Happy Birthday Mom!!

Happy 58th birthday to my Mom!! Yes, my mom is a New Year's Day Baby!! And it so fits her personality!!

Let me introduce you to my mom!! She is unlike any other mom you'll ever meet!! Growing up she definitely didn't fit the mold and she LOVED that!! She loved that she was different than all the other moms in our small Kentucky town. She is very out-going, full of life, full of personality, a busy body, artistic, wild and crazy, a story teller, a gifted writer, and has always lived "outside the box". There is nothing she can't do!! Growing up, if she'd get tired of a wall in our house...she'd tear it down all by her little self. Don't let the little body fool you!! A very strong tornado lives inside!! Even when married to my dad and my step-dad, she didn't want to be the typical society wife!! My dad was an attorney and my step-dad was a federal judge, so needless to say, she could have easily put on the conservative outfit and smiled the smile and gone about her way!! But instead, she liked to wear mini skirts and leather and definitely wasn't the typical "small town" mother!! She loved to wear bikinis to the country club pool when all the other mothers were wearing tennis outfits and "skirt type" bathing suits!! Well, she did look great in that bikini!! She was always the skinniest and most fit and active mom around!! She was an incredible tennis player and even modeled when we were young!! My favorite talent of hers was her cooking!! She still has a gift for cooking (and she's still not afraid to put on that bikini either :) My entire life she has LOVED thrift stores!! It is just her eccentric way!! She loves to sculpt and paint too. She's a woman of many talents and she had endless energy!!

**Even though my mom was always different than the other moms, she was also "different enough" that day and age to teach us some valuable lessons in life!! Being in a small southern town in the 70's and 80's, it was common to hear people using racist and hurtful words toward minorities!! Well, my mom would never have allowed that at our house!! She always made us treat people with respect and equality. I have a vivid memory of my mom "befriending" the one bi-racial couple in our town. She invited them over for dinner and treated them like human beings instead of the way they were being treated by "some" people in this small town. I learned a valuable lesson to never think I'm better than someone just because I happened to be born a pale white color!! My mom was always taking in people that needed a place to stay, or making food for someone that needed cheering up!! She is a unique individual and always will be!! My friends from home will remember my mom by her visor she always wore, the food she always cooked, and the Mercedes she always drove!! If you ever get a chance to meet her, you'll like her...everyone always does...(well, except for those country club women back in the 80's...I don't think they were very fond of the skinny bikini wearing mom of four that had all their husbands drooling :) ha

Mom with Lauren (kelly's oldest) and my sister Kelly tonight at dinner. We took my mom to her favorite restaurant, Red Lobster, for her b-day.

Mom and me tonight...I'm looking older than my mom these days.Lauren, Kelly and sister Kasey.

Our waitress singing happy birthday to mom!

Mom blowing out her candles.

Cousin Haiden and Julia.

Daddy got stuck on the "kid end" of the table!! Thanks Will for always being such a good sport and taking care of the kiddos so I could sit next to Mom and chat with her on her birthday. You're the best hubby!

**Ok, so I tried to scan some pics in of my Mom from years past!! They scanned small and I couldn't get them any bigger...so hope you enjoy some pics from the past!!

A pic of our family before Karson was born...No one is looking very cheery, :)Mom in her young twenties (above) giving Kelly and me our birthday party. We are 11 months apart so we always shared our parties growing up!!
And a little collage my mom made for me years ago while she lived in Germany!! She sent this to me once and I found it tonight while going through some pics. It shows her personality!! She'll always keep you laughing, that's for sure!! Happy Birthday Mom!! Hope it was a great one!! kj