Top Ten Tuesday

10 things that make me smile today:

1. Summer is almost here and my kids will be done with another busy, crazy school year.
2. Finding our little dog, Fiona on our very tall bed (I still don't know how she got there).
3. Spending time with rescued horses (feeding, mucking, and applying ointment).
4. Hearing the new ring tone I have for all my crazy girlfriends (of course, we rule the world).
5. Iced tea with lemon and splenda (almost as good as southern sweet tea).
6. Talking to my handsome husband on the phone (sometimes when I see him walk towards me like at one the kid's events and he's meeting me there, I get butterflies).
7. ALL the clean laundry in piles all over the house waiting to be folded (yes, this is on the right list).
8. Finding out who wins DWTS tonight.
9. The kids coming in after school and breaking the silence.
10. My SIL's latest text message and accompanying picture!

Camping with the Pico Family

The kids live on hot chocolate when we camp. Freckles joins us in the tent every night on our camping trips. You should see the tent when we go to bed. Cam, Charlie, and I on the blow up mattress (Freckles ends up there too). Annie and Belle in their bags on the ground. It takes hours to settle down. We talk and laugh until we fall asleep exhausted.

Breakfast anyone? I'm not saying anything about the hat. It speaks for itself!

The big question here is: why would Cam take a picture of my backside? Really? I mean it takes up the whole picture. We need to work on his photography skills.

These family memories are the ones that the kids will hopefully remember forever. Right after this picture was taken I'm sure someone poked someone with a hot clothes hanger we use for s'mores and then the fun ended.

Hubs loves to camp and the kiddos do, also. Love might be a strong word when it comes to camping and this mama. It's a lot of work to get there and get home, but everything in between is worth it. I love the campfires. I love the ability to do nothing while camping, but most of all I love how much fun we have as a family.

And don't forget: "Everything tastes better when you camp!"

They Call Me Mom

These 3 monkeys are why I get the honor of calling myself Mom. It's the best job I have ever had and frankly, the hardest. I told Cam recently that the kiddos are my best accomplishments in my life.

When I was little I used to play house and school. There was never a time in my life when I thought about not having kids. This is what I was created for: to love, to nurture, to teach, to play, and to be a part of something bigger than myself.

I became a mother the minute I found out I was prego with Annie (ready or not). I was young, a little stupid, and a lot idealistic. No bottles, no "pacies", no nipple confusion (give me a break), no sugar, etc. You get the picture. I remember telling my dad that I wasn't going to change my life and that she would fit into our life and schedule. I think he laughed out loud. I've never been more wrong about anything in my life. The night she was born I changed everything to fit into HER life, needs, wants, whims! I made a lot of mistakes with her as a first-time mom. I'm surprised she turned out, but we didn't kill her and it was an awesome journey, so we decided to do it, again.

One miscarriage and 6 months later, I was going to be a mom for the 2nd time. Truth be told, I was afraid. Afraid that I couldn't love another baby as much as I loved Annie. I was wrong, again! The day Belle was born was one of the BEST days of my life and once again another child would call me "mom". She got a "pacie" and a bottle and never experienced "nipple confusion". She nursed for 17 months :)

And then I found out I would be a mom to a son. A son who would take a piece of my heart the minute he was born. A 3rd person on the face of the earth would call ME "mom" although I never thought he would talk, so it took 2 yrs to hear that word leave his mouth.

I take my role as their mom very seriously. A role that I am honored and grateful to fulfill every day. A role that is frustrating and at times tedious. A role that challenges me as a person everyday. I will never win an academy award for this role. I will never get paid 6 figures for this job or any monetary compensation. I am taken for granted and unappreciated (at times). I am tired and never get a vacation because when I am on vacation, I still think of them, worry about them. There isn't a moment in time that I am not a mom and I wouldn't change it for the world. Not one single second.

I run a marathon everyday and it's call motherhood. I train hard and sometimes I finish first and other times I crawl across the finish line. But, at the end of the day, I get to tuck them in, kiss them good night, listen to them pray, cover them before I go to bed and start all over the next day. I send them to school with love notes and everyday I remind them to "be good"! I hug them after school and sit with them while they do homework. I pray for them every night before bed. I pray for their safety, health, soul, friends, and the people I want them to be. I pray for their physical aches and their heart aches. I pray for patience and forgiveness because I do it wrong everyday. I am inpatient and quick tempered. Some days I worry more about my dirty floors than taking the time to sit and listen.

I love it when I hear them call my name: mom, mama, mommy. But every once in awhile depending on the day, I ignore any derivative of mother and pretend I am on a beach with my toes buried and can only hear the waves. A girl can dream, can't she? It's time to thank my 3 kiddos for the journey of a lifetime!

My Heart Is in Alabama

Yesterday a devastating tornado ripped through Alabama, a place that I consider my hometown. My parents are there, some of our best friends are there, two of our children were born in downtown Birmingham. Luckily our family and friends are safe. Most of them trying to provide aid to those who have lost everything. They estimate the death toll at 300, but that is early.

The town of Tuscaloosa looks very different on a map. This is the home of the Tide, as well as two of my cousins who attend college there. I hope they have someplace to sleep because entire school buildings were demolished. My prayers are with them and my heart is in Alabama today.

That was our home for 8 years. We made some of the best friends we will ever have there. It is an amazing place and in my heart I am a Southern lady, well, maybe 1/2 a Southern lady (a Southern lady does not use foul language). Right, ladies? My heart is heavy with concern today for the people who have lost loved ones, their homes, their businesses, and life as they know it for now.

I am proud of the people who live in AL who have come to the rescue to provide provisions, shelter, help, medical care. This is when you see God. He is there standing right beside the mother of 3 who has lost her home and the precious pictures of her children's life. He is with the man who is looking at his small business that is just a slab of concrete. God is with the children who have lost their parents or grand parents in this horrid natural disaster. My prayer is that those people who are hurting and lost look for God and not blame Him, but let Him hold them in their time of need.

Alabama will always be special to us (I mean that's our football team. Sorry Susan Ward!). My parents live there. They are just fine and I am thankful for that. Although I'm sure it was a rough night. My dad is not fond of storms! And for that matter neither is mom. Truth be told, I am thankful for facebook. Don't laugh. I am getting updates via fb from people all over the state. It was comforting last night to know Homewood AL was safe. Pelham, AL was safe. And today I am watching people gather supplies and get them to those who need it most. That's a God thing!

Alabama will come through this with all her Southern charm. And I was blessed to have lived in that great state for 8 years. Prayers are with you, my Southern friends.

Piano, Baseball, & Easter

The kids and our furry family

Our first Easter in Mesa, AZ

When did she pass me up in height?

What do these things have in common?
Answer: The way we spent our spring.

First game, first hit

Charlie is LOVING baseball. It's a good thing because his mama is a big baseball fan.

Our Annie has a gift.

Belle just started playing and this was her first recital...best Old McDonald Had a Song ever!

I love that all my kids are playing and performing now. Music is SO important to development and will be required to take lessons until they are 18 (yes, I'm that kind of mom).

This is our first spring in AZ and we are loving it so far. Beautiful weather and I absolutely love the smell of the orange blossoms that blows through every evening. We go to an awesome church and Holy week was very special for us this year because Annie sat at the Lord's table with her brothers and sisters in Christ on Maundy Thursday. Yes, I cried. Would you expect anything less? Christ's Greenfield Lutheran Church is special and we are blessed to be part of this church family. This is my favorite time of year and I'm trying to enjoy it to the fullest so I can survive the summer!

What a pain in the...wait wrong title!

I was in my doctor's office the other day and I looked over and this was on one of the side tables in the waiting room.

Fifth one down is my hubby and I have to say I am proud of all his accomplishments in medicine and in life. But, don't tell him that...I need to keep his ego in check j/k.

He's been on tv too, but I might be going too far with posting that! Anyway, I love the man he has become over the last 17 yrs and never cease to be amazed (good and bad) by him.

So, if you need a good pain doctor, you know where to look :)

Mom, Can We Sleep With You Tonight?

How do they sleep like this? Almost every night Charlie and Belle ask if they can fall asleep in my bed. And of course, I say yes and Dad says no, but most nights we find them like this in our bed. So, Cam picks each one up and carries them back to their own beds.

This is how we found them the other night. They are like puppies...all snuggled up together and laying every which way. After I took the picture, I stood there for the longest time trying to figure out why I was so sad. It dawned on me that we have so few nights left that they will want to sleep in our bed with each other. I was trying to capture this moment in time, so when Charlie goes away to college (I'm trying to talk him into ASU) I can remember him as a little boy who wanted to be in his mama's bed every night. I'm pretty sure the dog will always be there and as for Belle, I hope she wants to sleep with us even when she's 30.

Annie used to say that she was going to live with us when she got married and she would have her room, and her husband would have his. We call that the couch in our house...haha. I've told Cam many times how I want to live in a great big house with all our kids, their spouses, and their children. Well, maybe just in the same neighborhood. Daily I look at these kiddos and get glimpses of what they will be like when they grow up and I'm already proud, but can't we slow down time and have a few more years that the kids will want to fall asleep in our bed?

BTW, why don't we sleep like this as adults? I've never woken up to Cam at the foot of the bed and don't think I wouldn't take a picture if I did. And yes, the dog sleeps right there all night long with our cat up on my pillow. I think I need to establish some night time limitations or Cam may sleep on the couch permanently.

Have a great weekend and if you are so inclined leave a message about what you will miss the most when your children are grown or what you currently miss if you do have grown children. I would love to hear from all of you about the memorable things your kids do and say. Thanks for reading about our little crazy slice of life we like to call Picomania