Word to your Mother

(I totally stole that from Rory’s facebook status. So, Rory? Thanks for the awesome quote. *grin*)

As I write this, it is the close of Mother’s Day 2011. And what a lovely Mother’s Day it was. The fun started at 8 am (woohoo for sleeping in!). Ming Wai wandered into our room, sat on the bed and said, “Mom? What’s for breakfast?” Lo Gung jumped in and said, “Ming Wai, why don’t you go over and grab the box of Mommy’s presents??” She loves things like that, and jumped up to grab them. The “kids” really out-did themselves this year, and made quite a dent in my Amazon wish list! In the box were a few Japanese egg molds (to make shaped hard-boiled eggs), two silicone round cake pan liners, and my very own copy of Our Best Bites’ new cookbook. (Honestly, Lo Gung was just being smart. The cookbook was on sale this week, and was written by a friend of mine. I told him that if he didn’t order it for me, I’d buy it for myself and he’d have to find something else for my Mother’s Day gift. The silicone liners were something I’d been eyeing for weeks, in the hopes that they would end my Cake Baking Sadness, and all the pan-sticking that entails. And the molds were just fun. Heh. That Lo Gung…he’s a smart one!)

As an extra treat, I received a new dress in the mail this week!
Ok, yeah. SUPER cheesy picture, but…whatcha gonna do, eh? It’s an adorable little Shabby Apple dress that I won through a giveaway on Analogue Chic. (As a cool aside, I first met Allie, the voice behind Analogue Chic, at a small crafting group in Danbury, CT when we lived on the East Coast. The group met a cute little Irish restaurant/pub down the street from my house. I tried to go when I could but…it was really only two or three times that I made it. Still, fun to meet some local bloggers and crafters!)

Oh, and if you’ve never checked out Shabby Apple, you should! They specialize in dresses that truly are a one-piece outfit. They don’t need accessories to make you look put together. Also cool – my dress came with a little tag that introduced me to a woman in India who would be receiving part of the cost of my dress as a micro-loan to run her sewing business.

Church was the usual – I subbed for the Primary (children’s) chorister and led the children while they sang several songs to their mothers. It was a bit rag-tag, but I’m sure the mothers were feeling the love. (As I conducted the children, my mother was playing the piano and couldn’t see me at all. My son had snuck up to the Sacrament table and snitched some leftover bread. My daughter was sitting next to me, staring down the rest of the Primary children, having refused to go up front to sing. So, yeah. Pretty normal day all in all.)

This evening was spent together with my family. All 13 of us tonight. At my mother’s request, we had Belgian waffles for dinner, topped with strawberries and whipped cream, with sausages on the side. After dinner, the kids played while a few of us big ‘uns stood around the piano and belted out show tunes. As I looked around the room, I felt very blessed. Blessed to have my husband there with me, blessed to have such talented siblings, blessed to live so close to them. Just blessed.