Heavenly Homemakers

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42 of My Favorite Mother’s Day Ideas From $0 (Dads and Kids, This is for You!!)

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Did I ever tell you about the first birthday my husband and I celebrated together as a married couple? He was used to birthdays being super low key, and I was used to birthdays being ALL ABOUT ME PLEASE AND THANK YOU.

So when I woke up on my birthday and Matt didn’t even mention it, I didn’t know what to do with that. (Yes I did. I cried.)

As the day went on and he still didn’t mention it, I went from sad to mad. At about 3:00 in the afternoon when he finally said something like, “I guess I should run to the store and get your something for your birthday.” I was like, “You’ve had 364 days to get me something for my birthday!!!!!”

Low Sugar Chocolate Cake

Cake? There was no cake.

Ahh, fun newlywed memories.

Matt and I have learned a thousand-trillion or more lessons since those days. He is wonderful now about making days special for me, and I’m way more laid back about what I expect and want. So 22 years after my first married birthday, we’ve landed in our holiday happy place. Hopefully you have too.

The Mother’s Day Count-Down is On

I don’t know how you do holidays and special occasions at your house. But I thought you should know that as of today, there are 11 days to get ready for Mother’s Day. If ordering gifts is a thing your people do for you, I’ve done my part in making it easy. If making you food for the day is something they do, I’ve compiled a list.

Moms, look over this fantastic list. (I had help from a friend in putting it together. It is brilliant. My friend is brilliant.) Highlight your favorites, then forward this to all the people in your life who should act on this list.

Gifts for Mom that are Free (or Almost Free)

1. Coupons for extra chores, such as help with spring cleaning, gardening, cleaning out the garage (or basement or attic), washing windows, etc.

2. Love Notes – i.e. List ten reasons why you love and appreciate her.

Why I Love Mom Printable

Swipe and download these FREE “Why I Love Mom” Notes to fill in!

3. Hand-Drawn pictures of you and Mom

4. Pictures of you and Mom together – could be framed if you like.

5. A copy of her favorite book and a coupon for her to have time to read it!!! (Check used bookstores and thrift stores for inexpensive copies of her favs.)

Gifts for Mom that are Under $25

6. Donate to her favorite charity in her name

7. Package up her favorite candles, lotion, coffee, tea, or other guilty pleasure – like chocolate!

  • BeeSilk Hard Lotion is my favorite and might be your’s too. I love this stuff!!
  • This coffee is super delicious. Or if she doesn’t have a coffee grinder, get this. How about a fun new mug to go with it?
  • If she loves tea, this is a great gift set.
  • The only thing better than these chocolates is the box they come in. So pretty!

mug

8. This Butterfly Suncatcher is so pretty!

9. On the more practical side: here’s a fantastic Stainless Steel Knife Set in a Wooden Block.

10. And another Stainless Steel Knife Set in an Acrylic Stand.

mothers day knives

11. This Wood Picture Photo Frame for Wall Decor is so cute I can’t stand it.

mother day frame

12. Look how pretty this Aromatherapy Essential Oil Diffuser Necklace is!!

13. And even prettier – this Floating Living Memory Locket Pendant Necklace!

mother's day necklace

14. If you have little ones, this Thank you God for Mommy book makes me melt.

thank you mother day

15. What a great idea: a Q&A 5-Year Journal for Moms

16. Or how about Mommy’s 5-Year Memory Book?

17. Or a What I Love About Mom fill-in-the-blank book!

18. I have two of these sets of Pyrex Bowls with Lids and use them approximately 40 times every day.

pyrex bowls 2

More than $25, but worth it…

19. Has she said anything to you about making Homemade Vanilla? Vanilla beans are on the pricey side right now, but Olive Nation gives us a 20% discount and this might be a fun time to get her started on this. Get the details here. 

How To Make Vanilla Extract

20. This Cook N Home 12-Piece Stainless Steel Set is amazing. She will make you good food in this. 

stainless steel cookware

21. If you really, really want to knock her socks off, get her a BlendTec (and then help her put her socks back on). It will last forever and be invaluable to her.

blendtec

Now let’s talk food

Dear Family Members of All the Mothers: If you do nothing else for Mom this year, feed her. Don’t let her cook. Don’t let her wash the dishes. And don’t even think about saving any dirty dishes for her to do on Monday. I have spoken.

Here are some great food ideas that are easy to make and always a hit. Pick what Mom will love the most!

For Her Sweet Tooth

butterscotch_bars

22. Butterscotch Bars

23. Death by Chocolate

24. Peanut Butter Honey Fudge

For Breakfast in Bed

ham and egg cups1

25. Easy Breakfast Casserole

26. Hot Vanilla Milk

27. Breakfast Pizza

28. Easy Ham and Egg Breakfast Bowls

Lunch and Dinner Ideas

shrimp1

29. Salmon Patties

30. Simple Garlic Butter Shrimp

31. Simple Oven Fried Chicken

32. Creamy Bacon Spaghetti

Lightly (but perfectly) Sweetened

chocolate cheesecake parfait

33. Low Sugar Strawberry Cheesecake Parfaits (my favorite in the world!)

34. Low Sugar Chocolate Cheesecake Parfaits

35. Low Sugar Chocolate Whipped Cream

36. Low Sugar Chocolate Cake

37. Pineapple Cream Dessert (naturally dairy and gluten free!)

38. Strawberry Shortcake

Coffee and Other Fun Drinks

Stevia Sweetened Chocolate Frappe

39. Chocolate Frappe

40. Coffee Milkshake 

41. Sparkling 100% Juice

The Gift of Time

42. If she doesn’t have this already, get her a Simple Meals subscription. This will save her hours every week!! There’s a $10 off coupon code here.

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If you still need more ideas, I’ve got some listed here.

42 Favorite Mother's Day Ideas from $0

Moms, leave a comment here to share: What is your favorite way to be spoiled on Mother’s Day?

Some of these links are my affiliate links.

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The Difference Between Mother’s Day and Father’s Day

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This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

Have you noticed a difference in Mother’s Day vs. Father’s Day? In my experience, Mother’s Day seems to have us all focused on bowing down to mothers and spoiling them -recognizing all their hard work and amazing influence in the lives of their families. Not that I mind this too much. Yay for all mothers, everywhere. We are awesome!

Then comes Father’s Day. It seems like we somehow switch gears, letting Father’s Day become an opportunity to lecture men on how they should be better leaders and good role models.

I’m all about empowering men to lead and grow. But if all the sermons on Mother’s Day were about how I should step it up and be a better mom, I sure wouldn’t feel very honored. Not that I need accolades. That’s not my point. My point is this:

My man works hard. Most men work hard. Most men are incredibly good to their families and they all deserve to be honored just as much as the women.

Do you agree?

The Difference Between Mother's Day and Father's Day

I’m guilty too. I’m guilty of expecting to be spoiled on Mother’s Day then barely throwing together a small token of celebration for Matt once Father’s Day rolls around. Sure, maybe this is because I cook for him almost every day of the year and do all I can to take care of him all day, every day. But this year I’m struck by how much I need to honor him for all he does for our family. Truly, what would I do without him? He is a rock star in our home, an incredibly hard worker, and I’m quite sure I don’t tell him this often enough.

While my love language is “acts of service”, my husband’s love language is “physical touch.” If I stood behind him all day, every day, giving him a scalp rub – he would not mind even a little bit (so what if there was no dinner on the table that night?). So while I’ll be making him his favorite peach cobbler and other favorite meals for Father’s Day, I’ll do my best to spoil him with physical touch so he knows without a doubt how much he means to me. If we can squeeze it in between camp sessions for the boys, we’ll probably play a family game of Settlers of Catan since I know he’ll love that too. (You can be sure though that just because it’s Father’s Day, we will not have mercy and let him win. Whatever though because he almost wins anyway.)

Perfect for Spoiling Your Husband on Father’s Day

Matt and I got the MELT Massage for Couples video series about a year and a half ago. Talk about a gift that keeps on giving – and one that is a perfect way to speak Matt’s love language. We have loved learning more about giving great massages and you better believe I’ll be using these in my efforts to spoil Matt this Father’s Day.

A nice bonus right now is that the MELT folks are giving away their Foot Massage Videos for free with each MELT purchase! Plus they have some great free printables you can cut out and hide throughout the house to give little hints as to what is to come! :)

Weirded out by the idea of watching someone give a massage just so you can learn to give a massage? Don’t be. These videos are completely appropriate and modest. We continue to reference them and learn. I’m excited that the Foot Massage option comes free with purchase this time. Great bonus!

You can check it all out here and learn the specifics. I think it’s a great Father’s Day gift because it’s a win-win for both you and your man!

What has been your Mother’s Day/Father’s Day experience? Maybe I’m the only one who has noticed a difference in how we honor men and women. How are you planning to honor the men in your life this Father’s Day?

This post is sponsored by MELT Massage for Couples.

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To My Mom On What Would Have Been Her 66th Birthday

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Hey, Mom.

I woke up thinking about you today. It’s funny that even though you’ve been gone for almost 11 years, I still have to stop myself from picking up the phone to call you on your birthday. I smiled knowing that you would have chuckled at the thought of that, but then reality and irony hit about the whole situation so I got teary-eyed. Then I teared up again later on the soccer field watching Elias play (tears and timing rarely make sense, right?). So now I’m writing you, not because you’ll ever read this, but because I need to write it.

mom2

I remember loving that your birthday and Mother’s Day were so close together – kind of like May was your month. Now I sort of hate it because it almost seems cruel to be hit so hard all at once with missing you on all of your special days all at the same time. But shoot. If I’m going to get weepy out on the soccer field anyway, maybe it’s better to just knock it all out at once instead of dragging it all out.

If you were here, I would have bought you a new blue shirt – because I always got you a new blue shirt for your birthday and you always loved it. Matt and the boys will be grilling burgers for me tomorrow; then we’ll play some Mother’s Day soccer. It’s our tradition. Who knew, right? Yep. That’s my life. Boys, boys, boys…and sports. And also food, of course.

You would be so amazed at these boys, Mom. Every day we see God working in them to grow them into Christ-like leaders. They are getting crazy tall, too. You knew that would happen though, right?

boys at wedding

And Asa. Your oldest grandchild. Well, he’s graduating from high school next week. (With a 4.0 I might add, which truly is neither here nor there, but I know you’d be proud because he has worked so hard, and also – scholarships!) Lots of people are coming into town to celebrate. We’ll miss you. I’m making your dip for Sunday night.

mom1

Grammy and Asa, June 1997

I’ve pretty well got the kitchen thing figured out, but sometimes I wish I could ask you stuff, and I still can’t turn out a Sunday roast like you could. What in the world was your secret?

You would love seeing how many ladies God has used to bless me at times I miss you the most. So many ladies – because God always knows. My aunts are the best, and so are many others from church, our community, and even online (that’s a thing now). Dad’s wife, Tacy, loves us so sweetly (is it weird to talk to you about that?). Truly, the two of you would have been friends. Well, anyway. Just know that, while of course no one will ever replace you, I am well cared for.

Uncle Richard and Uncle Wayland joined you this year – a rough few weeks for the Hamm family. This summer’s Hamm Bash won’t be the same, but we’ll just love on each other and appreciate each other all the more.

One last thing. I love coffee now! I knew you’d be tickled about that. Had I learned to love it earlier, we could have enjoyed it together. But hey, since I never learned to like quilting like you did, at least I learned to like coffee. It’s a close second, right?

So Happy Birthday and Happy Mother’s Day all right here two days in a row. I’ll smile now as I celebrate your life and the gift of motherhood. And if I ever take up quilting (don’t count on it), I’ll be sure to let you know.

All my love,
Laura

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Gratituesday: My Gift

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Ever since I lost my mom to ALS in July of 2004, Mother’s Day has been difficult for me. I miss her every day, but Mother’s Day is always harder.

Matt has always been so considerate each Mother’s Day – spoiling me and making the day special, yet acknowledging and understanding that it is a day that I tend to feel sad. I love his strength and compassion.

We don’t tend to give each other gifts on Mother’s Day or Father’s Day. We’ve never felt much need, and instead, fixing special food has always been our fun tradition. That is why I was so surprised to be presented with this on our way to church Sunday morning:

Receiving a gift at all was surprise enough. Seeing that he picked out a Bible with a cover described as “Pink and Chocolate” – well, does that tell you how well he knows me or what? And did you see what he had engraved on my new Bible?

Isn’t he the sweetest?

My husband shows me great honor in how he continually treats me like his queen. He had all of our boys sign the inside of the Bible, letting it be a gift from all of them.

I feel empowered to rise to the occasion and be the kind of Heavenly Homemaker they deserve and desire. I am honored to be the one God has chosen to make our family’s home more heavenly.

Share how God is working in your life on your blog, then come link up with us here. If you don’t have a blog, be sure to leave a comment letting us know what you’re grateful for! Please read through the Gratituesday Guidelines so that you understand what kinds of posts you can link up to share here. Posts that are linked but do not fit our Gratituesday theme will be deleted.

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please copy and paste the following sentence into your post! Thanks!

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Mother’s Day Cake Update – Finally

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My apologies that it took so long to give you an update on what in the world my family was baking for me while I was shut into my office yesterday afternoon. As soon as the mystery dessert was finished baking, we headed out to play some “Mother’s Day Soccer”. My choice. As in, I actually chose playing soccer over taking a nap. Go figure.

By the way, if you would have told me a year ago that this year I would suggest that we play a family game of soccer in honor of Mother’s Day, I would have laughed. But indeed, now that I’m getting fit and learning to enjoy playing with my kids, I just can’t get enough. Soccer on Mother’s Day just seemed like the perfect idea. And it was.

So back to the dessert you’ve been waiting to hear about.

Oh, but another reason I couldn’t update you on this mystery earlier is because after we played soccer, we had a nacho and movie night – with popcorn. Yes, didn’t you know that it’s always good to have nachos and popcorn together? Eh, it worked and it made everyone happy.

We are pretty good popcorn makers around here, always using coconut oil to make delicious popcorn. But this time, we used a fun new recipe from the Deliciously Organic cookbook. It was fantastic. However, we did have a wild ride in the kitchen while I was making it because I didn’t use a big enough pot. You know what happens when you don’t use a big enough pot when you’re making popcorn on the stovetop? The popcorn just keeps popping, and the lid comes off the pan, and popcorn goes absolutely everywhere. Jen was over hanging out with us, and Matt was in the kitchen too – both of them being very supportive while I was standing at the stove feeling rather helpless while popcorn started overflowing and flying. Matt offered some suggestions. Jen handed me a bowl for the flying popcorn, but with it, I only managed to make a bigger mess. Oh, you should have been there to witness the madness. ;)

This is the popcorn that managed to make it into the bowl.

But really, back to the dessert you’ve been waiting to hear about.

If you can believe it, the dessert recipe they picked wasn’t chocolate. I know, shocking. But wow, was it good.

They picked a “Hot Milk Sponge Cake” recipe from my old, worn out Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook. Then, like good children, they figured out how to adapt the recipe to use healthier sugars, fats, and flours. Is that not impressive? More on that in another post.

So apparently that’s what all the beating was about. Sponge cakes take a lot of beating. Thus, the beaters were running for minutes on end. :)

Then, if you can believe it, they made a “Broiled Coconut Topping” to go on top. I’m telling you, they outdid themselves. Talk about tasty!


This cake was delicious. My family is the greatest. And without a doubt, I will look up the recipe, ask them about their adaptations, and post it for you so that your family can make it for you sometime. Or so that you can make it for them. Or whatever. ;)

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Menu Plan for the Week – {and a little bit of Mother’s Day mysterious dessert making play-by-play}

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1:25 pm Well, I am currently shut into my office right now, and I don’t have permission to come out until the mysterious dessert my boys are working on has come out of the oven. I can hear the beaters running and if my family knows me at all, I expect to smell something chocolatey any minute now… ;)

Matt and the boys have been doing a great job spoiling me today, making Mother’s Day super special. Check out the lunch I just feasted on:

1:46 pm Matt just snuck in with a smirk to say, “Apparently the eggs were supposed to be beat separately before adding the other ingredients. Therefore, they have a bowl with 1 cup of flour, mixed with some baking powder and two eggs. Can you figure out something to do with that tomorrow so we don’t have to waste it?” I have two things to say:  I am both excited and afraid to see my kitchen after today. And, I think I’ll be making pancakes tomorrow from that flour/egg/baking powder mixture. It just makes sense. :)

And now, back to the menu plan for this week:

Sunday, May 13
Cereal
Grilled steak, spinach and mushroom rice florentine, cream cheese corn, mystery dessert  ;)
Nachos and a movie

Monday, May 14
Whole wheat pancakes (apparently)
Chicken nuggets, peas, baby carrots
Cheesy beef and rice, green beans

Tuesday, May 15
Fried eggs on toast, strawberry coconut smoothies
Creamy mac and cheese, steamed broccoli
Lasagna, tossed salad

2:01 pm I hear beaters again. I can not wait to find out what those boys are making. And I also really hope that I taught everyone well enough not to pick up the beaters before turning them off first!!

Wednesday, May 16
Chocolate chocolate chip muffins, apples
Crunch ranch chicken, stir fried rice and veggies
Roast, carrots, potatoes, gravy

Thursday, May 17
Scrambled eggs, hashbrowns, oranges
Pigs in a blanket, green beans
Creamy crockpot chicken and rice, carrots

Friday, May 18
Mini apple pies, turkey bacon
Easy noodle stir fry, milkshakes
Homemade pizza, fried okra

2:07 pm The beaters are still going! What are they making in there????

Saturday, May 19
Whole wheat cinnamon rolls, bananas
Leftovers
Chicken alfredo, steamed veggies, asparagus

2:12 pm Seriously, the beaters…still. How long can beaters run without burning out the motor?

2:13 pm If they don’t hurry up, I’m going to have to sneak out because um…I need to potty.

2:14 pm Ah, the beaters are off! Can I come out yet?

Apparently not.

While I’m still here in the office, I’ll show you a picture of Carrie Vitt’s (from Deliciously Organic) amazing Loaded Baked Potato Soup that we made yesterday.


Wow, that soup was good! Matt added some dehydrated red peppers in his bowl and loved the kick. The rest of us loved it with sour cream and cheese. It was easy to make, and everyone in the family devoured it. I liked that it called for chicken broth, giving me a meatless meal and a new option for stretching a chicken for six meals. If you haven’t yet, be sure to look into the deal Carrie put together for all Heavenly Homemakers readers. Get her amazing cookbook along with some healthy and family friendly meal plans at a great price!

2:18 pm Elias just came in to ask, “I can’t tell you pacifically, but if you were making frosting, would you use brown sugar or sucanat?”

I told him, “Brown sugar, and there’s organic brown sugar in the pantry”, but are you sure it doesn’t call for powdered sugar?”

And ‘pacifically’? Be still my heart. The cuteness abounds.

2:20 pm Elias came back in to say, “If you smell that burned smell, don’t worry.”

Okay, I’ll try. ;)

2:28 pm Beaters again. What in the world???

I’d say this post is “to be continued…” I’ll be back later with an update on what the boys made for my Mother’s Day dessert.

Hope you’re having a blessed day. There’s no doubt that I am. Even if I do have to ignore that burned smell coming from the kitchen. ;)

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