March...

March is a busy birthday month for me. My grandma was born in March and so were both of my parents. My mom on the 17th and my dad on the 28th.

This year my mom had a surprise party for my dad who turned 60. It turned out really nice. The hardest part was getting him out of the house without a reason. He was actually surprised which surprised me because he doesn't get surprised easy...did you catch that? Anyway, when we were little (and even today) it was impossible to buy a gift that he didn't guess.

Anyway, I just wanted to take a minute to say

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY PARENTS!

(I owe it all to you because without you there would be no me)

Look at the lovely artwork?

This is one of Joshua's pictures from the art show at school...

This is one of Jacob's...

And this...

is the artwork our neighbor left in our yard.
(It's cat litter from his driveway!)

I don't know if you will but I thought it was

FUNNY!

Isaiah was going to the bathroom the other day and some how got a little "something" on his leg. When I went up there I asked him how it got there and he said, "Tyler pooped on my leg!" He still insists that it was Tyler even though Tyler was around. But it makes me wonder, not if Tyler did it, but who else has he said it to? Kids will tell you anything!

Joshua is funny too. I finally have him watching the Cavs with me again and most of the times he will root for them unless the team they are playing against happens to be wearing his favorite color of the day. The other night went the Cavs were playing the Celtics he was the best fan until the next day when he got upset with me then he tells me, "Mom, you know that team the Cavs played, they are my new favorite team!" All my hard work, down the drain!

This time change has messed up Jacob. He is usually the first one up before 6:30 every morning. The morning after the time change, he slept until 7:30 and when I woke him up he was surprised just thinking he slept in. The next morning, after sleeping until 7:30 again, he says, "Mom, I don't know what is wrong with me, I keep sleeping so late!" I don't see anything wrong, I like it.

Then there is Tyler, he can be a stinker too! I was sick in bed on Sunday. When I finally surfaced and came out of my room, I jokingly said to Tyler, "You're going to miss me when I'm gone." He nonchalantly says, "Yep, who's gonna do my laundry?" I guess I asked for it!

Right out of his mouth

I remember not to long ago, Joshua was my blanket baby. We thought we were going to have problems taking them from him but he eventually stopped carrying them. As a matter of fact, I just found them under his bed and when he saw them he said,"Remember when I used to carry those little blankets around, I don't carry them anymore because I'm not a baby."

OUCH!

It's the truth, he's not but...don't tell his mom.

Speaking of OUCH, the other day he told me I was fat!?!? This puzzled me because I have weighed the same since high school. I said, "Why would you say that? Do you really think I am fat?" He ever so nicely came up to me, grabbed my stomach and said, "You are skinny every where but right here!"

REALLY?!?!

The rest of me...

I know that I am always talking about my kids, my husband, or my sister but rarely about the rest of my family.

I also have 4 brothers. I am the oldest and then, Michael, Mandy, Matthew, Nicholas and Jay, (my cousin who my mom got custody of when he was a baby). My fourth brother died as a baby when he was 5 months old. I never really understood why. Not only why he was sick but why God put a baby in this world to live for such a short time, it makes no sense to me. I know I may never know the answers to all the questions I have but one thing I am certain of is, he and my sister have been reunited and they are waiting for the rest of us.

My parents are also a big part of who I am today. We never had much growing up but we always had plenty. Now, that I have kids of my own and realize how hard it is to take care of them, I have found a new respect for the sacrifices my parents made for us. My mom stayed home with us while my dad went to work. I never knew what hard work was until I became a stay at home mom after I got married. It is a very rewarding but difficult job. My dad has always been a hard worker but is now unemployed. It is hard for him to sit at home and see my mom go to work everyday because that is no the man he has ever been. I am thankful for them because they have made me who I am today. I just wish there was more I could do to help them because it seems like when it rains it pours. I am not sure when or if ever my dad will work again. I know they will make it through this but the road has been hard. Some how, some way, they will make it. They have made it this far, almost 39 years, through one trial after the other, losing 2 children along the way. I could never imagine and hope I never have to feel that pain.

Remembering my childhood and watching them now I know there is no problem to big. We are all faced with trials. There is always a way out, it may not be easy but it is just something we go through and come out on the other side a better person.