Announcing...

Anna has added her album photos to her website...if you are unfamilar with myspace, you will get to them via the link under her profile photo that says "pics"...

http://www.myspace.com/annacshepherd

She is so very awesome!

See Anna Shepherd
Jun 15, 2008 3:00 PM 211 North Third St., Bardstown, Kentucky 40004 Cost : Free
"This will be my first show in many months. I will be performing with my guitar player, Trevor and will be selling my 5 song ep. I’m so excited and I hope to see a lot of you there!"

May You Be Blessed....

For when you have a few minutes...
http://www.mayyoubeblessedmovie.com/

Spare Parts?

Never in my life did I think I would be required to run 12 miles a week...week after week. Next month I turn 43 and I'm thinking it might be a good time to replace some of my overused parts. How many miles do you put on a car before you have to overhaul the engine? Pa says it depends on what kind of car it is; Ford possibly 200, 000 / Toyota possibly 300, 000...What kind do you think I am, I ask...He thinks I'm a Toyota...and that I only have 125, 000 miles on me so far.

Maybe, I just need a tune up then. A better spark so that I can start up quicker, a better filter so I can filter out those mind pollutants. Why not get an oil change while I'm under...that old oil makes you sluggish. My tires could stand rotating or replacing or retreaded or something. Good grief...I need relief!

Stay-At-Home Moms Worth $117,000 a Year

Study: Stay-at-Home Mom Worth Nearly $117,000 a Year
Thursday , May 08, 2008
BOSTON — If a stay-at-home mom could be compensated in dollars rather than personal satisfaction and unconditional love, she'd rake in a nifty sum of nearly $117,000 a year.
That's according to a pre-Mother's Day study released Thursday by Salary.com, a Waltham, Mass.-based firm that studies workplace compensation.
The eighth annual survey calculated a mom's market value by studying pay levels for 10 job titles with duties that a typical mom performs, ranging from housekeeper and day care center teacher to van driver, psychologist and chief executive officer.
This year, the annual salary for a stay-at-home mom would be $116,805, while a working mom who also juggles an outside job would get $68,405 for her motherly duties.
One stay-at-home mom said the six-figure salary sounds a little low.
"I think a lot of people think we sit and home and have a lot of fun and don't do a lot of work," said Samantha Russell, a Fremont, N.H., mother who left her job as pastry chef to raise two boys, ages 2 and 4. "But they should try cleaning their house with little kids running around and messing it up right after them."
The biggest driver of a mom's theoretical salary is the amount of overtime pay she'd receive for working more than 40 hours a week. The 18,000 moms surveyed about their typical week reported working 94.4 hours — meaning they'd be spending more than half their working hours on overtime.
Working moms reported an average 54.6 hour "mom work week" besides the hours they spent at paying jobs.
Russell agreed her job as a stay-at-home mom is more than full-time. But she said her "job" brings intangible benefits she wouldn't enjoy in the workplace.
"The rewards aren't monetary, but it's a reward knowing that they're safe and happy," Russell said of her sons. "It's worth it all."

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,354638,00.html

I've yet to see my check...from all of those years...maybe, Becky will get it....:O)

Somebody Said...

Somebody said it takes about six weeks to get back
to normal after you've had a baby. Somebody doesn't
know that once you're a parent, "normal" has a new definition.

Somebody said the hardest part of being a mother
is labor and delivery. Somebody never watched her
"baby" get on the bus for the first day of kindergarten.

Somebody said you can't love the second child as
much as you love the first . Somebody doesn't have
two children.

Somebody said parents can find all the answers to
their child-rearing questions in the books. Somebody
never had a child stuff beans up his nose or in his ears.

Happy Mother's Day To Me!

This marks my 25th year of being a mother...

YOU KNOW YOU’RE A MOM WHEN...

1. You count the sprinkles on each kid's cupcake to make sure they're equal.
2. You want to take out a contract on the kid who broke your child's
favorite toy and made him/her cry.
3. You have time to shave only one leg at a time.
4. You hide in the bathroom to be alone.
5. You child throws up and you catch it.
6. Someone else's kid throws up at a party and you keep eating.
7. You consider finger paint to be a controlled substance.
8. You mastered the art of placing food on a plate without anything touching.
9. Your child insists that you read "Once Upon a Potty" out loud in the
lobby of the doctor’s office, and you do it.
10. You hire a sitter because you haven't been out with your husband in
ages, then spend half the night talking about and checking on the kids.
11. You hope ketchup is a vegetable because it's the only one your child eats.
12. You can't bear the thought of your son's first girlfriend.
13. You hate the thought of his wife even more.
14. You find yourself cutting your husband's sandwiches into unusual shapes.
15. You fast-forward through the scene when the hunter shoots Bambi's mother.
16. You obsess when your child clings to you upon parting during his first
month at school, then obsess when he skips in without looking back the
second time.
17. You can't bear to give away baby clothes--it's so final.
18. You hear your mother's voice coming out of your mouth when you say,
"Not in your good clothes."
19. You stop criticizing the way your mother raised you.
20. You read that the average five-year-old asks 437 questions a day and
feel proud that your kid is "above average."
21. You say at least once a day, "I'm not cut out for this job," but you
know you wouldn't trade it for anything. Thought for the Day:
Who are these kids and why are they calling me Mom?

All Wonderful Mothers

This is for all the mothers who froze their buns off on
metal bleachers at football games Friday night instead of
watching from cars, so that when their kids asked, "Did you
see me?" they could say, "Of course, I wouldn't have missed
it for the world," and mean it.

This is for all the mothers who have sat up all night with
sick toddlers in their arms, wiping up barf laced with Oscar
Mayer wieners and cherry Kool-Aid saying, "It's OK honey,
Mommy's here."

This is for all the mothers of Kosovo who fled in the night
and can't find their children.

This is for the mothers who gave birth to babies they'll
never see. And the mothers who took those babies and made
them homes. For all the mothers of the victims of the
Colorado shooting, and the mothers of the murderers. For the
mothers of the survivors, and the mothers who sat in front
of their TVs in horror, hugging their child who just came
home from school, safely. For all the mothers who run
carpools and make cookies and sew Halloween costumes.
And all the mothers who DON'T.

What makes a good Mother anyway? Is it patience?
Compassion? Broad hips?
The ability to nurse a baby, cook dinner, and sew a button
on a shirt, all at the same time? Or is it heart? Is it the
ache you feel when you watch your son or daughter disappear
down the street, walking to school alone for the very first time?
The jolt that takes you from sleep to dread, from bed to crib at
2 A.M. to put your hand on the back of a sleeping baby? The
need to flee from wherever you are and hug your child when
you hear news of a school shooting, a fire, a car accident,
a baby dying?

So this is for all the mothers who sat down with their
children and explained all about making babies.
And for all the mothers who wanted to but just couldn't.

This is for reading "Goodnight, Moon" twice a night for a
year. And then reading it again. "Just one more time."

This is for all the mothers who mess up. Who yell at their
kids in the grocery store and swat them in despair and stomp
their feet like a tired 2-year old who wants ice cream
before dinner.

This is for all the mothers who taught their daughters to
tie their shoelaces before they started school. And for all
the mothers who opted for Velcro instead. For all the
mothers who bite their lips-sometimes until they bleed-when
their 14 year olds dye their hair green. Who lock
themselves in the bathroom when babies keep crying and won't
stop.

This is for all the mothers who show up at work with spit-up
in their hair and milk stains on their blouses and diapers
in their purse.

This is for all the mothers who teach their sons to cook and
their daughters to sink a jump shot.

This is for all mothers whose heads turn automatically when
a little voice calls "Mom?" in a crowd, even though they
know their own offspring are at home.

This is for mothers who put pinwheels and teddy bears on
their children's graves.

This is for mothers whose children have gone astray, who
can't find the words to reach them.

This is for all the mothers who sent their sons to school
with stomachaches, assuring them they'd be just FINE once
they got there, only to get calls from the school nurse and
hour later asking them to please pick them up. Right away.

This is for young mothers stumbling through diaper changes
and sleep deprivation. And mature mothers learning to let
go. For working mothers and stay-at-home mothers. Single
mothers and married mothers. Mothers with money, mothers without.

This is for you all.

So hang in there.

Adventures in Kentucky...

Yesterday, we were able to take a little trip to the Laurel Dam area.

They have a shooting range, lots of hiking trails and of course, trout fishing.

Emme was able to go with us while her Mommy and Daddy were in the process of moving.

I think...she enjoyed herself.
Made me reminisce about Silas' first hike...and another hike where we were celebrating Molly's third birthday in the woods and Jacob was in a carrier on my back...he was zonked...so many years ago...

Of course, Pa did...

Curious...
Handsome...
Moody...but handsome, too.
She who wishes for more time... Emme LOVED the waterfalls...she was mesmerized.
When I fed her she made certain she was able to see the water as she took her bottle.
A baby's picnic by the falls...

Exhausted...

Speaking of Rain

Ariel posted a quote on ForMyMoma Friday..."Life isn't about waiting for the storms to pass. It's about learning to dance in the rain." Then this morning I received an email from a friend about this family @ Bring on the Rain and I must pass it on to you. It is touching and beautiful. It is sad. They are truly learning to dance in the rain.

Morning time is the greatest...

Because it is full of smiles, goos and gaas, energy and squeals of delight!
It's the one time I wished I had a video camera.

Two weeks passed and she's five months...

Emme went to Pikeville last weekend. So...it's been two weeks since she last visited. She can click her tongue, she can make blow sounds vibrating her lips, she has found her feet and they seem to be her bestest friends, she kicks when she's excited and she is sweeter than she was...all in just two weeks.

A short visit...

My Washington Friend, Connie, who move to Missouri came to KY yesterday. I got to visit with her about four hours after work last night. Hadn't seen her since our trip out west in 2004. I remember meeting her at church when Ariel was 3 or 4. I met my friend of 36 years, Deb, in church and my friend of 19 years, Connie in church. Pretty cool. Faithful friends.Matter of fact, I recently got to visit with my friend Deb, who now lives in Texas, too.

I am blessed.

One more giant step...

Three weeks at the range...OMG, what would I have done if it were four!? I am beat up! I am firearms / shotgun qualified...and getting more excited as time passes. I'm so thankful we were at the range in spring. The first two weeks it rained so much that the paper targets were "melting" off the frames. The third week...glorious sunshine. Hawks were flying over...groundhogs coming out watching us practice...blossoms floating through the air like snow.

Just wished I had more time to get things done...Looking at a graduation date of August 8th. Subject to change...but gives hope.

Quote worth sharing:
Live your life in such a way that when your feet hit the floor in the morning, satan shudders & says..."Oh no....she's awake!!"

TWENTY THINGS TO REMEMBER

It's the beginning of another week...I'm hoping to stick with positive thinking...thought I'd share with you.

1. Faith is the ability to not panic.

2. If you worry, you didn't pray. If you prayed, don't worry.

3. As a child of God, prayer is kinda like calling home every day.

4. Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not be bent out of shape.

5. When we get tangled up in our problems, be still. God wants us to be still so He can untangle the knot.

6. Do the math. Count your blessings.

7. God wants spiritual fruit, not religious nuts.

8. Dear God: I have a problem. It's me.

9. Silence is often misinterpreted, but never misquoted.

10. Laugh every day - it's like inner jogging.

11. The most important things in your home are the people.

12. Growing old is inevitable, growing up is optional. (Preach it!)

13. There is no key to happiness. The door is always open. Come on in.

14. A grudge is a heavy thing to carry.

15. He who dies with the most toys is still dead.

16. We do not remember days but moments. Life moves too fast so enjoy your precious moments.

17. Nothing is real to you until you experience it; otherwise it's just hearsay. 18. It's all right to sit on your pity pot every now and again. Just be sure to flush when you are done.

19. Surviving and living your life successfully requires courage. The goals and dreams you're seeking require courage and risk-taking. Learn from the turtle, it only makes progress when it sticks out its neck.

20. Be more concerned with your character than your reputation. Your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are. No matter the storm, when you are with God, there's always a rainbow waiting. Leave gentle fingerprints on the soul of another for the angels to read. I don't want to get to the end of my life and find that I lived just the length of it. I want to have lived the width of it as well.

Robin Williams says,“Spring is nature's way of saying, "Let's party!"

A visit from Molly...

I see Papa in her, I see Rosie in her, I see Grandma Connie in her, I see a duplicate of Anna...