Day 7... Cox Radio

I am thankful for my job at Cox Radio.  I work with a talented group of people and have made some great friendships not only with my co-workers but clients too!  Everyday is something different, I get to be creative in helping my clients achieve their goals.

I have great bosses you understand my number one job will always be being a mom and have created a family friendly environment where that is possible!

Day 6... Friends

Day 6

I am so very thankful for my friends.  They are an amazing group of women.  Together we laugh, cry, laugh because we want to cry, encourage, support and occasionally drink :)! They are there for me at the drop of a hat and I will forever be greatful for their friendship.  Life gets busy and we dont talk everyday but they are forever in my heart.

And although they may not be "Aunts" to my girls I feel so blessed that Peyton and Lauren have them as role models in their lives.

Much love to these very special women....

Day 5... Sisters

Day 5

Today I am thankful for sisters! You can love and hate each other (sometimes all in the same day) but nothing will ever break a bond between sisters.  Sisters also make awesome Aunts, which I am thankful for as well...

I love the sisterhood my girls have.  They love and protect each other and dont think for one minute that when they are both involved that one will rat the other one out.  Lauren thinks Peyton hung the moon and while Peyton probably wont admit it right now she's pretty proud of Lauren too.

Day 4... Giggles

Day 4

Today I am thankful for little girl giggles!  I woke up to the sound of the girls laughing while they were upstairs playing together.  I know as they get older these days will not always happen so for now I will cherish being woken up to the sound of high-pitch little girl giggles!! 

Here is an old picture of Lauren that always makes me smile, she was full of giggles!

Day 3...

Day 3

Today I am thankful for beautiful Fall Saturdays!  We took advantage of the amazing weather to ride bikes, play at the park, feed the fish in the neighborhood pond and of course play a little soccer!

PS... I am also thankful to set the clocks back tonight! I can use all the extra hours I can get!!!!

Day 2...

We all know being 12 and in Middle School can be tough!  Those are definitley days I never want to do again.  So nothing makes this mom happier than to get a text from my girl saying this was an AWESOME DAY! 

So today I am thankful for AWESOME DAYS for this sweet girl!

The Month of Thanks

This post will be very short and sweet!  Today is November 1st, which means its the first day of the month of giving thanks.

Today I am thankful for these 3 people!  They are my entire world, and there are not enough words to describe how much I love them!!

Where did my babies go...

Without a doubt this day comes every year rather I'm ready for it or not.  The 1st day of school, such an exciting day for my girls but a hard day on this momma.  We have our traditions of back to school shopping, getting our supplies and of course the dilemas over what lunch box and back pack we get and do they match!  We also eat out the night before school, I say its so we aren't rushed in getting all of our stuff ready but really its just a great reason not to cook!

 So here we are August 16, 2012 and I now have a 2nd grader and a (pause as I am still getting used to saying this) 7th grader who is in Middle School.  As I took their pictures this morning I still see their sweet little faces from their Pre-K pictures. This will be a great year for both of them, full of new friends and experiences.  I just wish I could be with them to proctect and help them if needed.  I just have to remember that I am rasing strong, smart girls and even though I still see them as little they are growing up.

So as we start another school year and I look back on how they have grown and look forward to watching them grow even more my wish for them is to always believe in yourself and do what you know is right!

I love you sweet girls and everyday you make me so proud to be your mom!

And PS, just beware if anyone messes with my babies this Momma Bear will come out :)

It's Official....

OK, no surprise to anyone but I am a cheer mom! I start stressing the week of a competition, I have all the faith in the world of Peyton and her team I just want everyone else to know how great they are as well!

This weekends competition was no different, we packed all our shouter gear and headed to Kansas City. I woke up Saturday with the knot in my stomach and just kept saying we can do this, our girls know this routine inside and out. I get Peyton ready and make sure everything is perfect. I promise her eventually her head will stop hurting from all the bobby pins I jab into her skull, apply all the make up and give her hair one final spray of hair glue. All while never telling her how nervous I am. We get to the arena and meet up with her team, I give her one last hug and wish her good luck!

Then the waiting begins, I have my program and start taking notes. I apologize now to all the moms on other teams that I secretly am hoping for your daughters team to bobble or drop a stunt (I do not wish your child to get hurt, just loose a couple of points). Then they announce Twist and Shout Youth on deck, here it comes we are next. How embarrassed would Steve be if I just threw up right here? Now we're up, I try to sit still, but that does not happen. I'm up cheering, clapping and holding my breath. It literally is the longest 2:30 minutes and we have to do it all again tomorrow!

Day 2 starts the same, we are going into the finals in 1st place! All the parents sit in the exact section as yesterday, and almost in the same order. We decide today to go sit in the parents area when the girls perform. We didn't yesterday so of course we are hoping that doesn't jinx anything. I'm so glad I did because the routine was awesome and at one point I was able to make eye contact with Pey and give her a look of you've got this!

Now we wait for awards, will have to update later on that...

I've decided that it's OK that I'm a little crazy with this competive thing, I call it a sign of how much I love my kids and how awesome I think they are!

My saving grace is that the girls are like Steve and never crack under pressure!!

So if you ever find me passed out from holding my breath during their routines, it's OK just throw some glitter on me and keep cheering!!
Karen

She's an Earle what do you expect!!

I wish I had a picture from this because I'm sure it was a sight to be seen!

Last Wednesday was a beautiful night so we decided to end our day by heading to the park. We ended up in our neighbors driveway talking and the kids were playing. Well Lauren decided to play basketball, nothing real exciting about that right??

Here's where it gets comical :) she asked me to play, ok for those of you who know me I might be missing a few requirements for being a basketball star. But we played anyway. She was having so much fun and actually scored once that I didn't have the heart to tell her that 1. She was using a soccer ball not a basketball and 2. and when you score it's not called a goal!

Oh well she's an Earle and speaks the Earle native language of soccer!!!

Have a great weekend
Karen

Follow your own Trail!

So many times as parents I think we get so caught up in the day-to-day stuff," the parent guilt", and making sure we are living our lives to the format we "think" we are supposed to live that we forget it's OK to make your own trail!

 Lauren reminded me of this recently as she crawled onto my lap to thank me for giving her the best day.  To me it was just a day but not to her.  Want to know why this is the best day ever she asked?  Because we went to BBD for breakfast, I have a wiggly tooth, I get to spend the night with Nanny and Pop-Pops and Peyton gave me her old I-Touch and now it's mine!

So as you are juggling and re-juggling your schedule to make everything work (which magically it always does) remember to take the time to live life on the same level as your child.  I have to stop and remind myself that the girls dont really care  if the house is spotless, if all the laundry is put away or the beds are made. What they do care about is that on a beautiful Sunday afternoon I said who cares about the house, let's go on a hike (which, of course we got lost, but I reminded them we were not lost we were on our on trail!)

Walk on the trail that is best for you and your family, it's amazing that without even trying you can make memories that will last forever!

Have a great Monday...
Karen

My favorite month...

For many reasons February is my favorite month. January to me is cold and gray and a reminder that the beauty and magic of Christmas is over. I'm a warm weather girl and so by February I'm done with cold weather, I do like coats but really prefer just to collect them! February means warm weather is near, store windows are full of bright clothes, we start planning our family vacation and the girls start counting down to Spring Break and the end of school.

Yes February is the month of love, but shouldn't we be showing love and appreciation everyday?

So whatever your favorite day/ month is celebrate it big, but don't forget to celebrate all the other days as well...

Karen

If we could only keep them in a bubble...

As parents we never want our children to be upset or feel defeated, especially after they have given everything they have inside to something they love so much. This weekend Peyton had a cheer competition and what started out so perfect ended with many tears. It was one of those moments that as a mom I wanted time to freeze and rewind but unfortunately there are not mommy powers that allow us to do that. Instead I just had to watch and somehow figure out how to make it be OK. As soon as I finally got to her and we made eye contact, the tears started for both of us and I wrapped my arms around her as fast as I could (sweet Lauren just stood there holding onto both of us). Why, is all she kept saying, we had it going into today, why did it fall apart? I let her just cry for a few minutes, then I did my best to say something to make it better, but I know her she did not want to hear any of my momisms at that moment, she wanted out of that building. I grabbed her back pack and out the door we went hand in hand. Her dad and I told her that yes what happened sucked, and we know she is hurting but how she handles it from this point on is what matters. It did take her awhile to stop crying, but as we drove in silence (Lauren still holding Peyton's hand), she slowly stopped crying and started talking about the things that did go right.

My sweet Pey, you are such an amazing girl and I am so proud of of you! Life isn't always fair, and we don't always know why. One thing I do know is that you are loved so very much and as much as I wish I could make every day perfect for you, I know I cannot but after seeing you pull yourself back together today it just proved how strong you are and how well you can handle life's obstacles!

But I still wish I could just keep them in a bubble....
Karen