Motha's day

Mother's day was this weekend. I have never felt more blessed or loved in my entire life. I woke up at 10 minutes to 7 with 2 of the most adorable boys in my bed. Miles and Parker. Miles was behind me with his head resting on my shoulder softly scratching my back. Parker was nuzzled up to my tummy sleeping soundly. Miles had to remind me to stay in bed for a really long time. I managed to stay for about 10 minutes. I have to be up by 7 to have 6 kids ready for church by 10:30. When I made it up to the kitchen and dining room I was greeted with decorations and posters and flowers. It was so darn sweet seeing their little handmade posters and cards scotch taped to the wall. They made me a breakfast that was edible and coffee that was even better! They presented me with all their gifts. Grace found an Easter egg in the woods behind our house that she cleaned and wrapped for me. Miles planted a sunflower in a pot for me and made me a "super awesome" keychain. Jordan painted some daisies for me. Hannah made a scrapbook with pictures of all the kids for me. Katelin was home safely from her trip in D.C. As I opened each present, I could see their little faces light up. I remember that feeling. I remember watching my mom open presents from us and having that horrible nagging feeling that she was going to be disappointed. No matter what it was she always loved it. Even if they were Christmas bulb earrings. So it was really exciting for me to have the roles reversed and watch them fill with pride at the treasure they had given me.For the first time ever, I think, we made it to church early. The service was good. They had little mothers day games a the beginning. I was sure that I was going to be the mother with the most kids at home. Nope. Some crazy old woman has 11. About halfway between the sermon I walked out with my screaming toddler. It dawned on me that I don't think I have heard an entire sermon in 4 and a half years. Oh well one day. One day I'll get to sit through and entire church service. The important thing is that I am bringing the kids...right?We spent the rest of the day just hanging out. I even got to take a nap. Jeff took the kids and I out to supper at Golden Corral. I was kind of bummed by this choice because it seems like so much work for me. Constantly escorting kids to the buffet and clearing their plates out of the way. But Jeff rocked. He made sure I got to actually sit and eat an entire plate of food. The best thing was I only ended up cleaning up one spilled drink!Later that night Katelin presented me with her present. She had scraped and saved, and even resisted buying little trinkets in D.C. so she could buy me a necklace. A real one that came in a box. It had six itty bitty little diamonds on it. One for each kid. She was really proud of herself. And I was proud of her too. She really is a sweet girl. I went to bed that night feeling incredibly blissful. I am so lucky to have the husband I have. He is an amazing father and husband. He never lets me down. He never makes me sit and wish about the things I wish he would have done. He has done an awesome job at teaching these kids to put others first. Teaching them how to love. I finally feel like a mother. And I love it.

Kate

dropped Katelin off at the airport last night. She is going to spend a week in D.C. with 25 other kids from her school. It is really hard to put into words the way I am feeling right now. For the last 2 years I have poured my entire being into mothering her. Technically I am her step-mother. But I treat her like my own daughter. I love her like my own daughter. I worry about her like my own daughter. I haven't spent any amount of extended time away from her since the moment I married her dad. I have kissed her goodnight everynight for the last 2 years. But... since I did not give birth to her, my mothering instincts aren't as intense as they should be. Like when she throws up, I am not biologically thrown into the mode of caretaker/puke cleaner upper like I am when Grace tosses her cookies. It takes me a second, that's all. So when she left last night I was curious as to how much I was going to worry about her. Well I have worried a lot. I had the hardest time falling asleep. And when I did fall asleep I tossed and turned and woke up over and over. I kept wondering exactly where she was in the air. I worry that she ate a good breakfast this morning. I worry that someone is picking on her. I worry that some greasy old man is ogling her body. I worry that she is going to turn around and see her entire group has dissapeared. My mind is racing!!! I guess that's a good thing though. Maybe I am more of a mother than I thought I was. Man I am going to miss that little girl!