Welcome to Monday, my friends. How was your weekend? I hope you had a wonderful Mother’s Day. I can attest to it being a challenging day. More on that later. This past week was certainly an eventful one for us. We celebrated my husband, snuck in a front porch date night and reflected on life lately.
MONDAY WRAP-UP
With not being able to go anywhere for our birthdays, I am trying to up the decor game a little bit. My husband was born on Cinco de Mayo so it’s always a fun day to create a party atmosphere. This year my daughter helped me decorate the house which was so much fun. She has a great eye and I love watching her add special touches. I can remember doing that with my own mom.
CINCO DE MAYO PARTY
We’ve never had Cinco de Mayo decor so I decided to buy a couple of things off of Amazon. I can tuck them away in our party bin and pull them out each year. Or even for the occasional Taco Tuesday night.
FRIDAY DATE NIGHT
To make the end of the week feel different, we have take-out on Friday night and then hit up the front porch for a date night. It’s just nice to be out of yoga pants and have a couple of dedicated hours to relax and spend time together. The kids are always happy to watch a movie while we chill outside. I am sure you can relate, but it’s a bit challenging to carve out alone time with everyone home. We also used the cornhole game we made. I’ll be sharing all about that project this week.
MOTHER’S DAY CELEBRATION
Mother’s Day started out amazing. My kids presented me with darling cards they made and my husband made my favorite breakfast. It was delicious and a true labor of love.
CREATIVE COOKIES
A friend dropped these off and I thought they were adorable. If you are local, Christina from Luxe Cookies is so talented.
PAINFUL LOSS
Mother’s Day definitely looked and felt different this year. I am sharing because I think so many of you find yourself struggling with similar emotions and I want you to know you’re not alone. This was the very first time in over 40 years where we didn’t plan our day around mom. I thought I was going to be okay but the tears wouldn’t stop. And not just a tear here and there. It was a full sob fest because I longed for the mom I had. I wanted so badly to put my arms around her.
It is not lost on me that so many of you have moms in care facilities and could not visit. I am sure you had similar feelings of trying to be in the moment with your own family but fighting the pangs of guilt that ultimately surface. These holidays are so complex. Your brain tells you one thing and your heart another.
This is the mom I remember most. The one with a huge smile on her face and pure joy in her heart. While I was feeling devastated and questioning what was wrong with me, my husband reminded me that we endured a huge loss and this was completely normal. Not only that, but it was a marathon of emotions for over ten years. It felt good to hear that. I want you to hear that if you felt similarly yesterday.
TIME AT THE BEACH
I knew fresh air and feet in the sand would turn the day around for me. At least bring more peace. Most of our beaches are open so we were able to walk in the sand and enjoy the salty air. I was impressed with how everyone kept their distance.
GOOD FOR THE SOUL
So much solace in nature. Watching the kids run around was a perfect way to spend Mother’s Day. Despite the freezing water, my daughter still ran straight in. She’s been like that since she was a baby. So grateful for this crew of mine.
Love to all of the Mother’s out there. You selflessly give of yourself day in and day out. To all of the women in our lives who helped shape us, thank you. We love you.
Looking forward to this week on the blog. I will be sharing a simple DIY and plans for a home improvement project. Stay tuned.
Sending you a big warm hug. 💕💓
Love you so much. xoxo
What a great idea to have a porch date! We definitely need a date night! Sorry about your mom. I lost mine 10 years ago and it still ways heavy on my heart. Cherish every moment!
Stacey, those date nights have been saving us. It just gives the week some structure and the kids understand that we like our one on one time. I am so sorry you lost your mom. That pain never goes away. Wishing you a wonderful week ahead.
Happy birthday to your husband. My birthday was on the 4th of May. I spent it with my darling husband.
Sending big strong hugs to you and your family. Keep your mind on things above and not on things of this world. Remember the love your mom gave you and most of all that one day you will see her again.
Well, Happy Birthday to your sweetheart. Sounds like it was a wonderful day. Thank you for this important reminder. Appreciate it more than you know.
We lost my grandmother 20 years ago this weekend. Mother’s Day weekend is always a little difficult as the reminder of her being in Heaven pops up again ~ on what should be a happy weekend. This year, I decided to do something really special for my mom. I had a bag of my grandmother’s old quilt fabric scraps and I took them all to a talented local quilt maker and she made the most beautiful lap blanket for my mom out of those scraps. When my mother opened the gift her face said it ~ this treasure would be cherished forever. Seeing her mother’s fabric pieces was priceless! I can certainly understand the rollercoaster of emotions that come on Mother’s Day weekend. Hugs to you from Texas! Thank you for always sharing such meaningful stories and posts!
Oh wow. That is a BEAUTIFUL idea. I love that so much. So thoughtful and touching. She will cherish that. Thank you for the kind words. Always love hearing from you, Dawn. Happy Mother’s Day.
Happy belated Mother’s Day! That is a lovely picture of your mom. She looks so joyful!
We lost my mother-in-law several years ago, and our visit to the cemetery is always on our mother’s day agenda. I love the stillness, the beautiful landscaping, and peace that I feel there. I feel like she was smiling down on us yesterday morning and loving the homemade efforts my kids did for me to celebrate.
I love the festive cinco de Mayo decorations you got! So fun 🙂
Thank you so much, Nicole. I love that you have that tradition. It’s those things that make us feel closer to the ones we love. Wishing you the best. week.
this was also my first mother’s day without my mom and only my second one as a mother. she was only 65 when she passed. it was a really really hard day. sending hugs.