Hosted by Jen at Conversion Diary.

Motherhood Can Kick Your Butt – During those early weeks of August when I took a blogging break I had on my list of Quick Takes Ideas this topic: “Motherhood is !@#$% hard.” At the time I was going through a mommy funk. I mean, I loved my kids and all but I was fed up with all the bone-aching tiredness and emotionally draining moments that have me praying for bed time. In fact, on my birthday when I was blowing out the candles and everyone said, “Make a wish!” do you know what my wish was? “Lord, I just want to be happy again.” I can laugh at it now since I am out of that slump but I honestly meant it.
Do you know what helped me out of it? During that time there were at least three of my regular mommy bloggers that I follow (and look up to) that shared that they were going through a mommy funk and/or shared about how hard being a mom can sometimes be, whether it was dealing with a major cross or just dealing with yet another explosive diaper. The mere acknowledgement that I am not alone in this fight was enough to help me refocus, regroup, and recharge. God’s grace kicked in and it helped my birthday wish come true. So if you are having a rough day, hang in there. You are not alone.

Fair Days – This is our last week of summer vacation for us and we have been trying to take advantage of it. Yesterday we all played hooky, Brian included, and spent the day at the county fair. We had so much fun and it was an extra treat since this is the first time Brian has ever attended with us. We usually go on the “kids are free” day while Brian is working but he was able to get the day off at the last minute so he could join us. We went on rides, played games, and ignored the calories and fat content in the homemade corndogs, ice cream cones and the smoky goodness of Big Bubba’s BBQ feast. (Although I still don’t get the appeal of deep fried candy bars and cookies. But then again, I also don’t quite get what grits and hush puppies are. Maybe I need to expand my Cali native horizons. 😉

A Surfing Summer (without the surfboards) – As I mentioned before, this has been a Mat Kearney summer but there is another band the kids (well, the boys really) have recently been into – The Beach Boys. It all started when they saw the trailer for Despicable Me 2. We loved the first movie and have watched it a number of times. It is really cute, despite the few instances of “potty humor.” Anyway, they saw the trailer that has the minions singing the Banana song to the tune of the “Barbara Ann.”

I told the kids that the tune was actually from a song by the Beach Boys and that they are one my dad’s/Grandpa’s favorite bands. Furthermore, when I was little he used to sing along to “Barbara Ann” but he change the words to “Bobbi Ann” (I used my full name back then.) Of course they wanted to hear the real song and from there, they were hooked. So we’ve had quite a few surfing tunes playing over the last few weeks. Here’s a little Surfing USA fun to end your summer.

(Hey, didn’t the guys on here get the memo – you are supposed to be wearing your baggies not skimpies!)
Actually, any Beach Boys song reminds me of my dad. And when I am missing my parents I’ll listen to Motown. (If I’m missing my mom specifically I’ll watch I Love Lucy.) But the music just takes me back to fun times when they were cooking in the kitchen and dancing around and having fun embarrassing us. (I secretly loved it.) Their playful spirit and ability to laugh is something I treasure. To prove my point, yesterday my parents celebrated their 44th wedding anniversary and what did they do? They went to Disneyland! I love it. Next to the grace and mercy of God, I think it is their laughter that has held them together this long.

Plugged In – The other day I was at the computer store getting Brian’s little netbook fixed and I saw the book Good Night iPad, which is a parody of the classic book Good Night Moon. Being a digital family, I thought it was hilarious. If you use an electronic reader instead of paperbacks, are attached to your ipod, find joy in facebook, twitter and instagram, have kids that can whip your butt at Angry Birds and have toddlers that are proficient in the use of iPhones and iPads, then you will enjoy reading this book! Check it out.

You’ve Got to be Kidding Me – Which reminds me, did I ever tell you about my credit card being stolen? A couple weeks back we were trying to use our card but it kept getting declined. I called the credit card company and they put a hold on our card so they could verify a few purchases. They wanted to know if I happened to spend $2,000 at Chanel? Or (brace yourselves) $8,000 at Neiman Marcus? WTH? All you kidding me? No, that was not me! I asked the credit card guy how the purchases were made and he said it was a store purchase with a physical card. I told him that we had our cards in our wallets and never lost them so how did they get it? He said there are lots of ways to get our info and make “new” cards with my number. Anyway, the guy was really nice and removed the charges from our account and told us not to worry, that they’d take care of everything and they did. Brian said the thief should have spent that much money at Target and then no red flags would have been raised. Touché.

I Need an Identity Theft Superhero – Meanwhile, when I was at the computer store (it was around the same time) I was talking to the computer guy about my card info being stolen. He said one of the popular ways to steal credit card info is by using RFID identity theft. This allows the thief to not even touch your card. You simply need to be within his vicinity while he is scanning your info through radio frequencies. I look it up online and there are tons of articles about this form of theft. I don’t know if that is what happened to me but it freaks me out a bit. I love technology and how it helps our lives but there is always a dark side too.
Funny thing is that a day or two after all this happened, I saw an ad in a magazine for RFID blockers that you can put in your wallet. They also sell RFID blocking wallets and purses to protect your identity. I would have shrugged all this off as paranoid but now I am not so sure!

Mamarazzi Moments – Okay, but enough with the drama. I’ll end this Quick Takes with a few photos from yesterday.

I love my boys even though none of them inherited my love of roller coasters. They all wanted seats on the carousel that did not move up and down. Oh well.

Have a wonderful weekend!!