What I really want for Mother's day..........

I've seen all sorts of posts about the best things to get your mom for mother's day recently. A lot of them appear to be written by moms of young children because they go along the lines of "no, I don't want to take the family to the beach because it's too much work for me" and while I totally appreciate that, I took my family to the beach last Mother's day and it was awesome.

I'm not one for the fancy brunch with mimosas. I'd much rather be served Starbucks in bed (forget about eggs and bacon, bring me sour cream walnut coffee cake from Tully's). I don't really want to go out to an expensive dinner, either. Feast night works great for me - nothing like grazing over an assortment of treats!

I could care less about gadgets and appliances. I already have some awesome purses. I pretty much buy whatever clothes and shoes I want throughout the year, and I have a closet full. But I love gifts from the heart - a sketch, a painting, a scrapbook, a song, a poem. I know moms are supposed to say that, but I actually DO love handmade gifts, or a gift of talent and time.

But a mom can dream, right? So, here's a list of things that I (and probably any mom) would LOVE for Mother's day:
1. For someone to do the dishes just because they are piled high in the sink. And by "do" them, I mean take initiative and load and unload the dishwasher without being asked and/or without rolling eyes or groaning when being asked.
2. For someone to vacuum at least a couple of times a week instead of twice a month, and not only when the dog hair tumbleweeds are the size of grapefruit.
3. For someone to do the grocery shopping. Forever.
4. For someone besides myself and my husband to cook a meal. If, for any other reason, to prove to us that our kids can and will survive outside the household and be able to make a meal with more than one course.
5. For someone to bring me Starbucks every day. My ass will protest, but yum!
6. For someone to take out the garbage before it's tumbling over.
7. For fresh chocolate chip cookies every day, pizza once a week, and for them to not have any calories.
8. For someone to bring me fresh Gerber daisies weekly.
9. For someone to cook dinner. Forever.
10. For a fancy vacation once a year and several less-fancy vacations the rest of the year.

And while some of those things are do-able, and some are just plain crazy, I have to say I'm pretty darn happy with things just the way they are.

I love my home - it's messy and chaotic but it's full of things we love and people I treasure. I love it when all four kids are home and everyone is just doing their thing, but we're all in the same room and it's just average and normal. Because, to me, it's everything.

I love it when my kids are hanging out and we're all crafting, or creating, or the kids are having a jam session and I hear music and voices and laughter. That's the best sound.

I love how ridiculous my family is at times. The silly videos, pictures, funny things said,  forever recorded on social media. Not necessarily for others' entertainment but so we can look back and laugh at ourselves in the future.

I love road trips with my kids. The car is always trashed. We never get anywhere on time. But we have tons of time to talk and watch the world go by. Or not talk and watch the world go by. Either way, it's ok.

So, when it comes to what I "want" for Mother's day, the answer is usually the same. A day spent with my kids, usually at a beach, hanging out, eating snacks and relaxing. No agenda. No big plans. No spa day with fluffy towels and "me time". Sure, that's fun, but maybe another day.

On Mother's day I want to celebrate with the ones who made me a mother. The first born, who fulfilled my lifelong dream of being a mom. The second born, who showed me it was possible to love another child, not "as much" but wholly and completely, just like the first time. The third born, who showed me how to relax and enjoy this fleeting thing called mothering, because he was my last baby. Then, the bonus daughter who showed me mother love wasn't limited by biology and completed our family.

How lucky am I?

I love these dorks! 

Happy Mother's Day! 

So many things to do.......think I'll blog!

So it's 8 at night and I have so many things to do. I totally bailed on Jeff's softball game. I didn't even leave him a message (of course, he hasn't called me either......) and I feel kinda bad because he's on his bike and I should really go pick him up.........but I need to color my roots because they are so gray and I just hate my gray hair and why do I even have to have gray hair and I can't afford to have it colored every two weeks so it's just me and a bottle of $6 Nice and Easy which Jeff calls Nice and Sleazy........so anyway, if I go color my roots then he'll call to be picked up and then I'll be all WET from rinsing and I might as well just take a shower after that because I'll already have to rinse my hair and it would save me time in the morning if I just get a shower after I do my roots......but then if I'm all nice and clean it would really be nice to have some clean sheets on the bed, which I've been meaning to do for like, three weeks (I know, mom, gross, but what can I do? I have four kids, no maid and a job......I just can't change the sheets every week)......and then if I strip the sheets off I'll have an even bigger pile of laundry and I already have all the blankets and bedding from the camping trip, which I really need to get washed straight away so we can put it all back IN the camper and put the camper away in the garage.....plus I always have other mountains of laundry to do, in fact just today Hayley said she needed more bras, but really all her bras are just being held captive in the laundry room and I haven't gotten to them yet...........and speaking of Hayley, she's off making chocolate chip cookies, which I love like my own children, and certainly don't need because I need to lose weight SO BAD.....which reminds me that we're going to the beach in a week and no way in hell am I going to want to wear a swimsuit because I might get pushed back in the ocean while people yell "save the whales!".........and anyway, I already ate some M&M's........and the kids are watching TV when really they could be helping clean this house which is so strewn with dog hair it's disgusting, I am talking CLUMPS on the floor, little mousy looking things that jump out at you......and speaking of dogs, Shade barked ALL DAY today...seriously, just barked and barked and nothing made him happy and I thought I might go crazy and emailed Jeff and said he needed to get this dog on some sedatives or I will go postal.........and then Shade got into a big bag of candy and candy wrappers and ate who knows what while Hannah just lay on the couch not even noticing it because she's been in a sugar coma all day because she ate candy nonstop for like six hours yesterday.......and so today I was trying to get the kids to eat all healthy......and hey, I just noticed that I don't think the girls remembered that their show is on RIGHT NOW and when they realize it they will freak........and I think I just ran out of things to say. Ok, I'm done.