The funny lunch.

This photo somehow didn't get on the blog last Sunday, but it needs to be posted and remembered forever and ever more. Bruce was inspired by this book to make me a "funny lunch" for Mother's Day. He and Scott made this awesome creation: a mushroom-stuffed tomato-basil snowman with pretzel arms and olive eyes. It was delicious.

And Happy Mother's Day to me...

...because nothing says I Love You like "It's still okay. I like you!"

Bruce said the big headed guy saying "no!" is him whining and that is me in the corner with hands on hips. He said he still likes me even though I scold him for whining.

Also for Mother's Day, I got breakfast in bed, an ice cream maker, a candle, and some peace and quiet.

Happy Mother's Day to my Awesome Mom

 Here is my biggest fan. You would think that with 10 kids, my mom wouldn't have time to make it to everyone's sporting events, plays, science fairs, scouting banquets, and parent-teacher conferences. Somehow she made it to everything for everyone (maybe she had one of these?) and then some (muffins for sick people, volunteering with the police and fire department, community activist, classroom parent for 30 years, etc.). She made it to cheer me on in the marathon this year and saved the day when Bruce and Phoebe both surprised me by being born six weeks early.

 

At the State Cross Country meet my senior year,  my parents led a fan club to remember. Many of my siblings, nieces, nephews, neighbors, and friends came to support me, all dressed with my signature nubbly hair-style. Some painted their faces and my older brother, Dan, even shaved "GO EMILY" into the back of his head. I won the race and still treasure it as one of my best moments because of the support from my family. 

When I went to the State Track meet the following spring, my mom led the troops again and cheered me on through one of the hottest meets of the year (I think it was almost 90 degrees). I ran the 4 x 800-meter relay one night, then the 1600 meters the next day, and the 3200 meters two hours later. While the 3200 meters was my strongest event, it was my last event when I would be the most tired. My dad took a video of the race - and someday when I am savvy enough I will post it - and the best part of the video is during the last 200 meters of the race. Another girl and I had been battling back and forth throughout the race and it came down to the very end. In the video, you can see me pull ahead while the camera jostles all over the place (before the days of image stabilization). You can hear my mom screaming "GO EMILY!" so loud that her voice breaks and cracks. You can tell she is so emotional but it doesn't stop her from yelling into a big stadium even when there is little chance she will be heard by me.

That is my mom: I know she supports me even when I can't hear it coming. When Phoebe was born, my mom came and watched Bruce, made meals, drove me to the hospital, and generally took care of everything. When Phoebe was still in the hospital, my mom brought me to visit her but would reserve Phoebe's limited out-of-the-isolette time for me; my mom did not even hold Phoebe the first time she came out. My mom was a mother first before a grandmother, I guess.

I love you Mom!

My Mother's Day

My Mother's Day was wonderful. I only got up once during the night and Scott let me sleep in until 7:30!!! Best present ever! Scott and Bruce picked out some flowers for me on Saturday and arranged them nicely on the table. Then Scott made a zillion crepes for brunch. We've started a new tradition of having people over for brunch on Sunday mornings since we moved to our new place; I skipped the breakfast in bed thing and opted for brunch with kids and friends instead. Fun!

At church, the kids made cards for their moms. Scott made one for me too. I didn't get a chance to read it though. While I was teaching our class, a huge centipede ran across the floor and I squealed (it was really fast and creepy). Scott tried to get it to walk on his Mother's Day card so he could humanely take it outside and shake it off. But the stupid centipede kept running on and off the card really fast, so Scott finally resorted to smashing it in my card. Ah, my knight in shining armor...
I finally sneaked up on Scott and got a picture. Aren't they cute?

By the way, Bruce took that first picture today. He's getting better at holding the camera steady.

A Shout Out to The Mama

Happy Mother's Day to all you ladies out there, especially the one and only Mom.

My mom is perhaps the world's busiest person, but she dropped everything and swooped in to Boston to save the day when Phoebe was born (see here). She did the same thing when Bruce was born: jumped on a plane and put the crib together, decorated his room, washed all the clothes, and so much more.

My mom doesn't just save the day when babies are born though.

My sophomore year of high school, she drove me to the graduation party of a friend of mine (I didn't have my license yet). He was a friend from another school, so we'd hung out in groups before but I'd never seen him with the majority of his friends. Anyway, my mom dropped me off and planned on waiting in the car down a long driveway because it was a long drive home; she didn't want to go home just to turn around and come back to pick me up, but didn't want to park right next to the house and embarrass me for having my mommy drop me off at a party. I walked into the party only then realizing that it was a big kegger booze-fest (which I was sooo not into). I handed my card to my friend, wished him luck, and left disappointed that we'd driven so far for a beer party and disappointed that my friend wasn't who I thought he was. My mom was surprised to see me hop in the car an hour earlier than planned, and looking so bummed. She drove me to A&W to cheer me up and we got beers together - root beers.

Thanks Mom. You always save the day.