Nathalie's school Halloween Carnival and the awesome gluten free snack I discovered

Was last friday (the 24th) the kids had a great time running around playing games, it was fun for them, and even a bit fun for us. As a family of 4 it isn't often we get to do things together, with 2 working parents and a mama in school, the kids normally have one or the other of us at a time, so it really was a nice treat for us all. They had a raffle, and Nathalie asked if we could buy 3 tickets, 1 for her, 1 for William, and 1 for mom and dad to share, so we did. We actually won a great prize a Large Trader Joe's Bag full of goodies! In this bag of goodies were some things, giant spaghetti noodles, marinara sauce, some organic green tea conditioner (for mama :) ), but also was Kettle Corn, that is....GLUTEN FREE, and it is dELICious. William agrees, he has been snacking on it over the past few days, so I know this will definitely become a staple in our household under the new dietary restraints. Also were some gluten free thai sesame rice crisp bars that William enjoys a bit, but I think its more of an acquired taste, I personally loved them!

Responsibility

This weeks theme at mama says om is responsibility! I haven't participated in one of their weekly themes in quite some while (read: slacker!) but as I read what they wanted out of "responsibility" I felt a sudden urge to write! They wrote "Tell us one story of how you were "responsible" during pregnancy and how you feel it set(s) you up for parenting." and as I read that line I somewhat chuckled to myself!

When I found out I was pregnant with Nathalie I was one month away from my 23rd birthday! I had just graduated college and her father and I were engaged but not yet married. Her father had just had two stints put in and nearly suffered a heart attack (BAD GENES). I did things that were bad for my body, I smoked cigarettes and drank) The first sacrifices I made for my daughter were giving up those two things. The sacrifices I've made since are countless! I couldn't believe that in 9 months I was going to be responsible for another human being! Fast forward 3 years, I am now a mother of 2, and the small sacrifices I made during immediate discovery of my pregnancy with Nathalie do not even come close to the amount of responsibility a mother has!

The responsibilities I have are countless, I have a responsibility to be a good mother to my children. I feel that I have a responsibility to show my daughter a positive female role model, as well as my son! I want my son to grow up to respect women as well as his father does. I want my daughter to grow up knowing that a woman can be anything she wants to be! I have a responsibility to be a strong, supportive, loving wife to my husband! I have a responsibility to be a hard worker both at home and at work! I have a responsibility to myself to finish my post baccalaureate studies, to earn my PHD in pharmacy and become Dr. Erika Long, this responsibility runs deep not only to fulfill my own heart but to help provide a good life for my children!

The responsibilites of life are endless, its an amazing thing motherhood, without it I wouldn't be who I am today! I love my life, my husband and my family and I am happy with the responsibilities set before me!