Queenies Little Kingdom

I have been “mothering” all of my life. From the time I was a little girl all I wanted to do was be a mom. I played the part of the mom in every make believe scenario with my cousins and friends. When I was a teenager, I would dream of my future and the children I knew I would have someday. I even carried around baby name books (weird, I know) because I wanted to have the perfect names for the kids I knew God would give me. Can you tell I really wanted to be a mom? Not so badly that I would do anything crazy…..like have a baby out of wedlock. I wanted the whole package….hubby…..then babies! 🙂

I found my true love when I was 22. We got married and that first year of marriage….I had my first baby, Gavin. It didn’t take long for me to realize that it was even better than I’d ever dreamed it could be. Being a mom was the greatest gift God had ever blessed me with and it’s only gotten better over the last 18 1/2 years. With Sunday’s special Mother’s Day approaching, I thought I’d tell you a few reasons why I like being a mom.

~ Holding them in my arms when they were babies.
~ Rocking them.
~ Teaching them about Jesus and His love for them.
~ Being the one they wanted for comfort.
~ Looking into their eyes.
~ Hearing them call my name, Mom….Mama..Moooooooooom! 🙂
~ Listening to them. Stories, recollections, funny things they say…
~ Singing with them.
~ Bedtime lovin. Even still today.
~ Going places with them.
~ Watching them grow. Painful but good…really.
~ All the notes, cards and words they’ve blessed me with.
~ Hearing them say things like..”Mama, you are da best cooker!”.
~ Playing, camping, swimming, biking, hiking, beaching, canoeing, theme parking, ballgaming, friend hanging, family hanging..all of it. So fun! When it’s with them!
~ That feeling of when someone compliments one of them. My heart beats a little faster….I’m so proud. Because I know it’s true.
~ Knowing that they choose to follow God for themselves….not for me.
~ Seeing them “get it”!
~ Watching how they love their Dad. MADLY UNCONDITIONALLY!
~ Knowing they trust me and rely on me.
~ Teaching them about life.
~ The smart conversations that I have with them. They know stuff!
~ Seeing their compassion for other’s.
~ Being a part of their future.
~ Knowing that…no matter what….I will always be their mom!

(MY PRIVILEGE)

God,
You knew. You blessed me with just the children I needed. I prayed but you had something even better in store for me. I am forever grateful for the gift of being a mother. It has been my greatest blessing and honor. Being called mama by Gavin, Ally and Gates has been my privilege. How can I ever ask for more?
Amen.

It was this time last year that serious concern was an understatement regarding hubby and employment. He had been without a J O B for three very long months by this point. I’ll just say it, WE WERE FREAKING OUT!!!! It’s something I pray never happens to us again. With the economy like it is right now….people are suffering the same fate all over our country. But not this lucky guy!

The job was advertised as “Best Job in the World” by the tourism department of Queensland State in Australia. The candidates had to submit a video application and from there the contestants were narrowed down to finalists. From what the story revealed, the system couldn’t keep up with all the applicants and the site crashed due to overload. Hmm, go figure!

The job? Live on an island off the Great Barrier Reef! Yea, that’s what I said. LIVE THERE! Oh he has to work too ya’ll. He is required to swim, snorkel, sail, fish, explore and BLOG! Umm, that job is calling MY NAME!!!! How did I miss this one? 🙂

When I first heard the story….my thought was, “Hmm, I bet it’s one of those survivor challenge stories”. Who cares? Well, once I heard the real deal…my jaw dropped. This really is an incredible opportunity. The guy who won has to be so excited. I am and I didn’t even get the job. Wow!

Oh, the pay? $111,000.00 for six months! I could probably make it on that, how about you? I mean, come on. His job is to bring in more tourists….so he’s getting paid to “LIVE IT UP” and make you want to visit there! Can you even imagine? Geez! He starts work….July 1st and he can bring his girlfriend along. Oh the perks never end, huh?

This made me think…. What would my dream job be? I’m not sure. I certainly wouldn’t turn down an offer to advertise an island of luxury, WOULD YOU? Go check it out!

Tyler Mote
(Athlete of the week photo)

Bragging time. I claim him not because he’s such an awesome athlete…..but because he’s the one my girl loves. He’s also a super kid and athelete. We’re really proud of him (sorta like he’s our own) and all that he works so hard to accomplish. He pushes himself not just because he wants to be the best…..but because he really likes what he’s doing. He’s an amazing athlete!

Yesterday was the first track meet I’ve been able to attend. Every week something has been going on to prevent us from seeing him fly. He really does fly…..like a rocket! 🙂 I stole that title from his Aunt Lori’s foreign exchange student, No-no (yes that is her name). She says, “Tyler Mote is like a freakin ROCKET!!” (said with the most serious face). She’s so funny! I laughed and laughed.

So I just wanted to brag on him a little. He’s worth it! Congratulations, Rocket Man! You were great! I’m very proud of you!

Tyler Mote racing to win! from Wanda Staton Galloway on Vimeo.

Gates & Me!

I got a little crazy with my haircut on Thursday. I told Sheila (my favorite stylist, ever) to cut it….and give me bangs! She was all like, “huh? what? are you sure?”. How bad can it be, is what I was thinking. Anyway, she did it and I love it. I’m also a new and darker color….as you can see.

Ever since then…..people have been stopping in their tracks to comment about my new look. Who knew? I would have done it years ago….. I am so old now, haircuts don’t really scare me like they used to. I remember crying my head off over a haircut the first year I was married. I regret being so dramatic now…but at the time….I was sure I looked like a dork! Now, I don’t worry so much. I am clearly a dork (at least that’s what my teens think) so anything I do can only improve my dorkiness!

Don’t be afraid of change. Time has a way of locking us in and holding us hostage to habit. We do that in our spiritual lives too. Don’t let your relationship with God get boring and neutral. Spice it up and make it new everyday. Maybe find a friend to be a prayer partner. You will love having someone to share needs and worries with. You will grow and change for the better as well. Let God make you new…..people will notice and the comments will boost you up! I promise!

At this point….I am delirious! I am so very tired. I woke up way too early on Saturday morning and then spent most of the day running around. The girls and I had a little shopping to do and we really thought we could do it much faster than what we did. But…that was not the reality. We needed to find shoes for Gates, her big dance is coming up this Friday. Time was ticking (and mama won’t be able to shop during the work week) literally! We finally found a fabulous pair of shoes to match that special dress. She will be beautiful! Just wait and see.

The rest of the night would be spent working the Prom. This is my sweetboy’s last one (besides next week’s). He was so excited to take his favorite girl, Allison. She looked gorgeous! He did too! Both of them are seniors and have only a few weeks left of high school. Allison’s prom is next week (this is the prom that our Ally will attend with her fave fella, Tyler). I look forward to the event….they are so excited! I am too. I won’t have to do anything but take pictures of my kids at this one.

I also worked at After Prom. I didn’t get home and in bed until after 3:30am Then of course, guess who woke up at the crack of dawn? Oh yea! Me….I have only had about 4 hours sleep max! I am trying to hold my focus..but my eyeballs are spinning around in my head. I must get some sleep. In the meantime, here’s some photo’s of the special night. Aren’t they just beautiful? I am so proud!

Note the sunny weather! It didn’t rain, woohoo!

Do you remember prom? Back in my day (the rockin 80’s) we made big plans. Let’s see…..the date? As in, who would be so lucky to be mine! 🙂 The dress, of course! Out of all the proms I attended (and I went to more than I care to admit), I think I actually only purchased one dress. The rest, I borrowed! See honey, I’ve always been frugal! Then the big deal was….where to eat? My prom didn’t provide a meal as many do now. So, we needed nourishment for goodness sake. We wanted to be seen in our fancy duds…..so we picked the most glamorous of restaurants, Steak & Ale! Ok, so it wasn’t Ruth’s Chris but what did we know…we were punks! Then…. it was the car! Which was no biggie because everyone drove either their mom’s big hockin car or their grandparents Buick. AND IT WAS COOL! Remember?

Here I am…at my first prom! (I was a freshman he was a senior)

That’s not how it is these days. Part of the whole prom experience is driving a great car or renting a limo! Everybody bases all coolness on having a fabulous car. Which isn’t really that big of a deal (to me). You’re only in it for the ride to and fro. But try telling that to some seriously concerned teenagers. They want this night to be fantastic in everyway! I understand! It’s prom, blast it! Make it memorable!

Yesterday, Sweetboy came wheeling in the driveway tooting the horn of this baby. Beep, beep! His buddy (another Gavin…we call him Duff) just happened to have a dad with an extra “cool” car sitting around, in a garage….just for our Gavin to use for prom! Awesome! There’s only one problem! It’s been raining here and will most likely be doing it all day tomorrow. This car…..is British….and convertible….and a bit…leaky! He took Allison out last night for a ride in it….wearing raincoats! 🙂
Ahh…..Prom! It all starts with a cool car…. 🙂
Gavin (Duffy) and my Gavin (Sweetboy)