NPSA- Great Mother Edition

Hello, My name is Julie and I am a neglectful parent.

Hello, Julie.

Thanks for that nice warm welcome. Today I am going to be talking about something a little off for an NPSA meeting. I want to award a mom with the very first Mother of the Month award. I am sure you are asking yourself, "Why are we having a Mother of the Month award when we are supposed to be celebrating Neglectfulness?" Here is my answer... I have no freakin' clue. I just thought it would be fun for today since we went to an end of the school-year water party.

And the award goes to ..... (drum roll is going- can you hear it???)

Laina!!!!!



(take the button Laina - it is all yours- at least for this month)

Now here is the reason- She ROCKS! I am pretty sure that she will N.E.V.E.R. be a part of my NPSA group. She always has fun things planned. She threw an end of the school-year water party at her house for the younger kids today and it was a blast. And by a blast I mean, all I had to do was show up with my kids in bathing suits and I sat in a comfy chair while she did EVERYTHING. Ya, okay, so I helped pass out the popsicles. Really, I didn't want to strain too much. This is my last day of freedom for a whole 3 months. From now on I will have 4 shadows following me around. I will have those little/loud voices in my head (and coming from the shadows) saying things like

I'm bored.

We never do anything fun.

Can (insert name here) come over?

Can I go over to (insert name here)'s house?

Can we go to the pool?

Why aren't we having swimming lessons?

Why are you still sleeping?

The list can go on and on. These are only a few of the fun things I have to look forward to hearing. Wish there was some way to get the voices to stop!

So here is just a few of the fun pics I snapped as I sat back and had fun, relaxed, visited with friends, and the like.






Theme song- Summertime, Summertime by the Jamies.

On the brighter side of life

After my last post about my deep thoughts and depression I thought I'd add a little goodness to my day. With what you ask????

Oh, just some random pictures I have in my photos that I haven't blogged about. They were making me smile. Thought I'd share a smile with you today.

Right back atcha! Melinda taking a picture of me taking a picture of Melinda. Did you get all that?

What are you looking at? And why are you in the window? And how did you get there over the monster pile of junk that is in the way?

Groovy hat. Been watching Devo lately?

Just so you know what I'm talking about (or you could have clicked on the link).

Don't you just love how baby tights fit? It's like a whole outfit all by itself.

Sherry busting a chuckle during a game. See what fun you can have playing games? (That was a private joke aimed at Hubby- although not so private since I blogged about it on Venus vs. Mars.)

Snake with the crazy Robin Hood snake eyes. Do you remember that part in the Disney Robin Hood film??? Am I the only one? Nevermind.

Okay, so I have posted this one already, but I couldn't help it. It just makes me smile everytime. My bro in the bathtub (NOT taking a bath). If you need the whole story look here.

Ya, that's about it. There are so many more, but do you really need to know that I look through my pictures when I need to smile? Of course you do. This is only a little taste of my joy.

Theme song- yes, how did you know???? Was it the title? Maybe I need to be better at not giving it away in the title. Of course, by the time you get to the end of any post you have already heard the song, so it isn't really a surprise, is it? Anyhoo- Always Look On the Bright Side of Life from Monty Python. Couldn't resist.

Oh the pain

Yes, the pain in my head that is caused by trying to think too much. I have been out of school way too long.

Now that I have that off of my chest, I'd like to tell you all a little story.

Growing up I thought my parents were perfect. No, not perfect in that we had the best relationship, but I thought they never did anything wrong, never had a hard time making good choices. Other than some fights I witnesses, they never even said bad words. So, I thought I had a lot to live up to when I became a mom.

Fast forward to age 33. Yup, that's me. I'm 33 and have had my eyes opened to the real world. The real world where parents make mistakes. I now know that my parents did the best they could, but didn't do it the BEST EVER! There are things that I have tried to improve on as a mom, but seeing as I post about at least one serious parenting weakness every Friday on my NPSA meeting I am not doing a terrific job.

I have my faults, more than even I am willing to admit on a blog that is read by people I haven't ever met (and by those I have). Yes, I will post about my nasty house. I will post about my obsession with tattoos (no, I don't have one!). Yes, I will post about ignoring my kids by putting on my iPod. Yes, I will even post about reading so much that I don't read to my own kids. That's right. I don't read to them. Great admission, don't you think?

There are limits to my admissions, though, believe it or not. I am going to delve a little deep here for a few moments, bare with me. And then we will head for high ground.

I have some seriously deep-seeded issues, some that stem from my childhood and are now affecting my adult life. I was in bed last night until who-knows-when-I-actually-fell-asleep pondering things. Thinking about things that probably are not helpful or healthy. I woke up today wondering why? Why was I allowed to be a parent? Why did Hubby choose me? How am I ever going to get over these issues? Do I really even want to fight the fight anymore?

Okay, now, come up for air. We are all done. Did you survive?

Now that you are all completely and utterly scared, just try walking a day in my brain (or something like that). I hope you come back to visit my blog sometime. I may have lost a lot of you to the brighter side of life- which was not happening in this post.

Oh, and one note for my kids if they ever read this in the future- NOPE! I'm sure not perfect, but I'm sure you already knew that!

Theme song- Talking in your sleep by The Romantics.

With My Genes???

How is this possible?

With my genes and Hubby's genes, how did this happen?

I think I gave birth to a metro!

A what?

A metrosexual.

Snake used more hairspray today on his hair to get ready for church than I did. AND he has been in the bathroom "fixing" it at least 3 times already and we still have time to go before bedtime. Who know, he might get in there a few more times before he goes to sleep.

This picture was taken tonight after one of his own attempts at fixing it all up. He is a groovy looking guy, don't you think?

Theme song- Puttin' on the Ritz by Taco. Love this song- great memories.

What's that from????

Hello everyone. My Name is Julie and I suffer from NPS. Thank you all for being here today. I was just thinking yesterday (because I got some fabulous mail) about my family's favorite game... "What's that from." See, it is a game where we just quote movies and we have to name the movie.

I come from a family of MOVIE-LOVERS. Seriously! If you ever have a movie question my bro is the go-to guy. He is amazing. His head is so full of useless movie quotes that he would so be my life-line if I ever go on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire. (For other useless trivia my dad would be my life-line, but that is a story for another time.)

We watched The Wonderful World of Disney every Sunday night growing up. We watched TONS of on TV movies, too, throughout the week. I sometimes wonder if we ever did anything else (but of course we did- I just don't remember all that like I remember the movies).

Here is where my NPS comes in... I let my kids watch movies. Yes, movies that apparently I shouldn't. I'm not talking XXX type movies. Not even rated R. I'm talking just more violent movies that make other parents give me the "you so shouldn't have been allowed to have kids" look. I thought I was just being a nice parent. Not too overbearing. Toughen up those kids. I don't want them to be scaredycats. So here are the movies apparently not on the "Good Parenting Movie List" but are in my family's DVD collection (just a few to wet your appetite for a good flick).

Now this one is just funny. I highly recommend it if you can get it. Now that I am older I totally get the "adult" jokes, but my kids still don't so it's okay to let them watch it, right?

This one Hubby let the kids watch. Don't ask me... I was at work. It was free on Comcast so they all sat down to watch it. They all got a kick out of it. Personally, I am afraid of snakes, so I don't think I would have been laughing.

This is a GREAT movie, but pretty violent. Snake loves it. One of the faves in our house I think!

I haven't even seen the 3rd one and I am letting my kids watch it???? Hubby has seen it so he is okay with the chillins watching it. I have to be careful, though, when the kids have friends over because I am not sure this is on the approved movie list for other kids.

Yes, I have let all of my kids (including the 2-year-old) see Twilight with me. I have totally gotten THOSE looks but my kids thought it was great. The "gross, bloody" parts are actually funny to me because the special effects for this movie were horrid! Why can't my kids see it???

Yes, Snake has seen Star Wars 3. Yes, he saw the ending when Anakin Skywalker melts in the lava. He thought it was cool. Now he knows how Vader became Vader. Totally important information if you watch 4, 5, and 6, RIGHT??? Nevermind that we all watched 4,5, and 6 when we were young and had no clue how that all came to be, but whatever!

Oh, and this is my favorite....

Yes, we let a few of my friend's kids watch Chicken Little at our house one night and they were bawling like babies. I thought this was a great movie selection. The kids ranged in ages from 3 to 6. The 2 that were freaked out weren't even the youngest. The boys told us that their parents don't let them watch movies about aliens. Who knew? So, parents beware- this is NOT on the "Good Parenting Movie List."

Theme song for today??? Today's was a special request from my friend, Kerrilyn. "Only In Your Heart" by America. Not really about the topic for today, unless you really try to twist the words to your own meaning, but it was bugging us last Saturday that we couldn't think of the song and so Kerrilyn had to google it.

On second thought

I had a different post ready for today. This keeps happening. I have a fabulous idea and then something happens that I just can't pass up the chance to blog about the newest. So, I had thought about blogging about the hail storm that almost killed my beautiful, young garden. I also thought I would blog about my friend Patti who brought ice cream to me the afternoon after my surgery and sat on my bed and kept me company and gabbed with me- it was fabulous! I was also going to blog about the summer posse that I belong to and all of the fun things we are going to be doing this summer (which I am sure that you are all going to be hearing more about during the summer).

BUT, then something FANTASTICALLY WONDERFUL happened. No kidding. I was floored. Not that I didn't think Blogging Mama was going to send my prize to me. I just had no idea how wonderful it was going to be.

See, I won a DVD from her 400th posting giveaway. That's right. I won a copy of Weird Science.


Good memories. I am sure that I am going to be closing my eyes and wondering the whole time why my parents ever let us watch this when we were young (just like I do with just about every other movie I watched when I was growing up) but it has memories and I am totally excited that I won.

Here's where it gets super exciting. When I pulled the package out of my mailbox it didn't feel like JUST a DVD. And BOY WAS I RIGHT! There were great surprises in store for me! There was a CD that Blogging Mama Andrea put together (which is the best because I am sure she knows my love of music- so I am going to be using one of the songs on the CD for today's theme song).

There was a super-sweet card from her.... And the best ever! GERMAN CHOCOLATE!


WOW! I wasted no time busting that open and snacking away! Can we say YUM!?!?!


I should have been patient and taken a photo journal of me opening the package, but I don't have patience and the remains of the packaging are in the trash can where they will remain. I am not big on digging out trash- been there, done that, and I like trash to stay in its appointed place. So check out my prize winnings!

I know you are jealous. I am so lucky. This totally brightened my day! I love getting mail, and its even better when it is GOOD mail, not junk mail. AND its the BEST when there is chocolate and memories in the mail. THANKS Blogging Mama Andrea. You are the BEST!

Theme song from Blogging Mama- I'm Alive by Kenny Chesney (with Dave Matthews) AND we are going to be a double take- the second one is People Watching by Jack Johnson (that one is for Crash- because we all know how much you lurve Jack).

The Adventures Of GG

GG is a great friend, but kind of embarrassing to have around. You see, GG is my Geeky Glasses. You know, the ones that MMIT broke last week. The ones that I have had to wear with tape on them because they eye doctor has to wait for replacement frames to be sent. Ya, that is GG.

I was trying to think of a fun way to survive this past week with looking like a total moron with my taped up, broken glasses when it totally hit me. So, for those of you with grade-school-aged kids and know the story of Flat Stanley, I thought I would do a similar story about GG. See, Flat Stanley gets sent in the mail for his many adventures. My glasses had no need to be mailed. They got to enjoy the adventures everywhere I went. Check out all of the fun!

First I tried this tape.

Using this tape to hold GG together I went on a couple of adventures. My favorite was going to the digital scrapbooking class with some friends. We had a great time!

In the car, on our way. Look, GG even got her own seat.

My friend, Laina, came with me. GG had a great time with her!

The first tape seemed to do a decent job, but seriously, it just didn't have the staying power. So it was time for a makeover.

GG feels brand spankin' new!

After the makeover GG accompanied me to Kylie's piano recital. It was great. I thought Kylie did the best ever (and so did GG). Uncle Bret even got in on the action.


I was feeling a little used because GG decided to spend some quality time at the recital with Uncle Bret. But then, she decided to come back to me.

Saturday was a big day. We started our garden. WOW! That was a lot of hard work. GG had to keep taking breaks because she didn't want to stay on my face while I was leaning over, pulling weeds, and planting. GG was more of a moral support kind-of gal during the gardening than a go-getter.


Then, Monday, GG got to have the best adventure EVER! She got to go boating. Really, can life get an more leisurely? GG had a great time tanning on the towel.


GG even got to drive for a minute. That was a little scarey.


GG felt more comfy on the raft with Patti and Sally.

Theme song for Wednesday- Sunny Afternoon by Songs for Surgery. This is a thank you to all of you who wished me well for yesterday's excursion to the OR. All is well and I am up and moving. Just a quick "female" type surgery and now I get to enjoy the whole month instead of just 3 weeks. Good times. TMI? Probably...oh well. This is my blog. I get to type whatever I want.

Hop Skip and Jump...

on over to Wednesday because I probably won't be feeling up to posting anything tomorrow (Tuesday). Wednesday is if I am feeling optimistic about my surgery tomorrow. Hoping all goes well because I have the most fantabulous posting that I need more than 5 minutes to post. So, I am just going to leave you with these pictures. Here's looking at you kid...



We all know I am up for the mother-of-the-year award. And with this saggy/soggy diaper I am pretty sure I just jumped into first place! And yes, I do allow my daughter to get naked in the backyard while I am gardening.

Theme song- Hop, Skip and A Jump by East Main Street Explosion.

Weekly NPSA meeting

Hello my visitors. I will now bring this meeting to order. As always, I will go first.

Hello! My name is Julie and I am a neglectful parent. This week I would like to start off by saying that I have tried to fix this issue. Really, I have. So I am just going to jump in and tell you what it is.

I am mentally violent. NO, I don't belittle my children. I don't call them stupid or do anything like that. I am violent in my head. There are times I can picture biting someone- REALLY HARD! There are times I envision punching someone hard enough to knock the wind out of them. Of course, I think I am stronger than I really am, and I probably would actually never be able to hit that hard, but I admit I think about it A LOT!

How does this coincide with parenting and being neglectful? Well, not so much neglectful and just being a bad parent in general. What kind of parent wants to draw blood from a bite? ME, that's who. Maybe I have been reading too many vampire books.

Ya wanna know something really funny? This all started when I was super little. My younger sister and I would bite each other. Our favorite place to bite- the eyebrow. Do you have any idea how hard it is to bite someone's eyebrow? With your nose and chin to get in the way you have to turn just a certain way, and even then, there are some eyebrows that due to facial design will never be bitten. Go ahead, try.... I'll wait.



Are you back? So, what did you think? Weird, huh?

Now, I do have to say that although I am mentally violent I learned early on that if I was ever thinking about doing something to my kids I walked away. You know, those times when the little chillins won't stop crying and you just want to squeeze all of the air out of them so they can't cry anymore? I know I am not the only one! Please, tell me I am not the only one! Well, through help from my parenting and child development courses in college I learned a few tricks to helping get through those times. That is not to say that I don't still yell and sometimes have to put myself in time-out so no harm is done, but I do have things I do to help me not hurt my kids.

Okay, so talking to Melinda on Bloggy Blather the other day she told me that some peeps don't get her humor. After typing up this post I was thinking that I am pretty sure that peeps are going to be calling Family Services on me. So, here is where I am pleading with Kristina- can I name drop when they come to my door? Do you have input for me so that I can weasle my way out of this? Let me know.

Theme Song- Gnarles Barkley's CRAZY! Good song. Makes me giggle. Maybe that is because most days I am pretty sure I am crazy.