A Day for Moms

On Saturday night I received balloons and tulips (my favorite flower).  Later that night Tyler and I (mostly Tyler) prepared a strawberry french toast casserole and took half of it to our friend Jennifer who has three little kids and whose husband is out on a submarine.  Just because your husband is on a submarine doesn't mean you should go without a delicious breakfast on Mother's Day.  I woke up at 9 am (9 am!) on Sunday morning to three adorable faces wishing me a Happy Mother's Day, telling me breakfast was ready and to come downstairs.  I came down to find the casserole, fresh whipping cream, bacon, eggs, toast, orange juice, and hot chocolate.  Oh my!  So delicious.  ONO, as they say in Hawai'i.  Best breakfast of my life.  While we ate, I opened adorable homemade cards (one of the cards Max and Kelly had "stayed up really late" to work on according to Max...they'd gotten out of bed and were working on it when Ty found them), as well as a very sweet card from my very sweet husband.  I'm sure you'll be happy to know that I got (or ordered) a swimsuit for Mother's Day...Ty got me a gift card to Shade Clothing.  Perfect.

Then we lounged, got ready for church, and had a wonderful time there.  The primary (of course) sang and it was so sweet. For some reason Kelly crouched below the wooden platform that is around the podium and stayed there the whole time they sang.  We couldn't see her from where we were sitting, but I was a little worried that she was going to come back with a sore neck or upset from being stuck under there.  I was wrong...she emerged with a smile and seemed confused when I asked her if she was okay under there.  A lady in our ward said that she loved watching Kelly under there; she said that Kell sang her heart out and even did all of the actions.  I WISH we would have been seated where we could have seen that, but imagining it makes me giggle and makes my heart happy.  Another lady in our ward commented on how cute Tucker is and said that we have the cutest babies.  Then she asked if I feel obligated to have lots of kids because we make such cute babies. :) That made me laugh. I don't feel obligated, but it does make it hard to stop.

We came home and Ty prepared a yummy dinner.  Ty coached the kids that if they saw me starting to do some work, they should say, "Mom, stop!  Sit down and relax.  Can I get you some reading material?"  The reading material part cracked me up.  I told my family that my one wish for Mother's Day was to go on a walk on the Clear Creek Trail that winds through Silverdale.  And that's just what we did for about an hour and a half.  The weather was perfect and we all had a great time. By the by, I did NOT make Ty pose for the pictures below...but I know where Max gets his posing skillz from. :) And the sequence of Ev and Max running to hug each other makes my heart nearly burst 

I got to talk to my mom who I love and admire so very much.  It's true that becoming a mother gives you added appreciation for the woman who raised you.  It also helps you to realize how very much she loves you.  I am so grateful for the mother that she was and is.  We also talked to my mother-in-law whom I adore.  I am so thankful for her love and example.  Because of her I have a wonderful man to go through life with.

I SO love being a mom.  My patriarchal blessing says that it is my "blessing, position, and noble calling to be a Mother in Zion."  There is no other work that I feel is more important, no other work that I could find as much joy in.  Sure it's hard...but it's the good kind of hard.  The kind that brings incredible rewards to overshadow the difficulties.  I am grateful for each of the 4 spirits that have been entrusted to my care.  I'm not a great mom all the time, sometimes I'm not even a good mom, but I try to be better all the time and, man, do I LOVE my kids.  I know that they know that and for that I am so thankful.