My Happy Mother's Day

I'm mother to 3 beautiful children. Each year, our calendars mark a day set aside to 'honor' mothers across the country. Tradition and commercialism tell you that you should give your mom flowers, breakfast in bed, chocolates, cards or some kind of gift.

All of these things are fine and good. As for me, what I wanted most for Mother's Day, was to do NOTHING. I didn't want to clean the house, do laundry or cook. Tending to the kids in some way was inevitable. One is still in diapers and one is in the middle of potty training.

Our friend, Harold, actually crashed on our couch Saturday night. He was nice enough to watch the kids late into the night while Charlie and I were at my friend's wedding. He woke up before the rest of us and went out to a quick mart and got Krispy Kreme doughnuts for everyone. And with that, breakfast was taken care of.

Late morning Charlie packed up the kids and went to the grocery store to pick up a few things and give me some quiet here at home. I uploaded some pictures to facebook, watched a movie and vegged on the couch. Charlie brought home Pizza Hut for lunch. Awesome. 2 meals taken care of, and neither of them by me! So far this day has been awesome!

Jessi took her regular afternoon nap after lunch and Charlie and I watched some tv in the living room while John and Tabby watched cartoons in our room. When Jessi woke up I went back to check on John and Tabby and laid down in my bed with them. I don't remember what they were watching because I was resting. I never actually fell asleep because all three kids were in my bed with me and being very good. I was able to relax and rest my eyes a bit.

Dinner time rolled around and I figured my lazy day was done and I'd have to get something put together for everyone to eat. Charlie actually had plans to make dinner. He's not good in the kitchen and never learned to cook. While he was at the store with the kids he picked up some Chicken tenders and tater tots to make for dinner. He got in the kitchen, told me to get out and got dinner started. No, it wasn't a big fancy meal, it was just chicken tenders and tater tots cooked in the oven, but he did it all himself. He even served me and the kids before himself.

All in all, the day was exactly what I wanted. A lazy day surrounded by the 3 blessings who made Mother's Day possible for me and a husband willing to give me a day off from cleaning, laundry, cooking and washing dishes. It was bliss.

Topping It Off With A Wedding

One of my dear friends, Kristin, got married today. This week, leading up to the wedding, was an eventful one for me. Monday my friend, Sarah, came into town. She's Kristin's cousin and one of her bridesmaids. Whenever Sarah's in town I try to make a point to visit with her and her daughter because she lives so far away. We made plans to have a play date Wednesday, so I could see her and our kids could play together for a while.

Well, Tuesday another friend of mine needed someone to watch her two youngest kids while she went to work. I told her I could watch them and asked if she didn't mind me taking them with me to visit with Sarah. She had no problem with it. Wednesday morning John had speech therapy. After he was done I packed up John and Jessi in the van, made my way over to Beth's house to pick up Emma and Noah and headed over the bridge to visit Sarah and Kaleena. I stopped by Einstein Bagels and got box of bagels for lunch for everyone.

We got to Sarah's and I got all the kids set up with a bagel and we all ate outside on the back deck. When we were done with lunch we all headed downstairs. The kids all played well together and Sarah and I chit-chatted. We had a nice visit and around 2pm I gathered the 4 kids I brought and headed home, dropping Emma and Noah off back at their house.

Friday another good friend of mine, Corinna, came into town for Kristin's wedding. She came over Friday night to spend time with me and my family. I haven't seen her in a couple years because she also lives far away. I made dinner and we sat and talked for awhile while John, Jessi and Tabytha were all charming her.

Kristin's wedding day finally came. My mother-in-law came over to watch the kids so Charlie and I could go to the wedding and reception. The wedding was beautiful, Kristin was radiant and all my friends were lovely. At the reception Kristin sat all us AACS'ers (me, Corinna, Holly, Drea and Julia. Sarah sat at the head table because she was a bridesmaid) together and we had a blast! Kristin is the last one in our circle of friends to get married. Somewhere during the reception we all got together for a group picture. All 7 of us gathered in and several pictures were taken with all our cameras. After our group picture was taken we all stood in a circle and put our left hands in the center for a picture of all our hands with our wedding rings. Since Kristin was the last to get married it seemed like a nice idea to get a picture of all our married hands.

After the reception Charlie and went to Drea and Ronnie's house to hang out more. Julia and her new hubby, David, were there, too. The day was long and Charlie had a few beers. Around midnight Charlie started dozing off so I took that cue and we said our goodbyes and headed home. We enjoyed the wedding, had a blast at the reception and got to hang out more with a few friends afterward.

It was a fantastic week and I loved every minute I got to spend with my friends. (the lovely ladies in the picture with me, far left, are Sarah, Corinna, Kristin, Holly, Drea & Julia)