Mother's Day 2014

I wanted to state, for the record, that I love being a mom. I used to think parenting would be a lot easier and a lot more fun, but then I had kids. It's hard work! I fail daily. But these three continue to love and trust me, I'm learning some profound and simple truths about parenting from the Bible and trying to apply them to daily living. Meanwhile, I'm understanding God's love for us in a much deeper sense, as the love toward your children is only a small sprinkle of how God loves you.

Anyway, I'm neither eloquent nor verbose, so moving on to a quick recap of my Mother's Day this year, the 7th one since becoming a mom!

We learned years ago to just not go out on Mother's Day. Places are extra crowded, many times there's a set (and expensive) menu, and it's just not relaxing. So we ate breakfast at home, then went to Lowe's where we got a few vegetable plants and flowers for some raised beds around our rental home. It was kind of cold and rainy, and most people were still out at various crowded, overpriced buffets, so Lowe's with my boys was fun!

This was a few weeks ago at the zoo. There are no deer-like creatures at our Lowe's!

I had mentioned to Gary that I wanted a picnic table for our back porch, and this little number was only $89! I love it!

Due to the rainy day, we didn't get the vegetables planted, but it got nice enough to grill and eat outside. Love it!

My three boys are all May babies, each one another Mother's Day gift to me! Since their birthdays are so close together, we usually do something for all of them together. Gary wanted to make a cake and we had a group gift to open from my mom, so we turned our Mother's Day grill-on-the-patio into a birthday celebration too. I don't mind sharing! (Um, and isn't that cake so cute! Good job, Sweetheart!)

Mom got the boys camping equipment! They got battery operated lanterns and their own mess kits, as well as one big tent to share! They are super excited, but so are Gary and I--such a great, practical gift that we plan to put to good use soon! Thanks so much, Grandma Joycie!

Unfortunately, a big nasty storm rolled in as we were finishing supper. Sirens and warnings everywhere, and according to a picture I saw the next day, this was the real deal and not too far away! We moved the party indoors where we thankfully have our bedrooms in the basement. The boys all share a bonus room so it's a large space with just their beds and dressers. Gary pushed the beds together to make room for their tent and the boys completely forgot about the thunder and lightning. They slept there that night and every night this week! 

So, that was Mother's Day 2014! Sweet and simple, just like I like them! Minus the tornadoes...