Don’t you think Mother’s Day ends to quickly? I think we should have a Mother’s Day week! 🙂
Since we were shooting in NY for Mother’s Day, we celebrated with the kids yesterday. It was a fun, signature Mother’s Day for us. Blaze wrapped up present after present for me. When gift giving, he finds things around the house like Brian’s head lamp, markers, a spatula, a Lego man, the CAR KEYS, and then gives them to me as wrapped gifts. It’s pretty sweet and sometimes surprising. Pascaline made me a card and wrote every thing herself. That was big stuff for her.
Brian made his “FAMOUS” omelette’s. (This man is the breakfast-making king!) Then we got out of the house and went to the rock climbing gym. We had high goals of heading to my favorite nursery afterwords, but we ditched that since our bodies were still tired from all the traveling. So we went and had an early dinner at one of my favorite restaurants–the Honey Pig! Yep, that’s the name. It’s a Korean restaurant, and as Brian said, Koreans just know how to name their restaurants. For example, you have Golden Pond, Fat Fish, Soot Bull Jeep (still don’t get that one), Dragon’s Tail…you catch my drift. 🙂
Tell us what you ended up doing! We’d love to hear! AND…whoever shares the most entertaining Mother’s Day story wins a $20 Starbucks Gift Card! WOOHOO!! But you have to post your story by 10pm tonight! On this one, don’t email me the story, post it in the comments for today.
We’ll announce the winning mama tomorrow morning when we post the…the…(drum-roll!)… Top Five Finalists for the Simple Gift Contest! (This is my way of keeping Mother’s Day alive a few days more. :))
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Hi, Happy late Mother’s Day.
My story is just simple but wonderful to me.
My daughter was excited and had trouble sleeping. She woke up and said it’s Mother’s Day are you excited. I guess I am. My husband left my favorite wine, the coffee mugs I asked for and a gift card to a nursery on the table before he left. She had wanted to make breakfast in bed but Daddy had to work and she’s five. Eggs and toast were out. Donuts were a close second. We decided to eat the little ones(donuts) we had at the house and she would make me a wonderful pretend breakfast. My son was content to play with his chainsaw. Hubby came home early. We cleaned things up for my mom and sister. I was making a taco salad and managed to cut a big piece of my finger so my husband had to finish. Holding my hand in the air and trying not to faint, I got to sit and welcome my family. We had a lazy afternoon and later my in-laws came over for left-overs. This was also I treat because we didn’t think they would be home in time. They were driving back from Idaho. All in all, a great day, except for the finger part.
mera. glad you had a good mothers day! ours was too….quiet. not so much funny….or entertaining….but good. i debated writing a made up funny / entertaining mothers day adventure….but lost steam. ahh well. we also get the mystery presents from our 3 year old. often i’ll come home from work to a stack of presents….all stuff i need. 🙂
brian. breakfast huh? maybe we could have a brian v jeramy throw down. who knows….maybe we’ll get our own show? look out bobby flay!
Mother’s Day started out rough…. one daughter getting up ENTIRELY too early, refusing to go back to bed, and thus requiring at discipline session at the butt crack of dawn. Every mom’s dream for a relaxing day, huh.
I moped back to my bed, feeling sorry for myself and grumbling something about “why couldn’t God have wired men to tune into these things at least ONCE a year???”
Fell back asleep, and woke up to hubby and above mentioned daughter bursting into the room with the hugest balloon I had ever seen, flowers, a pastry, and a mocha. My daughter was excitedly reciting all her daddy had just taught her to say, “Mommy, you are the BESTEST mommy in the WHOLE world! I LOVE you!” She was so proud of the balloon SHE picked out… she actually got a small one too, but chose to hold onto that one. 🙂
Hubby was very proud of himself for picking out the “not cheap” ones when it came to the flowers. This was huge. 🙂
And then we all devoured the pastry and my day started over oh-so-much better! (my own attitude adjustment helped that along very nicely 🙂
We skipped out on churchafter Sunday School to go to walmart and picked up a large kiddie pool and a cheapo slip ‘N slide that provided me all that I asked for on “my” day…. a day of family fun!
It was a blessed day… and the smiles captured on pixels continue to brighten my day each time I look at them…
We had a simple day. I was thrilled to start my new herb garden on Mother’s Day. We all dug in (literally!) to start it out. I can’t wait to go in the backyard and snap off some fresh herbs, very cool!
My whole afternoon was filled with cooking, for MY mother! Hectic but worth it, the meal was awesome and she loved it.
On my 16th year of being a mom I had to awake at 5:00 a.m. to get my daughter’s (12 1/2) hair and makeup done for dance competition. Keep in mind that we did not get home until 11:00 the evening before from being at dance competition. Basically Bailey and I would be running on empty. I don’t mind because you have no idea how much I LOVE watching my daughter dance it always brings a smile to my face and a tear to my eye. Bailey is in her element when she dances; (Like when I have my camera in my hand) so graceful, powerful, strong, animated, beautiful and just plain happy! So no complaints from me having to spend my Mothers Day in an auditorium. My alarm goes off at 5:00, I rollover and turn it off. 6:00 a.m. I get a text-think to myself who is texting me so darn early. Look at the text-look at the time, close my eyes. The time registers-I jump out bed run to Bailey’s room. WE ARE LATE!!!! We needed to leave at 6:15. Let me tell you Bailey and I never got ready so fast. Hair & makeup done in less than 20 minutes; complete madness! We drive away from the house and Bailey turns to me and says, “Happy Mother’s Day”! I look at her and smile-all of that craziness and she remembered. I really didn’t think it could get any better. Until I got home that afternoon……
(You see it has been a long year for my family. Long story short I am going through a divorce and for obvious reasons it has not been easy for any of us.)
Bailey and I got home about 4:30 (very long day) to find a dozen red roses sitting on my desk (where I am most of the time due to post-production) with a beautiful note from my son Taylor. It brought a tear to my eye, I turned to him, gave him the biggest hug and said, “THANK YOU”, how did you manage to get these (he doesn’t have his license yet)?” He said, I got up this morning and rode my bike to the flower stand and bought them for you.” I was stunned and completely surprised, my baby is turning into man and a pretty good one at that. It made me realize that no matter what we are all going through his dad and I did something right. We have raised a caring, generous, loving and thoughtful young man. Taylor is going to be okay, we are all going to be okay! This has been the best Mothers Day yet; one that I will never forget.
For some reason I woke up in a funk on mothers day, I really don’t know why. My brain kept telling me to get over it, but the funk was getting the best of me. I hesitated to go to church because my husband wasn’t going because he had pink eye, which meant I would go alone..poor me! 🙂 Well, at the very last minute I decided to go, and boy am I glad I did. Four women from my church spoke, and one really hit home. She spoke of how she had recently watched 15 years worth of videos of her laughing and playing and having a good time with her boys, and how she didn’t remember any of it. She had unintentially let those memories go to the wayside, while she put more energy on remembering and regretting her mistakes. When she realized she went into her closet and prayed to God, and he told her she hadn’t forgiven herself. Well, she finally did, and she encouraged so many moms on Sunday by sharing her story. That night as a family we went on a nature walk, and before we exited the woods I told my husband I wanted to have a “pow wow”. There on the little bridge I bent down and looked my kids in the eyes. I told them how sorry I was for not always being perfect, and how I know I make mistakes like yelling and being on the computer too much, but that I loved them more than anything and that I was trying my best, and that I’m gonna keep getting better at this mom thing. I told them how lucky I was that because of them I could celebrate being a mom on mothers day.
On this mothers day I learned to quit living with regrets , and to remember the laughs, the hugs, the “pow wows”.
Being a mom is the hardest and the easiest job at the same time.
🙂 Lora
I wanted to sleep in but we had a busy day planned…my husband did roll out of bed first and I had to smile as I heard my girls say..”Happy Mothers Day Daddy!” hahaha Then of course they came to me gave me big hugs and said the same. They made me papermache plastic cup planters with flowers they planted all on their own. They are twins and one of their flowers were started to poke through and grow, and my daughter Lily’s were no where to be seen…and she was so sad. So we started off our day with a sweet conversation of how some of the best things in life take time, and lots of love and care…and tho things don’t happen the way we always want them to be…somehow they always work out…sometimes even better then we expected. So we are anxiously awaiting to see what finally grows…;)
We had a simple brunch with my Mother in law and other family…called my mommy and had a teary conversation over the phone…living miles apart is so hard…especially on these days.
Then off to NYC with my husband, and my girls to have a beautiful day walking around, eating ice cream, watching my girls amazed as we turn every corner. And to end it by watching a show…”The Little Mermaid”.
I have to say my fav. moments where when at intermission, my daughter looked at me as i help her go to the bathroom and said out of the blue all on her own…”Mommy, I love you happy mothers day!” and then after the show as we walk back to find our car she said…” Mommy, my favorite part of this day was EVERYTHING…” Melt my heart. Children have a way of making your days simply beautiful!
Mother’s Day was a two-day event in the eyes of my 5 year old son, Thomas. On Thursday, I was set to attend the “Moms and Macaroni” luncheon at his preschool. The night before, he excitedly declared that the next day was mother’s day, and then told me an elaborate story about the dyed-macaroni necklace he made for me. He then stopped, looked around, and said in a hushed whisper, “but shhhh….you don’t know about the necklace”.
Thomas woke up on the actual Mother’s Day in a bit of a snit. He did not want to give me the card he made and the gift certificate for a massage my husband got for me, so he ran past me and threw it at me instead. The envelope for the gift certificate was made of vellum and hit me squarely in the eye. As my eye watered up from the blunt force trauma, Thomas then said I shouldn’t cry because it was Mother’s Day.
He later redeemed himself while I was in my office editing photos (I know…I shouldn’t have been working on Mother’s Day)…snuck down to my office and re-gifted the aforementioned massage certificate (this time gently) on my desk…then said he had something for me and handed me a bouquet of tulips and grape hyacinths…with dirt and roots and the actual bulbs still attached…that he had ripped up from the garden. He did all of this while dressed in a monkey costume that he wore this past Halloween.
FYI…It’s very difficult to be angry on Mother’s Day at a little boy handing you uprooted flowers while dressed in a monkey costume, even if you can only see him out of one eye.
Finally, my 14 year old daughter, who has been at odds for me for months in her adolescent angst, gave me a homemade card and a beautiful bracelet made by Ugandan women that the purchased at a fundraiser. I’d expected nothing from her and this was a total shock.
I ended the day going to a local farm and purchasing some lovely perennials, which I planted in the big hole of now-absent bulbs.
Happy Mother’s Day, MeRa!
Hi MeRa,
I am a single Mom to my amazing 15 year son. He started out the day feeling badly because he didn’t have the money this year to buy my a present. I told him the best gift he can give me, is time with him. We headed to the beach to have lunch at a little restaurant we like. We sat in the suicide lane of PCH for ten minutes trying to turn into the parking lot which was overflowing. We looked at each other and decided lines are not what Mother’s Day is about. We ended up getting hot dogs at an outdoor restaurant and sitting outside and talking. After we headed to the beach for a long walk. When we got home he told me he felt the day hadn’t been special enough for me… I told him it was perfect, it’s the simple things and time spent that are the greatest gifts, not what can be purchased. He gave me a big hug and told me how much he loves me. I told him I know he loves me everyday, not just on Mother’s day because he tells me all the time! I adore my child.
This Mother’s Day, my husband and I went to my parents’ home to make my mother brunch. My mother is one of those people who cooks every meal and has a constant desire to feed her guests. It was a real treat for her to sit back and let someone else do the cooking.
Our main course, artichoke frittata, had to be served immediately after cooking so we did all the prep work at home and brought the dishes over to Mom’s to be baked.
My mom’s oven is about 15 years old, and Mom has been hinting for a year that she needs a new one. She says it doesn’t match the black dishwasher she got. Anyway, it turns out that the oven has other issues than the color. The door doesn’t shut all the way, making it impossible to cook evenly. Well, as you can imagine, we don’t know the workings of the oven like my mom.
My husband is baking the frittata, checking it occassionally, and notices that it is just not cooking as fast as it should. Since the door wouldn’t stay shut, he decided to use the lock at the top (like the locks on dishwashers). When the timer goes off, we discover that the lock won’t unlock. The lock is for the cleaning cycle and once closed will automatically time itself to stay locked for 2 hours!
We certainly could not wait 2 hours for brunch! This was our main dish afterall. We try everything. We each take turns trying to force the lock open. We jiggle, we press, we coax, we plead. Nothing. So we get various kitchen utensils to try and pry it open. Still locked.
My husband grabs a screwdriver and unscrewed the door off the front. And if that isn’t crazy enough, when you take the door screws off, it only takes off the glass front, not the insulated part! We had to unscrew the ENTIRE oven, pieces of oven askew on the floor, until we could finally get the frittata out!
We did get it out, and it only burned a little bit on the bottom. It was still delicious.
And when we opened presents at the end of brunch, my 10-year-old sister gave my mom a cut out picture of an oven from the Sunday paper.
This mothers day was a mix of emotions from happy to sad. It was the first mothers day without my mom and I felt the loss, but also the joy of being a mom of a beautiful daughter. My daughter and I spent the night in Seattle at a good friends home and in the morning I awoke to a beautiful table setting of camilla blossoms. After a lovely breakfast. We went with my friend to a British Tea tasting at the Kuan Yin teahouse. Then we went home to Olympia where there was a homage to mothers and a boat at the waterfront and went out for a dinner with my dad.
Hi MeRa:
Mother’s Day was just another day…except, I was getting over a cold so no fun. My almost 2 yr-old decided to wake at 6:22am…ugh! Couldn’t send him with daddy, who was at a wedding Saturday until 3 am:( My 3 yr-old woke at 7:15 and it was a battle of the toys from the get go! Trying to keep them quiet…so daddy could sleep until almost 9:45…all I wanted to do was crawl under some covers and fall back asleep until I was well again. My boys did get me flowers (on Friday) and left out cards on the counter (on Saturday) but on Sunday, it was off to my MIL’s for a lunch cooked entirely by my SIL. Now, I have been trying to eat healthier and unfortunately, it was a cheese-oozing, carb-blasting casserole with a side of starch and more carbs…not my idea of a yummy Mother Day’s lunch. So, after we finally left and had to cook dinner for the boys, put them to bed and then make dinner for my husband and me, I was pooped once again and a little depressed. I need a break:) Can I please go sit at Starbucks and enjoy a tall decaf, non-fat soy latte with sugar-free caramel syrup, and maybe a cookie? Thanks…for letting me share;)
Such wonderful (and sleep deprived) Mother’s Days already posted! It seems there are a lot of loved Mothers that read your blog (and Jeremy). 🙂
My husband and I lead worship at our church, so our Sundays always start early and Mother’s Day is no exception. This year, though, my seven year old actually remembered what day it was when I woke him up at 6 am and he greeted me with “Happy Mother’s Day” and pulled out a wonderful poem he had written and decorated at school. The class had a sort-of poem template and the kids filled with words or phrases that described their mom. My favorite line? “My mom loves my dad very much.” I figure if we are showing them that, we are doing ok. The 4 year old twins both took big brother’s cue, gave me hugs and then proceeded to whine for 10 minutes because I made them wear clothes to church. I know… how dare I?
After church we booked it up the mountain to do Mother’s Day for my mother-in-law. My sister-in-law and I have both taken an outdoor cooking class and my mother-in-law has been requesting a meal made with our outdoor cooking skilz. So, I spent the remainder of my Mother’s Day digging hot coals out of a raging fire to spread around a #10 can as well as into a cardboard box oven. Oh, yeah, and the chicken wouldn’t fit into the can, so we had to tear it apart with our bare hands and cook the wings and legs in a separate can. That was a little on the gross side.
While I am still waiting for my relaxing day (I have jury duty this week, so no sleep-in-and-pamper-mom day yet), it really was a very nice day.
Happy Mother’s Day to all moms out there! I agree, we should get a whole week.
Happy Mother’s Day to all of you!
I was so excited that my son did not forget about it, as he did last year (when I cried a river)! He wrote me a card, saying “Dear Mom, it is my job to make you mad, but know that I do it with love. Have a kick-ass mother’s day!” He is 15…Doesn’t like to be kissed a lot (I must have overdone it while he was younger, now he can’t stand it) but he “allowed” me all the kisses and hugs I wanted for the day. God, how I love this kid!
Happy Mothers Day to All!
I did have an enjoyable mother’s day this year. With two young boys (almost 2 & almost 4), everyday is amusing. Mother’s Day was no exception.
We were having brunch at my mom’s house. I had changed my 2 yr olds diaper and left the diaper bag on the floor. He loves buckles and zippers so he was having fun playing with it. I thought nothing of it. I was sitting at the table talking with my sisters and mom. Then my son walks into the room, trying to open a maxipad, and saying “Mama…Mama…Boo Boo..Boo Boo.”
I guess its time to keep him out of the bathroom.
I saw my mom today and we were still laughing at it.
Ha. This year was great! My kids are 11 & 9. We woke up and went to get coffee and headed to church. Wonderful! Pastor prayed over us moms which is always a nice way to start the day. Then we came home from church and I was treated to all the lovely handmade at school gifts & cards from the kids. I have really come to treasure those. My husband (who is the best giver ever) gave me a YELLOW POLKA DOT SHOOTSAC! Yippee!!
We ended up going for a 10 mile bikeride along the river… and here’s where the MAGIC happened. My 11 year old daughter was on her bike riding along next to me… and says… “THIS IS THE BEST MOTHER’S DAY EVER!” It cracked me up that she was enjoying my mother’s day so much.
We continued on with lunch out… and then a BBQ with my whole extended family at my brothers where we were able to give my mom a set of THREE CANVASES of pictures I had secretly shot of all 7 of her grandkids together.
It was awesome… but it really all boiled down to that one moment with my daughter on the bikeride. 🙂
After breakfast at our favourite cafe, I spent Mother’s Day with my best friend and her 10-day old newborn. Our husbands took our preschoolers off to a boisterous birthday party, while I made tea, and gave a few hours of rest to my friend. I got to photograph her new baby girl while she got to drink her tea while it was still hot. We finished the day off when our husbands came back with the kids and we shared take-out Thai food. I LOVE coconut rice!
I really enjoyed this Mother’s Day. My daughter is getting so funny and I can’t believe she’s already almost 4. Time goes so fast, it was a joy to hold a wee baby again and enjoy the peaceful slowness that comes from a sleeping infant in your arms.
Okay, the monkey suit boy with the ripped up flowers is making me laugh so hard I might pee my pants! That is hilarious. I love how he threw your card at you. So classic!
http://strohlie.blogspot.com/2009/05/mothers-day.html
quiet
grateful
loving
joyful
one song
one rose
one necklace
two kids & a husband who love me
blessed
small
Mother’s Day itself was not that eventful, after church my husband made me waffles for lunch since that’s what I really wanted was not to have to cook lunch, ha,ha!
But Saturday morning was when the real surprise came. I total the boys, when they asked me, what I really wanted for mother’s day was a pizza peel (I’ve been baking Artisan bread lately) and a pack of Polaroid film (I love that stuff but it’s kinda spendy). Well they all presented me with their gifts, none shaped like a pizza peel btw. First, a fly swatter (?) we did need a new one, no doubt my 6yr old’s idea, new chef knives (I’ve been complaining evidently), a pack of Polaroid film, yay!, and a memory card that was almost as big in size as my point and shoot. I said, uh, this is not the right card for my camera…but thank you? We’ll have to exchange it. Lastly was a box. I had no clue but inside was a Sony A300 kit!!!
Well I cried for about 15 min. thinking how we probably shouldn’t be spending money on this, and I don’t deserve this – I don’t know why this popped into my head. My husband said, what do you mean? You stay home and home school our boys all year long!
I had been telling him I was wondering when the winners of the Sonys would be announced on your blog because I was so hoping I could win one. I’m not sure if that’s what prompted him. I try not to go on and on about how much I would love to have one. I have done some amazing work with my point and shoot (considering).
All this and on top of it, I received a thank you card from a senior portrait shoot I did (don’t laugh) with my Sony Cybershot. I told my friends I would love to try to do it, for free, if they promised not to laugh at my camera until they saw the results. I was confident I could do a good job (plus I have PSE). Apparently they did too because in that thank you card I rec’d $100!!
I am so blessed! Thank you for the chance to win the Sony anyway 🙂
WOW! I love the Mother’s Day stories that have been shared!…the good and bad!
My Mother’s Day wasn’t “ideal”. Usually, on Mother’s Day…I get a complete and total day off! I look forward to it SO much, but this time, we weren’t at home…so things went a little different. I tried to not be disappointed that I didn’t get breakfast in bed…but then we drove home and ALL three kids acted more horrible then EVER the whole 3 hour drive home. I seriously wanted to cry! I told my hubby that I want to “do over” Mother’s Day…one where I get to just relax and enjoy my kids! Oh well… I did get a new kitchen mixer which I am SO excited and greatful for! My other one only had one beater that worked! And I DID get a nap…plus I got to spend a little time with my mom getting a pedicure on Saturday…which makes me SO happy! We got matching nail colors! 🙂 I think my Mother’s Day taught me a little bit of what being a mother is about…looking for the good in each day. OH! I also got a call from my niece. She’s getting married the end of July and she asked me to be their photographer! 🙂
I was never able to have children due to medical issues. I am 55 and have a beautiful rescue Greyhound named Sheba. Her Daddy lives in Washington DC at the current time, so Daddy called Sheba, (well me actually), and asked to speak to Sheba. The next thing I know is that Sheba is coming over with big kisses and a huge grin. (Some greyhounds actually grin) Then she brought me her favorite toy and laid at my feet.
I was woken up with my 3 year old daughter leaping on me at 6:07 am practically shouting “Happy Mama’s Day! You are the bestest Mama EVER! You Crazy girl!”
And after a HUGE hug and even bigger kiss (complete with MWAH sound effect) she knelt primly beside me and said to me with the utmost sincerity, “Don’t you think that you should change it to Happy Child’s Day?”
I think this was my best mother’s day yet (top 3 for sure…lol)
I woke up with my 3.5 year old son jumping on me and he says, “Hey guys, I’m hungry, are you?” I said, “well I am not at the moment but I will be.” To which he replies, “Well….let’s get cookin.” (we busted up laughing) 3 year olds say the funniest things.
I go down stairs and he and my husband start making me breakfast (pictures on my blog of my son making pancakes were pretty darn cute (http://www.katejamesphotography.typepad.com)). We sat down to eat and my son was so proud of the flowers he had picked out for me and the card. I opened the card and there was a message from him that said (in his voice) “Happy mothers Day Mama, I love you, You’re the best mom in the world, I love you.” Then it broke out into INXS “You’re unbelieveable.”
My husband captured my reaction (see pics on my blog too). It melted my heart and his little face was just beaming. He was attached to my hiop all day. He just wanted to hang out with me no matter where I was. I got hugs all day long. AND my husband cleaned the house. My gift was the Discovery Workshop, so it was the best mother’s day ever!!!
It was simple and very special.
Being a mom is the best thing in the world!!!
Great stories! My Mother’s Day ended up way different than originally planned. We planned for 14 people to be at our house for Mother’s Day. I was thinking to myself “why am I cooking for 14!” After all it is my Mother’s Day too! (selfish I know)! Knowing I still need to honor my Mom on this day, I prepared dinner the night before with an improved attitude, so I thought! lol! After preparing six flank steaks with a special marinade, a huge cheesy potatoe casserole and staying up very late to finish putting together the Mother’s Day gifts for church, I get a phone call that my mom is NOT coming from Bellingham! I’m thinking, ok, this is why I am doing this thing. Oh well…continue on. We wake up very early Sunday morning to go to church to teach our marriage class at 9am. Get there at 8am to set up and 6 people show up!!! They all think we are taking Mother’s Day off! I’m thinking “Did you get an email from us saying we are taking it off???” Oh well…continue on. Now remember the 14 now 13 people for dinner? My sister calls Sunday morning on our way to church to say their son’s baseball game got changed to 1:30pm and they cannot come for dinner! What??!?!? Who plays baseball on Mother’s Day?? Apparently there is ALOT of baseball on Mother’s Day! So now dinner is just my husband, me and our kids! LOL! Lot’s of Flank Steak and potatoes. We just didn’t have salad (sister was bringing that) or rolls (mom was bring that). We ate steak & potatos Sunday & Monday and steak sandwiches in lunches today! My kids are 22,20 & 19. My daughter and her husband are living with us right now while they transition into their new home. It is so great having them all home together for a season. As I was looking at these young adults on Mother’s Day, I was reflecting on how blessed I truly am with such a wonderful husband and wonderful kids!! Thanks for taking the time to read!
Love you guys!
My 5 year old son brought secret things home from preschool every day last week and snuck them up to his room. One day last week he noticed some pink tissue paper in my closet and asked if he could have it. Imagine my surprise to find a Nike shoebox full of the tissue paper with a bunch of special drawings he made folded up in the bottom when I came down for breakfast on Sunday morning. There was a heart that he colored and cut out, a picture of me and him with flowers, and a few other special drawings. He also told me he loved me multiple times that day. I think this is the first year he really “gets it”.
After he and my husband made breakfast, they gave me their present, which was that they agreed to let me take them to the park for a photoshoot without complaining. This was a pretty big deal as my husband hates having his picture taken. They were thrown for a loop when I asked them to change their shirts, but they agreed.
We spent about an hour and I took over 200 pictures. When we got home I was really disappointed in how they turned out, as the spotty shade screwed with my exposures, and I’m still not great with the manual focus on my low aperture lens. I got 6 pictures that I actually like. I decided then that I would do something for myself for mother’s day, and I contacted another photographer I found through your blog who lives local to me. That was totally outside my comfort zone, but she was so receptive and willing to help that it made my whole day! We’ve been exchanging huge long emails with each other for three days now! Thanks MeRa for the wonderful environment you create here, and the spirit of helpfulness that you preach.
I got lots of sweet cards from my little ones. (I have 6, soon to be seven :-). But my oldest boy, decided it would be funny to make me a “Happy Robots Day” His card was complete with Walle and Eva. He’s 8 and really cute. He was so pleased with himself for coming up with an “original idea” and original it was–not many mothers that I know of recieved a “happy robots day” card! 🙂
* Singing on Worship Team at church meant waking up before the boys (I thought)…
* Awesome husband got up BEFORE ME and made me breakfast (french toast, fruit, and freshly squeezed orange juice, my favorite treat, since my Grandfather grew citrus for Sunkist for 60+ years). We ate together and had an *actual conversation* while the 3.5 year old slept.
* Amazing church service
* Foam die-cut sticker-laden photo frame Sunday School craft from Monkey boy (which I love and plan to use even though the picture hole is an, um, creative shape and size)
* Lunch out, just with my boys (hubby and son)
* Restful afternoon/loaded & wrapped Mother’s Day photo album gifts for both Grandmas
* Dinner at Buca di Beppo with the whole family (it was crowded at 4pm. How weird is that? We totally thought we’d miss a crowd with that funky hour and didn’t).
* Restful evening (ok, there was lots of after-dinner RUNNING that the 3.5 y/o does but at least he sort of avoided crashing into me repeatedly… sortof…)
* After putting Monkey to bed, my husband spent the evening working on my finally-almost-ready-to-launch photography business website and announced “it’s time to buy you a logo and a flash web template” and started the process for those too.
* While he worked I cleaned a very disastrous kitchen and didn’t care for a minute because I am blessed to HAVE a kitchen, dishes, food on the table and a family who loves me.
* Got some beautiful bokeh shots of my pink Mom’s Day Roses (from hubby) and purple Campanula (from my mom)
* I also got to help MAKE a Mother’s Day gift, delivered the day before Mother’s Day; I had my FIRST PAID PHOTOGRAPHY SESSION (family portraits as a surprise for their Mom) as a result of doing a fundraiser at my son’s preschool (and I enclosed business cards with the proofs – at my husband’s suggestion).
* I am blessed beyond measure.
[…] The one story I still can’t get over is by Katie Jordan. Did you read her story about how they had to take the oven apart to get their artichoke frittata out of it? It’s HILARIOUS! The woman needs to take her, her hubbie and mom out for a latte after that craziness! Katie, thanks for sharing! Email Genie, at genie@fioria.us, with your address, and we’ll get the Starbucks card off to you! To read Katie’s whole story (and it’s so worth it for a good laugh), check out yesterday’s blog post. […]
This mother’s day was great fun. I woke up to my husband and three-year-old son whispering in the hall and sneaking downstairs, and I knew immediately they were up to something.
I waited in bed and a few minutes later they came stomping up the stairs and burst into the bedroom with a bowl of cereal and a card. Cereal and milk in bed! This was actually perfect because I knew we were having a big brunch later.
My son gets so excited about suprises that he ruins them, which is usually hilarious, and Mother’s Day was no exception. He carried the card up all by himself and climbed up on the bed, really excited and said “Happy Mother’s Day Mommy! We brought you breakfast in bed!” and then “Your card says inside it: Thank you for wiping my bum!” My husband and I were cracking up.
Later on my SIL and her family, my MIL, and my mom all came over for brunch. My husband made the most amazing Eggs Benedict for all of us, he started calling himself “The King of Eggs Benedict”. I’m not kidding, it was that good. Now I just have to figure out how to match that for Father’s Day.
OK – so Mother’s Day wasn’t what “I” or “we” had expected it to be this year. April was a critical month in our lives (including my entire family). Let’s turn back the clock a bit so that you & your readers can understnad… My husband & I have been trying to become pregnant for the past 3 years now & in April we headed out to Panama for 3 weeks in order to go through with in-vitro. It seemed to have been a success & 3 eggs were implanted to only have to wait 2 weeks later to get the results we had never wanted to hear – a few days before Mother’s Day! It was as if someone was playing a mean joke on me & my husband… on my entire family! Well – on the morning of… my mom had come to spend the night & we woke up to breakfast in bed made my beloved husband. My mother & I ly in bed together with tears & sadness in our souls & my husband didn’t say a word. My mom knows how much we had wanted to celebrate & tell the rest of the family that we were truly celebrating “Mother’s Day” in a special way! Needless to say, my dear mom (nana as I call her) decided to make it just a regular old day & not make a big deal about it so that it wouldn’t be rubbed in my face! She made me feel extra special by just letting the day be a regular Sunday & not making it known it was “that day” – we hung-out, cleaned house, chatted, sat on the balcony watching the boats pass by & later went out for a simple drive together to get out of the house! She has been so supportive & she deserves a ‘make-up’ Mother’s Day without a doubt. One without tears, one without heart-ache & one with only smiles & much love!
As for the rest of our family – they too have been great – they didn’t expect calls or visits & I thank them for that b/c with each call I tried to make, a tear came down my face! That was our Mother’s Day… we will get past this!
Anyways – Happy Mother’s Day to the rest of you moms out there! 🙂 I hope it was filled with love & hugs!
Well, I knew going into to Mother’s Day weekend that it would not be a relaxing one for me. We own a restaurant and with M-Day being one of the busiest days for our business I knew that I would not be pampered and could forget about relaxing…at least until Monday.
I have 4 beautiful kids (8,6,2 and 4 mos.) and I was trying real hard to not be resentful that I wasn’t getting a day off. The kids forgot to make me breakfast in bed and I was getting into a snappy mood fast.
I sucked it up and took the kids to the park for a picnic. My 6yr old prayed for our and meal and said,”Dear Jesus, help mommy to be happy today and know that everyone has so much love for her. Amen.”
Okay, so that melted me. We had a good time at the park, and I was even able to get some good photos. I managed to get all 4 kids in ONE photo for the first time. A-MAZING.
I will forever save the card my 8 yr. old gave me. It said, “Dear Mom, you are thankful for me because you care for me, and you don’t beat me up or throw me in the closet and last but not least you are the best mom that anyone could ever have.”
i dig finalist #4!!!!
i love the simple passion that comes out of loving photography and sometimes the “numbers” and “letters” that come with it!!!
ENJOY!!!!!!!!!
your new Reveal!