Archive for the ‘blessings’ Category

I think it’s something that’s embedded into the genes of women who become mothers. You know you’re done having children. But, seeing babies makes your uterus and ovaries quake like nothing else. You see a fresh from the heavens baby and you sigh and look longingly. I do it often. I see pregnant women and long for that belly again. I know I don’t want anymore children. Sigh.

I’ve been forced to sort through the baby clothes in my house. Henry is moving into 2T stuff and I need to clean out the smaller stuff. I hold up the itty bitty pieces and tears well up in my eyes. I’ll never have another peanut to put in those clothes. I’ll never be able to soak up that baby smell. I’ll never sit on my couch and hold a newborn for hours. and hours. and hours. It amazes me {and saddens me at the same time} that time has flown that quickly. I look at some of those clothes and remember my sweet Will wearing them and now, he’s 7 1/2. I held the outfit that Jake wore when he first learned to walk. I smelled the clothes that I swear Henry wore last week, but really, it was many, many months ago. Time is funny – it has a way of making you mourn what you don’t have anymore, but it also has a way of making you treasure where you are right now.

My sister in law is having twins this summer – we’re all very excited. I’m sorting the clothes for her {if she has a boy or boys}. I took out one outfit that I’ll keep forever. It reminds me SO much of my two younger boys – it makes me smile every time I look at it. I’ll keep one that reminds me of my big boy, too.

I’ll pass these clothes on to people who need them, treasure the few pieces I keep for myself and smile. I have lots of pictures and memories that no one else can have.

Six years ago today, my heart was forever changed by the birth of this little gem of a boy. I’m a better person for knowing him. He makes me see the silly side of life. His laugh is infectious. He has the sweetest smile. He would eat pizza for every meal if I let him. He loves ICarly and Spongebob. And doughnuts.

He has a very tender heart. He loves his brothers. He’s a mama’s boy. He wants very much to please people.

He loves life with every ounce of his being. He gets his feelings hurt very easily. He loves food as much as his big brother loves sports. I think, if given the option, he’d still be in utero. If he couldn’t be in utero, he’d be permanently planted on my lap.

I pray thanks to God every day for letting me borrow this sweet boy for my time here on earth. I’m so thankful God chose me to be his mama.

Happy Birthday, Jake. I love you more than you’ll ever know.

Anyone know these guys? (If not, I’ll tell you at the end!)
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There’s almost nothing better to me than time spent with good friends, good food and fellowship. That’s how I spent my Friday and Saturday this week and it was wonderful.

Five of us moms headed out to Grand Rapids, MI, (in a mini-van! ha!) to attend Hearts at Home.

Hearts at Home is a ministry to moms. It’s a Friday evening/full Saturday filled with great speakers, comedians, great music and time spent together. We laugh, we cry, we lift each other up and grow as moms, as wives and most importantly, in Jesus.

I was able to see these great people:

Dr. Kevin Leman He’s a dynamic, fabulous speaker on all things parenting!

Sally Baucke SUPER funny comedian who is a mom to 3 boys.

Jill Savage She’s the founder of Hearts at Home. She’s a mom to 6!

Karen Ehman I was blessed to see Karen speak at a MOPS meeting, too. She spoke on Saturday about getting your life in order and how to get rid of clutter, etc. etc. I can’t wait to put some of her ideas into use.

Mary Beth and Curt Whelan They’re an awesome husband and wife team who talk about debt and how to get out of it.

Go Fish (That’s who “those guys” are in the picture above!) They sing AWESOME kid’s music that doesn’t drive parents insane. It’s true, too They’re super nice guys and all dads themselves.

In addition to all of the great speakers, there are also lots of vendors selling books, t-shirts, etc. I always spend way too much money when I go.

Compassion was there, too – I started sponsoring my sweet boy Aime a year ago, at Hearts at Home.

The whipped cream on top of this cake of a weekend – I slept in a big, comfy bed, in quiet, cold (I like it cold) hotel room ALL BY MYSELF. I read a book, in peace and quiet. I watched what I wanted to watch on TV. I took a shower in silence, without someone banging on the bathroom door. I ate entire meals while they were still warm. I was able to talk without being interrupted 100 times.

The cherry on top of this cake of a weekend – coming home. While eating whole meals in one sitting and taking quiet showers is nice, HOME is where I long to be.

I’m heading out in a few hours. Some friends and I are road tripping it to the opposite side of the state to attend a conference called Hearts at Home.

You can click on Hearts at Home to read more about the conference. It’s a great time of fellowship, laughs, tears and learning for moms of any age. This is my 2nd year going and I always feel good when I come home. I feel like I’m ready to tackle more of my job as a mom AND as a wife.

Unfortunately, this is the last year of the conference here in Michigan. Next year, it will be in Illinois. I’m always up for a road trip though – we’ll just make an entire weekend out of it!

Have a good weekend, y’all! I’ll be back late tomorrow evening, but I’ll post a recap on Sunday.

I’m throwing this out there for everyone to see and while I’m not at all proud of it, it’s true and I’m going to own it – I’m a negative person by nature.

There. I said it.

I was raised in an incredibly negative household. No one took responsibility for their actions, apologized if they did something wrong or said something wrong or upset someone in any way, or just admitted if they were cranky or in a bad mood. “It” (whatever the issue was) was always someone else’s fault. I grew up thinking that was just how it was. I married into a family just like my own. Oh! the negativity! Again, thought it was normal.

I divorced in 2001 and almost immediately met my husband Brian. His family was and still is a breath of fresh, POSITIVE, HAPPY air for me. Unfortunately, while it was and still is refreshing to be around that kind of happy attitude, it didn’t really envelope me until recently. I spent the first 6+ years of our marriage as a VERY negative and cranky person – we’ve only been married 7 1/2 years. How sad is that?! It’s sad for my husband, my children, my friends, my husband’s family and God most importantly – my family didn’t notice a difference. I’m not at all surprised.

I believe God laid it on my heart that I was making the lives of my husband, my children, my friends and myself miserable. I had SO! MANY! BLESSINGS! to be thankful for and I took every one of them for granted.

Recently, I’ve started to pay close attention to how my body feels around negativity. I’m actually uncomfortable. I feel heavy (and I need NO help with that!). It starts to take over all of my thoughts and feelings and just makes me downright miserable. I can only imagine what it does to the people around me.

I’m learning every day how to deal with negativity and the crankies. I know crankiness is inevitable – I’m sure I’ll come down with a bit of it myself from time to time – I’m not that naive. But, I’ll own up to it and deal with it.

As far as others are concerned, I’ve decided to remove as much of the negativity as possible from my life. I know there are people close to me that I can’t and won’t remove – BUT, I can choose to ignore the attitude and comments that come out of their mouths. I can remove myself from situations that involve negativity. I’ll just turn it off

From this point on, I’m surrounding myself with happy (shiny is not a necessity!) people – people who are positive about life, people who know they are blessed, people who don’t take the true good things in life for granted. I want them all around me – in bloggy world, in Twitter land, in real life.

So, if you are happy and you know it (sorry, I couldn’t help myself), let’s be friends Please leave me a comment and introduce yourself – talk to me. Tell me about yourself. Find me on twitter, I’m Tina aka Mommy23boys.

I’d love to be a positive, happy person for you, too!

I’m here, just living my life. I’ve spent my days lovin’ up on, taking care of and playing with 2 little boys, while the big boy is in school. I’ve spent afternoons playing the Wii with the big boys, while trying to keep the mini one from pulling the dog’s hair, ears, tail….you get the picture. I spent my late afternoons and evenings making dinner for my family – dinners where we sit at the table together, talking about our day and enjoying each other.

I’m here – watching God continue to close some doors AND open some new ones for me. I’m here – mentally trying to build this blog and I’m here – paying close attention to the things that matter most in my life – my relationship with Him, my family, my blessings.

I’m livin’ my GOOD life!