Strawberry Faces and Red Hands!

Last year at exactly this time, Linc and I went Strawberry picking and it was the highlight of my year!

Strawberry picking is always the highlight of my year and has been since I was little!

One of the best things for me when I was growing up was when my mom would wake me up in the mornings and whisper to me that today was a strawberry picking day!  We would always skip school… the best part!  We would wake up and have ourselves a buttered biscuit from hardees usually on the way and of course a coca-cola!  We would gather our boxes and baskets and have them weighed and spent hours picking to our hearts desire!

The running joke was always that when I was little (Linc’s age) I would take a bite out of every berry in my bucket!  My bucket was pink and it was plastic but had the weaving just as if it were a woven basket.  I remember it just like I held it yesterday.  I always laughed at that story because I couldn’t really imagine taking a bite out of every single berry.

Now… I completely understand!

This was one of the traditions I swore I would pass down to my own children.  This special surprise treat of waking them up and making a special just one on one time day of it!  Spending the day and the morning outside picking delicious strawberries and laughing in the fields.  My mom and I would usually stop and get slurpees on the way home or if it was lunch time we always had a special lunch too!  It was always a great day spent with my mom and it has continued year after year!

Yesterday, I was so blessed to continue that tradition again with not only my mom but Linc too!  Tuck had a business trip so my mom and I planned it especially so that we could wake him up in the morning and make a mommy and Gigi day!

So for me this was extra special:  not only did I get to spend the day strawberry picking like so many times before with my mom again;  but also I got to spend it with my mom AND my little man!

It’s the little moments and days like this that I absolutely live for!  Those small moments and traditions that are passed down and remembered.

My mom was amazing at creating little legacies and traditions like this:  ones that never really cost a ton but meant the world because they were so simple but so full of heart and meaning!

This is why I wanted to share this post on my mother’s day week!

Sometimes we forget that to us mom’s it’s these types of small moments, memories and traditions that often have the biggest impact!  To us moms, these are the types of breaths we live for and for our kids these are the memories that stick like glue to our hearts!

Traditions like strawberry picking and being able to skip school and go to hardees.  Traditions like taking a walk on the beach to search out seashells and other ocean treasures the sea has left for us to find.

Traditions like romantic dinners on the floor with sprite in fancy glasses and cheese and crackers!  We did that too when I was growing up and my dad was at the fire station!

All these are so simple and yet soo impactful and life lasting!

Take a moment to think back to some of those things that really left a lasting impression on you… what were they?!

Happy Mother’s day to all and remember, sometimes it’s just having the time to hold a hand and set aside time to do something once a month that is as simple as building a fort or taking a walk!

Or strawberry picking every May and eating your belly full along with a nice buttery biscuit!

And of course… real is better than perfect!  Sometimes he just ins’t all that into photos!  I mean, the camera is ALWAYS in his face!!! But I love them and I love real life, so I love them… mr. prickle pants and all!  I’m also a big fan of no make up when I can get away with it!  (I’m a super eye rubber… so gosh by the hour after I have applied mascara, I look like the guys from KISS)

We also found some friends at the strawberry fields!!  And these two crazy littles FINALLY met!   And… well, let’s just say we have future play dates planned!