Mother's Day 2013!

I had a great Mother's Day this year - I had been dreading it a little (doesn't everyone?) - but I did a few things differently this year that made it really great.

The first thing I did was deactivate my Facebook account on Friday. Haha!  It's funny because I noticed I'd be having a great day, and then I'd go on Facebook and something would set me off - or I'd get distracted and feel pulled away from the girls while I was reading this or that.  I understand there is a place for Facebook, and it can be a wonderful thing.

But I knew Mr. M would be working this weekend, and the last thing I wanted to read about on Facebook was all the husbands doting on their wives.  Or the afternoons spent with their incredible mothers (my mom lives 2000+ miles away).

Don't get me wrong - I am happy for them - and genuinely want the best for other people.  Sometimes when I'm on Facebook, I start comparing my real life to the highlight reel of others.  As we say in our family:  I become a Comparing Bear (everything in our house ends in bear:  share bear, comparing bear, etc.).  It is true what they say - comparison is the thief of joy.  ;-)

And, of course, on Mother's Day, I always think about V and A especially - and then when no one mentions them, I get sad...because, you know, they're 2/5 of my children.  ;-)

Anyhoo- so I deactivated Facebook.  It was a GREAT idea!  I felt so free!

Then, I set super low expectations for the day.  I just wanted to be with my little trio - that's it - and they did so much to spoil me, it was awesome.

Paprika gave me all the stuff she made at school  Here is the inside of the card she made for me.  She got my age off by a year (I'm 35) - but she' got close!



Little flower she brought home from school:





The best part was that the girls (Paprika and Ginger) had spent WEEKS making all kinds of gifts for me out of things from around the house.  Cards, love notes, decorations.  They had been hiding them in their closet, and when I woke up on Mother's Day, they had decorated the whole house by themselves.

They even made a Pinata out of a Trader Joe's bag that they decorated by themselves.  Inside instead of candy, they had filled it with love notes to me about all the things they love about having me as a mom.  It was so incredible, I might have cried a little.  ;-)

Here is the heart banner Paprika made.  It says: Surprise!

:-)





Mr. M surprised me with some flowers - the girls helped him pick them out the night before, and Ginger might have spilled the beans about them...but I acted surprised!  Haha.






Mr. M made me breakfast before he left for work!  Gluten-free French Toast with Strawberries and Powdered Sugar...and real Maple Syrup.  If food is a love language, this was definitely speaking directly to me!






The flowers and the breakfast were a big surprise because all I had asked for from Mr. M for Mother's Day was for him to give away the trampoline in the backyard and fill in the holes in the backyard with dirt.  The trampoline had seen better days (Daisy ate all the padding off it and it was scaring me something fierce having it back there) - and the girls had been digging a "basement" and there were some very deep and stealthy holes dotting the backyard.

I began to dread the girls asking to go into the backyard because it didn't feel safe! 

On Thursday when Mr. M was home from work, my Mother's Day wishes came true!  Mr. M listed the trampoline on Craigslist for free- and it was gone in 30 minutes.  Then we  picked up some dirt from Home Depot and spent an hour together as a family filling in the dirt holes.  It was pretty fun!

Here is a cellphone pic of the yard after the trampoline was gone.  Violet had smeared my phone with cream cheese, which is why this picture has that hazy/dreamlike quality.  Haha. 





So, back to Sunday - "Official Mother's Day - we had been invited to a party at Paula's house.  I made the mistake of telling Paprika about it the night before, and she was so excited she could not sleep.  She woke me up at 4am:  Is it time to go to Paula's party yet?!

Then she asked every fifteen minutes until 2pm! 

Needless to say, we were the very first guests to arrive!  Haha!





You can see the girls made themselves right at home!





They had so much fun splashing and swimming, and swam for two hours straight!  They would have stayed in all day and all night if they could have!




So, that was my Mother's Day this year! I am so grateful for the gift of all five of my girls - I can hardly put it into words.  They are, and always will be, the best Mother's Day gifts of all. 





The End.