{Journaling Memories}

As the mom of two very energetic and hilarious little boys, you can imagine the types

of things that come out of their mouths on a daily basis. Some of it adorable (singing

the "Thomas" theme song from the backseat), some of it a bit annoying ("Mommy, shush, calm down!"), and some of it downright embarrassing ("How the hell are ya?" to the next door neighbor). Kids are just naturally awesome. They say and do things without any regard to whether it's socially acceptable. They pick their nose in public. They pair tutus with jean shorts. They repeat your "colorful" language to the grocery store manager.

I'll admit, I cringe everytime my eight year old tells someone, "Let me tell you a funny story..." I never know what will follow. But I do know that those moments are ticking down. There will come a day when my kids gain a conscience and begin to care what people think. They will become shy pre-teens, aware of social norms and rules. So while I'm living among

senseless knock-knock jokes and a three year old who randomly goes into "dinosaur mode", I make sure that I jot down all of the quirky sayings and other fun stuff that comes with raising kiddos-

When my first son turned one, I bought a small journal that I could record all of

his toddler milestones in. Some entries are paragraphs, others simply one-liners and random

details of his life. Nothing fancy, just things I wanted to make sure I would never forget. As

he got older, he developed quite a sense of humor (from me of course) and would spout

out some real doozies. Everytime, I would write them down in his book, and I can look back and laugh at how awesomely hilarious he was at only 3 and now, I can share the book with him. He loves to see what he was like at his brother's age! Now my younger son has begun to think that he is a young Adam Sandler and his book is quickly filling with "Nolanisms".

Even if your kids are older, you can still benefit from recording random comments and

good jokes. I cherish these memories and love being able to share them with my boys. On bad days, I flip through my books and they never fail to change my mood!