Welcome HOME, Mom!

"HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS". I painted this on a plaque for my Mom years ago. Little did I know how much that quote would one day come to mean...

My Mom is moving to Cape Cod today. As I type, she is on her way here!!! The cottage she rented is fully furnished and all of her "prized possessions" (photos, trinkets) are in the camper, stuck somewhere in North Carolina. I wanted to make it feel more like "home" to her. The kids and I picked out a little pumpkin for her at the patch this weekend, and Kasi and I went shopping yesterday. We bought some of the "magnetic" frames for her fridge, and a few for the little shelf in the living room. We also hit "Cuffy's"...a store with Cape Cod items (she needed some things to welcome her HOME)!! Then, we went to work printing out some photos. The picutes on this page show what we came up with. In the smaller photos of the kids school pictures, the boys photos are from last year. As soon as we get the new ones, we'll swap them. For Granny, we got a "Shells of Cape Cod" mug that is big enough for soup or tea, a blue tee shirt with "Cape Cod" and a sailboat embroidered on the front, and a zip-up hoodie "Cape Cod" sweatshirt. The zip-ups are perfect for this time of year...and Spring too. For Grampy, we got a "Cape Cod" hat and coffee mug. We packed it all up and Kasi and I headed to the cottage. When they arrive today, they will find the two smaller bags and card in the bedroom. The card is a "Welcome to your New Home" card -- in which I put a bit about "Home is where the heart is", etc.
The sweatshirt for Granny is separate. It's in the big bag...just for Mom and her countless walks along the shore. On the side of the fridge we put Uncle Scott with Kasi, Malia and Shawn and Aunt Cheryl with Malia as her flower girl. On the front are the other magnets, including the one Mom loves at Disney World when she was "holding" Tinkerbell. She was so upset that photo ended up down south. You'll note the shelf behind the couch...complete with pictures of Michael and Megan, Scott, Steve and I, and our clan at the apple orchard (there's lots more space for new photos too). We put the pumpkin on the front entry table and headed out...Kasi said, "Granny is going to be SO surprised and SO happy, Mommy" !! If you talk to her between now and when she arrives....SHHHHHHH....IT'S A SURPRISE!!!!!!! :) Hope she loves it!! :)