Mother's Day Retrospective

Well, obviously this post is a few days late, but I have a REALLY good reason. Mother's Day evening, Raley came down with the stomach bug that had already gone through Pattie and Clay. By midnight, I was hugging the bowl myself. Awesome! In any case, I had been thinking of the post for Monday and I still want to do it now that I feel better, so here it is!
This year was my 10th Mother's day celebration. I have had some really great ones, and a couple that were not so much. Let's see:
My first Mother's Day was when Raley was almost a year old. Even though he was born just 5 days after the previous Mother's Day, I "wasn't a mother yet" then. Don't worry, the person who told me that was made to pay, repeatedly and never forgot the lesson LOL
Another year Raley and I were at my parents' house while hubby was in Kansas for some Army training. My sweet Daddy snuck out of the house after we had all gone to bed and went to town to get roses for Mom and I. There was a very sweet card I will always remember because it had a row of horse stickers across the front of it. Daddy later told me that once he got home and went to sign the card, he saw that it said HAPPY BIRTHDAY! so he covered that up with the stickers! So cute, my Daddy.
The year I was pregnant with Clay, we were just about to find out if he was a boy or a girl. I had a girl name all picked out but Jayme was on the fence about it. I got a Mother's Day card from the baby to be that was signed with the girl name I wanted. Of course, Clay wasn't a girl but I did get to use the name later!
Mother's Day 2004 was probably my worst. Jayme was in Iraq and the day before Mother's Day I accidentally closed my bathroom door on Raley's finger which resulted in a trip to the ER. I felt so bad! I spent most of that Mother's Day feeling like a HORRIBLE mother.
I have gotten some lovely gifts from my sweet hubby and kids too. I have gotten sapphires from Clay and Pattie and emeralds from Raley. I get cookbooks a lot because that's what I usually ask for. This year I got my present kind of early. I am still learning how to use it but so far it's wonderful. Here's a picture:

My favorite gifts, though, are the ones the clones make at school. I just love their little handmade cards and drawings. I still have the first one Raley made in Kindergarten. This year in 1st grade, Clay made a little clay bowl. It's perfect. It has his little fingerprints in it and he was so proud. Raley drew me a card with an Arthurian flair complete with a sword in a stone and a dragon with arrows sticking out of it. Love these gifts from my sweeties!!
I know a lot of people regard Mother's Day as a greeting card company holiday and it doesn't mean much. To me, though, it's my favorite! I love being a mom and I love having a day dedicated to that awesome profession job vocation life.