Why my mothering job matters.....

Being home with N and K today reminded me of the days when I had my J home and he was little and played with N and his airplanes. Oh, how the time does fly! I miss the days when I was J's world, I was all he needed to make him happy!

While N and K were playing in the backyard today and I watched them through the window, I thought to myself, take a picture and keep in your head....you don't ever want to forget this moment. So I decided to take out my camera and shoot some pictures. How beautiful they look to me! The joy in their faces and the love they have for one another warms my heart!

Life gets so busy and hectic with school, sports, endless birthday parties and holidays. I want to savor each and every moment - enjoy every bite of life! I feel as though K is growing faster than her brother's did. The time seems to be moving faster these days!

When I sent J off to school this morning, he looked so big to me, a young boy, my 1st grader! He is obsessed with UCLA football and sports, loves his daddy to death and can't get enough of Indiana Jones these days!

N, who will always be my baby boy, is a preschooler with a brain so eager to learn all that there is to know about the world! He wants to take it all in and devour it!

K is growing so quickly! Where did the baby fat go? She is realizing that she is her own person. She is the princess who loves to dress up in princess gear and then turn around and fight with a lightsaber (in all her girly clothes of course). She is suddenly this shy little spirit who is cautious of who she talks to and looks at (nothing like her mother - maybe that is a good thing).

I look at my children and can't believe that I get the honor of raising them each and everyday! I am the one who gets to dress them in the morning, feed them, make their lunches, wipe their noses when they are sick, teach them their manners, hug them when they are sad, take them to school, work in their classrooms, drive them to practice, and kiss them every night and pray for God's blessings over them all of their lives. What an honor and privalege that I have been blessed with the ability to stay home with my kids and not miss a day of their lives. That is why my job matters.....I am not just a person home to relax all day with nothing to do! I am on duty 24 hours a day, 7 days a week! I am the queen of this castle, the chef, the accountant, the poolman, the cleaning lady, the chauffeur, the nurse, the pyschologist, the trainer, the personal assistant, the dictionary - I am all these things all the time and wouldn't have it any other way!

Sometimes (well often times) I find myself complaining about the day to day things that irritate me (the fighting, the endless toys to pick up, picky eaters, the whining, the laundry), but I guess that's part of every job (there is no perfect job) ! I power through the bumps in the road and keep on moving! No one said it was going to be easy! It's not always fun, either. There are times when your heart aches because you see your children upset or in pain. There really is nothing like the pain a mother feels when her children suffer - how I wish at those times that I could take their pain for them. I am truly blessed with an amazing partner in life. He works so hard to provide me with all the things any person could want or need. He is an amazing man who is an amazing father - what a total blessing! And, after almost 10 years, I love him more today than I have ever loved him! He is my lover, my partner, my life.

I loved working in the corporate world, being a successful sales rep., but I love being home and being a homemaker for my family! I couldn't have asked for a better life for myself. I treasure each and every day and feel so blessed to be living my life. Enjoy these beautiful pictures of my kids, who have been lovebirds today.