To the girl at my yard sale..

I see you sitting in the passenger seat of your Mom's car, ignoring her as she is asking for you to come over. I watch as you huff, roll your eyes and say, "just do it yourself Mom." I see your Mom want to cringe at the fact that your disrespect is shinning through to me, as a stranger just sitting by. But what's funny is, I see myself in you. 

I wouldn't call this a good thing...

 But I must say that I do call it a blessing, to sit back and think of how sad it makes my heart, that I once treated my Mother in such a way. I want to tell you to stop, and to love her for all she's worth but I turn away. It isn't my place, because in your young age, you just won't understand. 

Just like I never did. 

But I do have a prayer for you. I pray that the pink streaks in your hair fade, along with your sadness. Your bitterness turns to love, and your lack of respect becomes a longing emotion for a friendship from your Mother. I pray that your sigh, becomes a joyful laughter even after your third call to Mom for the day. I hope that these teenage years are short, and you have many years making life matter with your unknown best friend, which will you'll realize soon is no one other than Mother.

It's so hard to see now what difference Mothers can make. They tell us how to act, when of course we already know how. They push for us to by a bargain, but we are blinded to the fact that bank accounts really do run low. It's hard to see now that you need your Mother, and even if it's hard to believe she needs you just as well. 

After all the years of hardships, of not realizing what a special love came from my Mom, I finally realized. I became a Mother and I see that her love was overflowing for me. Her choice to not let me leave the house so late at night, was the right one. The words of wisdom, telling me that I wouldn't look good in blue eye shadow, was the right one. When she said he wasn't the right man for me, I should've listened. She was right, and she was only loving me by telling me all of those words that I never wanted to hear. 

I beg you dear girl, step back and look into her eyes, and you will see the love that she has overflowing for you. I just pray you see it, before its too late. 

As for myself, I pray that I always have the courage to see the good in people. To see the young, that will one day mature into the wise. To hear the fights between Mothers and daughters and know that they really do love one another even through the hardships. To inspire, by just loving my daughter no matter how angry she may make me in a moment. But most of all, I just pray that I never let my Mom forget how much I love her again.

Where has Summer gone?

On the last day of school, I had so many intentions of doing it ALL with my kids. I wanted to teach them, read, go on okay dates, swim and live to the fullest during our first summer break together. 

The next day I headed to the parent teacher store and purchased some amazing Pinterest worthy projects, to help Bryar learn more effectively.

Then the summer bug hit. 

so worked {only a little} 

 Played a lot 

Charli attended Music discovery week and learned the beginnings of Violin. Which she absolutely loved. 

We are our weight in watermon and peaches 

And had to wash our hands 50,000 times because even though he is ALL boy, he doesn't like to be sticky. 

We hosted a yard sale and Charli Beth sold lemonade to raise money for the humane society.

We volunteered at the humane society on Mondays. 

The kids and I tried our hand at golf. Charli says, she recieve a scholarship for it one day. 

Charli had to get a new pair of glasses. Which sadly aged her by five years. 

We gave our chickens cool baths to try to cook them down on blistering hot days. Although, only one enjoyed this idea.

I taught Vacation Bible School while the children learned in their own classes. It was a huge blessing spending the week with sweet five year old girls.

Swipped candy from Daddy and sent him photos of it while he was working. In reflecting on this I now noticed that I failed in parenting and took a selfie of us sticking out tounges out...which is a no in our house. Ha! Whoops.. 

We played and took naps. But we didn't go "over the top" like I had invisioned. Bryar still cannot count to 20, and doesn't know every letter of the alphabet. Charli's reading has improved but not an entire grade level. Although, now looking back, it is the best possible thing for us. We needed this slow down, and break from the ordinary busy life that had become our normal. We have a surprise for the kids at the end of the Summer break, and I think it will be the most fabulous ending to a perfect low key summer. 

He's More Than Just A Dog

Growing up on in the middle of nowhere in Kentucky, we were destined to have dogs. What would country life be without 4 paws and a best friend to chase along side you? We had Dalmatians which are still to this day, a breed that I love. 

I will be honest and say that I'm an animal lover although I had never been overly obsessed with loving on fur babies. Then, I became a Mom to his man...

He stole my heart from the beginning. Of course at first I was a little nervous because, well the dog has an occupation. Dogs aren't suppose to have occupations? 

They're suppose to be cuddly, and playful. But that's the thing. I'm lucky enough to be a Mom of a dog who is blessed every characteristic possible. 

But he's more than just a dog. He's a best friend. A partner when things go wrong. A very loud conversation starter as someone walks by the cruiser. 

He's fierce yet, gentle. The way he loves is unexplainable. His heart is a gaint, and the cuddles are quiet enormous. His bite is something criminals never want to experience. But kisses are craved by our children. 

His super sniffing nose keeps the convict of their toes, and my Husband intact. His teeth chatter when he smells dinner cooking. Because he knows he's not allowed. 

His paws are as big as my face and he loves to remind me with them when I stop scratching his head. He's more than just a dog and more like another child.

He knows when it's time to go to work, and paces the floor until his partner is ready. He can jump as high as the door frame while waiting to go outside. We sometimes think he's part kangaroo. 

If you scratch his head just right he will slowly close his eyes and put his weight in you as he falls asleep. He thinks he's a lap dog, even though he weighs a whoppin' seventy five pounds. 

Don't be surprised if he chatters his teeth by your ears, he's become a pro at removing earrings with his front teeth over the years. He more than just a big dog, but a security system when, "Dad" is gone too. 

He isn't a fan of fireworks. Of course he thinks he needs to rip something (like our master bedroom mattress) to shreds at the sound of unwanted, "gun fire." He doesn't like when we play wrestle in the house, but he loves when bed time is announced. 

Come to find out I'm more than just a Mom of two children, but also a Mom to Gunner. He's apart of my world, and looks to us for care. His eyes are contasntly filled with love and as he grows older I also grow more in love with him.  He's more than just a dog, he's apart of my heart.