love them

We are just about at the mid point of the boys' 2 week fall break. They are keeping me active (think I've lost 5 lbs! for real!), busy, frustrated, entertained, happy, irritable, down in the dungeon that is in the laundry room... and so on. I've lost my cool a couple times. The 17 yr old is moody and grumpy and thinks he's in charge. My 13 yr old and 8 yr old are constantly bickering, fighting, wrestling. My 7 yr old thinks no one likes him, wants to play with him, or ever pays him any attention. Ugh. To top it off, Mama (that's me!) has been a hormonal mess the past week so writing all this just makes me want to cry.

Through it all, through all the ups and downs, the good times and bad times, one of my biggest wishes has always been that my boys know how much I love them. Because I love them a whole freakin' lot!!! Even when they're not getting their way, and even when I refuse to buy them that one thing that they really, really, REALLY want...  "if you love me, you'll buy me this". Even when I take the keys, or the phone... I love them. I am "mean" because I love them and need them to learn something. Hopefully when they're grown they'll remember all the books I've read, all the hugs & kisses I've given, the walks we've taken together, singing together in the car, all the long talks we've had, homework I've helped get them through, and on and on.

So anyway, when one of the Frameworthy challenges came up, and the challenge was to use some hearts (I have tons!), I browsed through the inspiration we were given, and with all of the above on my mind, this was what I came up with one sweet and quiet night after my rowdy bunch were in bed...

And yesterday, I was so delighted to see that it was pointed to on the Gallery Standouts Blog. What an wonderful surprise! I needed that ego boost for sure!

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The two posts in one day was not intentional. LOL, I forgot to set a publish date for the last post. But when I realized that and came in to double check everything and proof read one last time, I realized I even forgot to zip, upload, and link the file. Ugh. Out of practice much? LOL

Thanks for reading and I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. We are hoping to head out to a pumpkin patch and enjoy some kind of fall fun this afternoon.