Wordless Wednesday

The Ozark Folk Center

Lately Jody has acquired a great deal of interest in blacksmithing. He mentioned that he would like to go to the Ozark Folk Center in Mountain View because they have a working blacksmith shop that you can visit. We did a little internet research on the Ozark Folk Center last night and found out they were going to be open on Memorial day so we decided to take the kids and go on a mini-vacation.

The drive was only about an hour and a half one way. Thanks to the portable DVD player and some yummy snacks, the kids were in good spirits for the ride. We arrived at the OFC just in time for village to open.

The village consists of little shops spread over the beautiful backdrop of the Ozark Mountains. Each shop contains a craftsman of a particular trade. They had lye soap making, candle making, musical instruments, country kitchen cooking, quilting, a cooper, pottery, a knife maker, blacksmithing and many more. You can go into each shop (that is air-conditioned I might add) and watch the craftsman work. They tell you about their trade and answer questions.

I sent Jody to the blacksmith shop first thing. I know that's why he wanted to go, and I wanted him to get his fill before the kids got restless. Luckily, the kids love being outdoors so we wandered around the grounds while Jody talked to the blacksmith. We went to the swimgs where a sweet man named Bill and his mule Rosie took the kids and I for a ride around the carousel. By the time we finished with that and wandered around a little more, Jody was finished.

We went around to various other shops until the kids were too tired and grumpy to continue. We headed back to the van and stopped by Subway for a bite to eat before the long ride home. I have to admit, I was a little worn out too. I was glad Jody was driving and snuck in a little catnap for myself.

The Ozark Folk Center turned out to be a great mini-vacation. Jody and I would like to go back again, preferably without kids, and spend a day wandering around and taking in all there is to learn. It is fascinating seeing how things were done in the not-so-distant past, and it is a fascination that Jody and I both share.

Perfect

I think we all have one of those friends. She seems like the perfect wife and mother. She sews. She's crafty. She makes furniture with power tools. Her house is beautifully decorated and always tidy. She has a big family and her kids are happy and beautiful and well-mannered. She's the mom we all secretly want to be. We idolize her and think if only I could be as great a woman as she is.

I have a friend like that. She has six of the cutest kids. She has a great relationship with her husband and her extended family. She has beautiful, creative scrapbooks. She even made and stained a headboard for her bedroom. She's the kind of mom I want to be. She is the perfect homemaker.

One day I had to go to her house unexpectedly to pick something up. I had to laugh when I got there. On her loveseat in the livingroom was about six loads of laundry that needed to be folded. Maybe we weren't so different. I had a similar pile of laundry to be folded at my house too.

One day at church a group of us women were talking about cooking. My friend confessed that she didn't bake. She made everything if the microwave. I was shocked. She didn't bake. But she was the perfect homemaker!

It's funny how as woman we compare ourselves to each other. There is always someone who seems to be more pretty, more creative, more together. But we are more alike then we give ourselves credit for. We have the same struggles, the same hopes, the same desires. We need to change our image of perfection for it may be looking at us in the mirror.

Thirteen Jody-isms 1. Working harder than a one-legged man in a butt-kicking contest 2. Wilder than a one-eyed rattlesnake 3. Hotter than spit on a hot tin roof 4. Wilder than a buck deer 5. As worthless as tits on a boar hog 6. Hotter than a witch's tits in a brass bra 7. I gotta get back to my rat killin' 8. Hotter than cat's piss 9. Colder than a well digger's butt 10. I don't give a rat's ass 11. Up shit creek without a paddle 12. Knee high to a grasshopper 13. That'll be confidential Links to other Thursday Thirteens!1. (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)

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Wordless Wednesday

Can someone please explain to me why, when the cost of a barrel of oil goes up a dollar or two, the price at the pump jumps $.20 in a matter of hours, but when the price of crude oil goes down a dollar or two, it takes weeks to see a significant change at the pump. Why is this not considered price gouging?! Where is our goverment during all of this? It infuriates me!!

Okay...rant over.

Allergies

I've never really had a problem with allergies. I would get occasional headaches that I equated to allergies but nothing major. This year is wreaking havoc on me. My nose burns like it is on fire, and it won't quit running. I feel cruddy. I feel sorry for people who suffer with this all the time. Since I live in the country in the middle of the woods, there is no telling what the trigger is. I would love to take a Benadryl and sleep until allergy season is over. That is what would happen if I took a Benadryl. It knocks me out for hours. If I take Sudafed, I feel like I am on speed (not that I've ever taken speed, but if I did, I think that must be what it feels like). So I sit here and suffer. I can't wait until bed time, when me and my little pink and white pill can drift into blissful slumber. Benadryl, take me away!

Thirteen Things I am Afraid Of 1. Heights. 2. Tight places. 3. The dark. 4. Being alone. 5. Flying. 6. Rollercoasters. 7. Amusement parks rides. 8. Being put under for surgery. 9. The dentist. 10. Losing my children. 11. Losing a family member or friend. 12. Bugs and spiders. 13. Tornadoes. Links to other Thursday Thirteens!1. (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)

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The purpose of the game is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!
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Wordless Wednesday

One More Day

I had a Get Together tonight. On the way home I was listening to Delilah on the radio. What can I say, I'm a sucker for sappy love songs. She played the song One More Day by Diamond Rio. It got me thinking, as sappy love songs often do, if something happened to me or my children, would they know how much I loved them? Did I take the time today to give them the attention they deserve? Did I hug them enough? Would I regret anything? Would they have happy memories?

I try to be very conscious of the decisions I make as a mother. I try to think about how my actions, reactions and words will effect my children. I am constantly analyzing how to handle situations, which words to use, how to explain things the best way. I'm sure many times I over-analyze what I should do or say. But I don't want to have any regrets. I feel like sometimes I only have one chance to get it right. And I don't want to screw it up. I just want to be a good mom.

I'm too tired to be a mom today. I'm going to call in sick. Paxton was up half the night again last night. I don't know why. All I know is he was up and now I'm tired. I didn't want to get up this morning. But apparently the ice maker is turned off, and there isn't any ice in the freezer. Olivia insisted that I get up and get her some ice for ice water. Where I was supposed to get the ice from I do not know. And of course once you're up the kids want to eat breakfast. I was too tired to cook breakfast. I thus declare a day of fasting. My declaration was vetoed by the little ones. So I made donuts. The donuts were warm and cinnamonny and filling. They maked me miss my nice warm, cozy bed. A friend once told me that being a mom would be the hardest and most rewarding things I've ever done. I should have listened to her warning. There is never a day off. No sick days. No vacations. Every night I pray for patience and strength. Heaven knows I need all the help I can get. I love my kids but man I'm tired.

A day of Junkin'

In the little city of Beebe, AR there is an outdoor flea market (called a swap meet in other states)on Saturday mornings. There are regulars that have booths and set up every weekend. They sale all sorts of things ranging from plants, salvage groceries, produce, lawn equipment, food, etc. Then there are people who are looking to get rid of junk laying around the house or are out to make a few dollars.

Jody collects junk from yard sales and auctions and sets up on occasion. He has a fun time doing it, and it's great supplemental income. Back in the day (before we had kids) I would set up at the market with him and sale baby clothes. I prefer to go in the spring and the fall, before it is too hot or to cold.

This morning I got to go for the first time in quite a while. I had a couple of tubs of baby clothes in my shed that I needed to get rid of and MIL offered to watch the kids. Sounded like a good deal to me.

A sign that you are a hard core junker is when you get up at 4:15am in order to get to the market for the best deals. Jody is a hard core junker. And because I am the spouse of a hard core junker, I had to get up at 4:15am too. This is not as easy task when you are sleep deprived and incredibly tired. The thunderstorm that rolled through right before we had to get up didn't help matters either.

After the rain passed through it turned out to be a beautiful day. The rain kept a lot of sellers at home which made business good for us. People were out to buy today. Gas prices are dropping and you'd be amazed at how that effects sales. I ended up selling a good portion of my baby clothes. I made a little over $30, not bad considering I didn't charge over a dollar for anything. Jody did even better. But he has a gift for this kind of thing. I don't call him a hard core junker for no reason.

It's been an emotional couple of days. Today little Travis Leo was laid to rest. My thoughts have been with him and his family. I can't even begin to imagine what they have been through. I pray that they will find a little bit of peace in all of this.

My thoughts have also been with my friend Danae, who will soon be celebrating the one year anniversary of the birth and death of their son Jeffrey. His short life has had such a deep impact on me. I pray that Danae will have the strength to endure this coming month.

I haven't been sleeping well. Between all these thoughts running through my head and fussy kids, I feel drained. There seems to be such sadness all around me. I try not to think-to just turn it all off. But I can't.

It's times like this when I rely on my faith to get me through. Families are forever. That faith gives me a reason to get out of bed in the morning. Without that faith I don't know if I could go on. I don't know if I would want to go on. In it I find my strength.

Thirteen Reasons I Couldn't Sleep Last Night 1. Jody snoring. 2. It was too cold. 3. It was too hot. 4. I couldn't get comfortable. 5. Thinking about Kate and how bad this all sucks. 6. Thinking about baby Jeffrey and the one year anniversary of his birth and death. 7. Wishing I could quit thinking. 8. Olivia sleep talking and sleep yelling. 9. Olivia climbing into bed with us. 10. Paxton fussing. 11. Paxton refusing to sleep in his bed. 12. Paxton playing in our bed until 5 in the morning. 13. Jody getting up for work and 4:45. Links to other Thursday Thirteens!1. (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)

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The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!
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Wordless Wednesday

Why? That is the thought that keeps going through my head. Why must one family go through so much pain? To lose one child is bad enough, a pain that I can't bear to imagine, but to lose two...why? My heart aches for my friend. I wish I could take away some of the pain. I wish there was a way to make the hurt go away. But all I can do is pray. Please Heavenly Father help us understand why.

Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen Things To Do When It's Raining 1. Sleep. 2. Call the power company when the power goes out. 3. Eat breakfast by candlelight. 4. Take a picture of the river running across my driveway. 5. Try to amuse the kids until the power comes back on. 6. Call MIL to come get the kids. 7. Play on the internet. 8. Watch the FedEx guy try to get up the river-of-a-driveway. 9. Bake cookies. 10. Call a friend. 11. Watch a movie 12. Make mad passionate love. 13. Did I mention sleep? Links to other Thursday Thirteens!1. (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!
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Wordless Wednesday

You're Special

Olivia: Daddy, you're special.
Jody: That's what people have told me my whole life.

HIPPY Graduation

Olivia graduated from HIPPY yesterday. They had a cute little ceremony for all the kids. We bought her a HIPPY shirt to wear to the ceremony, and they had red graduation caps for the kids to wear. Olivia was the first one called to the front, and she went all by herself. I can't believe how grown-up she looked. She got a certificate, a metal and a folder full of goodies. This has been a great experience for her and for me. Everyone warned me that they grow up too fast. They weren't kidding! Congratulations my sweet baby girl!