And he's gone...

This little precious boy, the first love of my life is leaving for boot camp today.

Its final, he's growing up.

My Dear son,

This is all so surreal to me. I can't believe it yet. Im writing this the night before you're leaving and I just can't wrap my mind around it yet. My kid1 I have been looking forward to watching you grow up and start your life… but now Im not sure I'm ready… I'm not sure I can put feelings into words yet. I love you, Im proud of you and I can't wait to see you on June 8th.

Love, Momma,

P.S. we really will be okay without each other…. right?

Happy Happy Birthday my Angel Pie!

Im sitting here thinking about her… wondering when it happened… when in the world did she grow up? When did this little princess turn 18 and how? This was her half of her life ago. A dance, a 50's dance for her 9th birthday and I thought she was old then! I remember making that skirt and thinking; "HOW can she already be 9"?

The hot watermelon sweaty faced summers have flown by and now she's grown, not a baby anymore. She spends her days working and thinking of college in the fall. What happened to those sticky Texas summers when she played outside until the moon was high in the sky? What happened to those moments of little girl giggles and sleepovers on the porch?

Its like I blinked and she's gone, I'm finished bundling her up in a coat and mittens to go to school, done making her do homework and practice ballet. Its like my mission is almost complete and I'm not ready. I'm not finished writing the music for her to dance off into life yet… IM NOT FINISHED!

Where did the never ending teen years go? How did they run away from us so quickly? How could she have possibly gone from 13 to 18? It's only been a minute!

I wonder sometimes if I will ever see her as an adult? Will I ever see her as a grown woman and not my baby girl? She was born running, wanting more and pushing forward. My mission as her mom has been to hold her tight and not let her run too fast. How in the world will I let her be grown now?

Dear very first baby girl, My dear fiery little daughter who isn't so little anymore, I always knew you'd be extraordinary, you always were. From the minute you were born you were running for more, for better, for bigger and watching you grow has been an honor. Our life hasn't been perfect but I really wouldn't have it any other way because these things have made you who you are. These things have enabled you to understand others and yourself more deeply. You have always had a light in your eye that is often misunderstood. It's the light of your deep faith, the light of your strong soul. You have so many times inspired me to be better, to make better choices and to change my path and for those things I thank you. Thank you for being my daughter, my little stubborn joy and my strength. I am so thankful that God chose you for me.

Happy 18th Birthday my love. I can't wait to watch you continue to grow and blossom. I love you to the moon and back.

Love, Momma

Happy Easter

Happy Easter my friends,

I hope you have a perfect day.

These are the last few days that my children will be living under the same roof. The last few days that they will all be children. Kid1 goes to bootcamp on Tuesday and Kid2 turns 18 on Monday…

I saw this on pinterest and thought it was hilarious!

save the drama for your momma...

Dear one reader,

I have been gone quite a few months… trust me, you DONT want all the details…

DRAMA, DRAMA, DRAMA

If you want some drama, just visit Mckmama…

So, life is busy, its full and often filled with drama we would rather avoid but with faith and a lot of prayer, drama-less is possible. I will say this; none of my kiddos have died, gotten married or gotten pregnant- THANK GOODNESS!

Im excited to get back to blogging and show you just how much my babies are growing up. As a matter of fact my beautiful Kid2 is turning EIGHTEEN on Monday! It's a shocking fact and I am in total denial!

my sweet Kid1 and the girls! :)

Kid1 is an amazing big brother! He is home for all the special moments. He got up early and came home to take Kid4 to her first day of school. He comes home everyday just to hug these beautiful little girls. He has a heart of gold and I am lucky to call him mine. This sweet boy made me a mother and I thank GOD for him every day.

After we were done trick-or-treating we visited him at work. He had dressed up like another co-worker. The girls were thrilled to see him at work as always!

I love my babies!

halloween girls...

OH MY GIRLS!

IM SO LUCKY!

What a special gift daughters are!

Halloween 2011

Oh MY WORD! These kids had a blast on Halloween night! My house felt like Halloween central! We have spider man, a beautiful dancer, IVY, a soldier, a vampire, V for vendetta, and a little pink and purple vampire.

What a night! After it was all over, there were fake teeth, fake blood, capes, candy, tutu's makeup, and costume parts EVERYWHERE!

The night was GREAT! Everyone had fun, got lots of candy and made unforgettable memories! Isn't that what it's all about? Making memories? I love special holidays!

Thanks guys for an amazing night of fun! :)

stabbing, skyping and falling jack o lantern faces!

We SKYPED with Daddy while we carved. I'll be honest Daddy is the KING pumpkin carver and I didn't do our pumpkin justice. I prefer painting pumpkins… Hard pumpkins, sharp knives and orange guts just aren't my thing. I carved away while Daddy cringed from all the way across the world afraid he was about to witness a massacre of orange and red… I jabbed and poked and carved while daddy and Kid4 enjoyed visiting. When I was done, the ENTIRE front of the face fell OFF!!!!!

SOOO… I was a pumpkin carving failure, Daddy was the glad it was over and Kid4 tried to glue it back together… but, our night was complete… because we got to spend it with Daddy.

she's MY fairytale! :)

My little princess came home with a family project in the month of October. We talked and talked about ideas… I mentioned "Where's Waldo"… she said "Who's Waldo"?. She mentioned jack sprat and I said "How"? I mentioned hello kitty and she said "my friend so and so is doing THAT one". She mentioned Little Jack Horner and I said "ARE YOU KIDDING ME?" We went back to the drawing board… I knew she wanted a fairy tale and she knew I wanted something cute… we brainstormed and we decided on The Princess and the Pea!

We cut and glued and painted and …

VIOLA!

My princess and her pumpkin princess! What a fun project!

the best gift

This little lamb, Kid5 has been such a blessing to us all. She is lovely in every way. Every single day I get her out of her crib she is smiling up at me ready to giggle and greet the day. Every single night she cuddles me as I put her to sleep. Every single prayer I thank God for this beautiful blessing, a gift to our family that can never be repaid. We love you gorgeous girl.