Happy Mother’s Day! What better to share on this treasured day than some adorable seal mom and pup pairs from my favorite spot in the world, Point Lobos State Park.

This particular beach is not a seal hang-out for most of the year. However, when it comes time to birth babies, late winter/early spring, this tiny beach, completely surrounded by rock cliffs, becomes a true seal nursery. This is NOT a zoo. This is the real world, animal style.

ALL of these photos were taken by Aunt Janet, photographer extraordinaire.

This first mom and pup pair are the funniest. This little fella’ was rambunctious, robust, and ready to do some more swimmin’. Mama was trying to take a nap, and he kept sneaking off to the ocean.

She’s trying to rest, but off he goes…

Still going….Even for animals, some little ones are just tougher to raise than others.

Bet you’ve never seen a seal run, but this Momma did. She cut him off at the pass, barking up a storm at the little rascal.      “Nope! We are NOT going back out to the ocean. You don’t know what you’re doing. You are shark food. Now get back up on that beach, lay down, drink your milk, and take a nap. Don’t you go sneakin’ out to this water again without me, you hear. Bark bark bark bark bark!!”

Here she is, at the top of the photo, leading that baby back on shore. She had to keep holding him down with her little flipper.

This momma had a younger, smaller pup to bring in, and she just didn’t have her job figured out yet. Poor little pup was trying so hard to beach herself, but the waves kept washing her back out to sea.

Oops. There goes baby again. Mom needs to learn to get behind her.

nursing seal baby

Every few minutes, you see another momma and baby seal coming in or going out. I could have watched all day, but I had taken a few elementary school boys with me who could only enjoy it in 5 or 10 minute increments.

If I were a seal, I’d hang out here too. Actually, I’m not a seal, and I still like hanging out here.

Look closely to see the baby seal on the momma seal’s back.

This Mother’s Day is coming at perfect timing for me. I have felt a little down lately, mostly due to my mystery low-grade fevers. They zap my energy, and leave me feeling confused and a little hopeless.

But Mother’s Day reminds me of my most basic and happiest job. I am first and foremost a mom, and I am tickled pink to be Mom to our four precious sons. I always considered myself a “girly-girl”, so it’s ironic to me that I am now the mom with the baseball nails, trying to learn basketball lingo, and passing rules about not bringing slugs into the house. When I brush everything else aside, every other worry, every other commitment or hobby, this is the job that I most cherish: being wife and mom. I was never so happy as I am when I’m being mom.

-Wiping noses

-Trying to convince JD to poop on the potty.

-Reading These First Four Years to Joshua and Caleb

-Reading Green Eggs and Ham to Daniel and Caleb

-rocking JD in the rocking chair

-pushing them in the swings

-cooking their dinner

-buying their clothes

-hugs and kisses

-talking through their problems

-teaching them about Jesus and praying with them

-watching them play baseball

Oh, I love it all so much. What a wonderful gift to be entrusted with. I hope I can walk worthy of this calling.

And I’m thankful I don’t have to go it alone, like the seal mommas.

This guy makes being a mom more doable and more fun. I could not do this without Alan.

Mother’s Day is a reminder for me this year. It’s a reminder of how blessed I am. Healthy or not, I have a glorious life, full of purpose and every good thing. I must remember to be thankful and always share with others what I have. I am renewed with joy. What a blessing.

I better get to sleep. Alan and Caleb are making me french toast in the morning, and I’m super excited. I say Alan and Caleb, but they will probably all insist on helping.

Happy Mother’s Day, y’all!

The post Darling Photos of Seal Moms and Babies appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.

Alan took them to town on Saturday and let them pick out my gifts.  His store of choice:  Five and Below.  Sounds like a recipe for disaster, doesn’t it?  After all, little boys aren’t necessarily known for their great gift giving skills. Plus it wasn’t necessary.  They had already made me cards and gifts at school that I was perfectly happy with.

I was kind of afraid I’d end up with pink boas and fuzzy pink bunny slippers, like my friend Lucile has mentioned getting from her little boys.

But just look at what they picked out!

What you can’t tell from the picture is that the sunglasses are covered in lips, but I do think they make me look younger. : ) The pink thing in my other hand is a little packet of lip covered tissues.

As we were walking out the door to go to church, Joshua held up the hat and asked, “Mom, aren’t you going to wear the hat I got you?”

So of course, I wore the hat to Sunday school.  ; ) Kind of awesome that it matched my outfit, huh? Some of the guys in our Sunday school class insisted that I put it on so they could all see, and they agreed that I looked like I was ready for the Kentucky Derby.  Ha!  Not too shabby!

I bet you can’t guess what we had for lunch.  If you didn’t guess “Papa John’s”, then you haven’t spent much time with my husband.

However, let the record show that Alan made us all his delicious french toast for breakfast. It’s a good thing.  That did help soften the blow of being woken up at 5:30 am (by Caleb) to receive my gifts.  I don’t know what Alan does, but his french toast is amazing!! (Maybe I’ll make him share his secret on a future blog post!)

As soon as we got home from church, Caleb had me out there playing badminton with him.

That has turned out to be a seriously popular gift with every little boy in this house. They LOVE it.  Once Caleb got tired of playing, Dan took a turn. Then Joshua came out there to try, and suddenly I had to really be on my toes. He kept actually hitting it back to me!!  Hand-eye coordination changes drastically somewhere between ages 6 and 8 because Joshua was not always as athletic as he is now.

They have been playing Badminton every day since.

The boys didn’t even complain too much when I made them all pose for pictures with me.

Unfortunately, we’ve had to resort to drastic measures to get Joshua to smile for photos.  I got this idea from my friend, Jennifer, on Facebook.  It involves using the cleanest words that we can think of that little boys find hilarious.

Side note:  When I was a kid, I always wanted to have my mom’s high, pretty, chiseled cheek bones, rather than my chubby round face.  It never happened, but look!  Joshua has them!!

Thank you so much, boys!  It really was the “Funnest Mother’s Day ever”!!!  Yes, ‘funnest’ SHOULD be a word.  These boys are just too much preciousness, as is their daddy. This was just heavenly.

Psalm 127:4-5

“Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are sons born in one’s youth.

Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. They will not be put to shame when they contend with their enemies in the gate.”

“Lo, children are a heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.”    Psalm 127:3

The post Aren’t you going to wear the hat? appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.

Alan and I with both sets of our parents, at our engagement party. 2002

Right at this very moment, the baby is asleep upstairs, and Alan took all of the other boys with him to the store.  I know what they’re doing.  They are picking out my Mother’s Day present.  Isn’t Mother’s Day sort of embarrassing–as a mom, I mean?  So much attention.  Why is attention embarrassing?  I don’t know, but it all makes me feel a little squirmy.  I’m so not good at mushy moments.

But good at them or not, mushy moments are important, extremely important.  I am dedicating this whole week on the blog to mushy moments.  It’s all going to be so embarrassing!!

So let’s get MUSHY!!!  Let’s talk about moms.  It truly is the job that never ends.

You know you’re in for a good, cry-it-out Disney movie, when they start it off by killing off the mom.  OH, the AGONY!!  Why must they do this?

They do that because it’s about the worst possible thing that could happen!  We love our moms because of how much they love us.  We need our moms, and we never, ever grow out of that, or get to a place where we no longer wish they were near. Who else can we call up and just tell what we’re cooking for dinner that night–as if it’s news.  Who else cares when your baby cuts a tooth or there’s something weird going on with your fingernails? Who else will rejoice just as loudly as you rejoice over every little victory in your life? And it really must be mentioned–who spent the first two years of your life wiping your bottom and worrying about the consistency of your poop??  You know it’s true.

Okay, I said who else, but I realize that dads are wonderful too.  We’ll talk about you guys in June. ; )

Right now I am back in a place, yet again, where I literally NEED my mom.  Sometimes we just call her up and tell her to book a plane ticket. With four small children, we need another mom around to kiss little boo-boos and put away laundry.  Laundry.  So unromantic, huh?  But I’m sorry, it needs to be said. Clean laundry is just as important as food in the fridge!

That’s my mom, cooking dinner for us.  She has come and served our crazy family after three different births–all except Daniel. For that one, we were temporarily living at Alan’s parents’ house. And as you can see, she does it with a smile.  Thanks, Mom!!! We could not take care of these four healthy little boys without you!

And it’s not just my mom!  I would be waaaaay remiss to stop there.  We have TWO amazing mommas.  Alan’s mom came and made JD her one job on the weekend that Alan’s grandparents visited.  She taught JD to drink milk from a bottle, and I will never forget it.

Mothers are amazing, aren’t they?  I can’t believe I get to be a momma too.  It’s such a blessing. Of course, you never truly appreciate your momma until you have children of your own.  Then you suddenly get it.  “Ohhhh!  This is why she cares so much!”  The love you have for your children is simply indescribable!

And one day there will come a time when it is our job to take care of our mothers.  No one can stay young forever.  I want you both to know that it will be nothing more than a privilege to look over you as you age. I only hope that we can give back to you even a portion of the wonderful love that you have given to us, our siblings, and our children.

Thank you so much for showing us how to love, loving us when we were at our worst, caring for me after 2 c-sections, praying for Alan through three l-o-n-g overseas deployments, and always being there when we need a break from our own children!!  Ya’ll are the PERFECT military parents and grandparents. Our children look forward to seeing you as though you are lined with candy and Legos. They love you so much, as do we, and we could not be more thankful.

Happy Mother’s Day!!!

my mom, holding Caleb

Alan’s grandmother, holding Caleb

Alan’s mom, making Caleb and Joshua laugh

Alan’s grandmother, meeting Caleb

my mom…..yet more Caleb

my great-grandmother and….Caleb:  Apparently we took a lot of pictures that year.

Oh!  This one’s Daniel and my mom.

Alan’s mom and Daniel.  Now I feel really bad that Joshua’s pictures aren’t digital.  If anyone has any digital baby Joshua pictures to send me, that’d be GREAT!

If the baby has red hair, it’s gotta be Daniel.

teenage April and my mom. 1998

Aunt Janet with Donna and a whole bunch of grandkids and nephews and nieces

My kids are a bit spoiled by their grandparents, but that’s just part of the magic.

Nonna with cousin Wesley

Nana with John David

Look closely. That’s Wesley again, not JD.  This could get confusing!

and of course, me with my crew

me with John David

I’m in this picture too.  Can you find me?

We do love our mommas!  I hope that I will be as big a blessing to my children, even as they become parents with families of their own, as you two have been to us.

The post Motherhood: The Job That Never Ends. appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.