Mother's Day

This one. The boy that was the first person to ever call me Mama. The ten year old that is already over five feet tall and can knock me over with his exuberant hugs. The kid that still holds my hand in public. He has my whole heart. I truly wish you could all know him. He is the sweetest, kindest boy you will ever meet.

And oh, this girl. The daughter I was scared to have, but that completed my heart in a way I never imagined. The eight year old that still curls up in my lap every time she gets a chance. This happy living bubble of joy. She has my whole heart. I truly wish you could all know her. She is the most delightful, kind-hearted girl you will ever meet.

And can I just say that those crinkles around my eyes must be because these kids make me smile so much. I'm certainly not old enough to be showing this much age, am I? That's what I keep telling myself, anyway.

For Mother's Day this year, we did something we've never done before... a family art project. I've had some stepping stone kits in my shopping cart on amazon for well over a year, and finally pulled the trigger, telling my family that they didn't have a choice. This is what I wanted to do for Mother's Day. Farmboy even gave me a bit of an eye roll.

But afterward? He's a total convert, loved every second, and can I just say that he's got quite the artist hiding out in that handsome head of his?

Kits were purchased from amazon.com, made by two different companies; we used this one, this one, and this one. Even though one of the kits was missing its bag of glass pieces, we still had enough for four stones with a lot left over. The molds are re-usable, and I can't wait to make more!

Lately

The youngest had her tonsils and adenoids removed two and a half weeks ago. She is like a brand new person, now that she has healed. Energy levels, appetite, every part of her improved. She had a bout with something tonsil related back in January, and was never the same in the throat. Same thing happened to her brother at the same age. I know tonsillectomies aren't standard anymore, and most pediatricians will try to convince you to put them off, but for both of my kids it was the best possible solution, and I have seen the almost immediate benefits to their health.

Otherwise, much has been the same. School, errands, charting and stitching, filling orders, cooking meals, bathing dirty bodies, cleaning dirty dishes, washing dirty clothes. We are on the final countdown to the last day of school, which is June 5th in our district. None of us can wait! We all have plans and lists of things we want to do together and apart during our free months. Time will tell if we can squeeze it all in.

Grandma's Birdbath :: First S'more of Summer :: Surgery Bound :: Sunny Iris :: Planning Samplers :: Snowballs in May :: Sprouting Greenhouse :: Reflect :: Well Hello Neigh-bor :: Budding Sage :: Smell the Lilacs :: Best Place to Grow Up Ever :: Love in the Rearview Mirror :: Sunny Day at the Park :: Old Bouquet (Beatrice Godfrey) :: Mother's Day Selfie :: Coming Soon :: The Good Stuff :: BFF

Heartfelt

The sweet, sweet days of being the Mama of a First Grader equals

Baby-Food-Jar-Covered-in-Crepe-Paper-Tied-with-a-Ribbon-Candleholders 

for Mother's Day.

Made even better by the quite persuasive creative writing assignment 

detailing why I happen to be the most "inportant" Mom in the whole world 

(translation follows the photo)...

"I think my mom is the m-

ost inportant mom in the 

whole world! She's inportant

because she's a stay at home

mom. Also, she lets me have

TCBY. of course she is the

nicest mom ever! In

addition she makes the best

birthday cakes. That's why 

I ♥ my mom!"

Out of the Way

Not ones to get out and about that often, we nevertheless jumped at an opportunity to spend Mother's Day weekend in one of the high desert areas of Eastern Oregon.

Just a few hours' drive from our home, yet it felt like we were on an entirely different planet. All rolling hills of dry grasses and tumbleweed, with trees few and far between. This part of our state holds a beauty that is at once stark and sumptuous.

As we traveled along the mostly deserted roads, I kept expecting to see John Wayne or Michael Landon come riding over the next hill.

Our final destination was Treo Ranch, a family-owned estate that has converted from farming to hosting guided bird hunts.

This being a shared family weekend, the important parts were taken care of first, like a BB Gun safety course taught by the biggest gun safety stickler you may ever meet... my Farmboy.

Followed by the fun part... assisted balloon shooting for the littles.

And supervised balloon shooting for those with a little more experience.

And then the big boys got to go have a little fun while the rest of us stayed at the lodge and did our own thing.

Such as stalking an abandoned farmstead with my camera...

Yes, ladies and gents, these places do still exist in the dry landscape of Eastern Oregon. I wish I had a dollar for every abandoned old house we saw on our trip. I also wish I had the time to take pictures of each and every one of them.

If only those walls could talk.

By far the coolest discovery by the little people, was the triple-heaping mound of spent shotgun casings leftover from years of bird hunts. They don't leave that plastic out in the fields, but carefully bring it all back from their expeditions to gather in one place.

Thank you, Tim and Ericka, for inviting us to join you for a truly memorable weekend.

As we headed back home, I had to make sure to capture a Mother's Day 2013 photo with the two sweetest Pieces of my Heart.

In keeping with tradition, there was one last stop to make on our way home. Despite rain and chilly weather on our side of the Cascades, we simply couldn't resist the siren-song of gigantic ice cream cones.