{Santa Has Come and Gone | What I Got My 10yr old Techie!}

You could fit what I know about video games in the cartridge of a Nintendo game. Yeah. So buying for Owen is not that easy. Much like Gaige, he's interested in things I have no idea about. So when it comes time to buy for him, I pretty much go off of what he asks for a little bit of a youtube research on my own. D also helps me out a little with explaining what he's going to need for certain games,...

Read More

{Santa Claus Is Coming To Town | What We Got our Outdoors-man 15yr Old}

I'm not going to lie folks, I had little do with shopping for Gaige this year. He is so hard to buy for, he kind of always has been. He's really just a different kind of kid. We've always said he has an old soul. Even as a toddler it was like he was a seventy year old in a three year old's body. He liked to be outside and up at the shop with my grandpa. Sure he played with toys and stuff but he would...

Read More

{Finally a Productive Weekend!}

I swear it feels like it's been a year since I got anything done around this house. But I seem to have gotten myself on a pretty good roll this weekend. No clue where the burst of energy came from. But I'll take it just the same!...

Read More

{Santa Claus is Coming to Town! | What I'm Getting My Teenage Daughter for Christmas?}

Why is it that the older kids get, the harder they are to buy for? Not only does it get harder to buy for them, but it gets so much more expensive. It's insane. I don't know how my grandparents did it to be honest. But I think I have it narrowed down to some good stuff so far. I'm not even close to done Christmas shopping so I think some of this might change, but for the most part, this is what she's...

Read More

{Lets Take it from the Top! | Joining Weight Watchers Again}

If you follow me on any kind of social media then you already know this but, I joined weight watchers...yes again. I know what you're thinking, we've heard this before Kristin. What's different this time? Honestly, I couldn't tell you. But I'll attempt it. ...

Read More

{Working It Out}

I have officially been employed for two weeks and I'm going to come right out and say it. I enjoy having somewhere to be in the morning besides the school drop of line. I enjoy being able to plan out what to get people for Christmas and not have to ask D for money. As soon as I get my first actual pay check, I'm sure I'll enjoy the money too. In fact, I've already got places for it...

Read More

{I'm Not Trick-Or-Treating Next Year!}

I'm not trick-or-treating next year, that's what came out of my ten year old's mouth tonight.  Why you might be wondering? Well, tonight he decided he wanted to stay in town and go door to door begging for candy. Fine with me...

Read More

{Ramblings of a Tired Mom}

I know it's been a little bit since I blogged last, I haven't really had a moment to sit down and do that until now. Well, I mean, I have but it wasn't a priority. So I thought since I've got the laundry going and Harry Potter playing in the background, I'd jump on and see if I can't fill you all in on the fun that's been happening in my neck of the woods lately...

Read More

{Baldwin Moisturizing Lotion | Review}

A week or so ago I was contacted by Baldwin For Men and asked to do a review and giveaway! I've never been contacted to do something like that before, so after making sure it was a real company, I said sure. I'd be happy to review their product and host a giveaway! So they sent me a bottle of their...

Read More

{That Time I was a Hooker for Halloween | Story Time!}

I'm not going to lie folks, this was a bad judgement call on my grandparents part lol. I'm not even sure who thought it up, maybe me. Probably me. But lets talk about the year I was a hooker for Halloween...

Read More

{I'm a Quiter | Working Retail Sucks!}

I'm not going to lie folks, I was never too excited about going back to working retail. I hated it when I was a teenager, I hated it when I worked at Wal-Mart and K-Mart. I hated working at the gas station I worked at in 20's. I hate it. People are rude, and look at you like you're stupid if you...

Read More

{Super Mom Tag! | #tagtuesday }

I thought this one looked like a good "get to know me" type of tag. Just in case you're new ;). Feel free to fill it out and come back to let me know you filled it out too so I can read yours! 1. How many kids do you have? I've got two that I birthed, and two that came with my husband. 2. What are their ages and names? Dawn -15, Gaige- 14, Owen- 10, and Tristen- 1...

Read More

{What's Your Guilty Pleasure? | #TagTuesday }

This weeks tag is all about guilty pleasures! We all have them! Don't be shy! Fill out some of yours and be sure to tag me so I can read yours too...

Read More

{Owen's Birthday Treats!}

Can we talk about how sad I am that Owen is going to be ten already? It doesn't feel like he should be this old. It feels like he should still be a bitty baby, hanging on me all day and night. But here he is. Growing up. Too fast...

Read More

{Going Back To Work?}

Since I was a little girl, I have wanted to be a mom. On career day at school, that's what I dressed up as. When anyone asked me what I wanted to be, a mommy was always my answer. I wanted to be home with the babies, doing laundry and making dinners. I wanted to bake cookies and read stories. I...

Read More

{Controversial Parenting Questions Tag!}

I found this YouTube and thought it might get the convo started around here ;). Please be nice though if you're going to comment. Remember that these are MY opinions. And I'm allowed to have them. Just like you are...

Read More

{My First Attempt at Doughnuts!}

When I was little I remember my grandma frying up doughnuts for us once in a while. We all thought it was crazy that she could make her own doughnuts and they always tasted good! So the other night when I got a craving for baking and doughnuts, I went in search of a recipe. Of course I checked Pinterest first (isn't that everyone's first stop nowadays?) and of course I found one I thought I could...

Read More

{Well That Would Have Been Easier! | 5 Things I Wish I Had With My Babies}

I have been a mama for almost fifteen years y'all. Fifteen. I have been through more 3am feedings, blow out diapers, ear infections, sleepless nights, and a few miserable hospital stays in those fifteen years. I have filled bottles with my eyes almost closed and spilled formula all over the kitchen table because I was so damn tired I couldn't focus my eyes. I don't know how I made it through those...

Read More

{Learning Hard Lessons | Teaching Her About Money Management}

For starters, can we talk about how old I feel that Dawn is already a sophomore in high school? I'm confused on how that happened so fast! The obligatory duck face mirror selfie....

Read More

{We Saw Naked Mole Rats!}

I have been wanting to get to St. Louis to the zoo all summer. Originally my little sister and I were going to take my nephew and Owen, but then she got a new job (woohoo!) and was having trouble carving out the time. So last weekend D said that he would go with me and we would take our three heathens...

Read More

{Nothing to Blog About? No Problem! | YouTube Tag Questions!}

Are you named after anyone? Yeah. Actually I'm named after my dad, my middle name of course. It's Michelle, the female version of Michael which is my dads name. When was the last time you cried? Today. Watching The Shack. Do you have kids? Yep. If you were another person, would you be a friend of yourself? I like to think so. Do you use sarcasm a lot? Uh. Yeah. What’s the first thing you notice...

Read More

{Is She Insane?}

Ugh. I really wish that I could make Dawn understand that she is not the exception to everything. That she's not invisible and that even though she doesn't know anyone who has had something bad happen to them, doesn't mean she has nothing to worry about. I always thought I had done a good job of getting the message to my kids that people online could not be who they say they are. That they should...

Read More

{Cleaning Up My Act | Eating Cleaner}

With my recent back issues, it has become more and more apparent that I need to lose weight. Not just because I look like a huge tub of lard, but because it's really taking a toll on my body. When I had started losing weight before, my back issues pretty much disappeared. Not only that but I'm noticing...

Read More

{This is Worse Than Labor!}

What have I been up to the last few days? Well that's easy folks. I've been bouncing between the recliner and my bed all week. Pretty much living with the heating pad attached to my back until I'm almost asleep (and to be honest if I could get it to stay in one spot, I'd sleep with it there too)...

Read More

{8 Years to Go! | The Countdown is On!}

I have been debating about blogging about this for a while now, but I think some people (I don't know who...but someone) is probably sitting in their living room right now (or in their bed like me) thinking this same thing. So here it is folks...

Read More

{ #weightwatchers Update | Not Skinny Yet}

I think we all know where this post is going. I'm going to make some apologies for not giving an update, then I'm going to say that I haven't been losing weight anyway so why update about me still being fat. Then I'm going to give you some story about how I have a plan to lose the weight. But it...

Read More

{4th of July 2017}

So I'm sitting here half ass watching Nerve (thank you Amazon Prime!) and I figured I should go ahead and post about all the shenanigans that went down yesterday. Then I realized that there were no actual shenanigans yesterday. So I'll just tell you about my insanely boring 4th of July...

Read More

{Well Of Course This Would Happen!}

Husband: They're about to cut into my balls babe. Me: *crazy eyes* Husband: What? Me: I had TWO babies. That means I pushed a baby out of my vagina TWICE. When you do that, then you can complain.  Husband: *silent...

Read More

{Done With Babies!}

I have been a mom my entire adult life. I had Gaige when I was just 19, met D who had Dawn (and Tristen) when I was 21,  and Owen when I was 25. I hadn't even gotten my feet on the ground before the carpet was ripped out from under me. I love being a mom. I love my kids. But even though I love...

Read More

{Parent Is a Verb!}

I have been a parent for fifteen years. On top of the years I spent "parenting" my three younger siblings and babysitting from the age of twelve. And in my years I have noticed something so sad that I just had to write about it. Parents today don't parent their kids. It's a sad fact. They're so caught up in their jobs, tv shows, social media, their own lives that they don't take the time to actually...

Read More

{Backstreet Boys in Vegas!}

I don't think I can even express how excited I was to finally be in the same area as my boys. I really could have cried. What's funny about me though is that, I hate large crowds of people. I hate being touched by strangers. I hate dealing with strangers. I don't like tight spaces either. So...

Read More

{Vegas Day 2 | Just Chillin' With My BFF Britney}

Waking up the next morning in the hotel was exciting to say the least. Mainly because I knew that my boys were there, and that in just a few hours I'd be standing in front of them. Soaking up the same oxygen. Watching them do what I love to watch them do! But since we had a full day free, we got moving...

Read More

{We Made It To Vegas! | Was She Wearing Underwear?}

It only took us a couple hours to get to Vegas from the Grand Canyon. Thank the lord cause I was beyond over being in that car by that point. Driving up on the strip was an experience. It's funny how when you see something on TV, it ends up looking nothing like you imagined it. Of course I'd been there once before, when I was fifteen. I'm guessing that everything looks a little more exciting from...

Read More

{Greetings from The Grand Canyon! | Road Trip Day 1}

Hey folks! I was going to wait to until we got back to blog about our trip, but I'm sitting here in our hotel room and there's nothing else to do. So I figured why not get a post out? So far our trip has pretty decent. We left our house on Sunday afternoon, driving through Iowa and into Nebraska over...

Read More

{Packing For A Week at Grandmas!}

Oh lordy. We aren't even taking the kids with us and I'm still stressing a little about what to pack for them for their week stay with grandparents. I'm mainly worried about Owen. He hasn't been away from home this long before. So I'm nervous that he will get bored after a couple days (his usual length of time away) and be whining to come home. Being somewhere that has nothing for you to do, is zero...

Read More

{Road Trippin | Harley Adventures | Harley Museum}

I'm not going to claim to know about or be overly interested in Harley's. Just because we currently have one does not mean I now am an expert in them. In fact, I know absolutely zero about them other than most of the members of my family have one, and they're expensive. So walking into the museum with...

Read More

{Road Trippin | Harley Adventures | Day 1}

I was going to vlog this trip but decided it would be weird to bust out my phone on the bike lol. Especially since I wasn't really familiar with the other couples we were riding with. But I definitely took enough pictures to share the experience with all you lovely readers (there have to be at least a couple of you right?) Our weekend started off with meeting two other couples at Cracker Barrel for...

Read More

{I Turned 34!}

I seriously can not believe how spoiled I was this weekend. I am so grateful to have such an awesome husband who wanted to make my birthday special. Friday was pretty normal. I waited for the kids to get home from school and get their chores done before dropping them at my grandma's house for the weekend. I told her all I wanted for my birthday was to be kid free! I honestly don't think I've had...

Read More

{5 Weeks Later & She's Still Grounded}

I would like to say I'm surprised we haven't gotten anywhere with this punishment, but I'm not. I knew it wasn't going to be as easy as grounding her. I knew that by taking away everything we would be in for a fight. I knew that when I told her she had to earn her things back week by week she would determine this to be BS and things would get worse before they got better. I was not wrong. We are still...

Read More

{Prissy Had A Seizure}

The first time Prissy (our pug/chihuahua) had a seizure, it scared the crap out of me. I had no idea what was going on. Of course it happened on a Sunday so the local animal hospital wasn't open (nice right?). I was so afraid that something was wrong with her. I thought for sure that we would find out...

Read More

{I'm Aware He's Not a Baby}

Trust me people, I am well aware of the fact that Owen is no longer a baby. I'm made more aware of this fact every single day. When he makes his own bowl of cereal, when he gets himself up and packs his own lunch, when he's outside playing with the neighborhood kids. I see it every single time he tells me he doesn't need me to do something for him, or to help him do something. ...

Read More

{So I Guess We're a Harley Family Now}

You guys. *Sigh* For the fifteen years I have known and been in a relationship with my husband, he has never been a Harley Davidson fan. Not once did I ever hear him say oh I'd really like to have a Harley. In fact, it has always been the opposite. He has always said that he doesn't like them and he...

Read More

{My Husband Took Me Hiking & I Almost Died!}

You. Guys. Ugh. When it starts getting nice out, my husband suddenly starts getting these ideas in his head. He wakes up one morning and says today is the day we go on an adventure, and then he drags me along with him...because he hates me (OK...not really but whatever). Friday, my dear friends, was one of those days. One of those days when he looked at me thirty minutes after getting out of bed...

Read More

{Happy Easter!}

I hope everyone had an amazing Easter! Mine was pretty mellow. I filled the Easter baskets the night before (obviously) and hid a few eggs through the house for Owen to hunt. I know I already made posts about what each kid got, so I won't go down the list again. But everyone was pretty happy with what they got so it doesn't really matter. I know we added a few things after I made that post to Owen's...

Read More

{Today Was a Good Day}

As some might know, a month or so ago, our furnace took a big ol' crap. It hasn't been insanely cold so we've just been heating the main rooms with space heaters. Not good for the long run but it was working in a pinch. We had been planning on getting a new furnace for a while and upgrading ours to...

Read More

{What's in My 9 Year Old Son's Easter Basket?}

Oh lordy you guys. If you have a nine year old boy, you know my struggle right now. He is at that age where he doesn't really want toys but he also isn't old enough to just give him cash or a gift card. He still plays with his action figures and TMNT toys but he has so many of them that I don't really want to buy more to just clog up his room with. He is a little gamer in training (thanks for...

Read More

{What's In My Teenage Son's Easter Basket?}

I don't know about any of you, but it's becoming increasingly difficult for me to find things to put in this kids Easter basket. He's not a big candy eater and obviously doesn't play with toys anymore. His main source of entertainment these days is his phone, his friends, and guns. Yeah. So that doesn't leave a whole lot of options for things to fill an Easter basket with...

Read More

{What's In My Teen Daughters Easter Basket?}

How is it already time for Easter posts? I feel like I was just making posts about stocking stuffers and what we what Santa was bringing. Now we're on to the Easter bunny. Surprisingly it's a week away and I'm only 1/3 of the way done. I've got Dawn finished. She was easy thanks to Targets dollar...

Read More

{She Is So Entitled!}

A couple days ago I blogged about how Dawn had been caught stealing from me, and how I had found this post talking about how a mom had cured her own daughter of an entitled attitude. When I read this, I figured it was worth a shot. It certainly couldn't hurt right? Of course I have to deal with school, so she will have access to the people she swears are her friends (though she doesn't talk...

Read More

{I Caught My Daughter Stealing}

Dawn has gotten to the point of entitlement where she is now taking things that don't belong to her, just because she wants them. For years she has done things just because she wanted to with no regard for rules. But this is something new. Or at least something I've never noticed her doing before. Not to this scale anyway. Sure she would swipe a DS from the boys when she was grounded from hers, but...

Read More

{Welcome Home Husband!}

I don't think I ever realize how much I depend on mine and D's daily routine until he's not around to share it with me. It's a little insane that I'm so lost without him for even just a week. This isn't the first time we have been apart a week. A year or so ago he went on a motorcycle trip to Canada with his dad for a week and he has gone on other trips without me. I'm fine with it. I don't mind that...

Read More

{A Week Without My Little?}

In June D and I will be making our way to Vegas for the Backstreet Boys show. Since we're driving, we'll be gone about a week. D brought something the other day that I hadn't thought of though. For the first time in nine years, I will be away from Owen for more than just a couple days. ...

Read More

{Standing In My Own Way | Weight Watchers Update}

I don't even want to admit how much I weigh right now because it's nowhere near where I thought I would be at this point. I don't know what's wrong with me...but I just am not sticking to this diet. I'm not sticking to anything. I've tried giving up soda (which I've done a few times before we success) and I fall back into old habits pretty fast. Luckily I'm not taking my huge 64oz jug to the gas station...

Read More

{Random Questions}

I've kind of hit a blogging slump. There's nothing really happening around here right now. And I don't want to keep leaving my blog empty and unloved, but I don't know what the hell to write about. So I found these questions and thought I'd just put one of these little surveys I like to do. Feel free to answer them in the comments, or you can do it on facebook and tag my page! :...

Read More

{I Hate You Mother Nature!}

This picture is so accurate for this past week I can't handle it. There is nothing worse than living in a state that can't make up its mind about what season we're in. One day it's 60* and the next it's this crap.....

Read More

{Yummy Carrot Cake Recipe}

D requested carrot cake this afternoon when I told him I was going to bake cookies. So I hopped to and made him some yummy goodness (which he dug into before I could even get the cooled down to frost them). I found this carrot cake recipe the last time I made him carrot cake and he seemed to really...

Read More

{So That's What I'm Dealing With}

I wasn't sure if I wanted to blog about this because I don't discuss Gaige's sperm donor too much. I've voiced my annoyances about how he just left us and how he refuses to pay child support on a consistent basis. But that's all I think. Probably because that's all there is to say. If you've been following since around 2010, you might remember how he took me to court for visitation but never showed....

Read More

{Changing U Magic Foot Peeling Shoes Review}

I don't know about any of you, but I hate rough feet. They gross me out so bad. So when I heard of about the Baby Feet foot peels I wanted to try them out. Then I found out they're like $20 for one package. Sorry Charlie, I can think of about twenty different things I'd rather spend $20 on. So when I saw these while standing in line at Ulta one day (a few months ago..) I thought Hey lets give...

Read More

{Here We Go Again}

If you've been following me for a while, you know that for a long while now, Gaige has been struggling in school. He has this defiant attitude when it comes to his teachers and I'm not sure where it's coming from. But all the meetings and trying to find ways to motivate him to do anything finally came to a head on Thursday...

Read More

{I Feel So Accomplished!}

Don't you love it when you feel like you actually got something done over the weekend? It has been cold and gross here for so long I've just felt like a bump on a log. I didn't want to do anything, especially clean, because it felt like someone was constantly tracking something in. But this weekend the high was in the 60's all weekend! So I finally managed to get some things done I've been putting...

Read More

{So Thankful I'm Not Single}

This thought is coming on the heels of a dream I had the other night. In this dream, which could also be classified as a nightmare, I was dating a guy who was not my husband. I have zero idea who he actually was but that's not important. I'm not sure if we were meeting his family for the first time or what, but what I do know is that I had a kid with me. I want to say it was Owen, but I'm not positive....

Read More

{ #weightwatchers Update!}

To be completely and totally honest, I haven't been tracking like I should be. And I know that's why I'm not losing quite as fast as I should be. But I'm happy to report that the last weigh in (Monday), I had actually lost a pound. Which puts me at 213. I haven't been this low in a while so I'm pretty proud of myself. I have really just been walking on the treadmill and making sure to watch what...

Read More

{Our First Valentines Day}

Oh boy. I'm pretty sure I've never told this story before, so I thought I would :) If I have, I can't find it in my archives lol. Mine and D's first valentines day together was less that romantic. It was less than valentines day. It was awful. I'm still annoyed with him about to be honest...

Read More

{10 DIY Valentines!}

I don't know about you, but there is something so special about making your own valentines. I used to love bringing out the construction paper and making them for my aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents. These days everything is ready made..so boring! So I thought I'd find some cute valentine DIY's to put you in the creative spirit! If you make any of these be sure to tag me on twitter, instagram,...

Read More

{Working Out In Front of People}

I don't know about anyone else, but I hate working out in front of people. Hate. Not only do the kids stand around and want to watch me and make stupid comments. But D does too. No one can just let me workout without making some joke. When we had the Kinect I used to do the Biggest Loser workouts (which I loved), but having D stand around and watch on his days off, put me off of it completely. I...

Read More

{I Have The Weirdest Dreams}

So lately I've been having the strangest dreams ever. I usually don't remember a lot of them when I wake up but last nights was just too weird and my brain was like No she needs to remember this shit lol. But what's annoying is right now as I'm writing this, I can only remember the part about having a baby...

Read More

{Spent All Day in the Hospital}

About five years ago I was woken up in the middle of the night to D crawling across the bedroom door saying babe between gasps for air. I was so scared, I had no idea what to do. I thought maybe I could get him to the hospital on my own but then I realized I'd never even get him to my car. I called his dad who lives just about ten minutes from us in the same town, when he didn't pick up, I called...

Read More

{"I'm Not a Baby Anymore!"}

The words no mother is prepared to hear come out of her youngest child's mouth. Not just your youngest but your last. Owen is my last baby. This is the last time I'll have someone in elementary school. Not only that but this is his last year in the little little kid school. Next year he is switching to the fourth through sixth grade school. I can not stress how not ready I am for t...

Read More

{Walking Into 2017}

Oh lordy. It's been a minute since I updated about my weight loss. Probably because since I got down to 216, I haven't really gone too far past it and stayed. I'd like to say I don't know why that is, but I do...

Read More

{He's Grieving Too}

Sometimes I think I forget that as much as I am grieving the loss of my grandpa, Gaige is grieving too. I think for the longest time I've been so deep in my own grief and so focused on making it through as best I can, that I've forgotten that there is a kid here in this house that was just as close...

Read More

{He Bought WHAT?!}

Oh lordy you guys. I don't think my mom brain can handle what I just had to deal with today. I just can't even process how I'm supposed to handle this. Well, I guess I won't handle, I'll let his dad handle it. Cause lord knows no one wants to talk about this with their mother. Especially not when you're a fourteen year old boy...

Read More

{Homeschooling Again?}

I never thought I would doing this again, or even talking about it. When I signed Gaige back up for public school, I figured he would graduate with the kids he was with in that school and everything would be golden. I was wrong. So wrong. This year has been nothing but troubles for my oldest son. He hates school. He doesn't like going. He doesn't like the teachers or the kids. He is defiant beyond...

Read More

{50 Questions You've Never Been Asked}

I haven't done one of these in a while. So I thought I would! Since I'm having kind of a writers block tonight. I got this one from Mama Kat. Feel free to post them on your blog and send me the link! 1. What’s your favorite candle scent? I don't do candles because my cats would never leave them alone. But I have the B&BW wall flowers. I love the pumpkin cupcake scent in those! 2. What female...

Read More

{Week 1 With the Fitbit Alta}

Let me start this off much like the last fitbit post I made, this my opinion. I am basing this off of my experience with the tracking device I purchased. That is all. Since I know there are probably plenty of other moms (or people in general) out there searching for the best fitness tracker for them, I figured it would be good to just throw my opinion into the mix. So here you go...

Read More

{I'm Going to Complain}

I am seven kinds of annoyed right now and I feel like I need to get it off my chest or I'm going to freak out on someone. I'm starting the New Year with a rant. I know. Annoying. But I can't help it. I feel like I need to get this off my chest or I'm going to go crazy. When I first bought the tickets for the Backstreet Boys Vegas show (yay!) I knew who I wanted to go with me. She and I had been...

Read More

{New Years Goals!}

Happy New Year everyone!...

Read More

{Disney Bound | Animal Kingdom | Disney Springs}

On our last day at Disney World we headed to Animal Kingdom. Now this was sort of our off day. We knew it was a relatively small park and that there weren't a lot of big rides (or even small ones). It feels more like a huge zoo when you get down to it. We had even originally planned on just skipping...

Read More