Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all the other mommies out there!  Today is kind of a double whammy for me because it's not only Mother's Day, but is also my birthday.  I was born on Mother's Day and every so often, my birthday falls on Mother's day again.  So...in honor of my mom and the day she became a mother to her favorite child (right, Mom?), allow me to introduce you to the best mom in the world.

My dad holding me, my mom, and my older sister

She homeschooled me and my four siblings throughout most of our school careers.  Even though we didn't have much money, she made every penny count and we never felt poor or deprived of anything.  Even though she didn't have a working washer or dryer half the time, she cloth diapered all of us.  I remember watching her wash dirty diapers by hand in the bathtub as a child.
 

Making lefse

She read her Bible every single morning (still does) without fail before getting out of bed to start the day.  Seeing that as a child had a big impact on me. 
    

Holding Little Man when he was brand new

Even when my dad was out of town for work (which was often) she got all five of us kids ready for church and had us there on time.  We were never late for church.  If you have one or more kids, you know what an accomplishment that is.  Did I mention that my dad usually had the family car at work with him?  My mom had no mode of transportation except for her own two feet.  We walked to church, we walked to the grocery store, we walked to the library.  When I was having problems with my asthma and needed to see a doctor, she put me in our little red wagon and pulled me to the doctors' office.

Reading a story to Little Man and Princess before bed.

She has always believed in me.  She encouraged me to reach for my dreams and told me that I could do anything I really wanted to do.  When I was 7 or 8 and wanted to be a truck driver, instead of telling me what a ludicrous idea that was and how that was possibly the worst job ever for me, she encouraged me to find out more about it and told me how fun it would be to travel all over the United States.  When I told her I wanted to be a writer, she gave me a notebook and encouraged met to start writing.  

Her favorite instrument-the upright bass

 My mom is a librarian and a bluegrass musician.  You can usually find her at the local library, at a bluegrass festival, or a bluegrass jam session.

She also plays mandolin, guitar, and a little fiddle. Picture by Emily Anderson Photography

She has gotten 10 (soon  to be 11!) grandchildren in 5 years time.  If I need advice to handle my kids or anything else, I know I can turn to her, but she's careful not to give unasked-for advice or interfere.  

Playing the electric bass

Happy Mother's Day to an awesome Mother and Grandma!

One more thing...I saw this on Facebook and thought it summed up Mother's Day pretty well.

Original source: Butt-Ons Cloth Diapers

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