Lucky Me

Today, we celebrated motherhood. Jeremy is so wonderful on Mother's Day. He insists on doing all the cooking, kitchen cleaning...everything. 

So, while he cleans the kitchen from dinner, I'm gonna sit here and put my pictures from this wonderful day on the blog.  I should be reading something spiritual. Oh well. I was excited to see how our pictures turned out from our walk to the lake this afternoon.

After church, Jeremy sent me right off to take a nap. I'd like to say it was a quiet, serene nap, but either Eli or Anya was hollering pretty much the whole half hour I was in there. That dang iPad causes problems! Oh well, nice thought anyway. I think I dosed off for a minute or two, so I'm grateful. :)

When I came out of the bedroom, I saw something leaning against the wall across from the door. It was a note, in an envelope that said, "Mom" in pencil.

Mom
I Love You.
Bennett

So sweet.

Landon told us about this trail here in our town, that leads to a little lake that we frequent in the summertime. We didn't know about this trail. It was beautiful! It ended up being a good two-mile walk, which was more than we bargained for. But we eventually made it to the lake.  Jeremy walked back to get the car by himself because there was no way we were going to get them to go all that way back!


This little outing was just so great. I find nothing sweeter than when all of my children are together, out in nature. Throw in the fact that everyone actually wanted to be there AND they got along great...and you've got a PERFECT Mother's Day afternoon.  I picture the millenium being just like that.

My six greatest blessings.

My baby boy.

Anya loves watching her shadow when she walks or runs. She's always looking off to the side. I worry she's going to biff it one of these days!







My hunny and I. I noticed that I have my hair back in a pony tail in the last 3 or 4 posts where I've been in a picture. My hair is longer than it's been in a while, which means I can't stand having it down much. Oh well, whatever works!

This one cracked us up.

Anya was in her element today. She loves being out in nature. She also prefers walking to sitting in the stroller. Yeah for that...except when you're trying to keep a steady pace!




This one melts my heart. I love when my two teenagers actually enjoy each other. I see them becoming great friends as they mature into adulthood.

We finally made it to the lake!

This picture portrays my Max so well right now. He's a 10 year old boy who really doesn't care how his clothes look. We often find him in mismatched socks.  If we don't double- check his clothes before school and church, we often find him there wearing filthy shirts or pants. Oh, to be so carefree.



We brought some bread to feed the ducks and found that the fish enjoyed it more. (The ducks were probably full.)  Jeremy and Landon found a broken off piece of fishing line with an attached hook laying on the ground. They tried catching a fish by hooking a piece of bread on the hook, then throwing the line out in the water. They almost hooked one! Oh...so close!



Feeling so blessed today. Not only am I blessed to be a mother, but how blessed I am to have been raised by a mom who reverences her calling as a mother. I was talking to her on the phone today and she told me that, even though she had a hard upbringing with a broken family, she learned everything she knew about homemaking and mothering, from her mother. She had her mother to thank for everything she knew. She didn't have the gospel in her life, but Grandma passed on a legacy of love, nurturing, home-cooked meals, and a passion for God's creations. Many of the things I do as a mother, I learned from my mother, who learned from hers. My Grandma Willis passed away when I was 11 years old. I look forward to meeting her again some day, and thanking her for her legacy.

Two more weeks of school. I seriously need to get our summer system figured out before it meets us head-on. I've never been the best at keeping a schedule in the summer. As a result, I end up doing much of the daily cleaning, our kids spend too much time with electronics and not enough time reading, and our scripture time lags during those months. I know there are so many great ideas out there for making summer great. If you have anything that has worked well, I'd love to hear it!

By the way, this reminds me of something. Yesterday after our neice's bridal shower, my sister-in-law and I were chatting and and she told me than whenever she thinks of my life, it makes her really tired.

Do I seem tired to people? I hope not. I mean, things are hopping around here, especially when I'm getting kids off to school in the morning, and around dinner time and bedtime. But I hope people don't think I'm overwhelmed and tired. I love having a big family. I feel like God has given me all the energy and strength that I need at this time in my life. I do get tired sometimes in the afternoons and at night, but usually I feel great! I'm sure in 15 years or so, I'll look back at this time, however,  and wonder how in the heck I made it.

Quick adoption update: We were expecting to travel this month, but it will now probably be at least mid-June. We had a delay because the cheif specialist at the Dept. of Education in Hazel's city took the whole month of May off. :(  We're really getting excited to meet our sweet girl, though. I can't wait to shower her with kisses and hugs. It won't be too much longer.

**Post-edit update*** We got word the day after I wrote this that we get to go meet Hazel in two weeks! We are over-the moon!

Hope you had a Happy Mother's Day!