happiest place on earth? Disney....noisest place on earth? Hospitals

Mother of MomtheBomb gave us all quite a scare in November...having to have emergency bowel surgery, she ended up in the hospital a LOT longer than predicted, expected, or worried about due to complications. But boy was she a trouper - she, unlike our much missed Grandnan - was a wonderful patient to all those caring nurses, doctors, and busy bee workers at Gilmore Memorial Hosptial in Amory, MS. Rarely complaining (okay, well, except for the whole hot/cold issue...at 20 below zero, she was rocking the hospital gown look while fanning herself and drinking ice cold water...the rest of us smiled...and froze), SteelMagnoliaMom was polite and accommodating. I was impressed (but then, SteelMagnoliaMom often impresses me). After all she'd been through, had it been me, they would've rushed me out the door with an IV in one hand and a fresh, made-of-1-ply-napkins-hospital-gown in the other. 

We're happy to report that SteelMagnoliaMom has returned home after her long stay at the germ factory (I'm sorry, but hospitals make me feel all germy) and has been progressing quite well with her recovery, thanks in large part to ThatDogWon'tHuntDad - he's been a gem, waiting on her hand and foot and even doing ***GASP**** housework and food duty. It's truly nice to see two people who love each other so much. They are an inspiration. Yep...riding the mushy train again - toot-toot! What can I say? I love my mom and my bonus dad and you would to if ya knew 'em. But seriously - ThatDogWon'tHuntDad doing laundry? Sweeping floors? Cooking? I woulda paid good money to see THAT...but I would pay even MORE money to see my very own KingDaddy do such things...*whew* you'll have to excuse me...the thought of Kingdaddy performing such incredible acts has made me all woozy...I think I better go lie down...

bless my heart.

do you come here often...

Okay, so there we were, Chore Fairy Jr. and myself, just minding our own business at one of my total utopia stores, Michael's Crafts (second only to my OTHER total MomtheBombcandy. the Hobby Lobby).

We're minding our own business, as I said before, and then out of nowhere, HE was there, standing in the aisle, lurking...gawking...staring with 

cold...

dead...

eyes...

Unlike myself, Chore Fairy Jr. was immediately taken in by his rather unusual attire and what she described as a "nice smile." I guess beauty really IS in the eyes of the beholder. 

Anyway, I agreed to go and talk to him. After all, what harm could it do, really? Yes, I admit, every bad "man choice" I've ever made flashed through my mind as I watched my daughter approach him. But I wasn't worried...she's got good sense...she would know it would never work out between them...

after all...he's only available once a year during the Halloween season. Bwah-ha-ha-ha! Boy I had you goin' didn't I? Everyone who knows me IRL was probably terrified (which makes this even funnier...well, at least to me), and I imagine when my mother reads this she too will also have flashbacks of all my past bad "man choices." (Sorry Mom - just tryin' to help you get your heart rate up...get the blood pumpin' - maybe give you a jolt of energy? :) )

Halloween is without a doubt, Ashlynn's FAVORITE holiday, hands down. She gets into all the ratty curtain decorations, carved pumpkins, spooky sounds CD's, the whole kit-and-kaboodle. And for most of her life, she never has really cared much for candy...go figure. That's my girl - a perfect picture of contradiction...and I wouldn't have it any other way.

there's somethin' special goin' on here...

My baby girl turned 11...and is goin' to skip the entire next 14 years and go straight to 25. Agh!

I knew this day would come. And it did. WAY faster than I wanted it to, but boy has it been a fun ride. Ashlynn (aka Chore Fairy Jr) has been the shining light in my world for eleven years now and I still cannot figure out what I did that was so right to deserve such an amazing, beautiful daughter. I know. I'm gushing. I'm a mom. We do that. Now, canIcontinueplease? 

She's incredibly smart - and by incredible, I mean, holy-crap-how-did-you-know-that-and-when-have-you-found-the-time-to-discover-all-this-information? Spelling? Check. English? Check. Math? Check, check. She makes my life as a mom to an eleven year old amazingly easy. She can do it all and do it well. The girl's also got a talent for writing and I'm hopeful that one day, she'll be able to pursue that as a career. She's got something special goin' on there...I know, I know - in her words, I "don't count because" I'm "the mom." Whatever Chore Fairy Jr. ;)

She can sing like nobody's business. All my life I've envied people with strong, beautiful voices like hers. It's an absolute pleasure to hear her belt out a song, whether we're in the car or she's maneuvering TMan's toys in the floor while doing her chores. Now, if I could only convince her to lend those pipes to the Millport Baptist Church Choir, we'd be onto something...'cause the girl's got something special goin' on. 

Beauty? Well, duh. Look at the photos.

Go ahead, admire her in all her glory (and try to ignore the way her hair sticks out in some of the sillier pics - okay, TOTALLY kidding...that was strictly for Chore Fairy Jr.'s benefit, LOL). 

Are you don't yet? No? I understand. I'm often dazzled by her as well. Take all the time you need...I'll wait.

{{{{this is me waiting patiently}}}}

Okay, enough all ready! Let's get back to ME and what I was saying about this girl that's got somethin' special goin' on.

Of course we had to celebrate such awesomeness - it's not every day a gal goes from age 10 to 11 and then just skips on up to age 25, so we partied in style. Two of her BFF's came over and they embarked on an all nighter of make-up, photo shoots, vampire tales (and fangs), scary B movies (the original "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" anyone?), and party crashers (really just party crashER...it was this funny, short little fella with some sort of sucking device in his mouth...went by the name "TMan."). Below is our photographic evidence of such revelry. 

Enjoy. 

 

Nothin' like some nice painted faces and vampire teeth to get your party on...

Here is A.B. vogueing...or is she flashing the peace sign? Or is flashing the peace sign considered vogueing and she's doing both? Plhfft! Who cares - she looks adorable doin it...whatever it is you call it that she's doing.

Here is Double L fighting off the paparazzi, including a small party crasher... 

Sorry Short Stuff, your name's not on the guest list...gonna have ta' jet...

Here the birthday girl is clearly gettin' her groove on with some of the members of the pumpkin gallery...let's all gawk and wish we were more like her...

 

The Pumpkin Gallery...aka the paparazzi that that Lady Goo-goo woman sings about. 

Wonder how many years of therapy this is gonna cost us? 

High-Five on the agreed number of therapy years: 2.3 to be exact. 

Until next year...this is MomtheBomb signing off. 

Happy Birthday Ashlynn - you TOTALLY ROCK!