I Love My Mom!

Me and mom on my birthday!  Wow she looks great.

My mom is fantastic, She loves everyone and I mean everyone.  She is enthusiastic, and fun, and still going strong.....no moss growing in her. She is a wonderful mother to everyone. Her example of motherhood has been a great model for me. I am sure she laughed at me over the things that stressed me out when I was a new mom; just like I sometimes do over the things that J&L get stressed over with Captain A.  She has taught me what matters most and when and what things to let slide.....'People are more important than things'. She is also a good grandma and great grandma......I am learning from her.  She is a counselor, teacher and friend.  She is the first person I turn to for understanding and help after Gary.  Her spiritual side is also awesome and admirable. She remembers to turn to the Lord and lean on him...something I need to do better and learn from her.

Happy Mothers Day to the Best women in the World!

(and get better soon, we love that you are taking things easy, but it is times like this when we all realize that we all lean on you way too much).

MCC

Mother's/Grandmother's Day

Captain Awesome with his mommy at the theatre talking to Uncle Nelson
Working with mommy at the Movie Theatre...just like his dad did at his age.

Grandma Marcie and her boy, Captain A!

My first Mother's Day as a Grandma

Mother's Day was eventful for the Call's. The long awaited Missionary phone call to Mom took place on Saturday.....and the traveling call went off as planned with out a hitch.....we even had a few unexpected hellos form other family members. According to Elder Call's letter he thought only my family would do this when we told him what was going to happen.... At our first stop he not only got to speak with Megan and Grandpa Lyle and Grandma Sheri, but he also got a hello from Aunt Angela and cousins Preston, Laila, Jenna, Landon Addison and his girlfriend Bree. The 20 minutes for Mom and Dad alone were great. At the Theatre we arrived to a big film mess....of course there was a problem, making int difficult for the brothers to talk with him, but they did eventually speak with him. Captain Awesome squawked at the phone(that is his latest form of communication he makes a squawk that sounds like a large bird or what we think a dinosaur would have sounded like). J, L and hay all got a a few quick minutes as did Grandpa Bill and Grandma Mary. We had been on the phone for about an hour and he had to go to church but he said let me talk to my mom. I wondered if it was something confidential, but he said no he just wanted to make sure that I felt like I had had enough time with him on the phone since it was the mother's day phone call. Overall he sounded happy. From what we got out of him he is a great missionary who is willing to work hard and do what is asked of him.

Sunday was also a nice day...we had dinner with the family and visited with Grandma's Mary and Sheri, wishing them a happy day.

Life is always changing, even when it seems to be the same from day to day. After 28 years of being a mother I think that it's good to be a mother/grandmother!
MCC

Motherhood Is A Wild Ride

It's Mother's Day Weekend, it is a crazy weekend at best. Not only is it Mother's Day, but it is my Mom's Birthday and the last big Call from Elder Call in NZ.

There is so much to do and so many places to be and people to see that I just want to scream......in a good way.

We will be celebrating 2 moms/grandmas, a daughter in law and hopefully me, as moms.

We need to celebrate mom's birthday...and she is so hard to gift. She told me she was going to send me a list, but I have yet to see it. If it were up to me I would give her the world, since that is what she has given me. So what to do now?

The Missionary call home is much anticipated, however the scheduling brought tears.....and not selfish tears. Elder Call said he needed to do it on Saturday at 1:30( Sunday Morning for him. On his Monday he will be doing a Zone Conference) ..... No, not Saturday, we are so busy!......the tears I shed were for his sibs who I knew were very busy and committed on Saturday and wouldn't be able to speak with him when he called home.......that is until my answer man Gary said let's have him call my cell phone and we can take the call on the road. So we have now created a wild Saturday afternoon for us......Megan and Grandma Sheri have a show that begins at 2:00pm, so we are going over to their performance place to wait for the call . We have told Grandpa Lyle to meat us there too if he would like to talk with the missionary. They will each have a few minutes. Then it is off to Kaysville where Hay, J, L and Captain A will be working at the Theatre......My turn to talk comes while on the road to Kaysville.....this will be nice with just 3 of us talking and listening. We have told Bill and Mary to come down and join us if they want to talk with him.....So what should and could be a pleasant Saturday is now a big run around.

And those are just the major things that need doing this weekend...there is still Gary 's stuff to do, the painting, the yard, the cards, the crafts, etc......

Being a Mother is one wild crazy ride.

Happy Mother's Day to All of the great mothers that I love and look up to (the Sisters, Aunties, Cousins and Friends included). You make mothering look so easy.

....and happy M-Day to me too....maybe I'll go buy myself the earrings I saw on sale at Macy's......that will be a nice way to wrap up a wild Saturday.

MCC

Mother's Day Eve, Eve

I am so excited for Mother's Day....why you ask? Well, I get to talk to my baby boy in New Zealand......I will finally get to hear if he has developed an accent.....everyone keeps asking me if he has and I laugh at them because for some reason I can only read/see his letters, I haven't developed the skill of 'hearing' a letter....

Mother's Day
I usually think Mother's Day is a big bunch of hooey....no, not when it's about my Mom and the moms in my life, but when it is about me. Don't get me wrong, I love the presents and adoration, but I hate the feeling of failure, and underachievement when I think of myself in the glowing terms that are tossed out in abundance about me this one day....
I think most mothers feel this way. .....as a mother you are supposed to love your family, you are supposed to encourage and support them, you are supposed to nurture them, you are supposed to put your family before you, you are supposed to you are supposed to cook dinner, clean the house, have the laundry done, be the chauffeur, the gardener, the best friend and the whipping post, the centerfold of the June Clever Monthly, etc.....
On Mother's Day we feel a sense of underachievement when we compare ourselves to the glowing icons most children make their mothers out to be........I wasn't home everyday after school with a home baked treat. I didn't make them play the piano. I didn't keep them home form school just for fun. My child didn't get into an Ivy League school. Etc...,etc...etc....
So why all the guilt, and the hate of Mother's day in regards to our selves?
I think that this comes because we all know that there are times when we don't particularly act in ideal mom like ways. We think we must be superhuman, we have this need to be perfect in always and at all times. We look at ourselves as failures to our children because we didn't have the socks matched or bake them cookies?......It is crazy!
We don't expect this mom like perfection out of anyone else, so why do we expect it out of ourselves? Why do we get hung up on the things we don't do, the things we haven't become perfect at, 'ideals' that are out of our control?
If we really looked at the Mom things we do in life, we would realize that we do the right mom things more often than not. We can only be our self. We can't be and shouldn't try to fit into the mold of another mom....We all have our own abilities, gifts and strengths. We are powerful wonderful women.
So this year for for Mom's day I think I will cut myself some slack and enjoy the adoration. I will I will enjoy the day. I will be a happy mother and not dwell on the negative...if one of your children acted moody and had these feeling you would give them a pep talk and tell them not to dwell on the negative. You would remind them of how truly great they really are..... Because it is Mother's Day I will be happy with the messes made in my honor. My heart will be touched with the macaroni card, odd gifts, and flowery words that I receive. I will act like a mom is supposed to act everyday even if I have to do things I don't want to do and hear things that may make me uncomfortable. I am the best mom I know how to be and that is good enough! My Family loves me for me.

...and to My wonderful Mother and all my surrogate mothers out there...Thank you, for being your most wonderful selves. You are all remarkable. You have the power!
My gift to you this year ..... I will try to be more grateful for the everyday things you do for me, everyday. I will try to be more vocal to you about the gratitude I feel for you, maybe that way Mother's Day won't bee such a shock to your system. You are all such great examples of motherhood to me.
....now, you all cut yourselves some slack and enjoy the day. Find happiness in the doing the mom things. Take a little comfort knowing that someday, somewhere there will be a child extolling your virtues and making some other mother wish she were more.....You are the best, you are a mother and you have a great power.
MCC