On Friday afternoon when Maddy and I went to bring lunch to Caleb and eat together, he handed me a plan for the weekend. Starting at 5:45am with rising , there was something on for the whole day, and Caleb planned to cook all of the meals over the course of the weekend. It looked very nice, but looks are deceiving. In reality, it was incredible. I was pampered all weekend with wonderful family time. That is all that I wanted: just to be together. Saturday was beautiful with Mass in the morning, followed by a wonderful breakfast, and a late-morning stroll around the Valley to pick various sweet-smelling and gorgeous flowers, which we would sew together for a crown for the Blessed Mother's May crowning and for 2 leis for her center spot in the kitchen. It was so much fun tromping around, plucking bright colored flowers from the trees and bushes on the university's campus. When we arrived home we had a bag full of flowers. It was so therapeutic creating a tiny crown for Our Lady and threading the flowers onto a double-stranded thread. What a relaxing day it was... and it was only beginning. In the afternoon Caleb made a delicious strawberry cheesecake for Sunday's dinner dessert, and with the leftover cheesecake filling, he made a smaller cheesecake and topped that with a homemade chocolate-peanut butter covering; we got to eat it Saturday night. Yum. Everything was so enjoyable and I am so thankful for such an incredibly loving and giving husband, and a very sweet baby girl: my two reasons for being pampered, for celebrating this beautiful moment.
Sunday was super too. I woke up to Caleb taking Maddy from bed, changing her diaper and bringing her into the kitchen while he made some surprise breakfast: Pipin' Peaches French Toast. He told me to stay in bed, and so I laid there for about 10-15 minutes longer. I could not help be drawn from bed my the bold aroma of freshly coffee. As I came down the hall, Caleb told me to wait there for 5 minutes. Then, he led me into the kitchen. There on the counter was a large white, dry-erase board that I had talked about getting so as to keep lists, ideas, schedules better organized. He had also gotten a rainbow assortment of markers, since I love color. I was happy to see this surpise, but wondered where my reason for celebrating Mother's Day was. The front door was ajar, so I stepped out and there on a pinic blanket and upright in her exersaucer was little Maddy waiting to surprise me. Caleb had set up a nice little lounge area where Maddy and I would chill, enjoy coffee (for just me!), and watch the sun rise over the mountains. Breakfast was delicious, and Caleb was very pleased with his pipin' peaches; they were delicious. At 10am we went to Mass, and the gift of being alive and being a mom hit me all the more when the priest said, "If you cannot think of anything to say to your moms, at the very least you can say: 'Thank you for not aborting me.'" (The gift of life can be taken for granted so easily, since we are the ones who actually made it to this life and get to enjoy making decisions and contemplating various choices. Thanks to God, we are here.) That afternoon we went for a coffee and a run through the Valley. In the evening Caleb made a delightful Asian chicken salad, and that was quite the salad. Following dinner he served homemade cheesecake: Bennigan's strawberry cheesecake. By night, I was relaxing on the couch while Caleb was putting the little lady to bed. What a beautiful day spent with our little family: a sweet baby girl and a lving and faithful husband.
