Mother's Day Tribute...(I know, it's early)

Yes it is 3:23 a.m. this very moment, and I am up and SUPER YUCKY SICK with a nasty sinus infection. I can't breathe and therefore I cannot for the life of me fall asleep, so I have just been on the 'puter working on the Baby Monroe Logo and blog-stalking total strangers with beautiful, creative lives...

I have been doing a "no sugar, no refined flours, no highly-over-processed foods diet" for the past 3 and 1/2 weeks, and I went off of it a few days ago and my body has not been happy about the

Mountain of milk duds and

cinnamon Gummy Bears

I gorged myself on shortly following the termination of the diet! So, I pretty much feel like a

John Deere tractor is sitting on my face... but other than that -

life is generally good!

My wonderful next-door-neighbor called a few days ago and informed me that she had been asked to speak in sacrament meeting on Mother's Day, and she wanted a few women (myself included) to write a paragraph about what "their perfect mother's day" would entail... but I was raised by a mother who, even on her birthday and mother's day, never demanded or expected a whole lot from anyone, and I guess I must have gotten some of that from her (not MUCH, but some...) because I was at a loss to write anything coherent on the subject. So, here was what I came up with...(and YES, the incident mentioned in the final sentence really DID happen when Kort was 2 and 1/2!)

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"When asked to share my idea of the perfect mother’s day, I immediately dreamed of waking up in a pristine home with cupboards free of chocolate fingerprints, carpets free of abandoned popsicle sticks, and a kitchen sink that I could see the bottom of. My dream went on to include: easily finding both pairs of my son’s Sunday shoes, putting on a pair of nylons that didn’t have any runs, and actually arriving at our church meetings on time with a clean-faced child who sits quietly through the entire meeting. But, a dream such as this has never quite come to fruition— and that’s okay. Mother’s Day is not so much a day for special rewards as it is a day for renewed gratitude for the

Everyday Blessings of motherhood.

A day to remember that those fingerprints won’t always be so small, those popsicle sticks so easily forgotten, and that the kitchen sink won’t always overflow with satisfying evidence of full, and happy tummies. I highly recommend approaching mother’s day with this level of expectation, because when you choose to find joy in messes, chaos, and your child slipping away in order to make a totally nude (and totally glorious) appearance at the next door neighbor’s – you’ll rarely find yourself disappointed!"

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