mommas day 2013

Despite the head cold of ALL head colds, I feel pretty thankful, today!  I have a great mom, a great mom-in-law, and have been blessed beyond words by my crazy little ducklings: Jesse, Janna, and Robyn.  The things they have taught me by the shaping their lives have demanded, is something I couldn’t learn on my own.  ALSO! Today is Dave and I’s 6 year anniversary! What a great ride it’s been so far.  Bad days, good days, mundane days, special days, and moments that have been etched into my heart for all of time.   

Dave let me sleep in this morning, Yay for 7:30! and planned the entire day around me getting some rest.  He’s been in charge of the kids all day and has taken on the cooking and cleaning, and EVEN caught us up to date on the laundry.  I have just sat back and enjoyed some quiet moments to myself, and lots of snuggles with the kids.  Here we are!

Tonight, Dave and I will celebrate our big day with blizzards (I have freebie coupons) while Katie pops by to watch the kids for an hour. Last year we really did it up for our 5^th year anniversary with gifts, and a night out, and dinner and breakfast out, etc.  Probably the next 3 will be celebrated in a similar style, and maybe for number 10 we’ll do something out of the ordinary.  But, I am totally satisfied! Dave is a gift to me EVERY day!  His easy laughter, kind heart, and HARD work ethic blesses everyone who crosses his path.  And I get to experience this day in and out!  

Well, I wanted to write something special about my mom on here.  I have blogged about her a few times on mother day over the past several years that I Have been writing on Vance Palace Tales.   So, I thought that instead of rehashing all the reasons she is awesome, I would share a few of my favorite memories!

THE FURNITURE REARRANGING

One time, when I was around 11, we moved all the furniture around in our house.  My bedroom was going downstairs.  I had a HEAVY wooden framed box bed that needed to go downstairs.  My mom decided that this task was no problem for the 2 of us to conquer one day when it was just the 2 of us around.  We had steep, twisty, slippery hard word stairs, and I will NEVER forget thinking one of us was going to die as we moved all of the furniture around.  I remember her roaring, “We ARE WOMEN! We are strong.  We got this.”  And me being like, “ Mom! I’m going to cry.... I don’t like this....I'm gonna die”  And she found this hilarious and started laughing!  Like, pausing on the stairs as we are trying to hoist this thing around laughing.  My mom is strong!  I have only ever seen her cry twice, and she takes a lot on her plate without complaining.

CROSSING THE BORDER

So, growing up I lived near the US border.  WE traveled across it frequently to get gas/milk/hit up Walmart and sometimes for Chinese Buffet.  They often had Canadian money at par day! One day, I think I was probably 15 or 16, we were traveling over to Houlton Maine, and I was in the front with my mom.  My 2 brothers, Jesse and Jake were in the back, along with Jesse’s best friend, Josiah.  We were playing our new favorite car game where we’d make up a story with each person taking a turn adding one word to the narrative.  Around and around we go, and little Jake kept getting to end the sentences, with the most ridiculous endings.  I believe several of his endings were, “ FISH. ”  

Well, we were laughing so hard when it was our turn at border patrol.  My mom got it together and rolled down her window only to look into the eyes of the most serious young new trainee on the job.  “Hello ma’am.  Can you take off your sunglasses please.” As my mom reached up and pulled down her glasses, she erupted into spitting, shaking, uncontrollable laughter! My brothers and Josiah BURST into giggles in the back.  This man had NO idea what to do with this reaction and  so just sort of scowled and slowly started circling our car looking VERY serious.  I was SO SCARED!  Like, this guy could tear our car apart, strip-search us, send us AWAY without Chinese food.  I was telling my mom to get it together, and the more she tired taking deep breaths and trying to curb her laughter, the WORST it became.  Her head was hung down and she grabbed her stomach doubled over in laugher, and tears were STREAMING down her face.  She’d look up and take a deep breath and TRY, and then erupt into laughter again. “ Mom!  Stop! He’s coming back to the window” I was also trying not to laugh, but the fear in my heart was helping me.

  The man came back to the window and my mom sat up straight and looked into his eyes and seemed to have it together. “Ma’am! Where are you headed?”  She took a deep breath, and then BURST into laughter. AGAIN!  At this point, the man looked sort of mad.  My mom gasped in between snorts, “ Chris...sy...Tell...Him.... Tell.....him”  And she points her finger forward.  Right I thought.  This is helping.  I got out my best grown up voice and said, “ I’m really sorry. We were just telling funny stories. We are going over to Houlton for Chinese food.”  Then man looked at me, and paced  the car again, checked his computer for a while, and then when my mom had her laughing and "tears away"- he waved us on through.  I’m pretty sure he was quite perplexed.  I love this about my mom.  She laughs easily, and is fun to be around

THE SEWING ROOM

My mom spent many of her hours in her sewing room.  It was in the A frame part of the house...so a triangular and LONG room with a HUGE cutting table in the middle, and POUNDS of fabric and 5 or 6 different machines lining the walls.  Days after school when I didn’t have cheerleading or friends over, I would go and sit in the door way of this room.  My bum against one wall and feet against the other.  And I would just talk and talk and talk about my day.  My teachers, and friends, and what happened and what I was thinking.  My mom would sit at her machine and listen and laugh, and sometimes curse when her needle broke or she sewed her finger.  I wish I had pictures of this room.  I remember the general way it looked, and I remember the smell of it, and the warmth of if from the skylight.  My mom is a great listener, and I always felt heard and welcome in this doorway.

Anyways, those are just a FEW among many that popped into my head.  My baby is crying and so I must be on my way to feed the poor child.  Thanks for reading. Happy Mother’s Day one and all. I’m out.