Mother's Day 2014

I love school/daycare the absolute most around the holidays.  There is (almost) always an awesome craft involving hand prints, poems, photos, etc.  Especially Mother's Day.  It is my favorite.  This is particularly important when you have a husband who has never done a craft.  Ever.  The kindergarten classes hosted a "Muffins With Mom" event and when I arrived at Norah's classroom I was to find my seat by locating my portrait.  It took be about three seconds. Wonky eye and all.

There was an adorable craft (with a photo!), she served me a muffin, and there were lots of hugs to go around.  I do not know if this is standard kindergarten operating procedure, but I feel like we hit the jackpot with the awesome teacher Norah has had this year.  Besides being patient, kind, energetic, and compassionate, she loves crafts.  With photos!

We had a photobomber.

The next day was a similar event at Lou's school.  He did not, however, serve me a muffin.  We did however eat muffins together.  You might be able to see the blue marker all over his face.  That morning he was very quiet during the short drive from Norah's school to his.  Turns out it was because he was sucking on one of Norah's scented markers the entire way.  Shows you what I get for enjoying a few minutes of peace.

These are his BFF's.  Louie is a bit of the instigator/ring leader.  He will do anything for a laugh and these guys are a good audience.

The class sang "You Are My Sunshine" as a group and it was spectacular.

I also received these gems.

We had the good fortune of hosting GG over a long Mother's Day weekend.  She was unable to come out for her usual Thanksgiving trip due to a knee replacement, so it had been almost a year since we had seen her.  She came bearing gifts, including an authentic Dutch dress and wooden shoes that are 30+ years old.  Bringing some roots!

Unfortunately the shoes were way too small for Norah and her gigantic feet.  Lou loves them and can do quite the Riverdance.

Norah demanded to wear her hair in braids for the next week.  I think she's finally forgotten about it, which is fortunate because I suck at braids.

GG was a good sport about played about 9,000 versions of Spider Man versus Doc Octopus in the backyard.

She also brought awesome new swim suits for the kids.

For the past several Christmases GG has gifted BVZ and myself season tickets to the Broadway Across Austin series.  It has been great because at least six times a year it forces us to actually leave the house and spend time together.  The timing was perfect because Saturday night was the last show of the season and BVZ was able to take GG out to dinner and a show.

Norah was really bummed she did not get to go with them.  Louis did not care.

Instead Lou had a sleepover at Reid's and Norah and I went to Megan's dance troupe recital.  It is amazing how quickly Megan went from being a little kid to a full on teenager.  I am so proud of her. (Yes, Norah is wearing her Christmas dress and orange jelly shoes.  There are fights I just do not fight.)

For Mother's Day proper I told BVZ that I did not care one bit what we did but I did not want to 1) make any decisions, 2) cook anything, 3) feed anyone, 4) wipe anyone's ass, or 5) be aggravated. So, he and the bro-in-law's took it upon themselves to organize a pool party at our house.  They decided on the menu and did all the shopping, cooking, and serving.  

I also woke up to this:

This is my sixth mother's day.  From the beginning, all I have ever wanted is a kid involved craft or photo from BVZ.  I have gotten everything from fancy jewelry to a giant tootsie roll, but never a kid involved craft or photo.  However, this year everything changed.  I went to a brunch for a few hours the week before and apparently a field trip to the reservoir took place.  Please note all of the awesome things about this gift.  The sign made out of a cardboard Amazon.com box (Norah apparently did all the writing).  The fact that they are looking directly into the sun.  No one was wearing sunscreen.  Lou is walking AWAY in the second photo.  Everything about it is a hot, hot mess and I literally could not love it more.  Bravo, BVZ.  You win Mother's Day.

He also took it upon himself to order a fancy cream cake from a bakery that Bubby really likes. Double win.

We cranked up the heater in the pool, everyone came over, and I drank cocktails in a red plastic cup for the next three hours.  It was glorious.

Children ate without me having to fix them a plate.

I actually got to sit down and eat a meal from start to finish.  And it was delicious.

The bar has now been raised.