One of the many reasons Mother's Day exists

It started as a lovely day.  Beautiful weather + beautiful people.  How much better could a day get?

The girls packed their bags with school curriculum and 100 color books, filled with the promise of eating cake at our local Starbucks.

Yesterday, I had a rare mommy date with a friend, and the opportunity to meet a new friend.  The topic of conversation?  Homeschool.  My new friend is planning to homeschool her girls {same age as mine} next year.  Gotta love meeting a new convert. ;)

We had a lovely conversation, while the girls shared 2 different cakes.  Yummy.

From there, we headed to our local Panera.  A good mama wouldn't dare let her girls go hungry after eating cake.  ;)

It was a lovely lunch, filled with more coloring and funny conversation.  Where there's an 8 and 10 year old, you will find laughs.

And drama.

But {somewhat} understandably so.

I'm getting to that part... eventually.

DK has been putting in the hours.  I recently told him that his job was interfering with our lives.  I was joking.  Kind-of.  Then again, his jobs always have.  But especially in the recent weeks.  {Seriously, how can I be expected to wait in suspense of watching the next episode of 24 without him?  But really, it's about my sofa snuggle time.}  When he is home, he is ready to hit the pillow.  Exhausted.  Why, you ask?

Again, with the oil disaster.

This is where DK is during his waking hours.  

At times, sharing airspace with the chairman of BP and the...

Impressive, yes?  Again, if this operation goes well, feel free to give some kudos to hubs. ;)  However, if this operation takes longer and is messier than expected?  Well, just remember that hubs is simply {one of many} on the tech side of this operation.  ;)  {That was for The Sneaky Mommy.. Hehe...}

So, while hubs is tackling the world's issues, I'm tackling lil' fires at home.  Swimsuit shopping.

It all started with pure excitement, giddiness, and good ol' shopping adrenaline bliss.

Just when I started to wonder at what age we lose that giddiness when shopping for a swimsuit...

drama, tears, indecisiveness, swimsuit discomfort ensued.

Child #1:  "I look adorable!  I look so cute!  They all look wonderful.  I just can't decide.  Oh, I just look so... adorable!"

Child #2:  "This one is embarrassing.  This one is uncomfortable.  I like this one, but I'm not sure.  Can I try on more?  This one huuuuuuuuuuuuuurts!"

I'll spare you all the drama.  I promised not to post the picture of child #2 while she was completely red-faced, in tears.   Believe me, I feel the same way when shopping for a swimsuit, but I didn't remember struggling with some of those feeling and emotions when I was only eight years old. 

Looong story short. By the time it was said and done, and my frozen groceries were completely defrosted, we left with two swimsuits.  This was simply to not infringe {any more} punishment upon myself if we made it home with only one suit.  Happy Mother's Day to me.

Once home, she realized how ridiculous her actions were and gave me a few unprompted, hear-felt apologies.  That made it better, but the wrinkles I developed at Target that day are permanent.

The stress from this shopping expedition reminded me of shopping for the first time by myself with a newborn and toddler.  The baby was crying.  I picked her up... and the whole double stroller flipped over with a once sleeping toddler inside, now crying too!  Two women passing by {probably mothers themselves} saw my distress and came to my rescue.  Kohl's was not worth the trip, that day. 

I sent DK the pictures from my day of work too.

Oil disaster?

Yeah... I want to see him deal with making a lil' girl happy while swimsuit shopping.

But he's a sweetheart.  This is what I found on the doorstep when I got home.  An early Mother's Day gift.  Roses in all colors.

But the best part of the day?  After my workout at the gym, I propped my feet up outside... just as DK came through the door.  I cuddled 15 minutes with my schmoopie, watching the sun go down from our back patio... then he went to bed, preparing to tackle the world's problems for {at least} one more day.

Maybe they'll let him have a day off this Mother's Day weekend?  Please?

What are your plans for Mother's Day?