Sweet and Sour

Mother's Day was full of fun, family....and crying.  It wouldn't be Mother's Day without the sweet and sour, because that is truly what Motherhood is.  We have moments of great satisfaction and gratitude, and then the next second we have a mess to clean up and crying children.

 We made a super quick (less than 48 hours) trip to Utah for my in-laws homecoming from their mission for the LDS church.   The drive up was great, the kids traveled like CHAMPS, we only had to stop once to fill up and to empty our bladders :)  

And THEN we had the drive home...below is a picture at our stop in Filmore for Maverick hot dogs and playing on the playground.  I was feeling lots of gratitude and love for my kids at this point.  They were playing so great together and they had been great on the ride home thus far....then a switch flipped and the Monsters came out.

I'm telling you, the last half of the trip home was MISERABLE.  Five children and parents who are totally sleep deprived and have been in a car too much.  Lots of crying and whining and fighting.  I thought I was going to pull my hair out.  Nobody was comfortable to go to sleep, I finally ended up in the back seat so I could stop the fighting and so kids would SLEEP.  That did not make my back happy and so I was a bit miserable myself.  Oh the yin and yang of motherhood right?  

Anyway, we packed LOTS of great things into those 45 hours. We stayed with my oldest sister, who I admire so much, she and my niec  played dollhouse and multiple games with my kids and her boys (in their 20's) played on the trampoline and kept my kids happy and busy.  They are truly amazing.

My nephew Matt came home from his mission on Friday and I loved seeing him and the growth he has made.  What a great example to my kids!

 Below is a Mother's Day lunch we had with my Mother in-law and sisters in law and the granddaughters.  It was so fun, the little girls have so much fun together.  I love these ladies like my own flesh and blood.

My oldest son turned 14 on Sunday.  When boys in our church turn 14, they become a teacher in the Aaronic Priesthood.  All thse men stood in a circle around my son and put their hands on his head.  It always makes me tear up that he is surrounded by so much support and love.  If he can remember the protection and support of these great men in his life, he can withstand all the temptations and bad things of this world.

At 14 he is funny, smart, sweet, sensitive, a great older brother and my buddy.  He has always been very sensitive to me and my needs, even as a very little boy he would make sure I was happy and taken care of.  Now don't get me wrong, he is still a teenager (sweet and sour right?) and we have our fair share of eye rolls and attitude.  However he is a GREAT kid and I love watching him grow into the person he is supposed to become.

I know for some women Mother's Day is hard.  Whether it's infertility, a difficult relationship with your own mother or feeling like you don't measure up as a Mom, there are those who don't like to celebrate this holiday.  I choose to celebrate the positive.  I have a wonderful Mom and Mother in-law and I am blessed to have amazing kids.  I am not perfect by any means.  I yell more than I would like, my house is messy much of the time and my kids watch TV too much.  But I do a lot of things right as well and that is what I choose to focus on.

I really really love this article "Drops of Awesome" on the blog Daring Young Mom.  It summarizes how I feel.  I most often want to focus on the "sweet" of Motherhood, while still acknowledging  that the "sour" exists and is HARD.

How was your Mother's Day?  Was is sweet or sour, or a combination of both?