The Day Of Moms

It was that time of year to celebrate Mother's again. And while I totally believe our mothers need to be celebrated - figuring out what to give my mom's is always difficult for me. My mom isn't a person who has a lot of huge 'loves' in life, so she's hard to buy for. Eric's mom gets things she needs when she needs them. She's not a huge lover of knick knack type things and she really doesn't watch a lot of movies or tv.

So I spent a good portion of time leading up to Mother's Day scouring the internets trying to find SOMETHING that I thought my mom's would at least get the sentiment I wanted to give. I found the perfect project somewhat accidentally. Facebook can be helpful at some points in time. There was one day this link came up. It was really a graduation gift, but I knew I could spin it to make it Mother's Day related.

I went to work and this is what I came up with. (It helped that my MIL went out of town for awhile and entrusted me with her portable drive that pretty much has her whole life on it)

MY MOMMY

ERIC'S MOMMY

I used my photoshop skills to create the Keep Calm sign as well as the Mother of 3 card thing. Both moms seemed to really enjoy the gift and I really did enjoy putting it together.

Next I needed to find something for my sisters, but with limited funds - it was hard. I'm really digging the whole chalkboard writing craze going on right now, so I decided I'd do a printable for each of my sisters and put them in a frame.

What I love most is that each of my sisters have a very different life as a mother. My older sister has 1 biological child and 4 step children. I really meant to give her both printables of the 'her' and then 'them' so she could do what she felt most applicable. But I made the decision to focus on her daughter as her step kids are rarely with her. My little sister has 3 crazy, wonderful kids. And my sister in law was blessed with one awesome little dude who makes people smile just by entering the room.

I also used my photoshop skills to create the printables. I plan on creating a new website for my crafty stuff and when that's done, I'll place a link here where you can download and print them off for yourself, if you find a reason to.

When Mother's Day rolled around I wasn't expecting much. Eric tries hard and does his best and really has a hard time with holidays as he kind of feels like everyday we should be celebrating those we love and we shouldn't just make one huge effort one time of year and call it good.

This year, I was literally blown away to tears and really appreciated the effort Eric put into this Mother's Day.

Because I like to sleep in and everyone else thinks waking up at the crack of dawn is awesome, the kids and Eric had time in the morning for some planning...

Eric woke me up and told me I needed to come to the kitchen. I sat down and each of the kids handed me a note or notes. Some of them were just drawings and some of them were short messages and my Shaylynnie wrote such a heartfelt message that I was blown away. 

{...Happy Mother's Day mom! I love you so much and I'm thankful for everything you've done for me. I love watching shows with you no matter what show it is and I think that you are really beautiful and sweet. I hope today will be fantabulastic and amazing for you. You always know how to brighten my day and had I known that there actually WAS a chance we could have gone, I would have picked the Tulip Festival. I know it's a bit late but maybe next time we could go. I looked at pictures and it looks like fun...}

Lex went to work with his favorite toy and left me this message:

Eric then had the kids stand in a line and he handed a box to Tanis, which he handed to Shaylyn, who handed it to Lex, then Nate, then Ailey and finally Jace. When I opened the box, I saw this:

{...It really is a necklace, the chain just broke the day before I took the picture...}

Absolutely loved it. I had always wanted a mother's ring type thing, but a necklace was even better. Eric even went about putting our birth stones in it and said something like, "Our kids are encompassed by us."

And just when I thought things were good, Eric said, 'Hold on. That was from them. I still have to give you my gift.'

He handed me another box and inside was this:

And inscribed on the inside is Forever and Always. Yup I cried some more. Super wonderful Mother's Day.

Eric's mom had gone to visit her parents during Mother's Day and so we had all the time in the world to visit my mom. Due to different circumstances, none of my other siblings were able to be with my mom ON Mother's Day. This was an interesting time for us, but it worked out to be good as well.

My grandma was actually at my mom's house and so we really got to do some heart to heart talking and visiting. When my grandma decided she was ready to go 'home', I decided to go with. I hadn't seen the senior citizen center my grandma had been living in and decided it was time to change that. Ailey thought she needed to come too.

While at my grandma's she called me out and said that I hadn't been around and she missed me. I felt bad, but kind of laughed that she actually knew I hadn't been around. Her memory is fading and so it's hard for me to be around her, especially if she doesn't know who I am during the time. 

I made sure to get pictures and Ailey's favorite part of the day was when Grandma said she could take a balloon home.

Words can't express how much I love this lady and how very thankful I was for a quiet night with her and my mom. I wish Shaylyn had been with us too, but she was being super helpful at my mom's by watching Jace.

When I got back to my mom's I opened a gift from my little sister that literally had me in tears. She had Eric's help, but that made it all the more special.

I feel like a huge failure in this calling of mom most days. I tend to focus on a lot of the negative that goes on daily and all those words I shouldn't have said, the times I lost my cool when I should've just gave it a few more seconds and for those times where I am more self-centered than I should be. But, reading these little quotes from my babies made me feel like it's okay. They're not focused on the negative and the times mommy goes crazy, they focus on the good and that's what I need to work on.

My brother and sister in law gave me a gift card and that was also so very sweet that I about lost it then too.

I was super spoiled this year and I was made aware of just how much family matters and in the long run, they're the only ones who will always be there. And being a Mommy is the best job IN THE WORLD!