Mother's Day

Mother's Day this year was spent as usual with our close family and it was a lot of fun, but what I want to write about here is a Mother's Day "event" that my youngest son's teacher put on for all of the mothers in the class. We had to RSVP for the event and every mother attended. It was in the classroom, on the Friday before Mother's Day, for about 2 hours. The event was about spending some fun, quality time one on one. She had four stations set up, which we rotated to about every 15 minutes. We had block time, computer time, a station where we cut out and glued a very cute yellow flower together, and then a cooking station where we cut up and used apples, bananas, strawberries, grapes and mandarin oranges to create a "flower" on our plate before eating it together. (That was my favorite station). Then after all of that we got to enjoy cookies and a little performance put on by the kids in which they read sentences they had written about us, and poems that they learned about mothers. It was just so special, and so much fun! One of Brenden's sentences about me was that I clean his room! :)




Yes, the front of the book there says "I love you Mom," and he drew a picture of me. :) (my heart is melting again!...)

Love

I was folding clothes earlier tonight and Brenden came over and layed on my lap. We talked about how he smelled like fish even though he had taken a bath. We talked about the scrape on his right arm. It got there when he was climbing a tree. We talked about books he had read recently so that I could write them on a form for school. He layed on my lap and smiled up at me talking to me with rosy cheeks and chapped lips. He layed there until he fell asleep.

Earlier today, I went to the school for Ethan's End of Trimester Awards Ceremony. He received an Honor Roll award and a surprise award for Outstanding Merit in the Science Fair. (He was one of only about 10 kids in the entire fourth grade). Four kids received Science Fair awards that were in frames because their projects had gone on to the District Science Fair. After the ceremony, Ethan came up to me and hugged me and told me with a big smile on his face that he knew why he didn't get an award in a frame. He said that his teacher Mrs. Murray told him that the four that went on to District got him by a tiny hair with the speech portion of the project, and that was it! He was so proud of himself and I was so proud of him too.

My little guys are so special. Words can't even describe.

I Love You So...

One of the gifts I gave to Brenden this year is a book called "I Love You So..." by Marianne Richmond.

I'm a big fat dork, and I started crying when I read it to Brenden tonight.

Here it is.

"I love you.

How much?

SO much.

How much is 'so'?

WAY, WAY MORE than you know...

I love you as BRILLIANT as each sparkling star,

and as WAY OUT as space, I love you THAT far.

I love you as GIGANTIC as a great lion's roar,

and as DEEP as the ocean, I love you MUCH more.

'That IS a lot,' you say, 'but HOW did it start?

WHERE did love come from to be in your heart?'

YOU put it there, really, when you and I met.

And I knew for certain WITHOUT you I'd fret.

From MY HEAD to my TOES, I was feeling inside

a devotion for you SO DEEP and SO WIDE.

And now it's ENORMOUS and wonderfully real

and hard to describe HOW MUCH I feel!

I love you as AWESOME as a thundery sky, and as SOARING as mountains,

I love you THAT high.

I love you as SILLY as a puppy dog's kiss,

and as QUIET as midnight, I love you like THIS.

'Do you love me EVERY day?' you ask with doubting awe,

'or does love go UP 'N DOWN like a teetering see-saw?'

I love you as STEADY as the earth rounds the sun,

though SOME days of life are the FARTHEST from fun.

'Like when you feel MAD?' you ask with distress,

'cause I've BROKEN the rules or made a BIG mess?

Or, when I'm UNKIND, and your feelings are BLUE,

do you love me ALTHOUGH I do what I do?'

I love you being NICE, and when you're CRANKY, too.

I love you without liking the NAUGHTY things you do.

My 'love you' DOESN'T change like the temper of the days.

It's a CERTAIN kind of thing in many DIFFERENT ways.

You're my SWEETIE, my dear, my SMILE and laughter.

You're my PLAYMATE for always, and my JOY ever after.

Hanging out WITH YOU is where I want to be...

eating ice cream sundaes or watching the TV.

UNDER your umbrella, behind you on a bike.

BY you and BESIDE you is what I REALLY like.

'Do you love me just AS MUCH when I'm FAR away from home?

Is your loving still THE SAME in distant lands I roam?'

I love you NEAR or FAR. I love you HIGH or LOW.

My love is there with you WHEREVER you may go.

'Even when I'm SICK...and I can't get out of bed?

Do you love me better HEALTHY than with fever in my head?'

I love you sick or able.

You're ALWAYS you to me, the ONE I LOVE forevermore.

Undeniably.

I CAN'T IMAGINE life before YOU came along...

me there singing senseless, no MEANING to my song.

Call it MEANT TO BE or simply blessed fate, you fill my heart WITH LOVE...

and for THAT I celebrate.

'I love you.

How much?

SO much.

How much is 'so'?

WAY, WAY MORE than you know..."

When I first read it, I thought of how much I love Ethan and Brenden and how my love for them never ends, despite all the tough tumbles and stumbles we go through together.

But this unconditional love she talks about also sounds like the love I have for my sister, for my best friends, for my mom and dad, the love my best friend Brooke feels for her husband Ryan and her puppies, and the love that God has for all of us.

"And Beyond" Beautiful

Ok so this is the first night I have ever blogged...I mean, I have kept a handwritten journal for a while now, but online is is new for me...and
exciting! My handwritten journal has many entries about my kids and things they do and say so I imagine my blog will as well. Might as well get started with that!.... My son Brenden is one of the cutest kids I have ever seen! And on top of that, he has a great personality. He is a bit odd and a lot crazy, but he is adorable and he is my Brennie. Tonight while tucking him in, I gave him a kiss and he said to me "You're beautiful." With my heart melting, I replied "You're beautiful too" to which he responded "Yeah, and you're and beyond beautiful." For you parents who have seen Buzz Lightyear, you know what he was saying..."To infinity and beyond". He proceeded to try to explain himself, and I told him that I understood what he meant and that I loved him to infinity and beyond...