Mother's Day 2013

As I looked ahead to Mother's Day this year, I wasn't sure what to expect.  Anthony, Lori, and Austin are away on an extended weekend trip in Atlanta, so being with them was not an option.  Nobody had plans to come to our place in State College, but I had my Sunday morning responsibilities at church, so going anywhere for the weekend was not an option either.  I was just about to feel sorry for myself, that I, the mother of seven and grandmother of eight, would possibly spend Mother's Day without any of them.  Then I found out Sam, Jenn, and Sammy would be at her parents near Harrisburg for the day, and that Destiny would not be going to to her mom's for the weekend as I had assumed, so we planned a little day trip, which turned out to be a very fun day.

As soon as church was over at Houserville, we hit the road toward Harrisburg.  I just couldn't wait to see Sammy, and he did not disappoint!  He was sitting on a porch chair, not expecting to see us, and his reaction when he did was priceless.  I just love that he knows who we are.  And his hair is starting to curl! (Sorry, the curls do not show up on these pics.)  I could have just eaten him up!  So I sat down beside him as we examined the flowers from Sam.

He hammed it up the whole time we were there, but we couldn't get one of his big smiles for the camera.

We stayed for maybe 45 minutes, then we headed for Pottsville.  Frank had told me he would cook me a meal for Mother's Day, even asked me if I had any requests.  Because I knew he makes the best pork and Puerto Rican rice and beans, that's what I requested.  But he already knew I would, and had those things already on the menu.

While he cooked and Dick napped, Destiny and I had some girl time.  We headed to the mall and straight to her favorite store - the pet store.  She went crazy with my camera!  Here are three of the best shots.  

She had permission from Frank to get a hamster, so she picked one out.  Here's "Little Guy".   He's actually Little Guy II.  A few years ago she had a hamster by that name.  We had an absolutely hilarious time in the car when she got him out of his little box.  She just couldn't wait to hold him, but oh my!!  He was nervous and dropping little turds non-stop!  She had shorts on and they were dropping on her bare legs, freaking her out.  Thankfully I had wipes in the glove compartment.  We were just screaming laughing.   

He was much happier at home in his little nest!

Here's a pic of my personal Mother's Day chef!

And the incredibly scrumptious food he cooked.  He also made apple crisp served with vanilla ice cream for dessert!

 Is she taller than me now, or is it just that top knot?

How do these kids grow up so darn fast??? 

Last week I started going through a box of old photos that I've never really dealt with.  Most are duplicates of ones I have in my photo albums, but I found one that must have been given to me from someone else, taken just before Destiny's third birthday.  It just cracked me up.  We used to say she looked like the little girl in the Monsters INC movie with her pig tails!

I heard from all our children throughout the day in one way or another, even Miki in Sweden.  On our way home from Pottsville last evening I got the sweetest wishes of all via this video.

This bouquet is a combination of the flowers from Sam and from Frank.

The bouquet on the left was from Lori before they left for Atlanta.  And the lilacs were from Dick.  He bought a ladder on Saturday in response to a Craigslist ad, and the lady offered him lilacs from her bush as well!  I just love lilacs and have strong, nostalgic feelings about them from my childhood. 

It was a very good day indeed.