From Inmates to Playdates

Posts Tagged ‘Parental Units’

What better day to tell you thirteen things I’m thankful for than today on this Thanksgiving holiday.

I love Thanksgiving. I have fond memories of waking up very early on Thanksgiving morning to the smell of turkey and pumpkin pie baking in the oven. And, no Thanksgiving is complete without the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.  So, yes, I will watch it even today. I will watch it while I dig through the pile of advertising debris as I plot my course for the black Friday shopping extraganza. Yes, I am one of thosepeople. I will rise at O Dark Thirty to hit Kohls, Target, Wal-Mart and probably Sears in search of bargains that likes of which we only see once a year. I’ll be lucky to come away with my sanity. But I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy the hubbub. I’ll let you know how that goes.

Now, back to thirteen things I am thankful for, in no particular order. When I say no particular order, I mean just that. It is more a matter of how they popped into my head as opposed to order of importance.

1. My three fellas – This one is a given, but certainly worth mentioning right off the bat. These fellers are the light of my life. (And yes, we do say fellers around here!)

2. Our Home – With so many people losing their homes these days, I sure am thankful for our home and the joy that fills it.

3.  SLEEP – Sweet mercy, this probably sounds silly, but believe me when I say that I am certainly thankful for sleep. The boys rarely crawl into bed with us anymore and it is glorious to wake up at 6:40am when the alarm clock goes off instead of 3:40am when someone needs to be fed or changed. [Not sure why this picture is so small or how it will look once its posted!]

4. The Blog – The fact that The Blog made the short list of things I’m thankful for will probably leave some of you shaking your head. The fact is that I really enjoy blogging and people love me here. So, its a great place to come and blow off steam or just say hi!  I have also met a lot of people who I consider to be URL Friends (the opposite of IRL – In real life friends). [Hey, remember that princess?]

5. The United States of America –  I have to say that deployment, coupled with our trip to Guantanamo Bay left a lasting impression on me. I will NEVER EVER AS LONG AS I LIVE look at the American flag without thinking about the honor, sacrifice, and courage of the thousands of soldiers stationed all over the world.

6.  My Parental Units – I am thankful that I have my parents and that they live close-by. I had a great childhood with two loving parents.

7.  The In-Law Siblings - When I married McDaddy I gained a truck-load of in-laws because he is the oldest of five children. His two sisters and two brothers (and their spouses) are also our friends. I am thankful most especially for four great sisters-in-law!

8. Deployment Is Over – I am so, so, thankful that we are done with deployment. This time last year we were preparing for deployment. We filled out a will, a power of attorney, and all the other stuff that comes with your husband being out of the country for six-months. I am THANKFUL to have him back at home!

9 . My In-Laws- I LOVE my in-laws. They are living in Florida where my FIL is serving on active duty and I miss them terribly. And I’m not just saying that because my sweet MIL, Jean  reads From Inmates To Playdates daily. She is one of my biggest bloggy fans and frequently makes references to my book. The book that she wants me to write. Someday. If the opportunity were to present itself. Not at all sure what I’d write about. I’m guessing it would be filled with crazy, crazy, and well, more crazy. [Keep in mind that it was a hot August day when McDaddy returned home. My hair kept its flip for all of three minutes in the humidity.]

10.  Our Church – The Lord sent us to our sweet, little church about two months before we were married. We have been worshipping there ever since. Most of our friends are from our church. I have no doubt that I could call any of them at any hour of the day and they would drop what they were doing to come to our rescue. I am thankful for the love I feel when I enter the church doors. I look forward to going to church for each service.

11. My new job- Okay, so its not a new job. Its a job that I’ve been privileged to hold since 2003. While there are days that I miss the craziness that happened in jail, I am so appreciative that I’m the one who is there everyday with my boys. When they are sick it’s me who holds them, when they want to make lego chapels, it’s me who gets to help them design it, when they want to play outside on the swingset, its me who gets to sit and listen to them make big plans about pretend repairs and super jumps off of the swings. I am thankful for the chance to be home with them every day.

12. My twin brothers – While I am not as close to my twin-brothers as I would like to be, I am so thankful they are my brothers.

13. A tie between my TiVo and my iPhone – I know this probably sounds silly! These two little gadgets make my life easier and happier. They save me time and just make my world a better place.

That’s all.

Happy Thanksgiving, y’all!

Before we left for our two-week vacation in New Hampshire, I thought it would be a good idea to wash my kitchen cabinets and counter tops off. I was armed with Clorox Kitchen cleaner, a magic eraser, and motivation. The latter always makes a job like that more thrilling.

As I was wiping, swiping and repeating, I noticed something peculiar in our snack basket.

The giant Hershey bar given to my boys at a recent Doctor visit had gnaw marks on it that were NOT the gnaw marks of a human.

Oh snap.

My mind started to race and I immediately dumped everything that was in the basket into the trash.

And then it dawned on me that a stinky, nasty mouse had been in one of my beloved Longaberger baskets.

Sweet mercy. It was all I could do to breathe.

I threw away most everything in my kitchen and refrigerator that day.

Then, I remembered that a mouse had been in my Longaberger snack basket and I went from grossed out to furious.

I might have murmured something like, “Oh no, he didn’t”  as if somehow I knew our pesky intruder was a male.

Doesn’t this rodent know I have a majorette rifle beside my bed?

A majorette rifle that I AM NOT afraid to use.

Even on a six-inch mouse.

Barbaric? Yes, maybe. But totally true.

Did I mention the mouse was in my Longaberger basket?

I continued on with my cleaning and silently thanked God that I had not seen the varmint with my own eyes.

Because I probably would have squealed so loud the thing would have a heart attack right in my kitchen.

Fast forward to last Sunday evening.

In preparation of having my carpets cleaned the following morning, I was clearing out all of the ’sitting around on the floor’ stuff and I noticed a hole in one of our bedroom walls just above the baseboard. It was a little larger than a dime.

Seriously, it was the size a little larger than a dime BUT, there was three little mouse droppings black something or other on the carpet just in front of the hole.

YOUHAVEGOTTOBEFREAKINKIDDINGME.

When McDaddy left for this six-month deployment, I formulated a plan in my head to protect my children in the event that an unwelcome visitor was found in my home without permission or an invitation. Basically the plan was 1) Grab majorette rifle, 2) Bust intruder upside the head as hard as I could, and 3) Scream like a crazy person.

I was sure it would work.

I could picture these rats this mouse and all of his buddies partying like rock stars at all hours of the night, IN MY HOME MIND YOU, while me and my sweet boys slept the night away in our beds. I thought about my fail-proof plan and then immediately called for my dad to COME OVER RIGHT AWAY AND SET TRAPS TO GET RID OF THIS RAT!

He came armed with two traps and just like that he had the suckers in place and ready for the trapping kill.

Remember, I do not play when it comes to rodents in my house.

After a lengthy conversation with my boys about how and why the mouse traps are needed and why they should not touch them no matter what, I was questioned about their friends Mickey Mouse and Jerry the Mouse.

As I type this, one of the traps is sitting on my kitchen counter JUST INCHES FROM one of my beloved Longaberger baskets and the other is just outside of the dime-size hole in the wall.

I tried to explain to my daddy, that I have first-hand knowlege that this intruder prefers chocolate (we’d probably get along great if he wasn’t a mouse!), so I’m not certain the cheese will do the trick. What I do know is that I will never again leave a giant-size hershey bar in the snack basket because the mice? They love some Hersheys.

And I will make for darn sure that the majorette rifle is beside of my bed for easy access, you know, for protection.

I’m hoping the mouse trap and the cheese will work for me!

Stay Tuned….

And be sure to visit We Are THAT family for more things that might work for you.

Today is Father’s Day. Fathers everywhere will be honored and celebrated.

When I married McDaddy, I married him for the kind, gentle, loving person that I knew he was. What I didn’t know at that time is that he would be the best daddy our boys could want. He is so patient and loving.

I am so sad that he cannot be with us so that we could honor him, celebrate him and love him.

McDaddy, we miss you so much and we can’t wait until you are back home where you belong!

 And, I am also blessed with the best daddy a girl could ask for. I am sad that we are away from him on Father’s Day. We went to dinner on Thursday before we left to come to New Hampshire. And, that evening he made two batches of his fabulous ‘No Bake’ cookies for me to bring along. I just enjoyed one before I sat down to this post. I am thankful for my daddy!

Happy Father’s Day to the two special men in my life!

Last night I crossed another thing off of my “things I want to do sometime” list.

It was quite an evening and one I will never forget. Unfortunately, today is Thursday and I know that my loyal blog fans are looking forward to reading all about the letter “S.” So, I’ll save that post for another day and proceed through the alphabet.

You may recall that I began my Thursday Thirteen Alphabet Edition a few weeks before McDaddy left for his 6-month deployment. If all goes as planned, McDaddy should be returning home around the time we get to the letter “Z.”

I’ll quit rambling (something I excel at!) and get started.

1. SUMMER – Here at the McResidence, we are enjoying our summer. It sure  would be nice to see a little more sunshine though.

2. SONG – There is a song on KLOVE by Jimmy Needhem called Forgiven and Loved. It is my new favorite song right now. I also like “There Will Be A Day” by the wonderfully talented Jeremy Camp.

3. SLEEP – I never seem to get enough. Between the iPhone, the TiVo, the facebook and my friend aDell, I stay up way later than necessary.

4. SALE – Few things excite me quite like a good sale. A 50% off in front of the word is even better.

5. SCARECROW – I love scarecrows. Fall is my favorite season and I have lots of scarecrows. I picked this guy up at a craft fair at our lovely little church.

6. SHAMU – The day after Christmas, the McFamily took a vacation to Disney. We spent one day at Sea World because they were offering free admission for military families. I am always amazed by this guy.

7. SHOES – I counted 45 pairs of shoes in my closet. I found these cute shoes at the JC Penney outlet in Columbus, Ohio. They are not the least bit comfortable.

Here is my favorite shoe. I was never a big fan of the tennis shoes until I found these suckers. May I introduce you to the Nike Air Zoom Hot Shot.

8. SKI – McDaddy loves to ski. Each year, we get together for a ski trip. The guys ski and the gals stay in with the kids, scrapbook and relax. This year, McDaddy and I watched as Stevie had his first ski lesson. After a three-hour lesson, Stevie accompanied McDaddy on the bunny slopes and a couple harder ones.

9. SOLDIER -My favorite soldier. My Hubby. My hero. McDaddy.

10. SPAGHETTI -My favorite meal is spaghetti. My top 3 favorite spaghettis are Olive Garden, my mama’s, my mother-in-laws. (Hi Jean, you made my blog!)

11. SUITCASE – I am currently packing my suitcase for a trip to New Hampshire to see McDaddy’s sister, Angie and her family. Oh, AND. Angie is pregnant with a baby girl. Baby Anna will be the 12th grandbaby in our family. I am praying that Baby Anna makes her debut while we are there.

12. SALAD DRESSING – I love salad BUT I will only eat it if I have salad dressing. My first choice for salad dressing would be blue cheese. Eating a salad without dressing is unheard of.

13. SWITZERLAND – McDaddy and I had the privilege to tour Europe in 2000. We visited Lucerne, Switzerland during that vacation. It was one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. Here’s a shot of me and McDaddy at Mt. Pilatus.

I’m not sure why this pic is so small. Hopefully, you can clearly see that I am wearing capri pants and not pegged pants.

Happy Thursday, Ya’ll!

Can you believe I left the Saturn Sky off of my Thursday Thirteen list?

Nah, me neither.

It’s Thursday and I’d be lying if I said this post is getting my full attention.

The truth is I’m watching American Idol – The Results, and I’m hoping like heck my boys, Danny and Kris make it to the finals. It will be a long shot given The Screecher and his fine following, but I am hopeful.

I have a lot to do tomorrow so I thought it best to get this done. I’m doing what I do best.

Multi-tasking.

So, without further ado – The Letter N.

1. NEW ORLEANS – Me, McDaddy and our boys spent two weeks in LaPlace, Louisiana. McDaddy was on official business for his job and me and the boys were able to tag along. While we were there, I asked McDaddy take me down Bourbon Street. It was a whole nother world.

2. NIKE – I have mentioned my favorite shoes on the old blog several times. If you are looking for the most comfortable shoe on the planet, I would suggest the Nike Air Zoom Hot Shots.

3. NATIONAL GUARD – McDaddy has devoted 18 years of his life to the National Guard. Here he is pictured with our boys on Deployment Day, January 30, 2009.

4. NO-BAKE COOKIES – My daddy makes the best no-bake cookies in the world. I like to eat them while they are still warm and chewy.

5. NAG – I may or may not do this every now and again.

6. NEPHEW- There are 2 nephews on my side of the family and 4 nephews on McDaddy’s side. We are surely blessed!

7. NEW YEAR – This is me and McDaddy on New Year’s Eve. [I miss you McDaddy!!!]

8. NOVEMBER – McDaddy’s birth month and Alex’s birth month.

[Holy crap, Adam is showing the weather lady in San Diego how he applies his guy liner]

9. NEVER – As in, I’ll NEVER see this waistline again. (9th Grade – 1988)

10. NIECE -There are 5 neices on McDaddy’s side and one more due in July, 2009. McDaddy is the oldest of five and there are 11 grandbabies and one more on the way, all under the age of six. And probably another one soon after that at the rate we’re going.

[Kris just made it into the finals!]

11. NEW HAMPSHIRE – McDaddy’s sister lives in New Hampshire – here we are in NH at Hampton Beach.

[Here we go..... SHOOT SHOOT SHOOT. Danny got the boot! DANGGIT! Bye bye, Danny. I'll miss you! Aw, they are showing pictures of his wife. I can't wait to hear your album!!!]

12. Nightmare- If I had been with McDaddy when he found this snake at his deployment locale yesterday, I would most certainly, without a doubt be having nightmares. [That just happens to be an 11 foot Boa.]

I’ll give you a second to get that image out of your head.

Alrightythen.

13. Nighttime – It is 12:24am. Must. go. to. bed.

Good night, all!

Forget I showed you the snake, mkay.

Happy Mother’s Day, Mom. I Love You!

57 Things You Should Know About My Mom.

1. Her father’s name is Louie
2. Her mother’s name is Frances
3. And she once had a dog named Louie
4. She was the oldest child
5. With 1 brother
6. And 3 sisters
7. Her name is LaDonna
8. She was a coal miner’s daughter.
9. She once fell off of a horse and broke her arm.
10. She loves to watch old movies
11. She was pregnant twice
12. But has three kids
13. Which means she has twins – boys
14. She likes to fish
15. She names her vehicles – her blazer is named Jake
16. She likes to watch The Price Is Right
17. And is really good at Jeopardy
18. She loves to play cards
19. And slot machines
20. She is a good teacher
21. And she taught me that you never do wrong and get away with it
22. She has four grandsons
23. And one quirky daughter
24. She likes peanut M&Ms
25. And pedicures
26. You will rarely see her without jewelry
27. Which is something she clearly passed on to me.
28. She carries a big Vera Bradley purse
29. And has lots of shoes
30. She used to make us kids wash walls when we fought
31. And drink milk with our dinner.
32. She makes really good spaghetti
33. She loves eating shrimp
34. She is an aunt
35. With 1 nephew and 1 niece
36. She loves to shop with her favorite daughter.
37. She does not like Dr. Pepper
38. Pizza Hut is her favorite pizza
39. She wears glasses
40. She took me to church from the time I was 5 days old.
41. Her foot is about ½ size smaller than mine.
42. She loves the walnut salad at Outback
43. She does not have a cell phone.
44. She loves Christmas, but not the wrapping.
45. She likes her co-workers.
46. She has taught in Kindergarten for 26 years
47. She sleeps with 5 pillows
48. But gets up at the crack of dawn
49. She doesn’t have her gall-bladder
50. We are friends
51. I could tell her anything and she would listen
52. She watched me for hours doing majorette routines in the front yard.
53. She is an awesome mother
54. Who has sacrificed a lot for her kids
55. She is respected and loved by her daughter.
56. She was born on a Monday
57. In April