I woke up, strangely refreshed, to Calvin toddling into my room babbling away. He was singing something intelligible, but adorable, while holding a crayon out in front of his face like a microphone. Best alarm ever.
Ethan ran down the hall holding his handmade card -- he was so eager to show it to me he almost tripped! Plus, he wrote me an original song right there at the breakfast table:
Jacob couldn't wait until I made it to the kitchen to see the beautiful flowers he'd picked out for me -- including a hydrangea, and a huge card that just kept getting bigger...
At church, I sat in on the best Sunday school class ever, but perhaps I'm a bit biased due to my relationship with the teacher.
During the service, the older boys sang "Honor Your Parents" and "Love, Love, Love." Ethan was so excited about singing he came in a tad early, and Jacob clasped his hands over his brother's mouth to quiet him. It was all I could do not to guffaw. But one the song began they both sang so well -- last time the children performed, Ethan had a royal meltdown in the narthex and I ended up missing it completely, so this was a vast improvement.
Our lunch plans were probably my most brilliant move ever, if I do say so myself. When we walked in we heard: "Welcome to Moe's!" The place was empty! (Yes, I'm a cheap date! But we go out to eat so very rarely that I will gladly go out to a place where kids eat free and refills are unlimited. Plus, queso. Need I say more?) We laughed at those waiting in hour-long lines across the street for a fancier restaurant. Lunch was actually restful -- I didn't have to cook or clean up!
After lunch there was time for a short nap before going out for a little afternoon excursion with only one kid, which was like a vacation in itself. My goal was to get my out-of-commission iPod touch repaired. Normally, I hate the mall and avoid it like the plague, but today's trip was surprisingly pleasant. Even though I couldn't get it repaired just yet, since I want to get some data off first, I wasn't fazed. Two months without it, what's another week or two? Calvin came with me and we enjoyed people-watching together. I can't remember the last time I went window-shopping. I even tried on some dresses. It was the first time in years I think I went into a store without a particular "mission" and just enjoyed myself. And all it cost was the gas to get there -- I didn't buy anything!
We did complete one errand -- getting the oil changed in the van. How exciting, yes?! Well, let me tell you, getting to look at a People magazine for all of five minutes WAS actually pretty good. Just long enough for me to realize why I don't really care about celebrities.
Came home and helped the boys finish building THE LEGO MINE. *Hallelujah Chorus* The boys pooled all of their birthday money together so they could buy this and have been waiting patiently to be able to put it together. They have been keeping the Lego room-er, Living room clean for almost a week and this was their reward.
I'm almost finished reading The Little Way of Ruthie Leming. This may be my favorite book of the year so far, if only for the emotional catharsis. Reading it on this first Mother's day after losing my own mom, who was a similar light for my small hometown, was a balm. If nothing else, it made me long for Home.
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| Me, Mom and J-man in Geneva, October 2007 |
