See ya later 2010!

Its new years Eve. And once again, its just me and the kids. I cant remember the last tim I spent New years with my husband. The man works so hard and its just how our life is. So, how was your 2010? Mine.. it was not bad. Pickle started 2nd grade, MiMi turned 5(holy crap) I got into my first argument with my MIL(not to bad, considering we have been married 8 years and together nearly 10) and didnt work very much(always a plus)
In 2011.. I plan to blog more, get serious about getting healthier, go back to school, and plan to send my baby off to kindergarten. The latter of which Im totally unprepared for. i dont want her to go. i want her home with me, my little girl forever. She is so excited to go, and I love seeing the excitment in her face, but Im totally not ready to send my baby, my last child, off to big kid school.
I also get to quit my job at some point this year. I TOTALLY cant wait for that. :)

So, happy new year everyone and make your 2011 be blessed! Much love

Homework

I have a 2nd grader, Pickle. He's a pretty smart kid who does well in school. Well apparantly in 2nd grade, playtime is over and it gets serious. The kid has about an hour or mroe of homework a night. HES.IN.SECOND.GRADE. Im already confused and Im thinking that by the end of the year, Im not gonna know how to help him. Between his homework, doing preschool with MiMi, work, trying to find 5 min in the day to squeeze a convo with my husband in, and housework.. IM exhausted
Speaking of work.. Im so fed up. I feel like Im there to do nothing but bitch work. Getting up at 3:30am SUCKS. Just trying to make it till Aug when I quit to go back to school. I think I can I think I can...

car seat freak!!

Yes, I know I am. Im obsessed with car seats and keeping kids safe. I believe you should RF your child to the limits of your seat, harness them till at least age 6 and 40lbs and keep them in a booster till they pass the 5 step test. Car accidents are the NUMBER ONE killer of children in this country from ages 1-14, so why not protect your child to the best of your ability. I have 2 kids. Pickle is 7 and MiMi is 4.5 Pickle was harnessed in a 5pt harness car seat, the Britax Regent(or lovingly known as the beast) up until last week. He is now boostered in the Recaro ProBooster. He weighs 47lbs and is 47in. MiMi was rear facing, yes rear facing, up until about a month and half ago when she hit the rear facing weight limit on her seat. So she rear faced until 4years7months of age. She is now forward facing in a 5pt harness, where she will remain for YEARS to come(she is tiny)
Did you know that 90% of car seat are installed and used incorrectly? That a RF child is 5x safer than a FF child? That it is ILLEGAL to FF your child until they are 1 year old and weigh 20lbs? That a 2-3 year old child has absolutley NO business in a booster seat? That child passenger laws in this country are severly lacking.
This being said, there is an awesome giveaway going on. Its for one of the BEST car seats there is. The Briatx Frontier85. It harnesses to 85, boosters to 120. Its a LATCHable booster and also makes on of the best boosters there is. I LOVE this seat. Visit this awesome blog
http://simplybeingmommy.com/2010/09/27/britax-frontier-85-car-seat-review-and-giveaway/
and follow the instructions.

The required intro post

So, when you hear the term HillBilly, what comes to mind? Married cousins, one rotted tooth, livin in a trailer with a a couple cars up on blocks, a toliet being used as a plantar? Well... in some cases that may be true. But really, Im just a small town country girl. Born and raised in a VERY small mining town in southwest virginia. population about 1000. Fast forward 31 years, Im in a bigger town in the mountains of western north carolina, population about 68,000.
I met the love of my life here and we have settled down and had 2 awesome kids. He is an amazing hard working guy and Im so lucky to have him. The kids are 7 and 4.
yes, i live in a trailer, but its a doublewide and Im proud of it, I work hard to make it nice for us.
I have an awesome group of friends, both here and online. My online moms are my sanity, no matter what happens, they are a click, phone call, text away and I dont know what Id do without them. I may not have met very many of them, but they are family and I love each of them.
So this is me in a nutshell..Im car seat obsessed, loyal, tired, and just looking to survive the challenge of motherhood. So sit back, relax and enjoy the ride.