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5.30.2011

The wedding of the best nanny ever!


When Lawyer and I bought our first house in 1995 we had a precious cul-de-sac with the most amazing neighbors.  We were newly married and I loved watching the couple across the street with their 3 girls.  At the time the youngest girl, Jenna, was 10.  She was an adorable girl with the sweetest smile.  When she became a teenager she started to babysit for me.  At the time I just had the one little boy and he adored her.  Her older sister was the swim team coach and taught the oldest how to swim when Little Mister was born.  He loved the girls and I loved every part of it.

Their mother drove me to the hospital when we had to call 911 ... she talked me through so much of letting go of my fears with the second one and she kept me grounded.  She was and still is the most amazing mother I have ever known.  She laughed at my type A side and I admired her ability to be so laid back.  Their entire family has always meant the world to all of us.

When we moved into our current house and had the third baby they were our first visitors once we got home.  Jenna came home from college to see Babycakes and we saw each other every break and every summer.  She was the standing nanny.  She babysat twice a week for the day and I handed her my children without even a question.  If she wasn't available I didn't make plans.  You don't leave your special child with just anyone.  You leave him with family and better yet with a special ed teacher.  She was both!

She graduated from UGA and started grad school at Georgia State and I rejoiced ... she would be back in Marietta.  She has worked for us every summer but she is much more than an employee .. she is family!!!!  Last summer was the last year she worked for us ... after that she got engaged.  The kids were a little older and it was time to let her go.  My heart broke but she was ready to move on.  I searched the world over and found a precious girl very similar to our Jenna.  Frances is fabulous and we adore her!


Saturday night Jenna got married.  It just doesn't seem possible.  I feel old.  She was 10 when we met and now she is 25.  She was beaming on Saturday and I am so proud of her and her new life.  She has chosen a sweet and adoring husband and will have a great life.   She is in Jamaica for her honeymoon and then starts her PHD program. She is beautiful and amazing and I love her dearly!

She is one of those people I will miss moving so far away.  But I know without a doubt we will be friends for the rest of our lives!!!
 
I love you sweet girl!!!
xo,
MPM

5.29.2011

8th grade graduation!

Wow!  He was just a sweet little boy and now he is on his way to being a man!
I have never been more proud of him than I was Friday!!!


(he is taller than me but I was wearing heels and refused to take them off ... he wasn't happy!)

Shaking hands with the middle school principal ...


... and the senior pastor.


The three amigos!


The school counselor and his 7th grade homeroom teacher.  She lost her daughter last summer and he was heartbroken for her!


His 8th grade home room teacher ... coolest science teacher I have ever met!



They were so hot after photos and an outside reception ... but I had to squeeze in some photos of my own!



 Babycakes begged to sneak into the school and visit her two pre-k teachers.  Since we were moving the front office was more than willing to let her go!  And the last photo ... the love of her little six year old life!  They are only three weeks apart and they have shared every Sunday school and school class until this year.  Is he not the cutest thing you have ever seen?

I am one proud mama!!!
xo,
MPM

5.27.2011

Accessorizing the house ...

While the yard is getting installed and the last minute touches are taking place I thought I would give you some photos of the pots we my bestie M-A planted.  I have a black thumb ... well I guess its more brown.  If she plants the pots I can keep them fertilized and watered but give me more responsibility and I am doomed!  She planted them about a week ago and she still calls me on the mornings I need to water and reminds me!  I do love her ...


This is just one of many of the flats we purchased at Home Depot.  She insisted that we go to a special location which was close to the home office and therefore had a better selection.  She selected each 88 cent like she was picking out a pair of Kate Spade shoes.  It had to be perfect!  And she would not pick a plant that did not already have a bloom on it.  She said there would be no "bastards" in our color scheme!


My job was to clean the pots ... that is all I was allowed to do ... scrub the outside of the pots!


These are the urns at the front door.  I love the color of these geraniums!


M-A hard at work.  She carefully took each plant out of the pot.  As she was dunking the soil into a bucket of water she would talk to the plant.  Um ... yes, she is totally crazy!!!


One pot done ... only three more just like it to go.


The front door all finished!  I don't have a current photo to show that the overgrown bushes have been cut because Raul the painter is touching up the molding around the door.  The original painter didn't caulk and it looked terrible!


She and I chatted and had glass after glass of Sweet Tea waiting for the kids to arrive home on the bus.  She and Babycakes had a chocolate snack and then she read to M-A before she left.  They have a fabulous relationship ... xoxo all day long!!

The house is really coming along!  I am getting excited to list it ...

Have a great Friday!
xo,
MPM

5.26.2011

It's that time

A few more days and the house will be on the market.  The landscaper is in the process of giving us a whole new yard and then we will pull the trigger.   Wow ... it's really happening!

We have painted every room, touched up all the trim, traded out lights and hardware and completely rebuilt a deck after removing a jacuzzi.  It has been a very long couple of months.  And I have been the project manager on all of it ... but that is a whole 'nother blog!

I am excited and scared all at the same time.  I am excited to be moving in a direction to be a family again.  At the same time I am so scared to be leaving my comfort zone.  I am getting ready to step out of the boat and I am so nervous!  As a mother I worry about each little detail with regards to the kids and getting them settled.  And I know I shouldn't worry ... but there is no stopping!

I will have photos for you ... in case you ever wanted to see our house and its rooms. 

Have a great Thursday!
xo,
MPM

5.25.2011

All under one roof!

That's right!  All six of us are back together under one roof.  The teenager is back from DC and after 38 long days (and nights) Lawyer is home! 

I am thankful and content for the blessings we have.

I am tired and relieved!

I will sleep well tonight!

xo,
MPM

5.24.2011

Praying for a friend

My heart is heavy once again.  My dear friend is recovering from surgery today ... a surgery that took way longer than planned.  The path she thought she was on had a bend in it. 

I am 100% confident that God has a plan for each of us.  He says so in Jeremiah 29:11.  I am also confident that he doesn't give us more than we can handle.  I know that she can shoulder anything he choses to set at her feet.  But I am just as confident that the road ahead will be a hard one for her and for those who love her.

Today my life was once again put into perspective.  My troubles are little and meaningless.  My road is blessed and easy.

I love you Lee!
xo,
MPM

5.23.2011

3 more days of school ...

Wow!  Where in the world did this year go?  The older I get the faster time seems to speed by.  I can remember my grandmother telling me that time flew by and as a kid I thought she was crazy.  Didn't she realize it took forever for Christmas to come every year?

The kids are thrilled for summer but I am not quite ready.  Every year on the last day of school they give me their backpacks and their tennis shoes and I trade them for a new pool towel and flip flops.  The back packs get washed and if they are good enough for another year they go in the coat closet waiting for August.  Their backpack hooks become their pool bag hooks.  Each bag gets filled with sunscreen, goggles, a new toy and snacks.  It is a ritual for me ... and they look forward to the changing of the hooks. 

This week is so short and I am racing to get it all done.  They all need new flip flops as their feet have grown so much.  They will get a fancy pair and a cheap pair for the pool.  I am a firm believer in free feet all summer so if they don't have a need for tennis shoes they can wear their fancy flip flops!

I just made my to do list for tomorrow and Wednesday.  They are out of school Wednesday afternoon and so they will be around for Thursday and Friday.  We have a busy weekend with a wedding and graduation for the teenager.  Lawyer comes home Thursday and I am more than ready!!!  (38 days he will have been gone ... wow!)

1.  Nordstrom - flip flops and wedding shoes for Babycakes
2.  Rainbows for the boys
3.  Old Navy - flip flops for all
4.  Target/Walmart for snacks and water bottles
5.  TJMaxx - towels
6.  last drop off to Goodwill
7.  Landsend - khakis for Little Mister
8. Wedding shoes for Little Mister
9.  new bowties for boys?
10.  clean porch and deck and arrange furniture
11.  carpets cleaned
12. laundry

wow!  I don't have time to blog ... I have to get busy!

xo,
MPM

5.22.2011

Besties!

I have the greatest friends!  Simply put ... they are the best!  This afternoon I toured a design house with a dear friend of mine. She is my surrogate mother.  She has three kids of her own and I fit right in between the ages of her two girls.  We met 12 years ago when I hired her to strip the wallpaper in my dining room at our first house.  She was there for three days and we have been inseparable ever since. 

She travels quite a bit but when she is in town we see each other as much as possible.  Yesterday when the kids and I stopped in on an errand she invited me to tour a Old Marietta house that was closing today.  She picked me up at noon, we toured the house and then ate lunch at Chipolte.  We sat down to eat and she informed me that her burrito bowl was so good she would be eating it in silence to enjoy every bite.  And that she did ... I talked and she ate.  When she was done she gave me all her thoughts on everything I had said. 

I love our relationship ... she is the mother everyone would love to have.  She is up for anything, always complimentary and full of laughter.  Sometimes we laugh so hard I come home with aching stomach muscles.  When she does have something she needs to say it always starts with ... "Now Hon ..."

MA and I have been thru a lot together.  I have been there through her trying times and she talks me thru the troubling times I have with my mom.  And then there are the 911 calls.  For me its help with the kids ... for her its always a last minute gift she needs or an item she can't find at the market.  She rushed off to the hospital with me when Babycakes bit thru her tongue at 12 months and Lawyer found her in her crib covered in blood.  She drove right over ... hoped into the car and did not even mention her phobia of hospitals until we were on our way home.   When I asked her why she never spoke up she simply looked at me and said ... "Hon ... it was an emergency and not the time to tell you."  I love her to pieces. 

When she dropped me off at 3:00 I felt full of love and joy.  The way I do after spending time with all my dear friends.  They fill me up and leave me better than I was when they arrived.

I could not be more blessed!

Hope you are having a great Sunday!
xo,
MPM

DC!

I just dropped off my teenager to head to Washington, DC for the 8th grade trip.  He flies to DC this morning and returns late Wednesday.  On Friday he graduates from 8th grade and in August he starts high school.  Where ... oh where does the time go?  What happened to my little blond boy who would crawl into my bed at 7 am and whisper "Hey Mama"?  He is now 14, 5'7" and wearing a size 11 shoe. 

I know everyone thinks their child is the most wonderful child in the world and I know I am no different.  However ... I am positive that I have one of the easiest teenagers ever made. However ... I am positive that I have one of the easiest teenagers ever made.  He's a rule follower.  He might argue to the last moment about why the rule exists but he will not break it.  He will leave a situation he doesn't feel comfortable in and he will call me before doing something he isn't sure he should do.  He is the kindest, sweetest boy I know.  He is responsible, upstanding and for the most part always respectable.  He has his moments and is definitely experiencing the teenager attitude, but other than that I have absolutely no complaints about him. 

He has taken the news of our move with a great attitude.  He is excited about a new school and a new adventure.  He did tell me he will always be a sweet tea drinking Georgia boy and his heart will remain in the south.  No worries babe ... so will mine.  He has been very supportive to me during this time when Lawyer is absent.  He is truly a first born!

I am thrilled for him to take this trip.  He will have a great time.  In four days they are squeezing in a lot. 

Lunch at Union Station
US Holocaust Memorial Museum
Dinner at the Reagan Center
Jefferson Memorial
FDR Memorial
Lafayette Square
Department of the Treasury (exterior visit)
White House (exterior visit)
Supreme Court (exterior visit)
Library of Congress
US Capitol
Lunch at the Old Post Office
National Archives
Smithsonian Museum of their choice
Lincoln, Korean, Vietnam and WWII Memorials
Arlington National Cemetery
JFK Memorial
Arlington House
Mount Vernon
tour of Old Town Alexandria

I am quite envious of all he will see and do ... but I am so excited for him.  He was up before 6 am.  He was showered and dressed before I went in to wake him and was off with a group of friends at 7.  I did steal a hug and a kiss before we left the house.  And as car pulled away from our meeting place and I was back on the road home my Blackberry buzzed with "I love you Mom".

He is one great kid!

Have a great trip babe!

xo,
MPM

5.20.2011

Ta Ta party ...

I spent last night at a girls night out for my sweet friend with breast cancer.  She has a double mastectomy scheduled for next week and one of her closest friends organized a "little" get together.  Which turned out to be not little at all.  It seems that when you send out an email letting people know you are celebrating her removal of cancer ... they will come. 

I arrived about 20 minutes late.  When Hair Girl and I pulled up there was a line of cars outside the house that reveled a black Friday parking lot.  There were women everywhere.  Every one brought a dish for her freezer so that she would be able to have quick and easy meals prepared for her.  Along with my flank steak, sweet potato fries and veggies I took 100 paper plates and matching napkins.  Who wants to do dishes when you are recovering from major surgery?

I returned home about 11:15 last night.  I was overwhelmed by the amount of love I had just experienced.  These women just kept showing up with food and more food and cards and hugs.  If you sent out an email ... they will come!

Not that I am the least bit surprised ... this is one amazing woman.  She has beaten cancer (completely different kind and unrelated) before when they gave her a very slim chance.  She will beat it again!

And she will do it with grace, dignity and laughter.  I am proud to walk this path with her!!!

I love you Lee!!
xo,
MPM

5.18.2011

Regrets?

Last night I watched the entire James Frey interview on Oprah.  I was completely sucked in from the moment the interview started.  Thank goodness I chose to watch in via DVR after the kids went to bed.  I would have ignored the heck out of their requests and needs if I watched it in real time! 

I remember when Oprah chose the book as her book club selection.  I did not watch the show when she comfronted him but I do remember the controversy.  I have never read the book but now I am completely intriqued.  Knowing the whole story I would be able to read it as it was meant ... fiction.

I was impressed by his sincerity and calmness during the interview.  I found myself liking him quite a bit.  I was also impressed at how they could discuss their issues as calm adults.  There are plenty of people who could benefit from that display.  I have seen and experienced many adults discussing their differences and lacking both dignity and grace.

Something he said near the end of the interview rang so true for me.  He revisited her question of  ... if you could change anything about this process what would it be?  He said ...

"I know I made bad mistakes.  I know I was wrong.  But that's what you've gotta do sometimes to learn how to be right."

Amen.  I would wholeheartedly agree!

Praise God I live in a place and with people who show me enough grace to learn how to do it right and live with peace!

Great interview and a great man!

xo,
MPM

5.17.2011

I do not love to cook!

Ok ... I have said it.  I would rather have take out or sit and watch Lawyer cook.  He is such a great cook and has such a passion that I never had to develop a love for cooking.  Until ... he moved to Kansas.

Papa likes to eat promptly at 6:30 every night and he is not a fan of take out or going out to dinner more than once a week.  Ugh!  I can make a mean salad ... but dinner every night ... no thank you!  I have been forced to adopt a nightly dinner making ritual.  And dinner every night means more marketing which I despise.  But ... I am muddling thru it all!  I was thrilled last Friday night when my parents stopped in on their way back from Florida and my dad insisted we go out for Mexican.  No cooking for me and I was even able to enjoy a large glass of Sangria!  Yum!

I have branched out quite a bit.  I have grilled flank steak, pork tenderloin, hamburgers and hot dogs and I have scoured my cook books for yummy recipes that do not like too time consuming.  I had to search online for how to light and cook on a charcoal grill and I must say I am pretty good at it.  Last night I made broiled chicken (on the bone) with a homemade cranberry sauce and smashed white beans.  Everybody loved and I wasn't even discouraged by the amount of dishes or effort it required. 

Tonight we are having this dish ...


Courtesy of skinnytaste.com

Every single recipe I have pulled from her site is delicious and I expect nothing less with this one!

I am not sure that I will ever LOVE to cook ... who needs to with a husband who simply revels in it?  But I will say I have put in quite the effort and I am very proud of myself and the results!

xo,
MPM

5.16.2011

Laundry OCD!


I was talking to Hair Girl today.  We love to talk on Mondays since she is off and its always a great start to the week.  We used to talk after work but she has late nights on occasion and I turn in early.  It was a no go.  She was doing laundry and I shared with her my obsession doing laundry.  I do not love doing it but I do it almost every day and I am very OCD about the way I do it!  I wash the dark loads before the whites and always the towels last.  She laughed at my craziness.  I think she thought I was embarrassed to share my routine.  Embarrassed?  Not at all ... I am ok with that!  Here goes ...

When I wash the clothes I only use original scent Gain laundry detergent.  Only.  If I am out ... I don't wash until we have more.  I love the Gain fabric softener as well.  The combination makes the clothes smell amazing!

I used to use the Gain dryer sheets (I know ... overkill, right?) but recently have switched to these ...


Hello!  Simply heaven!  They are pricey ($7.99 for 80) but they last thru more than one wash!  I love the way the clothes smell when they come out of the dryer and the way the laundry room smells after I am done.  I am addicted.  I will admit to putting one in my lingerie drawer as well.  Love, love, love them!  I would venture into the laundry detergent as well but the price is not worth the smell for me and I would be so disappointed if the clothes didn't emerge clean enough. 

When the clothes come out of the dryer I put them into a wicker laundry basket and fold them on my bed.  When I am done folding I sort them into white plastic laundry baskets for the room they go into and then deliver them to each room.  The children do their own laundry on the weekends but I do wash their sheets, towels, etc. during the week. 

I am aware that my ritual is crazy and I simply don't care.  I despise doing laundry.  I find it like grocery shopping (marketing) simply mundane.  So I have to spice it up and this system works for me!

What are you OCD about ... spill it!

xo,
MPM

5.15.2011

How He loves

Another amazing sermon!  I love Buckhead Church!!  I love singing at the top of my lungs at the praise music, I love the sermons and I love all the people!  It is such an amazing place and I look forward to Sunday mornings!  I am not sure who gets more excited to go ... the kids or me!

Part 3 of Love, Sex and Dating was fabulous!  I highly recommend you watch it online!  Such a great lesson ... I will probably watch it again tonight when the teenager watches.  He missed it this morning when he skipped Buckhead to attend church with friends!

The song after the service was amazing! My favorite verse of the song says ... "I don't have time to maintain these regrets when I think about the way He loves us so ... "

I have linked it below for you ... though the video is a little weird!

http://youtu.be/TCunuL58odQ

I have so many thoughts after the sermon.  I am so thankful to have such real and tangible words to pass on to my children.  I am so thankful that the oldest is of the age that he can sit and listen to such great lessons from a man he respects.  I have learned so much about love ... or actually what isn't love.  We all have pasts and stories and what we are the day we get married isn't always the person we hoped to be.  My family of origin consisted of a mother who didn't want to get married and be burdened with a baby and an alcoholic who walked out when I was 18 months old.  There are bruises and scars there.     Everybody has them ... the story just changes as to how they got them.  But what I love is that I don't have to be a certain person to be rescued by God.  I can just be me.  At 41 I am the best version of me that I have ever been and I am thankful for finally understanding the true meaning of love.  I am thankful for a living breathing faith that I can walk in each and every day.  I am thankful for an amazing husband who continues to evolve with me.  I am blessed to have three children who are the best parts of me and so much better.  They are kind, loving and simply too great for words!  I am incredibly thankful for the friends I have.  Life is rough.  But my faith, my husband, my children and my friends are the glue that makes it a whole lot better!

Have a great Sunday!
xo,
MPM

5.14.2011

Secret single behavior

It's really no secret that I love both People magazine and Us Weekly!  I prefer Us Weekly, or Cheaple as my BFF calls it.  It has all the great news and none of the stories that I find myself in tears over.  It serves as an out for me from the craziness of life.  I get to catch up on my celebrity dirt and relax on the weekends with a latte.  I love it!!  I read it from the back cover to the front and prefer to not be interrupted while I am reading.  I also do not care for Lawyer to disappear with my weekend reading material ... it upsets me greatly.  He swears he doesn't read it and yet I always find it in his usual resting places when it goes missing. 

I have not been to the market this week so no Cheaple in the house for the weekend.  So ... I just surfed on over to usmagazine.com to catch up.  I thought I would share with you my thoughts on the stories listed on the site for the day ...

Jesse James ... complete and total jackleg.  He needs to keep his mouth shut.  Every time he opens it I can just hear his crazy words hurting his ex-wife.  Really ... can't you try to be a gentleman about your split?

Gwyneth Paltrow ... would love to be her friend.  She is adorable and I am sure a great friend.  She looks amazing in anything she wears and I would love to borrow one or two things from her closet.  I know we would have great happy hours together and the girls trips would be the best.  Love, love, love her!

Jon Cryer ... hysterical.  I love how he responded to Charlie Sheen calling him a troll.  Absolutely so funny and a great way to diffuse someone who is clearing melting down before the whole worlds watching eyes!  I hope that the new 2 1/2 Men has great success!

Jordin Sparks ... amazing girl!  Her voice is amazing and now her body is too!!! Wow ... you look fabulous!!!

ABC ... what in the world will you find to replace all of the shows you have cancelled???

Andrew Firestone ... always did love him.  Watched him on the Bachelor and was sad to see his relationship with Jen fizzle out!  He is handsome and owns a vineyard.  It is a fabulous combination!!!  He has an adorable family.  I will say his wife looks a lot like Jen Shefft.  Clearly the man has a type!

Hope your day is relaxed!!

xo,
MPM

5.12.2011

A day off

So the weeks alone have worn on me (and my body) and its time to rest.  I realized it was hard and some days were long but I also realized that the end goal was achievable.  There was no need to complain because it could always get worse and truly it wasn't as hard as I had imagined.  But its been 53 days without a husband (with the exception of Easter weekend) and that is a long time.  I tried to push thru not feeling well and keep going at my usual pace and it was not in the cards.  With the exception of caring for the kids and for Papa I will be laying low for the next couple of days. 

It's time for a little regroup.

xo,
MPM

5.11.2011

Laying low ...

The past week I have found myself under the weather.  I just contributed it to stress and pushed it aside.  Turns out it wasn't stress at all and now I find myself taking 1000 mg of Cipro a day and crashing at night from exhaustion.  No worries ... in 7 to 10 days I will once again be right as rain.

Of course when the Mom is sick the world doesn't stop.  It doesn't slow down and it doesn't even hold on.  Especially when Lawyer now lives in Kansas and only comes home every six weeks.  Sigh ... I have been alternating resting with errand running, clothes shopping for the teenager who is headed to DC and then to graduation in two weeks and laundry.  Seriously ... why does it seem as though the laundry multiplies when it sits in the basket.  It's just a basket of clothes not a basket of bunnies!!!

That same teenage boy is off white water rafting today on the Nantahala River in Bryson City, NC.  His "house" at school won the house competition and they are off today celebrating.  As I was gathering his clothes for the trip he kept asking for new water shoes.  I suggested Tevas and Chacos but neither fit his desire.  His heart was set on these.  I think they look most uncomfortable.  He is in heaven. 

I'm off to tidy the house, do more laundry and then settle in for some good dvr'd tv.  I swear I never watch anything live any more ... it seems like such a waste of time to sit thru commercials. 

Hope your day is good!
xo,
MPM

5.09.2011

Calvin

Sunday's sermon at Buckhead Church was another great one.  I find myself saying that every week.  I love this series ... it has so much great information that all of us can use every day.  To watch it online ... http://northpoint.org/messages/the-new-rules-for-love-sex-and-dating.  Sunday was part 2. 

My favorite part of Sunday was Calvin.  He gave his testimony before the service and I cried the entire time.  Then he was baptised and I cried harder.  He received a standing ovation.  I challenge you not to fall in love with sweet Calvin.   Watch his story here ...

Not only is he precious and so excited about receiving so much love but he is a completely changed man.  He is not even recognizable now with the life he used to live.  His faith and relationship with Jesus has completely changed his life.  I love this.  I love that the person baptizing him said just that.  Jesus is in the business of changing lives. 

It bothers me to great degree when I hear people label others and say "they are this and they will never change".  Absolutely not true.  Any person is capable of change.  It can be small or it can be great.  In my life over the past year I have experience great change.  I can not imagine going back to the person I was before.  I was sad and full of turmoil.  And when I think about it I realize now this is why at this time in my life I am being asked to step out of the boat. 

I love Calvin.  I love his story.  He is a sweet man with an amazing life ahead of him.

xo,
MPM

5.06.2011

Counselor of the Year

So Little Mister met with the school counselor.  She talked to him and asked him lots of questions.  They got online and looked up our new neighborhood, his new school and tons of things for kids to do in the Kansas City area.  Since we spent the week of spring break in KC, he was able to tell her a lot about some of the things she looked up.  He told her that he has made a pack in the car list and she agreed that was a great plan.  Just as they were finishing she asked him if he would like to meet some kids that started as new students this year.  She told him to prepare a list of questions and he could interview them.  Lucky enough ... one of the children just moved here this year from Overland Park. 

He immediately came home from school and made a list of questions in a brand new notebook.  He has it packed with fresh pencils for interviewing.  He is ready for next Thursday.  He feels empowered. 

I am now 100% validated as to her current title as "Counselor of the Year". 

Simply put by Little Mister ... "she rocks".

xo,
MPM

5.04.2011

The safety list ...

Our middle child has been worried about the upcoming move.  He has been talking for about a week about his concerns and trying to process his feelings.  I love that he is talking about his concerns and fears.  As long as he is talking I can help him.  He has an appointment today with the school counselor to talk more about his anxiety. 

Last night after dinner he and I were talking about the day we will leave.  First we thought we would fly ... but since we own the world's most afraid dog we will surely drive.  He was asking about taking things with him that will make him feel more comfortable.  I asked him to make a list so I would be able to make sure he had all the things he felt he needed!

Here is his list ...

1 Dr. Pepper
a bag of chips (that kind you don't like)
a bag of pretzels
2 pears
big bag of Double Bubble
my favorite blanket
Teddy
my favorite pillow
DS
a hoody

Seriously?  I can make that happen!! 

Anything to make him feel more comfortable!
xo,
MPM

5.02.2011

It's a great day ...

It is a great day for the American people!  A man who hated our country and our people is dead!!!

There are celebrations in the streets and I must say I am singing in my heart!

No one will ever forget the tragedies our country suffered at his hand.  But this makes the healing just a little bit easier!!

xoxo,
MPM

5.01.2011

True Love

Our sermon today was the first in a new series at Buckhead entitled "Love, Sex and Dating".  I absolutely loved it as I do all of Andy Stanley's series.  The series was geared toward singles but I took so much valuable information away about relationships and most importantly marriage.  If you want to watch the message or any other from Buckhead Church click here.  Today's isn't up yet but it will be!

The first thing he said I connected with was this.  He has never met a couple that has marital problems.  They have problems and they are married.  Marital problems include how to hang the toilet paper and where to squeeze the toothpaste.  The rest are problems we all had before we got married that we brought into the marriage and somehow thought would be made better.  My therapist says both Lawyer and I had Hefty sacks of garbage we brought into the marriage and we put them together and somehow thought they would be smaller or completely nonexistent.   So incredibly true.  All of the stuff that makes marriage harder was there before the marriage was added.  The only thing that is different now is that life and marriage just brings that garbage closer to the surface.

The second point I took away was this.  Every thing you have done in your past will be present in your future.  Make choices that you are willing to be faced with for the rest of your life. 

Another good point.  Don't marry the person you find chemistry with.  Marry the person that you have a solid relationship with.  We can and do have chemistry with so many people.  But chemistry fades and the relationship will last forever. 

And this point I loved!!!  Do not search for the right person.  Become the person you are searching for and that person will find you.  I so wish I had learned this long ago.  I am now confident at 41 that I am the person my husband should be married to for the rest of his life.  And visa verse.  But when we got married I was not.  He definitely saw things in me that were buried.  I had potential but I was very rough around the edges.  I was insecure, immature, lost and the product of a very broken home.  Only in the last year have I faced my garbage and dealt with each piece.  Do not get me wrong I have a long way to go ... but I have come a very long way.  I am now confident, more mature, grounded, patient and kind.  This year of therapy has changed my life and therefore changed my marriage.  It has brought us to a place that we both love.

The series is based on 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 ...

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

This is the perfect verse for every relationship in our lives.  Marriage, motherhood, friendship ... every one. 
I can not wait for next week!!!

xo,
MPM
 

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