week 4 - mother's day

may 19, 2012

i knew something was up when p told me to pack some stuff for the girls to do after church.  i figured it had something to do with dinner when he came home with 4+ pounds of pork and wondered out loud whether e would notice the crockpot going overnight in the spare bedroom.  it was a late morning for us on sunday, since the coffee shop was the night before, so we just made the end of the message and a presentation of flowers to all the mothers.  with a few other families, we headed over to their pastor's home while a few of the guys picked up lunch. 

no sooner had we polished off the noodles, dumplings, lamb rice, stir-fried chinese greens (i miss these lunches, can you tell!), then the guys unexpectedly announced that the moms were to drop everything and get in the two cabs that had just pulled up.  i tried to enlist l's help to take care of baby k, assuring her that uncle p would be there the whole time, but in the end, i left her sobbing her heart out at the door.  talk about poignant reminder of mommyhood =/

after a suspenseful cab ride, we found ourselves at the Cassia Spa.  this was my first spa experience (in spite of a gift card ben got me in st. louis, which i still intend to use one of these days if the place is still in business!!  sorry bobic ;-)  ), and it was so fun to share with these ladies. 

what do you call this - a foot massage?  foot washing?  that sounds overly biblical =p

a sweet friend of e's who i miss now

ready for our massage

post-massage relaxation

i'll confess that i checked my phone a few times during all this (besides the time i was asleep during the massage ;-)).  i wish i could have caught a picture of two little girls greeting me at the door when we got back.  nothing sweeter!  the guys had done a masterful job with the kids, as shown below, soon after i came in:

and, on top of babysitting, they had managed to put together a feast of a dinner!


salmon poke

all kinds of goodies from the grill

so there we go, a post almost all about me =)  what a treat of a day - the time off, the invaluable chance for uninterrupted conversation, the delicious dinner.  we had to leave a bit early to get back and pack up for the best mother's day gift of all - daddy's arrival!!