Mommy plus Five

I was blessed with five amazing children, a daughter who will be 24 tomorrow, a son Garrett who just turned 22, my son B who is 18, Casey who is 15, and Blake who is 8.

During the past several months I have been upset by the actions of my daughter and son B who have literally abandoned this family for no good reason that I or anyone else can figure. As a result I have not been 100 percent my best for Garrett, Casey and Blake. Worrying about the other two, crying about the other two trying to figure out where I went wrong.

This morning at 7:30am, Garrett woke up on his day off to take his two little brothers to the local "Easter Egg Scramble" at the park. A huge annual event that Blake has always wanted to go to.

Garrett works hard all week. Difficult manual labor that just wears him out. Here he is on his day off at the crack of dawn taking his little brothers to the park to have fun. It was supposed to snow last night, so the morning was damp and cold, but it did not matter to the greatest big brother in the world.

Last night, he and his wonderful girlfriend Kori were sure to purchase all the supplies the boys needed to dye Easter eggs as well. No one asked them to, they did on their own to be sure the boys have a great Easter. I love you Kori.

With all this I realized that I have the most amazing son in the world. He was raised the same as his sister and brother, no special treatment...if anything his big sister and little brother got that. And look at him now. The kindest, most selfless young man I have ever met. He never has an unkind word to say about anyone. He respects everyone and would never talk down or insult. He is always there when you need him. And that is amazing to me. I am so proud of him.

Casey has such a huge heart. He has problems emotionally that we have been treating since he was very young, but his family is the most important thing in the world to him. He is kind, loving and forgiving. Little brother Blake can drive him crazy, but Casey is always checking to be sure his little brother is OK. Again, selfless, kind, respectful and loving at all times.

Blake can drive us insane at times, but much of that lately is from the hurt he is feeling due to the behavior of his sister and his brother B who he loves very much. He does not understand why they are acting the way they are, and it makes him very angry and hurt so he acts out. But I am not worried, with two wonderful big brothers Garrett and Casey looking out for him, he will be just fine.

I have experienced first hand the behavior of some young people in my world that is shocking, sad and so lacking in respect it boggles my mind. It has been so overwhelmingly sad to me. But I can look at my boys are realize that is not the norm. It is possible to raise children into respectful, kind and loving adults. They have no need to brag or boast and insist the world owes them, they are perfectly happy just living their lives and creating their own success and happiness. They love me and they love their family and nothing in the world can change that. They understand and appreciate the value of a solid loving family and I am very proud of them.

So this Easter I celebrate! We all do. We celebrate the love we have for each other, and we let go of the things we have no control over. I thank God for three amazing, loving and wonderful sons. And for Kori, Garrett's girlfriend who has added sunshine to our world. :)

Blake this morning waiting to go on his Easter Egg adventure with Garrett and Casey.

Catching a little post hunt nap. :)

And tonight we will have fun decorating eggs together with all the great supplies Garrett and Kori purchased for them.

And a few old ones we had laying around.

More pictures later of the Easter fun!