The Day of the Mamma

The Sunday that just passed was undoubtedly my best Mother's Day ever.

Nothing beats being showered in love and cuddles and the constant parade of lovingly handmade cards and gifts.

The twins had a Mother's Day fundraising stall at school where they purchased me $4 gifts.

Twin A bought me silverplated dessert spoons with tiny seashells on the end. She couldn't wait till Sunday to present them to me, so she ripped open the packet and promptly christened a tub of chocolate yoghurt with one of the lucky spoons.

Twin B surprised me with a boxed set of makeup. The turquoise eyeshadow and hot pink lip gloss will come in handy when I dress up as a Fairy Queen this weekend for Katrushki's birthday.

Katrushki made me a lovely artwork with her handprint and more gold glitter than a Lady Gaga concert.

Darling Mr WhoaMamma surprised me with a beautiful bunch of flowers that beautify my kitchen as well as my soul.

We took my mother, grandmother, aunt and cousins for a family lunch at a favourite Greek restaurant.

Red wine + seafood = One Very Happy Whoa Mamma!

It was great not to worry about washing, cleaning and cooking for a day.

My real joy came from just BEING with my loved ones. No other distractions or duties.

They had my total attention, and I had theirs.

The next day, it was back to reality.

But the strength to carry on came from this beautiful card from Twin B:

"Dear Mummy,

I love you because I love you,

and that is why I love you."

Love doesn't need a reason.

And the Winner is.....

Thank you so much to everyone that entered my Whoa, Mamma! 'Happy 1st Bloggy Birthday Giveaway'. It was so heartwarming to read all your beautiful entries about 'What Gives You That Lovin' Feeling'.

Cuddles, kisses, smelling your children's hair, feeling your baby grow in your tummy, seeing your kids play with their father, hearing their first words, singing on stage, random love notes, hearing the words 'I Love You', all these things and more fill up our love tanks.

To celebrate my first year blogging at Whoa, Mamma! I had a special 'Love' necklace to give away.
The names of the entrants were put in a fairy jewellery box, blessed by my Little Katrushki's fairy wand, shaken about then one name was picked out by Little Miss A.

Without further a-do, the winner is....

Congratulations, Carmel!

Thanks again to all you beautiful souls who entered!

♥ Jess

Giving My 'Love' Away!: {Whoa, Mamma's Bloggy Birthday Giveaway}

I believe in Love and I try and emulate it in every aspect of my life.
Love makes me Happy.
I love the man I've been married to for 8 years.
I love the 3 cheeky human beings we created.
I love my friends, my family, my home.
I love life.
I love just Being.

There was a time, a year ago, when I wasn't so happy.
My happiness blossomed when I had an epiphany.
I was loving everyone else, but not myself.
As soon as I started listening to all the wishes deep within my heart that
I had buried for so long, especially since becoming a wife and mother,
I felt more joy.

One of my greatest joys came from writing.
Ever since I was a little girl I would write in journals and diaries.
This stopped once I became a mother.
But it was like I was holding my breath for the last 6 years.
I had reached my last gasp.
Instead of drowning, I decided to come up for air.
And I began a blog.
I was writing for me.
And I could breathe again.
Life is flourishing.

I wanted to do a little giveaway to celebrate 1 year of 'Whoa, Mamma' fabulousness.

This is more symbolic than anything, a little gesture of love and gratitude from me to you.

It is you, sweet readers, that have made this blog so fabulous for me, and I want to thank you with all my heart for all your love and support.

I was in one of my favourite local swoonworthy stores yesterday (room 296), when my eyes fell on this little beauty. It was perfect for what I wanted to give back to you.

A little bit of Love.

'Love' amidst the pretty blooms from my garden x

So, up for grabs for 1 lucky reader is this sweet gold-toned 'LOVE' necklace.
It's 40 cm long and can be worn close to the neck, or wrapped around your wrist as a lovely bracelet.

All you have to do to enter is leave a comment at the end of this blogpost, answering this question:

"What gives you that Lovin' feeling?"

Entry is open to all followers of my 'Whoa, Mamma!' blog and/or likers of 'Whoa, Mamma!' on Facebook. Please include an email address so that I can contact you should you be the winner. Entries close Wednesday 25 April, 2012 at Wine o'clock (5pm Melbourne, Australia time) and will be drawn randomly by one of my cheeky chicas by pulling a name out of their Fairy Princess Pink Glittery Jewellery Box.

Good Luck!