happy happy

Happy Mother's Day to all my dear friends near and far! I want to share my beautiful roses with you too. John did a great job picking these out - I *love* them. I took them outside this morning and the sun made them glow :)

I believe all women are mothers in one way or another whether they have their own children or do not. I think God gave us the gift of nurturing others and it is a sacred gift. I can't imagine what the world would be like without it.

I am truly grateful I have my 3 maniacal boys, and more thankful than I can express that they are all here with me today. I cannot remember the last time we were all together on Mother's Day, so today is a very rare and special day for me. I plan on milking it for all it's worth and forcing them to take pictures without making any faces. 

I'm going to end with a poem that I wrote for my Davy many years ago when he was about three years old ~

Little flickers

magic light

the tucking of a quilt at night.

silence lingers

silence glows

across the precious face of those

angels here upon the earth

angels, these of priceless worth.

all I wonder without cease

shades of gray amidst belief

pale, then wither in the night

whence before this precious sight.

breathe them deep,

their cherub smell

kiss their velvet

all is well.

~

I Heart This Boy

So we said goodbye to the Red Power Ranger on Saturday, as it was time for him to fly back to college and start yet another semester. We have all been a bit melancholy since he's been gone. We even played games last night and though we had fun, it just isn't the same when he's not here to be his jovial self and beat up his brothers. 

I am the mother of an adult child. No matter how I try to wrap my head around that, I can't seem to make it sink in. Maybe someday it will. It better, because I have two more boys rapidly headed for adulthood no matter what I do to thwart them. 

All kidding aside, I really wouldn't want it any other way. I love who my boys are. And I love the men they are becoming. I am so proud of the Red Power Ranger. He takes butt-kicking classes but manages to maintain a scholarship. He's determined to make the world a better place by focusing on education in third world countries. And he does it while working part time at a job where he has quite a bit of responsibility. How could I not be proud of such a great person? I know that he will, indeed, make this world a better place. 

Imagine - spotlight on photographer Maria Nissen

When my friend Maria Nissen returned home to Mesa Arizona after visiting New York, and I saw her photo of the famous tribute to the late John Lennon, something powerful stirred inside me and I knew that it was time to spotlight Maria. 

Maria. We have been friends for a long time - many years actually. We met when our boys who are now nearly grown, went to preschool together. Those were fun, busy, exhausting, sweet years. And even though I'll never get over her moving to Mesa six years ago, I am truly grateful we have remained friends. I have learned so much from Maria - much more than she knows.  
Ah, above is another of my favorites. Love, love, love this one. It tells it's own amazing story. As do most of Maria's photos. Such a gifted photographer. But first, a gifted person.

It's hard to describe someone like Maria. She's one of those people who sounds too good to be real. But you know, some people really have been given extraordinary gifts, and Maria is blessed to be one of those people. Aside from all her talents, she is first and foremost a genuine, friendly, lovely person. And she radiates it. She truly loves people and people of all walks of life are instantly drawn to her. I have never - and I mean never - seen Maria without a smile on her face. Case in point, catch her smiling on her blog with her beautiful family.

Ever since I have known Maria, she has been involved in many things. Not only is she a wife and a mother to five - yes, FIVE - wonderful children, she is constantly learning, growing, living. I have never known her not be taking at least one class. I have seen her build things, remodel things, embellish things, upholster furniture, sew quilts, garden, stain, paint, run - well. She serves her family, her community, her church, her neighbors. Everyone that knows Maria has been blessed by her in one way or another. 
And a constant thread running through all of this living Maria thrives on, is photography. At a young age she was deeply touched by a series of photos in a museum, and she knew that photography had to be part of her life. She called it "a connector - it has the potential to move people". So the uncanny gift she has for bringing out the very best in everyone and everything, is now documented through her talented lens. And now that her children are a bit older and a bit more independent, Maria is finally living her dream as a professional photographer. It has been a joy to see her take this journey. 
True to her nature, she still continues taking classes. For a recent final project she even had her own photography book published - a portfolio of sorts. To quote from her book, "I love to photograph people. If someone tells me they're not photogenic I don't believe them. Everyone has a good side". Ever the optimist :) Maria's goal is to put people at ease and make them feel special. It is evident in every photograph she takes. 
Oh just look at this sweet little piece of pumpkin pie! What a love!
Along with families and individuals, Maria is an amazing wedding photographer. From the most formal photo to catching the bride and groom running and jumping barefooted, Maria instantly picks up on the vibe of the couple and always hits the mark. She is especially talented with candid photos. Above is one of my favorites. 
And how she can get multiple young children at their best is incredible!

Oh Maria, I'm so happy we are friends :) 

Of Mice And Men

Okay... this post really isn't about my son's mouse - even though I think he did a capital job of taking this close-up of a constantly moving target(!) And this post is certainly not about the actual novel, Of Mice And Men. Which, by the way, I detested. Almost as much as I detested the worst novel ever written on the face of this earth: A Farewell To Arms. And while we're at it, The Brothers Karamazov. Yes I know - everyone that reads it loves it sooooooo much. Ugh. Ugh and Double Ugh. Ugh infinity. But I digress.

My youngest son has been nicknamed The Mouse since the day he was born. Tiny Mouse. From a sweet character in a Cynthia Rylant story. Oh, there have been many variations over the years - Mousie, Mouse-like, Baby Mouse, Mouse Mess........ you get the idea. Friends, neighbors, friends of friends, family, the Queen........ he's Mouse to everyone. We'll bump into an old friend we haven't seen for years and it just cracks me up that after all this time they will still call him Mouse. And I can't tell you how many times we've been in a public place and, without thinking, one of us calls to another, "Hey, where the heck did that Mouse go?". Only to have some poor woman scream "MOUSE!?!? A MOUSE!?!? WHERE!?!?". Heh heh - that one never gets old ;)  
Just look at this sweet Mouse :) That sweet face. That fuzzy little head. His Converse high-tops. He was about 6 in this picture. I still think he's 6. The Mouse who's neck I love to nibble. The Mouse who is full of air and goo and laughs like an elf. The Mouse who crawls in bed and snuggles with me every morning. Who constructs Hot Wheels tracks and bakes Creepy Crawlers. That is the Mouse I always envision. Even though the Mouse just turned 13. Can you see where this is going now? Sigh......... I'm having some issues. My heart is playing tug-of-war. 

I do love watching my boys grow up. I love how each one is his own amazing person, and I delight in seeing that develop. DELIGHT. I'm not a "just you wait" teenage-hating mother either. I think every stage has it's ups and downs - mostly ups - and I am a big fan of finding the positive side, even when it's really, really hard to find. I *love* who my boys are. I *love* who they are becoming. But letting go of that last baby..... especially Tiny Mouse..... I have to admit - wow, I did not see this one coming. I would never have guessed it would be this bittersweet. Ouch.  
When the Mouse recently graduated from 6th grade, that was big. Collectively, my boys had been at their little neighborhood elementary school for 17 years straight. To have him move on and leave it behind for good..... the finality was much harder than I thought it would be. Yet he could not WAIT to leave it behind for good! And in true Mouse form, he asked for a barbecue for graduation! I don't mean a party with a barbecue. I mean he literally went and picked out his own barbecue grill! That crazy Mouse will put an apron on and grill the best doggone cheeseburgers ever!

And while we're on the subject of graduation, get this: He insisted on wearing a kilt for the graduation ceremony. A SCOTTISH KILT. As we say very frequently in our family, "Only the Mouse....... only the Mouse........".  

So now the Mouse has braces, and likes girls, and listens to loud music, and frequently acts like he's from another planet all together. He still loves Sponge Bob, but will read any non-fiction account of WWII. He can still decorate a cake like a pro, but he would rather be outside, covered in army gear, pelting all his buddies with air-soft be-be's. He still loves the denim quilt we made together, will kiss me in front of anyone, and yet hauls butt on his dirt bike, and lives to blow up just about anything. And his cell phone ringing nonstop? Yeah, it's usually a female voice on the other end. That Mouse can be playing Halo like a killing machine (shudder), and yet his heart is so tender he will do anything to help an animal. He can slide down an ice luge track at 40mph with nerves of steel, and then have a freaking come-apart if his brother looks at him cross-eyed.

But that's what's so awesome about the Mouse. He is such an individual. And he's such a contrast in talents and hobbies. He'll be selling grilled hot dogs on the street one minute and trimming all our bushes with the hedge trimmer an hour later. An hour after that he'll be watching Drake and Josh and later on he's made two batches of Rice Krispie Treats. Seriously. I can't keep up with that Mouse. I've accepted that. And I know he'll always be the Mouse to us, but I've got to let him be himself too. And I have a feeling my heart is not the only heart playing tug-of-war. Part of him still likes being a child. A lot. Part of him is very excited to grow up and experience whatever is in store for him around the bend. And there is a LOT in store for him. The Mouse will be a man.

"Only the Mouse.......... only the Mouse............".