My gifts! The fist thing Taylor did when she woke up was,
whisper "Happy Muvers Day"...that was a gift too!
This was the best Mother's Day that I have ever had in my life! It all started with Muffins for Mom at Blake's school. It was the most precious thing ever! On Saturday we took the kids to spend time with Aunt Sissy and Aunt Susie so that Billy and I could go to the Visalus Regionals in KC. It was an amazing event, but being away from the kids, makes me miss them, so I was happy to pick up my little kiddos. We had had a super long day and night, but got up first thing in the morning and headed to church. It was "officially" Mother's Day and the perfect place to be was at church. The entire message, almost word-for-word, went along with what we had heard the day before at the company meeting, more signs that Visalus is for us. Billy and I kept looking at one another...like really?!?
When I picked Taylor up from Sunday school, she had made me some beautiful gifts...pretty flowers and drawings. She was so proud to give them to me! Later that day, Blake handed me a hand-wrapped present...it was a copy of "Love You Forever", the same book that we read and cried about at the "Muffins for Mom"! The best part was...what was inside...
"Happy Mother's Day
Sometimes you get discouraged
Because I am so small,
and always leave my fingerprints
on furniture and walls.
But everday I'm growing
I'll be grown up someday
And all those tiny handprints
will surely fade away.
So here's a final handprint
Just so you can recall
Exactly how my fingers looked
When I was very small."
For dinner, we grilled hamburgers with lots of veggies! It was just what I wanted for dinner! To end the night, we watched "We bought a zoo" for a movie night! It made me cry too....I cried alot this weekend, but they were mostly happy tears, although I miss my Mom like crazy, my little kiddos didn't give me long to be sad...they sure made this day special!
This was the first Visalus event that Billy and I got to attend together!! It was difficult and costly to get there. Sophie had to be boarded and we had to drag the kids, still in their pj's, to my sister's house at 5am, just to make it to the convention by start time. BUT IT WAS ALL WORTH IT!!!
A few of the people that have lost 50-200lbs each on the Challenge!
Our very own Kassi and Matt are up there! YAY!
Everything that was said, from the fact that sooo many people are unhealthy and obese and WE have a product that is helping hundreds of thousands become healthy, to the opportunity that this company offers to help us live life without financial stress, it was eye-opening.
Health is so important, it dictates how we feel, how productive we are, how we live our lives. We need to make our health a priority in our life so that we are around to help others get healthy too...we want ourselves and everyone around us to "live" life...not just "go through" it!! The stories of health transformations are always awesome...the entire stage was filled with people that had lost 50, 75, 100, 150+ pounds!!! That alone is life-changing, but the health improvements of so many others...like getting to stop insulin, high blood pressure or cholesterol meds or no longer having chronic pain...that's awesome too! These are real people, that we met, that now get to LIVE their lives the way God intented...happy!
That brings me to the financial side...to see single Moms go up on stage and cry tears of joy because, just a few months before, had lost everything...home, car, belongings...now, because someone introduced her to this opportunity....walks across the stage as an ambassador making 10,000+ per month...and no, this was not just a select few...this was stage-full, after stage-full, of REAL people from towns near us, that were in the same boat as some of us...they didn't "know" marketing people or have high-up "in's" in the company...stories of bankruptcies no longer needed, first vacations, first new cars, the ability to pay all their bills and help some others pay theirs, the ability to GIVE more! I don't think we will wait on the government to creat new jobs, I think we will spread health, get paid by an amazing company, and be blessed to give and help others even more!! That right there, is what this company is built upon...help others...build eachother up, pay it forward, teamwork, mentoring, it's all we could ask for. This event confirmed to both, Billy and I, that it is faith-driven, and we are blessed to be part of it! I love Visalus!
Blake has been preparing for a special Mother's Day suprise for weeks. There have been secrets between him and his Dad about notes from school, he has been sneaking around the house, and even dug out a special red tie to wear to school today for the special event! I have been looking forward to going, but didn't realize that he was going to pamper me for the whole day....he asked me to, not wake up and have my morning protein shake, because he was going to make me breakfast so that I wouldn't have to work or cook at all today! Awww. I heard him in the kitchen around 6am, and when I walked out of my bedroom door, there he stood with toaster waffles drizzled with syrup. He led me in to sit down and handed me the remote so I could watch the news while I ate...awww. For him to give up the remote is BIG! lol! He just kept smiling at me...I sure love this little guy!
I could see Blake waiting at the classroom door as I walked in. He ran up and hugged me, then lead me in. He pulled out my chair and tied a handmade corsage onto my wrist...the perfect gentleman. He offered me water or punch and just kept on smiling.
He offered me a gift that was specially wrapped...it was a personally crafted tea cup...I poured my water into it and drank from it! I love it!
Blake with his buddy, Kyler
Then, his teacher had arranged a guessing game to play. The kids had drawn portraits of their Moms and had written facts on the back about us! Mrs. Hakenewerth read the facts as we listened and tried to guess which Mom it was about! It was the cutest game ever and it made me cry to hear some of the facts about their Moms...some were sweet, some were silly, and some were downright hilarious! I didn't guess mine right, but I loved reading the facts he wrote about me...
Mrs. Hakenewerth has been the best teacher ever, Blake and I are both
going to miss her so much!
1. My favorite book to read with my mom is DIARY OF A WIMPY KID.
2. mom's favorite tv shsow is HOUSE HUNTERS AND DR. OZ (funny that's what he thinks!)
3. If my mom won the lottery she would BUY VISALUS SHAKES (have I brainwashed my kid?!?)
4. An expression my Mom always says is PLEASE.
5. my mother always gets angry when I'M BAD.
6. My mom doesn't like to CLEAN. (guess I'm not fooling him!lol!)
7. My mother's favorite foods are VISALUS, CHOCOLATE and SALAD (i sound bipolar!)
8. I like my mom to cook CAKE & ICE CREAM b/c it's so delicious
9. my mother's favorite restaurant is O'CHARLEY'S
10. if my mom had a ticket to anywhere in the world it would be to FLORIDA
11. my mom has a funny habit of ONLY DRINKING VI SHAKES (I'm sending this to the company)
12. My mom really looked beaurtiful on HER WEDDING DAY
13. my mom looks funny on the day she WOKE UP BAD
14. In the good old days mom used to PLAY WHATEVER SHE READ.
15. I make my mom happy when I CLEAN MY ROOM
16. My mom doesn't know about the time I STOLE COOKIES, CANDY AND A LITTLE BROWNIE FROM THE KITCHEN.
17. when she has free time she like to TALK ON THE PHONE
18. my mom's pet name for me is BUBBY
19. My favorite thing to do with my Mom is READ WITH HER (awwww..we will do that more)
20. The best advice my mom gives is TO TURN THAT FROWN UPSIDE DOWN
After the game, his teacher put a book on the projector and read to us. The book was "Love You Forever" I was crying so hard, of course I was getting embarassed and Blake just hugged me and smiled, he knew that I would cry... he kept making trips back to the beverage table to get me napkins for my eyes.
Watch this 5 minute video book and you'll see why I couldn't stop crying...
After we cried our eyes out, we all headed to the gym to watch a performance by all of the 2nd graders...they sang to us, it was adorable. Progress South Elementary really went all out to make sure us Mom's are appreciated...I hope they know how appreciated they are...I love Blake's school. The entire day has been wonderful, I must say, this is one of the very best days of my life....I LOVE being a Mom!
At dance last week, Taylor got her costume!!! She had been measured weeks before, we were both excited for her to get it! It's her first recital and the outfit is adorable!
The costume is called, "when i grow up" not sure I like
name! lol!
While making a quick trip into Shop n Save, we spotted Iron man giving away pizza and soda. Both kids were happy to pose with him! Blake wanted to be The Hulk and loved getting to get an entire bottle of Dr. Pepper to drink, super rare!!
I put Taylor in a 10 week preschool through a local high school program. She got to go 3 days a week from 8:30-11:00. My friend, April, enrolled her daughter, Gracie, so we carpooled often and the girls got to go together!
I love putting her hair in piggy tails, but Taylor
cracked me up last night...she says, "Oh, Mommy,
I HATE my hair like that..cuz I look like a bull!!"
Although Taylor is a bit shy...I knew she would do fine, she goes to Sunday school at church each week and to the babysitting at the gym several days a week. Where there are toys and kids, Taylor is happy! Plus, she has been wanting to be a big school kid like her big bubby all year!
They got to do so much while at school each day. They sent home daily reports that showed all the games they played, songs they sang, and skills they worked on. Her little backpack was always full of wonderous works of art, sometimes they were still wet and sticky, but none the less...precious!
They got school t-shirts to sport. I think my little girl grew up quite a bit in the last 10 weeks...I love having a baby girl...she is just growing up way too fast.
