Sunday, June 8, 2014

Family Traditions #26: A Double Dose

My family spoils me good in May since it's my birthday month AND Mother's Day falls in there too. This year though, I felt extra spoiled all month long.

Mother's Day morning (Saturday here) I got to sleep in and then wake up to this:
Jonah bent down and looked right in my face and said with a big smile, "Mama, today is YOUR day, today is all about you!" Sweetie-pie!

Jimmy had been building the day up ahead of time and the boys were excited to participate. They helped Jimmy make waffles with pecans in them and then brought me breakfast in bed! 
They brought their little kiddy table to eat with me too! 

It's kind of a tradition for my kids to give me plants for Mother's Day. This year they did even more than that. This is a spot right in front of our front porch. We laid the stone path a month or two ago but hadn't landscaped yet, waiting for the rains to start. They fixed up our wheel barrow and moved some dirt to fill in a spot around our Fishtail tree and then we transplanted some mint!
 Mint makes a beautiful ground cover and since it spreads so fast and overtakes other things, this is a perfect spot for it. Plus it is a natural fly repellant (tried to type that without laughing... we have flies everywhere).
Our path is really beautiful, even more so before our dogs muddied it all up. Some opossums trashed our mini power washer, so until that's repaired it's keeping its green tinted charm. 

The kiddos went with Jimmy to the nursery to pick out their own flowers. Jonah said that he wanted to get me a red flower since he "looked around and I didn't have any red ones already." Red is Jonah's favorite color.
I love that Jonah and Silas both got me daisies, but different colored one. Twins, but different... kind of perfect! Silas said he wanted to find a yellow flower because "that is Mama's favorite color."
Eden picked out a purple lily which I planted next to our front gate. 

Guatemalan Mother's Day fell on a Saturday which is our Family Fun Day, so we had the whole day with no schedule. We played games together and just relaxed.
Jimmy made a delicious supper that evening. It was sausage stuffed vegetables from our garden.Yum!
And I didn't have to wash a single dish all day. Woot woot! 
The boys made me cards, which I'll keep forever! 
 
Closer to the end of the month was my birthday. Another day of no dishes!!! Jimmy made breakfast again too!
{Birthday morning. My 34th}
Jimmy got my Mom's Frozen Coconut Cake recipe and he and the kiddos whipped one up. (That is one ingredient I always pick up on furlough, sweetened coconut!)
 They had to substitute some of the other ingredients, but it still tasted just like my mom's!
The institute had a short break between semesters and Jimmy used 2 of those afternoons to build my present. The boys love being in the wood shop with Dada!
At the end of the second day there was a huge storm, so Jimmy didn't get to finish pollying everything yet. Eden was out in the shop with him and they both got stuck in the storm! 
 Here is my present! It is for our back porch! I love it! The backs of the chairs have a nice slant to them, so they are super comfy. It is hard wood, so the bugs won't eat it.
 It's perfect for watching the kids play in the backyard. I see many mornings in those chairs with some coffee... before the kids wake up!
My parents and Jimmy's parents always skype with us on our birthdays and send us cards and presents. Seriously, we are in our 30's and they still go out of their way to make us feel special from far away on our birthdays. It is SO sweet. My parents gave me money which I'm saving till our October furlough. Nice to know I have that set aside to pick up all kinds of things we can't find here. My Mother-in-law spent a lot of time putting together several really thoughtful bubble mailers full of all kinds of goodies she knew I would appreciate and enjoy and got them here on my birthday. It's not the things, but the way our parents intentionally stay connected in our lives and make us feel loved.

My family made me feel extra special this past month. I love them So much! Ordinary days with them are pretty fabulous too!

CRAZY ITEM OF THE DAY:
For some reason we keep having the same argument. How big is too big to just let the reptile roam free in the house? No one wants to take the time to catch them or chase them out.

2 comments:

  1. Those chairs and table are gorgeous - what a great spot to have coffee in the morning!

    Happy belated birthday!

    ReplyDelete

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