I Love You, Mom, The Goldest

I LOVE YOU, MOM, THE GOLDEST

I love you Mom, the goldest. I love you the color of shiny earrings on Sunday morning.

Dull gold in a pan. A gold, bright setting sun.
I love you the color of sweet cornbread on a plate, writing on a book spine.

Daffodils growing the spring. The sweet, cool honeysuckle in Nampa.

The depths of the core of the earth. The shiny electronics on the computer that brings you your blogs.

I love you, Mom, the goldest.

---With love, Jacob McPherson

I have to admit, this Mother's Day was probably one of the best I have ever had. My wonderful husband surprised me with a camera, since mine broke, and he knows how I love to gather memories from out life together, and the children's childhoods. Then, Jacob presented me with this wonderful poem he wrote in school. It is based on a children's book, but the imagery is all his.

Angelice gave me the sweetest little chore list, and her obvious appreciation for me was tangible. I held her for the longest time on my lap yesterday, which is kind of hard to do since she's almost as tall as I am now.

Ben, oh, Ben. Couldn't stop telling me how he learned to say "MoTHer's Day" He has trouble with the soft t-h sound still, and we are gently trying to encourage him to fix it. He'd say "Happy Mudder's....I mean MoTHer's Day!" all day yesterday. he drew me a flower, and then cut it out, signed his name on the back, and proclaimed it a bookmark.

Holly. Sweet Holly. She's actually such a stinker. But she smothered me in kisses and snuggled close to me when I put her to bed. She smelled like cheesecake and baby soap.

I love these little beings...these frustrating, loud little human beings who came from my body. My life, my everything.... I complain too much. I know they won't be little forever. I cherish every milestone, and revel in every tiny accomplishment. I am so glad to be their mother.

My mother taught me everything I know about loving these little monkeys. I cannot fathom what it must be like to have your children scattered to the four winds like dandelion fluff on the wind. I see why she jumps every time that skype call comes in. Her precious firstborn, and all he has accomplished...those beautiful children, living so far away. Her second, and her only girl, getting ready to leave her again... Her third child who she worries for and loved to snuggle as a baby, so far away...and doing so well. She is so proud of him, and is so happy that he has found the love of his life, and that she takes such good care of him and their beautiful chilren. Her baby, who she watched struggle, who she has come to admire for his strength and persistence...she watches him as he and his little family spread their wings, and prays daily that their dreams come true.

I can see in her eyes the way I feel about my own. I never would have understood the sorrow, the pain, the worry, the constant love that abides in my mother had I not had my own children. I understand now, the conflicting instincts to let go, and watch them fly; and to grasp and hold on with all your might at the same time.

We are connected now, in ways we never were before. I love you, my mother. Happy Mother's Day.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HOLLY

I simply cannot believe our baby is two! Holly had a wonderful birthday party with a ladybug theme! I feel a little guilty because these chocolate cupcakes were so easy to make. And Ted made ladybug wrapping paper by buying white paper and ladybug stickers. He's so creative.

Anyway, she got a lot of summer clothes, which she really needed, and a story book from Mom and Dad (Thumper story book, of course!), a bathing suit and accesories from Grandma and Grandpa McPherson, and a baby doll from Grandma and Grandpa Frank.

It is spring time, here, finally, and Holly is enjoying a whole new world of bugs, flowers, and sunshine. She's such a sweet little thing, always cuddly, always ready to show love. She's saying some pretty cute things, too, like "Thank you, much, Mommy" which she says when I change her diaper, or get her lunch. Or, "Aw, dude, get outta da way!!!" when Ben blocks her on the stairs.

Our four kids sure make our lives LOUD, and CRAZY. But I would not change it for anything!

Our Camera Broke

I am sorry to update with no pictures! Our Kodak easy share camera was dropped one too many times, I guess.

But here's the "haps": Jake won his school spelling bee which enters him into the statewide bee to see who gets to go to the National Geographic Bee in Washington, D.C. in May. He is totally jazzed and studies every night. He is determined to win. It is kind of nice to see him excited about something like this!

Angelice is enjoying 3rd grade, getting wonderful grades, making lots of friends. She is such a big help with her baby sister, and around the house. We have implemented chores around the house, because Momma is not a maid, and she is the only one that has not complained. She asks for more to do sometimes.

Ben is 5. Oh my goodness, he is 5! He is so looking forward to going to school like the big kids. And he is one of several boys in the neighborhood, so he also has lots of friends. He enjoys riding power wheels with Dax, Legos with Jett, and make believe play with Drew. And yes, he still has a huge sweet tooth, and doesn't think his day is complete without having a cookie.

Holly, Holly, Holly. She is almost two. And it shows. But we all adore her. She has real live teeth now, and is able to crunch and chew. Since she got her first molars a month or so ago, she's gained about a pound and a half. Which is amazing for Holly. She talks, and runs, and sasses me. It is funny to hear, but honestly, the children can't stop laughing, and that makes her think it is okay to mouth off. Yes, my almost two year old tells me to "go 'way!" And if I won't give her what she wants, she starts counting "One! Two! Free! NOOOOWWWWW!"

*sigh*. What are you gonna do?

Wow. I Am a Dork.

I just realized I already posted pictures of our trip to CA. There's some repeats in here. Oh well, I think my kids are so cute, everyone needs to see em twice.

Sorry bout that.

I am done catching up on summer, next posts are what is happening currently, promise!

More hiking

So pretty. We went from hilly grassland to deep dark Black Forest complete with granite canyon walls, and huge rocks in the middle of the path. I seriously felt like we were going to run into a little rock cottage built against the canyon wall with a witch and cauldron or something. It was a good day.

Family Hike and More CA trip.

We took a family hike this summer. You could really tell that our kids had not done anything outdoorsy before. It was pathetic. They were so whiny, and not confident. And the complaining, oy! At first.

But as the trip went on, they were literally singing. Ben was bounding over rocks, and laughing with abandon. Jake was doing his best Man vs. Wild impression, complete with British accent. And Angelice was considerate, concerned for others, and cracking hilarious jokes the whole way. More of the hike in the next post.

Here's a couple more of Lake Almanor:

By the end of the summer, I was trying to think of everything we had done, and I didn't feel like we had enough fun. But, I have enough pictures of the stuff we've done for at least three more posts. We really had a blast this summer, and I am so glad that we live in such a geographically diverse state. It's been such a blast!

Camping and Swimming In CA.

More fun adventures from this summer. This is our nephew Cole and his cute doggie. We went camping at Lake Almanor while out in CA visiting Ted's family.

Ben, Angel, and Katelyn had fun playing around the campground together.

Swimming in Aunt Shauna's pool. Jake perfected the cannonball.

I am actually quite impressed we got Ben into the pool. He has previously been very nervous about the water, ever since he almost floated away in Grimes creek. I think there's a post about that in the archives.

Holly getting her little feet wet. She actually loves the water, and when the big kids were done playing, Daddy took her into the pool for a little while.

To be continued.