Imperfectly Perfect Mother's Day

Mother's Day is supposed to be a day to celebrate Moms - hence the name of it, right?  Well, sometimes things just don't go as planned and Mother's Day isn't always filled with sunshine and roses...we're only human, right?!?!

It started off like any other Sunday - we got up and got ready for church, but from my bedroom I could already hear the head-butting begin...one didn't want cold cereal for breakfast, one wanted to wear her cowboy boots with her dress, one put on a shirt that was too wrinkly and Dad made them change it.  I did my best to brush it off and reminded them all on the way to church that "It's Mother's Day - please just listen, cooperate, and get along."  We know how to do this - why was it so difficult especially on Mother's Day?!?!

The church service was a beautiful Mother's Day Song Service and I was hoping it would have given everyone a chance to reset.  We came home and snapped some pictures by our gorgeous lilacs  and then headed for brunch with Scott's family in New Ulm.

Our little Runges!

The guy I get to do this SUPER hard but awesome parent job with!

All three kids behaved perfectly but 2 out of 3 still got on Dad's nerves by not eating enough of what was on their plates.  After a nice brunch and some more pictures we ran to Wal-Mart to grab some water, snacks, and heavy duty garbage bags so we would be ready to spend our afternoon cleaning road ditches.

Me and my kiddos - again!

Always at work...

Because Keeley was allowed to put the boots on after church and I like her boots with her dress :)

Now that I've distracted you with cute pictures - back to the road ditches - does this sound like the ideal way to spend Mother's Day?  Easy answer - No it does not.  However, responsibilities and obligations sometimes fall before wants.  We typically have our Farm Bureau and 4-H Adopt-A-Highway road ditches cleaned before Mother's Day and this year we had Keeley's school play and Honors Concert Piano practice on Saturday so we were up against a wall.  It was forecast to rain most of this week (which it has) and we didn't want the grass to get any longer, so that meant cleaning ditches on Sunday.  I was totally fine with that - we have enjoyed doing it as a family for the past 2 years.

Kate - working her ditch cleaning cuteness!!!  All business - with plenty of fashion!











Sad thing was this year was different - we all entered it with a bad attitude - including me after the way the morning began and especially after reading everyone's gushy, perfect posts on Facebook.  To make matters worse, after we went home from brunch, changed clothes and got the pick up, we drove the 10 miles out to the family farm to get the 4-wheeler and Bushhog and then realized the new garbage bags we had just purchased were left at home.  Keeley and I got back in the truck and drove the 20 mile round trip to retrieve the bags and then went back to the farm to get started.  We all were still crabby with each other and the girls and I took off to start while the boys finished getting their 4-wheeler ready to go.

Keeley - full of heart and fully committed to doing her job to make the world a better place - especially for Dustin's pigs :)






















The busy boys - two peas in a pod - most of the time...






Then something amazing happened over the next FOUR hours of working outdoors non-stop - the bickering stopped, the bad attitudes changed to positive, the frowns changed to smiles, and we were working together as a family again.  Not nearly as glamorous as our previous pictures, but much more genuinely happy.

The pictures speak for themselves.  We spent an afternoon, technology free (except mom's phone camera!), cleaning up God's beautiful creation and it slowly fixed us all, calmed us down, and brought us back to why we love and appreciate each other and reminded us how well we work together as a family when all the other distractions are taken away.

We ended the night with a quick visit with my parents and then take-out for supper in our PJs at 9 pm after hot showers - not the New York Strip Steaks I'd been hoping for, but the grill will still be there this weekend...  Then the girls gave me the gifts that they made at school - The Kinder Cooks Cookbook had us all laughing until we cried!

 And Keeley's card was so sweet she made me cry all over again! 

We all have a moments when we're not the best version of us - mine are daily! - but I'm sure blessed that I am a Mom 365 days a year and not just on Mother's Day! <3  A belated Happy Mother's Day to all Moms and all those who help support any kiddo (especially those who have stood in for me on many occasions!), whether they are biologically yours or not, in any way - you are needed and appreciated!!!  And an extra hug and "love you"to all the kids in my life who are comfortable enough to make yourselves at home at our home - you will always be welcome!  <3

...oh, and as for gifts from the boys - Scott got me an XM Radio subscription to get me through all the summer "running" - which I TOTALLY love and appreciate!  And from Jake - he said, "Happy Mother's Day!  You get to be my Mom!" :)