Love is in the air!

Today is my mom and step-dad's anniversary. Normally, I am remarkable with dates, times, etc, but for the life of me, today I can not remember if it is 14 or 15 years of wedded bliss.! Oh well, which ever year it is, they are happy and in love!

I remember the day that my mom introduced me to Beano (that's my nickname for him). He took us to a local restaurant back home and introduced me to fried ice cream. From then on, he was A-ok in my book! In all seriousness though, I could see just in that meeting that he treated my mom in a way that I had never before seen a man treat a woman. He had the utmost respect for her and it seemed to pour out of him. I could tell by the look in his eye that he was a sincere and honest man. He treated her right and that was all I could ask for. As for mom, she was smitten like a kitten for him. It was so nice to see her happy. Being loved the way she was suppose to be loved.

Throughout the years, they have grown even more in love. They truly are each others best friends and companions. Bob has been my mom's rock throughout all of her health struggles. He is constantly there with her, no matter what.

Their relationship is something that I strive to replicate with Dave. I do see that same look in Dave's eye. I know he loves me with all of his heart. We have our struggles, yet, each one ends up bringing us closer together as a couple. :)

Someone has found Victoria's Secret...

Happy Day Late Mother's Day to all my mama friends out there! Hope you all had a fantastic weekend with your kiddos, grandkiddos, or your mamas! My weekend was pretty much perfection! Saturday, my honey took me to get a bike for my Mother's Day gift. I was SOOO excited. After our purchase we hurried home and went on a 33 mile ride. Needless to say, my bum hurts a bit and I have pink shoulders from the sun. It was such a great day! Yesterday, we all went to church and spent the afternoon with Dave's family. It was nice a relaxing. Other than my crabby kiddo, it was great! (Aren't children suppose to be on their best behavior for Mother's Day?? If so, my child DID NOT get the memo!)


Moving on the the title of today's post....Soooooo, I received a Victoria's Secret magazine on Friday and left it sitting on the coffee table after perusing the clothes. Lets fast forward a bit...Saturday morning, I walk in and see Lane checking it out. Then, he again asked yesterday to look at it too. This time I told him no and tried to direct him to one of his books that he could read to me. A few minutes later, I looked over and there he was, looking at it again. Is this something I should be concerned about? I understand that that time will come, but for goodness sakes, the child is only 6! I don't think he was looking at them for the reason that most men would look at them, but it was still a little weird to see. Dave and I decided that I should probably refrain from keeping any other magazines around.

Oh the joys of motherhood!!

Happy Monday!!

Wedding prep + girl time = GREAT NIGHT

Last night my MOH, Teresa came over for a night of wedding duties. I must say, she has been quite exceptional on this whole MOH thing. For that, I am thankful. On our list was cutting out, gluing and assembling all of the little lamp shades that will be used on top of wine glasses. In total, we traced, cut out and glued 50 shades. It was slightly time consuming. Yet, the time seemed to fly as we jabbered about anything and everything and sometimes, nothing at all. I was the tracer and cutter. Teresa was the gluer and assembler. We make a pretty good team :)

Tomorrow we are all meeting for breakfast for a special weekend get together. I can't wait for the kiddos to play and for all of us to spend our morning relaxing over coffee and pancakes. Special times, creating memories. Sounds perfect to me. :)

Happy weekend everyone!! What are your plans? Please share with me! I would love to hear!

The Good Old Days...

Last night I attempted to make a big stride in my parenting career. I was going to allow Lane to play out in front of our house WITHOUT me present. I was going to allow him some freedom to play independently without the ever watching eye of mom. It surprised me though that he quickly responded with, "No Mom. If I were out there by myself, someone would take me." Though I felt good about the idea that he was conscious of things like these, I was saddened that my 6-year-old has to worry about the threat of others. When I was a kid, our only rule seemed to be that when the street lights came on, our day of playing concluded. We also had to be within a short enough distance to hear mom or dad call us in for dinner. It seems like times like those are gone forever. As a kid, the fear of strangers never crossed my mind. Today, kids have to be weary of so much more. Parks, shopping malls, grocery stores, schools...these are all places where predators can hide. I am glad Lane knows the importance of being aware of his surroundings and who he is with, but I still feel that he is cheated out of parts of his childhood.

Though I know the time will come when Lane finally does break away from the nest a bit. I can't help but be totally ok with the idea that he still likes to stay under his mama's wing.

America the Beautiful

I'm sure most of you have heard by now, the news of U.S military forces capturing and killing the #1 sought after terrorist, Osama Bin Laden. Last night I was stirred from my sleep as the news broke into normal programming. The idea that we actually, after almost 10 years, caught him was unimaginable. I think all of us can recall where we were on September 11, 2001. I was living at my parents house, getting ready for work when I heard Katie Couric state that a plane had just crashed into the World Trade Center. I think many Americans were in a sense of shock, unable to grasp the seriousness of the situation. The day played out like a bad dream. No matter how badly we tried, we couldn't wake up to our previous reality. A reality that, from that day forward, would no longer be.

Today, with the news of Bin Laden's demise, we again will begin a new reality. Though the change will be slow, I think that we have gained back some of our swagger. America truly is a country like none other. Our pride and passion for our country shines from every city. It is on historic days like today, that we are reminded how incredibly lucky we are to live in a country that fights for what is right.

God Bless America!

station wagon memories

It's funny how life's memories pop into our heads at the least expected times of our lives. It's like they are friendly reminders of where we came from. Yesterday was my day for a trip down memory lane. With the hopes of today's weather FINALLY being normal, I found myself being transported back in time to the days when my family and I would pile into my mom's old station wagon. The ones with the way way back..you know where the seat faces the opposite direction. Dad would always roll down the window creating a funnel of wind. My brother and I would laugh as our hair blew this way and that, struggling to hear each other over the breeze and our giggles. My sister would sit in the back seat, annoyed at our squirming. Though, I suspect she secretly loved these times too. Mom and Dad would be up front, navigating the way. We would tell jokes and stories, filling the car with laughter. I think the best part was that we had no where in particular to go. We just drove. Though I must note the one trip we took where my brother and I were in the back seat just enjoying the ride when he suddenly tapped me on my shoulder making weird hand gestures. Me being me, I thought he was playing some sort of game. NOPE! He then proceeded to throw up all over the backseat. Awesome!

Those are the moments (excluding Dave's vomit episode) that are etched in my memory making me love and appreciate my family even more. I can't wait until Lane is grown and has memories of his own(hopefully good ones!)

Singin' kiddos=lots of laughs

Last night was Lane's very first school program. It was my first real school function where I was mom, gawking at my kiddo! Lane was excited to sing and I was excited to gawk :) It too, was Dave's first parenting function. He was a bit overwhelmed to say the least. Kids from k-2nd grade all in one room. Noise. LOTS OF NOISE met us as we entered the auditorium. We quickly got our kiddo situated with his class and rushed to find a seat. I was so stinkin' excited that I could hardly contain myself! My boy is growing up and he's growing into a mighty fine boy at that!

The show began with the kindergartners. WHOLLY CUTENESS! Our Bubba was front and center in the front row! I was a proud mama bear! He was trying so hard to keep his cool, to not let us see him smile. You know how it goes, kids can't show their love for their parents in front of the other kids. It's that kid code that can't be broken. We did, however, get a slight wave of recognition. Guess we will take what we can get!

The show went on without a hitch. I even found myself singing along to The Muffin Man, Miss Mary Mac and Skip to My Lou. Oh the memories of childhood! I loved every moment of it and can't wait for more to come!

On a side note...since Lane has so many nicknames, he has decided to change his name to
Lane Bubba Tater Chowderhead Tuve. Just an FYI if anyone sees him soon! :)

Happy Wednesday!