can we sum up all the beauty?

This is my Mother's Day gift from Jonathan. "It's all the money I have." Three bucks, taped to two Norwegian chocolate bars. There are no words.

But ha, of course I have words! You didn't believe that, did you, that I had no words? Jon is the nicest kid, so funny. He was gone for most of the weekend, doing maintenance work, spring cleaning and weed-eating at our church. So when he came home yesterday, I teased him and asked him where my present was. He came up with a good one in about three minutes flat.

Here's one thing I want to write about: Saturday we had a very sobering morning, as our dear friend Dave was buried. He passed away in December. His wife and their eight kids, oh it's sad. He is in a better place, and he's pain free, after battling cancer of the esophagus and it's complications, for 11 years. He long outlived the statistics, but he suffered too. He learned so much in his sufferings, and he was there for his wife and kids. He was so encouraging, and he retained his sense of humor. He is deeply and sorely missed. With the sun shining and the birds singing, there at the cemetery, it's just heartbreaking that life goes on when someone so loved is laid to rest.

I wake up some mornings, and think of how he isn't with us anymore, and I vow not to waste the day, to get heavenly value from the things I go through.

Today will be a busy day. Lydia is here, she spent the night, and Anne is coming over very soon. I have to bring Sonja to the doctor this afternoon for her knee, again. Since she dislocated it two years ago, had two surgeries on it, it's still bothering her like crazy, and it feels like there's more loose cartilage floating in there.

Yesterday, Evelyn and I took a little trip to the small city to buy flowers from the dollar store. We chose eleven flowers, and a cute little aromatic basil plant. We went to Walmart for potting soil, then home with our Dunkin coffees, it was a pleasant trip together on a dark rainy morning. Paul was making brisket for dinner, he put it out on the grill for a few hours, then into the oven. The older kids were all coming over with side dishes, so I didn't have to cook anything! I sat down and put my feet up, looked on facebook marketplace, because I love to browse there...and lo and behold, the very vacuum cleaner I wanted, sixty bucks! It was a fraction of what they sell for, a Dyson canister vac with the hard-floor attachment included. It looked very new...so I sent a message, and yes, I could come at three o'clock! Evelyn and I set out once again, and drove a half hour to the suburbs, and oh my, it was a nice house in a nice neighborhood...their garage was cleaner than our house is. The vac is in pristine condition, all works, as the guy showed us...Happy Mother's Day to me! Sonja vacuumed her room when I got it home, and declared it worked just fine. I told her to make sure she vacuums up pencils and q-tips and popsicle sticks and hair ties.

12 of the kids were here at some point yesterday. Mirielle made Mac and cheese with cauliflower and broccoli instead of the "Mac". She made a lemon blueberry pound cake, I only had a taste, I'm trying so hard! There were fresh veggies and dip, strawberries and blueberries and watermelon, and Josh (Mali's husband) made a beautiful, work of art, loaf of fresh bread. It was all really nice! We still had ice cream cake in the freezer, so we got that out after dinner, and I stayed the heck away from it. :)

The kids gave me some nice gifts...the older girls got me a nice suitcase, Mali got me a coffee candle, it has actual coffee beans in it, and smells heavenly, and a pretty scarf...Ev got me a nice stainless steel Dunkin travel mug. Marge got me a beauty box with various fun things in it, and a pair of salad tongs. Mostly it was nice to have them here.

We have had the rainiest spring here in central New York state. The ground is just a soggy mess. Those little girls are going to go wild in here today, I am not taking them out to get all muddy.

Anyway...time to get busy...