Momma knows best

This picture makes me smile. You know when your a kid and you say to yourself that you'll never be like your momma, but then you grow up and your so much like your momma it's scary? That's me, only I'm actually happy to be like my momma. She's an amazing woman. She did hand down a curse to me though, when she told me before I even had children, that you have to bathe a baby every day or they won't be able to sleep. Ever since she told me this, I have abided by it faithfully. As they get older it doesn't matter as much. Apparently they can sleep without a bath as long as they are under three? I know it makes no sense, but personally I love bathing my baby because then I get to snuggle her and smell her and feel like she will literally sleep better if she's had a bath. I don't know if the myth is true or not, but when your momma says to do something, you just do it...no questions asked.

Running around like a chicken with my head cut off

This is a phrase I heard many times growing up in reference to the fact that there's always need to slow down or prepare ahead of time so as to avoid the chicken run. Only now this phrase takes on a whole new meaning for me. I started running for exercise about a year ago. I have ran in the past, but not very consistently. This is the first time I have ever been completely consistent with running. I have always put exercise as a priority, and believe me I have tried everything, from Buns Of Steel, to Tae Bo, to aerobics classes, to jump roping, and so on. But running?? Oh my, how I have always despised it. My worst enemy. Some how it has always kicked my rear in the worst way and no matter how hard I have tried to beat the beast of running (meaning breathe and keep from dying) it has always won. Finally (and this is the truth) after 10 months of running, 4 days a week, I have finally grown to love it. If you asked me last month if I loved it, I would have said no. But I noticed about a week ago when I went running alone, I could breathe. I only went three miles, but I could have gone 6 more, and still been able to breathe. It was wonderful and exhilarating. And ever since then, I want to run more!! It was a huge milestone for me, I had resigned to the fact that I would always hate it. I never would have thought it would take me that long to love it...but it did. It's a big thing to me. I thankfully have wonderful running partners, but now I know that if I choose to run alone at times, by golly, I can. And knowing I can, truly makes my day.

Thankgoodness...

...for wonderful, terrific older brothers that play ring around the rosie just to make their sisters happy. Is this a sign he'll make an outstanding dad? I'm thinking yes.

Warning...stop now because this may offend you.

But I'm going to write about it anyway, because it was really embarrassing, but thankfully I can laugh about it now. Yesterday I took the two youngest girls to WalMart with me. I had a ton of stuff to get..stuff for home, and Chris gave me a long list for office supplies as well. To top it off I had to pick the kids up in just a few short minutes from school. I hate to be late, especially picking my kids up so I was in major rush mode. I finally had everything on my list and was pretty much throwing my items onto the check stand. The boy checking was about 18 and was slowwwwwww as molasses. And I mean it too. I wanted to ring the kids neck by the time he had rung item #3. I had a big case of diet coke on the bottom of my cart that I didn't want to lift so I just said (and this is where the embarrassment arrived) "If your thingy is long enough could you just reach down here and scan?" I immediately realized how that sounded and I tried really hard not to look at this boy, but I hoped deep in my heart he didn't have a gutter mind and wouldn't even notice. I couldn't resist so I took a quick glance, and yep....the red in his cheeks and smirk on his face said it all. I wanted to crawl in a hole. So I basically just didn't look at him as he took another 5 minutes to finally get me out of there. I told my husband about it hoping for some sympathy but all I got out of him was a belly laugh that doesn't come out of him very often. *Note to self*...don't use the word "thingy" to refer to anything ever, ever, ever.

One of my favorite things...

Loving my baby. Gosh I love that girl.

Journals...

I dug out my old journal the other day just for fun. I decided to ask Halee and Austin if they wanted me to read some of it to them. It's a journal from when I was 17, almost 18. I was pretty surprised when they got all excited and wanted to. One week later and we're already half way through my entire journal...and Christian and Connor are listening in too. It's so cool to them because it talks of a time before Chris was in my life, and then when we met, and all the trials we faced. We're getting close to when he proposes, but haven't made it quite that far yet. They laughed pretty hard when I came to a part where Chris and I had met for the first time. I wrote in my journal that night and I said "Chris is a very nice guy, that will one day make some woman very happy, it's just not going to be me." Thank goodness I saw the error in my ways, because he's brought me more joy than I ever could have hoped for. I noticed in my journal that I was so close to Heavenly father. I had the strongest testimony. I still have a strong testimony, but realized that I need to do more to strengthen it. I get so caught up in my busy life, that I forget to take the time to do things that will help me grow. I never thought I could find an example in myself, but I have. I am going to try to be the person I used to be. Weird, I know. I also never thought my children could love hearing from me at that young tender age of teenage hood, but they beg me every night to read to them. I know now that journals really do serve a purpose. My children are learning that I went through tough teenage stuff just like them, and by leaning on a loving father in heaven, I got through it. It's pretty amazing.

Keeping it real...

I would say in general I am a pretty good mom. I tell my kids daily that I love them. I give them hugs. I listen to their problems. The list goes on...BUT, When it comes to family picture day, it's all down the toilet! Bad evil mom emerges, and I vow that next time we do pictures I will be more patient and relaxed. Gosh I hope that day comes soon. My friend said it best in quoting her husband, who says that there's nothing like ruining a perfectly good family day then to go and have family pictures taken. Isn't that the truth. And doing it with 6 kids? 3 of which are boys? Not easy. I must say though, I got a good laugh at many of the photo's and the expressions on faces. Here are a few, but believe me, there are at least a hundred more just like them.

Family Photo's 2010

My very patient friend offered to do our family photo's this year. She is very talented and loves taking pictures...plus she didn't charge us anything! That's my kind of deal. I only feel sorry that she had to deal with trying to get all of us to look good at one time. Poor girl. She did a great job though...thanks Tammy! In the next few days I will try to share some of the not so flattering ones...they are pretty hilarious. Here are a a few out of the 350 photo's she took.

Waldo The Swinging Monkey...

I don't know about other kids, but my kids are pretty much obsessed with Where's Waldo books. If they can get their hands on one at the Library, they are thrilled. This picture in my favorite red maple tree reminded me of their favorite book as I tried to identify where their little heads were after taking the picture. I also came to the conclusion that my boys closely resemble monkey's. Every time I wanted to take a picture, they were either swinging from a rope (they took the seat off the swing for now) or hanging from some random tree. If I believed in reincarnation, I would say Monkey definitely runs in our family.

What now?

Right before I went to bed last night I was looking at the above statue that was given to me for Mothers Day several years back. I started to feel sadness as I looked at it. I had it tucked away in a box for several years, not sure why, but recently pulled it out. I've noticed something in the last 6 months that I've had it displayed. Each time I see it, and really look at it, I get sad. Each time I see it, I literally get sadder, and sadder. I finally realized last night as I felt this sadness looking at this mother holding her baby, that I'm so sad because it represents what is being taken away from me each day as Scarlett grows out of the baby stage and into the growing up stage. I laid down in the bed pondering this, and thought, I know! Chris can just go pay $10,000 and get a reversal! Ya, that thought lasted about of 2 seconds. Then it came to me that life revolves around seasons. We're born, we turn into toddlers, we go to Kindergarten, we reach middle school awkward years, we turn teenager and drive our parents a little crazy, we get older and have kids of our own. We can't hold onto one scene in our lives forever. This thought excited me, because I realized that my current purpose is to give to my older kids along with my younger ones, and to not be so enveloped in having newborns (even though it is truly the best feeling ever) that there's not time left to give. I think I like this stage. And you know what? Bring on the Grandma stage too, because I'm going to love every minute of it, in several more years that is.

Prayers...

A prayer is a prayer right??? Even if it's done kneeling on your daddies back...

You drink it girl!

Maybe I am not civilized enough. Chris and I have had this discussion many times...not about me being uncivilized (even though this may be true) but about our difference on a certain issue. Why do I drink my milk out of the cereal bowl, when to him it's foreign?? Every time he pours cereal and milk for the kids, he pours them a cup of milk to go with it. "Why do you do that???" I ask every time. And my kids... I pour them cereal and they ask for a drink of milk, and I say "drink the milk from your bowl. They say "ewww, that's gross." All except my sweet little Grace who inherited my DNA in this one instance. Her and I can be uncivilized together I guess. Cheers.