Being A Parent...

...Sure was easier when my kids were younger.

Don't get me wrong I have loved being a mom to my boys every second of their lives but it is so much harder watching them deal with more adult issues and know that I can't just  kiss their hurts away.

My oldest son is home from school for the summer, and I wish I could say he was enjoying what is left of his childhood. He should be hanging out with his friends, going to the lake, watching movies, having fun! Instead hes miserable. He met a girl at school and they have been dating for a few months, unfortunately she lives three hours away. So he spends his days obsessing about what shes doing and who shes doing it with and hes getting more and more stressed out, and I foresee an ugly bout of depression coming on any time now. (especially since hes not taking his meds)

I so would not want to go back and do it all over again. The drama, the ups and downs, the he said/she. It seems like so long ago that I was there, but at the same time I can still remember it like it was yesterday. The pain of an ugly break-up, the endless tears from a broken heart. There's not enough money in the world to make me want to relive that and its even more painful to watch your child go through it!

I guess we all go through it at some point in our lives, and I know that no matter what I say to him it won't take away his pain just like my mom knew there was nothing she could do to take my pain away. We just want to protect our kids from hurting.

I know at some point in the future when he has a family of his own he will look back on his teenage years and remember this summer so he is able to help his own kids struggle through their broken hearts, just like I look back on mine, and my mom looked back on hers.....

Happy Graduation!

Well its that time of year again, my baby has graduated! I can not believe all my babies have graduated and are growing in to young men. Ryan will be joining his brother at ATU in the fall and I will truly be falling apart be a proud momma.

Thought I would share some pictures of his big day. He graduated with honors, as an Arkansas scholar, with an honors diploma, and at the top of his class. He was offered an academic scholarship, a Second Century Scholars scholarship, and a scholarship from the state all totaling over $25,000 a year.

I am so proud of you Ryan! You set your goals high and worked hard to reach them. I love You!

The only picture I have of me and Ryan and of

course hes making a face!

The three stooges, Ryan, Ramon, & Perry

Ramon & Ryan, they have been best friends since

the 6th grade. Its hard to believe they are all grown up.

The Gangs All Here

Jaden,Ramon,Ryan,Tony

Ramone and Jaden will be moving this summer out of state but they have been a big part of our family for many years and will be missed.

Snow!!

Its almost unheard of, almost. It snows here in the south, if you can call it that, on average of once a winter. We are more likely to have an ice storm than we are to have snow. But  it has snowed twice this winter and and according to our local weather genious sometimes correct weather man we may have snow next week as well.

 I was so excited to have snow, ya know real  snow, more than an inch, that I ( when I say I, I mean my loving husband and I, because I was not driving in that mess)  took these pictures.

I hope you like them!

Today Is A Very Special Day...

Today is the day of my first borns birth. ( 1-22-1991) Don't try to do the math he's 19. I know, I know its hard to believe someone as young looking as me could not possably have a child that is 19 but it is true.

19 years ago today is a day that I will never forget. The only thing in this world I ever wanted to do was be a mom, and today my dream was coming true. After 13 long hours of labor my beautiful baby boy was born. Its not always been easy but it has always been an adventure. 

My baby is no longer a baby but a young adult, and I am proud to be his mom. When I didn't know if he would even graduate from high school he did better than that, he worked hard and graduated and got into a great college. He's now a freshman in college, and yes it was miserable watching him go off to school but I could not be more proud of him. Much to my dismay he has proven that he can be responsable and take care of himself.
Happy Birthday my sweet baby, you are turning into an amazing young man in front of my eyes and I am so very proud of you!!

                                                    

Come Shred With Me

Anyone that knows me knows I do not do new years resalutions because I will NOT stick with it. I start out with the best of intentions and I might stick with it for a few weeks.

A few weeks ago some of you were doing the Shred workout with great success. I was hooked, I went out and bought my copy of Shred and you guessed it......its still sitting in the same place I left it, until today when I actually opened it.

I'm going to start the Shred tomorrow with the rest of you, and I'm determined to stay motivated with your help!

I'm definatly not going on a diet, anything that starts with DIE can not be good, right? I will be modifying what I eat, cutting down on portion sizes, and limiting sweets, and pop.

Next week when I return to school I will also be doing two aerobics classes a week. I'm excited to get started and to see progress.

My goal: to be able to wear a bikini this summer

Current waist size : 35 inches


Good Luck to all of you Shredders!

Not Me Monday!

Well its been a while since I have written a Not Me Monday post so there are tons of things I could talk about, if they had actually happened!

A few weeks back my husband had had a not so great day at work, me and the boys had just finished eating supper. Now I would never consider feeding our four legged friends anything from the table, and would certenly not feed them off of a fork. My wonderful hard working hubby would never have to come in from work and make his own plate to sit down and eat but if he did he surely wouldn't forget to get a fork on the way to the table would he? And he wouldn't think about grabbing the fork off my plate instead of getting up, no way, not him! And I sure wouldn't let him eat with the same fork the dogs had just eaten off of, that is if I had truly fed the dogs with a fork, and then not tell him. I would never do such a thing!

If there is something you would never in a million years do, but if you did and wanted to share you can do it here and I promise no one will ever find out!

To Whom Much is Given......

......Much is required. Luke 12: 48


   This past Sunday was the kick off our church's Angel Tree's Prison Ministery program. Children that have one or in most cases both parents in prison are invited to a dinner at our church and give gifts that were "bought" by the parents. In reality the church was given a list from the parents and we were asked to pick an angel from the tree just like any other angel tree works.

   Normally I would not even think about writting a blog post about doing something as simple as picking an angel from an angel tree but because of something that was said, by a family member no less, encouraged me to do so.

   My husband and I went about picking an angel the same way we always do, I pick one out and he watches! HA HA HA  I almost always pick a little girl, I have two teenage boys who I love dearly but have always wanted a little girl. So I look at all the angels on the trees searching for which ever angel stands out to me and thats the one I pick. Well this year I picked my angel and as I was walking away another angel caught my attention. I don't know why, maybe it was Gods way of saying I needed to do more. I didn't hesitate I just grabbed the angel without even looking at it by this time in a hurry because the service was going to start soon.

  As we were getting seated in the worship center with the rest of the family, we always sit as a group with our family, a family member made a comment to me about how rich we must be if we could afford to get two angels off the tree.

  Now we are by no means well off, there are some months I wonder if I will have the money to pay bills and have money left over but the past few months we have had the extra money but ya know even if I didn't have the money I would do without something so these kids could get gifts from their parents this christmas.

  God has blessed us financially right now. We have a roof over our heads, food in out stomachs, and the bills are payed. He has afforded me the opritunity to go to school to pursue my education, and for my children to grow up in a home with family and extended family who will always support them through the good times and the bad.

  I guess all I'm trying to say is if you feel like God is trying to tell you something maybe you should listen.....no matter what other people may think.....