Mothers Day 2011 - Twice as Nice

Mothers Day 2011 was Twice as Nice, without a doubt.

We had just returned from an amazing week in Florida.  We were all tired and off schedule due to the time zone change but a 5:00 AM wake-up call is amazing when it is from two amazing sons.  I wouldn't want Mothers Day to start any other way.  OK, so I was also dreaming of a few more hours of sleep, but that will be here soon enough when the boys are teenagers.  I'm willing to wait.

With the early wake-up call and one day before going back to work we though we would set out for a few errands.  The first errand was flowers at Jarod's nursery.  It was 8:30 AM and they didn't open until 9:00.  Shortly thereafter, Kellan made it clear that he was ready for his morning nap.  We dropped Keith and Kellan off at home for a nap while Oliver and I went grocery shopping and to Costco.  After lunch, we went back to Jarod's.

Oliver enjoyed riding on the cart and he loved picking out flowers for the porch.  We also picked up some ornamental grass for our back yard.

Back at home, Kellan and I spent some time playing on the living room floor.

Kellan thinks Madalyn is fascinating.  She is amazingly patient with him and lets him pet, pat and pull her.  We are working on him being gentle.

Spending some time with my sweet baby boy on Mothers Day.

This was the last nice weekend we have had in some time.  Good thing we got outside to enjoy it while it lasted.

For the first time with Kellan, we took the Jumparoo outside.  Take note of his toes being held up above the grass.

Keith planting the ornamental grass while Oliver tried to fill up his squirt gun in the water fountain.

Oliver helped me pick out flowers for this flower pot.  They weren't the choices I would have made, but I was amazed at how nice they looked once we were done.  He helped me plant them and he picked which flowers went where.

Oliver with his Mothers Day flowers.

Oliver wanted to take a few photos.  I think we may have another photographer in the house.

My two favorite boys!

Another photo by our budding photographer.

That night, as I was putting Kellan to bed, Keith as downstairs doing the dishes with Oliver.  He knew Oliver was making a lot of trips from the back porch to the living room but he didn't really notice why.  He later discovered that Oliver has moved each and every one of his shells from the porch to the living room table.  He was very proud to show Keith his train of shells.

I took the opportunity to take a few photos of the unique shells.

I loved this one.  I can't remember what these "growths" are called, but I find it very interesting how they are growing in the grooves and lines of the shells.

Oliver calls these shells rocket ships.

This is one of Keith's favorite shells.

Another one of my favorite shells. 

Oliver picked this shell special for Mom.  Several times he said "Mommy, this one is for you.  It's pink.  You like pink, right?"  Such a sweetie.

For Mother's Day, Oliver really wanted to get me flowers.  He wasn't really in the mood to grocery shop so I got him in the store by telling him he could pick out flowers for me.  He looked and looked and looked some more.  He found these pink tulips at the end of a section, by themselves in a big bucket.  The date to pull them out of the store was the day before (day old flowers?). They didn't look very fresh but he LOVED them.  He picked them special, so we bought them.  Once we got them home and in a vase, they did look amazing.  I loved them too.  I loved them most because they were picked special by my first son.

Mothers Day was great.  We didn't have any big event, special meals or big gifts, but it was perfect.  The boys were slightly cranky, tired and out of sorts, but it didn't matter.  I have two amazing boys who call me Mom.  It doesn't get any better than that.