Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Ryker is 3- what the heck?!

This is ridiculous. I might, just might, have a melt down if any of my kids get any older. I am pretty good at hiding my dismay though because I LOVE throwing them birthday parties, which is a funny thing. We are in a generation where kids have parties every year and some of the time, people that come are friends of the parents, not necessarily friends with the child. I did not grow up with this concept. Good thing it works for us. Having people over is one of my hobbies I think. I really enjoy spending time with friends and family. And I won't kid myself. As Monica on Friends would say "I am always the hostess".

Ryker has been talking about his birthday for months now. We had so much fun and he could hardly hold his excitement in. I forgot to get a picture but some friends of ours brought a commercial sized dino bounce house. They own it and will rent it out for $50. They also have a girly one. Pretty good deal. The kids went crazy for it.
I was so excited to find this black dragon pinata. I knew there was no way I'd find a Godzilla (my boys' obsession) one but this was pretty close.
He got a lot of cool presents. He opened them so quickly I don't know where most of them came from. Thank you to all. He seriously loves everything he got!
Grey teeth from eating the head of his Godzilla.
A Godzilla cake of course.
A couple days before, we took some pictures because I guess overcast days are the best for photos. I thought they turned out cute.
Love this beef cake!
Playing in his new tent. There were a lot of boys there!

Happy birthday little man. Mommy loves you!

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Mother's Day

I had such a wonderful mother's day. I first want to say, I LOVE my mother. I wish I had done a better job at appreciating her while I lived at home. I mean, I was close with her then but not nearly as close as I am now. Maybe because I can relate now I think. Here is why she is so amazing:
1. Had six kids in 11 years. She started when she was 19 and ended at 30. She is still alive to tell the story.
2. She birthed Scotty. It's a funny story to hear especially if you know her and my brother Scotty. I get to hear the story at every birth. I am thankful for epidurals. That's all.
3. She can hear the same story 50 times and still act interested every time. Seriously. Each member of the family can come in and tell her the exact same thing and she listens. What the?? Who has that kind of patience?
4. She avoids any and all confrontation. She is the peacemaker.
5. She is probably the only one in the family that can give us constructive criticism or advice and we don't get offended. We come to an understanding. She is really good at helping us see the FULL picture.
6. She gave her life to us kids. I remember asking her a long time ago what her hobby was and she said "shopping for you kids". Looking back, it still would have been good for her to have had a hobby. She may have enjoyed us kids more BUT, she devoted herself to us. We always knew our mom would be there ANYTIME and would help us with ANYTHING.
7. Speaking of shopping, this woman can shop. A running joke in our family -she saves my dad thousands of dollars every year with her amazing saving skills. :) No but really, she is good at finding the bargains and she was always surprising us with little gifts we didn't even know we wanted or needed. I'd come home from school with a present on my bed. I always felt very loved knowing my mom thought of me. She is still this way with us today.
8. She is kind and thoughtful towards others even if she doesn't really like them. Both my parents were great at teaching us how to respect others and how to be friendly. Because my dad didn't avoid confrontation as much as my mom, she gets the brownie points for this one.
9. She is funny and fun to hang out with. I could talk to and hang out with my mom everyday.
10. Lastly, she is my best friend. This may sound cliche but I really have no clue what I'd do without her. Thank you mom for every little thing you ever did for me and continue to do. I love you so much!!
Mother's day brunch. My second favorite holiday. I had such a great time.
Me and my kiddos. I'm going to admit it, being a parent is not exactly how I envisioned. I thought I would be a lot better at it. However, it is way more rewarding than I ever expected it to be and though they can be a handful at times, my kids are really incredible little beings. I only work two days a week but while I'm gone, I miss them so much and can't wait to walk through the door and hear they're excitement and joy to see me. Being a mom is the only thing I ever imagined myself doing and I am so grateful that God entrusted me to raise these angels. I hope I can do it right and I don't fail Him or them. Thank you Jaxon, Ryker and Harlee for letting me be your mom. I love you more than my heart can hold.

Harlee is 7 months

So happy I have such photogenic children. Another mommy-trait. They just jumped right into Harlee's little 7 month photo shoot.