Mothers' Day was yesterday. Mmmm. It brings a smile to my face just thinking about it. It is hard work � being a mom, harder than I thought it would be, but well worth it. Well worth it. (Yes, I have to say it to myself twice.) The stress, the fatigue, the frustration along with the smiles, the laughter, and the bonds created.

My personality makes it tougher than it ought to be. I like things done a certain way; my kids like to do it the other way. I like to take one thing out at a time, they would rather play with everything all at once and then let me clean everything up. I don't like food on the floor. Ava insists that when she is finished eating, the rest should be dropped. Maybe I need a dog. I am learning to be more flexible. It is a hard lesson to learn though.

The past year has whizzed by and I am trying to learn one very important concept - living in the present moment no matter the circumstances. The present moment is all I have to work with and since my desire is to be the BEST mom I can be to and for these kids, it is up to me to take each opportunity as it presents itself to teach them valuable lessons that will (God willing) become their foundation to build on throughout their lives.

I want them to understand that they are under our authority and that God gave us (their parents) that authority over them for this time and that we will be held responsible for how we raised them. As they grow older I want them to know that I love them, but I have to do what is best for them and I am not as interested in making them happy as I am in pleasing God when I make my decisions.

I want them to understand that we love them deeply and that there is nothing they could ever do to change that but that their actions will result in consequences both good and bad.

Sometimes Nathan will say to me right before he is punished, "Mama, Jesus took the punishment." Yes, He did Nathan, we will be in heaven because we believe in that, but I must teach you how we are to behave until we get there.

We went to a baseball game night before last (a first!) Nathan had a wonderful time and I got to sit and enjoy the game by myself for a bit while James took the kids to a bouncy house they had set up (you know the kind that you take your shoes off for.) When James and the kids returned, he told me about two incidents that happened while they were away. First, while James was dealing with Ava being a random shoe snatcher he turned to see Nathan with his pants around his feet and his shirt tucked under his chin and a steady stream of urine aflowin. James said it looked as though Nathan was trying to water as much grass as possible. Nathan was not behind a tree or under the bleachers. He was smack dab in the middle of 60+ onlookers. Some laughed. Some gasped. James said some mamas (of girls, I bet!) put their hands up to their mouths (like Nathan could reach up there!) James was embarrassed and let me tell you that my husband does not get that way very often. I do though. I keep a very, very close eye on these children and a close ear to what they are saying to keep from finding myself in sticky situations such as this. It would be very funny to me if some other woman's kid did it, but not mine. You see, I would have nipped it in the bud before the bud was exposed if you know what I mean.

The second incident involved Ava. She decided she was a bit thirsty while James was trying to explain to Nathan why it is not appropriate to pee just anytime, anywhere. Ava backed her cute little self up right into the lap of a very well endowed woman and pulled on that unsuspecting lady�s top to nurse. Yes, to nurse. Ava was denied access. James told me the lady told her, �Oh No. You can have some of my cotton candy, but you can�t have that!� I must confess that it hurt my feelings just a bit to discover that Ava doesn�t care where her milk comes from. I thought we had something special together!

Here is a picture taken about 2 hours before Nathan then I came down with a terrible tummy bug last weekend.