kindergarten bound

Today is my baby's first day of kindergarten! He was such a big boy... no fear, all excitement! Mommy has been anxious since last night. :) He did great settling into his room, jumping up in joy when he saw one of his buddies walk through the door. He yelled, "Ethan is in my class!" and gave me a high-five.

As I write this, he is probably making his way to the cafeteria to eat his lunch. Oh, how I wish I could see that. I can't wait to hear all about it when we pick him up!

Another attempt at getting everyone to look in the same direction at the same time with a somewhat pleasant look on their faces. No such luck. I apologize for the panty shot. However, it does remind me that Miss Elle started wearing big girl panties yesterday and has done a wonderful job! "Mommy, I gotta go potty!" is music to my ears.

Look at how much they have grown from Hayes' first day last year!

potty training in progress

eleven years

Senior Prom 1995

Still making me laugh after all these years.

Happy Anniversary to us.
Love you.

cookies & creme pudding pops

Hayes and I tackled Kraft Foods' Cookies & Creme Pudding Pops today. He had a blast because he was able to do each step of the recipe all by himself and... it involved chocolate. The boy will inhale a Hershey's chocolate bar in seconds, and I am not even kidding. I sure love our time in the kitchen.

Ingredients
1 pkg. (3.9 oz.) Jell-o chocolate instant pudding
2 cups cold milk
6 Oreos
1/2 cup thawed Cool-Whip

Pour pudding mix and milk in bowl and beat with whisk for 2 minutes.

Place oreos in resealable plastic bag; seal bag. Use a rolling pin to crush cookies.

Add Oreos and Cool-Whip to pudding. Stir just until blended.

Spoon into 8 small paper cups.

Insert a wooden popsicle stick into each for the handle.

Freeze 5 hours or until firm.

End Result:

happy camper

shiver me timbers!

ugh.

I have to admit. I'm having a hard time being a mommy right now. I feel defeated and worn down and don't feel like I'm making any progress. I'm so tired of being mean. I'm tired of no one listening to me. I'm tired of yelling at my kids. I'm tired of feeling like a single mom.

What really gets me is that there are these amazing moments with each of my kids... moments that remind me how blessed I am. Hayes picking a flower and placing it in my hair, Embry grabbing a book and snuggling up to read with me, Ellie just out of the blue saying, "I love you Mama."

Oh, but how quickly I forget when things don't go as they should.

Why can't those moments stick with me during the difficult times and help me to focus on the mother I long to be?

A mother who embodies the fruit of the Spirit.

It seems impossible really with our day to day battles but if I've learned anything, I know that nothing is impossible with God. So I am committing to spend the time to learn about each of these fruits. I pray that God will work on my character and that my children will see his work through my actions.

Galatians 5:22-23

22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.