The older my children get, the more I enjoy Mother’s Day, but it’s mostly because of how much they enjoy it! They love making cards and helping prepare a special breakfast and hollering, “Happy Mama Day” at random junctures all. day. long.  Honestly, when they jostle into my room to wake me up in the morning, giggling and shushing each other loudly, they’re considerably more excited about the whole affair than I am.

Kids are so cool like that. The day doesn’t have to be all about them for them to find true joy in it.

I think I called last year’s Mother’s Day the best one EVER, and it definitely was my favorite to date at the time.

But this year’s gave it a run for its money.

Starting with…

night off

This year’s version of my fake shocked expression at looking behind me and discovering…no one.

This one is last year’s:

night off1

This was the second year in a row that my husband gave me Mother’s Day Eve off from kid-duty for a night out on the town. Of course, as I mentioned on Instagram, “going to town” for me involves doing exciting things like Target and Ross returns and eating in total peace and quiet.

 20140510_195301 20140510_194844 

{See that drink? Without kids asking me to refill their water and cut their food and whether they’ve eaten enough to be able to go play, it was practically silent enough to hear those bubbles pop!}

Oh, and I didn’t have to share this lovely with anyone.

20140510_202031

Which made me do strange things like this:

20140510_202214

{I sincerely have no idea what, exactly, I’m doing here; we’ll just blame it on the giddiness of a night without children}

After dinner, I headed ran some errands and then headed to Ross, sure that I would barely squeak in the doors before closing. Wrong!  Apparently, they have recently extended their hours to 11:30 PM!!!

Which gave me plenty of time to peruse the pillow aisle (I kept going back and forth on how I felt about these reversible leopard pillows).

20140510_212421

Clearly, I hit more than the pillow aisle, and I did more than peruse.

20140510_220228

I even took the time for a selfie because, honestly, when you’re at Ross, you can do just about anything you want (including try on a pair of shoes and then casually toss them into the middle of the aisle and stroll away; although, I promise I didn’t), and nobody bats an eye.

20140510_222108

When I finally got home around 11:45, I discovered this man in the kitchen making a repeat of these White Chocolate Maple Eclairs.

20140510_235413

The next morning, I got to enjoy the fruits of his labor.

20140511_080749

Which were almost as sweet as snuggling with these cuties.

20140511_081445

{Pardon my puffy morning face and the little friend there sticking up from my head; when I straighten my hair, I have to re-straighten it every morning, or I become veeeerry popular with lots of “little friends”}

The kids gave me cards, which doubled as certificates to “The Mama Spa” for things like shoulder massages and foot rubs.

20140511_082807

This shaggy-headed little fellow gives the best foot rubs. No lie. His hands are crazy-soft, and he’s so gentle and attentive and just surprisingly good at it. He will literally rub my feet for 20 straight minutes. I know you’re not supposed to have a favorite child, but I’m I’ll just own that he is first in both birth order and my affections when he gives me foot rubs.

Oh, and I’m suuuuper excited about this!

dehydrator

My photo wouldn’t load any bigger without getting blurry, and I was too lazy to fix it, but that there is a dehydrator, which I plan to use to zap all manner of things so that we can lots of healthy, homemade snacks this summer. Woot!

After the morning’s festivities, we headed to church, where they showed a video of all our kids saying their favorite things about their moms. When asked what I was especially good at, Della replied, “Cleaning the clothes,” (allrighty then) while my friend Liz’s 4-year-old proclaimed that his mom was “really good at Halo and Minecraft” (as you can imagine, that one got a good laugh).

After the service, we had an impromptu ballroom dance.

20140511_113423

Okay, not really. My artist friend, Lindsay, needed a posed picture of couples dancing for a book she’s illustrating (clearly, I should not be allowed to pose for book illustrations).

The afternoon included a nap and a rather disturbing discovery.

20140511_160755

A bit of trivia for you: Texas is known for armadillos. It’s our state mammal. These gnarly little guys are born in groups of identical quadruplets and are usually nocturnal, but apparently, they heard-tell that we’re fan of multiples around here because, as I walked out on my front porch yesterday afternoon, I discovered four youngish siblings rooting around in broad daylight in my side yard. Whaaaaat? Happy Mother’s Day to ME!!!

Yuck.

The day got back on track when I got to hold this sweetness.

halleli

My parents and my bro and sis-in-law, plus my adorable 3-week-old niece, Halleli (who has inherited my brother’s propensity for sleeping with his mouth open), all came over to eat fish tacos and hang out on the back patio under the twinkle lights.

Ultimately, I couldn’t have asked for a better day (yes, even with armadillos in my yard) and certainly not with better people.

I feel like I can’t sign off without acknowledging that Mother’s Day isn’t as joyous a time for everyone as it is for me. Maybe you’ve lost a child. Maybe you can’t have a baby of your own. Maybe your mom isn’t living anymore. Maybe your mom wasn’t a nice person.

Whatever your circumstance, I pray God’s peace and comfort for you. It might sound trite, but He truly is greater than any circumstance, and He is so loving and kind. If you have any questions about what that means or just need someone to pray for you, I would be honored if you emailed me at blogabbie{at}gmail{dot}com.

I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again: I don’t have all the answers. But I know a God who does.

I’d love to hear about your Mother’s Days. Were any of you lucky enough to discover disgusting quadruplets in your yard?

P.S. The winners of our “M is for Mama” printables are:  Callie R. and Heather Qualls. Email me, ladies, and I’ll get you your prints!

4 Comments

  1. I’m really impressed by your husband in the kitchen making these sweet treats for you.. I’m showing that to mine, hopefully he’ll learn for next year what to do 🙂
    Btw, I love your blog !

  2. Oh what fun! Looks like you were truly celebrated! My kids would have loved the armadillos even though they look kinda creepy! We had a relaxing day & I even got a nap…..miracle! Hubby got me a spa gift card so I’m already dreaming of how I’m gonna use it ;))

  3. What a wonderful day! You are one blessed mama with some super cute children. My first child is due in just under 4 weeks, so everyone was wishing me happy mother’s day every which way I turned. It was so lovely and oddly flattering…. I guess is was the first time I realized I really am a mama already:)
    Now I’m praying this little one is a boy who likes to rub my feet too!

I love hearing from you guys!