Radio Silence

Well, hello there!

I know, I have been gone for a while. The Farmer and I have been moving. I would have warned you, but it took me by surprise. You see, I was planning on moving this coming weekend, but last Friday, The Farmer called me up and said "Christie, I am on my way home with a U-Haul, and if you want any help from me with our move, it will have to happen tomorrow."

So we got busy moving.

And I did a lot of crying.

And now we are living amongst a lot of boxes at the beach house, a lot of mess at our old house (which, as I see it now, has no end in sight to the moving), and a lot of boxes at our farm house. Basically, my life is surrounded by boxes and all those final things I have to do before the closing next week.

And I am so behind on work and sleep it isn't funny.

And I am the Social Chair for my Junior Service League, and I am hosting an end-of-the-year party tomorrow night.

So I just might be a little stressed out.

Right now the kids and I are staying with my parents. We don't have internet at the beach house yet, so we are staying here so that I can catch up on work after the chillens are in bed, and I am getting there, slowly but surely. But, I may not be around much until I whip my life back into some sort of control...

Until then, I'm still here, and I hope y'all are doing just lovely!

Besties

(EC, 2, Sassy, 4, Miss Priss, 7, G, 4, Bubba, 2 -- Best Buddies!)

Have you ever seen such cute little chillens and best friends? These are the children of our besties Muffie and The Architect, and they have grown up right alongside our kids. The Farmer and I are G, EC, and W's (not pictured) Godparents, and Muffie and The Architect are our kid's Godparents. We always talk about how one day we will be in-laws -- and, who knows, it could happen, right?!?!

The Weather Is Here, I Wish You Were Beautiful

Part of our weekend was spent doing this:

(Do you notice that, at least while seated, there isn't much size difference

between my 7-year-old and my 2-year-old?)

while the rest of it was spent doing the dreaded chore of packing -- or, at least, I packed while the kids tried to unpack everything as fast as I could pack it and The Farmer worked. It was a joy, really, and I just have more to look forward to!

Our house is starting to look really sad, and I am starting to tear up at the drop of a hat -- I think it is the combination of a lot going on at work, packing up the house, school coming to an end, etc -- it is all just getting to me. Really, I am a total loser right now. So if you know me in real life, you've been forewarned!

A Shameless Plug

The next time you are in your local grocery store, look for these little packages in the produce section. These are the best blueberries you will ever get your hands on, and I happen to know because my husband grew them! They aren't in stores for long -- just a couple of weeks -- so run on out and get some now, and help put food on my table.

Well, that and help support my shoe, clothing, and handbag habits...

Parent/Teacher Conferences and a Leprechaun

Last week I had parent/teacher conferences at Sassy and Bubba's preschool. I was a bit nervous about both conferences. First, at Sassy's fall conference, I learned that she was a little behind the rest of her classmates. She has an August birthday, so she is one of the youngest kids in her class, and it was definitely showing in the fall.

However, this time the conference went great! She is totally ready for Kindergarten. She is sounding out small words, math is coming easily to her, and she is doing great with her letter/number recognition and her writing. I learned that she is a born performer (who would have thought that?!?!) who regaled the class with song after song by Taylor Swift after we went to the concert.

My favorite story from Sassy's conference, though, was when her teacher told me that, at the beginning of the year, she asked Sassy what season it is when it is hot outside. Sassy's answer?

"Tomato season!"

Now that is a farm girl!!! And, boy, is she right...

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I was worried about Bubba's conference for a totally different reason. He has just recently started going into school without crying. I have had to stop dropping him off -- the babysitter has to come early to take him to school so he won't pitch a fit at drop-off. He was spending a ton of time in time-out, and it seemed like every day there was some story about how he had run through some child's blocks or he had done something and had refused to apologize, etc.

I just knew I was going to go in there and hear about how the boy needed anger management training or something.

But, his teacher went on and on about how great Bubba was doing and about how whatever we were doing at home was working and how Bubba had just had the greatest turn around. I was so excited.

My favorite part of Bubba's conference was when his teacher told me that all of the kids in his class call the color orange Go Tigers because of him -- he calls everything orange Go Tigers. She said that she and the other teacher have had to start calling it Go Tigers Orange so that the kids will at least know that the word orange exists!

I am sure all the Gamecock parents love this!

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My MIL had Sassy and Bubba in the grocery store last weekend, and they saw a little person. Bubba said "Hey YaYa, look at that little man!"

Sassy looked at Bubba like he was nuts and said "No, Bubba, that's not a little man, that's a leprechaun!"

I don't think the little man heard the kids (actually I have no idea; I hope he didn't hear!), but my MIL about died on the spot. She couldn't get out of the store fast enough, she was laughing so hard.

I just love to hear about the things my kids say and do! They are nuts!

Hopefully It Won't Make You Throw Up...

Sometime soon you might be shopping in your local Harris Teeter or Bi-Lo and see a familiar face or two -- mine, The Farmer's, and the kids'! We have had pictures taken twice recently for advertisements for both grocery stores. I am not exactly sure where they will use the pictures, but you could see us peeking out at you, along with the rest of The Farmer's family, when you least expect it.

We have a Bi-Lo around here, but we do not have a Harris Teeter, so if any of you spot us in your store, please let me know. I would love to see what we look like. (The Farmer's sister just sent me the link to the pics that the photographer took for Harris Teeter, and from what I can see, I am not real excited that those are going to be up for the world to see...)

Hopefully our faces won't make you sick to your stomach as you're doing your weekly grocery shopping -- and hopefully they will make you want to buy some blueberries or watermelons!

Being A Mom

Since we just celebrated Mother's Day, I have to say that being a mom is the hardest job that I have, but it is definitely the most rewarding.

It can make me want to tear my hair out one minute, but it can make me shed tears of love the next. One minute I want to give the little punks away to the highest bidder (or whoever happens to be unlucky enough to be standing closest to me at the time), and the next moment I couldn't be prouder to be their mother.

I never knew that such little people could make me be so all over the place emotionally until seven years ago when I held that little bundle for the first time.

On this Mother's Day (though I'm a little late...), and every day, I am thankful that I get to experience this motherhood with these three little people that God has loaned me. I pray for all of my friends and loved ones who are mothers. And I pray for all of those who long to be mothers and who aren't yet, and I hope that all of you get to some day experience the joy and the sorrows, the laughter and the tears.

And to my mother, thank you for being you! I couldn't have asked for a better one!

Thursday Things

1. I have had a couple of questions about my smoothies. First, you can get vanilla almond milk in the dairy section. There are two flavors -- plain and vanilla. There might actually be more, but I know there are at least those two. Second, I have not assigned any Weight Watchers points to the smoothies because I am not doing WW anymore. I was not sticking to counting points, and I have actually been more successful in losing weight since I stopped; I have just been really watching what I eat, and I have been doing a lot of exercising -- literally, I have been walking my butt off!

2. The temperature gauge in my car hit 89 today, and, boy, was it humid. My mom and I went walking around the Back Field from 11:30 to 12:30 (oh yes, during the hottest part of the day!), and I thought I was going to melt. I think I will be walking in the mornings from now on. Welcome, summer!

3. I went to dinner tonight with some great friends from waaaaaayyyyy back. We got a picture, but it isn't on my camera, so I hope to post it later.

4. Remember how I said I was starting tennis lessons last Tuesday? Well, they got cancelled that night because of the wind. This Tuesday they got cancelled because of the rain. So we had a makeup class last night, and it was so, so fun. I am so excited to be playing tennis again. I have never in my life been good at tennis, but I really love to play.

5. I don't have anything else, but five sounded like a good ending number . I am exhausted, so I am going to bed. Y'all have a good night!

Smoothie Deliciousness

Smoothies are great for breakfast. They are quick to put together if you are always running late like me, and they can be really good for you. I really start to crave smoothies during the spring, and I have been making them every morning lately. I think I have some pretty good ones, so I thought I would share my recipes with you...

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Blueberry-Banana Smoothie


1/2 cup plain, non-fat Greet yogurt (I like Chobani)

1/2 cup vanilla almond milk

1/2 cup frozen blueberries

1/2 banana



This is a great, fruity smoothie, and it comes in around 210 calories. I have been using frozen blueberries, but The Farmer's blueberries are ready now, so I will be adding fresh ones. I will also switch out the fruit every once in a while -- sometimes peaches, sometimes strawberries.



Chocolate-Peanut Butter-Banana Smoothie


1/2 cup plain, non-fat Greek yogurt

1/2 cup vanilla almond milk

1/2 banana

1/2 T peanut butter

1 T light chocolate syrup (I use Hershey's)

handful of ice



This one is my favorite, and it isn't too bad on calories either -- only about 248.



I used to use orange juice or other fruit juice in my smoothies, but I saw a recipe for smoothies in Health magazine, and they used almond milk. I thought I would give it a try, and I really like it much better than fruit juice.

Do you have any good smoothie recipes?

Did I Mention We Went To See Taylor Swift?

Here are some pictures from our night...

The girls and I all decked out in our Matilda Jane:

Sassy knew all about needing to paint a "13" on her hand like Taylor does before all of her concerts:

She also knew the heart hand motion:

Like all the rest of the four and seven-year-olds at the concert, the girls got out their Blackberries (because, don't all four and seven-year-olds have Blackberries these days?) and waved them around when Taylor (yes, we are on a first name basis) played "Tim McGraw:"

I have the cutest video of the girls at the concert, but I am having a hard time getting it to upload to Blogger. Maybe I will get it later. Anywho, I think you can tell that the girls thoroughly enjoyed their first concert. I think Santa did a great job -- he is definitely going to have a hard time topping this year's present!

What was your first concert? Mine was also a really cool one...Garth!

Yesterday Was a Fairytale!

The girls, my sister, and I just got back from the Taylor Swift concert! I can't wait to post pictures and video here soon, but they are all on my sister's camera, so I have to wait until she uploads and emails me everything.

Suffice it to say it was a dream come true for Miss Priss and Sassy. I loved every minute of it, too! I had gotten to see Taylor Swift last year, but I loved getting to see her concert again through the girls' eyes.

But right now? I could use a nap!