Morning memories haunt

As the cold rain falls

On the metal bucket

Outside my window

Tap

Tap

Tap

Winters last call

Beckoning me to

Give in to its grey skies

Tap tap

Tap tap tap

Tap 

Like teardrops they fall

I pull the covers tighter

And long for Spring

A friend of mine shared this and it really spoke to me:

Having No Bieber Fever Will Get You on TV...Apparently

Saying No to The Beebs?

I turned on the news this morning to see a reporter covering what he claimed was a "media circus" and a protest against Justin Bieber relocating to Atlanta. The camera then panned to show a middle-aged man in a sport coat holding a poster board saying "NO BIEBER" and two other people standing beside him with their arms folded. There was also a father and his teenaged daughter a few yards away there to support The Beebs.

REALLY?!  This is breaking news in the ATL? There were over two dozen reporters on a street corner to cover a guy with a homemade poster? I guess I'm lucky to live in a city where this is the most pressing issue we have to worry about.

Regardless of his brushes with the law or reckless behavior, do these people really believe that standing in front of a house that he reportedly looked at buying with a homemade sign is going to keep him from moving to Atlanta? And why does it matter? Are they afraid he'll draw a switchblade on them at Kroger or are they more afraid he might break into "Baby Baby" in line behind them at the Kentucky Fried Chicken?

Who knows? But there HAS to be be something more newsworthy than that going on in this town, folks.
By the way...my son's kindergarten class is almost out of glue sticks. I'm sure Channel 2 is planning to cover that at 11.

Exciting times, y'all.

What'll Ya Have?

I've been going to the Varsity since I was in the womb but I still whip out the camera every time I take my boys there. I'm not really sure why. We've eaten there dozens of times but I always feel the need to document the outing.

As you can tell, my too-cool twelve year old is not always thrilled with my photographic enthusiasm:

Isn't it in the Mommy Manual to torture your kids in public? Yes? I thought so. Photo shoots rank right up there with using phrases liked "that's jacked up" or belting out Demi Lovato tunes in front of their friends. Not that I've done that or anything. 

Hey at least I didn't make him wear the paper hat this time. I am a fount of compassion, I am.

Sweet Tears on a Freckled Face

Yesterday morning, my younger son Jacob was sitting at the table in our camper eating his cereal. He was playing his handheld video game and not paying attention to the morning show I was watching. Just then, a commercial for the ASPCA (animal protection group) came on featuring photos of neglected animals.

I saw him glance up then back down then he looked up again and the saddest look came over his little six-year-old face. He looked up at me and whispered "sad animals" and started blinking away tears. My sweet boy has always had a heart for animals but I didn't know the depths of his sensitivity until I saw him visibly moved by the sight of those images.

I couldn't help but hug him and comfort him as alligator tears slipped down across his soft freckled cheeks. My heart warmed at the sight of his compassion for animals. He's always been amazing with our own pets but I realized it ran deeper than that. As the commercial went off I reassured him that those animals were being taken care of and he smiled and, obviously trying to compose himself, said "ok Mommy" and tried to smile.

Ah the heart of my sweet sweet boy.

Saying Goodbye to Chattahoochee Bend

Well, it was a great week of camping with my fellas. We hung out with friends, relaxed and just generally enjoyed getting away for a few days.

A few more pics to wrap up the week:

The Chattahoochee River...very peaceful.

What Daniel and I call the camoflauge tree. Parts of the bark actually look like camo. Pretty cool. Here's a close up

Me and the D man looking for a hiding place for a letterbox we 're making...

Think we found a perfect hiding spot !

Packed up and heading to the house...

Later. :)

S'more Friends Come to Visit

A day that started out with a thunderstorm ended up being beautiful and ending with laughter, friends and a breathtaking sky full of stars.

We also gained neighbors... our friend John and his son Evan. They are our camping buddies and the boys play great together.

My friend Tammy and her daughter Ella came to hang out again and then her hubby Jerry joined us for dinner after work. We cooked out, solved the world's problems then (attempted to) made S'mores. Each marshmallow that met an untimely death in the fire was met with more laughter. We're clearly in need of some trainin'. Just sayin.

As soon as our company left, all the men folk crashed so here I am with my thoughts, my blog and 10 uneaten Hershey bars. Sometimes being a night owl has its perks.

Night y'all.

A True Break from Winter

74 degrees today. Really???  Weren't we just iced in with no power a week ago?? Well today was a far cry from winter's grip as my friend Cindy and her boys came to hang out with us.

Spent some much-needed girl time with Cindy and the boys played, played, and played some more. :)

Cindy and I made s'mores for the boys and I had to take a picture of her attempt. It was tragic, y'all. (Caution: the photo you are about to see will be disturbing for true s'mores lovers.) Needless to say, we laughed for quite a while over that one.

Just before sunset, the boys and I went down to the Chattahoochee River and listened to the wind in the trees, the crickets in the woods and the fast moving water below. We then shrieked like school girls and ran to the car when we thought we saw a bat. Ah, the great outdoors.

Nice Weather...Is it Really You?!

Today's weather was cool, overcast and perfect for camping. We had our first visitors of the week-- my friend Tammy and her daughter Ella. The kids played hard all day and Tammy and I enjoyed just having time to catch up.

After they left, the sun slowly slipped away and we grilled out hamburgers as the sound of crickets nearly drowned out the music coming from inside the camper. All in all, a great day of camping....

Sunshine is Good for the Soul

Today is a spectacular day with sunshine, a light breeze and 63 perfect degrees. There's a playground just up the hill from our campsite so the boys and I decided to get outside for a little fresh air. It was GLORIOUS. We laughed, climbed, swung (swang? swung??) and had a blast. 

 

Came back to the camper and picnicked outside while playing a game. Their smiles say it all. (And I mighta smiled, too) ;)

Blogging Remotely... And I Do Mean REMOTE-ly

Greetings from the middle of nowhere, y'all.  Not wanting to end my streak of periodic posting (periodic is even stretching it) I found an app for Blogger on my phone. Just think...the two or three people that follow this blog won't have to go so long without hearing from me now! :)

Well the boys and I are camping at Chattahoochee Bend State Park this week for their winter break so I'll try to post about our adventures here.  I'm not sure how pictures will show up on here since they're coming straight from my phone but here goes:

The boys playing games as I cook dinner...

Two monkeys invaded my bed this morning

Quiet morning time while the boys play in their room

More later....

Catching Up...

I did say I was going to be on here every day, didn't I? Oops.

This is a random post about random things until I can get back into the habit of posting every day. So, here goes:

Random Item #1:  Winter Wonderland, Cabin Fever and Such

Well The Storm Tracker Doppler Deluxe Wizometer 3000 on the news said it would be a whopper of a storm and they were right. A few inches of snow was pretty but it only hid the layer of thick ice underneath making travel impossible. Add to that no power for six hours and it makes for a nice little dose of cabin fever. And Monopoly by flashlight, folks? Never again. :)

The back yard the first morning... serene and peaceful when the sound of branches cracking didn't fill the air :)

The gas grill not quite ready for a cookout

My new mantra

Solo cup art ice sculpture

Family togetherness at its finest

Random Item #2:  Be My Valentine (Kindergarten Style)

I helped organize Jacob's Valentine's Day party and of course I get the honor of manning the Cookie Decorating Station From Hell. I am truly a glutton for punishment. Take a relatively sane 42 year old woman, stick her in a chair that belongs in a dollhouse surrounded by 10 or so Kindergartners at a time that are already hyped up on sugar. Insert into this scene of horror tubs of frosting, popsicle sticks and jars of colored sugar, sprinkles and cinnamon heart candies and you have a recipe for disaster.

And don't let the angelic face below fool you (Jacob, not me) :)  As you can clearly see, his sprinkle to cookie ratio is clearly in favor of toppings. After a few kiddos taking the lid off and dumping an entire jar of rainbow sprinkles out on the table and screaming in delight as they swing their arms through them sending colored morsels through the air, I hereby bequeath my title of Momma Most Easily Suckered Into Manning the Cookie Table to someone more emotionally qualified. 

And that's all I've got for now, y'all. More later.

Ice, Ice Baby

Pardon the title but I had to. I just had to.

Well, the ice has cometh and we are sequestered here in the house and pretty soon I'm going to be forced to clean something. Games have been played, chips and dip consumed and now I have no choice but to try and be productive. OK, maybe a little later.

But, in the meantime, here are a few pics:

Bushes frozen solid with a coating of ice

Some of the the smaller trees glisten with ice-covered branches

Pine tree limbs weighted down with icicles

Cassie riding out the storm in her usual position... relaxation. :)