It just happened that this past weekend, the weekend of Mother’s Day, was also the weekend that Dave left and went back to Seattle.

(Side note on that: Dave may actually be looking for an apartment here to be around more often, but I’m kind of afraid to say too much about that until everything is set in stone. But I think it would be a really good thing if it works out, both for the girls to have more time with their dad, and for me to get a break on a semi-regular basis.)

Catie always has a really hard time with it when Dave leaves, so we have a tradition of doing something really fun the next day. It’s just to help distract her and make the transition a little easier. So, on Saturday, my dad and I took the girls to Monkey Joe’s (a big indoor bounce house place). I didn’t take any pictures because I was too busy corralling Lucy. It’s funny to me how different they are: I couldn’t even get Catie to set foot in a bounce house until she was nearly 4 years old, and Lucy – at not even two – makes me climb the giant-ass ladder on the biggest slide in the entire place to slide down it with her. She’d probably go by herself if I let her, but I’m afraid of the bigger kids trampling her. (Thank GOD I had the foresight to wear leggings under my dress.)

I was thinking about my Mother’s Day post last year, and it’s funny to me how similar this year is to last.

My dad and I taking the kids on an outing where they had a blast, check.

Catie and my mom working in the garden together, check.

Leaving the girls with my parents for a while so I could spend some time with Chris. Who I now call by name instead of “my friend” or The Guy. He calls me his girlfriend. I kind of love it.

And he remembered from last year that tulips are my favorite.

The girls – or I guess I should say, technically my mom – also gave me tulips. I mixed them together, and I think it’s a pretty gorgeous arrangement on my kitchen counter right now.

No going out to eat this year because of my diet, so we grilled veggies and meats and had a delicious picnic on my parents’ deck instead.

And of course, topped it off by dancing around the house with my girls after their baths. No Adele this year, it’s all the Xanadu soundtrack.

One major difference between this year and last year? On Sunday morning, Catie came into my room and said, “Mommy, I’ll take Lucy downstairs and play with her.”

Catie turned on cartoons and they played nicely and quietly together for over two hours. I didn’t drag my lazy butt out of bed until after 10:30 a.m. That right there is basically Single Mom Heaven.

Plus, you know, there’s the whole point of the day. How thankful I am for my own mom (who is amazing and does things like buy flowers so the kids can pretend they’re giving them to me), and also for these two girls who both call me Mommy.

They’re pretty awesome, I gotta say.