Mother's Day Love

Remember these two sweethearts that I promised I was still taking pictures of?

They picked dandelions, wild strawberries, and berries as we played outside the past couple days. As each item was gathered, the collection was given to me as one of my Mother's Day gifts (totally their own idea!).

While picking the strawberries (on Thursday), I was told it was a surprise and that I wasn't supposed to look at it until they were finished. The word "strawberries" slipped from Tyler's mouth at one point and he said, "Oops! Mommy, did you hear that?!" I responded with, "Nope. What did you say buddy?" "Oh. I'm not going to tell you because it was about your surprise and I didn't want you to hear it," he says. SO cute!

Here is the pile I was presented with...

Today, we were discussing Mother's Day again and Allison says (in the most precious voice you can imagine), "We gave you strawberries for Mother's Day." Melted my heart!

Then this afternoon, I was given a pocket full of berries (the kind that come off a bush in our yard). They would pick the berries for a while, come running to me with little handfuls, and then deposit them into my pocket. This happened over and over until my pocket was rather full. "We're giving you two Mother's Day presents," they told me.

Honestly, I wouldn't be the slighest bit disappointed if these were the ONLY gifts I received this Mother's Day. For me, these moments are the ones that make all the tough moments of being a mom fade into the farthest parts of my mind. I feel so blessed to have these three precious little munchkins to call my own!

And I'll treasure my Mother's Day berries FOREVER!

Love on Mother's Day

Just a week late this time...I'm getting better!

Billy and the kids did a great job making me feel special this Mother's Day. It all started at church where Tyler got to go up and sing with the Primary kids again. I just love this new perk of having a Sunbeam aged child! They sang two songs about mothers, and it was simply precious!

After church, we came home and Billy had a few surprises up his sleeve. After having Tyler and Allison write their names (well, scribbles for Allison) in a special Mother's Day card, he sent them to me holding the cards, flowers, and some yummy Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Granola Bars (a recent pregnancy craving). I really enjoyed the looks of joy on their faces as they ran up to me with all the sweet gifts as they yelled, "Happy Mother's Day" and gave me BIG hugs! We took a few minutes to look at the cards (one from Billy too) and take some pictures.

(Vanessa gets credit for this shot.)

After that, my sister and her family arrived. Billy had asked Jon to get over to our house because he had another surprise for the two mothers. After waiting several minutes for Billy and Jon to prepare the surprise, we were presented with the MOST delicious dessert in the world. If you haven't had the Chocolate Chip Paradise Pie from Chilie's, you SHOULD! It is delicious! Knowing this is one of my absolute favorite desserts (next to cheesecake), Billy had stopped by there on Saturday night to get them, and saved them in our downstairs refrigerator to keep it a surprise from me. It was very thoughtful and a wonderful surprise! (And just for the record, we were nice enough to share with our sweet kids and wonderful husbands.) I guess holidays are a good enough excuse to eat your dessert before dinner!

Speaking of dinner, Vanessa and I didn't even have to cook that evening! Jon is a great cook, and he offered to make dinner for everyone. It was delicious, especially since I didn't have to make it! Doesn't it always taste better when someone else does all the work?! Thanks so much Jon!

A special thanks goes to Billy for making this such a happy Mother's Day for me! I love you!