Mother's Day Gifts from the Heart

Every year my children ask me the same questions, "Mom what do you want for Mother's Day?" The older they get the more I miss those handmade simple gifts I use to get when they were younger. Those hand prints on a sheet of paper or on plaster of paris, their favorite book or toy wrapped in tissue paper given to me as a gift because they wanted to make sure I knew it was their gift to me! As time passes "it's the little things", "it's the thought that counts" as people say that really matters and not the amount of money spent on a gift. Today I want to give you ideas on Mother's Day gifts from the Heart.

For me, for it to be from the heart means that the person has paid attention to who I am and what I love. It means that they took the time to either make it themselves or to search for it and bought it (let's face it, not everyone is crafty). Gift cards DON'T qualify here, even if they know I love a certain store, gift cards are a no, no. I love, love gift cards but I noticed that my family started to just give me gift cards and stopped thinking about what I loved and that meant they stopped paying attention to who I was. We all started doing this as a family and gift giving became very hard until my husband brought it to our attention. He hates gift cards and gift bags (he loves gift wrapping). He says they don't show that you care about a person and it's and easy way to just get out of taking time to buy a gift and wrap a gift. Yup, that's my husband for you. I know not everyone feels this way, I'm just sharing with you what we do as a family.

Mother's Day for me is all about spending time with my Children. They let me choose what restaurant we are going to go eat and what we will do on that day. I know it's crazy to go out to eat on this day and as I get older I'm starting to change my mind about this one. I'm sure that in the coming years I will start to request for them to cook for me or something, but for now this is how it is.

After all that...here are some gift ideas

If the Mom in your life loves taking notes at church and writing notes to her friends, how about buying her a collection of pretty journals Or how about buying a plain one and decorating it yourself! I bet she would love that! Here are some ideas I found on the internet. These can be found at Walmart, Barnes and Noble just to name a few.

 

Every year, one of the most special gifts my husband gives me is this.

He can very well go and buy these chocolate covered strawberries but he doesn't. He wakes up very early in the morning and goes to our local super market and buys all that he needs to make them fresh before I wake up on Mother's Day and on Valentine's Day. If I have to serve at church that day he wakes up super early to make sure I have them before I leave at 7:30am. this is the best gift my husband can give me. He has other gifts for me that day, but this right here is the best! It didn't cost much you see, it took time and effort and it came from the heart.

Why not try doing something like this for the Mom in your life this Mother's day?

A few years ago My daughter Lilly went on Pinterest and made me a Body Scrub. I love that she took the time to do this for me, specially since she is not a crafty person. She made her dad drive her to all these places (she didn't have a license at the time) and she put it all together. Are you the crafty type, maybe not? As a Mom, It makes it so much more special to receive a gift from you because we know the effort it took for you to make it.

This is just a picture sample. I used up all my daughter gave me :)

Does Your Mom love drinking Tea? How about putting together a Tea or Coffee Basket? I love anything Tea! Buy a beautiful Basket, buy her favorite teas, some yummy cookies that maybe you baked yourself (she will love homebaked cookies) a beautiful new cup or tea pot and walla, you have a gift that tells her you paid attention to the things she loves. 

 

Here are some sample baskets

Photos, you can't go wrong with photos EVER! A mom will never say no to her kids photos and she can never have enough photos of her kids. Put them in a nice picture frame or get your siblings together and take pictures together. Oh your Mom will really love that! Do I need to say more about this one?

 

Here are just a few photos of my kids

I really hope these ideas have helped you come up with ideas to show the Mom in your life how much you love her. It's not about the money you spend it's about telling her how much she means to you and how thankful you are for her. 

Do You have any ideas I haven't shared here today? We are just a few days away from Mother's Day and I would love to here how you celebrate Mother's Day!

To my Mom celebrating Mother's Day in Heaven...

Feliz Dia de Las Madres Mama, La Extrano Mucho!

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My Invisible Illness Part 3 ~ Let's Continue My Story

James 1:1-13  When very hard times hit us we find ourselves powerless to understand and ask why? the adversary (the devil) is quick to throw hesitation, suspicion, questions into our minds.

We find ourselves interrogating God's goodness, God's judgment in allowing these things to happen. We may even be bitter, beside ourselves with God for allowing this to happen to us and wonder if He really understand our situation. But God's word confidently reminds us that God does understand.  Things don't just happen  to the Christian with no meaning or purpose.  God is in control and as Paul reminds us no one or nothing can separate us from God's love Romans 8. Even the most difficult of circumstances.

My mindset is "Don't ask, Why me?" but  "Why Not Me?".  You may not agree with me, but this is how I see life. I don't like having a victim mind set. Poor me, why is this happening to me? That's just not who I am. Christians go through hard times, hard trials too. We are not exempt from them.
Having to recount the last 6 years has been hard but it has also been a reminder of God's faithfulness in my life and the full circle life can take if we just let Him lead us. 
I don't have all the answers to my condition and I may never have them, but I do have a God that gives me strength for every day. "My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever".
Psalm 73:26

On this next video I touch on the subject of Fibromyalgia but I don't do a good job on listing the specifics symptoms. Here is a list of my symptoms and the link for you to look for more information: 

Symptoms

• Pain that is described as a dull ache that starts in the muscles and is widespread throughout the body. Some days are worse than others. 
• Tender points around the body. They are called tender points because when you press on them, they hurt. There are 18 possible tender points: back of the head, area between the shoulders, front of the neck, top of the chest, outside of the elbows, top and sides of the hips, insides of the knees.
• Fatigue you can either have trouble sleeping or sleep too much and with it have conditions such as restless leg syndrome and sleep apnea. Always feeling like you are always tired.
• Fibro Fog having trouble concentrating and remembering things, mix up words when speaking and get confused more easily. This is what is called "Fibro Fog"  because the mind feels "foggy". The doctors don't really know why we get this. They have different answers. They think it could be lack of sleep or the effect of the Fibromyalgia pain on the brain.
• Headaches half of the people with Fibromyalgia get headaches or migraines.
• Painful periods women with Fibromyalgia suffer with more painful periods and even may develop Endometriosis.
• Sensitivity we are more sensitive to bright lights, loud noises, large crowds, etc.

If you want to have more information on Fibromyalgia and Chronic pain click on this link. There is so much out there this is just one of them. If you like my videos on youtube, would you be so kind to give me a thumbs up! If you have a comment or question a story of your own please go a head and ask, share.

Gentle hugs
Christina

Part 1 of this Post: Link
Part 2 of this Post: Link

This Post is Linked to Chic on a Shoestring Flaunt it Friday 303