Happy Mother's Day Dear Moms!

Motherhood is scary business...sometimes it doesn't seem like it at the beginning - when things go perfectly and you ease into mothering that newborn baby that sleeps well, eats great and never has an ear infection (like Mason), you might think "hey, this isn't so bad...I can do this!"

You may catch a whiff of fear the first time the baby sleeps through the night and you awake in a panic and rush to make sure he's still breathing, or the night that a fever spikes suddenly and you call the doctor's office in a panic.  Or the loud "thud" and screech of a first broken bone.

Almost 16 years into Motherhood, and I'm still amazed at how much turbulence the heart can withstand...it's capacity to stretch, expand and contract with pride, joy and fear.

The snuggle, first words, a Thank You, kindness when playing with other kids, good grades, great effort...

Losing your 3 year old for 10 minutes at the store, a lump on her neck that sends a cold chill through your body as you think the worst, being bullied and teased.

And so much more that I haven't gotten to experience yet as a Mom.  It's a blessed but scary road.  One that I wouldn't trade for all the wine in the world... 

Thank you Mom and to all the Moms that I know and love!

Super Mom and Fat Cats

I felt like a super mom last night at dinner.  I made salmon, asparagus, rice and carrots.  The kids did a great job with most of it.  I even got Silas to eat some asparagus.  How?  I told him it'd make his pee stinky and so then he just had to try it out for himself. :)

Speaking of healthy food, is there a Biggest Loser for cats?  If so, I've got the perfect candidate!  We weighed Cleo last night and she is just shy of 15 pounds!

We have a hawk that often comes and sits on top of our swing set and I see him eating sometimes (birds and mice usually).  I sometimes worry about Cleo if she were to get out but she'd pull that bird's beak clean out of his head it he tried to swoop down and snag her.

Mother's Day

I woke up early this morning. Silas James came and stood by my side of the bed, looking at me - "mama?".  I pulled the covers back and said "hop in bud".  He wraps his arm through mine and we both fell back asleep until around 8:30, at which point Si began the non-stop chatter that I know won't end until I give in and converse with him, or convince him to go down and see what daddy is doing. 

I never have high expectations for Mother's Day. Not because it disappoints, but because like most "Hallmark" holidays, I just don't get excited about them. I still think of Mother's Day as a day for other moms. My mom, Justin's mom, new moms.
I give myself a few liberties - I read in bed for awhile, I sniff for the smell of fresh coffee. I just lie in bed enjoying the moment.

Ella brings me banana bread in bed (say that 3 times fast) and I get my coffee.  I get a craft from Ella that reads:

M - My Mom loves me

O - Oh the times I get in trouble you still love me

T - Tells me things a lot

H - Her job helps others

E - Every night she tucks me into bed

R - Relly (really) good at love (I like this one)

We go to get flowers at the nursery to put into the pots that the kids painted for me last year. I start to settle into the day and think that this is a tradition that I love - the flowers, the handmade reminders of their childhood...and the mimosas.

Mason and I go to the store to get potting soil and Mason tells me to come look, he's found something that I'll like.  He's right.  He found a great hammock and stand. I have missed my old hammock since we moved and this one is perfect.  I feel spoiled and self-indulgent when I call Justin and he says "it's Mother's Day - get it" - but I do with a bit of giddiness.

We go to Ella's soccer game, we go to see my mom and dad, we stop at the store to buy an impromptu dinner (steaks to throw on the grill). And then finally, I come home and test out my hammock.

We eat a delicious dinner of steak, grilled asparagus, salad and red wine. It's chilly out but I take my book and mimosa back out to the hammock and climb in. Justin brings me a cozy blanket and I spend the next hour reading, looking up at the sunshine through the splay of tree branches and watching between the fence slats as the kids play with the neighbor kids next door. I see their feet running, I hear them laughing and I know that this will be one of those moments in my mind that I will remember with every sense. It's a perfectly content moment - to be happy and know that my children are happy. I close my eyes and thank God, and then continue to bask in this moment of appreciation as I pick my book back up and sip my mimosa.

I am a blessed mother and I am blessed to have so many wonderful mothers in my life that teach me along the way. Thank you!

How do you REALLY feel Ella?

(the note I received after telling her she wasn't allowed to do something...)

Happy Mother's Day - 2009

Love to all the mom's - mine especially - on this beautiful day!

I made a small thank you for my kids too...

(Overly) Active Imagination

Yesterday, Ella's bus was almost 30 minutes late bringing her home (the school is less than 2 minutes away from us). I called the school about 10 minutes after she should have been home. They contacted the driver (who was a sub) - she had missed the stop and then dropped off the other kids first.
When she still hadn't delivered my daughter another 10 minutes later, my overly active imagination started in...this (surely nice, upstanding citizen) bus driver became someone that had just taken a bus-driver job so that she could hijack a bus and kidnap blond haired, blue-eyed American girls and then sell them as sex slaves to gangs in Bolivia. I kept watch on every construction van and "suspicious looking vehicle" that left the neighborhood as I stood on the porch waiting...
Apparently though, the driver just got lost in the back of the neighborhood and couldn't find her way back out (had she been drinking?)....so she claims.

How am I going to survive the teenage years??
One guess...