This is the Life

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Text reads:
Mother's Day weekend
fancy-schmancy breakfast
backyard picnic
planting a garden
Ian singing "Happy Birthday"
yummy lunch
dinner with mom and dad
2009

I truly hope you all had a wonderful Mother's Day weekend. We mostly celebrated on Saturday to make getting ready for Sunday church easier. Ian ran in and woke me up singing, "Happy Birthday" and letting me know a Mother's Day surprise was ready. It's not my birthday, but Ian knew the day was special and expressed that in his way.

I came into the kitchen to an amazing breakfast. Thank you, sweetie! (I told you he's the greatest.)

Menu:

• Blueberry sour cream muffins (Nathan substituted fat-free yogurt for sour cream, used 1/2 whole wheat flour, 1/2 white, and used 1/3 less sugar than recipe recommends)
• Bacon cheddar quiche (Nathan used 1/2 half and half and 1/2 skim milk but added more cheese and double smoked peppered bacon)
• sugared blueberries, straight from the freezer
• fresh strawberries

Here is another delicious recipe from my weekend that you have to try! Nathan made Strawberry Cream Freeze for an evening Mother's Day treat (he used fat free Cool Whip, substituted chocolate pudding for vanilla, and froze it in muffin liners).

We went outside after breakfast and got to work planting our herb and veggie garden. Nathan nailed it together right outside our porch.

Maybe I shouldn't have gotten that bag of manure to add to the soil . . .

Ian: "Mama, this is stinky. Did somebody poop in this?"
Me: "Umm, yeah. It IS poop."

So, tonight when grandpa asks him, "Tell me about your new garden, Ian!"
What does Ian say? "IT'S GOT POOP IN IT!"

It's okay. Nathan assured me this truly was the most interesting detail of the new garden, so we couldn't really blame him. And at least it didn't stop Ian from helping me dig. Stay tuned to find out whether he'll actually eat food out of that, umm, stuff.

My honey and kids outdo themselves each year on Mother's Day. I realize how truly blessed I am. I am thankful. I hope your weekend gave you cause for thanks, too.

Coming later this week:

• John and Amanda photo shoot!
• The REAL Rebekah . . . real life outtakes that don't make the blog cut

Mother's Day Twist

Celebrating Mother's Day with a twist this year by giving my children a gift from me. After all, they are the reason I'm a mama!

I made these Bedtime Bags for Ian and Lilly this week and plan to present them to my children on Sunday with a new book and pair of p.j.s inside each one. Got the idea from the Creative Family book I've been telling you about here and here. I changed up the pattern a bit. My favorite personal touch was adding quilt batting on the backs of the letters to make them poofy.

Here's the plan for the Bedtime Bags. They will hang in the kids' rooms and contain everything needed for that night's bedtime routine. In our house this includes a lovey for each child (Lilly: pink bear, Ian: blue blanket), a bedtime story or two, and a set of jammies. Voila! No more searching for things at bedtime, and the best part is, the kids can find things themselves.

Trust me -- these are easy peezy to make. Imagine a pillowcase with handles. If you're new to sewing, skip the pocket and letter. Have a fun weekend sewing, and a Happy Mother's Day!

Week of Mother's Day

Let's celebrate the mothers in our lives! I plan to feature one special mother in my family each day this week. Who better to start with than my mom?

Mom was born and raised in the tiny town of Chaffee, Missouri. I love this website. The first time dad ever saw her, she was playing the organ at church and he had come to preach. I think I remember hearing something about him noticing her short skirt as her legs pedaled the organ. For shame, for shame!

Mom, already a schoolteacher and four years older than dad, accepted when dad proposed to her on his nineteenth birthday. They married three months later. The rest is history!

A few of my childhood memories of mom:

She would read us novels like Narnia and Little House. She always put my hair in pink sponge rollers on Saturday night so I would have big banana curls at church the next day. She made me beautiful, ruffle dresses and hair barrettes with long ribbons. I awoke many, many mornings to her lovely piano playing. She frequently helped at my school. It was a comfort to know she was in the building. She spent hours decorating gorgeous birthday cakes for my brother and me. She was a hard worker who enjoyed planting flowers and making our yard the most beautiful on the street. She ironed everything (even jeans, I think!), always made sure shirts were tucked in, and required us to wear belts if our pants had loops. Her spankings never hurt, and I'd tell her so. She would threaten to "make it hurt," but she just never had it in her to follow through. She was my hero who could do anything, fix anything, solve anything.

She still is.

Happy Mother's Day, mom.