33 Years.......... Wow!

Well, today is my 33rd birthday. I was awakened by wonderful presents from Tim and the kids and had a wonderful birthday full of shopping, a pedicure as a gift, lunch with my mom and dad and dinner out with Tim and the kids - it was a wonderful day.
I can't believe I am 33 years old, there was a lot going through my head as I blew out my candles this evening:



First of all I was thinking "I am truly blessed" in every single way a person can be blessed. Most importantly I have my health, thank the Lord for my health and the health of my family. The Lord has blessed me with a loving husband who is my best friend, two wonderful children, a great extended family, a steady income, wonderful friendships both old and some new, a beautiful house over our heads, a great church to worship in, a neighborhood full of caring people, a job that I do indeed love (although stressful at times), and the blessing of our financial security that allows us to travel so many times to our beloved Disney World and other multiple travel destinations throughout the year.
As the positives rush through my mind, of course negatives always creep in too. My 33 year old body is not the body I had as a teenager, a twenty year old, or even a 30 year old. It is my own fault, I love to eat and hate to exercise - I know that needs to change. I am working on embracing my 33 year old body and the changes that have come with it. When I went to get my drivers lisence today that had expired the lady asked me if my weight had changed since my last lisence and I laughed out loud and said "yes, unfortunately you can ad 30 pounds onto that number : ( " But in times like those I need to focus on the positives again, knowing that in reality - is my body THAT bad? Do I need to be so focused on what jiggles and not just embrace who I am? I know that I need to work out more and eat better and I realize that more than ever because my metabolism has caught up with this 33 year old body, but I'm also realizing there are worse things in life and not to let it get me down.
So, in my 33rd year of life I will try and find a new sense of self and confidence and embrace the changes. I will commit to exercise more and eat better overall and try and focus on what matters MOST in my life: the love of my family and the blessings the Lord has bestowed upon me which are honestly to many to count.

SANCTUARY!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ever since Tim and I have been married we lived in cramped bedrooms full of mis matched furniture from our youth, barren white walls with kids pictures taped to them, junk everywhere, just not your ideal bedroom that you think you will have as a married couple.
I am happy to report that after almost 11 years together we FINALLY have our SANCTUARY!
We ordered new furniture and that inspired Tim to paint. We picked out paint colors together, light fixtures, art work, it all came together so nicely. Here are some pictures of the final product:






It all came together so nicely and Tim and I are so happy. Nothing like stepping into your bedroom and having a giddy smile over take your face.

Rainy Day Fun

Today was one of those dreary rainy days. I had promised Lauren we would make a tent on the next rainy day,so when she looked outside this morning and saw the rain drops she was excited.
Here is my excited girl in her tent:




I took my first long peaceful nap of the summer today,it was wonderful! Just hearing the rain against the window, the nice darkness of the bedroom, ahhhhhhh it was wonderful!

Then tonight for dinner we each made our own pizza. The kids really got into it and they tasted REALLY good :






I thank the Lord for this wonderful lazy rainy day together as a family, it was a great one!

Being The Best Mom I Can Be

I feel very fortunate that the Lord has blessed me with two wonderful healthy children who LOVE to spend time with their mom. I get overwhelmed at times because when school is in the MINUTE I hit the door exhausted from work I am bombarded with their desire for undivided "mom time". They try and squeeze in all of the snuggles, all of the tales of their day, make-believe games, begging for an airplane ride, just undivided attention every single second. I must say, it is hard at times when I just want to sit down and relax and have some "me time', but I realize as a mother, especially a working mother, my job is never done.
I have that horrible mothers guilt when I am at work away from my kids and any second that they ask me to do something and I legitimately can not for one reason or another, that "Can we play Mommy?" and my response of no and the look in their eyes keeps re playing in my mind over and over again.
I know I must cherish these days, they will be gone way too fast.
Now that school is out Lauren is SO excited to have me at home. Today we got some girl time, just she and I. We were in the kitchen getting breakfast and she said "this is great mom, I get you all to myself today!" PRECIOUS!

So, I will take time this summer, away from the hustle and bustle of school and just ENJOY my children and be the best mom that I can possibly be. I will take time to cuddle in the morning, take time to dive into the pool with them, take time for tickles, airplane rides, board games, hopscotch, airplane rides, quality time - what they crave more than anything, to simply be the best mom that I can be- because I know I am building the foundation and influencing my childrens lives and helping them turn into the remarkable individuals that I know they will be some day. When they look back on their child hood I want them to think they had a cool mom who loves them VERY much - I sure hope they do.

Appreciation

Today was the final day of school. This was a difficult year on many levels. I had a student pass away in October who was so very dear to my heart and I miss her terribly. The room hasn't been the same since her passing and she is remembered in little things we do daily which is so painful to bare. There were some other intense issues I won't get into - overall just a stressful year that I must say I am glad to see come to an end so that I can look forward to a new year next year. That is the great thing about teaching, if a year goes badly it doesn't keep dragging on, you always get a do-over.
The mother of the student of mine who passed away came in to visit today and wrote me the sweetest card of appreciation and that meant so much to me, it is wonderful to feel appreciated. It was so nice of her to take the time to do that, to go out of her way like that and allow us to remember her daughter on the last day of school with her, together.
I work so hard all school year, pour my heart out to these students, go to training to become a better educator, change diapers, get spit on, hair pulled, bit, scratched,manage para professionals (which can get VERY stressful at times), deal with the paper work and politics, shed tears of frustration, it goes with the territory. I also get hugs, kisses, love, admiration of my students, and most importantly I get to watch them grow as people academically and socially. Being a special education teacher it is all about baby steps, but it is awesome to see my students take those baby steps.
On the last day of school it is always so wonderful to see all of the teachers get showered with gifts, get cards from the students and parents showing how much they are appreciated. I go to the store with my children and always pick out nice gifts for their teachers and most importantly write a nice letter about how much I appreciated all they did for my child. As a special educator I often feel unappreciated. It isn't the gifts that mean anything to me, it is the cards, the "thank you's", that is what I eat up. This year I got one card, just one. Sometimes you just need that pat on the back, especially after a hard year like this one has been. I am so thankful for the mother that came in today and took the time to thank me for caring for her daughter and the things I taught her, I cherish those, they mean so much, they make me feel my job is appreciated, and isn't that what all of us need at times?

Family Traditions

I must admit it, I always thought my mom was crazy for her obsession with picking fresh fruit. You honestly haven't seen a woman more excited than my mom in a strawberry field, apple field, blueberry field or rasberry field, bucket in hand plucking fresh fruit to take home and make into pies, put over cereal and just enjoy.
Here she is in Grand Haven last summer in the middle of a blueberry field, in pure heaven:

Here she is passing down the tradition of fruit picking to my children (who LOVE it by the way):

Well today was no exception, the strawberries were in!
I got a call last week and it was my VERY excited mother who said to me as soon as I picked up the phone "ALERT ALERT, the strawberries are ready for picking" I had to laugh. We made a date for next Saturday (today) to head out to the fields with the kids and pick strawberries. So today we all loaded in the car and my mom led us literally into the middle of no where to find her glorious strawberry fields. I must say that I was getting a BIT inpatient as the kids were arguing in the backseat and we were 45 minutes into the drive and in the middle of no where with no end in sight. But I forgot all of that when we got there.
The kids were so excited. We got our baskets and headed for the fields. It was row upon row of beautiful strawberries (I didn't have my camera, but here is a visual for you):

Luke had been picking with my mom before and was so excited to be the "expert" and he jumped ahead with Lauren explaining "I'll show you how this is done Lauren". Mom picked with the kids a row over from me and I just smiled from ear to ear as I heard the exchange between them. My kids were just LOVING this and my mom was LOVING that they were LOVING this : ) They went on and on about how many they were, how juicy they were, what fun this is, it really was awesome to see. My kids had strawberry juice dripping from their chins, a bin full of strawberries, and had a wonderful time picking strawberries with their grandmother in the strawberry fields. My mom said to me " I now am convinced these children are connected to me genetically" : )
I know longer think my mom is crazy................and I am excited that her love for this picking of fresh fruit and sharing these experiences together is being passed down to my children. My fresh strawberry pie is in the fridge and we have more strawberries than you can imagine and I have a smile on my face remembering those good times we had today in the fields. Thanks mom!

It's so close I can taste it!

Can you smell it, feel it............... I can almost taste it.........
SUMMER!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's almost here. I only have 4 more days of school, then a summer full of pool time, Disney and Grand Haven, CAN'T WAIT!
I can't wait for times like these:


and these:

Man....... Minnie hugs are the best hugs : )

........and times like these:



Then I can't wait to be out on the pier at Grand Haven looking out at the water (I took this one last summer - LOVE this picture):


As things get stressful these next four school days wrapping things up I am sure I will find myself closing my eyes and getting these images in my mind. SUMMER IS SO CLOSE I CAN TASTE IT and that makes me............ smile!