It's such a nice thing that we set aside a day to celebrate mothers!  My daughters are grown now and won't be home for Mother's Day, but I have loved spending time with all of them over the past few weeks.  I miss them as the adults they are now, but I also miss them as I remember their little bare feet bringing me the homemade gifts and cards that they had made for me.  I still have so many of those special hand drawn cards.  I decided years ago to stash them in my favorite cookbooks, knowing that I would come across them as I was looking for a recipe.  Every time I open a cookbook and find one of their cards it takes me back to when they were just little girls.  Motherhood is a gift...and sometimes we don't remember it until our little ones are all grown up!

May has always been one of my favorite times because my birthday and Mother's Day fall just a week apart and it all just felt like a big two week celebration.  This year is the first year that I'll be spending Mother's Day without my children and I will admit that it's going to be hard.  I get a little nostalgic about my girls and how much the day to day meant to me when they were growing up or even just close by.  If you're a young mother reading this, I encourage you to slow down and appreciate every moment with your children because it goes by so quickly.  Before you know it they are grown and living lives of their own.

Motherhood can be difficult at times and no matter how old your children are, you never stop being a mom.  When your little ones are babies, the demands can seem overwhelming because you have a little person that is completely dependent upon you for every need.  When they grow up, the needs are different, but they still need you for advice and sometimes just to listen (or to get a moving truck and move them to another apartment or house).   I know my daughters are thankful for all of the driving and cooking and birthday planning that I did when they were growing up and I wouldn't trade any of it for the world!

I hope you all feel loved and celebrated this Mother's Day.  No matter the season you find yourself in, whether you have little ones or your children are grown, take the time to appreciate your children wherever they may be.  I wish my girls could be here, but I know that they are just where they are supposed to be...living lives of their own, because that's what I taught them to do!  I'm so proud of each and every one of them!

This was a Mother's Day gift that the girls made for me the weekend Lauren graduated from college!  It's in the back yard and I treasure it!  The picture was taken that same weekend.

Thanks so much for reading today!

Happy Mother's Day!

Photography by Destiny Keller