Happy Mother's Day: May 14, 2015

Best Mother's Day Ever!

This peaceful tableau was our morning.  Months ago, when asked to describe a perfect day I said that it would be one where nobody fights and I never have to ask anyone to do something more than once.  Craig sighed and told me that I was going to have to lower my standards.  Mother's Day was pretty close to perfect, though.  For the most part, there was peace.  Hours of play.  Easy meals.  Lots of sitting around.  Bliss!

I also got quite the mom's day haul!  The centerpiece was Devon's preschool effort, safely concealed in his backpack until Sunday morning.  So great was his restraint that it took ten minutes to convince him that today was, indeed, Sunday and therefore it was the RIGHT day for him to take it out and give it to Mommy. 

On the back was an original interview that is too cute to just summarize:

What is your mom's name?

Krista

What do you call her?

Mommy

What does she do for her job?

Oh, just cleaning up the kitchen.  That's all, I guess.

What does Daddy call her?

Krista

How old is she?

15, I guess

What is her favorite color?

Pink, because girls just love pink.

What is her favorite food?

Pancakes

What does she like to do for fun?

Just have silly time with us

How tall is she?

2 feet

How much does she weigh?

15 pounds

What color is her hair?

Black

What color are her eyes?

My guess is black

What is her favorite thing to do when she is by herself?

Just buy new things for us

What is your favorite thing to do with your mom?

Just sit with her

What does your Dad love most about your mom?

Everything

Why did your Dad marry your mom?

Because they wanted to have children like me

Why did God make mommies?

So they could have children

What kind of girl was your mom when she was little?

I think she was nice and 0 years old

How did God make moms?

He put them together

Devon really outdid himself this Mother's Day.  Daddy coached him on an original note to me, which ended up being a picture of me patting the girls on the head.  He signed his name, another encouraging sign of a growing interest in letters and writing. 

This was the card he made at MOPS.  Also a wonderful effort.  We're going to have this guy ready for kindergarten yet!  Just give him four months to practice his letters, hopefully in the presence of his Uncle Tim and his Auntie Amy, two important people in his life who can show him that it's great to be a lefty (if that's what he wants, and Mommy thinks he does even though he's using right more now too).

His cognitive skills are obviously right where they need to be.  He's a perceptive guy with his finger on the pulse of everything going on with me.  He had Grammy and Grandpa in fits of giggles with his insistence that my union with Daddy was primarily for the production of children "like me".  He's also right about my primary job being cleaning up the kitchen.  I'd like to submit a few more things that also take up the bulk of my time, just to be thorough.

Taking the kids places so I don't have to clean the kitchen.  My latest obsession is signing up for birthday clubs so that our grocery days for this month have lots of free treat coupons.  The girls have been introduced to the Sonic Fruit Slush, Cinnabon, and lots of other yummy things.  And, of course, our favorite Chick-fil-A is always giving survey coupons and discounts.  So we're having fun on our outing days, although Mommy makes sure that we follow up with lots of healthy food.

Figuring out what stinks in the mudroom.  Welcome spring, with temperatures that make all the smells come out of hiding and a few pesky ants linger around anything fragrantly edible.  It's the season where the laundry smells like cheese if you don't do it every other day, when muddy shoes get sweaty and stinky, and the cat closet starts to attract notice.  I spend a lot of time saying "what IS that smell" and then wandering around in there sniffing things so I find the culprit.  Or just shrugging and tossing things in the washer hoping it'll help.  

Finding all the lost things.  The shoes.  The hair bows.  The third bathing suit, and hurry because they're all already naked in the yard and we do live in the country but not in Sweden and NOBODY is going to suit up if the other two don't have to as well.

Carrie and Melina were also coached by Daddy into making a picture for me, and colored signs in MOPS.

I'm pretty sure that every Mother's Day church service I've been to has given out a flower to all the moms, but mine made it home for the first time ever!  Previous years saw me passing them by because I didn't have an extra hand, sticking them face down in my purse because I was running after somebody, or even just getting home and having no idea what happened to my flower because I don't know where it is.  It joined my lilacs on the kitchen island.

My last present was a selfie, but I'm more of a note-and-small-token kind of a girl.  I'm perfectly happy getting things for myself according to my own likes, and I needed one of these Shutterfly mugs for "the special Mommy coffee".  I wish I could send one to all the moms, or even just give them a day as nice as mine.