Happy Mother's Day... I want a do-over!

So today was a disaster that culminated with me sobbing hysterically on the floor, ready to kill one of our Dogs (Lucy.... who else?) dog, my girls staring on wide eyed in disbelief.  Awesome I tell ya!  So my Sweet little Booter offered to share her birthday, tomorrow, with me.  How sweet is this young'un?  That should tell you something though....  It was really messed up.  ESPECIALLY at the end.  Let me start with yesterday....

My Mother's Day gift was the fabric I wanted for my multi-tiered peasant skirt I have been wanting to make.  It's from my own "pattern".  I make four kids skirts and I suddenly act like sewing genius.  The idea was that, since my girlies were away until Sunday afternoon, I was going to sew it together on Saturday so I could wear it on Sunday.  Instead I spent the better part of my day getting my seedlings all set up on their big kid pots until I had my plot done.  My "little" seed plants weren't ready for this yet, But my "big" seed plants were raring to go.  Between taking care of my plant babies (which are our food givers,  so I tend to hold them and my seeds a little sacred and I get a little crazy about them....  It's a whole food anxiety issue.  Ignorance truly is bliss.  A slow poisonous death of a bliss, but bliss none the less), trying to get some mommy relaxation time, being 6" x 36" short of fabric, Our kitty Sadie giving birth at 4:00 am Mother's Day Morning behind the Couch in the bonus room, and my bobbin winder function suddenly ceasing to work, I did NOT get my skirt done.....  But I tried.  It's 4/5 of the way done and I was up until 7:00 am trying to get it all the way done.  Yes 7:00.... am.  I woke up at noon too.  I still had another hour to sleep, but just couldn't.  Oh well, My babes wanted me to be able to wear my Mother's Day skirt for Mother's Day.  But, this led to absolute disdain when I retrieved my beauties.  I was improperly clothed.  But to me, even still, it was worth it to get to work with my little plants and just relax with my hand covered in compost and soil....... (my nails loathe gardening, but my soul cherishes it). 

On top of this, I was almost 20 minutes late picking them up because I had to go run errands before picking up my Girlies.  But I had Lady Bug's friend with me (she carpools with us to our Sunday riding lesson but was dropped off an HOUR early today with threw off my schedule horribly), so it took longer than was necessary.  Plus I had to buy stuff for Booter to give to their host as a Birthday Present.  But then we were given 5 trash bags funn of random may or may not fit clothes and shoes for the girls an a huge box of toys.  A nice gift, don't get me wrong, buut we're trying to downsize....  not have to get a bigger moving truck!  With all that as it was it we would have been 10 minutes late for lessons.  Not a big deal.  But then my GPS crapped out mid trip and just LOST the directions while I was on the 40 going a direction I had never been before and had no idea how to go and ended up missing the exit and having to drive close to 25 miles out of the way to get there. *smh* This made us a full half hour late.  *hangshead* Awesome.  At least their instructor was understanding. 

Riding lessons were awesome! With on exception....  I didn't get to ride.  :(  We were too late and the horse was already tired out from a day of lessons and 3 kids back to back was just too much for her to bear stuck in a round pen.  I'll ride next week....  even though that was to be the highlight experience (next to loving and being loved by my girls!) of Mother's Day... riding a horse (I do not take riding lessons, I am learning hands on equine care and proper care and management of a barn, tack, feed, etc.  I can ride already.  I just don't get to hardly ever (2x in 10 yrs)).  Meh.  It didn't work out, but it's ok.  I found out I have a very special friend in the horse, Casey.  As she was getting tired and lazy, it took more and more convincing to do her job.  She had two lessons in the morning of preschoolers walking around for 30 minutes, then us in the afternoon.  She just hates the round pen, she hates going in circles.  She, apparently, loves a work out buddy.  ;)  Those of you who know horses you know how cute and playful they can be!  They are like giant puppy dogs!  They have the same eyes, they love companionship, they want to please their people, and they are amazing loyal and protective.....  mostly, they LOVE to play.  Even the serious horses (like Casey) will decide that someone is worthy enough of silliness and act a fool for the sake of acting a fool.  Casey decided she didn't want to walk or trot the girls at all unless I was walking/running with her.  As we were making our laps around the ring she kept head nudging me and everytime we stopped she would lean her head into mine and we'd "hug".  When the kids weren't on her, I'd pat my legs like you'd call a doggy and she would thump thump her from hooves and put her head down and shake it then come over and "hug" me again.  I fell in love with that horse then and there and Cassie simply marveled about how it's like on Flicka 3!  Caity couldn't stop laughing.  We had a nice picnic dinner at the stables before we left.

On the way home (way later than I intended), I stopped by Wal*Mart and got the rest of the fabric I needed (only place with fabric even close to us) and then headed home.... finally.  We drop off the girls friend with her dad, who was waiting in the drive, and head inside.  I opened the door and immediately start crying.  All...  ALL of my beautiful baby plants are destroyed.  They are littered amongst the house; compost, egg shells and organic soil ground into the carpet.  I still have no idea why, but Lucy thought that they all looked like a tasty snack.  The only plants that survived are the ones I already sold (thank GOD) to a friend, but all of ours (except for 4 corn, 2 peas, 1 watermelon, 3 unidentifiable beans (we had 2 kinds), and 2 unknown other plants of vine/squash variety (out of 60 plants)... and all of these were up rooted and laying dry on the floor) are destroyed.  Our garden is done before it even started.  I sat and cried as I picked them all up and put them into the compost and replanted what was left.  I cried as I swept and vacuumed up their soil.  And then I just sat and cried.  Don't let me fool you folks.  I am not all tough and strong.  It's the first time I've sat and cried in a while and all of the stress and frustration of trying to do what we're doing, maintaining a somewhat normal routine at the house for the girls, doing everything by myself, the end of the year stress that comes with public school, getting ready for the talent/pageant, and Matt being gone came pouring out.  I sat there with broken stemmed cucumbers in my hand grieving them and my ability to feed my children food they deserve.  They were my plant babies.  I sprouted them, tended them, hoped for them, worked for them, and they are all gone.  I was (and still am) devastated.  I puled out my saved seeds for next year and put half as many to germinate.  But it's the middle of May.....  So if anyone wants watermelon for their Halloween party, let me know.....

As I sat here last night, starting to write this blog and feeling completely defeated. I saw one of our older kittens catch a mouse (great now we have mice too?  On top of the ants (some of which have made their home in Lady Bugs room and bit her while she was sleeping....  Yay for vinegar) and everything else....  now I have mice too.  I almost lost it all over again.  But then I realized something my kitty was teaching me.  She wasn't worried about the other mice.  She was worried about that mouse.  She couldn't change the fact that there were mice in the house, but she could get that mouse out of the house.  She had to learn to hunt those mice and I'm sure it took her many tries and failures to accomplish this.  I may have the dumbest bottomless pit of a dog ever created, I may have ants and carpenter bees, and mice, and talent shows/pageants, and EOG's for the girls, and year books, and house keeping, and blogging, and yard work, and organizing, and cooking, and baking, and cleaning, and decorating, and birthday's, and lessons, and car issues, and new kittens behind my couch, and 1000 things to pay for and money for about 3 of them, and a garden plot to finish, and having get my direct seed plants into the ground., and..., and..., and... And I have a lot on my plate, but at least I have it there.  I may try and fail and try and fail and try and fail...  but someday, eventually, I will succeed.  Success isn't measured in quantity...  it's measured in quality.  Just like life.  Hopefully Booter will learn all of her magic tricks by Saturday and Lady Bug will learn to sing in time with her back ground music, hopefully I'll get the 3 ads for the programs sold today, and hopefully my garden will be a full and bountiful late harvest (at least this happened while living here in NC instead of after we moved to WA.  I'd be so SOL up there....  they don't have the growing season like they do here....).  All I can do is try and worry about what I can affect, one thing at a time, right in front of me.  I hope I don't let anyone down in the mean time, but I'm new at this and I promise I'll get better.  Just give me the chance to fail so that I can learn to succeed.

And..... HAPPY 8TH BIRTHDAY TO MY BOOTER!!!!!!!!! I can't believe my BABY is growing into such a beautiful young lady!

(I was going to put a pic...  but it won't let me (Lord knows why...)


*********CONTEST!***********

This is day 1 of my contest!

Starting today (May 13), Follow this Blog (by clicking Follow) and Read that day's blog posts and post in the comment section that you read it and you're following, Like and Share my blog post from my Facebook Page, then comment in the Facebook post's comment box that you liked and shared it (and if your Facebook "name" is different than the one you put on the Blog, please let me know who you are.)!  Each thing you do is worth an entry.  You can only follow me once, so most days your going to get 3 entries.

1: Read & Comment on Blog  =  1 entry
2: Like & Share Facebook Blog Post Link from Foodies At Heart Page = 1 entry
3: Comment that you liked & shared (and tell me if your posting names are different and who you are.  LOL) = 1 entry

4. One time only entry chance when you follow this blog by clicking follow = 5 entries

I'll take entries everyday until midnight. I will have one of the Girlies draw the previous day's winner in the morning and announce the winner here.  Monday through Saturday you win a Mini TOTG Sample Pack and on Sunday I will draw the grand prize out of all of the total ticket accumulated over the week (except for the 6 tickets previously drawn) and will announce the Grand Prize Winner on here next Monday.  I will ship everything out the same Monday as the announcement of the Grand Prize Winner.


ENTER NOW!