Check Out My Mother’s Day Tree
May 14, 2008
You know, there are days when being Mom wears me out. Luckily, there are a lot more days that make me realize just how fortunate I really am!
My Mother’s Day was absolutely awesome! I may have silently wished the night before Mother’s Day for a new car in the driveway, a “day off,” or a luxurious spa day, but what I got was far better.
Mother’s Day started off with a wonderful breakfast in bed, compliments of all my children (with a little help from their Daddy)… then their homemade presents started pouring in.
My youngest, a kindergartener, had made several very pretty cards depicting her and I in various locations. We were very pink, very pretty, and very happy in all the pictures. There were so many pictures that I’m sure it took her several days to draw them all. Her Mother’s Day presentation ended with a batch of homemade brownie mix that we would make together later that day. Yummy!
My son actually couldn’t wait until Mother’s Day, so he had given me his present the night before… a cookbook that his class had put together with each student contributing a recipe earlier in the year. Thinking it just another homework asignment last fall, my son chose a liver and onions recipe to turn in… a decision he regretted when he found out what the recipes were going to be used for (Mom hates liver and onions). I absolutely love the cookbook because he made it and it’s in his own handwriting, but I’m secretly wondering what all the other moms will be thinking when they see that particular recipe entry.
Once we actually got to Mother’s Day and the other kids were sharing their presents, my son was sorry he hadn’t waited to give me his. So, he wrapped up some of his own favorite toys to give to me that morning. (That still makes me tear up.)
The big finale was the present in the picture above.
I knew my oldest daughter, who is 10, had been working on something… but I had no idea what it was. Not even my husband let on… the stinker!
After badgering me for weeks about what I wanted for Mother’s Day, I finally told her that I wanted a new tree for the yard. I thought it would be nice to add a new Mother’s Day tree to our property and watch it grow over the years… I know, kind of sappy… but she took this request in a completely different direction.
My daughter meticulously traced all the kids hands and feet onto construction paper and cut them out. Then she strung the hands and feet onto pipecleaners to make leaves and flowers. Then she poked the other ends of the pipecleaners into a recycled paper towel roll to make the top of the tree. After that was done, she stacked several more paper towel rolls together (one end inside the other), until she had a tree trunk. Then she filled a small plastic bucket up with colored craft sand (Dad’s idea) and pushed the other end of the tree trunk down inside it so that the whole tree stands up inside the bucket.
This tree is almost five feet tall and stands completely on it’s own!
When she very carefully presented me with this beautiful Mother’s Day tree and I realized how much time, effort, creativity and love she put into my gift, I was absolutely overwhelmed.
I didn’t get a spa day… My *day off* wasn’t really off… There wasn’t a new car in the driveway with a big bow on it… but I had the best Mother’s Day ever.
I hope your Mother’s Day brought you as much joy as mine!
That tree is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen.
Loved this story. I think you are a very fortunate mom. All the presents sound wonderful and a little funny, too. What would life be without laughter and without family!
I enjoyed reading this story. It was full of love and laughter. What would life be without family and without laughter! Your are a lucky mom.
That tree is amazing! What a great gift for Mother’s Day! It’s so neat, I think I will have my daycare kids make it as a gift for their mother’s birthday,(I don’t want to wait another year to make this!)
I must say you are a fortunate lady to be given all this love from your children. Some kids are so wonderful, and you’ve been blessed.
What a happy mother you are Chris, you are blessed! have a wonderful family, lovely kids and husband. Happy Mother’s day again! Thanks for all the ideas.
I have just cried all over my desk!
Aren’t kids great! I love the fact that something thats material value is next to nothing, has such a huge emotional value just because they made it. I love every little thing my son makes, they are just so precious.
The tree is fab, and the cook book, what lovely ideas…think we’ll have to use them too….
My eyes are wet too. It is really lovelly. I am the teacher of both my kids, and we made a cookie with a card for all the moms. My youngest (3) could not wait to give me my card, so that he can eat the cookie!! He gave me the card, while licking his lips for the cookie! Children sure are the greatest gifts! Thanks for the lovelly ideas. I think we can make such a tree for all the daddy’s on Fathersday!
That is so wonderful. What a blessing to have great kiddos. I am using the tree idea in my daycare. I am always looking for ideas to use hand prints.
I love your cookie story Elaine!
Surely there are some more Mother’s Day stories out there… I’d love to hear them!
Hi Chris! Thanks for posting this cute tree craft. I’m a mother of two sweet girls, three and eight. We love making crafts together just us three. I also teach a large Sunday school class, and the kids would love to make one of these to display in the class. I thought about maybe writing verses on the hands, or things they are thankful for, or a tree of life. Children are a blessing from God! Your children are a blessing to you, but you are also a blessing to you children. The best things we can give them is our love, and our time. Just from your story, I think you are doing them both greatly. Your daughter and my oldest sounds alot a like. She too makes her own crafts for me, and includes my youngest sometimes. This year she also wrote me a poem on her own, that had me boohooing to the point that I was like a little kid that has been crying for a while, and they do that deep gasping for breath, then continues to cry. Everynight me and my husband pray with our girls, and thank God for giving them to us. Not too long ago my youngest asked us “What does that mean?” (her favorite question) And we told her that the Lord gave them to us, for us to love and take care of them. It took us a while, but we finally answered so that she was happy with our answer. Well at the end of my poem it said, “Thank you for being a great Mom, Great Moms comes from the great Lord!” Too sweet, right! She made me realize that, I too am a blessing from God to them. No matter how much they act like they can’t hear you when their room needs cleaned, or the pet they begged for needs food, or its their bed time. They do hear and see everything even if you are answering someone elses question.
Keep up the great work you do with your website, I haven’t been a part of it for along time, but I have enjoyed it so far. Thank you & God Bless