Not everyone that reads my blog is a mom, but you all have one, so Mother’s Day will touch you in some way. If nothing else, you’ve at least been subjected to all the relentless Mother’s Day sales ads and commericals.

Since I was young, I knew that I wanted to have kids one day. I loved to babysit and play with all of my younger cousins also. It just kinda came naturally to me. Of course, then, I had no idea what being a mom was really like. I never knew just how hard and frustrating and back breaking and heart wrenching it would be. I also never imagined how amazing and loving and exciting and heart warming it would be. I never thought, as a teenager that slept until noon with no problem, that one day a child crying across the house would wake me in 3.5 seconds. I never knew how quickly and completely I could fall in love with someone or how all-consuming that love would be.

My kids amaze me each and everyday. Each of them in different ways. Alyssa because she is learning something new everyday. She is a little person with her own big person personality. She has an easy smile and laugh and sometimes an even easier frown. She wants so badly to be like her sisters and tries her hardest to do everything they do and most of the time she succeeds. Haley is no longer anything babyish. She will turn five later on this summer and start kindergarten and I am so proud of the sweet little girl she has become. She has her own likes and dislikes. She no longer says, yeah I like that, just because someone else said it. She loves music and sings along with most songs on the radio. She is eager to start school and have homework and learn to read and I couldn’t be happier about that. Kaylie is finishing up her 1st grade year and it doesn’t seem possible. When I look back at pictures of her from the beginning of Kindergarten, the change is amazing. She has grown up so much. She is no longer a little girl. I am amazed at how much she has learned in the last 2 school years and how much she has matured.

All three girls are so different but also so alike in so many ways. They all absolutely love playing outside. There is not a day that goes by that they are not out there running around, riding bikes and scooters. They also all love to take baths, although, Kaylie and Haley are learning how to take showers now also. They all love books. LOVE them. I am so happy about that because I love to read and I would hate for the three of them not to enjoy it too. They all love to dance around the living room when the radio is on and when you ask them to clean their rooms, they get even messier before they get clean.

But, I love those 3 girls more than anything in this world. They can make me smile at any time no matter what kind of day I am having. I cannot imagine not sharing my life with them. They can drive me crazy and make me want to scream but I know that I am blessed to have them.

I hope everyone has a very Happy Mother’s Day

I saw this on Chris B’sblog and found it interesting. If you go to the website to check your own it will tell you that the average is 9%. Oops. I apparently have a problem. Meh well, fuck it.

Created by OnePlusYou

Find out what your’s is and let me know if it’s worse than mine?

I may have mentioned before that Kaylie had decided that she wanted to donate her hair to Locks of Love. Of course, I was 100% for that! And, yesterday, we finally got it cut. I will show you some pics but let me tell you a little story first.

Back in late 2004, about a month before Chris and I met, Kaylie’s dad called me one evening while she was with him. She was 4 years old at this time. He had called me to let me know that Kaylie had cut her hair, with some plastic kindergarten scissors (parents beware!). He was going to take her the next day to get it fixed as much as possible by a stylist. Now, I know that lots of kids cut their hair, but Kaylie, well, Kaylie REALLY cut her hair. If I had a scanner at the moment I would show you how short her hair was. It was like an inch and a half long all.over.her.head. Too say that I was upset would be a HUGE understatement!!! But, I got over it and we began the process of letting it grow back. Which took quite a while. Since then, Kaylie has had her hair trimmed a few times, but that’s it and in preparation for donating it, she hasn’t had a haircut in more than a year. After her cutting her own hair, taking her to get it cut short again was hard for me, but this is what she wanted. Here is a picture of her hair right before she sat in the chair:

And here are the after pictures!

I love her new cut and I couldn’t be more proud that she chose to donate her hair so that a sick child may have a wig.

Another busy weekend behind me and yet another coming up!! But, I am loving it! As I am sure I’ve said before, I love Spring and Summer!!

Last Friday, Kaylie had a school field trip to The Memphis Botanic Garden and I went with her and we had a fun time. It was a gorgeous day for it! They made some crafts, planted a Purple Cornflower plant to take home and learned about lots of Tennessee’s insects and birds. I have some pix, but I will save those for another post.

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This past weekend was pretty busy and it seems like the next 4 or 5 will be the same! But at least we are doing fun stuff.

On Friday night, Chris and I and Alyssa met up with a friend of our’s for dinner. Mmmmm, catfish po’boy with hot sauce was sooooooo yummy!!! I left early because Alyssa was getting fussy. Got her home and in the bed and start watching my shows from Thursday that I had DVRd, next thing I know, it’s like 11:30 pm. I had fallen asleep.

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I totally stole this from Kelly, but I had too, I like this meme!

A - ADVOCATE FOR: Voting! Yes, voting! That’s not the only thing, but right now, it’s kind of the only thing people are discussing it seems. The election in November. Being able to vote for who runs our cities, states and our federal government is a right that too many Americans take for granted. If you don’t vote, you have NO right to complain about things!

B - BEST FEATURE: Um, I guess my eyes? But, I wish my eyelashes were longer!

C - COULD DO WITHOUT: About 10 pounds!

D - DREAMS & DESIRES: To have at least one more child. I would love to become financially independent so that I can stay home with my kids. I would love to be able to travel someday.

E - ESSENTIAL ITEMS: I must have jeans and flipflops! And chocolate!

F - FAVORITE PAST TIME: Reading when I have the time.

G - GOOD AT: softball and horseback riding

H - HAVE NEVER TRIED: I have never flown in a jet! I guess I should add that to my dreams and desires. Also, I’ve never bungee jumped, but I have done The Skycoaster at Big Kahunas in Destin, Florida.

I - IF I HAD A MILLION DOLLARS: Pay off my bills for sure. I would buy a house and maybe take a vacation. I would donate some and definitely invest some also.

J - JUNKIE FOR: Anything chocolate! Also, I love salty snacks too!

K - KINDRED SPIRIT: My best friend, Crystal. We always joke that we share one brain. We are so alike sometimes, it’s freaky!

L - LITTLE KNOWN FACT: Hmmm, I’m not really sure. I am part Irish and part Lebonese. Bet you didn’t know that!

M - MEMORABLE MOMENT: Giving birth to my kids! Well, giving birth to Kaylie. I was under general anethesia with Alyssa, so I don’t really remember the actual birth, but still.

N - NEVER AGAIN WILL I: never say never!

O - OCCASIONAL INDULGENCE: I really don’t have one. But, I think it’s time I started!

Q - QUOTE: Dream as if you’ll live forever, live as if you’ll die tomorrow. - James Dean, If you judge people, you have no time to love them. - Mother Teresa,

R - REASON TO SMILE: There are so many! Although, sometimes, I forget that.

S - SORRY ABOUT: snapping at my kids and hubby. I try my best not too.

T - TAG SOME FRIENDS: You!

U - UNINTERESTED IN: Hockey, women’s basketball, gangsta rap music, alot of reality show, not all, just alot of them

V - VERY SCARED OF: something terrible happening to those I love. Oh, and wasps. That’s the one thing I HATE about warm weather. Wasps. I am TERRIFIED!

W - WORST HABIT: I play with my hair all.the.time! All the time! I thinks it’s starting to rub off on Kaylie!

X - X MARKS MY IDEAL VACATION SPOT: Ideal? There are sooooo many! Hawaii, Ireland, Tahiti, Australia, NYC, Boston (that’s probably a weird one, but I LOVE history and LOVE old houses and building, I am a closet dork), England, etc etc!

Y - YUMMIEST DESSERT: Chocolate

Z - ZODIAC SIGN: Virgo

but being a parent and divorced can be even harder. I have been divorced from Kaylie’s dad since 2002. Kaylie doesn’t even remember the two of us being together. When Kaylie was younger it was never an issue. She went to her dad’s house almost every weekend. Back then, he was working and paying child support and I really had no issues with him. Of course, that changed. When Chris and I got together and our relationship became serious the amount of time Kaylie spent at her dad’s house changed. We wanted Kaylie and Haley to be able to spend plenty of time together too and if Kaylie was gone from Friday to Monday, that only left 3 days. I explained this to her dad and he understood, there was never a problem with it. And Kaylie never had a problem with it.

Until recently.

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