Mother's Day & my Birthday!

Well, typically we don't have much money for a birthday present for me from my family so they just get something small. This year was different. This year I am in a weightloss healthy challenge. I am trying to lose weight and get healthy. My husband decided that he would get me a new bike for my birthday, but give it to me a couple weeks early to help with my workouts. I LOVE my new bike! It is geared so much differently and has a much more comfortable seat. I love to take long rides on it. I currently can do about seven miles in 45 minutes. I hope to one day be able to much more than that without having to stop and rest. This is a great start though!

Since I got my bike early, I didn't have anything to open on my birthday/Mother's day. A child did hand me a water bottle cage (for my bike) but it ended up being the wrong color. I hated to tell them but it was the only thing left that I wanted and they had driven to four stores to find what they thought was the right one. When they asked if it was the right one they could just tell from the look on my face. I felt bad cause they had tried but on the other hand I felt jealous. Jealous of all the mom's on Facebook. Jealous that they all were posting these pictures of cards, flowers, and presents they were given. Jealous that their husbands and kids were pampering them by giving them a day off. I didn't get any of that. Here I was struggling to get kids ready for church, a house cleaned and dinner ready for my mom to come over for her Mother's day dinner. I was working my butt off while reading how wonderful all these mother's felt being spoiled. I also was getting texts from a cousin stressing about having dinner at her home. This just added to my jealousy. Why is she complaining? She doesn't have kids. She doesn't have a 2yr old's messes to clean up. I was so frustrated. Here is was not only Mother's Day, but my birthday as well. Feeling sick didn't help at all either...In the end, I realized that I shouldn't be jealous. I shouldn't even bother to get on Facebook and risk having those jealous feelings. It doesn't matter what these other people got. Before the internet, people never shared all those things, and people didn't care what other's got. So why should I care now? I knew going into marriage that my husband wasn't a very romantic person. I knew that he gets me practical things because he knows I am a practical person. While I am a girl and would love to be spoiled with frivolous things every now and then, it really isn't something that I want very often. So for future, I think I will just stay away from Facebook on holidays because if I don't see things then I won't feel jealous.

Now, though my actual birthday I felt sick, tired, jealous, and frustrated, the two days prior were the exact opposite. Friday we had a great day at home. The kids were wonderful, got along, helped with chores, and did school great. In the afternoon we took them to gym and art class. While they were there I went and spent time with my Grandfather, and Skyped with my brother. That was very special for my Grandfather since he really misses my brother. After we picked the kids back up from their class, we went and got Ellie (a friend's teenager). We had a great evening with the kids, and I stayed up late talking with Ellie. The next day we got up, and had to be at the ball field for Bubba's baseball game. It was only 44 degrees and so Ellie stayed home with the girls. It was great to be able to watch the game just us without having to chase after a 2yr old or hear Mo complain about how boring it was. When we got back we got some things done around the house, and then everyone except Squeeks and myself went out shopping (for that one present they planned to get me). Squeeks took a nap and I layed around since I didn't feel well. When they all got back, Ellie told us to go out for my birthday date. We went out to dinner, ran errands, went for dessert, and then a drive. It was wonderful to get out for a few hours and not worry about kids. They all had gotten along perfect all day and we knew that they were fine at home.

I was feeling so incredibly blessed on Saturday. Blessed that we have three beautiful children. Blessed that even though we may have rough days, we also have many many great days. Blessed that my children love to spend time together and are great friends. Blessed that I have a husband that loves to spend time with his kids, teach them new things and skills, and cuddle with them. Blessed that we also have a fourth child that while not our own, chooses to call us mom and dad. Who comes to our home to spend time with us and our children cause she loves us as her own family. Bless to be a mentor to her, an open ear/shoulder for her, and to have an extra sibling for our children. We have gone through some big fights with her and our children in the past, especially our oldest. To see their relationship go from fighting, bickering and complaining, to finding common ground, talking about things, crafting together and playing together is such a beautiful thing. I am so glad that they have this loving sibling relationship now. I feel so blessed to have these four beautiful children in our lives and to call us mom & dad.

I didn't really have a plan to wrap this post up so I guess it is this...While the world tells us to celebrate on certain days and to make people feel special on certain days, that is not always necessary or work out right. My family had no intentions of making my birthday a rough one, nor did my friend's on Facebook. It was just a normal day that got lost in the happenings of life. It is almost more special and beautiful when things happen the way they did the two days prior. When life becomes beautiful and special just happening on their own, that's when you know true happiness. I don't need a card or flowers to tell me that I have a beautiful family who loves me.

Oh, and I almost forgot. In the end, we did pull off a great lunch for my mom. We had a great time talking, eating, and hanging out for awhile. We hadn't done that in awhile and it was even better to do it in the comfort of our own home where we didn't have to worry about kids messes, restruants, or getting into things. It was just a wonderful relaxing time.