Yet another beautiful morning.
10/2/13
9/30/13
9/4/13
Morning dew
It was a cool & dewy morning here today. Take a peek.
Also some of you have seen Kiera's tomato plant she brought home from school in June. If not, here's the over grown wild thing.
As you can see by the illustrations, the plant has well outgrown a large tomato rack. What to do? What to do? Thanks to the Sailor all is well now!
As you can see we resorted to attaching fencing to the shed and wrapping the whole plant in order to support the whole thing. The tomatoes are too large to pick through the holes, but no worries it detaches easily for harvesting.
And thanks to my friend Jay in France I am currently caterpillar free!! He provided information on how to prevent tomato worms and other caterpillars & insects from ruining my plants & vegetables. I found this ugly, not to mention HUGE, guy and two more the next day feasting away on my plant!!.
The Sailor disposed of them and I used my new knowledge of organic gardening to keep anymore from showing up and to kill any eggs left behind. FYI search "Neem Oil" to learn about organic pesticides safe for fruits & vegetables.
It was a beautiful morning!
Kisses
CoreyJo
**NOTE: I didn't use any special visual effects on the photos outside of adding a white boarder and my name tag.
I don't know what this is, but it looked really cool! Also the light shining through was pure luck!
A faerie mushroom!
A little bit o' luck creeping up in my flowers.
My favorite photo of the day.
Also some of you have seen Kiera's tomato plant she brought home from school in June. If not, here's the over grown wild thing.
As you can see by the illustrations, the plant has well outgrown a large tomato rack. What to do? What to do? Thanks to the Sailor all is well now!
As you can see we resorted to attaching fencing to the shed and wrapping the whole plant in order to support the whole thing. The tomatoes are too large to pick through the holes, but no worries it detaches easily for harvesting.
And thanks to my friend Jay in France I am currently caterpillar free!! He provided information on how to prevent tomato worms and other caterpillars & insects from ruining my plants & vegetables. I found this ugly, not to mention HUGE, guy and two more the next day feasting away on my plant!!.
The Sailor disposed of them and I used my new knowledge of organic gardening to keep anymore from showing up and to kill any eggs left behind. FYI search "Neem Oil" to learn about organic pesticides safe for fruits & vegetables.
It was a beautiful morning!
Kisses
CoreyJo
**NOTE: I didn't use any special visual effects on the photos outside of adding a white boarder and my name tag.
Summer Vacation
Vacation may be over for the kids, but it's just starting for all of us moms & dads out there. Especially for the stay at home parents or the ones who work from home. All I can say is.... sigh..... lol!
Don't get me wrong, I love my girls to pieces. Having said that, I can only take so much one on one with them. With Lily on the cusp of puberty at 12 and Kiera at 8 thinking she needs to ask the same question 5 times in a row without even listening to the answer I am about on my last nerve. I will admit that this past summer hasn't been as frustrating as summers past mainly due to the fact that the Sailor now works 7 on 7 off. With him home from work every other week I was able to get that small break here and there that all stay at home parents need in order to maintain their sanity. That is if they have any sanity left!
For the most part I would rank our summer as one of the better summers we've had. Minus a few heartbreaking moments. We were all strong and supportive for each other and made it through the tough times allowing ourselves to enjoy the fun times.
Yesterday was the first day of school for the girls. All went well despite the fact that middle school, due to construction, did not have an open house where Lily would have received her new locker & class schedule before the first day, and Kiera brought home the wrong lunch box. The girls were amazing getting ready for school. I didn't have to yell at them once and there were no 'first day of school last minute crisis's'. Thank God!
Of course I forgot to get pictures of both the girls dressed up all snazzy and sharp for their first day of school. I know, naughty mom! I will tell you that Lily was the picture of a sweet young lady in her blue jean skirt and tailored short sleeved polo (thank you again Toni F. for all your generous clothing donations). I'm telling you she's not a little girl anymore. Kiera was cute as a button in her black w/teal polka dots dress and black tights.
If you'll take note, I haven't called my girls midgets today. For those new here I usually refer to my girls as midgets, the tall midget and the short midget. Well Monday night we measured the girls to see how much they grew since their birthdays in March. Kiera has grown approximately 1 1/2 inches making her now 4 foot 3 3/4 inches tall. That's 51 3/4 inches making her now eligible to ride all the rides at the fair. We haven't told her this yet because we don't want to hear about the fair 20 times a night. She will be so excited!! Lily has grown 2 inches topping her out at an even 5 foot 4 inches tall. Yes people, my twelve year old is now officially taller than her Aunt Valisatie who measures in at just under 5'3". I do believe she will be taller than me (even if I did quit shrinking). So now you see why I haven't referred to the girls as midgets. They will just be plain old Monkeys from now on.
All in all it was a good summer vacation for the girls and I'm wishing nothing but the best of luck for their new school year. :)
Kisses
CoreyJo
7/22/13
Silver???
I stopped dying my hair for the summer because it seemed a waste of money to pay to have my hair dyed red only to have the chlorine pools leach all the color out in just a week. I only dye it because I like being a red head verses being a dirty blonde (code for mousy dull light brown). I just found out last night, while looking in the bathroom mirror, that two years of dying my hair red has hidden the fact that I now have dull mousy brown hair riddled with silver. YIKES!!
I'm only 35 1/2 but I guess with all the stress of the last 6 years it's not really all that surprising that the silver has taken root in my hair. I don't mind my hair showing my age, it's just hair after all. I'm just not ready to give up the red permanently yet. Like I said before, I don't dye my hair to cover the grey. I dye it because I like being a redhead. I guess when the day comes that I don't want to dye it anymore and I have so much silver that I get that dreaded "skunks tail" growing at my roots I'll just have to shave my head.
I wonder how I would look bald.....?
Kisses
CoreyJo
I'm only 35 1/2 but I guess with all the stress of the last 6 years it's not really all that surprising that the silver has taken root in my hair. I don't mind my hair showing my age, it's just hair after all. I'm just not ready to give up the red permanently yet. Like I said before, I don't dye my hair to cover the grey. I dye it because I like being a redhead. I guess when the day comes that I don't want to dye it anymore and I have so much silver that I get that dreaded "skunks tail" growing at my roots I'll just have to shave my head.
I wonder how I would look bald.....?
Kisses
CoreyJo
Shall the truth set you free??
I told a white lie to my kids about what happened to one of our cats. If you haven't read about it, you can HERE. Anyways, I promised myself I would tell the truth, or partly the truth, this coming week. I decided to just get it over with and tell them today. I kinda told them the truth. I did tell them truth about her kidneys starting to go bad and that the humane thing to do was to have her euthanized. I did not tell them that I had her euthanized. I suppose that white lie was for me. I didn't want them to think I was a mean person for choosing to kill their cat. Yes I'm a coward.
I received a LOT of feed back about the initial white lie on what happened to the cat. All of it was great advice and points of view. It really made me think. Why did I lie about what happened to the cat? Was it for them.... me... or both? And was it worth the guilt I felt about lying to them? I'd have to say, yes - yes - and Yes! I lied for them because with all the death they have had to deal with in the last 4-5 years I wanted to soften the blow to them. I lied for me because I didn't have the heart to crush them like that. I mean how horrible is it to tell your kids, "Say bye to your kitty, I'm gonna go have her killed now."? Having the cat sent to an animal shelter that helps sick animals get better and then adopted was much better. Also having the "doctors" at said shelter determining she was in too much pain and not able to be fixed was less of a blow. I also lied for me because I didn't want to be the bad guy yet again. It was bad enough I said she had to go because she wouldn't use the cat box. I didn't want to be the one to have her die too. (that's where the cowardice comes into play). Was it worth the guilt? You bet your ass it was! I won't hide death from my kids. Hell I don't have to. They know full well what death is all about first hand. Anything I can do to help soften the blow to my kids I will most certainly do. I have told them the truth about what happened to the cat, even if I did lie, again, about who decided it. Like one follower said, kids are resilient. They have bounced back as I had only hoped they would.
Overall I'm happy with the outcome of this whole episode. I generally don't lie to my kids about stuff. As a matter of fact, most of my friends & family think I'm a bit too honest with them. I feel that if I'm honest with them they have a better shot at living a more balanced life. No matter what it's about... boys, our bodies, morals... I feel that if I tell the blunt truth to the best of my knowledge they will have an advantage in life. They won't be guessing about it or wondering if what they heard in the locker room after gym class is true or not. If I can make them aware of how things are then they will be better able to make sound judgement calls. Like "How does the baby get out of her belly, Mommy?". I told my then 4 year old the truth... " It comes out of the girls crotch." To which she replied with abject horror, "Oh My God! Yuck! I'm not doing that!". Now when it comes time to have the sex talk with her I will remind her that pregnancy can be a consequence of having sex no matter how much "protection" you use, and she will remember where that baby come out at and hopefully wait to have sex... If I feel they aren't old enough to know the answer to a question I just tell them that I will tell them when they need to know. Will my bluntness all work out the way I hope? Maybe, maybe not, only time will tell. I can only hope that my girls are comfortable enough to ask me anything and know that I will give them the most honest, unbiased, answer I can.
I don't believe in hiding life from kids, but if a white lie can soften the blow a little bit, to either them or me, you can bet your last dollar I will do it. My girls are the most important thing in my life. They have already dealt with enough in their short lives than any one person shouldn't have to endure. I do the best I can with the help of their father (who is an amazing dad by the way). I only hope it's enough. With all the positive feedback I get, it seems that we are doing okay with this whole parenting business. Thank you again to everyone who wrote in or commented on my confession.
So, does the truth set you free? Yes. That doesn't always mean you feel better. For better or worse though, you are free. No need to hide or keep up the lie. You can deal with the consequences and move on with your life in whatever way you need to.
Kisses
CoreyJo
I received a LOT of feed back about the initial white lie on what happened to the cat. All of it was great advice and points of view. It really made me think. Why did I lie about what happened to the cat? Was it for them.... me... or both? And was it worth the guilt I felt about lying to them? I'd have to say, yes - yes - and Yes! I lied for them because with all the death they have had to deal with in the last 4-5 years I wanted to soften the blow to them. I lied for me because I didn't have the heart to crush them like that. I mean how horrible is it to tell your kids, "Say bye to your kitty, I'm gonna go have her killed now."? Having the cat sent to an animal shelter that helps sick animals get better and then adopted was much better. Also having the "doctors" at said shelter determining she was in too much pain and not able to be fixed was less of a blow. I also lied for me because I didn't want to be the bad guy yet again. It was bad enough I said she had to go because she wouldn't use the cat box. I didn't want to be the one to have her die too. (that's where the cowardice comes into play). Was it worth the guilt? You bet your ass it was! I won't hide death from my kids. Hell I don't have to. They know full well what death is all about first hand. Anything I can do to help soften the blow to my kids I will most certainly do. I have told them the truth about what happened to the cat, even if I did lie, again, about who decided it. Like one follower said, kids are resilient. They have bounced back as I had only hoped they would.
Overall I'm happy with the outcome of this whole episode. I generally don't lie to my kids about stuff. As a matter of fact, most of my friends & family think I'm a bit too honest with them. I feel that if I'm honest with them they have a better shot at living a more balanced life. No matter what it's about... boys, our bodies, morals... I feel that if I tell the blunt truth to the best of my knowledge they will have an advantage in life. They won't be guessing about it or wondering if what they heard in the locker room after gym class is true or not. If I can make them aware of how things are then they will be better able to make sound judgement calls. Like "How does the baby get out of her belly, Mommy?". I told my then 4 year old the truth... " It comes out of the girls crotch." To which she replied with abject horror, "Oh My God! Yuck! I'm not doing that!". Now when it comes time to have the sex talk with her I will remind her that pregnancy can be a consequence of having sex no matter how much "protection" you use, and she will remember where that baby come out at and hopefully wait to have sex... If I feel they aren't old enough to know the answer to a question I just tell them that I will tell them when they need to know. Will my bluntness all work out the way I hope? Maybe, maybe not, only time will tell. I can only hope that my girls are comfortable enough to ask me anything and know that I will give them the most honest, unbiased, answer I can.
I don't believe in hiding life from kids, but if a white lie can soften the blow a little bit, to either them or me, you can bet your last dollar I will do it. My girls are the most important thing in my life. They have already dealt with enough in their short lives than any one person shouldn't have to endure. I do the best I can with the help of their father (who is an amazing dad by the way). I only hope it's enough. With all the positive feedback I get, it seems that we are doing okay with this whole parenting business. Thank you again to everyone who wrote in or commented on my confession.
So, does the truth set you free? Yes. That doesn't always mean you feel better. For better or worse though, you are free. No need to hide or keep up the lie. You can deal with the consequences and move on with your life in whatever way you need to.
Kisses
CoreyJo
Haiku Monday: Bayou
Lately it seems that there just isn't enough time to sit and let the words for a haiku flow. I read the theme and nothing comes to me, or I just can't find the time to get online and post. For whatever reason this week once I read the theme, Bayou, thoughts & feelings started swirling in my mind.... I could feel something inside churning to get out and be heard. I just had to make the time to post! It may not be my best and it may not be my worst, but here it is:
Steamy sultry mire,
Swirling mists lure you deeper.
Voodoo mans magic.
CoreyJo
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| Photo courtesy of: Disney's The Princess & the Frog |
The wonderfully talented & witty Rafa, from Ramblings From My Typer, is this weeks host. Be sure to pop on over and check out the competition. Good luck to all!
Kisses
CoreyJo
7/19/13
Twist the knife...
Earlier today I posted some confessions. One of them being how I lied to the girls about the cat being euthanized (I plan on telling them of her "passing" this next week). Anyways, we went out to dinner to a Chinese buffet tonight. This particular restaurant has a koi pond, at the reception area, where you can toss in a coin. The girls both toss their coins each visit and make their wishes. The last time we went, Kiera (the short midget, 8), wished that her sister Maggie Alice "could be here with us For Real to play with, not be an angel." OH MY GOD!! Break my heart all over again why don't cha!! I had a heart to heart with her and basically told her to try to be happy that her sister is in heaven where she no longer has health issues and to try to wish for something that may be possible, like a new doll or a trip to the movies this weekend. I was hoping that our little chat worked. Well it did, but it didn't.... She told me tonight that her wish was that "Bonnie (our cat who was just euthanized who she temporarily thinks is at a shelter to get better & then adopted) wasn't sick anymore even though she can't come home because she won't use the litter box anymore." DEAR SWEET MARY, MOTHER OF JESUS!! Twist the knife a little more in my guilt for lying to the kids about what happened to the cat!! FFS! I can't seem to get a break these days! Oh well, such is life. Right? Hopefully things won't be too bad and having a pool will help distract the girls once I tell them that their cat has passed on to Heaven... Maybe I should have tossed in a coin and made a wish....
Kisses
CoreyJo
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