Monday, May 10, 2010

Lucky Me

I'm not really sure if I could be any luckier. I have the most terrific mom in the world, married the love of my life, and have four amazing, healthy, smart, good to the core kids. What more could I hope for on Mother's Day?

Not much.

But because my kiddos love me (and also because they have an awesome dad who took them out for a super fun night of out shopping last week, and because they have terrific teachers who helped them create priceless homemade gifts at school and church), I had quite the haul yesterday.

I made out with a bag of sour jelly bellies (my favorite, Easton), some stylie earrings and a scrapbook class (thanks, B.), some super cute Roxy flip flops from Tilly's (you rock, Afty), and some super cute jewlery including a hand beaded bracelet a la Rowan (I love them!) Ryan, my mom and my mother-in-law were all way too good to me too. Seriously, I am so spoiled.

I loved the little book that Easton made at preschool. Each page was a flower pot and had a blank within a sentence for Easton to complete. Things like, "I love my mom when she _____" or "My mom is good at __________."

I giggled hard at the "Mom mom weighs _____ pounds." My incredibly endearing four year old smartly completed the blank with "14." Yep, 14 pounds. That's me. Oh, and he thinks I'm 20 inches tall. Maybe that's my mini-me he's thinking of??? Hmmm...14 pounds. I can't even remember 114. Maybe 8th grade?


Happy Mother's Day, Cheri! Thanks for raising such a great son. I'm crazy about him you know...

Ryan's folks, my folks, and all of our siblings and their families came over yesterday for a super delicious Mexican food pot-luck dinner. Tasty stuff. Kudos to my brother-in-law, Ryan Stoker (below), for the amazing enchiladas. Jayme is teaching you well!

After I took the first picture of Jayme & Ryan, I did the quick digital preview and told Ryan that he needed to look happier. This was the result.

Easton & me at his preschool program last Thursday. They sang 13 songs (yes, really) and presented us with all sorts of fine treasures (gold spray-painted handprints, a decorated flower pot filled with dried beans and two homemade flower pens, a lovely card...). I LOVE the silouhette that his teacher did (it's on the box in the picture above). No doubt that's going in his scrapbook. My favorite song was "Mama's Soup Surprise." Too hilarious. Easton has sung it so many times at home, now, that all the girls know the words now too and belt it out at full volume.

The chorus goes something like this (and picture it with hand motions and full grins):

Chicken lips and lizard hips and alligator eyes. Buzzard eggs and monkey legs and salamander thighs. Bunny ears and camel rears and toasty toenail pies. Stir it all together and it's mama's soup surprise.

Yes, priceless I know.

Rowan & Grandma Cindy last night after dinner. Rowan is lucky to have such a great woman in her life. She adores her Grandma. I think the balance is good, too, since Rowan and I sometimes clash with our wills. I think hers is definitely stronger, but I'm still the mom. I think...

The Goodman & The Brown girls - Mothers and mothers to be.

My SIL, Lacey, & Mike. She's going to be our next new mother. She's due with #3, her first girl, in late June. Jessie & Jayme are both having their fourth babes this summer too. Can't wait to be an auntie again three times over!

On my final note, I was thinking about how so many women out there don't care for Mother's Day. I've heard women vent about it throughout the years and was reminded of those same feelings again as I read a few friends' blog posts this week. I've heard that some feel like the gratitude and love they receive this one day of the year isn't genuine as they don't feel that same love/attention/respect the rest of the year, or more commonly that some women feel a huge sense of guilt. With all the praise and adoration bestowed upon mothers, they feel like they don't measure up or don't quite fit the ideal. And some women who haven't had the most ideal mothering influence in their life or whose mothers have passed away, the day brings unwanted reminders.

But for me, in the shoes I wear today (and I realize that my shoes are mine and mine alone), my perspective on Mother's Day is quite different. I think that Mother's Day is a day that we as women should feel extra grateful for our most important and rewarding calling in life. Sure, it can be hard. Impossible perhaps at times. Tiring so much of the time. But really, would we ever truly want to give it up? I couldn't imagine my life without my children. They are my joy, my life, my blessing.

Really, I am the luckiest mom in the world.

And Happy Mother's Day to all the good moms that have helped me become (and are still helping me become) the woman that I am today. Your influence has been significant in my life.

Last week, I helped my mom make these cute magnet clip handouts for her relief society leadership meeting. The saying on the front (which she got from a plaque that my Aunt Diane gave her years ago), goes like this:

Here's to Good Women:

May we know them,

May we be them,

May we raise them.

No comments:

Post a Comment