Circle of Love

So on Tuesday, I woke up, got ready, and headed out of my bedroom, hearing little voices already in the kitchen. But as soon as I emerged from my room, I was rushed by Joseph and Mosey, both yelling at me to "Get back in your room!" "We're doing something secret!" It was all very exciting, so I went back into my room, lay back down on my freshly-made bed and actually had 10 leisure minutes to read a book, half an ear listening to the goings-on in the kitchen. At one point there was a terrific crash and the tinkling sound of broken glass. "DON'T WORRY MOM, WE'LL CLEAN IT UP!" came wafting in under the door.
OK, then!
Mosey came in after a few minutes with a picture he had drawn for me-- wrapped up in paper towels with a Christmas bow on the top. A field of yellow and black flowers under a blue crayon sky. Joseph came in with a note saying, "Thank you for being so patient with me."
When all was ready, and I was released from my confinement, I came to find breakfast-- MY breakfast, laid out on the table. (About 3 times the normal amount of breakfast that I usually eat, but hey, I didn't have to make it!) The boys had laid out a bowl of granola with milk, a yogurt and granola parfait ("With a scoop of ice cream, mom!"), grape juice, and the offer from Mosey to share half of his cinnamon waffles.
It was so sweet! One glass plate was a sad casualty of the morning, but Brigham did a pretty darn good job of cleaning up almost all of the broken glass.
It turns out that in Joseph's and Brigham's church class, they were sent home with a dry erase marker and a laminated card printed on one side with, "Today I will include in my circle of love:" and a blank space to write the lucky name. I was the first recipient of the circle of love favors!
It was a sweet mommy-moment for me, and sorely needed coming the morning after a particularly challenging afternoon with Mosey who had punched me in the mouth after I had the audacity to insist on him completing one of his school worksheets. For which antic he lost the privilege of his "new Arctie" and his precious digital watch, as well as gaining the privilege of sitting on my lap and getting a good talking to. I'm pretty sure any of my boys would rather get a spanking than get "talked to" by their mom. :-)