We had a nice Mother's Day celebration. I made myself my favorite pie (raspberry cream) and spent the day doing what I love, which is snuggling with my kids and wonderful husband. I told Joel that I wanted him to take pictures of me with each of my kids.
We like to be cheesy. We don't even have to try. It just comes naturally.
Last night, Joel and I went out on a date. Ashley wanted to help me get ready, so she was up in the bathroom with me while I primped. Suddenly she sighed happily. "Oh, I just LOVE all this romantic stuff!"
It is no secret that Joel and I love each other. The kids know we like to hold hands and kiss when they are not around, and when they are. They can walk into the room when Joel and I are kissing and not even bat an eye--they'll just go right into what they were going to ask and then go out like nothing strange was going on.
Everett and I have a lot of fun. He still asks me nearly every day if we can build with legos together. I don't know how many robots I have made in the last year, but it is certainly more than I thought I had in me.
Everett needs a lot of attention from me to be happy. He started going to a friend's house after school two days a week and after about a week or so of this, Everett decided he needed to come home and see me after school before he went to his friend's house. One night, Everett collapsed in tears after a long day because couldn't sit by me at dinner. "But I haven't even seen Mommy at all today!" he insisted.
It is good for Everett to have some separation from me. But I can never decide exactly how much is good and how much is pushing his limits too much.
But Everett is hilarious and always keeps us laughing. He is very excitable and he is extremely loving. He gives amazing hugs.
Ashley is a dreamer, just like me. We have a lot of fun being creative together. Ashley is dependably happy and fun-loving. She is always coming up with fun ideas. Today she made a butterfly kite out of leaves, twigs, and string.
Ashley doesn't love reading yet but we work hard on it together. I love to cuddle her while she sounds out difficult words. Sometimes she gets tearful but we push through it together and she is usually triumphant (and always relieved) when we are done. But she loves listening to books. I started reading Lassie to her a few months ago and the story had her in tears. She just couldn't believe that a family had to give their beloved dog away because they had no money for food. The injustice of it was too much for her to bear.
Ashley is a great companion to her brothers and a great companion to me. In fact, two summers ago when we left Joel behind to travel to Utah, I commented one day that I missed Joel because he is my best friend. Ashley, who was barely four, looked at me in shock. "I thought I was your best friend!"
I don't know what I would do without her!
William loves to laugh, same as he always has. Sometimes I think he laughs more than all the rest of us put together! William's latest favorite thing to do is tell me that he wants to give me a big kiss, and then blow on my cheek instead.
But the funny thing is that it cracks him up so much that he can't get to my cheek without bursting into laughter. After quieting himself, he'll say, "That wasn't it!" and then try again. But the giggles pop right out of his little mouth before he can pucker.
And that is when he covers his mouth like this. When he finally does land the perfect, slobbery, blowing kiss, he throws his head back in utter delight.
William is still into dinosaurs. He saw an "I love Dinos" illustrated on a shirt in a book, and he has decided he really needs one of those.
Sometimes I think James would be perfectly happy--maybe even happier than he is now--as an only child. He loves being spoken to as an equal and he always wants to feel respected. He is very well-behaved when he has both of those things. When he feels his needs are being ignored, we see what Joel lovingly terms as "bipolar James."
James is not huge on snuggling. Often he wants the whole couch to himself, so he'll ask that I sit in a different place. But James will snuggle up for a long time if we are reading stories. He loves books on any topic and of any length. He has a good attention span for listening.
James also loves to be silly. One of his favorite games is when I put him up in a tree, pick him, and eat him like an apple. But he also enjoys games like Candyland that aren't too serious. He also loves to help me cook and he loves to help me go grocery shopping. He does a great job in any store these days, especially when William is not with us.
I made bookmarks for a Mother's Day gift for the Grandmas by snapping some funny pictures of the kids, laminating their cut-out shapes, and attaching tassels. They actually turned out pretty cute. I don't have a bookmark but I do have the pictures I used, except for the one of Charlie.
My kids are lucky to have amazing grandmothers. I am lucky to have an amazing Mother and Mother-in-Law.
My Mom is the ultimate champion of her kids. She always believes we can achieve and she dwells on the positive aspects of our character. Sometimes we really need that in our lives. When it seems that everything is going wrong, I always know my Mom believes in me and that is enough to carry me through whatever I'm struggling with. My mom loves purely, without blame, and with all her heart. Everyone should have someone in their life who has that kind of unbreakable faith in them. But I know that not many do, and that is why I feel blessed every time I think of my Mom.
My Mother-in-Law welcomed me into the family, no questions asked, and loved me from the beginning, like she has done with all the in-laws. She respects all of us whether we are similar to her or not. Joel has a quality I really love, and that is that he is totally comfortable with himself. He inherited that quality from his Mother and I appreciate that about him every day. I appreciate that about her when we visit with her. She has given me books on education and other things I am interested in, and she always makes sure to keep the kids interests in mind. I think I hit the Mother-in-Law jackpot!
Mother's Day was a wonderful day for me and that has a lot to do with the women in my life.
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