{FPA} February 4: I love...

...my mom. Last week, my mom offered to come down for a couple of days to help out and sneak in some time with her grand babies. Funny how it doesn't seem to matter how old you are, Mommy makes everything seem just a bit (and sometimes a whole lot) better. Her timing couldn't have been more perfect, as I had a thyroid nodule flare up (ahhh, doesn't that sound pleasant?) with pain radiating through my neck by the end of the day. She stepped right in to entertain my babes, rub my feet, watch a bad movie with me and lift my spirits in general.

She also taught us that a table full of shaving cream is perhaps the easiest way to pass time on a slow afternoon.

 Addie stayed enamored for at least 30 minutes and Mom sat with my girl and played until her fingers got all pruney from the wet, pillowy goodness. Then when it was all over, she took a dough scraper and scooped up all the mess in about three seconds. Genius!

Now Addie asks to play with shaving cream almost every day and I can easily cave into this latest craze. It's quick, easy, fun and it smells fantastic!

I just realized that my little Lena has sadly been left out of my posts lately. Here are some shots I took of her while the big kids were having all the fun. I tell you, I cannot get enough of this girl's cheeks.

Num, num, nummy!!!

So thank you, Mom! Thank you for taking the time to drive down to help give me a break. Thank you for loving my girls so deeply and for showing them the magic of a day with their Memere. Thank you for still taking care of your thirty-year-old baby. I'm thankful that even though we don't live as close to one another as I'd like, the time that we do spend together is rich with the building blocks of incredible memories for all of us. That is my prayer for this week--joyful prayers of gratitude for having a mother who continues to show me how it's done. I pray for all mothers of moms who work double time to take care of their kids and their kids' kids. And I pray for the moms who have gone to heaven before us and continue to care for us all in spirit from afar.

What is filling your heart this week?

Here's how it works: Leave a prayer request in the comments on Friday's posts. It can be anything--something you are thankful for, a friend you are worried about, a desire from your heart... Anything. By leaving a comment you are also committing to pray for others who comment as well. We'll start fresh each week. That's it. You can even be anonymous if you wish.