When in doubt, blur it out!

I decided to link up with Cari today for Theme Thursday.  Her theme this week is Self-Portrait and sense I actually had access to the subject, I went for it.

Unfortunately, I have issues.

It happens every Sunday when I do the pictures for my What I Wore Sunday post.  I look great in my mirror but when the images appear on my computer screen, I look different - old, chunky, wrinkled. 

I am all of these things but for some reason when I look in my mirror, I don't see that.  I see "older but still kind of cute".  But then when I look on the computer screen, I want to run screaming of the office and into the safety of my darkened closet where no one will ever have to see me.

It's very similar to the first time Sarah heard her voice on tape.  She literally started crying.

And that's pretty much how it went this morning.  I took 23 pictures of my face.  And I determined that a camera so close to my face is definitely not a good thing.  I did not cry but it was definitely a downer.

I even tried to do the black and white thing that Cari did to tone down the wrinkles, giant pores and crooked teeth but alas, it was to no avail.

Apparently I need Photo Shop to make the needed changes.  And since I don't have Photo Shop, I'm going to do the next best thing.

I'm using a blurry photo!

 Head over to Cari's place for better photographs and much prettier subjects!

There's no way...

I recently started getting an email every morning from Kiddley.  This email basically gives the post titles and a brief description of recent posts from their website.

Not sure what I did to start receiving these but I have found a few interesting items on the emails and on their blog.

This morning, I was intrigued by the following:

Inspiring Pipe Cleaner Animals

Posted: 28 May 2013 03:00 AM PDT

Artist Lauren Ryan creates animals made entirely from pipe cleaners – she never uses glue and only occasionally scissors and a little felt tip marker to create the…

I thought that sounds like something Sarah might be interested in doing this summer and pipe cleaners are cheap enough...

So I immediately clicked through the email to their website and then I saw this:

Guess what we will NOT be making this summer?

What I Wore Sunday

Before we get into the outfit, which is why I know you are all here today, I am looking for new blogs to read this summer. I've got a feeling I'm going to need a lot of good reading while the kids are swimming, playing with friends, and generally having a good time doing their own thing.

If you leave a comment on any of my posts this week, I will add you to my reader if you aren't already there. So comment and help a sister out with her summer blog reading!

Now, onward and upward to my outift - which I happen to love.  For the last two years, I have been avoiding the whole maxi dress trend but I finally tried one on and I felt great in it! 

Nothing like embracing a trend when it's on its way out!  And I just noticed that now maxi skirts are everywhere.  Perhaps I'll grab one of those while it's still fashionable to be wearing one.

Forgive me for not having any of my normal dorky catalog-style photos this week (or maybe you are thanking me for no awkward poses and totally fake smiles.)  All I've got today are family style photos and the second one is grainy because Sarah took it with my cell phone.

Details:

Dress: Target
Shirt: Target
Shoes: Kohls

Enjoy the rest of your Memorial Day weekend and for more What I Wore Sunday, head on over to Fine Linen and Purple.

7 Quick Takes Friday

1. The kids only have two weeks left of school until summer vacay starts!  No more tests, projects, reports, etc.  I think I'm as happy as they are.

2.The BFF has convinced me to do the Mud Run again.  It's next week and I am probably in worse shape this year than I was last year.  I've got one week to gain a ton of upper body strength or I am going to be heading around a lot of obstacles instead of over them.  Dan says I better start doing some push-ups.  I think I should have started doing those two months ago.

3. Memorial Day weekend already?  You know what that means, right?  I'm going to blink and it's going to be Labor Day weekend.  The older I get, the faster the days go by.

4. The garden is already being overtaken by weeds!  Dan has a lot of work to do this weekend.  :)  I may be a nice wife and help him.

5.  Sarah has a sleepover at her BFF's house this weekend. She is thrilled. Me, not so much.  The last time this bunch of girls had a sleepover, there was a lot of drama and the mother (different mother was hosting the other sleepover) said, "That's it!  No more sleepovers!  I'm done!"  And she meant it too because this year, she had a bowling party for her daughter.  All bowling, no drama.  Works for me!

6. Sarah's birthday is coming up in a few weeks and she wants to have a sleepover.  She asked how many girls she could invite and I said, "Um, ONE!"  Because, y'all, I'm no fool.  In order to minimize the girl drama, you have to have an even number of girls.  Otherwise, someone will be left out, someone will have their feelings hurt, and someone will want to go home.  That's just how it is. So, it's Sarah plus one makes two and that's an even number and we should be all good. 

7. Peter had to memorize "The Self Esteem Creed" and has to recite it in front of the class today.  In fact, all the kids had to memorize it and must recite it today.  Peter was less than thrilled.  He called the Creed "stupid", "dumb", "useless", :waste of time".

Here it is.  What do you think? (By the way, I'm not sure who wrote it because the hand out the teacher gave him, doesn't credit it to anyone.  I did a search and found it in several places on the web with no author credit.)

The Self-Esteem Creed

God made me; I was no accident.
I was in God’s plan
And He doesn’t make junk…ever,

I was born to be a successful human being.
I am somebody special, unique,
Definitely one of a kind,
And I love Me.
That is essential so that
I might love you too.

I have talents, potentials
Yes, there is greatness in me
And if I maintain my specia ness,
Then I will write my name in the sands of time
With my deeds…

I was born in God’s image
And likeness
And I will strive to do
God’s will.

Kind of dorky, isn't it?  But I understand what the teacher was trying to accomplish.  Unfortunately, according to Peter, "Learning this just makes me mad." 

Mission not accomplished.

And with that, head on over to Jenn's place where the Quick Takes are plenty!

A little getaway.

We left for a long weekend at the beach bright and early on Saturday morning.  It was a much needed break after all the traveling my husband has been doing lately.

Last week was a rough week. A mom from the MOM's group I belong to lost her 15 month old baby.  She died unexpectedly in her sleep.  Another mom from this same group has a 5 year old who underwent a bone marrow transplant last year in an attempt to prevent leukemia.  Everyone thought she had beaten it until last week when tests revealed that she has AML leukemia.  The doctors said she had a slight chance to beat the leukemia with 3 times a day chemo treatments or they could send her home with hospice and 3 weeks to live.  Needless to say, the parents chose to fight and we have been praying fervently for a miracle ever since.

So I spent this past weekend really thanking God for my husband and my kids.

Here are a few pictures from our time at the beach:

7 Quick Takes: Mary Mary Quite Contrary...

Yesterday I promised you all a riveting 7 Quick Takes post. Well, I probably lied just a teensy bet. It's not so much riveting as just pictures of some of the things we have growing around here. What? You don't find pictures of things growing at someone's  house  riveting?  Well, in any case, that's what I've got today so here we go...

1. My beautiful Lollipop Daisy. Pretty, no?

 

2. A pretty mix of flowers...petunias and what not.  You wanted something more technical than "what not"? I don't claim to be a botanist or a good photographer for that matter.

3. I planted a boatload of Gerber daisies around this year. Here is just one of the many...



4. Corn!  We are growing corn again this year!  We don't plant enough of it to make it worthwhile but it looks cool growing in the garden so we thought we'd try it again.

5. Carrots!  We've grown them in the past with mixed results but so far they are coming up gangbusters.  And if I remember correctly from years past, this is going to be a problem because we haven't thinned them out yet.  And by "we" I  mean "Farmer Dan". I handle the flowers, he handles the crops.

6. Beans!  One thing we can grow is green beans.  The only problem is that we don't particularly care for green beans so we give them all to my mom.

7.  Tomatoes!  We've got lots of tomato plants this year.  I do love me a good mater sammich!  Fresh tomatoes, salt, pepper mayonnaise and white bread.  It don't get much better than that.

8.  8?  Clearly I'm not a mathematician either... but look!  Blueberries!  We planted blueberry bushes last year and I think we might get a nice little crop this year.  Key word being little but you've got to start somewhere with blueberry bushes!

9. Rose bush!  Our rose bush is already going to town with pretty blooms. 



Head on over to Jenn's for more Quick Takes and have yourself a great Friday!

It's a bit of a stretch but there was a segue...sort of...

Sarah continues to have poop issues. She was complaining of stomach pain all weekend so I called the doctor bright and early on Monday morning.

Apparently (either the nurse didn't tell me when we were discussing the initial Miralax-Gatorade Cocktail or I totally spaced and didn't follow through) but I should have continued giving a daily dose of Miralax for a week to make sure she was "emptying".  Whoops!

So, five days after the initial cleansing, we started back up on daily Miralax.  Last night we finally made a nice "breakthrough" if you will and I am hoping things will continue to flow freely.

I had a nice lunch with several ladies from my former MOPS group and of the 6 of us, 4 have children who struggle with constipation.  Apparently it is a harder issue to deal with than I realized.

Harder.  teehee (Harder...like Sarah's poop!  Get it?)

Sometimes I think I'm 13.  And speaking of 13...

Peter has had a bit of a bad attitude lately.  Not sure whether at 10 1/2 it's hormones (is it too soon for hormones?  I don't think so because some of his friends are starting to get - hair. Body hair, if you know what I mean.  I was not expecting that quite so soon!), the end of the school year approaching,or just his general nature but I really do feel like I'm living with a teenager already.

And that's really about all from around these parts.

I have a riveting 7 Quick Takes lined up for you tomorrow so please, don't be a stranger!

WIWS - More Pink and White

It's What I Wore Sunday and I'm wearing pink and white again this week!

(And for anyone that remembers my outfit from last week, I'm talking about my pasty white legs!)

Onward and upward with actual white pants covering my legs this week!

Shirt: Target (Clearance!)
Capris: Kohl's
Sandals: Target
Jewelry: Kohl's

These pictures don't highlight the fact that this shirt comes way down in the back which I think is pretty cool. 

I wish these capris were just a wee bit longer.  I wanted pants that came down more to my ankles but the only white pants I have been able to find that come down to my ankles are skinny jeans and I am NOT I repeat NOT squeezing into to skinny jeans in the summer.   It's just not going to happen!  So, I was left with these too short white pants. Oh well...I will continue to search.

To see what all the rest are wearing, head on over to Fine Linen and Purple!

7 Quick Takes Friday

Woo Hoo!  It's 7 Quick Takes Friday!

And why are you so excited about 7 Quick Takes Friday you might ask.

Well, I'll tell you!  My husband has been out of the country for the last twelve days and I'm ready to see him!

1.  Sarah and I were in Wal-Mart the other day perusing the book section when a youngish girl(maybe 20-something) rushed passed us.  She was a "big-un" as my kids like to call the larger folk and of course, she was squeezed into some skinny jeans and squeezed into a too tight, too short shirt.

And of course, there were a good 2 -  3 inches of her plumber's crack showing.  Yikes!!  I was embarrassed for her.

Moral of the story  - Momma's  don't let your big-uns wear skinny jeans with a short shirt. (Growing up to be a cowboy would be a big improvement for this young woman.)

2. Does anyone else scribble down items for a Quick Taste post on a scrap of paper and realize that by Friday the scrap of paper has been tossed out?

3. I think Spring has finally sprung! (Although I vaguely remember typing that a few weeks ago before the weather turned winterish on us again.)  It was 81 degrees here yesterday with similar temps predicted from here until October!  I actually worked up a nice sweat during my run this morning and it felt great!

4.  I bet you guys are really wishing I hadn't thrown that scrap of paper away because I'm sure my Quick Takes would have been so much more interesting than writing about the weather and my lack of Quick Takes.

5.  Christy Long came to our MOMs group this week.  She was speaking on forgiveness (specifically forgiveness when there is infidelity in your marriage, but I think we all took something home from her talk because we have all been forgiven by God and we all have someone we need to forgive at some point in our lives.  Whew!  Run on sentence maybe?)

Her book is entitled God Keeps His Promises and is available on Amazon. (She is friends with Gary Chapman (author of the Love Languages books) and he wrote a forward to her book.)

6. I've been eating smoothies for lunch for the last couple of weeks.  I can't really tell a difference weight loss wise but I do seem to have a lot more energy.  My favorite combo so far is spinach, greek yogurt, honey, blueberries and bananas.   My kids think I'm gross for putting in spinach or kale but I really don't even taste it.    They keep asking me to make them one but I know they are going to be disappointed when it doesn't taste like a milkshake!

7.  What do you guys like in your smoothies??

All right, head on over to Jen's place to check out everyone's Quick Takes.  I'm sure they didn't toss out their scraps of paper....

The poop (finally) hit the fan!

Quick update on Sarah.

She continued to complain about stomach pains even after the piano recital.  I told her we needed to give it a few more days to give the medicine a chance to work. 

On Monday, I decided that enough was enough.  We had given the medicine plenty of time to work if the problem was truly acid reflux so I called for an appointment.  There was an appointment that afternoon with the PA if I wanted to bring her in then.

I asked if the doctor had anything available that week (since we saw a PA the first time) and luckily he had one available appoinment on Tuesday.  I figured it was worth the one extra days wait to see the real doctor. 

He diagnosed her with constipation saying that 99% of the time when a kid comes in complaining of stomach pain it's constipation but before he prescribed anything for that, he wanted to have an x-ray and an ultrasound done to make sure all of her insides were functioning properly.  He said if they weren't and he prescribed a laxative there would be severe pain.

So on Wednesday we headed to the imaging center where Sarah got to see what each one of her organs looked like on the ultrasound screen and got to see what her ribs and spine looked like on the x-ray.  She found the whole thing very cool. 

And I did too, although I have to admit having an ultrasound when you are pregnant is just a weeeee bit more exciting that just looking at your kidneys or your spleen.

I dropped her back off at school and about an hour later my cell phone rang.  It was the nurse saying that the doctor could see lots of impacted poop and that she needed a laxative.

So after homework yesterday afternoon the fun began.

Every 15 minutes Sarah had to drink a mixture of Miralax and Gatorade until there was ((ahem)) movement. 

It took 6 glasses of the cocktail, lots of whining, crying and even calling off of Mother's Day because "you're a mean mom for making me drink that disgusting stuff" before we had ((ahem)) movement.

And then might I say, there was ((ahem)) lots and lots of movement!

At bedtime, she was her old self and this morning she was excited to get to school. For the last two weeks she didn't want to go to school because she was afraid her stomach was going to hurt. 

Now I'm off to Google "diet to prevent constipation" or possibly "best foods to keep things ((ahem)) moving"!

Cold, wet, tired, happy.

We had our big PECSAA track meet yesterday.

PECSAA stands for Piedmont Elementary Catholic Schools Athletic Association.  Whew! That's a mouthful!

The kid's school competed against 5 other local Catholic elementary schools.  It was a cold, windy, rainy spring day.  Typically during May in this part of North Carolina, our highs are in the upper 70's and our lows are in the mid 50's. 

But not yesterday.  Nope.  Yesterday the highs were in the mid 50's.  And did I mention that it was windy and rainy?

Perfect weather for a track meet.

The meet lasted almost 5 hours and I was on my feet the whole time getting all the kids from one event to the next. But only the last hour dragged and at that point, I was over it all and  was ready to go.

Sarah competed in 4 events.  She got two 2nd place finishes and two 3rd place finishes.  She was thrilled! 

Peter competed in 1 event. He (and his relay team) finished 1st.  He was thrilled!

The only problem with the day (other than the weather) is that Dan wasn't there with us.  But I sent him the following pictures:

Cold, wet, tired, happy.  It was a nice Sunday afternoon.

WIWS: Edition I don't care if I'm cold, I'm wearing it anyway.

I have not participated in WIWS for the last two weeks. Don't worry. I've gone to Mass both weeks but we have been crazy busy and one outfit was a repeat and the other was not worthy of being photographed. But you can sigh a huge sigh of relief my friends because I'm back. And as I am typing this, I realize that this outfit is also a repeat. However, I have styled it differently.

The last time I wore this shirt dress from Target I was dreaming of spring but it was still very cold so I had to pair it with lots of goodies to warm me up. But now it's May and ..... Wait! I'm STILL dreaming of spring. Where is my hot North Carolina spring? I miss her. ....sigh.... But there was no way I was wearing leggings a jean jacket and boots with this on May 5th, so I pretended it was warm outside and went for it.


Don't let the sunshine fool you.  It was out for less than 2 hours yesterday and did not warm up the day much at all. Low 60s is not N.C. spring weather.

And yes, Mom, I really need a slip.  And no, Mom, I still do not own one. 



Apparently you have to do more than just purchase the Jergen's Natural Glow Self-Tanner.  You actually have to USE it!

Deets:

Dress: Target
Shoes: Target (old, very old)

And I wish I had taken a close-up of my necklace.  It's an old gold (fake, of course) chain and I found a pink stone earring that was surrounded by gold (fake, of course) so I used the earring back to clasp it to the chain and turned the old earring into a charm. I was so pleased with my bad self!  I felt like I needed something gold to go with the dress because the belt buckle was gold. 

I think the dress, because of the length to my knees, could probably use shoes that are just a little taller than these wedges.  But, the shoes matched the belt so I went with it. 

And there you have it folks!  What I Wore Sunday.  (Or in this case, technically, What I Wore Saturday Because I Went to the Vigil Mass.)

This week you need to head over to Messy Wife, Blessed Life to see what everyone else is wearing today.

7 Quick Takes Friday - Edition How I'm Going to Keep From Missing My Husband This Weekend!

Time for 7 Quick Takes Friday so here we go....

1. Peter's class was working on the Beatitudes recently and as part of their work, they made a flower and on each petal was a Beatitude. On the back the teacher had them each write a prayer. This was Peter's prayer:

 Dear God, Please be with my family. They need help. Amen

This prayer totally cracked me up.  They need help.  Yes, I guess we do.  And don't you love how he wrote they need help instead of we need help?  Little stinker! 

2.  Dan has been out of town since Monday and won't return until next Friday.  I'm used to him being gone during the week but it really stinks when he's gone over the weekend as well.  But we've got lots to do to keep us busy so that's a plus.  Let me list a few of them here for your reading pleasure:


3.  I got some flowers from Lowes yesterday and I'm actually going to plant them.  I typically have lots of potted flowers around on the front and back porch but this year I decided to plant some among the bushes in all of the empty spots we left 6 years ago for plants but I never got around to doing because news flash - I'm lazy!  (And was that a run on sentence?)

Of course, I decided to do this when my hole digger isn't around.  We'll see how it goes.  I may have a project waiting for Dan when he returns next weekend.

4.  We are going to the BFF's tonight for pizza.  The kids are excited to play with their BFF's.  I'm excited that I don't have to cook AND I get to play with my BFF too.  It's a win-win for everyone except her husband.  He has to deal with the craziness of 6 kids and 2 chatty women.  He will probably retreat to the basement or to the TV and honestly, who would blame him?

5.  On Saturday morning the kids and I are heading to an auction with my parents.  My dad loves going to auctions, buying old stuff and then reselling it (hopefully at a profit) later.  Should be a fun morning. 

6.  On Sunday afternoon the kids will have their final track meet of the season.  It's the big one.  The one against all the other area Catholic schools.  I'm hoping that the rain they are calling for on Sunday holds off until after 6:00 PM because the rain date is next Sunday which is Mother's Day and I don't want to be a track meet on my special day!  HA! 

7.And the most fun and exciting thing of the whole weekend?  Sarah has a book project due in less than two weeks.  And she chose to do a diorama and an oral presentation.

Oral presentations good. (Kids need lots of practice speaking in front of people.)  Dioramas bad. (Kids do not need lots of practice drawing tiny pictures representing a scene from a book.  I'm just sayin'.)

And with that! I'm done with my quick takes!  Head over to Jen's place for more.

Balsamic, Caramelized Onion, Goat Cheese Pizza. Sounds fancy doesn't it? But oh, so easy!

Cari Donaldson and her family are known for their pizza nights which include their homemade pizza dough and use of a homemade personalized pizza peel.  They take their pizza very seriously over at Clan Donaldson.

And that's exactly why I took Cari's advice and made this pizza on Saturday.

Y'all.  I was not disappointed and I will be making this again.  And again.  And again.


Balsamic, Caramelized Onion, Goat Cheese Pizza

Ingredients:

Dough
1 cup Balasmic Vinegar
3 lg. Vidalia Onions
4 oz. Goat Cheese

Directions:

I decided to buy fresh dough from the deli at Wal-Mart.  It was .88 cents for enough dough to make a 16 inch pizza which just so happened to be the size of my pizza pan.  Perfect!

I rolled/stretched/made the dough sort of circular and flopped it onto the pan.

I made a balsamic reduction earlier in the afternoon.  Super easy.

I caramelized my onions earlier in the afternoon as well.  Also easy.

Cut up log of goat cheese and scatter around the dough.

Place caramelized onions on top of goat cheese.

Drizzled balsamic vinegar reduction over top of pizza.

Bake according to instructions on dough bag.  I think it was 20 minutes at 375.

Eat it all up!

Isn't this gorgeous? I wished I had used a little more balsamic drizzle because that is what really made the pizza.

Hurry up!  There are only two slices of deliciousness left!