Day 8 of 30

Day 08- Short term goals for this month and why

CLEAN. MY. ROOM.

need I explain more?
((oh – and make up my bed every day))

Ryan vs. The Playground

Ryan – 0, Playground 1

Whilst running on the playground Ryan fell, then bumped his chin on a step on the slide. The slide steps are plastic and rounded – yet he managed to bust open his chin. Nice. It’s a bit over an inch long and before it was glued together the widest part (in the middle) was over a 1/4 an inch wide. He really did a number on himself. Our choices were six stitches or trying the glue stuff – we went the glue route.

Day 7 of 30

Day 07- A picture of someone/something that has the biggest impact on you

This little guy has had the biggest impact on my life.

Who is he? The one and only Zach-Zoo, aka Zachary Evan, my oldest baby.

I could list the multitudes of ways that I was ruining my life as a teen. I could list the ways I purposely held myself back in school so that I was close to failing. I could list the unneeded stress and heartache I added to my mother and step-father’s life. But I won’t. I cherish keeping just a touch of my past from my blog. Trust me, you don’t need to know it all, and even if you did I would just have to disappoint you. (Though I do hate to disappoint you my readers) That sweet boy changed my life. Even if I didn’t love him more than life itself for being my boy and one of the best sons on the planet, I’d love him for all he has done for me.

He made me grow up and take a good hard long look at my life. And after I took that look I had to admit, I was doing a hell of a job destroying it. He gave me the motivation to turn it around and to make me someone he can be proud to say is his mom.

Sunday Sayings (8/29)

“I could rattle off tomes of statistics about disparity. I could talk about the wealth gap, the job gap, the wage gap and the health gap. I could speak in erudite and intellectual terms about income, health and equality in America. But I don’t have to: Katrina did that for me through images of people suffering. It was through reality’s lens that Americans witnessed the tragedy not through a full-length movie or cheap sound byte. But the images seen on most Americans’ television sets nearly a year ago were not just pictures of my hometown. They represented people in poverty in urban areas all over the nation.”

- 2006, Marc H. Morial, President and CEO of the National Urban League

Saturday Snapshots (8/28)

Day 6 of 30

Day 06- Favorite super hero and why

I hate this question. Not that I don’t like super heroes, I loved reading comics and stuff when I was younger, it’s just that I hate picking a favorite.

lol

I picked Gambit (X-Men) as my favorite.
I mean come on, he has one pretty cool power. He can build up the kinetic energy in anything to make it into a bomb. Plus he’s an awesome fighter. I was devastated when he didn’t make it into the first three X-Men movies, a point I continuously pointed out to John when we saw each one in the theatres.  And beyond excited when he was included in the Wolverine one.

But in all seriousness, the main reason I picked him…

When my other pre-teen friends were swooning over Hanson, the Backstreet Boys, and N*Sync, I thought Gambit was the hottest thing ever. Plus he could probably kick all their wimpy butts.

lol

Yeah, I'm magical like that.

"Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Moooooooooommy!!! I'm bleeding!" screams hysterical running boy.

"Ok, Ryan, where are you bleeding from now?" asks the bored Mom who knows this is not the I'm-actually-hurt crying.

"My arm-bow, it's bleeding! Its bleeding and bleeding and bleeding!" cries the over dramatic boy.

"Alright, let's look at your arm." Says the Mom, bends down and looks at the bleeding and bleeding and bleeding arm-bow. "Ryan, you are aware that there is almost no blood and just a tiny scrape?"

"No, you just can't see it Mommy. It's bleeding bunches. I need a band-aid." says the stubborn boy.

"Well, ok, Ryan." The Mom gets down and opens the band-aid, band-aid will not stick to the sweaty boy. "Ryan, do you really need one? You're too sweaty for it to stick."

"Yes, Mom. I do." says the very serious boy. So the Mom wipes the boy's arm so the sweat will all be gone. The Mom moves the towel and goes to put new band-aid on... "MOM WAIT!"

The Mom looks up, "Why Ryan? Isn't it bleeding?" asks the amused Mom.

"Mommy, you're magic, you made the boo-boo and blood go AWAY." says the awestruck boy. "Oh thank you Mommy!" says the happy boy, who then hugs the Mom and runs away.

Day 5 of 30

Day 05- A picture of somewhere you’ve been to

Disney World. Man, I love going to Disney World.

Day 4 of 30

Day 04- A habit that you wish you didn’t have

This is another totally easy one.
I wish I didn’t smoke.
You might ask why I just don’t quit then, which is perfectly reasonable. The thing is, I have quit. Several times.

It was beyond easy for me to quit when I got pregnant with Zach. It was as simple as “Oh, I’m pregnant, I should just throw these away.” So I threw them away.  I told myself I wasn’t going to take smoking back up again, nope, no sirree Bob. Well, the problem was, when I was no longer pregnant with him, even though it’d been 8 months, I really wanted a cigarette. It didn’t help that at the time, John smoked too, and so did everyone we were around, and nobody encouraged me to keep up with the not smoking. The first time John’s grandmother saw me staring at her cigarette she gave me one.

Then I got pregnant with Ryan.
Quitting then, well, it was hard. I knew I needed to quit, but I didn’t really want to quit. But after a month I’d finally quit. Even after I’d completely stopped, I still wanted them. I’d yell at John, not for smoking around pregnant me, but for smoking when I couldn’t. I didn’t even pretend like I was going to keep up the not smoking after he was born.

But, then John quit smoking.
He basically woke up one morning, decided they were stupid, gave me the cigarettes he had left, and never has smoked again. It was that simple for him.

When I got pregnant with Belly and had to quit again John was very helpful… and I resented every moment. (Not of the pregnancy) He would tell me what a great job I was doing, how many days it had been since I’d last had a cigarette, ask me didn’t I feel better, didn’t food taste better? This was not appreciated by me the least little bit. I wanted to smoke. I needed to smoke.

I still want to smoke… I just wish I didn’t.
When I’m asked why I don’t quit since I don’t want to want to smoke I tell the truth. Smoking… it’s my de-stresser. I can go outside, away from the crying Belly, the barking dog, the fighting boys, the angry husband, and… its quiet. The boys know if I’m in the carport smoking, they can’t come out there, they have to rely on their father. Or if John’s not home, if I’m in the backyard smoking (where I can clearly see them if they are in the living room, kitchen, or bedroom), they can open the door tell me what they need, and I’ll put out my cigarette come in and help. Going outside to smoke is the only way I get any quiet time, any me time. I can read, sit and think, talk on the phone, text, listen to music, or just enjoy sitting in the quiet doing nothing. I don’t want to give that up. But if I could guarantee getting to do that, without smoking, (and without turning into the woman from Hell when I seriously am craving a cigarette) I’d give up smoking in a heartbeat.

Sunday Sayings (8/22)

“If a man is pictured chopping off a woman's breast, it only gets a R rating, but if, God forbid, a man is pictured kissing a woman's breast, it gets an X rating. Why is violence more acceptable than tenderness?”

- Sally Struthers

Saturday Snapshots (8/21)

I have a…

BUTTON!

Yeah I’m late jumping on this bandwagon, I know, but I figured what the hell an made me one. You can grab it, if you like, in the 150x150 or 200x200 sizes.

I made it with this picture the Zach Zoo drew on the computer using my tablet and PSE.

In order of appearance left to right:
Belly, Zach, our house, John, me, and Ryan.

Day 3 of 30

*I swear I didn’t forget yesterday, I kept meaning to do it all day, but am feeling craptastic.*

Day 03- A picture of you and your friends

Talk about going way back. That’s kindergarten circa 1992 school year. lol

I’ve mentioned Emily several times on here seeing as how she’s my oldest friend, 18 years now. Man is that mind blowing to me. lol For some reason it doesn’t even feel like I’ve been alive long enough yet to say that I’ve had a friend for 18 years.

So Emily and I met in kindergarten. She was 6 and I was 5. In the picture I’m the one with a badly drawn blue heart around my head and she behind me to the left, faintly circle in red. Or if you can see it there’s an arrow pointing to me saying (shocker) me, and one pointing to Emily saying Emily. Emily and I were in the same class, and my older brother and her older brother were also in the same class.

After Emily and I and my brother and her’s became friends and our moms got to know each other my mom started watching Emily and her brother after school. There were many a weekends that Emily stayed at my house, or I at her’s. Reverse held true for our brothers. The only other time we were in the same class was in 4th grade. We went to the same schools until 7th grade when I moved. We went to different colleges in different states as well, but we’ve stayed close.

(Picture two is of Emily and I at her wedding shower/bachelorette party) We’re pretty darn opposite in hobbies, temperament, and most obviously lol height. She’s always been one of those weird tall people were I remain stubbornly and normally short. And yes, it is one of her favorite things to tease me about, always has been, and unless I for some reason grow or her shrink I imagine she’ll keep up the teasing. Its ok though, I pick on her for being tall. It’s what’s known as mutual teasing.

Emily got married last June (where I was matron of honor – I swear my shortness through off the aesthetics of the wedding party) . That picture of us is from the night before at the after rehearsal dinner. She then moved with her husband to Texas, then a few months later also joined the army. (Her husband is in the army too) She’s moved yet again to D.C. but with limited funds, and three kids, I don’t travel much. We make do with texting and phone calls, but I really miss being able to see my friend.

Operation: Giggle and Smile

The most wasted of all days is one without laughter. 

-E. E. Cummings

This is Operation: Giggle and Smile! Post a video to your blog of laughter! New, old, what have you. If you don’t have a video (or just want to include it to) post pictures of some big ol’ smiles. This way we can bring a little giggling and smiling into everyone’s day.

Come back here after your done and enter yourself into the blog hop with your link so we can keep track of all the giggles and smiles! Also, feel free to grab the code and add it to your own post so even more join in.

Day 2 of 30

Day 02- The meaning behind your blog name

lol Well this requires absolutely no thinking on my part. I must again profess to how uncreative I sometimes get. My blog title “My Life with Two Blues and a Pink” well, it’s pretty self-explanatory. My blog is about my life with my kids… two boys and a girl. Like I said, not that much tough thinking went into it.

Day 1 of 30

Day 01- A recent picture of you and 15 interesting facts about yourself

Well, this is the most recent picture of me by myself, there’s not many of just me. lol I’m the primary picture taker so unless I’m taking one of me and one of the kiddos there are almost never pictures of just me. Ryan took this one of me at the city’s fireworks show on July 3rd. (I passed the camera off to the boys for that) I actually really enjoy getting my picture taken, but like I said it’s a very rare occurrence, not only is it rare, but it’s even rarer for me to be dressed up or wearing make up in a picture. Out of the 100+ pictures the boys took this is the only one of me, and the full size picture is actually super blurry.
15 Interesting Facts…
Hmmm… not sure if these will be interesting or not, but here we go, 15 facts.

1. I’m the second oldest of 7. I have an older brother (25), a half-brother (17), a half-sister (14), a step-sister (15), a step-brother (12), and a cousin my mom and step-dad adopted (18). I’m 23.
2. I’m 4’11’” (though my license says 5”) and 100ish pounds.
3. My focus in high school was art, though I never really use any of my skills anymore outside of creating stuff on the computer.
4. When I graduated from high school I had an almost 1 year old and was about 2.5 months pregnant.
5. My major in college was Early Childhood Education, but when I ever get around to graduating I’ll be able to also get a minor in Sociology and History. (My two favorite subjects I’ve studied)
6. Though I love art, I hate taking art classes. I hate having other people tell me what I should be creating, and I hate the better-than-you attitude most art teachers have.
7. While I happened to stay pale all summer (it was just too hot to go out a lot) unlike most red heads I don’t really burn a lot, I tan easily.
8. I love listening to music. If I was in charge of the entertainment at my house I’d have the tv on a lot less and the radio on a lot more.
9. I’m a coffee addict, you do not want to be around me when I don’t have coffee. That being said I’m really hard on coffee makers, we just bought our 5th since we moved into this house 2 years ago.
10. My favorite food is Chef Boyardee mini-raviolis. They’ve been my favorite since I was a baby.
11. I love to sit outside in our carport and read when I can get alone time. Even when its super cold or hot. I love the peace and quiet and John (very graciously) will watch the kids for 30 minutes when he first gets home so I can have a small break before the dinner and bedtime craziness.
12. I don’t like sweets. At all. Never have. I prefer spicy or salty foods. Though when it’s “that time” of the month I crave me some dark chocolate.
13. I knit and sew… slowly. I have this nifty sewing machine John got me for Christmas, but have no clue how to work the silly thing.
14. The zoo has to be my favorite place, locally, to go. I love walking around and seeing the animals. Favorite place all together has to be Disney World, I don’t see how anyone could not love to go there.
15. I think I make the prettiest kiddos in the whole wide world.

Well, there you go, 15 facts.

Snatch, steal, run away…

So doing a snatch and steal of what my friend Heather is doing on her blog… cause her’s is entertaining me so I figured I’d have a go too, cause I’m like unimaginative like that. lol

Here’s what I gots to do:
Day 01- A recent picture of you and 15 interesting facts about yourself
Day 02- The meaning behind your blog name
Day 03- A picture of you and your friends
Day 04- A habit that you wish you didn’t have
Day 05- A picture of somewhere you’ve been to
Day 06- Favorite super hero and why
Day 07- A picture of someone/something that has the biggest impact on you
Day 08- Short term goals for this month and why
Day 09- Something you’re proud of in the past few days
Day 10- Songs you listen to when you are Happy, Sad, Bored, Hyped, Mad
Day 11- Another picture of you and your friends
Day 12- How you found out about blogs and why you made one
Day 13- A letter to someone who has hurt you recently
Day 14- A picture of you and your family
Day 15- Put your iPod on shuffle: First 10 songs that play
Day 16- Another picture of yourself
Day 17- Someone you would want to switch lives with for one day and why
Day 18- Plans/dreams/goals you have
Day 19- Nicknames you have; why do you have them
Day 20- Someone you see yourself marrying/being with in the future
Day 21- A picture of something that makes you happy
Day 22- What makes you different from everyone else
Day 23- Something you crave for a lot
Day 24- A letter to your parents
Day 25- What I would find in your bag
Day 26- What you think about your friends
Day 27- Why are you doing this 30 day challenge
Day 28- A picture of you last year and now, how have you changed since then?
Day 29- In this past month, what have you learned
Day 30- Who are you?

So be on the lookout first thing in the morning – well, not first thing; after I take the boys to school – for Day 1’s post.

Exercising my right to Freedom of Speech

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

(That’s the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights in case you didn’t know.)

Do you know what that actually means? I mean just look at it for a moment. Take it all, part by part, absorb it.

This is what gives you the right to say, write, sing, what-have-you whatever you feel. It allows me to say that I think Spongebob is an imbecilic show that does more harm than help to your children, and that it should be removed from television. It allows me to say that I do not like the way my local politics are run or many of the local officials. It also allows me to say my views on the President, though, I will hold those into myself.  I can say all these things without fear of being sued or arrested.

This also allows you to say what you think and feel about others… or does it?

Legally there is a fine line between expressing your right of speech, and defamation and harassment.

Defamation of Character - “The term defamation of character is often used to describe accusations of slander, libel or both. Slander involves verbal derogatory statements, while libel involves written ones. In a court of law, the plaintiff pursuing the lawsuit would charge defamation of character to cover any form of false or damaging allegations.” (definition from WiseGeek.com) This would be if someone said something like “That Trish, she likes to watch porn all day and neglect her children.” I could sue that person because that could create all sorts of legal problems for myself based on an entirely untrue statement. Saying something false like that could potentially and completely ruin someone’s life and livelihood.

The concept of defamation of character stems from John Stuart Mills’ theory of the harm principle which states “the only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others.” (from the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy) Why would we need this? Because one of the first things the American government agreed on was that life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are unalienable rights. In pursuing your own rights you have NO right to deny another his if he is doing no harm to another.

Harassing someone on a blog or on a forum or whatnot online is becoming more and more widespread. And many many times its is for trivial or immature reasons, most often because, even though this person did nothing specifically to the attacker, the attacker does not like this person. You can say you don’t like someone. You can say why. But just flat out name-calling, insulting, and lying about the person for no given reason, that is just wrong and shows a lack of maturity. The old debate is “We are adults, and so we can do as we like because of that,” just goes to show a lack of maturity. If you are an adult, behave like one. Show that you have the wisdom and maturity to act like one, then maybe others will treat you as one. Quit claiming freedom of speech allows you to bash or harass someone just because you feel like it, because it doesn’t.

Zach’s First Full Day

So Zach, how was your first day of school?
Good.

Did you like your teacher?
Yeah.

What’s she like?
She looks like a nerd. An old nerd. But she was nice.

Are any of your friends from last year in your class?
Yes. Nick.

Are there any new kids in your class?
Yes. Um, Tyler. I don’t know who else.

What was your favorite part?
Where we, um, whenever like I had to go home because we get to go in a new place to sit, the Music class.

Sunday Sayings (8/8)

Losing hope is easy, when your only friend is gone, and every time you look around, well, it all, it all just seems to change. But hanging on is easy when you've got a friend to call, when nothings making sense at all. You're not the only one that's afraid of change

- lyrics to Jack Johnson’s “Losing Hope”

Saturday Snapshots (8/7)

Video Edition #2

Friday Flashback (8/6)

So, since we have entered the world of teething, 11pm - 2am (roughly) is no longer an acceptable time for sleeping. To Bella it is a time of great mischief and fun, where Mommy dotes on no one but her. Mommy, on the other hand, is slightly bored and extremely tired. So what does Mommy do? Check Facebook of course, and continuously update her status with silly non-sequentials. And the obvious thing is, they all deal with her royal highness Miss Bella. I catch up on the statuses of lots of other moms with babies at that time too. Huh, guess, as one friend put it, all the babies got the party all night memos and the mommies didn't.
Here are some of the midnight Bella statuses:

• "its 1 am on Wednesday, do you know where your daughter is? Mine just so happens to be awake and full of energy."
• "What's that? Oh, Bella's awake in the middle of the night... again."
• "Me to Bella: 'if you punch yourself in the eye it will hurt'"
• "Bella to her feet: "Holy cow! There are TWO of you?!""

Which leads to a new little tid bit. Much to Bella's awe, surprise, and trepidation she now has a left AND right foot.

Original post here: Two Blues and a Pink – Those middle of the night Facebook updates

(Gee – a year later and I’m still making posts complaining about teething. lol)

Can we say miserable?

Molars (and two others) are kicking Mommy and Belly’s butts.

So… I got a blog award.

I can honestly say, I’ve never gotten one of these before, so I’m not entirely sure what all to do, so I’m just going to copy what my friend Nicole did and hope she did it right. So if I do this entirely wrong… not my fault, blame Nicole.

There are a few things I must do in order to accept the award.
1) Thank the person who gave me the award.
2) Share seven things about me.
3) Nominate 15 newly discovered blogs, and let the nominees know about the award.

1. So, thank you Nicole! (of The Unexpected) You know I admire you very much and just love your blog. Her blog, for those who haven’t read it, is just wow-awesome. She’s very frank and honest, opening herself in ways that I, who am very open, just can’t bring even myself to do. She’s been through so much and strives so hard to be the best mother she can. (Which is a pretty darn good one.)
2. I take it these seven things aren’t things I’ve previously shared, because that would just be way too easy. So here are seven things I don’t *think* I’ve shared.
1. I smoke. Not pot, cigarettes. Yes, I know they’re bad for me. No I didn’t smoke when I was pregnant. Before I get any hate email or comments let me ask, do you hear me dissing on any of you for your vices? No, so just can it.
2. I’m a sucker for sappy happy love songs. Especially Taylor Swift. I listen to it in my van when John and the boys aren’t around, and know every word to every song on Fearless. I also sing along, very very poorly.
3. Self-esteem is not something I lack. I think highly of myself. Probably a little too highly, but my grandmother always told me that people will only think what you put out there about yourself to let them think. If you have confidence in yourself and abilities people will pick up on it and believe it too. My mom just says I’m cocky.
4. On the note of being cocky, I have on good authority of many of my older relatives who will not let me live it down, when I was in kindergarten one of my grandparents asked me how I liked school and I responded “I love school. At recess all the little boys chase me because I’m so pretty.”
5. When I had Zachary all the nurses kept coming from all over the hospital to my room because they wanted to see the grandmother, mommy, and baby who all had red hair.
6. I never wanted a little girl. (Of course now I want and love her very much.) Considering what I was like as a child and teen, I just figured a daughter was an extra trouble I could do without. And while I do love my daughter so very very much, if we were to ever try to have another child, I want another boy.
7. I come from a long line of alcoholics so I don’t drink much, or often. But about 1% of the time when I do drink, I drink to get drunk, and I’m very good at it, which is why I almost never do drink more than just the occasional shot of kahlua or Bailey's.
3. I don’t think I even really keep up (daily with 15 blogs so I’ll go with 5). Of course there’s more than just these, but some have already gotten this award, and some are much much larger blogs that I’m sure get these types of things all the time.
1. Flower Patch Farm Girl
2. Life’s Small Moments
3. Baby Steps
4. Raising Our Pod Full of Little Peas
5. Dear Oliver

(Not-Quite 1st) First Day of School Pictures

So today was the boys’ first “day” lol even though it wasn’t even a 1/2 day like planned. Apparently they changed it to just orientation for Pre-K – 1st grade, so we were all home by ten. But we didn’t realize it so we took Zach’s first day pictures today (which meant Ryan wanted his done today too).

So without further ado, pictures!
 

Haircuts!

Tomorrow’s the big day!!! (Well it’s 1/2 a big day lol) Zach has a half day of school – going into first grade. He won’t go again until school starts back fully on the 9th. Ryan and I go in for Pre-K orientation at 8 tomorrow morning, its only 30-45 minutes, then he goes on the 10th and 13th for full days and then starts all day everyday on the 16th. The boys got their haircuts today so they’ll be all nice and neat tomorrow. (Cause usually their hair consists of wild almost untamable curls.) Here are the before and afters.

Sunday Sayings (8/1)

“I've never let my school interfere with my education.”

- Mark Twain