How I Remember It...

My mom was a single mother from the time I was a baby.. 

She raised my sister and I on her own...

with occasional help from family... 

We were raised to be independent from day one...

This was done both intentionally.. and at times, out of selfishness... 

My mother and I are very different women.. 

we are VERY different mothers... in practically every way.. 

But some of the things I remember, make me think about the things that one day Drew will look back on and remember.... 

Today, I want to talk about the GOOD things.. 

-Pancakes... and not just on weekend mornings... to this day, the smell of pancakes reminds me of my mom. 

-Being tucked into bed and night like a "burrito".. Mom made sure all the blankets were tucked in around me tightly and I could barely move.. and loved it. 

-Trips to Molles Manor... we lived an hour and a half away from ALL of our family, but Mom took us down to Grandma's practically every other weekend.. and every single holiday.. 

-Wal-mart.. that's where mom worked, so that place became our second home. To this day my sister and I have a loyalty to Wal-mart.

-Gingerbread cookies at Christmas time... frosting them was always my favorite part.

Drew and I have a few things... things I know I'll remember forever.. but I wonder what he'll remember, what he'll look back on and smile about.... 

Every day is another chance to create more memories.... 

Chocolate & Jeans Don't Mix

First of all, I have a bone to pick with Levi... 
They are the only brand of jeans that I can find to fit semi-ok and are pretty comfy.
However... They get stretched out after about an hour or 2 of wearing them... 


This morning I wanted to wear my new favorite jeans, but they were stretched out from wearing them a couple days ago, so I sprayed them with a little water and threw them in the dryer while I continued to get Drew ready for school. When I was ready for my jeans, I went to pull them out of the dryer and was quickly and messily reminded of the fun-sized chocolate bar I left in one of my pockets.... 


After I finished cleaning out the dryer I had to go find a back up pair of jeans for the day... 


Guess this is just a reminder to always finish your chocolate =)

Remodel, baseball & Drew

After Drew's game Saturday we headed to the Lemon Festival since we knew the DEMO construction crew (Grandpa & Uncle Dino) would be destroying our house till about 5. Of course I forgot to take any pictures while we were there and Drew was covered in a strawberry sundae... but when we got home he had to take a picture of Brady wearing the new Miami Dolphins jersey he bought for him (I couldn't find a Cowboys jersey for Frankie... ) 


-Remodel Day 2:
This is what we came home to:

    

The big closet is still gone... the six WONDERFUL drawers next to the small closet were gone... my door was gone.. and we could now see in to the kitchen and the dining room from my bedroom.

Oh, and of course there was dust EVERYWHERE.. I know it's to be expected with on going construction.. but wow... it was a mess... 

Sunday was another baseball filled day. Drew participated in a little league baseball clinic at our local minor league baseball stadium. It was HOT out there... and hard to see him amongst the 897 million kids out there... but he had a good time. And when it was over we got to stay and watch the minor league game that night. 

My purse was absolutely STUFFED that day... 

just another day in the life of a baseball mom =) 

** I was way too tired Sunday night to take pictures of Day 3 of the remodel

And So It Begins...

Friday:
I took the day off work and spent the day helping in Drew's class.

recess... his favorite subject...

and when we came home, we walked into the beginning of our home remodel mess... 

My grandpa/landlord has decided my home needs a make over: lowering the ceiling, installing a new central AC unit, putting wood flooring in the living room & dining room, enlarging the dining room, and expanding my ONLY bathroom... which meant pushing my large closet into my bedroom by about a foot... 

DAY 1- Before 

small closet & drawers

 large closet, cabinets & drawers

After

Goodbye large closet

 My clothes were moved to a pole in Drew's toy room

We survived day one... 


and Saturday we went to Lowe's so little man could build a bird feeder and planter before we headed to his game.... 

Day 2,3 & 4 of construction will be coming in the next post... 

The "Marriage Isn't For Me" List

I decided to make a list of all the reasons Marriage Isn't For Me...

I am not anti-marriage.. I believe to each their own.. this is just for ME... 

So here we have it, so far.... 

In no particular order:

1. I don’t like to share... anything... EVER.
2. I could never bring myself to clean up after a grown man.
3. I have drastic mood swings that no man is strong/brave enough to deal with.
4. Everything always has to be my way… however; if you always let me have my way I will walk all over you… and I don’t have patience for a man that lacks a back bone and his own opinions.
5. The word compromise is not in my vocabulary.
6. I am the biggest hypocrite you will ever encounter.
7. I like knowing that my home will always be exactly the way Drew & I left it when we get home.
8. My crazy family is the only family I have the patience for.
9. I hate sharing a bed with anyone other than my son.
10. The thought of “checking in” or letting anyone know where I’m going or when I’ll be home makes me physically ill.
11. Taking anyone’s (other than Drew) feelings into consideration seems next to impossible… and very undesirable.
12. Being financially dependent on anyone for anything would drive me insane.
13. The thought of having anyone live with Drew and I is purely unimaginable.
14. My life is run by my child… completely.. No man in his right mind would be happy living with this… and I refuse to marry a crazy person.
15. My clothes take up both closets and all the drawers in my room… So realistically, I don’t have room in my house for a husband.

...To Be Continued... 

Note To Self:

1. Unless you put coffee grounds in it, that little machine in the kitchen only makes HOT WATER... for some reason that filter thingy doesn't just fill itself... (remind me again why I gave up Starbucks??)


2. That annoying repetitive sound in the morning is your ALARM... you set it... and for a good reason.. Get UP when it goes off and stop making excuses to squeeze in an extra 5 minutes of sleep. Who knows, you may even walk into the office ON TIME for once... 


3. If you can't even find time in your/Drew's busy schedule to make it to the Gyno to get your tubes tied... you definitely don't have time to have another baby... 


4. How do you have no back bone or voice when it comes to strangers... but no hesitation when it comes to your own crazy family and their opinions? 

Half Birthday & Morning Madness

Today my monster is officially 6 1/2....
and yes, we celebrate half birthdays in our house.. 


So last night he asked if we could stop and get him a donut before school today since it's his half birthday, and of course I agreed. 
Then when I woke him up this morning, sang Happy Half Birthday.., and told him he had to get ready so we would have time to get a donut today, he says "that's it? a donut?.. I thought you would give me something special?"
WTH?? I was giving him what he had asked for... and that still wasn't enough. He's sure got the whole "being a man" thing down already... 


So he got up and was dressed in record time. Normally he drags out the getting dressed ordeal for as long as possible each morning.. however, since he knew the NON-SPECIAL donut was waiting, he was dressed quicker than Superman. 


After which the morning madness continued... 


While Drew was in the bathroom brushing his teeth, and I was in my room attempting to get pretty for the day, I heard a splash... and no faucet... I knew exactly what it was.. 
Thanks to the spilling of an entire bottle of mouth wash, our bathroom now smells like bubble gum.. and my bath mats are a shade of pink...


While I attempt to clean up that mess, I tell Drew to go put a sweater on. 
I'm on my hands & knees soaking up the pink mess when he yells "Mom come see this" so off I go out to the hall on my way to his room.... and see a beetle on the floor. So I tell Drew to get rid of it, and I go back to the bubblegum smelling mess. 


Now I must admit, I am fully aware of my monsters fear of bugs... but he's 6 1/2 now.. time to suck it up and be the man of the house, and get the creature out. He took about 10 minutes... following the bug around.. trying to lure him on the a piece of toilet paper so he wouldn't have to touch him.. finally he smashed the bug with his shoe... 


Not only does Drew have a fear of bugs.. but also hates being dirty.. in any way.. so now he needed to wash his shoe before he could go to school since the bottom had "green beetle blood" on it.. I swear this little diva is so dramatic some times... 

I'm already exhausted by 6 1/2... but it's time to start planning for his 7th birthday.. yes, his birthday isn't till October... but what kind of overly obsessive mother would I be if I didn't start planning  6 months in advance? 

Drew & his cousin Monique at Saturdays game

We Are Pigs

It's official...
We are pigs... 


OK, Drew's excuse may just be that he's six... 


and other than just pure LAZINESS... 
I can't come up with a better excuse for myself. 


I went to wash my car today at lunch, because it was just getting DISGUSTING... seriously it was bad.. yuck.. 


The outside wasn't too bad at all.. 
but the inside needed some serious vacuuming....


The front of our house is surrounded by trees so there are always leaves and things covering the ground and we track in into the car daily... add that to the sand from our beach trips... combine that with snacks  we eat in the car... 


and you have... a filthy dirty car.


While I was vacuuming Drew's car seat, I decided to do something stupid brave and lift the back seat to vacuum under it..... 


WOW... 
I almost stopped to take a picture, just for blog purposes... 
but I was WAY too ashamed.. to show the evidence of my pig six year old.


Cheerios, M&Ms, sand, pennies, a ring (MINE), Lucky Charms, Doritos, leaves, crayons, fruit snacks..... all coated and sticking to the bottom with Capri Sun juice.... 


PIGS... 

Just The Facts

Last night I was reminded of my somewhat obsessive behavior... 


I sign Drew up for anything he shows the slightest interest in.. 
I bring home flyers almost daily, for activities going on around town... (or at least some where in the state) that I think might interest Drew.. 
Any school activity, we're there.. and I'm probably involved in it. 


And yet I'm still always so amazed at how busy we are... 
I keep a schedule.. a tight schedule.. 
there are several calendars with all the upcoming events, alarms set to remind me, and post-it notes EVERYWHERE... 


I haven't decided if this is a good or a bad thing yet.. 
Anyone else have this dilemma?... or am I the only crazy mom...


And for lack of any useful information for the day, here are a few random facts about my crazy little self... 


I'm disgusted with people who lack common sense.

I can truly appreciate a GREAT Strawberry Margarita.

Mint & Chip has to be the all time BEST ice cream EVER!!

I love the beach. In any weather it is the absolute best place to be.

I believe you should have to have a license to have children.

The Notebook is the all time BEST romantic movie. Nicholas Sparks is amazing.

Even though I am very far from a "country girl", I can some how relate to 90%  of country songs.

Aquafina is the BEST bottled water.

Sandals are my favorite footware. 


Happy Thursday!

Baseball, Bike Ride & Sickness

Once again, our weekend started out pretty great. 


We went to Lowe's Saturday morning for their Build & Grow program so Drew could build a little wooden baseball stadium. Any chance for him to hammer a nail and he's happy. And of course with his current baseball obsession he was glad to build a stadium. 


Then we went to his little league game. 

Drew is totally loving baseball. Maybe a little too much though, because if we get there before his dad and the other coaches, then Drew starts ordering the kids around and acting like "Coach Drew".

After his game that day I was so excited to take him to his first MLB game. One of my vendors at work (my super favorite trucking company SSI... thanks Bruce!!) gave me 2 tickets to the Angels vs. A's game that Saturday night. 

  

We had a blast!!! Great seats, great game! Drew was a little bummed that he didn't catch a fly ball.. but he got cotton candy and a foam finger, so he was pretty satisfied. And we're already making plans to go to another game. 

That was just about the extent of our fun time... 

Sunday morning I woke up and just didn't feel right... 

 But Drew wanted to go to the park, so off we went for a little bike ride.

  

Hopefully he's ready to take those training wheel off soon... 

Then we went grocery shopping and headed home. As soon as I got home, I knew I was sick. I'm pretty sure I've got some version of the flu. 

So I spent the remainder of the day on the couch.

Usually Drew would have been bummed and wanted to go to his dad's, but Sunday he got to spend hours playing the Wii which he NEVER gets to do (I know, I know.. he shouldn't get to spend the day in front of the TV just because I'm sick.. but he did, so deal with it)

     

Drew was also a great little nurse that day.. 

he was feeling my head between games to make sure I didn't have a fever, telling the dogs not to jump on me, and making sure I took my medicine. 

It was a long afternoon... but we got through it. 

I'm still sick.. but I'm alive... can't complain. 

My little diva making me smile last night... 

Oops

I forgot to bring my camera today, and I have pictures from the weekend that I want to share, so unfortunately my weekend re-cap post will have to wait until tomorrow.... BOO... 


Happy Monday - Hope you all have a great week!

To My Non-Existent Daughter,

Dear Non-Existent Daughter,


7 years ago I was unexpectedly pregnant with your brother. I had always wanted to be a mom, but wasn't planning on it at the time... Then one day... BAM!!... he was inside my belly.


The day I found out I was pregnant, I pretty much decided I was having a girl.


I never really gave it much thought. 
From that day forward, I started referring to my baby as Alexis Jade.


My daughter... my Alexis Jade. 


I can't honestly say where the first name came from.... it just came out of my mouth, sounded good, and it stuck... the middle name, however; does have a meaning. That's my sister's middle name, and I've always loved it.


There was a brief thought of naming you Destiny Marie.... 
But because of the strong meaning that this name held in my heart, I couldn't use it.... it wouldn't be right... this was the name that my high school sweetheart.. love of my life #1... and I had agreed to name our future daughter... but since I knew your father was... umm... not him.. I couldn't use "our" name with someone else's baby.. 


Then there was that shocking day... June 9, 2003... my 21st birthday actually, when the ultrasound lady gave me the news.... 


My Alexis Jade was a boy.... 


To say I was shocked is a HUGE understatement... 
hadn't really even considered the possibility of you being a boy.. 


Surprisingly, I got over the shock pretty quickly... 
and fell in love with my son... Andrew James


But the story of my daughter, didn't end there.... 
for some reason love of my life #2 and I still talked about baby names at work.. and still played the what-if it was a girl game... and one day we came up with a name... and I loved it... still do... (although I've officially decided not to have anymore kids in the future, I still refuse to share THE name with anyone... just in case... )


When I think of each of these names, I think of my daughter.... 
My non-existent daughter.... 


Even now, your brother and I talk about you... 
we've discussed whether or not I should have another baby... whether he would want a sister or not... and if anyone asks Drew he already knows what his sister's name will would be... 


Alexis Jade.... 


For me, Alexis, Destiny and "the secret name" represent 3 different parts of my life... 3 separate people in a way... but combined, they all equal you.. my daughter... 


Your brother is the love of my life... the REAL love of my life... 
and although I truly wanted a daughter 7 years ago.. 
I believe there's a reason.. multiple reasons actually... 
that I was given a son


So while you may have never officially been in my belly... you will never be born.... you are apart of our family... 


Love, 
Mom

Future Betty Crocker

My cooking "skills" currently leave A LOT to be desired.


I can follow a recipe... and have a dish turn out pretty much the way it's supposed to..


But I rarely cook.... 
in the last few months this has changed, and Drew and I have been cooking more and more each week.


And we do bake....
For some reason baking is way less intimidating to me than cooking... 


So yesterday while I was overly bored at work, I decided to work on my recipe collection. I created a new recipe folder and printed off a bunch of  new recipes for Drew and I to try out. 


On the way home Drew started looking through the folder, and commenting on each dish. When he got to the last tab... the Vegetable section... 
he read the recipe for garlic potatoes, then said "wow, there's only one in here, you really don't like vegetables 'huh?"..... 


Funny little man.. 


Obviously I left plenty of room to fill the sections with new recipes we come across.... 

Easter weekend re-cap

It was a good weekend... 
Started off nice and slow... 


Drew was with his Dad for most of the weekend
so it was a quiet Friday night and Saturday morning.


Until my mom, sister and the 4 year old terror known also as my nephew Jake came into town...


I adore my nephews.. I really do.. 
The thing is that Jake is so different from how his older brother Justin used to be, and how Drew is... 


Justin & Drew have always been pretty mellow kids.. very bright.. and pretty well mannered...


Jake is... well.. he's Jake... 
Constant, loud, climbing, running, never ending, talkative, curious,  pushing limits & boundaries


Maybe he's just a typical 4 year old.. but wow... that kid sure takes all the energy out of me. 


My sister & Jake spent the night at our house Saturday after I stole Drew for a few hours to dye Easter eggs at my grandma's 

My sister got the boys matching dragon pajamas so after their bath, they were both running around the house being crazy little dragon monsters.... 

yes, my 4 year old nephew is the same size as my 6 year old

The next morning, the Easter bunny (my mom) came over to see the boys hunt for eggs in the front yard before Drew had to go back to his dads..... 

I wish Drew could've stayed home for Easter with the rest of the family.... but unfortunately I have to share the munchkin.... 

But we all had a great Easter at Molles Manor with our ever-growing family...

We had 35 members of our family there this year... and we were still missing about 1/3 of our family... This table seems to get longer every year.... 

Our Family.... minus Drew

*I started the day in a cute spring dress... but as soon as lunch was over I went home (so glad I live next door) and put my sweats on... it was cold out there...lol

Hope you all had a great Easter!