Honor the Special Women in Your Life

Mother's Day isn't enough to honor the special women who make a difference in our family and lives. These special ladies above are two women in my family I hold dear to my heart.  

My daughter Kaitlyn (left) and daughter Lisa (right) have never ending love for their family, making the love and confidence of their children their top priority . You make a difference and touch so many hearts every day. You are always there for me for support with your friendship and open heart. You teach our grandchildren to have respect for others and make sure they are learning skills to guide them through life. You continue to work hard to make your family feels safe and secure throughout pandemic challenges and I am so proud of you and love you more than you will ever know. 

This Mother's Day, please celebrate and remember all of the women in your life who have influenced you in a positive way. Our moms, daughters, grandmothers, sisters, aunts, nieces, friends, teachers, neighbors or women who touched your life with a smile and helping hand. 

Always remember a kind word can make a difference in someones day. 

You are the heartbeat of your homes and our hearts💖💖

A most special birthday wish to our sweet baby Lawson. You bring us happiness and joy every single day with your bright smile and we love you so much xoxoxoxo

MOM

In honor of Moms everywhere, there has never been a more challenging time in our lives.  We are offering stability, confidence, comfort and love to our families as we learn how to figure out how to live in our "stay at home" mode. On this weekend of honoring our moms,  thank you to my mom, mother in law, grandmothers, sisters, friends.  And all of my love and blessings to my daughter Katie kait-lately.blogspot.com who has blessed our family with her beautiful second son this week giving her first born son a new brother.  Your unending love for our family is endless and felt in all of our hearts every day. And all our love to our daughter in law Lisa Balancing Lisa who's devotion and love for her family and children is felt every day. You both make a difference in our lives every day and I am so proud you are my daughters. Thank you for giving us our babies and making me feel like the luckiest Grandma (Gaga) in the universe.  You are all my hearts and soul. I stand in awe of you and your passion and love of life.  And to my sisters, sister in laws of children and fur children who give from their hearts every day.  I am blessed with special friends who I know will always be there for me no matter what.  I honor all of you on this Mother's Day and every day.  Being a Mom is the most loving, rewarding and challenging job there is.  Reach out and touch the heart of a special woman in your life.  May you all have a blessed and beautiful Mother's Day weekend.  

A Mother's Love🌹

As a child I learned to live and laugh,

But most of all I learned how to love.

Many people come and go in our lives but a

Mothers love never leaves us.

Her nurturing ways, her kindness,

Her gentle spirit lives on.

The love I knew as a child, I felt all my life.

For without my Mother's love,

I wouldn't be the person that I am today.

-Happy anniversary to John and Ellen. Many more years of love💕-

Mother's Day

Celebrate the special women in your lives this weekend, whether it be your Mom, daughter, sister, aunt, grandmother, friend, neighbor or co-worker.  Go out of your way to give them a smile and see what a difference it makes in their day.  Surprise them with their favorite coffee, a bouquet of spring flowers, a meal you prepared for them, maybe a book they would enjoy while taking some time for themselves, a gift card to a local garden shop so they can buy their flowers and vegetables to plant.  Or give them a card with a heartfelt message telling them they mean a lot to you.  It's the little things that make life long memories.  A sweet memory of mine is visiting my Grandma each Thursday for years when our children were younger. Before their school years, we would visit with their cousins and Grandma would make hot dogs and baked beans with pringles as a side.  The children would play in Grandmas house that had so many special memories to me from when I was a child.  Grandma would bring out the basket of toys from the closet that she kept for all of her great grandchildren and it brought excitement each time they saw the basket.  After my children started school, I continued to see Grandma and either take lunch to her or we would go out to lunch.  After some time, Grandma had to sell her home and live in assisted living where I continued to visit Grandma weekly until she sadly passed away.  There were times with work, school and sports commitments it was hard to keep the schedule, but I am so happy I made the time.  These visits and lunches are memories that bring a smile to my face when I think of them.  They made a difference to my Grandma, and she always told me how she looked forward to our visits and chats.  It's the simple things that make a difference.  

To all of our special women in our lives, may you have a happy weekend and thank you for all of you do and the difference you make in our lives💟

I want to wish my daughter Kaitlyn of the blog, Kaitlately the most wonderful 1st Mother's Day.  You are a loving, generous and special Mom to our baby grandson whose happiness shows the daily love he sees because you show him never ending happiness and joy.  And a Happy Mother's Day to our daughter in law, Lisa of blog Balancing Lisa, who dedicates her being to making sure our grandson and granddaughter have all they need in the world to be the loving and kind children they are! You both make us so very proud and you are loved beyond words!  And to my dearest Mom, I thank you for all of your love, and having great patience raising a large family in the loving home you and Dad provided, always watching over us and keeping us safe, and for pressing our dresses and shining our shoes before church each Sunday and holidays.  I still feel your arms around me and I love and miss you every day! xoxo

Honor Your Mom

Hug your Mom and ensure she has a relaxing weekend.  Give her

 a gift of time together by treating her to a lunch out together, or enjoy a special dessert and coffee at home or Mom's favorite restaurant or coffee shop. 

Write your Mom a heartfelt letter to place in a pretty frame for her to keep and display.  Let her know how much she means to you and you appreciate her love and hard work .

My Mom & Mother-in -Law have both passed away not that long ago and I miss them both every day.  But I made sure they both knew how loved they were.  They weren't just my Moms, but also my friends and I could just pick up the phone every day and feel better knowing they were on the other end.  

So pick up the phone and call your Mom today or turn to her and give her a hug and say, I love you.  

May all of you special Moms out there have a blessed and relaxing Mother's Day.  I appreciate you taking the time to read my blog.  

My Mom Carol & I

My Mother-in-Law Dorothy & I

~~HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY~~

Happy anniversary John & Ellen xo

Honor your Mom in a Special Way

My Mom and I

My Mother in Law and I

I have been blessed in my life with two loving Moms.  My lovely, loving Mom and my sweet Mother in Law who welcomed me as a daughter years ago when I married my husband.  I honor both of these remarkable women who have taught me so much over the years.  Though my Mom has passed, I carry her in my heart every day. 

I am the oldest of five children.  Our Mom was a stay at home Mom and full time homemaker.  She worked endlessly each day to make sure our meals were on the table, our home was clean and organized, our clothes were washed and ironed (yes, ironed), our activities ran smoothly, leaving very little time for herself. My Mom went to work to earn money for a movie camera when I was a newborn so she could record movies of me and send to my Dad who was stationed in Alaska in the Army until I was a toddler.  She built a sandbox herself when my brother and I were little.  Dad worked 6 days a week supporting his family of 7. 

 When our Mom passed away unexpectedly 5 years ago, our lives turned upside down.  Of course we are all adults with families of our own.  But personally speaking, as certain as life does goes on, when you lose your Mom, part of your spirit gets lost too.  My Dad still lives in the house my parents shared and where we all grew up.  It is a comfort to look around and visualize all of the memories of childhood in the same house.  I treasure a few of my Mom's belonging I have, but of the most precious to me are the round cake pans that Mom used over the many years to bake our birthday, holiday or family dessert cakes with.  Of course I could easily purchase new ones.  But each time I use these special pans, I feel my Mom is by my side baking right alongside me. My daughter baked my birthday cake the year after Mom passed in these pans, because she knew how special they were to me, an act I will always remember with fondness and love.   

I also treasure Mom's recipe box with her handwritten recipes.  The most recent are the cookie recipes she baked every Christmas sealed in a plastic baggie for safekeeping.  They were on the top as she had just baked our families Christmas cookies 2 months before she passed away.  I still keep a couple of those cookies in my freezer from that Christmas.  Whatever made me bring them home that Christmas and put them in the freezer is a mystery to me since none of us knew it would be our last Christmas with our mother.  Perhaps deep down I knew something.  

Sunday, May 9th is Mother's Day, a day we honor our Moms, Moms in Laws, Grandmothers,  Daughters,  Daughters in Law, Sisters, Sisters in Law, Friends and all of the special ladies that have made a difference in our lives.  Whatever you hold special in your hearts, treasure the memory.  

Happy Mother's Day Mom.  I love and miss you every day.