Mother's Day Pity Party

So unfortunately Mother's Day pretty much sucked this year. I was trying to decide if I would even add it to our blog and forever ink it into history in our blog book, but I decided it's real and not every day is a great, fun, adventure day so it is worth including - even if it's lame.

Micah had to be out of town for Mother's Day this year for a work event and I knew that was coming months in advance and I was slowly trying to prepare myself that it wasn't a big deal. People have to miss holidays and birthdays all the time right?

So the Friday before Mother's day, Micah took the day off and we all went to the Zoo. It was a fun day but there was really no Mother's Day about it, just a great family day at the zoo which I am and was thankful for. Then Micah left for his trip. Saturday night, I stayed up until 2:00 in the morning waiting for Raider to get home safely after his prom. Then Sunday morning (Mother's Day) I had to wake up at 7 to get the kids ready for breakfast with my Mom. So, to start out the day I was already exhausted. Of course no one in my house really knew it was Mother's Day and Raider was way too tired and grumpy to even speak. Micah did call that morning to say Happy Mother's day but could only talk for a minute.

When we got to the restaurant, my Mom said Happy Mother's Day and asked how it was going with Micah gone - of course I started to cry. :( She didn't really notice and I just tried to hide it. Then my Mom asked Haylie what she got me for Mother's Day and she said: "nothing." Haylie said: "I'm sorry I didn't get you anything for Mother's Day Mommy." (Micah had bought a gift but the kids didn't know about it and unfortunately when we went to the zoo, Haylie missed the day they made the Mother's Day gifts at school) So then we had a somewhat chaotic breakfast with everyone and headed home. Micah was busy all day long and the kids didn't really remember you're supposed to take it easy on Mom for Mother's Day.

Somewhere around 2:00 Raider came in and dropped off a card that said: "To my wife on Mother's Day," with a note about a book coming in the mail. Inside the card it said - thanks for everything, Love, Micah. That was essentially the extent of the day other than the pity party I threw the rest of the afternoon. Micah was in meetings all day and couldn't really talk.

We went to Micah's parents house that evening for dinner and ice cream. I almost canceled but I wanted to be there to celebrate Micah's Mom. I was so glad I went - Micah's parents are so refreshing to be around and made my day so much better. I am so grateful for them all the time. What a great Mom to celebrate on Mother's day.

In the end it was definitely lame that Micah pretty much froze up and didn't do anything for Mother's Day (since he didn't know what to do being out of town and didn't really properly plan ahead of time). However, it's interesting to reflect and understand the expectations we put on others and ourselves. It helped me see the selfishness inside me. I know Micah didn't want to be on his trip and miss Mother's Day. And I know if he was here he would have done a great job with the festivities as he usually does. However, I was more concerned about myself than him. I pray that God continues to help me identify those areas where I put myself above others, especially my husband; and creates in me a clean heart and a new spirit that dies to myself a little more each day. I believe God has a lesson for us in each of the trials and tough days if we look for it. Here are some photos from the day...

Mom and James:

My sweet girl:

At this point Haylie took over the camera and this post could be changed to Mother's Day from Haylie's perspective:

At some point a fingerprint got on the lens and all pictures were a little blurry from then on:

Photos with Micah's parents:

So that's my sad, real story. No matter what I am thankful to be a Mom - I wouldn't trade it for the world - even if we were never rewarded or celebrated or thanked - even if there was no Mother's Day!

Gym Friends

Haylie and James love playing with their good buddy Eli at the gym all the time. This was taken a few weeks ago when they apparently weren't up to their normal energy levels!

Daddy's Day Off

Since Daddy was going to be out of town for a whole weekend, including Mother's Day, he took a day off to hang out with us before. Unfortunately Raider had to go to school but Haylie missed hers and we all went to the zoo. We haven't been to the Sacramento Zoo in awhile. The kids liked seeing the animals and just hanging out all together:

Grow!

Daddy and Haylie recently built and planted a little vegetable garden in our backyard. Tomatoes, asparagus, cucumbers, etc - we are looking forward to enjoying the product of their work soon.

Daddy checks out the vegetable garden every day to make sure things are growing well:

Box Beds

The kids have had hours of fun with these boxes. Whether they are beds or boats or houses - their imaginations have been endless, playing with and in them daily for a week now.

On the Job

Today was my first day of my new job of being a full-time Mommy. Although, it isn't a huge difference, since I used to work from home and I didn't work many hours anyways. However, there was a new-found sense of freedom and of course responsibility - I simply adore spending time with my loves and I want to use the time wisely - to benefit my kids, my husband and my relationship with God. Craft projects are definitely one of the kids and my favorite things to do. Today we made this little project for Haylie's teacher, in honor of teacher appreciation day:

I found the idea online here.

I found the printable online here.




I was pretty excited about the little project. In all it cost me about $4 to do. I found the vase on sale at Michaels for about $3 and I got the pencils for a little under $1. I had the ribbon at home and printed out the little sign. Pretty fun - I am looking forward to many more crafts and activities with the kids!!

Only mishaps included a few glue-gun, burnt fingers (Haylie's and mine). Plus the following ribbon unraveling. As I was gluing away James was cracking up. When I finally looked up, this is the picture I saw: