It has arrived

Summer: That time of year when "sweaty" becomes a relative term and popsicles become a food group--and sunglasses and Sonic reign supreme!

Champions

What good is being a mother if you can't brag once in a while? I do try to keep my bragging to a minimum. For instance, Ava informed me tonight, "Mom, I can wipe my own butt!" Definitely brag worthy material, but I wouldn't have shared it with you had I not already been on here bragging about something else. So here goes.

Tonight was Andrew's last soccer game of the season (Hallelujah!). It was the last game of the tournament and they won....again! Very exciting for our little team of pipsqueaks! They finished the season undefeated and with only 3 goals scored against them the entire season. True, this isn't world cup soccer, but we have to get excited, cause you never know if that will ever happen again! Go Bulldogs!! (I have no voice left from screaming at the game.)

Last Day

 Andrew's last day of Second Grade. 

 Ethan's last day of Pre-K.

Now a moment of silence while their mother cries her eyes out.... Okay I'm done--until someone reminds me I have a third grader and a kindergartner. 

See....there I go again--couldn't even finish the sentence.

Sarah Bertagnole

As I looked at the news this morning to distract myself from the thoughts in my head, I fully expected to see a headline reading that Sarah had passed away. For those of you that know her, you understand why I would expect the whole world to know. For those of you that don't, let me share.

My sister-in-law Sarah has more friends than anyone I've ever met. She always has a smile on her face and her personality is infectious. Everyone knows Sarah. And everyone loves Sarah.

I will never forget my first encounter with her. She came to visit after becoming engaged to my brother. I was a little kid and I had made it known that I was not happy that he was leaving us so soon after completing his mission. I was dreading the meeting, but when she arrived, she acted as if she had been my best friend forever. She hugged me and said how excited she was to meet me and then...she brought out the most beautiful dress I'd ever seen for me to wear to their wedding. I was sold--and have been ever since.

Many years later, Sarah, the matchmaker, hooked me up on a date. Now, she may have gotten her wires a little crossed in the beginning--and it took a few years to get them straightened out, but her matchmaking eventually worked when Byron and I became engaged. She was so excited! I have always felt indebted to her for my wonderful husband, as I never would have known him if not for her.

I could share a hundred more stories of Sarah and no one would ever tire of hearing them. She is just one of those special rare personalities. She leaves her family with a legacy of love and an ever optimistic outlook that will carry them through her loss. I can't help but smile just saying her name.

Last night, heaven welcomed a celebrity, because I'm certain everyone knows her and they were eagerly awaiting her arrival. And while her presence here will be sorely missed, I know we will one day be reunited with her again. Til we meet again-- I love you and will miss you dearly Sarah.

Prayers

My brother's wife, Sarah Bertagnole passed away tonight. I am a little too shocked to have real feelings to share, but I would sincerely appreciate prayers for his family. They have six children, the youngest of which is 6, that are left without a mother today.

How You truly know You're a Mother

In honor of Mother's Day I'd like to post a few ways you can identify yourself as a mother. Forgive me, I'm sure the list could be much longer, but I don't have any teenagers yet! (thankfully) You more wise and experienced mothers will have to give your two cents on those years.

- You have baby punk on your skirt from 3 weeks ago and you wear the skirt to church anyway.

- Sucking on your kid's paci becomes an acceptable form of sanitizing.

- In your exhausted state, you put the ice cream away in the pantry to find it dripping down the wall the next morning.

- You've mastered the art of knowing when your child is going to puke and manage to get their face over the toilet every time.

-Bribery, reverse psychology, and blackmail are not bad parenting--they are an art form.

-Someone else's kid puts their hand down your shirt and you fail to notice until a concerned onlooker points it out.

- Your two year old your pees your bed and you are so tired you don't wake up until the next morning.

- You can carry 5 bags of groceries, 2 backpacks, a purse, 3 jackets and a screaming two year old up the stairs at the same time.

- You cry when your kid starts Kindergarten, and when he starts first grade, and second grade and......

- You can cook dinner, help with homework, talk on the phone, and nurse a baby all at the same time.

- You can fall asleep on the kitchen floor while your kids pretend you are a mountain to drive their trucks on.

- Sleeping in is 5:30am.

- Leftover kid food is an acceptable lunch--even if it's been licked and slobbered on--or leftover from breakfast.

-You've left your child kicking and screaming on the floor at Walmart while people stared at you in disbelief.

- The last 10 movies you've seen have been animated.

- Your walls, fridge, cupboards, and drawers are bulging with artwork only a mother could love.

-You've wiped more butts than a retired geriatric nurse.

- It's okay if someone else's kid calls you Mom--what's one more?

- All you really want for Mother's Day is for everyone to just sit down and shut up for 5 whole minutes!

Feel free to add to my list. I'm sure there's many more I missed. And I would like my kids to know how grateful I am to be their mother. It truly is a privilege to forget myself and love another so intensely--even if it is rather amusing sometimes!

Happy Mother's Day to all the crazy moms out there!

My Element

I spent most of my day today working at my husband's office. This isn't really newsworthy because I always work for my husband's office, but I usually do it from home and I usually don't sit in a chair and stare at the wall while doing it. And sitting in his office, staring at the wall, posed a few problems for me.

1. The wall was really boring to look at.

2. The wall was really boring to look at...and I don't get enough sleep to stare at a boring walls.

3. I realized I was completely out of my element.

So I had an epiphany of thought today while staring at that wall...when I was awake that is. It may have taken me almost 8 years to realize, but today I did. My element is not in an office, with co-workers, bad jokes, the smell of other peoples nasty microwaved leftovers, and the need to act politically correct. (which I neither like, nor am I good at.) My element is being a mother.

I am at home waking up in the middle of the night to the cry of "I nuggle Mommy", going to parent teacher conferences, dragging screaming kids out of Publix, barking bed orders for the 15th time, reading stories in strange obnoxious accents, replaying Disney movies endlessly in my head, fretting over grades and milestones and  appropriate bodily functions, baking dozens of cookies and cupcakes, chasing to soccer and baseball and story time, fixing cuts and scrapes and bruised feelings, singing primary songs, washing endless loads of stinking, stained, too small clothing, and generally feeling like I'm just too tired to possibly do it all again the next day.

This....is my element. And this, is who I am. And I'll never be important to the world, and maybe that's okay. Because today I couldn't help but think I preferred being home.. and though it's a dirty, thankless, exhausting job, every other job seems pointless and meaningless after this one.