TWELVE YEARS AGO TONIGHT

Twelve years ago tonight I did not sleep. I knew that the  next day the “Best thing that EVER happened to me” was making his arrival.
Amanda had already done the castor oil trick that seems to work in our family..so I knew May 27 was going to bring us a baby.  And it did…as in we barely made it to the hospital.  We have babies easy and quick. 


I must have told Parker that HE IS the BEST thing that EVER happened to me at least 1000 times in the last 12 years. No probably more than  that. That’s one line he knows well. And one thing he knows well, is that he is LOVED….


This boy made me a GRAMMY and that is hands down my favorite job in the world.  And I was lucky enough to get HIM. 

Tomorrow he graduates with some amazing honors from the 5th grade.  How can we have a middle school student?

Next Sunday we put him on a plane to fly (alone) to Washington D.C. to attend a young leadership conference.

We have traveled with him for 12 years so he is a seasoned traveler.
This is a boy that has boy that has traveled from sea to shining sea, traveled with his Pop, which enabled him to spend time with Shaq, sit in the front seat of the bus with Drew Brees. 

He has dined with the Mouse more times than most people do in a lifetime.  We have traveled the streets of New York City and seen Broadway shows. He has seen the  mountains of Colorado and had a blast at the beach.  This boy has never met a stranger. 
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I cannot even put into words how much I love this boy.  He is outgrowing me, but I get that..or at least I thought he was.

Today I was having hi-lights put in his hair and he said Grammy, why don’t me, you and Pop go on a cruise again?”…Wow I was honored to think he still wanted us as his travel buddies.


Parker Benjamin Powell….your Grammy is as madly in love with you as the first day I laid eyes on you. 


Now for the winners of the books. SORRY its taken me so long.
The Pioneer Woman’s Book….an awesome read goes to Vicki@  My Life 365
http://mywonderfullife365.blogspot.com/

 Lazy Days and Beach Blankets goes to Hannah @Life Happens  http://ngowhitcombfamily.blogspot.com/


And if this did make you smile, I am thinking you need some medicine…My favorite song,  my two favorite singers of the entire AMERICAN IDOL SEASON….If only Tim was better looking.  
Congratulations to Scotty. I loved you from the beginning and loved you more every week.
I am officially in  withdrawal…

             

I WISH YOU A FRIEND, I WISH YOU A DEEANN

Don’t you love the days you have four posts in your head and only time to post about one.  That’s me today.  I was going a totally different direction, but I am going to save that one for another day. 

Last night we went to a HUGE celebration party for a young man that I have known from birth. They live in a huge home and that house was packed with people, young and old last night. All there to honor  one of those totally awesome kids that when you finished reading about him, you would think I might have embellished it a tad.  He is just that great…and off to Vanderbilt this summer to begin college on a FULL RIDE as a baseball player… I think you just might see him in the pros one day. But I am going to save his story.  Today I want to tell you about his MOM, one of my dearest friends.   Everyone needs a DeeAnn in their lives.

We have been friends for 20 years…I am older than her.  She has teenage kids, I have adult kids.
We are at different places in our everyday lives.  I am keeping “little’s” and she is going to a gazillion ballgames. 
I have been where she is and she will be where I am.  (And she will probably make me realize that I did not have Grammy down as good as I thought)

For more years than I can count we have made an effort to have lunch every month, though its usually every two, many times at the same place, in the same booth, eating the exact same thing
and for two hours plus we share our lives over coffee or wine.

There are few things we have not discussed.  Maybe none.

We have traveled together….we were  together out of town late the night before 9-11.

I remember her dropping me off at home, going to bed, and the world changing all in a matter of hours.
She has given my kids showers in her home, blessed them on every occasion, been a friend to them, walked with me through some hard years and ALWAYS been one of the first emails, text or calls anytime there has been a crisis in my life.

She has also celebrated every good thing. 
She is always there and yet we can go two months and not see each other and pick up on the last sentence. 
I think I am her best friend and I think probably at least 100 other people think they are.
 
She has the gift of friend! (I think I made that gift up)
 
She has two of the best looking boys and the cutest girl ever. I love her kids.
Connor, Carson and Allie-Marie.
 I have watched her raise her kids and somewhere they got polite down to a science. 
        
          
       
She is a great Mom, Wife, Sister, Daughter, Friend…but what you would notice about her after one meeting is she is just plain old KIND!

Amanda said to me once, “Mom, when Ms. DeeAnn leaves a message on your answering machine, it makes your day!” I do not think you could listen to a message she leaves and not SMILE.

She has made my day more times than she will ever know.

Her picture would be next to the word kind in the dictionary.

She has a quality that is rare today.  When you talk to her, she hears your heart. You have her total attention and she cares.

I have heard her interact with her kids so many times and she speaks to them in the kindest voice.
In turn they speak to others in that voice. A lesson for all Moms.  I asked her daughter recently if she knew she had the sweetest Mom in the world and her answer was “Yes Ma’am, I do”!
She has every reason to be so proud of her kids…
Connor has had an amazing high school baseball career and Carson is coming right behind him. (Can I give you a little trivia here that only my regular blog readers will appreciate…Connor had to have shoulder surgery last year and the same surgeon that operated on Brett, Dr.Andrews, did Connor’s surgery..just file that in your things I could have lived without knowing box)

Back to DeeAnn.. When I tell her she has extraordinary kids, she always humbly says, “They really are good kids” as in her feeling blessed rather than her being the reason. (Arnie, I promise to write about you one day)

So my wish for you today is that everyone of you would have a DeeAnn in your life.  I am so glad that I do. 


Parkers not here tonight…(Jack is) so I will announce the book winners tomorrow.

We had all 4 little's here today and Parker went home to spend the night with Austin and Gray.


NOW FOR A LITTLE FUN NEWS….Amanda and Micah dropped Jack here mid-afternoon to go and play a round of golf…

A couple of hours later a text comes in….MOM….

MICAH hit A HOLE IN ONE ON the 8th HOLE…       
      (Guess who is going to be 12 this week?)

This was his second hole in one in a lifetime of golf…and I think he has a smile on his face tonight, especially since his woman was there to witness it.