Mommies

I spent all day Friday preparing food and making these:



And then all day Saturday hosting this:





And after such a fun but exhausting Mother's Day Tea Party & Brunch for the oldies, I wasn't thinking much about my own Mother's Day.
Ro had told me he was ordering me this new phone and I was happy:



So when he brought the kids in this morning at 9:30 am to a still-sleeping mom and brought these, I was surprised and excited! (Anything that makes me think about packing for our upcoming trip to Hawaii makes me giddy with anticipation...)




And they were all excited to give me these:



(A little explanation on this one... Ro told Ava to draw me a picture and she looked at him with a confused expression and quickly scrawled this question mark. Oh, and we call her Fuzzy sometimes because of her lack of hair. She'll even say that if you ask her what her name is.)

And then I went out to the kitchen and found these:



But the best part was yet to come! I knew I needed a necklace to go with my dress today for church so I was very thankful when Ava gave me this after nursery:



And the kids had made these in primary:


(Note the bow in Ava's profile and the spikes in Mason's)

Nothing like homemade gifts to make you feel like a REAL mom. This is the first year I have really felt like this and I am so proud and thankful to be their mother. So as I sat in the bathtub and read this later on:



I reflected on all of the many wonderful blessings that come with motherhood. I am so proud to be a mother. It may not be easy every second of every day, but what is? And WHAT can give you a greater reward and so much joy? Nothing brings me as much happiness or sense of accomplishment than my babies.

So I had a good Mother's Day. No, a great one. And it was not because of the plethora of gifts or wonderful food that was prepared for me, it was because I was able to further recognize the greatest gifts in my life.

Thanks for reading this long post (I am not known for my brevity) and thanks to the mothers in my life for helping me learn how to be a better one. Mom, you are the most positive person I know and ignore other people's flaws like they do not exist. I love you! Sandra, you are a wonderful mother in law and have raised the most perfect boy I have ever met!
Even as I write this post after midnight with a sleepy girl on my lap who doesn't want to be in her bed, I feel SO thankful. I hope to make every day feel a bit more like Mother's Day because we get little gifts from our kids every day that surpass any other gifts there are.