Mother's Day 2010

Today is my seventh Mother's Day.  It was, perhaps, my best Mother's Day.  I had a wonderful day.  I had a really truly wonderful day.  Alan was on call from 8AM Saturday until a little after 8AM this morning.  In short, there was no sleeping in this morning.  The kids (and I) were up just after 6.  I tried to tell myself that we were just helping ourselves to be ready for church on time.

  

I facetiously asked the kids if they made me pancakes and bacon for breakfast in bed, after subtly reminding them ("Oh thank you so much, guys!  You guys are so sweet.  Thank you so much!") that today was Mother's Day.  I think that I must have given Nate a hint because when I finally dragged myself out of bed, he was scooping chocolate ice cream into a big bowl.  I was about to say something when he told me not to look--That's my cue that it's going to be for me.  Sweet.  So Nate continued to scoop the ice cream, cut up a banana and pour on a handful of chocolate chips.  He then added a straw, "in case the ice cream melts."  I wouldn't have picked it, but let me tell you, there is nothing like a banana split made by Nate at the crack of dawn on Mother's Day.

Then we went to church, where I sang in a quartet with a group of three other beautiful women.  I think that it went well.  The pews (once again) reeked havoc on my back, so I came home for the remainder, while Alan stayed to teach Sunday School and the kids stayed for Primary.  I called my mom during that time (Happy Mother's Day, Mom!) and checked the mail, where I found my June Martha Stewart Living.  What a treat--I would have read it all, had I checked the mail yesterday!  So I spent the rest of church time reading my magazine. alone. in the quiet house.  It was so lovely.  

After church, we took a few photos in the front yard.  My Mother's Day gift was a new dress.  I extended it to include new shoes, as I found the dress for only $13.  I also added about 5" of fabric to the bottom of the dress.  I liked it a lot, but once I got it home last night, I decided that i would like it better longer.  Little known fact--I really hate my knees.  So I made some alterations and now I am absolutely in love with the dress.  It's perfect.  I'm so glad that I've taught myself how to sew!

The kids have spent the last week making gifts for me in our arts and crafts room.  They also each made a gift for me at school.  I was so touched by the effort and time that they put into these presents.  They meant more to me than any "thing" that they could have bought.

This is Nate and Abbie, made by Abbie.  She even included the scar on Nate's forehead.  She also put polka dots on her dress because I'm completely into polka dots right now.  Isn't it cute that they're holding hands?

This is a lego set that Nate compiled for me.  He even wrote directions for it!  It came in the above envelope.

So there's a guy and a wall.  The red lever is an emergency lever.  In case of fire, he can push down on the lever and the wall will go down so that he can escape.

I spent the afternoon planting my garden.  A couple of weeks ago, Alan rented a rototiller to prepare a large garden plot in our backyard.  I had planted a few things out there, but spent this afternoon competing it.  We grew everything from seed this year.  I'm sorry that I don't have pictures of the garden right now.  I'll try to get some tomorrow.  We planted peas, carrots, corn, tomatoes, zucchinis, spaghetti squash, watermelon, cantaloupe, and pumpkin.  I notoriously have a black thumb, so we'll see what happens!

After planting our garden, we went to the park to play some soccer and shoot some photographs.  I have been reading more books on photography and really trying to learn how to take better pictures.  I'm trying to learn how to use all of the fancy features on our camera before we go to Seattle on Friday.  I want to be able to take good pictures on our trip.  So I took a bunch of pictures at the park to practice.  I'll post them tomorrow--I'm tired and it's Mother's Day, so I'm going to bed!

I'm so blessed to have the children I have.  I'm so blessed to be a mother.  I love being a mother.  It's not all fun and games.  It's not easy.  But it's rewarding and exciting and fulfilling.  And best of all, I'm Nate's and Abbie's Mommy, the one they look to for a hug, for an answer and for their love.  I love being a mom.  Happy Mother's Day!