Boys, spiders and flowers

This weekend brought new flowers in my freshly painted flowerboxes:

How yummy are they?
This weekend also brought much entertainment from my 6-year-old. I came across him digging through our winter gear today. Upon questioning him (and checking to see if he perhaps was suffering from an illness), I was told he needed protection from the spider in his toybox. I put on my brave face, pretending I was not also scared of spiders, and followed him:

The toy was found and upon returning the other toys to the container, the now-dead spider was found. Trying to keep my act of not being scared up, I ran and got our cats. I mean, they want to find spiders, right? And Dad, I promise: I did not jump on a chair, scream, or even talk in a shaky voice. (until I went to the bathroom at least). The things a mother does for her boys! Her brave boys at that.
I also realized that I was using the same number of stitches for my socks that I was for my older sons socks. He is 8. Just to prove this to myself, I asked him to try on my sock:

(He kept his other sock on, just to let you know that he usually wears boy socks). My sock is on the left. It's actually a little long for me on the foot-part too.
It seems my boys are growing. I try to tell them to stop, let me enjoy these years a bit more. They are both becoming more independent and self-sufficient. I love to watch them learn all the little things that life has to hold, listen to them read to me, and know that at the end of the day they still request to be tugged in and get a 'Mommy-kiss'. And just like Mary did, I treasure all these things and ponder them in my heart. Each day as a mother remains one of the greatest gifts I was given.