Back At The Ole' Homeplace....

Our Mill Hole.

Feliz Navidad

Like any good Santa lovin' kid....Kalaya put cookies and milk out for Santa on Christmas Eve.

Nessey had other plans in mind for those delicious gingerbread men. (Also, and this note is for Blakley, you know how you say you always feel like you could have done better as a mom? Yeah well, we had plans to make homemade gingerbread cookies for Santa that night. Guess what? Thank heaven for 7-11! Bought those lovely gingery men at 9:30pm that night and placed them with care on a plate at 9:31pm for Santa. We just try to get by people- we do the best we can)

As you can see, Kalaya got a princess tent along with walkie talkies and backpack to go hiking with us in Alabama. EVERY single present was opened and promptly placed into the tent for safe keeping.
All but the drum set obviously. We are starting a band soon-- 2yrs and under need not apply. We are mature musicians here.

Loved her new Mickey Mouse earrings. ( and no Lolly, I did not just give her a box with a piece of white cardboard in it.)

Of course all presents got the good ole 'check and feel' to see if we could determine if it was super fragile or not.

Christmas Overload

Don't become a victim.

Merry Christmas 2009

Have a Merry Christmas! I hope you get all you wanted!

Eat lots of good food! (whatever that may be)

Catch up on all your rest if you can!

And try to act like a kid again!

Kalaya Hears a Who

This is Horton.

Horton hears a Who.

The Who's live on a "speck".

Horton carries the "speck" around and protects the Who's.

This is Kalaya.

Kalaya has a good imagination.

Kalaya has a "speck" too.

Kalaya carries the "speck" around and protects her "lil fellas"

Saving Private Flyin'

" Oh, hey there Ms. Maynard. Good to see you home early today. You don't umm uhhhh usually come home this early do you?"

"What are we doing here? Oh you know, a little peckin', a little scratchin', chasing a worm here and there."

"Yeah, we know we aren't in our yard but you know what they say? The grass is always greener on the other side. Am I right or am I right?! HA HA"


"What do you mean ' do I know what happened to the other chickens that lived here'? That sounds a bit threatening Ms. Maynard. You know we are the new generation of food substanance in America don't you Ms. Maynard? We've rallied ourselves together- we have a union. You can't treat us this way anymore. If you want any more of our eggs you have to respect us now."

"I'm sorry, did you just say that you don't like eggs? Well then that's great- we don't need this hostile stand off over egg vs yard scratching rights anymore. We can join together 'mano a wingo'- right my sister?!."

"I'm sorry- did you say something? You mumbled. Ohhhhh, you eat alot of chicken fingers?"

("Red Wing Delta this is the Screamin Cockerel- I'm going to need you to abort the home invasion. Again I repeat ABORT ABORT! The enemy is approaching and I won't send my men home to their chicks with any less fingers then the none you have! ABORT GENTLEMEN! We'll live to fight another day!)

It's growing!

2 Hours

2 hours.

That's exactly how much time I get to spend with Kalaya on a daily basis.

It sucks.

I work for a tax software company and guess what time is drawing near? You got it- tax season.

I work 10 hours days and on Saturdays now.

It stinks.

Nothing makes you feel more like a terrible mother then only getting to see your child 2 hours a day. I already feel like other people raise her just by having her go to a babysitter every day--- this does not help the situation.

Not to mention she's got a raging sinus infection that makes her just miserable.

What can I do?

Well that list is most assuradly shorter then my " What I can't do" list.

That includes:

I can't get her ready in the morning and spend the extra time making her look cute and fixing her crazy-crazy hair. (which let's be honest- Daddy's were not made to fix hair. Cars- yes, maybe. Little girls hair, no)

I can't make sure that she's eating well which means limiting the Bug Juice drink daddy likes to buy her and making sure she doesn't try to sustain herself on applesauce and yogurt.

I can't make sure that the TV isn't on all day long putting senseless nonsense in her head. (we're 'no tv' people now if you can't tell. Being cheap actually pays off sometimes)

I can't wipe all the " cookies" out of her nose- as she calls them- and make sure her fever is down.

I can't make sure that she gets the right amount of discipline that is becoming necessary as a sweet little 3 year old begins to realize she is her own person.

I can't do anything.

I can give a kiss goodbye in the morning and a kiss hello in the evening- followed closely by being tucked snuggly in bed.

Every morning I have to explain to her that mommy has to work to pay for her sweet little girls house and toys. It just doesn't seem right to a 3 year old though. To them, mommys job is number one playmate, snack distributor, and boo-boo kisser. No one explained to her that some mommy's have some other things to do too.

God bless the stay-at-home mom's and the dad's that work so the mommy's can. Not all of us working mom, but this one in particular, wishes everyday she could do the job that you do.

I know Kalaya won't be warped because of this 3 to 4 month little space of time where I have to work these hours. Matter of fact, I know she won't ever remember it.

But, heavens to betsy! I sure will remember it and it sure does hurt.

All I want for Christmas is time.

Who Ya Gonna Call?

Take A Look- It's In A Book.....

Makes me feel like singing the Reading Rainbow theme song---

"Butterfly in the skyyyyyyyy. I can fly twice as higgghhhhhh....