Happy Mother's Day

Last year on Mother's Day we were on a family vacation. All the excitement of the trip overshadowed Mother's Day, so I'm pretty sure the only person who wished me a Happy Mother's Day was the waiter at whatever restaurant we ate at next to our hotel. This year, Mark and the kids made a great effort to make Mother's Day special. A cute card, breakfast, a gift - it made me feel appreciated.

After the kids got dressed for church, and Mark was getting himself ready, I decided to let the kids run around outside. The whole world seemed to be telling all mothers "thank you!" It was warm, sunny, flowers blooming everywhere. We were out enjoying it when Evan said, "I smell poo-poo cat." I told Evan to get away from the tree where he was playing because a roaming cat has been known to use it as his litter box. The kids continued to run around, getting their church clothes a bit wet, but not too noticeably muddy.

Evan ran to the other side of the yard and again yelled, "I SMELL POO-POO CAT!" Again I told him to play in the middle of the yard; that darn cat must be using every bush! A third time, standing in the middle of the yard, Evan tells me he "smells poo-poo cat." Knowing there was no way a cat had pooped in so many different places in our yard, I looked down at Evan's shoes, to see them covered in the offending smell. With only 3 minutes before church I found myself scraping "poo-poo cat" off Evan's shoes, remembering why we should indeed celebrate mothers.

I appreciate my mom, and all the "poo-poo cat" she had to deal with in raising me. She is wonderful. And I appreciate the fact that I get to be a mother to my boys - messes and all. Happy Mother's Day!