One Lucky Mother

This may have been the best Mother's Day ever in my personal history of motherhood. Primarily because my husband worked his b-u-t-t (as the kids would spell) off and did everything from planning stages through execution to clean-up afterwards. What a guy!

So forgive me for gloating.

In the days leading up to Mother's Day, our kids were very excited about the gifts they had purchased in their grade school's "Secret Shop"...

The younger, being one of many words and few secrets, gave me liberal hints about what she had bought for me. Told me she wasn't sure if one of my gifts was "real" because it had only cost 50 cents. She said, "Maybe it's real, or maybe it isn't, I don't know..."

Figuring it was a "diamond" adjustable ring or something of that sort, I told her that for 50 cents, it probably wasn't "real" but that I was sure I'd love it regardless.

Still, I was surprised yesterday morning when I opened the brown lunch bag that the gift has been secreted in. This is what I found inside:

I'm a Million Dollar Mom!

So...it wasn't "real"...but how sweet the gift of naivete that would make my 7-year-old think it was possible to buy a million dollar bill for 50 cents (and no wonder she had said she wanted to share the gift with me if it was real!) How much is that worth?

And my other daughter then gave me her paper bagged gift -- with another of the same bill inside.

So I guess I'm the two-million dollar mom. Woo hoo!

The day was a whirlwind of festivities (AKA a whirlwind of meals) -- from breakfast in bed...



Lunch at my mother-in-law's house with my husband's side of the family...


...where I was joined by the other Secret Shop gift from my youngest -- a bear we named "Gingerbread." Strangely, Gingerbread wanted to spend most of her time with my daughter (or at least that's what my Little Miss told me that the bear told her.)

And dinner with my mom and the rest of my family...


Yes, I'm still blurring my girls' faces...don't feel comfortable putting them up on the internet for all to see -- if only so that if they misbehave in public I can still pretend that they don't belong to me.

But I feel I can get away with the photo below from Mother's Day 2002, since they don't look anything like this anymore (although part of me still wishes they did!)

(I just came across this picture last week while going through the Mother's Day archives to see whose obligation..er...turn...it was to host this year. Not that we would be the kind to keep a tally or anything in case a sibling would try and escape their duty.)



Anyway, the photo's here because not only does it feature my girls in their old versions, but also my cat Leo trying to remind me of his existence. Which is even sweeter now that he doesn't exist (at least in the physical world) anymore.

2007 brought the first Mother's Day for us without a pet. And although I never thought of Leo or his brother Zeke as my "children," Leo was a very integral (and vocal) part of our family -- and 7 months after his death I think of him pretty much every day. He came up in casual conversation with my 10-year-old just tonight (I don't remember why she brought him up)...we were talking lightheartedly and suddenly she burst into tears. Aw.

But I leave you on a somewhat less poignant note, courtesy of Mother's Day 2005:


My Mom (the Queen) & Me (making a statement of undetermined nature.)