The Green Penn: Gratitude Tuesday: Mothers's Day Edition

My little slice of heaven.

This picture is perfect. Not because I was having a good hair day, cuz, well... Look at it. Yikes. It's not that we all look super fit and sexy, cuz I certainly don't. (I think my hubby looks pretty damn good, though.). The lighting could be better. Our putfits don't really coordinate. But it's perfect because it was taken on the perfect day. Those smiles are genuine. The weather was warm, not too hot. It was sunny, with just enough clouds to keep sunburns at bay. We were all happy and having fun.

We woke up early, I made breakfast for the family, and my little brother came over with my sweet niece. We enjoyed our pumpkin pancakes smothered in maple syrup along side tempeh bacon, bananas, and strawberries with a healthy serving of laughter. It was a great start Mother's Day 2014.

Last year, Charlotte was only about six weeks old and we were still getting to know each other. It wasn't a bad day, but it was stressful, to say the least. My loving husband decided to take me to lunch at my favorite restaurant, The Wild Cow, for a wonderful vegan feast. I ended up spending the entire meal with a nursing cover around my neck because I couldn't figure out if the baby was hungry, tired, or just crying because of the new scenery. I was new to the whole "mom" thing and my solution to every cry was to stick a boob in her mouth. Surprisingly, this worked 99% of the time. After lunch, we went shopping at a huge, overly-crowded mall where I purchased two pair of jeans in my pre-pregnancy size. Yay! That was definitely a win. But, when Charlotte started crying, we had to head home. She screamed the entire 30 minute drive while I begged Jimmy to stop and let me soothe her. I was convinced she'd been mauled by a bear in the back seat when I wasn't looking, but he assured me we'd make it home without her dying. We did. (Thank God for rational daddies in those first few weeks.) This year, as you can imagine, I wanted things to go more smoothly.

After our breakfast and visit with my family, we met his mother, father, and sister for a gorgeous country drive to a nearby state park where we enjoyed a lovely picnic under the shade of huge oak trees, and hiked some of the prettiest trails I've seen. There were waterfalls and cliffs, caves and flowers. It was just about the most beautiful scenery one could wish for on a warm spring day. The company was enjoyable, and other than a little fussiness due to extreme tiredness, the kid did great. She was quite the trooper on our long hike along the river. All in all, it was a perfect day spent with the people I love.

So on this gratitude Tuesday, I'm thankful for my loving husband, my sweet and spunky daughter, my immediate family, and my awesome in-laws, who are all avid outdoors people even with my mother and father-in-law being in their late sixties. They set such an amazing example of aging healthfully.

My second Mother's Day couldn't have been more special. My own mom got a hot, healthy, gluten-free, and vegan breakfast with her two local kids, and I was fortunate to spend hours in nature with my family. I'm so blessed!

Now, enjoy some gratuitous nature photos from my iPhone: