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In Flanders Fields John McCrae, 1915.

In Flanders fields the poppies blow Between the crosses, row on row That mark our place; and in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the guns below. We are the Dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved and were loved, and now we lie In Flanders fields. Take up our quarrel with the foe: To you from failing hands we throw The torch; be yours to hold it high. If ye break faith with us who die We shall not sleep, though poppies grow In Flanders fields.

drastic measures!

Do you ever feel like you have to take drastic measures? For instance in my house I have a regular pantry in my kitchen and I have a snack pantry in my closet because if I have the school lunch stuff out in the open THE KIDS WILL EAT IT ALL and when I make lunches there will be no food left… so I keep the school food and the food I don't want inhaled in my closet in a special pantry- DRASTIC, I know.

My girls have their own heating and cooling unit upstairs and kept turning UP and DOWN the heat all winter and it was driving me crazy, not to mention my electricity bill was ridiculous. Neither Kid2 or Kid4 will take responsibility for it and one morning after it had warmed up I went upstairs and the air was turned to SIXTY DEGREES and THAT WAS IT! I knew what I had to do.

Believe it or not neither of my girls have said one word about it. I think they both just pretend it isn't there… I love my girls!

what are little girls made of….

Sugar and spice and everything nice?

I beg to differ!

P.R.O.M.

I didn't blog about PROM like I should have because it was like admitting my kids were grown. When I took these pics of my son I had to blink back tears because this is IT. He's gone after this. This was his one event as a high schooler. He was never interested in prom before. Can you imagine how I will be at graduation? I stood there behind the lens and it was like his life flashed before my eyes. I know I have said this before but it really happens. It's like he grows up all over again right there in front of me and I can't believe it. I love his sweet girlfriend, the way she looks at him is priceless. I wanted to take so many more pictures but I just couldn't. It was so hard. The truth is all I could hear was the camera snapping so loudly. I couldn't even hear anyone talking around me. I could barely make out what was going on around me. I was trying so hard to just push the button. More than anything I wanted to rewind time and watch him run to me and hear him call me momma (although really he still does) I wanted to hear him ask for juice instead of gas money… Time has stolen him from me… but doesn't he look amazing? And isn't his girl a doll?

I have thanked my lucky stars for this beauty from the day she was born and I am so thankful that I have another year with her! I often blog about how amazing she is. I had an easier time taking pictures of her because thank goodness I have more time with her. Next year though I will be a blubbering mess … in fact I might just have to hire a photographer because there is simply no way I will be able to hold it together to take pics of this lovely girl! She fell in love with this dress and MANY others along the way! I think this one suited her spicy personality though and I LOVED it on her! I love having Kid1 and 2 close together and I love that they went to prom with friends. She went with a good friend of his because her boyfriend (who just happens to be the sweetest person on earth) lives out of state. They all had a great time. My kids are good kids and I knew they would be safe and sober prom night, which is a relief!

Prom for ME was a night of growing up kids, beautiful dresses and deep deep thoughts. My kids are growing/grown up. It's hard to let them go. I watched them for a few minutes at the Senior walkout and just watched Kid1 be a child one last time. He mingled with his friends, talked like a high school child would, threw his head back and laughed one last time in high school, one last time as a carefree kid…. one last time to be a child at a high school dance… it was hard. I wonder what he thought.

whats in a name?

This is an OLD pic of those kids I named ;)

My love for names started in the aisles of a toy store looking into that well known green box. Xavier Roberts started my passion for naming babies and it took off from there. I spent hours reading cabbage patch doll names. And for as long as my mom would let me stand in the doll aisle I would . I read every single one of them. Some of the names would make me cringe and some of them would cause me to clutch my chest with joy, oh how I love a good name. I would spend the rest of the day naming my babies in my head. I use to want to name my baby boy Benjamin (anyone who knew my when I was young knows that I had a crazy ridiculous crush on a boy back then and I named my cabbage doll twins Benjamin and Kenjamin ((don't ask)) ANYWAY…. thank you Xavier Roberts for sparking my love of names…. and inspiring me to look deeper than Thelma and Louise when it came to naming my babies….

Why did you chose your children's name? Children's names are hard to choose! I chose my childrens names for various reasons. One of the kids is names after his father and after a famous actor. One of the kids I named after a gender neutral name I didn't care what he was, I just loved the name and his middle name is after my dad. One of the girls is named after a famous model, I love her and she is a timeless beauty and also after my sister. We also named one of them after my hot doctor - hey I was a young mom! One of the girls is named after my Great grandma and a dear family friend. I love choosing names for my children. It's so challenging and so wonderful. A name is a first impression, a life long commitment, it's often how people judge you. I love to hear people's names.

Plus when I heard my dad wanted to name me Roseanne I felt inspired to work hard for my kids to have good names!

THANK YOU VERY LITTLE DADDY!

my kids, personalities and bullies.

I was thinking about my kids personalities today and how different they are. I found a little note tucked away in Kid4's room the other day when I was cleaning it and it said "Dear Hannah, (a girl from school) will you please please be a little nicer to me, you are hurting my feelings. " I teared up when I read it because I hate the thought of anyone being mean to my little goose and I know she is a little different.

Kid4 is more of a scholar, more of a thinker type. She is a free thinker. She doesn't think like the other girls, she doesn't play beauty shop and pretend to bake. She actually bakes, she would rather do math, paint giant paintings in the driveway than be tucked in her room. She is me. When I realized she was me, my heart went out to her. Being me wasn't easy... but I like me. We have a different song in our head than others do, I knew she would be misunderstood by many.

I absolutely love to listen to her chatter, read her writing, look at her drawings. I understand her deeply. She is profound in so many ways. This morning I was thinking about her and about Hannah. She and Hannah use to be friends, Hannah is the cheerleader kind of a girl. Kid4 is the math club kind of a girl, but she would also like to be the cheerleader kind of a girl.

My kid2 was not the cheerleader kind of a girl either but the difference was she didn't want to be. If someone made fun of her for not being a cheerleader or made her feel like she should be she might just have punched them in the mouth for it. Kid4 will come home crying, I just know it. She isn't tough like Kid2. Kid2 never cared once what people thought of her, she was so strong and Kid4 is as sensitive as a child can be.

My big kids are very protective of Kid4 and unfortunately somehow when I wasn't looking they formed a gang… and one day if a cheerleading team is mean to Kid4 I fear for them because their mascot is SO looking at a crotchless uniform and the girls are SO looking at pom-less pom-poms!

Anyway I was just thinking about her, and about kids being mean and about personalities and how different my kids personalities are. Aren't kids amazing? I cherish my kids so much. I love each of them differently, yet each of them tremendously. I feel like the luckiest person in the world to have each and every one of them.

My babies are such a gift. ;)

My little goosey makes me smile every single day!

I am SO lucky to call her my daughter!

I love my goosey pie.

I promise I'll start blogging again shortly.

Life is busy.

Oh' so wonderfully busy.

I miss you all!

I have writers block but...

LOOK HOW THESE TWO HAVE GROWN!!!

prom

PROM was hectic.

I'll write more tomorrow.

I felt a little more sad than I realized I would.

My kids are growing faster than Im ready for…

I think my baby may be grown.

:(