Mother's Day & Birthday

Unlike most Sunday mornings, Mother's Day had a very quiet and lonely start for me which made it a very nice start to a day to celebrate moms. My men were off at church busily preparing a Mother's Day breakfast feast with the other men. I find this to be much superior to the making mom breakfast in bed! The messy kitchen, the "how long do you have to cook frozen sausage?" questions, the occasional clang of something hitting the floor all happened somewhere else. By the time I arrived, the aromas of eggs, biscuits and gravy, and hotcakes were wafting up the stairs. All I had to do was enjoy!

In spite of my ineptness at the hymn "We Praise Thee O God Our Redeemer", the worship service was great! (As long as no one sang, I could play it perfectly. Rrrrr!) The boys did a great set of praise songs and the sermon on building your family's heritage on the foundation of Christ was convicting and encouraging as well. And as an added bonus, the kids handed carnations out to all the women and someone blessed us with a gorgeous pot of flowers for our deck. I was pleased to see that it was an outdoor arrangement so that it will actually get a chance to live more than 24 hours and be enjoyed for months to come, unlike its housebound cousins. Coming indoors is the kiss of death to most plants at my house.

After church we headed south to spend the day celebrating Mother's Day and my birthday at my parents' house. The weather was not as lovely as promised, but nice enough to enjoy some fresh air and time in the yard. And of course it was fun to see all the cousins, grandparents, aunts and uncles again!

Andy and Zack helped Grandpa check out the leak

on the garage roof

then they helped Grandma pick lilacs

Why do the perfect ones have to be so high up?

Theresa and I watched from the porch

but it was worth the extra effort!

playing Bocee in the back yard

Zack took some great angle shots

even "Mickey Mouse" showed up to play! LOL

Stella just enjoyed sleeping on Grandma's lap

Ada enjoyed waking up on Aunt Theresa's lap

Stella and her mommy

Maggie and Charlie filled 3 baby bottles with change for the

Caring Pregnancy Center's fundraiser in only one afternoon!

Thanks Grandpa!

how could you tell him you won't help babies?

Stella checkin' things out

this one just makes me laugh

now Ada's checkin' Stella out

that binky looks HUGE in Stella' tiny little mouth

Ada and Charlie play


Ada likes music

Maggie sat out with Betsy on the porch while it rained

Ada likes standing, too!

I wanted to get a picture of Maggie with her mom and grandma

but she was too concerned about Ada getting the present

she'd set on the floor to pose for the camera :o)

Charlie liked my new thread, too

well, except for the red one and the

chocolate brown one

my birthday cake:

pound cake covered in Devonshire cream

and served with fresh sliced strawberries

Yummmm!

Maggie and Charlie helped me blow out my candles

Stella n Me

The day was just another reminder of why being a mommy is so great!!!