Happy Birthday Momma!!!!!

This is my Grandma, my momma, ME and my little sister! Isn't this a great snapshot? I love this picture!!!! (Thanks Shawna!)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOMMA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Of course my momma holds a special place in my heart. She's ALWAYS been there for me no matter what. I can't always say I've been the "best" daughter (I try :)), but there's always room for improvement.

With that said, I actually have had my mom on my mind a LOT lately. Today, I went to a funeral for the mother of a very dear friend of mine. I'm very sad for her that she doesn't have her mother, but rejoicing that she is finally cancer free and rejoicing with our Savior! When I had the opportunity to talk to my friend about a week before her mom passed, I asked if there was anything that I could do for her. She was very appreciative, but said she really didn't think so. She shared with me that right now (before she passed), that all she was doing was waiting. She said the end is inevitable, we are just hoping that it's peaceful. She told me, "I can play this waiting game. This isn't the hard part. The hard part will be when my mom is gone and I can't pick up the phone to say, "Hey mom, can you watch the boys for me?" Or, "Hey mom, do you have the recipe for such and such?" That's going to be the hard part for me when I can't just pick up the phone when I NEED my MOM!" I just cried! I had never thought about it that way. I still NEED my MOM too and she's still here! How lucky I am to not only have my mom, but I still have my grandma too! I'm taking this time to say how much I LOVE my momma and my grandma too! I can't imagine my life without them, because I DO still need them both! I think that I have taken this time that I have with them for granted. I've been so wrapped up in my life with MY family, that I don't always take the time that I need to express my heartfelt love and appreciation for my mom and my grandma. I am going to make that a priority because our days are numbered and I don't want to miss one moment and I certainly don't want to wait until it's too late to tell them how much I LOVE THEM!

Love to you MOM and all those momma's out there!!!!!!

Running (AWAY~Just Kidding!)

This Week's Topic: What is a favorite "alone time" activity?

Alone time is pretty rare for momma!

When I am COMPLETELY alone, I love to put on my ipod (LOVE my music) and go for a jog. I do one of either two things when I'm running. I either just listen to the music and clear my mind and look at all the beautiful things in nature, or I do some pretty major thinking or praying. Guess that's three, oops. Sounds crazy that I can think and pray with music in my ears, but trust me, it's possible. And since I don't get to jog very often, I don't make it very far, but I hope that I can work up to a longer jog soon. Someday I secretly hope to run a marathon! I know it's just a dream, but you gotta start somewhere!

Usually my alone time consists of short snippets of my family sleeping. During those short times, when I can't actually leave the house (because they are too young to be alone and hubby is gone) I find myself vegging on the couch and watching some of my favorite shows (General Hospital, Greys Anatomy, Private Practice, Brothers & Sisters or Army Wives) that I DVR, but usually delete because I never really get to watch them. If I'm not doing that, then I'm usually on the computer catching up. I don't usually get the opportunity to get on the computer if my husband is here because he is usually on it or he's sleeping and the computer is right next to him and he can't sleep if I'm pecking on the keys!

Also on the rare occasion, I might make a quick trip to the grocery store by myself. It's not the greatest entertainment, but you sure can get a lot done in a short amount of time!

When I was going to bootcamp and getting up at 4:30am, I would come home and everyone was still sleeping. I could get almost all my chores done before 7am and have the whole day to work on projects, when Kenidi

She can be a little stinker sometimes!


But THIS is Kenidi MOST of the time!

would allow it! Those were some very productive days. I miss them!!!!

So that's what I like to do when I'm alone, how about you? Join in by clicking on the button at the top.

So We Don't Forget

Just in case you've been following me on Wednesdays, Wednesday's Walk from Lynnette's blog has changed to:

Just click on the button above if you want to join in (link up) or just to read what it's all about!

Today's topic is:
School Days - Tell us about a school memory from when you were a child - or school memories with your children. If you're a homeschooler, feel free to tell us something about your homeschool day (a special activity, first day of school, field trip, etc).

I'm going to be brave here and tattle on myself just a bit. I was a little naughty (or maybe ornery) in grade school. I had a problem talking! (I know imagine that!) When I was in the 2nd grade (I went to a catholic school), I had seven (count them) SEVEN pink slips! I was almost expelled!!! Can you believe that? All of you who just said yes, I'm giving you a look right now! I would get in trouble for talking and when the teacher would ask me to stop, I would kindly tell her, "Just a minute. I'm not done yet!" And then I would get a pink slip. A pink slip was NOT good. Especially when I got home and had to explain AGAIN why I got another pink slip. When I got my 7th pink slip, I had a personal invitation to go, not to the principals office (already been there!), but to the PRIEST this time. Oh boy was that BAD! I was told that if I got one more pink slip in the 2nd grade, I would be expelled! Believe you me, I did NOT get another one. I guess the threat worked.

I would like to say that all that is WAY behind me and I'm so much more mature and well behaved, but probably NOT! I still have a little bit of an ornery streak in me at times. Okay, all of you that I gave the look to earlier, I'm giving it to you again! STOP THAT! I just know how to turn an awkward situation into a fun situation! YES, THAT'S IT!

And I wander where my girls get it? From their father of course!!! HEE HEE!!

Both My Babies Are In School Now!

My oldest, Harli said she LOVED her 1st day of school, which was yesterday. She's was a little leery about getting the "new" teacher because he's male, but I think she's glad now! There are only 2 male teachers in her school and she had this preconceived notion that a male teacher was going to be mean. I told her that my 4th grade teacher was a male and that he was one of my all time favorite teachers. He made everything about learning fun. I think she agrees! She says he's really funny. Today was a different story! She came out of school today and told me that she's ready for summer again. She figured out that 3rd grade is going to be a little harder than she anticipated :)!


Today was Kenidi's 1st day of preschool(my 3yr old). She did great! Both my girls are so independent. She was not the least bit concerned that I was leaving and that she was staying. I thought all was going great and that I was doing incredibly well holding back the tears. I left the classroom and headed down the hall and was ALMOST out the door when I ran into several Kindergarten moms that were crying. I LOST IT! The tears just started uncontrollably! I was leaving my BABY there!!!! Needless to say one of my best friends in the whole world rescued me! She asked if I wanted to meet her for Starbucks and of course I said ABSOLUTELY!!! What an awesome friend I have. So I went to pick her up from school a few hours later and she was not ready to leave! She informed me that she was going to stay for a little longer. When we got outside, she informed me that she was not going with me, that she was going to ride the bus. I just giggled at her. She wasn't worried about mommy at all! I finally had to pick her up and carry her to the car. I think she's gonna like school! I don't know I guess we'll see after her 2nd day :)! HA!

I just HAVE to tell you a story about last night!!!!!! When I went to tuck her in to bed we had a very LONG talk. It was a good talk. I was worried about some of her friends and some of the influences that they have on her (like I was telling you about in my last post). I asked her about her 1st day and we talked about that and then she proceeded to confirm some of my fears by telling me what one of her friends was doing at recess. This "friend" was in charge of everyone (so she thought) and told others weather or not they could join in when they were playing. Harli said she didn't like that and it made her sad (even though she was one that was included). I told her that maybe she should tell this "friend" that if she can't include everyone, then she (Harli) doesn't want to play either, or ask her why they can't play something that would include everyone! I went on to tell her that in the bible God talks about how we should treat others. That we need to love EVERYONE and one of the hardest things to do is to love those that don't deserve to be loved. She agreed and the conversation got even deeper. I explained to her that what we are doing here on earth is preparation for going to heaven. I told her that my walk with the Lord had changed a lot since we had Bayli and I asked her if she could tell and she said yes. She asked me a lot of questions including how did she know for sure that she would go to heaven. I explained what I knew and she cried. She asked if she could pray with me and ask Jesus to live in her heart. We both cried! It was so amazing! I'm so happy to know that we are all going to be in heaven together!!!!!! :) I had been thinking about how to bring all this up with her and had NO plan as to what I would say or when, but it just all worked out! God is GOOD!!!!

Starting School Tomorrow

Tomorrow, my oldest starts back to school. She'll be a third grader this year. I have some mixed feelings about this. I'm excited for her because she loves school and she loves her friends. She's been ready for school to start pretty much since summer started. Don't get me wrong, she loves summer as well, but she's ready for school to start.

When I tucked her in bed just a while ago, I told her I was going to miss her being gone all day again. She said, "Mom, why'd ya have to say that? Now I don't want to go." See, she's kind of a momma's girl too. I didn't mean to make her upset, I just wanted her to know that her mom would miss her and be thinking about her on her first day back. I guess I should have thought about it and said something like I can't wait for you to get home or something clever. I don't know. This whole parenting thing is so hard sometimes!

Part of me has seriously considered homeschooling. As a momma, I'm scared for her. She's just getting to that age that "girls" can be really cruel to each other. She's already experienced a little of that, but I know it's only going to get worse. Why does it have to be that way? How can you stop it?
I try my best to teach her that God wants us to love EVERYONE. She's so sensitive. She gets her feelings hurt VERY easily and she has to have the reassurance that people like her, kinda like her momma (although not so much anymore, I don't think?). I try to tell her that one of the hardest things to do in life is to love someone ESPECIALLY when they don't deserve it. BELIEVE me, I know. I struggle with it myself, but just like I tell her, the reward is even better.

Anyway, kind of got off the subject for a minute. I'm going to pray about this fear that I have and ask God to guide me or to give me wisdom to know what to do. She's such a social butterfly. I'm afraid that she'll miss all of her friends too much if I did home school her, but then I wouldn't have to worry so much about all the negative influences that she'll be around. She has told me before that she wants to be home schooled, but I never know how much of that to believe. She really does love to be with her friends. If you have some wisdom to share, please don't hesitate! I would love to hear what others have done to conquer this delima.

Now tomorrow is a whole NEW story. My youngest (baby) starts preschool tomorrow. It will be her first, first day! Everyone asks me if she's excited, but truly I don't even know if she really gets it yet. When I talk to her about it, she gets confused. We had her enrolled in a different preschool and we took her to that preschool for a tour and now she thinks she's going to both. The preschool that she IS going to is the same elementary school that my oldest is going to just down the street, but we didn't find out that she was accepted into that program until July. By that time, if you didn't already have her enrolled somewhere, it was too late. So we had to enroll her in two different preschools and just play the waiting game. CRAZINESS I tell ya! I told you this whole parenting thing is hard sometimes!

Anyway, I know they'll both be fine, but momma can't help but worry! That's what we do!!!!!!!!!

An Emotional Day......

I hope you don't mind the interruption, but I need to share my feelings today.

Yesterday I started a very joyful post about our trip to San Antonio. I was going to use it for Wednesday's Walk, but I didn't get time to finish, so here I am instead.

Today was Bayli's due date, exactly 3 months and 2 weeks since we said goodbye to our little girl. It's been a very strange day for me. I've been trying to hold back the tears and distract myself today, but it just hasn't worked. I finally broke down just a little while ago. My day started off when I woke up late and didn't get my daily prayer time in like I usually do. Because of that, it felt like I hadn't really ever started my day, yet here I am and it's 2:16pm. Are you wondering if I made time for prayer? Yes I did. Finally. Boy did I really break down big time during prayer, but I feel so much better now. Partly because I needed to talk to God about my feelings and ask him for strength, and partly because I needed to let some emotion out.

I still think of my baby girl often. Believe it or not, I can picture what delivery was going to be like and I can picture holding her in my arms. She probably would have been here by now. I can picture the joy and chaos that a new baby brings. I was so looking forward to it, even though she wasn't our original plan. I dream of the day that I can be with her again. I hope it's soon! I want us all to be in the wonderful place that she is. I imagine it to be even more beautiful than I can imagine. Did that make sense?

I thank God everyday for the special people in my life that have helped me tremendously since we lost Bayli. They hold a special place in my heart, but I've figured out that it's God that has helped me and been there for me and he put those special people in my life.

I truly am thankful for having the short period of time that we had with Bayli. I know she was given to us for a special reason and now she's basking in God's glory!

So thank you for letting me spill it all out today. I sure needed it!

Blessings,

Our Family Vacation

Here is a quick preview of our family vacation! I'll tell you all about it in my next post, but here you go!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Ten Things About Me

Ok, so I have to start by saying, I've been gone (literally) out of town on an unexpected, unplanned, very adventurous, fly by the seat of our pants family vacation and we had a BLAST! I'll spend my next post all about that, but this one will be a GTKY post from

Just click on the button to "GET TO KNOW" Lynnette a little better!

Anyway, about me.....I'm really not that interesting, but I'll give it a shot!

1. I completely wash off my dishes (not a single spot remains) BEFORE I put them in my dishwasher. Sometimes I have a hard time remembering if I ran it yet or not and I have a hard time figuring it out. I guess this must be weird because everyone tells me that I'm crazy. HA! I already knew that!

2. I'm addicted to chocolate! I REALLY mean that. If there is ever a choice and chocolate is one of them, it's ALWAYS chocolate for me! I should probably check into some meetings somewhere. I'm sure their are some. ;)

3. I love to be adventurous with new foods! There are very few foods that I don't like. I think I like just about EVERY fruit and vegetable out there, but I suppose I haven't tried them all. I'd be willing!

4. I love to do hair! I taught myself at a very young age how to braid and just expanded from there. I have two girls that won't let me touch their hair :(, it makes me very sad! I would love to go to cosmetology school and do hair, but don't have the time right now. Maybe when the girls are older.

5. I, like most, love photography! I'm not very good and have a terrible camera, but it's fun capturing the moment and then reflecting on it later. Sweet memories!

6. I LOVE horses! My husband and I had 2 when we lived in the country, but we moved to town and had to sell them. So far my oldest daughter carries on that passion. She wants to move to the country so bad. We have hopes to again someday (dreaming of a two story with a wraparound porch and a porch swing and all the farm animals to go with), but not sure!
YES THAT'S ME! I use to ride somewhat competitively, barrel racing that is.

7. Music makes me move! That's so funny in so many ways! I LOVE to dance, but mostly I just love to listen to music. It gives me chills and makes me cry sometimes. It can change my mood in an instant. If you scroll down to the very bottom of my blog I put a pop out player for you to enjoy some of my favorites right now. I listen to just about all genres except rock (can't understand the words) and rap (too graphic for me). Music makes me reflect on memories (because my daddy is just like me :) or maybe that's the other way around, hee hee). I grew up in a house that ALWAYS had a radio on (& it still does to this day). It doesn't matter if they are home or not, the radio is on! And very proud that my mommy & daddy are still together and happy as ever to this day! Very rare these days!

8. I like to travel, but rarely get to. Someday I would like to travel the world (with my family of course), but that's probably just a dream. Nature is breathtaking! I love to see new animals in person (especially in the wild, their natural habitat). I love the awesomeness of seeing something that I've never seen before (mountains, oceans, rivers, canyons and all that's in between!).

My family (mother,father,brother & his family,sister & her family,grandmother & some aunts & uncles & their families) all go to Breckenridge,CO for Thanksgiving every year! LOVE IT!

9. I love to exercise obsessively! (Hmmmm......I seem to have a lot of issues don't I?) Lately I've had ailments that have kept me from it (seems to be my lower body right now: feet (can't figure that one out yet?) & shin splints OUCH!), but once I get started, I can't stop. I just crave more and more. I might be a bit competitive as well!

10. My husband's name is Tiger! Try introducing a new boyfriend to your parents and having to tell them that! HA! No, really, it's not his birth name, but it's the only name that he's ever gone by. His grandma nicknamed him that and it has stuck his entire life. I've yet to meet a person that has actually called him by his given name. I doubt that 99% of people that know him even know what his given name is! He says that Tiger Woods wanted to be just like him because, well.....he is younger then my husband you know! HEE HEE

Ok, so maybe that wasn't exactly what you thought it was going to be, but it's just me! Catch me next time to find out what our adventurous vacation was all about!!!!