BIRTHDAY VACATIONS

I don't even like Birthdays, especially not this particular one. There is something not so great about a "milestone" birthday. BUT, I have had a birthday party now for THREE days in a row. We spent Saturday touring the USS Alabama which much to my surprise was fun and interesting. I have so many pictures it's not funny but the internet here is fickle and I'm scared to try and post pics this morning and lose my connection.....funny, I just did. Friday night, we ate at an execellent place on the Mobile Bay called Felix's. That started my Oyster kick. The only thing I've eaten since then is Oysters cooked in some different fashion. I'm totally grossing everyone around me out, but I love them. Anyway, Satruday night we finally hit our destination!!! We are in a little house in Rosemary Beach about 200 yards from the beach. I love it and just want to move here. We had dinner Saturday night after a quick trip to the beach and rolling around in some waves. We ate at Bayou Bill's. The food and service were both really good. Jeff had the waitstaff come and sing Happy Birthday to me much to my surprise. I had a hot flash (I guess that's what happens at my age). HOW EMABARRASING!
Sunday, THE DAY, I got up and everyone was in the den waiting for me. There was a huge brown box with a birthday card on it.....What could it be? I really didn't know. I thought vacation was my birthday present and little trip to the outlet mall. SO, I dug in.....YOU WON'T BELIEVE IT.
I got the Canon Rebel xTi with 5 different lenses a HUGE memory card a couple of tripods a remote control for the camera, two cases, extra batteries with the regualar chargers and car chargers and books and DVD's to teach me how to work it all. If only it had come with an expert to SHOW me how to use all of this, it would have been perfect. I'm just kidding, it IS perfect. Now I just have some more studying to do. I couldn't use it yesterday, because the battery had to charge all day but it is ready to go this a.m.
We stayed at the beach all day yesterday and all got just a little red. Not bad, but I think we are going to shop today and not hit the beach until late. It was amazing to spend my birthday at my favorite place on earth on a beautiful sunny day. I did try to swim out to a sand bar and the jellyfish would not hear of it. One wrapped its nasty little self around my right leg and ankle. OUCH. Oh well, the party must go on. I buried Savannah in the sand and she buried me. Dalton found two sand dollars. FUN FUN FUN. Then we went to eat at Hammerhead Freds, Another really cool spot, more oysters and more singing. HA (No hot flashes this time, I just embraced the moment) When we left, an intoxicated tourist decided he didn't like the fact that my family walked out in front of him in the parking lot, so he hit me with his car. While I was still in shock and trying to say, " He hit Me" Jeff was pulling him through his open car window with a hand down his throat. People came running from everywhere. All I can say is thank goodness for security and that they believed in an eye for an eye. They let Jeff go. Next time, I'll take my purse. I was sitting there thinking....I just got hit by a car, my husbands going to jail, I don't know where we are and I don't have a phone or my purse with me. Anyway, all is good, my hand and my hip are a little sore today: )
This morning I woke up to a 3 and 5 candle sticking up out of a cupcake in a paper bowl about to catch on fire with everyone singing happy birthday again. WOW. That's alot of birthdays.
Gotta run. Work is calling and the kids are about to climb the walls.
Cya,
Kacy
I'll work on the picture thing. We have lots.

MURPHY'S LAW AND VACATION

SO, IS THIS NORMAL? WE PLAN A VACATION AND THE DAY BEFORE WE LEAVE 3 OF THE 4 OF US GET SICK AND ALL HAVE TO GO TO THE DOCTOR! DALTON SAVYG AND I ALL WENT TO THE DOCTOR WITH SINUS INFECTIONS AND TONIGHT I AM WORKING ON A MIGRAINE. FUN TIMES. FUN TIMES.... SO WE LEAVE IN THE MORNING AND I'LL KEEP YOU POSTED ON THE TRIP. WE ARE HEADING FOR MOBILE TOMORROW. I'M SURE IT WILL BE GREAT. PRAY FOR US! I KNOW WE ARE GOING TO HAVE A BLAST. WE ALL NEED THIS TIME AWAY.
CYA,
KACY

JEFF GOT THE DOG SHAVED AND SHE'S MAD!

The Acree Bitches (no not me) went to the groomer today. For some reason, Jeff insists on having Ethel shaved everytime. He is in charge of taking the girls to the groomers. He thinks I pay too much for the convenience of taking them to a groomer in Southaven. He takes them to Memphis for a little less and is therefore in charge. I just tell him when it's time. ANYWHO, that makes him in charge of HOW they get their haircut. He knows better than to cut Stella's long locks. I'd lock him out of the house for sure. Since Ethel is "his" dog, he exercises his lack of style and taste and just has her buzzed. She is hiding in the corner tonight because everyone can see her va-jay-jay. I made the mistake of asking him how he would like that and he said it would be just fine with him....NEVERMIND. Her hair will grow back and she will just lived traumatized until the next hair cut. I probably have bigger things to worry about but seriously...

This is Stella...

Look at her long pretty hair...

OK, here is Ethel, don't forget, same breed, same family...(I had to get Dalton to get the treats out to get her to come out of hiding)

I hate to do this to you, but here is the problem....

And here is my HUNK OF BURNING LOVE that is responsible...

I can't leave my baby Izzy out...Isn't she a cutie? (She got excited about the treats, too.)

As excited as I am about my vacation (only two more days of work) I'm gonna miss my girls.

SavyG is at a friends tonight and HeavyD has a friend over. Murphy's Law, I guess, you get rid of one and take on another. That's actually Jeff Acree law. They just came in from playing football and are currently having a fart contest in the hearth room. Is any of this normal? Do any of you reading this have similar evenings or is it just me? Sometimes I really wonder....

The painters started on the inside of the house today. What got done looks GREAT. Building this house has really been a lesson in patience. We got the backyard flower beds drawn out for the brickers. They came and looked at the job this week, too. I don't know when they are coming. They are currently working on a job around the corner for Jeff and I think this is just a little side job for a couple of them. I thought we learned our lesson about having brick work done when we were out of town, but they may be coming this weekend. When we were building our house, they started bricking when we were in St. Louis for a long weekend. When we got home, they had a third of the house done and the mortar is the wrong color on the house. I decided to live with it and chalked it up to a lesson hard learned. Sometimes I wish I was one of those women that could spend her time working on her house and it was just a true showplace and always immaculate. Then, reality slaps me in the face, and I'm glad I have a fulfilling job that gives me challenge everyday and that I strive to find balance and get to leave my dust dinosaurs (that's the Acree equivalent of a dust bunny) in the corner while I play with my family. There is a lot to be done and there are things that drive me nuts, but I've done it the other way and am a much happier person now.

Have you seen the show WipeOut? If you haven't, you have to. All I can say is, I want to get on the balls. My cousin told me about it last night and we watched it tonight and all cried we laughed so hard. Ashley, lets send in our applications.

Hug your babies and share your love.

Cya,
Kacy

WHOA MY WEAVE!

Tonight was a serious night. It was the night the weave came out. I decided this a.m. that today was the day for the weave to retire. It lasted 10 long hot summer days. It had a wonderful life sewed onto my scalp but all things must come to an end. I think retiring a weave is more painful than getting one. It takes half the time to remove it that it does to put it in. That would be 4 hours tonight. My mom took the first shift and I had to call in one of Charlie's Angels for the second shift. When mom's hands started shaking with those scissors, I knew she was not touching my head again. Luckily, Ashley's OCD is every bit as bad as mine and she considered the task of unbraiding my hair therapeutic.

This is what it looked like when mom got finished. It kind of reminds me of something you would see at the MED.

Ok, that picture FREAKS me out. I think it's going to give me nightmares. It's a good thing I didn't take my camera when I got this done. If I had known this was what it looked like I don't think it would have made it 10 days. This is what mom cut out....

Ashley was working hard...she is too funny. She was obsessed and didn't stop for a single break once she started and she worked on it a good two hours.

This was somewhere in the middle of the action. Look what we cut out of it. This is what Tiffany used to make the braids connect in because my hair was so short.

That looks like a dead animal laying on my kitchen counter. YUCK. I think I'm over the fake long hair thing. At this point, I'm not sure I even want my own REAL long hair. Oh, Jeff just told me I do. Hummmm....

Check out my 'FRO'.....

Now that is scary!! Thanks to the team that made this weave possible. I couldn't have done it without all of your help. It looks like it probably stunk but I swear it didn't.

Hug your babies!!! and wash your hair...

Cya,
Kacy

Fulfilling Sunday

The first Acree Agency pool party was a success. We cooked 109 hot dogs, gave away two cases of H2O, two cases of coke about 40 Kool - Aids and who knows how many Popsicles. Oh, and by the way, we wrote some renters insurance today along with some auto and life insurance. We even had fun while we were doing it.

Thank you Tosha!! I know you were HOT, but you were a trooper. Sorry I beat you doing quotes today. It was your first "Event" and you've been eating my lunch in the office! Don't be shy girlfriend.

Today turned out to have a little ironic twist to it. We spent our afternoon sweating and wondering why in the world we picked the middle of July to stand outside over a hot grill and try to sell Renters Insurance. If you've ever sold insurance, you are probably thinking that wasn't very smart of me. Well, I know all of the reasons you may not want to sell renters insurance, but, after visiting the home I did later this afternoon, I know why I worked in the heat today.

One of my clients in Hernando owned a piece of property he rented out to an older couple. It burned to the ground today. It is considered a total loss. While I had the structure insured for my client, the people renting from him had no insurance on their contents. If I sold one policy today or explained the benefits of renters insurance to one person that didn't understand before, it made every drip of sweat worth it. When I walked this site this afternoon, my heart broke.

Now let me share with you what really got me about this. When you turned down this street, you could immediately smell the smoke from the fire. It was almost overwhelming. When we turned up by the house, the yard was littered with water and Gatorade bottles the firefighters had drank from while putting this fire out. No one was hurt in the fire. The gentleman that lived here was out and the lady was able to get out. The cause of the fire is still undetermined. The fire marshal's preliminary report said it appeared to have started in the kitchen.

This is what got me....

What's the first thing you notice in this picture? The American Flag is virtually untouched. You couldn't see any sign of fire or smoke damage to the flag. The other thing that I couldn't take a picture of because it just didn't seem right was what I found in the front yard. While looking in the house and even all around there was very little that was recognizable. There was an old rocking horse out back that was charred and a piece crumbled when I touched it. When I came around front, I could see a book laying in the front yard. I walked over closer and realized it was a Bible. The hard cover was black and charred and you couldn't read what it was, but it was open to Luke chapter 2 and the pages were untouched and not even water damaged. It was one of those moments where your hair stands on end and you look around wondering what is about to happen. I picked the Bible up and layed it on what used to be the front porch. I thought about it all the way home and when I got here I came running in to find my own Bible and see what the chapter was about. I had chills as I stood in my living room and read the story of the birth of Jesus. WOW.

On the way home, too, Jeff and I saw a bumper sticker that said, "Proud Parent of A Child Promoted to Heaven". WOW.

I feel like someone was trying to tell me something today. Sometimes I wish He would slap me in the head and say listen ding dong....that was a lot to try to piece together on my own....

I've had my Nyquil. I'm off to bed. I'm on the countdown to vacation. WE LEAVE FRIDAY!

Hug those babies, and share your love.

Cya,

Kacy

SUMMERTIME

I have the dreaded summer cold! YUCK. Wednesday at work, by late afternoon, I had a terrible headache. I thought it was because I was on the computer so much all day and I knew it was time to get my eyes checked. It didn't get any better and Thursday I woke up with what I thought was a migraine. My head hurt so bad I got sick twice. I went ahead and made an eye doctor appointment for Friday a.m. and suffered through the day with the help of a little Excedrin Migraine. Friday a.m., I woke up and could move NO AIR through my nose. So, I'm on my second night of NyQuil. That is some really amazing stuff.

Sorry no pictures tonight. I'll have some tomorrow. The Allstate Acree Agency is sponsoring a pool party at the Vineyard Apartments tomorrow in Olive Branch. Having a cold and pool party don't sound like tons of fun, but the show must go on. I'm gonna try to go to the doc Monday and get one of those miracle sinus cocktail shots. I'm looking too forward to vacation to be sick now.

We had dinner tonight at the Seafood Junction. HA. It's an all you can eat FRIED buffet in Byhalia. I think there were more mullets in there than there were teeth. It was good at the time but my tummy is talking now.

Hope you all have a happy weekend. I'm taking my NyQuil self to bed. Goodnight.

Hug your babies tight, be thankful for everyday and share your love.

Cya,
Kacy

JESSI ROCKS!

Now is that a blog banner or what? Thank you Jessi! I owe you! You name it girl, you got it. If you don't name it, I'll call Melanie and find out what "it" is. It's at least a dinner for you and that cute little family of yours. I wish I had one ounce of your creativity. I have ideas, I just can't get them done.

GREAT NEWS! We talked to the owner of Turtle Boy in Alys Beach tonight for 45 minutes and got our vacation all lined up. Turtle Boy is what this family calls there beach house. I was on VRBO.com searching for a place to stay and this jumped out at me. It was as if it were calling my name. It had the most amazing description and was in a perfect location for the vacation I was dreaming of. On the questionable side, the rent is about $500 less than anywhere else close. That makes me a little nervous, but $500 is $500. I'm just looking forward to getting away. I want sand between my toes. I want to sweat and I pray it rains. I want to stand in the rain and just feel life without work or home or issues or anything else. I just want to enjoy my family.

No new pics the last couple of days. I've got a gal on vacation at work so we are a little short handed and I've had about 9 hours of consulting this week in my agency. That of course put me behind and created MORE work which was the goal. So, while all of that is more than excellent, I'm lacking in the photography department.

Here are a few of the pics I sent Jessi to work with. This was actually a fun little session and I was VERY surprised at everyone's willingness to cooperate.

This was a fun little project. Savannah pointed out that her dad and I were not very cute, but she thought we did a good job making them. She also pointed out my "ice cream cone nose with the ball on the end". HA You just have to own your flaws I guess: )

I feel very blessed to have the children and family I have. I love them all more than life itself and am even crazy about my dogs, too. I'm going to embark on a new idea with the dogs. I'll keep you all posted on this one. I'm feeling the need to accesorize my dogs. I haven't been able to find what I have in mind so I think I'm going to TRY to create it myself.

I've got to get to bed. I'm worn out and my eyes are shutting down on me.

Hug those babies and share your love.

Cya,

Kacy

Oh my Goodness, I just found pics of our last trip to the beach. This was the first and only time the kids have ever been.

I can't wait to see how the pictures from this next trip compare to these. Do you see now? In the Blink of an Eye, they are all grown up. I want it to stop. I love everyday and everything that comes with it and watching them evolve into little people, but I miss the little innocence of playing in the dirt. I miss tiny hands and feet and rocking each of them everynight. I love my children but I miss my babies. How do you capture what they were and keep it forever? I would love some insight. I feel like I miss too much.

Good Night for real this time.

A Little Catching Up

HELLO! I'M SHOUTING! CAN YOU HEAR ME? I'm just enjoying life tonight. This is ME time. I am taking the time to sit down and do something I want to do. I want to blog. I'm behind on keeping up with my life. That sounds strange, doesn't it? It's the truth. Pardon my randomness here, but I have things to catch up on.

Dalton won the best camper award at camp.

Is that a dirty little boy or what? His bar of soap came home used, but honestly, I think he just wet it to make it look like he used it. What's up with that anyway? Tonight, I was cutting his fingernails which were funk-o-matic and I told him he HAD to take a shower tonight. You would have thought I had taken away his television. He wanted to know what he had to do tomorrow and why I was being so mean. The boy stinks and he won't wear anything but tagless Hanes white undershirts....another little "quirk" he has developed.

Check out this picture...

First, I was so glad Jeff took my camera to catch these moments. After 13 years of marriage that boy might be finally learning just a few things. Thank you Jeff.

I was not able to go with them to get my baby boy. I had to work. This was him calling me when Jeff got there. It was the first time we talked all week and we both got a little choked up. To be honest, I got a lot choked up and the tears are flowing seeing the picture again. How do you express how you feel about your children? Yes, they drive me crazy, but who would I be without them. I'll never forget the day when I was nineteen and had just gotten out of the hospital for my fourth surgery to remove scar tissue from my ovaries. My doctor, the incredible Dr. Tom Greenwell, told me over the phone that day that my chances of having children were gone short of a miracle. Well, I have two miracles. God Power. Look at God working in my little boys life. While we pray everyday with our children, it is so rewarding to see them praying when they aren't with us. It just shows me that we, as parents, are doing our jobs and opening the doors for our kids to make wonderful choices and grow in their faith.

Dalton got home on Friday and we left for the lake on Saturday morning. We had a great time with some friends from way back. Jeff's best friend from college has a house on the Tennessee River and we went to play with him and his two boys and a friend. My camera batteries were dead when we got there and headed to the lake. I missed some amazing pictures of the kids skiing and tubing. We even saw a bald eagle perched on a tree stump in the middle of the river. Can you believe I missed that opportunity? I did snap a few at dinner and of the kids playing.

We really had a great time and it was a much needed mental break for me. Did I mention Dalton lost another tooth? Friday night.

Savannah and I did a little shopping yesterday. We had a lot of fun together this past week. Yesterday, she indulged me while I tried out some new eyeshadow techinques on her. One eye had a deep rose and gold and the other eye had blue and silver. I really liked the blue and silver. In case you can't tell, I am definately a product of the 80's. I love big hair and I really leaned toward the blue and silver eyeshadow. Today, however, I wore the rose and gold to work. I'm a little scared to pull off the blue, at work that is. I need a nightout to try out the bolder colors.

I spent the afternoon with a consultant at work. I'm really struggling right now with all of that. I'm feeling a little vulnerable and can't really put my finger on it exactly. I think it is the fact that I know this expansion is in many ways like starting over. It means a lot of time away from my family. It means Jeff will get to do field trips and have more of a relationship with the kids teachers. It means their friends birthday parties will catch me off guard and unprepared and that Jeff and I will keep up with our schedules through Outlook and email. I've been there and it's hard. I thank God everyday for the incredible father Jeff is. I don't know another man that does what he does for his children. He insists on being active in everything they do and like I said, many times knows more than I do. We have made the decision for me to commit to this together knowing that is the best decision for the future and I know it is the right decision. It is still hard.

We are headed to the beach on the 25th of July. We are staying in a quaint little house in Alys Beach not far from Seaside. I can't wait. We haven't been to the beach in years. I can't wait to stand in the sand and feel the ocean on my feet. My birthday is the 27th and I want nothing more than to be out of town with just my family at the beach. I'm weepy tonight. I'm feeling thankful and overwhelmed with the opportunities I have been given.

Jessi, girl, I need help with my banner. I finally got some pics I want to use. I just need your creative touch. I can't get Picnik to work. Help if you can.

Hug your babies and remember to share your love.

Cya,
Kacy
I'm already thinking of things I've left out.....

MIDLIFE CRISIS

Ok, Ok...it's 10:45 I'm tired and I have to get to bed soon because management will be at my office tomorrow. BUT..here is a quick update on the weekend...

Friday, after work I headed for Headz Up (I think thats right). It is an ethnic beauty and barber shop in Memphis. I got the crazy idea Thursday afternoon that I needed hair extensions. After calling all around and having NO luck, I called a wonderful friend, Tiffany, and asked her advice. She sent me to Tiffany at this salon. After 8 hours, a lot of pulling and sewing (yep, I said sewing) on my head, I HAD HAIR. I got home at 1:30 Saturday a.m. This is so much fun though.

For those of you that have known me a long time...I'm sure this doesn't shock you at all. For the rest of you, while I've never done this, hair changes are my way of dealing with stress. The problem is, a couple of years ago I got major stressed and cut all my hair OFF. I've been trying to grow it back ever since but I can't get past the brown hair helmet stage. I get a short bob going and then cut it all off again because I look like I'm wearing a brown hair helmet. SO, we are going to try it this way for a little bit. Go ahead laugh, I am. Mom says I look Chinese now because it is so tight. HA! She came in tonight and asked me if I had gotten Botox or something. Humm...must be a good thing. I got hair and a face lift. I'm feeling better about that birthday thats knocking loudly on the door now. AND, I won't even attempt to tell you everything I learned at The Barber Shop: ) We have a lot of catching up to do.

Alright that's it for tonight. We went to the lake this weekend. I've got a few pics. I'll elaborate later. Also, Dalton won the best camper award!! I've got more pictures. We'll play catch up tomorrow night. I've got to be at work early tomorrow!

Hug your babies and share your love....it's so important. I'm realizing that more and more everyday.

Cya,
Kacy
P.S. The beach countdown has begun!!

I ALMOST MADE IT!

Guilt has taken over and I am finally posting again this week. I've been too busy trying to find something else to clean to sit down and type. HA! Isn't stress a wonderful thing?
I'm going to get my baby at 6:30 in the morning!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Could you hear that? I'm going to get my little boy that didn't write a single letter to his mom all week and has probably had the best time of his life. I, on the other hand, completely lost it tonight at Outback and sat in the booth and CRIED. I had a total melt down. Of course Dalton being gone wasn't the only factor in my public display of total insanity, but it certainly didn't help. Oh, and by the way, I will probably never show my face at that restaurant again. I'm just not a big cry baby. Actually, it usually only happens when I am mad. I don't know what happened tonight. I really probably do but the list is so long I don't want to blow up blogspot.
Ya know, I've been thinking, maybe I complain too much on here. I read other people's blogs and try to keep up with friends and such and they usually just seem so happy and everything seems to go so smoothly...not me. I'm sure everyone has that side and maybe they just choose to keep it off of here. I'm just trying to keep it real and sometimes real isn't pretty. Speaking of pretty, my face is broken out, that extra 10 pounds has taken up permanent residence on my backside and 35 is just a couple of weeks away. If anyone has a remedy for all of this, I'd be happy to hear it.
Izzy has an intestinal flu, that really stinks, literally. My baby birds have left the nest. They were all piled up in there and I wanted to get a picture so badly. When I made it out there with my camera they were gone and have not come back. That's a good thing in a way. Now, I can get the nest down and paint the side porch. I was also beginning to fear histoplasmosis from all of the birdie droppings. A new hummingbird is hanging out with us. (Are these some random thoughts or what?) I have an idea for a new blog banner that Jessi has so kindly offered to help me with. Be on the lookout...I'll save the rest for another day. I just want my baby back home. I'm out of control without my brood.
Cya,
Kacy

Yesterday Camp Stunk, Today it Sucks!

Yep, it's official!! I'm not gonna make it through the week. I'm not ready to part with my children and don't really think I should be at 8 and 9. I'm gonna have to search for a camp that will allow me to go as well, because I just can't handle this. Tonight, I was at the FedEx box and just sat there wondering if I waited around long enough I could camp out in the truck and they could just deliver me with Dalton's package I put together. I MISS MY BOY.
A LOT happened today, maybe even too much. First, I got to spend the day with SavyG. That in itself was enough, but there was much more in store for July 7, 2008. Some interesting things my daughter told me today, hummm, Mom, your nose looks like an ice cream cone with a ball on the end of it. Mom, you have a lot of meat on your back.... When I got in the shower she pointed and said, Jiggly. Have I ever mentioned how sweet she is and how much I love her? OK, all of that aside, we cleaned top to bottom around here today. We bought a new rug for the den and rearranged the furniture. We cleaned out the pantry. We took two large garbage bags of clothes to the cleaners and both got our hair cut. We changed our minds, in true Acree female fashion, about our vacation. We nixed the cruise and decided to head for the beach instead. (I'm supposed to be finding a condo instead of blogging right now.) We painted all of our nails, put together a care package for Dalton and endured a short power outage.
On most days, just that would have worn me out, but today, with the stress of my little boy being away from home for the first time ever, I also stepped completely out of my comfort zone on a professional level (and did you notice, I didn't "go" to work today).
An opportunity for a large expansion of the Allstate Acree Agency has layed itself in my lap. Let me back up a little. I have ONE more "small" hurdle in my career as an Allstate Agent. On August 20th, I have to take my Series 6 exam and PASS it as my final leg of this journey to fulfill my Securities Licensing requirement for my contract. By the way, that is not a small hurdle. Maybe if I were 23 and single and still used to studying it would be a medium size hurdle. Instead I am quickly approaching 35, married, mother of 2, and a small business owner. That was a condensed version. OK, so NOW, I have to pass this test AND work out all of the details of a buyout. This is an amazing opportunity, but I have to wonder about God's sense of humor in the timing of this particular twist of fate. I have no choice in this matter, if I let this opportunity pass there will not be another one and I would HATE myself for it. This doesn't happen everyday and I have pursued it. I was, however, pursuing for the first of the year. NOT October. I have read many passages and heard multiple sermons on "God time" and this afternoon after "the call" I just had to sit down and laugh....and then clean the hell out of my house. Tonight all of the questions of whether or not I can handle it are going through my mind. So much for a leisurely schedule or even a day off for quite a while. I struggle with being a mom and a business owner often. Finding a good balance is particularly difficult and then you are still a human yourself....
Thanks for listening to my brain dump...now that you are totally confused...I feel as though I've just left a therapy session.
Hug your babies (I miss mine) and share your love.
Cya,
Kacy

CAMP STINKS 4 MOMS

My baby boy went to camp and it is not a good thing. I got sick at my stomach before we even got there and then again after we left. Now I just can't stop crying. We've got some friends over swimming and I'm an idiot crying and am about to dive into my normal psycho routine of cleaning house and rearranging furniture in times of high stress. I knew this would happen so I haven't cleaned anything all weekend.

Let me get it over with and post the pictures of Dalton going to camp...

That is Dalton's best buddy Jacob. I don't think he would have cared if he had a friend there or not. This kid was walking on air today.

I hope I wasn't the only tacky one to notice that he was living in the "Butt" cabin for the week. I am certain that Friday morning can't get here soon enough. My voice shakes when I talk and I have what my Grandmother calls a "Nervous Nelly" rash.

Ok, time to start moving furniture. I'm either going to take a Xanax or this house is gonna be spectacular by the end of the week. Can you imagine when he gets married? Hopefully they will have really good drugs by then or I will learn some amazing coping mechanisms! : )

Hug your babies (if they are home) and share your love.

Cya,

Kacy

STILL CATCHING UP

I'm still playing catch up. Please forgive me. I have just been beside myself this past week watching myself move S-L-O-W-L-Y around. I can't really put my finger on it, but trust me, it's really getting annoying. Today, I just decided it was over and I would step back in my body and take back over. I can still tell I'm faking it, but there has been some improvement: ) Am I just nuts or do other people ever do this? Never mind, I already know I am NUTS.

OK, when we left Shake4Jake we headed to the water park in Philadelphia MS. That was our third trip there. WE LOVE IT. When we got there, Dalton said, "I don't feel so good." He and I jumped out of the truck and he threw his breakfast up all over both of us. Unfortunately, he had a lot of milk for breakfast that morning. YUM YUM. After that, he was fine! We partied like Rock Stars the rest of the day. They kicked us out at 6 when the park closed.

Fun times were had by all!! Check out the Acree Family Abs!!! We like livin' THICK. HA! (Now, that's what I call brave. This is the first step to admission that you don't have the perfect body anymore....posting your picture on your blog) At least I still have a sense of humor.

Well, tomorrow we are driving to Henderson TN to drop Dalton off at Freed Hardeman for the week for camp. Dalton is excited and I'm about to FREAK OUT. In true Kacy fashion, I guess I'll get up tomorrow and head to Henderson and just act like everything is normal. I don't know how else to do it. I don't guess diving into bed and hiding under the covers will keep my little boy from growing up. Why are mom's so protective of their little boys? If Savannah was going, I wouldn't be worried one bit. I'd be helping her pack her stuff and drop her off. I'd miss her just the same, but I wouldn't be "worried". Instead, I'm packing Dalton's stuff and if there were any way possible I could get out of this I would. I'm gonna be worried sick and miss him terribly.

Stella has a really bad cough. I'm getting worried about her. Even her bark is hoarse. Yesterday, (I didn't take a single picture on the 4th of July. I told you I haven't been myself) Mallory was walking around with a chicken leg and then nobody could find it. I'm thinking Stella ate it and I've always been told that dogs shouldn't eat chicken bones because they splinter. Humm, I guess we'll just keep a watch on that little situation.

Mom is in St. Louis visiting with her friend Patty. I think she's coming home Tuesday. She left early this a.m. We are all huddled up here doing laundry and watching NASCAR. Just the way this mom likes it.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend. Hug your babies and share your love.

Cya,

Kacy