Happy Mothers Day

“First, Lord: No tattoos. May neither Chinese symbol for truth nor Winnie-the-Pooh holding the FSU logo stain her tender haunches.

May she be Beautiful but not Damaged, for it’s the Damage that draws the creepy soccer coach’s eye, not the Beauty.

When the Crystal Meth is offered, May she remember the parents who cut her grapes in half And stick with Beer.

Guide her, protect her
When crossing the street, stepping onto boats, swimming in the ocean, swimming in pools, walking near pools, standing on the subway platform, crossing 86th Street, stepping off of boats, using mall restrooms, getting on and off escalators, driving on country roads while arguing, leaning on large windows, walking in parking lots, riding Ferris wheels, roller-coasters, log flumes, or anything called “Hell Drop,” “Tower of Torture,” or “The Death Spiral Rock ‘N Zero G Roll featuring Aerosmith,” and standing on any kind of balcony ever, anywhere, at any age.

Lead her away from Acting but not all the way to Finance. Something where she can make her own hours but still feel intellectually fulfilled and get outside sometimes And not have to wear high heels.
What would that be, Lord? Architecture? Midwifery? Golf course design? I’m asking You, because if I knew, I’d be doing it, Youdammit.

May she play the Drums to the fiery rhythm of her Own Heart with the sinewy strength of her Own Arms, so she need Not Lie With Drummers.

Grant her a Rough Patch from twelve to seventeen. Let her draw horses and be interested in Barbies for much too long, For childhood is short – a Tiger Flower blooming Magenta for one day – And adulthood is long and dry-humping in cars will wait.

O Lord, break the Internet forever, That she may be spared the misspelled invective of her peers And the online marketing campaign for Rape Hostel V: Girls Just Wanna Get Stabbed.
And when she one day turns on me and calls me a Bitch in front of Hollister, Give me the strength, Lord, to yank her directly into a cab in front of her friends, For I will not have that Shit. I will not have it.

And should she choose to be a Mother one day, be my eyes, Lord, that I may see her, lying on a blanket on the floor at 4:50 A.M., all-at-once exhausted, bored, and in love with the little creature whose poop is leaking up its back.

“My mother did this for me once,” she will realize as she cleans feces off her baby’s neck. “My mother did this for me.” And the delayed gratitude will wash over her as it does each generation and she will make a Mental Note to call me. And she will forget. But I’ll know, because I peeped it with Your God eyes.”

- TINA FEY- BOSSY PANTS 

SO Deserving

One of my girlfriends from high school had the most amazing thing happen to her the other day. This is so inspiring and amazing to me! There really are some beautiful women in this world!

http://benseyleb.blogspot.com/2012/03/defending-silver-lining-part-2.html

Congratulations and good luck, Miss Andrea. You are so very deserving of all of the love that is pouring over you!

Hi...

Yep, I'm still here... Still hangin on.

"May the blessed badass that dwells within you deliver when you need her most. Amen." ~ Kelle Hampton

Yep, I am still here and my blessed badass is about to break free and do some cartwheels... She's comin, you just wait!! 

Until then, check out the most beautiful little girls in my life!!

Sister knows how to get her silly on

This, right here, is her "scary face"

Sister also knows how to get her sassy on 

And she is always a beauty

Who??? Me??? 

She looks like such a BIG girl!!

We can't forget the REESER!! 

Hey, Hey YOU!! That's my bahbah mook!! 

Ummm... I don't understand??!! You want me to what, Aunt Lo??

Dear, Chris...

Why did you do this to me? How could you leave me and all of your other family and friends here wondering why?

You promised me you would never hurt me again. You promised that you would never let anyone hurt me they way you did again but, it is so much worse this time. You ripped my heart right out of my chest and stomped on it.

I think of you every week, every day, sometimes every minute. It hurts so, so, very badly. On top of everything, you took away letting me and everyone else say goodbye. You were there on the other end of the phone one day and the next week you were just gone... I never got to see you again... I never got to tell you how much you meant to me. You saved my life and then took your own.

"You're worth it, Lori Beth, you are so worth it. This world would be much less without you in it," you said...

Well, you were worth it too, Chis. You were so very worth it... And this world hurts without you in it. It hurts...

My Boys

The O-Man and T-Turner had a sleep over with us last weekend.  Pretty sure they had a blast!  We sure did!!

First we went to the movies to see "Happy Feet 2" It was absolutely A-D-O-R-A-B-L-E!!!  Owie was dancing in his seat when the baby penguins sang "Sexy Back" Both he and T were totally captivated.  I definitely recommend seeing it!

After some Happy Feet we took them to Buffalo Wild Wings.  Owen tried wings for the first time and loved them.  It's a good thing I got the 12 piece, like a fat kid, cause he ate half of mine!  That's alright, what are Aunts for if not for sharing their plate with you, right?

When we got home Nick, and Rob were both out with their leaf blowers so Ben broke out the rake, I broke out the Canon and O and T decided to do some leaf pile cannon balls.

Mr. Owen had to have a photo op with Yoshi.  I forget how little and sweet he is sometimes until I see a photograph like this.  He can be such a little cuddle bug!

Joce came out to play with us for awhile and I am pretty sure T has developed his first crush...  She is a super cutie.  The kids got taste!

After some major leaf playing we decided to take a break for some "Supah Ninjas," and I got some help from one heck of a little helper who informed me that "Mommy always has lemonade!" (Bad Auntie, no lemonade ready for the littles!)  He forgave me quickly, thankfully.

After some lemonade and coats it was back outside to go exploring, "Like Christopher Columbus" That Owen is such a smart little cookie!  We may not have an ocean and a boat but we certainly have the back yard and woods for exploring.  It was short lived though;  They all three came marching back into the house with puppies in tow.  Puppies who had decided to roll in poop.  Not poop scent... Full on POOP!  They smelled soooooo bad.  So the boys got to watch while Uncle Ben gave the puppies a bath!

After our much needed break time we took a little visit to Richard & Ashley's for some early Turkey Day festivities.  The boys had fun playing with all of the kids and we got to visit with Cousin Brenda.  It was one packed house but it was a fun time.

By the time we got back to the house the boys were getting pretty sleepy but they took a little time to play some video games and play on Uncle Ben's keyboard before Owen, all on his own, said, "I'm ready for bed, Aunt Lori."  Of course, Turner decided he was sleep too, since brother was.  (He's in that I have to do whatever brother does phase.  It's pretty darn cute.)

At 6:15 am I awoke to a three year old in my hallway yelling, "I want pancakes!!"  Gotta love kids and their inner alarm clocks!  Waffles did the trick and boy can those boys pack them away.  We started with a pack of 16 waffles, I had two and there were none left by the end of the morning...  Either Uncle Ben had a serious appetite or he had some help!  I am pretty sure it was the latter.

All in all it was a great night.  Only a few kinks... When Turner realized that Aunt Lori did not have Rocket Ship jammers for him, like Grandma Connie or When he fell off of a bar stool and, of course, face planted into the wood floor.  ( I swear that kid is not going to have any teeth by the time he is four. He's top heavy I tell ya!!)

They were ready when MaMa came to pick them up but I am sure they had lots of stories to tell her about their first sleep over and Aunt Lori and Uncle Ben's new house!

It is Better To Be Hated For What You Are Not, Than To Be Loved For What You Are Not

"It is better to be hated for what you are not, than to be loved for what you are not."            - Source Unknown

I noticed this quote while surfing the net tonight and it really caught my attention. I have heard before that there are sometimes those quotes that just really sum up your life in one swift line. I had not before had a quote hit that close to me but, this one really smacked me in the face and said, "Hey, wake up!" I began to ask myself so many questions.

• What happened to the person you once were? 
• Where has she been for so long? 
• When is she coming back?"

I scoured the cybersphere (Is that a word? Whatever, I just made it up... I can do that...) for where this quote originally came from and who wrote or said it but I just kept finding site after site where some blogger spewed it out as if they just came up with it without giving the name of who actually said it.  Below is my favorite version of everything I found.

To give whatever credit is due THIS is the link to the site that I copied this version from.

“Be yourself. People may or may not like you, but it’s important that you stay true to who you are.”

Staying true to who you are means going right whenever everyone else goes left, it means leaving a place because you aren’t comfortable while everyone else stays, it means not wearing the same masks that everyone else wears, and showing your face, showing who you really are, while everyone else would rather wear the same masks in order to fit in. Not everyone will like you when you are yourself, but those that do will genuinely like you.

Not only will people like you, but they will like you for who you truly are and everything will come so much more easier. Follow your own intuition, and follow what your heart says at all times, no matter what position you will be put in doing so. It is better to suffer being who you are than it is to suffer trying to be someone that you are not. As soon as you discover who you really are, take advantage of this knowledge of yourself and follow your heart!

WOW! There it is. So simply put. I am just speechless... I am sure I have so much more to say on this, I just can convey in words what it means to me. It is like a... much more poignant... version of myself wrote these words. They embody absolutely everything I believe strait to my core.


Now, I ask myself... 

"Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?" 

And I have a lot of soul searching to do...  

The Luckiest

Ben and I have been blessed to have four of the most beautiful nephews and nieces anyone could ask for. They are amazing, adorable, sweet, smart and we absolutely adore them!

The other night we were having a bon fire at my parent's house and T fell asleep in Ben's arms. It was the sweetest thing ever. Ben was so good with him as he covered him up with a big comfy afghan. Later he carried him into mom and dad's room and laid him on their bed. I really wish I had my camera; he looked like a little burrito baby!

Then the other night we were at his brothers house and Reese was cracking up laughing in the cute little baby laugh way and Ben looked at me and suddenly burst out, "I so can not wait until we have one of our own!"

Not that I didn't know that he wanted kids and not that we have not throughly discussed and planned everything out to an OCD extreme but I have never heard him blurt that out with such pride. He was so excited at the thought of having a little of our own and it really made me smile. I am so excited to start our little family (or big family the way we are thinking). We shall see! Until then we will soak up all we can get of these four little beauties. Cheers to babies in 2012-2013!!