"He That Bringeth a Present, Findeth the Door Open!" - Thomas Fuller

We have a week and a half left being off track. The rain has been relentless. So much so, that the kids are also counting down the days to when they can have a schedule and use their brains for more than coming up with the "Last Word" in an argument with their sibling! While searching for something to watch the last week or so, the kids discovered the Cosby show. We have spent some fun, rainy afternoons laughing with the Huxtable's! Today, Cliff Huxtable put on every piece of clothing his kids gave him for Father's Day gifts over the years. Of course, they were all horrendous items. He begged each of them to give him better gifts. He wanted them to be thoughtful and useful. It was hilarious.

It got me thinking of the gifts our kids have given me for Mother's Day. They obviously aren't at the point where they are buying gifts for us yet. I am still the recipient of whatever it is their teacher came up with for them to make. I have to admit, I look forward to these. I'm always super anxious to see what they say. When we were building our home, our life was spent living out of our car eating fast food, usually from McDonald's, while I drove around with our house plans getting 4 bids per project. Then, we'd come to the house and sit, covered in drywall dust, while the kids watched movies on cots from our laptop as we worked. During this time, Garrett's Preschool had a "Mom and Muffin" Party around Mother's Day. Each child was asked questions about their Mom and then the teachers shared what they had answered in front of all of the other Mom's. I sat and listened as other children answered what their Mom's favorite thing to do was. There were the sweetest answers like: Read to me, kiss me, play with me, sing to me, be with our family, etc. You get the idea. Then came Garrett's reply to the question. What is your Mom's Favorite thing to do? His answer? Talk on her cell phone. A roar of laughter came across the room. Each Mom thinking that was so funny, as I pretended to act as though it was funny too. I wanted to tell them all, that I was the General Contractor on our home at the time. I wanted to tell them I really did Kiss him, hug him, play with him, read to him, etc. But, instead, I just laughed and hoped they'd hurry and move on. Now thinking back, that was pretty funny. Honest, but funny.

This year some fun gifts came too. Sis goes to the same Preschool as the boys, so I knew the Mom and Muffin Party was coming. I passed this time with flying colors!The children sang us songs, and as they stood there, Julia would look to me to make sure I was watching her. When I'd smile, she'd smile back and sing her heart out. She got me a muffin and came and sat by me. While the teachers were reading what the other kids answers were, Julia would turn to me and ask me what my answers would be, to make sure she got them all right! When it came to her paper, she got them all right (With the exception of my favorite food being blueberry pie!). What was Julia's Mom's Favorite thing to do? Hug her! YES!!!!

Garrett made a book with questions he had answered about me "Homemade with Love." The all time best answer was when asked what his Mom cooks best - he replied "Cookies and Salad. Her Cafe Rio salad is so good, it makes me feel good about eating salad."Ty wrote me a note thanking me for buying him clothes, letting him play sports and taking him to Disneyland. Then, the gift of all gifts......COUPONS!!! Good for one free Bed Making. Good for 1- 10 min. back rub, etc! I quickly struck a deal with Ty. I basically gave him a coupon for making crazy sounds with his voice for an HR long back rub! I collected that the other day. Loved the back rub, but DESPISED the fact I gave in and let him make crazy sounds all day!

Then came Trav. As he handed me a card with a box of Chocolate Orange sticks, he said, "I know you're disappointed now thinking it's just a card and orange sticks, but you won't be once you open it up!" Rewind a couple of weeks before Mother's Day. When he asked what I wanted, I told him that if he'd call Heather, she'd know! Then, for almost a week straight, I emailed Heather daily with ideas!! I prepped her good! It worked too! He called her Friday. When he found out it was a diaper bag online, he was a little worried he had waited too long. So, he too worked up a coupon "Good for One Diaper Bag." Hearing Heather's side of the conversation is classic. It's not a super cheap diaper bag, and apparently when he heard the price, he questioned it's durability and function! That's funny. His card opened up to Circus Music playing. How he found that, I will never know, but it made my day! Now, I've just gotta choose which bag I want. Thought I knew, but after searching, found some more. You're all welcome to throw in your two cents, or tell me they're all ugly and you'll win some points with Trav.And, last but not least, baby brother gave a gift of his own, a week later, but I won't hold it against him. Not his fault the Ultrasound Tech couldn't see us until this week! Everything looked perfect at our big ultrasound. The tech kept telling us.....beautiful stomach, liver, kidneys. Beautiful brain, arms, legs. Beautiful face. Amazing chord, etc. What a HUGE blessing. Huge. When you realize, and experience, all that can go wrong with things developing daily for 40 weeks, you also realize what an amazing miracle their little lives are. When she switched it to 4D, it was incredible. Here's our little one with his hands by his face and one foot under the chin! One shot, only his foot appeared in the screen. When we got home, I watched the video over and over and looked at his pictures constantly. I am in love!I am grateful to be a Mom. I love these little beings with all my heart. I remember very vividly being told that this might not be a possibility for me. The Lord obviously blessed us and heard our prayers. Motherhood has definitely had it's days as well, though. I worry I'm not good enough, or prepared enough to carry this responsibility. I worry about protecting them enough. I worry about protecting them too much. I am not the most patient Mother, and I worry and feel guilt about that often. They've heard me say a naughty word here and there, and I wish they hadn't. They fight, and argue, and say not so nice things to each other now and then. Some days, I want to run away. But all of these days are far and few in between. The blessings they have brought to my life, and the things they have taught me, far outweigh the rest. I am truly blessed as a Mother.