Mothers Day

 I love Mother's Day. It is such a special holiday to me. I have so many fun Memories of Mothers day from when I was a kid. Every Mothers Day eve when I was a little girl my dad would take my sisters and I to the mall to pick out my mom a special Mother's Day outfit for her to wear to church the next morning. He would also choose a new perfume for her or a new beautiful piece of jewelry. It was fun and magical for me. When we lived in Kermit, I remember we always went to my grandmas house and my mom and aunts made her a lunch while all of us cousins played. I remember how loved and special each mom in my family felt on Mother's Day.  I remember hoping to be a mother someday so that I could too have a magical day.

I have had 8 Mother's Days. This one was the best yet. We didn't do anything big, we went to church, came home and made English Muffins with fried eggs, avocado, cream cheese and tomato, had mimosas and I got to watch 2 episodes of Desperate Housewives on Netflix while Phillip helped me fold laundry. And later that night I made our mothers a special Mother's Day dinner.

Tuscan Pork Tenderloin, Green Beans and Red Potatoes, a Spring Salad with Apples, Cranberries, Candied Walnuts and Gorgonzola Cheese with a Balsamic dressing. Vanilla cake with French Butter Cream Icing and Sea Salt Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies were for dessert.

It was heavenly.

I thought a lot about Mother's Day yesterday and how when I first became a mom I had some crazy expectations in my head about how the day should look and how everyone should act. It seemed so dreamy as a kid. **Confession moment** Many times I have made my husband feel like a failure for not measuring up to what everyone else was doing. As I have grown and matured and as God has taught me a lot about life, family and my blessings, my expectations and desires have changed.

Being a Mother is a beautiful responsibility. It is a hard one and a precious one. Our life is always busy. There is always something happening. Often the sounds of my home consist of Emme twirling and singing "Let It Go", Beckham chanting "step, point, throw" as a baseball goes soaring through my house, and Parker following me around telling me everything he knows about the human brain, the heart, bearded dragons, other reptiles and animals or how he feels about science or how life is unfair. There is always music on and tears and laughter throughout our days. Some days are hard. Some days are magical. Everyday is special.

Yesterday when I was baking the cookies for our dinner I thought of every past expectation I had for this day and I realized, all I want on this day is for this life to keep happening around me with me right in the middle of it all. I want to be with those that I love the most. I want to snuggle and giggle and kiss booboos and wipe noses and cook food for these people. I want them here. I want them close. Though it may be tough some days, I love what I do and I love what I have. My heart stings a bit when I think about how fast these days with my babies are fleeting. I want the memories of baseball, dance, homeschool, guitar lessons, freaky bearded dragons living in my home and fits and victories and snuggles and bedtime songs and stories to be etched in my memory forever.



These kids. They give me life. They give me the courage I need to be brave in this world. They keep me going. They challenge me to be the best version of me. They are my gifts. Being their momma, their one and only momma is the best gift I could ever ask for.

Happy Mothers day mommas. I hope your day was special!