Girls’ day out
We had our girls’ day out yesterday, my closest circle of friends…that would be my Mom and my two sisters. This event was planned a month in advance to prepare the husbands and also the kids that us mommies will be out for a whole day. Not so much for me and my youngest sister, but for my oldest sister. Her kids are very attached to her (even though they’re 8, 9 and 12) since she does everything with them (I’m talking about calling her 3-4 times asking her when she’s coming home and it was only 11:30 into our outing, etc…).
It’s funny that we all have a “role” in the family, I’m the planner (like my Mom) and also “the family secretary”. If you want to plan a 60th birthday party for Mom or Dad, I’m your gal. If you have a complaint for the CEO of X company because they bumped you off the plane causing you to miss your connecting flight…that would be moi.
My two sisters are “the executors”. They are the “behind the scene” gals but without them, the party will not be a success. The oldest is known as Speedy Gonzales, the youngest one is the cleaner since she’s so anal, and she does a great job of it too. My two brothers are the “muscle guys” and also “behind the scene dudes”. Here’s something that my brother put together for my Mom’s surprised 60th birthday a few years ago.
My Mom is also the planner and the caterer. She can plan a dinner for 40 of her friends ALL BY HERSELF without breaking a sweat and she has helped us planned/cooked for all of the grandkids’ one-month parties (9), one-year birthdays (9) and numerous family gatherings, not to mention helping us with our newborns after we gave birth (up to two weeks) as well. So it was only fitting to call her our “Super Mom”!
Our Dad sent this email to all of us after one of their dinner parties at their house. He can be a jokester himself but deep down inside, I know he really appreciates all the things that Mom does.
“Mom is a super woman, no one in this world can do such thing like her. She cooked by herself, she decorated dinner table by herself, she planned everything for this joyous friends reunion by herself. In conclusion, she is the jewel of all mankind. I am so fortunate to have her as my whole life companion. Thank Buddha for giving me such a precious gift.”
When you see the four of us gals together, you would think that we are all sisters. At 62 years young, Mom looks like someone in their late 40’s. Not a wrinkle on her elegant, beautiful face. She was smart for staying out of the sun all of her life, something I’m paying for now with all my connect-the-dot freckles.
There are many life lessons that we’ve all learned from her, from how to work hard for what you want, how to treat people with respect, how to stretch a dollar to make it worthwhile (five children will do that to you), how to take care of our newborns from A-Z, how to decorate our houses, to how to knit, just to name a few.
She is also the queen of bargain hunting. Her motto is “you don’t have to spend lots to look good”. It was classic Mom when she found a Berdorf Goodman dress for my sister for $25 without knowing who Berdorf Goodman was. To her, it was simply a beautiful inexpensive dress. And that was how we grew up without being “suckered” into the peer pressure of having that trendy pocketbooks, or the latest fashion. We knew better than to ask her for that $250 pair of jeans when that money can be spent on groceries for two months.
Now that we’ve grown and able to afford a bit more, we love to splurge on Mom whenever we can (much to her protest). But her idea of splurging is having all her five children and grandchildren over to her house so that she can make a nice lunch/dinner for all of us.
Needless to say, we had a nice time yesterday eating out and shopping (at an outlet mall of course) with Mom yesterday. I can hear the pride in her voice as she was telling her sister on the phone that she is the luckiest woman alive. But you know, we are truly the lucky ones to have our Mom, our teacher, and our friend to confide in, to laugh with, to cry with, and most importantly to love with all our hearts.
I hope that my Sophia and I will have the same mother-daughter relationships as we have with our Mom, and here’s to my own girls’ day out with my precious daughter in the future.
We had our girls’ day out yesterday, my closest circle of friends…that would be my Mom and my two sisters. This event was planned a month in advance to prepare the husbands and also the kids that us mommies will be out for a whole day. Not so much for me and my youngest sister, but for my oldest sister. Her kids are very attached to her (even though they’re 8, 9 and 12) since she does everything with them (I’m talking about calling her 3-4 times asking her when she’s coming home and it was only 11:30 into our outing, etc…).
It’s funny that we all have a “role” in the family, I’m the planner (like my Mom) and also “the family secretary”. If you want to plan a 60th birthday party for Mom or Dad, I’m your gal. If you have a complaint for the CEO of X company because they bumped you off the plane causing you to miss your connecting flight…that would be moi.
My two sisters are “the executors”. They are the “behind the scene” gals but without them, the party will not be a success. The oldest is known as Speedy Gonzales, the youngest one is the cleaner since she’s so anal, and she does a great job of it too. My two brothers are the “muscle guys” and also “behind the scene dudes”. Here’s something that my brother put together for my Mom’s surprised 60th birthday a few years ago.
My Mom is also the planner and the caterer. She can plan a dinner for 40 of her friends ALL BY HERSELF without breaking a sweat and she has helped us planned/cooked for all of the grandkids’ one-month parties (9), one-year birthdays (9) and numerous family gatherings, not to mention helping us with our newborns after we gave birth (up to two weeks) as well. So it was only fitting to call her our “Super Mom”!
Our Dad sent this email to all of us after one of their dinner parties at their house. He can be a jokester himself but deep down inside, I know he really appreciates all the things that Mom does.
When you see the four of us gals together, you would think that we are all sisters. At 62 years young, Mom looks like someone in their late 40’s. Not a wrinkle on her elegant, beautiful face. She was smart for staying out of the sun all of her life, something I’m paying for now with all my connect-the-dot freckles.
There are many life lessons that we’ve all learned from her, from how to work hard for what you want, how to treat people with respect, how to stretch a dollar to make it worthwhile (five children will do that to you), how to take care of our newborns from A-Z, how to decorate our houses, to how to knit, just to name a few.
She is also the queen of bargain hunting. Her motto is “you don’t have to spend lots to look good”. It was classic Mom when she found a Berdorf Goodman dress for my sister for $25 without knowing who Berdorf Goodman was. To her, it was simply a beautiful inexpensive dress. And that was how we grew up without being “suckered” into the peer pressure of having that trendy pocketbooks, or the latest fashion. We knew better than to ask her for that $250 pair of jeans when that money can be spent on groceries for two months.
Now that we’ve grown and able to afford a bit more, we love to splurge on Mom whenever we can (much to her protest). But her idea of splurging is having all her five children and grandchildren over to her house so that she can make a nice lunch/dinner for all of us.
Needless to say, we had a nice time yesterday eating out and shopping (at an outlet mall of course) with Mom yesterday. I can hear the pride in her voice as she was telling her sister on the phone that she is the luckiest woman alive. But you know, we are truly the lucky ones to have our Mom, our teacher, and our friend to confide in, to laugh with, to cry with, and most importantly to love with all our hearts.
I hope that my Sophia and I will have the same mother-daughter relationships as we have with our Mom, and here’s to my own girls’ day out with my precious daughter in the future.
What a lovely tribute to your mom and your sisters! I wish I knew them.
First of all, isn’t it funny that you had to give the men a month’s notice? LOL!
I’m so glad that I have 2 girls. Girls always come home to their mothers no matter how old they are. I’m sure you’ll have a wonderful relationship with Sophia when she gets older!
Beautiful pictures, beautiful story.
There is so much love in your world!
Awww… that sounds so nice. I don’t have that relationship with my mom but I sure hope I will have it with my daughter.
You’ve got a great thing with your sisters and your mom.
I’m always so saddened when I see other families busted apart over something - which is usually something incredibly stupid, like money or possessions.
I love a feel-good story!
Are all the photos of your mom? Lovely collage. She’s gorgeous!!!! YOur family sounds wonderful, I love how all the personality traits of you and your sisiters and mom are nicknamed and treasured. Someone negative could take a trait like being anal and be frustrated by it but you see the good in it and I love that! Great Post!
Wow your Mom is beautiful. I have a great relationship with my mom too. It’s really great to have that. I don’t have any sisters though, so you’re luckier than I am there!!
What a beautiful family!!
Great family outing!!
You have such a charming family! Everyone plays a part and it’s great to see people who treasure each other.
What a lovely post. Alas I don’t have this relationship with any of my sisters or even my Mom right now. *sigh* I have brewing a post about it in fact. *ahem* But, your post is BEAUITFUL. And I am so happy that they are real live families out there like yours. Oh yeah and you have great genes! Your Mom truly is beautiful, inside and out it sounds like.