To My Mothers

I have two wonderful Mothers in my life.

My mom who raised me and tried her hardest to teach me everything that she wanted me to know.
Poor lady, she must be exhausted because I'm stubborn.

I also have a very sweet mother in law who is a great listener.

I know that not every one has a wonderful mother and mother in law in their life and I am very lucky to have both.
I love you.

Spring Break

We don't have any children in school yet but we couldn't resist going to Disney World for my nieces Spring Break.Charlie and Jane with "her" castle in the background.
Proof that Moe was with us
This is us just before going into "It's tough to be a bug"
(11-52)

Jane has been talking about seeing princess' for weeks. Honestly I got a little tired of hearing about it. The 30 minute wait was worth it. We were able to meet Princess Aurora (Sleeping Beauty), Belle and Cinderella.

Other than the Princesses and the Castle Jane was perfectly content playing in the dirt while everyone else went on rides.

Charlie on the other hand is an adrenaline junkie. He barely made the 40 inches mark to go on Splash Mountain and The Tower of Terror which he rode each six times. This roller coaster ride is one that we snuck him onto. Mike had a code word for him as we approached the employees. He would say "Go TT" and Charlie would immediately go up on his tip toes and walk that way. There were many adults that smiled and laughed. Charlie was never afraid.
Kim and baby Tate (he is my great nephew and only two months old) Cute I know.

Mickey and the Family (12-52)

Charlie, Mom, Jane (13-52)

Cody, Aubry and Charlie after Splash Mountain
Jane and baby Mya

Aubry, McKenzie, Dave, Mike, Jane & Charlie
Aubry, Kim and her sweet little Baby Tate hidden in the stroller, Cody and Jane

Dave, Debi (my sister) and McKenzie

Yep. he really fell asleep at the dinner table. We all felt this exhausted but it was a great trip.

2-52

This picture was hard to capture. I was kissing Moe and she was laughing, it was so cute that I tried to capture a photo. Way to hard to make her laugh and take the picture with one hand. They all came out fuzzy. I had to call in the big guns (Mike) so we could get a photo of Mom and Maggie.

She is so squeezy and yummy that I find her irresistible.

A Little Help Here

I would really like to know how you do it? I am having a very hard time trying to figure out the fine line between teaching my children to take care of their things and at the very same time teaching them that things aren't important. Should I just be concentrating on one of these principles and then focus on another when their older? What to do?

Charlie is in to destroying things which is maybe just part of being a boy but it sure does get frustrating.

I would say that my sister Debi did this well. (I guess you need to comment here Deb) Her children are so respectful but certainly don't place a high value on their "stuff".

Is anything specifically working for you out there? Am I trying to accomplish too much at too young of an age? Do I just keep going with what I've got and they'll figure it out when their older? Seriously help.

Project 52

I'm joining the ranks of project 52. I can honestly say that there are very few pictures of me on our computer. I'm always the one running to get the camera. Therefore I am in one of every 100 shots, maybe.

Here's how it works. You take a picture a week of yourself doing something with one or all of your children. So by the end of the year, (I'm getting a late start) you have at least 52 pictures of yourself. I encourage all of you to do it. This can only be a good thing. Here's my first one.

We're trying to make funny faces but I was concentrating more on the camera. I think that this was our fifth try to fit me in and get it right. I'll have to work harder at honing my skills here.

Thanks Shannon and Amberly for the inspiration. Truly all should consider this. Even if you don't blog. Take more pictures of yourself!

Conversation

Charlie: Mom, you got such big elbows.

Mom: Those aren't elbows.

Holy Smokes! Momma's 80!

That's right folks. My sweet mother of 33 years is 80. You do the math. (This is where my older sister would always try to convince me that I was Down Syndrome)

Mom is one tough cookie. She has outlived the age of her husband, father, mother and only sister. The great part is that her mind is still sharp and she still has many years to go (or so I keep telling her).

Mom -

Thank you for teaching me to love others, to not judge them, to show compassion, to stand up for what is right, to feed the visiting teachers, to write Thank you cards, to clean, to bear my testimony, to have dinner with my family, to take care of my husband, to speak clearly, to appreciate and acknowledge others, to stand up for the weak, to love my Heavenly Father, to love my Dad, to read to my children and of course there is the all famous, don’t chew gum in public. ( not that I do all of these things, I can be a slow learner)

And how cute is it that she posed with her poodle? Don't worry we've all teased her.