Mother's Day 2020

I think it’s safe to say that Mother’s Day 2020 was not your average celebration year.  For many, Mother’s Day is associated with brunches, lunches, dinners out to restaurants, and family to get together with.  However, with so much of that off the table this year, I really expected just to spend the day with my family here at the house.  However, a few days prior to Sunday, we made the call to try a “social distancing” afternoon at Mouse and Pop’s house on Mother’s Day as we’ve all not been together as a family since the middle of March, and getting together was what Mouse really wanted to do.  Admitedly, it was a little harder to stay distant than we planned, but we did our best.  We stayed outside the whole time, everyone brought food and sat in chairs in the back yard, and while the adults were good about not touching each other or getting too close, it was understandable a bit harder for the kids.  

 Nina and Lyla were so excited to see their cousins, and all of us have been diligent about safe practices when we’ve had to go out, so we just let the kids have fun.  We enjoyed some cornhole in teams, the kids had fun just running aroud and hanging, the dogs ran, the boys played some golf in the field, and then we got a pretty fierce game of poison ball going.

 

 

Poison ball is like a running team dogeball game.  It’s fast and crazy but a lot of fun.  It started with just all the girls (old and young) playing, and then when the boys finished golf, they joined in.

 

Everyone was running, laughing, getting pegged by poison balls, and the dogs (well, Cayenne) were barking incessantly at us all in the process.

 

One of the funniest poison ball “outs” of the night was when one of the grandaughters got a good tag on Poppy.  It was the funniest scene, and I had all these hysterical pictures, but they’re ALL blurry!!!  Aghhh!!!  I forgot that I had my camera set for shots earlier in the afternoon, and when I picked it up to grab the dramatic Poppy scene, I forgot to check my settings, and they came out blurry.  Very sad.  The faces and the pictures were so funny!  Obviously, Poppy was fine and was just hamming it up for the girls, but we all got a good laugh out of it.

  

We had a really fun afternoon/evening together, and it made me wish all this COVID business would just disappear and we could get back to seeing each other again like we used to.  So much is different right now, but there is still so very much to be thankful for.  I’m so blessed to be the mother to Nina and Lyla - they are God’s very good gift to me.  

 

I’m thankful for the family I have, for a wonderful husband and two beautiful girls; I’m thankful that our families on both sides have stayed healthy through this pandemic, and I’m so thankful that we are celebrating Mother’s Day for my mom this year cancer-free.  This time last year, we still were blissfully unaware of what would transpire in a few weeks, but God has been so good and faithful to bring her through this past year and give her “all clear” screenings at this point.  Having her healthy has been everything to our family, and it’s part of the reason I was hesitant about even getting together with the family for Mother’s Day.  We just want she and my dad to weather this COVID storm as they have the past year with her cancer - coming out healthy and together.  

 

Nevertheless, we spent one of those days that makes you feel like COVID-19 wasn’t an issue.  Those days are the best. Theyr’e full of smilies, laughs, fresh air, and fun memories. We feel them when we’re either out biking or hiking or doing something fun that we used to do, pre-COVID, and it just gives you a bit more life and energy in your day, and that was how it felt on Mother’s Day.