Belated post: Mother's Day

It was the best Mother's Day ever, really. 

You know, Mother's Day doesn't mean a whole lot when you still have to change diapers, make bottles, and you're just exhausted.  I also had a mother's day when I was pregnant with Z.  Since then, it's been just me and the boys, and they haven't really understood the concept of Mother's day, or been able to do anything about it. 

This year . . . was the best. 

It started on Friday, when I had a hint that there was going to be something special for me on Sunday.  I was not allowed to touch, carry, or look inside the boys' backpack when I picked them up from school. 

Sunday morning, I got to sleep in.  I've never been a really lazy person.  Even in high school, I don't think that I ever slept past nine.  My goal for Mother's Day was 7:30.  I got 8:00.  Then I got up and left.  I wanted a nice breakfast.  Not a breakfast with a lot of work, but something that tasted better than cereal - and I'm a long way from the boys making me breakfast.  So I got up and went to the store.  It's less than a half a mile, and the boys weren't alone.  I got a box of Eggos, some of that expensive instant bacon, and some juice.  I went home, and that was breakfast.  Mmm, mm, it was good!

After breakfast, I got my presents.  The first thing I saw on my desk was an envelope with "mom" on it.  It was a real card.  I might be wrong, but I am assuming that E bought it, and had the boys write their names in it when I went for breakfast.  It was one of those sweet/funny cards, but the gesture alone touched me more than I can express here.  Next up was a very nice laminated card from Z with his handprints and picture on it.  Next, I got my present from JR.  There's a picture of flowers on the front, and the inside is a fill-in-the-blanks card.  I'll skip past the name, age, and hair section. . .

She cooks chicken and noodles the best and she loves to eat Spaghetti.  I think her favorite color is red.  She doesn't like staying up late very much.  She likes to watch The Biggest Loser on TV.  My mom spends a lot of time cleaning up.  She can do many things.  She is best at cleaning the house.  My mom is smart.  She even knows how to clean the house.  My mom has a pretty smile.  I can make her smile by being good for her.  I love my mom.      

Is that not the cutest, funniest, melt-your-heart thing?  Some of it made me laugh, some of it made me cry. . . and a few things just stumped me.  Like, I don't think JR has ever seen me eat spaghetti.  Why is that my favorite food?  And red?  I don't wear or decorate in red.  Apparently, though, I clean a lot, and my son thinks that it's my best talent. 

After cleaning up from breakfast, we all got ready to go.  We headed to Red Hawk Casino.  I had never been there before, because it's new, it's far away, and I don't gamble.  But this was Mother's Day . . . and my grandmother loves gambling.  So we all met there.  My grandma (dad's mom) two of my aunts, M&D, me, E, and the boys.  This casino is so new and family friendly that they have a child care center.  It's not cheap, but it was awesome.  I checked the boys in when we got there, and sat down at a penny slot with my grandma.  I like penny slots . . . there are more "lines" that you can win on, and even if you don't win, you don't lose your money very fast.  So we sat and we played (and lost).  Shortly after M& D arrived, we went to play some other games.  Mom likes roulette, and they had a pretty neat video version.  At some point, most of us decided we were hungry.  Here's the problem.  You're supposed to stop gambling and get in line to eat an hour before you get hungry.  Um, yeah.  Closer to an hour and a half, actually.   The food was great, the wait just sucked.  And we were minus one "mom" and one aunt for lunch.  Grandma says you don't stop to eat.  Especially if you're winning.  Well, none of us were winning - and we were hungry, so it wasn't too hard to stop for lunch. 

When lunch was over, we went up for just a few more minutes of play.  I won back some of the money I had lost earlier, and then we all went to get the boys.  They had a blast!  There was a huge jungle gym, unlimited rides and video games.  They even got a snack, lunch, and a drink while they were there.  No wonder they didn't want to leave!  I say they're lucky we had to wait so long for our lunch, because we were only planning on staying at the casino for an hour or so. 

That was mother's day.  The best one I've had yet.  The rest of the afternoon / evening was pretty low-key, just hanging around the house.  But there was no fighting, no squabbling, and bedtime went pretty well. 

I can't wait until they're even older, and they can really appreciate what I do to take care of them.

I hope all of you moms out there had as great a day as I did!