Time Has Passed & It's Almost Time Again.. (Picture-filled post!)

Now you are probably sitting here, reading that title and wondering, "what in the world is this chick talking about with this wacky riddle?!".

On November 18th, my oldest of the three kids had turned twelve years old. Yes, she is one more year closer to the dreaded tag known as "teenager". All in all though, with her maturity level (both mentally, as well as physically) she is more like a fourteen year old.

I'm thirty-five. She is twelve. I am 100 pounds on the nose. She last weighed in at 98. I am five feet tall. She is too. I don't have a set of "boobage". She does.

Basically, if you were to ask her thoughts about all this "you're as tall as your Mama" talk, that may just be what she would do to me after snickering. Like she did in the doctor's office when he asked how old I was, when discussing reading glasses.

As for the second part of the answer to my awesome riddle-title...

The youngest of the three "angels" of mine will be turning seven years old on Monday. Hard to believe. Already, seven years have just up and flown past like a speeding NASCAR racer doing 250 on the inside stretch.

In many ways she is taking after her big sister. She looks up to her (especially being that Big Sissy is about a foot and a half or so taller than her lol) and severely misses her when my oldest has to go on bi-weekly visits with her biological father.

Both of my girls have shown me (albeit the hard way) just what all it had taken my parents to raise me. Raging hormones, attitudes, "Princess-tude".

And thank God, the oldest (who now wears makeup), puts it on and still looks natural, but accentuates her features. Especially those beautiful blue eyes of her's.

At the end of the day, no matter how old they get, and no matter how tall they grow, they will ALWAYS be the apple of their Daddy's eye. My husband may not be my oldest's biological father with not a shred of DNA shared between them, but she is HIS, and he will tell you that to your face.

The little one is so wrapped around her Dad's finger, it's not funny. Okay. It is. But geez! And I thought that I got away with "murder" as a kid. Wrong. I kind of wish I could do that "Freaky Friday" thing and trade places with her for about 24 hours and enjoy some of the (tons of) freedom that she gets.

This past Summer's trip to Richmond has been one of the best I think that we have enjoyed as a family. And now, with all three of my kids growing up, and inching ever so much closer to being teens and "big kids", I find myself reflecting more on the Summers past, when the kids were so innocent, that it never seemed like we as parents would have to deal with more than scraped knees and the occasional "she/he took my toy".

To those of you with "young" (as in under the age of eight years old), take my advice and heed it well. Cherish EVERY single moment with your child(ren). Relish in each hug and kiss (yes, even the open-mouthed baby ones!). Enjoy the fanciness of every tea party and doll playtime.

The young years fly by faster than a Santa Ana wind.

Picture Perfect w/For The Love of Blogs

(Taken last month (July,2011) at a theme park. Times like this, we cherish when all three can be TRUE brother and sisters, being that due to my son's mental issues, they don't always have the best relationship among themselves.)

Osama bin Laden's "death picture"

Normally, I don't put out more than one post per blog, per day. But today is a bit different. Because there has been a major change in the course of our history. Not only in my country, the United States of America, but globally.

The reign of terror known as Osama bin Laden is OVER. At least where the man himself is concerned. Now, we should plan our next move to abolish the entire al Qaeda group, in my opinion.

In the wake of his death, people have been making so-called rallying cries as for being furnished the "proof" that the Devil's next of kin is really, honestly, most in fact D-E-A-D.

Well, I'm just going to come out and say it...

People that are demanding a picture of a dead bin Laden are NUTS! And they are not thinking of what COULD happen if those photos are released.

Plus, I do NOT want my SMALL children to be given the chance to see an extremely graphic picture of a man with holes through his skull.

I'm reading the article via CNN's news site about the "debate" to release OBL's death pictures. CLICK HERE TO READ FOR YOURSELF.

The following picture below IS graphic, but is also a *FAKE*. Be warned though, it's not pretty, and it makes me queasy.

Now, just think, if you think this one, which indeed IS Photo-Shopped is gross, imagine how much nastier that the REAL pictures will be.

In fact, here is a quote from Collin Powell, via the said article on his thoughts regarding the releasing of the REAL post-mortem pictures of the right-hand man of the Devil himself.

"Powell said he doubts releasing an image will satisfy doubters.

"There will be skeptics out there as you know whether in the Middle East (or elsewhere)," Powell said. "Even if you show the picture, there'll be skeptics. That's just the nature of the world. Because they'll say it was Photoshopped.""

Boy, oh boy! I agree 1,000% with the man and have in fact said the VERY exact same thing. No matter what, the skeptics and anyone against Obama will cry and say that they are faked and are just showing them to shut the doubters up.

In other words, the President and his Administration can't win, no matter what road that they decide to take. No matter WHATEVER TYPE of proof is laid out for all to see. Plus it could have GRAVE ramifications for us as a nation if we were to plaster the dead man's pictures all over the nightly news cast, and our "celebration" of such means were to reach the Middle East. Talk about seeking vengeance! We would LITERALLY be asking for it.

And I for one believe that Osama bin Laden REALLY is dead and buried (at sea..please don't make me have to explain that to you all, too).

Al Jazeera has confirmed that the al Qaeda leader is in fact dead as a door nail. His followers have been mourning him and are hailing him as a martyr. And they are vowing to avenge the asshole's death.

What more proof do you need?

Wordless Wednesday...Spring Floral Edition

Tuesdays From The Terrarium

I think I'm going to make Tuesday's a day for Gobi, our family's Bearded Dragon, to shine, be seen and talked about. And so hence the name for today's post, Tuesdays From The Terrarium". Postings of pictures of our beloved Gobi, with at times, a funny caption of what he may have said (if he could speak, of course). Just a light-hearted look in to the world of reptilian ownership, love and companionship.

And believe me, Gobi's personality is really starting to flourish. As are his funny antics.

             (Skyler and Gobi decided playtime was too hard of a job.)

            (They crashed hardcore. Gobi loves being under a blanket.)

            (He (or she, have yet to figure it out) is doing the model/security check thing.)

           ("Did you brush your teeth, Hayley? Dentist Gobi needs to inspect...Good job!")

        (Gobi's becoming accustomed to riding on our shoulders. He LOVES it. Though, we aren't loving the claws digging in to our skin if we have on sleeveless shirts.)

                          ("So....Jump or not to jump? I think not!")

                         ("Hey, Ma! Get to blogging already!!")

                     ("My turn! Hmmm...What secrets can I spill on my blog?)