Chop chop, it's all gone

I have held firm that I will not cut my youngest hair for over three years now. He has some of the best hair, long ringlets and it's seriously just awesome. The downside, tangles. Lots and lots of tangles which turns into a hard time getting him to sit still to brush his hair. I have been thinking lately of getting it trimmed but never went to do it. I may or may not live parts of my life in denial so not everything gets done as planned. What can I say, I am stubborn. Well hubs wanted to take our oldest for a hair cut and asked our youngest jokingly if he wanted his hair cut and of course he says yes. So off we all went.

A little history. Since moving here within the first week I had over 20 people tell me what a cute girl he was. At first I would just politely tell them "she's" a BOY and move on. When hubs heard it he was not happy and of course wanted to chop his hair. While he was getting his hair cut a lady was talking to hubs and again called him a she and when he was done was like oh I'm so sorry I thought he was a girl. FINALLY the hubs realized it's not just his hair it's his face. He has a baby face and I think that contributes to outsiders confusion.

She asked how we wanted it cut and I told her just a few inches, my hubs says to the ears, I retort with absolutely not that's too short and we end up with it being about two inches shorter then I wanted and even shorter then the hubs asked for. 

About three inches (possibly more) gone

My handsome man. I was good with this lengt

The end result.

He looks so different but at the same time so much more like his big brother did at this age.

I can't deny the cuteness of my boy, long hair or short but you do have to admit that it is a drastic change, and I miss those curls!
But hey it's hair and hair does grow back.

Wordless Wednesday-My babies

My babies. They are my world, my heart and my life.

For more inspiring photos, check:  The Bonafide Life, Better in Bulk, From Dates to Diapers, Not Your Momblog, The Divine Miss Mommy, Colorado Moms, Rajean Blomquist, High Impact Mom  and Zensible Mama and link your own photo stories.

Have a Wordless Wednesday post already? Link up here:

What do you love to do?

If you haven't heard Jessica from It's My Life has started a new site called Kick in the Blog. The idea behind the new site it to bring inspiration to bloggers to help give them a "Kick in the Blog" to help get you passed any writers block you may be having. 

Today's question is "What do you love to do"? 

My initial response would be I love to to lay on the couch relax on the couch all day, watch movies with the kids, maybe eat a few bon bons, pick up a pizza for the kids and I to enjoy and finish the day off with a glass of wine. Yes that is what I would love to do. Truth time. I've never actually even eaten a bon bon and I am the only one who cooks in the house. While I have spent all day doing nothing with the kids but watching movies and cuddling and I won't deny it's awesomeness it's not the type of response Kick in the Blog is looking for. This is a more a thought provoking type of question. One to think long and hard before answering.

Now for my serious answer. I love to do photography. I am not a professional and that is fine by me. I am still learning and there is so much to learn and I know that I have just reached the tip of the ice berg of photography knowledge. Thinking about learning all things photography gets me excited and slightly overwhelmed at the same time. But that doesn't scare me, it only makes me more excited for what's to come.

I love to watch my children grow. I especially love to watch them sleep. They are so peaceful and just all around cute while asleep. They are so young right now and I know I have my whole life ahead of me to watch them grow but right now I am living in the moment and seeing them play, read, color, get excited over paint colors, playing in the pool, dressing themselves, arguing over toys, etc. I love it all and it is something I look forward to every day for as long as I am alive. 

I love to blog. I have no problem admitting that I do get writers block, quite often sometimes and getting passed it isn't always that easy. But coming up with new things to write about and sharing pictures, recipes and all around daily life of this crazy household is such a joy for me. I love to do it. 

Wordless Wednesday-Cherry picking

When I was younger we used to go cherry picking every year. It was one of my moms favorite things to do while it was still cool and summer hadn't quite hit yet. Back then I of course hated it, I was a teenager so that was typical but looking back I miss it. It was fun spending time with my family and picking cherries. Of course one of the best things is eating them making sure they are ripe enough to take home. 

Since becoming a mom it has always been a dream of mine to go to a local farm and pick out our own fruits, vegetables and then cut down our own Christmas tree. Not sure when the tree will happen but last month right before we moved my Mom, Sister, niece, my kids and made last minute plans to go cherry picking. 

My big boy had no problems finding cherries

Little man diving right in and filling his bucket while baby girl very cautiously picks a few in the background

Me: Whatcha eating?
Little man: Shewy (that's cherry said with a huge cherry in his mouth)

So baby girl didn't have as much fun as the rest of us once she discovered the bugs but thankfully we were able to distract her with the little play area they had.

I am so glad we were able to squeeze this in prior to our move. Now the kids will have this memory for a long time and can look back on it when we do this next year, and the year after that, and hopefully for many years to come.

For more inspiring photos, check:  The Bonafide Life, Better in Bulk, From Dates to Diapers, Not Your Momblog, The Divine Miss Mommy, Colorado Moms, Rajean Blomquist, High Impact Mom  and Zensible Mama and link your own photo stories.

Have a Wordless Wednesday post already? Link up here: 

Wordless Wednesday-A storms a comin

My husband and I sat outside today and watch a storm build up and then drop a micro burst in our backyard. I won't deny it when he pointed out the rotating clouds almost right above our house it scared the crap out of me but at the same time it was really neat to watch.

Here's a few pictures I snapped showing the progression of the storm. 

For more inspiring photos, check:  The Bonafide Life, Better in Bulk, From Dates to Diapers, Not Your Momblog, The Divine Miss Mommy, Colorado Moms, Rajean Blomquist, High Impact Mom and Zensible Mama and link your own photo stories.

I'd love to see your Wordless/Wordfull Wednesday post

New to the area? How to get out there & meet people

Moving is nothing new to our family. We have moved twelve times in eleven years. A little excessive yes but after this move we will be out of the moving game for a long long time. Can I hear an amen! One of the things I had trouble with when we would move was getting to know a new area and the people. I am shy and getting out there hasn't always been my strongest suit. Over the years it has lessened but it can still be difficult especially when going to a place you've never been before or if you do not know anyone. 

Here are some things that I have found to help.

• Look online. There are so many resources out there and I know that sometimes it can be overwhelming so my suggestion is to keep it simple. Figure out what you are looking for and keep to just that. If you are a parent there are tons of mom, mom & baby, dad & family groups.
• Check out your local library. Most libraries offer reading time for children. This is a great way to educate your child while opening up the possibilities of them making friends.
• Check out the local mall. A lot of malls have programs for children, toddler to school age, that involve crafts and weekly activities. Shopping and kids activities, it's a win win.
• Walk around your neighborhood. The best way to get to know your neighbors is to get out there. Put the youngins in the stroller and/or on their bikes and walk around the block. During school season the weekends are a great time to do this.
• Each city should have a city website online. And if you can't find one through searching try looking on Facebook. Peek around on it and find their monthly newsletter for local activities you and/or your kids might be interested in.

These are some things that have worked for me. But I knew there must be some more out there so I asked a few of my fellow blogging friends if they had any suggestions. Here's what they came up with.

• Michele from The Bona Fida Life suggested going to the park. You will also meet people when your children are in extra curricular activities (like soccer, baseball etc.
• Amy from Freaky Perfect suggests joining a gym. Make sure you go to some of the group classes. That's always worked for me.
• Rajean from Rajean Blomquist said simply, it takes time. In my experience social media, most esp. twitter, helped me find people with like interests in my town. Great resources for all things local and now with tweet-ups, I've made some really great friends & business associates. Also, volunteer. I volunteered to serve on my daughter's high school athletic booster club board and met many people, some are now friends, in our community.
• Jennifer from Mommy B Knows Best suggest along the same lines as searching online. Some great sites are Meetup.com and the mommies network, for bigger areas they have them.
• Fadra from All Things Fadra is proof that social media is in fact a wonderful thing. Her response to my question "I agree with social media. If we EVER sell our house, we're moving to the DC/Baltimore area and I already feel like I have so many built-in friends".
• Teresa of Society of Socialpreneurs suggests joining the PTA and women's bible study group at church. 
• Kelly from The Centsible Life suggested to look into Moms groups, parenting groups, any kind of group that has a shared interest you will usually find people to connect with.
• Julie from Just Precious suggests MomsClub.org is an international organization of local support groups. Moms Offering Moms Support. If it weren't for that organization, I never would have gotten through my first 3 years as a mom. Also, I think it was said above, but getting involved with your school parent teacher organization, your place of worship or even your local hospital's volunteer group will offer you lots of opportunities to get out and meet people

I would like thank all the wonderful ladies above for their input. I hope these tips are as helpful for you as they have been for me. If you have any suggestions that have helped you when you have moved I would love to hear them.

Summer lovin...had me a blast

Were getting settled into the new house, slowly but surely we will eventually get there. One thing I am having to get used to is the heat. I've never really been one for high temps, even though I've lived in Palm Springs, Texas and Georgia. You'd think I would be used to it by now but alas I am not.

So yesterday morning while the littles ate their breakfast and I drank my coffee I decided to blow off my responsibilities and make a run to the store with one goal in mind. Okay actually two. First get some bug spray to kill these pesky ants that seem to love our house so much they have breached our defense systems and come into four rooms inside, and two, buy a kiddie pool. Of course the kids only cared about the second one, I mean really it was the only one involving fun and I will admit I was excited too.

By the time we got home it was over an hour later because I don't stick to lists and I am an impulse buyer, so by then it was lunch time. While the kids chowed down on food I prepared the blow up pool. I don't think anyone finished their lunch out of pure excitement so I just had them get in their suits and come outside with me to "help" me fill the pool.

This is the end result.

I love this picture, like seriously love it. My three babies holding hands jumping in together while my oldest is completely airborne, awesome!

Blowing off unpacking was absolutely 100% worth it! 

Wordless Wednesday-Road trip

We did it. We finally made it to our new home. It only took two days for us to drive across country and the drive went better then I ever anticipated. The kids did wonderful and my husband drove the entire way which of course I had had no complaints.

My camera is non op so i used my phone (gotta love iPhones) to take pictures along the way. So here we go, my semi Wordless Wednesday. 

 Crossing into Arizona

 I missed the sign when we crossed into New Mexico so I shot this as soon as I saw the next sign

 Hello Texas! Haven't been back into Texas since we left in 2004

 Woohooo, we made it to Oklahoma! 

Home sweet home

For more inspiring photos, head over to The Bona Fide Life, Better in Bulk, Shanamama, From Dates to Diapers, Not Your Momblog, The Divine Miss Mommy , High Impact Mom and Zensible Mama and link your own photo stories!

 

Already have a Wordless Wednesday post? Link up here & join in the fun.

Taking a break from packing

It's go time over here. My husband and I made a trip back out to Oklahoma with one thing to accomplish...find a house. Day one of our search and we accomplished our mission. I never expected it to be that easy. We found a house that fits all of our needs and icing on the cake, the backyard is HUGE. And when I say huge I mean seriously huge. The home is on 1/3 of an acre. Hubs said he almost needs a riding lawnmower which of course our realtor and the sellers found hilarious, they don't know him well enough to know he was serious LOL. With three kids the yard is a wonderful thing. My oldest and I already have plans for a vegetable garden. 

So now that we've found the house it's time to get packing up our current digs. I am a bit of a moving specialist. We have moved eleven times in ten years. Maybe a little bit overkill but that was our old track record. We liked to move. Now, not so much. I am over the little high that comes along with packing up, moving and unpacking. I'm thinking the little fairy movers need to come over and pack while I am sleeping so I can wake up the next morning and have everything completed. Yeah wouldn't that be nice. D day is in two weeks so it's crunch time for me. So far today I have packed eleven boxes and it's only 2:00 pm. Hoping to make it to twenty boxes and then I'll call it a day. 

Since this is our first move with our youngest being old enough to stand at my feet and want/beg to help I am taking advantage. Here are a few tricks I have been doing today to help me keep my sanity and let the kids help.

• Give them their own box to pack
• Let them choose what they would like to pack i.e. toys, clothes, books, etc.
• When packing your linens do a little assembly line with your children handing one the linens and passing down until they are in the box (so far this is the kids favorite).
• When clearing out the junk let the kids help in throwing stuff away. Not sure if it's just my kids but they seem to love throwing stuff in the trash.
• Assign designated box holders for when you are assembling your boxes and rotate between your children. So maybe have one do the holding while you set up in the bathroom and another while in a bedroom. 
• While going through your children's toys bring out a separate box marked "donate" and ask your kids to choose which toys they would like to keep and which toys they no longer wish to keep and would like to give to another child who may not have toys. 

So far things are going smoothly. I know it's only the beginning and I probably should talk like that so I don't jinx it but, well yeah I don't play by the rules and I am just happy my kids are as excited as we are about the big move. 

And what would a post be without some pictures!