A Mother's Love

Yesterday was Mother's Day... or as I like to refer to it, a "hallmark holiday".  I'm going to once again allow myself to be completely transparent and confess that I struggled with the idea of "expectations" the entire day.  Apparently this is going to be a process that I have to work though. LOL! 

The kids bought me flowers  (& I personally LOVED the extra ones they added from the yard), they baked me a cake with close to a half-inch of sprinkles covering it, and I received MANY, MANY, home-made cards, letters, and crafts from school and home.  Colby also gave me 39 cents (all  the money from his "give" section in his piggy bank.  So precious!  Madeline gave me a flower pot with 3 tiny plants, and my sweet Chloe gave me a ziploc baggie full of random items from the game room swimming in Elmer's glue.  She was SO proud because she made it all by herself!  LOL!  And my gracious husband, who rose above the temptations of the commericialized marketing efforts, gave me a most precious gift that I can always treasure --- a handwritten letter.  Come to find out he also had secretly been doing things around the house for the past week to help me have a little more extra time for myself. 

We finished the day off with a wonderful celebration with our life group (a small group of friends from church).  The men had organized and cooked dinner for the mammas and it was DELICIOUS!  We feasted on shish-ka-bobs, rice, corn, potatoes, cesar salad and the grand finale... homemade ice cream!!! YUM! 

The past few months I've really reflected on how precious of a gift it is to be a mother.  Oh how blessed I am to have three wonderful and healthy children!  At times I let the burden of mothering get the best of me and I don't appreciate my role as much as I should.  I pray that in this season I would continue to focus my heart to the honor that I have to be Colby, Madeline & Chloe's mom.  Children are a gift from God and I am so thankful to have the opportunity to feel a mother's love.

And I'll have plenty of oppotunites to practice my renewed devotion and patience with my children as Jarred will be traveling for the next 2 weeks.  You'll notice the meal plan is significantly tailored to the kids tastes.  I actually let them pick the menu this week!  So without further ado, here you have

MEAL PLAN MONDAY

(brought to you by the Karnei kids)

MONDAY: Fish Sticks, Fruit Salad, & Cheese Slices (I had a salad.)

TUESDAY: BBQ Chip Chicken, Baked Beans, Mashed Potatoes

WEDNESDAY: Breakfast for Dinner (a tradition when Daddy is gone): Blueberry Muffins, Bacon & Eggs

THURSDAY: "Sausage Rolls" (hot dogs with cheese in crescent rolls), Watermelon, French Fries

FRIDAY: Tacos/Taco Nachos