Happy Mother's Day!

So today was Mother's Day. I never know if I'm going to be excited about it or not, and today definitely started out a bit on the stressful side. However, everything worked out really well and I had a nice day.

King Isepik got me a funny card and some pearls! With matching earrings! And they're not even the kind that you "pop" together and take apart! He says they are REAL. Wow. I was really surprised.

The King also made me breakfast. My new favorite - Bacon, Egg & Cheese English Muffins. Yum. McDonald's ain't got nothin' on him. He's SUCH a good cook.

I spent my morning preparing The Purple Dragon's talk for Primary, preparing my part of the lesson for Relief Society, burning a DVD for the Relief Society lesson, practicing two different songs that I would be singing today, and getting myself ready. It was not a "restful" Sunday.

Here's how the rest of the day went:

I went to Church at 12:30 and practiced singing a song called "May I Serve Thee" which actually sounds like a pretty funny title now that I typed it out, but it is really pretty. Then at 12:45 I practiced singing another song called "When I Feel His Love" which is also very pretty. At 1:00, The King showed up at church with The Princess and The Dragon and we headed into the chapel. Sacrament Meeting started, and we had a fairly nice program. The Primary sang a couple of songs, and The Pink Princess seemed to enjoy singing, but The Purple Dragon just stood there with her mouth clamped shut. It was kinda funny because she ALWAYS sings at home. I'm just happy she went up there. Later on, 6 of us sang "When I Feel His Love" and it sounded quite nice, though I worry if people in the back could hear us because we didn't have a microphone.

As soon as Sacrament Meeting was over, I rushed the kids up to Primary and sat with The Purple Dragon because it was her turn to give the talk. I was really dreading this because she does not enjoy going to Primary at all, and every week it is a struggle to get her to stay with her class. I figured she wasn't going to do anything for her talk, and I'd have to do the whole thing myself, including holding the pictures. I was wrong. She actually stood up there and repeated every word I said into her ear. It was probably a little loud and a little hard to understand but she did it! I was so proud of her. Then of course she got mad because I tried to leave! Can't win them all.

After that, I tried to do last minute preparations for the part of Relief Society that I was in charge of, and tried to relax because I was nervous. My friend Cynthia wrote this really amazing Mother's Day Program a few years ago, and I decided to share it with this ward, and they decided to use it (or a slightly modified version of it). So they asked me if I would talk about the part that is directed to mother's with kids at home. I was really excited and willing to do it, but as it got closer I kind-of dreaded it.

Anyway, time passed and it was time for Relief Society, so I wandered in there, found a place to stash this huge picture I had borrowed from a friend, and started playing the prelude music. It got to be time for my part of the lesson, and I managed to get all the way through it, but I was completely in tears. BOO HOO HOO! It sucked. I kept trying to stop crying but I just couldn't get a grip. So so so frustrating. I was also a little bit panicked because I realized that they hadn't told me when I was going to be singing and I thought I was going to sing first... and so then I was afraid they were going to have me sing right after I talked!!! And I was a mess! There was no way I could do that. Thankfully, they let someone else do their part of the lesson (whether it was planned that way or whether they made a last minute switch I will probably never know, but I am so glad it worked out that way), and then my friend Debbie and I sang a duet of "May I Serve Thee" accompanied by my Mom. It was really pretty -- I love this song.

The best part of the program was the slide show at the end. It had all of these amazing pictures, and the music was Josh Groban's "You Raise Me Up." My friend Cynthia made that too... and it was really beautiful.

The girls came running as soon as Relief Society was over and showed me the cards that they had made. The Princess' said "Thank-you for teaching me how to pray." And The Dragon's said "I love you." The Dragon did not want to give me hers because it had her name on it (ie. "Love, The Dragon"). She thought it was hers.

So then I got to go home, and do absolutely NOTHING because my Mom had shanghaied "the boys" into cooking dinner for all of "the girls." What a special treat! Of course, The King got stuck with most of it because it seems that no-one else really knows how to cook, though Brother T can probably hold his own. Brother T bought the meat - brisket - and made bread in his bread machine (yum!). My Dad basically peeled the potatoes. Brother D made the salad -- but he kinda forgot to tear up the lettuce leaves so it was rather amusing. We were joking that it was so you could make a "wrap" if you wanted too. There was a green salad, fruit salad, bread, brisket, garlic mashed potatoes, and mint chocolate chip ice cream for dessert.

It was a very nice day but it seemed to go by very fast.

P.S. Cindi -- If you ever make it to my blog (*grin*), keep reading... two or three more posts! :) I think you'll see what I want you to see... it's kinda hard to miss!