Things Mama Told Me

Sisters are the best to remember all those crazy ideas you had growing up. And just when you thought 10, 12, 25 years was enough time that they would have forgotten that embarrassing story from middle school, one of them starts laughing and says, "Hey remember that time you....."  Oh you cringe, you cover your face with a pillow, you beg them not to tell it. Again. But of course, it is one of the duties as sisters to tell-it-all and laugh at ourselves along the way.  So to my dear, sweet, baby sister, Sarah....Do you remember the time you wanted to be a cow for Halloween?  (Cover face with pillow now and start laughing.) We weren't really allowed to go trick-or-treating as kids because my parents weren't too crazy about the whole ghosts, goblins, and werewolf-themed holiday. An alternative for us was the annual fall costume party at our church where you were strongly urged to leave the pointed hat and broom at the door and wear a costume portraying a bible chara

I n the female world of constant comparisons, side glances, put downs, labels, cliques, and just straight up "catty-ness" I figured it was time we all could use a good dose of empathy. You know, EMPATHY, the ability to put yourself in another person's shoes and really understand what life is like for her. To understand that just because she has been called, gifted, created, or in some cases, just thrown into doing life one way, it is not okay to put her down because of our own insecurities.  Maybe life does look different in her home than it does in yours and that is okay. What works well for her family doesn't mean it has to work well for your family too. I've heard that when our first-born children were given to us, we also got a big suitcase full of guilt to take home with us. Oh the mom guilt! Could have, should have, would have....but I didn't. And in those cases where someone else did what we wish we could have done, we throw out snide comments a

Since this is the name of my blog site I better clarify. First of all, Things Momma Told Me sounded a lot cooler and more fun than Annah Matthews.com and a lot of the other fun names I came up with had already been taken. So let's just get that one out there. Second of all, I was thinking that back in the day when I had my first born and life was all about him and preserving memories and making the million dollar scrapbook (or so my husband likes to call it). I look at those beautiful pictures and cropped edges and lovely handwritten journal boxes and think to myself.... Ain't nobody got time for that no more!  So welcome to baby number 3 and a new way to preserve memories for them. Thank you to whoever created the blogosphere. Yes babies, just point and click and read about your life. I am so sorry that I did not do for you like I did for your older sibling, but guess what, that is just how it is and I love you all just the same. At this season in my life I am doi

Welcome to my blog! Not really sure how I feel about starting this new endeavor but I figure: 1) I like to write 2) I like to talk 3) I like to read other mom blogs because it makes me feel a little less crazy 4) Maybe someone else will feel a little less crazy after reading my blog posts about our little party of 5 So here we go.... I am married to a wonderful, funny, loving husband for the last 12 years and we have three children ages 8, 3, and 10 months. Two boys and one girl and they are so much fun and yet so incredibly exhausting at the same time (this includes my husband).  We are really big sports fanatics since my husband graduated from Wake Forest and we live in Winston-Salem. As you can tell from the photos below, we all had to join his bandwagon and pledge to be lifelong Deacon fans during the good, the bad, and the really ugly. We have lots of opportunity to practice our loyalty!  I am a stay at home mom by day and a stay at home mom by night. I typ