All About Mom

The girls brought home the CUTEST mother's day gifts from preschool. You know, the fill-in-the-blank questionnaires that melt your heart with the sweet and silly answers that they come up with. I thought I would share with you what the girls wrote all about me.
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My mom’s name is Casey. She is 43 (GASP-not yet!) years old and weighs 100 lbs (not since I was 12). Her hair is brown and her eyes are brown. She cooks rice the best, and she loves to eat ice cream (you got that right sister). I think her favorite color is purple and brown (these are her favorite colors). She doesn’t like fish (you got that right sister) very much. She likes to watch basketball (ummmm not so much) on T.V. My mom spends a lot of time eating (she must have read my previous post). I’ll bet my mom would like to have a big, big, big bike (she totally wants a big,big,big bike).

Happy Mother’s Day! Love, Makena

Makena's portrait of me (She was quick to point out that she scribbled over my face. I'm totally feelin' the love!)
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My mom’s name is Casey. She is 40 (GASP-not yet!) years old and weighs 100 lbs (not since I was 12). Her hair is black and her eyes are brown. She cooks pizza the best, and she loves to eat granola (Score...I eat granola cereal for breakfast every morning). I think her favorite color is pink (this is her favorite color). She doesn’t like peaches (I LOVE peaches) very much. She likes to watch football with Dad (ummmm not so much) on T.V. My mom spends a lot of time running (Like for exercise or running after the 3 of you?). I’ll bet my mom would like to have a doll (Can this doll do laundry and mop the floor?).

Happy Mother’s Day! Love, Alyssa

Alyssa's portrait of me...a small version and larger version complete with beeeauutiful eyelashes. I asked her if the red dots all over my forehead were my freckles and she said "No those are boo-boos" a.k.a. ZITS. Apparently she notices when I have those acne breakouts like a 16 year-old teenager. Gotta love that one!

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My mom’s name is Casey. She is 42 (GASP-not yet!) years old and weighs 130 lbs. Her hair is brown and her eyes are brown. She cooks fried rice (I’ve never cooked fried rice in my life) the best, and she loves to eat apples. I think her favorite color is pink. She doesn’t like peas (Bingo…Peas are disgusting!) very much. She likes to watch Dora (with my eyes closed) on T.V. My mom spends a lot of time cooking dinner (You got that right sister). I’ll bet my mom would like to have flowers.

Happy Mother’s Day! Love, Riley

Riley's portrait of a monkey me. I sure do look an awful lot like one of her favorite characters from Dora.

One thing is for sure, I am one LUCKY mama to be blessed with my sweet girls.

Wishing all of you mamas out there a Wonderful Mother's Day!

Lucky mama

My dearest daughters,

Your Auntie Jessica reminded me today that you are almost 4 years old. How can that possibly be? I will say that this year has been the most challenging for me as a mom. As you become more independent and headstrong, I have to figure out how to manage your "attitude" with grace instead of anger. So far my saving grace has been chocolate, the occasional alcoholic beverage, and a strict 8:00 bedtime so that mommy can have some quiet time.

You have blossomed this year with your transition into preschool. Your teachers love you and always comment about what wonderful little girls you are. Before I know it, you'll be starting Kindergarten. Auntie Jessica made me promise that you won't be the only Kindergartners still sleeping with binkies at night. Lucky for us, we've got another year to work on that!

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Miss Makena,

You are a mix of shyness and spunk. I look forward to our nightly snuggles on the couch before bed. You melt my heart on a daily basis with "I love you's" and big kisses. Dora is your favorite t.v. show and you wake up every morning asking to watch her show. If it wasn't for Dora, I wouldn't be able to cook dinner every night!

You definitely like to test the limits with following the rules but you are quick to tell me that you are sorry when you misbehave. We conquered your fear of the dark this year with two nightlights in your room and a special "mommy" blanket that keeps you warm and safe.

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Miss Alyssa,

My thoughtful girl. I cherish your caring little heart. You have a giggle that is infectious and a smile that lights up your face. I always look forward to that first early morning smile you greet me with when I walk into your room.



I can see that you are going to love school as much as I did! You love to color and sing songs. When I pick you up from school you are so excited to tell me what your "job" was for the day. You relish in your role as "the informant" in our family and I know I will be counting on you for years to come when I need to know about everyone's whereabouts.

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Miss Riley,

My happy-go-lucky girl. One of your favorite hobbies is picking "beautiful flowers" whenever you get the chance. And you always comment on the beautiful flowers you see throughout your day. You love to be silly and make your sisters laugh, which is always fun for me to watch.



You are SO excited about growing older. You can't wait to be a "big girl" so that you can chew gum! You love to change outfits throughout your day and I am trying my best to let you discover your own fashion sense, with mismatched colors and all. I love to see you give me your thumbs up sign when you've know you've done a good job.



I love you girls with all my heart!

Love, mommy

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY

Wordful Wednesday

My sweet Lissy-bear has a weakness. She can't keep a secret. Bless her heart, she came home from preschool last week and said, "Mommy, we didn't tell you that we made handprints for you today. Nope, we didn't tell you." While shaking her head from side to side.

I try to hold back the laughter as I remind her that her teachers probably told her to keep that a secret from mommy. Remember when she tried to spill the beans on the Christmas present she made for me too?

Just think about the kind of information I could find out if I bribed her with a cookie?

My girls

I had to write a few thoughts about my sweet girls as this Mother's Day comes to an end. Even though there are days like today when I want to pull my hair out while eating mass quantities of chocolate and crying my eyes out because of the constant whining, fighting, and misbehavior from the 3 of you, I always find myself in awe of you when the house settles down for the night. You are growing up so quickly before my eyes and I am honored to be your mommy.

Miss Makena....you are an interesting mix of daredevil and shyness. You have no fear when it comes to climbing, jumping and hanging off of play equipment or furniture, but in the next moment you may be clinging to my leg if we are in a crowd or among strangers. You have certainly become quite a mama's girl lately and we spend some quality time together snuggling on the couch every night. You are quick to holler "No, my mama" at Riley or Alyssa if they get to close to me during your snuggle time. You are fond of getting into mischief and will usually take off running when you get caught. Your cute trick of the moment is wiggling your nose up and down like a bunny or flaring your nostrils!

Miss Lissy Bear....you have become quite vocal lately of your dislikes, which drives me insane at times because when you get into a mood, it is hard to break you out of it. I call you "opposite girl" sometimes because you'll ask for something or a certain activity and as soon as it is given to you, your response is "NO!" More recently, you have started to ask to go "night-night" when you are upset and spending some alone time in your crib will often calm you down. I hope this is a sign that you will never have a difficult time speaking up for yourself as you get older! You also have such a sweet, caring manner. When you see one of your sisters hurt or crying, you will ask to "hold sissy." Your crib looks like a toybox, because you are always bringing something with you to bed and you don't like it when I try to clear things out. I was startled awake by "Tickle Me Elmo" laughing his a** off over the baby monitor last night and realized you must have rolled into him while you were sleeping. Your cute trick of the moment is when I come to get you from your crib and remind you that you have to leave your binkies in your bed. You quickly pop each binky in your mouth and suck on each one as if saying goodbye to your friends!

Miss Riley....my happy-go-lucky girl! You are usually joking and acting silly and I'm sure you will be the life of the party as you get older. You are the most articulate of the group and make great observations of the world around you. Your sensitive side comes out when you get in trouble or when something scares you and the crocodile tears will flow. Your daddy likes to push your buttons sometimes just because you are so predictable with your reactions. I always look forward to putting you to bed each night, because you always say something cute and charming as we give our goodnight kisses. Your cute trick of the moment is giving me a pat-pat on the back when we hug goodnight while saying, "pat-a-pat."

I love you with all my heart girls. I know that I'm not a perfect mommy and that there are times when I lose my patience. But, I wake up everyday feeling blessed that you are mine and looking forward to all the new things you will teach me.

Sorrow and Joy

Mother’s Day is bittersweet for me. It has been 15 years since I celebrated this day with my mom. Her death has left a hole in my life that will never be filled. Having children of my own makes me miss her even more. I miss her laugh and her easy-going attitude. I like to believe that I inherited a lot of her qualities. The most important being a love for family. Growing up as a child, there was never a shortage of hugs, kisses and I love you’s. My parents separated when I was very young, but they always maintained a caring and respectful relationship towards one another. As an adult, I admire how they kept whatever issues they had between themselves.

My mom loved to read and she was an awesome cook. She used to whip up some killer twice-baked potatoes and I used to love it when we had breakfast for dinner. She was a petite 5 feet 3/4 of an inch tall and by the time I was a teenager, I had surpassed her in height. I always admired my mom for her strength and independence. She was loyal and honest and always put her children first. In fact, I was born one day after her 26th birthday.

My mom battled leukemia the last year of her life. She was in and out of the hospital undergoing chemotherapy. For a short time, we hoped the leukemia was in remission, but it came back. Ultimately, she had a stroke at home and passed away in the hospital.

My mom would have been thrilled about being a grandmother to 5 beautiful girls. It makes me so sad that they will never know her because I know they all would have had such a special relationship.

I am so lucky to be a mom and I can now find joy in Mother's Day again. The girls have been working hard the last couple of days (with the help of nanny Mariya) to make some special gifts for me, which I received two days early. Lucky me! They started with a vase that they painted themselves.

And then they moved on to more mouth-watering goodies!

Goodies that they couldn't help themselves from taste-testing while they were making them.

At least I know that everything passed through a quality inspection!

When I got home from work on Friday afternoon, I was greeted with three eager little girls shouting "Happy Momma's Day" over and over. And then I walked into the house to find my treats waiting for me.

And I couldn't be more thankful about my beautiful daughters.

Happy Momma's Day!

Happy Mother's Day

Before I was a Mom -
I slept as late as I wanted and never worried about how late

I got into bed.
I brushed my hair and my teeth everyday.

Before I was a Mom -
My house didn't get dirty RIGHT after I cleaned it.
I never tripped over toys or forgot words to a lullaby.
I didn't worry whether or not my plants were poisonous.
I never thought about immunizations.

Before I was a Mom -
I had never been puked on.
Pooped on.
Spit on.
Chewed on.
Peed on.
I had complete control of my mind and my thoughts.
I slept all night.

Before I was a Mom -
I never held down a screaming child so that doctors could do tests,

or give shots.
I never looked into teary eyes and cried.
I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin.
I never sat up late hours at night watching a baby sleep.

Before I was a Mom -
I never held a sleeping baby just because I didn't want to put it down.
I never felt my heart break into a million pieces when I couldn't stop the hurt.
I never knew that something so small could affect my life so much.
I never knew that I could love someone so much.
I never knew I would love being a Mom.

Before I was a Mom -
I didn't know the feeling of having my heart outside my body.
I didn't know how special it could feel to feed a hungry baby.
I didn't know that bond between a mother and her child.
I didn't know that something so small could make me feel

so important and happy.

Before I was a Mom -
I had never gotten up in the middle of the night every 10 minutes

to make sure all was okay.
I had never known the warmth, the joy, the love, the heartache,

the wonderment or the satisfaction of being a Mom.
I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much before I was a Mom.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!

(This was an email I received recently and I thought it was so sweet!)