No Words...

Today marks the 3 year anniversary of my mothers death.

Needless to say, I am missing her.

I fee like a sad little girl in need of her mother's touch.

My brother and I will spend this day in each others company.

I won't , however, let this day be all about sadness.

You see, when I look around...

I can only marvel at what my mother left behind.

I have 8 wonderful children who all have been forever changed in someway by her life.

Without her...

They wouldn't be here.

There is so much to celebrate...

but, for this one moment...

I will admit...

That not a single moment goes by where I do not wish I could have just 5 minutes to wrap my arms around her and feel her touch.

No words would be needed...

Coming Home...

Today, I will be leaving the dry land above...

That holds two of my favorite people in the whole universe!

The only good thing about that is that I am returning to 10 of my favorite people at home...

Oh, and the dog!

There is nothing like coming home!

Babies...

I am sure that I am missing all of my at home babies by now....

You know that I am enjoying being with my big babies right here... right now.

I sure love you guys!

I hope not...

I hope we're swimming today...

But, since I am writing this before I actually leave for the trip and scheduling it...

It is quite possible I am bringing all of the cold at home weather with me...

I hope not!

Lots Of Sharing...

Are you waiting with baited breath for me to return and plant a whole bunch of photos on ya?

I am spending some awesome time with my beloveds... pictured above... and I have been ordered by all of my beloveds at home to take pictures of everything...

So, that means lots of sharing!

See ya soon!

Where Am I????

I am flying out today to spend the next few days with these TWO LOVELY PEOPLE!

It is soooo exciting to get to actually lay my hands on that girl again and plant a big ole hug around her neck... as my Grandma used to say!

I hope your days will be as blessed as mine!

Big Exciting News....

At least for me!

Later this week, I will be heading over to the far far way land where my oldest, soon to be married daughter now resides.

I get to spend 4 lovely days in her presence...

and I am soooooooooooo excited!!!!!!!

Stealing a Kiss...

Stealing a kiss...

...can be so much fun!

Weird...

From the mouth of one of my babes...

"Mom, I'm glad you're weird... not normal. You'd be a boring mom is you were normal."

Both sides...

There is a new nightly game around the old homestead.  It is called...

Throw yourself as hard as you can against Daddy and try to crush every bone in his body!

Sound fun?

I know three little kids who think it is a blast!

The nearly bonecrushing jump of a little boy is pretty extreme...

...compared to that of his little sister.

The boys big sister falls somewhere in between... but is still more poetic than bone crushing.

This is so much fun...

for children and Daddy.  He laughs and encourages them to do it again... and harder this time!

This is only one small reason why we need our Daddy in these parts...

The Mommy around here isn't playing this game.

She thinks "Ouch" every time they crash into Daddy.

She warns of impending danger.

She reminds people of the horror stories where one small child may have lost an eye, finger, leg, arm while playing a completely different similar game.

There are some fundamental differences between Mommy and Daddy, you see...

Daddy is rough and tumble... ready to wrestle... eager to play in the cold snow.  Yet ready for a hug or a kiss from any of his brood.

Mommy is soft and silky... ready to color, cook or craft... always sharing laundry folding and a good conversation... and ready for a hug or a kiss from her brood.

I think we need both sides... don't you?

Not Christmas Day Photos...

No, these are not photos from our wonderful Christmas day celebration.

These are photos that we took to remind us that Cadi was here for Christmas and... that Miranda was 16 once...

I don't know about you, but I love photos... and you don't have to walk very far in my house before you know I love photos...

They are everywhere!

I think these will be joining the others on the wall.

Beautiful!

However, I do promise to get through the Christmas day photos in the next couple of days.

I will!

I will...

Building Cathedrals...

Sitting in my living room this morning... feeling a little down... I was blessed by this from Resolved2Worship... a blog that I love to visit... not only for its beauty in photography, but its beauty in word.

Please listen... You will be rewarded.

I Need Help...

Okay, this is a little embarrassing.

But...

I have to tell you all the truth, right?  That is afterall what the blog is all about... letting you all see a true glimpse of our lives.

Deep sigh...

I am a coffee sniffer!

I don't drink it very often... because I need to put too much sugar in there and I try to stay away from that as much as possible these days.

My daughter works at the big corporate coffee place that so many people seem to love, though... and when she brings her coffee drinking daddy a bag each week... I sit and... well... sniff.

Yes, I love the smell. 

I know it is weird, but it satisfies some weird place inside of me.

I'm sure I need help...

I Will Rise...

For You, Mom...

A Private Griever Shares...

Today marks the second anniversary of my mother's death...

Two years have passed without hearing her voice...

I still reach for the phone every single time something important happens.

I still have that moment of shock when I realize she isn't at the other end of the phone and never will be again.

I still think about her every single day.

I have realized so many things in the last two years...

She was my best female friend.

She was my supporter, no matter what.

She was a prayer warrior and I always knew I was covered by her prayers.

She was a rock I could lean on.

She was the one true constant that I had during my whole life.

She was amazing...

She was gone way to soon...

This is a sad day,

but I have that eternal hope that someday I will see her face to face again.

I am sure I will shed tears today that can only be truly understood by others who have endured this same loss...

but in the end, I know now... and always knew that she loved me, my brother and my family.

The one thing that I can't seem to get away from is how very much I miss her.

Each and every moment that goes by is filled will missing her. I will admit to being jealous of those who still have their mother in their lives...

I long for that...

I am a private griever.

I don't share it much with others... but for this one day...

I will share with all of you that my life has not been the same and probably never will be since she left this earth. That is not to say that I wallow in grief... I don't... She taught me well.

But...

Life just isn't the same without you, Mom...........................

Butt Shot?!...

From the pictures, you can't really tell how rickety and rusty and steep and... well... Scary climbing down this thing was!

We wanted pictures of one of the kids.

You know, cool urban looking photos...

Sometimes you have to suffer a little to get the good shot!

Since I love my husband and trust him completely to keep me safe, I followed him down into this strange place.

He was right!

We did get some totally cool pictures.

The climb back up was not nearly as bad.

But, I ask you...

Did you have to take the butt shot?!

Mom, Mom!!!

You always know when the kids get home.

It doesn't matter where they have been.

When they get home, they want to share everything with me.

I hope this never changes!

Rodeo in the works...

While at the park yesterday, we saw so many cool things. Some of the horses from the rodeo that will be taking place this week were cooling off in the river. The kids were so in love.

Aubrey was enjoying the cool air coming off the river. Isn't that a pretty view?

As we walked down the path we came across an area set aside for local artist. Some of the art work was so beautiful.

Above: Daddy showing the little man how to skip rocks. (He really is good.)

Below: Mommy thinking she is going to show him up. (never gonna happen!)

The little man really posed himself. He posed and turned around and said, "Take my picture."What a ham!