While in Texas, Becky and Vernon took us to the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame in Fort Worth.

"Ye-haw" and "Yippie ki yi yippie yippie yah!" Let's hear it for the cowgirls!The museum honors women of the American West who have displayed extraordinary courage and pioneering fortitude. It is an educational resource and each year adds honorees to its Hall of Fame in four different categories: champions and competitive performers; ranchers (stewards of land and livestock); entertainers, artists and writers; trailblazers and pioneers.The museum has more than 200 honorees, with more added each year. They are pioneers, artists, businesswomen, educators, ranchers and rodeo cowgirls. Some notables include Georgia O'Keeffe (artist), Sacagawea (Native American interpreter/guide for Lewis and Clark), Dale Evans (actress, singer/song writer), Temple Grandin (veterinarian, professor, best-selling author, autistic activist, engineer), Laura Ingalls Wilder (author of "Little House on the Prairie" books), Wilma Mankiller (the first woman to serve as the Cherokee Nation's Principal Chief), Sandra Day O'Connor (retired United States Supreme Court justice) and Annie Oakley (sharpshooter).I was thrilled to see Annie Oakley as a member. She was one of my idols. I wanted to be a cowgirl just like her when I grew up. An Annie Oakley cowgirl outfit, just like the one I used to have, is on display at the museum.Cowgirl Elizabeth (Lizzie) Johnson, 1840-1924, was a teacher. She wrote short fiction and did bookkeeping for cattlemen on the side. With the extra income she earned from her writing, she invested in a cattle company, did well and bought her own cattle and land. It is believed she was the first woman who took her own herd on a cattle drive up the Chisholm Trail. She earned the nickname of "Cattle Queen."The Cowgirl Museum is all about dreams and courageous women. It educates, entertains, and inspires.As I read about these remarkable women, I couldn't help but compare the cowgirls to mothers. After all, moms display these same attributes and inspire us daily.But are they cowgirls?Let's take the champions and competitive performers category. I think every mother I know is a champion. Just getting up early in the morning and getting her kids off to school on time and to afterschool activities is worth a blue ribbon. It's like roping and tying the little critters to get them there ... that's calf roping. Trying to get a child to eat vegetables or a dirty one into a bathtub ... steer wrestling. Getting a husband to do all those jobs around the house ... bull riding. For a working mother ... raising children, housework, a job, running into obstacles all the time ... just like barrel racing.By the time her head hits the pillow at night, a mom probably feels like she's been bucked off her horse before the buzzer a dozen times that day.As for a competitive performer, moms compete against other moms all the time: Moms staying up all night working on a child's school project hoping it beats out some other mom's crafting and creativity; trying to bake a better cupcake than Susie's mom for a classroom celebration; taking on one more task because Jimmy's mom can do it; etc.I've heard more than one mom use the phrase "This isn't my first rodeo." Now you know why.How could the ranchers category apply to moms? Well, the subheading to that category is "Stewards of Land and Livestock." Most moms qualify.They tend backyard gardens, help mow lawns, compost and recycle. And let's be honest ... who really ends up feeding Fido and Fluffy?Show me an entertainer, artist and writer and I'll show you a mom who reads the same book a hundred times using special voice effects and acting out all the characters; sings favorite songs to soothe; dances the "Macarena" at birthday parties. Moms stop what they're doing when their kids want them to color and draw pictures. Moms keep journals of each and every milestone in their child's history, recording their accomplishments.Trailblazers and pioneers. Hmmm. There is a phrase that says, "Necessity is the mother of inventions." These next two moms were trailblazers and pioneers.Marion Donovan had it with sleepless nights. In 1949, tired of changing her youngest child's dirty cloth diapers, bed sheets and clothing, she made a waterproof diaper cover out of a shower curtain. She called them "boaters" to help keep "babies afloat." (I remember them as rubber pants.) When they proved to be successful, she came up with an idea for a disposable diaper. Ten years later, Pampers arrived.Ann Moore was a Peace Corps nurse during the 1960s in Togo, West Africa, where she saw African mothers carry their babies in fabric slings tied securely on their backs. Moore liked the closeness between babies and their mothers when carried this way and babies seemed more calm because they felt secure and near to their mothers. When Moore had a child of her own, she wanted to carry her baby the same way. Moore and her mother designed a carrier similar to the African ones. They came up with the original soft baby carrier, the Snugli.OK. Maybe it's a stretch for some of you to call moms cowgirls. But it makes me feel better because I'm a mom and I've always wanted to be a cowgirl.And since it's Mother's Day Sunday, I can call myself anything I want. So "Ye haw" and "Yippie ki yi yippie yippie yah" to all us cowgirls!