Troubled

I was shopping today when I noticed a lady looking at me kind of weird. I started to check myself...

• zipper up - check
• nose clear - check
• matching shoes - check
• pants without a hole in a revealing spot - check
• as clean as a mother of 3 kids can be - check

Hmm... I couldn't figure out the weird looks. So, I went on my way. A little further on I got a few more strange looks from a guy who kept looking around me. I decided to move on a little faster. What in the world was going on. It wasn't till the next row that I figured it out...

I was talking to myself! I haven't been shopping alone for about 10 1/2 years now. I've always had at least one child in tow while at the grocery store. And, even when they were tiny babies, I would talk to them.

And now, after all this time, it seems as if I've created a habit that makes me look like a crazy lady. The question is... do I do something to try and stop it? Or do I milk it for all it's worth and make people wonder about me everywhere I go?

Decisions, decisions...

Do you have any odd habits that may cause others to wonder about your sanity? :)

Google is My Friend

I have Stat Counter on my blog so that I can see how many people come to visit me here in blog land. One of the great features of this is being able to see what Google searches people used and ended up on your blog. I love seeing what crazy things bring people here. Usually it's "royal icing tiara". I made one a couple of years ago for Baby Girl's birthday cake. And, I did have one of those this time... but the others were great too... just had to share!

"waterproof parody or spoof or curse i'm melting" - I have absolutely NO idea what this might be. No clue at all.

"brownies baked in muffin tins" - this kind of worked. I think I over baked mine.

"stealing winco poppy seeds" - um, I'm against stealing of any kind. Yeah.

"never use pc again" - not sure if pc is supposed to be 'personal computer' or 'political correctness'. Either way, I'm good.

"have you ever wanted something so bad blogspot" - I have no idea if blogspot wants anything... but it was nice of you to ask!

"dh had the hiccups" - I have a good story about this! When we were first married Hubby got a bad case of the hiccups. It was late at night and he was tired and wanted to get to sleep. I told him to open his mouth as wide as he could and the hiccups would disappear. Yeah... I lied. Moments later he had the LOUDEST hiccup I've ever heard and two seconds after that, I kid you not, the baby upstairs started to cry. That's right. He hiccuped so loud that it woke our neighbor's tiny baby up! Still makes me laugh to think about it... I would have felt bad for the momma of that little baby, but she liked to vacuum at 5:30-6:00 in the morning. Yeah. We, as the downstairs neighbors didn't love that... anyway! Moving on!

"link:http://flickr.com/photos/caitiesportfolio/" - this is from a mosaic I did awhile ago... but why in the world would you google search the link instead of just typing it into the web browser box thingy??

And last, but certainly not least...

"so many butt cracks" - Ha!! I'm hoping that this person wasn't looking for photos...

So, what have you Googled lately?

Confession
I admit it. One day I wanna be part of something like this...

No, not the Oprah Show, although that might be cool too... no, I want to be part of a flash mob! Because really? How fun would that be?!

Delicious

Every week we have Family Home Evening. For those of you who are unfamiliar with this program, every Monday night we gather the family together. We start the evening out with a song and a prayer. Then we have a spiritual lesson, play a game, and then end the evening with a treat. We aren't perfect in doing this every week, but we try. It's something that the kids enjoy... especially the treat part. I mean, really... who doesn't love a good treat? Since they seem to remember more about the treat we had rather than the things we discussed, I decided to try and tie a few of our treats back to the lesson.

Back in August we talked about the creation of the world... and we followed the lesson with these yummy little tidbits! (The purplish grey blob is an elephant... and that's not a Yin and Yang symbol... it's supposed to be dividing light and dark... just in case you were wondering...)

This last Monday we talked about how our faith is like a seed. We need to nourish it to help it grow. So, of course, we all worked together to make these...

I feel like the treats give the lesson an extra little umph and hopefully it sticks with the kids a little longer.

Do you have any tips or tricks to help reinforce lessons/ideas/rules for your kids?

Bizarre

We don't get many storms here in the desert... but when we do, they're usually really strange. Take the clouds that rolled in tonight (please note that these are straight out of the camera... I didn't adjust the color or the focus on anything).

It reminds me of "the Nothing" from "The Never Ending Story". I found a clip of the opening of the movie...

So, what's the weather like in your neck of the woods?

And Off We Go!

The first day of school was on Monday and I had some pretty mixed emotions. On one hand, I have 3 hours every day to run errands without having to look at the toys or fish or listen to a child whine about getting a treat. It's been nice! On Wednesday I went to Wal-Mart, Target, Lowes, and Kohl's all before 10:00! It makes me smile just to think about it.

On the other hand, my baby is now in school. Which means that I'm not a mom of "little" kids any more. For the last 10 1/2 years that is how I've identified myself. A mom with small children. But that's just not the case any more. No more babies. No more toddlers. Not a pre-schooler to be seen. All of my kids are "school age". With one child hovering in the "pre-teen" arena. And honestly? It makes me feel a little old ;)

Anyway, I thought I'd share a few pics from the first day of school...

Red wasn't very cooperative. He almost begged me not to take a picture of him at school. Normally I would have laughed and then taken his picture anyway, but he was a little nervous. So, I pretended to be a good mom and honored his request. He did let me take a few shots at home...

Little Bug isn't a fan or pictures either....

Baby Girl was super excited for her first day! She let me take lots of pictures...

She ran off to play without even saying goodbye...

Everyone had a great day and was excited to go back again the next day. And me? Well, I'm still adjusting. I'm sure I'll get used to the whole thing eventually. Maybe. I hope....