Love Muffin

I saw this in Everly's journal yesterday at her school and I laughed and laughed.  "I love my daddy.  Mommy calls him Love Muffin."  There is a story here, and that I call him "Love Muffin" isn't quite true.

In our new car, my phone can connect via Bluetooth and I am able to call people using voice prompts.  We know a lot of people named John, so any time that I call my husband, I had to go through several prompts to get to his number.  Initially, I thought, "I need to put his last name into my phone so I can get to his name on the first try."  But, while Everly was in the car, I said, "I need to put Daddy's name in as something other than John."  Then, to be funny, I said, "How about 'Love Muffin'?"  I had never, ever called him that, but she thought it was hysterical.  Frankly, I did, too.  So, as soon as I got to a red light on that very ride to school, I changed his name in my phone to "Love Muffin".  Then, I called him.

Call Love Muffin, I prompted.

The phone replied in an electronic woman's voice:  Calling Love Muffin.

We laughed and laughed.

John answered, "Hello?"

Everly said over the speaker phone, "Hi LOVE MUFFIN!!  Hahahahahahaha!!!!"

And so the journal entry, which I am sure her teachers enjoyed.  (I had to fill them in on the back story.)

My biggest fear

My biggest fear in life is that I won't get to see my children grow old as I grow old.
Sometimes, that fear is paralyzing.
Sometimes, I feel that I want to hold my arms around them forever.
But in my efforts to protect them, I cannot stifle them.

Someone else said it best...

Learning new things all the time!

Bridges

"Mommy!  Watch me do a bridge!!"
Ok.  Let's see.

"Mommy!  Can I show you my bridge?"
Yep!  

"Mommy!  I am going to do a bridge.  Watch!"
I'm watching, sweetheart.

Thankful

Today, I am thankful for bright spots on dark days.  And they are there...in the feelings of relief, in the hugs, in the news of a college roommate's pregnancy (twins!), in the beginning of the end regarding my accident, in an e-mail, in a conversation, and in the plants grown from seeds that I will bring home today.

Mother's Day

Mother's Day was fantastic.

I got to sleep in.  And then when I was laying there about to get up, Everly popped into my room, as excited as could be, saying, "Don't get out of bed!  Don't get out of bed!  We want to bring you breakfast!"

So they did.

And then they left me to eat my pancakes by myself in my bed.  Which was a little weird, I have to admit... Never having had breakfast in bed before, and having no TV in my room, and eating pancakes by myself, that is.  But it was super sweet, and the pancakes were great.

Once I was done, I headed to the kitchen where a beautiful planter with flowers for outside was sitting.  And cards, one of which was from Cortlan and contained clues for a scavenger hunt:

I loved searching for the clues and the treasure of artwork that I found at the end:

I had been wondering what they were going to do with the tracings of my hands that they asked for...

I think that Everly was motivated to make this after seeing what Cortlan had brought home for me.  She did it with absolutely no assistance.

I opened another gift - some candles and a couple of things for the kitchen, and then headed out with a friend for a run.  It was a beautiful morning.

And a beautiful day for a picnic and a hike at my favorite place:

And then an impromptu get together with our moms at our house:

It was a perfect day with a perfect combination of my favorite things.

Everly's Evening Joke #2

Since two people have asked, I suppose a translation is in order:

What did the lamb have for lunch?  A baaaaaa-loney sandwich!

Thankful

Today, I am thankful for sunshine and blue skies.  I am thankful for an eye exam that resulted in no glasses for the littlest one.  For a sympathetic friend to sit with at dinner while our children ran around.  For my mom, who was willing to pick Everly up at the restaurant and put her to bed while I had Cortlan at soccer, even though we didn't end up taking her up on it.  For a playground within eyesight of soccer practice and, again, that sunshine and blue skies so that we could enjoy it.  Today, I am thankful for a daughter who thanked me for taking care of her and a son who told me I am the best mom, despite my stress this evening.  I am thankful that my children are now sleeping peacefully.  And I am thankful for a husband that will be home tomorrow.

It was a good day...

We had some birthdays to celebrate, some swinging to do, and a nice long adventure through the woods...

What's not to love?