This mama feels super special after a really lovely Mother’s day spent with my little family. My boys are pretty good about showing me appreciation – usually it’s a hug out of nowhere, thanking me for making chicken nuggets for supper – but it is really nice to have a single day that thanks mom but, more importantly, it makes them think about what mommy means to them and reminds them to be appreciative.
We started the day just hanging at home. Eleanor put on her special dress that nanny and grampy bought her for Easter. She seems to really like girly things. She is gorgeous.
I love the softness of this picture. This is a great “what being a mom is all about” picture. 
What was supposed to be an overcast/showery (but warm) day ended up being mostly sunny and gorgeous. We decided to pack a picnic lunch and went to Sir Sandford Fleming park. We spent hours there, blowing bubbles and hanging out at the little beach.
How is it possible Oliver is this big?! I am so proud of him… he kills it in French (the other kids come to him for questions), is good with his friends, and is improving at home with his brother. He can be hard but he shows me a lot of affection, sometimes when I least expect it. 
Emery has always been very affectionate with me. He is definitely a lover and dreamer. He was having some issues with shyness and not participating at school sometimes, but his teachers tell me he is opening up much more lately and doing very well. 
Eleanor liked getting her toes in but she did complain about the cold water. 
What special day (or any weekend, for that matter) is complete without ice cream? We went to the waterfront and had ice cream at Sugah again today… the perfect spot and a perfectly warm day for it too. 
Do I ever love these kids. It is the highest of privileges to be a mom … to be the person that steers them, that teaches them, to be someone they look up to their whole lives, that they will use as a role model for their female relationships. It’s a lot. Sometimes it’s fun, sometimes hard, sometimes it feels natural, and sometimes it’s a heavy weight. But it is definitely a privilege and reminding myself of that makes the fun moments more fun and, somehow, the hard moments easier.
The boys both came home with some fantastic mother’s day artwork that they made at school. Emery made me this really lovely ‘I love you because…’ vase and every flower had a reason that he loves me.
The hands say things like, “I like her hugs” and “she lets me pick the books we read”. But this one really made me laugh.
For the record, I don’t sneak (or steal) cookies at the superstore; he’s talking about the box of sample cookies that are sitting out at the bakery. It never occurred to me that he would look at it that way (but it certainly made me laugh!).
Emery also made this really nice picture of him and I. It’s hard to see the shape but he says the spots on our bellies are our “happy hearts”.
Oliver made me this really sweet flower card in his primary class. 
And he made this really nice pastel artwork in his art class last week.
It was nice for brian to have his mom here and for me to have one of the maternal figures in my life here, but I was missing my own mom today. I’m so thankful for all of the fine ladies in my life but am especially thankful for my mom… today I told her that I am the mom I am because she is the mom that she is. I couldn’t be more grateful for her strong presence in my life.
The boys all tried their hand at fishing but no one was getting any bites. We forgot about Emery’s new spiderman fishing rod but … next time! 
My lovely. 
The trails here are pretty nice but we haven’t explored many of them yet. 
The birthday boy himself. Poor thing, even did the bbq’ing at his own birthday party. 
A couple more of Eleanor. I guess the good part of chasing her around is, if you have your camera ready, there are lots of good opportunities for photos!
Love them, love hubby, and glad he had a nice birthday with our little family!
