I get some things already mentioned like the white balsamic vinegar, chocolate chips, cereal & the tall bottle of pure maple syrup (it is a good deal but we have to use one half shelf in the fridg just to store it). I also get the mulitgrain baking mix that I use for pancakes, occasionally the cornbread mix, dried fruit, coconut oil since I read about it on here, some herbs & spices. I love their moisturizing cream in the white pump bottle with the hot pink label. Tried their toothpaste, but the kids & husband don't like it. Their graham crackers, BBQ sauce & honey wheat pretzels, as they don't have high fructose corn syrup or partially hydrogenated vegetable oil. My son likes the red pepper spread with eggplant & garlic.

Hello ladies....wow! Can't believe the whole week went by and I didn't get here to chat. Been extremely busy and had a sick kiddo this week as well. We will finally get a nice warm day today and I will be spending most of it spray painting the castle. ha Hopefully it will start coming together quickly after that. DS is totally not interested so having to force him to work on it. Birthday parties, scout acitivites, cousins and friends are way more exciting than working on school projects. Luvs~ I love all your block projects! They all look so great. Now I'm wanting a cricut. ha Funny stories about the g-kids. They can come out with some stuff. My 5yr old watched The Hunchback of Notre Dame yesterday for the first time and I was telling her how it was her older sister's favorite movie and she used to think that Phoebus was cute. She says "Well, I think Phoebus is like a booger guy...you know....the guys nobody wants to date." She is always making me laugh. Well, I actually got to sleep in this morning so I'd better get up and get busy. I have the same sign I was working on last week to finish up. It's looking pretty good, just need some time to put on one more coat and add 2 more things to it. Ya'll have a good weekend. Happy Mother's Day weekend to you all! My DH is cooking his famous ribs for me tomorrow and I'm sure the kids will come up with something. Already got a teacup with some flowers planted in it from my oldest DD. Still haven't decided what I'm doing for my own mother. Ya'll enjoy your day with family. I'll try to get here more next week! Belle~ take it easy with all that work load you have going. Don't over do it! Luvs~ keep us updated on the newest movies! I heard that Iron Man 2 was awesome! Can't wait to see it. Keep showing us your cricut creations too. I really enjoy them. Glad ya'll are getting to work in your yards. Still been too chilly and rainy here to do much. I've got a lot of weeding to do when it warms up. So far I've only gotten one bed done. Punk~ miss ya here! Talk to ya'll soon! ~Anj

Obviously my criticisms of Hallmark over the years found fertile ground in my kids as I don't always get flowers or even a card. However, over the years they have proven their love for me many times by actions for which I am always grateful. Two out of 3 will visit in the next 2 weeks so that will be lovely. There is a family function tomorrow to which most of the family will go but it's too far for me this year so I will celebrate by thinking good thoughts of previous Mom's Days, dress in a favorite outfit, let other non-family cater to me, and have an enjoyable day regardless of all the media hype. I'm old enough to not let other people's expectations, or even my own unrealistic expectations color how I feel. I have so much to be grateful for. Does anyone else remember dressing up for church, always wearing a hat, and a carnation corsage whose color signified whether one's DM was still alive. White if she had died and red or pink if still alive. And we'd usually go to a restaurant for lunch which was less common than today. None of that generation are here now. That day was very special when I still lived at home with my parents. After my marriage my late DH always made it special by giving me carte blanche at a garden centre and either eating out or doing all the cooking. It was one of the things I missed the most after he died, not just the buying of plants but the love that came with them. Hope all Mothers here have a wonderful day whether or not they have to DIY or someone does it for them.

The brunch was fab. Lots of good leftovers. I couldn't corral anyone into grilling the turkey sausages so I skipped them. No biggie, we can have them any time later. I'm also glad I did three bean salad instead of the white bean tuna salad. That allowed the smoked salmon to be the star, and good on that because I bought the really expensive stuff since it was the lowest in salt. When I realized no turkey sausages I threw some feta on the three beans salad for a little extra protein. It was very colorful, served in a cut glass dish, with home grown cherry tomatoes and green pepper, plus some celery and scallions and some fresh parsley. I lost my phone and my camera is stashed away so no photos. The roasted sweet potatoes, red onions and squash was a great side for bagels and lox and matzah brei. I got distracted at the end and overcooked the matzahbrei but it was OK, lots of other good things. The melon was particularly delish . . . I forgot to add that I served sparkling cider as a beverage. No one wanted coffee with dessert, so I have it ready to go in the coffee maker for tomorrow morning. I tried some new yogurt for on top of the apple crisp, it was Chobani cinnamon vanilla lower sugar greek yogurt. It was on sale so I got a few other flavors to try. It was very good! Great for mixing with fall fruits!