Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Why I go Black Friday Shopping

I love facebook for the reasons that I can keep up with people in a busy time in all of our lives that I would otherwise never know anything about but lately it has been getting on my nerves.
I am going to jump off the subject for a second with an example of what I am talking about.  There are all the time these status updates saying things like "Quit sending me Candy Crush request.  I actually work for a living and don't have time like you to play".  First off, I don't send request, the game automatically does that.  Second, I do play....I play while setting for endless hours in the pediatricians office.  I play while waiting in the car rider line to pick my kids up from school every single day.  I play at night when I go to bed at 1:00 AM and still can't seem to fall asleep because I have my business on my brain.  Believe it or not, I don't set around and play all day while you are out working hard.  I work too.  I run a business.  I work at that business.  I take my kids to school, pick them up, go to every Dr.'s visit with them, do homework with them, cook them meals, play with them, take them to sports and dance, clean my house (sometimes:), do all the laundry, give my husband some attention and at the end of every single night when you go to bed, I start working yet again in to the wee hours of the night on the business I love.  So rest assured that I'm not chilling and playing Candy Crush all day while you have a life and I don't.
 Now on to the real subject:)  So many people have been posting on facebook lately about how awful people are for going Black Friday shopping.  They say "you should be with your family" and "you are part of the problem".  First off, I promise you that I don't miss a single family gathering on Thanksgiving to go Black Friday shopping.  I even let others comments get to me so much on facebook that I felt like I needed to ask me husband yet again if it bothered him that I went shopping that night.  He rolled his eyes and said he would be in bed, along with my children, so why did he care.  Oh, OK!  The internet just made it seem like I was doing something wrong....stupid internet.
Not all shoppers that go that night are these hardcore stampeding maniacs that you hear about on the news.  In fact, if you have ever been you will know that most of the people going that night aren't like that at all.  I can tell you I run in to more friendly people than I do crazy ones that night.  We socialize with others in the long lines and by the time we checkout, we know a little about each other.Who knows, I may be the only conversation that person got to have in person that day.
I don't go that night to fight people, be mean, or to be a way from my family.  I go that night b/c it is a good excuse to go shopping with my sister and two of my friends.  I go that night b/c it is the only time the whole entire year that I do anything like that with my sister.  We shop and maybe find a few good deals but we also go eat, talk and have time together.  So to be honest, I am spending time with my family....my sister.  My sister who has six kids and very little free time.  My two friends that are so busy with their own lives, we don't get to see each other much but every year we know that we will at least get a kid free and peaceful meal together at the IHOP on Black Friday.  In fact, if you take the time to speak to some of the people in the line around you while waiting to checkout, you will find that 90% of them are shopping with their mothers, sisters, grown children and aunts that they probably don't have much alone time with all year long except this one night.  For a lot of people it is a tradition.  It isn't that we have this evil plot to make people work on Thanksgiving.  I can assure you that if I stayed home this year and didn't shop, Target will still open up at 8:00 PM on Thanksgiving and never miss my small purchase not one bit. 

The moral of the story is stop judging people for what they do.  Being rude about others decisions is not going to make you happy, it is just going to make you a grumpy pants.  You have no idea why someone is going shopping.  Maybe they really do have to go just to be able to afford that special gift for their child.  Maybe they go for the reasons I do, time with people I care about without the children.  Maybe they just want some adult time.  Maybe they are just going to make you mad.  No matter the reason, you know nothing about it.  You choose to stay home....great!  I'm not talking all horrible about you like you are the reason the economy sucks b/c you won't go shopping on Black Friday (slow your roll, I know that isn't the reason just like I know that I'm not the only reason stores are opening on Thanksgiving evening).
You enjoy your time doing whatever you are doing and I will enjoy my time with my sister and friends while shopping and eating without a kid needing me to help them blow their nose or watch them throw a fit in the middle of the store b/c I won't buy them anything.  It is my peaceful time, believe it or not.

May you all have a wonderful and happy Thanksgiving doing whatever you choose to do!

Friday, November 1, 2013

Famous Friday!!!

I am a Kardashian fan...don't judge!!!  But I have to say that this picture on TMZ  is the best picture I have ever laid eyes on.  Honey Boo Boo's family dressed up as Kardashians.  
THE BEST!
Happy Happy Friday folks!

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Humans of New York

Happy Hump Day!

I don't like a lot of crazy stuff on facebook b/c I don't want to have all kinds of crazy stuff showing up on my news feed.  A while back, a friend posted something about following Humans of New York on facebook.  I was intrigued and liked the page.  I absolutely love it.  Some of the daily post are so inspiring, some are just reality and some just make me smile.

One that has not only been inspiring to me recenlty but has also made me smile is one that was posted yesterday about a man that, along with his wife, had adopted a daughter from Ethiopia.  He randomly had a conversation with the photographer of Humans of New York and that prompted them to post his picture and do a very quick fundraiser to help him raise some money to go toward their second adoption in Ethiopia.
The goal was to raise $26,000.  I seriously can not stop going to the page and refreshing it.  It makes my heart want to explode.  
As of this second they have officially raised $77,581 in just at 24 hours!!!!  It is amazing the people that are out there that will help in any way that they can. Anything over the $26,000 raised will go toward the education of both of their adopted children.  How amazing is that???  It just goes to show you that God can make a simple conversation, change your life!

Check out the facebook page at 

Here is the Fundraiser page

I just love it!

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Happy Fall Y'all

This year was the first year in a long time that we haven't done the whole pumpkin patch thing.  I think the kids were a little sad about it but we just kind of ran out of time.  Plus we felt like that since we took them to the mountains and Dollywood for a weekend, some great big Aldi pumpkins would just have to do.

Instead of having the big old mess of pumpkin carving this year, I ruined Halloween yet again by only giving an option of painting pumpkins.  Their world came crashing down until they realized how fun painting a pumpkin all by their self could be....such a bad mama I am!

I usually love fall but this year I am totally missing my flip flops and gym shorts so I have been slacking in the fall fun area.  Truth is, I never really pushed fall activities until the October that we lost our precious baby boy.  That year was the first year we went to a pumpkin patch even though Ry was pushing four years old.  It was excruciating as I watched pregnant women and new born babies pass me by.  The next year we had Tegan and that helped to ease the pain but honestly, this time of year will never be easy on me.  Filling it up with busy days will never fill me up the way I need to be.  This year I was tired.  Tired of pushing myself to do things that will forever be my reminder....as if I need one.  So I decided not to force myself.  My kids didn't understand but I don't expect them to, or anyone to understand.  Seven years have passed me by.  While time heals it also takes me further away from him while yet getting me closer to him in heaven.  I read the following words on another blog that another mother with a loss wrote....no truer words have ever been wrote:



I am a different woman in my loss and grief and there is an inner struggle with the old me. I had to learn several boundaries and continue to learn more of what I can and cannot do.

GOD blessed me so much on this earth. This should be enough, right? But inside I still crave more because of the emptiness Reese (her daughter) left behind. Right now GOD uses this to make me hunger for Heaven and not be content in this world. This world is not my home.
wrote by Katie's Keeper
 
I know that I am beyond blessed with my two perfect and healthy children.  My cup runneth over when I see those awesome blessings in front of me.  They make every single day worth living and if I had to trade one child to get these two, I would do it over and over again.
Tegan wasn't having any part of the picture.  He was tired and being a meany pants but I finally caught a picture of him not looking like the devil.

Now I'm ready for Christmas.  My most favorite time ever!
Now if only I can locate some money to Christmas shop:)

Thursday, October 24, 2013

Throwback Thursday

I can't believe my babies use to be so little:(

and that I looked so young!!!

Gatlinburg and Dollywood

For six days, my little man ran a fever.  I took him to the doctor and heard the dreaded words..."It is just viral and has to run its course".  I was so worried because we had a trip planned for the following weekend and I just knew it wasn't going to get to happen. He would be fine during the day and then spike a fever and throw up once at night. The night before we were suppose to leave, the same thing happened but being the great mother I am, I stocked up on fever meds, package our bags and told him to push through:)

Push through he did.  The mountain air must have been exactly what he needed b/c he never got sick again.  We spent a quick little weekend at a super nice condo right in downtown Gatlinburg.  We got up first thing Saturday morning to head to Dollywood.  The bonus of the day was that I woke up with no voice....no voice at all!  I could only whisper for most of Saturday but as I had told Tegan, I had to push through.  

We got to Dollywood when they opened at 9:00 am and didn't leave until 7:00 pm.  It was a long day but so much fun.  I had that moment while we were there....the one where it hit me that my kids were at a great age.  No one cried and whined.  They could get on most all of the rides.  I didn't have to carry anyone. 
It was just a perfect day for all of us.  Now we were tired by the time we finally made it back to the car but it was well worth it.  Ten hours of fun was had by all!!!

Of course I posted all my pictures on Instagram and didn't share them with the facebook world so now I can't get them to upload from my phone and I can't copy them off of Instagram:(

Taking that weekend trip to the mountains was one of the best things we could of done.  We made lots of great memories and just focused on our babies!  It made my heart happy!

Friday, October 4, 2013

Ahhh....This Day!

I am trying very hard to teach my kids to not let the difficulties of life control them and make them become bitter.  As morbid as it sounds, I tell Rylee (Tegan doesn't get it yet) often that if something devastating ever happens to me, the very last thing I want for her to do is become angry and a victim of her situation.  It is just amazing at what God teaches us through challenges and triumphs.

To say that I have ever felt angry over having to bury my baby boy would be a stretch but a victim would be an understatement.  I had to learn to not be a victim because I lost something that was truly never mine.  My whole life changed that day.  In the past couple of years I decided that I would let that sweet boy's brief time change me but not define me and that is exactly what I pray for every day.  Every prayer that I pray, I praise God for this baby.  I praise God that he let me borrow him, I praise God that he took him so that he never knew a life without the goodness of heaven, and I praise God that he got me through it.
It is amazing to me at how fast 7 years has flown by.  There was a point when I was holding this boy that I closed my eyes and prayed for it to be a year from then because time would be the only thing that would make it better.  The thing is, I have adjusted and I do very very well for what I have been through but every single day of my life, there is a piece of me missing.  Every family picture, every family trip, every day....there is just something missing and that will never change for me no matter what I do to fill that void.  But you know what, I survive those days, months and all 7 of these years.  I still cry from time to time.  I still wonder.  I still look at Tegan and wonder if Cohen is somewhere inside of him or would have been just like him because let's face it, all those Minish boys are one in the same....I know, I'm raising one and married to one:)

To the boy that will forever be my baby....
We are another year closer to each other.  I have never looked forward to anything more than I do getting to see you again one day!