A Little Story About Camden Chadwick James...

Once upon a time I was 29 years of age and had 2 children, an almost 3 year old and a 7 month old. Imagine my surpriZe when I started feeling those all too familiar 'symptoms' -run down, -nausea, -emotional, -subtle changes... Though we wanted more children we had not "planned" on a 3rd at this time. Off I went to get a pregnancy test, though I already *knew* in my heart (by the 4th week) the answer. After our initial shock both Randy & I embraced this our 4th, and what we knew would be our last, pregnancy with open hearts. I was excited as I prepared Courtney to be a 'big sister' again, and tried to help Kyle, who was still a baby him self, understand he was about to become a 'big brother.' Just about 2 weeks short of my due date we found out I had to be induced for the sake of my own health. After having had 2 relatively quick (5.5 hrs and 6 hrs) and for the most part, uncomplicated NON-Hospital births, both of us were quite terrified of the implications & uncertainty's of this pending labor. Turns out we were right to have apprehension. BUT... 26 hours later I was holding my baby boy in my arms, all struggle, pain, & procedures gone wrong, were forgotten as I gazed into my child's eyes that seemed too blue to be real. (His eyes were so beautiful & lashes so long that I begged my mid-wife to hold off on the eye drops so we could enjoy the eye contact.) We had the names "Camden" and "Chadwick" picked out. We loved both names but when we saw him we just knew he was a "Camden" ~ we also liked the name "James." I pulled the "I was in labor 26 hours and if I want him to have 5 middle names then so be it" trump card and so our Camden Chadwick James Ratliff was named. Right from the start there was (as others would say) "just something about him." Even as a baby I used to call him "My lil old man" ~ he's just always been such an old soul, its difficult to describe. He took in EVERYTHING around him, sounds, sights, people... with such an intensity. As he got older he became intense. To say he was/is independent is putting it mildly. Not in a bad, moody, or brooding way. He has ALWAYS had a sweet, tender, thoughtful, kind soul. Being ill all but a few years of his life seems to have given him an appreciation of life. He has this sense of wonder, an appreciation of ALL things, a deep patriotic under tone, and a respect for people, especially his elders. While Randy and I certainly 'molded' him and set the best examples we could (as we do for all our children and 'extras') we do not take credit for who he is. He is 100% his own person, he sticks to his guns, he follows his heart, he blazes his own trail, and does what he feels in his gut is right, even if at times he is standing alone. He has not had it easy, this child of mine. School was not kind to him. His peers (with a few exceptions) do not understand him and therefore can not relate to him. His heart was NEVER to make others feel bad because he is light years ahead of kids his own age. He did not ask to be 'different' but he does his best to embrace that fact, and tries to fit in. In spite of (or maybe because of) his challenges, he is an over-comer and when hes doing something hes passionate about there is NO stopping him. Where I think I would feel bitter, he has compassion. Most would be jaded, yet he remains 'innocent' and hopeful. That being said, I am not blind to his faults. I am acutely aware that he is 'different' as is he, trust me on this. He sees the world in is own way. I do not pretend to understand why he is how he is. I only love, support, and encourage him the best I can. Yes he struggles, as any child does. No he's not perfect. Yes he makes mistakes. Yes he has his moments. But his heart is pure, his path is set, he follows God fiercely. Once hes taken some time to reflect he apologizes if necessary, he does his best to move on even when deep hurts have been (intentionally or not) inflected upon him. He is many things my Camden; a Writer, a Strategist, an Intellectual, an Out Side the Box Thinker, a Motivator, a person that makes Change happen, a Persevere-er and he is my personal Hero. He is always digging deeper, in his personal life, spiritually, and educationally. He has taught me to NEVER EVER give up, to have faith, to love your enemies, (to pray for them even, and sometimes with diligence even win them over to your side) to not hold grudges for 'people just don't understand' ~ above all he is my Son, he is becoming my Friend and He.Makes.Me.Happy every single day... There was a time early in my pregnancy when due to an operation I had to have, I could have lost him. Oh how thankful I am that God saw fit to protect him and give us this blessing to nurture and care for. He has enriched our lives more than I would have ever thought possible. As of 9-10-2012 he will be 13. He is skipping 8th grade and attending an accelerated High School. I am grateful for every single second, minute, day, week, month, and year we have been given with him !! (Sorry Randy, that I was not able to "push him out" on 9-9-99 (lol) but I think things turned out pretty OK after all !) To Camden: On this the celebration of your 13th birthday I want you to know, I.Love.You. with all my heart. You keep doing your thing, you make us proud no matter what !! Lastly I believe in you, in who you are, in what you are going to accomplish and achieve ~ thank you for making it so easy for us to be your "Mother" and "Father" as you so lovingly call us !! HAPPY BIRTHDAY =) -Thank you to those of you who made it all the way through this muddled mess of me trying to share a piece of my heart and life with you. I hope you enjoyed it and maybe on some level relate to it as well ! <3

On Sharks, Praying, and almost dying AGAIN...

Well I promised another story about a week ago so here it is... Last week I wrote about how I almost drowned in the ocean. That same ocean holds a few more stories about me. Same trip, September 1990 on my Honeymoon. Randy and I had an ocean view Hotel Room, like the beach was just feet away from our balcony. During the morning after our first night there we had devotionals then we were praying together at the foot of the bed. To be honest HE was praying *I* was too fascinated with the view out side our windows. I tried really hard to focus, truly I did BUT the great out doors just kept calling me... In between bowing my head and keeping a vigilant eye on the ocean something or several somethings caught my eye. Keep in mind, Randy had traveled alllll over the country, while I had hardly been out of my own back yard. Sure we took camping trips and even went to FL a few times when I was a child but that doesnt count cuz I dont remember it. SO that being said as I looked out into the vast ocean what do I see but a group of SHARKS !! I mean like seven or eight of them. I became VERY alarmed for the people that were swimming in the ocean not far from these vicious creatures. But Randy unlike ME was praying, head bowed, eyes closed, unaware that *I* was feeling guilt ridden because I just could not focus on praying ~ and then I started feeling scared for those people and I felt I had a duty to interrupt Randy and tell him we had some people to go save. Seriously ! So there I was kneeling at the foot of the bed NOT praying and in fact I was worrying. Eventually my conscience got the best of me and I started tugging on Randys arm like a two year old. (lol) "Randy, Randy sorry but LOOK out the window, there are SHARKS out there..." He stops praying and being the dutiful husband looks out the window, looks back at me with a look as if to say "Really, Tiff ?" then he smiles his best "I'm trying not to patronize you but thats what I'm about to do, smile" and says "Tiff, hunny, those are NOT sharks, they are DOLPHINS !" I looked again and I said something like "But they have FINS and they are BIG, are you sure those people are safe ?" HE had seen enough oceans in enough states to be confident that they were in fact Dolphins. After a moment or two he had me all calmed down, and I even finished praying but still kept my eyes peeled in case a scene from Jaws started taking place on the beach... Later that morning we went down to the beach and after some convincing he coaxed me into the water and out to where those 'sharks' were waiting to feed on poor innocent people. To my amazement and child like wonder, he was right, there we stood surrounded by beautiful DOLPHINS. =) ~This is all I have time for at the moment~ I will pick up with my 2nd 'near death experience' where Randy once again saved my life, some other time. (like, he said I was DEAD, no pulse, no breathing, unresponsive pupils DEAD for several minutes) The ONLY thing I recall was what I saw before I went down (which I will share later) and then as if in a dense fog or deep sleep I heard a voice echoing ~it was almost as if I were in a cave or a tunnel and the voice was bouncing off the walls~ and this voice said "TIFF, TIFF dont leave me ! PLEASE TIFF !! Dont leave me !!!" then I heard, or maybe *thought* (I'll never know for sure) "Go back to him, Come back to me, Go back to him" then I was awake. No clue where I was, and I didnt even know my own name for a moment or two. There was a paramedic in my face looking very concerned and then there was my Randy, looking very relieved with tears streaming down his face, and it registered "I just died -or almost died- and he saved my life AGAIN..." I may not have known my own name in that moment but I knew someone LOVED me and I knew that I loved HIM and I knew somehow everything would be OK, but first, I needed to figure out what the heck happened... To Be Continued =)

Going topless at Virgina Beach is frowned upon, apparently...

I've been hesitant to post again mostly because I'm not getting much feed back... Y'all have been telling me for YEARS to make a blog or write a book. Its a pretty humbling thing to put your 'stuff' out there. You wait, you wonder, you second guess. To my faithful friends and family THANK YOU for your feed back !! Last night Randy of all people all but begged me to post something else. "But you LIVE with me, you know all my stories, you finish my sentences, I'm just a wife and Mom and I'm oh so boring." He said "Oh but I've forgotten them and you are funny, well written, inspiring, and people deserve to hear this stuff whether they comment you or not, its FUNNY. You have almost have 600 views 'someone' or 'someone(s)' is reading this." SO for my Randy here's another few short stories about "Those things I do." =) Its a sunny day in September of 1990 Virgina Beach Virgina. I am on my honey moon. Randy and I purchased a boogie board. While he was out catching waves I was content to video him and catch me some rays. At some point he convinced me to give it a try. Two problems with this 1.) I DON'T swim. 2.) I HATE HATE HATE getting my face wet. But being the supportive, happy go lucky, wanting to make my hew groom happy, wife that I was I said I'd give it a try. And I was hooked. It was a BLAST, I didn't have the skill he did and I looked like a fish out of water on that board that I clung to for dear life, but I didn't care it was fun ! My BFF at the time (Chris) had loaned me her bikini. At some point in the day I went and changed out of my one piece and into this cute neon pink, orange, and black 2 piece. Yes, once upon a time I was not old, and fat, and didn't even know what cellulite was ! lol Randy stayed in the room and I headed back out, with my new friend the boogie board. After catching a particularly large wave, upon washing onto the shore, I excitedly looked up at our hotel window to see if Randy had seen, but of course he had not. I laid there for a few minutes propped up just looking around and basking in my new found talent. After a minute or 2 a little girl walked by me and she couldn't seem to take her eyes off me. I thought it was weird but I just smiled. Next thing I know her mom walked over in a huff and yanked her away from me, giving me a nasty look. "Sheeesh whats her problem" I wondered. I decided it was time to stand up. As I did so to my utter horror I realized my bikini top had worked its way down to my WAIST and there were my 'girls' just hanging out for alllll the world to see. I had been lying there propped up on my elbows for MINUTES and no one bothered to tell me. THEN all the stares I had been getting made sense. I thought people were just impressed with my 'Mad Boogie Board Skills' NOPE they were staring at my girls in all their glory... Again I say "Only Me" !! I pulled my top up, RAN to get my towel, then RAN to our hotel room and dissolved into tears as I told Randy my sob story. To his credit he didn't laugh... at first ! Haha Fast forward same trip to a couple days later. Against my better judgment Randy convinced me to walk out much farther into the water than I was comfortable with. There we stood letting wave after wave lift us and make us feel as if we were floating. It was SO cool, there were even dolphins swimming aruond us. By the time I realized how far out we had drifted it was too late. We both looked up in time to see a tsunami type wave heading right at us picking up size and speed by the second. I was terrified to say the least. Randy the ever present voice of reason (seriously hes THE BEST person to have around in a crisis.) told me he loved me and said "Its gonna be OK heres what we are gonna do." You see HE could have easily swam up to the shore and avoided the wave but as I said earlier I DO NOT SWIM. I HONESTLY before God thought I was going to die. I can not stress the size of this wave getting bigger and stronger as it made its way towards us. This is a good time to mention that it was HURRICANE season, and someone had DIED in the ocean just the day before... Did I mention I cant swim ? Any way back to what happened. I just kept murmuring "I love you, I'm so sorry, I dont want to die..." Randy said "Look at me Tiffany, you ARE going to be OK and heres what WE are going to do." He showed me how to lock arms with him using both our hands to grip each others forearms. Then he said and I'll NEVER forget this "That wave IS coming and we ARE going to get hit and I KNOW you are afraid BUT I.WILL.NOT.LET.YOU.GO.NO.MATTER.WHAT." Keep in mind this all happened in probably less than a minute. I told him something like but YOU can swim for it... He shut me up saying again that I would be OK and he'll be holding me the entire time. So there we stood in the deep blue ocean watching this tidal wave of impending doom... When it was almost upon us he said "Ready ? Now take a DEEP breath, and remember I'm not letting go no matter what." I didn't have time to reply. Then next thing I knew I was on the bottom of the ocean floor. I was being pulled by the under current. "So THIS is what its like to die" I thought and I also thought about the poor soul that had just drown the very same way days before. As I was being thrown about feeling scrapes and cuts forming on my belly and legs the most MIRACULOUS thing happened. I felt Randy ON TOP of me. For a brief second I thought he thought he was being funny. I cant explain it, such confidence and faith I had in him that he was in fact going to save me that I thought he on purpose landed on me. Next thing I know I'm being lifted straight out of the water. Upon finding my footing you'd think I threw my arms around Randy and thanked him properly for saving me. Sadly that's NOT what I did. I YELLED at him for playing a joke on me and laying on top of me when clearly I was terrified and thought I was gonna die. He was like "WHAT ?? I just saved your life that wave THREW me on top of you !!" I dissolved into a hot mess of tears again, profusely apologized, and spend the rest of the day reflecting on what 'almost' happened... So to my Hero Randy, I hope you enjoyed this and THANK YOU again for saving my life, for putting MY needs, my very LIFE, before your own. THANK YOU for never letting go, both then, and the many times on this our Journey of 21 years of marriage, when letting go would have been So.Much.Easier... And THANK YOU for saving my life not once but TWICE. More on that story some other day. I hope you enjoyed this and I'll bet you too have a 'hero' in your life to be eternally grateful to/for. If so please share with me I'd love to hear YOUR story of survival ! =) Here's a hint about my next blog... "On Sharks, Praying, and almost dying, AGAIN"

"Catching your kids doing something GOOD"

My day did not start out too well. We've been having problems with our garage door closing. Well, this morning I could NOT for the life of me open it. SO I set my phone down on the back of the van and told my self "OK.Lets.Do.This.Thing." Three or four minutes later I had it open. But guess what ? Yep, I LEFT my phone on the back of my van, of course cuz that's how I roll, and I took off. So i get to work and call Kyle who was of course still sleeping. As Kyle was having yet another sleep over (cuz he is SPOILED that way :)I told the guys lights out at 2:30 and from there they fall asleep when they fall asleep. Groggy and tired he answered his phone. I said "Kyle SO sorry to wake you but I have a problem." "Whats wrong Mom ?" I told him what I'd done and asked him to please get dressed and go look for my phone, I again said I'm sorry but it may even be in the street. Now although my kids are good natured (hmm spell check tells me that's not a word, but CLEARLY I used it in a sentence lol) most of the time, NO ONE wants to get a phone call telling them to get dressed go out in the cold and search for something ESPECIALLY when they were asleep. But you know what he said ? "Its OK Mom, I'll find it." No grumbling, no attitude, just a willingness to help his poor Mom out. I post things like this that may make some of you roll your eyes and say *not again* and that's OK but there is a REASON I do this. Randy and I have a philosophy, a mission if you will when it comes to raising our kids it is simply this "Catch your children doing something GOOD and praise them for it." Its EASY to find fault, nag, gripe, complain, correct, pick at... but we have a responsibility to built our kids up, encourage, praise, and LOVE them like there's no tomorrow. Shedding light on good behavior causes them to want to repeat said good behavior. Again my kids are NOT perfect, but they do some pretty perfect things and you bet cha Randy and I are gonna keep "Catching that good behavior" no matter how old they get. So here's my challenge to YOU my friends that are parents, how bout you catch YOU kids doing something good and tell them... Then let me know how it goes ! There maybe many of you who already do this and if so GREAT keep it up because its just as important, actually more so, as feeding and sheltering them. The rewards are 10 fold the effort you may have to put in to find that good behavior ~ but it IS there to be found !! It was one week ago today that Kyle made a sincere commitment to God and us his family to step up his Spiritual life and OH how proud it makes me to say he has delivered in spades ! Thanx for reading... ♥ And in case you're wondering my Kyle did in deed find the phone, in the street ~ he's magic that way ! =)

The craziest things happen to me...

OK its no secret I'm a magnet for 'oh its weird, craZy, unbelievable...? Then it HAS to happen to Tiffany Ratliff' Seriously. Like its a law or something. I've been told I could and should write a book about all the stuff that I do, or say, or have happen to me, or witness... but for now this blog will have to suffice. 'Sides I'm getting old and I can hardly remember to remind my self to eat let alone something that happened yesterday. Haha OK so I'm exaggerating a tad but these stories that I'm about to share -spread out over time- are totally NOT exaggerated. Names and places may be changed to protect the innocent ~ sorry couldnt help my self. OK back to the story at hand. MOST of these things happen to me at the work place. Like the time when working as a waitress I asked my customer "Would you like you hie peated ?" and he said something like "What ever you say sugar..." and I walked away red in the face and promptly returned with his PIE HEATED. Or the time when working with Randy in Troy. This 'person' walked in asking me for a job application. Well this was a very special kind of person. It was a man dressed in FULL ON D.R.A.G. with makeup, and a dress, and a wig, and high heals that incidentally caused him to have this very odd awkward walk. Mind you this was 1990 when such sightings were an acceptation and not the norm. And after all I was only 20, yes I'll blame my age on my reaction. Which was to duck underneath my desk and try to pull my self together. When this attempt failed I then reached my hand up onto my desk feeling around for my phone and I called up another girl to help me 'deal with something' Now this poor guy, (or do you say girl ?) who was patiently waiting for a job app (which of course I had NO idea where they were kept or believe me I'd have grabbed it and sent him on his way) SAW me duck under said desk and then SAW me feeling around for the phone, and then HEARD me try to stifle laughter. It wasnt so much that I was making fun of him, really, it was just the fact that he came in looking like the thought he could pull this off. Like, ehhh happens every day, lets just stop in to this place and expect them to take me seriously as I ask for employment. Never mind that he had a run in his hose, fake eyelashes one of which was fluttering around threatening to fall off, and RED RED lipstick smeared seemingly every where BUT his lips, and then there were the fake nails, but I digress... Once my co-worker made it up to me I tried to bolt, but she made me stay with her while she too tried and failed to speak to this person with out loosing it. Eventually I did make a run for it, into the bathroom where I stood laughing so hard that tears were streaming down my face. Once he was gone I got a nice lecture/threat something about "If you EVER do that to me again..." Fast forward 20 some odd years to my present place of employment. I sell electronic cigarettes. On display as part of our decor my manager has a decent sized jar filled with all different colors of USED filters. He even sealed off the top of it with some packaging tape. I'd like to say this deterred people from trying to take them. But nope. Apparently when you think something may be FREE it doesnt matter what it is, you just want handfuls of them. And just last night I witnessed 2 people grab a few and say "ohh these is free !" and the other person said "What is they ? What you gonna do with 'em ?" I intervened at this point and said "Ladies those are used filters, on display for a decoration..." They promptly dropped them back in the jar and ran off. One particular lady upon seeing the jar walked over to me and said something like "I got my kit down somewhere(s) else, so am I supposed to frow away my useded filters in that jar ?" You cant make this stuff up people remember I'm a MAGNET for these kinds of situations. While I was tempted to say something like "Oh yes lady from Saginaw I think its perfectly reasonable to ask you to drive to Flint to "FROW" away your garbage." But I didnt, I smiled and said "No of course not, that jar is just on display to show our variety of filters, you know, like for a decoration." And she looked at me and said "Oh so I should put mine(s) in a jar too ?" REALLY ?? You'll be happy to know that again I bit my tongue and said "No hun, you just throw them away in your OWN garbage..." Here is a picture of the jar...

I'll add to this over time, depending upon YOUR feed back...or lack there of ! =)

I CAN do this thing, right ?

So as if my week wasnt going to be crazy enough playing the 'single parent' while Randys on a business trip for a few days add to it the following... Camden is sick, like fever, achy, miserable, sick. Kyle is under the weather but not near as bad. And now, you'll love this part, *I* have a temp also ! Its only 100.1 and I hope it stays that way, but COME ON !! I work 5 days this week. Have to hold down the fort. Address homework issues, thankfully I have a few people on stand by because as I said on my FB I may be "Smarter Than A Fifth Grader" but I'm not smarter than my 8th graders homework not to mention my 10th grader that has 11th grade classes ! lol SO to my self, heres the deal... We are gonna work together, you are gonna get better ASAP and have a Can.Do. attitude !! You hear me ? OK dont shake your head at me, I know each and every one of you have given your self a pep talk at one time or another. *I* was just brave (or craZay) enough to post it. LOL I may FEEL like THIS

at times and by the end of the week I may LOOK like this

but in between those times I promise my self and my wonderful family to focus on doing THIS

... Stay tuned this promises to be a very 'special' week !

One of my PlayLists...Hope you enjoy a few of my favorite songs/music !

About me...

Some things you should know about me...
I like to use this ... A LOT.
I love all things purple.
I am addicted to ice, like I eat 44oz cups of it daily. (seriously)
I wear blue mascara and I Rock.It.Out.
I love my family.
My kids are my life and off limits .. mess with them and well, dont do it and you wont have to worry !
My goal each day is that as I go to sleep at night I can look back and say "Yes, I did the best I could."
If said goal does not happen then I FORGIVE my self and commit to start a new in the morning.
I have THE best husband in the world, not even kidding.
I have THE best Mom this world has ever known, again totally serious.
I have wanted to start a blog for months now, but it utterly intimidates me.
I am afraid no one will follow said blog or like it. (pitiful but honest)
I like the TV series The Walking Dead... There I said it, dont judge me !  lol
One of my favorite songs is "Now We Are Free" by Lisa Gerrard and I could listen to it all day ever day, and I have, just ask Randy.
I love all genres of movies but REALLY enjoy ones like Gladiator, Braveheart, Troy, Alexander, and Kingdom of Heaven.  Not because of the violence and war, but for the love stories in them and because I admire those that went before us and fought for something they believed in...  
I believe that 'to have a friend you must BE a friend' and I'm still working on this.
I think one of the number one things we parents need to instill in our children is to simply do the best they can, always.
I believe if we set the bar high for our children that they WILL deliver, all we have to do is believe in them.
I love it when my daughter says "Lets Do This Thing" I admire her and want to be like her when I grow up.
My Kyle is my Son-Shine, he makes me smile.
My Camden is an Old Soul and he makes me happy.
Randy is our rock.
We may not agree on everything but our number one goal is Making Memories for and with our children.  Though we can not spoil them with 'things' I think we do a pretty good job finding ways to show them we love them.
I love black and white photos, especially of buildings and random things.
I take too many pictures.
I strive to find the positive in EVERY situation.
I dont laugh enough, but I'm working on this.
I believe in CHOICES... like, its a CHOICE to be happy.
I believe in second chances, and sometimes a third and a fourth...
I LOVE the sound of my children laughing.
I am NOT perfect, and Do.Not.Want.To.Be.
I am... Courtney Michelle's Mom
I am... Kyle Randal's Mom
I am... Camden Chadwick James' Mom
I am... A wife, daughter, sister, aunt, niece, cousin, friend... and somewhere in all of that I am ME, just like YOU, doing the best I can to make this one life I was given count for something.
Please, walk with me on this journey...

A Tribute to my Mom

So here I sit feeling slightly 'special' as I browse around trying to make heads or tails of this "blogging thing." BUT I was challenged today to make this and I said "I'll have it up and running by tonight" so here it is.  I keep my promises !

For now I will address the name of my blog "Making KoDaK Moments."  

How did I chose this title you may wonder ?  Well its thanks to my amaZing Mom (Donna Livasy) and over the years I have made this my life's mission.  

When I used to get frustrated by the demands of having 3 small children, just every day mundane 'stuff' my Mom was ALWAYS there to encourage me and pick me up.  

One day she just looked at me and said "Well, Tiff you can always CHOOSE to turn these situations into KoDaK Moments, or you can CHOOSE to keep letting them get to you."  Or thats how I remember it anyway.  :p  

And sure enough I slowly caught on to making the most of even the worst of things that happen into Kodak Moments.

Like when on a family vacation for example... Picture hot, humid weather, sweaty, sticky, tired, cranky children all three age FOUR and under, two stressed out parents, and a wonderful loving Grandma out touring the streets of Virgina Beach.  

three

When all of a sudden one of those three precious children, suffering from the heat index, gets sick.  

We're not talking just any sick, we are talking projectile, exorcist style head spinning, puke fest.  

On me, Randy, Courtney, Camden, the stroller, his clothes, the ground... you name it he(Kyle)covered it. In that moment, though I knew he didnt do this to me on purpose, and my heart was hurting for my baby because well, he was sick,I'll be honest I.Was.Not.Happy.  We started reaching for wipes, extra clothing, bibs, spare sox, anything we could get our hands on to clean the mess.  

I looked to my mom for help and see her doing the most unconscionable thing ~ she was taking a picture of this mess and to make it worse she was SMILING.  

My first thought was 'how dare you, do you not SEE what I'm dealing with' but instead I said (quite lovingly I'm sure) "MOM this isnt the time to snap pictures we need help."  And she said "Oh but it is, I'm taking a picture of this "Kodak Moment."  

I wish I could say that at that moment I 'got it' but I wont lie, I was irritated as heck with her.  Of course after her photo op that seemed to last a life time, she came and calmly took care of Kyle, and helped with the mess.  All the while smiling her 'I have inner peace' smile while, I was still fuming, which of course, made me even more irritated.  

I am here to tell you however, that not only did I survive that ordeal (and you'll be happy to know that my Mom survived to hehe) but I made it through MANY more trials, and testing situations.  

My mom was right there with me through them, be it literally, or on the phone, instilling in me that whisper of This To Shall Pass and it IS a Kodak Moment.   

She is and will always be my number one Balcony Person.  (if you haven't read this book yet I highly recommend it)  In other words shes my personal cheerleader...

Now, years later, those same kids that I thought would NEVER grow up are growing SO fast (another thing my Mom warned me about) almost too fast... but not fast enough that I cant with the flash of a shutter, catch glimpses and pieces of all the wonderful memories they have given me, and that we have created together. 

So I guess I said all this to say, I dedicate this, my first blog post to my Mom ~ with out her I would still be fuming at 'those' moments and I'd be missing out on the Joy, just pure Joy, of living in the moment, going with the flow, and yes, snapping away at those Kodak Moments, one beloved puke fest at a time...  Dont be afraid to just MAKE your own K.M.'s ~ in fact I encourage and challenge you to do so.  You will thank me one day, just as I thanked my Mom ~ Trust me on this.

I love you Mom, I hope you know you mean the world to me ~ and this little family would NOT be the strong bonded unit we have become with out YOU !!!