May 11, 2014

Happy Mother's Day!  I had a wonderful Mother's Day today.  My own mom was spending it with my sister, but we were able to talk to both Grandmas on the phone today to wish them each a Happy Mother's Day!  We love you, Grandma Kathy and Grandma Cindy!!!

Anya was so excited for this day.  She had plans that nobody else knew about.  The whole day before she kept saying that she wanted the day to be over so it could be Sunday.  So, combine that with the trip Steve took with Anya and Evan to the store on Saturday, I was prepared for something to happen on Sunday, but wasn't exactly sure what.  Although I did suspect a breakfast-in-bed plan.  At 6:45 am, Anya's alarm went off, but she was already up.  She woke up and was so excited she couldn't sleep, so she just got up and started her plan.  Steve got up to turn off her alarm and then went back to bed, having been instructed by Anya not to wake me up.  I stayed in bed and tried not to get caught getting up to go to the bathroom.  At around 7:15, the three kids tiptoed up next to the bed with a tray.  On it was a bagel with cream cheese, tea, a flower and cards from each of the kids.  The looks of joy and pride on their faces were beautiful.  The breakfast-in-bed was lovely, but honestly, the fact that they had all snuck peacefully around together getting it ready was enough to make me teary.  It had been Anya's idea, but she allowed them to help without conflict.  She even explained later that she had originally wanted to do it herself but that she decided to let them help her.  And Evan loved telling me the story of how they "faced trouble" together when they realized daddy had locked the flowers in the basement bathroom and they had to bring a folding chair down from upstairs and climb up on it to get the key on top of the bathroom door trim.  They were so proud of themselves...and they had every right to be!

I ate half of my bagel upstairs, but they couldn't wait for me to come downstairs, so I took the tray and we went down to the kitchen where there were more surprises waiting.  On the table I found flowers picked out by Anya and Evan and put into the same vase (shocking that they could agree on all the necessary details of doing this), a poem Anya wrote for me at school, a box of chocolates from Evan and a bowl of salt water taffy from Anya.  

Of course, we had to eat some taffy and chocolates for breakfast!

Here is my breakfast-in-bed tray.

After breakfast, Evan gave me a puzzle he made for me.

Here is a photo of my cards from Evan.  The pink square is the wrapping from the chocolates.  He said he didn't really know what was inside of it, but he picked it out because it said, "love you mom."

This is the inside of the card with a picture of me (and Steve) getting my breakfast-in-bed.  I love his message.

These are my cards from Nora.  She made me two of them at home, one at church and one at school.  The one from school was attached to a basil seedling which we planted in the garden, so I don't have a picture of it.  The yellow writing card was accompanied by a hyacinth she twisted out of the front flower bed yesterday.  It was very cute.

Here is the poem Anya wrote for me at school, a card she made at home, a card made from the leaves and roots of some beet seedlings we thinned out of the garden, and the label for a jar of cookie mix she made at church on Mother's Day.  I felt very loved and appreciated by all three children today.

After we came home from church and lunch at Noodles and Company, I requested a photo shoot with the kids.  Amazingly, they all cooperated. I had to bribe Nora with a treat, but at least it worked!  Here are some of my favorites.  If you're on Facebook, you've seen the highlights of the favorites, but I'm including more here!

 After Steve finished taking photos of me with the kids, I requested a few of the three of them together.  They were super silly and came up with some crazy poses!

 These crazy kids with their crazy outfits!

 Uh oh, it's starting to get too silly!

The original photo (above)...flipped upside down (below).

Eventually, Nora got hurt.  And who did she want to cuddle her?  Big sister, Anya.  Children that can be silly together, comfort each other, and work peacefully together...what more could a mom want for mother's day?