My Birthday, the Garden, Mother's Day

Monday was my birthday. It was a great day. There were a lot of good things to it, but I think that my favorite part was how much Elizabeth (and by little sisterly extension, Savannah) cared so much about it this year. A week before she started bugging us to take us shopping so that she could buy me something. We put it off for a couple of days and were going to put it off again, but she was so upset that Kip cut his church meeting a little short and just took her. Then she and Savannah were telling me Happy Birthday every two minutes. And at one point in the day when I was annoyed about something (pretty sure it had to do with cleaning the bathroom), Elizabeth came in and said, "Can I do it?" Anyway, it was just sweet. We had a great party with our friends that night and it was a very fun day. Here's the best of the 2 pictures Kip took that night. (Prepare to be amazed.)

My other goal this week was to get my garden in. I already had a few things planted, but didn't have any of the seeds in the ground yet. On Thursday I got it done. It's so satisfying to see that plot of land all weedless and mounded and full of promise.

See that pretty white fence. That's part of my Mother's Day present. The other 3 sides should be coming soon. Also this year we decided to add a little "kid garden" to the big garden. If you click on this, you can see it sort of behind my garden. I'm letting the kids pick a few plants to put in it and then I'll probably lay some type of landscaping paper or whatever it's called (the stuff you lay down to keep weeds from popping through) since I do not trust the kids' weeding commitment and since I'll have enough weeds of my own to take care of.

Today was a wonderful Mother's Day. It's the first one Kip has been off work for several years and even if he didn't do anything at all special (and he did make it pleasant and special, but even if he hadn't...), it would just be nice to have some extra hands around. Also, the kids are getting old enough to be cute about it. I was woken this morning by Mark jumping into bed and giving me a bag with a breakfast inside. It had hot chocolate, herbal tea, and an apple. So I enjoyed my breakfast in bed and then the girls came in and they gave me their presents (flowers they'd potted at Rural King yesterday). We went to church, which I love on Mother's Day and then we had a hot dog roast and cookies and cream (true love). And then we went to a park and for a fun hike. It was just the loveliest day.

And yes, I know that this is a boring post. I admit that it is more to update and inform than to entertain. Please forgive. I'm just a little too tired tonight to feel clever, but thought people might want to know what's going on.

As one non-boring note, let me follow my sister's example and thank my own mother for being so supportive and giving us so much time, attention, and--most-notably--for having faith in us. When I think about what my mother most gave me in life (and she gave me many things), it is this: She believed that I could do whatever it was I wanted (and set my mind on) doing. That has meant more to me than anything. Thank you.