Happy Mother's Day

Those of you who know my mom know how awesome she is. She's spunky, caring, motivated, determined, persistent, gracious, and amazingly fun. One of the things I love most about her is the love she has for her children.

She has taught me to be a better mom by providing an example of how to be involved with my kids' lives and to respect and understand their individual needs. I appreciate the sacrifices she made so that she could be at home for us every day when we came home from school. There were many days that she was actually at my school, busy fulfilling PTA duties, bringing treats for class parties, or cheering me on in my extra-curriculars.

I could go on and on about the millions of things I love about her, but mostly, this Mother's Day, I'm grateful for the way she taught me to respect myself, because it has affected every (good!) decision I have made.

Thanks, Mom for all the fun and joy you bring to our lives. What's life without laughter, anyway?!

In closing, I shall provide an example of just one source of recent laughter: My mom loves to get massages. A few months ago on a visit up here in Utah, she and Bridget went to get massages. Apparently there must have been some smoke alarms that were set off, because firemen were bustling through the building and checking on each of the patrons. My mom, mid-massage, was happily chatting away with the masseuse, completely unaware—until she turned her head—why there was a scare. Apparently, her purse was sitting too close to the candle on a nearby countertop and had caught fire. She took care of the situation immediately, but the true 'mom' part of this story is how she remedied it. She ran down to our local fabric store, but a glittery red heart patch, and glue-gunned that bad dog right over the burn spot on the purse. Add clever and scrappy to her list of admirable attributes! Love you, Mom!