mother's day

There's really no better feeling than waking up on Mother's Day and thinking about your child and how much you love them. For me it's still a very new feeling even though it's been a year and a half since Owen arrived. The idea of being a mom and having Owen call me "mama" a hundred times a day - it never grows old. Being a mom friggin' rocks!

We've been planning a playdate for a few months that kept getting pushed back because Owen was, surprise, too sick to hold it. Luckily we are going on 15 days and Owen is virus-free, so we held a playdate this past Saturday. Since it was the day before Mother's Day, I felt it was important for our kids to make a keepsake for this years Mother's Day. I designed a layout for print on wooden photo frames which were personalized to each of the 9 toddlers attending.

I took photos of all the kids when the arrived and then had the moms and babies stick foam embellishments around the frames to personalize it.

The other crafty thing I did for the playdate was to bake up these Mother's Day cookie pops.

We had extra green and yellow fondant from last week's Gumby cake so making these was pretty simple when much of the work was already complete. These are sugar cookies baked on sticks with three layers of shaped fondant pieces adhered with light corn syrup. I sanitized flower pots & some sliced pool noodles (used as frogs to hold the sticks in place) and then covered with lime green tissue paper. This really was a race-around-the-house the night before craft that looked like a million bucks!

I love the way they turned out because we've only ever used fondant for cakes, but it works beautifully for sugar cookies too. 

Every year for Mother's Day we brunch at Legends of Niagara Golf Course. This really is one of the highlights of the year for me. The food is outstanding and indulgent beyond belief. We were reflecting on last year's visit when Owen was six month old and showing his first signs of wanting to eat. A taste of whipped cream was his first taste outside of breastmilk. Now, this year he indulged in scrambled eggs, maple syrup & whipped cream on waffles, tater tots, meatballs, mashed potatoes, chocolate covered strawberries and cherries jubilee.

What a difference a year makes!

my first mother's day

I just don't think there is any better feeling than being a mom and this Mother's Day proved it! It was so perfect I can't believe I'll get to celebrate like this for years to come.

Owen gave me these beautiful flowers. He gave grandma flowers too. If he keeps this up he'll be a little charmer to his girlfriends.

Nuno gave me a couple amazing gifts. Nope, not a new car. Our car had it's trunk ornament stolen when Katie had it at Red Square years ago and it was never replaced. It pretty much irritated me so much I didn't ever want to talk about it and when I did I couldn't help but be mega annoyed.

I've also joined the 21st century and am finally a cellphony! I can text and call in emergencies. This will totally come in handy so I don't have to have a mini heart attack anytime someone calls the house and wakes Owen out of a nap. Home phones are now turned off and texting is on!

We all went out for brunch at Legends on the Niagara Golf Course. This is where it's at as far as brunch buffets go. This is the one buffet I go all out because it's impossible to resist. Eggs benedict, waffles, scones, muffins, bacon, sausage, seafood salad, pastas, salmon, pork, carving station. Oh, they have the best asparagus with blue cheese dressing. And, desserts, well at least 20 different pies and cakes, cookies, squares, apple crisp and a bananas foster station.

Owen was as good as gold as we enjoyed our brunch. Since this week marks his 6 month birthday and he'll be starting solids, I decided to give him a treat. He tasted whipped cream from my finger! He made a perplexed face as he tasted it, but then gave a big smile.

If I wasn't convinced Owen needed to start eating food, he proved it today. He grabbed a spoon right from the table and put it in his mouth. He even put the proper end right in.

He made the rounds around the table and posed for loads of photos. Nuno and I don't often get a family photo, but this one was snapped and we love Owen's smile.

It's now super easy to buy for my parents. All they need is a gift that includes Owen and they are as pleased as punch. As we were leaving Welland my dad told Owen how seeing him is the best part of his day and what a happy day yesterday was. He said it with such conviction and it was so sincere and heartfelt. It's really great to see my parents enjoy their grandson the way they do.

Mother's Day

This mother's day was a particularly hectic one. Our usual plans of Sunday brunch at the golf club couldn't happen this year because of my dad's surgery. He went into surgery a couple of weeks ago - it was a finishing touch on the surgery I mentioned a few months ago. Unfortunately, after he was sent home he seems to have had a bit of a complication. Friday he was in excruciating pain and hardly able to talk with me. He was rushed to emergency and has been there since. It was a very troubling and exhausting Friday night and the soonest I could get into see him was Saturday afternoon. It was great to be there when the diagnosis came in. He'll be fine once they deal with an abscess.
My mom has been going through so much with taking care of my dad along with a particularly hell-bent mother of a student she's been dealing with at work. I just don't think there is enough we can do for her. But I am doing the best I know how by being there for her and making the best meal I can to celebrate her Mother's Day.
First off was an appetizer course of crab cakes. This is a first for us and I have to give full credit to Nuno for pulling this off. He was so cute researching how to make them and even added his own idea for a garnish - avocado! It worked so well and everyone loved it!
For dinner we made a Roast Chicken (this was a local free range one and it was friggin' 10 lbs - basically a turkey of a chicken), Sweet Potato Mash and Spinach Salad.

For dessert I baked this Lemon Blueberry Loaf Cake. This one is a keeper for sure!
My mom had nothing but praise about the meal and Katie compared dinner to food she's had from Niagara's top chefs at Treadwell and Wellington Court. hee hee Thanks Katie!