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Nov
14
My husband and sons just drove off for a weekend Scout camp out. I’d be doing a happy dance, but just getting them out the door is hard work. In case you haven’t met my son, let me tell you something about him. He never does anything willingly. He mopes and groans and gripes about everything, like this camp out. But he’ll come home Sunday all smiles, telling me what a great time he had. He does this all the time, for pretty much every activity. We’re used to him, but we also get annoyed with the requisite moping. So we ignore him. And I told my husband to try to have the patience of a saint on the drive to the campsite.
So I have 2 days to myself. Just me and the dog, and all he wants to do is sleep. I have to work, but I don’t mind working when I’m home alone. No distractions, no feeling guilty for working while the kids are home.
But, if I didn’t have to work, what would I do? Hmm, that’s like asking yourself, what would you do if you won the lottery. You know it won’t happen, but it’s so fun to dream. If my family was gone and I didn’t have to work, I would spend the first night chilling out. I’d rent a movie, get some yummy snacks and curl up with a blanket. Then I’d sleep in, til at least 9 - if you have kids you know that sleeping til 9 is a luxury that doesn’t happen too often.
For my 2nd dream day without the family, I would take some time for me. Get my hair done, read a book, nap, whatever I wanted. Then that evening I’d grab a friend or two, and get dinner or movie, or both. I don’t know about you, but for me, a weekend like that would be like winning the lottery.
Just thinking about such a nice weekend has inspired me. Leave me a comment telling me what you’d do if your family left you alone for 2 days. Dream big, and give me details, what movie would you see, what book would you read, what spa treatment would you indulge in. I want to live vicariously through you!
Now for the giveaway part. I’m giving away a $50 Visa gift card to one lucky commenter.
To enter:
Please leave a comment describing how you would spend a weekend without your family.
I will pick the winner using the random.org generator and will notify them via email. Open to US addresses only. It’s one entry per person, but you can earn extra entries.
To earn extra entries:
- Subscribe to my feed You can subscribe through a feed reader or you can also subscribe by email and have posts sent to your email address.
- Mention this giveaway on your blog with a link back here.
Please leave 1 extra comment for each additional entry, telling me which you have done (ie 1 extra comment if you subscribe, 1 extra comment if you mention this on your blog)
This giveaway will end on Monday November 17 at midnight. This giveaway has ended, look for the winner announcement once I get an email from them. Thank you everyone who entered, great ideas for a weekend without the kids!
I can’t wait to read your comments. Someday we’ll get to have that dream weekend, so it never hurts to plan ahead.
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Oct
28
My 13 year old went to a youth group party last Saturday. A hayride and bonfire party. My husband and I both took him, because we had some errands to run after we dropped him off. He was so nervous about all of his friends actually seeing him in the same car with his parents. Can you imagine the humiliation?
He actually asked if we could drop him off at the driveway. Normally we would, but this house had a long gravel driveway, about 1/4 of a mile! So no, we insisted on driving him all the way up to the house. I could tell he was ready to jump out of the moving car, anything to avoid being seen with us.
There were quite a few kids already there, and they were in groups, girls with girls and boys with boys. A group of girls was standing close to where we dropped him off, talking and laughing. Tanner got out and started walking up towards his friends, and I heard something that made my heart stop.
One of the girls said, “Oh here comes Tanner”. Now, that might not sound bad, but she said it and giggled. In a very giggly, girly way. The way you do when you like a boy, or think he’s cute (I know cute is probably not a word they use these days, but I’m out of touch with the correct terminology). Many, many years ago, I was a teenage girl, and I remember what the giggle means.
What happened to girls thinking boys were gross, and boys thinking girls had cooties? When did we go from that to giggles? Oh help me, I am so not ready for this new frontier. Not at all.
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Oct
20
My kids are on fall break. For some reason, this is the signal for my body to break down and get sick. I have so many fond memories of lying on the couch, miserable, while my kids were on fall break. Seasonal allergies wait all year, then bombard me right about now.
As soon as fall break is over, and they’re back in school and I’m back to work, I’ll be well. I guess I’m allergic to having my kids on an extended break from school.
My oldest spent the night with a friend, so Nolan and I were on our own. I prefer to lie on the couch and moan when I feel like this, but Nolan didn’t approve of that plan. So, we did a little pumpkin carving.
I know it’s hard to tell in the bright sun, but that’s a pretty fine looking skull and crossbones. We’ve been carving pumpkins using those store bought kits for years. This time Nolan did it all himself. I sat and moaned supervised, but he is the pumpkin carving master.
After the pumpkin carving, I got a call that Nolan had won something, and we could come and pick it up. My first thought was, woohoo a flat screen TV! But that wasn’t it. He was just as happy with what he won, though.
In case you’re thinking this is an ordinary Sugar Daddy, let me show you the real reason why my son was soooo happy with his prize.
That’s right, it was super mega size Sugar Daddy. A full pound of artery hardening, tooth decaying goodness. You would have thought he won the lottery, he was that happy. He was a little concerned that there might not be enough to share with his brother - seriously. This is one candy loving boy.
So even though I was a sick, whiny baby, we had a good day. And eventually my medication will kick in and I’ll be back to normal. Or I could just eat some of that monster size candy bar, and collapse in a sugar coma. Decisions, decisions.
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Oct
4
This is my first contribution to Straight Out of the Camera Saturday, from Slurping Life. Here’s my straight out of the camera shot from when we were in Branson last weekend. My son is sitting in some crazy contraption at Ripley’s Believe It or Not Museum.
I loved the nature trails, canoeing, anything outdoors, but my kids absolutely loved this museum. Definitely worth checking out if you’re ever in Branson.
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Sep
29
We are back from our little weekend getaway. It seems that when we travel with the kids we always come home more tired than when we left, but it’s a good kind of tired. Not a “I’ve been scrubbing the floors all day” kind of tired, but just worn out from good old fashioned fun.
My husband’s conference was in Branson, Missouri. We had a bit of a drive to get there but my sons and I met him there Friday. We’ve been before, so this time we decided we didn’t want to do the big amusement park. We just wanted to soak up the outdoors, maybe do a museum, and swim in the hotel pool. It was nice and relaxing.
The closer we got to Branson the more beautiful the scenery was. I was trying to drive and look around, telling my kids to look too. All my teenager had to say, as we were driving through the gorgeous hills, was “I’m not getting a signal, I’m missing my text messages!”. Oh puleeze!
My husband and sons canoeing on the lake, very early in the morning. This was worth it to miss a little sleep.
Nolan enjoying the pool.
This was a lovely scenic nature trail by our hotel. We are a nature trail kind of family, always seeking them out. Nolan and my husband always take off, breakneck speed, trying to beat each other to the finish. I don’t think that’s the purpose of a nature trail, so Tanner and I mosey along at our own speed, talking and taking pictures.
I’m not a skilled photographer, obviously, but I’m proud of this little flower picture. I’d been messing around with my camera all along that nature trail, and this is one of the pictures I really love.
My favorite moments from trips like this come from the stolen moments, like on the nature walk when Tanner felt comfortable enough to really talk to me about school, or when he proudly took me out on the lake and showed me the canoeing skills he learned at Boy Scout camp, or getting one of those great, tight, little boy hugs from Nolan, just because he was so happy to be there. Those moments don’t happen too often in the hustle of daily life. So I cherish them when they do come along.
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Jun
21
5 Minutes for Mom is giving away 5 Little Scholastic Summer Goodie Bags, perfect for getting some reading time in this summer. They’re also giving away The Suite Life of Zach & Cody: Lip Synchin’ in the Rain DVD.
Scribbit is giving away a beautiful image case necklace, I’d love to win that myself! She’s also giving away a fun 2nd place prize as well, be sure to check that out. Enter by 12am Monday June 23.
I’m planning a fun Unexpected Bliss giveaway for next week, so check back for that.
Enjoy the weekend.
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Jun
2
Remember all those things I love about summer? Well, how about a few things I don’t love so much.
We’ll start with the sound of children bickering alot, which can quickly escalate to yelling and (gasp) possibly even physical violence. Yes, my boys have gotten into some ugly fights, you wouldn’t even guess it started because one had more oreos that the other one. Pretty serious issues, I’d probably throw a punch over an oreo too.
But the worst thing, the thing I hate the most, would be hearing the words I’m bored come out of a child’s mouth - on the 2nd full day of summer break. Oh no he didn’t! But he did, and he probably will again, soon.
I honestly don’t know how to deal with the “I’m bored” problem. We have tons of games, electronic devices, art supplies, and even, as a last resort, books to read. And occasionally I will take them out of the house to do something fun, like swimming or a trip to the zoo. No, I haven’t done those things yet, because it’s the 2nd day of summer break! But my kids aren’t stuck at home with nothing to do. They even have friends in the neighborhood, they can get together with them anytime. So I’m truly not an ogre mom. But they’re still bored, and we’re just getting started.
I have a friend, a wonderful mom, whose kids got out of school before mine. She spent that first week going to a different fun place every day. It was the water park one day, zoo the next, a fun filled week. I did not do that, nor do I plan to. It’s my theory, which is probably related to my own lazy gene, that they might be ready for some serious down time, sleeping late time, where they have no obligations. I give them this first week to do nothing. Because pretty soon it will be time for baseball camp, Boy Scout camp, band camp, and they’re back in the race.
I really think they need a couple days of rest, and I’m not just saying that because I need the rest. I think they need time to get back in the groove of just being kids, time to just play and not always be getting ready to go to the next activity. Time to slow down a bit.
I think that in a day or two, they’ll start to play together again, without so much bickering, and they’ll start to find ways to entertain themselves. For a little while at least. That is my hope, or else it’s going to be a very long summer.
And if not I can always tell them what my mom told me when I was a kid, “If you’re so bored that you can’t find anything to do, I’ve got a bathroom floor that needs scrubbed.” That should solve the problem.
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Apr
15
Finally.
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