Happy Mother's Day!

As I was reading the paper this morning, I came across this. Happy Mother's Day to you all!

Written by Cindy Lange-Kubick

This is for all the mothers who didn’t win Mother of the Year. All the runners-up and all the wannabes. The mothers too tired to enter or too busy to bother.

This is for all the mothers who froze their buns on metal bleachers at soccer games Friday night instead of watching from the cars, so that when their kids asked, “Did you see my goal?” they could say, “Of course, wouldn’t have missed it for the world.” and mean it.

This is for all the mothers who have sat up all night with sick toddlers in their arms, wiping up barf laced with Oscar Mayer Wieners and cherry Kool-Aid, saying “It’s OK honey, Mommy is here.”

This is for the mothers who gave birth to babies they’ll never see. And the mothers who took those babies and made them homes. For all the mothers who run carpools and make cookies and sew Halloween costumes. And all the mothers who don’t.

What makes a good mother, anyway? It is patience? Compassion? Broad hips? The ability to nurse a baby, fry a chicken and sew a button all at the same time? Or is it heart? Is it the ache you feel when you watch your son disappear down the street, walking to school alone for the every first time? The jolt that takes you from sleep to dread from bed to crib at 2 a.m. to put your hand on the back of a sleeping baby? The need to flee from wherever you are and hug your child when you hear news of a school shooting, a fire, a car accident, a baby dying?

I think so.

So, this is for all the mothers who sat down their children and explained all about making babies. And for all the mothers who wanted to but just couldn’t. This is for reading “Goodnight Moon” twice a night for a year. And then reading it again,“Just one more time.”

This is for the mothers who mess up. Who yell at their kids in the grocery store and swat them in despair and stomp their feet like a tired 2-year-old who wants ice cream before dinner.

This is for all the mothers who taught their daughters to tier their shoes before they started preschool. And for all the mothers who chose Velcro instead.

For all the mothers who bite their lips when their 14-year-olds dye their hair green. Who lock themselves up in the bathroom when babies keep crying and won’t stop.

This is for the mothers who show up at work with spit-up in their hair and milk stains on their blouses and diapers in their purses.

This is for all the mothers who teach their sons how to cook and their daughters to sink a jump shot.

This is for all the mothers whose heads turn automatically when a little voice calls “Mom?” in a crowd, even though they know their own offspring are at home.

This is for mothers who put pinwheels and teddy bears on their children’s graves. This is for the mothers whos children have gone astray, who can’t find the words to reach them.

This is for young mothers stumbling through diaper changes and sleep deprivation. And mature mothers learning to let go. For working mothers, and stay-at-home mothers. Single mothers and married mothers. Mothers with money and mothers without.

This is for you all. So hang in there. And better luck next year, I’ll be rooting for you!

-Borrowed from the Lubbock AJ 5/13/07

Is severe weather season over yet?

We have had a ton of severe weather this season so far. Lots of rain, thunderstorms, hail, and a few tornados have come close to us. What the heck is going on? I have never been one to weather a storm. In fact, the minute a severe thunderstore warning comes on TV, I have everyone put thier shoes on. If it get really bad, I start taking blankets and other things to the middle bathroom. Yes, I am a paranoid tornado freak. I believe there are some terrible ways a person can die, and one of those would be by tornado. So anyway, for like 3 weeks I just kept a pair of shoes in the hallway just in case (don't laugh, cause at least I will be able to get out an walk around in the even that we were hit). So anyway, last night the South Plains area had 4 tornando warnings at one time. They were all north luckily, but still it was scary to think it could have been us. Enough of that. Here are some pictures from the last couple of weeks. Enjoy....

Easter Morning at my Parents house. Conor's Easter basket was full of goodies.

Time to color eggs. Conor was intrigued with the colors.

Classic -- he goes straight for the ears. Then again, who doesn't??

The Hunt was inside, due to the SNOW we had on easter sunday.

The Loot! Conor came away with some mean cash from his eggs.

Today, 4/22, we celebrated my cousins 20th Birthday. She has been going to Tech the last couple of years and is moving back home to go to Baylor. Happy Birthday Tawnee!

Why my Dad doesn't smile in pictures, I don't know. Here he is with his two sisters. Aunt Shirley and Aunt Carol.

Tawnee, Uncle Connie, Aunt Carol, Tyler

Saturday we went the Arts Festival. We had a lot of fun.

This is an example of the weather we have been having. I took this picture 3 hours after the hail had fallen. It was still there!!

My my, how fast a month has gone by,,,

Wow. Here I find myself nearly a month later. I can't believe that I haven't blogged in such a long time. Not much has gone on around here. Same stuff, different day. Today Conor had his Easter party at school. I took a few pictures..

Some buddies from Daycare.
The Hunt is On!

Here are some more pictures for your enjoyment...

Picture Day

Today was picture day at Conor's school. Just in case the ones at school didn't turn out good, here is one from this morning. He is so darn cute!

Here is a picture of Beanie. She has grown quite a bit since we got her, but I think this is as big as she is going to get.

Happy Birthday Mom and Uncle Ricky!

My Mom's and Uncle Ricky's birthday was last week and we celebrated with some steak on the grill and cake. Conor was very upset when he picked out the Dora cake and we wouldn't buy it for Nanny and Uncle Ricky.

Next, we had our lawn treated and scalped this past week. It looks fabulous! This guy did a great job on it. I am so ready for some nice green grass. I am going to redo my flower beds again. They totally overgrown with grass this past year. I don't know about you, but I thought that concrete curbing should have kept the grass out of my flowerbeds. Well, it didn't. So this year, I am going to transplant some Vinca from my Dad's house and let it grow like crazy. If I want color, then I will just put some shallow terracotta planters out with some annuals. That way, I don't spend a fortune on plants that will burn up and die. Sounds like a good idea. We will see if it works.

Conor has obviously learned his last name. For a nickname, we call him Conor Mac. It makes sense since his name is Conor McMahan (pronounced MACK-MA-HAN). The other day, someone called him Conor Mac and he quickly responded "I not Conor Mac, I Conor MACKERHAM" You guys have to hear it, it is absolutely hilarious!!!

Sunday, we went clothes shopping for Conor. I was certain that he would have grown into 3T's by now. After all, he is 3. Manufacturers must have changed sizing this year or something, because the 3T's he tried on fell right off. Literally. However, all the 3T shirts were too short. I think there is a conspiracy! So needless to say, we left Target with size 4T shirts and size 2T shorts. Talk about mismatched!

Here are some pictures taken of Conor tonight. He finally smiles when you say "Show me some teeth!"

You must excuse the Barbecue Sauce Moustache.

This post is dedicated to Linell :-)

Craig and I just got back from Tracy's wedding in San Antonio. We had a wonderful time. I was so grateful to be a part of it. She did so much for me, that this was the least that I could do for her. I also had a chance to see her family and meet new additions. They are just wonderful people. Craig and I felt right at home. I haven't been to San Antonio in a few years and I forget how beautiful it is. We flew into Austin, then drove to SA. This trip was monumental in more than one way. I had the chance to see a very dear friend marry a fabulous man and Craig and I had a chance to "fall in love" again. There is something about a wedding that helps bring to light why two people are together in the first place. When Craig and I got married it was a whirlwind of emotions. Let's be honest it all happened in less than a year of getting engaged and it was hectic. Less than a year from the date we were married we became parents. Some may think that dating for a short time, being engaged for a short time, and having a baby so fast after getting married could be a mistake, but I wouldn't have it any other way. On the other hand, Craig and I have missed out on some very important "getting to know you" stuff now that we went from a just us to a family of three. So this trip helped us realize why we are together. This was also the first time that we had been away together alone. That is right, in the nearly 5 years that we have been married this was our first trip alone. It was wonderful. We stayed on the river and inbetween wedding activites we managed to squeeze in some sightseeing. Now for some pictures.....
This cake was fabulous! I kept saying "one more bite"!
The handsome couple's first dance.
The toast.
Aren't we hot? I have never in my life worn anything like.

River pictures.

Craig was so totally excited to see the Alamo. He "touched" a piece of history. He is such a history person so he really enjoyed this.
I get the biggest lump in my throat when I see the Daddy's walking thier daughters down the aisle.

I burnt dinner...

My house smells like burnt hamburger meat and I am mad. I come home after a long day at work, really looking forward to skillet burgers. I am not one to touch raw meat, but I dug in carefully mixing all the ingredients. The skillet is ready to go (or so I thought). Now anyone who knows me well, knows that I have a terrible fear of not cooking meat all the way through. I tend to overcook everything because I am afraid of all the deadly diseases one can catch from raw meat. However, I honestly feel this did not contribute to what happened in my kitchen this evening. I put 3 patties in the skillet and turned around to watch the news. I noticed a little smoke filling the air, but quickly passed it off. The recipe I was following said cook five minutes on each side. But since I am scared to undercook meat, I left it for a little longer. I turn the patties and low and behold the underside is burnt to a crisp. The entire house was full of smoke. I had the vent on, the fan, and opened a few windows and waited for the smoke alarms to go off. Yes, it was that bad. So I had made four patties and ruined 3. I cooked the last one. Honestly, it was a crappy recipe. It either didn't taste good because I was mad or because it flat out wasn't good. Conor had a corn dog, and Craig had a sandwich. Aside from that, here are some pictures from the recent snow and other stuff.

Here is a cool picture of Conor sleeping.

Last but not least, I made a potty chart for Conor. We are having some great sucess with him going potty and I thought this chart would help him understand that working towards a goal pays off.