It seems everyone in the blogosphere is taking a break lately. I guess I’m gonna jump on the bandwagon, too.

We were all set to go to the beach this weekend, but yucky hurricanes have forced us to change plans and we’re opting to vacay in our own city. People come to Atlanta for vacations, right? So, we’re going to play tourist for a few days.

We’re packing up to go stay at my mom’s house (she’s a whopping 5 minutes away) and the girls are going to camp in a tent in her guest room. It’s our un-vacation.

But, in an effort to spend undisturbed time with my husband and girls (and not secretly be obsessing about my next post) I’m going to take this vacation from blogging as well.

I’ll be back next Tuesday (Sept. 2nd) with fantastic tales of my Rod Stewart concert adventure and fun homeschooling projects and what it’s like to take a vacation in your own city. Expect amazing posts next week. Or, actually don’t ’cause that’s alot to live up to. Just expect posts next week. That’s much less pressure.

Anyways, have a wonderful Labor Day weekend and I’ll see you guys next week!

Sorry this is a bit late, I’ve been really busy today with pregnant SAHM stuff (i.e. sleeping, eating, sleeping some more). My Total Truth this Tuesday should be embarrassing, but it’s all about hormones so I refuse to be ashamed.

Here it is:

When I am pregnant I have the weirdest cravings ever.

Okay, you’re probably thinking, “yeah, so?” But, seriously, I have cravings that come up just short of qualifying for that pregnant Pica thing.

With my first pregnancy, it started with Oreos and Vienna Sausages. Together. That was what I ate just before I decided it was time to take a pregnancy test. But, my second craving that pregnancy was…Vodka. I’m not a big drinker (no wisecracks, Thomas!) but all I wanted during my first pregnancy was Vodka. Vodka straight-up. On the rocks. It all sounded delicious to me. It was the one craving I could NOT indulge my entire pregnancy (which is a little like torture if you have cravings as strong as mine!) As soon as Kai was born, I didn’t give Vodka another thought.

With Ivy, I craved Cabbage. I ate it all the time (much like this pregnancy) but that wasn’t really the weirdest thing. The weirdest craving I experienced? Cigarettes. Which is extra weird ’cause I don’t smoke. And, I never really have. I had a fling or two with clove cigarettes during college, but regular cigs? Never. And yet, every time I smelled cigarette smoke or saw a pack of Marlboros my mouth started to water. Yet another craving that absolutely could not be indulged the whole pregnancy and completely disappeared after having Ivy. To this day, I have not had a cigarette since college.

This pregnancy I’ve been too sick to crave anything, but I am expecting some weird cravings any day now. Though I’m a little worried what cravings will be coming my way? What’s left? Meth, hand lotion, potting soil? I guess I should be thankful my willpower is stronger than these cravings otherwise you might find me digging egg shells out of the trash to eat for dinner…

BTW, I promise not all of my TTT posts will be about pregnancy related stuff for the next 9 months. I just have pregnancy brain at the moment so this is the best I could come up with…

I’m not sure when I’ll learn my lesson. It is just pretty much inevitable that our family’s presence at a school or birthday function will bring with it chaos, embarrassment, and/or infamy. That’s just the way it goes.

This weekend, of course, was no exception. Saturday we had a pool party for a friend of Kai and I managed to completely forget about a church obligation Thomas and I had that night so it meant the kids could only stay about 45 minutes at the party and wouldn’t be able to swim. I explained it to them before we got there and the girls were fine with it (yeah right) so I thought everything would be fine.

We got to the party. Dropped off the present. And, prepared to have a bit of cake before the rest of the party jumped in the pool. But, as always, things did not go according to plan.

Ivy, my resident daredevil, really wanted to swim. Really badly. She kept walking around crying and trying to take off her pants (classy, no?). Finally, she “accidentally” fell headfirst into the pool. In the deep end. In front of everyone.

I did the whole shrieking/screaming for help thing ’cause (and here’s where it gets embarrassing) I was fully clothed in the outfit I had to wear to church in 30 minutes and, uh, I wasn’t about to jump in. Let me be clear, she popped right up to the surface and was not-so-gracefully treading water. There was no danger of drowning. Within about 15 seconds her dad came to the rescue but not before I managed to dive to the ground (prematurely big belly and all) and reach for her - breaking my sandal in the process.

I limp around the party for about 10 minutes with a broken shoe until finally giving up and going completely barefoot. But, wait, it gets better (or worse) ’cause then Kai, thinking it is unfair that her sister got to “swim,” starts pouting and moping. She lays down on the ground and covers her eyes and just silently puts on a dramatic show. She looks not the least bit bratty and instead like the child of a completely cruel mom who would bring her child to a pool party and torture her with the inability to get in the water.

One of the moms (who was an angel) gave Kai a pair of her son’s shorts and tshirt to swim in for a couple minutes. Kai proceeds to get just a little too far out into the deeper end and loses her confidence thus resulting in a half-drown/half-tread water move reminiscent of her sister’s earlier move. She’s not drowning but she’s panicking. So, I have to walk down the steps a little to get a float out to her. I soak my jeans in the process. You know, the jeans I’m going to be wearing to church in about 10 minutes? Yeah, those jeans.

And, now we’re all wet and guess what? We don’t have towels either. Who doesn’t bring towels to a pool party? The mom who assumes her kids are absolutely not going to get in the water, that’s who, but it doesn’t stop me from looking like a flake. I am the only mom there without a Land’s End tote packed full of every single supply my children need. So, I beg and borrow towels off of moms who are more grown-up, more organized, and infinitely more together than I, all the while thinking the one thing running through their mind is, “Yeah, this girl needs another kid.”

The best part? I got to go to our church’s GroupLink function in a pair of soaked blue jeans and completely inappropriate sparkly dress shoes. Never a dull moment in this family. But, oh how I could use one…

Today:

1. I woke up too late and only got out of bed because my children were begging me to save them from starvation.

2. Kai got yelled at for knocking over a plate of peanut butter toast that was sitting by the bed. It’s been sitting there for a day (okay 2) and it was totally my fault it was there in the first place.

3. The kids ate leftover pizza two meals in a row which, for those of you doing the math, is actually eating pizza the last 3 meals total.

4. We had two potty training accidents in one day. One of them involved standing on the bed and peeing all over sheets.

5. The playroom went from organized to a complete and total disaster.

6. I threatened to throw toys in the trash and settled on locking up the playroom.

7. I relied way too heavily on Comcast On Demand (thank you, Dora, Diego, Backyardigans, and Blue!).

It’s days like today that make me think about getting a job. I think it would be like going on vacation.

But, then I remember that I am not qualified for anything and pregnant super satisfied most days and decide to see if tomorrow is a better day.

It almost always is.

does the Baby Center picture of an 8 week fetus look a bit diabolical? It’s a little scary to think that this guy is living inside me right now!

Kai is an extraordinarily imaginative child. The depths of her imagination sometimes scares the living crap out of me.

We have a couple of imaginary friends, Deebai and Heehaw, that moved in with us right after we moved into this house. I always attributed it to the fact that we moved in about 4 days after her sister was born (that’s another post for another day) and that it was a coping mechanism of a new baby and a new house. I didn’t really worry about it too much.

Even when she told me Deebai went to high school in Africa and I didn’t know she even knew anything about high school or Africa.

Or when she said Deebai and Heehaw slept in the tree out in front of our house.

Or after the time they were picked up by the cops for walking down the highway in her panties. (true story.)

Or, when their friend Sally moved in because her parents died.

Or even after the last time we went to a friend’s house and she was crying in their playroom because Heehaw locked her away in a room where no one else in the world could see or talk to her.

Yeah, even then I didn’t worry.

But, the other night, her imaginary world got a little too scary for me.

Kai: “Hey, Mom. Do you ever hear people whispering about things and you know it’s not Ivy or Me or Daddy?”

Me: “Um…no. Why?”

Kai: “Just wondering. ‘Cause I think sometimes Heaven is talking to me.”

Me, more than just a little freaked out: “What makes you say that?”

Kai: “Well, last night this I heard this boy’s voice and he told me he was going to marry me!”

Me, completely freaked out: “Uh, who was this boy?”

Kai, laughing: “I don’t know. He forgot to give me his name. Isn’t that silly?”

More like terrifying. Um, what the heck do I do about that?

Yeah, this one’s embarrassing, but, ladies, I’ve decided it’s time to come out of the closet.

Here’s the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

I looovve maternity panties. I do. They are, I think, one of the best creations of all time. I mean, I love my kids, too, but the maternity undergarments may actually be reason enough for me to procreate.

When else can you wear a pair of panties that come all the way up to rest snugly beneath your bra? Well, I mean, when else can you have a legitimate medical condition that excuses the wearing of those types of panties?

Never! In fact, during my first pregnancy when I brought my maternity underwear home Thomas was greatly dismayed. But, I would not forsake them. When he teased me mercilessly I refused to stop wearing them. In fact, when he suggested I not worry about our hotel room on the 27th floor because in case of a fire I could simply jump out of the window using them as a parachute, I remained strong.

And, so, now that I am pregnant again I have brought these sacred undergarments from out of their secret hiding place (lest Thomas find them and, you know, throw them away or burn them) and will make them a part of my wardrobe for as long as I can get away with it.

I’m thinking I should be able to justify it until the baby is at least 6 months old, don’t you think?

Our summer garden is nearly tapped out. We’ve had an amazing bounty of tomatoes, zucchini, green beans, cucumbers, & peppers. But, our harvesting is slowing down and it’s about time for us to put our Winter Garden in the ground. We started the seedlings several weeks ago and they’re off to a great start.

We’re pretty lucky that Georgia weather allows us to grow things well into fall/winter. Our winter garden includes: lettuce, radishes, green beans, peas, carrots, cucumbers, squash, onions, and, of course, pumpkins. The girls are so excited to grow their own Halloween pumpkins and I can’t wait to see how big they get!

One of the things I’ve got to learn is how to can if we’re going to keep growing our own food, ’cause our tomato crop was out of control and we ended up with tomatoes everywhere!

Though I can’t can (yet) we did learn about freezing tomatoes (and other veggies). It’s an easy and fast way to preserve tomatoes for later use in sauces and soups. These tips work for freezing a variety of veggies, though you’ll probably forgo the whole skinning and squeezing seeds out for most.

1. Boil a pot of water and drop your firm red tomatoes in (they can’t be too soft) for a 2-3 minutes.

2. Transfer them quickly to an ice bath and peel off the skin.

3. Cut them in halves or quarters and squeeze out excess water and seeds. (Don’t worry about getting all the seeds. Just try and get as much done as possible.)

4. Place them in ziplock bag and squeeze out excess air.

5. Stick them in the freezer for quick and easy sauce!

Thomas had read something about sucking the air out of the bag through a straw to make sure you don’t get freezer burn and gave it a try when freezing our first batch. He wants me to let you know that you should NEVER do that unless you feel like passing out from hyperventilating disgusting tomato air. Instead, you might opt for one of those Reynold’s Handi-Vac systems from the grocery. They’re cheap, easy to use and get rid of any air in the bag that could cause problems in your freezing.

So, we’ve now got a whole freezer of good veggies for winter and a winter garden ready to plant! Our eggs should be coming along soon or else we’ll be eating some really lazy chickens (totally kidding - can you see me killing and plucking pet chickens? Not that hardcore yet!)

I’ll be sure and post more when our winter garden gets productive!

I got sucked into the time warp tonight (hat tip to Don’t Try This At Home) over at Yearbook Yourself and thought I’d share with you what I would look like if I graduated highschool in the distant past…

I’m thinking, judging by these pics, its a good thing I didn’t graduate any of those years. Though I can’t honestly say mine were much better…

I got tagged by P.S. He Loves You a week ago to tell 7 things about myself. And, to be honest, after doing my 100 things and Total Truth Tuesdays I am starting to wonder if there is anything about me that isn’t public knowledge?

But, I’m going to give it a try, so here goes.

1. Growing up my family had tons of pets. Weird ones. A few of the most memorable? Potbelly pig (yes it slept in my bed - and no we were not hillbillies), Red & Yellow Macaws, and Wolf Hybrids.

2. I think fact number one is why we don’t currently have any real pets now. I do like animals. But, mostly I like other people’s animals.

3. My family is in the furniture business for over 30 years which means I have done everything from sanding, painting, and staining to moving, decorating and selling furniture. I think it is one the coolest and most challenging businesses to be in.

4. I am a super fast reader. It drives my husband crazy when we’re trying to read something together. I’m ready to turn the page before he’s even halfway through it. I think it is a left-over survival instinct from my days as an English major in college.

5. On more than one occasion I have had to wash and rewash and rewash again clothes that were in the washer because I seem to have a complete inability to take them out before they sour.

6. I was once the object of affection of a completely psycho stalker. He even went as far as to leave dead roses and toe nail clippings for my (now) husband. Scary.

7. In college my vision tested as “predator vision” level. I have no idea what it means, but I think it has to come in handy as a mom, right?

And, technically, I am supposed to tag 7 other people. So, here goes. If you don’t want to do it, feel free to ignore my tag and if you do want to and I didn’t tag you then leave me a note in the comments after you post so I can come over and learn 7 things about you!

Halie @ Keeping Up With the Sells

Katy @ My McGuffey Life

Rachel @ Something Kitschy

Heather @ Cool and Hip I Am Not

Amy @ The Rowell Crew

Eryn @ Jared and Eryn

Kelly @ Kellymac