As parents, one of the things we have tried to instill in raising our children is NO Quitting Allowed!
From the time the boys signed up for Soccer at the age of 3, till the time they were 14 playing in the last years of our BYA we said “Once you sign up, You finish the season, You don’t get to skip practices or games, even when something fun has come up, cause you are part of a team. And you can not and will not let your team down.” Now trust me, there were many times between the 3 kiddos, that I was fed up or tired of certain situations, that quitting seemed like the best and easiest thing to do, but Trav and I would have a nice, loving discussion (HEEHEE) and agree that if we let them quit now, it will show the kids that when things or people, coaches, team mates get tough or annoying, that they can just quit. This carries on to their daily life. In School, relationships, sports, jobs etc… And we don’t want our kiddos to struggle with any of those things.
The great thing is my fellas are 15 now, and their freshmen year is almost over. And because Trav and I have pushed them to be their best, to give it 110% and never to quit even if they were not very good, they finally have that confidence to be pretty decent in all they do. From making straight A’s to running Cross Country and Track on the Varsity team, and playing basketball. They know that hard work and dedication pays off.
But, have you ever heard the saying, of practice what you preach?! Yeah, I don’t like that saying at all.
If you follow me on Facebook, than you have heard me whining about gaining some weight back.
My sweet innocent daughter informed me recently that my tummy was getting big again, and that I need to get back to working out and counting points.
You see I quit being good and working hard. I know what it takes to lose the weight and keep it off. I know how hard I worked for it. But, once I did not see the pds coming off as easy as they were, and once I could come up with an excuse of why I cant work out alone, I just said “Oh well, I quit!”
Not even thinking of the example I was showing my kids.
Makes me stop and think, if I quit now, and go back into my bad habits, than what right do I really have to tell my kids, that once they stopped seeing improvement they too can quit what they have worked so hard to accomplish this far. No, being a parent does not make you exempt from being a quitter.
Just a little something to share with my fellow parents..
See ya at the track!
Dear Children...
I would like to give you written notice on Reminders, Warnings and Promises of the things I will be doing or have done.
Reminders!
I will always be the mom with the camera in my hand making you smile and pose, so just suck it up, and get it over with.
Yes, I love babies. They love me back. If I have a goofy smile, it is because I just saw a baby. And NO this does not make me creepy.
I don’t care if you are 21 and grown and taller than me, this 5’3 lady can still bend you over my knee. Or pinch you under the arm.
You can never convince me that you are not the best at something. So, if you don’t want me to go off on you, than don’t put yourself down in front of me.
When someone is being ugly to you, and you are telling me all about it, I may be smiling and understanding on the outside, but trust me the momma bear on the inside is ready to bring out the claws.
Yes, you have favor with me, yes I think you are perfect and the most prettiest and handsome kids ever, I have no idea what everyone else’s problem is that don’t see it too.
Warnings!
See first thru six bullets in Reminders, that will never change..
Yes, I will be the annoying mom that attends all your games and ceremonies with my camera.. AND will be that grandma that goes to every sporting event, recital and award ceremony with my camera.
Yes, I can be the mother in law from hell to your spouse, But as long as you are happy, and are loved, I promise to be the best mother in law ever.
Yes, I will babysit your children, I won’t have to go far since I will be living with you. (lol)
Yes, I will still make Sunday dinner for you to come over and visit me,
You can never be too old to make me a home made card. EVER!
I love the Holidays, but I will never make you feel stressed out or left out, if you cannot see me on that day.
Honesty is my Best Policy
Promises!
I am MOM and I love you! That will never change.
My door and ear is always open.
Honesty is my Best Policy..
I will always be your biggest fan and cheerleader!
Love Always
Mom
Dearest My Ciera Nichole...
As Mother’s day is around the corner, I can’t help but think of the last 16 years as being your mom.
It has been a while that I don’t see you as that scrawny, 6 year old, clingy, chatty little girl.
We had to learn together how to make this crazy thing we call life work. But, because we both had big hearts and lots of love we made it work.
I watched you grow from being the only child, to being over taken with twin baby bubbas, that you adored and could not get enough of. You let them crawl all over you, and sneak into your bed in the middle of the night, and never complained. I admit, I was worried when we found out we were having Jazzy, cause I did not want you to not like her. But was tickled when you fell madly in love with her, and did not complain too much when she wanted to be under your feet 24/7. The fact that she acts and looks just like you makes me laugh. It’s like I am getting to raise you all over again. LORD HELP ME!!!
Than came the teen years and high school. Those were brutal, but I sure enjoyed watching you cheer and dance on those Friday Nights, and kind of enjoyed watching you grow to realize what friendship and boys were all about.
Ohhh, but I have to admit the years after high school were the ones that I learned that being on my knees praying, crying and begging God to be with you all the time were tough times. I knew you had to spread your wings and fly, I knew you had to be on your own, and date, and party, and get heart broken a few times. Yes, I butted in a few times, to warn you of certain people and their intention, and there were a couple of “I told you so” moments, but I knew that watching you Go thru tough times would be the only way for you to learn from your own mistakes and the ones of the people you cared about. So many sleepless nights of wondering if you were ok, if you were going to make it. Those times, were brutal on your momma’s heart.
But Ciera, look at you now.. I was jumping for joy when you came back home and decided it was time for college. And now you made it thru your first class, and you passed with flying colors. While working a full time job. I am just so proud of you..
And I will even admit that this fella who has stole your heart, and put that twinkle back in your eyes, has made me realize that maybe you have a clue of what you want in life.
I know that I have not been perfect. I know that I have been tough on you, and have pushed you.
But, I see you now, and it is nice to see that you finally believe in yourself, and you finally see that you deserve only the best. And you deserve to be happy and loved.
Your dad and I have always known what you were capable of. We always believed in you. And yes many days of being grounded and us showing frustration was part of that.
But, yesterday when you were my date to the boys’ banquet. And hearing you lecture your brothers, and going off on them about how they treat me.
Seeing you about to jump out of your seat to smack Aaron, when he was acting like he was raising his voice at me.
That moment right there melted my heart..
Thank you Ciera, for 16 wonderful years of being my daughter.
I love you more than you could even imagine..
Now, about those grandbabies…. =0)
Love Always
Mom
So, if you follow me on Face book, than you know that I was super excited about something last night. I got many text and emails about what I was so excited about. So, since I blog, I figured this was the best way to tell everyone about the great news.
As you all know, my boys are going to their very first mission trip this summer with our youth group. They are going to Canada. They are so excited, but momma here was thinking “No Freaking Way!” I had other family members telling me that I was crazy for letting them go. And to be honest, I had decided nope they are not going. Well, I attended a meeting and heard about the cost and who all was going, and I thought well I will pray about it. So that evening, I talked with God, and told him, that if this is what he wants the boys to do, than to give me complete peace, and have things line up perfectly for them to go. Two weeks later, the boys got their passports in the mail, and a family member wrote them a check to help cover the cost for spending money. And I was at complete peace, no fear of them going away to CANADA!.
The church held an auction, and they raised quite a bit of money to help pay for each youth member going. We were quite excited of the turn out and the generosity of our church members who were very giving. And Pastor Robert kept saying that he knew God was going to take care of it. So we put our faith with his, and just sat back to wait.
Yesterday, I stayed home with a nasty headache. I got a call from the Youth Pastor, telling me how much money each youth member got, and how much was due. Having two boys going, let’s just say we were looking at over 800 bucks to come up with in about 2 months. He told me that half was due this month, and the rest was due in June. I will admit, I thought to myself, there is just no way. But I told him, ok, we will figure it out. I got off the phone, and I shook my head, and thought, ok, so if we don’t pay this on time, and if I work some extra hours, and get Trav to work some over time, than maybe we can pull it off. And than I thought Nope, I am going to stand on my faith. So I talked to God again. I told him, ok Lord, you gave me peace, and you told me this is what you want the twins to do, so you know how much is needed, so take care of it. And that was it.
I took a nap, and went upon my daily business. Travis calls to check on me during his break. I told him how much was needed and what was due. And he said ok, well we will see how to make it happen, he went back to work. He and I never talked about it again.. After Jasmine’s game last night about 8:30pm I get a phone call from our youth Pastor’s wife, and she tells me that they got a phone call from someone, who is paying for the rest of our boys trip. I was like are you serious?! She laughed and said YES! SO guess what!? Our Twins are going to Canada! God is good!
And to the person who paid for our boys! Thank you, for sowing some great seed into our children. Trav and I pray blessings overflow you and your home above and beyond what you can imagine!!
