You say goodbye and I say hello.

I was listening to The Beatles on my way to work this morning. Such a great way to start the day. The song Hello Goodbye (one of my favorites) came on. Which made me automatically think about the fact that today is the last day of 2013 even though the song isn't about that. That led to rememberance of the many Facebook statuses I've already seen on the subject. Most are a variance of "new year, new me", "2013 can kiss my ass", "2014 is going to be the BEST EVER!!!!"... yeah, the same ones all of you have seen and possibly posted. The very same ones that I saw last year. And the year before that. And the year before that. And the year before that...

This is how my 2013 felt. Bright and shiny.

It just seems like everyone is so ready to say Goodbye to 2013 and Hello to 2014. I'm afraid to post a status on Facebook about it because I see a huge backlash coming from it as in I think I'm perfect and better than everyone else. Not that a fear of backlash would stop me from posting it. If I want to I will. I just think it's sad that I have a valid reason to think a happy post would make some people cringe. Well, start cringing because this is why I'm saying Goodbye to 2013 with no hopes of things having to get better, just that they stay the way they are because I'm happy. Happy! People, did ya hear that? Some people in the world are happy! There have been times I haven't been but I am now. And I don't want to feel bad for that.

I'm not perfect. My life is not perfect. I don't want it to sound that way. My husband and I both work very hard for what we have. I'm a great friend. I'm honest. I'm there if you need me. I try to be the best mom I can. I yell. I get angry. I try to be as good of a wife to my husband as he is a husband to me. But even with all the faults I am still happy because I make the best out of it and spend as much time with my family as possible because that is what keeps me going. There are things people can't control but you can control whether or not to be happy with what you have and at the very least make a conscious decision to TRY to make the best of it. I wish you the best of luck on this from the bottom of my heart because everyone deserves to be happy.

This is how my 2013 went. A lot of it in pictures. It started off busy as always after the holidays and the kids being out of school. We started paperwork on selling our house. It took FOREVER. It was also bittersweet. I mean, we were ready for something bigger but still... it was our 1st house.

This was taken while we were buying it.
Goodbye house. :'(

We went to the circus.

I made my 1st cake for Easter.

I felt like this a lot.

Ate some sushi.

I felt like this ALL the time.

Got my hair to do something I wanted it to one time.

Took the hubs out for Father's Day.

I felt like I should since this happens.

Even though that happens I feel this way about him every day.

I made these faces WAY too much.

My baby girl turned 4.

I said things I probably shouldn't.

Got Bacon off to her 1st day of school EVER
 & B to 3rd grade.

Enjoyed our new backyard.

Went and saw some animals.

B joined Cub Scouts.

We went to a fair.

My husband made these faces. A lot.

Took both the kids on a Cub Scout
camping trip.

Dressed up for Halloween.

And had an awesome Christmas with all of our family.

I honestly cannot complain. 2013 was good to me and I hope somewhere out there it was good to some other people too. I can't imagine it being any better. I will say that I hope we find more time for things like camping and traveling. We've come to realize we all enjoy those things, and even more so when we get to do them together. So Hello 2014! I hope you treat me as well as 2013. And Goodbye 2013. You were great to me. I will truly miss you.

Happy New Year!

My biggest little is 9 today.

*Warning: This is long.

I woke up today with the realization that in exactly one more year my son will be in double digits. I keep asking myself  "How did this happen?" And since I am one of those people who answer themselves, I keep saying "I have absolutely no idea. He was 3 yesterday."  Sad fact is I'm wrong. He was not 3 yesterday. He was 8 yesterday. And today he's 9. But at one time, a time that seems like forever ago and yesterday at the same time, he was a baby.

Look at all the people who were just waiting for him to get here. There are plenty more
but I don't have all those pictures on my computer.

Not to be biased, but wasn't he the prettiest baby ever? :) He stays tan. He was even born tan. He was beautiful and perfect and everything I never knew I wanted. I was on bed rest for 8 months with this kid. I have went 5 days without even a drink of water because of him. While pregnant no less.

That hair! I didn't have it cut until he was 2. It was ringlet curly. Even dressed in all blue
people thought he was a girl.

I was not excited about a baby while I was pregnant. That sounds awful I know. But it's the truth. I was too sick and honestly I had never wanted children. Not even one child.

That hair got cut off during this time span. :( But it was time for him to look like a little man.

After all that I should have had a perfect labor. Not so much. I went in for contractions and had to go home. No big deal; happens all the time. Later that night my contractions went from 8 minutes apart to 3 minutes apart. By the time I got to the hospital it was every 30 seconds.

He's my mini me for sure.

They strapped some stuff up to me when I got there. I told them I had to go to the restroom so the nurse said to let them get a quick read first then we'll unhook you and you can go. The next thing I know people are flying everywhere. I was informed they had lost his heartbeat and I had to have an emergency c-section and he had to get out right then. That was the moment for me. That moment that every mom has when they know they'll do anything to protect their babies. My only response was "Then take him out right now." I have never been so scared in my whole life.

He was dressed as Batman the night his dad and I got married.

They wheeled me off to the OR with me leaving my mom crying in the hallway because they wouldn't even stop for her to tell me she loved me. She had to run with them. I had already went into shock by this point. What had actually happened was I was in full blown labor but I hadn't dilated. The sack he was in had ruptured and all the toxic mess in it was now all in me. I didn't care. I just wanted him out and safe.

This was the year baby sister was born.

My doctor came into the OR wearing camo pants and telling me he had to leave his place in line at Chick-Fil-A for me. He was the best doctor ever and tried his best to joke. We were pretty close, not a normal patient relationship because he used to come by my tattoo shop. They gave me a spinal tap, strapped me down, and went to cutting.

Getting way too big.

When you have a c-section they put a sheet up so you can't see. I had already been throwing up while they were cutting and my nerves were shot. I needed to see, so I told my doctor to take the sheet down. Everyone said no and he just said "She can handle it, take it down!" Then I got to watch my son make his entrance into the world. He was soundless and as blue as a crayon. Even then, he was still the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen. The first time I heard him cry was about a minute later and it was the happiest sound I'd ever heard.

First lost tooth was around this time.

We stayed in the hospital for a week. Once he got out of me he was perfect. I was not. I had tons of issues and don't even really remember the first couple of days I was there except for one thing. Someone was in the bathroom and I was in the room alone with him and he started crying. I was so medicated that I couldn't even lift my head. In a few seconds we were both crying for completely different reasons. Looking back I realize that everyone was much more worried about me at this point but I never even realized it because all I could think about was him.

I need to show them all these pictures when they fight.

We both made it out of the hospital alive and he is as healthy as he can be. He is one of the biggest blessings in my life and I thank God that he picked me to be his mom. I can't imagine life without him. He keeps me going. And although it is bittersweet I am having the most amazing time watching him grow up.

And this is where we are now.

I have missed so much that I can never take back, for numerous reasons. I was too tired, too busy, had to work... we all have these problems. Funnily enough, although I have so many regrets about his life, he still loves me more than anybody in this world. So while I feel like I've failed him more times than I can count, he feels like I am the greatest person he knows. That is the blessing of a child. You belong to them as much as they belong to you. I love him more than life itself.

This post wasn't for any purpose. Not to shed some great light on anything. Just for me to reminisce and remember his life today since that's what we're celebrating.

Camping Like a Pro

It has been a couple of weeks since my last post. Things have been CRAZY at my house with traveling, festivals, moving, and everyday life. This weekend will be another busy one as well. We are going on my sons annual family Cub Scout camping trip.

My little Cub Scout trying on his uniform. He's 8 but he's so tiny. Still, isn't he adorable?

Ready for his 1st pack meeting in full gear. He really loves it.

I am really looking forward to it, just not the preparing for it. I decided to make myself a checklist for camping supplies. I'll admit I basically can't function without a list. I feel so frazzled, like I'm forgetting 110% of the things I should be taking with me. Anyway, this post is short and sweet. My checklist is here. Maybe if you need a good camping checklist split into categories it'll work for you. I already feel better about going home and getting all of it together.

How to Make a Dryer Vent Pumpkin

As most of you know, we have been getting our new house set up. Excitement is running rampant around our house right now. We should be moved in by the beginning of October. This weekend we got a lot of things accomplished. I made at least 10 trips to stores because I kept thinking of more things that I needed. I made 2 trips to get laundry detergent. I finally remembered it on the 3rd trip. I'm telling you, moving is exhausting. My mind has been in a million different places lately. When I realized I still forgot laundry detergent on the 2nd trip, I decided I needed a break from unpacking... organizing... making a bigger mess... whatever you want to call it. So I made one more trip out to get some supplies for a craft which always cheers me up. When I got back home I got out (ha. Got out... who am I kidding? It's been sitting on top of the dryer since we hooked it up 3 weeks ago.) the part of the dryer vent we cut off when we moved our dryer in and headed to the garage.

I got set up on my piece of newspaper with the garage doors open. I used orange Rust-O-Leum paint since it was going on metal. 

I just sprayed as evenly as I could. The paint stuck great. I made sure to spray the ends well and got under the vent as much as possible from this side.

Coming along nicely.

I left it there to dry on that side and turned it over once it completely dried. I waited a couple of hours and went back to unpacking since I felt a little better about my wasted trips to the store. After the first side was completely dry and no longer felt tacky I flipped it over to paint the other side,

The paint went on great. It's still wet here after painting the 2nd side.

I left it there another couple of hours so that the paint would be totally dry so I could connect the ends. For my purposes, I just held the two ends together and wrapped Gorilla tape around them and painted it orange as well. The back side of mine will be completely hidden so it didn't matter if it had tape on it. Originally I thought it had been going somewhere that would show off the entire thing. If that's your issue I would use a wire wrap method. Just hold the ends together, wrap thin wire around them like you would tape from one side to the next, and then wrap a small loop of wire around itself to hold in place. Since the vent is notched it will be barely noticeable. Then you could just throw a leaf over the top and it would be even less noticeable.

After I taped and painted it and brought it inside.

I bought apple cinnamon scented oil and dark reeds which I held together with rubber bands to make my stem. It's cute and gives off a nice smell. Two of my favorite things: Good looks and good smells. I stuck some fake leaves inside the rubber bands as well and just let them branch out.

My supplies. Just stick it all together and sit in the bottle of scented oil.

My finished product turned out great and was really simple. Other than drying time for the paint it took me less than 30 minutes. My total cost was under $15. Now I'm excited about making more fall and Halloween stuff, especially when it gives me an excuse not to unpack for a few minutes. 

Maybe it's just because I made it, but I think it turned out great. It's perfect for my mantle.

Supplies:

Dryer vent - $0 (already had it)

Orange Rust-O-Leum paint - $5

Apple Cinnamon Oil - $1
Decorative Reeds - $3
Fake leaves - $2
Rubber bands - $0 (already had it)

Until next time.