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Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Is Being a Parent Hard Work?

Yesterday on the way home from tumbling my oldest asked me "Momma, is being a parent hard work?". I of course told her that it was. But then she said "But you wouldn't trade it for anything right?" I was blown away by this. Of course I wouldn't trade being a parent for anything.

When I first became a momma over 11 years ago my life forever changed. It was no longer about me but about this little being that had come into my world. I was humbled and am still humbled everyday that God has blessed me with my children.There is nothing that brings more joy to my heart and life on this earth than to see and hear my children every day. To get that hug and kiss each morning and to hear them tell you "I love you" - oh how my heart melts. That part is easy.

Then comes the part of parenthood that is hard. You know the times that I am talking about - the discipline part, the heartaches they go through, and most of the the time that we have to let them go and be their own person. To me I believe that last one will be the hardest one of all. The day that they leave the nest and fly on their own. I will probably, no I will definitely cry when that times comes. I remember my daddy always hated the end of summer which meant I had to go back to college. I always thought it was sweet and knew it was hard on him, but never until I had kids of my own did I fully understand how he felt.

Yes being a parent is hard work, but the award far out weighs the work.

Friday, October 15, 2010

Thankful on a Thursday - True Thankfulness

Thankful. We write or try to write posts about it every Thursday, but have we ever really sat down and thought about what that word means. It means
grateful: feeling or showing gratitude

We often say how thankful we are of this and that, but are we just saying that out of habit? Do we really mean it? I know a lot of times I say that I am thankful for something but really don't mean it. I believe we have forgotten what it means to be truly thankful. Today on Twitter I read the following and it pretty much sums up why we forget to be truly thankful
I am convinced we get burned out not because we do it, but because we forget WHY we do it.

This got me to thinking about how we can become ungrateful and not have true thankfulness. We forget WHY we should be thankful. We forget or take for granted WHAT we should be thankful for. I have to shamefully admit that I at times fall in this category. I look around me and only see the negative. I forget WHY I should be thankful and WHAT I should be thankful for. I forget when things are good that I should be thankful for the sacrifice my Lord made for me and the free gift of salvation that He gave me even though I don't deserve it.I should be thankful at all times that my Lord is always there for me and will never leave me. I should be thankful that I have a roof over my head and a nice house even if we are packed in here and out of room. I should be thankful for all those things that I just get tired of doing over and over again because it means i have the health and the ability to do these things. I should be truly grateful for every moment I have with my kids, husband and family.

So today, at this moment, I want to be thankful for all that God has blessed me with. I am not talking about the material things of this world that money buys. No I am talking about those things in our lives that can't be replaced - our children, spouses, family. So many times we go through this life with good intentions but end up taking the most precious things around us for granted. We think they will always be here but that's not always the case. In a blink of an eye everything we hold precious can be taken from us. Don't take one moment for granted, be content with what you have, love God with all your heart - these things I believe are the keys to being truly thankful.

What are you thankful today?

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Homecoming 2010

This past Friday, our local high school celebrated homecoming. Because I work from home now I was able to go to the parade and see Red riding with his team. He had to be at the high school by 2 even though the parade didn't start until 3. He and his friends were so excited about riding in the parade armed with candy to throw.

The kids all lined up ready to see the parade. Lil' Mama and her friends were excited to be there but more excited that they got out of school early.

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And of course Red and his team were the last ones in the parade. He threw candy at me because I was walking beside them trying to take pictures.

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The next day was our homecoming game. Each age group has two teams so Saturday for homecoming we play each other. They called each kid by name as they ran out onto the field.


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They even had a homecoming court that consisted of the cheerleaders and each had an escort. It was cute. Some girls would walk up leading their escort instead of the other way around. One girl had her daddy on one side and he granddaddy on the other. That choked me up for a minute when it dawned on me that both of my girls will never be able to do that.

We played hard and won 18-0. The boys were so excited!

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Only two more games left for the year. If we can win both of these we can make the playoffs. Keeping my fingers crossed and hoping we make it.

Wordless Wednesday - We Have a Climber



Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Wordless Wednesday - What a Mess

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My Boy of Fall

I love the new song "Boys of Fall" by Kenny Chesney. If you haven't heard it, the song talks about Friday nights during football season. We are not playing high school football yet. We play on Saturdays. And I have my own boy of Fall.

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We are not doing that well as a team, but Red is loving playing ball. He was in on a score during the last game and he was so excited. We lost but he was excited that he got to be in on a score. That one comment made me realize that it's all about them playing and learning the game of football.

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We are parents want to get caught up in the records and take things very seriously. I have to admit that I am like that to at times because I am so competitive. I don't like to lose but I have to remember that these are kids. Yes they want to win but they are playing ball. They are learning the game that they see the big boys play every Saturday. They are more worried about what number they will be because they want Mark Ingram's number or Bo Jackson's.

They were recognized before the start of our local high school football game and all the boy were so impressed and excited.

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The high school players would walk by and they would just look at them like they were professional players. The boys watched warm ups before the game. Some played around and others watched like it was the biggest game they had ever been to. But kids look at things that way. Before I know that will be him playing high school ball. Oh I am not ready for that. I want to slow time down but there's no way to do that.

I try to take pictures of him during his game but when I am fighting the twins keeping them under control, it's hard to get any. I will miss this when it's over, but I will always love my Boy of Fall.

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Friday, October 1, 2010

Thankful on a Thursday - Cooler Temperatures

The cooler temperatures has brought us outside more. I love being outside with the kids and Hubs and of course with my camera in my hand. They all hate to see that thing come out, except the babies. They are too young to realize what Momma is doing.

I love to watch them play ball in the yard...

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and play with their friends. Sweet Pea decided that she wanted to play with the older girls so she went straight to them. She loved every minute of it. And the girls didn't seem to mind a bit either.

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Bulldog is finally standing up on his own more and more. He took 3 or 4 steps twice yesterday and we were so excited. It won't be long before I will have two walking toddlers. I have been saying that I wanted to get some exercise.

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I love this time of year - the cooler weather, the beautiful colors, the bright blue sky. Most of all I am thankful for the wonderful memories that we are making everyday with our kids. Sure they remember the big things that you do with them, but they will remember the little things more because those are the times that you show them just how much you love them.

What are you thankful for today?