Moments of Bliss...

I wanted to share a few snapshots from my mother's day events. I had the sweet opportunity to savor time with not only my mom, but my sister too! As well as, of course, the rest of the family and my own sweet babies. I don't know about any of you other moms with young kids, but the day made me very introspective. Motherhood is such a joy and challenge at the same time. So if you'll allow me, I'll scatter this post with both pictures of my weekend and my random emotions and thoughts about being a mom.

I broke this baby in (my amazing mother's day gift!) I do love to bake and make goodies so I know I'll spend lots of time with it... Some of you may picture me blissfully baking, cfafting, and blogging from my immaculate house while the kids play sweetly together. It isn't exactly like that...

Most of the time before the peanut butter pie is done I've dealt with a couple of melt-downs, cleaned up a couple of spills, and debated whether or not I should have let the kids help me in the first place or should I have taken up my precious nap time to create my masterpiece? Being a mom is messy! I've touched on that before. When I was younger I would imagine I was on a cooking show while I cooked (you can giggle, but come on you know you do this!) Not anymore...now my kitchen usually doesn't look anything even close to Rachael Ray's!

But the result is (almost) perfectly fine. There may have been tears along the way, but you would never know if when you see the end result. Much of life is like that. Struggle and triumph go hand and hand. Yes, it may be dramatic to call my chocolate dipped strawberries a triumph but if you're a mom I think you will understand what I'm trying to say.

For the most part...life is hard, and being a mom is no different. But always, always there are moments of bliss. Those moments when you stop to put some fresh flowers in a vase, sip on something sweet to drink, find yourself in the embrace of someone you love, watch your children laugh and dance, or simply enjoy a good meal with your family. (Props to Craig who cooked ALL of the food you are about to see!)

It doesn't get much better! I love time with family. There are moments of bliss when you give something to someone else. I am a gifts person...I like to share what I have though often it isn't much. I find that when I focus on what I can do for others I am much more fulfilled. Its easy to lose sight of that though. These pottery barn glasses were a mother's day gift for my mom. Aren't they pretty?

In addition to good fellowship and a good meal, my Dad helped me with a project I've been wanting to do since Christmas. (Craig and I are seriously under-equipped in tool department!)

My mom and sister helped me scour for the vintage camera...it will serve as a reminder to me that I am blessed enough to do something I love and call it a job! It isn't easy. As you may have noticed from my lack of blog posts, my new role as photographer is time consuming. But I love it! Sometimes when I edit and post a picture and someone tells me how much it means to them or how they love it I have one of those moments of bliss. Being a mom, wife, working part time, and now being a small business owner can sometimes make me crazy. I am striving to maintain balance and it is not easy. As most mom's do I put pressure on myself, guilt myself, worry and wonder about how I am impacting my children.

So today we took time away from my long to-do list to do something special that my kids enjoy. We simply went to the field down behind our subdivision to feed the ponies some apples. It wasn't anything monumental. It didn't require planning or take up much of our time. You should have seen their faces though. And there it was...one of those moments of bliss. You know what? I'm not super-mom. (I'm pretty sure there is no such thing.) We aren't a perfect family. My house isn't perfect. Sometimes I throw my desserts away! But through it all, there are just enough blissful moments to make it all so worth it. 

Savannah's Lemonade Party

As you may have read in a previous post, my baby girl turned three just a couple of weeks ago. I wanted to share some pictures with you from her super cute party! It is so much fun to have a little girl and get to do girly things like this. The theme that I decided to go with with "Cupcakes and Lemonade."

I used pink and yellow decor, lemon candy, mason jars, burlap, and lots of lemons for my sparkling strawberry lemonade and for decorations! 

This was my first time making the tissue pom poms and I think next time I'll try to make them a little bit more full, but I love how whimsical they look. Perfect for a birthday party or a shower!

Food was just finger food - sandwiches, chips and dips, and cupcakes of course! 

I made pink lemonade cupcakes. They were very yummy! I love lemon desserts! You can find the recipe here on this awesome food blog. 

But the best part of the party wasn't the decorations, or the food, but the company! We invited just a few people who are special to Savannah and she had a fabulous time.

She just smiled and took it all in as we all serenaded her with "Happy Birthday..."

I'm so thankful to all of our dears friends who came, and I'm especially grateful for the blessing of having grandparents living close by! I know that Savannah will treasure these memories when she is older.

With Papa and Ju-Ju. (My mom and dad.)

Letting us know she is three years old! 

By the time I was able to get a picture with her she was over pictures...so Craig snapped this random shot. I may have a little bit of a bittersweet expression...I was probably thinking how I can't believe that my baby is three years old and definitely not a baby anymore! How time flies...

With Grammy and Grandpa (or Pi-paw as Savannah says - Craig's parents.)

And finally the measure of a successful birthday party...the birthday girl fast asleep on the couch. Priceless.

Seagrove

  

Welcome to Seagrove, North Carolina and the Seagrove Stoneware Inn Bed and Breakfast. With over 90 area potters, Seagrove is considered the handmade pottery capital of the United States. This quaint town was the destination for the First Annual Taylor Girls Trip. One of my favorite things about my family is that we love tradition - both keeping time-honored traditions and beginning new ones. This fall trip was the first but we hope for many to come.

I took so many photos on this trip and it was painstaking for me too narrow them down. In order to include as many as possible I will be sharing several collages. We were able to do so many fun things and I wish I could share it all. One of the really fun things about this trip was that it fell on Meg's and my birthday. My cousin, Elizabeth, has a birthday just ten days after us, so it was fun to celebrate all weekend together! On Thursday evening after arriving we had a birthday party - complete with party hats, balloons, and deorations (thanks Mom!) We also devoured my cupcakes.

On Friday morning the first thing we did was make our own pottery! This experience was a highlight for me. After careful instruction from master potter, David Fernandez, we sat at the wheel and each made our own bowl. Just like us, each one turned out unique.

It was such a fun experience. I wish I could post a picture of my finished product but we had to leave them there to be fired and glazed and will receive them later. I can't wait to see how mine turns out.

After making out pottery we went shopping...for, what else, pottery. We visited several area potters shops but didn't even come close to seeing them all. Each potter had a unique style, colors, and selection.

On Saturday morning we had a big breakfast and following that we finished our pottery by smoothing it and personalizing it with our signature. I added my initials as well as a small "30" to remember this beginning of my 30th year.

Once our pieces were complete we headed to Pinehurst, NC. Pinehurst is a beautiful town and this day was the Holly Arts and Crafts Festival. We saw several unique handmade items but my favorite was these unique and colorful hummingbird feeders. They were gorgeous in the sunshine!

Following the festival we headed to the Olive Garden for dinner. I treated myself to a Berry Aqua Fresca and dessert since it was my birthday lunch. (Of course we were serenaded by the servers.)

Sunday brought time to say goodbyes. It is always hard to go our separate ways, but I'm reminded that I am extremely blessed to share such a tight bond with my family and for that I am so grateful.

So we headed back to Eastern NC, Tennessee, and West Virginia taking with us memories...oh and lots and lots of pottery. Can't wait to see where next year takes us.