Happy Mother's Day! / Weekend Pictures

Happy Mother's Day!

We have had a very busy weekend....as usual. Friday was Bailey's Field Day at school. You can see a few pictures of it above. Bailey challenged me to a hula hoop contest which I am proud to say at 41, I kicked her behind not once, not twice, but all three times!!! Who says you have to be young to do those things? She had a blast on the blow up slide they had also. It was a hot day, but a nice breeze was blowing, so we didn't mind the heat as much. Todd even got into a good game of baseball with the kids competing against the parents. Then they were off to do the grade level tug-a-war. Bailey's class was the champion team....and I have to say that was with the help of a very loud and aggressive father cheering them on...."come on, pull, come on, you can do it, come on, pull, pull, pull"....right in the poor little third grade boy's face. This aggressive man probably had all the parents talking about him like, "look at this guy, he is taking this tug-a-war thing a bit serious....get a life dude". This man was my husband.......his competitive side tends to come out at times.....needless to say, it was all in good fun, and the kids thought he was hysterical. It was a fun day together.

Then on Saturday, Bailey and I loaded up the car to head to Northern Alabama for Sarah's honor band concert. It ended up taking 5 hours to get there. We stayed for the concerts and then headed back home for another 5 hour trip. It was a long day, but oh so worth it. I have to tell you, I am not only impressed with my own child, but with all the kids that were there. What an impressive experience and a glimpse of the hope of our future generation.....what a great bunch of kids. Sarah got there on Thursday where she had to audition immediately after getting off the bus. She had to play her chromatic scale and then do a sight reading of a piece of music she had never seen before. She got 7th chair out of about 47 flute players. Originally she had thought she had gotten 8th out of 20, but there were some issues with the results and postings. She was put in the "Southerners" band, as the kids were divided into 5 separate bands for performances. So for her first experience with honor band, she did great. The kids then went to their dorms on the University campus to unload their stuff, and then headed to dinner in the campus dining hall. They then went to a concert put on by the Marching Southerners, which is the name of the university's band. Friday was a day of total intensity.....10 hours straight of rehearsals for the concert to be preformed on Saturday. The kids were given 6 pieces of very difficult music to learn in one day.They are directed by "guest conductors"...who all were University Professors from colleges like Auburn, Alabama, Troy, Georgia, and Tennessee. Talk about impressive. It normally takes a half a school year to prepare for a normal concert. These kids did it in 10 hours......it was awesome too. I guess I was just expecting the kids to do one song......boy was I wrong. I am gonna order a cd of the concert, and I will burn copies for family to hear it. I was proud to say the least, but that is a mom's job, isn't it?

Speaking of Moms....to all my female friends and family.....Happy Mother's Day! I hope you take the day to just relax and enjoy a bit. Mother's Day has always been a bittersweet day for me. I am always happy to enjoy the day with my girls....Todd is always busy on this day due to it being one of the busiest days in his business, but he always is sweet to make time for me sometime during the day.....but, I also hate this day because it is always a reminder of the fact that my mom isn't here anymore to celebrate it with. Although my mom has been gone since I have been 20 years old, I have always kinda felt sorry for myself on this day....selfish, but true. And if you have lost your mother, you understand exactly what I am saying. But this year, I have reflected on how lucky I am.....I not only had a wonderful mother who gave birth to me, and raised me to the best of her ability with the help of my father. She laid all the groundwork and instilled in me all that makes me who I am today. For that, I am extremely grateful and humbled. Especially since I am now a mother myself, and I am constantly reminded of how hard it really is, but also how rewarding it is. I am so proud to have called her my mom......always and forever she will be in my heart.

My grandmother is another person that comes to my mind and heart on this day. I miss her so much, and the wounds are still fresh for me as far as her loss. She was such an inspiration in my life. If I had to think of a word to describe her, I would say "hero". She was an absolutely incredible human being.

But today, I want to tell you about someone else I am so grateful for. She has been a wonderful mother figure in my life...my stepmom, Sharon. Sharon doesn't get much credit from me very often, but I have been so blessed to have her in my life as well. God sent her to our family when we were all hurting and lost. I know it hasn't been an easy road for her having to put up with our crazy family....in fact, I know it has been down right miserable at times. But she has hung in there through it all. She has been there to bounce ideas off of, wipe away tears, keep the peace, tend to those in our family who have been sick or hurt, but most of all she has loved us. She didn't have to do any of that. She could have been the stereotypical stepparent.....but thank goodness she wasn't. She didn't have to be there for us, but she chose to. She has now been in my life almost as long as my own mother had been. She is a part of me, just as my own mother is. So Sharon, if you are reading this, thank you for being you....for being there for us....for being there for dad.....for trying so deperately to keep a positive outlook in what at times with our family seems like an impossibly negative situation....for being so supportive to all of us....for being a wonderful "Nana" to my children....and most of all for just being you and fulfilling a role that you have always said you "never wanted us to feel like you were trying to be", but you did it in your own gentle way. Thank you.....I love you more than you know.

So, Happy Mother's Day.........go hug your mom either physically or in prayer.