accident prone.....

today was not a very good day for gracie! i guess not only today, but the whole week! at jacksons tball game, gracie decided she wanted to go and play on the playground instead of watching jackson play......as any child would! she was playing on the monkey bars with another little boy who happened to have cleats on! long story short, he kicked her in the face and BUSTED her lip wide open, laid one of her front teeth straight back on her palate, chipped the tooth beside the front tooth, and bruised her chin pretty good. the child denied ever kicking her!! this past thursday at baseball practice, one of her team mates decided to throw the ball to gracie while she was trying to get her glove on her hand and hit her dead center in the chest and the ball bounced up and hit her in the neck/chin area! those two incidents are two of many! the child has bruises up and down her body! i feel so bad for her!

mothers.....

i am so grateful for all the mothers in my life! i have dear friends who are not yet mothers, but who are wonderful examples of how a woman should be in preparing to become a mom! i have friends who are exceptional mothers. they show me new and interesting was to parent and to "be" with my children. i've had 2 grandmothers who led the way in organizing and binding many families together to become one. i have 6 aunts who have been a constant in my life.......13 cousins (girls) who are raising 30 children between them all.......3 sister in laws, who teach me daily by their mistakes and accomplishments........my mother in law, who works so hard and loves so intently that she encompasses all who come in contact with her . missy, my sweet sister, who travels the road of motherhood with me.......and my mom!

there is not a day that goes by where i don't think about my mom. i talk to her almost everyday! growing up i remember my mom doing so much for me......i don't think i understood exactly what went into raising 3 children until i had children of my own. she was always the one who would tuck me in at night, comfort me when sick, buy the clothes that i had to have, take me for special outings. daily she gave 100% of herself to make sure that i was happy, safe, and loved! even through the teenage years where i pushed every button she had, she was diligent, prayerful, constant! my mom is kind, happy, loving, talented, soft spoken, funny, artistic, creative, gentle, caring, bright, honest, peaceful, compassionate, hardworking, selfless, fashionable, current, a wonderful cook, educated, fluent, vibrant, colorful, witty, spiritual, forgiving lady. there aren't enough words to describe my mom! she is a southern belle, daughter, sister, aunt, wife, gamma. she is my example, my sounding board, my motivator, my friend.........she is my mother! if i am half the mother that my mom is then i will have greatly succeeded!

i honor my mom and all the wonderful woman in my life who buoy me up and who have gone before me and walk with me in this journey of motherhood!

i am so grateful to be a mom! it is one of the hardest, most exhilarating, trying experiences that i have ever had! 4 of the kids have been sick today but they all did their best to make me feel very special. i was treated to wonderful handmade gifts, white roses, a scrumptious dinner with dessert, a long nap, and lots of hugs and kisses!

i feel very humbled to be given such a wonderful responsibility of being a mom!

jacksons preschool mothers day program!

today was an exciting day for jackson and i! it is not very often that i get to go and be with one of the children by themselves. joseph came home late last night so that i could attend jacksons preschool mothers day program. standing back and watching him helps me to remember just how little he really is! in our home, he is the second oldest and so sometimes i forget that he is only 5 and a young 5 at that! there are 16 children in his class.......each one had a special part! jackson was a rooster in one song and said "cock-a-doodle-doo" and then he held up a picture of monkeys and said, "little monkeys have a mom to show them monkey shines" (that was part of a rhyme)! they danced and sang and recited poems! i think that my favorite part of the program was when 6 of the children held up the letters M-O-T-H-E-R and sang a song that went with each letter.......the words were something like this:

M is for the money you spend on me
O is for the open doors i leave
T is for the time you give to me
H is for the hand prints on the wall
E is for the early morning rises
R is for the runny nose you wipe
put them all together, they spell MOTHER!
Mother is the one i truly love!

they each frosted two flower shaped cookies and gave us a personally painted pot with a plant (jackson proudly reminds me that the plant is a marigold.....for all of those who are like me who have no clue about plants) with a homemade card in it! it was great! my only regret is that my camera/recorder ran out of juice!

jackson has grown so much! he is such a little man......so kind and considerate of others! he gets excited about everything and when he looks at you with those big baby blues, all i want to do is melt! he is in a wonderful place right now! his preschool teacher is fantastic and so are all of his friends and their families! it is good to be a mom today! thanks jackson for such a sweet gift!