CLIPS FROM THE CLARKS: Happy Mother's Day

For every holiday/celebration David always asks me what I want and I always say, "nothing". It's true, there is really nothing I want or need...I just love spending time together. But for Mother's Day I actually did want something-A day at a theme park with just a girlfriend of mine. No baby to chase around and no hubby who is so sweet to ride the rides with me because he knows I love them so much, but ALWAYS gets sick. Just me and a theme-park-crazed girlfriend and we had a blast!! So we went to Great America last Sunday which is not the greatest theme park ever but it was enough to give me my rollercoaster fix...and also made me realize I must be getting older because each ride made my head hurt and got me a little quesy. Maybe I have been to Disney so much that that is the only caliber of "coasters" I can handle now!!!

Unbeknownst to me, David and Bella spent the day making my Mother's Day gift which I reaceived today. The day started out with me getting to sleep in. By sleep in I mean 7:30, but compared to 6am it felt like pure bliss! We were then off to church and then David got me an hour massage at Massage Envy. The lady kept saying...."your muslces are so tight/knotted...are you working out too hard?"...I just cracked up...me? work out? Are you kidding? No, I just chase a 16 month old around ALL DAY!!!! Guess I need a massage more often :)

David had planned to do a picnic lunch but the weather wasn't cooperating so we came home for grilled cheese and presents! David and Bella presented me with a ceramic plate that they had painted last weekend. It was extra special because David and my 9 year anniversary is at the end of May and the gift for 9 years of marriage is pottery. So he had Bella paint pottery for me...too sweet! He intended for her to do her handprints but she wasn't having any of that and instead chose black (I can't believe she didn't choose pink!) paint to create an, um, "ecclectic" piece of art...which I absolutely LOVE! David then wrote a verse around the outside (Mark 10:14) which he jokes about because he says it looks like a four year old wrote it but that's what happens when you are trying to write with paint and keep your 16 month old from smearing it. Truly it was the most thoughtful gift. At the end of the day David said to me "the more alone time I spend with Bella the more I realize how hard of a job it really is". I've never felt more appreciated. It was a perfect day and I feel so blessed not only to have an amazing mother and mother-in-law of my own, but to be a mother to the most precious little girl.

Natasha and I on the roller coaster!