Mother's Day!

Here is a pic of all my sweet treasures I received on mommy's day. I had the sweetest day ever! My kids really know me, coffee mug, chocolate, candles, plants, doggy stuff, and their hearts on paper to treasure forever. I am going to post the sweet paper Riley wrote for school and the letter Bryce wrote to me because I am so proud of them. I cried when I read them. They have such tender, sweet hearts. I told the kids I wanted to stay in this moment forever and Haley said, "geeze mom, then we would have to shop forever!" Gosh, I love her.

Riley made up her very own word search with the words "mom rocks." She added these words to the word search: Mom you taught me so much, my dad picked the right girl. What I like about you is that you are down to your heart and you tell the truth. I love the way you support me with my whole life that's why you rock! You love me for who I am. You choose the right choices, like you chose the right man. You are the BEST MOM in the WORLD! Happy Mothers Day!

Whatamom! By Riley
My mom is the best mom in the world because she is careful for what I watch and see. She does not let me watch inappropriate things for my age. She is always there for me when I need help. She does not just care for her family, but she cares for the whole world. She cares for the little creatures outside. My mom is also lovable because when I'm all tucked in bed and I have a nightmare, she is always there for me and she always calms me down. When I am super sad she cheers me up. She is also very intelligent and awesome and amazing. My mom is honest too, because she wasn't going to tell me we were going to have a surprise birthday for my dog Cloe on April 8 but she told me anyways. My mom is also helpful because she helps me do my chores around the house. (The back of Riley's paper didn't get copied, so it ends here....darn!)

Bryce's Letter:
Dear Mommy,
You are a star, a dazzling star that outshines every other star in the entire universe. You are the most amazing mom in the world and you know what makes you soooo amazing? You love me. You love me with the greatest sincerity. You love me like nothing words could ever describe. You love me like I'm the last person on the planet, and I know you love me. The same way I know the sun will come up tomorrow, the same way I know the clock will tick. I love you, that's why I wrote this. Happy Mother's Day! Love, Bryce

See why I loved my day? Geeze....I need to keep these sweet notes on hand so I can read them when I'm having a bad day! I love them. Thanks for such a great day kids! I love you.

We also had a great time with Grammy, Grandpa and Granny at my mom's house. We are sooo blessed!

My Favorite Older Person Essay

MY FAVORITE OLDER PERSON ESSAY
By: Bryce Henson
Do you have somebody in your life that is in your corner of your world, that knows how you feel and likes what you like? Well, I do and her name is Mabel. Mabel inspires me because she is a writer. She writes about her childhood memories and fairy tails and is very talented. She is very exquisite and is always giving. She is 88 years young. If I had to describe her in a few words I’d say she is a southern bell. She has wispy grayish brown hair and never leaves home without her hair just right and her make-up on. She says to never sit still ( at her age) because you might stop moving. She has a zest for life that not everyone has. Whenever I finish a writing piece I go over to her house and she helps me check my writing.
Writing isn’t her only talent. She is also a gardener. She has a giant garden on the side and back of her yard, she even has a little patch of bamboo. During the spring time the flowers blossom and it is a magnificent sight; it’s like a sheet of lavender ,deep blue and scarlet blossoms covering the plants.
I’ve known Mable since I was a little boy. I used to go over to her house when I was 5 years old and she always had a hot batch of cookies to share with me. When I was finished with my cookies, I played with a little wooden man on a stick and when you moved the stick, the little man danced around. I would play with him, and giggle. Mabel also had little wind up toys that I would play with and chase all around the room.
Mabel inspires me and encourages me, she inspires me to write a story and encourages me while I’m writing it. She just gives me that warmth; like being wrapped in a blanket of sunshine. She knows how I feel and is always willing to talk.
Mabel does lots of community work. She volunteers at Heritage Village and sews costumes for the people that volunteer there. She gives tours there, too. She has volunteered and done so many things there that they gave her, her own house to write in.
Mabel is always giving. On special occasions she brings over home made jelly biscuits and boy are they delicious. She even gave me her husbands writing clipboard even though he has passed away. I could never do something so generous!
I want to be able to write just like Mabel, and be a magnificent author. I am blessed to have somebody so amazing in my life, that I can learn so much from. That is why Mabel is my favorite older person.

Cheesy, I know!!

I love the way you love me! Even your cheesy ways. I love my husband. We always say God sure knew what he was doing when he put the two of us together. Not that everything is perfect all the time......but man, I love being married to him. I'm not kidding you for 15 years this is how my omelette's have been served to me. Every time it makes me so excited and gives me a big pit pat right in the heart. There are so many ways he loves me.....but this is a cheesy one that I LOVE!

Bunch of Sickies!

Whew, I haven't been hit with a flu bug like this since after my sweet Haley was born. I remember being so sick, others were taking care of her and bringing her into me just to nurse. It was so bad.
Well, Riley and I were hit hard this time. Riley was a day ahead of me and she seemed to handle it all a lot better than me! I literally laid in bed for two solid days. I honestly don't know what I would have done without my sweet hubby. He called into work and took over....everything! Once he came into our room to check on me and I was breaking a fever and half delirious and I just cried with thankfulness! What would I do without you? I felt so sick, but so special in my heart knowing how blessed I am for having such an unbelievable husband. He just gave me a big hug and said, "you know I'll always have your back babe." I'm feeling much better today, but not 100% and Haley girl woke up with a fever today.:( I guess it's going to take it's rounds. YUCK!

The joy of God's little creatures...

We have been enjoying Monarch butterflies since Bryce was in kindergarten. We used to get a new milkweed plant every year from Wilcox Nursery because something tragic always killed our milkweed. Like, dogs throwing them through the sky like huge throw toys! Fortunately, we have held on to this healthy milkweed and it has brought us much joy the past few years. This year Haley spotted the first caterpillar and was over joyed. I loved watching the amazement of God's creation in her eyes. I just sit and watch her and think about when Bryce and Riley were that age. The older ones are still amazed every year and they name all the caterpillars together. There are so many lessons tucked away in this silent little process. I love the conversations we have surrounding this sweet blessing. I came across this poem and thought I would share.

Butterfly Wishes

Yesterday a butterflyCame floating gently through the sky.

He soared up through the atmosphere

Then drifted close enough to hear.

I said, "I'd love to fly with you

And sail around the way you do.

It looks like it would be such fun

To fly up toward the summer sun.

But I have not your graceful charm.

I haven't wings, just these two arms.

I've been designed to walk around.

My human feet must touch the ground.

Then magically he spoke to me

and told me what his wish would be.

He said, "What I'd love most to do

Is walk upon God's Earth with you,

To squish it's mud between my toes

Or touch my finger to my nose.

I'd love just once to walk around

With human feet to touch the ground,

But I have not two legs that swing,

I haven't arms, just these two wings."

And so we went our separate ways

In wonder and surprise.

For we'd both seen God's precious gifts

Through someone else's eyes.

Author Unknown

Happy Birthday Sweet Girl!

Our beautiful Haley is four today! How could that be? It seems like she was born yesterday. Thank you God for blessing us with this sweet little girl's presence. She is full of life. This past year she has really come out of her shell. She was very shy for a while....but has become very social. We love you so much Haley! You make your whole family smile everyday. We love your sweetness and your imagination. Watching you play makes me want to be little again. I love you soooo much! Big hugs to you!

Sweet Valentine's Day...

Valentines day was busy around here. We had a wedding to attend and family in town. But we did find time for some family sweetness! The day before we all wrote down five things we love about eachother and put them in a jar. I got this wonderful idea from imom.com. Sometimes it is so much easier to focus on the things that irritate us about eachother. We all sat in the living room and pulled each card out and whoever the card was to, they read it out loud. Wow, the kids really enjoyed this. Bryce was thankful, Riley was teary eyed, and Haley didn't know how to handle all the lovey feelings. These card spoke volumes to all of our hearts. We really needed this.

We all got a little choked up when daddy read his card from Riley, because he got emotional about her sweet words. This was so easy to do and such a memory for the kids. I think this will be a Valentine tradition.