This Mother’s Day my sister, Nancy, and I decided to do something extra
special for our mom. She is so special
and gives us so much - without her, life would be so different, so empty.
She is the wonderful woman who sacrificed her life for the Lord – gave
up her dreams and plans to become a full-time wife and mother; a keeper at
home. She is the lady who is training
her six daughters to love and serve their family and to one day become
helpmeets to their husbands and mothers to their children.
She is not afraid to fail as she believes failure strengthens and builds
one’s character. She isn’t afraid to
apologise when she makes a mistake and I respect her for that.
She has chosen to keep her children at home, teaching them about God and
life as well as math and grammar. She is
the gardener, seamstress, teacher, crafter, cook, Bible lover and amazing
person I am proud to call my mother. She
doesn’t have it easy with us, yet she keeps strong and inspires. She deals with bad attitudes and spats more
than she has time to read a good book, and kisses away ouches and sore hearts
more than she has time to sew a stitch in something lovely for herself. And yet she feels blessed to do that!
I am not saying she is perfect, I know she makes mistakes – as we all
do, but her heart is ready and open for the Lord and I love her for that. I know that she loves the Lord with all her
heart and prays continually for help in becoming the wife and mother described
in Proverbs 31.
*****
When we began to plan something for her, I knew it would have to be
really special, not because she expects that, but because I love her and appreciate
all she does for us.
Two weeks before Mother’s Day, Nancy and I started to jot down ideas –
we first settled on a tea party, but a few days later Mom unexpectedly woke up
with a terribly painful back, which had her on bedrest for three days solid. This of course threw all our ‘plans’ into the
air since we weren’t able to do much organising while running after little ones
and cooking meals. But God thinks
differently and sees more... We ran the
household for those few days, at which Nancy exclaimed “I never knew Mom did
this much!”
A week before and I knew a tea wouldn’t work... A few days before and it looked like nothing
would be happening on Sunday. When I
shared my doubts with Nancy I could see how disappointed she was. “Can’t we just do something?” she pleaded. I realized that we did indeed need to prepare
some sort of party for our mother. Life
is usually so busy that we sometimes forget to just enjoy each other’s
company. It is really only at meal times
that we connect together as a family, which got me to thinking that a light
brunch might be just the thing...
I knew I could pick up a few things at the market where Nancy and I work
on the Saturday, and that we had quite a few things in our vintage collection
for making the table pretty.
Nancy and I spent three full days preparing – writing out shopping
lists, deciding on what things we should bake, etc. We gathered all our goodies, dumped them in
my room and closed the door. Whenever we
had a spare moment we went into the room and did something crafty towards out
brunch. Of course Mom suspected we were
up to something – all children know moms and dads have eyes in the backs of
their heads and nothing escapes their attention – but we decided to be as calm
about it as we could and not draw too much of her attention! And when she wasn’t looking, we printed out
pretty things for the table and checked on supplies.
By Saturday afternoon we had all the ingredients we needed. Mom and Dad were out with the family in town
that afternoon, so Nancy and I quickly made all we could that wouldn’t be stale
by the next day. Dad was in on the secret
but fortunately gave nothing away...
Sunday morning’s work started at around 6:30am. All of us sisters worked together at baking
the last of the edibles, setting the table, arranging the decor and gathering
the cutlery and crockery. After giving
her an invite, Mom was requested to remain in her room for the morning while we
got ready, mainly because we wished her to avoid the chaos erupting in the
kitchen. By 11:30am, brunch was ready,
the table finished and the family dressed for the occasion. The weather was perfectly glorious and I can
only say “Thank you Lord!” for that!
You must know that nothing gets done lightly around here! We go all out at celebrations and enjoy any
festivity our busy calendar allows. We
girls put together this brunch on our own – we planned and shopped for it
without help (although I did try to explain everything to my very patient dad)
and I am so happy to say it turned out beautifully! It really was like a party! Mom was so surprised!
The complete
table...
To add that
personal touch to the table we tied tulle bows to each of the chairs...
I printed the
menu onto a piece of pretty scrapbook paper...
Coffee Cake...
Delicious tuna
and mushroom mini quiches. Nancy made
mini flags with toothpicks to stick into each little quiche. We placed them on white paper bags instead of
plates and served them on a bed of rocket.
Miss Beth
enjoying tea...
...Spoon...
I love this
vintage-style birdcage. Nancy placed a
vase of flowers inside it for extra detail...
Homemade
Croissants...
I printed each
person’s name onto a small piece of scrapbook paper. I then sanded the edges of the paper to give
it a vintage type of look. Nancy put the
little sweeties she had made into a bag and attached the name tag to the packet
with a pretty piece of ribbon. It was so
simple yet so effective!
Miss
Gabrielle...
My dear
inventive sister, Nancy, made this on Sunday morning while I was juggling
butter and jam and rising croissants.
She took an old lampshade and strung vintage forks, knives and spoons
onto it using different ribbons and lace.
She then hung it above the table as a ‘chandelier’. It looked absolutely gorgeous! This is a fun way to reuse old cutlery that
cannot be used.
I used a
mosquito net to create a sort of ‘covering’ for the brunch. We hung it up in the tree and hooked pieces
of the tulle to different branches. It
gave the area a fairytale look.
Fruit Medley in
jars topped with Yoghurt, Pecan Nuts and Raw Honey... Oh my goodness these were so good! If you don’t have pretty glasses to serve a
dessert in, why not use jars? They are
so effective!
This was a
divine cake. A definite keeper!
Mom has told us many times before that she has no expectations of
Mother’s Day. Instead of expecting her
children to make her day special (which too often doesn’t happen), she chooses
to see it as a day of true thanksgiving – thanksgiving for all her blessings
and the privilege of being a mother at home.
You can image how blessed she felt at having a whole party and day dedicated
to her!
What a blessing to be able to serve your family!
Mom, you are so special and being able to do something for you was a
pleasure! Xx
P.S. The recipes for the Fruit
Medley and Coffee Cake can be found in the May issue of Ideas Magazine.
