My Mom

She has given me so many wonderful gifts that I am only now starting to fully understand (and won't completely understand until I become a mother,  I'm sure). As we celebrated Mother's Day yesterday and her birthday today (or yesterday, now that its 12:15), I've thought a lot about what a great mother she is to me and my sisters. I clearly remember a time when I was about 8 or 9 years old and Mom wouldn't let me invite myself to go to some bouncy house with my younger sister's friends. I remember declaring to myself, "When I have kids, I will NEVER do this to them!" And as we all later do, we realize why Mom wouldn't let us do this or that, and we're grateful for it. Here's a few more things I'm thankful for, and hope to carry on with my own children one day...

Thanks, Mom...
-for teaching me that its rude to invite yourself ;)
-for surprising us every so often when we'd come home from elementary school to find our rooms sparkling clean and the furniture rearranged...it would make our day!
-for pausing in the middle of painting the kitchen to braid my hair when I couldn't do it myself
-for teaching me how to sew, even though it meant a jammed machine and a frustrated child
-for letting me out of piano lessons after the obligatory "just try it" period was over
-for carting me back and forth to soccer games and listening to the same Dixie Chicks song over and over again
-for letting me have "half-birthday" parties so I could have a pool party in the summer
-for sewing my middle school Homecoming dress
-for hosting events like FCA and Young Life at the house and showing me how fun it is to be hospitable
-for cooking, cleaning, and the numerous other tasks I never noticed
-for never commenting on how awkward I was all through middle school and high school
-for teaching me how to drive well
-for making our home an enjoyable, loving, and safe environment
-for proofreading English papers at 11pm
-for taking me on spontaneous trips to Starbucks, just the two of us, the summer after my freshman year of college and making me feel like a grown-up
-for making 8 hour drives to visit me at college
-for planning a good chunk of my wedding when I was too busy to do it myself
-for continuing to provide advice and support even now as I'm married and 12 hours from home

Mom, I can never thank you enough for all you've done for me, and all that you continue to do. You are so patient, kind, wise, and fun! I love you, Mom!