mother's day, 2014

Heidi and Joe hosted brunch at their house this morning, laid back and comfortable.  Everyone brought food until it was a feast.

There's Dannell and her baby.  He loves to wear the mittens.  He wore them to play in the water table, to eat, while driving the Power Wheels, spinning his wheels in the garden until John had enough and disabled the battery.

 That guy--b.g.'s little brother with the curls and pretty lips:

Okay, now the tiny guy has on pot holders, which Heidi traded him for a pair of little striped mittens.  As soon as he saw the new mittens, he threw the potholders down.

Dang, potholders are awkward and annoying.   I found this all quite hilarious and told his mother, "Dannell, this is so WEIRD."

She snickered and shrugged her shoulders:  "It is, but I figure it could be worse."

Totally true.  Plus we now have this to bring up to him later and giggle about.

My parents were here today too, and there was a lot of laughing, and John talked about the obnoxious time he and Dan had up at the cabin moving their trailers around yesterday.  His had problems with the trailer lights and on and on.  He said, "It's like giving BIRTH, and WHY?"

Last week the snowmobile trailer broke on the freeway and it was $100 for professionals to take it back home again, and he was nothing but glad for them.

I hear ya.  I hate it when simple things become a painful ordeal.

And now it's the end of the night, and I'm here in the dark feeling grateful for my own mom, and the other mamas who inhabit my life and share their babies with me and don't mind if I laugh at how kooky their kids all are.

I'm glad for the splendid women who loved the generation ahead of our parents, even Alice--the one gone before I ever met her, and have heard only good things about.

I just had an image here of Jay's mother's mom with her electric knife paring corn off the cobs, and John mumbling, so are we having corn on or off the bones?

Off, Johann, off.

It was about the same time he and Dan had a long discussion about the kidney beans in the chili one night.  Were they peanuts or jelly beans?

Neither one, just kidney beans, different again.

You know.

They just kind of stared at me and did not eat them.

Okay, and as the recipient of an outrageous amount of flowers and beautiful plants and TWO boxes of chocolate, I must say good night.

Thank you to the ones who helped out with eating the chocolate. I appreciate that because I sure don't need to eat all this by myself.

love you all so, MOM, aka GRANDMA