hollysdaze: Mother's Day

So. I was up late making lots and lots of potato salad to take to a picnic at my oldest sister's house. I volunteered in our church nursery and only had ONE child to take care of! He is about 18 months old and is delightful. We played and played and played! He LOVES trains. I swear I got "into the zone" by moving the little train around the wooden track so much and saying, "Chugga chugga! Woo! Woo!!" It was totally relaxing. We lay on the floor and built towers out of large Lego-type blocks. Then, he stomped through them and I made the Godzilla music. LOL! Fun!

The great Randy #2 in Family Ministry took digital photos of the moms with their kids, and then the kids decorated Foam frames with the photo. I love mine!! I will add a couple of magnets to the back and stick mine on the frig. Every home's Art Museum. Here is the photo he took of me with my girls. Not too flattering of me. I can see stress in my eyes and face. Oh well. I love that we all kind of have those "clamped down smiles" on our faces. LOL! I could just eat those girls of mine right UP! They are so yummy!

The picnic at my sister's home was fun. I sat inside at a table full of ladies and talked and laughed. It was so nice! I belly-laughed at a few things that really struck me funny. Here is one:

My little sister's mother-in-law: Where is your trash?
My oldest sister: In the trash can.

LOL!!! That struck me SO FUNNY for some reason. LOL!! The MIL was asking for the location of the trash can so she could dump her plate. My sister was telling her it was fine to just dump her plate into the trash can. But, the way they each worded it was so funny. I fully expected someone to say, "Where do you keep your socks?" To which, my sister would respond, "In my sock drawer." Hee!

I guess you had to be there.

My mom seemed to be in good spirits and was getting around nicely with her small tank of oxygen. She had a really rough spot with her respiratory health from Fall through Winter, but seems to be in a good spot now! Yeah!

There were a few not-so-pleasant moments in the day, too. Life. Janie fell off a chair in our kitchen right as we were leaving to head to my sister's house. She got a goose-egg on her sweet little forehead. Ouch. Later, May was playing in the playhouse at my sister's. and she got stung by a bee ... or a wasp. That was hard! Not a good surprise. :-( She was MAD. "I hate bees." Comfort. Comfort. "I HATE bees." She must have said that 100 times. This is a kid who normally takes bumps, bangs and bruises and hardly notices them. So, it was kind of nice to see her actually REACT to an owie. :-( My poor sweet girl.

There were plenty of Runnin' Cousins! My niece (oldest sister's daughter) who is called "Aunt" by my children, and her family are awaiting their adoption of two sons/brothers from Ethiopia! I cannot say much, but I got to see and hear more about the boys! I CANNOT WAIT TO MEET my two new nephews! OK. Great nephews. I pray that these adoptions go well in all aspects. Paperwork. Financial needs. Emotional needs. Logistics. Travel. Legalities. ETC! Adoption is never easy nor uncomplicated. But, it is rewarding in countless ways! May all go smoothly for this sweet family. Here are the youngest of all the Cousins (some of whom are shirt-tail "cousins" and not really related to one another. We care not. It is fun!). You will recognize my 3 on the right. Amongst the 4 on the left, every other one are siblings. Meaning, the sisters are shuffled alternately. The first and third girls are awaiting their two brothers. The second and fourth girls have two older brothers who were standing out of frame. The three on the right end have a Mama who still dreams of two sons/brothers for their family. But, who realizes day-by-day that it is probably a dream and not a foretelling prophecy.