Ron and I have always enjoyed traveling and exploring the world, even before we met each other. In fact, our shared love of travel was one of the things that drew us to each other nearly 13 years ago. I actually didn’t grow up flying and traveling internationally. I am from a small town in Oklahoma, and the first time I ever flew on an airplane was when I was 19 (all the way to Germany!). This ignited something in me though, and I quickly found a passion for traveling the world.

It is no secret that every one of my family members is an avid reader. So much so, that recently we decided to track how many books our family read in one single week, and we surprised even ourselves. We read a whopping 468 childrens books in one week (plus another 876 pages between Ron and I!)

First of all, why is reading so important with children? Well, I think we all know that children need to be able to read at certain levels to thrive in school, but it goes beyond that.

It’s Mother’s Day today. For most of my Mother’s Days, I’ve found it to be more of a sad day than a happy one. Of course, I am grateful for the kids I have and this life of motherhood. But days like today tend to remind me more of the one who I don’t get to mother my son Roman. I’ve only held him once, for just a few short hours. When I held him, it felt like he was with us, just asleep in my arms, just as any newborn would be. But as the hours went on, and he never cried out for me, never yawned and stretched, and his body became noticebly colder in my arms, reality quickly settled back in, and the pain would wash over me again. I desperately wished to be able to mother him in those moments (and every moment since). The truth is, while I am forever Roman’s mom, I will never have the opportunity to mother Roman.

Sweet little Jack Jack is 4 years old today! I know every year with every child, it’s hard to believe another year has gone by. Nonetheless, I feel the same about Jackson, and he truly does hold such a special place in our hearts.

Little Anders Martí is 9 months old today! Another month has flown by. Anders is such a joy to be around.