Screw it baby, let the good times roll- again

Well, I don't usually do this but this is what I feel like today so I thought I would say it again! Here is a post from over a year ago....




Screw it baby let the good times roll. How can that statement which is so simple and not even accepted in some social settings, be so liberating. Just think about all the crazy stuff you are worrying about right now and then say, “screw it baby, let the good times roll.” Can’t ya just feel the liberation. When my mind begins to over think it reminds me of a hamster on his wheel, running, and running as fast as he can, trying so hard to get some where yet accomplishing nothing. Running and running, and running until he can barely breathe, pushing with every last ounce of strength until “thump” he cant run any long and is tossed around the circular tread mill like a rag doll. Thump, thump his head hits each time he lands until the wheel slows down, eventually he’s just lying there on the bottom as it rocks up and down. He is so exhausted he just can’t move and then he thinks, oh “screw it baby let the good times roll.” And then some where out of nowhere someone gives the wheel a spin and whoo hoo, he is just along for the ride. Off the hinge the wheel spins, where exactly he’s going he is not entirely sure, but he is going somewhere. And he will enjoy the ride.

So often we let our minds take over our LIFE. We waste so many countless minutes in a day just worrying over things that just don’t even matter. We think it matters, and in that moment it seems like a HUGE deal. In that moment, forgetting your kid’s lunch seems like you are the worst mom. Taking the wrong kid up to soccer pictures seems like you are an airhead mom. But in the bigger picture of our life we would enjoy more of our life if we just said, “Who cares” and let it go. Cause all those worries lead back to worrying about what OTHER people think of you. So you ran over the diaper bag today, you are still a good mom. So you backed into your sister’s car for the 3rd time, it will still be ok. She may not be very happy with you, but trust me, I have experience with this personally, and your true friends love you no matter what. They are just happy to know someone just as human as they are. Let it go, stop over thinking. We can either ride this ride of life freely, taking in each moment, learning from the up hills and down hills, or we can over think and fight it. But in the end over thinking will make you feel like the hamster spinning his wheel. My Dad used to say to me, “Jamie, don’t sweat the small stuff.” And just before I could utter the words “um, this isn’t small stuff,” he would interrupt and say “and it is ALL small stuff!”

The land of the free, and the home of the Brave!

I have always appreciated our troops but now that I have a relative in the service, I appreciate them even more. I always get a little teary eyed at Memorial Day events and even on the 4th of July, as I watch the beautiful display in the sky, I can’t help but take pride in what our country stands for and those who fought the very first battles of independence right up to those who will deploy by my cousins side. I have just always felt very patriotic, but now that the experience of sacrifice is right in my own family and it has opened up a whole new level of appreciation. It’s funny how it is hard to relate to other people’s experiences at times, simply because we have not experienced it personally. Just like I empathized with those who experience parents who divorced, I could only truly relate when I endured the same circumstance my self. Just like I had heard stories of child labor and the magical feel of a new born baby, it wasn’t real to my own soul until the day I personally labored and had my new baby placed on my very own stomach. But today I relate to those with family in the military on a whole new level. I still can’t relate to a wife of a soldier kissing her husband goodbye that last time before he goes to war. And my heart goes out to them in their own sacrifice. But I now relate as a close family member. As a cousin who grew up with a sweet little boy, who I pretty much claimed as my own little buddy, seeing I am 8 years older than he is. I played baseball in the backyard with him and we raced remote control cars. He is the one who gave me my nickname “Mame”, and though he grew out of calling me “mame”, I am now “Aunt Mame” to my little nephews, and every time I hear it, it brings a smile to my face. He has turned into a fine young man and I am very proud of him. He is a protector of his family, yet his heart is sweet as can be. I love him with all my heart. I now relate on a whole new level and I want to say personally, “Thank you to all those who have sacrificed, who are sacrificing and who will sacrifice for the beautiful life I am allowed to have here in America! The land of the Free and the Home of the Brave!”

Nothing to loose, and everything to gain

Approach every venture as if you have nothing to lose and everything to gain, and you will lose nothing and gain everything. You will gain the experience of “life” and isn’t that what we all are after anyway. If you approach every venture as if you have something to lose, you will hang on to that which you should have let go of in the first place, and that is living desperation, fear, and regret. I often wonder if I approached life as an adventure, how much more youthful and content would I be? Rather than look at life as an “assignment” to get “right”, but as an adventure like I was Indiana Jones, what would I have to fear? If I approached life as an adventure with expected snares and adversities that I was thrilled to conquer, what guilt would I carry? If I approached life, fearing nothing but fear itself, putting all my successes and failures into my memory under the category of LIFE. What regrets would I have? If I awoke every morning, taking my first waking breath of the day with anticipation of what craziness I would encounter, faced it head on just proud to be me, taking in all there is to be learned, laughed and loved. And at the and of the day, letting my last conscious exhale be that of acceptance and admiration of all that I was, am and will be, falling into a restful slumber to prepare me for my next adventurous day, oh how would I sleep? As far as my adventures as Indiana Jones, what do my thrills look like? Thrills of taking large leaps, or driving a jeep 90MPH through the desert. Perhaps they are my leaps of faith as a parent choosing to believe I am the best “man for the job”, or abandoning myself to being vulnerable with those whom I care for the most, or the exhilaration of being an entrepreneur wondering what my next steps are and being willing to face the judgments of the world as if nothing they say could penetrate me. How much more fulfilling would those adventures be if I lived them with total abandonment, believing that my safety net in life is the knowledge I gain from every fall? The cool part is, that adventure is mine for the taking and the stress, regrets and guilt are mine for the leaving. The question is what will I choose to take and what will I choose to leave. More and more every day I choose to take, accept and enjoy my adventure and choose to leave the worries by the wayside. How about you?

Mom down, we have a mom down!

I am going to go ahead and say this will probably be the best story ever written on this blog :) BWAHAHAHAH!!!!

Oh yes it's happened once again. It is me, Jessica, and I have hijacked my sister's blog, only this time the story’s main character isn't Josh, Kate, Timmy, Bo, Ayden, or Zayne. It's Jamie!!
The day starts like this…

I called Jamie this morning to see if she wanted to keep me company while I did some grocery shopping. She had some shopping to do herself, so she agreed. I ended up making some cinnamon muffins and brought a couple to keep the kids happy in the car. We hit Meijer, took some stuff back to Sears, dropped off some Goodwill and we were on our way to Sams. Anywhere Jamie and I go we tend to make a scene. So here we are walking in with the kid on Red Bull(Bo) and his little prototype(Ayden) following, while I carry cranky pork-ums(Zayne) hoping for a bath later to take care of the back ache from hauling him around. We are a sight through the whole store. Ayden and Bo didn't want to be separated so all over the warehouse you kept hearing Jamie or I holler at one of them. “Keep up boys”....”Ayden are staying with me or Aunt Mame”....”Bo you need to listen”. Jamie and I finally met up in the freezer section where she told me how much pain she was in from her menstrual cramps. I felt bad for her but was going to finish shopping. She looked back at me and said “I’m not ok...oh my gosh it really hurts.” I opened up a bag of veggie straws I had in my cart and started feeding them to my whiny 18 month old. “What do you want to do?” was my question back to her. She sat down right there in the middle of the isle and turned white as a ghost. Wow, she really wasn't ok. What was I going to do...I had 3 children literally hanging off my arm. A man ended up walking over and asking if she was alright and if she needed anything. “Ugh...Im fine...I just need to sit for a minute.” was her lovely response :) She gets a little grouchy when she is in pain. Don't even get me started on her labor and delivery stories ;) I ended up giving her my keys so she can go lay down in the car.
So here I am with 2 carts full of food and 3 starving kids...one of them being Bo. In my head I tried to finish her list for her knowing she wouldn't want to forget anything. I knew she needed cheese and pizza. As we made our way down the isle, we start passing all the wonderful samples. I have Ayden asking me if we can get one and I am calmly trying to tell him no, that Aunt Mame doesn't feel good and we have to hurry. Out of the blue I hear Bo's voice plow it's way through my conversation and say “SHTWABERRIES!!!!!!”. You would have thought the kid saw Santa Clause. “I WANT SOME SHTWABERRIES!!!!!!!”. I think I had enough of his spit on me to hydrate a small dog, I looked at him bug-eyed wondering how he could be so loud. “No, honey your mommy doesn't feel...” “AUNT CHESHY, I WANT SHUM SHTWABERRIES”. It was as if I wasn't even talking. Pushing one cart and pulling the other, I choo-choo trained myself down to the cheese isle and unfortunately had to pass the lovely strawberries again to get to the pizza. I’m sure you can all hear it. “SHTWABERRIES” he says again as if the whole store didn't hear him the first 2 times. “No Bo.” I thought maybe if I simplified he would understand better. Nope. He kept repeating himself and I decided to ignore him, grab the pizza and run. This lady approached me and said “Are you the sister of the girl...” I didn't hear the last of her sentence because of the pudgy little boy that was in my cart who still was expressing his desire for “shtwaberries!” I nodded my head knowing it had to be Jamie. Then over the loud speaker I heard “Would Jessica the sister of Jamie please come to the Exit”. Oh my gosh, did she get hit by a car on her way out. The lady looked at me and preceded to say “She collapsed...but it's ok she is talking now. Do you want me to stay with the kids while you go check on her?” My first thought was “Holy @#$!....she freakin fainted” What a great sister I am, send her to the car thinking it's menstrual and she freakin fainted
My second thought was “Leave my kids with you...over my DEAD BODY.” Don't get me wrong folks. I believe that there are good people in the world I just wouldn’t use my kids to figure out if this lady was one of them. I felt the beads of sweat start to form on my forehead and in the small of my back. I grabbed all 3 of what felt like now my own kids, hurriedly apologized for the opened bag of veggie straws and simply left my 2 carts full of groceries and headed out to the exit. I grabbed “porky”, held Ayden's hand and had to argue with Bo as to why he had to hold Ayden's other hand. On my way out there I thought, knowing my sister, she will be fine and then she will be bummed I didn't just check out so we didn't head home empty handed. I got out there and she had 4 people standing around her asking her questions. Once I knew she was ok I had to hold back the laughter. She was slumped over on the concrete apparently irritated that they wouldn't leave her alone. I heard one man ask her if she was a diabetic. “NO I am not a Diabetic.” 'Yup time to get her in the car and on our way'. I got to her and let her know I was going to load the kids and pull around to pick her up. She started crying once she saw me and I paused. I knew she just wanted to leave and I could hardly even console her with the 3 chitlins I had to take care of. One lady offered to hold Zayne and I politely declined. Another man piped up and said “Ok an ambulance is on the way.” Jamie almost lost it. “WELL CALL THEM AND TELL THEM TO TURN AROUND, I AM NOT PAYING THAT BILL”. She kept hollering something at them while a man pulled me aside. “This isn't right, you don't collapse on a concrete, walkway and say you're fine.” “I know, I'll get her in the car and we'll head to the hospital.” I said this knowing it would put everyone at ease and we could easily bow out. Don't get me wrong she does need to get it checked out but she would rather set up an appointment with her personal doctor. I corralled all the kids, got them loaded and buckled, all while answering 3 of Bo's questions. Then I realize I gave Jamie the keys earlier in the store and she still had them. I kept my eye on the car while I ran up to her and grabbed them. I ran back and pulled the car up just in enough time to see the paramedic taking her blood pressure. Oh boy, I didn't want anyone poking the bear. I quickly jumped out and said “Ok, I got the car, lets get you loaded!” The paramedic said, “I will let you go with your sister as long as you're going to the hospital.” I started to shake my head in “Fake” agreeance and then heard my sister say “HECK NO... I'm not going to the hospital, this is just GIRL problems...I'm going home to pop 6 ibuprofen and lay down with a hot water bottle on my stomach.” Obviously Jamie had never been through this situation before, however I had. So I quietly, without letting Jamie see me, said to the medic, “Yea we'll get her in” with a reassuring nod. We finally got her loaded and we drove across the street to the K-Mart. I ran in, grabbed the pain relievers and a bottle of water. She took a couple and by the time we got home she was her cheery little self again.

My cute little chef

Bo was so cute he just melted my heart. I was upstairs folding laundry while he was downstairs playing in his toy room. As I was going upstairs I noticed he was in his play kitchen cooking up quite a meal. After about 15 minutes of folding laundry and listening to Bo talk to himself I heard his little voice calling up the stairs. “Mom, come and see what I made you, it is so AWWWWSOME.” I just had to chuckle. As I came down the stairs he pointed me to his kitchen where he had quite the spread. He instructed me to sit down ‘cause it was time to eat. As I sat there I was quite impressed with his attention to detail. In the center of the table he had a stick of butter with some sort of spatula on top of it. Next to the butter he had a top to a hamburger bun. He had 2 teacups with spoons in them, one for me and one for him. I knew this had to be hot chocolate, that seems to be the hot item these days, with the snow and all, and the kids love to sip it off their spoons. Sure enough, when I asked him he said, “Yup, you like some hot chocolate?” “Oh yes” I replied
“Would you like some bread and butter.” He asked as he picked up the top of a hamburger bun and scraped his spatula across the plastic butter.
“Oh, yes please” I said “This food is very good, you are a really good cook Bo.”
His face beamed with pride, accompanied by the cutest little chubby face grin.
“Yes, I am a very good cook.” He said.
I just had to admire how sure of himself he was. It got me thinking, if only we could be so pleased with ourselves. It seems to me we spend a lot of time looking at our shortcomings, when really we would feel better if we “beamed with pride” even over our little accomplishments. So from now on, if I manage to cook dinner “without” making the smoke alarms go off, well, I would say that is something to be proud of. lol

Paparazzi Mom

The other day the kids and I were chatting about their days and Josh said
"Be careful what you say guys, you might end up on Mom's blog"

"Yea" said Kate "Mom is like the paparazzi!"


Well I got More than a story this time! I got it on VIDEO!!!!

Pay attention to the kid in the orange shirt, on the left end, 2nd from the top row.

A lesson in Honesty...It's never to late to be honest.

As a part of Value Based Parenting, we have weekly family council meetings. During these meetings we can make sure we have everything on the calendar, and we use this opportunity to allow everyone, parents and kids, to express concerns or ideas of how things can work better. We also discuss one of our family values to keep learning. Well, tonight we were discussing honesty. While we were discussing the importance of honesty, Timmy pipes up and said, “I have something to say about Honesty.” With all of our attention now on Timmy, this is what he said.

“The other day I snuck and ate three donuts. And then I came and asked you if I could have a donut, and you said yes, so I ate another one. And then later I snuck three more donuts.”

The room filled with laughter at Timmy’s candor. After we were done laughing we further chatted about honesty. It turned out to be a good lesson and I took it as a big sign we must be on the right track, lol, if Timmy felt safe enough to confess at the meeting. I was glad for the experience! It was a teachable moment, while entertaining at the same time.

Kids are too dang funny!

Kids are just too dang funny. When ever it is a school night for Bo I always say, “Ok, Bo you have school tomorrow you gotta get some rest so you can be ready for school?” I do this to try and make putting my hyperactive child to bed easier. Well, last night I said “Are you excited for school tomorrow?” working to get him to think going to sleep is a GOOD idea, and certainly something he is interested in. His answer was, “Yeah, but just a little bit excited. I get a lot excited only when we are going to Disney World not school. I get a lot excited to go to Disney World, and yeah school too. Well, I get a lot excited when we go to Disney World, school, or just to someone else’s house. When are we going to Jackie’s house? That kid is to funny.

Another little story, Timmy has us laughing this time. He noticed a friend of ours had a beard and our friend said maybe he should get rid of it. So Timmy told this story to Michael followed by, “so you can CHOOSE to have a beard or not” lol to funny, the kid apparently thought beards were like freckles. Some get them and some don’t.

It is moments like me that I just soak up as a parent. As you know it can be quite trying at times, but these moments melt away the stress and remind me that LIFE is GOOD no matter what.

If you have some cute stories of your own I would be happy to post them. You can send your story written, to me at jamielightner@yahoo.com. Or feel free to give me a call and tell me your story and I will gladly write it for you. 517-242-0224.

Have a great day everyone!