love and respect

I have been blessed and changed by becoming a mother.  It has helped me to better understand my role on this earth.  I was blessed with the gift of four wonderful boys which have helped me to appreciate and love boys in a way I am not sure I could have learned without being a mother of sons.  They are tender hearted , sweet children that feel just as girls do...sometimes with more scrutiny from society.   I have a teenage boy who has many friends both boys and girls that come to our home often.  They are great kids and I love to talk with them.  I find it interesting to hear the different views from the different boys about girls.  I find it interesting their feelings about the way girls view themselves.  I have tried to teach my sons that girls and women are special...just as they are....but that as boys they have a responsibility to respect girls.  I am very conscientious of this because I see and know so many girls that don't even afford themselves this respect.   I absolutely kills me to see women, especially, not understand how powerful being a woman is.    I must admit it took me time to understand this myself, there was a time I said I would NEVER have children.  I was not going to be stereotyped!  I have been blessed to have a baby girl this past year and it has changed our home.  She is not loved anymore than our other children but she has brought something special to our home.  I have been having a hard time pin pointing what it is that is different until a few weeks ago when I was talking with a friend and she expressed it perfectly.  She explained how amazing her son was and how much she loves him but how there is just something different about her daughter.  She then said, " it really shows how much our Father in heaven must feel about each of us as his daughters."  I am sure she has no idea how much that statement has stuck with me but it is so true.  Our father in heaven has a deep respect for women.  He wants us to have that same respect for ourselves.  To see that the tasks of mothering are what can bring us joy if we have the right attitude.  To touch our children's lives and others around us is a gift bestowed upon women.  I am so grateful that I have the family that I have....my babies and husband are amazing and they have really given my life a meaning that I never knew it could have. 

True Love

Things that prove you must really love your children:

~you are called all sorts of "pleasant" names when you ask for help, but you still melt everytime they hug you.

~ thinking that a sweet baby's smile makes the fact that same baby just spit up an entire meal down your cleavage all worth while.

~ Sleepless nights because you are worried about the choices you children are making....I don't know what moron out there said kids are easier when they get older!  You know it is bad that my teenager keeps me up more than my baby!

~ when playing becomes more important than productivity...these are the moments that we all remember!

~ repeating yourself over and over yet everyone acts as this is the first time they have ever heard this statement come from your mouth!

~ NEVER giving up...even though it sounds easier! 

~ Dragging your children to church kicking and screaming because you hope that one day they will understand why it is important to you and hope they will find importance in it as well.

~  NOT pounding their heads together when they sit and argue over EVERYTHING!  Seriously, WHY is everything a competition?

~ Letting kids make their own choices but watch them fail....this one is hard for me.  It is an important lesson we all must learn and I think the younger we learn it the better off we will be. 

~ A king sized bed is still not big enough because there is always several children that end up in your bed each night, yet you can't quite go to sleep without one of their arms legs jabbing you in the back.


This list could go on and on.  The biggest indicator to me that I must really love my children is that it is by far the HARDEST thing I have ever done with my life and the most rewarding.   I am really blessed to have my children...which is something I need to be reminded of at times that they are driving me crazy.  Nobody ever really explains the intense change that children bring to your life.  Many are wonderful in the strangest ways!

FREEDOM

I remember 9 years ago fairly clearly...which is amazing in its self.  I had just woke up to take care of my sweet boys, I had a 3 month old who was the sweetest thing, and I turned on the TV out of habit.  What I saw changed my life.  Changed my perspective of life.  Changed my ideas about freedom.  Changed my ideas about what it means to have pride and patriotism for my country.   I will forever remember the somberness in the air everywhere you went.  I remember seeing the video of the plane that had hit the first tower and the sickening feeling I had then to actually witness the 2nd plane crashing into the 2nd tower just made my heart ache...you knew that there were hundreds of souls lost in that moment.  I did not know one person that was hurt or killed but I felt immense pain for them and their loss.  I remember seeing documentaries about the babies that were born that year that never met their fathers...it still makes me cry.  I had to work that day but I remember driving home and seeing the massive flag that Macey's grocery store has and it meant something to me.  Something more than it ever had before.  I was a statement of freedom!  I somewhat understood what others had gone through to give me the freedoms that I have.  All I can say is thank you!  Thank you for giving your time, your loved ones and your lives for me, for the future generations of people you would never meet. 

School days

So the boys started school  and I should be the oh so excited mom with them in all day long right?  WRONG!!!   I am a mom that enjoys taking my kids places...even when they don't appreciate it because I know that they are learning things each time I take them somewhere new....and one day they will appreciate the "adventures".  My oldest is now in 8th grade and can I tell you how OLD that makes me feel?  I met my husband in 8th grade!  It puts into perspective that the choices he is making right now will affect him for the remainder of his life!!!  I just hope that we have built a strong foundation and that he will make choices that will make him a happy person.   My "baby" boy is now starting 1st grade... how did this happen????   I am so grateful that we still half day kindergarten because I would have died if I had to let him go all day any sooner than I am!  I Love being able to have carefree days to go and do what we want but i suppose that school structure is important...and heaven knows I am not capable of home schooling my babies!  My other two boys are in 4th and 5th grade now!  I still remember the days of them being toddlers and kind of wishing for this day to come ....man I really do miss those days!  All I can hope for is that I have not wasted too much time anticipating future events and that I have learned to enjoy the the time we have now...at every stage of life.   I am so incredibly grateful for the blessing of having my baby girl...and I am learning more every day that maybe the big space between her and the boys is a wonderful thing.  It gives me more time to enjoy each thing that she is doing...and it also helps me to look at the boys and appreciate the things they are doing as well because it seems like yesterday they were the baby.  I hope that each of my boys have an amazing experience this school year learning new things and making new friends! 

Water....what fun!

So we woke up this morning all ready to get our stay-cation adventure for the day started...We were finally going to Raging Waters with all the boys!!!!   This was their reward for learning to swim last summer, Dan finally is off for a few day, no sports, piano or scouts to worry about...the perfect day for the water park.  As I am getting ready to pack things up for the adventure I notice a neighbor in my yard, then I see the water....and not just a little water.  Apparently I had just missed the geyser coming from my sidewalk!  Well long story short  WE didn't make it to Raging Waters but we did dig a 5 foot hole in the middle of my front walk...oh and we do have running water again!  Now tell me, "would you scream?"!