Mother's Day

It's only my second Mother's Day as a mother and so far it's been a great day! It began on Thursday when I was leaving the house to go for walk. As I came out the front door (which we never use since we go out the garage) I noticed there was a package at the front door. Michael said, "Oh, that's for you." It was my mother's day present: a beautiful box of decorated chocolate covered strawberries! Michael knows that two of my favorite foods in the entire world are strawberries and chocolate, so when you put them together you can't go wrong. They are the biggest, sweetest strawberries I have ever tasted. I've been enjoying them all weekend.

Also on Thursday, Grandpa, Clark and I met Michael for lunch and then went out to the Navy Exchange. At Grandma's memorial last week the Navy Exchange came up several times since it was one of her favorite places to take the grandchildren to shop. Grandpa called Thursday morning to see if Clark and I would like to go on an outing to the Navy Exchange. Since I haven't been there since I was about 12 and since it was an excuse to get to spend time with Grandpa, I gladly accepted the invitation. When we got there he said, "I'd like to buy you something. Go pick out something." Normally I would have felt a little weird about this, but I figured he was being sentimental since Grandma always took us shopping. As I walked around the women's clothing section he took Clark over to the shoe section. When I came out the dressing room Clark was wearing one new sneaker. Grandpa had taken him to the shoes, gotten his foot sized and picked out a pair of shoes for him. He said I could look at the other choices if I liked another pair better, but the ones he picked were super cute! They have Tigger on the side and they light up. (He has them on the in the picture) Shockingly they have blue and orange stripes on the side...can you believe Grandpa, the ultimate Georgia Bulldog, picked out shoes with blue and orange?!? I found a shirt that I love. I'm wearing it right now. It's bright and cheery and fits really well. Because it's distinctive (in a good way) I'll think of Grandpa every time I wear it.

When I thanked Grandpa for my shirt and Clark's shoes he said, "It is Mother's Day week. I don't have any mothers to buy for, so it's a Mother's Day gift." I told you my Grandpa is amazing!! Some men could learn a lesson from him. I'll get on my soapbox for a second: Don't ever say, "She's not my mother" about your wife. She's the mother of your children so you better figure out something to do to make her day special. I'm definitely not Grandpa's mother (haha!), but I'm the mother of someone he loves and he chose to do something nice for me. I love him and appreciate his thoughtfulness. (The picture is of me in my new shirt with Clark on Mother's Day)

For lunch today we went to Mellow Mushroom. It's my favorite pizza place and we never go there now that we don't live in Orlando. It was delicious! Those who know me well know Michael was super smart to take me to lunch there for Mother's Day. He also got the stuff for steak and twice baked potatoes for dinner which he is going to cook. Yum! I'd say he hit a home run!

I am so blessed to have the most AMAZING mother in the entire world. She has taught me so much about being a mother and I hope to use what she has taught me. She has loved me through her words and actions, taught me to love God and been supportive of everything I have tried to do. I'm not exaggerating when I say a number of my friends were jealous of me growing up because they wished my mom was their mom. She's just that awesome! I also have been blessed with an amazing mother-in-law. I know mother-in-law's don't always have a good reputation, but my mother-in-law doesn't fit the stereotypes at all. She's caring, supportive, kind and accepts me as a daughter. For this, I am very grateful! I love my mom by birth and my mom by marriage.

This is much longer than I planned. I just feel so blessed and praise God for putting so many wonderful people in my life.