Mother's Day

Glenn was in Rome this Mother's Day.

The boys, especially Christian, really tried to step it up this year.

During church, they planned a surprise party for me.

Warrick ran home from church and got home before us.

I could tell something was up.

The boys were trying to keep me out of our family room

and said they would make their own lunch.

I had visions that they had decided to clean the living area.

No luck - it was just as messy when they finally let me in.

I decided it was as simple as just making their own lunch.

Since I started the day with no expectations, 

the boys making their own lunch was a bonus.

I was content.

Then, the big reveal came. 

I was told to follow them downstairs with my eyes shut.

(This is a very dangerous thing to do in our house.  It's a gamble to assume that the stairs are obstacle free.)

I kept one eye open - a mom's got to do what a mom's got to do.

"Ok, open your eyes."

I opened and was rather surprised.

Where our double shot basketball hoops were, was a chair, a lamp and an assortment of presents made during school and scouts.  

There were decorations on the wall and church music playing.

 When I sat on the chair, one of them pulled the leaver so that my feet were elevated.

I thought the crown was a nice touch, but that was nothing compared to a cooler filled with a "salad bar".  I wonder who thought of that one.  They had brought down some lettuce, two different kinds of salad dressings and one topping (carrots) and several plates.  I guess the excess of plates was so I could go back for seconds with a clean plate. (The salad dressing ended up spilling in the cooler so I emptied the cooler and wiped everything down and then gave the cooler a good cleaning.  They mean well.)

Then they watched as I opened the treasures they had created.

Super fun.

When we realized the strobe light was down n the same area, we cleared away the chair, turned on the strobe light and had fun throwing balls around and playing games until the flashing light gave me a headache and I had to excuse myself.

We had our family home evening - which didn't end very picture perfectly and then I made brownies and we headed for Glenn's parents house for a wonderful dinner and evening there.
I love watching my kids interact with their grandparents.  I think there is a lot to learn and gain from these relationships.
Before we knew it, Granddad was showing all of his treasures from around the world to Warrick and Stafford.  I'm quite certain that Stafford felt that was the highlight of the evening.


When we got back home, Stafford reminded me that it was his turn to choose the activity for family night.
Things had turned south during family night so the activity had been forgotten.
The boys love choosing the activity so I wanted to make sure we didn't miss it - even though it pushed bedtime back a bit.
He chose to play with Lego and magnets as a family.