Memorial Day

has such a bigger meaning when those close to you are lost. Remembering today all those from the past who have paid the ultimate sacrifice and their families left behind. And especially remembering friends and family who have recently lost their heroes. I wish I had the words to make it better. Keeping everyone close in prayer.

If you want to add in your prayers and rememberances, here's a list of heroes fallen in combat from Afghanistan and Iraq the last few years. I know not everyone supports the efforts in these wars, but these brave men and women did and every single one of them has a family or someone who cares that they are gone from this life. Please remember them not just today on Memorial Day, but every day, and if you can, show you support them not just with a yellow ribbon stuck on your bumper but with a thank you or a charitable donation to one of the many non-profit organizations that supports servicemembers and families of the fallen. http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2004/oef.casualties/2010.05.html

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all you wonderful mother's out there who have the honor of having the best and sometimes the worst job in the world, many times in the same day... I've spent the day with my four little darlings, whom I thank God for letting me borrow for our time here on earth. We just did normal stuff today, slept in and snuggled a bit in my bed since 3 of them were already in it, got up and BB made me coffee while I took a shower (I showed him how to do it yesterday!) and then they gave me their sweet cards/poems/plants they made at school and we headed out for lunch at Texas Roadhouse which was a madhouse! But much of the day I've spent thinking about my mother and how much I miss her still and trying to keep her memory alive with what I tell my kids of her and what I teach them that I learned from her. Yes, she had her faults like we all do, and many of mine are a reflection of hers! She was disorganized and messy. Cleaning up the kitchen after one of her masterpiece meals was sometimes a two hour chore! I learned the 'dash and stash' method of cleaning before company from her! She was a packrat and had a terrible time making decisions about what to keep and what to throw away, so most of it got kept. She had a hard time talking about how she felt about things and I know bottled many things up inside until she would blow her top. She distrusted doctors and tended to blame her health problems on 'allergies' and would try every natural remedy she could before heading to a doctor. She would probably agree with me on most of that and would be modest about all the things she did so well and that list is so much longer than the previous:
She loved us all. She was a wonderful cook and taught us to be creative in the kitchen. She loved making people feel special by making them something whether it was dinner, a dessert, a beautiful cake, a wedding dress, a coat, a flower arrangement, or all of the above at once! When we were cleaning the garage after she died we found several gifts she had made and packaged but never quite got sent... She was spontaneous and fun and seemed to work best under pressure although not always on time. She worked hard and was well liked by her employers and co-workers. She never said you can't do that because you're a girl or not smart enough or... She was funny and witty and sarcastic and sometimes had the worst puns! She stood up for us when it was important; we didn't shop at Sears for about 10 years after they were rude to my brother and she told the employee and manager to take a hike. She had a sense of adventure which was a good thing married to my dad. He liked to go where he wanted to go and we got taken along for the ride, so she would find some redeeming point of wherever we were and could pack the best picnic lunches on short notice. She had a wonderful laugh. She believed that Jesus was her Saviour and is with him now! She loved us... I guess my hope as a mother, is that my kids will look back on their childhood and the good points will far outweigh the bad and that most of all they will know they were loved!

Continuing theme....

in many conversations now is when is daddy going to be home and how much we miss daddy and LG seems to be bringing it up the most... So, yesterday while at BBs baseball practice, LG is trying to get a friend's dad to play with her (he looks like J from behind!) and then she came over to me and said 'can I have a new daddy?' and I said 'nope, you're stuck with the one you got' and then BG chimed in that 'we can have a step-daddy!' and my response even though my heart is breaking inside, is 'no way, that would be way too much work for Mommy!' as the ladies behind me are giggling... So bittersweet the way they can look at things. I know they are missing their dad so much, just as I am, but just don't understand why he can't be here. I'm not (usually) one to whine about our circumstances especially when it's our decision to live this crazy, wonderful, mostly rewarding life, but I do worry at times about the effect it's having on our children. J is an awesome dad and husband and we love him and miss him so much when he's gone and I try to keep things constant and you would think it would get easier the more times we do it, but each seoeration seems to be harder than the last! The kids are doing fine overall and I know they'll bounce right into J's arms and won't let go for a few days when he gets back (hopefully next month!) and we're definetly keeping busy until then, maybe a little too busy...

I'm usually not one to get the kids into a ton of activities all at once, because I really don't like having to rush around and get them from one thing to the next and I just think our kids don't get enough time to just play, but for some reason we've got too many things going right now! The girls still have ballet until the end of the month when they have their recital (on Memorial Day weekend, whose idea was that?) and BB is playing baseball T and TH and BG is playing soccer M and W. Not that big a deal since they are only an hour each day, but that little bit of extra has thrown my already disorganized self into turmoil! I have a reminder on my phone for all my appointments (which is great if I put them in there) so my little beep went off at 4:35 yesterday and we were supposed to be in Watertown (20 minutes away) at 5:00 for ballet photos... in costume, and BB had baseball practice at 6:30. So I called my friend whose son is on BB's team and she agreed to take him, so he had to get his stuff together and walk down the street, then I had to get the girls and LB in the van with all their costume stuff and tights and shoes, ran back inside a couple of times for hair things, brush and my phone and camera. BG changed in the car on the way there and I threw LG's costume on her in the parking lot and rushed her in there just in time for the group photo of her class!
Of course my nerves are jangling and LB keeps trying to run out of the studio while I'm trying to get BG's hair done and check written to pay for pictures. But, photos are done, BB made it to practice and we stopped at McDs for dinner. Think I'll do some menu planning this weekend so I can actually have dinner made before we head to practice next week! And I already changed the reminder time on my calendar and it makes a louder noise now too... I love how LG is looking up to BG in this picture and trying to be just like her!


The littles and I also visited a local greenhouse this week and picked up a few more plants to stick in our pots. Of course it's supposed to snow again this weekend (or wintry mix) so I'll have to bring them in again but since we still don't know anything about where we're going or when, I'm going to have a few plants to enjoy while we are here! Here's a picture of the pansies in the greenhouse and who could resist buying those. The smell was awesome too, almost wanted to eat them!



LG has been in dandelion heaven lately also! She loves picking them and anytime we're outside and passing some, she has to stop and grab a handful. On the way into church last Sunday she was offered several jobs to come clear some lawns...



BG was helping pick too and she is wearing one of my old dresses that my mom made for me one Christmas. I don't remember if I was in first or second grade, but the dress is definetly well worn!





I'm so happy things are finally green again here! We are supposed to freeze again this weekend and there's a high wind advisory for tomorrow, but at least it's green! We've seen a bunch of deer again and lots of turkeys and some other wildlife too. I want to go look for the beavers that are supposed to be here on post also, but don't really want to chance LB falling in the lake, so I'll save that for a day when J can come with us...