motherhood

Yesterday was Mother's Day in the US, and I got to celebrate it with my 3 favorite people :)

First, the girls woke me up with coffee and some presents that they had made for me. Joel took them to Lakeshore Learning for their free Saturday crafts - if you have a Lakeshore near you, definitely check this place out! They've got awesome teaching materials and toys, and best of all, lots of FREE craft projects each month for the kids! The girls both made me flower bouquets and beaded necklaces (which I wore all day long!). Best of all, Ava made me a great book about me being her mom. I'm going to keep it forever, for sure!

We brought our gifts to the restaurant. I made my mom a clutch from Noodlehead's tutorial, and the broach is from this one. Both were fun to do and I will keep them bookmarked for future gift giving!


The girls made flower pots - we cut flower shapes using the Cricut (do you have one yet?!!?) and then fastened them in layers with pipe cleaners threaded through buttons. We "potted" them in some rice that we dyed green and Ava painted the pots all by herself :) I even let her use my grown up (as in, not washable) paint. Fun times.


Then we met my mom for dim sum at our favorite place. They just opened up a new location closer to us and it was really nice...definitely dim sum lite though, for the suburban set. The traditional carts that usually roll around were missing, but the menu was good and the setting was really nice (and of course, the drive was a LOT shorter!).


After brunch, we went to the Japanese Garden to walk around and also to see their annual bonsai exhibit. This was really something! Some of the trees were over 60 years old and had been trained for just as long. The gardens are beautiful too! The girls were able to do a treasure hunt to keep themselves entertained - a plus!

necklaces by peskies, broach by my sweet friend Kristi :)

can you see where this one is growing around the rock? cool!

After that came a much needed afternoon nap (where I was joined by may favorite napping partner - Emily Grace) and then dinner cooked by the husband. Today my gift arrived - a beautiful mother's necklace from Lisa Leonard Designs.

The hollow heart is a special charm.

all of my babies, all in one place. the pearl is for my two littlest angel babies

No idea where this quote came from, but it definitely says everything about motherhood:

"Then we know – if only for a moment, for one long, sweet moment – what it is to be more than one, to be one plus, to have split open and spilled out our blood and our viscera and our spirit and gathered it all back up again in our arms and held it, tight, pressed it to our chests, felt it throbbing and squirming and to have known, to know, what it is to hold one’s soul in one’s arms."