Happy Birthday to you,
Happy birthday to you,
Happy birthday dear Mom,
Happy Birthday to You!!!

Today is my Mom's birthday, so c'mon everyone. Wish her a wonderfully Happy Birthday with me!

Some random memories of and thoughts about my mother...

* Most of the memories I have of my Mom while I was growing up was of her taking care of all of us. She is an amazing cook and she always managed to have a wonderful meal on the table and cookies baked for us after school (and this was all done while she also worked full-time as a high school English teacher). She was a "you can do it all" sort of Mom before they were even fashionable!

* I always loved having such a young Mom. I was born when she and Dad were sophomores in college, in 1968, and she always seemed so young and pretty to me.

(forgive the quality of the pics. They're from the 70s!)

* Mom was, and remains, incredibly immaculate. She has a special knack to keep a house perfectly clean (of course, it has to do with the fact that she even cleans before her housekeeper comes over!). I think I got my Mom's baking ability, but I did not get her cleaning ability.

* I'll never forget the time my Dad and brother came home with a litter of little puppies when I was around 12-years-old. My Mom had just had a hysterectomy that week and those little dogs whined and yelped all night. She was so perturbed about it (Mom never raised her voice, but I do remember her telling Dad that those dogs had to go!), but she ended up saying we could keep one of them and Solo was our dog until I was out of college. (It's funny what you remember, isn't it?)

* I'll always remember lying on the living room floor and helping Mom grade papers when she taught school. That made me feel very grown-up.

* Mom has an incredible green thumb (her flower garden is amazing), loves her grandkids, loves anything British (you should hear her laugh at "Falty Towers" and you should hear her mimic Winston Churchill as he bellows, "Never, never, never give up!"), and is very talented at having fun. She will act silly and have a good time, no doubt about it (just look at the picture below!)

* There is so much that I love that came from my Mom's own interests and talents. She loves to read and travel and shop and bake cakes and write...so many of the things I love myself.

*Mom is full of faith and she has taught me that a life lived in Christ is the most important thing we can have. She teaches me and her entire family what being a Christian is all about... by the way she lives and loves.

* Mom is what I'd like to call a "pocketful of sunshine." She has her share of struggles--after suffering from a near-fatal brain aneueryism in the mid 90s, her health has never been the same--but she is always positive. Her love of life and positive attitude is inspiring...and I like to think that I got my own "glass half full" energy from her.

So...Happy Birthday to my Mom! I hope you have a wonderful day!

(We celebrated with Mom on Sunday and here are a few favorite pictures from the day...