i love you more.

so, not only do i have the greatest mom ever, i have a seriously wonderful mother-in-law and two of the most fantastic sisters. when i was little my mother would tell me that she loved me and my sisters more than we could possibly know. and we would tell her she was wrong. but she wasn't. my kids cannot possibly understand the depth of my love for them. and they won't understand until they are blessed with children of their own.

so, to my own mother, and to my sweet mother-in-law who raised the most incredible man-boy, i love you and thank you. my own mother has taught me to be strong and opinionated and loyal and compassionate. every good thing that i am is a direct reflection of the goodness of the woman who raised me. never once has she doubted me. i often wonder how she raised three daughters who are so different and yet so similar. though we confront life and its challenges in different ways, we share the same character strengths. the confident women that we are today is truly a testament of her fierce love and undying dedication. to say that i would be half the woman that i am today had she not been my mother would be an understatement of the grossest kind. i love you, mom.

and my m.i.l. . . . i have never known a woman who loves her husband the way that she loves matt's father. and whether she is angry with him (which does happen on occasion), or irritated with him (this happens a little more frequently; imagine matt 30 years from now), or enjoying him with the family, she has set an example that would be hard to ignore. and so i thank you for teaching me a little bit more about love.

and to my sisters, there is nothing that i can say that hasn't been said a million times in a million different conversations and a million different arguments. so i will say again, i love you.

the kids and i having a traditional mother's day breakfast: poppyseed muffins and crunchy bacon

watching mary poppins after an exhausting day of hanging out

these are the magnets the kids made me at school