Tom's Day and Mom's Day

The past few days have been busy over here -- busy with Tom's birthday and Mother's Day celebrations, and full of many moments that have touched my heart.

Touch My Heart Moment #1:

Last Tuesday Ella and Zoe happily kept busy in the backyard for quite a while and then very excitedly ran to me singing a happy mother's day song they made up, taking my hands and bringing me to the Mother's Day Cake they made out of dirt, grass, sticks, lilac petals, rocks and a puffer mushroom thing -- just for me. It was really sweet, really really sweet and just touched my heart : )

Touch My Heart Moment #2:

I had to add these next two photos because it still cracks me up when I think about it. I have no idea what the puffy grey thing is, but when you squeeze it a puff of something grey-ish comes out of it. I LOVED when I would find one of these as a kid, and now Ella and Zoe are sharing in my excitement, though Ella wasn't as sure about it as Zoe and I were. Each time she would squeeze it . . .

. . . she would make this face! Love it : )

Touch My Heart Moment #3:

Last Thursday the girls had Bike Day at preschool and then a Mother's Lunch Bunch for lunch. They were sooooo excited to bring their bikes to school and ride with their friends, and because I am one of those mothers (yes, I arrived early so I could watch them bike for a while -- and I took pictures from my car), I was able to see how my two little biker girls took to riding outside of the comfort zone of our backyard patio. It cracked me up. They started out biking together in a very small circle . . . .

. . . then their circle started to get a little bigger . . .

. . . and then they were off!!

Touch My Heart Moment #4:

We invited our very special neighbor, Arlene, along with to the Mother's Luncheon -- which was another highlight of the day for all three of us. We love Arlene very much and feel so lucky to have her in our lives : )

Touch My Heart Moment #5:

I have to say the best part for me though, was when the girls gave me the brightly painted flowerpotsmadeintobells Mother's Day gift, and these:

Ella wrote that I am 21 years old (LOOOOOVE her), that I'm prettiest when I dance (oh really?), that I love to bake cakes (I think their frog birthday cakes made a lasting impression) and that I'm funny when I tell her an apple will grow in her tummy (our little joke about why we don't eat apple seeds). But the part that made my heart stand still for a moment was her answer to what I always say to her, which is 'I love you'. Wow. I don't even know what to say to that, for her to think of that as a response, it means everything to me. I also love how she decorated my card -- the explosion of colors is so much Ella -- her art truly reflects her personality.

Zoe's card looks like this:

She said that I'm 47 years old (I'm totally letting that one slide), that I'm prettiest when I dance (hmmmm), that I like to make cakes (sound familiar?) and that I always tell her to use her manners (so true!!). The part that Zoe wrote that brought tears to my eyes was that I am funny when I laugh -- I LOOOOVE that so much!! The best parts of my days are when the girls are laughing and giggling away together or when the three of us are : ) So that was pretty awesome to read! I also really love the rainbow crown she colored on my head of wild and bright RED hair and I especially love my long skinny legs (which makes up for thinking I'm older than I actually am).

I also found it interesting that both Ella and Zoe answered some of the questions with the same answer (that I'm prettiest when I'm dancing and that I like to make cakes) considering they weren't together when they worked on their projects. I guess dancing and baking together is a pretty big deal for 4-year olds! Good to know : )

Touch My Heart Moment #6:

Last Friday night I read the book 'The Very Best Daddy of All' to the girls, which is about different things different animal daddies do to take care of their children/families. Ella and Zoe loved hearing about each animal, looking at the pictures and making comparisons between what the animal daddy was doing and what their daddy does. But the page that did it for me was early in the book, and was about the Daddy Fox. That page read: 'Some take care of your mama so she can take care of you.', and Ella immediately said 'That's just like OUR daddy!!'. Yes indeed, just like their daddy, and the fact that Ella understood that (and of course Zoe agreed) is pretty neat to me, and really touched my heart.

Touch My Heart Moment #7:

Because Tom works evenings we decided to celebrate his birthday on Saturday. Ella and Zoe decorated a birthday crown for him, wrapped up his gifts and water-colored homemade birthday cards. A leaky toilet at our house changed our plans somewhat, but after working on the leak for over three hours (poor guy) and before a Menards run and a few more hours worth of stinky work, the girls gave Tom his crown, sang him the birthday song and watched as he blew out the candles on his homemade pizza. I know it's hard to stop working on a big project when there's so much to get done, but Tom knew how excited the girls were to celebrate his birthday and he made sure to take that time. Plus, I always love seeing Ella and Zoe snuggling on their dad's lap : )

Touch My Heart Moment #8:

Zoe and Ella love dress-up and pretending they are ballerinas, or princesses, or fairies, or mommies (etc., etc., ), and two of their favorite outfits are these old leotards and tutus (in the above photo) that their big cousin Elise wore to her dance recitals when she was little (in the mid-90's). I think they are so funny and I always feel like I have a miniature Loretta Lynn and Tammy Wynette running around our house when they wear them : )

Touch My Heart Moment #9:

On Sunday we drove out to Buffalo to spend some time with my family, and this is what Zoe looked like taking her nap in the car. Just cracked me up, and she actually slept like that for a while : )

Touch My Heart Moment #10:

Watching Zoe . . .

. . . and Ella sleep so peacefully.

It was a great weekend (despite the toilet mess) and even though there are plenty of times Zoe and Ella test my patience or drive me nuts -- these little moments that 'touch my heart' really make me feel like the luckiest mama in the world!!