Mothers & Fathers

I enjoyed Mother's Day this year.  A few times I haven't enjoyed it as much as I concentrated mainly on what I was doing wrong and how I felt like I wasn't a good mom.  This year I enjoyed the little gifts and HUGE pile of chocolate Lee gave me, and thought about the moms in my life that make it so much better.  My mom, Lee's mom, the mom's in my branch growing up, the moms that are my friends.  It truly is better to think of others and not focus on myself!  One of my favorite things about Mother's Day is the notes my kids and Lee write to me.  I think they're so sweet and cute.  Lee even made me potatoes and eggs (my kind of breakfast!).  Lee served me as usual that day and made me feel very blessed.  Sometimes I get overwhelmed with this job of raising kids.  Very often I'm so thankful I get to do what I want: be a stay-at-home mom.  Sometimes the reality of having kids hits me too.  I'll think "Wow, are these really my kids?  Am I really responsible for them?"  Yes. Yes.

This chocolate was oh so good.  The day after Mother's Day I ate only four pieces a day (that is huge for me with chocolate sitting around) and let my kids have a few piece quite often too. And Lee.


Lee gave me a cute water pitcher too.


I received some yummy chocolate from church.  I think it was gone before we made it home (I shared too...a little....)


As to my job of mothering there are times when I think something must be going right, sometimes. Like when Cal one morning randomly emptied the dishwasher (all but the utensil holder thing) for Haley.  No prodding, no serve-your-siblings-suggestion.  Love this. Love the note too.


As for Fathers, Lee went on a Father's and Son's campout recently.  Father's Day obviously hasn't happened yet.  Lee has been doing a lot of work with Clark lately for scouts, which has been great.  One thing has been lots of bike rides as Lee did the Cycling merit badge with Clark.  Here they are before an eight mile ride.




And after.  I could not get the mud out of Clark's shirt, and you can see it slightly in Lee's shirt after I scrubbed it. 


Before the Father's and Son's campout the boys went to Wood Grill.  They saw a pretty sweet car too!




They went to Camp Shenandoah again, the boy scout camp.  I love that they boys were excited to camp with Lee.


The Gaga pit.  This is the first time I've seen it....in a picture, never in real life.  I had imagined something quite different.  But this apparently is a popular game at boy scout camp!








A cool photo by Lee, of a cicada.


The boys had a terrific time at the Father's and Son's.  I'm glad my kids have a great dad. Fathers are so important and crucial.  The next morning we all met up for a bike ride which I will post about soon.  It was epic.  And crazy.