opened it I actually starting clapping and shouted YEAH!

April at April Showers {link to the right} did a great job. She even held my hand and answered all of my dumb questions. I know they say there are no dumb questions but if you go ask April she'll tell you I came up with a few!

OH, OH. I have a new button too! Make sure you grab the code on the left if you're a button kind of blogger!

I do have a few new posts in the works but for right now I'm just happy just sending out this new "look at me" post! I have updated all of my profile information, written a new family bio, have listed and linked all of my favorites and have even put an "It's Personal" tab up there! So take a few minutes and look around and when you're done go visit April and tell her what an awesome job she did over here at Seriously Shawn!

I HEART Faces - Smirk

Smirk: according to Merriam-Webster is it to smile in an affected or smug manner.

Yep, I think she has a smirk upon her face. What do you think?

Best Swappin' ever!

Get your minds out of the gutters!

Geesh!!

I'm referring to the Guilty Pleasure Swap I did with Mamarazzi over at Dandelion Wishes!

My Guilty Pleasures Swap package arrived today and I was more than a little excited to dive in! Sami with Symmetry in Motion was my partner. I hit the swappin' jack-pot when I was partnered with Sami y'all! I've done swaps in the past that didn't go quite like I thought they would, not the swap itself but the contents of the swap. This time I freaking scored!

The box arrived as I was busy doing my SAHM duties taking a nap. I grabbed my camera and dug in! Each guilty pleasure was wrapped in tissue and had a poem attached. How freaking cute is that? She wrote a little rhyme to go with each item!

*I know I'm a grown up, and it seems a bit pervy to oogle a boy in his teens. But when Bell's around, on my very last nerve-y it's nice to see Jacob on the screen. Jacob book mark

* On days that are crazy, and a little bit rough, Roon'll send me to bed with a movie. "Don't come out until the time is enough to renew your patience with we." Fried Green Tomatoes movie

*Sometimes we parents get a little bit sneaky when desperately in need of a date. So just to be careful the kids cannot peak-y it's so nice they're open late. Gift card to Sonic!

*What's a package without treats, or a sweet of some kind? I'd say it's a little bit lacking... So although it was tough to make up my mind...here's something to commence the lip smacking! Chocolate & Peanut Butter Warm Delights!

*A little indulgence never hurt anyone, but eat theses in secret just the same. Cause if anyone saw them before they were gone...to share them would be such a shame! Ghiradelli milk chocolate & caramel bar!

*I'm guilty of reading when I've no time to do it, when I should be tending to dishes. But sometimes a girl needs time to just sit and get lost in the romance and wishes. Nicholas Sparks- A Bend in the Road...I haven't read this one yet!

*Since I couldn't send myself, dancing 'round in a towel I had to think of something different to do. So, if you get the urge, and Babe's on the prowl..I made this especially for you! Chocolate brown personalized SERIOUSLY HOT! towel!

Thank you Sami for such an amazing package, I love everything, I hope you enjoy yours just as much!

Six Words Saturday

Crap, I missed it. It's Sunday!

Yep, that's been the story of my life for the past month! That's OK, I'm not complaining, well I am but I don't want to it's just hard not to! Being busy means I have a husband who needs me, children to take care of, a house to clean and money to spend at the grocery. Thanks Becca for reminding me of that! I would like to stop chasing my tail all day or at least start seeing some benefits of always being on the go, like a smaller "tail" to chase!

l should have lied!

Monday I took Rogue to the vet {you can see that story here} and was told he needed to be leash walked for the next two weeks. I explained in my post that he had issues "going" while on a leash so that was going to be a problem. I've been guiding him by the collar and letting him out alone so he doesn't chase or rough house with his sisters instead.

Monday I took him out back. I was all hunched over holding onto his collar, shuffling along when a piece of mulch huge butt stick found its way into my foot. It jammed into my foot right where the base of my big toe meets the ball of my foot. I hobbled inside leaving a trail of blood behind me. Because of my blood clotting condition I take blood thinners so I bleed like a stuck pig whenever I have a cut!

I cleaned it up the best I could, padded it with gauze, taped it in place with the tape I once used to hold Rogues ears up and headed out the door to a meeting I was now late for. On my way I called Babe inquiring about a tetanus shot, we both thought because it wasn't metal I was good. Apparently we were both wrong! By Wednesday morning I still couldn't put all of my weight on it and because of its location it wouldn't stay closed. Babe took a look at it yesterday and proclaimed it "nasty", I went to see the doctor that afternoon.

The first question the doctor asked was "when was your last tetanus shot?" I told him I had no clue which was apparently the "wrong answer". I was also informed that it should have been stitched but now it was too late. Perfect! Nurse Ratchet came in to give me my shot and told me my arm may be a little sore for a few days but that was normal.

What she really should have said was this is gonna to hurt like a Mother for the next 2-3 days and bruise the better part of your arm! My arm feels like I replaced the ball during Evan Longorias batting practice. I hadn't had the time to look at but when I saw Babes face I went to a mirror. The little red pin dot where the needle went in is visible along with the bruise that encompasses half of my arm! Seriously, I should have freaking lied about my tetanus shot!

My foot hurts, my arm hurts and I am a horrible Mother for not being nearly as sympathetic as I should have been when the same happened to Honey last year. I blew her off the night it happened, accused her of being a being a drama queen and was less than tolerant of her whining. Basically I had Mother of the Year in the bag that night! Her cut was much worse than mine and did need stitches the next morning and left her crutches for a few days! I have apologized to her over and over again but still feel like a bag of crap.

God certainly has used this to teach me a much needed lesson in compassion!

Whatcha reading?

Blogland is a very eclectic and wonderful place to be. There are blogs about relationships, children, dieting, politics, celebrities, you name it there's a blog being written about it. One of my favorite blogs is

The V Spot . For the record I do believe I was her very first follower and I do believe she is eternally grateful. This woman is crazy funny, super crafty and she bakes bacon chocolate chip cookies {I know right?}. Anyway, she posted about a blog that was new to her a couple weeks back and since I'm boring and stuck in my ways busy I haven't ventured very far outside of my little bloggy circle so it was new to me as well. Upon her suggestion I checked it out and she of course was right, it is hilarious!

The blog is Catalog Living and it's basically dedicated to making fun of the pictures in almost every popular catalog. The writer is witty and has been gifted with the knack of nailing each picture with the perfect caption. I emailed her today with the link to the picture below and I am keeping my fingers crossed that she includes my find soon on her blog.

Like I said yesterday Peanut has commandeered the papasan chair for her room. If it's going to stay in there it really needs to be painted and I need to buy a new cushion to match her room. I searched today for a new cushion, after I figured out how to spell papasan. There were too many results so I went to Pier 1 imports since that's were I purchased the chair for Honey almost 5 years ago. I found the cushions and was a bit shocked at how much they were! I can almost buy an entire new chair for the cost of a new cushion! I was also shocked to discover that unicorns not only exist but they enjoy the smell of candles and possibly enjoy glass of white wine!

First I need to pat myself on the back just a little because I just learned how to take a screen shot, save it to a file {I used my desktop} and edit out the information I don't want included in the picture {like my horrible attempt at spelling papasan}. Why? Well, because I couldn't freaking figure out how to save this picture, everything I tried wouldn't work so I had to dig deep and screen shot is what I came up with. Screen shots are something Babe has his guys do at work so he can see exactly what, where, when and who upon request via email. And second I'd like to say that yes, I know the title is "No Urban Myth" but y'all they have a freaking unicorn in the living room! Who thinks of these props and how much do they get paid?

I have come to love Catalog Living. I don't read it daily, I prefer to read it once a week so I can get a good laugh while catching up with what's going on in Elaine, Gary and Gary Jr. lives.

Another great blog I go to every once in a while for a laugh is

Cake Wrecks! Now this one has been around for a long time so I'm sure Y'all have seen this one! If you haven't what are you waiting for? Seriously, I have laughed so hard looking at the wrecks and reading the captions that the girls and Babe have had to come to see what was going on and usually stay and laugh along with me. I'm telling you once you read it you'll start carrying your camera wherever cakes are sold just hoping to find something "tasty" to take a picture of so you can send in. I snapped this little lovely in December and sent it to them, I don't think it made the blog but I had fun getting the picture, I thought Honey was going to die of embarrassment! But really how could she blame me, I just couldn't resist taking a picture of Bert's pink skinned cousin with the caterpillar on his hat!

Now it's your turn. Who is your I need a laugh read?

Peanuts bedroom makeover

When Peanut turned 10 in December she wanted a new bedroom. As much I hated to see her little girl stuff go I had to agree, it was time. So she spent hours searching for her new bedroom decor {online because she is the anti-shopper} and finally decided on an adorable design from where else, Pottery Barn Teen. When I finally got around to placing the order, I sometimes drag my feet, the bedding was on back order. I ordered it in early December, the bulk of the order arrived in June with a piece coming in here and there prior. A sham actually came in May so we were at least able to paint the room. Now it hasn't taken me 8 months to finish it, I'm not that bad, it's just taken me this long to post about it.

This is what her room looked like before we started.

Jewel is always guarding their rooms

Bright pink, perfect for any little girl

I had painted flowers on the walls to match the bedding, it was a precious room!

I am somewhat of a control freak but I did let Peanut paint a small section of the room.

She was thrilled to help, with a smile like that I should relinquish my control more often! {This picture was used as a teaser so I had changed the colornow I cannot find the original to revert it, sorry}

I painted the entire room chocolate milk brown and then blew, literally with my mouth blew, ultra fine iridescent glitter on every inch of all 4 walls! The finished look gives off a green and pink glitter especially when the sunset is coming through the windows.

I choose this glitter but I'm sure any fine glitter will work just fine.

Then I took the cork and chalk boards that were already in her room and gave them a face lift.

The cork boards went from this...

to this

Chalk boards went from this...

to this

I mixed 2 Tbs non-sanded grout to 1 cup of paint. The original surface was just painted over, left to dry then sanded with 150-grit sand paper.

I purchased a twin sheet set for her trundle bed and since most kids kick the flat sheet off I cut it up and used it to cover the cork boards, the cushion on her bench, a pillow for her bed and a bandanna for the dog that sits on her bed.

For a more personal touch I painted three custom canvas' for her. She wanted something with peace signs and her initial.

You can really see the glitter in this picture! {yes, they are centered above her bed and level it's the angle of the shot}

Basic brown dotted sheers with brown ribbon ties hang in front of the windows to allow as much light in as possible, after all it is a chocolate brown room.

Honey had a papasan chair that she didn't used anymore that was just taking up space upstairs. Peanut asked to move it into her room so she could read in it. This is a new addition to the room and I still need to take it outside and spray paint to match and either buy a matching cushion or have this one recovered.

This is where I find her most days after school all curled up reading.

Times flies! I swear I was decorating her nursery just the other day. I love you Peanut!