As mothers we experience the essence of life on a daily basis. We care for, nurture, dream, create, feed, dress, bandage, mourn, love, teach and protect our babies (no matter what age they may really be). We learn and grow and fight and love. Hopefully we become better people. Celebrate your mother, your mother's mother, your friends who are mothers and especially celebrate all that you do every day in your role as a mother. It's well deserved and oh so worthwhile! Our CT readers love the great giveaways we do so we thought we'd surprise you with 2 giveaways in one post! And since you ALL are winners, you get a special reader discount for comfy and stylish maternity and lounge outfits by belabumbum.

No, the kids in the picture aren't caught in a net. They're playing in the new Ernesto Neto exhibit down in Chelsea, one of the cool things we posted about this week. Speaking of Chelsea, we'll be exploring this super-family-friendly area throughout May and we kicked off our coverage with our top 50 things to do with kids in the neighborhood. We also rounded up the best outdoor festivals and street fairs going on throughout the month, and we profiled the Queens County Farm Museum, one of 40 historic NYC sites vying for grants from Partners in Preservation. You can help pick the winners by voting for your favorite spot on our Facebook page.

Outside NYC, our New Jersey site has lists of the best family-friendly biking routes and hiking trails in case you're looking for an active day trip. Our Boston site has suggestions for easy-to-make homemade Mother's Day gifts. And our Travel site has a review of the Malibu Dude Ranch in Milford, Pennsylvania.

Here's what else we shared this week on our NYC site.

There's nothing as priceless as family photographs that capture your beautiful children before they grow up. It's one thing that can't be put off until later; you've got to grab those cherubic faces before they change. Professional family portraits are a wonderfully special gift for family members. With Mother's Day and Father's Day right around the corner, we asked some of NYC's top professional photographers who specialize in family portraits to offer deals just for our readers.

My kids were beside themselves when they found out that I was interviewing Rich Collins from The Imagination Movers. When I asked them what burning kid-question I should pose to Mover Rich, they both chimed in "Can we come and meet Warehouse Mouse?" The Movers aren't worried about being upstaged by their furry "second banana", however; their Emmy-winning TV show and wildly popular tour and CDs are testament to just how popular these four imaginative dreamers are, for kids and parents alike. Read on for my interview with IM Rich Collins, details about their NYC and NJ shows, and a chance to win a Family Four Pack of tickets to the May 10th Rock-o-Matic show at The Count Basie Theater in Red Bank!

(Photo courtesy of Benner's Farm)

Hold on to your sombreros! This weekend is chock-full of events for kids and families. There are Cinco de Mayo events (don't forget to enter for a chance to win a family four-pack of tickets to WBLI's Family Fiesta), Huntington's Tulip Festival, Hofstra's Dutch Festival, and Peconic Family Fun Day at the Children's Museum of the East End. Both Suffolk County Farm and Hallockville Farm are also having special spring celebrations, there's a fair at South Shore mall, and Saturday is I Love My Park Day: Take the family to Hempstead Lake Park, put on some gloves and help clean it up. Whew! Good luck choosing which events to attend!

[UPDATED: February 23, 2013]  If your child loves digging in the dirt and messing around in the kitchen as much as mine does, then camps that offer planting, harvesting and cooking activities are a summer dream come true. Even for kids who are less, shall we say, dirt-inclined, these programs offer a wonderful opportunity to learn about the farm-to-table movement as they harvest fruits and vegetables right here in NYC. Here are five programs where city kids can get a literal taste of farm life.