Remembering 4 Legged "Children" on Mother's Day

I remembered to enact my mothering role to my 4-legged friends today and finally took over the huge bag of old towels that had been cluttering up the back of my car. The Faithful Friends animal shelter is a "no-kill" animal shelter that can use old blankets and towels. Many thanks to my dearest daughter for going along with me! This event was properly documented with a photo because collecting old towels and blankets is my service project this year.

First Born

On this Mother's Day I just have to reflect on becoming and being a mother... and it's the first born who made it so! This is my first born... the baby who introduced me to motherhood... the baby I doted on, was so very protective of, and now a handsome young man making his own way in the world. Here he is at the Kentucky Derby, which he likes to attend every year. Like many mothers have experienced, this was the devilish child who sometimes drove me crazy, and the obstinate teenager who exasperated me. He was always full of spirit, and has a drive which gives him a strength of character. This is my son who stll likes to come home for the holidays, and calls home to say "Hi" and wish me a Happy Mother's Day. I'm such a lucky Mother!

Phillip's Garden

He's been working on this for weeks--- digging the dirt, (and sometimes digging up more rock than dirt), then growing seedlings in the basement, getting up early in the morning to bring them outside to harden, and then hurrying home between classes and work to bring them back inside before it got to cold in the evening... and now we are all seeing the fruits of his labors! This is truly an impressive garden.

He has also planted a peach tree! And did I tell you about the strawberries? The lettuce is my favorite right now-- so fresh! Thank you Phillip!

Mom

With Mother's Day this coming weekend I just thought it was right to stop and pay homage to our mothers. My mother had 4 children-- a king's ransom she used to call it-- 2 boys and 2 girls. My mother was a good mother-- she supported all of her children always-- and encouraged us to become whatever we wanted to be. Mom also had an adventurous spirit and loved to travel. I learned how to be a mother from my mother... and that's a pretty good legacy!

Garden Radishes

We've already harvested fresh radishes and lettuce from Phillip's garden-- the radishes taste spectacularly good! As for the lettuce- it's nice to know it's from our own garden without being sprayed with chemicals-- but we're all learning to eat a little dirt along with it! I've received orders to hunt for a salad spinner so that the cook can do a better job of washing and drying the lettuce leaves.

Little Brother, Big Sister

Kenneth was really my "first" baby-- we all doted on this first boy-child in the family, and having a baby around the house was really neat! For my mother, having two almost grown daughters also meant she had two built-in babysitters-- and I claimed Kenneth as my very own. The hardest thing for me was to go away to school, because Kenneth would write me letters (hand scratched first and second grade writing) telling me how much he missed me, and he'd want me to take him along to school. As you can see, we both survived and in this picture he was all too glad to show me how grown up he was-- clearly little brother was taller than his big sister!

Michael

If there was ever a devilish young boy it was my little Michael- who really could do no wrong in my eyes! His expression says it all- guess a mother's love is blind :)-- he was 3 years old in this picture-- where did the years go?