i was super excited for my second mother’s day!

me and my sisters were so busy and preoccupied leading up to mother’s day, that we didn’t make brunch reservations in advance! we always book our brunch date weeks ahead of mother’s day, because we know how quickly spots can fill up and we never just want to go to just any ol’ restaurant for brunch!

well, this year, with the boys {nephews} being so busy with activities…we decided to have a later affair instead of an early morning one. and with us being so behind in the game of reservations, we decided to host an early dinner at our house!

the hubs and i love having people over! it’s our thing and we truly enjoy it! so, we set out to coordinate a fun, quick get together at our place for mother’s day. we decided a nice, simple tablescape and some small, cute decorations were in order.

thuy and kim came over early to help set up. terry and kim so graciously picked up the food, hc made a vegetable side dish, and i prepped the punch!

hc did a great job setting up the table. he did all the pre-work {ironed the napkins and tablecloth} and set all the place settings! what a guy! kim brought fun little potted herb plants for the centerpieces. i prepared all the ingredients for the punch. thuy brought over balloons and together, we made cute little balloon chandeliers for the each table. i also love the little nook we have in the corner for drinks/desserts/whatever you want to make of the set up. i put together a banner and hung cafe lights as a finishing touch for the area {again, side note: i can’t waaaaait until we get rid of that awful wood paneling!!!}.

[beautiful flowers from my sister, thuy]

[oh baby olive just waking up from her nap]

[our punch garnish]

[happy mom’s day!]

[apple cake, water, & punch]

[potted herb plants as centerpieces]

[the fanciest kids table evah!]

[pomegranate champagne punch]

as hc and i prepped our place, olive took a good, long solid nap! thank goodness…peeps were on their way over and we needed a well rested babe for our guests. it was a small get together. it consisted of me, hc, my sisters, our brother dan, my brother in law, his mom, his sister, and our dad {unfortunately, our mom was not feeling well…boo}.

while the kids played, the adults imbibed the delicious champagne punch and mingled. we waited until everyone was over before we served dinner. the food was delicious and it was so much fun to sit down, eat, and share stories. after everyone was done eating {i cleaned up…my favorite thing to do!}, and a few people exchanged mother’s day gifts! so sweet and fun!

i then served desserts and coffee. thuy had brought an apple cake, lynne made a delicious lemon cake {soooo good!} and the kids had ice cream. we all hung out for a bit longer and the kids were wild and crazy, running all around. after a few hours of hanging out, it was time to say our goodbyes. everyone slowly trickled out and soon the house was almost empty again. *sigh*

[terry and his mom, barbara]

[mmmm, tasty]

[the hubs and me]

[my mother’s day gift…citrine rose gold earrings!]

[me and my precious babe]

[my beautiful flower plant from lynne]

[these two…]

[me and my sisters]

i had such a lovely, lovely time on mother’s day. i absolutely love my gift from hc, i very much enjoyed our company, and i really had such a wonderful time hosting everyone at our place. we truly love having friends and family over…it seriously makes life go round.

i hope everyone had a beautiful day like we did. life is grand. happy mother’s day to all!

xoxo