happy mother's day!

i want to give a shout out to all of the wonderful mamas in my life.

especially my mama, who raised me right and made me who i am today.  she is my dear friend and confidante.  my role model.  the woman who still worries over me and cares for me like no other.  she loves me unconditionally.  she laughs with me on happy days and consoles me on grouchy days.  she believes in me.  she listens to my ideas, and helps me bring them to fruition.  she tends to my babes, as lovingly as she tended to me for so many years.  where would i be without you?

i love you  mom!

and then there are the other mamas who have shaped who i am...my grandmothers. 

four generations at the birth of ella rose in 2003.  i still miss my nana every day.  she was a fabulous lady.  i learned so much from this classy lady.  she taught me how to listen with an open mind and an open heart.  she taught me to cherish my family and appreciate my heritage.  she and my bop took me on one of the greatest adventures of my life...to ireland and england.  she was one of the first people i would work on scrapbooks with.  she was always chastising me for not doing enough journaling, because my albums are mostly pictures, very little writing.  her albums were treasures...she recorded so much history in them.  i think she would be happy that i'm recording things in this blog. 

four generations in 1977, that's me, baby katie in my great-gram's arms (ella's namesake, Rose) with nana on the left and mom on the right.  i didn't get to know gram, but i'd like to think i got some of my creativity from her.  she made so many beautiful things during her life, and some of those treasures decorate my home.

here's my dad's mom...anna mae.  she's an amazing lady, 85 years old and she still cuts her own grass.  and she lives on a STEEP hill.  so i'd like to say she taught me a bit about hard work.  and for a while i said that i was trying to keep up with her in terms of childbearing.  i stopped at four.  she had twelve!  i admire so much about grandma.  she's a hard worker, loves her family fiercely, and will always share a smile and a warm hug.  another thing that i admire about grandma is her strong faith, she prays for all of us at church each day.  and then there's her baking...she is a master baker, her biscuits are delicious, and don't get me started on her pumpkin roll. 

and here's another very special mother in my life...michael's mom sharon.  she did an amazing job raising her three boys, they have all grown into fine men.  i thank her for everything she taught michael to make him who he is today.  my mother in law is such a fun-loving and adventerous person.  she is also so very creative in so many ways!  she loves to spend time with her grands, and she loves to have her family around her for relaxing at the campers, sledding in the snow, playing wii in the living room, or sitting around the table for a big family dinner. 

so happy mother's day to all of the mamas.  i hope that you are pampered, loved, nuturued and spoiled this mother's day.