Golden Mommy

Have you heard of this?
Have you nominated someone for it?
Have you been the recipient of one?

I received my Golden Mommy 4 years ago when i started MOPS (Mother's of Preschoolers) at our church.  It is an outreach for Moms who have children that are under the age of five.  Basically, an amazing support group while you are in the "survival mode" of your life. 

I never really felt the need for MOPS when Grace and Bella were infants but decided i might need a little more interaction with other adults while Jeff was away in Kuwait on deployment.  Jeff left for country in August and i started MOPS in September.  October my Mom's cancer had returned and in November she had part of her spine removed to keep it from collapsing.  My world had already been turned upside down due to Jeff being gone but my Mom's illness almost put me over the edge.  She was supposed to help me with the girls while Jeff was away and instead i was having to try and figure out who would watch my children so i could relieve my younger sister and Aunt from the daily care for my Mom.  Guess who stepped in?  My new found friends from MOPS.  Between these wonderful women and their second Mommy, my friend Marisa, all the details of childcare worked out.  God knew i needed MOPS and brought it into my life at just the right time.  My only regret is not starting  when Grace and Bella were little. 

I was given the Golden Mommy because MOPS felt i held it together while all of the craziness above was going on in my life and that i could continue to always have my girls in matching clothes as well.  :-)  I LOVE my Golden Mommy, not because of the "award" part of it but because it will always be a reminder that i was surrounded by incredible support and love at a very difficult time in my life.

And the Golden Mommy goes to........
All of you marvelous Moms out there!  I nominate all of you.  I can't make you all a Golden Mommy, so here is my silly tutorial and you can make your own.  Mine is still displayed proudly!

My Golden Mommy.
I should name her.  Suggestions?

Barbies from the Dollar Tree.

Aren't the shoes hot?

In the "plank" position w/ tape headband...ready to be sprayed.

Backside done....

Flip.....and viola, you have Golden Mommy.

I forgot to take a photo of my finished Mommies but that could be because i was doing them at 11 pm the night before they were to be awarded.  :-)

Funny Lily moment.  Lily said this to me while i was preparing the Golden Mommies.  "Mommy, please do no spray paint her face, it makes her look so angry".  She's a nut!

P.S.  Gentlemen friends....feeling a little weird looking at naked Barbies?

Take me out to the ballgame X 3!

Oh, i've done myself in again!  I signed all three girls up to play t-ball, coach pitch and girls fast pitch.   Didn't i learn anything last year when it was nearly impossible to be three places at once?  Thank goodness for my 'village', couldn't do this without all of you!

Even though it is pouring now, today was an amazing day to play ball in the Pacific Northwest.  Thank you coach Brubaker for ordering the sunshine for this high maintenance Mommy, she was very happy!
Bella had a game at 9 am, Grace at 10:30 but...had to be at practice an hour before her game at 9:30 and then Lily had her game at 12 noon and was snack person and to top it off, Jeff had Guard duty this weekend.  :-)  Yes, CRAZY but worth it!

These photos are from several days of games but today was the first of Grace's games i could actually attend.  And on a kind of funny note.  I signed Grace up for the wrong team.  I wanted her to stay with the coaches she had from last year but did not realize they were moving up with their daughters who were a year older than Grace.  Our 4th grader, Grace, looks teeny-tiny next to the 5th and 6th graders she is playing with and to top it off, softball is definitely NOT her sport but this child who sees everything through rose colored glasses does not care.  So our little pipsqueak actually walked onto first base today (good eye Grace)  and then was able to run in a point for the team and that is what she has raved about all day.  So even though i want her to be 'great' at everything, she has shown me, you don't have to be great at everything you do,  but you have to have a great time doing whatever it is you are doing.  Thank you Grace.

And please do not forget to notice my little fashion plate Lily.  Yes, she has on Cuggs, (Costco Uggs)because this Mommy was too tired to argue with her.  Jeff says i've ruined it for any other game or practice now and we will never get her to wear cleats again unless i throw the Cuggs out.  What do you think?  Can you stand her nasty Cuggs through the rest of t-ball season? :-)

Looks like they are stuck in a cage...
let me out to play!

Ready position....

Okay, that squatting makes me kind of tired.

Is Chris Barrett a brave man for picking
up this child?

Wheeeeeeeee!

Do it again!

Coaches daughter Morgan.

Go Bel-Bel!

Who is the clown behind them. :-)

What do you think?  Only a barely
blond 5 year old could sport this outfit
with such confidence.

Look at her form though!  You are going
to want to have this her on your team
in high school!

Posing.....

MOM.....enough! 
Can't you just hear it?

The next few just crack me up.
They are supposed to be playing ball and
instead they are having a full on
conversation.  About what?

Whatever it was, Anderson thought it was funny! :-)

Come meet our fabulous Pediatric Dentist!

We met Dr. Karen  Yee Lo on a field trip to her office when Grace was two years old in a Mommy and Me class at First Presbyterian preschool.  I liked her instantly.  She was fun and bubbly....everything i would want in a dentist.  Not only does she give you the warm fuzzies but she paints your nails as well after you have your teeth cleaned!  I would not let Dr. Karen paint Grace's nails because that was going to be her reward when she stopped biting her nails so Dr. Karen said, next time, have her wear flip-flops and i will paint her toe nails.  Really?  She did!!!  And if you have no cavities, she gives you a gold dollar coin.  She pretty much spoils them and they love it!



Don't you love the Barbie glasses?



Lily is literally gagging on the fluoride that has been painted
on her teeth but has her fake smile going because she received
her beloved gold coin.



Isn't this amazing?
Come on....does your dentist do this? :-)



Checking to see how well Bella brushes her teeth with the
purple disclosing dye.  She got an A+!



Oh, and when you turn 7, you get to play a DS while you are
having your teeth cleaned.



Remember, always brush for at least
two minutes!



3 cavity free girls = Happy Mommy!

My plug:  Dr. Karen is located in Lakewood and practices with her husband, who is my adult dentist, Dr. John Lo.  They are a great team and have a wonderful staff as well.  Go visit them!

Happy Mother's Day to Me!

Yes it was!

My girlies normally sleep in until at least 8 am or later on the weekends.  This morning they were up around 6 am.  I heard feet hit the floor, scurrying on the carpets back and forth between rooms until finally the dreaded sound of our door opening happened and i pretended to be asleep.  More scurrying around, shushing back and forth and then finally at around 6:30, Jeff got up.  HELLO.....did you not get the memo, it's Mother's Day and "i" am supposed to get to sleep in!  :-)  He's gone for about a half an hour and then back in bed to snuggle until we are interrupted by the alarm clock and little girlies again.  This time i could not fake sleep any longer, they wanted me for some reason and it could not wait.  They wanted me to come downstairs for this:

My SURPRISE!

Check out Bella's dinosaur!

We had one of our favorite, i mean favorite, as in, i would claim her as my own, sitters come over last night to watch the girlies while Jeff and i went to the Rotary auction.  Not only did she bring them a strawberry frappucino to share but she secretly had gotten poster board for the girls to make personalized signs for me, from each of them.  Mollee girl, you are the best!  I pray my girls will have a thoughtful heart like yours.  You made my Mother's Day extra special just by being sweet little old YOU!  Felt very loved, even if i was tired. :-)

We then headed off to church and the girls sang at both services.  It was amazing!  Their choir director, Jamie Deering, truly has a gift and i am so glad she is sharing it with our youth.   Of course i wanted to snap a few shots because it was their last performance of the year.  My seating selection was not chosen wisely on my part and Grace figured out i was trying to photograph her.  Even though you can't see her face, i do love these.

Grace and her BFF Anna

My happy girl!

We then headed to Fircrest Golf club for a YUMMY brunch!  Most of the time buffets make money on us but not today!  The girls must have eaten 10 lbs of bacon!  It was that really thick, done just perfect, kind of bacon.  How could they resist?  Yup, they pretty much just rolled us all of there.

Lily pretending to play, the player piano while we waited to be seated.

Look how they brought our strawberries out!

Three reasons for the dignitary title i hold.

Surprise gifts made at school!

My day was pretty wonderful up until now and then the impromptu texting starts for pedicures with the besties!  We all meet up at Gorgeous Nails, get coffees next door and then the relaxation sunk in and well, we had a really great time just being silly girls.  Thank you husbands for giving us the time off for a little rejuvenation and pretty feet!

LOVE you Annie, Rachel and Jenny!

Can you guess which foot is mine? 
My new favorite color:  Chocolate Shakespeare by OPI

Today was filled with so much joy....but bittersweet too.
Ended it with a call to my Mom, who seems so far, far away in a nursing home in California.  Breaks my heart, because i believe this was the first time in my 42 years of life that i did not physically celebrate Mother's Day with my Mom.  And who knows what next year will bring.....
Loving and missing her very much.

And again, even though today was full of so much delight, it used to be a very sad day for me.  It was a day i craved to celebrate for so long but it always seemed to pass me by until May of 1999 when i was carrying our identical twin sons.  My family was so excited for me that they technically considered that to be my 'first' Mother's Day' and i was finally included in the celebrations of that special day!  Sadly, the following month, our boys came into the world too early.  Stay tuned, their birth story will come in June.

Today i reflect on how our sweet precious boys started my journey to Mommy and our sweet precious girls completed it.  Like i've said before, not my plan but it is God's perfect plan for me.

P.S.  Forgot to mention that i got a quick fly fishing lesson from my husband in the street after the girls went to bed and he gave me a hand written coupon good for "Bathing the Girls".  I always do it because he claims it hurts his back.  Do you buy that one?  Isn't he as thoughtful as they come?  I know i am a smart a$$ but i LOVE him!  He's the best!