How was your Mother's Day?

I hope everyone had a good day, especially you mothers! (Father's Day is just around the corner, fellas.) My day was pretty good.

I would have slept in longer, but the coughing got me up and at 'em. Darn it. I've had a cough for over 2 weeks now. It has MUCH improved, but not before my rib cage suffered. I can hardly draw a breath to talk, so coughing has been torture. Today I had a bit of trouble moving about. I think it will be better tomorrow. (I sure hope so.)

Church for us is at 12:30 so I didn't need to leave until 12. Chad cancelled his EQ meeting so he was able to stay home a little longer to help. That was nice. He left just before 11. I got everything and everyone into the van and was only 5 or so minutes behind schedule.

I had my first ophthalmic migraine today. That was an interesting experience. I'd already had a headache all morning. Maybe that triggered it? It struck while I was trying to get prayers for Relief Society. It distracted me a bit and as it grew over time, I began to feel concerned. I really didn't want to discover I was going blind on Mother's Day!

Fortunately, there is an optometrist in the ward and I sought him out. He explained what it all was and I felt better knowing it would go away...which it did. Just wish the headache would;I still have a headache. (If you didn't check out the link yet, an ophthalmic migraine is not the same as a headache migraine, though they can be connected. An ophthalmic migraines is often painless...it's an eye migraine. Clear as mud?)

Anyway, I got 4 sets of coupon books and a little card with Joseph's hand prints which he took back from me twice. He actually improved on the gift by cutting it up. So now I have a puzzle of Joseph's hand prints. :)

Chad (and the kids) honored me with some flowering plants and useful items. :)

I was disappointed that the day didn't yield any chocolate and then grateful. I didn't have a very good week with the scale. I probably don't need to make it any worse.

I called my mom and Chad called his. It sounds like Mother's Day was nice for everyone. Hope you enjoyed your day, too!

(I've been slow, but I just finished the Day Two post for Chicago. Go back to the April archives to look for it.)

Potted Plant Symbolism

I got a little pot of flowers from church for Mother's Day. That's pretty standard fair in my 8 years experience as a mother.

One year I got a pot of flowers that was nearly dead. It felt particularly fitting that year. I can't even remember why (exactly).

This year I got a beautiful, robust plant. Maybe it's because I'm looking so "robust." Anyway, I opened the kitchen window for a little relief from the stuffy kitchen air. Less than 5 minutes later, Nathan reported that my plant had blown into the sink. Daniel followed him with the plant and showed me, repeatedly, how it was loose and came right out of its pot.

I tried to scoop out as much dirt from the sink as I could save, but I was fighting a few dirty dishes. (Oh yeah, like your sinks are empty and spotless at 4:30 in the afternoon!) So now my plant leans a little in its pot. It looks a little weary. And here's where I wax philosophical.

Sometimes you're sittin' pretty in motherhood and all is calm and beautiful. Then, someone opens a window somewhere...even for a good reason...and you find yourself upside down in the sink of dirty dishes. Some of your kids will show concern and rush in to help. Others may rough you up a little more and really test your endurance. Eventually, you'll get helped back into your pot, but life may be a bit off kilter until you can get a little more dirt back into your pot to give you back the strength you lost in the dirty sink. Don't worry - everything will be OK.

Just don't let that plant die. That's a different symbolism I'm not ready to consider right now.

500...Finally!

Well, the big one is finally here. I'm a little short of my goal, but it's more important to finish (even if it's not the best).

Five hundred posts! I don't think I ever expected to keep up the blogging. It was a slow start. After all, I was a new mommy to baby #4 and my oldest had just started school. Incidentally, going from 3 kids to 4 kids was my hardest adjustment. Adding #5 was hardly a difference. I expect #6 to be the same.

Honestly, if I didn't think some people were enjoying keeping up with our crazy little family, I likely wouldn't continue. I do keep a journal, though that isn't nearly as colorful as my blog. And many of you have been quite encouraging. So I feel like maybe I make a few friends through my blog. I'm a little surprised some of you keep coming back...especially since you don't even know me or my family outside of Blogger. I guess real life does have a bit of comedy in it after all. I'll have to try to notice it more.

It took me 3 1/2 years to blog my way to 500 posts. I don't have any plans to reach 1,000. If I get there, great. If not, it means other things are guiding my life. Hopefully, I'll be able to share most of them and keep the blogging up. I mean, don't we all want to know how Joseph's potty training goes? And Leah starts Kindergarten in the Fall, with Rebekah starting the following year. And of course, we'll want to see the new baby when she starts crawling. But I hope that Joseph starts talking long before any of that. THAT will be a major post!

Now enough sentimentality. Did you want news? It probably does not come as any surprise that Chad's mini van did not win any races at the Pinewood Derby last week. Unless you count coming in last. But it was a winner. It beat out a Rolls Royce for Most Unique. That earned our family a little package of Almond Joys to share. There were some pretty competitive men there that night. We were just there for the fun...lots less stressful. Oh, and the root beer floats. Yummy.

I let Nathan take the pictures, so we've got a lot of pictures that need to be deleted. But it was very difficult to get a picture of the action. ZOOM! Here's a shot of all the cars that were there.

On Saturday, there was a Baby Animal fair. The kids had fun going from baby to baby. Leah touched everything she could get to...including the giant boa(?). It was a little chilly, because we got there early, but we beat the crowds (most important).

We worked in the yard on Saturday. I mowed the lawn. It was the first time this year. What a difference it made! And what a sunburn I had on my arms. (I got a lot of attention for that at church yesterday.) Chad tilled the garden and we planted our small selection of plants. I expect about half will make it. Good old gardening in Eastern Idaho. It froze that night and the next.

Sunday was Mother's Day (as I'm sure you all knew). My kids were not well behaved for the occasion. They made sure I knew I was a mother. I held a short choir practice, despite the holiday. We had a pretty fair turnout. We sing next week - otherwise, I wouldn't be such a task master! But our choir sounds great. It's obvious they are working hard.

Today was my monthly doctor's appointment. We did another sex check on the baby...since the doctor was only 80% sure last month. While he was looking at the screen, he asked me what he'd said it was last time. We both saw something completely different this time. I saw the girl parts before he said anything. (Did you catch my hint a few paragraphs ago?) So I have a beautiful pale blue baby afghan nearly finished. It will be a fun thing to joke about...I guess! He said he'd look in two more months, but I don't see much reason to...it was pretty clear.

And while I was sitting here, ignoring my children's pleas for this and that, Joseph came up to me looking like this! Good thing there aren't any pictures planned.

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all you mothers out there, but most especially to our (Chad's and mine) own mothers! Expect a call from us sometime soon, but enjoy this video any time you want. The kids learned the first verse to this song in Primary last week and the other 2 verses about 15 minutes before we recorded. So that is why you hear me in the background. I thought I was singing quieter than that, but the camera is obviously sensitive.

If you watch closely, you'll see that Daniel had hiccups, Leah was leading the music with her foot, Rebekah had lost interest (you don't need to be real observant to notice that) and Nathan was more interested in the kittens than the song. Ah, Motherhood!

I want to share my favorite poem about mothers. I got it as a bookmark several years ago at Deseret Book.

Two Temples

A builder builded a temple,
He wrought it with grace and skill;
Pillars and groins and arches
All fashioned to work his will.
Men said, as they saw its beauty,
"It shall never know decay'
Great is thy skill, O builder!
Thy fame shall endure for aye."

A mother builded a temple
With loving and infinite care.
Planning each arch with patience,
Laying each stone with prayer.
None praised her unceasing efforts,
None knew of her wondrous plan,
For the temple the mother builded
Was unseen by the eyes of man.

Gone is the builder's temple,
Crumpled into the dust;
Low lies each stately pillar,
Food for consuming rust.
But the temple the mother builded
Will last while the ages roll,
For that beautiful unseen temple
Was a child's immortal soul.

-Hattie Vose Hall