2009 June « Frazzled LaShawn

You Capture. Summer.

June 24, 2009 at 9:57 pm | In Photography | 21 Comments

This is my first week participating in You Capture (you need to go read I Should Be Folding Laundry…great blog).

I have to admit I am not a fan of the summer. I don’t like the hot at all. However, I do love some of the sights of summer.

I love bubble blowing after supper.

I love dog piles.

Despite my hate of the heat, I love that early summer has such beauty.

Just a mom…

June 23, 2009 at 9:43 pm | In Crazy Woman with ALLLLL those kids, Family, Goals, Kids, Photography, life ramblings | 4 Comments

I have been on pretty much all sides of the Mommy Wars. You know the Mommy Wars. The constant battle over who has it harder and who is in the right. Who is raising their children the right way and who is ruining their children forever. Yes, those Mommy Wars.

I began as the young mom. I married at 18 and had my first son at age 19. Then, I was a stay at home mom for the first 11 months of my oldest son’s life. After those 11 months I went back to work full time. So I was a working mom. I was also a military wife at the time. Anyone knows that being a mom within the military life is a different world all its own. Then I was the stay at home mom to two. Then back to work. THEN the big one….I was a single, full time working, part time student mom.

Are you still with me?

Then I was the stay at home mom again. Then we added son #3 and son #4. So now I am the stay at home, homeschooling mom of four.

All this to say, I understand where almost every woman is coming from. I understand the need to feel important to yourself and to the world as something other than “just a mom”. I understand that deep down desire to be the most important person in your child’s world. I understand the wanting to stay at home and be with your children as much as possible. I understand the need to have a life of your own outside your home. I understand that sometimes being a mom can be a drag. I also understand there is no more important job in the world. I also know, that no matter what stage of motherhood I have been in I have ALWAYS had terrible guilt about something. Guilt about dropping my kids off with strangers for nine hours a day. Guilt about not feeding them enough vegetables. Guilt about yelling too much or not paying enough attention. Guilt, it’s what we moms do.

So I am here to say that I know that 99.9% of moms are good moms that only want what is best for their children. I believe in my case that is to be a stay at home, homeschooling mom. What is best for you and your kids? I don’t have a clue. I don’t pretend to know. On the same note, no one outside God, me and my husband can dictate what being a good mom to MY kids looks like.

In the end…..my name is LaShawn. I am just a mom.

Cause our Dad is the best..

June 21, 2009 at 1:54 am | In Uncategorized | 1 Comment

WINNER….

June 20, 2009 at 9:36 pm | In Blog Business, EA Sports Active 30 day challenge | 2 Comments

The winner (as determined by Random.org) of the NEW EA Sports Active for Wii is KRISTIN from The Schell Cafe

Kristin has some SERIOUSLY yummy stuff happening over at her blog, check it out!

Thanks for all who entered! Kristin, expect an email shortly!!!

Bubbles…

June 19, 2009 at 9:15 am | In Family, Kids, Photography | Leave a Comment

Dip your pipe and gently blow.

Watch the tiny bubble grow

Big and bigger, round and fat,

Rainbow colored, and then

SPLAT!

~Margaret Hillert

A Giveaway…

June 16, 2009 at 12:57 pm | In Blog Business, EA Sports Active 30 day challenge | 10 Comments

You will remember that I recently posted about the EA Sports Active that I have received. Due to our recent power outage and my extreme laziness I will be restarting my 30 day challenge next week. Want to join me for free?

I have a brand new EA Sports Active to give away to one lucky reader. This thing is really awesome. I will be giving it away to one random commenter.

The rules:

You must own a Wii gaming console (this won’t work with anything else)

You must live in the United States (for shipping reasons).

You must leave a comment by noon (central time) on Saturday, June 2oth.

Comment must contain valid email address.

To enter answer this question: What is one blog you read that you think I should too? (total non-fitness question I know).

GOOD LUCK~

52 Hours…

June 14, 2009 at 7:22 pm | In Family, Useless information, life ramblings | 2 Comments

It was an interesting week for us. Tuesday I got back from taking the older boys to stay with Grandparents and bringing Chase back with me. He had been visiting the prior week. Wednesday the babies and I spent the day doing some grocery shopping and the had Chase’s yearly checkup at the doctor (he got one shot…he did not appreciate it). Wednesday evening some storms began to roll in. We were right in the middle of dinner when the tornado sirens started blaring. The babies and I hunkered down in the bathroom, while Jason roamed the house looking out the windows. Around 7:00pm the lights went out. This isn’t the first time we have lost power during a storm. We assumed the power would be restored within 30 minutes or so. We assumed wrong.

52 hours…

That is how long we were without power. The most frustrating part was not knowing how long it would be. We were not given and estimates during the process of the clean up. There was a confirmed tornado near us. There was a lot of damage of fences and trees near us, but most everyone got their power back within a few hours. Except our neighborhood. Do you know how irritating it is to be sitting in your sweltering house and to know that the people two blocks away have power?

After two HOT nights we finally decided that we didn’t care when the power was coming back on and headed to a hotel. Turns out the power came on sometime around 11:0o pm the night we were at the hotel. But I don’t care. We had a fun time sitting in our SUPER cold hotel room, going swimming and shopping. We stayed at the Embassy Suites that is attached to Bass Pro Shops. It was lovely, we had a good time and came home feeling refreshed. And, I was having such a good time I didn’t take a single picture. Ooops.

We lost all the food in the fridge and all of it in the freezer in the house. However, our deep freeze out in the garage stayed completely frozen. Considering it is filled with deer and boar meat, this is GOOD. We would have hated to have to throw all of that away.

It was a frustrating 52 hours and I hope to never repeat it, but it could have been worse and I know that.

Beware of the Eyes…

June 5, 2009 at 5:57 am | In Kids, Photography | 1 Comment

*Warning staring at this picture too long could cause unwanted baby fever, heat flutters, ovary thumps and uncontrollable sighing.*

Let’s Get Physical…

June 3, 2009 at 2:20 pm | In EA Sports Active 30 day challenge | 5 Comments

So about a month ago I was notified that I would be one of about 500 people to participate in a marketing program for the new EA Sports Active for the Nintendo Wii. I will be doing a 30 day challenge using the EA Sports Active and blogging at various times throughout the 30 days about my experience with it. There is even a chance for YOU to win one FREE!!!

I got my kit yesterday…very exciting.

I have to admit, I love free stuff. Combine that with free stuff plus something to give away makes it all the more exciting. Look at that pretty box.

I hit the mother load!!! Notice there are TWO of the EA Sports Actives included. That makes one for me and one for some lucky reader.

So…I am on Day #2 of my 30 day challenge and let me tell you. This thing WORKS YOU OUT! This is not a “game”. This is an in home personal trainer. I will have more in depth reviews coming soon.

Stay tuned for how you can win you own FREE copy of this new Wii game. Visit EA Sports to find out more about the challenge.

Come on….join me

Passing it on…

June 1, 2009 at 12:10 pm | In Crazy Woman with ALLLLL those kids, Goals, Kids, Photography, life ramblings | 1 Comment

There are obviously certain traits that every parent sees in themselves that they actively pray their children DO NOT inherit. Of course, those traits and habits have a way of bubbling to the surface in our children. I think also the more kids you have the more the possibility of the worst of those traits finding its way to your kids. I spend a lot of time thinking about all the things I don’t want for my kids. I don’t want my kids to be know it alls and have people turn their backs on them because they just can’t handle being told they were wrong for the one millionth time today. I don’t want my kids to not have a good verbal filter and lack tact. There is nothing worse than trying to tell someone something out of love or compassion and having it come off as arrogant and snotty. I don’t want to pass on my terrible insecurity.

I focus on that a lot. The bad things I want my kids to avoid. But, no more. I am going to start thinking of the good things I am passing on to my kids. I see thoughtfulness in my older boys towards their little brothers that is a mimic of me at times. I see creativity that I hope I had a hand in. I see a curiosity about their world that is still a curiosity I posses. The one thing I hope that I will continue to pass on to my kids is a love of reading. A love of discovering new things from book. I want them to know that learning is not confined to an institution or only done in a controlled environment. Learning is life….seeing something that excites you and then searching for information. Learning is living and yes, learning is often best done when pulling yourself out of the mud and the muck and trudging onward.

I just hope they always want to read. Even if it is The Backyardigans.