Mother's Day

We had a wonderful Mother's day. We went to church with Nana in Monmouth. Then we had a Mexican feast at her house instead of facing the holiday restaurant crowds with 3 little ones. (not relaxing) After lunch Nana made animal cut outs for the girls with her new cartridge she bought for the Cricuit we got her for Christmas. Grace was amazed as the machine made the animals she requested. We feel so blessed to have her in our family and especially enjoyed being able to spend Mother's day with her this year. Something we haven't ever been able to do before due to Jeremy's job.

Next we headed to my parent's house for dinner with my family. My sister and I had coordinated everyone to make the different parts of the meal & my dad grilled all the meat.

We tried to do as much as possible for my mom, since she is always the one cooking for everyone else. I am so thankful I have such an amazing mom to teach me what motherhood should look like.

Before dinner we had an "impromtu" photo session. I was excited to have a new picture of our family. When I look at this picture I see more than just a family photo. It is a snapshot of how being a mom is shaping me into a different person.

You see I am a detail oriented, clothes coordinating, plan ahead, recovering perfectionist. When I look at this photo I can easily see Titus already in his comfy pj's, unfixed wild curls escaping, and a whole rainbow of uncoordinated clothing. Or I can choose to see the gorgeous family God has blessed me with. I can be thankful I can have amazing photos of my family taken for free! And I can realize the best moments in my family's life are often times the impromptu ones, the ones only planned by God. I am so thankful to be "mama" to Grace, Faith, & Titus. I know more than anything else I have ever done raising them is challenging me to be the woman God desires me to be.

The Thinker

Anyone see any similarities?

Obviously Titus is going to be a genius....I'm just sayin'.

Mother's perspective...maybe.

But funny none the less.

Our Mother's Day Project

We had a very fun and VERY full weekend. (I will post pics later....hint hint, Mom) But, I love spending time with our family so I loved it! Although, the abundance of overtired Monday morning tears I am experiencing right now is slightly unlovely.

I have been very excited to share with you our Mother's Day Project. Now I am a crafty homemade gift giver at heart. And each year I enjoy coming up with a project to give the mothers in our family. (although I do struggle with Father's day...) But, I was especially excited about this year's gift. I even loved it so much I made myself one for the first time.

One of my new favorite blogs to read is Living with Lindsay. I discovered it last fall and when I saw she loved to "knock off" things she sees in the Pottery Barn catalog I knew she was a girl after my own heart. I totally heart Pottery Barn and if we ever strike it rich will actually order something from their catalog. But, I digress. For Christmas I made my mom a fun book page wreath from one of her tutorials. I plan to make me one too when I get around to it.

Then she had a $5 challenge where you had to make something by only spending $5 at a Dollar Store. The winner made this. Well, the inspiration for our gift came from what the winner made and a tutorial on Lindsay's blog on making your own silhouettes. I combined the two and came up with this:

From these pictures:

I made five total including one for myself and spent a total of $5 ($1 per plate at the Dollar Store) What a deal!! I had the rest of the materials on hand. Here are some tips if you wanted to try it yourself:

-Read Lindsay's tutorial.

-Put a sticker or something on the wall for your kids to look at. Mine have heard "look at the camera" too many times and it was hard to get a profile until I gave them something to look at.

-Print your photos on card stock that makes them easier to trace.

-If you want to put them on a plate you can use Modge Podge or I used a spray polyurithane because I hate brush strokes.

And no, I'm not worried that the ladies in my family read my blog and now know how much their present cost. I come from a family of coupon cutting, rummage sale scouting, Aldi shopping ladies who really do believe it is the thought that counts.

Hope all the moms had a great Mother's day!