Remembering...

It is Memorial Day, and my mind keeps going back to the powerful experience we had on our visit to the American Cemetery in Normandy. Being there among all of those white headstones, thousands of them, belonging to Americans soldiers who lie so very far from home, really made it so real and so personal to me. How grateful I am for every man and woman who gave their lives for the cause of freedom, OUR freedom, from the Revolutionary war to the current battles in the Middle East. Each one of them has given their lives for the nobelist cause there is - Liberty. Thank You!

Here is a LINK to my Normandy post. Please take a moment to read and remember.

Best Mom? Well...

A few weeks before Mother's day, I got a special invitation to a wonderful luncheon for moms. Dylan had entered the Desert Cities' 25 best Moms essay contest, apparently by writing an essay about me ( ME? Yep. ) describing why I deserve to be one of the desert cities 25 best moms.

Oh please.

He told me he was writing it, and I knew he worked on it, but I never saw a word of it. I just appreciated the gesture, that my 11 year old, (well, actually both of them. Derek wrote and essay too!) cared enough about me to take the time to write about me. I really didn't think it would go much further than that since I am clearly not in the running for any kind of best mom. 5 out of 6 VanBuskirk boys would agree with that, I bet.

So I was surprised, to say the least, when I was informed that Dylan's essay had been chosen as one of the 25!

(Come to find out - there were over 1,500 essays submitted from elementary, middle school, and high school kids throughout not only the Coachella Valley, but other cities like Banning and Beaumont as well! Wow! That is a lot of kids who love their moms! How did they possibly chose???)

What the heck did he write??? I couldn't imagine. I was worried he had added a few, well, lets just say, exaggerations.

Dylan was not surprised at all. He said he knew all along his essay would be chosen. (That child has over-confidence issues.)

But even as humbled as I was, we both really looked forward to the luncheon on the day before Mothers Day. It was held at the Miramonte Resort, and they invited not only the student and the mom, but also the teacher, and 3 other guests for each winner. We invited Dennis, of course, and my parents.

It was a really, really lovely affair! Wow!

There were fresh leis for all the moms, and spa gift cards at every place setting. The food was yummy (and especially appreciated by all the moms because they didn't have to cook it!)

After a really great lunch and several words of congratulations by community officials and local celebrities, the best part of the program began.

Each winning student got to walk their mom down a red carpet to the stage to be presented the award while a portion of their essay was read aloud.

It was really a moving experience! The essays were truly amazing and so uplifting! There are some amazing women out there who are doing amazing things in their homes for their families and for the community! It really did the heart good to hear the great sacrifices other mothers and grandmothers make for their children. There was not a dry eye in the house!

Read excerpts from all 25 of the winning essays here.

The names were read alphabetically, so of course, we were near the end. I had no idea what Dylan had written, but after listening to these incredible stories of moms with so much courage and sacrifice and dedication to their special needs kids or moms who had cancer, or grandmas who had stepped up to be mothers, etc, I really couldn't for the life of me figure out how I could fit into such a group! (I assumed that Dylan must not have mentioned how I abandoned a few of my children to go to Disneyland when their grades didn't cut it, or that I am a big time yeller, and that I only cook one meal a day and they completely have to fend for themselves for breakfast and lunch, and that I can't ever manage to keep a clean house - though not by lack of trying-, that I have a stash of chocolate and goodies that I WILL NOT share, that I absolutely REFUSE to sort socks, and that sometimes I get so 'boy'ed out that I have to leave it all and go chill out at my favorite patisserie - alone!)

Humbling.

Still, I couldn't wait to hear what he had written!

When it was finally our turn I was so anxious about walking down the red carpet and smiling for the camera and being cogniscent of Dylan beside me and all the audience watching, and not tripping as I climbed up onto the stage that I really didn't catch much of the essay. I rememebr hearing an audible gasp when they read the words "six boys" and something about breaking a brick with my bare hand. That's about it.

Silly Dyls.

Still, it was really fun to be escorted down a red carpet by my cute kiddo and get a cool trophy just for being a mom!

Here is the essay that Dylan wrote, in its entirety:

My mom was born to be the number one mom in the world. No mom that I know can do the things that my mom can. She has 6 boys from the ages of 15 to 4. She spends most of her time in the car taking us and picking us up from school, piano lessons, swimming, water polo, tae kwon do, and scouts. She always makes good meals from scratch. She is a black belt in Tae Kwon Do and every morning during the week at 6 am she volunteers her time to teach teenagers at our church. She is very creative and enjoys making crafts with us. She is also the only mom that I know that can break a brick with her bare hands.

My mom was in the top of her class in high school and college and then got her masters degree. She earned her teaching credential and taught for just one year till she found that she was going to have a baby. She then decided to become a stay home mom. Because she is a stay home mom she is always there for me and my brothers. Since she is always here with us, she teaches us right from wrong. I wish every kid could have their mom home with them when they get home from school.

When I was 9, I had a disease that went all the way to my bone and got me really sick. I was in the hospital for almost a month and every day, she was by my side. I was really scared but knowing that my mom was there made me feel a lot better. She always tried to cheer me up and make me feel at home. Before I went in surgery, I looked into my mom’s beautiful blue eyes and she said, “I love you and I will always be there for you”. I knew then, I would be ok.

My mom has made many sacrifices for all of us but if you ask her, she’ll say it’s not a sacrifice. She always says that we should remember who we are and what we stand for. I never want to let her down because I love so very much. I wish everyone had a mom like my mom. This is why I believe she should be chosen mom of the year.

Awww. Sniff, sniff.

Another FUN thing was that my good, good buddy Roxanne was also being honored for the darling essay that her cute daughter Aubrey wrote. Now that woman is AMAZING, and I was not surprised at all that her essay was selected.

We also discovered that another gal we knew, Elaine Vogt, in the Palm Springs ward was honored there. That is 3 LDS out of the 25. Not bad.

Dylan's teacher, Suzanne Thomas, came and sat with us. She was the director of the kids' play and we love her a ton!

The whole affair was just a celebration of moms and mothering! Every announcer and official that got up to speak, of course, had to talk about their own moms. And the moms that were recoginized were of all sorts, ages, shapes, and sizes, working moms, stay at home moms, single moms, moms who taught their children how to work hard, how to serve, how to treat others, and how to have faith in God.

Moms are wonderful. Period.

And I was just so impressed that Time Warner, and all the sponsors in the community would go to all this trouble to honor moms and motherhood in such a way! I remember thinking how I wished everyone in the community could have been there to hear this!

Being a mom is often a thankless job, and it was just awesome to get a little recognition from the community for it!

And of course, I was extra grateful that my own ANGEL mother was able to be there to share the experience with us!

Not only were we given the royal treatment and some really COOL acrylic trophies, but when we walked off the stage, each mom was given two huge gift bags FULL of great stuff like a $40 Target gift card, $50 card for Fishermans', a pretty sparkly crown necklace, a watch, a certificate for a ice cream cake at Coldstone, a month supply of PopChips, passes to Knott's soak city, movie passes, an annual family membership to the Living Desert, tote bags, a backpack, an alarm clock, water bottles, make up, a gift card for a free make over from Bare Minerals, and a $300 gift certificate for a hair makeover from Aveda! Sweet! Roxanne and I both have birthdays next month, and have already decided to take a day to go to the spa and get our makeovers! Whoot whoot! Wanna come?

Also, there were a variety of very nice and official certificates from local, state, and US officials in fancy folders and everything, thanking and congratulating us for being moms. How cool is that? I should frame them all and cluster them on the wall like other people do in their corner offices, so I can point at them to my kids when they don't want to listen or tell me what a bad mom I am. "Look pal! I got credentials!" Or point to my trophy "Hey, buddy, I am an award winning mom. Don't forget that." Hehe.

Truth is, most moms I know deserved those honors as much or more than I did. And really, it was an essay contest, and it was really the kids and their wonderful essay writing that was being judged and rewarded, not a contest to see who was the best mom. The moms were honored, but it was the kids and their well written essays that won.

Dylan wrote a great essay. I am really proud of him and thankful for his sweet words and the trouble he took to write them. What a terrific kid, and what a special experience to share that day with him! Thanks Dylan! I will always cherish your sweet words, and try a lot harder to be worthy of the title "Best Mom".

Moms' Nacho Party!

The Tiny Tots class wanted to have a special party for their moms for Mother's Day, so they decided to do it with every mom's favorite treat - Nachos! All moms love nachos! I know I do.

Luke made my nachos himself. He put the chips in the bowl, and the teacher Miss Kristin helped pour on the hot cheese. Then he served me himself. Great service, though the chairs were a bit too small for my long legs. Luke on the other hand loves the small chairs, "Look, my feet can touch the ground!" I think we forget what it is like to me so short.

Then for dessert, a special treat, chocolate dipped cake pops with rainbow sprinkles! Yippee! Luke was quick to point out that the kids got the short sticks and the moms got the logs sticks. Probably because we have longer arms.

Thanks Luke! What a wonderful treat! Lucky me.

My Flock

On Easter I managed to snap a few shops of my boys before heading out to church, knowing full well that if I waited until after church, they would be wrinkled, and dirty, with messy hair, a few missing ties, and some evidence of Bro. Bruner's brownies on their shirts. It had to be before.

New Ties!

(I actually bought them for Christmas, but then couldn't find where I hid them, of course, so they got them for Easter instead. But the colors are much better for Easter anyway.)

As you may know, at Easter we decorate with lambs rather than bunnies, because lambs represent the Lamb of God. When I took each of their pictures on Easter I had them each grab their favorite lamb from our collection, just for fun.

LUKE

CALEB

DYLAN

DEREK

NATE

ALEX

This is my flock.

And these little lambs of mine keep this shepherdess on her toes!

Yes, they are a strange flock,

but they are still mine. I love my flock.

Joyous Easter Sunday

We had a great Easter! Despite my rising them before dawn to have our Easter sunrise devotional, my kids had plenty of energy to make it through the day. That might have had a lot to do with all the sugar they inhaled that day. For me, the day was extra hectic because I had to give a big lesson in Relief Society, but I still enjoyed the day.

Church was just wonderful! I really enjoyed it - partly because I sang in the choir and got to actually sit on the stage rather than with my kids. Enjoyed every minute of it!

After church my kids finally dyed their eggs that I had previously boiled but ran out of time to color. My older kids supervised this time so I could get other stuff done... like finally put together their Easter baskets.

Better late than never. The baskets were a hit! That Easter Bunny was good to us, even though Luke left him hanging earlier that week.

My boys are suckers for Peeps!

Digging in!

Later Lisa's family came over and my nieces helped by decorating the nest cupcakes.

Can I just say Cadberry's Mini Eggs are my favorite Easter candy!!! I'm addicted. I bought a bag for these cupcakes earlier, ate the whole bag, then had to go buy another one, and ate the leftovers.

Dennis brought me a bunch of bright spring flowers at Costco, and I attempted to arrange them myself (not my forte) but it was really helpful to use this cool 4 piece milk glass epergne set that Dennis found for me.

Finally, before it got dark, we had our egg hunt. Alex and Nate are now the designated hiders and they do a great job! They have more fun doing that than they did hunting for eggs.

First we let the younger set get a head start...

Then the older set took off!

Caleb looked carefully through the thorny bushes then back again for good measure.

I love this picture! Look at Derek's expression. He was all business. Now look at his basket and the egg falling out- he has no clue.

Look up...

Look down...

Look all around!

Alex helps Luke locate the stragglers.

While the little kids had their egg hunt, Nathan busied himself with a more manly pursuit - perfecting his paddle ball skills. He had it down pat by the end of the day.

We ended the evening, of course with our delicious Easter ham dinner, which included my attempt at making rainbow Jello eggs. They didn't come out as well as I hoped, and were a pain to make, so I didn't make as many eggs as I usually do. Oh well. It was worth a shot.

Funny thing about the desserts - except for the Easter pie which only slightly sweet and thus eaten by the adults, the cupcakes and lamb cake went untouched - a testament to the fact that the kids had over done it in the sugar department that day.

It was a beautiful, glorious Easter Sunday. Hope yours was too!