Church ladies

We were church ladies tonight. The good kind of church ladies, not the fake, haughty, cliche that has caused the over-use of this descriptor. No way! We were just smilewearing, eager to eat good Baptist food, happy to be there church ladies. Our church hosted a mother/daughter dinner this evening, and my girls and I dressed our little selves up and went to the event. I am so glad that we attended, and I'm even more glad to be a part of our church. Being at church tonight, with my kids, friends, familiar faces that I see on Sunday and some I didn't even know at all reminded me of one of the reasons that I go to church. It's the people, and tonight it was specifically the ladies. Nine of my fellow church ladies gave a short testimony that went along with the 9 fruit of the Spirit. Each one of them was prepared, eloquent, practical and genuine. I learned something from all of them; I was blessed by all of them. Present in the room was great music, prizes, laughter, tears, delicious food, great service by the men and so much Christian love that it gave a girl goose bumps. There was a sort of vintage yet modern feel in the place - something for every generation. A special story and gift were given just for the young girls. Throughout the night, God was lifted up and made relevant to every girl there. Personally, I felt like the most blessed mama in the world to be taking my daughters to a mother/daughter dinner. They all 3 exclaimed about how much they enjoyed the night (even though Meredith was bummed that she wasn't going to be eating mac and cheese). There wasn't another place that I would have rather been tonight. What a great start to Mother's Day weekend.

Dip cone mania

Last night, we took the kids out to Dairy Queen for a special treat.  For the past week, I have limited Maddie's milk intake , trying to figure out some head and stomach issues.  My promise last week to her was that we would give it a week.  She didn't hesitate to remind me yesterday that it had been a week.  She was a pretty good sport considering that ( in her words - with a tinny, whiney tone) "Everything I love has milk in it!  So, our outing last night was partly for her and partly because I just wanted to do something special with everybody. There's nothing like the first DQ dip cone of the season.  Yummmmmmm... the kids all agreed as did half of Fort Collins because the line was out the door!  The temperature has been warm, almost hot, the last couple of days and the city has summer fever.  I love going on little surprise outings with the family; my dad used to surprise us kids from time to time when we were coming home from church or something and he would pull into the Hardees drive thru for cones; when we were really little, we would go to A&W.  I like carrying on his tradition of ice cream surprises with my own family. I'm never disappointed with their reactions with last night being no different.  From the time that I told them that we were going until we actually ordered,the kids were all talking about which flavor of dip cone they were going to get. There was one child, who shall remain nameless, who pulled a "Heather"(only an Oman will get that) and order a shake rather than a dip cone - payback is the pits!!  It was the perfect end to our Wednesday -  a simple way to make the day extra special  and a good reminder that summer is a comin'!!!

Cute :)

• WHY GOD MADE MOMS 
  
• Answers given by 2nd grade school children to the following questions:
  
• Why did God make mothers? 
  
• 1. She's the only one who knows where the scotch tape is.
  
• 2. Mostly to clean the house.
  
• 3. To help us out of there when we were getting born.
  
• How did God make mothers? 
  
• 1. He used dirt, just like for the rest of us.
  
• 2. Magic plus super powers and a lot of stirring.
  
• 3. God made my mom just the same like he made me. He just used bigger parts.
  
• What ingredients are mothers made of? 
  
• 1. God makes mothers out of clouds and angel hair and everything nice in the world and one dab of mean.
  
• 2. They had to get their start from men's bones. Then they mostly use string, I think.
  
• Why did God give you your mother and not some other mom? 
  
• 1. We're related.
  
• 2. God knew she likes me a lot more than other people's mom like me.
  
• What kind of a little girl was your mom? 
  
• 1. My mom has always been my mom and none of that other stuff.
  
• 2. I don't know because I wasn't there, but my guess would be pretty bossy.
  
• 3. They say she used to be nice.
  
• What did mom need to know about dad before she married him? 
  
• 1. His last name.
  
• 2. She had to know his background. Like is he a crook? Does he get drunk on beer?
  
• 3. Does he make at least $800 a year? Did he say NO to drugs and YES to chores?
  
• Why did your mom marry your dad? 
  
• 1. My dad makes the best spaghetti in the world. And my mom eats a lot.
  
• 2. She got too old to do anything else with him.
  
• 3. My grandma says that mom didn't have her thinking cap on.
  
• Who's the boss at your house? 
  
• 1. Mom doesn't want to be boss, but she has to because dad's such a goof ball.
  
• 2. Mom. You can tell by room inspection. She sees the stuff under the bed.
  
• 3. I guess mom is, but only because she has a lot more to do than dad.
  
• What's the difference between moms and dads? 
  
• 1. Moms work at work and work at home and dads just go to work at work.
  
• 2. Moms know how to talk to teachers without scaring them..
  
• 3. Dads are taller and stronger, but moms have all the real power 'cause that's who you got to ask if you want to sleep over at your friends.
  
• 4. Moms have magic, they make you feel better without medicine.
  
• What does your mom do in her spare time? 
  
• 1. Mothers don't do spare time.
  
• 2. To hear her tell it, she pays bills all day long.
  
• What would it take to make your mom perfect? 
  
• 1. On the inside she's already perfect. Outside, I think some kind of plastic surgery.
  
• 2. Diet.. You know, her hair. I'd diet, maybe blue.
  
• If you could change one thing about your mom, what would it be? 
  
• 1. She has this weird thing about me keeping my room clean. I'd get rid of that.
  
• 2. I'd make my mom smarter. Then she would know it was my sister who did it not me.
  
• 3. I would like for her to get rid of those invisible eyes on the back of her head.