Bad Sign . . . . .

Me:  Would you like me to make you a nice breakfast?  (He didn't seem in a hurry this morning)

Jon: Really?  You would do that for me?

Me:  (thinking . . . why is he surprised?)  Well, yeah, I suppose I could . . if you would like.

Jon: Well, I suppose that would be nice . .

Me:  (thinking . . . after 33 years, this man is surprised when the queen of hot breakfasts is wants to make him an omelet?)
So as I start breakfast . . . . .

Jon: Oh, I need to hustle, I have a 9:00 meeting.

OK, scratch the omelet and go for over easy . . . . but still, why the surprise at the offer?  Hmmmm . . .

Touch of the Master's Hands

We have all heard the story of the old violin that was not valued at an auction until an old man played it and showed what beautiful music it could produce by the "touch of the master's hand.

These little blankets belong to my grand daughters.  they stitched the squares into strips and then I machine stitched the rest of them.

Though the squares are not quite the same size, some of the stitches were out of line a little, OK, a couple were way out of line, they are perfect as far as I am concerned.  Perfectly wonderful.  Just as the itty bitty island with the crooked itty bitty tree that Garrett made out of home made play dough was.  Just as the bird "house" that Gabriel made out of a bunch of rope strung all over at just the right height to strangle us as we walked out the back door was.   They are perfect just like Garrett's birthday cake was after being "made" by two little excited little boys.  As perfect as some of the wonderful treasures on  my family room wall are. . . .  the ones made by my children when they were young.

How often is "perfection" misjudged because it doesn't fit the mold that we want it to fit.  All of these show how the Master has touched our lives, in the forms of the sweet innocent children, full of wonder, awe and excitement to get on to the next step in their progression.  Full of anticipation at the thought of pleasing someone they love as they show all by their example of how produce beautiful "music" by walking in the Master's footsteps.  Their hands are His hands as they serve those around them. Our hands can be His hands as we follow their example to create beauty in our world and serve others.  How else can His touch touch all of us?

Brianna will be home with the girls at the end of the school year.  If you need a FANTASTIC voice or piano teacher for you or your children, check out her website HERE.  You'll be glad you did!!

Just Playing . . Again!

I have my big old nose stuck in the middle of another wedding.  I promised Larissa that when she got married, I would help her with the decorations (when her sister got married almost 2 years ago).  Not complaining here, I love the girls and their mom is a great friend of mine, my gift to all of them.

So, Joi suggested that Marsha, mom, put a tall vase filled with limes or green apples, on the food table.   love the look, so of course, I embraced it.  I got a couple of the vases yesterday at a great  little $.99 (not) store that is full of great stuff.  That is whee I got peacock feathers a while back, 3/ .99. . . . one of the few things that really is only $ .99.

So last night I started playing with one of them, with the help of my worth assistant,  Gabriel.

Funny Jon couldn't see the point of the water, but I could sure see the difference!  Now to prepare the organza overlays.  Marsha had a great idea and they will look so pretty and girlie.  Love to gather new ideas!

BIRTHDAY FUN!!!

A little female bonding time for Aunt Brianna and Lynneah.

Everyone should have a young, fun aunt like Aunt Sassy!

Wheeeeee!

Slide trains were big that day!

This little girl will never be bored on slides!

Gotcha!!!  Tati can be a challenge with the camera sometimes  ;-D

Who knew it was so hard to push two kids at once?

Even the young, fun aunts needs a little snuggle chill out time!

Finally, time for cake!!  Poor Garrett has had windy birthdays every year. 

This little Ariana is such a crack up.  She got the giggles swinging at the piñata and just about stole the show.  Such a cutie!

Look at this determination . .  she really wanted to take out that pinata before Gabriel got his turn.  Nice try Arianna but . . . . .

Gabriel got his chance!!!

And once again, everyone survived that horrid swinging  bat . . .

  Just to eliminate any doubt that this family produces nerds . . . .  and we love everyone of them!

How did I manage to find myself so blessed to enjoy the blessing of living long enough to feel the joy of my little darlin's?  In spite of some close calls in my life time, I am still here and I thank Heaven every day for the time I had to be a mother and now a grandmother.

Yes Bob, it's the greatest !!

Tatianna, Garrett, Arianna, Gabriel, Baby Lynneah, Lincoln

Just How Old Do You Think We are?

Army Surplus Special . . .
back pack of the 60's

Sarah:  Mom, did they have back packs in the 60"s?
Me:  Huh?  Well. yeah.
Sarah: So that is how you carried your school books?
Me:  No.  We used back packs for hiking and camping.
Sarah:  How did you carry them?
Me:  On your hip with your arm around them, kind of like you would carry a baby.  . . . . . . only the guys held them at their sides with their arm dropping down and their hand curling under the books .  .  . . unless they were "preppie" then they held them more at their waist, on the side.  And how you carried your books was important  . (me giggling) . . . it could be very important. 

Garrett Is 5 . . and His Birthday Is Done . . . Finally!!

We seem to have  accidentally established a not so good tradition in our family.  Birthdays take for ever!!  It isn't over until you get cake, or your dessert of choice.  Poor Garrett had to wait a whole month for his birthday party.  No is pointing fingers, since there are so many guilty parties in the delay . . . . which a pretty convenient.

So anyhoo, here is the low down on the birthday of our big 5 year old boy!!

The cake started with talking about fractions with Gabriel.  This is how his mother and my other kids were also introduced to fractions. . .  cooking.  The idea got mixed reviews from the kids, but Gabriel thought it was OK since he got to help me make the cake . . after which, I taught him the "fine art of scraping the bowl". That of course is a VERY important part of baking.



Next night, Garrett got to help me frost the TX Sheet Cake.  He made the same mistake that I tend to do, and went over the same spot too many times.  Poor little guy looked up at me with such great big eyes full of panic.  he was so sure that he had ruined his own cake.  It was OK when I told him that we could put the requested island full of dinosaurs over it.  The light blue frosting was poured over a coat of white frosting that was blocking out some of the brown from chocolate showing through.  Garrett loved the spray that gave the "water" a little more dimension.  Garrett was shown the fine art of scraping the pan after making the candy frosting for the cake . .  also a VERY important part of baking.

The island needed to have some height so that there could be the requested water fall on it, so I made the second cake in various pans and bowls.  It was supposed to be light chocolate so that would look better under the "sand".



We made a second batch of the candy frosting, tinted it a bit to make it tan colored and poured it over the "island".  Garrett was getting pretty excited at this point as he could see his dream cake coming together.  It was his job to place all of the fishes in the water and dinosaurs on the island.  I did have him leave some space on that one area for a surprise shark that Gabriel had helped me find.  It was BIG!! and had great teeth.

Garrett is talking about volcanoes a lot these days, so along with the shark, and water fall, I added some hot lava . . .  he seemed excited when he first saw it over at the park, just before his party and then all of a sudden, got upset and wanted it "off right now"!  It was just too late and then the guests started to arrive . .  what to do, what to do.

He finally accepted and went to play with the rest of the kids.  Whew!!  You really can't tell, but there is a little Tiki hut on the backside of the volcano.  I had hoped to put the five little candles at the top like fire coming out of the volcano, but he wanted to have the "five" candle up there.  Oh well, it was his cake.

Years ago, I learned to decorate cakes and thought it would be so wonderful to do special cakes for my kids as they grew up.  My hot old hands (even when I was young) would melt the icing in those bags so quickly, so I had to resorts to other methods.  Wish I had figured out how to use this pouring frosting a long time ago.

Now I can just have the kids guide me and give them what they want.  It is often no where near as grandiose as we imagine.  I have adopted the motto, " don't impress the adults, thrill the kids,"  I more than one question about how I made this cake.  Smart moms, smarter than I was!!