My Mother's Day gift from my son. Now I know that some of you are wondering why I received a $2 bill for Mother's Day and I couldn't be more proud to tell you the story behind it. My son is in 7th grade. After finding out at the beginning of the year that the school lunch is almost $3 a day, I told him that he could buy 3 days a week and bring his lunch 2 days. He came home a few days after school started and said that he and several of his friends had gotten jobs as runners in the cafeteria. They check in, put on gloves and bring trays out to the employees for about 15 minutes and then they receive a ticket for lunch and a poweraid. After asking him if only the 7th graders do this, he said that it was mostly 8th graders. After all - I didn't want him to be teased. Whew! I'm so proud of him. I informed my family that under no circumstances were they to buy me Mother's Day or birthday gifts this year. Hospital bills are lurking. Well last week while Cole was working, he spotted someone paying for their lunch with a $2 bill and asked one of the employees if he could trade two one-dollar bills for it. He knows that I collect rare coins and bills and traded it for me. What a gem! My husband took the kids to pick out cards for me. Our Taylor takes forever trying to pick out the perfect card. Boy does she get it. Hers brought tears to my eyes. They served me breakfast in bed on a tray, complete with a rose from our garden in a vase. What a perfect morning.

Happy Mother's Day! This is always a difficult day for me to get through. I lost my wonderful Mother 7 years ago after a long battle with cancer. I try to stay positive in my memories of her and not be saddened when I think of her. It's taken years to come this far. I don't know anyone that was as positive as she was. I know one thing - she would want us to be happy and to be following her example of staying positive in every situation. If any of you have lost your dear Mother, remember that. I was so lucky to have such a wonderful role model and to have someone that believed in me and complimented me so often. I see her face in my children and am reminded what a lucky mother and daughter that I am.

Our fragrent, purple blooming vitex tree has made a full recovery from our frosty winter and we couldn't be happier. It's so perfect for Arizona. It loves the sun, recovers from our chilly winters and is drought resistant. Growing up in Iowa, my two favorite flowers in the whole entire world are peonies and lilacs. Neither of which will grow here, but this tree's blooms are close to lilacs.

There are birdies flying over over heads in our backyard, but not the kind that you think. Last week we put up a badmitten set and have been having so much fun. We are enjoying beautiful nights and have even been playing after the sun sets. I found these really fun birdies and snapped a photo for you so that you can see how much larger they are than the regular sized birdy. It seems we have created a new game. Our badmitten rackets aren't strong enough for these jumbo birdies - so we are playing with tennis rackets. Anyone have a fun name for our new game?

Her first trophy. "Mom, can you believe they gave out trophies this time instead of medals?" My daughter has earned several medals, but this was her first trophy. She finally decided that she wants to play soccer after years of tagging along to her brother's practices and games. She's somewhat of a homebody - loving to be home and finding plenty to do here. She's also busy with Girlscouts, piano lessons and lots of seasonal activities at school. When this short 6-week spring soccer session came up, she decided to go for it and loved it. We will definitely be signing her up for the fall league.

Sparkle Bella!
I haven't mentioned, have I, that I am one of the lucky participants in Sparkle Bella. I treated myself to this wonderful one-day event in Mesa, AZ on June 23. I can hardly wait. I had planned to go to Silver Bella in Omaha last year but it didn't work out, so when this event presented itself, I was one of the first to sign up. The classes sound incredible. It will be held at Scrapbooks Etc. We have four wonderful, inspiring instructors. Teresa McFayden, Kim Kwan, Carolyn Peeler and Marilyn Healey. Lucky, lucky me. We have our own Yahoo group that is buzzing with excitement and signups for fun swaps.

Happy May Day! I grew up in a wonderful, safe children-filled neighborhood in Iowa. Every May Day, we filled Dixie Cups with nuts and dinner mints, attached handles made with pipe cleaners, left them on a neighbor's door, rang the doorbell and ran as fast as we could. Does any one else share this childhood memory. We currently live in a neighborhood that does not have as many children as our old one. I don't know anyone that fills May Baskets, but it does remind me of the tradition we have at Halloween when the Phantom leaves a package. It's wonderful having traditions to remember and reflect on.