Happy Mother’s Day 2010

Today was definitely not my worst Mother’s Day ever, it was good and had it’s high and low moments. It started off w/ a fun surprise that I got in my bed (nope, not breakfast in bed) but instead Autumn woke me up by saying, “Mama, I get your bed wet.” Yep, I woke up to a peed bed. I decided not to lose my cool or be upset about it, I just thought about how nice it will be tonight to crawl into freshly washed sheets. We had cereal for breakfast and then got ready and left for church.

I got a fun surprise when the choir went up to sing. A lady came up and sat on our row really quick and handed me a box that had this gorgeous orchid in it. Dad gets one for Mom every year and since I don’t have an amazing husband to make me feel special on Mother’s Day, he gets an orchid for me too and says it’s from Autumn. It was such a fun surprise and sweet gesture and really meant a lot to me. Thank you, Dad!

All of the talks and songs were very nice and Autumn was good until the last 2 minutes. She had been using some safety scissors to cut up pieces of paper and I started to clean up the mess so we could get ready to go to nursery and she FREAKED OUT and started yelling as loud as she could, “NO, MAMA! NO!” So, I picked her up while she was kicking and screaming and carried her out to the foyer where she continued to have a fit, so I took her outside until she calmed down. I took her back in and they gave all the women a rose and a Dove chocolate bar, which I thought was really nice.

We came home for church and I already had a roast and carrots and potatoes and gravy in the oven that I had thrown in before we left. But, we didn’t eat it yet b/c we were waiting for Mom & Dad & Nate & Nick. While we waited, we made some semi-healthy cookies that only have 2 ingredients. It’s just a 15 oz can of pumpkin mixed w/ any cake mix you want. THAT’S IT! We did butter pecan this time, and I wanted to jazz them up a little after they were done cooking, so we got out a bottle of whipped cream that I had in the fridge. We had fun putting a little on our pointer finger and licking it off.

We called Rufio to wish her a Happy Mother’s Day and Autumn wanted to say hi. She cracks me up b/c she put on her high water Dora jammy bottoms under her dress along w/ her white church shoes. And while talking to Rufio, she was leaning on the chair w/ her ankles crossed as if she talked on a cell phone all the time and it’s no big thing.

While we were waiting for Dad & Nate to come over after their ward got out, Autumn made Nick lay down on the couch and she covered him up w/ blankets while jibber jabbering non-stop. She kept telling him good night and laughing. Can you see his eyes peaking out over the blanket? She kept coming over and telling him no and then covering up his face again. Everyone finally got to our house around 4:30 and we had that whole pan of food devoured in about 10 minutes. I know I say this all the time, but I can’t even express how much joy it brings me to have everyone gathered around the table at my house.

Autumn discovered scissors today, and I have a feeling that I am in big trouble now b/c she is going to try and cut things other than paper. I’ll have to hide all the regular scissors and only let her have safety scissors when I’m around to monitor her. This picture makes me giggle w/ glee for two reasons. One is what Autumn dressed herself in. She’s still wearing her church dress but changed the pants underneath to match her pink leopard print top and ruby red church shoes. The second thing that makes me laugh is the expression on Nate’s face when Autumn showed him the scissors she was using. They tend to mix like oil and water most of the time, but other times they get along great.

After we ate dinner, we watched Peter Pan b/c there’s a good part in there about mother’s where Wendy sings THIS song. Autumn started to get ornery, so I knew she was tired b/c she didn’t get a nap yesterday and then didn’t take one again today. After the movie, she went and snuggled up to Dad and was out within a few minutes. She just hates missing out on any of the action and fun, but then when she sits still for a little bit she just can’t help but fall asleep.

Nate left after the movie and said he would be back. He went and got the stuff from a friend for us to play Rockband. I’ve never played it before and it was really fun.

I love this picture of Dad & Nate rocking out to one of the songs. Nate played at the medium level and the rest of us beginners just played at easy. Dad did a great job on the guitar and got almost 100%.

I tried the drums once (on easy) and SUCKED! So, Dad & I switched places and Dad ROCKED IT OUT on the drums. We were all way shocked and impressed w/ how well he did. I think he really enjoyed himself. He said Uncle Wes used to have a drum set and that’s why he did “ok” b/c he used to play around on Uncle Wes’ set when they were kids.

Today was great other than the few meltdowns that Autumn had. She was so sweet for most of today and sat next to me on the couch and read me books and then when we were watching Peter Pan she came and sat on my lap and snuggled, which NEVER happens. It made me so happy. Last night while reading the Ensign, I found THIS article about Mothers & Daughters by M. Russell Ballard. It’s EXCELLENT and here are a few of my favorite quotes:

• There is nothing in this world as personal, as nurturing, or as life changing as the influence of a righteous woman.
• Young women, your mothers adore you. They see in you the promise of future generations. Everything you accomplish, every challenge you overcome brings them pure joy. And likewise your worries and heartaches are their worries and heartaches.
• Look to your mother. Learn from her strengths, her courage, and her faithfulness. Listen to her. She may not be a whiz at texting; she may not even have a Facebook page. (LOL!) But when it comes to matters of the heart and the things of the Lord, she has a wealth of knowledge.
• As mothers in Israel, you are your daughters’ first line of defense against the wiles of the world…Let me assure you that even when you think your daughter is not listening to a thing you say, she is still learning from you as she watches you to see if your actions match your words.
• A mother-daughter relationship is where a daughter learns how to nurture by being nurtured. She is loved. She is taught and experiences firsthand what it feels like to have someone care about her enough to correct her while continuing to encourage and believe in her at the same time.
• No other person on earth loves you in the same way [as your mother] or is willing to sacrifice as much to encourage you and help you find happiness – in this life and forever.

My life has been blessed in countless ways by the “mothers” I have had in my life. First and foremost is my own mother who has such a huge impact on my life. She is such a great example to me of so many things. I know I would be a completely different person if it weren’t for her powerful and amazing influence on my life. I owe so much to her. Next would be Rufio & Grandma Johnson. I am sad that I didn’t get to live closer to them while growing up, but made up for that when I was going to college and was able to be near to them. They did such a great job in raising my Mom & Dad and have been such incredible women for me to look up to and admire. I am also thankful for other women that have come into my life that I consider to be mother figures such as my 2nd Mom Debbie (Tara’s Mom), Sis. Reichert, Mrs. DeRoberto, Mary, and other women in my ward. My life has been full of courageous and faithful women that I can look up to and emulate.

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!!!