Happy 14th Birthday Kiersten!

Today is Kiersten's 14th Birthday...Man do I feel old..lol...I cannot believe in two years Kiersten will be driving!! Now that is a scary thought...

We are getting ready to put all of our Christmas decorations up, this is a ritual we do every year on her birthday to make it a little bit more special..since her bday is Decemeber....

For her bday this year I took her and Preston out for the night to see New Moon, do some shopping, and we ate dinner, and of course there were gifts..she has seen all of her grandparents and has had dinner with her dad...Kier has gotten tons of bday money in the mail and is loving it..haha...hum..where is my hey Congrats..your a mom of a 14 year old money...hahaha..kidding...well kinda..lol...
We are waiting for Terry to come home on Wed. to have her cake and go out for a family dinner wherever she wants to go...So all in all I have to say she has had a wonderful and long birthday... :o)

To our only daughter Kiersten....We Love You...May your 14th Birthday be as awesome as you are! ;o)

Better Late Than Never Halloween Photos 2009

Hello all,
So as usual it has been awhile since I have posted. But I did want to do the mom thing and show our Halloween pics! :) Besides getting ready for Halloween not to much else has been going on around here! To be honest I am just glad Halloween is over...now onto Thanksgiving...My favorite fating day of the year! Looking forward to seeing everyone. Just wish hubs was here. Crossing my fingers he will make it for Thanksgiving but it is not looking good. The kids and I have not seen him now for almost three months. I tell ya I really don't know how all these military people do it. I miss him terribly and cannot wait to see him. What is going on with all the moving and such? Well, at this time we are still making decisions that hubs does not want me to discuss to much...but as for now the kids and I are most likely spending the winter here in Virginia. Praying we will at least see Terry at Christmas! And since I know my hubs is reading this way out in Idaho and most likely shaking his head at my spelling and grammar!! I want to shout out a huge I Love you Terry and I miss you way more then words can type or say! :o)

Other then this family loss of time together..nothing has been going to much. Like I said just doing the Halloween thing and now recovering from it, and moving on to the next Holiday...and then the next...I really cannot believe that Christmas will be here soon. I have not bought a thing...and refuse to till later on....Thinking it will be a homemade Christmas this year!! Well, Santa will still come but for everyone else it is homemade gifts baby!!

Okay, so onward to the Halloween pics!!

Kiersten and Preston did their pumpkin carvings this year! Started out rough but ended good. With the the two youngest we did the little puppy and cat Mr. Potato head thing...lol..thought they were cute. Tristan did paint the back of his. Poor Sebastian slept though it all. But it is okay, he would not have really been into it anyway. We made one for him!

We stayed in town this year for Halloween..the first year I have missed going to my mom's since my first child was born (13 years). I have to say I was not impressed with this small town. Our candy count was sooooo low I went and bought the kids candy so they would have some....I mean come on...I remember when I was young we would trick or treat forever...our bags would be full and we would have to run home to get another bag to fill up...now those were the days!! Next year we will pick a better location!! Terry was not here of course since he is Idaho..but he did do the pass out candy thing so he could be apart of it all and see all the cute and scary kids.... Here are the pics from our trick or treating night. Kiersten dressed up just for fun...she was an Egyptian Princess, Preston was as you see Darth Vader, Tristan was Iron Man, and Sebastian was an Unhappy Clown..lol...The best part of this Halloween is that during Trick or Treat hours...it was in the 70's...One of the warmest nights we have had in a long while for Halloween....wish it would be like that every year! Now see my daughter wore a tank top outfit, she was going to wear a coat over it...we had no idea it was warm outside...we all dressed for the cooler weather..when we got out and found it was soooo warm it was to late to go back in and change outta the warm clothes I was in and the clothes under the kids outfits...I was so hot walking around I wanted to take my soaks off...my feet were on fire...but I did not want to look like a redneck out on the street corner taking her socks off in the mist of all the Trick or Treaters...lol....so I suffered in silence! ;) Here are all my babes dressed up! Seb's did end up falling asleep during the walking around..poor little man..he misses a lot...but when he gets in that stroller...he relaxes...and I was not about to carry him around when we were half way through....he weighs a ton!

Hope you all had fun on the scariest night of the year ;o)

Hope all is well with everyone!!
Lator Tators!!

Potty Training, Gem Mining, and Votes Needed!

Hi all! We are sitting back today enjoying a day off, no school...but yes as always..house work to do! I did want to drop in and do a short blog today..

So what has been on around here? Well, besides my hubs living in Idaho and me and the kids still here in Virginia...not to much...lol...I tell ya I have found it harder this time around kinda being a single mom...Having four is keeping me on my toes, I really am seeing the and missing the things my hubs does around the home. Missing him terribly!
We have had a lot more trouble then we anticipate finding a home in Idaho...The trouble...well the homes in the area we need to live is very expensive for a large family home, so right now decisions are being made on what to do..will keep you posted on those big decisions!

Other then that life has been pretty normal, kids have started to get excited about Halloween coming and me trying to figure out what we are doing for this special time...trick or treating here in this town, go to a mall, or go to my mom's in North Carolina since it is on a weekend...hum...not sure yet! What are you all doing? Not even sure what the kids are going to be yet. I do things so on the last minute. haha.

We did go gem mining and the kids had a blast, the kids found all sorts of gems. Sebastian liked playing in the water most of all! :) The kids got to sit with the owner and listened as he went over their stones and told them what they all were. Here is a couple of pics from our Gem Mining Trip...and yeap it was a school field trip ;) The last picture is of a Garnet. With our purchase of the huge bucket we get a free gem cut. So I am getting a rather large Garnet cut for me! Hey I paid right...and it is my birthstone! ;) I will show the after results when I get it. Should be back in about two weeks!

BTW during the gem mining trip, Sebastian was all over the place so I held him for a long time to keep him from getting into things, that heavy little man messed my back up and I was out of commission for a few days..lol...getting old is something else isn't it?

Hum, what else...Oh yes, my youngest I do believe is finally ready for potty training! Oh this should be fun...umm okay not so much..he has started taking his diaper off every time he pees...ohhh hello little dude..those are expensive...on the pot you must go! Wish me luck and cross your fingers for us...praying it goes smoothly..but I do have a feeling it will be hell...LOL...any tips out there for someone potty training a non-agreeable child? ;)


So say the least not to much else is going on....But I will end this short blog post on...a beg...lol...so here I go...

I entered my son in a Gap Casting Call...so make sure to vote for him...you will have to sign up for an account it takes just a min. to do it...His other two pics are still being approved..Ignore the M for his last name..I thought they wanted a middle initial..my fault and I cannot fix it...lol..here is the link...btw my daughter took the pic of tris below...:)

http://family.go.com/gapcastingcall/entries/hippieprincess4/107648766/

if you cannot get the link to work..you can go to this page...

http://family.go.com/gapcastingcall/

and enter his entry number number..it is..

107648766

Thank you!! :)

And hey don't forget to sign your kids up! You can vote once a day! So please vote...there are some real cuties on there!! :)

That is all for now..I know boring! LOL..but we really do not have to much going on around here at the moment! I think that is a good thing right...LOLOL
Later Tators!

Happy 4th Birthday Tristan!!!

Today is my little man's 4th Birthday!! The kids made chocolate chip muffins for Tristan's bday this morning. And later we will be taking him out shopping so he can pick out what he wants for his birthday. Tomorrow my mother is coming up and she is bringing one of her famous homemade chocolate on chocolate cakes that Tristan has requested, and we will have a small family party for him tomorrow. Hubby called this morning upset that he cannot be here...but we all know why..

I cannot believe that he is FOUR!!!!

Happy 4th Birthday Tristan!! We love you!!!

Also, today is also one of my very best friends Tami's birthday!! I will not say her age...But I did want to shout out a huge...

Happy Birthday Tami!! Love you girl!!

Have a great weekend everyone!!
Later Tators!!

Single Mom Again? How Did That Happen?

No, I am not getting a divorce. My hubs is just MIA....well, actually he is in North West Idaho working at his new job. The kids and I are waiting here in Virginia for Terry (hubs) to find us a new home. I'll tell ya this waiting game is noooo fun! But rest assure he will find us a home soon. I guess if I was not so picky about where I want to live and the size of the house, we may have already found one. But I am a country girl at heart and all we are finding are homes in the city. When we do make it to Idaho or Washington State which ever we find a home in...this blog will take on a whole new meaning...Southern girl living in the North West. Hum....should make for some interesting stories!
Hubby said the towns have tons of things and tons of restaurants, unlike wear we live now! So I asked him...have you seen a Southern Buffet we can eat at...yet..LOL..... ;) Just to let you know..if you have not already guessed...the answer was a big fat NO......Darn!!
As for now, I am getting back into the ropes of being a single mom. I have to admit...I am seeing the little things my hubs did around the house. What! Did I just admit that? lol! Okay, let me explain....no he is not a huge cleaner, but he did make sure the trash was taken to the dump almost ever day. And he did do some laundry when I begged him to..but what he really did, was just be here! See since I stay at home all day while he is working... for some dumb reason there is this feeling inside of me that says...okay girl, get doing some cleaning....so your hubby will not think you are just lounging around all day....Now yes ladies, I do homeschool and take care of children all day..but I reckon some cleaning can be done. If you have read any of my previous post you have found that I am sorta a slob. No this is not passed down from my parents to say the least...my mother is a clean freak...in which is what I think is a great and legit reason that I am a slob! Love you mom! But really I think your neatness backfired on me and well...made me slobby....okay, really I cannot blame my mother for my hate of cleaning....so I will just sit here and wonder why I am the way I am...and wish with all my might that I could find a hypnosis tape to make me be a clean freak! But until this happens....I will try to get my cleaning done..even though my hubs is not here to impress...sad isn't it? Okay, really my house does not belong on CleanHouse (a show) or anything like that so don't get me wrong. We are not nasty! LOL......just disorganized.....but isn't that life anyway? Well, my life I guess...

So what else has been going on? School! Yeap, like many of you parents out there school has kicked in or will be soon for some of you....and I am missing summer already! I miss my lazy days of doing NOTHING!!!!! Just hanging out with the kids and playing games. Now, we just long for the weekends for our sleeping in days ;) But with packing up the house coming soon...sleeping in will have to take a backseat for awhile. :( Other than school nothing else has really been going on...Oh, I did have my wisdom teeth pulled...that was a barrel of fun! Let me tell ya..35 is way to old to be having that done! But the pain killers were nice...haha...Kinda gave me flash backs to my younger years of partying....but that is all I am going to say about that... ;)


So as you can see...not to much going on....little boring around here...but since I have not wrote in a while I thought I would do a quick post! Hope you all had an awesome summer! :0)

Later Tators!

What It's Been Over A Month Since I Have Posted??

Wow it has been over a month since I posted on my blog...what in the world. Oh yea, it's summer and lots and lots of things have been going on...this will be a family picture blog only this time....so here is what has been happening in our lives....tons of photos below!!

The kids went to camp...Kiersten and her cousin B did not have to much fun and called to come home early, I was going to make them stick it out. But there was a person issues at hand so I went to get the girls early. Preston on the other hand had a blast when he went to camp and wished it was not ending. So you can see...moody teens and camp does not work...lol...My niece stayed with us for a little over a week and we all had a blast. We went and walked around downtown Richmond so she can see some sites. We went shopping at the mall and ate a huge way to expensive dinner that I was irritated about...I mean come on there was 6 of us, Preston was still at camp. Burgers and Fries at Spinnakers....70.00....What??? Are you kidding me? Never again my friends will I eat there! Anyway...Onward...We did our Greek Olympic games in the back yard...now that was a tons of fun! We came up with tons of games to play and held our own Olympics and we even ate Greek snacks and drank grape juice...loads of fun!

We took the kids when Preston came home to Bells Isle in Richmond. It was a pretty neat place. We did not explore the island very much we went mainly to swim in the river. We had our very own little spot on these huge river boulders it was nice...the kids played in the river and had a blast. Make sure if you go to Bells Isle you wear swim shoes!!

The next day was July 4th and we took the kids to Kerr Lake to swim, which I have to say I liked better then the river. It was more relaxing of a swim when you have toddlers. It was only 4 dollars a car to get in, it had a sandy beach area and a roped off area to swim...besides all the rednecks..its was cool..lol...

That night we did our normal fireworks in the yard...they were okay this year..hubs tried his best, some of the fireworks just did not want to corporate! lol...but all and all we had a wonderful time.

We took B home the next day and hung out with my Mom and my Sister Jen and her family. So that was nice to see them. She has such a beautiful family!

Other then those events not to much else has been going on...I did forget to announce that my brother's baby was born at the end of May, they had another little girl and they named her Caroline. She's a cutie! I decided to take just Tristan with me to see the new baby Kiersten was sick so she could not go. Tristan and I had a great time. We went and saw the new baby and Tris also got to see Katie his cousin. Then I took him off to feed the geese and on the way home we stopped at a little carnival and had some one on one time. We had a very nice time!

*** Tip of the day if you do not have life insurance...get some!!! That is what I finally got my hubs..he really needed more life insurance, I mean really he is the only one that works in this family okay outside of the home...and if something happens to him...ummm...I don't want to have to go back to work....oh no...I love staying at home girls...love it!!! So life insurance was a must..lol..

Oh yes and there is one other huge think I wanted to announce! We will be moving very soon...yes that is right...I am moving out of this tiny town in Virginia....where you ask.....well hubs got a new job in Idaho....the jobs location is on the border of Idaho and Washington State, so we are looking in those two states for a house to rent....so your Southern Hippie will be moving to the West Coast...crazy I know!
Trying to find movers for cheap, trying to pack, making all the appointments one last time (dental, vision, etc) trying to figure out when the move will happen and all is making me a crazy person! My hubs will leave us in Aug. to go start his new job. As soon as he finds us a house to rent we will be moving up that way. So say the least I could be stuck here by myself for months to come... Prayers are needed for us! I pray he finds us something fast!! Fingers crossed!
So what do the kids think of the move? Well, they are fine with it..little nervous but excited. Well, until they found out there was no sweet tea and grits there...LOLOLOLOL...I told them we can make it at home...hahahahaha....! My children are total southerns! Hope no one makes fun of our accents...but hubs is for sure they will...haha...Oh well....The older kids dad is fine with the move, he works all over the US so he will still be able to see them. So all in all this is a good move!

By the way, my hubs got a new job the same day my new friend Tiffany came to hang out! Can you believe that! I finally make a friend in this town and now we are moving!!! What is up with that? But hey she must be a good luck charm! :)

As you can tell I changed my header picture. I finally got around to doing our yearly photos I will try to remember to share those next time, I feel like there is enough pics on this post..don't you..lol.....the one picture for my header is the best one of all four together out of what felt like 100's of pictures...say the least trying to get four kids to smile at the same time is getting harder and harder... ;)

Well, that is it for now! I was going to do a funny post, but that will be next time. Wanted to do a catch up blog for my own sanity before I forgot everything..haha...

Hope all is well out in blog land, what have yall been up to??!!!!
Later Tators!!

Camp Fever!!

It's that time again...what time.....Camp Time.....can you smell it in the air...I can....Both of my oldest will be heading off to camp in the next few weeks, and they are both very excited. Why you wonder? Well to get away from parents of course! I mean really, all you that went to camp, is that not why you went? NO PARENTS to tell you what to do, just cool teenagers that like to have fun! Remember those low key summer's. Ahhhhhhh camp....I want to go! But my camp would be more like this....Parent's Only..Sleeping late, no one asking for breakfast. No washing clothes. No cleaning up...oh no..that is what the teenage camp counselors are for...Cooking heck no..not me! Pj's all day...yay...well unless I was going swimming in my who cares swim suit, no reason to look sexy...cause we would have separate pools...married parents and single parents. So I would be at the who cares married pool. You single parents can still look good all you want...I am happy being a slob now....LOL... No air condition...oh no my camp would be luxury all the way babe...(see pics ;) )I mean really if you are going to dream, dream big right! The big thing I would want at camp..NO KIDS!!!! Yes, that is right....alone...alone....alone....Yes, I do love my kids..but come on a vacation without them...now that would be awesome! That is what my camp would be like...what about yours??

One the family side: Not to much going on here, just relaxing and enjoying the warm weather. We have not really been anywhere since the last time I wrote. Reason being vacation is great, but expensive! So our vacations will be here at home for now. We are having a visitor come for a little while. My niece will be visiting and heading off to camp with my daughter and then will come back and stay a week with us...so when I have all the kids together we will do some field trips..We are finishing up Ancient Greece, so we hope to do some field trips to go along with Greece. We will be starting on Ancient Rome for all of July, looking forward to that, think it will be lots of fun! Trying to keep up with learning through the summer! Kids hate it of course. Their comment "It's summer, our time off!" Me " What time off? I never said that." AHAH...Mom wins! Why...well cause I am MOM...Superior being...LOLOLOL....

Wanted to say Hello to all my friends on here...I am highlighting all of my followers since I have been a very slack blogging buddy. I am trying to get around to you all! But I mean it's summer...I am outdoors..and no laptop yet. Maybe one day my hubs will get me one.....yea right...LOL....Have a great week!
Later Tators!

The Lie's Dressing Rooms Mirrors Tell!!!!

Dressing room mirrors are terrible because they LIE! Yes they truly do! I was shopping with my mother this past Saturday and I was trying on clothes, I happen to catch a glimpse of my rear in the mirror..and do you know what...that mirror tried to show me that my bum had cellulite!!!!! What!!!!!! NO heck it does not..my bum is nice and firm..(denial)....and my body is in great shape....(yea right)....where does this dressing room mirror get the nerve to try and lie to me by showing me all of these flaws on my body that I just do not have...Has this happened to any of you out there??? I mean come on...I did nothing to this mirror, but use it to look at the snazzy tank tops I was buying for 6.99 each at JcPenny's...It's job is to show me how great I look so I will buy these clothes...not how crappy my body MAY look in the horrible light of the dressing room....I will tell you that I came home and after my mother left to go home...I went straight to my bathroom..took my pants off..jumped up on the bathtub rim and looked at my bum in the tiny medicine cabinet in this rent a house bathroom...and you know what...my bum looked great, there was no dimples, or fat...love that mirror!!! So after getting down and getting the pants back on...I decided after all of the stress that the dressing room mirror had caused...I deserved a snack.....so off I went to enjoy a little bit more cellulite...I mean...a nice cake....The End! ;)

On the family side...We took another small beach trip, had to get some work done for my hubby's visa so while we were down that way we stayed at the beach for a night. We decided to get a hotel on the strip at VA Beach. It was nice we walked the strip that afternoon, shopping in all of the surf shops and checking things out. When we got back to the hotel the kids decided to head down to the beach for a few.. before the three oldest walked out the door we said...DO NOT GET WET! We could see them from our balcony, so we decided it was okay for them to walk out on their own..with the hopes the older two would be responsible....I was getting things arranged in the room before we went out that night and Terry was watching them from the balcony...and not a few minutes later what happens...the two oldest kids come back with wet legs...Tristan came back total soaked with sand all over him...and crying...they were all walking in the shallow part of the water and he fell and was upset..but I washed him up and he was fine...so much for giving the older ones a little responsibility...hum...Anyway, we walked up and down the strip again we wanted to check out the fun park...way to expensive...can we say RIP OFF...so we walked on the beach side (VA Beach has a paved walkway on the beach side of the hotels) and ran into a playground on the beach..so we let the kids play on the playground before heading back to the hotel. The next day we got up and drove to see the USS Wisconsin Battle Ship. It was really neat to walk on this ship as it is still active and you got to see the battle wounds from Iraq. BTW to see the ship is free...it is in the Naval Museum..you just ask to see the ship only...free...nice! On our way home we saw a blow up toys so we stopped at that and let the small kids jump on the blow ups and then me and the older kids hit a local used bookstore...Yes, I love bookstores...On the way home we took a ferry...And that was pretty much it..just a simple trip..we did not really go on the beach to much..as the weather people said it was going to be chilly and rainy...It was not..but we had nothing to go on the beach with and I was not about to spend a ton of money getting things...so the actual beach will have to wait till our next trip...I think Tristan was fine with that after his wash out...

Other then that nothing else has really been going on...Sebbie just got over a small bug...but he is now feeling better thankfully...so for now we are just hanging around and ready for school to be out...last day here is next Wedensday...Yay....just trying to find camps for the kids to go to and figuring out some free things to do this summer...Ahhhh summer....can't wait!!! What are some things any of you are doing this summer...share some of your free summer tips with kids! Would love to gather more options....Posting some pics of our small trip below...hubs will be upset if he sees the last one on here...LOLOL...love you hunny....still have not gotten our other card looked at..I do believe I lost all the pics from our last trip....oh well....Till next time....

Later Tators!

Sex Postion in a Door Jam? What?

Warning this post will be a bit more racy then my normal post! Okay, so I received my Glamour magazine in the mail a week or so ago and as I was flippin though it..this is what I saw....

So of course, I went right to study this article and died laughing...are these positions for someone that is 20? I mean come on....You can seriously get hurt doing some of these! Now don't get me wrong I am all for a new position but...I really don't want to end up in the ER doing it! Okay let us go one by one on these positions.....

1. This one...not to bad...easy well for me..haha...and that is important...but this one is basic
2. What door jam? If you have a bathroom in your bedroom, maybe...my door jam is way to small! I am also not to sure if I want a splinter in my back? And hello we have four kids...we can not just bust up and have woopie with the bedroom door open and do it right there in the door jam.....Oh my gosh my children would be horrified...and scared for life...lol...
3. As stated in this picture my thighs are so out of shape....guess I could get them in shape while doing this one...hum....haha
4. This one is the funny one....uhhhh no I am way to clumsy to balance myself to even attempt this...it does not look comfy for either person...and my husband has a bad neck anyway...yeap....37 will do that to you....well that or me crashing and flippin our car on Christmas Day 2006...That might have done it....hum...maybe... ;)


Okay, so sex as we all know can be wonder and fun....but if you cause serious injuries to yourself or your partner.....that is no fun! So be careful...find the positions that work for you...don't be scared to try new ones....that do no cause injury...and have fun...lol.....Would love to hear your comments on these positions...or hey, any other ones..... ;)

On the family side! Yes, I know a family side on a sex position post..haha..but here we go...I promised cheap travel tips...well our vacation was really cheap to be honest, cept the food cost of course. I will share this soon. I would be sharing now, but I have had a devastating loss....my camera that I lost then found and was soooo happy that I located it..did me wrong...I took pics from Preston's bday...our long trip...and then Sebastian's bday...in all I had about 250 photos on my camera...I was getting ready to download them and it said....CAN NOT READ CARD....So as of right now I cannot get my pics off my camera....we looked this up online and it seems this happens a lot! So if you take pics with your digital..make sure to get your pics off as soon as you can..and remember that your memory card does not last forever, you need to get a new one every year...to keep this from happening..that is if you take a million pics like we do!!!! This is your tip for the week! Take it to heart...so you do not end up like me and lose precious pictures!!! We are going to try to take the card to a photo specialists to see if they can get the pics off...but I am doubtful... :( To end on an up note, today is Friday! Yay! So you all go out and have a wonderful weekend!!!
Later Tators!

Happy 2nd Birthday Sebastian!!

What? Didn't I just post a Birthday blog? Yeap..that is right two of my boys birthdays happen this month. Preston's bday just passed on April 9th and now it is time for Sebastian's!! These two brothers are 9 years and 9 days apart! :) For Sebbie's bday (sat. April 18) we will be out of town, so I am posting this a few days early.

It is so crazy that my youngest will be 2. No more babies!! yay....I am a proud mom of two toddlers, a tween and a teenager! Help...haha..kidding...well kinda...

So what is Sebastian getting for his bday? A vacation! Mom is in need. Will let you know what else he gets later on..when we figure out what to get him...lol...and of course there will be cake on Sat. night..yum...Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!!

Shouting out to our baby of the family!!!!!

Happy 2nd Birthday Sebastian!!!
We Love you!!!!

On the family side: So where are we going on our mini well deserved vacation? We are heading to Williamsburg, Jamestown, Yorktown, and Cape Henry VA...taking in all of the history these places have to offer and anything free we can find..haha...Wish us luck! We are trying to do this vacation as cheap as possible...will let you know how that turns out..haha....hopefully I will be full of tips to help you all with a cheap vacation...but if there is no further mention of tips for a cheap vacation..then you will know it did not work out as I planned...LOL...But we soooo need a break from the norm...Spring break has been awesome...all it was missing was a small getaway...so well...we are getting away...till next time bloggers...and I know, I know...I will make it onto your blogs...this week as been busier then I expected...not sure why I was thinking it was going to be low key...with four kids...nothing is low key....
Later Tators! :)