Happy Mother's Day

Isn't my card sweet? My kindergartner made it for me, along with the jar of bath salts. (Have I mentioned that I love his teacher, Mrs. VonDohlen?) The hand-painted flower pot is from my three year old.

On the front of the card, in six-year-old print, is "Happy Mother's Day." In case you can't read it, the inside says, "Dear Mom, You are special because you play with me. Your kid, Aaron"

Just in case I didn't already know that he was my kid, you know. :-) And the teacher had to specify "Eli I." on the flower pot because there's an Eli W. in his class.

Thank you, sweet boys. Your mommy loves you!

I don't remember it, but I'm sure I made stuff like this for my mom when I was little. God love her, that poor woman was 45 when I was born. I could NOT imagine! She'd already raised two kids and had practically raised the third when I came along. She had to start all over!

I hope she's glad she did! I can remember so many things about my mom from those days. Like how she made me cream of wheat for breakfast with lots of butter and sugar and I liked it. That was a big accomplishment, because I was a very picky eater. (My favorites were raw potatoes and uncooked pasta!) If I had a nickel for every time someone said, "She eats like a bird!" I could have paid my way through college!

Mostly I remember baking with her. I always got to lick the cake batter bowl, and eat the leftover biscuit dough. But the best has got to be her homemade birthday cake icing. She only made it for birthdays, and that made it even more special. She'd leave the tips on the decorating bags when she was through and I'd play with it, and of course eat the leftover icing. Yum....

I loved digging through her jewelry box. She had this sparkly necklace that looked like diamonds, and I felt like a princess when I wore it. I even wore it to my Junior Prom! I think my sister has it now, but I sure loved playing with it...

I know she doesn't think she prepared me for life, because when I got married at 18 I had no idea how to cook. While that particular fact may be true, she taught me more than she thinks she did. I finally learned how to make a mean cake of cornbread that doesn't stick to my skillet (not that yellow boxed stuff, either!) Towels look neater when folded in thirds, not halves. Irons are not our enemies (although I don't often use mine!). Kitchen sinks are NOT for cleaning freshly caught fish, in my humble opinion, even though she did do that for my brother.

She is a devoted wife who takes great care of my dad, fixing his meals (even filling his plate!) and ironing his handkerchiefs. She knows his preferred clothing, from the fabric weight of his work clothes, to the kind of socks he wants. They've been married over 50 years now, and I can only hope to follow in her wifely footsteps.

She has a big heart, taking care of those who need it, even when others have given up.

She's funny, too. It makes me laugh to think of her dancing in the kitchen to Conway Twitty songs, and chopping off snake heads with a hoe.

She's passed on her love of crafting to me, too. She quilts beautifully and recently has started beading jewelry. She made doll clothes for all my dolls. She gave me my first cross-stitch project when I was only 7 or 8, and taught me latch hooking. Today, I'm a knitter and occasionally try to quilt a little. I wish I was better at that so I could carry it on.

We used to play Rummy, and she called me a card shark. I won alot. Looking back, I wonder if she was letting me win? She took me to the library in the summer, and introduced me to Laura Ingalls Wilder and some other great books. I'd like to read those again today!

Wow, my memories of her could go on and on. Suffice it to say though, it hasn't always been easy. My teenage years weren't very good for us. Thank goodness we got past all that!

Even today, sometimes I don't feel like a very good daughter. I don't call or visit as much as I should. She's almost 80 now, and I should be taking better care of her. I just hope she knows how much I love her and what a great mom I think she is.

I love you, mama. Happy Mother's Day!