Travels

I do a lot of things wrong as a parent, but the two things I feel I excel at are making God a priority in our lives and making priceless memories as a family. The first one is pretty self explanatory: go to church regularly, pray, teach them scripture, tithing (where they witness it). 

But the second one is two-fold: I love to travel and explore new places. I want the boys to experience new towns, new states, new fishing lakes, new universities, etc so when they become adults and move out they have an idea of what is out there. We have been blessed to show them more states under the age of 16 than most adults have seen in their entire life. I want the boys to make an educated decision about what place best suits them to pursue their dreams. I don't want to hold them back or limit them!

The other reason I want to create priceless memories with them is because when Rob and I pass away that is what they'll think about most. Yes, we hope they'll wisely use their inheritance to better their lives. But, the memories will last so much longer! I often think back on the memories of my Nana and Papa, what fun we had together. They didn't have an excess of money (My Papa was a preacher and my Nana was a SAHM.). But they made the most of our time together by taking us to the beach, driving around their little town, getting donuts at a local diner, hitting the after holiday sales (still one of my favorite things to do), going to my Papa's church where he played the guitar and piano for hours. When our boys are grown, I want them to say, "Remember when we...." or "Wasn't that so much fun when....." or "That was one of my favorite memories together." To me, every dollar spent on these memories is worth it. I want the boys to have the best childhood we can possibly give them!

The other night, E said, "Mom, why don't you ever sleep? Don't you get tired?" I didn't know how to explain to him that I am exhausted almost every day of my life but that I wouldn't trade it for anything. I absolutely love being a mom to these two boys of ours (even when they bicker and drive me crazy). It is a blessing to spend time with them. A blessing to drive them all over town to get to their activities. A blessing to spend my "breaks" going golfing or taking roadtrips or going to eat at our favorite restaurants or going fishing or tossing the ball in the front yard with them. I try to lead by example and instill in them the importance of my time spent with them. So that when they are grown and have a family of their own, they can be hands-on parents as well.