Happy Mother's Day to me.

I had such a nice Mother's Day this year.  The boys didn't get muddy - Glory Be and they were thoughtful and kind.  Jay and I went to church together while Nick and Mike stayed home to work on my Mother's Day gift.  Jay picked out the gift earlier in the week but Mike and Jay kept Nick in the dark because there is no way he would have kept it a secret!  So, Jay picked out the gift but Nick did the work to get them finished (see picture below). 

Nick and I.  I feel like I look like a giant next to Nick! 

Ta-da - my hanging flowers baskets.  I had mentioned to Mike about a week ago that I wanted hanging flower baskets and he shot me down!  But he surprised me with them.  Thanks so my boys for making my Mother's Day so memorable.

I heart mom

Where do I begin with what my mom means to me?  I've been pondering my tribute to her all week.  I thought I'd start at the beginning (don't worry, I won't be writing a book).  My mom raised a very strong willed child - Me!  I challenged her at every corner and on top of it, I had learning disabilities.  When I reflect on my childhood I just remember it was good and my mom was always there which was something I took for granted.  Growing up she was my biggest advocate.  She taught me right from wrong and I learned what consequences were all about.  She would always say I had to learn things the hard way and I did - still do sometimes.  She prayed for me and I'm sure she spent many mornings on her knees praying for guidance - as I do now that I'm a mom.  When her and my dad divorced when I was a senior in high school she picked herself up, dusted herself off and with strength and determination she pushed forward.  I was always grateful to her for that.  My sister and I were hurting and so was my mom and feeling the void of my dad being gone was hard but mom kept our lives the same - as much as she could.  She was home constantly to be available for Kim and I.  I remember the first summer dad was gone or at least I think it was that first summer.  My mom loaded my sister and I in the car and in another car was my Uncle Mike with his family and we were off to Myrtle Beach.  Back then we had no cell phones so my mom and her brother would use walkie-talkie's and Mom followed Mike the entire way.  As an adult I have appreciated her listening ear when it comes to parenting.  I've said this before but I can't write a tribute to my mom without saying it again but she is never horrified by anything my children do - even when I'm horrified beyond belief.  She usually just laughs and reminds me of the time when I did the same thing as a kid - although the whole mud thing has her dumbfounded sometimes.  I remember the short 2 weeks I lived with mom while Mike was finishing our house.  That was 7 years ago and I just had Jay who was 3 at the time.  She looked at me one night and said, "You know, Amy, you are really good with him."  Ahhhh music to my ears.  If I'm any kind of mother, I owe it all to my mom.  Thanks mom for all the sacrifices you made for me, all the prayers, laughter and encouragement!  Love you lots...........

38 years and counting

I had such a nice birthday this year.  The weather was perfect.  I started the day off with a lovely walk with my mother and then we shared a cup of coffee.  The picture above is of the boys right before school.  They were wearing ties in honor of their principal, Mr. Shears, who will retire next week.  We love Mr. Shears and will be sad to see him leave.  Notice Copper trying to nip at Jay's shirt.  This is typical for her.  I think I have about 3 holes in one particular shirt of mine!  Gotta love puppies.

Mike and the boys took me out to Texas Roadhouse for dinner - my choice!  As I'm blogging this evening I'm so stuffed, it's ridiculous!  The picture below is a quick snap shot I got of Jay at dinner.  I thought it was so cute and I thought he looked so old & handsome.  What a killer smile that boy has! 

Mike got me a key lime pie - YUMMY!  Mike has been crazy, busy at work but still found the time to be thoughtful for my birthday and I so appreciate that.  He and the boys got me a gift certificate to Dick's so I can finally buy some decent T-shirts.  Since I've been working at home for almost a year the majority of my closet is still filled with work/office clothes.  I need some decent Tshirts to work from home in!  Thank you, Mike and boys......you guys are the best.

As a side note.  I started working crazy early this morning (3a.m........yes, crazy I know) and about 5 a.m. I received an email from my beautiful friend, Karen Neal.  In the email she presented me with a lovely prayer just for me on my birthday.  And then my mom gave me a PRAY plaque.  It's not really a plaque per say.  I'll take a picture of it in the next couple of days and post it on my blog.  I truly love it! 

Life is good

Tomorrow is my birthday!  My friend, Amy, presented me with my first gift.......a Happy Birthday wine glass.  She knows me so well.  Thank you, Amy!

And my boys just happened to be in a "I actually like my brother" mood this morning so I snapped a picture.....quickly!

City folks

This Saturday morning my family and I did something out of the ordinary.  As soon as we got up, we got showered and dressed, jumped in Mike's truck and headed to the city.  We went out for bagels (very city like).  I got my cup of coffee to go and carried it with me while we shopped for flowers.  As we drove through the city the traffic was thick and people were coming and going in and out of places with......yup, you guessed it, their cups of coffee.  I fit in nicely.  I said to Mike....."So this is what it's like to live in the city on Saturday morning!" 
I got all my flowers picked out - thank you to my boys for helping me - and planted!  It was a great way to spend a Saturday morning but I still prefer the quiet of my country mornings.   

Housebroke

It's official, Copper is housebroken.  She' been housebroken for about 4 weeks now.  We told Jay once she was housebroken she could start sleeping with him.  It started out really well - so well that Copper seemed to have a calming effect on Jay at night.  Most nights go smoothly but there was one night that Copper decided to get up and have a "party" at 2 a.m..  And those two are their own little alarm clocks.  They are both up by 6:30 sharp every morning.  It's so cute to see Jay cuddled up with his puppy. 

Really!!

What could I possibly title this blog as other than REALLY because that was my response when I opened this package today in the mail.  Apparently Sam's Club thought that since I would be turning 38 in a few weeks that it was time for adult under garments.  You know how I complain of aging after age 35?  Well finding this little "package" in the mail today didn't help.  Thank you Sam's Club.