Mother's Day 2015 Part 4

Mother's Day as Told in Pictures

First, I got to sleep in. What every mother wants, right? My daughter had softball practice so my husband took all 3 kids to the field so I got to sleep in minus all the noise. It was glorious! I think I slept in until 10am. When I did wake up, there on the nightstand was breakfast made by my son, Kyle. That put a smile on my face to see that he wanted to do something special for me.

After showering and getting ready for the day, everyone came home and presented me with their special gifts.  Owen was most excited. He wanted me to open it the day before but I insisted we wait until actual Mother's Day. It looks like we had a rainbow garden theme which is appropriate since I love rainbows and keep saying I want to start a garden. 

I remembered I had purchased something special for myself a few weeks ago just for this morning... mango mimosa! Just as I began to sip said mimosa, the kids play fighting had turned to real fighting.... but this is not the day for me to resolve their bickering. Cheers!

Mother's Day is a day that my husband says "whatever you want to do, babe, it's your day!" Writing it out helps! Thanks to my fun Erin Condren wall calendar, my wishes were granted... well except for the mani-pedi, I just ran out of time for that.

Off to the Carlsbad Flower Fields! It had been years since we had been and thought we could get some good pictures. Which, though I'm biased, I think we accomplished that!

Plenty of fun for the kids at the playground, going through the Sweet Pea Maze, completing the flower passport and of course riding the Antique Tractor Wagon Ride. 

Plus, I got a chance to enjoy all the beautiful flowers....

And one of my favorites....

On our way out through the Walter Andersen Nursery, Amberly and I saw this and had to have it for our front yard..... we both love butterflies!

 We had some time before dinner so we hit the beach to feel the sand between our toes. This one of Kyle running along the water is my favorite!

My husband pointed out these cool rock towers as we were leaving the beach....

Then it was off to have dinner.... at home. Cory grilled steak and it was delish! I got to open another Mother's Day gift, my favorite bottle of wine, Conundrum. 

After dinner we shared one of my favorite treats, chocolate covered strawberries!

Mother's Day is always a day I look forward to and this year lived up to what I wanted!

Mothers Day 2015 Part 2

Celebrating the Bond Between Women

All week I was looking forward to this opportunity to take my daughter to this Mother Daughter event, Once Upon An Apron, a fundraising event for Chula's Mission.  Just about every activity on the press kit itinerary seemed to be made just for her. She is a crafty girl and we don't get to do a lot of that stuff at home, so this was going to be a real treat.

The event was hosted by Brian Malarkey's Green Acre, a farm to table restaurant that provided the perfect scenery and ambiance for our festivities. Green Acre boasts the perfect combination of casual and hip with health and sustainability clearly as high a focus as the flavor of the food. I imagine a lot of wedding receptions and company functions are had here.

OH - and the pizza was delicious! I kept commenting to my daughter how much I liked the pepperoni. 

There were fresh oven baked cookies. I had to go back for seconds!

We decorated cookies.

We created Mother Daughter bracelets.

We personalized our own aprons.

As we wrapped up with the crafts and lunch, the moms were invited inside to listen in on a Media Mom panel discussion about finding balance in motherhood while the daughters continued to enjoy their time in the sun making Mothers Day cards. 

Seeing other amazing moms enjoying this special Mother Daughter Day was icing on the cake!

My friend Danielle over at Simmworks Family blog

My friend Abby over at Baby Bird's Farm and Cocina

When we arrived I couldn't help but to notice how many picturesque opportunities there were and I nearly forgot to get pictures of us outdoors.

 

Near the end we had just enough time for me to decorate an herb pot. I chose basil and hope to be growing enough to make some homemade pesto!

Thank you to ScatenaDaniels, Green Acre and Chula's Mission for inviting us to be part of what I hope is the first annual "Once Upon An Apron" event!

Disclaimer - I was provided free tickets to attend this event. All opinions are my own.

Mother's Day Weekend Starts off Right

It really is the simple things that make us happy as mothers isn't it? Here are some of the things that have started the weekend off to put a smile on my face....

1. Came home to the living room all picked up! 

For a second I thought the cleaners had been here but this wasn't their week. Discovered that my husband had the kids come straight home after school and clean up the living room and play room before I got home from work.

2. There was a package waiting for me with a prize I had won on instagram!

Thank you to my friend Melissa for tagging me in the Happy Mommy Box instagram contest - I love winning things and appreciated this so much! See what was all in the prize package here.

3. I wrote about a blog post that has been resonating with moms this week.

When I write something that makes a difference for other moms that fills my cup. Which post was it? The Healthy Fridge Snack Box is already my 5th highest performing blog post of all time and it has only been up a few days!

4. Amberly and I got enjoy a special Mother-Daughter activity 

Chulas Mission put on an event to create awareness and support for motherless girls, Once Upon An Apron, and we got to do all kinds of crafty activities and enjoy the beautiful Green Acre. I hope this event becomes an annual event!

5. When I got home from that, there were beautiful flowers on the kitchen table

6. AND the kitchen was sparkling clean!

I hope all my friends out there have been celebrated in both big and small ways. Furthermore, I hope you remember to celebrate YOU all through out the year. Moms work hard. We often have more to juggle and we fall to the bottom of the list. I'm grateful for the little things that kick started this Mothers Day Weekend!