Mother's Day Weekend

I had a great Mother’s Day this year. My mom came and stayed Friday night and Saturday. We didn’t do anything really special, but the kids had lots of fun just hanging out with Grandma. They watched The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (in shifts since we were on a tight schedule with birthday parties and soccer games to go to) and other amazing shows that we never would have watched if Grandma wasn’t here (i.e., an infomercial for a cat scratching post and the “pre-game show” for the Kentucky Derby). We went out to Chuck-A-Rama with Grandma on Saturday night. Ben amazes me with his ability to put it away at all-you-can-eat buffets. After his third plate, he leaned back in his seat and said, “I hope this is what Heaven is like.” He’s a crack up. We got to see Holly and Shane’s chickens when we took my mom home. The kids thought they were so cool and were especially impressed with the little combs that are starting to form on the tops of their heads.

Elise made this card for me while I was gone to pick up my mom. Only three of those flowers came from our yard. I hope my neighbors are okay with her “borrowing” flowers from them.
Nate had the trailer set up to get some things ready for a campout, so we ate dinner outside on Friday night. (Chef Boyardee ravioli, saltine crackers, and Kool-Aid . . . we really need to start eating like grown-ups!)

Sunday was just about perfect. Here were the highlights of the day:

~ Good food all day – strawberries and cream crepes, turkey sandwiches, chicken enchiladas, and strawberry shakes

Nate set up a makeshift kitchen in the laundry room so the noise from the blender wouldn’t wake me up. He’s a funny boy.
This picture was taken at 7:48 a.m. Guess who wasn’t on time for 9:00 church. :)
~ The quality bouquet of wildflowers (aka weeds) that my kids gave me

~ Listening to the kids sing in sacrament meeting

~ Fun gifts – a new dress, a doormat for the back porch, dessert spoons, a self-locking tape measure (I was just as excited as Abby was about hers), a bracelet from Emily, a butterfly frame from Elise, a scrapbook page from Ben, lots of drawings from Abby , and cards from all of the kids


~ A pseudo-nap

~ The cool Happy Mother’s Day banner that Elise and Emily made for me


~ Driving up to North Fork in the rain and listening to the kids sing Veggie Tales songs in the van

~ Watching The Amazing Race finale with Nate and the kids (even though our favorites didn’t win)

It was a really good day. I am lucky to have an awesome husband who let me be lazy all day and great kids who tried really hard to be good. It took a few years, but we’ve just about got this whole Mother’s Day thing nailed. I made it through the whole day with absolutely no guilt, no yelling, and no tears.


The kids got these cute Mother’s Day games from Primary. We didn’t get around to doing them until yesterday. It was fun to have some one on one time with each of them while we played. I love that they are old enough now that we can have meaningful conversations. I told them a few stories that they’ve never heard before and they were completely spellbound/mesmerized/attentive. I know that won’t last forever, but I’m going to enjoy it as long as it does.