A Belated HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!

And a SURPRISE!

We have developed a wonderful tradition during the five years we’ve been in VA: our boys who live locally pick a night to come over to our house--without wives or kids--to have cocktails and dinner with us and spend a few hours visiting with their dear old mom and dad, as a Mother's Day treat for lucky me.  It wasn’t my idea originally (one of my daughters-in-law suggested it the first May we were here), but I LOVE it.  (And I've blogged about it before, because like most old folks I tend to repeat my stories.)  This Mother-Boy extravaganza usually takes place the weekend before or after Mother’s Day, so that the guys can be with their wives on the actual holiday, helping their kids make the day special for their moms.  This year, my Mother's Day celebration with my boys happened this past Saturday.

Our bookend boys, #1 and #5, weren’t going to be with us; we only have our three middle sons living nearby now, so I set the table for five.  Our oldest son, who was at last year’s Mother’s Day dinner, has moved out to Iowa. And we had just recently made a trip to visit our youngest son in Nashville, and we knew he wouldn’t be able to make a long trip like that to join us for this...

Or would he?!

It's the craziest thing!  Son #2 had reached out to our baby, thinking that the worst that could happen is he'd say sorry, can't make it.  But as it turned out, he actually had some time off--his graduate school classes had just ended and the next ones weren't going to begin for a few weeks--and he figured the drive wasn't prohibitively long.  So he drove here from Nashville on Friday and spent the night with his older brother.  Son #2 came over on Saturday evening as expected.  But then shortly after he got to our house, we heard a knock...and when my husband opened the door it was son #5!  Oh my goodness, it was kind of shocking!  Neither my husband nor I had even the slightest inkling that this was going to happen, so the kids pulled off a spectacular surprise.

And I got to set another place at the table--always a joy for a mom whose favorite thing in the world is having all her grown-up chicks gathered in the nest again!

We had some Kentucky Mules before dinner.  My husband cooked steaks and chicken on the grill.  We had cheesy hash brown casserole, salad, rolls, and gooey brownies generously topped with chocolate frosting (courtesy of son #2's wife, my baking buddy).  Like Mary Poppins, the meal was practically perfect in every way.

I have the best boys (that's an objective statement, by the way).

Son #4 said we should pose like this.  I guess it's the way every band from the 80's--90's?--looked on their album cover pictures?  I don't know.  I tried to play along and look tough, but I'm not sure I nailed it.

When I saw that last picture, I experienced a bit of deja vu.  It immediately reminded me of one that was taken back in 2007 and is my husband's all-time favorite picture of our boys and me.  The oldest is missing in this new one, and only sons #3 and #5 are in the same places as they were in the original (all four would have been if we had set out to try to recreate the picture, but we weren't thinking about that).  But it's pretty close, don't you agree?

After having all my chicks gathered in the nest again, my next favorite thing is seeing our boys hanging out together. This brothers-only time is a precious commodity these days, with all of them having so many commitments with their own growing families.  After making such a long drive, our baby decided to stick around a few extra days to get more time with his brothers and play favorite uncle to his many nieces and nephews.  He stayed with son #2 and his family on Friday, the night before the surprise.  Then he stayed with us on Saturday night and with son #4 last night. Tonight he will stay over at son #3's house, and then he'll be headed back to Nashville tomorrow.  I so appreciate his wife, who wasn't able to take the time off of work to accompany him but wanted to give him this much-appreciated time with his family.   We not only have the best boys; we have the best girls as well.  (True story.)

A belated Happy Mother's Day, dear readers. Please pray for our safe travels, as we're headed out to Iowa this afternoon for a week-long visit with our firstborn and his gang.  Thanks!