Danielle ---- 7 years

Even though our time with you is sparce our love for you is gigantic. I have watched you blossom from a little girl and venture into finding your place in this world and it's quite the journey. Your vast level of intelligence is surreal. Sometimes I wish time would slow down and more energy would be driven into your childhood and not making you grow up so quickly. You dive into your school work and soak it all in, I believe your education will take your many places in the future. You are involved in various different things through your school that always seems to keep you on the go. Basketball is your new forte and you love it immensely, in fact your team is in first place right now. Your mother keeps you very cultured which is probably why you don't strike most people as only being 7. I love the strong bond between you and your baby brother Kanyon, he simply adores you and lights up at the simple mention of your  name. You are extremely wise and compassionate, a trait most adults don't even possess. I marvel at your drive and see your future being bright and limitless. You have one hell of a temper but have learned over the last little bit to control it which is really a blessing. You are very strong willed and quick witted. I love that you let me paint your toes and let me do art projects with you. I like when you scrunch your face when something doesn't look perfect and you are analyzing it. I hope that in the future you always see your true beauty and never let others belittle you! No matter where you go or what you do it is a given that you will be successful and important. I pray you will always take time for the little treasures in life, like stopping to smell the roses or dancing in the rain. My love for you is deeper than the meadows and higher than the clouds, I love you Miss Dani!!!

Kennedy --- 11 years

I have to admit, you’re more stubborn and hard-headed than I ever knew a child could be. This toughness will be an asset to you as you grow older, but I pray it will not become a stumbling block in your life. I know my own stubborn tendencies have caused me some trouble over the years.

You are strong and beautiful and you have such a sweet heart. Teachers and faculty at your school boast about how incredibly kind you are towards others. You are always first to step up in helping someone less fortunate. You don’t give yourself enough credit for how smart you really are, you let negativity bring you down and I pray you will overcome that battle sooner rather than later.

My relationship with you is so different than what I have with the boys. Sometimes we clash, but I think that’s just a girl thing. I hope you know the depth of my love for you. My life would have a giant void without you in it. You make me smile and laugh every day. You make my heart do flip-flops when I see you helping with your little brother or dancing around the house. You have a natural gift for music and not a day goes by that I don’t hear you sing or hum a melody. I love that you are a girly-girl but can really hold your own with the boys.  Your attitude comes in spurts, good and bad. You have a knack for picking on your brothers and tormenting your stepdad.  You are quick tempered and easily hurt but hate to disappoint me. You have an impeccable bond with your Grandma Patsy that will last your entire lifetime; I know this because I had that same bond with my grandma.

Sometimes you feel sad and it hurts my heart to see you like that. I know that it’s hard to be the middle child and I always try to give you extra love and extra time. I hope you never feel like you are treated differently or less. I know it’s hard to not be the baby anymore, but it’s also hard to not be big enough to do some things your older brother does.

 

Just know that you are loved deeply and completely. Your smile lights up my life! I look forward to every day I wake up and see your precious face. I love watching you learn and grow even though it saddens me how fast the time has gone by.  God gave me a special gift when he gave you to me and I’m so glad that he chose me to be your mom. I love you Kenner bean; today tomorrow and always!!!

Kaleb --- 13 years

When God gave you to me, he knew I would need you. You fill my days with chatter and questions I never knew a young person to ask. You challenge me in so many ways and teach me about things I never knew I would be interested in. When you become fixated on something, you are like a sponge and soak in all the information you possibly can. I love to see the way you light up when you learn something new and interesting.

This year you grew to be taller than me, I didn’t realize that would happen so soon.  I have such mixed feelings about the man you are becoming. I am so proud of you for being loving and courageous, but I’m not ready for you to be so grown up yet. I remember you as a small child. You loved to crawl into bed with me in the morning and snuggle deep down in the covers until your head was almost covered.  You loved warm fires, riding your bike, and fishing (you still do).

I can’t tell you how much of my heart you fill, but I can tell you I would be empty without you. I feel like we grew up together. I was only 19 when you were born. There is something very special about the relationship that we have. I hope that I have been a good mom to you. I know that I haven’t been a perfect mom all of the time. Sometimes it’s hard to be the oldest child because your parents are learning how to be parents so essentially you are the test dummy. I know that I have learned a lot from raising you and I will continue to learn. 

I just wanted you to know how much I love you. My world is so much better because you are here. I can’t imagine my life without you being a part of it. Thank you for being an amazing son. Thank you for helping me so much with your chores and when I need assistance with the other kids. Thank you for being patient with me and for accepting my apologies when I haven’t been patient with you. 

You are incredible, never ever forget that. Never forget that I am always here when you need me. I love you, buddy!

Kanman ---- 2 1/2 years

There is so much to you little man; I don’t even know where to begin. You are a bright light in so many lives and I simply wouldn’t know what to do without your presence in my world. You are a hard headed little ball of curiosity. You think you need to be involved in everything that is going on in the world. Most of the time I can’t turn around without stepping on you or telling you to stop doing whatever it is you’ve gotten yourself into. You are my little shadow and want to be everywhere that I am. You will often shun people that get in your path on your way to me. I love that you love me so much, I don’t think daddy does!  You are way too smart for your own good, you pick up on things that you may have observed or heard and constantly blow us away with your astounding memory. I love your sweet voice when you sing “baby beluga” or “you are my sunshine.” I will never tire of hearing your soft giggles as you get embarrassed while singing and try to hide your face. You love to be in the kitchen and it’s a nightmare to keep you away from stirring whatever’s on the stove. You have a love for bikes and Grandpa Joe’s 4-wheeler. Speaking of Grandpa Joe, he is one of your favorite people and he cherishes every ounce of time you two spend together. You love your siblings and will go in search of them if we come home to a quiet house, asking multiple times “where is sissy or where is bubba.” Daddy can’t wait for the summer so that you can help him in the yard and go fishing. You are already looking forward to going to the swimming pool and don’t forget when we tell you that we are going somewhere. When I tell you that we are out of something (ex: string cheese or band aids) your reply is always “let’s go to the store and get more.” Your favorite cartoon is Mickey Mouse yet you rarely sit still long enough to watch a full episode. You love building with Mega blocks and drawing on your Magna doodle. Your favorite color last month was pink now it has changed to yellow. You don’t have one single interest in potty training even though you have peed on the potty, you don’t hesitate to tell me to change your butt. Quite frankly I’m tired of diapers and haven’t been able to convince you to only poop at daycare as of yet. Some of your favorite foods are string cheese, fruit snacks, yogurt, bread, and pasta. Kanyon, if I were to leave this earth tomorrow I would just want you to know how much I tenderly love you. I thank God every single day for the amazing gift he bestowed upon me the moment you were placed into my arms. Thank you for being my little boy, thank you for letting me play blocks and color with you, thank you for loving me even when I screw up, but most of all thank you for letting me be your favorite person in this crazy world. I love you to the moon and back!!

"Happy Hearty Rooty Tooty Fun"

I love love love Valentine's day, always have and always will! I love the colors, making Valentine's, and sharing it with the people who capture my heart the most. During the holidays, making sugar cookies with the kids is one of my favorite traditions. We make a splendid mess that is usually mixed with a touch of chaos but completely treasurable. It breaks my heart now that Kaleb is a teenager and he's out growing his enjoyment in participating in our cookie making expeditions. According to Kaleb, Animal Planet and hunting rabbits are just way cooler than rolling out and frosting 4 zillion cookies, REALLY KALEB REALLY? I do hope that as Kaleb continues getting older he will always look back and remember how much fun we had. Kanyon has slid into Kaleb's spot and loves helping with everything, I say help but he really generates more work than anything. Mr. Kan has to have his hands in everything that is going on in our house quite frankly he exhausts me on multiple different levels but I heart him nonetheless. Kennedy's attention span is that of a mosquito trying to multitask, everything is super fun for about 10 minutes and then take a fly swatter to her, she's done! So I'm thinking after reading this perhaps we make the cookies more for me because I value that time with the kids, chaos and all! Plus everyone knows that eating is the best part of baking anything anyways RIGHT?

"Perfection"

I wish that I could be one of those mom's who could blog about how perfect their life is but reality is I'm just not, granted perfect to one individual and perfect to the next don't always fall into the same category. I will brief you on my "perfect life" in a nutshell or nut house however you choose to see it. BEEP BEEP BEEP is the first sound I hear at 5:40 in the morning as my husband slams down the snooze button so I can enjoy 10 extra minutes of sleep before I hit the ground running. I speed through the shower and give myself 15 minutes to have hair and make up done so that I don't get behind on my routine of waking up the house. I generally dress in the dark so that Paul can enjoy his last few minutes of sleep before I have to wake him up. By 6:30 the coffee and the bed are made, hubby is in the shower and I have to persuade my 2 year old that there are bugs in his bed to get him out of it. After 10 minutes of tickling and bribing, I give up and go downstairs to wake up the other 2 rugrats. By 7:00 everyone is up, showered, hair is done, breakfast is going down the hatch, the cars are started, and I'm prepping to leave for work. There is generally a 10 minute battle of getting Kennedy to take her medicine or eat breakfast and then another "knock it off" dispute about the two older kids at each other's throats. Kaleb said this, Kennedy did that, my belly hurts, I don't want to eat school lunch, it's Kennedy's turn to clean the rabbit cage, I want a different chore, can I play after school, yep that's a synopsis of our morning conversations. I get big hugs and love you's and I'm out the door off to another day another dollar world. Work is my quiet time (usually not always)! After the work day ends, I cascade off to pick up Kanyon from daycare. Most of the time he doesn't want to get into his carseat so I resort to bribery with a sucker or star burst, this is usually enough to get him buckled in. He chit chats the whole way home about what he played, had for lunch, etc. As we enter the house Kaleb and Kennedy are in a yelling match over who has the remote to the tv, homework hasn't been all the way done, something is needed from the store for school, they don't like what I'm cooking for dinner etc.


I could go on with all the glory details but I will spare you. Now, let me tell you things about  my life that aren't perfect. My 2 year old says $hit everytime he drops something, still not convinced he picked this up from home but it's possible. I'm constantly telling a child pick up their backpack or shoes and to stop picking their nose. As soon as I enter any room somebody wants or needs something hence why I don't sit down. I can't go poop without hearing the words, "MOM where are you?" At any given moment a floor in our house needs swept or mopped and the blinds need dusted. A child is generally running around half naked and dripping wet leaving puddles around the house. Our power bill went up AGAIN, kids never turn the damn lights off. I do 4 loads of laundry 3 times a week. I scramble to get in workouts a few days a week and am lucky to climb into bed before the clock strikes midnight. I know this all sounds more than glamorous and you're probably jealous as you should be. I think I left out a few key elements of perfection in my story. I never ever leave our house without kissing every child goodbye and telling them I love them, I need this probably more than they do. I spend my days driving to and from work pondering fun things we can do together as a family on our nights and weekends together. I love that Kanyon runs right into my arms when I pick him up everyday. I love  when I'm doing something and someone offers to help. I love that Kaleb protects Kennedy and tries (TRIES) to keep her in line.

I love that my husband goes out of his way for our family and will do little things to take stress off of me. I love that Kaleb and Kennedy never go to bed without giving me a hug and saying "I love you." I love when Kan wraps his hand around my neck and asks me to sing him "one two buckle my shoe." I love when the dishes and meals are cooked and I didn't have to do them. I love the splashing of bubbles and silly giggles during bath time. More than anything I love when I say I love you and someone replies "I love you more!" Perfect NAH not even close but I'll take it!!!

Melt Aways

I decided it was time to drop off a little excess baggage I was carrying around after the holiday season, ya know that junk in da truck syndrome. I'm crazy like that as most of you know. After reading multiple posts on Facebook about New Year's Resolutions, I decided to form my own little 12 week challenge to motivate people into getting healthy and dropping some extra poundage. Surprisingly we had a pretty good little turn out, 27 people joined and each paid $10. The person to lose the most weight wins $220 and the runner up gets $50. We are now a month into the challenge and we are starting to see some fantastic results. I created a private group on Facebook for the challengers and its been such a big support. Participants are always posting motivation quotes, successes, etc. Regardless of the fact that we are competing against each other, we are also a team and continue to offer tidbits of advice and encouragement for the other participants. My son Kaleb was insistent  on being part of the challenge and is transforming before my very eyes, I'm so proud of the him. Because he is younger we are promoting the idea of being healthy not the idea of losing weight. I've lost 12 pounds since Jan 1st and would like to lose 10  more, but the hubby isn't too keen on the idea of being married to a stick figure :( boo. I can't wait to see the end results and am proud of everyone that is participating, CHEERS TO BEING HEALTHY!!!