Mother's Day

I hope everyone had a lovely Mother's Day! 

We did, but it was a little different than past Mother's Days.  Earlier last week, my friend Kami and I decided to take a trip to Richmond, VA for Homearama 2014.  We tried to plan the trip for Saturday, but Sunday worked better for both of us.  I spent Mother's Day morning at home with Chet, Ford, and the girls, then Ford and I headed to Richmond just after 11 a.m.

The drive to Richmond was pure bliss: Ford napped, I got to listen to something (anything) other than the "Frozen" soundtrack, and no one was whining or demanding anything from me.  Happy Mother's Day to me!

Side note: I was excited about visiting Richmond, our state's capitol, but Chet (jokingly) scoffed at my excitement over a measly state capitol when we live three miles from our nation's capitol.  Harumph.

Anyway, Kami also lives in Virginia, but in a town about 2 hours west of Richmond; we both arrived in Richmond around 1:15 p.m.  We parked in the designated area and were shuttled over to the neighborhood where the seven show houses were located.  Kami and I were especially excited about Homearama because one of the houses was decorated by John and Sherry Petersik, authors of the blog Young House Love.  (The house was just as stunning in person as it was in preview pictures I saw on their blog.)

Ford was a trooper at Homearama; happy as a clam as long as he was being carried, his back against my chest facing forward, like a little king.  I think his goal in life is to make sure my biceps are constantly receiving a work out.

It took us about three hours to walk through all of the houses, and we were quite tired by the time we had been shuttled back to our cars.  Ford was ready for a nap, and I was ready to sit behind the wheel.  While the drive from Alexandria to Richmond was enjoyable, the ride back home was less pleasant: Ford was awake (and crying) most of the drive, we hit quite a bit of traffic heading north on I-95, and I missed Chet and the girls.  It took us about 3.5 hours to get home, when it should have taken two.  We arrived home just before 8:30 p.m., and I had asked Chet to keep the girls up so that I could (lovingly) squeeze them before they went to bed.

However, I am so glad Kami and I planned and followed through on taking such a spontaneous trip.  It wasn't exactly convenient, but it was worth it.  It was worth seeing my friend, it was worth getting to walk through a show house decorated by some of my favorite bloggers (there are SO many fun opportunities in this part of the country!), it was worth spending time alone in the car with my thoughts, and it was worth having the chance to miss my babies.  I think when you are the mother of young children (especially when you and your husband are outnumbered), Mother's Day has the potential to be a bit of a disappointment, because there's really no such thing as a "day off." 

I read this on a blog this morning and loved it:

So, on this day after Mother’s Day remember this:

1. You are loved, even when they don’t say it.
2. You are appreciated, even when they don’t show it.
3. You are not forgotten, even when they seem to forget you the day after.
4. You are important, even when you don’t feel it.
5. You are shaping and molding and influencing your children for eternity, even when you mess up. Especially then, because they are watching the way you serve and love them anyway.
6. You are what your kids want—more than anything you can give them, they just want you.

I hope everyone has a fantastic day-after-Mother's-Day day, and that reality (work, school, laundry, meals, whiny children) isn't too harsh -- don't ever forget that you are invaluable and appreciated!

Here are the few and kind of terrible pictures I took with the kids right before Ford and I left yesterday morning:

Our house looks a fright in the background.

Handsome

I don't like this picture of myself, but it makes the girls laugh hysterically, so I thought I'd share:

Lor was not happy I was leaving: