just a little vent...

Okay...

this really annoys me.
Every time I drive to Jasmine's house to drop off Jack there are AT LEAST 6 crossing guards on every corner... I get it okay. We want our kids to be safe... and I am not downplaying that AT ALL. What I am annoyed by is that besides the 6+ crossing guards (and this is still at leat 1/4 mile from school) there are 5-10 "walking guards" who walk through the neighborhood to "collect" the children from their homes and walk them to school.... and through the "street" crossing guards. I am bothered most by the "walking guards"

SERIOUSLY?
When I was a girl (granted I lived in a small town)
my brother and I walked 3/4 of a mile to school each way...
by ourselves...
without supervision...
without a paid crossing guard.
the 5th graders had a rotating schedule and they got to cross the kids...
at the cross walk that led directly to the school.

I guess what annoys me about this (it all annoys me)
little situation is that my tax dollars are paying for this...
okay I don't send me kids here ...
(so I am already not liking paying for others school when I am made too)
but if I did I would be frustrated that classroom programs are cut,
while there are that many people getting paid to walk kids to and from school.

But this leads me to my concern...
the decline of our society has been so gradual that I fear none of us notice it.
when did parents stop walking their kids... or letting their kids walk... or for goodness sake driving their kids to school???

on another school note... it REALLY bugs me that the public school buses stop at EVERY street even if it is two feet away from the last road...
in a 1/4 mile stretch you very well could stop 5 times or more...
Just think of all the money that we could save if they had "bus stops" where kids met... instead of being picked up at their own road.
In California... there were NO buses... and there were NO "walking" guards. The kids either walked themselves to school... walked with a parent... or got dropped off.

I may stand corrected... but this bothers me...
every day that I sub and have to drop my boy off...
I get annoyed. very annoyed.
just had to vent.

Keeping it real... reality check.

I DO NOT HAVE IT ALL TOGETHER.

This photo is off my phone taken sometime earlier this year...
unfortunately this is often a reality in my life...
in fact I think it looks almost like this right now... except for the piles of folded clothes that need to be put away... I forget because I tried to close the door and can't see in...
and this is only one of my laundry rooms people.

I confess I did not do the dish hand washing at ALL in the last week...
I only did it tonight because I found out I am working the next two days...
there were fruit flies in my kitchen...
the recycling drawer is full and starting to smell...

I have a problem with saying "yes"
I like to please people, I like to be helpful,
I like to feel needed... I admit it.

This only means that somethings gotta give (I love that movie btw)
It is usually my house first...
Second individual Bible Study & alone worship time
Third... me
Fourth... whichever kid I am not helping in the middle of their "emergency"

Pretty much this week has NOT gone according to my plan.
(Thankfully God is reminding me that it is His plan not mine...)
I am a SLOW learner.

ANYWAY... as I was saying... not my plan... the entire week.
I just finished the CM/PF newsletter for the church and emailed to printer like 10 minutes ago... don't worry it is only a few days late...
Children's Church this weekend..
and I am subbing at the last minute the next two days.
(super thankful... just one more thing I said yes too)

and by the way... two nights ago when I didn't quiz my 7th grader for her bible test (at 9:30 p.m.) she said to me and I quote...
"when I flunk this test it will be your fault!"
(insert storming off, up the stairs... to her room)

Just pointing out my reality.

Oh yeah...
tomorrow is Emma's 11th bday...
I am such a great mommy that I am paying Jasmine to make the cupcakes
(they taste better, look better, well... darnit they are just BETTER)
TRUST ME... you will wish you were Emma's teacher tomorrow.
does this mean I am not a good mother?

you know what I did say yes too that makes me feel good? real good?
Got a call from someone around 5pm saying that Josh had said they could stay here & I said sure that would be wonderful... when?

at this moment... confused look from Josh because he realizes he FORGOT to tell me it was tonight...
yeah.
I said "tonight is perfect we would love to have you anytime"
like in a few minutes is perfect.
(and I mean it)
just let me change the sheets that are still warm from our last guest who was here 6 days,
and wipe down your toilet...
and do the dishes... (that was truly my motivation btw)

They don't call us the Hotel MacLachlan for nothing! :)
you might never want to stay here though now that you know the truth...
I DO NOT HAVE IT ALL TOGETHER.

I am going to go hang bday streamers for my 11 year old now.

p.s. one of my dearest friends pointed out that while she loves reading my randomness... she could do without all the gooshy, lovey, dovey joshism's...
said something about reminding her of her parents... ew?!?
so sorry...
but he's just so cute I can't help myself!
just keeping it real...

{life}

okay... here are 3 sneaks from our photo shoot...
I can't blow them up because I don't have the images yet...
with permission I have snagged these off Tina's fb site...

My heart is so in {love} with this photo you have no idea...
Seriously? How lucky am I that I am married to the best daddy ever?
Jack is able to grow up looking up to this fabulous man.
I am blessed.

this was the very FIRST photo she took...
She placed us, snapped a photo (this one) and said
"Well, we could quit right now...this shot is perfect"
I agree... I seriously felt like we were doing a photo shoot for a TV sitcom or something!
now we just need the reality part of it... chicken coop, chicken poop, piles of laundry, dishes etc...
at least for a brief moment (a few hours) tina had me feeling like a movie star..
don't worry... reality has set back in.
but a nice canvas of this will be sitting on my mantle... soon.

so I think this one is my favorite...
it is going up in our worship room...
it is between this one & the last one...but they are SO different it is hard to choose.
of course there are some in front of a tree and I used my makeup to draw and heart and write
"J + S"
we are kissing under it.. and Josh is holding a bouquet of Yellow Dahlias...
um yeah... I am in love with my man!
I can't wait to give you the link to the gallery when it is up...

on another note...
my Canon 40d is still broken...
I have to mail it in to be fixed and I am totally bummed about that.

{LIFE} is back to semi normal chaos.... I repeat CHAOS.
Soccer in full swing.
School in full swing.
Piano lessons in full swing.
Pathfinders in full swing.
Children's Ministry in full swing.
Dishes...
PILES of laundry.
Cobwebs.
Dirty floors.
Food that needs emptying from the fridge.
Toilets & Showers to clean.

Did I mention laundry?

I woke this morning thinking I would have time to tackle all of these fun life activities...
but as you know the squeaky wheel sucks up your attention...
so may day was not spent the way I planned.
It was spent taking care of the unexpected... and I am okay with that.

My cup is 1/2 full... not 1/2 empty.
Tomorrow is a new day.
I got to watch my daughter play soccer tonight... in the SUNSHINE!
My family is healthy.

{LIFE} is good.
and when I get discouraged and think otherwise,
I will look at these awesome photos and THANK GOD for my family...
and remember the sacrifice He gave me.

p.s. my photographer is at www.tinalelainephotography.com SHE ROCKS!

7 peeps, a little black & yellow...

Today was wonderful :)

We had a beautiful Sabbath @ Sabbath School & Communion at Church...

and then the 7 of us headed out with my friend Tina...
(aka - awesome photographer from Boise, ID)

We were planning on hitting downtown Vancouver....
but we ended up in Battle Ground in front of an old run down, musty building...

with an old white couch...

a vase of yellow mums...

and my precious family in some black and yellow.

I can't wait until I can share them with you :)

Oregon vs. Tennessee

Just wanted to share a little bit of action from our game in Knoxville, TN... home of the Volunteers!

a little video action from before the game started.
the band was amazing and before the game started they came to our sideline and played "Mighty Oregon" to our team and fans. It was a very cool gesture for sure.

I know I said it before, but the people in Tennessee were such a friendly group of people... it still makes me smile thinking about it now.


Josh and I on the Vol Walk... every game day the team walks down the road greeting the fans in their suits and ties... right through the gates and into the stadium. The Vols are a team of tradition... it is so cool to be at a place where history runs so strong.

the south side of Neyland Stadium....

vol walk...

Oregon getting ready to go into the end zone :) Just had to get a photo of the orange and white...


gametime :)

Josh & I & my cousin Peter from Edmonton Alberta.

inside the UT campus bookstore... with even more friendly people.

as I have already said...
Josh & I enjoyed our weekend away... a rare event in our lives.
a huge thanks to my parents who made it all possible :)
We enjoyed sites, food, (fried green tomatoes and grits) and things we never had before...
we added 3 new starbucks mugs to the collection... and we logged 21 hours of flight time/time in airports... basically an entire day, but it was worth it!
Thanks to mom2 for watching the kids.

p.s. my hubby is back home tonight :) this makes the WHOLE family happy!
and my friend Tina is here for 6 days :)

alone with 5 kids & 15 animals...

Tonight is my last night "alone"
meaning the last night without my other half...
Sometimes I need reminding of why God created man & woman to find each other and get married, have babies, and all that good stuff...

Sometimes life just bogs you down and well... you forget.
then I look at pictures like this and am reminded...

I mean who else but a dad to get down and silly with the kids?

who else to lead them in worship... to train them to love Jesus and worship Him?

You can't get beautiful kids like this on your own people... just saying (aug 09)

you need a man who can "believe" he is a strong superhero...

and preferably one that enjoys the same things you do...

not sure that I needed reminding...
but today I really missed him.
the "bestie" him (bff) version
the "daddy'
the "hubby"
the "breadwinner"
the "sit on the couch & waste the evening watching CHUCK"
the "take care of the animals" him
the " help Emma with 5,000,000 math problems"
(my list goes on...)

tomorrow can't come soon enough... I hope they drive safely from camp...
me and the animals...
and kids... miss him.

p.s. Sydney did NOT set off the alarm last night. I think the duck (I know duct... just prefer duck) tape did the trick! ;)

p.s.s Emma just yelled out in her sleep "Come on locker... OPEN UP... OPEN UP!!!" very urgently.. I hope that she figured that one out...

p.s.s.s. I made it through the day... McKenna celebrated at school and is looking forward to bday dinner tomorrow... AND my dear friend Janelle made me a casserole :) to lighten my load. Besides the million tears over math homework... we all made it through in one piece.

"M.A.D" Monday {Make a Difference Monday}

I don't know if I made a difference today.
Honestly, I was just trying to make it through the day with a little bit of sanity left.

I didn't buy anyone a Starbucks to start a "pay for the person behind you" trend...
I didn't even go to Starbucks... I drove past one four times...
twice on my way to drop Jack off for the day & twice on the way back to get him...
I really would have liked to have stopped though... does that make a difference?

I didn't make a meal for anyone in need...
except my family.
and they only got spaghetti, I did make them a fresh salad... does that make a difference?

I didn't send a card or warm wishes to someone feeling down...

I didn't call a loved one to let them know I am thinking of them & loving them...
even though I thought it in my head... does that make a difference?
do they know that I love them and care if I don't call?

Here's what I did do...
Woke up alone :(
I taxied my kiddos to all their destinations...
except one... she stayed home on the couch... alone... sick
while I went to work (does that make me a bad mom?)

I chased, ran, played Shark Attack, and sang with 10 Kindergarteners...
Then I played Super Fast Kickball with 2 different 3/4 classes... 25 kids each...
I wonder did that make a difference?

Then I played some flag pulling drills with a 7/8 class of 18 teenagers...
and almost lost my patience with this comment "but he was blocking his flag on purpose" or the "it's not fair, they cheated" but I didn't.... :)

SERIOUSLY?????

But then the sweet 5th graders.... like 25 of them came and saved the day... :)

and then I got to go rush home for 15 minutes to eat and check on my Emma...
she was alive (thank goodness) and super sick of the Disney Channel and Playhouse Disney :)
I am such a mean mom I told her that was all she could watch...
trying to revert back to "good mothering" tactics I made her turn off the TV, read & do homework.

I then rushed back to school for my afternoon class of 13 Kindergarteners...
let's just say this class struggles a bit directionally speaking... Oh my goodness what fun I had just trying to get them to run in the same direction!
Honestly, I don't know if I made one bit of difference, but I tried!

Then I wrapped up teaching with 2 more classes of 7/8 grade, preteen, talking, competitive, wonderful kids... until I was all done for the day and found out that one of the boys stuck another boys sweatshirt in the toilet while we were out at PE...
Boys... I don't think that was the kind of difference I was thinking about...

SERIOUSLY???
If my boy (or girl for that matter) ever does something that mean to another child...
well you don't really want to know what I would do... but it wouldn't be nice & I might lose my patience...

now at this point one might think my day was done...

NOT!

Enter the K-2 after school soccer program that my hubby started this year :)
and guess who gets to run it with 40 wonderful kiddos while MR. MAC is AWAY at Outdoor School??? After I quickly pick up my 3 year old?

ME....

My next hour and 50 minutes were spent trying to direct Awesome, wonderful, amazing, sweet, patient, & loving coaches.... and did I mention the 40 K-2 kids... and then coaching mini scrimmages after? Yeah... I have no voice left... super thankful for the 5 other coaches who were there and so helpful... :)

At this point I am thinking I have most definitely NOT made difference...
I think I want to go home and go to bed... maybe take a nice hot bath.
Or maybe get on a plane to Hawaii... oops that was my dream... ugh.

So I think I will go home and treat myself...
so make dinner for my kids...
correct one billion pages of homework so that all my kids get 100%...
because of course they can't miss any....

check on the dogs...
check on the cats....
check on the chickens & collect 6 eggs...
and think to myself "I really need to get out here and clean the coop..."

in my spare time of course!

But wait, what's that???
I have Pathfinders tonight?
at 6:30... and oh yeah, no one to take my kids...

So just for fun, let's load the whole crew and head back to the gym for 2 more hours of FUN...
why not?
Maybe we should bring the animals too just for good measure? :)

anyway, loads of fun at pathfinders... even though the last hour with Jack was a nightmare...

home to throw kids in bed and relax...

until I remember...

MY SWEET MCKENNA HOPE TURNS 9 TOMORROW

and you know what that means?

1. treats for the entire class...
of course I can't make it to the store... so why not make cupcakes with homemade frosting?
X 36 of course... because we want to have enough share.

2. Erase the chalkboard on my counter and write gooshy Birthday sayings to the bday girl...

3. Hang birthday streamers across her door...
and let me tell you something... that little stinker tried to stay awake till like forever
so that she could see me doing it... but don't worry...
I am a patient mom and wailed till 10:50pm... she was OUT.

4. Go to bed so that I can get up and do it all over again...
yep... that about sums it up.

Not sure about making a difference for anyone today...
but I almost went "MAD" If you know what I mean.

p.s. just as I was getting ready to post this my sweet sydney paige decided to sleepwalk...
her current new hobby of choice... she was just walking upstairs like it was nothing...

last night I was paying bills when she came running down the hall... topless... through the living room, dining room, pantry... ready to go into the garage when I caught her....

um, yeah the alarm was on.... wouldn't that have been fun.
I hope she stays in bed the rest of tonight...
I think I have had enough excitement for one day.

{ugh}

Last night I went to bed WAY too late...
College football was on TV & you all know I am a junkie...
it really doesn't even matter who is playing.

ANYWAY.
my point is this... I was tired, really tired...
so when my almost 11 year old, Emma, walked in just after midnight saying
"Mom, I don't feel well and have been throwing up..."

Not exactly the words I wanted to hear.
Here's why:

1. I am not ready for the flu to hit my house.

2. My husband left today and doesn't come home until Wednesday.
I am NOT a good single parent. I don't have the patience for it.

3. I am working every day this week for the second week in a row.

4. My house is already a mess.

5. My neck still hurts from all the flying last weekend.

6. I don't want the flu bug to hit my house... last time it came and stayed for an entire month...
We all got it but never at that same time... I hated that.

SO... I am trying to keep my promise of blogging every day.
Tonight I am going to go drop in bed... and hope and pray that tomorrow is better.

It was a LONG day... laundry, mowing, dishes, kids, WOF tix, cleaning... the list goes on.

my heart breaks for my sweet Emma who had a fever of 100.2, 12 hours of vomiting, and a night in the bathroom and a full day on the couch...

I hope it stops with her.

Rocky Top, TN

Last weekend Josh & were blessed to be able to travel to Knoxville, Tennessee. Let me just put in a little footnote here...
MY CANON 40D DIED THE NIGHT BEFORE WE LEFT...
and I had just sold my back up camera. yes, I did cry... lots of tears the night before the trip.

I have never been to Tennessee before, but I liked it. I will go back if I get the chance.
The people are seriously like the nicest people ever. I am not kidding. Like almost over the top nice... if there is such a thing!

They also have this...

The smokey mountains...

and this...

really, really, cool old buildings with lots of character...

and they have these...

really bright and beautiful BLUE butterflies... everywhere, well at least in the Smokeys :)

They also have these... on every street corner, porch, store... you name it.

I wanted to bring some home... but they wouldn't fit in my carry on luggage.
It was a true bummer. Thankfully the cute one on the right had a ticket! :)

They also have this... which is the real reason why we went out to Knoxville...

Neyland Stadium... home of the Tennessee of the Volunteers...

and their mascot "SMOKEY" and of course their theme song "Rocky Top"

and on a totally random note...
they have this...

orange beer for the fans.... and true Vols fans who bleed orange.... and I guess they drink it...
now as you know we don't drink... and actually UT is a "dry" campus so they don't sell alcohol here... so I don't see how they have beer cans in UT colors, but they do... I guess they bring it in from some "wet" county...
every tailgate we walked by offered us food and drink... we hadn't even left the airport in Atlanta and we had already been invited to a tailgate party...

I think like this though... wouldn't you want to remember what you were doing??? I guess I have never figured out the lure of alcohol.... in any situation, but especially when you have a once in a lifetime chance to do something... do you want to be able to remember it?

I do.

There are also tons and tons of these....
and this I really loved...

churches everywhere... I guess this is Bible Belt after all :)
This particular church had a rock roof and was just gorgeous.
There were also all kinds of wedding chapels & mega churches.

on another note they had this...

I don't know what it was for... and no I did NOT walk around the front...
I don't want to know how they roll in Tennessee! Notice the guy looking at "him" that discouraged me from walking around the "front" and now I will never know!

We also found this super cool general store called Masts... and it has been here in this awesome building since the late 1800's.... it was one of my favorite things... and this section of the store I loved...
The coke machines were still working... and have glass bottles in them, it was awesome!
They also had a couple green rockers in there for me to sit and people watch.

That is just a mini highlight of our trip...
I am saving a special post just for the game...
What a wonderful wonderful time :)

an apology...

So I know I have been MIA for like 3 weeks.
I am sorry, really truly sorry.
they don't let me out that much :)
I don't know what happens but life seems to keep me off the computer,
and thus blogging.

My ideal day would consist of having time to read, blog, scrap, sew, and play. Of course the sun would be shining... :)

Ree aka Pioneer Woman... says that even if I can only put a couple sentences on per day it is better to write something every day than to mess around missing weeks here and there.... so since Ree is like the "expert" on blogging I am going to do that.

Just be forwarned that you may get a lot of one sentence days! Just sayin.

Sorry to all 2 of you who actually keep coming back to see what is up in the life of Mac.
I appreciate you... love you... drool over you...
seriously appreciate you.

now for a "rocky top" update :)