Mothers Day has come and gone, and with that my Grandma Chandler's 86th birthday! My Mom who has always been the birthday party throwing Queen planned a Royal Ruth themed party, complete with red, black and white playing cards, British themed party food and decor, and even got every single one of my Grandma's descendants to write and send a special message for her. I got to help with the food and party prep, and the entire thing was wonderful and I think she loved it-and best of all, I think she felt our love and gratitude for her presence in our lives.

On Mother's Day, despite the fact that Lester had one of his long shifts, he came through with the 'breakfast in bed' bit with Johnny's donuts and the most beautiful flowers. I got a nap in, and didn't have to make dinner [as he did that], and his Mom made delicious chocolate souffles. To die for people.  I feel like I would be lying if I said that one ever REALLY takes a day off motherhood, especially when you have multiple kids-its more then just an occupation obviously and kids are used to you being their number one person. No matter what the calender says, there will still be kids who need to be changed and fed and cuddled, and often times have their preference and comfort zones with who does it and how they want it done. But I appreciate that Lester made an effort even with all he's got going on and juggling. And I'm sure someday when my kids get older they will participate more. I guess I'm saying this bc I said I want this blog to be a realistic, honest one-and so sometimes I  feel frustrated with what I feel like are impossible demands that a toddler doesn't fully understand. But I think sometimes being honest gets confused with being cynical-and if I'm real with myself, my kid are actually very verbally grateful, polite and affectionate and they tell me daily that they love me and as Addy often puts it they think that I'm 'the best Mom ever!'. Sure they throw temper fits and have occasional squabbles, and its normal to get frustrated at times with the day to day-but if I'm honest, they make me feel like number one most days, and I'd much rather have it that way, then just one special day a year. So I'm happy and grateful for it all!

Its also that time of year where we start craving delicious, juicy and cold fruit. We are right at the end of a mango and blackberry kick over here, which is perfect for leading us straight into the beginning of a strawberry phase. So we hooked up with some of our favourite people [the Parscals] and headed up for day of strawberry picking at Swanton Farms. It was a blast, and we hit the nail right on the head this year with finding beautiful, perfectly sweet berries. Isla of course ate almost as many as she picked, but after some snacks at the farm stand, we went home with a big palette of our own.

So this has been whats going on with us lately-some fun, some errands, etc. Lester's semester finishes in a week with a big finale, and then it will be MCAT study all day erry day baby. Of course, we'll sprinkle in a few fun things throughout, but over all we'll keep living the fun messy life that we're becoming accustomed to. Life is good!