linky love

This weekend I did five things:

1) I took the boys to see Wreck-It Ralph at the dollar theater. I had no clue what it was about, but it was a dollar. It was Owsley's first movie in a theater, and he did so well! The last ten minutes he got a little antsy and ended up sitting on the steps, but there were only three other people in there with us, so I don't think it was really a big deal. It was actually a really cute movie.

2) I impulsively cut my bangs and some chin length layers into my hair. I did it myself. But I have yet to not wear my hair in a ponytail, so I'm not really sure how it looks. I mean, it looked good when I took it down out of a bun and it was all wavy, but the true test lies in when I dry it straight.

3) We cleaned up the backyard and got rid of our old patio furniture. Last year Owsley and I fell through one of the chairs, so we finally decided to let it go. Unfortunately it wouldn't fit into our garbage can. Fortunately for me, I got to pick up wooden chairs and hurl them over my head onto the street and watch them shatter. It was a great stress reliever. And a lot of fun too!

4) Last night Peppy and I watched The Cabin in the Woods. Neither of us had ever heard of it before, and I was expecting a typical slasher in the woods. (Which would have been ok with me.) But this movie turned out much better. It was like Night of the Living Dead meets The Hunger Games meets your worst nightmare. Have any of you seen it?

5) My real achievement happened on Saturday, when my boys refused to nap. I turned them into my personal slaves and together we did this:

That stuff in the floor was actually clean. I just have a really bad habit of not hanging my laundry back up. I threw away three bags of trash, and put together two bags of clothes to donate. I also found five dollars in change and a guitar pick that Colin Meloy threw at a Decemberists concert. I even vacuumed the floor! I hate that I let it get that bad, and I hope that this picture serves as motivation to HANG UP MY STUFF!

*I wonder if Gage's teacher feels the same way? Confessions of an Elementary School Teacher

*Joanna wrote a very sweet post about the past 18 months with her son.

*I'm not just a pretty girl. I really loved this. Joanna, you are awesome! (There are a lot of 'Joannas' mentioned in this week's linky love.)

*Judy shares some great tips for her soon to be 8th grade daughter.

*I don't usually like statement necklaces, but this ice cream bauble necklace is so cute!

*Thinking about setting up a booth at a craft fair? Carolynn shares some tips for selling items at a craft fair.

*Joanna posts pictures of some of her fashion fails. I don't know though, I would totally wear that last outfit.

*Erica blogs about the nicest thing that was ever done for her.

*I really enjoyed Lindsay's take on a 'currently' post.

*I like posts like Monday Musings, where you just let a bunch of random stuff off your chest.

*Weather.com has a lot of really awesome links that generally distract me when I am just going to check out our local weather. This week: the world's scariest runways.

*Did you see the story about how more than half the pool samples from 150 public pools contained fecal matter? Yech.

*Two of my blogger buds are back to blogging again! Go say hi to Crystal and Jess.

*Christa has recently undergone a tummy tuck and has been blogging about her experience. She's looking great!

gage says v.115

"I am going to make Pepper something for Mother's Day, because she COULD be a mother if you hadn't made it where she couldn't be."

Gage: Can you buy me that snake?

Me: No. It's twenty dollars.

Gage: So we're poor?

Gage was making cards for Mother's Day.

Me: Wow. That one is so good! It looks like at least an 8 year old drew it.

::five minutes later::

Gage: Do you like this one for Granna? I was going for the style of a ten year old.

"I am going to bury a map in our backyard. Then when this house is old and run down someone will find it and we will trick them into looking for buried treasure!"

Gage: Can we go back to the fair?

Me: There are thunderstorms tonight. They will close it down because of lightening.

Gage: Probably not the Thunderbolt ride. I think it actually needs lightening.

We were talking about mutant sharks coming on land and attacking people.

Me: You don't ever have to worry about that actually happening.

Gage: Well, I saw it on a SciFi movie with my Grumpy, and you can't just make this stuff up.

At my brother's 30th birthday party.

Owsley says.....

Peppy brought me home flowers.

"It was so nice of him to bring you's flowers. But them still going to be mine."

Owsley removed all the bed sheets while I was in the shower. We have a memory foam mattress topper.

"Hey! I never knew you have trampoline under here!"

ask and ye shall receive

I really want to thank everyone who took the time to answer this week's Topical Tuesday question. Those of you who answered didn't take the question lightly, and put a lot of effort into leaving your responses. And everyone brought up so many valid points. I really do appreciate everyone who takes the time to comment on my blog.

The past few days have been slow around here. Owsley and I play outside most mornings, and then when Gage comes home we go back outside until it's time to take a bath. During naptime I have wasted away the time reading free Kindle downloads and not cleaning the house this week. (My Mother's Day gift to myself.) I have been so lazy. I haven't even sent off two of the prizes from Spring Fashion Week. They have just been sitting on my kitchen counter, looking at me. (Which is pretty embarrassing, although I was waiting on the steampunk necklace to come in from Sweden. Excuses, excuses.) Now that I have admitted my procrastination to the internet world, hopefully that will shame me enough to make a trip to the post office tomorrow.

I have been enjoying this bit of lazy time, because I know that once school is out in only a week, my days are not going to be as quiet anymore. We've already got so much planned from birthdays, to camping trips, and even a cruise in July. It will be August and time for school to start back (with Gage in the first grade....what!?) before I know it.

I thought it would be fun to answer some questions from you guys. I don't think I would ever take the time to fill out a survey and post it, but I do love random questions. Maybe you've always wanted to know something about me, but been afraid to ask. Or you might want to know my thoughts on the 1925 Treaty of Locarno. Well, now is your chance. You can ask anonymously if you'd like. And as long as it's not X rated, I'll try my best to answer all the questions this weekend.

This picture has nothing to do with my post. I was just looking through pictures from when I got all my hair cut off last May. I am greatly contemplating a hair cut. I'm just at that point where I hate my hair because I never do anything with it. I know that you know what I mean. 

Now ask me something. Please. Or don't. But then tonight you'll be laying in bed, thinking about this post, and wishing you would have asked. Then when you wake up tomorrow, you will have forgotten. And it will be too late.

topical tuesday

Two weeks ago the FDA ruled that 'women' over the age of 15 would be able to purchase the Plan B emergency contraceptive pill without a parent's consent. This lowered the age from the previous requirement that you be at least 17.

I remember how mature I thought I was at 15. I thought I was an adult. I thought I knew soooo much. It's laughable. I was very much still a child when I was 15. Around 15 was the time that I became more secretive with my parents and I began to distance myself more from them.

It makes me sad to think that at 15 it would have been ok for me to have unprotected sex, because I knew I could just run to the corner pharmacy (or one across town if I was embarrassed) and pick up a box of Plan B. I am not naive enough to think that just preaching abstinence is going to work. But it feels like we are just giving young girls the thumbs up to not worry about birth control or consequences, because they have a back up plan. Don't worry about today's problems, when you can take care of them tomorrow. Go ahead and live in the moment.

It also bothers me that at 15 years old your parents wouldn't even have to know that you had found yourself in a situation to purchase the Plan B pill. I know I tried to push my parents away when I was a teen, and as hard as I tried to push back, my mom was trying to squeeze her way back into my life with as much force. (And I am so thankful that she never gave up.) I just feel like YOU ARE NOT an adult at 15. You SHOULD NOT have to make adult decisions when you are 15. You can't buy cigarettes or legally drink, but yet you can purchase a Plan B pill?

What are your thoughts on lowering the age that can purchase a Plan B without a prescription? I want to hear opinions from all sides. I know that some girls are way more mature than I was at 15. I know that some basically have to raise themselves and by 15 are more grown up than I was at 21.    I have thought about this a lot, and it's not a moral issue for me. It's more of a problem because I want to still know what's going on my kids lives when they are teenagers. As long as they are under 18 and still living in my house, they will be following my rules. (How was your relationship with your parents in your early teens?)

It's Tuesday. Here is your topic.

punch me in the face. you can call me nancy.

Generally our weekends are pretty low key. If we do have plans, it's usually only for an afternoon. This weekend we were going nonstop from Friday afternoon until Sunday night.

On Friday our local botanical garden was having a free day, and I promised Gage I would take them after he got home from school. They have a new exhibit called 'Giant garden, Little me,' where everything is enormous. Kind of like Honey I Shrunk the Kids. Earlier Friday morning Peppy called his dad to see if he could come stay with the boys, so that we could drive to Nashville at the last minute and see Father John Misty. So after we got back from the botanical garden, Peppy and I left for Nashville. Then Saturday was my older brother's 30th birthday, and of course Sunday was Mother's Day.

The boys were soaked by the time we got home. I will definitely have to keep this in mind for a hot summer day. They had so much fun running through all the sprinklers. 

Father John Misty (Joshua Tillman) used to be the drummer for the Fleet Foxes. Peppy is more familiar with his music than I am. I only know three or four of his songs. But it was such a fun show. He was funny and had a great stage presence. And then as we were walking back to the car we saw him standing around and were actually able to talk to him for a minute. It was pretty awesome! Aside from Mickey Mouse I've never gotten my picture made with anyone 'famous.'

 On Mother's Day I got two new gnomes and I sign that says "Gnomes Welcome Here." :)

 This may not be the most appetizing photo, but Peppy makes me THE BEST nutella crepes with strawberries and bananas. Delicious!

 We made my mom a photo book with our Disney pictures. She cried. So I'm pretty sure that meant she liked it.

So.....my younger brother flew in from Nashville. We were outside and he said, "Come on Deanna. Let's ride." Before I could say anything, Owsley piped in with, "And me!" We've all tried to get him to fly with my dad numerous times, but he always says no. So before he could change his mind we got into Blake's plane and flew around. Owsley loved it! After we landed he insisted that my dad also take him on a flight.

 It was so cool getting to watch Owsley's face as we flew. It was one of my favorite parts of the day. He would point out cars or birds, and look at me with the most mischievous smile, like he couldn't believe we were flying in a little plane. When we got home he said, "Blake and Grumpy are the coolest." By the time Gage actually wanted to fly with my dad, he was too big to sit in my lap and had to go alone. It was an awesome experience getting to go on Owsley's first RV flight. It's so much different from being on a commercial plane.

I had an awesome weekend, filled with the people I love the most. And now I am exhausted.

linky love

My own mother doesn't read my blog. She's not very computer savvy. My dad actually only changed from dial-up to DSL over the past year. So I would wish her a Happy Mother's Day over my blog, but she wouldn't see it. Instead I'll tell all you mamas out there that actually do read my blog HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY. I hope you all have a great one. My only wish for Mother's Day is that it would always be on a Saturday instead of a Sunday. There is no such thing as sleeping in when you've got to be out the door for church by 9:15.

Do any of you watch 'Nathan For You' on Comedy Central? I stumbled upon it about a month ago and downloaded all of the episodes. I think they are so funny, but sometimes I'll be hysterically laughing about something and Peppy is just staring at me. I try to tell him how funny I think it is, but he generally replies with, "that's because you're weird." But I've caught him laughing out of the corner of my eye a couple of times. This particular clip below makes me laugh so hard. It was a protocol for a tear-free way to tell your child their pet had died. The animal hospital would pre-record a video of your dog on a green screen, and once they had died, you would play the video for your child.
There have been a handful of times when I am trying to rock Owsley to sleep and I will randomly start laughing because I think of a clip from that show. And now, for completely unrelated links....

*Happy 11th anniversary Jodi!

*Carolynn shares some tips on making the best out of a trip to Goodwill.

*Think about your wardrobe. Do you only wear about 20% of the clothing you own? I know I'm guilty of this. I might not even wear 20%. My closet is in a major need of a purge. But my problem is that I always wonder 'what if.' You know, what if I actually had a reason to wear that strapless leopard print sequined dress again. (I don't actually own a strapless leopard print sequin dress. But you get the idea.)

*I LOVE this silver ampersand necklace. Not a fan of silver? It also comes in gold!

*A few Ziggy-isms to make you laugh.

*I think this would be an amazing event for a town to have. I hope the turnout is great!

*I found this on the weather channel website: vintage beach photos. These are amazing! And some of the swimsuits are more risque than they are now. I mean, they may cover more skin, but you can see STRAIGHT through them.

*This post is one of the main reasons I don't read books/articles/blogs about parenting. They are generally narrow minded, and end up just making me mad. I'll raise my own children, and you can raise yours, thankyouverymuch.

*....sometimes I spend far too many minutes trying to see my physical self the way others see it. I don't think I've ever read a single post of Lindsay's where I find myself nodding at one point.

*Ritz has a case of the mushy brain.