The Latta Family

I am 2 weeks into my summer and have done jack with it.  In my defense, I was so crazed at the end of the school year, I never had time to get my brain wrapped around the fact that it was almost summer.  Then suddenly it was summer and . . . I was obsessed with The Walking Dead and I couldn't think of anything until I watched all that I could.  Then the boys left for camp and Alexa and I went to Charleston and now . . . I'm home, sitting on the couch, tv stinks and I think I might get my summer plans together. What do I want to do with these days?  How do I want to use my time?  What's the one thing I want to do more than anything else? 1. Chillax.  But not in a "sit in front of the tv and do nothing productive" sort of way.  Instead of hauling my kids somewhere everyday to provide them valuable, educational, social experiences, I want to stay home some. Figure out how to entertain ourselves here- not in front of the tv, and not being mean to each o...

Andrew and I were chatting the other day and he asked me if he was born late or on time.  I snorted and said, "You were a week late, and then I sat in the hospital for 2 days waiting for you.  After the first day I cried, because "You were going to be just like your Dad, and I would have to wait on you for the rest of my llliiifffeeeeee!!!!!"  He said, "You don't have to wait on me . . . all the time."  Thankfully he added that final thought.  Because I do have to wait on him a LOT! He was quiet for awhile and then he said, "Dad and I are alike in a lot of ways.  I bet I could think of a ton!" Since it's almost Father's Day, I thought this would be a good post to share.  Here's what he had to say: 1. We both have a lot of bruises. 2. We both like to build stuff. 3. We both wear glasses. 4. We are both tan. 5. We both like pants (hahaha, that was a funny typo, I made, and it cracked me up, so I left it.  Obviously they both like ...

Brace yourself for the cuteness that is about to follow.  You can't prepare.  Don't bother. There.  Isn't that like . . . the cutest thing in the whole world?????  I mean- ok, I am partial because she's mine, but I don't just mean it because she's mine.  Pretty much any little girl in a dance recital costume is cute as, I don't even know what.   I am going to brag on Alexa.  I can, because this is my blog.  Man, has this girl turned it around.  Last summer was awful.  Like, stab my eyeballs out, awful.  I don't know if it's because she was 2, turning 3.  I don't know if it's because I pulled her out of daycare, and she didn't do well being completely out of routine. I don't know.  I do know this, I was a mother on the brink.  I had used up every single special education trick I had in my arsenal.  I was done, dried up, and exhausted. The fits, the power struggles, the emotions. It was too much.  H...

You might wonder if today's blog was written by a teenage girl because of all the exclamation points and general giddiness. It was not.  I'm just super excited.  Where have I been for the last year or so????  Scared of new things and missing out. For whatever reason, this past week, Mason Jar Salads actually registered into my awareness and instead of dismissing them as nonsense, I decided to try them out.  OMG am I glad!!!!!!  They're so awesome!  I made my first batch last night and I ate my first one for lunch today. I tried a taco salad recipe first.  I got my recipe from here:  Organize Yourself Skinny Taco Salad  (although- small disclaimer, I didn't use ground turkey, I boiled chicken breasts and shredded them up instead.  The notion of eating cold ground meat, doesn't appeal to me). Do you know what's totally amazing about this thing?!  Lots of things.  First: I put avocados in the salad.  I made these Tu...

The other day I was thinking about a friend who had surprised me with an interest I had no idea about.  Her innocent revelation, lead me to imagining an entire life for her I had no idea about!  She seems like a regular ol' mom, but maybe she's actually like that movie Mr. and Mrs. Smith .  She seems so normal, but when she goes to work, she goes to be a contract killer . . . It occurred to me several years ago that perhaps I lived a bizarrely boring life and that everyone else had some kind of secret exciting life.  A co-worker was getting a divorce.  She came to work one day and was talking about how the husband she was separating from, had hired a PI to follow her.  I commented, "Oh how boring for him!"   She looked at me sort of oddly and responded, "My car goes up and down the road a lot.  He's probably not bored."  I was like, "Yeah- because picking up kids and taking them to their activities is so interesting."  She just sort of...

For reasons I cannot remember, we were discussing that it was a parents' duty to do embarrassing things to their children, in my classroom today.  I shared this story with my class:  When I was in elementary school, my best friend lived next door to a boy I had a major crush on.  He was so cute . . . in a 4th grade boy kind of way.  I admired him from afar, in what I am sure was a total awkward, dorky way.  He probably had no idea I obsessed over him- NOT!   So anyway, anytime my dad would pick me up from my friend's house, as he would drive by my dad would honk, wave, and yell, "HEY!!!!  Kate's hiding on the floor in the back seat!!!!"    Oh the horrors.  While that was embarrassing, I am pretty sure I have not suffered any post traumatic results. It probably built my character- or something like that.  (although, after remembering this story tonight, I got to wondering about him, so I Face Stalked him- he has his page l...

I am afraid of birds.  I cannot explain my fear of them.  It's not rational.  It doesn't make sense.  My family makes fun of me.  Especially because I like to hold baby chicks.  But I want NOTHING to do with chickens.  That's not to say I don't appreciate a super cool hawk that hangs in my hard for awhile, or the bird family when they nest in my wreath- but I like to admire when there is a window between me and them. One time a bird flew in our house.  I was home on maternity leave with Alexa.  Andrew and Doug were at school.  Alexa was napping in her room.  I had stepped in the garage for a second, and left the door open- since it would just be for a second, and suddenly a bird flew in the house.  I screamed and ran in the garage.  I left my newborn baby in house- alone with a bird.  What if it pooped on her?????  I stood in the garage for awhile debating on what to do (there was a lot of jumping around, hand ...