Happy Mother's Day!!!

Happy Mother's Day to all the mommies out there! I have to say that Mother's Day may be one of my favorite holidays! At church this morning everyone from the greeters to perfect strangers that I passed stopped me to smile and say, "Happy Mother's Day." It was so nice to get that recognition. :) My boys have done a lot for me this weekend, too. They washed my car, planted flowers in the flower bed, took me out to lunch, and Wade even folded a load of laundry. Clayton has given me TONS of hugs and kisses and has said "Happy Mudder's Day" about a million times. :) Man, this is the life! A girl could get spoiled really quickly with this type of behavior.

I wanted to take a moment to thank all of my "moms" - both the mother that raised me and the mothers that I inherited through marriage. I am blessed with a wonderful, godly mother. She devoted so much of her life to my sister and I (something that I never fully appreciated until I became a mother myself). When I was in high school, my mom went back to teaching high school English. I think that it was originally out of necessity - I wanted to go to a private school and the teacher discount made it more affordable. As time went on, I think that my mom remembered how much she loved teaching. She got very involved in AP and SAT prep. In 2001 my mom was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. After a bad exacerbation this past fall, she was forced to retire from teaching. Recently, the school that she was teaching at published an article about her in their school magazine. It was a really sweet article that made me so proud to be her daughter. I scanned the article as a JPEG below. If you click on it, you should be able to enlarge it enough to read it. I know that some of you are former students of my mom, and I thought that you may enjoy reading it.

On to my second mom, Wade's mother, Marsha. I am blessed to have a great mother-in-law! First of all, Marsha raised a WONDERFUL son that I feel so honored to be married to. From the time that we got married, she has been the kind of mother-in-law that would never dream of "intruding" or giving her opinions. She is always there, though, when we have a question or ask for her advice. I know that she would do anything that we needed for her to do. She also retired in the fall and has taken up golf and quilting. She has gotten quite good at both over the past 6 months. She has been so great about watching Clayton for us when we went to San Diego and several other times when we just needed a break. I couldn't have asked for a better mother-in-law.

I am also blessed with two of the world's sweetest grandmothers. Both of my grandmothers passed away when I was a child. I have some great memories of them, but I have always longed for more time with them. God gave me two new grandmothers when Wade and I got married. The are both awesome! Wade's Grandmom is really fun and has a sassy side that I just love. She helped me A LOT with Clayton when I was working. She would watch him for me whenever I needed her. For that, I will be eternally grateful! Wade's Mamaw is this super sweet little lady that is extremely loving. She is a wonderful cook and feeds every person that walks in her door. She can throw together a meal on a moments notice. I adore her as well.

Well, that's my tribute to all the moms in my life. I hope to be half the mother to Clayton that they have all been to me.