Hugs

If you can't tell by now, I love hugs. There is nothing better than coming home everyday and getting hugs from my kids.
A few years ago I was watching Oprah, I can't remember what the topic was, but there was this lady on the show, telling Oprah how much she loved her kids and how blessed she was to have them. She talked about how she loved to do their laundry and clean up after them. Now don't get me wrong, I love my kids more than life itself, but I still haven't gotten to the point where I love to do their laundry and clean up after them. Anyway, she went on to say that when her kids come home from school, she always goes up to them and gives them a hug. Then she said something I will never forget. She said, "Whenever I give my kids a hug, I never let go first. I will stand there and hug them until they let go of me." That was one of those "aha" moments, as Oprah would say. I decided that I was going to try it. Courtney was the first one home that day. I went up to her and gave her a big hug, and I didn't let go.......I think we stood there for about 3 minutes before she finally let go. As she walked away, my eyes filled with tears and I wondered how many times I had just given her a quick hug and walked away thinking about all the things I had to do that day. Now, whenever I get the chance, I hug my kids and I never let go first. Sometimes we stand there for 2-3 minutes and sometimes they just give me a quick hug and walk away. I just take what I get and hope they never get tired of hugging me!

Katie

Katie, my baby, just turned 13. She is the most loving, kind-hearted child you could ever ask for. She is always the first to give me a hug after a long day and she is always showing concern for everyone. Katie is amazing on the soccer field, she will get the ball and barrel through six players and then pass it off to the forwards! She is unstoppable! She has even scored a few goals from the half line. Katie has always had more ‘boy’ friends than ‘girl’ friends. She just can’t stand all the drama that goes along with having a lot of friends that are girls. Now that she is in junior high, the number has practically tripled. Every Friday she walks home with a group of 7-8 boys who always stop in to say ‘hi’ and grab a soda.

Courtney

Courtney is my middle child, she just turned 15. UGH! This whole driving thing is going to be the death of me. To let a 15 year old behind the wheel without ever stepping foot into a Drivers Ed class, I don’t know what they were thinking when they passed that law! Anyway, Courtney is my fun loving, beautiful little red head. She loves to make people laugh, just like her dad. She will come up with the most outrageously funny things and have us all rolling. Her favorite color is ORANGE. I know........a red head wearing orange? Luckily she looks beautiful in any color that she wears. She is a wonderful soccer player, she loves texting, cooking, (when she has the time) and going to scary movies with her friends.

Tyler

Tyler is my oldest, he just turned 17. I know…….can you believe that I have a child that old? Tyler is a friendly, happy kid. He loves girls, soccer, snowboarding, WII, annoying his sisters and hanging out with his friends. He has a great sense of humor and is the first one to laugh at himself when he does something stupid, like throwing his brand new cell phone in the toilet........don’t ask! Tyler and I have always been very close; I was so worried that he would stop hugging me once he became a teenager, but even now he comes up to me at random times during the day and gives me hugs, I don’t think he will ever know how much that means to me.

My first blog!

Well, I finally did it. I am now an official blogger. I am not sure when I will have the time to actually sit down and post anything, but I am going to give it a try.

When I was little I kept a journal faithfully, I have too many to count. Every once in a while I go back and read them, it is fun to read what I thought about as a little girl, who my friends were and all the silly things my little sister and I used to do. I kept a journal until Katie was about 4, and then I just stopped. I guess life just got too hectic. Every time I think about it I feel horrible, so I don't think about it very often! Hopefully this will ease the guilt.