The Smithereens: I'll have what they're having!

What a fantasic Mother's Day here in Maryland! (70 degrees and no clouds).

Mark and I were getting cleaned up this morning and Matthew came to tell me that he dusted the top shelf of his bookshelf. Hmmm...my first thought is the bookshelf in his room which is 6 ft. tall. Then I realized he was talking about the 3 ft. bookshelf in the family room where they keep their toys. Wow, Good job Matthew!

Matthew says something about wanting to clean the floor, so Dad offers that Matthew can get out the little vacuum if he wants to clean up. Wow, what's happening here? Next thing I hear is both vacuums running in the family room and neither Mark or I are involved. By 11 am, they had the entire family room vacuumed! I thought they just had grape juice and cereal for breakfast! Here's proof...

So, as a reward, I took the little red car to McDonald's for lunch so they could get their Shrek toys. We had lunch on the deck and apparently while I was out, they got all of their Mother's Day gifts together.

So after lunch we opened cards and gifts - one surprise after another. Andrew went first. He made a hand print card with a terrific message about how quickly the hand prints on the walls disappear as he gets bigger and I should enjoy them while I can. He also made a handpainted pot at school and put a pack of Marigold seeds in it. Matthew made a teapot cut out with a tea bag on the inside and also a small heart shaped clear magnet with a butterfly inside that he had drawn. Mom and Dad sent a nice card and beautiful hand blown glass bracelet and ring - I will wear this to work tomorrow as it will add nice color to my boring suits. Doris sent a beautiful card with a very sweet message inside. Mark got me a DVD Recorder so we can transfer all of our video to DVD (which he will be doing while I am lounging in my new....) and a portable hammock for the deck! (You can see how much I will get to use this - hopefully the "newness" will wear off soon!)