Frazzled LaShawn

Chevy Converted Me…

November 10, 2009 at 8:00 am | In Photography, Super Cool Events | 2 Comments

Sunday I had an amazing opportunity. Thanks to Burbmom.net (which is a fabulous website that you must check out and be sure and read MY stuff on there) and Chevy, I was able to attend the NASCAR race at Texas Motor Speedway in VIP style.

I am convinced that VIP is the only way to go. Chevy was awesome about the whole thing. I mean even the port-a-potty was schmancy (it IS a word).

I should mention now that I was accompanied in all of my shenanigans by the lovely Andie and Allie. I am pretty sure Chevy tried to not allow us all to come on the same day, but we found a way around that. I kid I kid. But, we are a little……different. That’s Allie in the bathroom. She took our picture too. Allie just bought her first DSLR camera, Andie is a FABULOUS photographer and well we all know that I take more pictures than is EVER necessary. So you can just imagine how big of a pain in the rear we can be when we team up.

We even brought out “good” equipment.

Oh yea, back to Chevy and NASCAR. My parents are NASCAR fans. My brother is a NASCAR fan. I have never really gotten into it. I knew a little about it before this weekend. But watching cars drive around in a circle has rarely been my idea of fun. When I was invited to go I thought it was a good time to check out an actual race. A funny thing happened.

I got converted.

I freaking LOVE NASCAR.

No one told me it was not just a race…it is an entire experience.

Let’s start from the beginning. Andie, Allie and I all rode together, in my Chevy Suburban. I felt good about knowing that I was showing up as a guest of Chevy in a Chevy. It’s good symmetry. We went into the Chevy Village of Champions to see what kind of trouble we could get into. First off…there was this lovely photo-op. I mean how can anyone NOT love a Corvette.

(Photo by : www.aejephotography.com)

While we are talking Vettes, can someone please add this to my Christmas list?

About the time I took the above photo I smelled a very familiar smell….dirt bikes. My brother raced motocross for many years and I love the smell…love it.

Chevy was kind enough to allow us to go on a Pit Tour, which was really quite cool. I learned that tires are FASCINATING.

While in the pits I saw the #9 car of Kasey Kahne. I had to snap the picture knowing that Kasey is my mom’s favorite driver (she was covered in head to toe #9 while at the races that day).

Next up: Why I love Clint Bowyer.

One of my favorite things…

It has been madness around here lately. Last minute road trips and getting ready for THE MOVE! The move is actually looking like it is going to happen 10 days or so sooner than we had planned. This is good and bad. Good because I am so ready to be in my new house…Bad because I have not really packed much yet.

Here is the latest picture of the outside of the house….it is pretty much done:

The thing most people have asked to see is THE PANTRY!!! This pantry was actually a HUGE selling point for me. I like to buy bulk and I always run out of room to store things. Plus I have lots of kitchen gadgets and such. When Jason and I first saw another house in this neighborhood with this pantry he said, “Wow, lots of wasted space.” What did I say?

SOLD! When can we move in.

A tour:

Looking in standing in the kitchen.

It is DEEP.

Pretty awesome huh? AHHH, but there’s more! Walk in and turn to your right.

We are still not done.

It’s just so pretty.

Ch-Ch-Changes….

October 26, 2009 at 8:18 am | In Crazy Woman with ALLLLL those kids, Family, Goals, House construction craziness | 1 Comment

We are about a month away from moving into our brand new home. I am very excited about this. Not excited enough to pack up my kitchen yet though. It needs to be done. Volunteers?

Speaking of kitchens. Here is a sneak peek of my yet to be finished kitchen. I think I’m in love!

I have been evaluating things that are working for us as a family and things that are not. My plan is that new changes I would like to make will be implemented in the new house. My thinking is that it will be easier to say, “New House, New Rules”. Some of the changes are small and not that big of a deal. Such as, no drinks, even water, outside of the kitchen. Now that Evan is almost two I am including sippy cups in this as well.

Some of the other changes will take more time to implement. Jason and I have both decided that in the new house our room will be off-limits for the most part. Our room has turned into Grand Central Station. I am not sure how that happened, but it has. That is a major change that will take a lot of reminding on our parts to get that to be a habit. We are also changing our chore system and refining the way we “do school”. The biggest change is going to be bedtime routine for the two littlest ones. We have let them get into some bad habits where that is concerned and it is time to remedy it.

I am so ready for CHANGE!!!!

Sometimes Quiet is Better…

October 20, 2009 at 12:02 pm | In Crazy Woman with ALLLLL those kids, Homeschooling, Kids, life ramblings | 2 Comments

I’m a talker.

Anyone who knows me in real life is not surprised by that statement. The running joke is that I came out of the womb talking. Only it isn’t really a joke. I am loud, I talk to myself, and yes, I even answer myself on occasion. I talk back to the news and I sing constantly.

Imagine my surprise when I woke up yesterday morning and in the place of my voice was a squeaky air filled sound. Much like a whisper but with squeaking. Laryngitis has set up residence in my throat.

At first it was quite comical. My mom called me to hear what LaShawn with no voice sounded like. In 29 years this has never happened. I have had my share of sore throats and have gone hoarse after concerts. Silence? Never.

It has been interesting parenting without much of a voice. My children are used to Loud Mom. This Quiet Mom thing has them a little confused. Especially my 3 and 2 year olds. I am using a lot of hand gestures and glares. Thankfully I have a pretty good glare. Since I homeschool my kids I have had to get creative. My older boys can read well so having them read what I am supposed to out loud is helpful as I can only interject when needed. The little ones and I have done a lot of drawing and hands on play that doesn’t involve me talking a lot.

I have learned something through all of this. I yell too much. The fact that I CAN’T yell and my kids are behaving pretty well points to the fact that when I do yell it isn’t doing much good. I am naturally loud so yelling comes way too easily. Mom of the Year, right? I have had to work extra hard to get their attention and calmly squeak out my corrections. Guess what? It works most (of the time).

Once my voice returns I hope I can remember that my kids actually do listen to me….even when it is squeaked out. I am sure my kids will appreciate a little less yelling. I think I will appreciate having to yell less.

Just me and my boys…

October 12, 2009 at 3:48 pm | In Crazy Woman with ALLLLL those kids, Family, Food, Kids, Photography | 3 Comments

So, Daddy is away on a trip (that will hopefully get its own post when he gets back). So it has just been me and the boys. The weather here has been cloudy and dreary for weeks now. Seriously, the sun has abandoned Texas. I love the cooler weather, but I would like the sun to return. Any time now.

I tend to be very disorganized and a little scatter brained when my husband is gone. I am not sure why that is. Maybe it is the lack of routine of Jason coming home in the evenings. I am not sure. During this time of disorganization and insanity I sometimes forget to grocery shop (forget=don’t feel like it). So we woke up Sunday morning to a house with no milk, no eggs, no cereal, and no syrup. Mom of the Year anyone? So, I loaded the boys up pjs and all in the car for a bit of a road trip. I love Rudy’s BBQ. There happens to be one near where we are building our new house. They have killer breakfast tacos. Oh so yummy. Who says brisket isn’t for breakfast?

Breakfast in our PJs and a BBQ joint…yup pretty good Sunday morning.

Brodie obviously was digging it…

He stopped just short of licking the table…just short.

Austin was too mesmerized by the hunting program on the TV to realize he ate three tacos….so good.

Zoo Day…

October 6, 2009 at 11:17 am | In Animals, Crazy Woman with ALLLLL those kids, Homeschooling, Kids, Photography | 1 Comment

As if we needed more reasons to love homeschooling, I have found another. We went to the zoo Friday and it was EMPTY. We got there right when it opened and had the whole place to ourselves for almost two hours. It was awesome. We have a yearly pass and will definitely be making more weekday morning trips.

We had an up close and personal conversation with the gorillas without feeling rushed to move on. If you know Chase, then you know this is pretty much the highlight of his life right here:

My kids fit right in at the zoo….monkeys that they are.

I can’t help it…

September 23, 2009 at 2:31 pm | In Crazy Woman with ALLLLL those kids, Family, Kids, Photography, life ramblings | 3 Comments

Saturday evening I found myself sitting at church watching babies parade across the stage. Before you get the wrong idea about our church…there are not baby pageants going on. No, it was just baby dedications. I love the idea behind baby dedications. I love watching as new parents come on stage with their new little bundles of joy.

I usually sit happily through the dedications.

This time I cried.

I didn’t sob or get hysterical, but I did cry. I was surprised at my reaction and couldn’t quite figure out where it was coming from. I thought at first I was just overtaken by the beauty of the symbolic moment.

Then it hit me…the pang in my ovaries gave it away.

I was getting sad. Evan is almost two years old and definitely not a baby anymore. I have always told people in a perfect world I would have about 6 kids. But, alas, four is where we stop. 99% of the time I am totally OK with stopping at four.

That 1% crept up at a bad time. In the middle of church during baby dedications.

That feeling has stayed with me all week. Then today, Evan took off his diaper and pooped in the floor.

99% is back…no more babies.

Books…

September 15, 2009 at 6:29 pm | In Crazy Woman with ALLLLL those kids, Family, Homeschooling, Kids, Photography | 1 Comment

Books have always been a big deal to Austin. From the time he was old enough to sit up he has always been surrounded by books. Thankfully all of his brothers also love books. Announce that we are going to the library and everyone gets very excited.

We are lucky that we have a really great library in our town. The children’s section is big and bright and offers a large window seat for kids to sit on and look through their new found treasures.

Chase, while usually excited by the library, was particularly good this trip. He was quite serious about his book hunt. Then he discovered the pillows. He wanted to take the pillows home with him.

My favorite part is watching their curiosity as they scour the shelves.

I love the smell of books.

Hard…

September 11, 2009 at 1:00 am | In Family, Kids | 2 Comments

It is easy for me to say that September 11, 2001 was one of the most profound days of my life. I remember getting up that morning to get ready for work and turning on the news. I lived in California at the time and it was really early in the morning. I watched as The Today Show hosts talked about what seemed to be a tragic accident in which an airplane crashed into one of the towers of the World Trade Center. I then watched live as the second plane hit and knew everything was somehow different now. I instantly knew that something was very wrong.

My oldest son was only 19 months old on that day and I remember not wanting to drop him off at daycare. I wanted to take him back home with me and crawl into bed and hope that it was all a nightmare.

How do you explain a day like that to a young child? How do you explain such evil to anyone?

When Austin was six years old, his school was going to celebrate “Patriot Day” which prompted our conversation. It was the conversation I had been preparing for, yet dreading for 5 years.

Austin: Mom, what is National Patriot Day?

Me: Well, it is a day to remember what it is to be an American and to honor some special people.

Austin: So is it like the 4th of July?

Me: Sort of. The 4th of July is to celebrate our country’s birthday.

Austin: Oh, so what people do we honor on patriot day?

Me (realizing I need to just tell him about 9/11 before he hears it on the news and gets confused): Well, back on September 11, 2001 something happened. You were just a baby so you don’t remember it. Some very bad men took over some airplanes.

Austin: What do you mean, took over?

Me: They took control of the planes away from the pilots and started to fly them by themselves.

Austin: OK

Me: Those bad men then crashed the planes into two buildings in New York called the World Trade Center. They also crashed one into a building in Washington and another one crashed into a field.

Austin: Why would they do that?

Me (tears coming to my eyes): I don’t know Austin. I wish I did know. See these people don’t like America and they wanted to hurt us. The two towers fell down and a lot of people on the planes and in the buildings died. It was a very, very sad day.

Austin: So Patriot day is about honoring those people?

Me: Yes, it is about honoring those people and their families.

Austin: Then I guess I better pray for their families on Patriot day. I bet they miss them.

Me (about to completely lose it): I think that would be a very nice thing.

Five Years…

September 9, 2009 at 12:52 pm | In Family | Leave a Comment

Five years ago today my divorce was finalized.

That same week I met Jason.

I have often said that God led Jason and I together and I truly do believe it. I also believe that Jason saved me in so many ways. Ways he will never understand. He continues to amaze me with his generosity of spirit and his uncanny ability to make me laugh (even when I don’t want to). He is the most amazing dad, not perfect, but amazing. Most importantly he is totally devoted to me and his family. He accepted me flaws and all.

He continues to save me.

“It’s gotta be this one,
You don’t have to fake it
You know I can take it
What if I told you your tears haven’t been ignored
And everything that was taken can be restored

Feel this
Can you feel this
My heart beating out of my chest
Feel this
Can you feel this
Salvation, under my breath”

lyrics from “Feel This”