A Little Monday Inspiration - A Mother's Legacy

Yesterday was a wonderfully luxurious day at home with my whole family. I didn't sleep as late as I had hoped, but did lazily lay in bed later than normal.

Pat and Reagan made a huge breakfast of eggs, bacon, hash browns, and waffles. The rest of the day including the required laundry, catching one of my favorite movies on TV (Up Close and Personal), finishing a book, Pat grilling our supper, the whole family playing Michigan Rummy, and ending the day painting my toenails.

We rarely get a day at home like this so it was wonderful. Even if the boys spent part of their day downstairs playing video games, we were all in the house at the same time.

On Saturday, I was able to spend time with my mom and dad since they came to Patrick's soccer game. We went out to eat together and caught up on life.

My mom is an amazing woman and my best qualities come from her. She is so giving and caring and is always making cookies or pie for some group, club, or fundraiser. She picks up her friend a few times a week and they go to Curves together. She is always sewing a quilt or mending some clothes (I did NOT inherit this skill from her). My mom has the most beautiful gardens and knows about every flower and shrub that can be grown in our area. When I saw this poem, I knew this described my mom perfectly:

I am truly blessed with two loving and supportive parents and a family that I can continue to share my legacy, planting seeds of kindness, generosity, and love into the hearts of our children.

A Full Weekend

This last weekend was full of fun.  The boys had a middle school dance on Friday night and Reagan had her school carnival.  Then Saturday morning, I left early with the boys for their final show choir competition. 

We definitely have some talented musicians in our house and it is so much fun to watch them perform! 

After arriving home it was time to get ready to head north.  Since November, I have been planning my mom's 75th birthday party.  Everything came together just as I imagined and the party was a huge success.  

My mom had a permanent smile on her face all day long.  

All of us attended church with her that morning.

 By all of us,

 I mean, all three of us girls, our children and my sisters' grandchildren were ALL together for the day.  

That doesn't happen very often and I am glad we were able to get some family photos taken together. 

My mom and sister just returned from a trip to Hawaii and my sister ordered those beautiful flowers from a shop in Hawaii for her birthday.  My niece and sister made the cakes.  If you know my mom at all, you know that we also had ice cream at the party.  It truly was the perfect day. 

Each table was decorated with a colorful tablecloth.  Then I had spread photos of my mom on each of the tables.  I had photos of my mom as a child, from my parents wedding, from when I was growing up until the present.  There was over 200 photos spread throughout the tables.  Then I covered the tables with a strip of clear tablecloth to protect the photos. I let the kids sprinkle confetti on all the tables and we topped them with a bouquet of flowers.  I think everyone enjoyed seeing the photos and sharing memories as they visited.

My parents have been married for 57 1/2 years.  Truly a blessing to all of us.

It was such a great weekend and I heard so many people that they were so glad to be able to share their day with my mom who gives so much to them.  She truly is the most giving and loving person I know.  I can't even name all the organizations she is involved with and volunteers her time for.  In fact, leaving the church yesterday, she had to be sure to grab the bags of food she needs to deliver to the food pantry.  She is always thinking of others and I was so honored to make yesterday all about her!

 Love you Mom! 

Prom Thoughts

This is my mom at her senior prom in 1956.  Even though it isn't very clear, it is still one of my favorite photos.  There are so many parts of this photo that are classic 1950's: the microphone, the dress, the backdrop, her glasses.  I truly wish I would have grown up in that decade or just to be able to transport myself back to that time for a just a bit.

With all the proms going on this spring, it caused me to bring this photo out at one of our family events and show it off.  Mom had just turned 17 and was the only girl in her senior class of 5.  Yes, she went to a very small school and luckily there were girls in other grades so she wasn't always outnumbered.  My mom graduated shortly after prom, went on to be married to my dad that summer and then just a year later lost her mom (my grandma) to cancer.  But, what mom remembers most about this photo is how she was so excited to have this dress, but it was originally strapless.  My mom told how her parents were in no way going to allow her out of their house in a strapless dress.  So, my grandma, took some of the tulle from underneath my mom's dress and made sleeves so that she was "covered".

In looking at prom photos over the last few weeks, I noticed that the modesty from the 1950's has gone by the wayside.  I saw many beautiful gowns with beading and sequins.  Many in bright colors, some long, and some short.  But, I also saw many that could have used a little more...ahem......coverage.  I am certainly glad I wasn't shopping for my daughter this year as I think it would have been very difficult to find a dress I would have deemed appropriate.  I am hoping over the next 8+ years the dresses go back to a little more modest styling.  And when that time comes, I am going to remember the actions of my grandma and make sure our daughter looks as beautiful as my mom did nearly 60 years ago.

Scenes from Our Week - Week 29

Patrick turned 12 on Wednesday as you may have read in an earlier post.  One of the things he is most excited about with being 12, is being able to finally sit in the front seat of the van!  It will be different to have someone riding next to me now....where will I set all my stuff now with the front seat being taken up with a person?????

 Patrick is a huge Miami Heat fan and I found a LeBron James rookie card for his birthday!  Yep, I am the cool mom!

Of course, he also wanted NBA 2K12.  He LOVES basketball!

But, the gift that stole the show was this LeBron James jersey! Happy Birthday, Patrick!

Reagan had her dance recital on Saturday.  She did a beautiful job and looked so pretty in her costume!  I was so glad my parents were able to come to the recital.  My mom had gotten ill on Friday and needed to go to the emergency room.  After running some tests and having an x-ray, they found a large mass on her lung as well as smaller ones.  This was totally unrelated to her illness and kind of a fluke that they were even found.  So, having mom come to the recital the very next day when she wasn't feeling well, meant a lot to Reagan and me.  

After spending all day yesterday with doctors and specialists, I am going to take this opportunity to ask for prayers for my mom.  The doctors believe her masses are cysts and her type of cysts are actually rare.  These are usually not cancerous, but more tests need to be done to be sure.  Also, because of the size and location of her 7 cm mass, there is some concern and the hope that it can be drained.  So, a biopsy will be done in a few weeks to test the fluid in the cyst as well as hopefully drain it to reduce the size.  I pray that the procedure goes smoothly and without complication and we get the proper care needed to take care of these.  I also pray that her other medical condition that brought her to the ER in the first place is remedied and she is feeling back to normal again.

I think we all take our health for granted, and then it is times like this that we are reminded that every day we are pain free, healthy, and energetic are blessings.  Tell those you love how important they are to you and be thankful for your health.

Things I Love - My Mom

Things I Love...


This is my feature where I get to share something that I just love. Since you are my friends, I like sharing things I love with others. It could be anything from a new product, food, recipe, song, image, to a person and everything in between. This will be something I am completely doing on my own, without pressure or compensation from a company, author, PR/Marketing firm, friend, business owner, etc. This will just be something that makes me happy and I want to share it with you. Enjoy some love!

Today's love is............................My Mom
 
Last Friday, my mom turned 72!  A few years ago we started the tradition of celebrating her birthday with her sister and her sister's daughter in Minneapolis, which is half way between us.  We have so much fun together and today we leave to spend our annual weekend with them.  On the drive north to Minneapolis, one thing I can be sure of, is that we will be stopping for my mom's favorite treat.....ICE CREAM!  It has become a tradition and anyway, who can turn down ice cream?!?!  One of the first things we are sure to do after we check into our hotel room is get out the Scrabble board.  All 4 of us LOVE to play Scrabble and look forward to challenging eachother to several games.



My mom and I last year at the Como Zoo Conservatory Flower Show

My mom is the most giving and loving person I have ever met.  She gives so much of her time to others that she barely has a chance to do anything for herself.  As a retired rural mail carrier, she has spent most of her retirement volunteering for her church in numerous capacities, the local tourism society, the hospital board foundation, for master gardeners, and the local nursing home.  She maintains her many beautiful flower gardens as well as the gardens at the nursing home.  My mom and dad also help maintain and care for the little country church and cemetery just down the road from their house.  My mom always has food or clothing set aside to drop off at the local food pantry.  Mom has also spent many days caring for her great-grandson and her great-granddaughters when their parents needed help.  Mom and Dad also attends many of our kids' sports and school functions, even though they live nearly 2 hours away.   This is, of course, all the things I know about.  I am sure there are many other acts of kindness my mom does on a daily basis, because that is the kind of person she has always been.  



My parents at their 50 Anniversary celebration

My parents have been married for 54 years.....55 years this August! Wow! What an example they have given us.  Their focus has always been on giving and caring for others.  I am so grateful for their loving guidance and examples and I can't wait to share more memories with my mom this weekend.  There are sure to be lots of laughter, lots of Scrabble, lots of good food, and of course, ice cream!

Questions?

This past weekend my husband's siblings and families all got together to honor his now deceased parents wedding anniversary. He thought it would be neat for all of us to get together and make his moms favorite foods that she used to make. So, all of us got together Saturday evening with Potato Salad, Spanish Rice, Maidrites, Goulash, Zucchini Bread, and Chocolate Cake. While we were preparing for the gathering we were searching through recipe boxes and cookbooks for the recipes for all these dishes. Some were found and some had to be guessed at. We discussed how it would be so nice to just be able to call up "mom" and ask her how much onion flakes to put in the potato salad, or which chocolate cake recipe did you always use, or how do I make your peanut butter frosting. But, of course, we can't do that. So, we did our best and had a great display of food, lots of laughter, and memories that were made.

So, from this, I am even more determined to ask those questions of my parents before they are gone. I want to be sure I know how all those favorite dishes of mine are prepared, I want to know how my parents met and what their dating life was like, my birth story, etc. So, this is my nudge to you...ask those questions, get those recipes, listen to those stories now before life takes that chance away from you. No one know how long we have here on earth, but live each day to the fullest, tell those closest to you that you love them, and ask those questions you want to know and you will have no regrets!

My Mom

Tuesday, March 11 is my mom's birthday. So, this is in honor of her. My mom is the oldest of 5 sisters. Her mom died when she was 17 or 18. From stories that my aunts have told me, she was an amazing role model and so helpful to all of them while they were growing up. She hasn't changed a bit. She then had 3 daughters with me being the youngest. I live the farthest from my mom at 1 1/2 hours away, but still talk on the phone with her several times a week. My mom is now retired, but gives of her time to so many others. She volunteers at the local nursing home, takes care of their flower garden as well as the garden at their church, serves on numerous committes at our church, watches her great-grandson at least 3 days a week, helps care for the country church and cemetery that she grew up with and where many of our ancestors are buried, makes quilts for any occasion, serves on the hospital auxilliary, etc, etc. I don't think a day goes by that my mom isn't giving of her time to someone. She is known by Grandma B to her numerous grand and great grand children. I cherish my mom so much. My husband lost his mom just over a year ago and I know how precious my time with my mom is. I just want her to know she is my role model. We have had some difficulties in our family over the years and she has been the rock for me to lean on and I hope I have been for her as well. So, for all you do for others, Mom, take a day and let's do something for you! Love you mom! Happy Birthday!