Cadillac Ranch

If you know me, or read my posts, you know I’m kinda weird.  I LOVE weird stuff.  I’m also pretty country.  So if combining the two, what better place than Cadillac Ranch!?  Have you heard the song?  It’s by Chris LeDoux.

Now we call it the Cadillac Ranch
They’re parking cars in the old bean patch

Well…..I don’t know how historically accurate the song is, because there is no barn and certainly no bar.  (sad face)  There is, however, an intoxicating aroma of spray paint that one may be able to catch a buzz from on a busy day.  But it’s okay, vandalism is allowed and encouraged.

Cadillac Ranch came to be in 1974 by an art group known as Ant Farm, and is a bunch of classic Cadillacs buried rear end up in the ground.  The angle at which they’re buried is supposed to be the same angle as the Pyramid of Giza.

Although the Cadillac Ranch isn’t in it’s original birthplace, it doesn’t make it any less of a hot spot.  It’s located off on I-40 in Amarillo, TX on private land.  But visitors are encouraged, spray paint cans included.  There’s been several limes the cars have been totally repainted for movies, or restoration projects, etc.  I don’t think that there’s much holding these old cars together besides the spray paint.

My family and I hit up Home Depot on our way to be able to leave our mark, however long it may stay.

Here’s some extra pics of our family adventure

I was pretty excited to see the gift shop there.  I am a bit of a gift-shop junkie!  But after sitting there for an hour and a half, we decided they may not be coming back from lunch.  Bummer

Mom-bashing

I’ve had a topic come across my mind and my social media newsfeed quite a bit lately, and I can’t stop stewing about it.

Mom-bashing

Whether intentional or not, I would like to reach out to all my fellow moms, and non-moms, to knock it the hell off.  Talking badly about another woman and her parenting choices, does not make you appear any wiser, any cooler, or any more liked.  In fact, it kinda makes you look like a bitch and nobody wants to be around you.

I have friends that make their own babyfood, breastfeed, use cloth diapers, vow to never use a babysitter that isn’t family, do not ever eat fast food, do not vaccinate, only eat organic, deny their children all types of sugar, homeschool, had a natural birth, had c-sections, had tummy-tucks, don’t eat dairy, don’t watch TV, etc. etc.

I can guarantee you that nobody uses cloth diapers (a feat I would personally NEVER undertake) because they enjoy washing poop out of cloth several times a day.  They do it because they feel it’s better for their kids and they are trying to be the best parent they can be.

I can also guarantee you that my friend who is fortunate enough to have family-only babysitters will never speak ill of me for using non-family sitters.  Despite the fact that I have very little family to begin with, my husband was in the Marines and unfortunately, was not paid well enough for me to be a stay-at-home mom, so while moving around the gulf/east coast, I was not blessed with that choice.

I should’ve tried harder to breastfeed.  Well, I’m happy that your breasts are glorious milk-fountains that would be the envy of every wet-nurse this side of the 18th century, but, after hooking my breasts up to a machine for an hour at a time to get maaaaaaybe an ounce, I gave up.  There were better ways to spend my hours caring for my children than to sit around like an unsuccessful dairy cow.  Plus, I enjoy adult beverages, and that’s not conducive with breast feeding, or so I’ve been told.

I have had (many)others say hateful things about some of my different parenting choices.  But they can go bark up another tree.

My point- every parent is different, every one of us is trying to do our best.  There is a difference in having a discussion with another mom and sharing your information, and “bashing”.   So stop.  Unless there is some sort of imminent danger to the child, please, feel free to share your views, your information, your opinion (as long as it’s not shitty) and discuss.  But you are not better than me and I am not better than you.  Kthanks. 🙂

Fundraising Rudeness

As a parent of a school-age child who is involved in extra-curricular activities, I am almost always inundated with fundraisers.  And chances are, I’m chairing at least one of them.  Not even taking into account all the fundraisers not remotely related to my child.  I’m constantly posting on social media and bothering my family, friends, friends of family, family of friends…..strangers.  

Would you like to buy some popcorn?  Would you like to buy some chocolate? Would you like to donate to this amazing cause? Would you like to buy some cookie dough?  Would you like to buy some wrapping paper? Would you like to donate to our silent auction? Would you like to buy a Saints/LSU shirt? How about now, would you like some chocolate now?  Would you like to buy a raffle ticket?  Would you like to sponsor this jump rope thing?  How about now, same chocolate, but shaped like a bunny! Interested?

(If the answer to any of this is yes, please let me know.)

But before you pretend you aren’t home when my son and I walk up to your door, or don’t even acknowledge his existence when he speaks to you, please be assured that I don’t find this process any more exhilarating than you do.  And I swear, planning it is even less thrilling, and way more time-consuming.  But I do it for my child and for good causes.  It’s generally thankless, and the only reward moms(and dads) like me get for this is a smaller balance in our bank account, and an extra thing on our plate.  And it is very frustrating to see someone ignore a child.

So big thank you to everyone who doesn’t ignore the children when they are asking for your support.  Believe me, they know what “No, Thank you” means.  No need to be rude.

What about my Mommy?

I heard a radio show interview kids about their mom.  So I decided I wanted to know my own kids’ answers to these questions: (big one in Red, little man in Blue)

What is your favorite thing that your mom cooks?

Steak, macaroni and cheese, broccoli, asparagus, corn, potatoes, hot dogs

Macaroni, noodles, ramen noodles, steak, and um I don’t know

What is a song that your mom sings ALL the time?

Country music.  I don’t know country music, but I know she sings it all the time

Let It Go

What is one thing that your mom does that drives you crazy!?

Punishes me and makes me get off of my games

makes me in trouble

What does your mom like to do on the weekend?

Play with (her kids), go tanning, and other fun stuff

Drink Wine

The way it smells

Working at a middle school right after it rains is something that brings me back to my childhood.  Not that I liked middle school.  At. All.  But middle schoolers have a weird smell about them and when that mixes with wet dirt, it’s a pretty universal smell, that I am certain will trigger the olfactory memory of anyone that smells it.  It’s a mixed smell of childhood and adulthood.  Boys and girls that have yet to discover the proper usage and application of antiperspirant, lotions, hairsprays, perfumes, and cologne.  Mixed with #2 sawdust.  And stinky feet.  And attitude.  Some of them are bigger than I am and some of them are smaller than my eight-year-old.  They are all insane, and pretty much all unsure of themselves.  And a lot of them, when it rains, kinda smell like wet dogs.

Teacher Appreciation

I’m telling you, nobody appreciates full-time teachers like a part-time substitute!  I try to be creative with my teacher appreciation gifts, and give them something they’ll use, and not just another ceramic apple or hand-made crayon picture.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure they adore every child’s hand-made gift, but I’m sure they’re also pretty excited for that Michael’s gift card, or restaurant gift-card, or even a case of their favorite drink (green tea/pepsi/red-bull).  So Here’s a few of the things I put together, and, although I’d Looooooooove to claim these ideas as my own, they are not, so I am including the websites of the wonderful blog I found these from. 

For Every Teacher he has, including Speech Therapist and Bus driver, I made these:

The printable can be found here:  http://www.livinglocurto.com/2009/05/thanks-printable/#sthash.zj2CoWc3.ItRQ7RSy.dpbs

For his all day teacher, I put this together:

The printable for the Straw flag can be found here: http://www.livinglocurto.com/2014/05/teacher-diy-free-printables/#sthash.vyZDuqHj.dpbs

And for the teacher Lounge, I made these:

(because the MudBug is their mascot)

Instructions on those bad boys can be found here:

http://www.livinglocurto.com/2013/04/crawfish-cakes/#sthash.0YkUMMLg.35gKtYP2.dpbs

Or, my step by step recreation can be found here:

https://methemommy.wordpress.com/2014/05/07/crawfish-cookies/?fb_action_ids=10203772209810433&fb_action_types=news.publishes&fb_ref=pub-standard&fb_source=aggregation&fb_aggregation_id=288381481237582

 

 

 

 

Nigger..yep, I had to say it. And explain it

A few years ago a child drew my oldest, M, a picture and gave it to him.  The picture depicted three people.  Two were police officers, and one was the illustrator of the picture.  The illustrator had killed one police officer, and was being chased by the other, with the caption “die, nigger, die”.

Ever heard of the rapper “Lil’ Boosie”?  Because this first grader listened to his music, and this was a depiction of some of his lyrics.  Let’s not get into his parents’ decision making skills.

October 2013

Back to Halloween!

We started out Halloween festivities at the library kid fest.  It was lots of fun and I look forward to going to the next one.  The big one dressed as a devil.  (Once again, I nailed the makeup, but you cant see it from the photo) The little one was batman.  They had fun games and crafts. The kids loved it!

Next event?  Pumpkin patch of course!  A lot of rain led to a lot of the pumpkins rotting this year.  We got a few pumpkins, after deciding between round, tall, deformed, bumpy, stemmed, standing quality, etc.  🙂  The big one has a super special connection to this pumpkin patch because he helped the church unload them!  We’ll be carving them soon, stay tuned for that fun!