Lunch with the Ladies!

On Saturday, my mom had all of the girls over for a Mother's Day lunch. There was My mom and her mom (Grandma Pete) and mother-in-law (Grandma Maples), me and my mother-in-law (Christina), Ashley and her mom (Gina), Brooke and her mom (Janet), and Dayna and her mom Laurie. When we arrived, the table was set with her beautiful china and goblets (some of which were mine, and they have never been used. I didn't even remember what they looked like!). The first course was the salad, she made the kind of salad that has strawberries and poppy seed dressing- so yummy! The main dish was chicken cour don blue, ranch potatoes, and green beans. For dessert we had angel food cake with vanilla ice cream and cherry topping. The food was so good! I felt like I was in a fancy restaurant and that I should have been paying for my meal. The best part was that there were NO KIDS! Not even the babies were there. It was so nice to relax and have a good chat with all the ladies in the family. I decided this was going to be a tradition!

After we ate, my mom gave out gifts to everyone! We were all so spoiled! She gave each of the daughters a journal that we can write things in that we would hope our kids learn from us to help raise their children, but before we get them our moms are writing what they hope we learned from them growing up. I thought that was such a cute idea. I am looking forward to my mom giving it to me so I can see what she wrote. Then she gave all of the daughters and her mom and mother-in-law Willow Tree statues. My mom made sure she gave us all a statue that had meaning for us. She gave me the mom and daughter one. I love it! I have always wanted one and so I am so happy I finally got one. She gave all the other moms a little Willow Tree box that they can put their little treasures in. She also gave us a copy of a poem she found from the Internet. It was perfect, it said:

Real mothers don't eat quiche; they don't have time to make it.
Real mothers know that their kitchen utensils are probably in the sand box.
Real mothers often have sticky floors, filthy ovens and happy kids.
Real mothers know that dried play dough doesn't come out of carpets.
Real mothers don't want to know what the vacuum just sucked up.
Real mothers sometimes ask "Why me?" and get their answer when a little voice says, "Because I love you best"
Real mothers know that a child's growth is not measured by height or years or grade...
It is marked by the progression of Mommy to Mom to Mother.

Thanks Mom for such a wonderful afternoon!