Daniel's 8th Birthday Letter

Dear Daniel,

This is the 9th letter I've written to you because I wrote one to you before you were even born. It's hard for me to wrap my mind around that. In some ways time passes by so slowly, but then you look back and realize it's really been going fast. 8 years ago, you made me a Mom. The one job in life that I knew I wanted. (I know it seems questionable sometimes, but I love you boys so very much.)
You get really annoyed with me when I tell you to stop growing up, because you're logical and know that you have no control over that.

You seemed to have a good 7th year. You excelled in 1st Grade, just as we knew you would. You had the most amazing teacher, Mrs. Lively, who kept you busy learning new things and challenging you along the way. You also made new friends. You never cease to amaze me. I was never one to easily make friends because I was timid and shy when it came to meeting new people. Let's be honest...I still am. You however, can make friends with just about anyone. It doesn't matter who they are. You're the kid that sees the ones feeling left out and invites them to play with you. It makes my heart happy.

We survived our first (and hopefully only) tornado last December. One week from tomorrow marks 1 year. It doesn't seem that long ago. An EF-3 tornado. I'll never ever forget the sounds or how scared I was for you boys, but God kept us safe. You rebounded pretty quickly though...although the first time the sirens sounded again after the tornado, you were pretty scared, so we played Would You Rather in the basement at 1:00am.

You took your very first plane ride. I was a little worried that you might be scared, but I didn't expect the sheer panic you and James experienced. The engines sounded like the tornado. For you though, I think it was more or less the altitude changes that you hated the most. I can't say I blame you. I'm not a big fan either, but you spent half the trip holding a barf bag and occasionally hyperventilating. After the flight though, you got to sit in the cockpit! We took candy canes for you guys to pass out to the flight crew and they invited you up. Pa and James were already off the plane, but I thought that was a very cool experience for you. I didn't even know they let anyone up there after 9/11.

While we were in California, you were a ring bearer in Aunt Erica and Uncle Chris' wedding.
We got to go to Lego Land and you absolutely loved it there. I wasn't sure how much you would really want to do because you're my cautious kid. You and Uncle Chris are 2 peas in a pod though. Anything he would do, you would do too. It was so special to see you bond with him.
You even got to see the ocean for the first time. What a great experience for you.

You and James were ring bearers again for Aunt Nens and Uncle James' wedding in May. You're an old pro at that now.

You played on your very first Little League team and loved it. I wasn't sure how it would go since it was your first time ever playing on a team, but you grew so much from the first practice to the end of the season. You're already excited to play again in the spring.

You finished First Grade and spent the summer doing fun things here and there when we could. I'll admit, I didn't make it the best summer because I was struggling with some stuff, but we found plenty of adventures along the way. Our trips to Iowa are always fun. Mimi T always has fun things planned. We went to the pool a few times and you were finally brave enough to go into deeper water.

In August you began 2nd Grade. It's your last year at North School. Next year you move to Memorial. I think I'm probably more sad about that than you, but I've just loved your experience there and pray all goes well in the coming year. You continue to excel at everything you do. Your testing this year put you WAY ahead on the charts! I'm so proud of you. The only thing you've complained about is that you're not learning division yet and you thought 2nd grade would be ALL about division!

Other things that are popping into my mind are:

 You are a giant, kid. You're so tall that I'll bet you pass me up by 5th grade.

You're finally starting to enjoy reading more.

You have the biggest and kindest heart. You love to do kind things for other people. That makes me extra proud because I've always worked to instill that in you!

I think you're 90% sure that Santa isn't real and 10% still thinks you should probably believe just in case. I'm still not ready for this...but here's the thing...I still believe. <3 always="" do="" hope="" i="" p="" so="" too.="" you="">


<3 always="" do="" hope="" i="" p="" so="" too.="" you="">You take 50000 years to tell a story. It's just who you are. I take a lot of deep breaths, but you are detail oriented and you also want to make sure you're clear and concise. The way your mind thinks is baffling to me, but I have no doubt in my mind that you're going to do big and amazing things one day because of it. So, you keep doing you kiddo.

I love that you enjoy going to church and that you know where you will spend your eternity. We've talked about baptism and while I think you're interested, you aren't fully ready yet, and that's okay. I want you to do it when you feel ready.

I love you to the moon and back, Bub. I can't wait to see where this next year takes you.

Happy 8th Birthday, Daniel!

Love,
Mom

James' 5th Birthday Letter

Dear James,

I cannot believe that you are now a 5 year old! All of my photo memories are popping up this week and making me wish that I could snuggle that little baby boy again. I miss rocking you to sleep (although every once in awhile you'll fall asleep on me still), and the little sounds you used to make. I try to convince you and your brother to stay little, but you keep insisting that you have to grow up. Although, you promised me that you'll always be my baby.

4 was a crazy year for you.

We all survived our first (and hopefully ONLY) tornado ever. I'll never forget sitting on the floor in the basement hovering over the top of you as I prayed that God would keep us safe. It was scary. We were all scared, but you and Daniel handled it like champs, although we were very jumpy for quite awhile. You named the tornado, "Tommy" because of the Taylorville mascot. For months you talked about Tommy every single day. I've noticed in recent months that you don't bring it up as much, which makes me thankful.

8 days after the tornado, you took your first airplane ride to California for Aunt Erica and Uncle Chris' wedding. You were very excited to fly...until the plane started racing down the runway, and the sounds of the plane taking off sounded a lot like the tornado did. You screamed. You screamed bloody murder. We survived though!

You got to experience fire alarms blaring at midnight at our condo. You got to see the ocean. Then you were an adorable ring bearer at the wedding. Plus you got to visit Lego Land and absolutely LOVED it. 

Christmas night you started getting sick. Daniel was already sick with strep. It took me almost a week to convince anyone to really help you, as we kept getting told you were okay and just had a virus. The mom in me told me that you were not okay, and I finally got the ER to listen to me. You had strep, influenza, and were pretty severely dehydrated. After 2 bags of fluid, they decided to transport you to Springfield, so you took your first ambulance ride. We rode together, and then rang in the new year at St. John's. We spent 2 nights before you were finally feeling better!

You finally had a calm few months before we got busy again.

In May, you "graduated" 3 year old preschool at DMCC. You totally rocked the whole preschool thing.

Then you got to be a ring bearer in Aunt Nen's and Uncle James' wedding, and did an awesome job again.

Our summer was kind of crazy, but we still found time to have fun. We went to the park pool a couple of times and you absolutely loved it. We spent time in Iowa at Mimi and Pa's house and started a new 4th of July tradition. You loved the fireworks. You always have!

You got glasses! I still can't get over how handsome you look in them. And you were happy that you didn't see "two of things" anymore!

Mommy was pretty excited that you'd be starting 4 year old preschool, and I'd have a few mornings to myself, but God had other plans, and through all of that, I became your preschool teacher! You come to school with me every day, and even enjoy the days we have the 3 year old class. You're an awesome helper, and you've won the hearts of the church staff too.

You:

• still have a huge love for foxes...and you've passed the love onto me.
• have a big heart, and I love when you put your arm around my neck when you're sitting next to me.
• are an insanely picky eater. Some days I'm ready to pull my hair out. Other days, I'm happy if you lick something new and then eat a pop tart. Maybe one day you'll eat. 
• love your big brother to pieces and look up to him, but you also can be arch rivals. You guys drive me insane with your fighting and then 5 minutes later you're giggling together.
• are literally one of the funniest people I know. You're so dramatic and silly. You make me laugh every day.
• listen to a wide variety of music including, Green Day, The Beatles, and the Backstreet Boys.
• are an incredible reader. You read 2nd and 3rd grade sight words with ease. It never ceases to amaze me.

Lately you have started asking me more questions about God, Jesus and Heaven. I don't think it will be long before you're ready to ask Jesus into your heart. I pray that you continue to enjoy church keep on loving Jesus and others.

I love you so much Jamesy Michael. Thanks for always being my baby.

Love,
Mommy

When Poop Hit the Fan

I took an 8 month hiatus. Does anyone really even blog anymore? I decided that I would attempt to blog each day in November for National Blog Month, but like always, I'm running late. A day late.

I'd have to say it's been yet another roller coaster year for me, but I'm pretty sure I'm going to survive it. I'll just share our "adventure" of the summer....

Out basement flooded AGAIN. Not once. Twice. We're not talking water. We're talking raw sewage that belonged to us and half the neighborhood probably. The floods literally happened within one week of each other. Have you ever sprayed your basement down with a hose? Do you own "poop shoes" and a "poop broom"? I do.

I thought the first time was awful. I cried. I got mad. But, I pulled on my big girl pants and set to work cleaning and purging. Let me tell you, there is not enough bleach in the world to rid the images from my mind.

Once it was all cleaned up the first time, we had another big issue come up, that I'm still too traumatized to talk about, but let's just say I had the meltdown of the century, and my house ended up cleaned from top to bottom.

Cue that Friday night. It rained most of the night I figured maybe we'd have a little water this time. I finally got brave enough to go check, but I already know as soon as I opened the basement door and the smell hit me. Only this time it was SO much worse.

Several inches of sewage water. All of our totes that were floor level, plus the ones I had stacked on top of them were tipped over and the contents were all lying in a sopping mess. I had planned to have a garage sale, so all of my boxes from that were destroyed. Most of my clothes and some of the boys clothes were soaked. The Christmas tree (that I just bought last year) was on the floor. (It had been stacked on top of other bins.)

Once the water receded, I grabbed my poop shoes and poop broom and got to work. We hauled out bins and ruined items. Hosed down and bleached the bins. Threw everything else in the trash. I hosed the basement down. For those wondering what a poop broom is, that would be the broom I used to push said poop back down the floor drain.

I spent the early afternoon, standing there wringing out every single piece of clothing that was salvageable and throwing out others. Threw the first of many loads in the washing machine only to hear it go, "click, click, click, click..." and then would shut off.

One of our church parsonages was empty, and has a washer and dryer, so I hauled a million pounds of bins over to wash everything. I was also able to shower there because our water heater had gone out too.

After a couple rounds of bleaching at home Saturday and then another couple on Sunday, I finally had to call it good.

Then I sent an e-mail to Roto Rooter, since most of you know my issues with them. Insurance covers nothing, Roto Rooter messed up some stuff, and we realized that the city has major sewer issues (so I got a group from the neighborhood and went to a streets and sewer committee meeting to complain!)  We literally had a huge chunk of our basement floor dug up to have new pipes laid. Cha-ching!

At the end of the crap show, I was able to still find the blessings. I think sometimes that's the most important thing and what can really get you through because I spent a good portion of summer feeling pretty depressed.

For starters, a friend came over to try to help relight our pilot light on the water heater. When that didn't work, he gave us the name of a plumber who does fair work. He spent almost 3 hours working on and going to get a part and then only charged us $60.

I was blessed to have a place to do laundry, and take a warm shower. Plus, it was a place of serenity. I needed calm. After about 5 loads of laundry and a trip to Walmart for more cleaning supplies, I just sat on the floor in one of the bedrooms eating Subway, and just embracing the solitude.

Roto Rooter worked with me and the regional manager came to our house. They did end up giving us a bit of compensation. Not a ton, but enough to help with our costs that were adding up.

My mom set up a donation thing for us on Facebook, and several people supported us, and we were thankfully able to pay off all of the work at had to be done. I hate to ask for help, but between that and our other issue we were dealing with, it really was a huge blessing.

My uncle sent money for a new washing machine.

And, I had a few friends I was able to confide in when I was ready to have a breakdown.

I'm not sure why God let all of that happen this summer, but I am glad to be done with it and that he got us through it.

To quote Pete the Cat, "No matter what you step in, keep walking along and singing your song. Because, it's all good!"

60 Memories With Mom--PART 3

41. Mom was the one who encouraged me to go out for swim team in middle school. It was way out of my comfort zone. I loved to swim, but joining a team was intimidating. I really didn't love it for a long time. Meets were terrifying. Practice took up my "me" time. In the end, I fell in love. I swam all through high school, and I wouldn't have done it if she didn't push me.

42. This memory is fresh, and I just shared it a few months ago. But,I'll never forget how mom reacts to emergency situations. Fire alarms going off at midnight at our condo in San Diego. Mom is screaming for everyone to get out because there's a FIRE! "I smell smoke!" (there was no smoke, by the way). She even suggested I just keep moving because I couldn't find Daniel. In reality she knew he was with my sister already, but who tells their daughter to leave their child behind!? Haha!
(Of course, I wasn't much better. I couldn't fine either kid at first, until I realized I was literally carrying James)

43. I love when I get to go to craft fairs with my mom. We always have fun sampling food along the way and buying cute things...mom usually buys a million Christmas ornaments. She wants me to go to the big one she and my aunt go to in Wisconsin sometime, but the way she describes it, I think I'd lose it being in that large of a crowd. We shall see.

44. Mom can be credited for my love of pumpkin patches. When they started getting popular and not just go pick a pumpkin, I thought it was so stupid. She got tickets to Bloomsbury Farm one year. I was in my early 20's. I scoffed. Mom and Kendra convinced me to go. I did my first corn maze ( because I was not doing that cliche before then). Now I LIVE for fall so I can go visit my favorite patches and try new ones too.

45. I credit mom for being the well behaved child I was. Sure, I got into trouble. Mostly for my sassy mouth and for fighting with my sister's, but I never did anything really bad. I was a people pleaser by nature, but mom put the fear of God into me. I was the first child. The guinea pig. I was not about to find out what terrifying punishment would be brought upon me by an angry Janet. My sisters (mostly Erica. lol), however, weren't as affected by the fear of God she tried to instill in them.

46. We bought our house a month before we actually moved in. My mom came to Taylorville with me one weekend and we camped in the empty house. She helped me clean and get everything ready. We sat in the living room in camping chairs with a single lamp. We camped on the floor in the bedroom. Actually...I think I got an airbed and her's deflated. Oops. It was a fun adventure though.

47. I loved seeing my mom become a grandma. Before I was even pregnant she bought a Pooh bear and book for her future grandchild. She was the first grandparent to hold him. They came the day after he was born (and she cooked Thanksgiving dinner at the house on Friday when we came home since we were in the hospital on Thanksgiving). And then, she got to be here a few days after James was born, and helped as I recovered from my c-section for a couple of weeks after.

48. She and my dad offered to let Daniel come stay with them for awhile when I was on partial bed rest with James. I had already be hospitalized twice. I couldn't "rest" with a not quite 3 year old. My options were to go to Iowa or send him to Iowa on his own. It was a hard decision because I'd never been away from him overnight. Mom and Kendra drove over to pick him up and he stayed almost 2 weeks. I cried so hard, but I got the relaxation I really needed, and my parents did a great job taking care of him!

49.A favorite memory was from a few years ago, when my sisters and I pulled off the ultimate Mother's Day surprise for mom. 5 months of planning without anyone spilling the beans, including my mom's boss who I let in on it so she could have time off.  Her reaction was priceless when I pulled up and Erica popped up in the front seat!

50. Mom took care of both of my birds that I had when I was younger (Minnie Ann and Minnie Ann 2...because when the first died I wanted an identical bird) Our second bird was an escape artist. I can still remember mom chasing it around the house and having to gently use a broom to get her down from a picture that hung in the stairwell.

51. Most summer afternoons as kids, we could find mom lying out in the sun getting a tan while misting herself with a spray bottle and reading a romance novel. I sometimes joined, but never lasted long. I'd get too hot...hmm...apparently I've always been warm blooded.

52. For my 9th birthday, she planned a surprise party for me. Although, I figured it out, I didn't tell her because I didn't want to hurt her feelings. It was so fun though. She had fun games and we went on a "penny walk". Flip a coin at corners. Heads you go right. Tails you go left. Fun times.

53. One winter mom and I were driving down 16th Ave and she hit black ice. We spun right into a snowbank. She checked for damage and told me not to speak of it to dad, but I still remember him commenting about how there seemed to be water dripping from the front end later.

54. All the DQ trips. We loved getting to go in and sit at "our" booth and guess what color the next car would be in the drive thru. When I'd get picked up early from school for an appointment 9 times out of 10 mom's car would magically turn into DQ afterward.

55. No one besides mom and my sisters will understand this one. Said in one word: WhatAreYouGonnaDo?

56. I always got excited if she took E Ave because we were going to get to drive over the big hump in the road (which we later called the "whee"). If you went just the right speed, your stomach would drop a little. I don't know how else to explain it, but it was fun. It was a sad day when they repaved that road.

57. Mom was always a great backup when we didn't want to do something. "Mom...can I go to so and so's house? Say no" "No."
"Yeah, my mom says I can't come."

58. Every Christmas she made dozens of sugar cookies and would frost them and let us decorate them. The best part was when she'd give us a ball of raw cookie dough to eat. (who are we kidding. I always sneaked more out of the fridge...always a junk food addict)

59. My great aunt made us matching watermelon shirts for a family reunion one year. Mom would always make it so we all went out matching in them. I won't lie, I thought it was awesome.

60. Mom was the one who took care of Grandma after her stroke. She was the sister who was close  by, and she spent hours at the hospital, looking for care centers, getting her out of a crappy care center and into an amazing one. Settling her into her assisted living. Taking care of selling the house. Dealing with insurance for grandma's meds. It was exhausting and took a toll, but she did it, and I think that was so incredible. I'm really proud of her.'

Here's to a million more memories!

60 Memories With Mom--Part Two

21. Probably one of my most special memories with my mom was when I was about 4.5. I remember sitting on the couch with her in our living room and praying and asking Jesus into my heart. I'm so thankful that I was raised in a Christian home and brought up in church. Even when I fell away for awhile, I found my way back again.

22. Mom and I have always butted heads. Even though she's one of my best friends now, we still do every time we're together. I will never ever forget the time she took me to get new shoes for church at Westdale Mall. I found a pair of black strappy sandals with a couple inch platform heels. I WANTED them. She said no. She dragged me to every store that sold shoes making me try them on. I'm sure there were some okay ones, but I was not having it and neither was she. It finally ended when I was almost in tears and she was about to explode. She told me if she bought me those shoes, "You are going to live in those shoes. You are going to die in those shoes. And you are going to be buried in those shoes!"  And you know what? I wore them all the time...and I kept them for 7 or 8 years before they wore out...so sadly I will not die or be buried in them.

23. Mom always came up with very...creative...road trips for us. Generally they were fun. Places like, Makoqueta Caves, Spook Cave etc. The two most random trips we ever took were to a buffalo farm...that had no buffalo due to flooding. And to a Lock and Dam for a tour. Ya'll...we were the only people on the tour and the guy was so excited that I had a camera so I felt obligated to waste my film on pictures. Pretty sure we were the only people to ever tour that place.

24. Mom always watched soap operas in the afternoons growing up. As The World Turns and Guiding Light (Brought to you by Tide. If it's gotta be clean, it's gotta be Tide). Generally when I was little I had a rest time, but I can remember sneaking out and hiding to watch them. In my teen years I got really into As The World Turns so we'd tape it and watch it together.

25.Growing up there were always exercise fads. We had a stair master, a stationary bike and Suzanne Sommers, Thigh Master. Mom had a couple of VHS tapes. One called Calinetics (or something like that) that I'd do along with her. And of course a staple in every home with a woman wanting to get fit...Richard Simmons, Sweatin' to the Oldies. Those were some good times my friends.

26. The infamous St Louis disaster trip. The one that resulted in me leaving one kid at home who was puking exorcist style. The one that mom fell into a pot hole alone, and then woke me up to tell me she needed help, then proceeded to show me a freaking bloody crater in her arm. Next thing I know she's yelling my name and I'm on the floor because I passed out and hit my head on the wall. The one where Kendra had a horrible run, sobbed and wanted to quit. Where we had to go to Urgent Care, and James was screaming because he was over the whole day. That was the biggest fail day of our lives.

27. The year I was pregnant with Daniel, mom and Kendra came to visit and we went to Arthur, which is an Amish town. We ended up doing a driving tour and having a meal in an Amish home. We gained about 10lbs that day. Not to mention all the baked goods we brought home and ate later too.

28. One year mom and us girls went to Michigan on a trip. Mom was all about getting whatever we wanted because, "We're on vacation!" I was 21 or 22, so I asked if I could order a daquari expecting to get a judgy look. Instead she said to go for it. It was delicious. She asked to try it and had one sip. Back at the hotel, she stumbled over a suitcase and fell on the floor so we teased her relentlessly that she was tipsy even though she clearly wasn't. She was highly offended.

29. One year our family and my aunt and uncle's family did a trip to Wisconsin and we did The House on the Rock with them too. We went in search of supper, and I don't know that mom picked this place out...it was more that we happened upon a place that was open, but we ended up a Narvey's. A podunk diner with one employee. "Mooie: She served us "flies" with our burgers. In the moment we all kinda wanted to run for our lives, but later we laughed hysterically over the whole experience.

30. During our trip in Michigan we visited Cereal City. Mom and I saw it on the Food Network. It turned out to be awesome. We got a tour, our faces on a box of Frosted Flakes and pictures with Tony the Tiger and Toucan Sam.

31. The Super 8 Nightmare. I had spent a couple of days with my cousin Heidi when Daniel was about 11 months old. Mom and Aunt Jeanne came on the last night. Mom got Daniel and I a hotel room. I read the reviews and they were sketchy. Our room was pretty ragged looking. I didn't want Daniel on the floor. I figured we'd survive though (after I checked for bedbugs). Mom had earplugs in. Around midnight or later a drunk guy is outside our door yelling at someone. It just kept going and going, so I picked up the phone to call the desk...and the phone was broken! I had to call on my cell phone. Once that stopped the couple next door had some...er...R rated adult time. Needless to say I did not sleep at all that night and mom had no idea any of it went down.

32. Every summer, we'd sign up for the summer reading program at the library and make a weekly trip with mom to check out more books and collect our prizes. Once a summer, we'd go with our neighbors and we'd all ride the city bus downtown. We'd get lunch at the downtown McDonalds, walk to the library and then ride the bus back home.

33. I really don't remember 4th of July's growing up. We didn't have a set tradition that I can recall, but as we got older we started staking out a place on the 2nd Ave. Bridge to watch the fireworks. At one time we had a huge group of friends from church. We'd eat, playing games and even danced in the rain one summer. Of course, my favorite treat mom brought down were the "T--Wizzlers. Ha!

34. One year mom and dad took the 3 of us downtown on New Year's Eve for an event our bank put on, "First Star Eve" There were fireworks, games in the bank, and our favorite part...a carriage ride! As you can imagine, the 3 of us girls were hysterically laughing when the horse kept stopping to poop.

35. We always knew that if we rented a movie we'd almost always get M&M's. My sisters and I could get very competitive and GOD FORBID we one of us have more than the other, so mom would literally stand at the counter evenly dividing them into our bowls. Even after that we'd still count just to make sure it was really equal. I'd just like to offer a huge apology for that one.

36. May Day was always a fun tradition we took part in. I don't think anyone does it here anymore, but on May 1st, mom would have cups for us to fill with candy and then we'd go deliver them to our friends and then doorbell ditch them. Mom always got those Brach's royal candies...can you still taste those like I can? Mmm.

37. Oprah was all the rage back in the day. I'd watch every day with Mom. As we all know, Oprah always struggled with weight and always shared her weight loss journeys. Does anyone remember "Oprah Walking"? It was a thing. And mom convinced me to get up early and Oprah walk with her. Essentially it was power walking, and I'm guessing we did it like 2 times before we gave that one up.

38. Trunk or Treat was always a big event at Valley View and we'd always have skits leading up to it to get people to sign up their trunks. Mom and I put together a Survivor skit. She was one of the castaways and I was "Jeffina Probst". It had to be SO stupid, but it sure was fun to do.

39. Usually once or twice a school year I'd get it in my head that I was going to fake sick the next day to stay home. I'd play it up the next morning. Lay under my blankets to try to get hot. I'm sure more times than not, mom knew it was fake, but she never really said anything. Life was always a little better when you could stay home and watch The Price is Right and The People's Court.

40. My mom is one of the most generous people that I know. She doesn't do things for show. She buys stuff for myself, the boys and my sisters all the time. We get spoiled. I've seen her donate to many good causes, pay for people to go to events they may not be able to afford. If she sees a need, she does what she can to help. She has set an amazing example. Thank you, Mom.

60 Memories With Mom--Part One

In honor of my mom's 60th birthday coming up on Sunday, I decided to write 60 memories with mom. I'm sure I've shared some of these before, but always worth retelling. Instead of writing all 60 in one post, I decided that I'll share 20 for the next 3 days.

Here we go, in no particular order because I'm too tired to put anything in chronological order.

1. Growing up, we knew there was one summer event we could always count on. Adeventureland! Mom stuck it out every single year even though she can't ride most rides because of motion sickness. She was the designated bench sitter and keeper of the things. She packed a picnic lunch that we'd outside the park and rest before going back in. She even hung our socks from trees the year that they got soaked on the Raging River.

2. Going to see Garth Brooks together in Omaha. When he "retired", I always said he'd come out and when he did we were going. Mom (and Kendra) was a trooper. Don't think I'll ever go to a 10:00 (which didn't start until almost 11:00pm) concert, but it was amazing and I'm thankful we could be there together.

3. Going to see Casting Crowns once and Reba McEntire twice at the Iowa State Fair. Always a semi good time. Ha! The concerts are great, but the people are many. And this past summer, I dang near died of heat stroke, but Reba was worth it.

4. As kids, mom and dad would take us to different state and county parks to go hiking. In my mind we were epic hikers...when in reality we were just walking on fairly easy trails for the most part. Mom always carried a backpack with water, dixie cups and granola bars or fruit snacks. We'd inevitably be STARVING within 10 minutes.

5. Every summer we knew that we were going to be eating like queens...because mom would take us out for lunch a few times a week. McDonalds, Burger King and Hardee's saw a lot of us. Meals usually ended with, "Don't tell dad what we had for lunch or we aren't going to be able to go as much" Hahaha! Our lips were sealed.

6. Coming to almost all of my home swim meets and in town away meets. Even though I felt more nervous with her and dad there, it always made me feel good too. She drove me home every night from practices. And my favorite one was the year we got back from a meet really late. I called home for mom to get me (pre cell phone days). She picked up the phone, but said nothing. I told her we were back. I heard a grunt and a click as the phone disconnected. I waited in blind faith that she'd show up, and she did.

7. Ahh. The infamous driving lessons with mom. Two. That's how many times I worked on driving with her. The first time resulted in me turning into a snowbank and getting stuck, followed by yelling and crying. The other resulted in me backing up wrong and me getting out of the car and yelling that I was "never driving with her again!" I still make her drive when we're together. (Honestly...I make anyone drive if I'm with them).

8. One year we did a trip up to Wisconsin. I was a bratty pre-teen who didn't want to go look at any stupid leaves changing colors (I know. I'm appalled at young me too), and threw a fit we were going to a place called The House On the Rock. It turned out to be amazing. What was not amazing was the cabin/hotel we stayed at that looked like it came right from a horror movie. We of course blamed mom since she reserved it...and honestly it was fine, but we've never let her live that place down.

9. When Daniel was a baby, Kendra and I declared one Saturday night, "Faturday". We started off alone by getting pre-supper (a HUGE slice of Sabarro pizza). Then went to HyVee to get junk food to eat after supper. We had cake, brownies and raw cookie dough. Mom was so excited, but we decided to wait until after dad went to bed so he wouldn't judge us. Haha!

10. World Changer mission trips with the youth group were the best. Most people wouldn't want their mom's with them on a trip with your friends, but I loved it. Each time was a new adventure. We went to Effingham, IL, Nashville, TN (where mom drove myself and 3 other girls in our Crown Victoria with the trunk sagging because of our stuff.) And of course Youngstown, Ohio. Mafia town. Glad we lived to tell about it!

11. Mom taught us the fine art of sneaking food into the movie theaters. I carry that tradition on. Shh.

12. Every Wednesday night during the school year,  you could find mom at church with us girls. We had the AWANA program, and she was always involved as a leader. Because of her, she made memorizing Bible verses and books of the Bible easy. We would work on them all through the week and I was one of the first kids to finish all of the workbooks because of her working with me.

13. In elementary school we had a Fun Fair each year and mom always volunteered to make a cake for the cake walk. She always made something cool to go with the theme. My favorite was her Under the Sea cake that had a whale on it. I thought I was so awesome.

14. The time mom and I literally stalked someone one day for fun. It was as ridiculous as it sounds and we even bought disguises (ie: sunglasses and hats). We sucked at it though, so our PI work fizzled out.

15. The year we went to Florida, there were things at our condo we could borrow like boogie boards. There was also a giant inflatable banana, which we somehow convinced mom to ride the waves on. It was hilarious!

16. When I was little, mom was the Dean of I believe Jr. High Camp at Spring Valley Bible Camp. I got to go along with her, and I pretty much thought I was awesome because she had a name tag that said Dean, and I had one that I proudly wore that said, "Little Dean". I'd stand up on the stage with her. I followed her everywhere. And the best part was when, Ted, the camp director would let me ring the bell for meals!

17. Late night talks. When I first started thinking about it, I was thinking of all those times when I was in high school, and I'd come sit in the dark in my parent's room. Dad would usually be snoring and mom would be waiting to hear about whatever adventure we had come home from. Sometimes, she'd come out to the living room or still be up so we'd chat out there. Those late night talks never have stopped. Every time I'm there visiting we end up staying up way too late chatting and laughing. Even miles apart we chat several nights a week online too.

18. Family walks. Mom and dad both LOVED to go on walks. I didn't always appreciate it, and as I got older got to stay home, but there are good memories from those walks. I once got a puppy to follow me home. I really thought they'd let me keep it. Erica and I would make up games or play "Slug-a-Bug" And the very best times were when people had their sprinklers going and the water would hit the sidewalk. We always were allowed to run through them and cool off. Mom even had her own concoction of bug spray made with vanilla, so we always smelled good too.

19. Summertime meant pool time. Mom got us pool passes each year and I'm pretty sure we spent almost every afternoon at the pool. Rarely could we buy concessions, but she always had fruit snacks or pretzels for us. I'm sure she loved her break from us while she laid out in the sun.

20. Our church did a women's event every year called the Lady's Bus Trip. Generally this was reserved for adults, but mom broke the mold and got permission for me to come along. I know I went on at least 3 trips. She'd usually invite my Grandma Thatcher along too. I really felt like big stuff getting to hang out with all the adults, and I'm glad that I got to be a part of those adventures.