Happy Mother's Day...a little belated

All this talk about Mother's Day today, and as usual I'm late to the game. But I did have a fun one. I got some cute stuff from my boys (photos of those will come later), a super comfy SJ Earthquakes t-shirt, what else? Breakfast at Hobee's and dinner at Ruby's Taqueria means I didn't have to cook, which is all I really ask for today. As much as I do love cooking, it does get tiring. We visited my mom who is doing a lot better, and MIL also sounded okay.

Here are some photos of the people who make this and every day special.

My sweetie, who not only happily made a crown at Dia del Nino at our school but happily posed as well.

The event was really fun, with booths for all sorts of countries with games for each, such as the Germany castle above, and India hosted by this adorable guy, a good friend of my kids. His family's church were volunteers who ran the whole thing for us.

Here are my boys, being silly as always.

My assistant in the kitchen. I tried to tell him to turn the strawberries over but he's got his own mind.

Go Quakes!

Happy Mother's Day

Hope everyone is having a wonderful mother's day. I've taken it upon myself to ensure I get everything that I want, starting with a quick shopping trip on Thursday, awesome sangria at the uber hip Sino, bit of wine tasting today and finally this post, where I'm just going to share some random stuff in my head.

Last year all I wanted was a day off from making meals, but still eat breakfast, lunch and dinner. My husband came through. Since I've left work, I just don't feel that pressure, the overwhelming responsibility, the inability to decide one single more meal. Now I'm cooking away, feel relaxed except when actively looking for a job, so I really, truly don't need anything. That's convenient, considering we'll be lunching with my husband's visiting friend, and the two of them will be heading off to see the Dead mother's day night.

Some sad news. The super talented, funny as hell, larger than life, and lover of all things delicious Dom Deluise died last week. I'm not sure how this fits into the universe's karmic balance, but that same week my plans included baking his super rich and easy to make “Death by Chocolate” cake for the teacher appreciation lunch at Keegan's school. I also baked a tray of meatballs for spaghetti and meatballs last night, which always brings to mind the photo in his cookbook "Eat this, It Will make you feel better.” I absolutely love that cookbook, and have made that cake over and over to rave reviews. All the recipes include funny and touching stories about his family. The cake recipe is the only one that has a not from scratch version, and it's what got me started on the idea of adding pudding, chocolate chips, sour cream and/or liqueur when making a cake from a box, whatever you have on hand. I had no idea he was in so many movies, and we're going to watch a few in his honor.

Here are the kids before their big race, a fund raiser for Zimbabwe orphans. Donovan got 4th place in the 220 yd pre-K run, Keegan got second to last in his 1 mile run. Next year we'll train. I was so proud of him for finishing and not dwelling on his results. In fact he walked around telling everyone his brother got 4th, his little girlfriend got 6th and he got last (official results showed he was not quite last).

And I leave you with these cute photos of the kids at a Happy Birds party.

Win Prizes for Mother's Day

Okay, I'm not giving away any prizes, at least that I know of, but thought I might try to win. I haven't been entering many giveaways since I'm usually reading blogs on my iPhone and it can be a pain to make comments, but there are a few great ones out there right now.

5 Minutes for Mom seems to have a whole series of them. See the banner on the right or link back here.

This Week for Dinner is giving away flowers, and knowing ProFlowers they will be all over the blogosphere.

I have no idea what I'm actually doing to celebrate this year. In the past I've found myself actually cleaning and cooking on the special day, so last year my only request was to not have to cook breakfast, lunch or dinner for the whole day (but still eat of course.). This year my husband will be going to a Dead concert with a friend who's visiting. He rejected my idea of going in his stead, being as I'm not quite the deadhead he is and hardly know his friend. And since I get to celebrate not having to go to work and do all the house and child stuff each day, the only thing I really want is not really postable.

Happy very early mother's day y'all and good luck if you are hoping to win something.

Oh Crap Do I Need to Buy a Gift?

I have to admit my husband is the more romantic one in the family. He's written me poems for anniversaries and valentine's day, bought me expensive soaps and stuffed doily hearts in my daytime. I'm the one who lets these events sneak up on me and then panic about getting a gift. I once bought him pie plates and a nice teapot, I think it was our 2nd valentine's day. In my defense, I'm a practical girl, Dutch Babies were one of the few things he liked to make and he kept complaining he was missing his plates since his move.

Like everything since kids, however, we have less time to ponder the perfect gift, or maybe he's just run out of ideas. There's been a lot of gift certificates, and I shouldn't complain, but I have a bad habit of losing them, and they just don't have the personal touch. For a recent spa gift certificates, instead of finding a place within his self-imposed budget, he got an amount that doesn't quite cover a whole treatment. He occasionally still scores, with a nice journal after I started blogging, and a beautiful artsy business card holder which I needed and loved. Some he gets eventually, like the GPS, where the first eBay score was a bit of a bust, but he made up for it at Christmas. He's also bought me stuff he himself would love, like coffee cups and a mouse pad with the kid's photo on them, which I'm expected to use at work or I'm not a very proud mommy.

But frankly it's the less expensive, but more personal gifts that I have treasured. The photo of the kids with "I Love Mommy" photoshopped in. Scrapbook pages he made with the kids, when he doesn't even know what scrap booking is. A $50 jar of face cream is nothing to scoff at, but when finances are a source of tension and I already know what my face likes, I just can't help but think of what we could have done with that money. What I have always wanted was someone else to be in charge of breakfast and dinner one day, or for my husband to do something like go through the kids clothes and donate all the too small ones...a girl can dream.

I love the idea of Get In Her Head, the sponsor for this weeks Parent Bloggers Blog Blast. It's "a free service for couples who want to get it right every time." Plus this way I won't have to remember that CD he's asked for, or have already got stuff he didn't want when he drops that hint. I'm glad to see there's also a get in his head option.