Summer Vacation!

It is that time of year. Not much time for blogging, just time for fun. The big kids are at camp until tomorrow, then they will be home approximately 12 hours before we take off for our week long Huhmann reunion on the farm. We'll get home celebrate the 4th and Sierra's Sixteenth birthday -(and seriously I would like to know where in the H E double hockey sticks the time has gone?)--- and then a few days after that we leave for South Carolina for a week at the lake. So my "all about me" stuff will have to wait, cause for now it's all about the fam and that is just the way I like it! :)

I do have to mention one quick thing -today Joe and I celebrated our 11th wedding anniversary. My Facebook status was pretty great so I'll post it here to commemorate the occasion: "Tara Huhmann is in love with an amazing guy. 11 years ago today he was lucky enough to marry me. I love ya babe, you really do make the world a better place." Awe, aren't I sweet? :) Happy anniversary to us!!!

Meeting for parents of SENIORS

There was a meeting tonight for the parents of the Class of 2012. Wow, those people are OLD in just one short year they will have a kid graduating from high school which automatically makes you ancient -not as ancient as if say you have a kid graduating from college or if you are a grandma but still, you are moving right along the old people train. Uh, wait a sec....I just realized that I am one of those old people! Wait, wait, wait! I was a senior just a dozen (give or take 8 or nine years) years ago. I am way too young to have a kid graduating from high school right??? I am SOOOOO not ready for this. I cannot believe that this time is here. I know how fast the next 12 months will go, I know how fast I will be dropping him off at college. I am NOT ready!!! I am screaming it NOT READY! NOT READY! NOT READY! Guess what??? It doesn't matter, no one cares. Okay, well maybe they do care but that still doesn't help. I am going to tell you a secret, you can't make fun of me okay??? Promise??? I have had a breakdown, sometimes a few tears and sometimes a lot, almost every day since the 7th of June when the class of 2011 graduated and I officially became the parent of a senior. I know I am a crazy person. It's okay, I've come to terms with it. Now I just need to come to terms with my baby graduating from high school next year. Did I mention I wasn't ready? I have considered telling the school I am pretty sure he is a cheater and that I'm not even sure he can read so he should probably go back a few grades. Do you think that would work? Seriously people, I need ideas here. I'll leave you to ponder on it let me know when you come up with something good because I AM NOT READY for my brown eyed boy to leave.

A favorite quote

This is an easy one! Such a quick assignment and I have a few favorite quotes, it has taken me a few days to post them because I have been busy with finals......waaaait HD and Sierra have been busy with finals, however, being the fabulous mom that I am (and considering I don't want them to fail and have to repeat a grade) I have been helping them. Add to that all my "usual" chaos and here we are. Okay, onto the business at hand. My favorite quote

"Don't worry about the world coming to an end today, it's already tomorrow in Australia" -Charles Schultz -this one reminds me to live in the moment, don't wast time worrying -you can't change the future so live for today.

"Find joy in the journey" Thomas S. Monson - a reminder to find joy in every single day -its always there.

"I love you to the moon, and back" -Big nut brown hare :) -it just begins to describe the feelings of love I have for my children.

So there ya go! I cannot WAIT for school to be over!!! We are so close!!! Happy summer everyone!

A favorite book

Oh I LOVE TO READ! In fact, that should have been number one on my favorite things! In my Grandma Seamons life history one of the facts in there is that she loved to read and would often stay up way too late when she couldn't put a book down. That is the story of my life!!! I am always so excited to start a new book and then so sad that it ends. My probably favorite books of all time are the Harry Potter and Twilight Series. I LOVE series books. I read the Fablehaven series a couple of months ago and have read it again one more time since then. After that I started a series called "The Hound of Rowan" it is probably in the "teen readers" section of your favorite bookstore but I really enjoyed the first three books. The next book in the Rowan series comes out in 2012. I didn't realize when I started these books that the series wasn't finished. I hate starting a series before the author is finished with the entire thing. Waiting for the next book drives me bonkers! (yes, I was one of the crazy people in line at the bookstore at midnight waiting for those last three Harry Potter books!) My most favorite app on my ipod touch is my Kindle app. I told my hubby he better give me a book allowance because now I can just buy books with one touch! Love it! Currently I am reading "The Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother" by Amy Chua -HOLY COW so interesting!!!! It is a comparison of "western parenting" and Chinese parenting. It is written by a Chinese mother and it is hard to say if she was so mean or so brilliant in her child rearing. You will DIE when you find out some of the things she made her kids do. It is a great read so far and one that would make a great book club book. As you are reading you really want to call your friends and go "CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT?" It captivates you because you can't decide if this lady is crazy or brilliant. lol :) After this I plan to read George Bush's Decision Points, then probably the new book out by Rick Riordian "The Throne of Fire". I could seriously read all day. The good news is that all three of my kiddos are voracious readers too. We always get them gift cards to Boarders or Barns and Noble for Christmas and that is one of their favorite gifts. It cracks my dad up that they are that excited to go to the book store. :) What are you reading my friends? Let me know! I am always looking for new material.

Favorite Things

Today's assignment is a list of 20 of my favorite things so here they are in no particular order.

1. my dog -Daisy is the best dog in the whole world.

2. my new Kia.

3. ipod touch

4. LaTolteca -best mexican restaurant by me!

5. my house-

6. Disneyland

7. the beach -any beach!

8. Facebook -sad but true

9. my bed!

10. Diet coke :)

11. autumn

12. swimming

13. BBQ's

14. my scentsy warmer

15. Christmas!

16. airplanes

17. my kiddos

18. going out to dinner

19. being outside

20. boating

Favorite Movie

Tonight's post is my favorite movie. I LOVE movies! We have tons of them and I have several "favorites" but whenever anyone asks me this question I always say "Steel Magnolias" That is definitely at the top of my list. Sierra and I just watched it together a couple of months ago and we laughed and cried together. Some of my other favorites include some Julia Roberts movies, Pretty Woman, My Best Friends Wedding, Runaway Bride. I love romantic comedies The Wedding Planner, Letters to Juliet, Leap Year, New In Town, You've Got Mail...there are a lot! Our current favorite Disney movie is Tangled. Love that one! Haylee now refuses to cut her hair so she can be Rapunzel for Halloween -I have been trying to get her to do that for years!!! Thank you Disney!

The kids and I are always using movie lines when we talk to each other, the following are favorites:

"Sorry, I was just looking at that bird over there" Bob from Monsters vs. Aliens

"A frying pan. Who knew right?" -Flynn Ryder from Tangled

"I guess [insert random act here] is frowned upon in this establishment!" the E-trade baby -that one is actually a commercial but we use it all the time.

"Llama faaaace" Emperor Kuzco from Emperor's New Groove

"Olo" "uh, it's 'hello'" from Megamind

"I've never gone 99% on anything and I think I'm AWESOME!" from Horton Hears a Who

"Is this Burt from accounting?" again Horton Hears a Who

"Pucker up and kiss it Whoville!" How the Grinch Stole Christmas

"Uh oh, someone's FABULOUS!" again How the Grinch Stole Christmas

Whenever we try on new clothes we like to act out the part of the Grinch where he is trying on outfits to go to the Christmas Whovilation and he walks back and forth and poses saying "ooooooo.....ahhhh.....mmmmm....That's it! I'm not going!" it usually ends with "That's it! I love this shirt!" or something of that nature. We are dorks, I know!

There are so many more lines we like to use! It is frustrating me that I can't think of them!!! They just come to us in the moment. All of my kids have a knack for comedic timing so we laugh a lot and movie quotes are a big part of that.

To finish my movie post here are some movies we are DYING to see this summer: Transformers 3, Harry Potter 7 Part 2, Green Lantern, Cars 2, Pirates and Kung Fu Panda (I know these are out but we haven't seen them yet)

Haylee funny #100,724...

Tonight Haylee and I had the following conversation:

Haylee: Mom, am I irish?

Me: No, you have some scottish in you and some german.

Haylee: Scottish? What does that mean? What do they do?

Me: uhhhh...they play the bagpipes.

Haylee: (indignantly) And wear plaid????

Me: yes, they wear plaid.

Haylee: (who used to despise plaid and refuse to wear anything plaid) Well, honestly mom I can say I'm starting to like plaid. Just a little bit though.

She is such a nerd. :)

One more from today:

Haylee: Mom is it impossible to hold completely still since the world is spinning?

...... I don't even know how to answer that! That's one of those if a tree falls in the forrest and no one is around to hear it does it make a sound questions. lol

A favorite song

Okay, todays blog assignment is to post my favorite song.... that is a tough one. I love music. LOVE it! I don't really have a favorite genre anymore. I used to be a country girl through and through but I mostly listen to pop music these days. Well pop and country are about 70/30 respectively. :) On my ipod you can find songs like "Mormon Rap" to Tupac and Dr. Dre's "California Love" you could come across just about anything. Just had a great idea, instead of posting my favorite song since I don't have one specifically I will put my ip0d on shuffle, post the titles of the first 10 songs that play and why I like them. Whatever happens don't judge me.... lol

1. Sean Kingston: "Shawty's like a melody in my head" - love Sean Kingston, his songs have great beats and he doesn't use profanity!!! Woo hoo!

2. Cee Lo Green: "Forget you" -this song is super popular right now, I just like it, catchy little tune.

3. Nikki Blonsky: "I can hear the Bells" from the musical Hairspray. I LOVE THIS SONG!!! I turn it up in the car and sing along.

4. Laurie Berkner: "Bumble Bee (Buzz Buzz)" this is a total kiddie song that Haylee and I have been singing since she was like 2 - we turn this up and sing along too. :)

5. Taylor Swift: "Should've said No" -- love Taylor Swift! She is awesome!

6. Jason Mraz: "I'm Yours" love this song too, love that it is simple, I never skip this when it comes on.

7. Katy Perry: "California Gurls (featuring Snoop Dog) - love the beat of this song

8. Garth Brooks: "To make you feel my love" such a sweet love song From the movie Hope Floats

9. Brad Paisley: "I'm gonna Miss Her" - I adore Brad Paisley!

10. Miley Cyrus: "Party in the USA" -I turn this up, sing AND dance in the car. I could blame this on Sierra but it's not true I love this song!

So there ya go, my favorite song changes from day to day pretty much. We download tons of music at our house, the last song I bought off of itunes was Scotty McCreery's "I love you this big" LOVE that song. My current favorite for sure!

All about me -in a month or so

I am stealing this from my friend Rebekah because I have loved learning about her this last month and think she is awesome! Plus it is a good record of my life right now which I think is a fab idea for my posterity who will no doubt think I am super cool and want to learn more about me! The idea is to write about certain things everyday sooo..here we go.... I'll start with a current pic. :)

I think this pic sums me up (well at least for this last week) I like to be outside, I am very ready for summer, I have big kids, I do not have to swim, I get to relax by the pool, I have been waiting 17+ years for this moment, it is blissful!
Okay for the the first day I am supposed to tell you five things that have shaped me most as a person.... hmmm... tough question.

1. My religion. I am a mormon. We are Christians. We are not weirdos -well most of us I can't speak for everyone . :) We believe in Christ. We believe that families can be together forever. The gospel brings me so much peace and happiness. I know that I have a Heavenly Father who loves me and who cares about the smallest concerns in my life. Miracles are everywhere. If you want to know more you can go to mormon.org.

2. My children. My whole life all I ever wanted to be was a mom. I used to fill out a questionnaire in my journal about once a year and every time I filled out the "what do you want to be when you grow up" the answer was always "a mom" that is still my answer. My children are the most important people in my life (along with my hubby of course) I put them before a career, money, time for myself, fancy vacations. And I wouldn't change a thing. I love being a stay at home mom. I hope I am doing a good job. So far my kiddos are honor roll students, good leaders, great examples, they are hilarious and gorgeous and none of them has ever been arrested...hopefully this is a sign they are all on the right track and that I am still in the running for mother of the year. Although I did wreck D's car a couple months ago....not sure if I am still a front runner due to that incident. :)

3. My divorce. I was married to HD and Sierra's dad for 5 years. We were married very young and it was not easy. This shaped me as a person because I became more confident and found out who I was through the process. It was one of the hardest things I have ever had to go through but I am so glad I did!

4. My husband. Joe is amazing. He is the hardest working person I have ever met in my entire life. If I ask him to do something for me, it's done. That very minute if he can. He takes such good care of me. He has an awesome job and has earned all of the respect and promotion he has received. I know that I come first in his life. He loves me unconditionally, he is the first person in my life that I have known that.

5. The military. This has definitely shaped who I am! It has been a part of my life for the last 14 years or so. Being a military spouse is not easy. You live in great places, you live in not so great places. You move, if you don't move your friends move. It is sad but then new friends move in and things are happy again. Our family motto is "Bloom Where you are Planted" we try to live by this. You can bloom anywhere if you try hard enough. I am a very lucky military spouse for a lot of reasons. My husband does not deploy. Ever. The longest we have ever been apart is like 37 days. That is unheard of in the military. I am so grateful. Because of his job now we will be stationed here until he retires. All of the guys he works with are in the same boat so we do have a lot of friends who don't move either. That is a HUGE blessing.

So that's a little bit about me to start off. I hope you enjoyed learning a few things. Heck! I think I even learned a few things!

P.S. My nine year old is still awake and it's 11 o'clock pm on a school night...does that make me a bad mom? I hope not because this happens almost every night. What can I say the kid is a night owl like her mama, and for the record I put her to bed at 10, and also for the record she is home schooled so being up until 11 isn't too big of a deal. I just hope this doesn't put me even further out of the running for mom of the year after this. :)