Select All + Delete

This week Im Grateful for : Snow Plows

2011-01-21T08:55:00.000-05:00

After The Ice Storm

Snow really does have a way of bring out the gratefulness in you .... and we sure have had some snow this week, plus a Ice storm ...

So this week I am totally grateful for

The neighbor who plows our drive way when the snow hits us hard .... we don't have a plow and it you mean shoveling the drive way, the thought makes me shudder, and with the hubby being away from home for long periods of time when the snow comes I am really grateful to the neighbor.

I'm grateful that when the Ice Storm hit after a day of snow that we didn't lose power, this is known to happen ...but it didn't and I really am grateful for that... two kids+ no power = not a good combination.

I'm grateful for my camera ..without it I wouldn't be able to capture the things around me and as much as I dislike snow It is really pretty ....

So this week what are you grateful for.... come link up with Maxabella Loves .....

* so the reason for my absents this week ...kids home all week because of the snow..and I have been working on two new looks for my blogs..go check out TatterBeans and let me know what you think... Select All + Delete should be done by the weekend

Team Spirit..... Pulling together to help

2011-01-15T09:01:00.001-05:00

Click here

Click Here

I personally have not said much about the disaster in Australia .... Its hard to know what to say when your so far away from something and when personally it doesn't effect you in any shape or form...

Last night as I was reading through all your grateful posts it hit me...and it was a fairly hard hit..that in some way this does effect me... 90% of my followers are Australian... (how did I get mixed up with you crazy bunch)
90% of the blogs I read are Australian ... the people who travel over to my blog and leave me love and encouragement are yet again Australian.

I am truly blessed by you guys .... and I am totally grateful to have you all in my life...
So if I did nothing and all of a sudden I lost one of you ... how would I feel ... an especially if I had done nothing....

So I'm rallying the troupes ...and pulling the stops out ....

I'm my other world ..the one where I create stuff and try to sell it .... I belong to an awesome Team .... a team of Undiscovered Artists..yes we are all new to Etsy in one way or another....

One of our team members is Australian and is in the mist of all that is going on...

So today I put it to the team that we do something .... and I'm really hoping they feel the same way as me and will jump to the challenge ..... Team Spirit

Cause every little bit helps ..... right?

Pay It Forward... You know you want to

2011-01-14T16:45:00.000-05:00

I am paying it forward on my other blog... I linked up with MultipleMum

You are all welcome to come on over and join in.... TatterBeans Photography

I would love you to in fact

This week Im Grateful for : The Sun and the Snow

2011-01-14T16:10:00.000-05:00

When a storm visits and you live in New Hampshire the only thing you can do is run and hide....

Anyone who lives in my neck of the woods will tell you it can get fairly mean and nasty at times....

Waiting for the sun to come out is like waiting for the Queen of England to visit but she came today in all her glory and it was so pretty for a while.

So I'm so grateful this week for the sun ...... and blue skies

I'm also grateful that my husband made it home safety after plowing for nearly 30 hrs straight ...

And as much as it may not seem like I'm grateful for the snow I am ...it keeps my children busy as they build forts .... or Ice castles as I have just been informed.
It pays use a good wage, and puts food on our table, and that I'm totally grateful for

The two photos I have posted are for Maxabella ...

In her own words

"I LOVE seeing the snowed-in photos. It's just so EXOTIC as I sit here in the sweltering humidity of a Sydney Summer. So beautiful your way and it makes me just want to come over right now. I think I would love to live in the snow... x "

You would be welcome anytime here my friend... just make sure you bring your thermals

What are you grateful for this week.
Hop on over to Maxabella Loves and link up with this weeks Grateful posts ......

Snow Snow and a Swollen Eye

2011-01-13T08:43:00.000-05:00

The mountains this morning

Let me here you say BLIZZARD .....

yes it sure was.... it went on all day and didn't stop to even snow ....

My husband left the house at 3am in the morning came home at 9.30pm and left again at 1am* ... if I didn't know better Id say he was avoiding me.

The kids sat on the floor in an pile of throws and pillows snuggled up and watched movies, read books, colored, and munched on what ever I supplied.

The dog drove us mad, mainly cause all he wants to do is go play in it.

I manged to get some editing done.

Bip and myself shoveled snow a few times

The aftermath looks a bit like this

Now I mentioned a swollen eye.. well its more like a swollen eye lid.... Not sure what is going on here... a paramedic said it looked like I had been bite... as I have a very hard lump just above my eye around my eye brow.... its painful its unsightly ..and its itchy

I'm not really into posting pictures of myself... but you have to see this... I think I did a round with Mike Tyson in my sleep

This is looking good to be honest .... my eye lid is open which it wasn't this morning

I am going to leave you with my eye to stare at..as I'm staring at you ... wish I could wink !

*(he was plowing)

Stop the Bus I Want to Get Off !

2011-01-11T10:51:00.000-05:00

Image Credit

Do you ever feel like you have so much to do that you could really do with asking God for an extra hour or two in the day?

I have been feeling like this for days now....

There just isn't enough hours in my day to complete all that I want/need to do..

With all the best intentions in the world I still don't get it all done...

My list is just getting longer and longer

Today's to do list looks like this

Write a blog post or two
Write a short bio and product an editorial to send out
Produce a template for Tatter Beans News Letter (look to the right and you will see a sigh up box... feel free to sign up and keep up to date with all that I'm doing)
Research new marking ideas
Do some ironing ( the kids look like scruffs in creased up clothes)
Clean the bathroom
Get some inspiration for Ester,Mothers day and father days prints/cards
Find a company that will fulfill my production needs .... and delivery deadlines
Work on a new product for my shop
Look at blogs to send my editorial to

Ok I am going stop there ... there a few other to dos on the list but Ive done them ....

I have this overwhelming feeling that I'm not going to get it all done today .... and tomorrow just may be a wash out ... as we wait for the next snow storm and the anticipation of a snow day for school.

Are you feeling over whelmed with all that you need to do today?
Please let me know I'm not alone .......

Sharing is Caring

2011-01-08T19:33:00.000-05:00

Today I needed to come up with something to keep the kids occupied... its snowing outside and its really cold... they where a bit bored with the toys that had for Christmas..

My kids move on fast...faster than I can keep up with them..

So I decided to go see what I could find on the world wide web ... always a good place to start ..

I nipped onto face book.. as you do ..and saw this ...

Valentina Ramos Your kids (or you!) like to paint?
Take those crayons and play a little ;)
download the “Little Tractorcito” coloring page here:

How blessed was I, this kept them out of my hair for a good 45 minutes

Thank you Valentina you saved my bacon this afternoon.

Click on Valentina's name and you to can have this to keep your child happy for a while

and then go check out her work... she is a very talented lady

This week Im Grateful for : New Ideas

2011-01-07T21:31:00.000-05:00

Image Credit

New ideas keep you on your toes... and moving forward...
They keep you inspired and creative .... and they even get the children involved if your brave enough

So This week I am grateful for

New Ideas: Sometime ago I said I was going to recycle paper into paper... so for months now we have been collecting paper ... I think we collected that much that we may have put the recycling center out of business.
We have had so much fun over the last couple of days putting into color order and piles... and today the process began ... Ill update you on the out come of the first batch

A winter cold: well I'm not totally grateful for it... I'm just grateful that its stayed away as long as it has... I work up this morning feeling rather crabby and stuffed up... I'm just grateful it waited until after the holidays.

Laughter: I am grateful that we as a family can laugh, despite the problems we may have ... we still laugh with joy with each other and at each other...

I just put Bip to bed.. he's nine now and doesn't need nor want me to put him to bed... but I begged so much tonight he allowed me to... but not before he rolled around on the floor laughing so hard at my begging act...

Hey if it means I get a goodnight cuddle Ill keep begging ... because before I know it he will be eighteen and then Ill have no chance

So what are you grateful for this week... pop on over to Maxabella Loves and link up your Grateful post ...

Back Breaking

2011-01-05T19:51:00.000-05:00

This is going to be a very short post.

For days now I have spent much of my time crouched over my computer editing...
and my back is some what worse for wear

Remember I said I lost a lot of stuff after a power surge

Well the final product is done and I thought I might share it with you all..

So here is the Love Collection

Well part of it ....

there is a few more prints that make up this collection

I truly believe that Valentines day isn't just for loves....... its for anyone who you love ...

My mom always send me a card ...and I always send her one to ... Its my favorite day of the year

Marbles

2011-01-04T07:17:00.000-05:00

Imagine Credit

Did you play marbles as a child?

Personally speaking I didn't but my middle brother did, I never really saw the point of it to be honest .... and I can say that the rules ..I think each kids made up his/her own.... were always confusing.

There is also this expression which involves marbles which I never really understood until last night

"Ive lost my Marbles" or I'm losing my Marbles"

I sat yesterday for nearly 6 hours editing some photography.....

I have to say I do this most days and after a while it can become very frustrating.

I am also a very messy worker, yes I said messy ...

I have over layers and photos all over the screen and there is no real order to how I work ...

So back to my marbles.... I'm editing the phone rings its my mom.

The whole world stops when my mom calls .....Mom England ,Me States

To cut a long story very short by the time I get of the phone and go pick my children up of the bus and get them sorted with homework snacks and other things kids need when they get in from school... there was a power surge and both my computes had crashed and I had lost nearly everything I had been working on.

That is enough to make a girl lose her Marbles

Before you Know it

2011-01-02T19:49:00.000-05:00

Imagine Credit

Before you know it its all over with and your entering into something new...

A New Year...
A New Adventure
A change in direction, something for yourself, something for the family...

New Year means different things for different people....

I don't make resolutions ...

I make goals ...

Goals I want to reach and achieve, for myself, for my family and now for my business...

Everything is reachable I believe, it just takes some time and a bit of effort to reach it...

Its like a can that's on a shelve that you cant quiet get to...

What do you do leave it there

Or ...

Go and get a stepping stool and climb and get what it was your were reaching for......

Once your on top of the stool its surprising what else you can see at that height

So as we head into the New year I'm on top of my stool

And I'm reaching up

I wish you all a the best for this New Year ... I pray you find your stepping stool of life

What will you reaching for this New Year?

A Little Giver Away Before The New Year

2010-12-26T11:02:00.001-05:00

TatterBeans

Hello Everyone, hope your Christmas day was as awesome as mine.

I also hope you are not suffering with that deflated feeling ...
I have to be honest I am ...

I always get it the day after but thats ok I decided to cheer myself up by doing a little giver away over at TatterBeans .... and would love you Ladies and Gentleman to join in with the chance to win one of my 5x7 prints...and its really simple you don't even have to do anything except click a link and leave me a comment.

How simple is that ...and this little giver away is going on till New years Eve.

So just hop on over to Tatter Beans and join in with some after Christmas Fun

*And it doesn't matter where in the world you live .... I want you to come join in the fun.*

Missing in Action ....

2010-12-23T13:30:00.000-05:00

Well that's how it feels really .... I'm beginning to ask myself "who are you"
I'm sure the kids may feel this way to.... so where have I been and what am I up to... well if I said building a business would I be forgiven ....

I hope so cause right now I feel a bit of a let down on the whole blog/post front and I have to make a public apology to Cate at Keep Cate Busy she awarded me the Stylish Blogger Award and I totally missed her comment ...

Cate really you can come across here and slap me ...

This is my award and Im totally made up about it ......

So here is what I now have to do...
1. Thank and link back to the person who awarded you this award -
2.Share 7 things about yourself
3.Pay it forward to 15 recently discovered great bloggers
4.Contact those bloggers and tell them about the award.

So 7 things about me....

1: I have recently opened my own shop on Etsy
2: I'm a Christmas baby ...... and very recently turned 44..... wow am I really that old.
3: I have a pile of ironing sitting in my laundry room that is so big that I would be happy to pay someone else to do it.
4: I love Cheese and Onion sandwiches ..... you have to remember I am British
5: I would stay in my PJ's all day If I allowed myself to.
6: I have never followed a cooking recipe in my life.. I'm a throw in the pan type of girl and hope for the best

7: I love my life and my family with all my heart..even when times get rough I still hold on to what God has given me .

Now the ~~hard~~ easy bit 15 recently discovered blogs.

1: Acute Designs ... A fellow Etsy seller who is following her dreams and makes the most beautiful hair accessorizes
2: My Little Drummer Boys ..... I have a lot of admiration for this lady.... read her story.
3: Crazy Adorable ... another Etsy .... who's blog is just so cute, and product is adorable.
4: hanamik ... I know this gonna get boring but my fellow Etsy sellers have such wonderful blogs that I just cant help promote them... Hana is expecting her first baby soon and she looks so good doing it you really should check her out.
5: Dreamaginarius beautifully laid out blog ... totally styling it up here.
6: Pepper Glen Love it here.
7: Small Town Woman I know she is my sister but hey she has style... she must have she is my sister
8: The Purple Notepad I have read Katies blog for a while but this Lady has style and writes so beautifully ..and should be discovered a bit more so here is your chance.
9: Align Boutique ... a really friendly place to visit ....
10: hrushton art A gem I found today .... one follower but really there should be more...

So I'm gonna stop at 10 cause really I have not discovered any others recently that I can really list ...sorry ... but note to all you really should do 15 ..I'm just a bad girl ...don't follow my bad habits ...

So off to contact them all now.... but before I leave .... let me just say you ladies are all stylish to me in one way or another...and I'm grateful for each and everyone of you ... Have a wonderful Holiday and I look forward to spending the New year with you all as we Blog Along together

This week Im Grateful for : Flowers and ......

2010-12-17T16:56:00.001-05:00

(Imagine by TatterBeans)

Don't flowers make you feel good... they are like a kiss from a lover, a smile of a child and the gift of a friendship all rolled into.

I'm grateful for flowers cause they make me feel good...and we all need to feel good about something....

I put my flowers in water and then had to steal one to take a photo of it..cause you know I'm also inspired by flower I mean why wouldn't I be right?

So a big thank you to my American Sister Small Town Woman for brightening up my day ...(they where an early Birthday Treat)

I am also grateful today that my husband doesn't read my blog ... after my PMS Post he came back from work in an awesome mood.... So very grateful.

What are you Grateful for Today ....

Come join us all at Maxabella's as we bring the weekend in with some gratefulness

Have a wonderful weekend everyone...

Angry Man

2010-12-16T14:56:00.000-05:00

So its that time of the month again in our house

That time of the month when nobody can do right for doing soooo much wrong....

That time of the month when you don't talk in case you get your head bit of .....

That time of the month when you get used to be ignored, not told anything, kept in the dark, grunted at and pushed a side like you where a bit of something the dog left behind on a walkway.....

Yes its that time of the month ......

That's right my husband has PMS ...

The news is bound to be greeted with snorts of cynicism by most females....

I for one will not blame you if you do snort..all I ask is that you clean up the snorting mess by yourself ..I have enough to deal with right now......

So all that is left to do is for you to watch this short video reverse the roles and you will truly see what I'm going through right now

PMS I know is no laughing matter.... but when we reverse it its a little bit like
Man Flu

Flogging My Blog on a Thursday for FYBF with Random Ramblings of a SAHM

A Personal Message from Santa

2010-12-15T07:37:00.002-05:00

(weheartit)

This is way to cool....

I was sent this link last year from my brother-in-law he had producted one for his daughter

Sadly in went into my spam box for what reason I do not know and I didnt get to do it for Bip and Bop...

Last night dropping of to sleep I remembered it and so I have done one this morning.....

Your kids will love it ....

Portable North Pole

Crazy few Days

2010-12-14T14:19:00.000-05:00

I have had the most awesome crazy out of this world few days.....

I was asked to do a custom order ...
Description was awesome lots to play with ........ totally enjoyed working with this client

Then got featured in a Treasury which most of you know about... that was so exciting

Made my first Treasury ...now that was loads of fun

One awesome blogger showed me some love .... Maxabella has anyone told you lately that you are truly wonderful.

Started working on my Valentines concept .... well you can never be to far ahead right?

Custom order done and dusted.... my first sale.

Sleepless night with Bop ...she has a cold and a cough ..... better one has a sleepless night with her than the whole house.

Woke up to a blanket of snow.... nothing to write home about but its the first ....

Spent the day with Bop ..she is no good on four hours sleep... me neither .

Spent an hour trying to explain to her today that this

was not the original

That this was

Felt pretty old once that lessons was over

Hop over to TatterBeans

I pounced on an awesome store today on Etsy.

Would love you to see their work.

Where will 2011 take you...

2010-12-11T10:56:00.001-05:00

..... with 2011 just around the corner, what are your hopes and dreams for the coming years?

I can also show you know (cause its working) the treasury I was featured in.... your clicks( you click on the featured item) are still welcomed and needed.

This week Im Grateful for : Stars in my Life

2010-12-10T12:11:00.001-05:00

This week I am grateful for so many things in my life.....

but I promise I'll only name a few

1: My best friend who is a star a bright shinny one..... whatever I do she is always there besides ...she encourage me and supports me ... I think she humors me as well ...and I love her for it ....*

2: The wonderful person (she is an awesome star) who featured one of my prints on her Treasury on Etsy ..... I hope she is truly blessed this weekend as she has blessed me. There is nothing better than waking up in a morning and checking your emails to find out that sort of news.

3: To all of you who left me encouraging comments yesterday .... You are all Bright Shining Stars.

Linking up with Maxabella for I'm Grateful For

Happy weekend everyone...may it be a blessed one for all of you.

(*out of all my friends she was the only one who entered my failed attempted at a giver away .....)

Featured in a Treasury on Etsy

2010-12-10T10:18:00.002-05:00

I had an email today from Etsy.....

I had been featured in a Treasury....
I was totally excited.
Its not front page but if we get lots of clicks veiws and comments it might just make it ... which would be totally awesome .....

My print that got picked is this one

Featured on

There is Still Time...All Undiscovered in 10 Categories Whew!

I have all morning been trying to embed a code from Cultcraft that would show you all the treasury but it will not work for me ...totally gutted.. so if anyone knows how to get this silly code to work I would love to hear from you.....

But in the meantime do a girl a favour and go view click and comment if you can ...help me get to the from page

Id be really Grateful

Creating The Light.

2010-12-09T15:39:00.003-05:00

(Art Work Credited to TatterBeans)

It has been six months.... Since I quit my day job and entered into Therapeutic Parenting.

Ive regreted it all at times, Ive rejocied in it at times.....

Ive seen the light, lost it and found it again.
Ive pulled my hair out and its regrown.
Ive cried myself to sleep at night, and woke up laughing.
Ive been bored out my mind,but to busy to think.

It seems like only yesterday when we made the decisions that I would come out of the white collar world, and become a SAHM to our two RADdlings.(not sure what RADdlings means check over in the right hand column)

I had great visions of grandeur to begin with, I always see roses before I see weeds. Then for whatever reason I lost my ~~mind~~ vision
A wise woman said to me around this time of losing my ~~mind~~ vision

"You need to be doing something for you, something your passionate about, something that inspires you"

This did strike a cord with me, I enjoy the creative side of life but had not done anything creative since leaving my job as an Art Director for our local Boys & Girls club.

The only photography I did was quick snap shots of the kids... Id stopped drawing, didn't do any crafts, everything had gone.

I did start to do some creative work again slowly but it was surely.
I then asked a question to two women online who I admire, one for her ability to put into words what we are all thinking and the other for her artistic talent ....

"What do you think to my work?''
There response was positive, they told me to go for it and not look back.
I am crap at self belief .... Im even worse at self promotion.

I'm scared of failure ...and I always think everyone else is soooo much better than me ... which as I write this I still believe to be true...

But and here is the positive, I have stepped out ...Ive even stepped up .... I took a leap of faith ...... and I did just what everyone had been telling me to do....

It is early days and all business take time to grow and be known ..... maybe I will succeed maybe I wont.
It wont matter either way.......the important thing is Me is back ...the one who is alive and kicking ......

*And if anyone wants to know what it is I'm up to...there are hints of it all on this site

Flogging my Blog on Thursday for Flog Yo Blog Friday .......

Come flog with us .... @ Random Ramblings of a SAHM

I ♥ Quench Metalworks.

2010-12-07T13:40:00.003-05:00

Have you ever been just trolling over web pages, facebook, Etsy and suddenly something hits you smack bang in the face and your in love. Yes/No?

This I have to say doesnt happen that ofton with me but it did today.
I was just checking emails and facebook while Bop was eating her lunch (remember Im homeschooling this week) and on the front page of my facebook this little gem shows up.

I have for sometime admired Quench Metalwork's work, they are unique in every sense of the word.

They are on my after Christmas list which I informed my husband a few nights ago (we also buy each other something after the Christmas session as affording something before is nearly always imposable)

The piece that made me fall in love today is in fact a custom piece of jewelry, which might not be offered to the public but even still it caught my eye and made me whoosh.

The embroidery is by Cindy Steiler of Mary's Granddaughter....her work can also be found on Etsy

The rest is Quench Metalworks

A totally wonderful collaboration!

Quench Metalworks Facebook page

Quench Metalworks Etsy Store

Quench Metalworks Blog

Go have a look round and then come back and tell me how much you love their work.

Signing off and going back to homeschooling .........

Grounded with Mom

2010-12-06T20:12:00.001-05:00

(weheartit)

My daughter ...bless her ....

Will be spending the week at home with her mother being home schooled ...

Oh joy for me

I had threaten that if the refusing to do work, hiding under tables cause she is mad ( normally for no real reason it would seem) didn't stop then she would be pulled out of school and homes school ..... this was after she dumped her homework Friday night on the school bus and proclaimed to me she had none...

What she didn't know was that her teacher had called me just as she left school to tell me what was going on... this homework was extra work that she had refused to do in school that day.

So as I am not one to making empty threates I know have to see this one though....

So over the next few days my post may be of a ranting nature or they may looked slurred ..depending on weather I can find the bottle vodka I hid from the dog.

Oh and she hates me right now... she told me so.

Sharing Sunday: Crayons, Soaps, and Bags

2010-12-05T09:00:00.019-05:00

Its that day again Sunday where the old week is over and the new one is about to begin.

I love the feeling that the old is gone and the new is coming, its like the unexpected and whats round the corner all rolled into one big pile called life.

So what did I find this week.... well let me say its been fun finding this weeks shares... really fun and there was so much I could of shared but as most of you are mommies I picked out things that I know you will all love ..... so without further a do let me introduced you to

Kitty Baby Love.

Now I wish I had known about this company when Bop was small .... cause I would have spent a small fortune on their crayons instead I spent a small fortune on crayola crayons that got snapped in half, and the amounts of paper I use to pick up was a joke.... these would of been perfect for her cause I'm not seeing how she could of broke these ....

This is what Kitty Baby Love has to say about themselves

Kitty Baby Love is a collaboration between my partner, Ben, and I. In 2008 we found ourselves expecting our first child & unemployed though desperately seeking (Hello, recession!). Tired of waiting for callbacks, we decided to do something ourselves and started Kitty Baby Love- which is named after our expected son (Mikah, born May 2009) + kitties (our 'other' children).

With Kitty Baby Love, we strive to create items that support creative growth, family bonds, local economy, and most of all, something that will bring a smile to your face. Thank you for your support and making it possible for us to be a working family.

Along with their crayons they sell candles and a really neat coloring book....

You can find there store here Kitty Baby Love
They also have a blog which is worth a visit there are cute tutorials and some wonderful posts which I know you will enjoy. Kitty Baby Love

My next find isn't really a find its a store I have admired for sometime and I know some of you know here but for those of you that don't and have not yet found her store here we go

Let me introduce Kellie and a Bag Full of Posies

Why I have never ordered one of her bags I'm not sure but its on my to do list after Christmas.... but honestly they would make wonderful prezzies...and even better the ideal bag to take with you while Christmas shopping or any shopping come to think of it.

Here is a bit about Kellie

I'm your typical s@hm. that loves a little whimsy in the everyday. whether it's in design, clothing or my bags. my day job is my kids & home. my night job is either blogging or creating.

You can find Kellie's store here Bag Full of Posies
And her blog which is a must must must is here This Blessed Nest.
you can also find her on face book and twitter.

Last but not lest is Been Around the Block ..... this store has some gorgeous soaps for sale at awesome prices..but what caught my eye was this

yes its a lump of coal soap.... I should get these for my kids I keep telling them all they are getting for Christmas is coal

Go look around Been Around the Block it is a pretty awesome store, and she is doing a giver away if you LIKE her on Face Book.

And don't forget the give away on Tatter Beans.

Saturday : Including a 911 Call and a Giveaway

2010-12-04T16:05:00.000-05:00

To say its been an interesting day would be a total understatement.

take a look at these photo's and see if you can guess what happened to us this morning

This is my backyard.

Oh look their on my roof

I wonder what their doing up there....

well this is what they where doing

Putting out the chimney fire.

What a morning and all this before 10am .....

I wont go into details about how or why let me just tell you it was a tad bit scary, and very cold outside ...

we removed the children the dog and the rabbit and placed them all in the car with it running to keep them all warm.

Bop was still in her Pj's as was myself.

So that was my morning, along with the cleaning up from it all and tiring to remove the smell from the house without opening doors or windows... Impossible job let me tell you.

So I think I said something about a giver away...oh yes I did, didn't I .....

Well there is something many of you don't know about me.... I am a photo/digital processing freak.

So I had to do something with it all.....

Out of my passion and my need to be creative I opened an Etsy Store, and to run along slide it I have a brand now spanking blog..... so I am inviting you all to come visit and read about my new project and join in the giveaway.....

So ladies and gentlemen I introduce to you Tatter Bean Photography

This week Im Grateful for : Survival

2010-12-03T19:03:00.001-05:00

Image by Me

Its been one hell of a week let me tell you this much... so I'm grateful I survived it so to speak.
It started of with my dog you know the one that loved Vodka and Coke ... ye him.. he became well lets say he became not is his self....

Tuesday morning we were woken up at 5am by him hacking ..... honestly I thought he was going to die, and there felt like nothing I could do to help him, I hate feeling that helpless.
So by 7.30 am I was ringing the vets but before I could ring the vets Bop decided to play me up cause the dog being ill wasn't about her....this continued all through the day with phone calls from school, peep talks from me over the phone and her just being a dammm right nuisance in every department going.

So we get to the vets long story short he has an abscess in his jaw line throat area from probably eating grass which he does fairly often... he secretly wishes he was a cow.... he did this last year and it cost us over $600 for a operation to remove the abscess ... fingers crossed we have caught it in time this year.

While on the way back from the vets which let me point out is not even five minutes up the road he throws up in my car.... and it looked like egg yoke ... maybe the abscess busting ...I wonder... but it wasn't pleasant to clean up.
Bop has continued to play me up cause the dog being sick isn't about her.... bless her RADdy ways ...
So being a thoughtful mom I decided to defuse the situation and got the Christmas tree out yesterday for them to help decorate that night once daddy got home.... more to come on that in a minuter

But first the visitor ... I'm so grateful that my husband dealt with the visitor in a timely fashion and in a humane way... we caught the mouse and he was set free in the woods behind us ... read more about this here if you don't know the story

Back to the tree.... ye not such a good idea... cause the dog is still sick and its not about her.... no need to say any more the tree is up but I have a few bold patches where hair once grew.

Oh and to top it all she dumped her homework on the school bus today...saying she didn't have any.
Well mom knows she did cause the teacher had rang mom tell her that more than normal was coming home, as she had refused to work most of the day and spent it under the table....

Well I'm off to find my table and I may just stay there most of the weekend.

So this week I'm grateful for Survival Technique.

This is a Grateful post linked up with Maxabella Loves... pop over and link up with what your grateful for this week...

There's a Rat in my Kitchen

2010-12-02T16:52:00.000-05:00

Well not really a rat more like a field mouse...and its in my kitchen...for weeks Ive been saying to my husband there is a mouse in this house... he normally replies naw there isn't ....

Well there is I have the evidence I need today to prove it ..... and the flipping thing isn't scared of me nor the kids...who by the way as I'm writing this are on mouse duty .... until the man gets home and can catch it...

I had been painting to day and had thrown my tea bags on to the plate that had the paint on it plus a can lid from the gravy I had just used while cooking dinner...

I turn and there the thing is .... just licking the gravy of the lid.... I clap my hands and it shoots behind the counter.... and then low and behold its back ... this went on five times.... until I said to the kids stand guard..while I ring you dad.....

I'm not scared of mice neither are the kids...... we live in the middle of nowhere why would we be scared...but I really do object to it being in my kitchen....

Can you see it ... just munching away ....

and here are the kids on Mouse Duty .....

excuse the state of my kitchen .....

we had to move everything around to try to catch the thing... so far no such luck... ill let you know when we do

So this is me Flogging my blog...... but really wanting to flog a mouse if I could catch it

Sharing Sunday : A Faviortie and a Wonderful find.

2010-11-28T10:32:00.000-05:00

Happy Sunday to you all.

I cant believe its Sunday already where did our long weekend go? but let me say I'm grateful we didn't get snow, unlike my homeland that did. It makes a change its normally me screaming about snow instead this weekend its my UK friends post all over Face Book that they have snow.

Sharing Sunday, I love doing this post cause it means I have the perfect excuse for finding Stores and Artists to share instead of feeling guilty cause I'm spending to much time scrolling through stuff.

So My first fine ..... (yes that's right I have two for you today, I just couldn't pick between them both)

A Life Through The Lens, my dear friend Kristi, a true inspiration to me in more ways than one.
Her work draws me in and I hope it will you to as she has a fabulous sale on for the next two weeks buy one get one free.

This is what Kristi says about herself and her work

I capture life's little moments through photography. Photography helps me slow down and look for details that I otherwise might miss. I feel most alive when I am creating & sharing things of beauty. I believe Aaron Siskind best describes how I feel about photography perfectly, “Photography is a way of feeling, of touching, of loving. What you have caught on film is captured forever... it remembers little things, long after you have forgotten everything.”

I'm a self-taught photographer; constantly growing and learning. I find inspiration from my children, nature, the simple things, soft colors, natural light, quotes and life.

I want to share with you the print that sits above our bookcase, it use to sit in Bops room but it looks better above our bookcase so I stole it from her.

If you look closely you can read the names of all the books and I just love that

This print is in the shop at the moment and I'm ordering one. I love the texture of it and the color theme will look wonderful in my kitchen

Along with

So pop on over to A Life Through The Lens

and then go show her some love at her blog she does some wonderful tutorials

Life Through The Lens Photography

The next Artist is

Teconlene - Le Petit Monde-

An Illustrate with so much talent I was pulled in and didn't come out I scrolled through her entire shop with lots of ohhhhh and arrrrrrs going on ....

The name of the Artist is Sara and she lives in Madrid ... a wonderful part of the world, many a drink drank in Madrid in my miss spend youth, but that's another story.

Here is what Sara has to say about herself and her work.

This is the corner where the Little World take its place.

Hello! My name is Sara Olmos, I work doing what I love: playing with images and ideas in order to gear them and transform them in small visual puzzles. I am a graphic designer and that is the way I face my work: searching for each project the solution that fits the best. A few years ago I started to look through a camera lens and I discovered that it allowed me, in an immediately way, to communicate my particular vision of the world, where the objects and the small things are filled with live and look at me in such way that it is impossible to deny them a photo.
Recently I have also begun exploring my illustrative side, where I let the fantasy govern and search new forms of expression.
Nowadays I am developing a series of illustrations called "le petit monde" (little world) inhabited by characters who interact with objects with a different scale finding in its relation new meanings.

So now let me blow you away

I'm leaving hints around the house as to what I would like for Christmas, not sure its going to work but if I was to post my husbands email address do you think you could all lead him this way please .....

and this way .....

This draws me in to a place that I know I could get lost in

Sara also makes brooches which are totally adorable and she also has some Christmas cards

here are a few of them that are in her shop at the moment

How wonderful would these be to wish a friend a happy Holiday totally adorable.

Her shop address is Teconlene

and her blog address is Caleidoscopio

Her blog maybe all in Spanish but trust me the photo's she posts are to die for and it will give you an insight into her wonderful colorful world.....

I hope you have enjoyed this Sunday Sharing and if you have something that has inspired you this week please leave me a comment and a link I love to see what inspires others.

Have a wonderful week people.

This week Im Grateful for : A Roof over my head.

2010-11-26T15:44:00.001-05:00

(Photo credits)

So The day after Thanks Giving, the day after we proclaim what we are Thankful for.
We had a pretty awesome day I have to say, I was dreading it, we all went to my brother in laws house 22 of us.
Yes I did type 22 .... 22 people for dinner, 22 people to cook for, 22 people to talk to.

My problem with 22 people was, I wasn't sure how the children would cope, its been known in the past that in a situation of a large crowd they sabotage .... even if its family and friends. but you will be pleased to know they behaved, they did awesome ....

So there is number one I'm grateful.... Grateful my children behaved like fairly normal children, and there manners were whoa blow mommy away and give her a drink ........

Number two comes in the form of my brother in law and sister in law...... there is no way I would have cooked for that amount of people...but they did it and it was yummy ..... perfect hosts .....

And number three, you hear stories when your all together, and as much as you many not know the whole story or why something has happened, it makes you think about your own like, we found out yesterday someone had lost their house and had to move from a 3 bedroom house to a two bed apartment, why?
I don't have full details, but I am grateful today for what we do have, it might not be much but we keep her heads above the water line and live a comfortable life.... I am truly grateful for that.

So today I am Grateful for my children... they did awesome .... good food and the people who are prepared to cook it and the roof over my head.... on and my wood stove... we work up this morning to freezing rain.... and its very cold.

What are you grateful for this weekend ... Come join in the fun and hop over to Maxabella Loves and link up with her weekly.

Thankful ......

2010-11-25T08:51:00.000-05:00

Thank you for the The Notebook Doodles for this Doodle.

Happy Thanks Giving to all my friends in blog land ...... you are all a blessing and are truely appricated.

The Mystery behind each of us!

2010-11-23T10:14:00.003-05:00

(Image Credits)

What draws you to a blog?

Is it the name that pulls you in?

The subjects that a person write about?

Is it that they have something in common with you and you feel a connection ?

Or is it that plain old mystery of who is this person what are they about and where are they coming from?

Each of us has a story to tell, we all come from a place of mystery when we start to write.

In this day and age I think people are draw to a good story, there is so much sadness in the world, that each and everyone of us wants something that feels good and brings a smile.

I am all for a good story, I believe that each and anyone of us is capable of writing one and delivering it to the public, big, small, wrote here, wrote there.

The thing I look at is the mystery, lets us all consider the power of our own mystery for one second or long if you wish.

Lets throw some garlic around our necks and go digging in our own back yards for that suspense that surrounds us all.

Did you know that your everyday words and rantings are gripping to someone out there in this place we call the world wide web, its something that has them coming back day after day for something more then they received the day before.

So where does it all begin .... I believe right here....

Because believe it or not ....

Your words are heavy shrouded in suggestions, they conjure up a chapter from a romantic novel, and ideal world, a place where people want to belong.

But do we use it?

Where do you sit when you write or do you stand?, at what time of the day do you decide what you will write about on that giving day?, what happened to make you chose that subject?

What do you hear as your write, is there a window, what surrounds you see? what interrupts you?.

These are all questions a reader will think when reading something you wrote I believe, its human nature to think outside the blog so to speak. To look beyond the written word, and to create a story to match the smiling faces.

So the thing is this.... if you where to have to much detail about that person would it still bring you back each day?

Do you leave room for that mystery to develop, the things that have us running towards the mystery are not the same as the things that send us screaming the other way.

That song that played over and over again to the point where you knew the words by heart did not draw you back the next day ...No you avoid it, but the song that plays once and lifts your spirits is the song you desperately tried to find the next day.

Its the song that may repeat in our heads but we don't remember all the words, we need the words, we want them and we will find them.

I often think about the "Who Done" it novel of life... who started you on this crazy trip, and why did you follow through with it, was it something you did openly to begin with or where you a top secret agent working in the dead of night to achieve that something that would draw people towards you.

Its also that sense of belonging, that keeps us here. Or brings us back.

That part of something bigger and better, that is nurtured and nourished.
The whisper on the winds.
The silent voice.
The fostering of an idea.
The place of belonging.
And the friends that we make along the way.

Its the mystery of the creative face behind the words
The closed door we all want to open.

Has Anyone Seen My Son?

2010-11-22T18:18:00.002-05:00

(photo credit)

So there is a boy who lives in the same house as me, he's helpful and kind, just like any other kids I know.

He looks after his sister and helps me with the animals we have. He will wash up with his dad at night, and his bed is always made.

He picks up his toys when asked and does his homework with out any fuss.

He is full of cuddles, and has a joy about him that is pleasant to be around.

So has anyone lost a child lately cause this isn't the same boy who used to live here a month ago.

I'm not complaining .... I'm rejoicing ...
We seemed to have turned a corner with Bip and I'm just praying it lasts.

Sharing Sunday : this is my hopeful world.

2010-11-21T11:57:00.001-05:00

As some of you know I stopped blogging for a while, lets just say my brain went on vacation.

The one thing I didnt stop doing was searching out Artists that inspire me. I have this creative bone and it bugs me daily, to the point where if I allowed this bone to take control of me nothing else would get done so a lot of the time I try to ignored, which I know isnt always a good thing but the ironing needs to be done cause I cant have kids walking around in creased up clothes.

So to help compensate for this bone I have decided that Sundays is my day for sharing the one thing that has inspired me this week.

If any of you would like to join me in this then by all means feel free .... just leave a comment saying what inspired you this week with a link if there is one, if enough people joined in we could set this up with a complete linky .....who knows

So sharing Sunday this week .... just the name of this Shop on Etsy had my attention not sure how I ened up here but Im glad I found it. I have a habit of reading profiles call me a stalker I don't care.

So here are some detail about this Artist: and the store on Etsy:

The Store:
my name is jen lemen. this is my experiment in sharing profits from my art with my friends here and around the world. i'm operating this shop as a cooperative with a small circle of friends. what we learn here will help create hopeful world, a digital publishing platform designed to fuel and fund global leaders with brilliant ideas, new economic models and wisdom for the world at large.
(just that on its own would be enough for me to wnat to spread the word about this person and her friends)

This is what Jen has to say about herself
I'm messy, hopeful, enthusiastic and helplessly in love with the idea that stories can change you and me forever.
(I have to say this I totally agree with, some of your stories change me daily)

Wow she had me hooked ... words can speak volumes to ones soul ecsspecially when one is trying to change a story ... which most of you know I am.

I emailed Jen and asked if I could share her work and she said "of course! i would be honored."

So her art work ... it blows me away and inspires me all at the same time.....
Come see for yourself.

This one totally inspired my kindness post

This one helped me look at Bip and Bop and believe they can move on from where they are with RAD

Words speak volumes to me here.... I can do this and I will

The light at the end of the tunnel for me

So a big thank you to Jen for letting me share what has inspired me this week.

If Jen's work inspires you then please go show her some love.

Her store on etsy can be found here thisismyhopefulworld

and her blog address is jenlemen.com

Now your turn whats inspired you this week?

Fancy Pants: Not So Fancy

2010-11-20T10:25:00.000-05:00

So I said I would join Kymmie over at A day in the Life of Us in her linky Fancy Pants

( I think the title speaks for its self no explanation needed) .... ye I really should think before I type.... its Saturday here and not a day to get fancy that's for sure ..... its a work day and today we are moving core wood .... which my wonderful husband borough home from work last night .... I'm so in love with our wood stove right now cause its so cold and windy oh did I mention snow flurries yesterday .... that we need all the wood we can get....

The wood stove makes me feel cozy and totally uncivilized cause its so not the norm to me.... open fire yes I grow up with them but wood stove no...but I do love it, it also comes in hand when you have a power loss and you cant cook ... ye that's right you can cook on them...awesome ...

So back to Fancy Pants ..... or in my case not so Fancy Pants ... so here is Bip and Bop all dressed up in their not so finest .....

I think If I'm going to do Fancy Pants we need to organizes ourselves and take a photo on a Sunday and upload the following Saturday to be honest that's the only day we get dressed up around here.

This week Im Grateful for : 13 Reasons for the Things Im Thankful For

2010-11-19T16:14:00.001-05:00

(Art work credited to myself)

So its just under a week until thanks giving.

I have always found this time of year hard for many reasons, one being I'm not an American and as its an American Holiday not something we practice in the UK I use to find it very overwhelming here I am giving thanks and what am I thankful for...leaving my family behind, my job, my life etc etc ..... whoa sounds pretty sad huh... well to be honest that's a bit how I use to feel at times.

My life here was no better, in fact at times worse and without going into detail, I use to think I would be better of going back from where I came from.

I would then look at my husband , him being the main reason I was here and think no I would miss him far to much to make any of it worth while.

I'm very good at just going along with things, if you looked at me you would never know I was totally out of sorts and was not enjoying myself ... I paint a good face.

But this year I have decided Thanks Giving is something I am going to enjoy, if it kills me.
The week leading up to it the kids are always excited its a bit like Christmas but without the presents, I thinks its because they know Christmas is a month away and so they begin to get excited.
So we talk about what we are thankful for and in the past years its been stuff like My Toys, My Doll, My Lego.

Nothing to write home about, and I understand why they have always thought like this, and I don't blame them.... its down to us the adults to teach thankfulness ..... so I have begun doing just that and this years when they are asked I just know they will blow everyone way.

Tonight I will share my list with them and give them reasons why I'm thankful for these things.

So here is my list and the reasons behind them

1: Family: Without family who are we, we don't belong if we don't have family. and belonging is important because it teaches us who we are, not only as individuals but as part of a unit.

2: Relationships: They connect us to people. . People in a relationship tend to influence each other, share their thoughts and feelings, and engage in activities together. Relationships are important to our growth as human begins.

3: Children: A prayer answered, a dream come true, lesson taught a lesson learned, they hold the future mine and yours.

4: Home: There are many people that don't have what I have, and as much as I don't have a lot I have more than others, and I'm grateful for that. Its the roof over my head that keeps me dry its the foundations under my feet that keep me grounded, its the place where we join together and call Home.

5: Friends: I miss some of them but I know they are still there and if I need them they are only a phone call an email a text message away. The ones I can see I give thanks for cause they are all new relationships that are growing and blossoming in so many different ways, and then there is the friendships that have developed just from doing what I'm doing now blogging, they are precious friendships in more ways than one cause they are build purely on communication and trust.

6: My Son: I see this child in such a positive light these days, he has grown into such a caring child over the last 3 years.... He isn't without his ups and downs he still does the RADdy stuff he use to do but its now not as often ..... he is a delight to be around with such a gentle caring spirit and he loves his mommy that's for sure.

7: My Daughter: What a character, she has the ability to make you smile even when your angry at her, its the cuteness that enables her to get away with it all ...... she is loving and kind and always wants to take care of younger children, but not in a dominate way ..... she has grown so much over the summer and I now see that she has come along way.

8: Smiles: They can brighten a day, make a sad moment happy and bring joy .... I once meet a child from Romania who didn't smile, she didn't know how to she had not seen anyone smile at her so she didn't know how or what a smile was, so when I see people smile I often thing about this little girl and wonder did she ever learn. How lucky we are that we can smile and know the importance of a smile.

9: My Health : We take it for granted and its not until something goes wrong do we realize that we should have looked after ourselves more, and that's when we change it ...and pray its not to late to do so.I have made many changes in how I look after myself...and there is a few more to come.

10: Food : I'm thankful for the food we have on our table..... I spend sometime in Uganda and I have seen hunger ...... Ive seen the pain it brings and the sadness it leaves behind. It can break even the strongest of men and kill the weakest of children. Its something as a nation we need to wipe out every human has the right to a basic meal at lest twice a day. I try to teach my children how lucky and fortunate they are that they get three good meals a day and snacks in between.

11: Freedom : I have freedom to write this, I have freedom to go to church without having to do it in secret, I have freedom of speech and I have freedom because someone out there tonight is fighting for MY freedom.

12: Strength : The strength to over come all that I find hard.

13: Love : The one thing we all crave is love, in comes in many forms but by basic human instinct that's what we were made for to give and receive love. They say it makes the world go round.
I'm thankful that I found love in the form of my husband who works hard so we can have the things we have, and so we can do the things we do.....His love for us as a family shines through everyday and for that I am so very thankful.

And I'm stopping on 13 cause I'm not superstitious.

This post is being linked up to This Week I'm Grateful for at Maxabella Loves

Kindness

2010-11-18T14:19:00.002-05:00

Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see.

Mark Twain

I have been thinking a lot lately about kindness and why it matters.... why its important to us as human beings, and how good we feel after receiving or producing an act of kindness.

I know as a mother how important it is to teach kindness especially to two children who maybe have never really understood kindness before and the true meaning behind the act of it, because to them just getting what they want and how they want it is whats important.

Different acts of Kindness matter in different communities, but really at the end of a hard long drawn out day each and every act of kindness is the same and it produces the same.

Someone somewhere benefits from that act and you (if your the one doing the producing) feel good about what you did for someone else.

Today we live in a world that is all to ready to grab what it can, to benefit its self, to profit from self righteous attitudes and to grab what it can when it can and not look back to see what a trail of disruption its left in its path.

Is this the way we want our children to grow ..... to live their future out ..... I'm guessing no, cause really on a personal note none of you come across as being like that.

But there are people out there who wouldn't even know what a kind act was if it came and hit them smack down square in the face. Why well maybe because they have never produced and act of kindness in their life's because no one every showed them kindness.

So how do we change that ?

I don't have all the answers all I know is when I receive or give kindness it makes me feel good not in a self righteous "Look at me" type way but in a way that I know I have either put a smile on someones face or that someone was thinking about me.

Think about this for one moment ...... and think about how kindness makes you feel.

It doesn't matter if you receive it or give it, how does it make you feel.

Now here is the hard part, now think how you are going to spread the kindness.

I'm going to point out some acts of kindness Ive received lately and this may help you a little

I stopped blogging for two months someone was very concerned here in blog land and let it be known once I found out about their concern oh boy how touched did her concern make me feel .... that's kindness right there smacked down pulled together kindness ....
So is there a blogger that you haven't seen a post form for sometime?.... go see if you can find an email address for them or just leave them a message asking if their alright.

Ask a neighbor if they need a ride somewhere..... maybe they cant get out because they don't have a car ... but you do, and it may not even be out of your way to take them to the post office or the grocery store ...and if it is just know that your doing an act of kindness and that person will be truly grateful.... (by the way Maria I know you will read this so thanks for the lift ride today)

There are many ways and I'm pretty sure you can thing of some yourself to show kindness to someone today

One of my favorite sits here in blog land is Kind over matter.

They focus on the handmade community which I know many of you are involved in or just plain old love,
well they are worth a visit and worth a vote..... yes that's right vote ... they have entered the Pepsi refresh project their aim is to help independent artists while promoting kindness and positivity

There is one act of kindness that wont take you long to do .....

You can find the vote button on the right hand side of their blog.

I would love to hear about your act of kindness, doesn't matter if you gave or received .... its a way to encourage others ...and lets be honest we all need that from time to time .

Flogging my Blog on a Thursday for the first time in months for Flog Yo Blog Friday over at

Random Ramblings of a SAHM.

Come join the fun

And So She's Back..... but its not from outerspace.

2010-11-17T17:10:00.000-05:00

Ye that's right I'm back, where have I been.... Well Ive been here but in someways Ive not ....

I wouldn't for one moment say Ive been depressed but then again I wouldn't say Ive been myself....

Lack of motivation might be a good excuses but then again an even better excuses would be the inability to cope.
Cope with anything to be honest ....... Since my parent went back to England I have found life strangely difficult .....

I have been thinking about my past and all my hopes and dreams ... the things I wanted in my life the things I didn't want.....

Ive then looked at my future and where before I was scared and let me tell it has looked very scary at times, I'm not any more.

The whole reason it all looked so scary was mainly because the things I wanted I now have but not in a way I wanted them...does that make sense.

No?

Well let me explain.

At 24 years of age I was diagnosed as pre menopausal ..... and that's when my life took on some strange twists and turns ......

I had always wanted children, I think most people do its human nature to want what society says we as women should have .......

Well some 20 years go that's how it felt, and to a degree it does still feel like that most women are proud of being pregnant and birthing children its an ability that men don't have its something that you women can now a days do by yourself .....

Well not totally by yourself but you know what I mean ....

What I mean is all you really need now a days is a sperm bank and a turkey baster and your all set ... well most of you are ...

Me I'm not all set and never will be and that's fine well now a days it is cause my life took on a different turn I prayed for what I have today.

I prayed for two children and boy and a girl and yes I got just that...what I forgot to add to it all was that I would like a fairly normal parenting experience..... ye I left out some of the finer details and I truly believe because I left them out I didn't get them ...

So what did I get.

Well I got a pretty awesome husband, whom I am totally grateful for and love to bits.
The man is selfless in so many ways and for that I know I am truly bless.

I also go two beautiful children whom again I am most of the time grateful for. I am thankful that their birth mom had the ability to give birth to them.

I'm thankful that they love me in their own way.

The one thing I'm not sure I'm thankful for is RAD, I mean who in their right mind would be ......
I'm not thankful for wet beds smelly diapers rages for pointless reasons ...having to explain to people why they act like they do....... or what they have done, and so on and so on, just to name a few reasons why I'm so not thankful for it all

But I have come to the point where I know I have to move on from the gossip and this need to explain them and myself..... and be grateful that its just RAD and not a life threatening illness like cancer ....... To move on from the feeling overwhelmed with it al and see it all for what it is ...... and to belive that at some point that light at the end of the tuneel with shine.

Im also thankful for people like Maxabella who has been on my case so I see now to where I am.... I am sorry and please forgive me it was not my intention to worry anyone..... one email coming your way ..... precious lady that you are.

So the future what does it hold.... well it holds me puling my stuff back together and moving on .... It holds a furture project that I will be shareing very soon.

It holds me not going off again without warning and making people worry .

It also holds me looking toward the end of that tunnel ...and seeing a brighter light.

So the lesson Ive learnt here is...... never take life for granted, it could be ten times worse than what it seems right now.

Much Love : RAD

2010-09-20T13:23:00.000-04:00

So here is my Much Love Monday, slightly strange I know..... but as you can see there are the hearts.

Ye that's right much love RAD.
Because without RAD in my life I wouldn't have Bip and Bop keeping me on my toes.

Without RAD I wouldn't spend two and half hours a night doing homework.

Without RAD I wouldn't have lost 14lbs in weight over the summer.

Without RAD my Hubby and myself wouldn't be as close spirituality and romantically as we are.

Without RAD I think I would be bored out my mind right now.....

And as much as I would never wish RAD on any child or parent, I know God wont give me any more than I can handle and I can handle RAD.

I'm an over comer and a winner I will see it thought to the finish line how ever far the finish line is.

Can you tell Ive has a tough week?

But its ok..... we made it through and we all survived.

So Much love To RAD you didn't win once again.

Also this week I'm loving Fall..... and all that it blows to my door

Fall Festival: Week Three

2010-09-15T10:01:00.000-04:00

So first of all let me say... Thank you all who left me a comment on Village Gossip, this has had a slight effect on me over the last few days, but also if anyone is wondering where I have been (Maxabella thank you for your concern you are an awesome bloggy friend)

My parents left for the UK on Monday and that has had an effect on me..... I hate goodbyes and I hate it even more when its my parents and I don't know when I will see them again.... but Im back, feeling slightly down but alive and kicking.

So Week three of the Fall Festival, wow cant believe the trees are turning so fast.
I feel it maybe time to put the summer clothes away, and sort of the next seasons ...
We started to drain the pool at the weekend, now thats a job I am leaving to the man about the house.

So before we get to the tree...let me just tell you that there is another awesome give away over at This Blessed Nest......

People let me tell you, you REALLY need to get over there and join this one.... if you saw last weeks give away and you thought WOW this week is a double WOW ......

While your there check out some of the other entries for Fall festival Week Three..... there is to many this week that inspire me, for me to be redirecting you .... far to many

So that lovely big old tree in my back yard is looking gorgeous.

I thought it was about time you saw the tree its self .... not just its leaves

I love the color they are going...... I don't think the photos do it justice I feel like I want to get my ladder out and get closer even

I have done some fall decoration over the weeks... but what I want to share this week is an awesome find ....

They are the cutes little things I have ever found and I just have to show you

I found these cute little apples, pumpkins and cones in a store on my travels a few weeks ago.....

I also found the green shelving unit along the way .....

And the whole thing hangs in my kitchen .....
Im not sure what I will put in it once winter comes but Im sure I will find something.

So this now leads me to this weeks photo prompt...... I have manged to link them both up again.....

So hop over to LIMELITE and check this weeks prompt out.... I promise its worth the hop....

Village Gossip

2010-09-10T07:52:00.001-04:00

Isn't it funny how gossip gets back to you.... especially when its about you or a member of your family.

Now to me gossip is mindless talk... for one where is it getting you.... secondly, do you feel good about yourself when doing it or after doing it... maybe you do I don't know cause I find it hard to understand why you would want to gossip about two young CHILDREN in such a vicious way.

Cause honestly did my children ask to have RAD, are they in control of their actions, do they know what their doing half the time.... the answer to all of that is NO.

Yes they might have been mean, yes they may have stolen, and yes it may have all been directed at your child but honestly people are you then going to teach your kids to be mean back or are you going to find out why this child acts the way he does......

Kids talking to adults in such a way is beyond me... where do they learn that from I wonder... if at 10 years of age your child knows how to slate someone the only place they get that from is another adult.....

Monkey see Monkey do.

I think its time to educate the parents .......

I think its time to educate the school....

I just think its time to stop and listen and take note ...no one is perfect ..... everyone makes mistakes....
I have and I know I have....

Its time to stop persecuting to young children for something they cant control..... and didn't ask for.

Flogging my Blog on a Friday with Lori ...come join the Flogging

Fall Festival: Week Two

2010-09-08T10:02:00.000-04:00

I am enjoying Fall Festival so much at the moment, I love seeing what everyone else is doing I find it so inspiring.

Some of the post that have inspired me this week are .....

The Sweet Life, and her Pumpkin Tutorial ... I will be trying this out sometime this week.

Inspired Nesting, and collection of Fall Containers, so beautiful.

And House of Belonging's Front Porch .... I wish I has a front porch, I don't but looking at what this lady has done is making me sooooo want one.

Over at this Blessed Nest, our fabulous host not only does she inspire me she is generous enough to do a give away this week to, you really should check it out, especially if you love Halloween, that's all I'm telling you.

...go check it out.

So week two here at Select All + Delete ..... is a double whammy ...cause I'm using part of my week two to link with this weeks Photo prompt which as usual Ill post on my other blog LIMELITE.... so don't forget to check that out to.

Following on from last week Im tracking the big old tree in my backyard, so I can see how the leaves change over the weeks.

Can you see the reds coming in now?... I get so excited when I see the change.

Also this week I have been working on my mantel in the living room.

I had a few things but over last week did a bit of shopping, as I pointed out in Spill The Beans Saturday.

This Mantel sits over our Wood-stove, most of the time its decorated in a black and white theme, so its been nice to have a change.

The yellow sunflowers where from Micheals.....

My favorite flowers Gerbers

The pumpkins cost me a dollar each ......

The chestnuts where collected for my by the children when we were out shopping last week......

Now its time to hop over to LIMELITE and check out my Photo Prompt.

The prompt was TYPE, and Ive used my Fall Festival week two to complete my prompt.

Then hop over to This Blessed Nest and check out all the other posts.

The Joys of RAD: including Homework

2010-09-07T18:29:00.001-04:00

Oh August 31st my heading for my Face Book page was this

Children with special needs don't have an illness, they are not contagious. They want what we all want, which is to be accepted.

I sat here last night just scrolling through your blogs reading what you write...favorite past time by the way.... and it suddenly struck me, do my kids know they are different.

This had me stumped for about 10 minutes, as I sat and thought about it, and thought about and thought about.

And here I am still thinking about it.

We have just gone into 2nd grade with Bop and honestly its just like history repeating its self, she is doing just what Bip did in 1st 2nd and 3rd grade....

Refusing to do homework, refusing to do work at school, and just making her own life miserably.

Its not she cant do it, believe me she can in fact the work she is doing is to easy for her even if it is she doesn't recognize it.

So I know some of this is boredom, but even so, this is very tiring and boring also ....

So I have just asked her this question.

" Bop who else in your class refused to do work today"

silence so I asked another question

"Bop who else in your class is still doing there homework 2 hours after they arrived home from school...anyone?"

She finally answered both questions and she said this....

" I think I'm the only one who refused work today, and I think I'm the only one making a fuss over homework"

So does she recognizes that she is different, yes I think she does to be honest.

Can she do anything about that ... no I dont think she can, she is to young to understand how she is different.

Bip on the other hand is totally different to 3 years ago, and is having a fantastic start to the new school year where his work is concerned, which inreturne does shine a light at the end of Bops tunnel I guess.

Cause if he can turn this around then maybe she can to.

So my question is this

Does it hurt to point out their peers to them.....?

Do they need to recognize that they are different and that to get by in this life they need to change their ways?

And am I being a bit harsh on them?

Be as honest with me as you want I sure wont take offense and it wont hurt if I am way of key here....

And for any one who doesn't know what my kids have read this then answer my questions

I'm so open right now to your point of view.

Just a little side note... Bip just started playing me up over homework as his father walked in..... we have now been on homework for over 2 hours

Much Love Autumn

2010-09-06T09:07:00.001-04:00

I did week one of Fall Festival over at This Blessed Nest ..... This has totally got me falling into Fall, Im so aware of Fall right now and loving it to bits.......

So this Labor Day weekend I love Autumn

Also this weekend I love being at home with family .... the chill in the air ...... and the fact I can wear sock on my feet without being to hot, socks and slippers love it.

What are you loving this Monday ..... Hop over to ♥ Much Love ♥ and join in

*Image posted on Art ☂ Pixie

Spill The Beans Saturday: Including My Love of Conker Fights

2010-09-04T08:36:00.001-04:00

Monday:
This week we have shopped, not mega shopping but each day we have tried to visit a different shop.... where I live we have lots of shops that are sort of out the way or they are right on my door step..... Monday we pay a visit to The Robins Nest .... I picked up a beautiful Wrought Iron Cross made with Mini tiles

Tuesday:
We took a trip to The Black Swan Gift Shop, I brought some things for my Fall Mantel above my fireplace, (photo's to come on Wednesday)
They have the most beautiful Garden in front of there shop.

Wednesday:
We did nothing far to hot to even move....... Seriously
I think we all melted this day it was well into the 100F .....
Also on this day Bop refused to do work at school so we had a shed load of homework.... and as I was so hot my patients was running thin....

Thursday:
Cant say it was any cooler but we did go visits The White Home Collection, a lovely little shop at the end of my road.... I adore this place..... and have spend a fortune here ...don't let the hubby know.....
I picked up a cute kitchen shelf from here.....

Friday:
Kids of school.... labour day weekend ..
A visit to Kindred Spirits ....... and some childhood memories came flooding back....

Did you ever play Conkers ....... At Kindred Spirits they have this HUGE chestnut tree and as soon as I saw it I had to tell Bip and Bop all about the Conker Fights I would have as a child.

The nice Lady at the shop let us collect some and we will be stringing them up so I can teach Bip and Bop the art of Conkers....

I so cant wait ...... This is more fun than I can handle believe me.

This shop I have to say is a find.... my first visit was totally inspiring and I sure will return .... I picked up some miniature wooden apples from here some whole some eaten.... to cute

So that's my beans for this week ....

Do you have any beans you would like to spill ?

Have a wonderful weekend folks .....

How can you do this

2010-09-02T20:00:00.002-04:00

So I said sometime ago that Bop's birthday had stirred up some emotions in me.
Well its time to spill the emotions, cause I now have control of them.
Its always been evident to me that Bop's birth mother favors her over Bip, its a very sly favor, but never the less its there.
For 2 years now Bip has not received a birthday present from her let alone a card.
His first birthday that I was in his life he got a phone call, the second year a card with $5 in it and the last two years not a thing.

Bop on the other hand does get a card and normally a gift card, or a small present.
He now is beginning to notice this trend,and this year on Bop's birthday said something.

What do you say when you don't have the answer?

He wants to know why he is treated different, why he gets nothing and she gets something.
She didn't get a phone call this year but she did get a card with a gift card in it.

Bip is 10 next year and is very aware of what goes on around him... he would be he's at that age where things like birthdays now have a meaning.

He said to me some weeks ago birthdays are the day you celebrate the day your mother gave birth to you, he then went on to say that he wished that id given birth to him cause then he wouldn't expect anything from her ( her being his birth mother).

This totally breaks my heart cause I to wish it was that way just so I could ease his pain and make life easier for him.

Its not important to me weather I gave birth to Bip or not what is important is that he is at peace with himself, and he's not when it comes to things like this.

Bop still thinks I gave birth to her ...... I heard her tell Bip so.... and also heard Bip try to tell her this wasn't true..... but she just ignores it.

He has expectations of people ... I think this is only normal as you get older.

Cause as you get older people have expectations of you.

But if the exceptions are not meet do we stop meeting others expectation of us.... I'm worried this will happen is this carries on....

Believe me no amount of explanation helps.... this child is hurt and confused.

My big question is this

As a mother who has given birth how do you turn your back and forget the day you brought that child into the world, how do you tell yourself its ok NOT to acknowledge this child on that day we call his birthday.

Fall Festival: Week One

2010-09-01T20:05:00.000-04:00

So I decided to join the Fall Festival.... just torn which blog to do it on.... cause Ive had my camera out and as I post most photo's on LIMELITE, I didn't know if to do this over there.... but no I'm doing it here..... I'm so indecisive.

So Fall Festival is hosted by This Blessed Nest, I love it over there I read but as usual I'm a quiet reader, and don't say a lot, but honestly this lady is amazing with what she does and I'm a little in awe of her.
Fall is one of my favorite times of the year, the only problem is once fall arrives I know winter is on its way and winter means snow and I hate that stuff.

This is what I like about fall today.... trees ...I'm passionate about trees, remind me to show you one day my love for tress.

The leaves are beginning to change color .....

With the sun behind them they look awesome

When they turn this color I love it.

And I just have to share the sunset with you this was how it looked from my drive way this evening

Fall Festival will be fun I'm going to capture it all on camera....

and I might even give you all a treat and draw something

Watch this space!

This is week one of the Fall Festival Posts

Much Love Steampunk

2010-08-30T08:34:00.001-04:00

I fancy a change of scenery .... So this Monday instead of doing Perfect Monday I thought Id join Maxabella and give Much Love Monday a try......
Hope that's ok Maxabella?
Ive been putting together a back ground and heading for a new layout ..... so I did a little design board for this layout. Have to say doing the background is harder than I first thought but I'm not giving up..... so here is my Much Love Monday

All things Steampunk

1st line - left to right

1 -

2nd line - left to right

Center

Now your turn what are you loving this Monday?

*(unknown if its your please message me I'll credit you)

Spill The Beans Saturday : Plus Me Moaning About Stuff

2010-08-28T15:11:00.000-04:00

You know being a SAHM isn't all its cracked up to be ... by Saturday I'm so full to the brim that I need to let it all out.

There is a saying .... Spill the Beans ..... The English idiom “spill the beans” means “to divulge a secret.”
Oh boy do I have some beans to spill ....

In the world of Select All + Delete the beans can be anything from something I found to something that's happened .... Good or Bad

So Saturday is Spill the Beans :Saturday ......

And here are my beans for the week:

Sunday:
Bip's Birthday ..... I have a lot to say on this subject but wont say it right now..... cause it involves emotions and this isn't the right time... far to many emotions to spill out here..... and they need to be put into prospective.
So watch this space.

Monday:
You know when you find something and you think about it for that long you still can make a decision on the subject.
I found a blog sometime ago they followed me and I checked them out they had a link to another site which I checked out and they have a weekly project going on for September, and I think I want to do it but I'm so not 100% sure I have the time to do it and I'm umming and arrring about it all. So could someone just tell me what to do please

Tuesday:
Totally freaking out day, had to go to Meet the Teacher afternoon with Bip and Bop, I was totally armed with print outs on RAD ..... Nancy Thomas does a print out about RAD just for teachers.
I have always felt judged by teachers and parents alike ...... like I'm not bringing my kids up correctly .... so as I handed out the information everything inside me was shouting " take that sucker see its not my parenting skills or lack off"

Its funny people tell me how much my kids are liked by their kids.... I raise eyebrows at this cause if my kids where that liked how come neither of them get birthday party invites or play date phone calls from parents or kids in their classes....... how come they hang out with Mom all the time .... I mean come on people I'm not stupid.

Wednesday:
And off we go School's back in session ......

Thursday:
Ok now for some fun ........ La Photocabine
That's all I'm going to tell you.... its a must its a laugh but no good if you don't have a web cam I don't think

Friday:
Finally, I love Fridays its the day I look forward to most
No homework day.
Last day of the week ...and believe me the week is normally a shed full of pants (underwear pants for the Americans)
Its the day I enjoy a drink the most ..... don't ask what I drink Its common knowledge the dog enjoys one to.
Its time to catch up on some of my favourite blogs that Ive not manged to get round to.
I get to sleep in on a Saturday......
This Saturday I manged a whole 30 minutes ..... wow I hear you say isn't she a lucky girl....

Sorry if Ive moaned a fair bit this week.... I'm feeling pretty bitched out to be honest .....

So that's my beans for this week ....

Do you have any beans you would like to spill ?

Have a wonderful weekend folks .....

Fridge Chronicles: August

2010-08-27T07:45:00.002-04:00

Ive been meaning to do this all week, I even took the photo's of my fridge the day Maxabella first put the linky up but the week has just run away with me .... story of my life.
So my fridge ...

Not that much diffrent from last month except it has some huge pictures on it that Bop has colored in from her Bible coloring book, and Bip's art work Theme LOVE.
There are a few new thinks on there.......

The UNO's $5 off coupon..... like we are going to use this.... we wont we never go out for dinner now we are doing therapeutic parenting.... we dont really have anyone who would class as respite care. I wouldnt punish anyone like that.
I dont know if you can make out whats on the top of it, its a card that says "The Lord is my Comforter"
maybe The Lord can look after the kids why I go out for dinner lol... or send me respite care.

My mom normally sends me these cards they are from a calendar she has in The UK and every month she sends me last months ...they rip of like post cards.
This one she brought with her.

A thank you card from Kristi over at life through the lens after I brought some prints from her Etsy shop for Bop's bedroom...... let me just say her work is awesome and she is a totally sweet person you should check her shop out.

Bip's new home work schedule ..... ever year I have to get my head round homework schedules... every class is different and as Bip is my eldest its always a new thing..... this takes a few weeks for me to work out.

And a big thank you to Maxabella Loves for hosting the Fridge Chronicles.

Childrens Books and Illustration

2010-08-26T20:45:00.001-04:00

I know I dont always share alot of my findings... except for Spill the Beans Saturday.

Sometimes an exception to the rules needs to happen, So Ladies and Gentleman (if there are any gentleman that read my posts) ... today is that day...

I found something that totally caught my eye.

I'm a lover of books and illustration .... I buy books and prints like its going out of fashion ..when I say book I mean children's books.... and there not always for the kids.....

I don't even remember how I found this artist .....

All I know is she has illustrated some of my favorite stories.

So without further a do

I Introduce to you

Becca Scholes.

The Real Ugly Duckling

One of Bops faviorite stories

My all time faviorite story and movie

The Secret Garden

Bip is loving the Movie right now

Olive

Go check out the rest of her site...... she does some amazing stuff

This is a Flog Yo Blog Post

on a Thursday

Now its your turn go join the Hop

Weekly Photo Prompt

2010-08-26T08:01:00.001-04:00

Finally Got My Weekly Photo Prompt Up

Not my best work by a long shot but I posted it anyway

LIMELITE

New Layout and Maybe Some Help :)

2010-08-25T08:43:00.002-04:00

Do you get bored?
I guess I must do.... second blog layout change in a week.
Ive been trying to do my own I don't want to copy what others have done and I do really enjoy messing about in photo shop.... but and here is my problem ...and just maybe there is someone out there who could help me
how do I get the HTLM code for a background .... the header is no problem I can do that with my eyes closed so to speak but I have no clue as to the background and what size I should make it to up load it....
So My real personality is shinning through here.... I'm totally in awe of STEAMPUNK.

I just love the concept.

When Hubby and I meet playing Secondlife ...One of my Toon was Steampunk Hubby was Vamp, but that soon changed.

So its a fascination so to speak and an outlet of frustration, I mean can you really see me dressing like this and taking the kids to school..... Oh My Goodness..... how totally hilarious.

My layout comes from a site called Itkupilli I totally love her stuff and want to give her a huge shout out.
I will be working yet again on my own layout but for now will use this one Itkupilli made.

So if anyone out there would love to give me some pointers I sure would love you for life
And please note there will be more steampunk around ..its about time the real me stepped up to the show....

On Your Marks, Get Set, GO

2010-08-24T20:21:00.000-04:00

The days before school starts and we are off the wall.
It's like you know the train is coming but when it arrives it knocks you for six.

I know they are both scared, I know its the unknown, I know its fear you can see it in their eyes.
New class, new teachers.... but not a new school.

We have one stealing, lieing, sneaking around the house, raging, and fighting with anyone who will fight with him.

The other is fighting with with the one who wants to fight just cause she can, peeing her pants and sitting all over the furniture, hiding wet pants, destroying every thing in her path, and refusing to answer the simplest of questions, and raging cause she ses her brothing doing it and thinks its away to remove the attention from him so she gets it.

Then you have me who is TRYING to keep calm ...... not raise my voice ..... and still dish out lots of love.

I keep praying it will end when they get on the bus tomorrow.
I pray it will end and not beginning again when they get home.
~~I nearly prayed they didn't come home tomorrow~~

Only joking, lets face it there has to be some humor in all this.

Perfect Monday: Fireworks and A Birthday Treat.

2010-08-23T14:59:00.000-04:00

Every Monday Weebles Wobblog does a weekly post Called Perfect Moment Monday
Perfect Moment Monday is about noticing a perfect moment rather than creating one. Perfect moments can be momentous or ordinary or somewhere in between.
I mentioned yesterday that Saturday was a crazy day before Bops 7th birthday, every year we go to a firework display in a town near to us.
The gates open at 4pm and the display is at 9pm in between all that there is live music and a sky diving display, but it is a long wait for a 7 year old and a 9 year old.
So by the time the display starts they are hanging on the edge of their chairs with anticipation .....
This year the music for the display was from Disney s Fantasia.
It is one of the most awesome things I have ever seen if I'm honest and I'm always totally blown away from it all.

The best moment is the look on Bop's face when it starts.

Every year she tells us " It's the best day of my life"

Perfect Moment to see how so delighted by it all

It mainly cause it is her Birthday treat

and she goes on about it for at lest 3 weeks before the day

Just some of the photo's I took of the display

If you hop over to LIMELIGHT you can see more of my photo's from Jaffrey Fireworks

This is a Perfect Moments Post

I Capture Perfect Moments.

I Have a Princess in My House

2010-08-22T13:46:00.001-04:00

So first let me say Im sorry.
Yesterday ran away with me and I forgot to spill the beans .....
It was a crazy day yesterday ..... we had to get ready for a party this afternoon then we headed over to our annual family outing, something we do every year for Bops Birthday ..... Jaffery Fireworks ..... its a late night but worth every minute we waste waiting for the fireworks display ....... Photo's from this to come later.
Back to the Princess in my house.... she is 7 today .... Im quiet emotional today .... Ive nurtured this Princess for 3 years and I see today that we have come along way. I see a blessing in front of me today ..... A child who made me a mother.
She told her brother Bip this morning that I gave birth to her, after he said something about their birth mother.
We have tried to tell her this isn't true, but she will have none of it, I just pray that when she does realize the truth that she doesn't crumble under it.
We will party this afternoon even if it is raining, first rain we have had in weeks and it comes the day we don't want it.
So the reason for this post is to show you all the Princess that Im so proud of .... Ive never really posted photo's of my children and it feels time today.
I want you to see the change in the last three years, how she had grown and blossomed.
We do a mini photo shoot every year on the children's birthday

Bop age 4

Our first Birthday together, we held this party the same day we got married, the morning was ours the afternoon was her's ..... it was a totally hectic day

Princess even back then

My Princess today.

We managed to get the photo shot in before the rain came

She looks so grown up.

Happy Birthday Princess Bop.

Mommy and Daddy are so proud of you.

Back To School

2010-08-20T13:06:00.000-04:00

I cant believe its that time already, time has moved faster than fast and I wonder if I have achieved anything at all.

Next Wednesday I will walk to the bus to see Bip and Bop off to school.

When I gave my job up at the beginning of summer to enter into therapeutic parenting I have great expectations of grandeur.

My minds eye saw two children who would have moved on in their life and would be handling situations so much better than they where before school ended.

I knew that nothing would happen over night, I knew that by the end of summer we would still have work to do, but I did think we would be further along than this.

I'm not even sure where I thought we would be.

As much as I'm happy to see school start I'm also ...... would be be correct to say scared out my mind ..... yes it would be correct to say that.

I can imagine chairs flying across classrooms, and the refusal to do work, the stealing and the temper tantrums.
I can see it like history repeating its self all over again.

I find myself planning how to keep my kids calm before they go of to school.. almost like treading on the egg shells of life.
Praying through out the day they are coping.... that I wont get a phone call from school telling me that one of them or both are raging and out of control.

Holding my breath as I opening their homework folders praying there is no letter home.... and then the fight over homework.

Having these feelings is no fun.....

Doubting the school system ....wondering if they will cope with my children.... and knowing that I don't feel equipped enough to home school...... and knowing I REALLY don't want to home school....

Maybe homeschooling would be better for them than the public school system, but would it better for me.
On saying all this and being so negative, Bip did go up 80% in Math this summer just by attending summer school, but its weather he can hold it together in school.
We where told to expect A's and B's on his next report card as thats what he is capable of .... but he still thinks every minute of the day is playtime.

Bop has gone backwards so it would seem, either that or the bed wetting again is in protest of going back to school, I'm not quite sure Ive not worked it out.

Either way there will be no putting Wednesday off ......

*Imagine found on the product blog

So When Did We Get Married?

2010-08-19T20:10:00.000-04:00

So just before dinner my mother hands me and my hubby a present ....
On the front it says Happy Anniversary .... now me and my wonderful hubby just look at each other and smile

I say "Shall we open it today or wait til tomorrow"
He says " why would be wait till tomorrow"
"Because tomorrow is our wedding anniversary"
"Hunny" he smiles " It was yesterday"
I'm puzzled and I say "No Hunny its tomorrow"

The whole time my poor mother is standing there looking back and forth at us like we are a tennis match.
we in the meantime are still debateing weather its tomorrow or yesterday when finaly she says

"Hmmmmm sorry to interrupt but its today"

Then the penny drops and I look at this wonderful man who three years ago today I committed my life to forever more and I smile

"Hunny" I say with my sweetest smile ever, ~~can you here my sarcasm~~
" If it was that it was yesterday ... how come you DIDN'T even say Happy Bloody Wedding Anniversary to me yesterday morning when you kissed me good bye"

He in return says nothing and handed me a Vodka and Coke.

This is a Flog Yo Blog post on Thursday from the house where no one seems to know when they got married

Weekly Photo Prompt

2010-08-18T12:06:00.000-04:00

Its that time again...... yes thats right the weekly photo prompt

like I said last week I now post my prompt on my other blog

LIMELITE

so please feel free to hop over the theme this week was

what summer means to me

Bip was the perfect super model this week .... I think I may have bored him a bit cause I couldn't quiet get it how I wanted but bless my boy he stuck with me and finally we did it...he is such a trooper.

Also I hope you hop over to Kristi and Melissa's post to see their work.

Remind Me Next Time

2010-08-17T08:57:00.000-04:00

Not to eat the Hubby's Chili con carne again.

I can eat most things, I don't have a problem with eating a hot Biryani I pretty much grew up eating Indian food.

Peppers don't normally have an effect one me, but last night I believed at one point that I was going to faint after eating this Chilli.

This Chilli was a killer to me, you should of seen my face on the first mouth full, it must of been a picture cause my hubby even asked if I was ok.

I did finish it but after I had to go to bed..... it was 7pm ish

Today, this morning I still feel like Ive been kicked by a mule.

Everyone else enjoyed it even Bip and Bop wolfed it down.

All I can think is I must be getting old.

This is a Tuesday Train Post

Spill The Beans Saturday : Incuding .. A really good movie

2010-08-14T09:10:00.000-04:00

Fashion Playtes

Monday:
Day at home...... only because we are a one car family at the moment and I wanted to sleep in instead of getting up at stupid O'clock to take hubby to work.

Taking him to work has been a really special time for us both, its a time to reflect and pray together, but there comes a time when a girl needs to sleep more.... this was one of those times.

Tuesday:
RAD turned up big time.... I haven't wrote much lately about RAD and the kids...... its hasn't been quite on the RAD front I have just not wanted to write about it, but this day I went to pick hubby up from work and left the kids with my mom and dad.... and up and till now they had been fairly well behaved.... but when you arrive home and your mother already had a drink in her hand and tells you ....

"You will need drink before I tell you what they have been up to"

You know its going to be bad
Ye it was bad......here is just a brief run down of what we walked back into
TV remote took nearly all night to find.... Rabbit had been scared out of his fur..... dog was hiding behind the sofa shaking ..... and my parents where left wondering which whirlwind had entered the house.

Wednesday:
I love finding new sites and blogs.....
I also love paper products ...... cards, bags, wrapping paper ... if its made from paper I'm going to love it ...its a guarantee.
These cards had me whooshing and whooping as another love of mine is Birdcages the vintage type.

Fine Day Press is worth a visit

Also worth a visit is a site called Happiness is......

A design inspiration blog.

Thursday:
Thought I'd share this with you.....
Some of you may like a signature on your blog but not sure how to make one ...well this is the easy way .... and wont give you a headache trying to figure it all out ....enjoy

Personal Signature Maker

Friday:
Letters To God.
An awesome tear gerking movie.....
We watched it as a family and even Bop sat still though out the whole movie... that's a shocker cause unless its animated she isn't interested.
Instead of writing you a review I found the trailer to the movie .....

So that's my beans for this week ....

Do you have any beans you would like to spill ?

Have a wonderful weekend folks .....

The Gift of Dyslexia

2010-08-12T20:36:00.001-04:00

So last night I won an award .... cant you tell I'm over the moon with this.... and I had to tell you 7 things about myself.... No: 2 was that I am Dyslexic .... Maxabella ask a few questions in her comment about this.... so I decided that it deserved a post ......

I'm not sure when it was that I realized that all the letters where jumbled up and back to front upside down and just basically messed up ... but I do remember the struggles I had in school.

When I was attending school the kid who couldn't do the work was the stupid kid, the one with the big D hat on sitting in the corner, they didn't test for dyslexia, not even if the problems seemed really bad.

Words and numbers always caused me a problem I would get them back to front, in the wrong order and English and Math were the bain of my life.

I always knew I wasn't stupid or slow, I always knew the answer to the question, I just couldn't write it down.
School didn't know how to handle this.

My parents hired a private tutor at one point in my school life.

I think it was lack of resources where the school was concerned, weather that be money, or just a lack knowledge that they didn't recognize the problem, and I know I wasn't the only one, there where other kids that I went through school with that had the same problems as myself..... but yet no one helped us.

Sad really, but that's just the way it was.

I didn't pass many exams, and if I did pass any believe me it was by the skin of my teeth.
The exams I did do well in where Arty subjects ...such as Dance, Fine Art and so on.

So at 16 I had been excepted into a prestigious Dance School in London, the only problem was I had to do my first two years on a foundation course doing A'Levels.

This was a joke to be honest, if I couldn't pass my school exams how was I ever going to pass higher education examines .......

It must of been noticed pretty early on that I had problems...I hadn't entered this school through academic ability .... So I bet I shocked them fairly early on with my lack of skills ......

But again no one did anything I passed my A'Levels again by the skin of my teeth, and being a clever little thing I had chosen Art subjects .....

So when did they realized that I had Dyslexia ..... around 21 .....

I finished dance school and went into the family business which was hairdressing ... It was while I was in hairdressing school that a teacher asked me if I had ever been tested for dyslexia ....

I remember asking whats that ......I didn't even really know what the word meant.

So at the grand age of 21 I was finally tested for Dyslexia .... amazing really and it still shocks me that it took till I was 21 to find out why I couldn't read,write or do math.

So how do I cope with this...

Maxabella asked the two following questions.
"How do you manage to write so well, for instance? And does it freak you out a little that online is ALL words and letters?"

Well to start with it is sheer determination that I do what I do.... as far as blogging is concerned....

I found out quiet early on that I have an almost photogenic memory where certain things are concerned.

Example .... I can memorize streets where I live so I can find my way round ...
I wont know what a road is called (mainly cause I cant read the name of the street) but I will be able to get there from sheer memory if Ive done it once.

So where my computer is concerned I taught myself how to spell words by memory from where my fingers go on the keys I type without looking most of the time, Word by word I have memorized how to spell most words.... you might notice that I don't really use big words.... Im very basic in how I explain something...
Well I think I am.

I might want to say a big word but if I have not taught myself how to spell it I wont write it....another thing is I have memorized how most words should look when spelt correctly.

I have three spell checkers.... one on blogger one on the computer (its a special dyslexic one) and my husband.

The Internet was never scary really yes its all words but I have to say I love a challenge ....... and it has been just that .....

I still spell things wrong...My husband said he learnt to spell typonese before he meet me face to face (MSN messenger has no spell check)

One the funny things is I taught myself to spell want incorrectly and still spell it the wrong way now....
I always type wnat .... Amen for spell checker

Don't ask me to write you a letter.... me, pen and paper = what does that say.
My hand writing is very neat but I have only memorized words on a keypad

I read better now than I have ever done in my life, and I'm now 43 .....
There was a time in my life where I just wouldn't pick a book up.... but again I have made myself learn.... from sheer memory ....

Numbers are worse then letters.... I can do basic Math

For some reason I cant memorize numbers ..... and if you phone number was to be 123456 I would end up writing 342561 or something like that.....
I will hear the number but write it all in the wrong order.

So that's my crazy word with Dyslexia

You know .... you can do anything you want to do...if you really want it.

It is Flog Yo Blog Friday.... on Thursday ....

Join in have some fun and meet some new bloggy friends is basically the name of the game

Oh My Goodness

2010-08-11T21:02:00.004-04:00

So I won this today...
My very first bloggy award.... so a big shout out to Angie from Like She's Somebody ..... This lady has had me laughing so many times.... she had a wonderful sense of humor, well you have to with frizzy hair I guess.... Angie you know I love you .... and your frizzy hair ..... So Angie awarded me this .... and now I have to tell you 7 things about me or post an old post ..... I'm going to go with 7 things I think...... Don't want to bore your pants off again with another one of my posts.....
Oh and after Ive done that I have to award this award to some of you out there.... so hold a breaths ....

1: I have a Dog who drinks vodka and Coke and a Rabbit that wont eat lettuce
2: I'm Dyslexic (letters and numbers)
3: I'm scared stiff of anything that flies except butterflies
4: I never passed my driving test in The UK but manged to do it in The USA (Failed 3 times)
5: My favorite comedian is Peter Kay
6: I admire people who speak their mind...... even if I don't always agree with you I admire you for standing up for what you believe in
7: I'm sarcastic ..... and it gets me in trouble.
So with no further a do I would like to award this award to the following Blogs....
Drum Roll Please

Life and love in the country

Maxabella Loves

and

Good Moms Are a Lot of Things

* So I just noticed that part of this post is missing

The part that was missing said this

To the three blogs I awarded you can do the 7 questions about yourself or do nothing ...... but please pass the award on to another blog or blogs that you think deserves this

This week

2010-08-11T14:58:00.000-04:00

This week I have posted my weekly photography prompt over on my other blog..... Its where I will be posting most of my photo's from now on.... why you ask? ... I really don't know .... lol
So please hop over and show me some love....

LIMELITE

Thanks .....

Am I Meant To Be Quiet About This?

2010-08-10T20:30:00.001-04:00

How do you feel about the emails you receive that says "Do not delete" "Do not break the prayer chain" "Send to 10 friends and all day long you will have good luck" "Forward to 15 friends and I hope I'm one of them"
Personally they drive me nuts and I always delete, break the prayer and never send or forward to anyone ..... I know what a party pooper ......But seriously do you know how many I received today, Ill tell you eight, and all of them except for one was of the above nature, all of which are now in the delete bin.... yep that's right Select All + Delete ....
So all except one..... now Ive had this email on my mind most of the day...... it was the type of email that I nearly so very nearly just deleted without opening..... I'm so good at that and I'm sure I my have missed some vital information at some point or another ....
So back to this email.
Its title was Sharia and the Muslim Faith.
Now I know I could get very near to a point of no return writing this post, I may even over step some boundaries and offend someone, but if that does happen I will apologies now and at the same time point out I do have freedom of speech and I'm also going to pledge the 5th.

There were certain words that stood out to me

Words like

Joys of Muslim Women

Ripping the West in Two

Cruel and Usual Punishment

An honor

Prostitute

To name just a few

There where bits of this email that had my hair standing on end and made me think about my children's future, even my own future.
I wonder about the safety of the author of this original email ..... the author of the book that is advertised with in the email, and the safety of Muslin woman everywhere.
Our safety also comes to mind, and where will America's lack of justices lead us all.
For all that America says it will do to bring certain people to justices ..... does it really happen or is it just to pacify its people.
I am going to finish this post and publishes the email on a separate page.... if you wish to finish reading this post right here I do understand and thank you for getting this far
if you wish to go on and read the email then please feel free to do so....its an enter at your own risk type of thing

Click here to read more

I don't want to offend anyone,as I have already said but I am woman who cant ignore what is going on around me.... I also cant hide the fact that I am a believer (The Jesus kind) and that what I believe to be right, just and true is under attack. Nothing new about that, but we are not meant to fight back or retaliate. Hmmmm now that's not my style.

Perfect Moments Monday: Recipe for keeping RADlings Out of Trouble

2010-08-09T09:56:00.003-04:00

Every Monday Weebles Wobblog does a weekly post Called Perfect Moment Monday

Perfect Moment Monday is about noticing a perfect moment rather than creating one. Perfect moments can be momentous or ordinary or somewhere in between.

The Ingredients:

Loads of sticks.
A few old blankets.
One Grandfather.( A.K.A Teddy)
An imagination.
An old tree.
And plenty of time on your hands

This recipe is so easy and if perfect for a day when the kids are bored and the grandparents are in town.

A bit of preparation time is needed, but you don't need to get involved if you don't want to...... I didn't in fact I didn't even know they where cooking up a storm.

Just be open to handing over some of ingredients when needed ..... and please note its best not to ask any questions.

The preparation time is as equal as the cooking time.....
It all depends on how the RADlings respond to the Grandfather I guess.....

You know when the cooking time is over you should hear something like this

" Mommy come see what we made"

Hold your breath and step outside ........

Bip, Bop, and Teddy ...looking very proud after building their forte.

Let me just say this forte has brought hours of entertainment for Bip and Bop....

They had their friend over for lunch and they sat and eat in it..... its sports a campfire and some sticks for poking bears up the nose with if the get to close so I'm told.....

I Capture Perfect Moments.

Shocked is an Understament

2010-08-08T21:26:00.002-04:00

Ive read an article from a British News paper online that the number of pre-teenage girls on the Pill has increased fivefold in the past decade.

The article said that last year doctors prescribed the oral contraceptive to more than 1,000 girls aged 11 and 12, usually without their parents' knowledge.
Another 200 aged between 11 and 13 were given long-term implanted or injectable contraceptive devices on the NHS ( National health Service)

In The UK the age of consent is 16, but doctors are allowed to prescribe the Pill to children if they believe an underage girl is mature enough to have sex.

WTF, how can any 11-12 year old be mature enough to have sex, let alone be in the right mind to bring a child into the world and parent it.

And because of patient confidentiality, parents have no right to be told if their children are being given the Pill.

This has had me thinking all day.

These children are having their childhoods stolen from right under their noses...... their being given choices that they don't even realize that there are consequences to. They just assume that they will never get pregnant.

Has anyone bothered to explain to these children that just because your on the pill doesn't mean your safe.... when sex education is introduced in school do they tell them that not only can you get pregnant when having sex you can reduce your chances of ever having children if you contract Chlamydia.

Chlamydia is the most frequently reported bacterial sexually transmitted disease in The UK & The USA.

Chlamydia is known as a "silent" disease because the majority of infected people have no symptoms. If symptoms do occur, they usually appear within 1 to 3 weeks after exposure.

Then there is HPV ..... Human papillomavirus is the most common sexually transmitted virus in the . At least 50% of sexually active people will have genital HPV at some time in their lives.

Do you think anyone has told them about any of the above .....

And lets not forget Gonorrhea, Pelvic Inflammatory Disease, Syphilis, Trichomoniasis.

To name just a few more.

I have to say Im in shock that this is allowed to happen and all in the name of patient confidentiality and maturity.

Can you imagine finding out your 11 yr old daughter is on the pill, because the doctor believes she is mature enough to have sex ..... I mean how do you react to that... me I'd have a fit ...and his arse would be in court faster than he would be able to write a prescription.

The UK has the highest teenage pregnancy rate and teenage abortion-rate.
It was among the worst in Europe for many years and part of that was the lack of awareness in children about the risks of sex and pregnancy.

So who do we blame for that..... the parents, school education or society in general.
I dont have the answer to that.....

All I know is there are more risks to having sex than just having a baby...... and I wonder if children of that age understand the potential risks after the initial fact.

*note back to the old layout... the new one would not let people comment. so if you tried to comment and couldn't ...thanks for trying ....*

*photo imagine Teen Pregnancy Statistics

Getting To Know You Sunday.

2010-08-08T13:54:00.001-04:00

At Mannland5 it is getting to know you Sunday ..... why not pop over and join in.....

The Q's.

1. Do you think mustaches are sexy?

Not really .....

2. What's the last concert you've been to?

I don't remember it was that long ago.... maybe Morcheeba

3 What was your favorite 80's sitcom?

I think I use to watch Knight Rider on a saturday evening....if that was the 80"s .... if it wast then I was to young to have a favorite

4. Were you named after anyone?

No..... Mom says she didn't want to offend anyone in the family so she gave me a name that had never been used before.

5. When you buy new clothes, do you wash before wearing?
Sometimes..... depends if I have any clean ones to wear when I buy new ones...that was a joke by the way

6. If you didn't blog, what would you do with your spare time?
Play WOW....

7. What is your favorite department store

H&M and Next ...but if I want to shop at Next I have to order online .... Lucky for me they do deliver to the USA....

8. If you were to get Laser Hair Removal..where would you get it?

I wouldn't get it done.... I'm coward so if I think something might hurt I don't do it ..anyway that's what razors are for surely...

Spill The Beans: Saturday ....plus a new layout.

2010-08-07T10:09:00.003-04:00

100 million Facebook pages leaked on torrent site

Tuesday:
Did you know that the little yellow sticky notes we all use are 30 years old .....

Yes I said 30 do you feel old now I sure do... can you believe it ....

They have a awesome celebration going on and you could win a $10,000 San Francisco Creative Retreat by entering your Post-it^® Products work of art.....

Post-it

Wednesday:
I love looking for new things online for Bip and Bop.....
I love sites that are educational with a fun factor ....
Found a few sites this week which they have both enjoyed ......

Amy's Kitchen :: The lemonslice.

National Geographic Kids ...... They have this magazine each moth so when they have done with it I send them to the wesite

Drawing Lessons ...... Bip loves to draw but often gets stuck for an idea....or he has an idea but isn't sure how to draw something .....he finds lots of idea's and help from this sit.

Thursday:
As a child I was brought up on soul music, ....
I remember that my Dad once brought me a cassette player and a collection of soul classic cassettes .....

The collection had 6 cassettes in it..and I played them that much I broke them ....

So I'm looking through on You Tube the other day looking for some new Kiddies songs for Bop to learn (that child sings like an angel and learns songs like it was second nature) and I found this....

Oh the memories

Friday:
First Broken window..... I think we have done fairly well ...I mean he is 9 now and he's never broke one before..... AND .... he owned up to it straight away ...and took responsibility for the whole thing.
and it was just the garage so no biggie really .....

So that's my beans for this week ....

Do you have any beans you would like to spill ?

Have a wonderful weekend folks .....

So this is the new layout.... wanted to change it for sometime just didn't find anything I liked.... Love this ..but
I lost my flag counter in the move.... slightly gutted by that.
Would love to know what you think to the new layout!!!

*layout by Yummy Lolly

Friday Flip Offs

2010-08-06T09:57:00.002-04:00

Flip Off Friday ....... is about getting rid of your weekday angst!

A big shout out for Kludgy Mom for hosting Flip Off Friday.

I don't have that much this week..... its been a really good week... had some awesome break through with Bip and Bop..... but there are a few out that sure need my flip off to complete their week.

Flip Off

To the Doctor who treated my neighbors for a simple plantar's wart on the bottom of her foot, he did his job so well that 9 hours later she had to go to the ER, jackass had treated the wrong area and she ended up with a chemical burn with infection......

To the bank who will not finance the car we want cause it had done to many miles....... you try being a one car family with a hubby at work and a son in summer school ......and no time to go look for another car right now....

To the driver who insisted on driving up my butt yesterday cause I was going a bit slower than normal cause I couldn't see, because of the storm we were driving in......idiot.

There that feels better.......

Now your turn .... jump on over to Kludgy Mom and join the flip of.


Fridays Flip Off

The Day She Called Me Mommy.

2010-08-05T19:08:00.002-04:00

There are always moments in your life that you never forget, moments that bring great joy and sometimes even victory.Moments that touch the heart, sometimes good sometimes bad.

When children first learn to speak, the first words parents really hope will come out of their tiny mouths are Momma or Dadda, its only human nature to want to hear these words from your off spring, people spend months repeating these two little words to their babies in the hope they will hear them repeated back in a garbled fashion.

I never had that joy of hearing the first words come out of my children's mouth.

My hubby did and he has always and always will be Daddy, their birth mother was never mommy or momma.

I'm told Bip called it her once,but from there one she had a nickname, for whatever reason this was I don't full understand, and its neither here or there to me why this was.

From the first day they meet me I was always Rachel, nothing unusual about that .....
Its the name I was introduced to them with.
It is my name, and I never expected to be introduced with anything else.
Its the name I was born with ....... its the name I go by, so why would they call me anything else.....

Is the name Mommy or Daddy a name which we automatically expect to be called or is it a name in which we earn the right to be called.

I personally think its a bit of both..... if you have birth children its the name you teach them to call you. There is a lot of respect in both those names ..... So we teach our children to use them out of respect.

If you have adopted children, do you introduce yourself as "Your new Mommy/Daddy" or with your birth name?
An area I'm not familiar with but would love to know......

My name over the years has changed where Bip and Bop are concerned, I have been known as many things over time, and its all depend on where they where and what setting or environment they where in at the time.

They have complied as not to be diffrent from other kids around them, they have used certain names to explain who I am to them without having to go into detail......

They have been very clever about the whole thing, without anyone noticing or them bring attention to themsleves.

No child wants to be diffrent, at such a young age ....... so they complie to suit there surroundings.

Mommy is a name I believe I have earned, I have never pushed for this title.

It is a conversation I have had with Bip when I first married his Daddy, but i never told him he had to use a certain name to ask, talk or call me ......
So I stayed as Rachel ....... within the house.

Outside of the house was a diffrent story ...like I said they used names to fit the situation.

Bop was the first one to ever say Momma, when directly speaking to me, and as sad as it is I totally ignored it and called on doing what I was doing .....

Imagine the setting Im working a summer camp, (I use to be an Art Director for a Boys and Girls Club)

Both Bip and Bop are at the same camp, and Im walking across the yard and I hear this little voice call
"Momma"
I pay no attention to this whats so ever..... why would I its not my name.

I hear it again and something inside of me caused me to turn my head and look to the direction the voice saying "Momma" and there I saw Bop jumping up and down waving her arms around shouting at the top of her voice. I stopped in my stride.

The pause before walking over seemed like a lifetime, I wasnt sure that it was really her calling me Momma, I wasnt sure how to react to this new name if it was her.

I had believed that my role in their life was to be their mother, but that as their step mother they would always call me by my first name. Suddenly that seemed like it was going to change, and I wasnt sure how to handle it.

I didnt need to walk over to Bop in the time all the crazy thoughts where going through my head she had come to me..... she had won something playing a camp game and she had wanted to tell me about it.....

As I listened to her story about winning, I did wonder if I should ask her what she had just called me.
We taked for a few minutes but then I needed to get back to what I was doing, I explained to her that I needed to go and her reply was this
"Thats fine Momma, I will see you later" and off she skipped back to her group.

So she had just called me Momma, I think I spent the rest of the day in a daze....( note the words daze and think.... )

I also remember thinking that maybe this was a one of and that she would go back to Rachel.
She didnt and my name did change again some weeks later and she started to call me Mommy.
Bop soon followed suit, but instead of just saying Mommy he had the need to expain why she was calling me Mommy.

"I am making a good choice and from now on you are Mommy" he told me, I did ask why, " Cause thats what you are to me a Mommy"

Bop has never explain why and neither have I asked, I feel this word needed no explaination from her as I had piad my dues and proved to them both that I had taken the job on and would see it through to completion.

A I write this I do feel slightly overwhelmed, we have had our ups and down, its not been an easy job, I have cried buckets over how they have treated me over the years, but and I don't say this lightly..... They are my children, I love unconditionally, with full forgiveness ..... They are my children after all.

Flogged on Thursday.... for Flog Yo Blog Friday.....

Life is Beautiful : Photo Prompt

2010-08-04T12:56:00.001-04:00

This weeks Melissa chosse the prompt for 2 Photographers, 1 inspiration. Her prompt was " Life is Beautiful"
Both Melissa and Kristi's Photos and interpretations are as always inspiring ...... I love both their work and I do wait in anticipation waiting for them to post their prompt for the week then their photo's.

I always want to thank them both for allowing others to participate in this weekly photo prompt

Please take the time to go see their work, and leave them both a comment, it will be worth the simple click it takes I promise.

I had far to many idea's running through my head this week when I saw the prompt, there is so much beauty that surrounds us in this world.
The beauty that just surrounds my life alone is enough to make a girls mind work overtime.

I left my photo till the last minute today in fact I only took it a few hours ago ....... I was walking round my garden looking for an inspirational moment when all of a sudden it came to me....

The Word of the Lord is the most beautiful thing in my life, something that I don't always appreciate as much as I know I should.

Flowers are another beautiful thing in life, this flower was brought over to me by my wonderful neighbor yesterday, and reminded me and my mom of my grandfather .... it was his favorite flower ... A Gladioli.

Dreams

2010-08-03T20:31:00.001-04:00

Through out time men have aspired to greatness, but where does the greatness come from

I believe it starts with dream.
Martin Luther Kind Jr said " I have a dream" Have you ever read that speech ... ever read his Dream speech..... its a very symbolic speech, and as much as it was written for his people, it was written for all of us.... did he see his dream come to pass... sadly no but he installed his dream into others and they carried his dream .... even at times running with it.

Im sure Nelson Mandela had a dream, pretty much the same as Martin Luther King Jr's dream.
Mandela's words, "The struggle is my life," are not to be taken lightly.

No ones dreams should be taken lightly.

The dream may be as simple as seeing their child do a handstand on the front lawn.
That dream may be to build their own house, climb Mount Everest, dance on a table in a crowd room or just to go to the grocery store without all the kids in tow.

Whatever the dreams maybe ......
The dreams are yours and if you aspire to your dream ... your children will to.

Image c/o Organic Beauty Care

Ribbon necklace tutorial and giveaway...

2010-08-02T16:25:00.003-04:00

The Lovely Kristi at life through the lens has a awesome giver away today

You should all go check it out... the necklaces look wonderful.... and if you dont win you can make yourself one they look really easy

ribbon necklace tutorial and giveaway...

Perfect Moment Monday

2010-08-02T08:15:00.000-04:00

Every week I take part in Perfect Moment Monday.
Here is what perfect Moment Monday is all about

Perfect Moment Monday is about noticing a perfect moment rather than creating one. Perfect moments can be momentous or ordinary or somewhere in between.
Once a week we engage in mindfulness about something that is right with our world. Everyone is welcome to join. All you need to do is hop on over to Weebles Wobblog and take part

For the last couple of weeks its been pretty chaotic in my house.....

My parents arrived a week ago and a week before that we had to move bedrooms around and do a few jobs around the house that we had been meaning to do... but in true fashion we never found time to do.

Bip and Bop don't cope well when full attention isn't on them, but they have had to learn that when Mom says I need to get jobs done, that it means you need to occupier yourself and not get into trouble ......

Bip just goes to his room and reads.... or just chills out ....

Bop is a different story that child can not stay out of trouble.

Always into something .....

There was one day just before my parents arrived that she was very quiet while I was doing something upstairs... I had called her a few times but no answer back, which is sometimes a bit worrying as it normally means she is into something.

So after finishing my job, I went to look for her.

So very quietly i went walking round the house, totally expecting to find her up to something she wasn't meant to be doing. I must of walked round the house a few times before I heard her giggling. To cut a long story short .....

I found her ...

I had walked past her a few times mainly cause I didn't expect to find here......

Here

In the dogs cage .... with water bottle, a snack, her laptop and dog all in tow.

Talk about being in the dog house.

At lest she wasn't up to no good .....

By the way the little monkey has learnt how to lock the cage and unlock it .....

Its her new favorite play place

Maybe not a perfect moment maybe more like a perfect play house

I Capture Perfect Moments.

Getting To Know You: Sunday

2010-08-01T07:32:00.001-04:00

So Sunday is here and I'm up freaking early....... whats that all about.
Its the only day I don't have to get up, but yet I'm wide awake.
I find that really annoying I will be having a word with myself later.....
So its It's Getting to know you Sunday .......
The Q's..

1. If you were to win an award today, what would it be for?
For getting up early I guess.....

2. What is your shoe style?
Flip Flops .... Sneakers ...... bare feet.

3 Does your car reflect your personality?
What old rusty and falling apart ..... hmmm yes I guess it does

4. If you could take over someones body for a day..whose would you choose?
Someone that slept longer than 6am every morning.

5. Love or be loved?
I think I'm happy to Love others .... cause to Be Loved, means you have high expectations of someone and how they feel about you

6. If you were on death row, what last meal would you choose?
Fish and Chips ( UK Style) in newspaper with loads of salt and vinegar.

7. Have you been on vacation this Summer, if so where?
Yes my back yard.

8. What is your favorite food related guilty pleasure?
I don't feel guilty for eating anything.... If I like it and want it I'm eating it ..... whats the point of feeling guilty ...Its not like I'm going to stop myself ...

So There are my eight answers..... Ill more than likely be back later to give you another headache with my ramblings .... RAD's had its ups and downs this week and so has life .... So there is lots to tell...and If I don't come back today its cause I'm a sleep

Spill The Beans Saturday.

2010-07-31T14:43:00.001-04:00

Will Commuters Take To The 'Boris Bikes'?

Monday:

Rad was a pain in my backside today, out of control kids cause they knew that my Mom and Dad where arriving the next day.... and no time to pull the reins in cause there was far to much to do ..... always the way ... they don't play me up if they have my full attention, they don't play me up if its all about them, they don't play me up if they are in control of me and any situation around them. Hence no of the above where happening so hence they where little tykes

Tuesday:

I had been thinking of all the places locally I could take my parents to... the one place that came to mind was a place called

Monson in Milford New Hampshire

I went here last summer when I was working a summer camp and I was running the photography program .... It is the site for the first British settlers in the area and the house still stands.... I loved it here... and the stories behind it all

Wednesday:

There where a few things that made me chuckle out loud

This is from a site called Old Tom Foolery

if you click on it you should be ale to see the names

Then there was Best of British ..... they have a slang page.... I show it to all my American friends so they can understand me.....

Thursday:

Oh boy Thursdays our my Therapy days..... and Wednesday night my therapist call me and said could I make it Friday morning..... Uhhhgggg ... So wanted to say no I need to see you now ...but I agreed and just prayed Friday would arrive quickly

Also on I found out that on Wednesday Ivy Bean had died.... we found Ivy Bean when we were looking for reading books for Bops ..... Ivy Bean was the oldest Twitterer ..... but Ivy & Bean is a series of children's reading books.

Friday:

Yeahhhhh Therapy, by now I need therapy ...

I was being to feel like a fruitlooped-nutcaseing-hipporiding-mother.... ye it was all getting a bit much for me.....

They had turned into RADS from HELL, and I was not dealing well.... I wont repeat most of the stuff I said to them but here is a insight into of one of our of the wall conversations Friday Morning

Bip: where we going

as we all got got into the car,

Me: You are going to the park with Nanny and Teddy (thats what Bip and Bop call my mom and dad)

Bip: and you, what are you doing.

Me: I'm going to see Donna (The Therapist)

Bop: Why are you just going why are we not going, I want to go, why are you not taking us.......

She said some other things and Bip joined in to with the same ....

Me: I'll tell you why your not going, cause I need to go alone cause you pair are making me crazy and for the first time in 43 yrs of my life I need therapy ...... if I don't see Donna alone today I'm likely to rip both your heads of and the puke down your necks once Ive done that Ill leave you both strung up by your ankles covered in honey and the bears can have you.

Silence.

then Bip said cool and I drove off down the road.

My parents God Bless them where thinking they had given birth to the Devils child some 43 years ago and it was only now they where realizing it.

Not the best way to speak to a RADling .... in fact I wouldn't recommend this form of angry in any shape or form but I was at my wits ends...and rad got the better of me....

So after all that I really hope you all have a wonderful weekend

and if you have any beans you would like to spill please feel free.

Rite of passage

2010-07-29T21:55:00.002-04:00

A rite of passage is a ritual event that marks a person's progress from one status to another. It is a universal phenomenon which can show anthropologists what social hierarchies, values and beliefs are important in specific cultures. Rites of passage are often ceremonies surrounding events such as other milestones within puberty, coming of age, marriage and death. Initiation ceremonies such as baptism, confirmation and bar or bat Mitzvah are considered important rites of passage for persons of their respective religions.

That above is what Wikipedia says about a Rite of Passage....

To me its more.....its not a big event ...its nothing that I need invite the neighborhood to.....it wont cost me an arm and a leg to host.....its nothing I need explain to Bip or Bop.

Its bigger then marriage, easier to explain than puberty, there is no cost to it, and it wont kill them.....

Every kids does it, some do it alone, some need some help..... To some its scary to others its a walk in the park.....

I don't remember doing it as a kid but I'm told by my mother I did my dad taught me .....

My brothers did it to.... they where pretty good at it and would hide from me for hours .....

It's something I wasn't sure Bip or Bop would ever do....

Bip is so fearful of most things that he has never tried..... in his mind he has done it a thousand time and each time he does it he does it so well he is the Master of it ....

Bop will openly admit that she cant do something, but she has no fear and will give anything a go at lest once.

So the Rite of Passage .....is.... Drum Roll Please

Tree Climbing...... and Bip and Bop can now scale the trees like experts ...no more in my imagination I can do it all...no more I cant do that..... They have conquered the tree in the backyard with grace and style.....

Journey: This weeks photo prompt.

2010-07-28T13:55:00.001-04:00

This week at Life throught the lens and Savoring the Details the photo prompt is the word Journey.
Kristi and Melissa have as usual out done themselves with fantastic interpretations of the word.

The word Journey sets of a whole bunch of emotions in me, and isnt it funy that the word Journey be the prompt for this week just as my parents land in The States after an 18 hour day of travelling.

I had so many ideas for this weeks photo..... but finally this is what I used.

Reunited

2010-07-27T20:46:00.001-04:00

It's funny that even at the age of 43, seeing my parents can bring out the child in me...

The inner child the one who just wants to crawl up on my fathers lap and snuggle, the child who wants to follower her mother everywhere, and not let her out of her sight.

That has been me this afternoon, after nearly two years I got to see them again, the people who brought me into this world ... brought me up to be a decent human being..... the ones who saw me through rough times cried with me when I cried, rejoiced with me when I was happy.

Its funny cause I have always been very independent, live on an island by myself type of girl.....
Never needed anyone... until the people nearest to me where not there.

I never imagined when I moved to the States, that I would miss anyone... I just don't do the whole missing thing.

When I saw them this afternoon I cried... cried on my moms shoulder... almost a sobbed

I realized for the first time in my life... that I had missed someone.

Perfect Moment Monday: Playing Together

2010-07-26T07:39:00.001-04:00

Every Monday Weebles Wobblog does a weekly post Called Perfect Moment Monday

Perfect Moment Monday is about noticing a perfect moment rather than creating one. Perfect moments can be momentous or ordinary or somewhere in between.

There hasn't been many perfect moments of late, well not where Bip and Bop are concerned.... just as you think your going forward you take about five steps back.

Playing together is just imposable, I know all kids have there moments where they don't get on and cant play together but this is an everyday thing.

Its wearing thin and becoming a concern, the control of each other has grown mainly I think cause they know they cant control me, and in true RAD style they have to control something, so why not each other.
We are working on this little problem, but needless to say, them being amicable with each other is far and few between.

There was one day this week where I suggested they build something, they both love to build .... I supplied tape, scissors ( I was supervising the handling of the scissors), markers and other bits and bobs ... oh and a big cardboard box ..... they decided together to build a house for BOP's littlest pet shop toys .... there was one moment where they where quiet, no agruing no bickering, and where working together.

Working Together

I sat back and savored the moment of peace .....

Glad I did cause not some ten minutes later one of the toys had its head ripped off in anger ....Go figure.

I Capture Perfect Moments.

Getting to Know You: Sunday

2010-07-25T16:30:00.001-04:00

WoW .... how lucky was that, all day while I have been cleaning I've been mulling over what today's post would be.... I was pretty sure you didn't want to see what my tip of a bedroom looked like before and after...cause to be honest there was a huge difference but nothing to write home about.

I just don't want to write about what my RADdy kids have been up to all weekend I'm all done with that one for this week.....

So I was gonna be a totally uneventful post until.......
I found MannLand5 .... and they do a Getting to know YOU..
On a Sunday which I would say is lucky for me ...wouldn't you?

So here goes with my answers

The Q's..

1. Thong or Granny Panties?

Well more like boxers for ladies

2. If you see a guy with his fly down, do you tell him?
Ha, No, unless its my husband then ye ......

3. Spanx or no Spanx?
Hmmm what are Spanx, running shorts cause if that's what they are then no...I so don't run anymore the ankles cant take it ... I have a feeling they are something other than running shorts..is it an American thing? or am I just not in the KNOW.

4. Do you sleep in your sheets?
Sort of ..... depends how hot it is or if they have been stolen from me

5. What is your favorite Disney character?
Snow White

6. Dream vacation spot?
I guess being a Brit living in The States I would have to say The UK ...... Isle of Sky in Scotland comes to mind

7. What is your dream job?
I don't really have a dream job.... sad to say, but I bet if I did and I got it I'd hate it... that's the way I roll

8. Who is your hero and why?

My Mom and my Dad (am I allowed two I wonder?),My Dad had a series of stroke some years back and we were told IF he lived he would be in a wheelchair, and pretty much be good for nothing, well My Mom went to that hospital every day all day and prayed over that man, she only left his side to sleep and sometimes even that she didn't leave for, at the time he was 55 and had been a very active person. She did this for 6 weeks...... he walked out of there and I mean he walked... not a wheelchair in sight. They both fought to carry on living their lives with each other. He is now 67 and on Tuesday they fly out to see me for 6 weeks....and still no wheelchair in sight.

Ok so now off to get the ironing done .... can you hear me groaning

Spill The Beans: Saturday

2010-07-24T08:13:00.003-04:00

You know being a SAHM isn't all its cracked up to be ... by Saturday I'm so full to the brim that I need to let it all out.

There is a saying .... Spill the Beans ..... The English idiom “spill the beans” means “to divulge a secret.”

Oh boy do I have some beans to spill ....

In the world of Select All + Delete the beans can be anything from something I found to something that's happened .... Good or Bad
So Saturday is Spill the Beans :Saturday ......

And here are my beans for the week:

Sunday:
We were meant to go car shopping as a family, now normally we keep things we are doing very quiet
( RAD kids have a tendency to sabotage outings, mine do this in great lenghts) and this one was a total hush-hush ..... Bip however had left his room is a terrible state and had the night before de-faced a book that I had allowed him to read in bed, He told me he was not cleaning it up, so after negotiations which came to a stand still fairly quickly ...
His punishment was laps up and down the drive way, which he proclaimed he was NOT doing....

My response was to recommend bed rest until be was strong enough to do it... he attempted a few laps then refused again so off to bed rest it was...

So Bop and Daddy went of to look at cars.... while Bip rested...the rest lasted 2 hours, in which time we eat chicken noodle soup for strength and slept and moaned and groaned like any sick person would ....

After a lot of cuddles and some words of encouragement we went back outside and successfully completed the laps.. with Mom cheering on the side lines all the way.

Monday:
I sometimes feel like I'm an animal shelter ( I know our neighbor does)... we have stray cats ... some get caught some go on to have babies of their own .... the latest bunch have now shown their faces and are so darn cute

Then in true contradiction... we have to feed the cats so that these babies can survive long enough to fly the nest

Tuesday:
We had some fun...

I had found a really cool site the night before, so I decided to go explore it some more, with Bop hanging over my shoulder it took a while longer than normal cause there were lots of "Ohhhhh Mommy look" and "Awwwww I like that" but we did find some really cool things to print up and do...
Lots of Birthday printables...

So if you have a Birthday Party to plan for this site is a must

Draw Pilgrim ( This will take you to their birthday downloads)

We printed this off and played it on Tuesday ... The kids had so much fun... I felt like my Nana... who use to go to Bingo every week with her sister

Picture Bingo Printable

Wednesday:
Started Operation Nice with the kids .....

We made some Muffins .

We gave three to our neighbor the one who gave us lettuce ( see Favorite Color , she also gave us Zucchini Bread which is so yummy)

We took one down to Daddy at work .....

One to our therapist,

And we ate some .....

They where very yummy they were Chocolate and Marshmallow.

Thursday:
3 minutes and 30 seconds of my life I'm glad I wasted .....

If by any chance you have not seen this yet ...
You so have to watch this ....

This had me laughing for well longer than it really should of done .. but then I have a strange sense of humor . The guy narrating in the video is extremely funny (well to me he is) plus it is really cool .....

Double rainbow ...whats the chance of ever seeing that!

This was found at around 1am ....

The night my husband was using our bed as his personal trampoline .... so its plain to say I was surfing not sleeping....

Also this night I stumbled on tumblr, which I did talking about .... but what I do want to say is.... as much as it was a pain to get set up I have found some really cool pages.

Friday:
Not much happened ...I spent most of the day drinking coffee and walking around in a daze from lack of sleep .......

Kids did lots of arts and craft as it was about all I had the brain power for .....

Set it up and they just did it... I think they got the message Mommy was a zombie

Oh I did clean my kitchen which took most of the day ..... longest cleaning job ever

Bip & Bop's Art Work for Friday

if you can't guess the theme was LOVE

So that's my beans for this week ....

Do you have any beans you would like to spill ?

Have a wonderful weekend folks .....

Friday's Flip Offs

2010-07-23T07:48:00.001-04:00

They say there is a first time for everything.... and this is my first time joining Kludgy Mom for a much needed Flip off .....
so let the games begin....Friday Flip Off here I come

To My Body : 12 hours sleep in 72 hours isnt enough has never been enough and will never be enough... whats you problem .... this is worse then Japanese Water Torture. How am I suppose to operate under these conditions?

To My Husband: As much as I love you, you soooooo need to stop using the bed like its your own personal trampoline .... I'm trying to sleep here and ever time I think I'm about to drift of into the land of nod you turn over and bounce me right out the bed.... you and my body are totally flipping me off now.

To The Idiot: Who thought he was driving in The UK.... wrong side of the road dude.... and what made you think it was my fault ... why did you honk your horn at me ... what part of YOUR ON THE WRONG SIDE OF THE ROAD do you not understand.... and did you notice there was a speed limit to... maybe if I had not slowed down and hit you instead you could of drove off on the RIGHT side of the road .... bird brain

and finally

To the Creature/Critter: that has punctured the rim of our new swimming pool that we only brought at the beginning of summer.... do you not know we are on a budget here and can not afford to go and swim at the local pool, you have totally spoiled the kids week plus I now have to find where you punctured it... do you not think I have enough to do this week without this

Phew that feels better

Now its your turn

Either join the Hop or just leave me a message telling me what Flipped you off this week

Friday Flip-offs

Click The Link At Your Own Risk

2010-07-22T23:38:00.001-04:00

Sometime I wonder if I need my head looking at or if I just need a slap upside it .....

So I'm doing my normal Blog Hopping around thing I do most evenings...while putting kids to bed, watching TV, washing up from dinner and pouring myself a drink...

Maxabella always does "The Things I've Learned This Week Including" on a Friday and I have to say its one of my favorite weekly posts .... Its always funny and I always learn something new, plus she is so darn cute I cant help myself ...she is a must read if you haven't already found her yet.

So Im not saying I have a problem with her post this week ... but

There was a link on there... and in true me style, I clicked it ..... I'm suck a sucker for links

I so shouldnt have ..... No really you dont understand I soooooo should not have done that ........

Nearly two hours later I get off the site it sent me to....
Head buzzing
Mind boggling
Where is the Vodka moment.

I'm not the most computer savvy person out there... in fact nine out of ten times I'm calling Hubby over cause I'm totally stuck and don't understand whats going on, it is normally something so ~~hard~~ simple if I had only spent two more seconds on it I would have got it... but no not me its either doing it now or I'm calling you over.

So back to the click link moment .... remember when you where little and you where told not to talk to strangers.... I think maybe I should of been told don't click the link... it may have saved me a lot of trouble...

The link I clicked was as followed .... Tumblr

Its meant to be a fast twitter/blogger type style thingy.... faster than blogging slower than twittering .... Holy Smoke ... there was nothing fast about getting set up.... or maybe that's just me ..... I did go and find some articles on this Tumblr

Head, Shed and Shapes

2010-07-22T11:30:00.001-04:00

Some of the stuff that Bip and Bop do, to display there anger or to show there frustrations, which I know can be one of the same thing are sometimes beyond me. The things they do to gain control or to manipulate a situation, again this also can be one of the same thing totally blow my mind.

Yet even tho they are siblings with the same disorder they are so different, they display different traits.

Example:
The meeting of a stranger:
Bip will greet them as if he has known them all his life totally engage them into something that is fascinating him and they will instantly be drawn towards him, he will have total disregard for me in the situation almost acting as if he doesn't know me.
Bop on the other hand will hold back assessing the situation, she will cling to the point of embarrassment, and be totally rude to the person who she doesn't know.

Example:
Food and Drink:
Food: If Bip was asks for something to eat and I was to say
" Well can't you wait for 20 minutes cause we will be having lunch then"
He will agree but, once my back is turned he will go steal the first thing the nearest thing he can in the shape of food, how do I know... Ive caught he enough times to last me a life time.
Bop on the other hand will wait for that said lunch to be served and then will more than likely refuse to eat it, or pick at it ... lunch & dinner can sometimes take up to an hour to eat if she is in a mood.
Drinks: If Bip asked for a drink and I ask him to wait or I say no ( which in most cases I don't have to with him) he will except this answer and go on his merry way.
Bop will go steal it ( if I have had to tell her no or to wait its cause she has probably had one recently and as she is my bed wetter, I'm more likely to monitor her with liquids) she has been known to pretend she is going bathroom and get a drink from the tap, we even went through a stage where she would drink out of the toilet, ( this still to this day turns my stomach when I picture it) and if anyone is wondering yes she has been tested for diabetes and other things.

They have (and this is a new thing that we are doing) a snack box each which each morning I fill with extra snacks for them to have through out the day, they have to ask if they an have something from their box but what they have is their choice,and if its fruit in the box I write a note which will say fruit... if its 2 pieces I write two notes and so on as all fruit is kept in the fridge, also along with the snack box is a water bottle and two fruit juice boxes, this has to last them the whole day and night along side the normal meal times which are accompanied by drinks. Bips box is normally empty come morning if not before (this child will wake in the night and if no food in his box will go in search of it) his drinks on the other hand will still be there come morning, Bop is the opposite.

Example:
Play: Bip will not and can not play alone, if he has no one to play with he will try to engage me into doing something with him, and this will always happen if I am washing up folding laundry or just doing something around the house or doing something for myself like reading, sewing a craft and so on you get the picture. If I refuse his advances to play he will stomp, storm, enrage and nearly always go off in a mood mumbling you "Don't love me".
Bop will often refuse to play with him, mainly cause he will control her to the point where if its pretend play, he has the whole story line planned out and her idea's are always a none starter to him. He will invite her to his room then five minutes later demand she gets out, only to invite her back in two minutes later, on the condition she does as she is told by HIM.
Bop needs no one, she could play by herself all day everyday, if I try to join her she will stop what she is doing and has been known to just state at me and will not allow me to engage her in what it was she was doing or be even tempted by a new idea or suggestion, until I leave her then she will carry on with whatever it was she was doing. She will play in her room for hours at a time alone if allowed to. She never asks me to play with her all she asks for is for you to set something up for her like a craft, then she will let it be known that she has the situation under control. It has been said that at school if she has been naughty and misses recces time this in no shape or form will bother her. Bip on the other hand will rage over this.

I know that no two people are the same, but if only they could display the same symptoms then I wouldn't have to learn to different approaches to everything.
in some parts of The UK they have a saying ... it goes like this.

" My Heads in The Shed, and it's All Gone Pear Shaped"

Meaning this is doing my head in and I'm totally confused.

I would say, that's pretty much how I feel today.

Favorite Color

2010-07-21T17:07:00.001-04:00

This week over at Life Through the Lens and Savoring the Details .... The theme was Favorite Color for their collaboration project.

Both their photos are stunning and you should really go take a look.

They opened their project up to everyone else ..... Im nowhere near as good as either of them but I love a challenge and as they say practice makes perfect so here is my favorite color ..... and a big thank you to my neighbor for bringing over not only part of our dinner but for giving me the goods to take the photo.... it was fresh out of her garden.

My Favorite Color is Green

Select All + Delete

This week Im Grateful for : Snow Plows

Team Spirit..... Pulling together to help

Pay It Forward... You know you want to

This week Im Grateful for : The Sun and the Snow

Snow Snow and a Swollen Eye

Stop the Bus I Want to Get Off !

Sharing is Caring

Valentina Ramos Your kids (or you!) like to paint?Take those crayons and play a little ;)download the “Little Tractorcito” coloring page here:

This week Im Grateful for : New Ideas

Back Breaking

Marbles

Before you Know it

A Little Giver Away Before The New Year

Missing in Action ....

This week Im Grateful for : Flowers and ......

Angry Man

A Personal Message from Santa

Crazy few Days

Where will 2011 take you...

This week Im Grateful for : Stars in my Life

Featured in a Treasury on Etsy

There is Still Time...All Undiscovered in 10 Categories Whew!

Creating The Light.

I ♥ Quench Metalworks.

Grounded with Mom

Sharing Sunday: Crayons, Soaps, and Bags

Saturday : Including a 911 Call and a Giveaway

This week Im Grateful for : Survival

There's a Rat in my Kitchen

Sharing Sunday : A Faviortie and a Wonderful find.

This week Im Grateful for : A Roof over my head.

Thankful ......

The Mystery behind each of us!

Has Anyone Seen My Son?

Sharing Sunday : this is my hopeful world.

Fancy Pants: Not So Fancy

This week Im Grateful for : 13 Reasons for the Things Im Thankful For

Kindness

And So She's Back..... but its not from outerspace.

Much Love : RAD

Fall Festival: Week Three

Village Gossip

Fall Festival: Week Two

The Joys of RAD: including Homework

Children with special needs don't have an illness, they are not contagious. They want what we all want, which is to be accepted.

I sat here last night just scrolling through your blogs reading what you write...favorite past time by the way.... and it suddenly struck me, do my kids know they are different.

This had me stumped for about 10 minutes, as I sat and thought about it, and thought about and thought about.

And here I am still thinking about it.

We have just gone into 2nd grade with Bop and honestly its just like history repeating its self, she is doing just what Bip did in 1st 2nd and 3rd grade....

Refusing to do homework, refusing to do work at school, and just making her own life miserably.

Its not she cant do it, believe me she can in fact the work she is doing is to easy for her even if it is she doesn't recognize it.

So I know some of this is boredom, but even so, this is very tiring and boring also ....

So I have just asked her this question.

" Bop who else in your class refused to do work today"

silence so I asked another question

"Bop who else in your class is still doing there homework 2 hours after they arrived home from school...anyone?"

She finally answered both questions and she said this....

" I think I'm the only one who refused work today, and I think I'm the only one making a fuss over homework"

So does she recognizes that she is different, yes I think she does to be honest.

Can she do anything about that ... no I dont think she can, she is to young to understand how she is different.

Bip on the other hand is totally different to 3 years ago, and is having a fantastic start to the new school year where his work is concerned, which inreturne does shine a light at the end of Bops tunnel I guess.

Cause if he can turn this around then maybe she can to.

So my question is this

Does it hurt to point out their peers to them.....?

Do they need to recognize that they are different and that to get by in this life they need to change their ways?

And am I being a bit harsh on them?

Be as honest with me as you want I sure wont take offense and it wont hurt if I am way of key here....

And for any one who doesn't know what my kids have read this then answer my questions

I'm so open right now to your point of view.

Just a little side note... Bip just started playing me up over homework as his father walked in..... we have now been on homework for over 2 hours

Much Love Autumn

Spill The Beans Saturday: Including My Love of Conker Fights

How can you do this

Fall Festival: Week One

Much Love Steampunk

Spill The Beans Saturday : Plus Me Moaning About Stuff

Fridge Chronicles: August

Childrens Books and Illustration

Weekly Photo Prompt

Valentina Ramos Your kids (or you!) like to paint?
Take those crayons and play a little ;)
download the “Little Tractorcito” coloring page here: