A Mother's Day

pictures #1 & 2: priceless Mother's Day gifts from the kids
picture #3: pink Gebera Daisy

I heard Olivia fussing. A glance toward the clock revealed that it was only 5am. But given how she was the evening before, her sleeping until 5am was pretty darn good. I got up and made a bottle before going back upstairs to fetch her. She was hungry and woofed down the bottle quickly. She seemed in far better spirits and after finishing it off. She began her notorious cooing. Mindy must have heard her stirring and came to the balcony to tell me I should take her back to bed even though she was seemingly wide awake. I took her advice and carried her back up to bed. She went down with little to no trouble. Hmmm? I went back to bed and slept until 8am.

Mindy was already up and having made coffee and fed the little ones (Jacob, Bella, and Lil’ Rocky). Olivia was still sleeping. I exercised and then walked Ykraps even though the kids reported walking him out back. I checked in with work while enjoying my morning coffee. Mindy asked if I was going to church. I declined. She asked only that I not run until she was gone. That way she would have help readying all the kids. Truth is, I didn’t think that she would be taking all of them. I agreed to assist.

While Mindy showered, Olivia began to stir and fuss. But it was little wonder. It was 9am. I went up and got her out of her bed and brought her down for breakfast. She ate an entire bowl of cereal then about half a jar of fruit. She was in a pleasant mood. It seems the meds did the trick!

I placed Mindy’s other Mother’s Day gifts on the island while she showered. She opened them soon after she came back down. She seemed to like them. Mindy left for church around 10:10am with all four kids. I dressed for a run in fresh running clothes and hit the door. I was gone for about 35 minutes. It was lovely run in cool temps. I’ll bet it wasn’t but about 53 degrees when I left. It was a bit warmer once I was back, however.

Back home I quickly made myself a bacon and cheese sandwich with Thursday morning’s leftover bacon. After woofing it down, I changed into yard clothes and began my long list of chores. The first thing I did was check the tires on the boat trailer and fill the bearing buddies with fresh grease. Next, I planted the two flats of Alyssum that I bought from a team member at work. I planted two more Coleus plants under the willow tree, too.

After my planting was complete I got out my extension ladder and took to trimming the dead wood out of the weeping willow tree out back, and there was plenty of it to be trimmed. It always looks like so much more on the ground. Mindy arrived home while I was trimming away. She had called while I was checking in with work and let me know that she was bringing Chipotle home for lunch. Despite not being too hungry, I told her to get me one too. I took a short break to eat before hauling all the tree trimmings to the compost pile.

After cleaning up the yard I watered in the freshly planted flowers. I had plenty more watering needing done but time was slipping away. I needed to shower for dinner at Gloria’s. It was already 3pm. After my quick shower we left for Gloria’s. We dropped the boat off at the storage on the way. We arrived at Gloria’s at 4pm sharp. I had two 5 gallon pails filled with top soil that I garnered from my compost heap. I brought it specifically to fill some fairly large holes in her backyard. I did that even before going in the house. After filling the holes I got out my sprayer and Diazinon and sprayed the foundation for ants. After completing that job I washed up and grabbed myself a soda. While I toiled with my two tasks, Craig and Jeff were already there & busy taking care of other yard chores.

Soon everyone was present (I think there were 15 of us). We enjoyed a Lasagna dinner. Mindy brought the salad. We were celebrating a birthday for someone, so after dinner we sang and ate cake. Let them eat cake!!! I had the lemon cheese cake. It was to die for delicious. I snuck a bite or two of Bella’s Strawberry flan cake, too. We didn’t stay too long after dinner. It was already 7pm. Mindy wanted to get the kids home and in the tub. We left shortly after 7pm.

Once home Jacob and I took Ykraps on his evening walk. Jacob decided mid-walk to return home. I kept going. When I got back home Mindy met me out front to report Bella having a bit of a meltdown. Mindy sent her to her room, and rightfully so. Apparently she hit her momma after being coaxed into the house against her will from the back yard. Mindy asked that I talk to her. I did. I don’t like any type of disrespect from children and especially hitting or talking back. I must admit, Bella is rarely aggressive. On the other hand, she has a temper and can be very loud! When I visited her in her room she was remorseful and admitted making a big mistake. She promised not to do it again. Because of her acting up, she missed out on an otherwise promised second dessert. Instead, she got to go directly to bed. I tucked in both kids then returned out of doors to soak all of my plantings – mature and new. Before going in, I placed the oscillating sprinkler on the front lawn to water the grass and flowers all at once.

After getting settled, Mindy and I sat on the deck and enjoyed drink before heading to bed around 10pm. It was a beautiful spring evening.