Monthly Archives: May 2016

Mother’s Day

As a mother of three young children, Mother’s Day isn’t always so much about me relaxing as it is about helping the kids feel like they are giving me a great Mother’s Day. Thankfully, I planned ahead and dedicated many hours on Saturday to spending time alone and shopping for some Mother’s Day presents for myself (which Tom turns around and gives to me on Sunday).  I had my “Becca time” on Saturday and was ready to spend time with the family on Mother’s Day.

The kids surprised me with a Mother’s Day cake on Sunday morning.  Being the wonderfully, health conscious mom that I am, I decided that ice cream cake would be great for breakfast.  :)  We all sat out on the back deck and ate ice cream cake before church.  It was delicious!

After church, I did find some time to sit down, relax and watch the kids swim in the pool.  The water has warmed up to a temperature of only 70 degrees, but they continue to get in any way.  I for see many, many fun-filled days in our new backyard.  We spend more time in our backyard  at this house than we ever spent in the last backyard.  It feels like we are at the beach every afternoon.

One of the best gifts I received was from Faith.  At school she made a ceramic bird that she painted and had glazed.  She did an amazing job on it.  She also made me a card and filled out this Mother’s Day form.  

Some of the answers surprised me and others did not.  Yes, she does love my spaghetti, although there is nothing really special about it (other than it is made with love..hahaha).  She said that I am good at “taking care of me and my brothers”.  I didn’t know that her best memory of us was when I took her to the movies to see Cinderella last year.  i guess I need to do that again.  We really don’t go many special places together without her brothers.  Her most special answer, and the one that made me cry, is – My mom always says, “I love you very much swetey.”  I do say this to her ALL of the time.  i just did know if she heard me or not.  She does.

Our children hear and remember everything that we say to them, whether it is kind or not.  I was told recently that a parent should say three positive things for every negative thing or correction that is said.  THREE!  It is so easy to correct and scold our children, but we need to compliment and encourage them even more.  Three times more, to be exact.

I will keep this Mother’s Day gift for the rest of my life (hopefully).  I am very thankful that my children love me and tried to give me a fun and relaxing day.  Tom did a great job encouraging them to give me some time off.  I greatly appreciated feeling of being appreciated.  :)

Pa visits

Tom’s step dad, Will, came down to visit us this week. This is the first time that he has been to our new house and the first time that he has been here without Tom’s mom, Rebecca.  It was a really great visit. Will is so laid back that he is the perfect guest to include into our busy schedule and our three young children running around the house.

Will arrived on Saturday afternoon and was able to relax with us out on the back deck while the kids swam in the pool. The water is still only 70 degrees but they don’t seem to mind at all. We did the same exact thing on Sunday. I truly love our new house. The backyard lets us feel like we are on vacation and is so enjoyable.

Because Rebecca passed away right before Christmas, the kids were not able to receive the gifts that she and Will bought for them.  We decided that we would wait to give the kids their gifts whenever Pa could make it down for a visit.  This was the trip!  I pulled all of the gifts out of their hiding places in the garage and got them ready. I no longer wrap gifts, I hide them.  I don’t feel like going through all the hassle of wrapping them.  It is too much trouble and too much work.   I have started a new tradition of hiding the gifts instead of wrapping them. It is so much easier for me and even more fun for the kids. Will and I appropriately hid the gifts in each of their rooms and then yelled “go!”.  It was fun to watch them search for their gifts and to be so excited about receiving them. I am glad that we waited so that that Will could be a part of the fun.   The kids received Legos, swords, AG doll cars and clothes, Uno (a new family favorite), and many other fun items.

Wilson and Pa worked together on Wilson’s Lego Star Wars ship.  It was a tough project but Wilson worked hard and was determined to finish it.


The rest of the week went about as usual, sort of. The kids got out of school early one day so that they could play with Pa.  Tom was out of town for a few of the days that Will was here and Will was kind enough to step into toms role a bit. He took out the trash, picked up Faith from gymnastics and watched the boys while I took Faith to dance. He even fixed the light below the microwave for me. Thanks Will! I learned so many things about him that I had never known.  We all look forward to him coming back again soon.