mothers day 2012

Mother's Day 2012 was a pretty good day. 

My sweet husband started the day by taking care of the girls so I could "sleep in"  The quotations are because I didn't actually sleep - once I'm up, I'm up.  But, it was nice to be a little lazy and not have to roll out of bed.  Add to that the fact that Kyle hadn't slept a wink the whole night, and I think the boy deserves a gold star or two.  

I lazed around in bed until Kyle and the girls brought me a present to unwrap.  I was pleasantly surprised to get the 70-200mm coffee mug I'd been eyeing for about 6 months.  I almost bought it for myself last week - glad I didn't. ;)  After that, Kyle watched the girls and made coffee while I took a shower. 

A new gift and a shower - who could ask for more?

We headed to church for Mass - we got there late, but found a seat.  At the end of the service, the priest had all the mothers stand for a blessing.  I have no idea what the blessing was because all I could hear was Abby sneezing in my face twice and saying (too loudly) "Mommy!  I have a yucky in my nose! Help! Get it out!  Get the yucky out of my nose mommy!"  It really drove the point that I'm a mom, home.  We took a second after church to get some pictures of me and the girls.  Thanks to Brit for wielding the camera.

I like this one - blur and all.

I decided to request my favorite Indian food place for lunch.  When we got there - we saw that they had a "special" brunch buffet set up.  As part of the gig - they had out special foods, fruits, new dishes.  They also were providing complimentary juices and chai teas.  All the moms got flowers after their meal.  It was so yummy, and I very much enjoyed the whole meal with everyone.

I really like this picture.

 my loves - how sweet they are.

this little lizzy-mae grin just melts me.

After lunch, we went home and let the girls take naps.  I, again, dozed and lounged around while poor Kyle continued to work and work and work on finishing his school papers.  He wrote 37 pages in 24 hours. (And, he got an A.  Of course.  OF COURSE he did)

The girls slept hard.  After about a 2.5 hour nap out of both of them, I woke them up and we headed out as a family again.  The town had a little kids carnival set up.  We got there for the last 20 mins or so.  Just enough time to let Abby ride a couple of things and snap some pics.  She chose the Carousel to ride with Daddy and I rode the "biiiiig slide" with her.  Good times.

After the carnival, we all headed out for pizza for dinner.  That was yummy, but definitely needed to be followed up with dessert.  ;) We walked next door to our favorite yogurt shop.  Lo and behold they had a new flavor: sea salt caramel pretzel.  Yes.  That was MADE for me. We all enjoyed our treats - even E finished off her own cup of yogurt and toppings.  Again, it was a really nice time.  

We all came home and I got to skype with Jennifer and Michael.  At the same time - I was face-timing with my parents.  It was kinda fun and I was happy to get to wish my own mom a Happy Mother's Day as "in person" as I could get. I think mom enjoyed it too....

Eventually, the girls were tucked in and we watched a little TV and headed to bed.  It really was a very nice day.  I'm thankful for the wonderful influences of all the mother's in my life.  My mom, grandma, my friends and co-workers.  It is such a rich community of advice and love and experience and support.  I'm so lucky.  

The day was not had, however, without acknowledging the very real absence felt by all of us.  A mother's day without one's mother (or, in my case, mother-in-law) is a difficult thing.  I found that I didn't want to ignore that, but wanted to do something to remember her.

Traditionally, we would send her a little card so that she could treat herself to a Starbucks treat.  Decaf Caramel Frappaccino was usually her drink of choice.  Well, there's no reason I couldn't still do that for someone else.  We purchased a handful of gift cards, I wrote a little note in them, and passed them out to strangers.  It made me feel good, it made them feel good, and I like to think that Ouma would have approved of the gesture.  

I miss her a lot.  I find myself trying to embody the things I most admired about her, and I talk to her and ask her advice and her guidance.  I find I'm forming a new kind of relationship.  In doing so, I'm acknowledging that she's not here...which is still hard to do.  But, on the positive side, I feel like I'm still connected to her - in a new way, but maybe even in a more complete way, than before.  She's not here, but she's there.  And somehow, I feel connected to there as well.

I'm entirely sure that this isn't translating well via text - but I just wanted to acknowledge the impact she had on my life as a mother.  Besides the obvious things like giving life to my husband, she just did everything with so much grace and humility.  She radiated her love in subtle, but powerful ways.  The pure gratitude I feel for having had her in my life, and having had the opportunity to love and know her and watch her with her family - is something I can't find words to describe. 

So, she's not here right now, but she's there.  And I think the two aren't all that far apart.