I don't need a Hallmark holiday to let people know I love them.

I've been married almost 20 years.  My husband and I have been together as a couple for 24 years.  We have lived in 9 different homes and 6 different cities.  We have 6 children.  We don't need a Hallmark holiday to share our love with one another.  In fact, I believe the quote below summarizes my feelings on this holiday pretty darn well.

And just for your pure enjoyment because I feel like I gave a false impression on my personal Facebook page yesterday evening by posting this blurry photo (below) that misrepresented how I truly feel about Valentines Day. I posted the photo after child #6 completed her Valentines with the caption "Valentine, You make my heart Pop"

After posting the photo, a friend left a comment ---  "Awesome idea!! I can only hope I'm half as a good of a mommy as you are..."   Here's the reality.  Yesterday I was driving down the freeway about 2pm when it dawned on me that Valentines Day was tomorrow and that I'd have to come up with Valentine cards for child #6 to deliver to her classmates.  I went to the grocery store and looked at the options -- BLAH!  In the evening I went on Pinterest and found the idea above; I had a case of microwave popcorn from Costco in my pantry, had red card stock in the craft bin and clicked a link that I'd found through Google with the above sayings so I could print them off.  This was no SUPERMOM Valentine craft. Just a last ditch effort to get     this project off my to do list.  But they did turn out pretty cute wouldn't you agree?

Circus Peanuts for breakfast

I woke up earlier than usual this morning and was wide awake.  Maybe it was because I have plans with an old friend that I haven't seen in a few years and I'm excited to reconnect.  Maybe it was because I had a GREAT night's sleep and was well rested.  Or it could be because child #3 woke up (bedroom is directly above mine) and was so noisy it felt like a thunder cloud was BOOMING directly above me.  In any case I woke up 20 minutes before my alarm is set to go off and so I grabbed my phone, checked my text messages, and the thought "you should take a shower" came drifting by.  I ignored it.  2 people have just showered this morning.  I don't DO lukewarm showers.  I DO hot 20 minute showers.  So, I scrolled my Facebook notifications and then the thought came again --you should take a shower followed by a memory from several months back when I ended up on the side of the road at 6:30am in the dark surrounded by fog holding a 2 year old little boy I'd found running down a main road barefoot in his pajamas while I called 911.  Its a long story ~ It has a happy ending ~ After the ordeal ended I realized that I was there with police officers, parents of the boy and another bystander who also saw the toddler in my pajamas with my hair askew, no shoes...only socks because I was just running child #3 to the high school that is less than a mile away.  You'd think I'd learn the lesson.

I eventually made my way to my closet to grab some shoes.  I grabbed a few Circus Peanuts from my candy stash and thought to myself "Circus Peanuts for breakfast....Yep, gonna be a GREAT day!" and glanced in the mirror.  Yeah....not a pretty site.  In fact, I clearly thought --  Good Lord you are going to scare the children -- and then dismissed the thought because I'm headed to the high school and high school students rarely make eye contact with parents so its all good.  Plus it is still dark out.  Nobody is really going to see me.

It was 10 minutes later as I was heading home with my hair askew, and no make up and my pajamas  that I saw a car on the side of the road with hazard lights flashing.  As I drove slowly by I could see two teen girls in the car and of course, living in a small town, I knew them.  That whole maternal instinct kicked right in as I turned my car around to see what had happened.  Its a long story ~ It has a happy ending.

Lesson of the Day --  Nobody cares about hair, make up and attire while being rescued.

How this blog came to be

I am a stay at home mom.  I have six kids.  I'm surviving.  Its all good.  Well, mostly all good.  There are some days I'd prefer to lock myself in a room~oh heck, lets be honest~There are some days I'd like to be sitting in first class on my way to some exotic location where I can have unlimited drinks by a crystal clear sea and have my only worry be weather I want to use a higher SPF on my sunscreen. 

Yesterday I spent the afternoon with a friend.  She has a senior and a freshman in high school.  I have a senior, two juniors, a sophomore, an 8th grader and a 3rd grader.  While chatting about college options for our seniors and scholarships, and day to day life she said, "You have to  put this information out there.   You have to share this with others."  So, I'm going to give it a try.  I'm going to start this blog, and share my life and the lessons I learn and hope to connect with other moms of teens and tweens and see if together we can make this journey a little easier for all of us.

If you enjoy what you are reading, please leave a comment and share my blog with friends.  If you would like to contact me please send an email to gratefulthankfulblessed at gmail.com .

Thanks for stopping by!