Anybody have a couple or three bricks I can borrow?

The boys are growing up sooo fast. With Nelson just turning 8, registering Henry for kindergarten, and Jack quickly approaching his first birthday I have come to the realization that life is passing by much too fast. These boys are growing up at a rate that makes me uncomfortable and nervous. James and I do our best to instill in them morals and values - we want them to mature into respectable young men who love the Lord, understand the value of family, have a good work ethic and know their way around a dollar. How are we to do all of that in such a short time? I know. I am being irrational here... we do have time. But it's going by SO FAST!!!

I have always, ALWAYS enjoyed being a mother. But just recently have I felt like I kind of know what I'm doing and really been able to relax and be the kind of mother I want to be. By recently I mean the last year or two. I don't know why that is. Maybe it's losing my own mother - the death of a special loved one can really put a new light on things. Maybe it's Jack - being here to watch him change on a daily basis. (I was at work at this part of Nelson & Henry's lives) Or maybe it's something else. Whatever it is, I'm thankful for it. I do have my days where I want to pull my hair out and shake somebody but for the most part I am truly enjoying motherhood. Who wouldn't? I mean I get to play outside and act like a kid all day! And do laundry all night (lol). I get to be a teacher....I actually taught Henry to read! I get to be a problems solver on a pretty frequent basis. I get to be amazed at how much Nelson knows about things that I paid no attention to at school. That kid is absorbing history and science. I mean we are recording things on the history channel like How the State Got Their Shapes and America, The Story of Us and discovery channel shows like Life. He is opening my eyes to things that I have never been interested in before. I also have a new found love for cooking and trying new foods that I am trying to pass on to the kids. They love to judge me...every dinner time at our house is an episode of Chopped! If you don't know that show turn on Food Network and watch it! Another thing I've been wanting to learn lately is the art of sewing. I will have to stick to things like curtains and throw pillows....and maybe pajamas. For some reason it seem that boy clothing patterns aren't quite "cool" enough. I might could get away with sewing a few outfits for Jack. IF I learn!

We are all looking forward to this summer. Summer is great for obvious reasons: No school, later bedtimes, more daylight. But for us it's also great because Nelson is home every day that James is. It makes our family days complete. We are going to Kansas City the last week of May to visit some very special friends of ours. I met Britton at a job interview where I ended up working with her for a couple of years. We became instant friends. Her husband, Brad, played his soprano sax for James and I at our wedding. He is a very talented musician. Early in the month of May, they will be going on a mission trip to Costa Rica. It's been a while since we've been able to visit with them so we are all very excited. The icing on the cake for the boys is that we will be watching the Rangers play the Royals while we are there. You know it is their goal to see the Rangers play at all the stadiums.

We just paid our van off early and that vacation is our little reward. We also have a vacation...something more local...scheduled for the end of July. After that we are getting busy paying off our house. We are working hard to get debt free and the house is the last thing.

That's it..... for now. :)