low expectations= fantastic mother's day

i was a little nervous about mother's day here at the group home because i thought it would just be another normal day in an abnormal place & that i would be spending my time warding off attitude problems & crazy rants. but i was wrong. it was an abnormal day in an abnormal place. when i woke up, i walked into the bathroom and saw this:

ben kept up with the tradition we have of writing each other messages on the mirror. he had also set up gifts for me: a card w/ an itunes gift card, my favorite magazine (mariah carey got M'd??) chocolate caramels, body spray & some "gifts" from caleb. the gifts caleb had picked out were two dinosaurs & two squeaky ducks, plus a really cute card that he had colored on. i told him i would share my toys with him for today.

and the best part was when ben told me that he had arranged for me to have the day off. carmella had offered to take the kids to her church & then stay for the day & we could go to church on our own & relax!!!!!! i can't even TELL YOU how awesome that was. carmella is seriously the most fantastic person & ben is the most fantastic husband.

for the first time since we have been here, caleb stayed in nursery the whole time without crying. (i did bribe him with marshmallows before & after) and when i got home, i walked through the door and saw this:

and this:

and this:

and this:

then einstein wrapped up a "present" for me. here i am unwrapping it:

lovely wrapping job, & in the box was a paper that said this:

and a worn-out copy of our skills book that we teach the kids out of:

(could my face BE any shinier?)

some awesome decorations, provided by our lovely co-worker, angel:

to top it off, miss fantasia had made me a "coupon book" consisting of multiple things that believe you me, i WILL use. there were "follow directions all day" and "positive peer relations all day" "help cook dinner" and my favorite was: no attitude all day. this is one i will save for something special. carmella joked that she should have made one "get out of tree free day." (from friday night's shenanigans) and i laughed my HEAD OFF.

carmen, our overnight worker made an amazing dinner of chicken parmesan, broccoli, pasta, apple pie & ice cream.

the best part was, everyone got along, fantasia really didn't have an attitude (& i didn't even have to use my coupon!), and i got to end the day with my two favorite boys:

(YES i am getting my roots done this week!)

thanks everyone for such a fun & fantastic day!! you have no idea how much it meant to me!! and a special shout-out to this little guy:

it's an honor to be your mother.
i love you little man!!