Happy Mother's Day!

This year I had a very busy, but great Mother's Day. It all started on Wednesday. Emma came to me crying big tears, "Mom, I can't find the bracelet I made for you at school! It's not in my backpack and it's not in my folder. You HAVE to call Miss Amber and get it!" There was nothing I could say to console her. I tried telling her maybe she wasn't suppose to give it to me until the next day, which was the last day of the school week for her. She just kept crying and then all of the sudden the tears shut off and she simply said, "Oh, I think we still need to decorate the bags at school tomorrow." I just laughed. So she spoiled my surprise, but I didn't mind. So, on Thursday I received a decorated bag with a poem on it. Now let me say that Thursday was a very emotional day for me. Coming off the week of worry and then relief with Derrick, then we found out that Jon's step-mom went into the hospital and I just had some other things on my mind that day too. So, me being so emotional...Emma gives me this gift she made at school and I started reading the poem on the front out loud and I couldn't even finish it because I started crying so hard. Here's a copy of the poem:

Thank you for reading me stories
And taking care of me.
Thank you for tying my shoes
And putting bandages on my knee.
Thank you for tucking me into bed
And kissing me goodnight
Thank you so much for all your hugs
And holding my hand so tight. (this is the line where I lost it!)
Thank you for being my mommy
And that's not all I have to say,
Thank you so much for all you do
And have a happy Mother's Day!

I opened the bag and inside there was a foam picture frame that said "mom" with Emma's picture in the "o" and a plastic beaded bracelet that she was very proud of! I gave Emma a big hug and told her how much I loved it and told her I was only crying because I was so happy and loved her so much. Then I just held my "big" girl for a while and cried and thanked Heavenly Father for trusting me to be her mom!

On Saturday Jon told me in the morning he wanted to talk to me about my gift. I told him not to ruin the surprise. He left to go run some errands and then called and said he was coming home with my gift and wanted to give it to me right away. He can't keep gifts! That is why you will see him shopping on Christmas Eve, because then he only has to keep it a secret for 1 day! So he came home and the kids gave me a card that they colored, but when I opened the card something fell out of it. I picked it up and it was a gym membership key tag. He signed us up at a gym. We have kind of been talking about it, but I didn't think he would just go do it. At first I wasn't quite sure how I should take that! Was he trying to tell me something?! Actually, I was really excited and I just like to give him a hard time about it. I am very excited to have a membership during the summer when it is too hot to run outside.

Today I woke up and the kids wished me Happy Mother's Day and then it was a typical Sunday morning, trying to get out the door for 9 a.m. church. But, Jon did give the kids a bath for me! After church I went to the hospital to see Louise. She looked good and seemed to be in good spirits, but they have no idea how long she may be in there. She had a reaction to the chemotherapy and her white blood cell count is very low and they are trying to get it back up before she can go home. Unfortunately, the kids are not allowed to go see her, but they sent her a Mother's Day card and some kisses (Hershey kisses)! I had a good visit with the family and came home to my mom and dad at our house for dinner. Jon had made steaks, twice baked potatoes and zucchini and carrots. It was delicious! I couldn't have asked for a better Mother's Day meal. After visiting with my parents for a while we went to Jon's brother's house to surprise his mom. She didn't know everyone would be there and was pleasantly surprised. We had some homemade ice cream and pie. Tonight I tucked my kids into bed and received a final Happy Mother's Day wish. I gave them each big hugs and kisses and thanked them for a wonderful Mother's Day. I think Mother's Day is one of my favorite days. Not for selfish reasons of me getting things, but it just makes me stop and reflect on how blessed I am to have 2 amazing kids that I will be with forever! I love Emma and Derrick more than they will ever know. And I love Jon and all that he does for me and our family! I am also thankful for 3 great moms in my life that each have taught me something about being a mom. And my mom especially who taught me life's most important lessons and more. I have a wonderful mom!

Happy Mother's Day to all!