You can probably see from my other posts that my boys have a deep love of Star Wars.

When Eli found a cool Tie Fighter Pilot helmet/mask on sale at a local antiques market, he HAD to have it.

I let him buy it on one condition: that it will be this year’s Halloween costume.

He said it was too awesome NOT to be!

Anyway, he walks by me today, wearing it, having added a set of headphones…

“Look, Mom. I’m DJ Trooper.”

And then he acted like he was scratching a record and danced away from me.

These kids keep me laughing!

This cute little Jedi woke me up this morning with a big, sloppy, snot-dripping kiss right on the mouth!

If I didn’t already have his cold, I’d certainly have caught it now!

Oh well –  kisses from my kids are worth whatever plagues they give me. <3

In honor of this special day dedicated to motherhood, I want to share a few favorite pics and links to a few Mother’s Day columns I’ve written through the years.

Investing in Motherhood

I wouldn’t be where I am today without all the lovely moms who’ve invested into my life.

My mom and her mom, my grandmother, Honey….

And them again, years later, in 1986….

Honey with me in 1989, at my sister’s wedding….

And Mama with me at my wedding, in 1991…

Honey holding my first baby, Zach, in 1998….

Mother’s Day was always about honoring the special women in my life, but from the time I got married until we were blessed with Zach seven years later, that second Sunday in May always equaled pain and longing as I struggled through infertility and pregnancy loss.

These little blessings made my joy complete. Truly my cup runneth over…

There’s no way to put a value on all the things they’ve given me — dandelion bouquets and hand-made cards rank higher than diamonds on my wish list.

For a lighthearted look at Mother’s Day gift giving, check out the following:

My Top Ten Worst Gifts for Mother’s Day

There is never, ever a dull moment around here, and for that, I am beyond thankful.

And finally, my mother’s heart revealed, with thoughts that still hold true:

What Motherhood Has Given Me

Have a beautiful, blessed day, my friends!

I’m having a very Monday-flavored Friday, so I thought I’d post a couple of recent happenings to remind me to laugh at life. Ironically, I just got off the phone with someone who asked me if I had any funny stories to share about life with boys. This person was clearly not aware of my six years of column-writing (see “Column” tab above). I know I can complain about life in this “House of Blue” but one thing is for certain — I am never short of moments that make me laugh!

First…we needed to get one good, head-on shot of Jonah smiling for a Mother’s Day gift.

Twenty camera-clicks later, we gave up. But this collage shows some of the pics we captured. It’s worth clicking to see it bigger!

Photographing boys is a lot like herding cats. Although we did get one good shot, the big one at the bottom. It didn’t work for the project I was doing, but it was priceless, nonetheless.

Especially when I edited it in black-and-white…

Which reminds me of this graphic I’ve been seeing on Facebook:

In other news, Eli cracked me up when one of his molars came out the other night.

It was late, and he brought me the tooth in a ziplock baggie.

“Look, mom –I know you’re tired, I’m tired. Let’s just forget this whole ‘tooth fairy’ thing and take care of it right now. That way, you don’t have to worry about digging around under my pillow, and maybe hurting your feet on some Legos trying to get to the bed.” And then he handed me my wallet.

I couldn’t help but laugh as I forked over two dollars (one for the last tooth he lost, when the “tooth fairy” forgot to show up…don’t judge me…you know you’ve forgotten at least once, too!).

“Nice doing business with ya, son,” I said.

“Nice doing business with you!” he replied, and pocketed his money, smiling.

You just never know what’s going to happen around here next. But they usually share a common theme.

Earlier, Zach went to put on his shoe and felt something strange inside it.

He fished out my old iPhone. Gee, wonder how that got there, JONAH???

I also just went into the bedroom and found the ONE deodorant that doesn’t cause me to scratch my pits like a flea-infested chimp, crumbled all over the floor.

Wonder how that happened, JONAH???

I don’t even want to ask why there’s a dirty fork on the bathroom floor….

The newest member of the “family”…

Eli’s been asking for a bamboo plant for a while. Why? I don’t know. He just thinks bamboo is cool.

So when I saw these bamboo plants at IKEA for a couple of bucks, I thought I’d get him one.

He was even more excited about it than I thought he’d be!

He said he was going to name it Bambi and keep it in his room. Then he and his dad looked up all sorts of interesting facts about bamboo, such as it being the fastest growing plant on Earth. Some species have been measured to grow over 4 feet in 24 hours. Of course, Eli was convinced that his plant will do that, too.  Ever the young scientist, he measured “her” and asked me to take these pics, to keep track of Bambi’s growth.

A boy and his bamboo — it’s a beautiful thing.

Hahaha!

(I don’t have the heart to remind him how most plants don’t live long under my Black Thumb O’Death. However, bamboo sounds almost zombie-like in its ability to survive. So maybe she’ll be OK.)