Mother's Day '09

My blank stare must have been in Chelsey's direction because

she waved at me and said "mo-om, what?!"

me : "Oh, sorry. I'm just trying to figure out what to type about mother's day." I mean there are lots of thoughts.... just how to get them down and make sense at the same time.

Chels: "Just write I got some presents, it was the best ever and I really love the notebook from Chelsey". Topped off with a sheepish grin.

--And to be honest, she's not too far from the truth. I did get some amazing school-made goodies from the kids which I absolutely love. (We've come across one small problem with having kids one grade apart. Ty gets to do everything first and it's not enough time for us all to forget. Chelsey does the same parties, the same field trips and brings home the same Mother's day gift. I've explained this to Ty and he's pretty good about letting her bring home some excitement about her experiences. But she's the one who notices and feels bad.) I am absolutely thrilled with another pad of paper, decorated in her drawing of our family. Her detailing is immaculate from Dan's beard to Paige's Winnie the Pooh shirt. Ty nominated me for Mother of the Year at school and Kami and I had a mother's day tea at her preschool (last Thursday) where she didn't sing me some songs about moms.... but she looked real cute standing there with her peers in her favorite pink dress.

On a day for mom's I cannot go without mentioning my own mother who is one of my best friends. I can only hope to one day have the relationship with my own daughters that my mom and I have. I could never repay her in any way for all she has done in my life to teach me and help me out. We also have some pretty great memories (like the time we drove through provinces in our bathing suits singing our hearts out to Clint Blacks 'Summers Comin', blaring from a ghetto blaster in the back seat. That trip was the best! Or the time her and I and baby Kami drove to a new city to prepare for my family life's next adventure.)

I will always be grateful to the many women in life who have been such a great example to me. My mom, my aunt who came to support my mom through a messy divorce (and so much more), my mother-in-law who raised Dan (enough said), so many of the women from our ward who helped us through tough times, babysitting, and making sure we all felt loved. I have not forgotten them. Dan's Grandma Mabel who calmly taught me a lesson in material worth (when baby Chelsey smashed a fancy glass ornament on her coffee table).

Mother's day is a day for sweet tenderness. It's a fragile thing, motherhood is. Will my kids always want to celebrate me as a mother? My heart aches for those who have lost their mothers, our their motherhood. There is not a single day that goes by without a prayer of thanks to my Heavenly Father for the opportunity that I've had to be a mother.

Why I have been blessed with such good fortune is beyond me. It's who I am. It defines me. I cannot imagine my life any different than it is now. I am grateful beyond words that I have been entrusted with five little ones to teach and raise into actual people.... and that they think I'm the best. I hope it lasts. It better... because while writing this post I had to take a break to clean up poop off of my family room floor.