I am a lucky Mom!

I am a lucky mother!! I have 4 wonderful children. They are kind, smart, fun, funny, helpful, hard-working . . . you get the idea.

L-R: Daniel, Abigail, Melissa, Katie

 Katie and Melissa are in college, so their time home is infrequent. I treasure their visits. Most of the year I just get to hang out with Abbie and Daniel. They make me laugh. Usually they ignore one another, but on photo day they hammed it up.

For some strange reason this photo will only upload sideways.  No children were harmed in the taking of this photo.

I am reminded on a daily basis how fast life seems to fly by. No longer do I spend my days changing diapers, nursing babies, or reading the same book over and over and over. Now I answer half of my children's questions via text message, Facebook, and email (a thing I never dreamed of as possible when I was pregnant with Katie). I don't spend my day wondering when I will get a free moment to myself or if I can go to the bathroom alone.

Thank you Katie, Melissa, Abigail, and Daniel for making me the person I am today.

He will ALWAYS be my baby

I tried to explain to my son Daniel that he will always be my baby. He will be 11 tomorrow and he does not get it. It seems like such a simple concept to me - maybe when I was 11 I didn't get it either.

Daniel has a maternal cousin born or the same day. His cousin is also named Daniel. I wish I could say that Daniel was a long time family name and that my brother and I wanted to keep the name going but that would be a lie. I don't think we actually ever talked about baby names. Heck, I was holding out for the name Jackson. Jackson was a masculine name. It was a western name. It was the PERFECT name (in my opinion.) But my husband didn't agree so we named our son Daniel.

I will never forget calling my brother to tell him that my water had broken. My sister-in-law was past her due date and I remember him telling me that she may cry. I called early the next morning to tell him that Daniel had been born. He said, "WHAT!" I replied that we had named the baby Daniel. My brother said that Daniel was the name THEY had picked out if they had a son. I think I said good thing we live 3000 miles apart. Imagine my surprise when I got a call a little later with the news that my sister-in-law was in labor. Now imagine my surprise when I got a call saying that Daniel had been born. Now we call them the double Daniels. I think that they like that!

In our family we don't have big parties for most birthdays. Turning 11 gets you cake and ice cream and a friend overnight. Happy Birthday Daniel - Enjoy your time with Joshua!

I love my girls. . .

 . . .  and my boys!

I am a fortunate woman.  According to the Economist Magazine life begins at 46, so life is good for me since I will be 47 soon.  If I had read that life begins at 46 on Facebook, I don't think I would have believed it, but because it was in a major publication read all around the world it must be true!  ; )

We celebrated Katie's 21st birthday at the Brasstown Valley Resort.

I am also fortunate to be the mother of 4 wonderful children.  My daughters are pictured above.  Sadly, even with my high heels I am still the shortest of the Rice Girls.  My children are kind, smart, artistic, healthy, successful, happy, and helpful.  What more could a mother ask for? (you can see a photo of Daniel in my previous post).

In addition to life beginning at 46 and having wonderful children, I have a wonderful business.  I get to make the world a more colorful place with my tie dye.

Life is good!  Now if only I could get my blog button to work AND be grabbable.