a happy Mother's Day :)

After possibly the busiest Saturday we've had in the last six months, I woke up this morning and again hit the floor running. I thought we'd overslept; when I finally stopped hitting snooze, the clock read 9:50. (Church starts at 10:30.) Darren hardly slept all night because of his back injury, so he'd already decided to stay home this morning. I high-tailed it to Dani's room, threw open her door, and said, "We slept late. Get up and move fast."

"Are you on crack?" she asked in a sleepy stupor. "It's not even 9 o'clock."

"No, it's 9:50," I argued.

She pointed to her clock. 8:51. Then she verified it with her cell phone.

"Huh," I shrugged. "So let's go out for breakfast, just you kids and me, for Mother's Day."

"How 'bout just me and you?" she countered.

"No, the boys get to come, too."

She humpfed in mock annoyance, then skedaddled out of bed and got ready. We dined at Jack in the Box on the way to church. LOL!

During lunch at Fortress, my sister called. OH JOY!!!! Loved hearing her voice. HI BOBBIE! MUAH!

After church, I headed to Target to buy a baby gift for my great-niece, and bought snacks for the afternoon Mother's Day gathering at our house. When I arrived at home, Darren had removed all the plastic that covered the entire front room, AND all the layers of dust that coated every surface of said room. He's been scraping and sanding in there for months, and the room has been a disaster zone. He cleaned it up and put all the furniture back in place. It feels so good to have that room back! Dani worked her tail off, helping him get it all done. Happy Mother's Day to me!

At 4, our house began to fill with people we love: Darren's mom and dad, his brother Chris, his brother David and his family, sister Cheryl and her husband, niece Shaina and her fiance, and niece Sarah and 6-month old baby Hannah, my first great-niece. Hannah is just beautiful... perfect, even. Holding her brought a flood of baby memories for me, because she felt just like Dani did when she was a baby - petite, light as a feather, and perfectly precious. Oh the love. I fell instantly.

Early this morning, as soon as I woke Aidan up, he said, "Mom, will you go on a date with me tonight? Just us. So we can spent some time together." It sounded rehearsed and polished. How could I say no? As soon as our company left, Aidan and I headed out; we saw "Hurricane on the Bayou", an IMAX film at the Museum of Science and History, then we dined at Bennigan's. I wanted to go to Macaroni Grill, 'cause I had a craving for Penne Rustica. But Aidan didn't want pasta. He wanted french fries. Guess what he ordered at Bennigan's? PASTA. Little turkey. I wanted to throttle him! lol

A cup of Baked Potato Soup, half an order of Monte Cristo, and half (maybe more) an order of Bananas Foster later, I came straight home and jumped into something loose and comfy. Aidan was so attentive and sweet and adorable on our date. We talked about his class, his favorite subjects, and hurricanes. It was a wonderful date.

After the boys went to bed, Dani and I cuddled for a few minutes on the couch, and now Darren and I are enjoying a quiet - and clean! - house.

Busy, busy. But perfect. Happy Mother's Day to all of my mother friends out there!