I Have Arrived.

I took the kids to the beach for a couple days over the holiday weekend.

And I noticed something.

Somewhere along the way, I'm not sure precisely when, I dropped my title of Mom to Young Kids.

Which would mean, I suppose, that I am now a Mom to Older Kids.

Now, most of the time, that still means plenty of busy, just a different kind of busy than you have with Littles. There's a lot more chauffeuring, a lot less hiney-wiping. A lot more arguments, just of a different nature. We now argue about texting plans and piercings and Facebook drama, where we used to argue about which sippy cup they wanted and going potty before we got in the car (actually, we still sometimes have that argument).

But on a day like going to the beach? A LOT less work than it used to be.

They packed their own bags. They loaded the car. They packed up the snacks and drinks and towels and sunblock we would need. They all took care of their own means of entertainment, including any chargers needed. Pillows, sleeping bags, pajamas? Check.

As for the beach itself, I got to park my lazy a** in a beach chair all day. I made no sand castles, I did not need to teach anyone the fine arts of boogie boarding/body surfing/finding sand crabs/looking for the perfect shells. When they wanted to climb the steps of Ol' Barney, I said, here's $3.00, knock yourselves out, while my tired old legs sat themselves down at a picnic table.









Not that I don't miss those days, or look back with fond memories at when we did those things together. But I have earned my time on my throne in the sand.





Of course, now my sister brings her two year old, so I guess I should be doing those things with him.

Nah.... that's what cousins are for.

On a post note, maybe giving the kids all this extra independence isn't such a good thing.
James kept telling me, yesss, he reapplied sunblock. Jheesh, Mom.
He wound up looking like a burn victim.

And Rosie broke her toe on her uncle's trampoline.
And they wonder why my response to their pleas for a trampoline is always a resounding NO.





Oh well. One of these days I'll find the balance...







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Thanks for stopping by!
~Anne


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I'm linking up my post No Strayngers To Strays with the Saturday Pet Blogger Hop over at Life With Dogs today. Check it out!














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Circle of Moms: click the pink badge, scroll down to my blog, and click the thumbs-up button to vote. You can vote every day till June 20th!





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Thanks!

Farm Friday - eggsciting

For all my fellow homesteaders, specifically all you newbies just receiving your first peeps, I wanted to share with you the glory that is finding your first egg.

It will be your time soon....




(written last August)
You'll never guess what's chillin' in my fridge right now.

It's
Small.
Brown.
Perfect.

It was found in the last nesting box in the row in the Hen House.

That's right, uh huh. We got our first egg. James found it on Weds morning.

And I went a little insane.

I was Steve Martin in his celebratory dance when his son caught the winning ball in Parenthood.

I became Jimmy Stewart doing his little parade dance to lock the remaining two dollars in the bank vault in It's a Wonderful Life.

I channelled Tom Hanks after he made fire in Castaway.



From the way I carried on, you'd think I'd laid the egg myself.

I searched the Pinternet in vain to find a crafty way to display my first egg on the wall at the entrance to my home to be preserved for evermore like the first dollar in a Mom and Pop business.

Instead I have taken some photographs.
























The second picture? That's MY EGG sitting pretty and all snuggled up with MY VEGETABLES that I have grown.

I AM SELF-SUFFICIENT!
I AM A HOMESTEADER!
I AM A SUSTAINABLE-LIVING-FREAK!


I will close now. I am off to make a one-egg omelette with tomatos, peppers, scallions, and basil, with some cucumber slices on the side.



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Don't forget, I will love you forever if you throw me a couple votes:

Circle of Moms: click the pink badge, scroll down to my blog, and click the thumbs-up button to vote. You can vote every day till June 20th!





Top Mommy Blogs: You know the drill by now, don't you? Just click the juggling chick and you've voted. You can vote every day till, like forever.



Thanks!


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I'm linking up today's post with the barn hop at Deborah Jean's Dandelion House. Come check it out!

That's My Girl!

So if you stopped in yesterday, you saw a picture of my beautiful daughter Rosie all gussied up for the 8th grade graduation dinner dance (she's on the left, in pink)

Fred didn't get home till after she left for the dance, so he was really looking forward to when she returned home, so he could see how pretty she looked.

I had showed him the pictures on the computer, and we were shaking our heads in disbelief at how grown up she had become, how elegant she looked.

The time finally arrived. From the dogs barking, we knew she had gotten dropped off from her ride.

We heard her shoes clip-clopping as she ran along the deck to the kitchen door.

The door opened and she swirled in in a heartbeat, her cheeks flushed and her dress billowing all around her.

She was a vision of feminine grace.

Fred: Rosie, you look beautiful! How was the dance?
Me: Yes, come sit down and tell us all about it!
Rosie: Can't now. I gotta go change so I can hunt rats with Garrett and James in the barn! Here, hold my fish....

And she was gone. And I was left, quite literally, holding the bag (of the beta fish she won at the dance).



Fred (to me): The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, does it?



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Thanks for stopping by!
~Anne


Hey, guess what? Someone nominated my blog for the Circle of Moms Top 25 Moms of Teens Blog contest! You can vote for me every day till June something (20th?) by clicking on the Circle of Moms badge in my sidebar on the right, then scrolling down till you find my blog, then click on the thumbs-up button. Easy peasy. And while you're there? Give a vote to my friend Samantha from My Barefoot Farm. Thanks to whomever nominated me, and thanks to everyone for your votes!


And of course, as always, throw me a vote on Top Mommy Blogs? Just one click of this button (below) and you've voted. You can vote every day!



Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Wordless Wednesday

My daughter Rosie before her 8th grade graduation dinner-dance....

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Throw me a vote on Top Mommy Blogs? Just one click of this button (below) and you've voted. You can vote every day!



Thank you, thank you, thank you!