A Tribute to Motherhood!

As if it being Mother's Day doesn't make today a special enough day, I was surprised and honored to learn this morning that I was chosen as one of the newest DT members for SheetLoad of Cards! (Insert squeal of pleasure here!) I am so happy and excited to have been selected against the fierce competition! I am blown away by the talent that I am going to be working with at SheetLoad for the next term beginning in August! I really appreciate Alicia for giving me this opportunity to share with you my creativity using SheetLoad's sketches! I will do my best to not disappoint!! (How exciting that I will soon be able to check off something else on My Bucket List!)

You can see this month's SheetLoad E-zine HERE and meet the other members chosen to be on the DT by visiting the SheetLoad Blog HERE!

For Mother's Day I wanted to take a moment to reflect on Motherhood! To me, being a mother is fulfilling one of the deepest and most desired aspirations I can ever remember having even from childhood. One of my memories as a young woman (selfish as it may sound) was to be a mother... I remember thinking that even if I had been diagnosed with terminal cancer, I still wanted to be a mother before I died.

I owe those wonderful feelings of motherhood to my own mother who has been such a wonderful inspiration on me and the lives of my family!

The beautiful woman you see pictured here with me is my mom, Sharon. Without a doubt I can honestly tell you that she is the most wonderful person in the world! She is kind and patient, loving and supportive, giving and understanding and a true example of a Christian woman. She walks a personal walk with the Lord that allows her to exude the spirit that only a woman of God can have. Goodness and kindness just oozes out of her being!!

Believe me when I say that though she sounds like a softy, she is far from that! She is also one of the strongest and most independent women that I know. She has had her fair share of hard knocks in life but instead of allowing those things to bring her down, she has let those things spring her into being a more determined person.

Her life has truly been an example to me on how to love others. On how to love unconditionally and on how to forgive... just like Jesus did! It is my prayer as a mother to give my children the same kind of love she gave me and to raise them in such a way that they too will see the importance of being good people in this world.

Mom, I love you so much and thank God for you! I appreciate all you have done for me! You are not only my mother but my dear friend! I love you! Happy Mother's Day!

This morning I had the pleasure of having Mother's Day breakfast with three of my four kids (we missed you Leah!! Love you!!), my husband, my mother, my sister and her boyfriend. Unfortunately my mom had to work today so we couldn't spoil her for the whole day, but it was nice to see her this morning.

Here is a picture of my mom and two generations after her...


From the top, left to right is Tiffany, Ricky and Michelle. Then on the bottom left to right is my sister Michelle (I named my daughter after her!), My mom and me.

Here is one of my favorite most recent pictures of my kids with me at my wedding in November. I think it expresses the joy and love we have for each other...

I can not say enough about how proud I am of my kids! My oldest daughter Michelle is now 24 and is a dispatcher with a local Police Department. My second daughter Leah is 22 and is the one who just graduated from the University of FL and is starting her Master's program, with the eventual goal of becoming a Veterinarian. Tiffany is my third daughter is 18 and will graduate from High School this June and begin pursuing her goal of becoming a Police Officer. And finally, my baby Ricky (sorry son!) is 15 and will be a sophomore in High School next year taking all honors or advanced placement classes! He has dreams of becoming a Marine Biologist in his future!

These kids have made mothering all that I had ever hoped it would be and then some! I love them so very much and am so blessed to have them! I love you kids very much!!

Of course I had to make a card for my mom for Mother's Day! I wanted it to be the most beautiful thing I had ever created to represent how I feel about her. I didn't quite achieve that, but I do love the sentiment that I took from a a card that my best friend Tiffani made for her mom. It was perfect for my mom too since she loves music and plays the autoharp and sings in a folk music band.

Here is the card based on a recent sketch from Card Patterns...

Not all of the detail can be appreciated in this photo, nor does the coloring look right on the screen, but it is in soft subtle colors with accents of gold to represent my mom's heart! I typed the music note from a dingbat font and blew it up really big and then traced it first onto chipboard and then onto shiny gold paper. The heart stamp that is embossed near the sentiment and the Butterfly both come from Unity. The DP is from the Rustic Gem Collection by Diane's Daughters.

Here is a close up...

The sentiment says: "My mom is a neverending song in my heart of comfort, happiness and being. I may sometimes forget the words but I always remember the tune." It is a quote from Graycie Harmon.

Have a very Happy Mother's Day and thanks for stopping by!

May your bucket overflow with the love of a good mother, or the wonderful memories of one! (We miss you Granny Wild!!)