When I’m not blogging…
I thought you might enjoy a few photos of “the girls” I always tweet about or mention. I have one son and one daughter, but usually have a house full of teens during summer break.
They are the absolute best group of kids under the sun! 
In the photos above are my daughter (11yo), my step-daughter (16yo, and yes I’ve been divorced 8+ years), and my step-daughter’s best friend (17yo) – who is usually here more often than not.
This is the core group – minus my 16yo son, who doesnt like cameras lol – but there are often up to 10 kids in and out at any given time over the summer.
We eat ice cream at midnight, play in the river fully dressed, try new things together, talk till 3am, and go out for chinese 2 towns away “just because”. They are a beautiful reason to work from home on a super-flexible schedule. And they make life fun.
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I envy you, I don’t even dare to leave the house, I believe my face would melt
GA heat, unbearable. I can’t wait until my daughter is older, entertaining 5 year old girls is exhausting.
Great pictures Lynn! It looks like you all had a wonderful time. I love the playing in the river fully dressed – that would be a blast!!!! Too fun.
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As a stepmom, I so admire that you are a no-longer-married-to-your-dad stepmom. I can imagine (barely!!!) getting divorced (again…) but I can NEVER imagine not having my stepson in my life. Your integrity blows me away. Love that!
Biki – I understand that. I remember the younger ages all too well. My two children were 5 months and 5 years old when I quit my day job to start working from home. That was NOT easy lol. I’m loving this phase!
Thank you Annie. I’m very fortunate to still have them involved in my life like I do. My oldest stepdaughter just got married, so I know my days with the older kids are numbered. They’ll be out and living their own lives in no time at all! I have a feeling I’ll be “resident grandmother” the same as I am “resident mom” now though
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Fun pics! Thanks for sharing.
BTW, Lynn, this post segues nicely into Kelly McCausey’s meme on why we love working at home. I’m “tagging” you, so be thinking about a response. This is almost as much fun as cross-blog conversations. Kind of a variation on a theme.
Deb
P.S. – I’ll bet that water felt GOOD yesterday!
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Great – I’ll keep an eye out for a link to that
And yes, the water was super-nice!
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Lynn,
Great pictures! Love to see you and the kids having a blast like that. I’m also a step mom and think it’s wonderful that you still have a relationship with your stepdaughter. That is wonderful.
I just love to see this side of you! Happy early b-day wishes for tomorrow. You deserve the BEST for all that you do.
You gave MY daughters and I a fun few minutes trying to guess which one is your daughter just looking at the 3rd picture!
Thank you so much Angie
This is pretty much what my life is all about, and I spend as much time as I can with the kids – ALL of them 
Katherine – in the third picture she is the first one on the left. She is also the one in the first picture with me (since she called “shotgun” lol).
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Wow! Now that’s I’m talking about spending fun times with loved ones and building an online business. Family + Freedom=Doesn’t get any better than this
Peace,
Maurice
p.s. Thanks for sharing and the motivation!
Looks like you had a TON of fun! Have a great day tomorrow!!
I agree Maurice. I was talking to my mother this morning, and telling her how lucky I feel to have these girls in my life – and to have a lifestyle that affords so much quality time with them. She said to me That’s not luck, honey. But if it was, you worked *hard* to be so “lucky”.
I’ve thought about that most of the day. She’s right. There were times that I worked 14-18 hours a day, 7 days a week. There were times the kids were frustrated with it – and with me. We definitely went through some growing pains together.
Even still, I wake up every day feeling grateful.
I have two beautiful children, and I feel incredibly close with them both. I always say “I couldnt have picked them better if I got to hand-pick them myself!”
They have been an incredible source of motivation over the years.
I’ll share a quick story with you. My son is very quiet, but has a hilarious dry sense of humor. He was an incredibly difficult child when he was younger. Intelligent to the point of being labeled as “special needs”, which ultimately led to serious medical conditions (including grand mal seizures).
He pushed my limits from the start, in every possible way. Physically, mentally, emotionally. I heard Oprah say one time that “you are only as happy as your unhappiest child”. I cant tell you the tears he and I cried, both together and at each other.
When he was 9, I shut down my office uptown to work from home full-time so that I could be there for him. Almost every decision I made in my life revolved around him, and around making our lives a little easier as a whole.
He is an intelligent and handsome young man of almost 17 now, and a wonderful child. He has balanced out beautifully. We were talking about life recently, and specifically about the hard times we’d been through together. And I said to him…
“I blame you for all of my success”
I said it with a smile of course, and said that I doubted I ever would have pushed so hard to reach those goals had he been “an easy child”. I can only imagine I may have been much more complacent.
He, of course, offered to cause some new trouble.
We both laughed and then I said… No thanks, I love you just the way you are! Nice offer, right?
But it brings me back around to the point of being grateful. I do realize that I put the time in to achieve my goals. That I made those goals in the first place. That I worked long and hard to get where I am today.
But I also realize that there were certain circumstances (and people) that contributed to my success – or at the very least, to my motivation to succeed. And for that I am very grateful.
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I agree with you Lynn! Whether your a parent or not there are people in or about to come into our life, who needs us to find a way to success-no matter how small or big it is. Also to overcome the challenges we face and to let me know it’s ok and with their input and help we’ll make it through.
My daughter has taught me a lot whether she believes it or not. I’ve decided to include her in some of my online projects and to help her create some herself. I’d like to add a twist to the ‘ole church saying from ” a family that prays together stays together” to “a family that prays and builds togther will not only stay together but build a lasting Legacy together.”
And that’s what I see you doing Lynn!
Peace,
Maurice
meant a smiley face….sorry!
[...] of all of the things that I love. My best friend who is in town for the weekend, shopping with the girls, oreo ice cream cake, my 2 favorite meals (greek & japanese) – and everything else I can [...]
Thank you Maurice
Well said!
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When suddenly he feels this tugging sensation…must hug mom must hug mom…..
LOL Dennis – hugz are one of the best things about being a MOM
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Wow, Lynn! Sure looks like fun.
I really enjoyed reading this, especially as a single parent myself.
Diana
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Just like any situation, there are pros and cons both to being a single parent. On the one hand, I have more time and energy to devote to the children and to my career – both of which bring a lot of personal fulfillment and genuine happiness.
On the other hand, it can be a lot to manage alone. Fortunately the Yellow Pages and a checkbook take care of most of the things that come up
lol
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I want to share a poem that my stepdaughter published on her MySpace blog. In the 3rd picture she is the one on the far right…
Brought tears to my eyes…
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Lynn,
Great pictures! Your daughter looks so much like you.
It’s great that you have so much fun with your daughter and her friends. That will bless you for years to come.
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Thank you Laurie
My daughter and step-daughter both left for separate camps this morning. I miss them already! Time for me to get back to work tho
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Hi Lynn:-)
I love the picture of you and your kids-awesome!
Okay ever since last week I’ve been wanting to give you something for your birthday.
I guess you could say i got inspired:-)
So I wrote a poem for you. Hope you like it.
If you click on my name it will take you to my blog where i posted it.
I was going to put it in a comment in your blog but i wanted the images to appear so i just put it on my blog;-)
I’m going to try to put a link to it from the comment but i don’t know if it ‘ll go through.
Here:
Poem for Lynn’s Birthday
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How incredibly sweet!
I love it Eren – lol – awesome!!
Thank you!
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[...] schedule. I sleep when I want to, eat when i want to, set my own work hours, and take a day off whenever I [...]
Adorable girls – y’all.
Lynn, which one of them is you in the 3rd and 4th pictures? You all look like a set of lovely quadruplets, and I’m finding it hard to guess
Now seriously, the lessons from this post along with the comments is a classic reason for everyone to work hard (and smart) with very clearly defined goals. A reminder that we will all reap what we sow.
Truly motivational post. Thanks for sharing
Thank you Osobase
Ironically all 3 girls are here with me again tonight. My son is off to a friends. The 4 of us celebrated Father’s Day together and had a blast. I treated them to a nice dinner out, and we sat up all night playing cards and laughing and girl-talking… I say it all the time: “does life get any better than this??”
Thanks again for the comment
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I LOVE YOU LYNN!!!! That was the best day ever! We gotta do it again some time! You make my life so much more fun. XOXO
-Manda
You’re so sweet, Manda – I love you to pieces!!
You’re just like a daughter to me, and a sister to Ann Marie. Thank you for that. We’ll most certainly do it again – and again, and again!
(Manda is the one on the far left in pic #4
)
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[...] I’m referring to the friends, cousins, my stepdaughters, etc – the group of girls that usually hang out at my house during summer break or [...]