Why have manners been forgotten ? I REALLY try to teach my kids manners, but the outside world that they live in tells them its pointless. When I say “get your elbows off the table”, they roll their eyes, when I say “don’t start eating until everyone is seated, they roll their eyes and complain of starvation. FRUSTRATING ! And don’t even get me started on acceptable dinner conversation….ok, here is a peek at our dinner table a couple of nights ago(drum roll, please)Isaiah-burp then hahaha

                                                            Sidney”I know a girl, who has a cousin, who’s like pregnant, and when the parents ask her the name of the boy, she said well, it could be two different guys….(me- falling on the floor choking because Isabelle had just heard that)

                                                      Isabelle- “I want to tell a joke , its a good one”

                                                    me- “ok…go for it, we could all use a giggle”

                                         Isabelle- “there was a guy and someone told him to stick this fruit up his bottom……………(yes, she really said that)

 Me- WHAT !!!!????? INAPPROPRIATE. Isabelle- “why?”

 me-“dinner is over, everybody up”.  So, maybe I didn’t handle it great, I am doing the best I can. HOW, HOW do I teach them to be IN this world and not OF this world ?

              By the way…Happy Mother’s Day weekend.

While I am very picky about skincare,  I am a bargain hunter when it comes to face color. My sister just gave me this tip, So I thought I would pass it on. Go to eyeslipsface.com  ALL eyeshadows, eyeliners, glosses, blushes, are 1.00. Yep, I already did it ! I got Sidney some stuff, and a few things for myself, too.

                  When you check out enter the coupon code – carolina for another 6.00 off !!! Have a colorful day.

That is what I will always be IF I continue to try and raise perfect children.

                        Funny, that I would come to that conclusion so close to Mother’s Day, but its true. I got so mad at the Butcher last night when he told me to lighten up on Adam(11). I got mad because my gut said “he is right”. Adam has gotten straight a’s all year in a very hard class, but has slipped this last nine weeks . In my mind(which is scattered, covered, and smothered)he has to pull it up and finish with all a’s. Obviously. But at what cost ?

                 What the Butcher said(in the wrong way) hit home, touched a nerve, I got the point. Adam is flawed, they all are, we all are. Perfection cannot be my goal or I will always fail. Perfection cannot be my goal for Adam or he will start to dread coming home, he will stop hugging me and telling me jokes. I don’t want that. I think I AM going to lighten up. Don’t tell the Butcher, HE WAS RIGHT.

Twelve years ago I was happy with Mother’s Day. It was a lovely day for me. I was treated like a queen. Breakfast in bed, a nice gift and homeade cards from Sidney. Luverly.

       Lets jump forward a few years and three kids later.  Mother’s Day turned into Mother’s Day weekend ! YES ! It starts on fri night and the party goes on and on until the kids go to bed on sunday night. I try to squeeze in 2 breakfasts in bed, a gift each day, multiple cards, poems, plays, and whatever else I can think of.

  This particular year, I found myself in a questionable situation. Last night I heard myself saying to the Butcher,” come on, its mother’s day WEEK “. hahaha !

  Eventually, mothers will be honored every day of the year…at least in my dreams. Have a great week and may the force be with you.

So…I enjoy this blogging thing. I mean, I reeeaaally enjoy it. But for a minute lets evaluate the situation…I fell in love with the pioneer woman. (you can find her in my blog roll) My sister showed me her blog and I was hooked. Sucked in, if you will, by all the beautiful photographs, and the sumptious ranch food, her ability to homeschool(a quality that I admire), her rugged ranching lifestyle(cow poop, and all). I began to think, “hey, I could do that,too” HA ! And for about a week, I walked around in a daze thinking  about how to create a fabulous life for myself ,so that I could blog about it.

                      And then I realized….I am just me. My house does not sit on acres and acres, as a matter of fact, I can see what my neighbors are watching on their t.v. if I want to. And then theres my camera, very funny. There is no zoom to speak of, as those of you who have looked at my photos can tell, I don’t even have photoshop….YET. I don’t know if I should even bring up the cooking and the recipes. Should I, do I dare ? The Butcher does most of the cooking around here. I have certain dishes…muffins(see above photo), pork chops, oven fried chicken. But for the most part, the Butcher is the chef !  What else…oh yeah, homeschooling. I have 4 children. They go to public school, not because I love public school, but because I have such a fear of being responsible for them not learning, or knowing something. I know, ridiculous. Another irrational fear.

                       My point here is this….there is no way for me to recreate the pioneer womans masterpiece of a blog, but I am pretty proud of mine. Its just the extraordinary happenings in an ordinary life. Day by day. Amen.

The Butcher is officially skinnier than he has ever been since our marriage ! He has worked so hard, who knew he had this much self-control? I am happy for him, really I am. But his darned diet makes me feel a little guilty whenever I eat anything. Shame on me. Here he is trying to be healthy for his family, and sexy for me, and what do I do ? Get aggravated at him because I want to eat ice cream for dinner !

                          I truly am an impossible woman, I don’t know how he has managed to put up with me for 14 years….

This is a call out to women. We are all guilty of answering “great” to the question of how we are. Well, sometimes, I am NOT fine. Nothing helps me more than to bring my darkness into the light and call out for help. I am blessed enough to have friendships that can stand up to the hard stuff. I have ladies that will speak truth to me ,and love me all the while. I want to be known as that kind of friend ,and sister. Don’t you ?

This is one of those things that really bothers me. I could have taken some actual photos, but I thought that would just be too much.

 The problem is, its not just teenagers, its moms too. Please get pants that fit. Its for your own good.Look for a contoured fit, that means small waist, bigger, rounder, more voluptious derriere. Next week we will talk about muffin tops.

sackbut- n, a historical trombone from the renaissance.

sackbut-n, persons or people who read this blog, but do not leave comments.