Happy Mother's Day!

Courtesy of SparkleTags.com

I've been sitting here remembering how we spent Mother's Day last year, and I must say that this year was a huge improvement. Although this year was a bit similar to last year in that we're in the middle of yet another move, it was much more relaxing nonetheless. Yeah, my house is turned upside down, but at least I have a home of my own and a beautiful family to share it with.

The kids wanted to fix me a special breakfast and bring me breakfast in bed, but they were a little too loud this morning to let me sleep in long enough. But their daddy did something rare in our house this morning. He asked the kids what they wanted for breakfast. The girl wanted pancakes, and the boy wanted muffins. They each got what they wanted. I don't like sweet food for breakfast on the rare occasion that I eat breakfast, so I wanted bacon and eggs. Each member of the family got exactly what they wanted this morning. Usually he makes one thing for breakfast on the weekend, kind of like I do when I cook dinner. But it was a special occasion, so he made an exception.

We had planned to have Mother's Day lunch at my sister's today. She has a tradition of having both our mom and her mother-in-law over for lunch every year. I knew about that, and had told the hubby about it, so when she called me to ask what our plans were I was able to tell her that we had planned to join her for her annual Mother's Day lunch. Nice of me to invite myself, right? Nah...I was just being practive! Anyway, she called me yesterday asking if I would mind bringing dessert today. I had already told her that if she needed anything to let me know. She likes to take care of everything so that everybody can just come over and relax. But I feel odd if I go to dinner or something at someone's house without bringing anything. After all, that's the way I've gotten used to doing things over the past almost ten years...one person hosts the party and everybody brings something. So between my need to bring something and her realization that she doesn't have to do everything herself, it worked out perfectly. I told her I'd peruse my cookbooks and see what I could come up with. I knew I could find something in one of my myriad of Pampered Chef cookbooks that would fit the occasion. I also offered to bring my crab dip, which I was (almost) famous for in Vilseck. Haven't met anybody yet who hasn't liked it. My sister is no exception, which is funny since she says she usually doesn't even like crab dip. So she said she'd love for me to bring it.

So I looked through my cookbooks and found a recipe in one of my Spring/Summer cookbooks for a Strawberry Cheesecake Torte. Perfect! It looked like a nice, light dessert and not too difficult to make. Only thing was, it's a layered dessert, and I've never done a layered cake of any kind before. What the heck...even if it doesn't look great, that won't affect the taste, right? Well, I was right. It wasn't that difficult to make, although the cake didn't come out quite level. This meant that my layers were a bit off, meaning my cake was a bit lopsided when it was all put together. So it wasn't quite as pretty as the picture. I was proud of it anyway. I made it last night, so all I had to do this morning was make the crab dip. It's a hot dip, so it was best for me to do it today anyway so it would be nice and warm when we got to my sister's.

So we went over to my sister's and had a great time. Everybody loved the dip, as usual. Pretty much everyone who was there had been at her house the last time I brought it, so they dug right in. That always makes me happy. I don't cook a lot, but I'm a pretty good cook when I decide to get in the kitchen. My sister and her husband had steaks and a delicious potato casserole dish that she makes, along with salad and bread. She made the potatoes another time we were there, and I remembered how good they were. The hubby did too...he put so many of them on his plate that he ended up not being able to finish them all, or all of his steak. We all enjoyed our lunch and enjoyed visiting with each other afterward. The dessert I made went over really well, too. I was right...it was really light, not rich at all, and the fresh fruit just made it perfect. So it was a bit lopsided...it was still pretty doggone good. The hubby teased me about the "leaning tower of cake," and my sister said it was representative of my travels. OK, I'll buy that. I really enjoyed having the time to spend with my mom as well. I'm ever thankful for her, and am thankful for every opportunity I have to spend with her. I know there are many out there who no longer have their mothers with them, and was especially aware of that in light of our friend's loss yesterday.

We got home and the hubby has been working on his motorcycle, and I've been sitting on the front porch watching the kids play. The boy has been riding his bike almost the whole time, and the girl has been alternating between riding her bike and drawing lovely scenes on our path with sidewalk chalk. Since we had such a big lunch, I fixed them a light dinner and let them eat outside on the porch. I've really enjoyed this time with them. They weren't very happy when I told them to put the bikes away and get ready for bed, but what kid would be?

I hope all the Mommies out there had a wonderful day today. I know I did.