Interview with my Mom :)

She has the sweetest soul, talented at everything she touches, smells amazing, gives the best hugs, and loves everyone with her whole heart. My mom's my role model and I look forward to the day I get to give her another grandchild... being a Grandma lights her up and she is the best at it! Pour a cup of Swiss Mocha and read my Mom's words of wisdom and experience, she's a hero!  I've always felt very lucky to have her, but as I read her responses to my questions, I felt especially nostalgic seeing me, Amanda and Kody's childhood through our mother's beautiful sparkling eyes. Enjoy :)

1. Please introduce yourself
Name: "Momma" aka... Mom, Grandma (what a precious sound to hear), Mamma (sweetest thing to every hear when the girls were first learning to talk) and Sharon Lynn. Daughter of Mary and Jack, and oldest sister to 4 wonderful sisters and best friends, (Sandra, Kim, Diana and Patty) and a brother in heaven, Keith.

Married to: Shawn Jule :) I met dad, when I was 18, my first serious date. My sister Sandra and her boyfriend Ron (Shawn's friend) brought me along with them to his sisters apartment to meet Shawn, I guess you could say I was a little giddy. The next weekend, they asked if I wanted to go to his sisters apartment again... well of course I did. While we were all there hanging around, listening to music, Dad bends forward and says to me "can you scratch my back". Well everyone laughed (I think they were thinking, what's Sharon going to do), so I scratched his back. Later that evening Dad asked if he could drive me home and that was how we started dating. We got engaged 7 months later and married 11 months later, I was 20 and Dad was 21, we were so young but that was the norm then. We are celebrating 32 years in June. 

Career: When I finished school, I worked in retail catalogue sales for 5 years. At 22, I became pregnant with Leigh-Ann and left my job to be a stay at home mom.  I stayed home with Leigh-Ann, Amanda and Kody for 12 years to raise them because that was what was most important to us (I wanted to raise my children myself and really be there for them when they were young. The kids are all very close in age.). I went back to work in '93 as a Teaching Assistant in the school that I went to as a child, my children went to and now I work there, it's like home to me. I work with Special Needs and behaviour students. I love my job but it does have many challenges and I have some very difficult days. I treasure all the experiences I've had with my job, good and bad, they make me appreciate the children I have and makes me be a better Mother and Grandmother. I'm hoping to retire next year to enjoy more time with family, spend more time at our cottage and start doing some of the crafts, knitting and other enjoyments that I have put on the back burner with working full time.
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What's important to you in life? Family is first, my pets (my cat Callie & puppy Ruby), friends, home and cottage life (I'm a home body and love quiet times).

Things you love & love to do:  I love going for coffee to Starbucks with my sister and bestest friend Sandra. I have quite an addiction to the computer/blog reading [I love my Apple and I'm glad LA convinced me to buy one]. I also love to read but sometimes it's hard to fit it in, traveling through the mountains, gardening, decorating and I LOVE the color green (I gravitate to it when I'm shopping). Oh and shopping (i love Costcos... I think they know me by name ;)! Leigh-Ann and Amanda started picking beach glass at the lake and I love it now too, it's so relaxing (I keep all my pieces in a vase at the cabin and the girls add to it too).

What was your dream job when you were young: When I was asked "What do you want to be when you grow up", my answer was always "I want to be a Mom". That was #1 and I also thought I would like to be a teacher too. I was going to have a daughter and her name was going to be "Jennifer Dawn" and my sister and friend Susan also wanted a daughter with the same name. We decided, whoever had a daughter first would get to use the name (that coulda been LA's name). It turned out none of us did, Susan only had boys, and it just didn't click the same way for me later in life. Being a Mom has been the most rewarding job ever! I did end up getting my other job also, because I am teacher to my students at school. I'm very happy with the Mom/career path I chose in life and the honor of being Grandma.

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2. Tell us about your kids and grandkids.

Leigh-Ann, Amanda and Kody all have very different qualities. They were all wonderful children, very caring and sensitive to others needs and have grown up to be wonderful adults. Leigh-Ann was shy and quiet when she was young, but you wouldn't know it now as an adult. She impresses me so much with her business sense and how she creates her projects; her computer knowledge amazes me. Shawn and I are very proud of the business LA has built from scratch. 

Amanda has always known what she wants and goes and gets it. She is a wonderful mother to Olivia and Kennedy, always teaching them strong morals and family values. She only works out of the house a couple of nights a week so that she can be home to raise their daughters  They are so lucky to have both Amanda and Matt as parents.

Kody is the class clown of our family and can always get a laugh out of me (then he impersonates my laugh... and I laugh more). Sometimes I wonder what is going on in his head to come up with the things he thinks of and his wit.  He is a very hard working man who can also be very serious but has a sensitive side to him. Kody lives at home still and calls Dad and I his "roomies" cause we get along very well. I'll really miss him when he leaves home.

Olivia and Kennedy are "the apple of my eye". Being a grandma is the most wonderful reward anyone can have, they are my pride and joy. We love to go to the public library to pick out books, read and color, play Memory, take our dollies for walks to the playground and have sleep overs together. I love it when they come to the lake, we try to bake together and do crafts. It's wonderful having twins to love!

I have also gained two wonderful son-in-laws, Matt and Keith. They are a wonderful addition to our family and make great partners for our daughters. 

3. You and Dad raised a strong family that loves each other and you've been married for 31 years. How did you do it?   

We raised our children with strong morals and family values and taught them to appreciate the things they had. We were a one income family for a long time so sometimes things weren't always easy. They wouldn't take part in all kinds of sports but swimming was important. The girls also took dance lessons for a few years (Amanda was a natural, LA...um, looked cute in the costumes ;) and Kody played baseball a couple seasons.  When they were young, they were limited to how much TV and video games they could play or watch. They played outside a lot with each other and friends and loved building forts inside and out. Dad had built a 2 story playhouse for them which they had a lot of fun with. We camped and took yearly trips in the summer or on spring break... riding the train or driving to visit family. It was quite the adventure and the kids LOVED it, especially riding in the dome car through the mountaints on the VIA train. I would buy them each special backpacks and fill them with all kind of surprises, word searches, books, new markers & coloring books,  games, etc and they couldn't open them until they were on the train. They were so excited and it kept them busy for our long train rides.

Now as our family is growing and moving away from home, family time is still an important necessity in all our lives. We have many family dinners and celebrations together. Our cabin is a family cabin with a bedroom for everyone and even a "bunk room" for grandchildren to share together. It has been a LOT of work but truly is a Labor of Love that we can all share together (but I will be happy when the building of it is finished).

 (first summer of major renovations)

4. Please share three favorite memories or moments of being a mom.

Some of my favorite memories of being a Mom are the trips we used to take on the train as a family. They were so relaxing & what a wonderful adventure for our kids. Another was our first camping trip. We bought our tent and gear and went to Big Whiteshell when the kids were maybe between 6-9 years old. We had an extended Aerostar van, and we had so much stuff packed we had to take the middle row seat out to get it all there. The space behind the seats and in front of the kids was jammed packed, to the ceiling. We had to really think about what we would take the next time, a little too much stuff ;) But the best memory is being able to stay home for 12 years to see my children grow and be there for them. Nobody can take that away from me.

 (our first camping trip... the van was so full! lol)

5. Wanna tell an embarrassing LA story?

Ya! One night LA was asleep in her bunkbed, top bunk, she was probably about 5 years old. She was really restless, moaning & moving around her bed. I climbed up, tried waking her up and realized she had to go pee. So I got her into my arms, she is still completely asleep, still moaning and I'm walking down the bunkbed ladder with her facing me and her legs are wrapped around my waist... when all of a sudden I feel this warmth on my stomach. Here LA thought she was sitting on the toilet when she was in my arms and started peeing all the way down. I raced down the ladder running all the way to the bathroom. Boy did I have a mess to clean up!

6. Any advice for young Mom's?

Just remember to love them and enjoy them because they grow up too fast. 

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Thank you for sharing Momma, you're the greatest! 
I love you so much!!!

Happy Mother's Day to Judy, my Grandmas and all Moms :)  xo, LA
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ps. Odyssey on Monday.