A Little Sunshine

It's a dreary, rainy March day in our neck of the woods. Thought I would share a special day that brought a little sunshine into our lives- my mother's birthday. This year instead of going to a restaurant with four kids under five (not fun), my sisters and I decided to cook dinner ourselves.

When I told the girls we would be having a birthday party for Grammy at our house, their first question was, "What kind of party?"  Apparently, my obsession with party planning is wearing off on them- it's not a party unless you have a theme and a pinata. They offered many suggestions they thought Grammie would like- Dora, Bubble Guppies, Angelina Ballerina. I needed to come up with a theme quick. While I was online searching for inspiration,  I ran across these beautiful paper lanterns and everything fell into place.

Since the day my girls were born, my mother has always sang "You Are My Sunshine" to them. I knew I found my theme. I set to work finding as much yellow as I could inexpensively get my hands on and the girls started coloring picture after picture of sunshines.

The day before the party I put up the decorations then picked up the girls from school. They loved seeing the room transformed when they walked in the door. I went into the kitchen to unpack their backpacks. A minute later, they came in to get me. They lead me into the living room by their little hands and said, "Look Mommy, now Grammie's party is all ready!"

They had taken all of the pictures of sunshines they had worked so hard on and put them up on the mantle. My heart melted. This was what this party was all about.

I admit there are many times when I will do something now thinking about how wonderful it will be to write about it on the blog. My crazy hunt for yellow tablecloths absolutely was because I  had blog photos in the back of my mind. It took my girls in all of thier innocence to remind me why we go the extra mile sometimes- not because the mantle will look good on a blog photo but because my mother will walk in the door and look at the decorations and know how truly special and loved she is.
I don't regret blogging- sometimes I wish I had more time for it. Most times I appreciate the ambition and focus it gives me for my projects. All of the time, I read other blogs and feel inspired- a little sunshine to my day. Today I am hoping this little post of mine spreads a little sunshine to your neck of the woods too.