"Mom, you are not old enough to be a parent"

Yesterday on the ride to school Troy asked me how old I was, I answered and he sat there and thought for a minute, "so you were 17 when I was born?" I looked at him like a deer in headlights! "Yes" I replied. The he proceeded to say, "Mom, you are not old enough to be a parent." I felt terrible! Not only was I embarrassed I was being told by a 6, almost 7 year old! Since Troy has been kindergarten a whole year and a half, Danny and I have tried to instill in him that you cannot kiss until marriage, you would not believe what goes on in the schools! The cat is now out of the bag...after I snapped out of shock that my son realized I was a teen mom, he proceeded to say, "I know why you quit college too...to be with dad and me." What!!!!!!!!!where is this coming from? I am still baffled! I don't think I give Troy enough credit for his knowledge of common everyday things. He is only in 1st grade! I guess I was naive enough to think we could live our life acting like we made our family in the "right" order and then break the news when the time was right, but everything happens for a reason and I feel Danny and I are so blessed to have a happy and healthy marriage and the perfect family for us. and thank you to Troy for keeping it REAL!!

Troy Boy

Today I went and picked Troy up from 1st grade. I sat there after the bell rang for 10 minutes, I was about ready to go into the school and get him myself, as I was getting out of the jeep I saw my little pokey coming out of the school. Oh he is so lucky, I thought to myself. Once he got in I asked how his day was and then I put my phone in front of him and asked kindly what time is it? Why does it take you 10 minutes to leave your classroom? He is notorious for being the LAST kid to leave the school, it kills me, but why what was I in such a hurry for?
We got home and he took off all of his snow stuff and went staight to his room and shut his door, I was feeding Arianna, 7 week old daycare baby, Troy walked up to me tears flowing down his face and handed me a note. It read: Mom, I like you being my mom, you are a good mom, I love you. I gave him a big hug and he said he was not crying because of the note but because he was looking at the picture he has of himself as a baby in his room, he wished he was still a baby so he wouldn't make mistakes. I then explained to him that he was going to make many mistakes and many bad choices, as well as good choices in his life. God made us, but he didn't make us perfect, and he doesn't expect us to be perfect. Then he went to his back pack and got out a picture he had gotten from school, he proceeded to tell me the great things MLK Jr. did and what he went through and how he died. I asked him what he thought about how different people were treated back then, and he asked why would people do that? Why does it matter what color they are? I couldn't come up with an answer. God made us all and we should all be treated the same. Troy is sensitive but he is not afraid to stand up for himself when he knows something is not right. He is such a blessing, most of the time LOL, whenever we get a new kid or if someone gets upset he lifts their spirits and makes them feel at home. He is such a big helper but at the same time not so much, I don't know how many times I have ran into him while he is running through the house with his toy rifle acting like he is in war. Or stepping on the tanish cream colored army men he just had to have, Have you ever stepped on a two inch plastic pointy army man? Ouch! When I do he apologizes under his laughs and then comes to see if I am ok. Raising kids is so rewarding but so frightening at the same time, you get to see how they react to lifes challenges at every age but then you question your parenting, am I being to harsh or to easy? I just pray he will become a loving man who is hardworking and respectful. Yikes! Talk about pressure!

AMEN!!

I can now breathe! The calls and texts have come to a screetching hault! Thank the LORD! What on earth am I so thankful for?! Well let me tell you...I have, since September been a phone call or text away from my darling squad, I love them and they know that, however I was getting calls and texts ALL DAY LONG! I would say, "can I call you back?" and they would call ME back right away with a text attached. I felt I was working cheer 24/7 literally! After getting to the point where I felt like I was being stalked by 9 needy teenaged girls, I thought I cannot go like this any longer! Then I remembered I felt like this before...when I began to grow my team with The Body Shop at Home, that's it business hours! I was weiry to spring the whole, "You may only call or text me between 12-1pm Everyday, unless there is a true emergency, not "how should I wear my hair", or "what time should I get ready?"YES these were real questions they would ask me on a daily basis! I did this on Saturday afternoon and since then I have gotten ONE text, ONE!! AMEN to that! I even got a call between "business hours" from a cheer parent asking what the deal was about the "business hours"and she felt like it was a terrific idea, LOL, looks like there is no need to pack up my poms and leave coaching, I know I couldn't even beleive I was actually thinking of quiting!It is all about BALANCE!! Which brings me to my other job, I have 4, just for the record, not that I need 4 jobs, but they each mean the world to me and I cannot imagine quitting any of them right now! Ok my commute to and from my second job is my living room, which is my surprisingly sucessful daycare. I have 8 kids not counting Troy and Jesselle, they are all but 2 part time kids and it is perfect having a different mix of kids each day. I am highly ADD, ADHD, and OCD Danny says. Oh it just hit me that my "conditions" just may be the reason I have 4 jobs! Ok lets get back on subject..I love having a daycare because I not only get to stay home with Jesselle and send Troy to school and get to greet him when he gets back but I never have to fight traffic to get to work. And once my last kiddo gets picked up I am already making dinner, it is amazing!- Troy is currently singing the Jonas Brothers to me....hahaha "NO, NO, NO!" he says "please erase that!!" I see he is reading now, jokes on me! Good Night Friend..

Our family

My name is Ashley and I am 23, scratch that 24 years old and I have been married to my best friend, Danny, for 4 years this July, we were married July 30th, 2005. We have two amazing kids, Troy who is 6 and Jesselle who is 3. We are a very close nit bunch and love each others company. We love the summer time! We go to the lake every weekend and try to camp as often as we can. Winter time, well it takes up about 75% of the year and we are still working on what to do with ourselves during this time. We also love to laugh and have family game night at least once a week. Danny and Troy team up to beat numerous Game Cube games while Jesselle and I do puzzles and play with her new ginormous dollhouse. We are also very loud and have very high energy. We are very misunderstood, but WE understand US and that is all that matters!

Method, Lysol, and Vomit!

The smell that lingers, as I sit at my desk I am laughing at the sight of my 5 star notebook saturated in lysol. I decided this evening that I wanted to start a journal because I look back at the last 5 years of my life and wonder how did we get here! How was I so calm and collected as I was given the gift of vomit from Jesselle, all over my clothes, chair, and what I thought was going to be my new journal. I have resorted to google the word "blog" and here I am writing my first blog! Now looking down at my notebook I rather not type what I have already written in my journal...deep breath, ok lets start fresh!
As we enjoyed the holidays with family, I realized we have come along way, things are so different now. When did I realize that life is too short to try to control everthing? Not quite sure but one day I beleive I woke up and decided I am going to....ok here is the story, ya know what I am going to wait to reveal that a bit later. I think I should be in bed right now granted I have been working my butt off the past few months. I am surprisingly realxed and focused, um probably not, I am very much awake thanks to the four cups of coffee from earlier. Not quite sure what is to be said in a blog?! I am am sure I will get better at it but until then..."good night friend"-Nancy Grace, lol