There were moments, many moments, this year when I doubted. I wondered if I was giving him what he needed, if he was on par with where the public school was. I wondered what I was thinking, was it worth the battles, and the mess around my house. Days when I shoved school work aside as I put dinner on the table before quickly rushing out the door for practice.

I am just gonna come out and say it… ya know those cutesie little stick people families you see on the back of minivans these days? I want one. But, I struggle with this for many reasons. I am a tad embarrassed. Like maybe those little stick people families are too cutesie and my friends will laugh and roll their eyes when they see me pull into the parking lot.

When my son was 3, I took him strawberry picking for the first time. It was a special Mommy/Son date prior to the birth of our third child. The next year, we returned, but this time it was a family affair. 2009 brought us back to the same farm, this time with friends. And 2010 found me once again at the fields pregnant, with many small children in tow.

This weekend the family went on a Cub Scout camp out from Friday- Saturday evening. The kids have been begging to go camping again, and this over nighter was the perfect little get away for us. As an added convenience it was at a State Park not far from our house, so it was quite easy to pop home if you needed something and made it no big deal when we got a late start on Friday night.

Before having kids, I used to go to my local Hallmark store and browse the selection of cards. It seemed there was always SOMEONE who could benefit from a little Hallmark cheer. I love cards. LOVE them… and prior to having kids I was pretty good about buying and sending them. Somehow though bringing 2, then 3, now 4 active kids into a card store lost its appeal… something about them reaching out of their strollers and pulling card after card onto the floor while I was trying to find that perfect card made it loose its charm.

I am sure Scott and the kids have something planned for me on Sunday… or at the very least, I am sure by Sunday morning they will have something planned for me on Mother’s Day. They never fail to make me feel cherished. But the truth is, as I ponder this Mother’s Day, I can’t help but give thanks for the many gifts they’ve already given me… those precious moments each and every day, which I long to bottle up and savor forever…

This spring I have 3 kids in sports. On 3 different teams. This in addition to the girls both taking gymnastics twice a week and Cub Scouts. We are busy, busy, busy with games and practices most every night… some nights we’re even double booked. Many people look at my schedule and call me crazy. Why do you do this to yourself? The answer is, honestly, two fold. 1. We love it.

People often ask me what the girls do while I am doing homeschooling with my oldest child. On Tuesday the answer was “take all the cushions off the couch and every single blanket and pillow they owned and build a fort”  If I am distracted enough they even smoke a stogie or two in their fort. (just kidding those would be pretzel rods…I promise, but doesn’t this bottom picture look sketchy?

In the interest of keeping it real, and hopefully finding out I am not alone… thought I’d share a few “Not Me Monday” moments on this Tuesday afternoon…. *It was not me that showed up with the girls at gymnastics last Wednesday with their feet and legs covered in mud from our morning play date at the park. And as I wiped their legs down with wet paper towels it wasn’t me who was saying out loud so the other moms could over hear how “I gave them baths that morning but then took them to the park to play” Silly me should have known they’d find a pond and sea weed and a muddy field….

The past week has been spring break at the circus and while it is technically true, we did break from our studies, other than that, it was a jam packed, super busy week. It is now Monday… school resumes tomorrow, and today I am trying to catch up on laundry and dishes and cleaning… right now, we’re back from gymnastics and the kids are down for quiet time. I am thankful for an iced coffee and the fact that it is warm enough for a skirt and flip flops…oh how I love warm sunny days!