Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all of the wonderful women in my life!

I'm sure this never happens to anyone else but Mother's Day is not always a happy day for me. Often I feel inadequate as a mother and guilty for all the things that I should be doing but that I'm not. Sadly, this year is no different. I thought after being a Mom for 20 years, I would have this thing down. I thought that I would have perfect children that loved each other, never fought, loved to be with our blissful family, and wanted nothing more to do than to go to church together on Mother's Day and spend time with me. Needless to say, that did not happen. There were still occasional jabs at each other, a couple of spats, and no one begging to go to church. But I do not fault my wonderful children. They are a product of their parents and as hard as we try, we are not the perfect leaders I had once envisioned myself being.

But to me, my kids are the perfect children. Each one of them wished me a Happy Mother's Day as soon as their eyes popped open. They are always so thoughtful to me and make my days worthwhile. Everyone of them (including my hubby) went on a walk with me to enjoy the beautiful Spring morning. (Although I did take a little slack over whether or not my walking was actually exercise or not. Hey, I'm getting old.) And every one of them brings something special to my days - Maddy, the bazillion hugs she gives me that never leaves me wondering if I am loved; Jake, the smile he brings to my face every time he teases me (in a loving way) or says something so witty that it takes me back to realize how fast he is growing up into his own person; and Josh, for the humility and sweet spirit I feel from him as he shares his love of the Savior (through music) with me. I feel so blessed to have them as my children! I love each one of them so much that sometimes it actually hurts to ever consider them leaving my little nest. I am thankful that at least for this year, I had all of them by my side. I couldn't ask for anything more.

So this year, I tried to look at Mother's Day a little different. Instead of missing my own Mom, or feeling guilty for my downfalls, or having silly expectations in my head - I decided to find true JOY throughout the day, to celebrate Motherhood! Because there is nothing I would rather be. So here are a few wonderful things about my day:

I LOVE the beautiful flowers of Spring! They just seem fresh and "motherly", don't they?

And these 2 beautiful tulips are from my cute little Ellie. Ellie is a little girl from our Primary class and she brought these for her church teachers. That sweet little gesture just made my day on Saturday.

And here is the beautiful fountain that Jeff and the kids bought me for my gift. I could sit out and listen to the water all day, it is so peaceful. Maddy also made me some darling magnets with her picture on them. What could be better than that?? She wrote me the cutest letter, too, telling me her 10 favorite things about me. My favorite was :

"I love it when she watches her big lady movies with me." How cute is that?? That's one of our favorite traditions - to rent "Chick Flicks" when the boys are out of town. It truly melted my heart! What am I going to do when I don't get these darling, handmade Elementary School gifts anymore? They are such a treasure!

And then to complete the day, Jeff showed me this nest that we have in our Blue Atlas Cedar tree. The mother has been sitting in it all weekend but as soon as I went to take a picture, she was gone (of course.) What a fun Mother's Day treat, though. Hopefully we will see babies soon.

So as you can see, I have had a fabulous Mother's Day weekend. With 3 amazing children, a good husband that cooked me dinner, and beautiful weather, what could be better? It's all in the way we look at things. I can choose to feel guilty, or choose to celebrate Motherhood. I choose to celebrate!