Memorial Day

Today we went to a Memorial Day service. I am ashamed to admit, especially as a military family, its the first for us that I can remember.

Like many, I am sure, Memorial Day has become the official day to kick off the summer to us. it is also the holiday weekend in which we can usually go away and celebrate our anniversary. today, we have a cookout and pool party with friends planned. However over the past several years, and after 3 deployments, I have become increasingly aware of the importance of this day and the need to honor it. How discouraging, especially for our aging veterans, and for the families of those who have lost loved ones in service to our country, to see the rest of us going on with our lives as if what they have done is unimportant. How ungrateful we are to have forgotten and to take for granted all the freedoms that they paid such a price for. I hope that I no longer forget. It was an hour out of our holiday. Quite an insignificant sacrifice when you think about it.

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.


~Jeremiah 29:11

Drumroll Please...

Swan is officially finished her high school education. I am so blessed to be her mama and to have had the opportunity to have her with me for so much of her childhood. Its not always been easy or even pleasant, but it has been a joy and an adventure that I wouldn't trade for anything.

Mr. Romantic

MWC=Mr Romantic?? Normally I would have to be told to stop laughing hysterically at such a suggestion. MWC is much better at showing his love is consistent, practical ways. Romance is not his forte.

However, when he applies himself to it, he sure is good at it.

Monday was our anniversary. He'd told me he'd made dinner reservations for us that night which I was very pleased with. I usually take care of all of that. I thought that was very romantic and was quite happy. Little did I know.

Monday morning he got up and got dressed and headed off to work as always. Around 9ish, the doorbell rings and the littles start squealing that I have flowers. Sure enough, there are flowers on my doorstep but no sign of who may have delivered them.

A card was attached to the bouquet of roses (one rose for each year by the way). In the card,was a sweet note asking me if I felt up to running away for 24 hours (I'd had a stomach bug all weekend). I called MWC and told him after that I'd certainly try. So 5 minutes later, he walks in the door to take me away. He'd made reservations for us at a bed and breakfast and arranged for Clone to keep the littles. (He'd also asked a friend of mine to "make plans" with me for Monday - she told me she had the day off work! - so that my day would be committed already)

Because I was still not 100% it was a very low key getaway - leisurely strolls and resting and people watching, but we had a wonderful time nonetheless.

The kids teased him that he's set for another 5 years or so now, he really was Mr. Romantic this anniversary.

Happy Anniversary MWC! I love you and I love sharing my life with you.

Not all pink and princessy all the time

Clone does have a certain amount of sway over their interests.

And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.

~Galatians 6:9-10

a beeeeoooooootiful!!! bird

Sunshine: Sweetness, today we saw the a beeeeoooootiful bird at Walmart. It was so beeeeoootiful. It was really beeeeeeooootiful.

What beautiful bird could possibly be at Walmart on a cold dreary day you ask.

A pigeon.

Happy Mother's Day

Somebody said it takes about six weeks to get back to normal after you've had a baby..... somebody doesn't know that once you're a mother, 'normal' is history.

Somebody said you learn how to be a mother by instinct ... somebody never took a three-year-old shopping.

Somebody said being a mother is boring ..... somebody never rode in a car driven by a teenager with a driver's permit.

Somebody said if you're a'good' mother, your child will 'turn out good'.....
somebody thinks a child comes with directions and a guarantee.

Somebody said you don't need an education to be a mother....
somebody never helped a fourth grader with his math.

Somebody said you can't love the second child as much as you love the first .....
somebody doesn't have two children.

Somebody said the hardest part of being a mother is labor and delivery....
somebody never watched her 'baby' get on the bus for the first day of kindergarten ...
or on a plane headed for military 'boot camp.'

Somebody said a mother can stop worrying after her child gets married....somebody doesn't know that marriage adds a new son or daughter-in-law to a mother's heartstrings.

Somebody said a mother's job is done when her last child leaves home....
somebody never had grandchildren.

Somebody said your mother knows you love her, so you don't need to tell her....
somebody isn't a mother.

A Swan by any other name

My beloved Swan says she needs a new name on my blog. With bruises on both knees, scrapes all over, a great serve in volleyball and a passion for sports that rivals any boy's (with the ability to beat most she plays with to go along with that passion), she says she is definitely not beautiful or graceful.

While I do shake my head at the bruises and scrapes and tend to wonder what next? I have to disagree with her evaluation of herself as not lovely or graceful. I am her mama of course so I will admit I might be slightly biased.

She is indeed beautiful - inside and out. She has a sweet spirit and desires to please the Lord in all she does which makes her truly beautiful in my eyes.

As for graceful, she may be covered with bruises and scrapes, but it takes a certain amount of grace to play sports at her intensity and ability and not have more significant injuries. Her graceful moves are spent on the field or on a court, not a ballet stage, but they are graceful nonetheless.

So my dear Swan, you may have a few not be as white as some swans, you may glide more aggressively than your typical serene swan, and you may have crumpled feathers from all your exploits but as far as I'm concerned a swan is a swan is a Swan.