to your mother

THOUGHTS ABOUT BEING A MOTHER AND LOVING A MOTHER...FROM A MOTHER OF TWO.







Saturday, December 7, 2013

Prayers From the Boy

Dear God,
Can you please give a message to Santa? :
Hope you have a good night and good delivery. Hope you get cookies and milk.
Amen

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

My Brother Paul Got Married, Oh Yes He Did


 
On Sunday, July 28, 2013 this lovely couple started a new page of their life together.
 



How blessed we are to call Naomi family...


and we were delighted to meet Naomi's family.


I have never seen Paul so at ease and happy.
 
Naomi and the two Rachels (Naomi's niece and Patrick's daughter)

Many use the name Uncle Paul in reference to the man, these are his blood nieces and nephew



Mom was soooooooo happy for Paul. (Thanks for your help, John.)


Julie showed her moves most of the afternoon...



...so did Mom.

 
 

 Now you can play Where's Waldo to see if you can identify some of these people!
 
 
Truly a magical day.  We are so happy for Paul and Naomi, so blessed to have shared in their day.
 
Now for the rest of the story, click THIS LINK (yes, Dave Barry's blog) to read how Paul and Naomi met!


Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Even More Most Wonderful Time

This Lil'Put was very excited to see her bro off to school.

(Mom's Big Bird t-shirt repurposed into a dress, Mom's fancy hat circa 1950's)


Yet two days later, it was her time to shine, her time to prepare for the big day...


Afternoon Pre-Kindergarten!

When I drove away, alone, from her school, I was giddy with freedom on my mind.

I passed through a wooded area.
I spotted a HUGE bird on the side of the road.
The bird took flight.
Directly in front of the van.
White head and tail feathers standing out like snow on the tar road.
Yes.
It was an EAGLE.
The symbol of FREEDOM.
FLYING IN FRONT OF MY VAN.
JUST AFTER I DROPPED LIL'PUT OFF AT SCHOOL.
Majestic.
Heavenly.
Awesome.

My two hours of freedom, I will appreciate them that much more.

Tuesday, September 3, 2013

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

I'm not going to write anything cliché or expected about the first day of kindergarten for this boy.  It's all very simple.
 
 I had a baby, turned around and he was holding this:
 
 
 
 
I married the best guy EVER, turned around and this moment happened:



We bought a house in my old elementary school district, turned around and there was the walk down the driveway,
 

and perhaps a little run.
 
 
 
I birthed a wee little girl, turned around and she was ready to rumble.




This boy learned to walk, I turned around and he's waiting for the bus.



This boy learned to be kind and polite, I turned around and he got on the bus. (Hello Betty, take good care of my boy, please.)



I loved this boy with all my might, turned around to snap a picture, and it was only Betty to wave...he was already on his way forward.
 
 
My heart raced a million beats a minute but I didn't cry.  I was just as ready as he was. As I have told many grieving stay at home moms this fall, this is our jobs.  To get them ready to go off on their own, to be productive members of society and this is the first small step.
 
Now I can get down to business...

Thursday, April 4, 2013

Easter at the Loyd's

Easter Eve was spent at Mom and Dad's this year.  Julie insisted on bringing her own selection of toys from home.  I said that was fine, as long as she could independently carry whatever she brought.
 
 
 
This girl doesn't play around. 
Dress by Mom circa 2004; sash by me using binding ribbon from Great Grandma Loyd (E. Jean)
 
 
Julie loooooves to see Grandma Loyd and usually greets her with a big hug.


 
 
 
 
And kisses.




And giggles.


Mike got busy playing inside with the kids while Paul and I tossed Easter eggs about the front lawn.


Can you spy the lady trying to see what we were up to?







Here's a closer look through the pane of glass.  Note Paul's reflection, kinda cool.





When I said "tossed Easter eggs about the front lawn" I wasn't kidding.
 
 
It was a bright, sunny day (squinting) in Chambersburg, the kids were ready to hunt.









Julie enjoyed showing her spoils to Mom, even gave her a pink flowered one saying "You can have my favorite".




Joe excitedly reported his hunting adventures to Dad...not sure if Dad had his hearing aids on, but he certainly nodded appropriately.




And then it was on to the cracking, to reveal the luscious booty inside.

Note: Paul wanted a trillion eggs out on the front lawn, a gazillion to the goo-gooplex power, so when Mom saw them she would see a carpet of eggs. Hence the gargantuan amount of eggs each kid has.  Never fear...some were empty and the others held 4 M&Ms or other such small candies.  Some small Easter decorations where thrown in as well.  No child died from an overdose of sugar, just the adults suffered the ramifications of the impulsive, wild, monkey-like behaviors that sugar has upon my children.





 Mom prophesizes about the monkey-like behavior before the first bit of candy is ingested. 
Alas, she is non-verbal so she just keeps it to herself.
 
 
 
 
Paul documents the cracking episode, some points were actually quite funny...perhaps we will provide a showing at a later date.
 
 
 
 
Ever since Joseph spotted the juice-o-matic in Mom's pantry, he has been badgering  politely asking me to use it.  Finally today was the day.

 Homemade peach ice cream from the back of Mom's freezer, some lactose-free skim milk, a few blends and rumbles and voila!
Peach smoothie, created on the fly, to satisfy this boy...of course then he wanted to find MORE stuff to put it, but I am learning about limitations and he is learning about disappointment...it can go hand in hand, ya know.
 
 
 
 
 
I love coming across the kids quietly playing together...it is becoming more frequent.

Frequent as it is, the episode frequently ends in yelling, sweeping of toys away from the other, overall disgruntledness...forget it, it's just ugly.



 some Easter baskets
 
 
some singing and love and squishy things
 
 
 
 
 Dad's Command Center: you want to know the weather outside the window or in China, he's your man
 
 
 
Some fun on the deck...




which gave Paul, Mom and I some quiet time to chat around the table.  Out of nowhere, Mom picks up a small blue 3lb weight from the table in front of her and begins to pump iron.
 
 
 
 This woman does not play around. There is no rest.  No Pain = No Gain. Forever Mom will be pushing herself to do what she needs to do. Me? I should heed her example, perhaps get off this duff of mine and do what my body needs me to do. Mom? She's a fighter.



Joe, sweet thing, may take too much after his mama.  Here is Joe:

 You may think he is slouched down, mindlessly watch a show.  Nope. Nada.  That boy is playing Wii Fit.  Specifically he is running in a race.  He figured out that instead of placing the Wii remote into his pocket so it could sense his body's natural up and down rhythm of running, you can slouch in Dad's Barcalounger and shake the remote up and down, reaching the same result as running.  Note:  This episode was at the end of the day.  This boy was rancidly tired due to major activity and had suffered the tremendous low that comes after ingesting too much sugar about 3 hours previous.

When children slouch on the couch to participate in an activity in which they are normally told to "QUIT-IT" because they are TOO active, we tend to leave during the calm eye of the storm.

Julie carried her load out to the van...



while Joe gave out his hugs and high-fives.


Julie scrambled back in for her kisses.




"And one on da nose!" was her last words.
 
She sure does love this mama's mama.