My Favorite Holiday

So, early Sunday morning, I was having this dream, and for once it wasn't stressful. I was at Border's with some of my preschool Mommy friends. They were all pregnant. They went off to look at books, and I noticed that my friend Rhett was there. He was doing an acoustic set, sitting on a stool with his guitar, wearing a finely tailored suit made entirely of newspapers. I went over to say hi, when suddenly I heard : rattle rattle...click...creak, creak...pitter patter pitter patter pitter patter...POOF! Rhett was gone.

And I was awake. I let myself think for a moment that maybe it was just Kev getting up to go to the bathroom, and that I could just go right back to sleep. But Kev's footsteps don't usually go "pitter patter pitter patter," so I knew it was a long shot. I opened one eye, and about two inches from my face was Daphne, looking very disheveled and a little freaked out.

Me: What 's the matter?

D: I had a bad dream that you went to jail because you didn't put on my seatbelt when we were going to see Dan Zanes (I have apparently passed along the Stressful Dream Gene).

Sigh. The sun was coming up and I knew there was no chance of her going back to bed, so I hoisted her up next to me, where she was still for a whole three minutes (a record!) before the squirming began.

Kev: (mumbling) Happy Smother's Day (that's what Daphne called it when she was little).

Me: Oh yeah. Thanks.

D: (What seemed like yelling) Happy Muddah's Day!!!!! (that's what she calls it now).

Me: Thanks. What time is it anyway?

D: Seven eight. (?)

Kev: 6:23 am.

And so began my Mother's Day.

But let's go back a bit...

It was another action packed weekend, starting with First Friday. There was a lot going on this month, and we chose to check out a high school girls' guitar ensemble at the bank, and a bluegrass band featuring Maddy Curtis (see her awesome AI audition here) behind the Pink Shop:

They were really good, and I liked seeing teenagers playing GOOD music. There is hope for the future. Daphne loved it, and got Maddy's autograph and a hug. Very cute.

Saturday started about the best way possible if you're a little kid - licking the beaters:

I made some whipped cream for strawberry shortcake, which we ate after soccer and an early Mother's Day lunch with my mom, dad, and Jeff at Sweetwater Tavern. My parent's gave me this dahlia and planter - just my style:

And Kev and Daphne gave me a really nice card, a bottle of Lambic, and a cool orange box:

Inside the box was a very clever gift - six dates. There were gift cards for nights out at four different local restaurants (all within walking distance) and one for the local movie theater. The sixth date is a bicycle ride/picnic with the bottle of Lambic. Nice, huh? I am looking forward to getting started, but not sure where to go first.

For REAL Mother's Day, we decided to take a drive in the country like we did last year. We ended up at the Philomont General Store, where we bought pulled pork barbecue sandwiches for us, PB&J for Daphne, some sweet potato chips, and drinks, and walked down the street to a playground for a picnic. The sandwiches were AWESOME! Aaaah...good barbecue. So hard to come by in these parts, so it was a real treat.

After we ate, we had lots of fun on the playground until I sustained a knee injury. I am apparently too big for the toddler playground and should not try to squeeze under 2-foot arches.

We then tried to get ice cream in Purcellville, but the place was closed, so we headed back home and Daphne fell asleep in the car about two minutes before we arrived. Then she woke up and wouldn't (or couldn't) take a real nap, and so she was unfortunately whiny and obstinate for the rest of the day. She wasn't BAD, but just made every single thing more difficult than it should have been. When she's tired, things are much less fun. Kev went to Giovanni's to get pizza for dinner, we put Daphne to bed early, and I had my Mother's Day ice cream. And all in all, it was a really great Mother's Day Weekend. I wish it happened more often. It's nice to know I'm appreciated.

Also this weekend, we brought in some flowers from the yard. Kev got some roses from the back:

And I got some peonies from the front:

You should smell my kitchen. I love walking past the sink now, and washing the dishes is much more tolerable with pretty flowers at the window.

Next weekend, I don't think we have anything planned except soccer. That's good. I think we need to stay low-key for a while. Kev has had a bad cold and can't seem to get better, so we need to slow things down and relax. Maybe we can go on one of our six dates.

I hope you all had a good weekend and a Happy Mother's Day too.

Time to start planning for Father's Day now...