Things I learned from my Momma

I love my Mom.  She has always been the best Mom we could ever have prayed for at all the right times.
What?  =)
When I think about growing up, I think about how my Mom grew with us in the way she parented us.  She gave us all we needed (and so much more!) when we were little and now that the three of us are grown, she continues to be a great Mom, but in different ways than before.   It's more than just the way she talks to us- it's the way her love evolves over time to be stronger and stronger (even though I'm sure she never thought she could never love us more than the day we were born) and more relate-able.
I feel like there's a magical moment somewhere in time when you begin to see your Mom not just as a mom, but a person, a woman, and someone you can call friend.  When I was little, I always knew my mom was the best.  When I was in college, I wrote a paper about how much I loved her and how I would go into her room and spray her perfume so I could feel like she was close (when she was at work-and this was when I was little- not when I was in school. Creeeeeeepppppy).  Now, I think about my Mom and still feel all of those things, but more.  It's hard to explain, but all I can say is that the Lord truly blessed our family with this woman.
Here are some of the things I love about my Mom:

She loves Jesus.

I don't have a picture for this.  Deal.

She's pretty much Hilarious.  This is just one of her jokes.

Her Doppelganger is clearly Sally Fields.  And who doesn't adore her?

She took such awesome care of us- and had some serious style.  Notice the following:

1. I was born in February and this is summer- so I am probably 3-4 months old- and my Mom is HOT and back to her pre-preggo bod with Kid #2 (she did it with #3, too folks)
2. I was breast-fed (thanks, Mom!), so she planned ahead so much that this bottle was the result of a pumping session.  Sorry Mom, but I think that's awesome.
3. Check out that beach bag in the back.  I would carry that now.
4. Did I say how pretty she is?  That should be pretty obvious.

Left, her senior pic!

She clearly also doesn't age.  She will be 50 very soon (sorry mom!) and she doesn't look it at all.  Also, her and my dad have been together since 7th grade.  Sweet.

 And, she captured moments like this, before people had cameras in their cell phones or in their pockets.  The unplanned times when we were just us.  My mom kept-I'm assuming- diapers in the bottom drawer of our dresser and Chrissy (LEFT- yes, she is younger than I am, contrary to what people think based on our appearances now!) and I would pull it out and sit in there.  We called it "The Diapy Drawer".  Freaks.  My mom also made our sweat suits.  So 90's.  So awesome.  I'm sure she was listening to Wilson Phillips while she made them, too.  I hope I get to be the same kind of Mom when I have babies!

I love my Mom, in case you didn't get that.  She taught me so much, but today I was thinking of her and the ways she taught me to spend moooolah.  My mom has always taught us to save money on the little things- like food (not in that she didn't buy healthy things- she didn't buy a lot of processed stuff and made a lot from scratch and recipes with few ingredients)- so that we could be able to do the fun things- like go shopping, buy meaningful gifts for each other, and donate it.  She has always loved Aldi, and she definitely passed that love on to us.  Here are some things I got today:

My Mom inspired me to love fruit, too I guess!  And yes, Daniel and I will eat all of it this week!

 Want to know how much this was (not including the flowers)?  $7.50.  CRAZY!  The pineapple was $1.99, Blueberries (the whole pint) and Cherries (1 lb) $1.25 each, Strawberries $.88 each and grapes were $1.25 for the whole case.  The flowers were only $3.99 for half a dozen roses- they are going to Daniel's grandma at the nursing home.  Seriously!  My mom would be so proud.

Lastly, my mom taught me to be organized- and eat fruit-filled lunches.  I have always packed Daniel's lunches (and wrote him notes, but other construction folks started to tease him, so that stopped.  Haha) and being a workin' girl (summer is over tomorrow!), organization is the key to happiness in this house.  I buy all the fruit for the week on Sunday, cut it up if needed, and package it up so I just have to grab it every night and put it in his lunch sack for the next day.  So easy!

I wash the fruits that can handle being pre-washed all week and we wash the other kinds of fruits right before we eat them at work.  Washing fruit days ahead will make them spoil faster because the skin absorbs the water.  Grapes usually can stand being washed 5 days ahead of time.  Strawberries, not so much.  Daniel will also take pineapple (the berries are mine), but I put that in Tupperware for him.  I also prepackage chips, too!
So anyway, here's to you, Momma!  Love you!