fun gifts and final wrap

this blog post could also be titled:
Usually for Mother’s Day I don’t want fancy gifts or things that cost money. My husband looks at me with a questioning eye….wondering if it’s one of those female things where we say we don’t want something but it really means we do want something, and they need to read our minds and figure it out. But no. I’m usually not a complicated woman (when it comes to gifts that is….the other stuff is probably more about mind-reading. Poor guys). Of course, I do love gifts and gift-giving. I’m not discounting that. I just don’t want my husband to blow $30 on something I don’t really need because he feels like he needs to give me something.

So, for most of our mother’s days together, he’s come home with pretty flowers (which I love. Something simple though. Tulips, daisies, wild flowers)
On my first Mother’s Day, Lucy gave me the best gift by sleeping through the night for the first time! Then the year Owen was born, I asked that for Mother’s Day I could have an hour to myself to organize and clean the kid’s bedroom. A price tag can’t be placed on a mother’s needs.

Okay. Now all of the “I don’t need much” mumbo-jumbo aside….
This year, since we’ve been Celebrating MOM and sharing gift ideas, I decided that tangible gifts for me might be a fun idea. It’s okay to be indulgent at times, right? So I used it as an excuse to share some of my favorite things with you. And well, I bought myself some gifts (on behalf of the family) for Mother’s Day. I know you’ve done that before too….?

So here you go. Here’s what I got for Mother’s Day.

1. Cool new mixing bowls (from IKEA). I’ve had this color scheme on my mind for a while. And they go great with the measuring cups Casey gave me for my birthday. We used the red bowl last night with our dinner and Casey noted, “cool bowl, is this new?
yea, that’s what you gave me for Mother’s Day.
(females aren’t complicated)
2. Colorful tiny bowls (from IKEA). I really love small bowls. Not sure if it’s because girls often like mini things or if it’s because I feel better about going back for a second-helping of whatever I’ve just eaten in there (since afterall, it was small!)….But these are the kind of bowls I use for cereal, for the kids, and desserts.
Casey took one look at them and said, “those will be great for salsa and condiments!
I looked at them and said “those would be perfect for ice cream!” Men. Women.

3. Witchy Poo Spritzers and Lotion
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Okay, another uncomplicated-girl thing (or is it complicated?) about me is that I don’t usually like to be pampered. As in….if I could spend the day at an all-paid-for, full-blown spa/massage/pedicure type of place OR instead, drive as fast as I could from thrift store, to thrift store, to thrift store (and then finish the day playing at the beach), I would choose the latter. I’m more of the “explore and adventure” kind of vacationer, rather than “lounge around”.

Okay, that being said. There is one way I like to pamper myself. And it’s a spritzer fragrance that I absolutely love. It should be defined as a need.
I found it about 6 years ago when a client gave me a gift. In the basket was this yummy spray, made by a company called Witchy Poo and it smelled like tropical cookies in a bottle.
The scent is called Tropical VooDoo. And when I spray it on, it feels like this:
SERIOUSLY. I just love it! (and so does Casey). The scent is not overbearing, it’s refreshing, and delicious.
And the yumminess doesn’t end with Tropical Voodoo. I also tried an oil-free salt rub in Cucumber Solstice and it smells just lovely. You know when you’re watching Top Chef and you think, “Hey, I don’t know how wonderful that food really is. I can’t taste it!” ? Well, that’s how I feel right now. I wish I could send a whiff of cucumber through the computer screen to you. So, just imagine:
and pretend you’re also getting waves of this interesting combo: Spearmint Garden. It has the tingling of mint lotion, mixed with springy floral scents. It’s from the Enchanted body lotion line.
To top it off, the Witchy Poo motto is “Tested on Friends, Not Animals”.

Perfect.

If I’ve lured you in, you should try them too! Witchy Poo is offering all MADE readers: 25% discount off their purchase, plus an additional gift if you call or fax an order to their office and mention this blog post. Mmmm, dreamy.

Okay, more yummy gifts….

4. CHOCOLATE, specifically Scharffenberger.

I’m a dark chocolate girl and Casey is a milk (man, that is). I actually purchased more chocolates to share with you, but, well, by the time I got around to taking photos most of them were consumed. At least I was smart enough to save the best for you. It’s Dark Chocolate Scharffenberger Nibby. Wondering what a nib is? Oh, only intense bits of chocolate with the texture of a roasted cacao bean, aka: DIVINE.
Would you like a close-up?
An Extreme Close-up? Check out those nibs:
I nibbed till that thing was gone. I love you Scharffenberger!
And finally, the best gifts of course were those that really didn’t cost money and came from my family themselves. Like….

5. Lucy singing with the Primary kids on Sunday, and craning her neck up so hard as she tried to sing words she really didn’t know. And,

6. The Lucy Flower, which Lucy made at her preschool. The first year I got one of these homemade gifts from Lucy my heart just melted. It could have been a white piece of paper with scribbles on it and I would have loved it.
7. Bacon Waffles, homemade by Casey.
(Man. Sorry for talking about ice cream, chocolate, and bacon all in the same post.)
Bacon and Waffles were meant to go together. So why not put them IN each other? Quite tasty. And they taste even better as you watch your husband in the kitchen mixing up flour and baking powder while both kids stand on stools trying to help. Thank you my Dear. It was a treat.

8. Two little kids. Thank you for making me a MOM! I love you more than you’ll probably know (till you have kids of your own).
I couldn’t decide on my favorite photo, so I’ll share all three.
But I think I like this one best. Owen’s eyes.
And that’s a wrap on Celebrating MOM! (except for a Round-Up post I’ll be doing next week).
Many, many thanks to Disney at Ruffles and Stuff for sharing in the fun as well. Collaborations are a treat because I get to make a new blogging friend. And Disney is a friend who is always full of clever ideas.
There were many projects I had intended to share and just never got to. But, hey we have all year for that! If you’re ever looking for a project, check the Celebrating MOM archives (found in the Celebrate Tab at the top of the blog) or thumb through the Tutorials section.

Thank you Guest Bloggers for sharing your ideas with us! And Thank you guys for stopping by and I hope you enjoyed your Mother’s Day gifts as well!

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