It's a Girl Thang

Today I had one of those Mommy moments that make me get all teary. My Avery was feeling self conscious about her bathing suit. The bathing suit was from last summer. Technically, it is still her size, but it had gotten tighter, since she has grown so much. The top of the tankini suit was also smaller, so that her tummy would hang out a bit. One hour before we were supposed to be at a Memorial Day cookout, my girl got all teary about her swimsuit.

And boy, oh boy, do I understand stressing over swimsuits. Her tears tugged at my heart. I knew it was one of those key moments. Some moms would say "too bad" since technically the suit still fit and was in good shape. However, I instantly thought about my own Mama and what she would have done in this type of situation.

I grabbed my car keys and Avery's hand and we had an emergency Mother-Daughter trip to Target to find a new suit. Nothing is worse than feeling self conscious in a swimsuit. Keeping a girl's self image positive is tricky. Just two days ago, I was fretting about buying a bathing suit and researched online for what seemed like forever, in order to get a new bathing suit before our vacation. As a mother to girls, I know it is important to make them feel secure and confident. I know this because my mom worked so hard on this with me!

Avery and I ran up to Target and in less than an hour, we found a brand new suit that she loved. The suit was $15....a small price to pay for confidence. I let her pick out a new cover-up and flipflops to match. Not because she needed them, but because I also know the value of accessorizing! In the end, I think I spent $43.

We listened to fun, loud music in the car and she held my hand the whole time in the store, which is NOT normal for her. I think this story will make my own mom proud. At least I hope so. Being a girl is hard enough. I may have spent $43 and we showed up a tiny bit late to the cookout, but this little Mommy/Avery adventure was priceless.

Here is my girl in her brand new neon suit!

Watching my girl do handstands and cartwheels at the cookout today with confidence meant the world to me. I am so thankful that I have the kind of mom that taught me so.

Shrimp Tacos

I tried out a new recipe tonight. This is a Pioneer Woman recipe, so you can't go wrong. These tacos are fresh and light. Instead of chopping up cabbage for the slaw, I just used a bag of premixed slaw from the produce section at the grocery....much easier. Cilantro is totally optional on this recipe, but we LOVE cilantro and it truly added a lot of flavor. The only mistake I made was in the amount of shrimp I bought. I only bought 10 ounces of shrimp, but the recipe calls for 1 1/2 lbs. This mistake was actually okay, since it was only serving my hubby and me. My kids would never eat this, but grownups would probably love it! If this looks good to you, here is the link:

Pioneer Woman's shrimp tacos

Schoooooool's Out for Summer!

Well, the school year has come to an end. Most teachers are counting down the days and ecstatic when school is over for the year. I did countdown the days eventually, but once it is all said and done, it takes me awhile to "adjust." That feeling of going from TONS of neverending work to do (the life of a teacher) to NOTHING to do makes me a nervous wreck. I know, I know....totally weird. However, I truly have spent the last three week days being a bit of a basket case. I am not embarrassed to admit that I have a bit of an anxiety disorder, cuz I do. The routine of work every day is good for me. No worries though. We will settle into our summer break very, very soon. The girls and I have to figure out how to spend our days and not go crazy. That's the other thing....sometimes it is weird (for only a few days) to go from working every day kind of mom to stay at home mom. Being a SAHM is hard work in itself! I do have to admit I LOVE being able to cook fun recipes and do whatever I want all day with the girls. I love it, but it makes me a nervous wreck sometimes....hard to explain to someone with a more normal brain than me.


Last week I was really feeling that feeling I have blogged about before...that I am at some kind of a crossroads and something has to change. I get that bug every once in awhile. I never hesitate to listen to that inner voice either. The thing that was truly making me crazy last week was trying to figure out what to do about my real estate license. It is up for renewal and my state fees are due. The fees are majorly expensive. In order to renew, I have to take a class and that is another cost. I recently switched over to F.C. Tucker. They have been great so far, but they were suggesting I attend "Tucker School" to learn about the ins and outs of the company and its history. The Tucker School is free, but would take up a week of my summer with my kids! Grrrrrr. If you don't know me and you are reading this thinking, wait a minute....isn't this chick a teacher? You are right. I am an elementary teacher. And a realtor. And a wife and mom. I started real estate when I was on maternity leave with my little Bean who is now four. In retrospect, I don't regret it. I learned an entirely new trade and made extra money for the fam. I stayed home for a year after the year of hell and thought maybe I could just be a realtor. I soon realized that was just plain crazy. I missed having a classroom so badly! I missed being creative. Thank God my school took me right back when I asked to return!


So I have been trying to manage the life of an elementary teacher mom who also does real estate on the side. Last week I just had this overwhelming feeling on the inside that said STOP. It is all too much. My inner voice kept saying to go into referral status as a realtor (which means I would be inactive, but could still make money on referral fees for referring people to agents). You normal brained people out there may be thinking this decision was a no brainer. But not for an anxiety ridden person like me. I HATE the feeling of quitting something. I am a perfectionist and overachiever. Surprised? Well, it's true. Have you met my oldest child when she is having a freak out? Well, guess where she gets that gene? Right here. Like her Mama, she wants to do everything perfect the first time. This is an exhausting trait. My husband totally has wanted me to go into referral status, but my inner overachiever kept thinking that it would be like being a quitter, which I am not. Then last week I just gave in to the other inner voice telling me to stop. I went to F.C. Tucker and turned in the paperwork to switch to being an inactive referral agent. I am just tired of spending money to continue to be a realtor. If you have a realtor currently, trust me when I say it costs A LOT of money to be one....so show some appreciation to yours! P.S. Need a realtor? Ask ME to refer you. I will put you in touch with an amazing realtor with tons of experience and that realtor will pay me for the referral. Sweet deal! You let me make a phone call, which helps me make some money for my family!


Now I can focus solely on being wife, mom, and teacher (and can also refer people to great agents for their real estate needs). After bedtime each night, I have been reading tons of teacher blogs and pinning lots of teacher stuff on Pinterest because that is my passion. I even spent my rare free time by myself going to a teacher store last week. This girl has to teach. Plain and simple. My first class ever graduated from high school last night...weird. I had them in second grade! I got a few sweet messages from some of those kids saying that they remember my class and loved it! Ha! My first year was probably a hot mess, but I am glad they loved it and remembered it.


So anyway....this is a rambling post that you may or may not still be reading. To sum it up, I am trying to take a deep breath and enjoy summer. I am trying not to be anxiety ridden and overthink everything that pops into my head. I am hoping I made the right decision about my real estate license. That is why I just didn't hesitate too long on making my big decision about going into referral status as a realtor. Yes, I can do many things well, but sometimes there is a such thing as "too much." You have to simplify.


How are all of you adjusting to summer break with the kiddos? Drop me a comment!


I promise to start blogging again! I just had to get this serious stuff out of the way. :)

Nothing says Happy Easter like unfriending your mom on Facebook

I am so tired of not posting on this blog! I have plenty of stories to tell, but a little thing has been distracting me called "Pinterest."

Today though, I have been reflecting on a little something that happened yesterday. I UNFRIENDED MY MOM ON FACEBOOK. Yep, I did. Who does that? This girl. She so had it coming too.

I called her to tell her how much I loved every single Easter basket she ever made in her whole life. I was bursting with love and excitement to call and tell her this. However, she answered the phone like what I imagine a sloth would sound like. She said that she was down. I asked her why. She wouldn't say. I pressed her further until she spilled the beans because we all know that mothers really do want to spill the beans but like to draw it out for dramatic effect.

She said that she was sad because she put all her Easter decorations away *Easter DIVA alert* You may be wondering why that is a big deal.....well, my mom decorates for the holidays like she is decorating for the window at Macy's.....in New York City.....during the Thanksgiving Parade. I told her not to be silly because Easter isn't over. She said that she had to because she had no one there to enjoy it. I am pretty sure that her husband enjoys these decorations, but I guess she means her kids and grandkids.

THEN she dropped a bomb that led to the whole fight. First I must back up a little. I have to report this with 100% accuracy for those family members that hear her side of the story. While talking to her a few days ago, she mentioned that she was thinking about not coming for Christmas Day, but instead coming right after and staying until New Years, rather than coming before Christmas and leaving on Dec. 26th, like she has been. When she said this, I literally said nothing. I didn't agree or disagree. I just didn't say a word. If I would have been mad by this idea, I would have flown off the handle immediately because "that's what I do, yo." Instead, I just didn't say much so I could think it all through.

Back to the BOMB dropping from last night. After her sad lament over Easter decorations, she said (this is a direct quote), "By the way, I don't think I will come for Christmas at all."

Ummmmmm.......WHAT?!? You don't want to know what I said in response to that. I quickly hung up on her so we could proceed to mad text each other until I told her I wasn't speaking to her.

Then last night I was feeling all ballsy and unfriended her on Facebook. That'll show her.

I went to bed and woke up. Then realized, "Crap. I just unfriended my mother on Facebook." So I sheepishly sent her a friend request. She didn't even know that I had unfriended her, so the whole ballsy moment was just an epic fail all around.

Long story short: Don't unfriend your mother on Facebook because it will lead to being made fun of by your family, especially your pesky brothers.

She sent me a text and told me that she would be "taking me down" on Tuesday when she is in town to visit this week. I told her that the only take down would be ME taking HER down.

This is how we talk when we make up....threaten to beat each other up. When it comes to beating threats, the whole fight is over. She is now trying to claim that I never let her get out her whole plan last night before I flipped out. Claim. Sorry but there was a difference between the plan she told me about a few days ago and her statement on the phone that she wasn't coming at all.

But nice attempt at a save, Mother.

If we weren't such identical spaz butts about everything, these types of things would never happen.

Can you tell how scary I am? If you cross me, I will unfriend you on Facebook. Ooooohhhhh, not that. BE afraid, BE very afraid. I will take you all down.

Conversations in the Explorer: #1

I am starting a new series of posts revolving around the ridiculous conversations that occur in my Explorer between my two daughters and myself....sometimes even the hubby. I can't make this stuff up, and why would I? My kids are quirky and so am I. We really can't help it.

Here is tonight's conversation:

Me: Avery, you need a bath when we get home. You smell like the outside.
Avery: What does that mean?
Me: You know....that outside, boy smell. You smell like sweat.
Avery: No, I do not. How do you know it isn't yourself that you smell?
Me: Because I know.
Avery: I don't smell like sweat.
Me: Yes, you do, and you are taking a bath.
(enter Piper into the conversation....she is notorious for joining conversations late in the game and for her witty one liners)
Piper: Well, I smell like chicken.

There you have it, friends. Conversations in the Explorer: #1.

Have a good night!

Change of Plans

I came home tonight with every intention to go back to my classroom tonight. Tomorrow about thirty second grade teachers (every single one from our school corp!) will be watching a model lesson in my classroom given by a corp trainer. My classroom is in a crazy state of affairs. Twenty three kids and three projects in my room means that you cannot even see the counter top or tabletops at all. Oh, then there is my desk. It looks like the absent minded professor took over my room. A messy classroom is a learning, creative environment....right? Yes, absolutely! However, there are some neat freak teachers out there that would have an absolute cardiac if they saw my room!

The problem with going in tonight is that I have a backache. My lower back is really hurting tonight. I have been chilling out in the recliner with my laptop while my girls played happily together. Hubby worked late....the dreaded tax season has begun. When he finally got home, he asked me if I wanted some ice cream before I left for work. Hmmmmm.....let me think. I never turn down ice cream! He brought me some of my favorite Blue Bunny ice cream called "Red Velvet Cake." It is to.die.for.

Okay, so sitting in the recliner and eating ice cream.....
You can see why my plans of organizing my classroom have gotten sidetracked. So I made a change of plans (thanks to my friend, Elizabeth's, suggestion). She suggested I just go in early tomorrow, so I will! My change of plans consists of red velvet ice cream, my warm slippers, a blanket, the recliner, and lots of Pinterest inspiration.

Don't judge.....

Food for the Soul

Sometimes I come across truly amazing things in the blogosphere. Tonight, as I was checking in on blogs that I have followed in the past, I found this amazing post by Marisa over at or so i feel. I loved her post so much, that I am posting it myself! Please, please follow this link and read her post. It is such a good message for women! This piece of writing, "Awakening" is written by Sonny Carroll. Click below!

Awakening