Mother's Day

I had just about the best Mother's Day EVER this year! First of all, I thank God every day for my 4 beautiful HEALTHY sons and my husband who is a tremendous father to them. But this Mother's Day was extra special for me because we took a trip to MI to surprise my mom!

We left WI last Friday and got in that evening. First, we met up with Chris's brother in law to take pictures of his 2 girls, Mya and Ella, with our boys so we could give the portrait to Chris's mom for Mother's Day. After 7 hours in the car, about the LAST thing 2 year old William wanted to do was smile pretty, so it wasn't fun but I think we got a couple decent shots. Then we went to "Nanaland" (Chris's parents' house) which is second only to Disneyworld on Owen and Sammy's list of favorite places to be.

On Saturday, Chris's sister had a BIG party for the girls' birthdays. Mya turned 7 on April 30 and Ella turned 4 on May 9. When I say BIG, I mean B-I-G! There were probably about 40 kids under the age of 8 there, as well as about 50 adults. They had a TON of food and probably the best cake I've ever had (thanks, Costco!). Luke got to sample the chocolate and I'm hoping Chris's sister will send me the picture she took of him afterward - this tiny little baby in a huge Jacuzzi bathtub with chocolate smeared all over his face. He was the happiest guy in the WORLD!

The kids ALL had a great time at the party and I think it was honestly one of the best parties I've ever been to myself. They had a huge bouncy house in the front yard, a cotton candy machine, a little train to take kids around the neighborhood and a clown who painted faces and then did a show for all the kids. William LOVED the clown show! It was 4 hours of more fun than I can remember having and you can imagine how well the kids slept that night!

I got up early on Sunday morning and left with Luke to go to my mom's. Remember, she had NO IDEA I was in town. I called her from the driveway and woke her up (oops!) but she said it was ok because she had to be at my sister's for breakfast in an hour. She asked me how was my Mother's Day and I said "It just might be my best one ever." When she asked why, I said "Because I get to spend it with MY mother." Pause. "I'm standing on your back deck right now." NO!!! She raced out of bed and planted a big kiss on Luke as soon as she opened the door. It was one of the coolest things I've gotten to do for someone in a loooong time. We then went to my sister's and surprised her and then my brother and his family (the only ones who were in on it with me) came over to her house later that afternoon for pizza.

During the trip we had two great discoveries: William discovered DOLLS. He's 2 1/2 but has never really seen dolls before. He was fascinated by their hair and kept flipping it around. It was adorable! And Luke discovered TABLE FOOD. YUM! He loved the cake at the party, he had cotton candy (a perfect food since it dissolves on your tongue), and he also loved French fries, crackers and chicken noodle soup. I even shared an Oreo with him. Baby food will never be the same for him, but he's almost 8 months old so it's not long now until he can belly-up to the bar with his brothers. He'll be so excited!

Sorry for the long post, but there was much to recap. I'll try to get some pictures from the trip up soon.