An Addendum to Mother's day, strawberry picking and life

Sunday was a beautiful spring day. The beach seemed like an obvious choice. There were no waves so I was hard pressed to get Jon to head in that direction, the thought of making Strawberry jam has been rolling around in my brain all spring. I was heading back to Pungo. What remained of the weekends flashmob was in for the adventure. What came as a surprise was Tad wanted to come too. He rarely ever wants to hang with his Mom. As I have noted in the previous post he does not like strawberries. Yeah, WOW.

We all piled in the suburban, even Colby. I headed south to Henley's farm . I am still waiting on the broccili to be ready. The romaine lettuce, cabbage and May peas are ready. Strawberries are still plentiful even with the Pungo Strawberry Festival this weekend.  http://www.pungostrawberryfestival.org/ I have always tried to steer clear of the festival itself because the last time I attended I got a speeding ticket on the way home. Back to my surprise, when the (so he thinks) the prodigal son wanted to join me. As we pulled up to have our trays weighed the big green John Deere tractor was parked in the drive. I have so many pictures of Tad (and David and Greyson) climbing on or riding in this tractor I felt a bit mellow that this time had passed. Tad did pose for me along side his favorite "Big Green" tractor before we headed to the fields.

We made our way to the field and the rows were filled with pickers. I drove to the very end and instructed my pickers to go all the way to the end of the row. As we ambled along Tad remarked how he had not picked a strawberry since the 5th grade. Well he just finished his freshman year in college,where didthe time go. What had I been doing over the last, let's say 8 years??? Oh, yeah I started over by having Biz! My spread is from 8-19. We had a little chuckle over not picking berries since she was born. It was easy with the Gang of Four doing most anything. When you  throw that fifth digit into the family I was obvisiouly overwhelmed. Tad actually tried to warn me of that..When we told the kids we were having another baby, a million years ago, Tad sobbed. He ran from the dinner table in SHOCK. Maybe even horror. Certianly he was not putting two and two together yet?? I ran after him and thought he was so sweet when he was worried about me and how I would handle the work of rearing FIVE children. He some how knew there would not be as many fun outings for a while.



As a Mom enjoying her kids, doing fun things with them can sometimes be a chore. It is with a certian amount of pride that I report that my kiddos are glad to hang with me.

Even on a Sunday in the spring when they would rather be at the beach. The afternoon was perfect. The strawberries plentiful.  The time spent with the prodigal son, Priceless. ( as well as my girls; Sarah, Biz and Summer) Capping it off with a visit to Southern Fried Studio and Shop for some Ice Cream. The girls set a spell in rockers and enjoyed the afternoon.



My Mother's Day

I have had some doozies Mother's Day. That includes an appendicitis and strep throat. Last year I got up at 4 am and drove to Lake Anna to watch  Tad, my eldest , race in a Triathlon. It was actually very cool and he won his age group which was fun to watch. When I got home Jon "surprised" me by having Sunday dinner with the family ready for me. Sure was better then the strep or the appendicitis!! I started hinting mid week this year that today was MY day. I posted to my Facebook that KFC was not what I expected for dinner. The only child that seemed to take me serious was my youngest, Isabelle. She approached me one evening to say she was in charge of my breakfast on Mother's day, including making coffee. Well ,she is eight, so I was thinking the coffee was going to be a little on the weak side. She actually followed through by asking me to tell her step by step how to make coffee..She wrote it down as I dictated it.

My freckled face sweetie!

For the first time in I have NO idea how long, probably last time there were BIG waves, Jon got up before me and made coffee. Well the Biz ( my nickname for Isabelle)had set her alarm to get up and make the coffee. My alarm was a sobbing child because she did not get to make the coffee for her Mom. I pulled her in bed with me and held for long while as she calmed down. Wow, what a great day. My family is racing to make my morning coffee. She is a resilient one. Soon she was back to her task of breakfast for mom. It was just what I asked for; sliced apple, bagel with peanut butter but no yogurt. We were out.

All of this happened early which I am totally used to. The day just rolled on. Sarah was the next up and had given me a break by sleeping through her alarm set  to run with Ocean Lakes. I ran David to work. Came home and showered , taking my time. No 3 minute scrub-adub-dub for me this morning. That is a luxury that I rarely get to indulge in.  I was a sweet start to the day and it was already 10 am.

Next on the Mom's adventure was a little book store browsing with my girl Sarah.She had not showered but was ready to find a good read and enjoy her Starbucks with me.

I settled in with a good read and enjoyed my morning. Mother's day marked the beginning of a BUSY week. My cup runn-eth over with commitments, work and retrieving the eldest son from college. I needed the charge my batteries day to power me through. Jon gathered what willing bodies he could and headed to the beach. He also planned a lovely dinner for the family so I would not have to; grilled Salmon, baked sweet potatoes and salad, YUM. I set to work on organizing my volunteer activities with Tide Swim team so that I could be 100% ready to watch the last 2 Middle school track meets that the twins would ever run in. When the crew returned from the beach Jon's sister (my SIL) Diane dropped by with a sweet card and a UNBELIEVABLE surprise.Jon's sisters were having the house cleaned on Tuesday and the carpets cleaned on Wednesday. Yes, I was so excited for the help in putting the spit shine on our abode. It will show better for potential buyer's with out me having to spend all my free time (like 12 minutes a day) cleaning!! That was such a great gift, I felt so over whelmed and such relief.

It was a big week for Jon and I, this was the week we would also celebrate our 20 years of wedded bliss. As all good families make the effort to do we put our celebration on hold to focus on the other tasks at hand; track and retrieving Tad from his first year of college..19 years as a Mom and the Mother of a college sophomore. I think it was important to focus on the tasks at hand. It was a huge week for Sarah carrying  with her the the city mile record, being undefeated for  3 seasons, and pressure to stay that way. Mom's are there for those times and so would I be. I was able to make it work. The first event was a meet against Plaza were Sarah's undefeated title fell; to a friend. What a bumpy place. It does a Mother's heart good to see your child handle them selves with dignity and good sportsmanship when they are really hurting on the inside.

I was so lucky to have the ability to organize the Tide concessions and hospitality so I could be with Sarah and Greyson(Gman was making his first trip to City Track) at the Championships tract meet. The days of the weekend were busy, up at 5:30 and staying up late at night, for me. It was an awesome way to finish my

19th year as a Mom. Watching my kids shine, feeling the pride and accomplishment that comes with the effort. Often as Mom's we can loose sight of the job well done when it is mixed up in the rabbit trails of life.

Step back Mom's, next year on Mother's day forget the gifts. Reflect on the real joy and pride of being a Mother by watching your family and knowing all our energy and effort are the seeds of love for another generation.