We spread Mother's Day over two days this year, which was lovely as I have two children. On Saturday, we were invited to breakfast/brunch at Jen and Jay's before Ryan's T-ball game. Jay prepared all the food, to include a beautiful fruit salad (no melon, as it is not a favorite of Jen's--so thoughtful), scrambled eggs, bacon, pancakes, orange juice and coffee. The table was set beautifully with a white damask tablecloth, and the food was yummy.
After breakfast, we all headed out to Ryan's game at the local middle school. Unfortunately, I embarrassed myself horrendously when I pulled Ryan away from a box turtle he was poking at and told him to 'leave the turtle alone!' Then the child looked up at me, and it wasn't Ryan! I should have known Jen would never have allowed him to harass the poor critter, and she was standing right there--as was the mother of the child I corrected. I did apologize, and she seemed to accept that I truly thought the child was my grandson. After that debacle, things went smoothly.
There was still a game going on the diamond, so the coaches had the kids practice while they waited. Lily had immediately noticed a playground next to the field, and she wanted to play. I offered to take her so Mom and Dad could watch Ryan. Lily was very happy with the equipment. She climbed and slid and hung and generally had a good time. Jenny relieved me for a bit so I could watch Ryan play. Ryan did very well, hitting a coach-pitched ball each time he was at bat--he didn't use the tee at all. He ran the bases very well, also, and fielded pretty well (for someone totally new to the game), too.
After the game, Ryan wanted to play on the playground, too, so we took a few minutes for him. Then, since we grown-ups were all dirty and hot, we went to our respective homes to change and have some lunch before heading off to Ladew Gardens. It was a warm day, but we enjoyed the gardens and all the fun details of the place. There is a Secret Garden that entranced Lily; and 'castle' topiary that thrilled Ryan; koi that amazed Jay as they swam right up to him as he stood on the bank of the pond with Ryan and Lily. The koi visited with them for quite a while. It was a lovely way to spend a day. Below are some pictures taken at the Gardens:
^ Jay and the kids with the koi. ^
^Ryan asked me to take this picture with the statues. ^
^White bleeding hearts plants--I had never seen these without color before, only the pink and white, like in our garden. Tom suggested this should be called "Angel Wings."^
^Posing for Grandpa.^
^My favorite photo of the day--Mommy was carrying Mickey for her child. Isn't that the cutest? He looks like he is greeting passers-by. ^
When we left the garden, Jen, Jay and kids headed off to a Birthday Party, and Tom took me to Home Depot to shop for some parts he needed to complete a couple of lamps his mother asked him to make.
On Sunday after Mass, we had breakfast at home, Tom took a run and then we headed off to my sister Janet's place for a family Mother's Day celebration. We stopped on the way at the Cheesecake Factory so Tom could take a cake to his sister's house for their family celebration--which we would join after dinner. Parking was so difficult at the mall that Tom left me to drive in circles while he went inside to buy the cake. We dropped the cake at Dina's and zipped over to Janet's.
Janet had everything organized really well, with little signs marking what foods went where on the dining room table. Outside she had a basketball hoop, a copper fire pit, tables, a hammock and bubbles! The youngest generation had a great time playing outside and getting to know one another. I had a good time helping Janet where I could and visiting with my Mom and Dad a bit. T.j. and Jodi arrived, and their gift was so sweet. T.J. made the decision, and I loved it--they gave me a pink potholder that happily had my initial monogrammed on it. Another part of the gift was a set of covered and insulated cookie sheets-one large, one small. That is, one for me and one for Lily. T.J. knows how much I enjoy baking with Lily when she visits and he thought the covered trays were perfect. He was right!
Speaking of Mom, I was really pleased with the gift I got for Mom this year. As everyone knows, these days gift-buying is getting really difficult because we either have everything we need or we buy it for ourselves. This is close to completely true for Mom, too...however, a couple of months ago while I was visiting, Mom was telling me about her Hummel collection. She mentioned her favorite sculptor, Skrobek, had died. Somewhere in the conversation she told me that he had written a book and she didn't buy it when it came out all those years ago. Now she wishes she had. Aha! An idea began to form. I wondered how I could find the book when I didn't know the title and was unsure of how to spell the author's name. Then Mom popped up from her chair and went to her cabinet, removing a figure of a little boy. It was a self-portrait by her favorite sculptor--and there was his book, right there on the figurine! Mom pointed out the book and asked me to read her the title. Eureka! I found it used on Amazon.com. She was obviously pleased when she opened it on Sunday, opening the book immediately and commenting on pictures and reading a bit. I'm really glad she liked it.
Shortly after we ate, we said our goodbyes and headed to the out-laws where we enjoyed dessert and some nice conversation before a tree in the neighborhood caused all sorts of drama by falling and taking some electric wires with it, leaving us without electric power. It was still light outside and not too dark inside, so we were still enjoying each other's company when there was a loud noise and Tom pointed out that Dina and Bill now had 'air-conditioning.' A ball had hit a window in the dining room, creating a ball-sized hole in the glass! Poor Dina and Bill didn't have such a good night...I called the next day and they had electricity. And as luck would have it, they are planning to replace the windows in a couple of weeks, so the repair will take place simultaneously. We had a good time in spite of all the hardships. ;)
I hope all the Mothers, soon-to-be Mothers, want-to-be Mothers and Mothers-in-law had a wonderful day this Mother's Day. Thank you all for the gentle influence of your love on the lives of your children, their friends, your grandchildren, great-children and anyone who shares a connection with you. Mothers make America strong!
