The Sock...I Mean Birthday Party!

Is has been a whirlwind of Birthday parties around here! And I tell you what Gabey Baby has been loving his birthday week! Yes a whole week. Aunt Anne and Baby D were going to be out of town for the actual big day but since Aunt Anne is my own personal baker we celebrated the birth of the youngest Squires a week early. And please check out this cute cake!

 

 And how about this motley crew...

 Well after a week the real birthday rolled around and we felt we need to acknowledge that so...we had another party.

And if we could just talk for a minute about his birthday baboom balloon. He felt he needed to bring it to school with him the next day.

The whole affair took on a new meaning when Amy said "Hey do you have any of Jake's socks because we are really low".  To which I replied..."You are welcome to have any socks you want if you will match my socks for me." AND being my dear sister she replied sweetly..."Of course". And then I brought out the big guns...

Yes people! That is THREE laundry baskets full of socks! Black ones and blue ones! Small ones and Charles ones (meaning large)! Don't you all wish you had a sister like mine?

This is the story of how we celebrated my sweet baby's 2nd birthday...twice. Now if I can bother you to watch this same sweet baby near the time when he was actually born. We worship an AWESOME God!

A Letter To Myself

Dear Self,
  
      You may not know this but you are slacking off. Friends are telling you that you are slacking off, strangers are telling you that you are slacking off, and now you are going to let you know you are slacking off. Most people are meaning this blog...you have just not been doing a very good job at keeping up a day to day post. Yes I KNOW that nothing has been going on to blog about. I KNOW that the children have not said any off the wall things. I KNOW that you can only post about the laundry so many times before the topic just becomes mundane. Where is your creativity? Where is your vision? Where is your UMPH? You are better than this. Do you have a block? Are you bored with blogging? Have you lost your UMPH? Well pick yourself up! Dust yourself off. Get on with it!
     Now the Blog is one thing but we need to have a serious chat about some other areas where some slacking MAY be taking place. Could be the Kindle or maybe the Crackberry Blackberry but you need to get a grip. There is going to be a list...a list of observations made over this past year that you may want to pay a little more attention to in 2011.

1. You need to make cleaning under the stove more than a Bi-Annual event. It really would, in the long run, make your life much easier. 
2. On that same note...when you clean under the stove-go ahead and pull out the fridge and clean under that as well. You are already dirty. You are already grossed out. It's ok.
3. When you get the laundry completely done (THIS WEEKEND-no stress) do a load a night so it never gets that bad again. 
4. Invent disposable clothes.
5. When your son brings home a list of all the projects he will have to do in a school year, along with due dates and ideas-how about keep that list. Put it on the fridge. Use a highlighter. Get a calendar. Something! Anything to keep you from doing projects the night before they are due. 
6. Learn a little more in depth sign language. Your son is a teenager now. You may need some bigger words.
7. Get up a few minutes earlier if you are going to take your Kindle in the bathtub with you. You run late when you try to finish "just one more chapter".
8. Your car does not need to turn into a fast-food restaurant every night before going home. 
9. Every night your car does not turn into a fast food restaurant does not have to be FFY when you get home. (FFY-Fin For Yourself...my poor children and husband)
10. Make your children finish all of their antibiotics. You are the boss-not them. There is a reason they tell you how much to take and yes one less dose may hurt them.
11. If you want your husband to not complain when he gets home...make sure the car is cleaned out and the floor is vacuumed. That is really all he cares about. The children can do it...you just have to make sure it is done. 
12. Stop being jealous of all the stuff that the very nice extreme home makeover family got. You had no chance of winning since you didn't enter.

Twelve seems like a nice number to stop on. Rachel....get it together. Glee will be starting. Your Gabey Baby is turning Two. Wil is going to the Leggo and Robotics competition. Noah is 13. Your blog is lacking. Time to step up to the plate. Grab the bull by the horns. Go for the gusto. (insert more corny phrases here) People are counting on you for mindless entertainment.

Love,

Me

If Nothing Else Facebook Is Good For...

...your self esteem! It was my birthday this week and I got so many Happy Birthdays! Probably more than I have in my whole 30 some odd years of living! I am so thankful for all of my friends and all of the well wishes. I loved the article that said children born in 2011 will never know about long lost friends! What a cool concept!

I have been busy spinning wheels this week. I don't feel like I have accomplished anything. Charles would tell you that I accomplished keeping my nose in my book Kindle and paying no attention to my family.

My name in Rachel and I am a Kindleholic.

It is an exciting week in my hometown. Extreme Makeover Home Edition is filming and boy oh boy are the cynics out! The local blogs are having a field day! "Oh ABC could have found a needier family" "It is a military family...they could live on base" "These people don't have cancer or anything?". I think we have become hard to the plights of others. We think only people who are in death beds deserve to have wonderful things happen to them. Well here is how I feel about the situation (because I know you are dying to know just how I feel)...

I am jealous and I wish I had sent in a dern tape.

Oh yeah....and I am really happy for the family.

With all of the birthday wishes and MLK day coming up I thought I would share a few of my wishes and dreams...

(it's a random post sorry)

I have a dream-
                         that one day I will live in a house with solid doors (not these fiber fill cruddy doors that just kinda bounce around when you slam them. They are really bad for my dramatic effects) a fireplace and a few stairs.

I have a dream-
                        that there will come a day when I can go to my freezer and my brain will not automatically make my hand grab three double stuff oreos.

I have a dream-
                        that one day I will be able to leave my children in a room by themselves and not have to worry about which one will be bleeding when I return.

Oh a girl can dream!
I will leave you with a a picture of a cutie.

If you can't tell what the heck that is...it is a three pacis. AND please note the pink one in the front. It is now his favorite!

Happy Long Weekend! (I will be doing laundry if you couldn't guess)

                     

Feels Like HOME!

I am a lucky girl. I live in the town I grew up in. The town my father grew up in. The town my grandmother was born in. I have my family here. My sister and my brother, my mother and mother-in-law, my grandmother, my nephews (and please notice that I did not say nieces and nephews because as you know THERE ARE NO GIRLS), my aunts and uncles and loads of cousins surround me. Not everyone can say this. I can still go to my mother's house and sit in my old bedroom. I can drive by my elementary school. I can eat at the same Burger King where I had my 10th birthday party. When I think back on my life and my town, there is one place that stands out above all others as home.

 

Is it just the building? Is it just the people? Is it just the memories?

It is where I was spoiled...

And where I became famous....

It is how I traveled....

And where I traveled to...

It is how my family took our family vacations...

 

And where I went to camp...

It is where I went to Sunday School...

 And where I worshiped...

 

Where I made life-long friendships...

It is where I got married...

 

And where we became a family...

It is where we dedicated our children...

 

And where they now play...

 It is where we were baptized...

And where I learned to be a leader...

It is where I have a minister who has walked in my shoes and knows how I feel....

 

 

It is where I feel safe...

 

 

 

It  is like a beacon in the night...

 

 

It is...home.

The Good News and The Bad News

2011.

Can you believe it? Noah was watching the Discovery channel the other day and I sat down to watch it with him and what he was watching made me want to get out the Oil of Olay and hit the 4:30 early bird dinner buffet up at the Holiday Inn. He was tuning in to learn all about "Technology of the 1990's". Now I know I am getting older. Two of my children never even saw "The 1900's" as Wil calls it. (Example- "Mom! Look! There are two Corvettes! One is a 2008 and the other one is from the 1900's" It was a '98.) But I tell you this show made me feel OLD! It had everything from the first digital camera to the first shoot 'em up video games to the Global Positioning System and everything in between. Did I know I was that old? Did I know my children have never experienced the world without these things? Did I know that a DVD worked differently than a video tape? (Yes I think I did on that last one) During that one show I came to the conclusion that although it is nice to look back I wouldn't want to go back. I also came up with this...Good News! The world is changing and technology is making life easier and easier! Bad News! I am getting old!

So here goes my Good News/Bad News list for 2011!

Good News! It's a new year...a clean slate!
Bad News! Started the new year with a broken pipe and no water (so even if the slate was dirty I couldn't have washed it) and a little PMS mixed in for good measure!

Bad News! Broken pipe leaked all into the living room.
Good News! Water logged living room made me get off my butt and take down the Christmas tree.

Good News! Christmas is over and we managed to buy gifts without racking up huge credit card bills!
Bad News! Christmas is over and we are now broke with 5 birthdays in our immediate family in the next three weeks (not to mention 4 cousins).

Bad News! Noah's good friend moved back to Mexico on Christmas Eve.
Good News! Haven't gotten that far yet. Maybe that we know somebody in Mexico now?

Good News! School is in session and we have made it on time for three days in a row!
Bad News! Almost 100 more to go!

Would love to hear some of your news- good or bad! Happy 2011!