Fun with puppets …

Editor’s note: That hairy arm on the puppet belongs to my hubby.  Not me! I shave mine faithfully every day! j/k

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The Gallery/Writing Workshop … Emotions

This is a very recent photograph I took of my family on a sunset visit to our local beach here in Florida.  I thought it perfect for this week’s Gallery/Writing Workshop combination blog post because just looking at it stirs up so many emotions for me.

I always feel a sense of calm and security when I’m near any body of water even this notoriously murky part of the Gulf.  Its waves and its mirror-like reflections, its power and its very life are all truly infinite.  Aaaah, the water.  Let me just repeat that with emphasis.  Aaaah, the water.  It calls to me. 

Bliss.

The beach.  I’m automatically conjured back to childhood days of running up and down the beach chasing after my older brothers, squealing with the wind in my hair and sand between my toes.  Or to days when I would watch my own boys squirm and giggle with delight at the very same feeling. 

Rapture.

I have a love-hate relationship with sunshine.  I love the sun, but I despise the heat and humidity it brings to this part of the world.  So, while it makes me smile to see a bright, sunny day, I’m always a little sad at what it means we can’t do simply because it’s too hot. 

Disenchantment.

Just like the song Mr. Blue Sky goes so too does my mantra  whenever I see lovely shades of blue way above my head.

Hey there mister blue
We’re so pleased to be with you
Look around see what you do
Ev’rybody smiles at you

Serenity.

And, my men. 

My boyz. 

My nucleus. 

My family. 

One of them has my heart and the other three are pieces of my heart walking around beside me.

And,

they

are

my

life.

Love.

 

Musical Monday … All The Lovers

So, this week’s Musical Monday is Kylie Minogue’s new one … All The Lovers. 

Squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

It’s new Kylie!  Yes, folks, she’s back.  And, I think it’s fab.

Enjoy!

Feel free to play along with whatever you’re listening to this Monday and let me know that you did so I can stop by and visit yours.

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Hair we are …

New  hair cuts were on the agenda this week for all my boys …

The youngest went willingly saying he wanted a “big boy” hair cut.

The middle son knew it was time as his thick head of hair was making him “too hot.”

The oldest doth protested for weeks, however, he ended up being delighted with his new do. 

Even yours truly got the gray covered and a trim.  I’m trying desperatley to grow it out and not slide back in to my bob ways.

P.S. Don’t mind the mess in the background.  With my bad back, I’ve been unable to maintain my typical OCD ways.

Search Engine Anomalies …

So, earlier this week Heather over at Notes from Lapland wrote a great blog post about stats, blogging and comments.

I, like most bloggers out there in this world we call the blogosphere, love it when I receive comments.  I’ve even been known on more than one occasion to pressure those nearest and dearest to me to leave me one.  Call me a comment whore already.  I don’t care.

It’s an affirmation of sorts, isn’t it? 

By commenting, you are acknowledging my words.   That I’ve stirred up something inside you that either delighted or provoked you enough to let me know what you think is priceless.  And, it makes me go warm and fuzzy all over.

But, do you want to know what really fascinates me every day in my dashboard? 

The search engine terms.   

Ye know, those words that people use to find your blog. 

I mean, all us bloggers or website owners look at them.  It’s like driving past a car wreck and not being able to turn away or like when you blow your nose in to a tissue and have to take a peek at the contents. 

Search engine terms are important though, aren’t they?  Companies spend thousands for experts to pore over and analyze said terms in order to get in to the very psyche of those  have written them.  Knowing exactly what is driving readers to your blog can be invaluable.   Not to mention the fact that they are so incredibly intriguing.

Or, maybe not. 

I’ve had some really strange ones over the years.  In fact, so strange that I like to call them search engine anomalies.  They have been as strange, unusual or unique as the definition of the word anomaly suggests.

I also like to play a game with myself where I make up theories surrounding what exactly the poor, unsuspecting person was looking for when they came to my blog.  And, scarier still is the question of whether or not they found it on my blog or somewhere else on the internet?

In no particular order, here are just some of the search engine terms that have apparently brought people to my blog over the years along with my take on them …

snotty nose – Do I really write about snotty noses that much?

fat pigtails — WTF?

blogs about escaping and memories — I guess my blog’s name is the reason for this one.

redneck wives — WTF?

little girl bottle – What?  There’s a girl in a bottle?  Where?  Is she okay?

killer legs – No, really?  Well, thank you very much.

my husband is an idiot – Enough said. 

legwarmers — Really?

drag queen pictures – Completely speechless on this one.

pushing grocery cart – Why?

beautiful face — Again, thank you.

ladies party – Yes, I know, I do know how to party.

ugly glasses – Okay then!

bought tops for pie – Strange, weird and delicious I’m sure.

yummy mommy — Thanks so much.

sexy mum — Again, thanks so much.

ribbon banana clip — What, they have banana clips with ribbons now?

men perfect ass – Well, yes I suppose all this bike riding has given him a perfect ass.

fat fashionista – I know I’ve got a bit of a muffin top going but enough with the fat all right?

husband’s weenie – WTF? *spits morning coffee out*

why do i keep throwing my back out? – Good question.  Will you come back and let me know when you find what you’re looking for?

barfly – I try, I really do but I don’t think mydaily alcohol consumption is quite there.

oompa loompas – Again with the chubby.  

hairy pancakes –  Again, WTF?

So, how about you?  Do you share my fetish fascination for search engine terms?  Have you got any weird and wonderful ones you’d care to share?  If so, I’d love to hear them!

Very important note from the editor: I’ve actually excluded some of the more pervy search engine terms in an attempt to decrease THAT kind of traffic to my blog.

Today’s blog post is brought to you by the letter L …

So, the other day I walked in to my youngest son’s bedroom to put away his clothes, but about fainted when I was greeted with this cheery message on his wall. 

After picking myself up off the floor, I took a closer inspection and realised that he had penned this masterpiece with permanent marker. 

Permanent bloody marker.

Obviously, my next step was to call him in and give him a good talking to about how “we draw on paper not the walls.” 

 But, when he came bounding in all excited that I had discovered his art I found the aforementioned scolding a little hard. 

“Mum, did you see my witing?”

“Your witing?”

“Yes, I was pwacticing my name for school.”

Lightbulb moment.  We’ve been working on writing his name lately with me telling him he will need to know how to write it before he can start school.  I took a step back and definitely saw the makings of the little guy’s name in the graffiti that will likely adorn the wall for the foreseeable future. 

There’s definitely an ‘L’ there, if you squint. 

I wasn’t sure at this point whether I should be mad or proud or both.

When I was pregnant with the future graffiti artist, my hubby and I weren’t exactly sure what we were going to call him.  With my older boys, I knew without a doubt and even before I laid eyes on them what their names would be.  With my littlest man, the only thing I was sure of was that his name would have to begin with the letter L.  Why?  I’m not so sure other than I had one son with a first name that began with a letter towards the end of the alphabet and another son with one that began towards the beginning.  In my very ordered pregnant brain, this baby boy’s name just  had to begin with a letter that fell somewhere in the middle of the alphabet hence the letter L.  L is the 12th letter of the alphabet, ye know. 

Call me crazy, I don’t mind.

Much.

It really all made much more sense at the time. 

The names that were in the final running were Levi, Liam, Logan and Luke.  Three guesses which one I picked.

And, yes I did lay down the law.  I told him that while I was kinda proud of him for attempting to write his name, we don’t do it on the walls … we write on paper.  Fingers crossed he got the message.

Now, if you don’t mind I have a date with a paintbrush.

The Gallery … Creatures

I saw the prompt of creatures for this week’s Gallery and couldn’t help myself.  I started singing All things bright and beautiful and rather loudly too. 

 Join along now … I know you know the words. 

All creatures great and small.

It was one of my favourite hymns at school probably because I loved all things James Herriott.  And, all creatures great and small. Minus the wee beastie and slithery ones.  When I was in primary school, I did briefly want to be a veterinarian when I grew up, however, given my dislike for blood and science it’s probably for the best that I outgrew that phase.

Every time we visit Busch Gardens, Disney’s Animal Kingdom or any zoo for that matter I find myself heading towards the elephants.  I think they’re beautiful, lovely, gentle giants and I’d love to see them in their own environment one day.  On safari.

Meanwhile, I have to make do with the safari ride at Animal Kingdom.  I took this photograph of a mummy elephant and her baby there last year.  Creatures at their finest.

The perfect picnic …

At this time of year, my thoughts always seem to turn to the summers of my childhood.  Summers that I would love for my sons to experience – romps in the park, days at the beach, long  breezy walks with my mum and siblings — all accompanied with the perfect picnic.

In my opinion, summers and picnics should go hand in hand, but unfortunately, we don’t get to picnic much here in Florida.  It’s either too hot and humid, there’s wee, biting beasties or scabby grass that can scratch your skin like sandpaper.  In my opinion, the only safe place to picnic in Florida is at the beach, around the pool or on a blanket on my living room floor.

When we were back in the UK last summer, I wanted to be sure to show my sons just what a perfect picnic is.

Having the perfect picnic doesn’t need a blanket.  Or a picnic basket.  In fact, it can take absolutely no planning whatsoever.  If you’re lucky enough to be in the right place.  At the right time.  With the right company.  The right weather.  And, just a little spontaneity.  Perfection just happens.

It was a glorious day.  And, my sister-in-law, myself and my boys were out exploring Edinburgh on our own for the first time since we’d arrived.  We had just come off the wonderful Horrible Histories bus tour of the city and were all quite peckish.

On a summer’s day in Florida, we would have been ducking in and out of air conditioning and would have welcomed cooling off in a cafe for lunch, but on that lovely, sunny day in Edinburgh it seemed such a shame to disappear indoors just to eat.

So, we decided to picnic.  Picnic in the park.  Princes Street Gardens, to be exact.

We dashed in to Marks and Sparks and stocked up on delicious sandwiches, crisps and fizzy drinks and headed to the park.  It really is true that on a sunny day, there is nowhere better to eat your lunch than in these iconic city centre gardens.  We found the perfect spot sitting there in the shadow of the castle.

We ate, laughed and guzzled down our fizzy drinks, but then I had to go chasing  the little one down before he had the chance to stomp on other unsuspecting picnickers!

We managed to play, eat a 99 cone and do lots of people-watching for a bit longer and then left to make our trek up to spend the rest of the day touring the castle.

*sigh*

I could have quite happily spent the rest of that glorious day in that park.  It’s a day that I look back at as one of my most perfect picnic memories of summer.   Ever.

And, everyone should have one, right?  Do you?  If so, tell me about it.

I ♥ Faces . . . Celebrating Teens

I ♥ Faces is a photography blog that hosts a weekly photo contest that I’ve participated in only once before.  Why?  Have you seen some of the entries?  They are absolutely amazing.  I mean, how on earth can my very amateurish photography skills compete?

Well, this week I decided to go balls to the wall.  I couldn’t resist putting my photographer’s hat in to the mix and participating again with this week’s theme of celebrating teens.  I chose this photograph that I took of my son on a blustery day at the beach back in April of this year.  I just love all the shades of blue in the shot and the angle of his handsome face coupled with the hint of a mischievous smile.

Running to stand still …

I don’t like to sit still. 

Really. 

I don’t.

Lucky for me then that I have three messy boys and a workaholic hubby who’s never home because there’s always something to do or something that should be done around my house.  Always. They keep me busy.  My home keeps me busy.  The laundry alone keeps me busy.

And, only when it’s all done do I feel like it’s okay to stop and be still. 

I do find that even when I am still, my mind is always on the go.  Call it making mental notes or lists.  I’m always thinking and mentally preparing for … well, something that needs to be done. 

My mind or body seem to always be in perpetual motion.

Except for the past couple of days, when I’ve been forced to be still on account of hurting my back . 

There’s a lot of thinking time to be had when you’re laid up unable to do anything, but … think.   My mind has been going crazy with thoughts.  And, not just any thoughts. 

Deep. 

Meaningful. 

Where do I fit in this world?

Taking stock.

 Soul searching thoughts.

About life, the universe and everything.

This being still and taking stock has made me figure out that I really must stop making lists and just start living my life to the fullest.  To be true to myself and true to what I want.  For me and my family.  I must be original and gorgeous in body, mind and spirit. 

And, that I really need to shave my legs.

Yeah, it kinda puts everything in to perspective being laid up flat on your back for a few days.  I highly recommend it, but seriously can’t wait for life to resume as normal so I can get moving and shaking up my busy world again.  And, shave my legs.

Today’s Musical Monday, is U2′s Running to Stand Still.  Enjoy.