Marvelous Mother's Day

Just a preview picture to wet your appetite... Aren't these two adorable!?!

I wasn't really looking forward to Mother's Day this year. Our family was going to be fasting and Mike had bishopric/PEC/etc. meetings Sunday morning...SO... that meant no yummy breakfast in bed. Plus the Friday/Saturday prior to Mother's Day was the Father and Sons camp out - which meant that Mike had been gone all weekend (excellent planning by the Priesthood) and therefore didn't have time to purchase or plan a fabulous Mother's Day surprise. All of this was confirmed when he asked me Saturday night what I wanted to do for Mother's Day. I replied that I just wanted a grilled meal - not really thinking that he would go purchase a new barbeque.

Sunday afternoon one of my friends asked me if I had enjoyed Paris.... I was completely confused! Realizing she had made a mistake, she apologized profusely with a bright red face. Since I knew that there was NO way that I would actually be going to Paris, France, I tried to figure out what it could possibly mean, but I couldn't come up with anything. After a wonderful sacrament meeting (in which Mike spoke and had me laughing one moment and in tears the next), I came home and was ushered up to my room. The kids were doing something that I wasn't supposed to see...

Finally, Ilah came up to my room and handed me a heart that read, "We know you've always wanted to go to Paris... Happy Mother's Day" signed by all of the kids. She then gave both Mike and I a first class ticket to Paris along with our passports.

I am soooo happy you can't even see my eyes!

We were taken down 1 flight of stairs and boarded the airplane (in the den/library room). The kids had rearranged the couches so they were one in front of the other. There was a rope tucked into the couch for our seatbelt. Ilah was our flight attendant. She showed us how to fasten our seatbelt and explained what to do in case of an emergency landing. Henry was our pilot. He said things like, "We are now at an altitude of ______ feet and climbing." "Please look to your left and/or right. You'll notice that we are in the clouds." (Ilah had drawn clouds and fastened them all around the room). Henry told us when it was safe to move about the cabin. Then Ilah came in and told Henry to hurry up and land. He said, "You will notice that the fasten seat belt light is now blinking. We are descending to our destination of Paris, France. Please buckle up as we might experience some turbulence." We landed the plane with sound effects and all as Ilah looked on annoyed that it took so long.

This is our pilot and flight attendant who also doubled as our garcon (waiter) and hostess :)

Check out the lovely moustache and the duct tape shirt!

She then walked us to our dining area... our screened in porch had been decorated with white Christmas lights. The kitchen table had been moved to the porch and set with our nice dishes and candles.

Isn't the Eiffel Tower beautiful!?

We were served french bread and grapes with Laughing Cow cheese for the 1st course. The 2nd course consisted of a delicious green salad with a vinagrette (prepared by Taysom) and grilled London Broil (prepared by Tucker). For dessert Taysom made us her famous crepes with Nutella and sliced bananas. Unfortunately, we didn't get any pictures of the crepes... probably because we were all too busy eating at that point.

Oh, I forgot to mention the orange Kool-Aid

The grill master

You gotta love the tee shirt, apron and tie combo!

I can honestly say that was the most memorable Mother's Day ever. I felt like I was in an episode of the Cosby Show. These kids are soooooo creative and thoughtful!!!!!!!!!!! How did I ever get so lucky? I love being a mom - even though I am FAR from perfect. I just hope that my kids can feel how much I love them every single day - I never want them to doubt that.

My beautiful daughters


My crazy sons!

P.S. In honor of The Cosby Show - here is one of my favorite moments. Of course the Cosby kids have nothin on my Wallace crew.

Flour Tag

A couple of weeks ago the YM and YW played flour tag for a joint activity.

You can see more thorough directions at http://www.sugardoodle.net/Youth_Activities

but basically all of the players fill up socks and nylons with flour and hit the other players with the socks to get them out. Last one standing wins! :)

The game was pretty fun, but I once again learned how stupid boys were. You see I had gotten out and this one boy had also gotten out, so we WEREN'T playing. Despite this fact, Toby comes up and hits me on my back with his flour sock as hard as he possibly could. (F.Y.I. I had a huge purple bruise because of that.) Well, I was furious that he would do that. Afterall I did nothing to him! So, I turned to him and called him and idiot and hit him as hard as I could in the back... he fell over and the Bishop who had watched this whole incident burst out laughing! (Sigh) Why are boys so dumb?

The best part of the activity was after the prayer. We were no longer playing flour tag, so we decided to take all of the leftover flour in our socks and dump it on eachother :) Here are some pictures of that...

The "P" Post

PERMIT - Tucker turned 15 back on April 10th. We celebrated at Macaroo Gyms with a couple of friends. He wanted two things for his birthday - money and his permit. We tried to get his permit on the 10th, but since it was a Saturday, the DMV was closed. He ended up getting it the following Friday... the first available day either Mike or I could take him. He is a good driver, BUT (surprise, surprise) he already lost his permit so he hasn't been chauffeuring us around as of late. Tucker received some awesome gifts in addition to the money from both grandparents and Mom and Dad. Henry ordered him a couple of mini cactus plants, and Ilah made him a porcupine bank with a couple of coins he needed for his collection.

PROM - Taysom already posted about prom, but I just had to add a couple of comments. She is absolutely beautiful inside and out. She was planning on having her pal Rachel over to primp prior to prom (nice alliteration). Two girls from seminary wanted to come too. The four of them probably enjoyed getting ready for prom more than the date itself. Taysom came into the kitchen with a bouquet of flowers after picking up Rachel. I asked her what they were for - to which she replied - she was going to make the boutonniere. I started to panic... make a boutonniere... There is no way I would attempt such a thing! Taysom just laughed at me and went on to make a beautiful boutonniere and some hair clips.

POSTPONED PSYCHE PARTY - Ilah turned 11 this past Monday. Since I have my class on Monday evening, we decided to postpone her birthday celebrations. We had her family birthday dinner on Thursday, the first open night. She asked for green bean casserole (with the good frozen green beans from Sam's), mashed potatoes without the skin, and fried chicken. Yummy! After dinner Mike and I took her to the art store to buy her present. She wanted an artists easel. We decided on a table top model with a drawer to keep art supplies in. Tucker wanted us to get her some art supplies as his present so we picked out some watercolor paints and pad of paper. I had no idea what to look for... wish my mom was here to clue us in! Henry gave her several packs of her favorite gum and Taysom took Ilah on their annual picnic, shopping and musical date (Into the Woods @ the high school).

Ilah invited a couple of friends to come over for a Psyche marathon on Saturday evening. It was such a low key party. We had snack food, then watched several episodes of Psyche and then finished it off with angel food cake topped with strawberries and cool whip. I think she had a good time.

PLAY BALL -
Recently Henry signed up for Little League. He is definitely learning a lot. Last week he got the game ball because he is a motivator - very encouraging to all of his teammates. Attending baseball games is awesome! The weather is beautiful - there is greenery everywhere - listening to the "chatter" - and cheering for the boys. I hope Henry enjoys it enough to keep playing.

PUBLICITY
Check out Ilah Sue!
She is in the Joplin Globe - go to the link below and see her picture as she finishes the Fun Run coming in 1st place!!!!

http://www.joplinglobe.com/local/x1989609216/Students-brave-cold-wind-for-Fun-Run