Where does the time go????

Where does the time go? How do children grow up so fast? How is it possible that I spend everyday with my children, yet it hits me all at once how grown up they are getting?

Take my oldest daughter, for example. She is 12 (will be 13 in October), and she wanted me to take her picture the other day so she could update her Facebook profile. I was looking at her (of course, I was taking her picture)...yet it didn't really hit me until I saw this...

Where did that come from? And where did my little girl go? When she starts talking about what she wants for her birthday or Christmas or anything, it is clothes, jewelry, or shoes. What happened to baby dolls, Barbies, and toys?

But the worst part is...it's not just her. Look at this...

Where in the world did my baby go? Let me tell you, right now at this very moment, this little "angel" (so not an angel) is driving me absolutely crazy. She is boy crazy and man, does she have an attitude. But I still love her...sometimes;-)

You see, it might be okay if the girls were the only ones who were doing this, but they aren't. Kenny insists on growing up too. Take a look for yourself...

This picture is pre-haircut. Thank God he actually let me cut that hair off. And when I say off...I mean off. Almost bald, off. He is looking more and more like his father everyday. And he is almost as tall as Tamara now, and he is actually starting to put on a little weight. Although it is only 1/2 lb here and 1/2 lb there, but hey at least he isn't losing weight.

So can anyone answer my question...WHERE DID MY SWEET LITTLE BABIES GO??? I want them back...I don't like teenagers...teenagers are moody...teenagers think they know everything...teenagers want boyfriends or girlfriends....teenagers are embarrassed to be seen with their Mommy...teenagers don't have Mommys, they have Moms or Mamas...NO! NO! NO! I want this to stop..does anyone know how to make that happen?

No excuses, just a few explanations PART 1

I am not going to make any excuses for my long delay in updating this blog, but I do have a couple of explanations. To start with the fact that my family has was completely uprooted in November due to my Grandma's illness and subsequent passing. My family was strewn from Montgomery to Biloxi to Opelika. We did not become a whole family again until the end of May.
THere have been many things going on in our life, and I can guarantee that this story will be broken down into parts.

This is Part 1.

When we received the diagnosis of Stage IV small cell lung cancer on November 7, 2008, it completely changed my life and with that came change to my family's life. I moved to Opelika to be with and take care of my Grandma. The children moved in with my ex-husband's aunt at that time. Aunt Pat was a lifesaver for offering to let the children live with her while I was taking care of my Grandma. All 3 children were enrolled in school in Opelika, and I saw them almost everyday.

I practically lived at East Alabama Medical Center for 3 weeks after the diagnosis. My mom and I both did. You see, my Mama is an only child, and so am I. We really were all my grandma had. So we dropped everything and too care of her.

SHe passed away on November 27, 2008 (Thanksgiving Day) and the next weeks were spent planning a funeral, getting her things in order (life insurance, bank accts., etc.) And the hardest of that was going through her belongings and deciding what to do with them. My mama and I spent almost a month on that.

Christmas snuck up on us quickly because we were focused on other things. We did have a family Christmas (just missing one important person...MY GRANDMA), and then it was time for me to start getting ready to move back home. I don't have pics of Christmas because I was just in the zone enjoying the time with my family and remembering my Grandma. The very strange, long drawn out move back to Montgomery will be PART 2 (to be published tomorrow). Until then have a good night!!!