Birthday girl!

My baby turned 2 last week. Over the past 9 months or so she has developed an adoration for Minnie Mouse. Since grandparents were apprised of this information, little miss had an entire Minnie Mouse night!

As always, I made the birthday cake. I used a buttercream icing & should have used shortening instead of butter since the slope was so steep. I also didn't have much luck in trying to mix colors.


She had a blast all the same!

Pumpkin Days

Fall is my favorite time of year. The air is crisp; the colors are beautiful. Also, you just can't beat pumpkin bread-type treats.

My mom always makes a pumpkin roll around this time of year. It's a delicious concoction of pumpkin bread-like tastiness and cream cheese/ confectioners sugar goodness all rolled up. My mom makes two -- one for my dad & one for the rest of us. For the non-dad one, she makes half of it without the lumpy, malodorous, & insipid pecans. (Yes, I would be one of the ones who avoids the nuts.) How awesome is that?

Thank you, mother, for catering to our differing pumpkin-roll tastes! I can't wait until Thanksgiving!!

If I Had a Super Power

No second thoughts. Teleporting. It's a no-brainer. It's the queen of superpowers. There's so many times when I'm trying to get from one side of town to the other and I often think, "If only I could teleport!" (I truly do think that at least once a week.) I don't necessarily mind the traffic. The boro doesn't have THAT much traffic, but about 50% of the time I'm late for something. Most of the time I'm trying to get to the Y for Zumba or weight-lifting classes, and I waited until the .very. .last. .minute. to wake up someone from a nap.

And whoever it is is one grumpy pot.

It's about a 15-20 minute drive to the Y from my house. I don't like driving with some grumpy pot(s) in the back seat.

Another time teleporting would come in handy would be for school. The kids & I would have school EVERY day in Hawaii. How awesome would that be? Learn about Africa? Well, let's just go on a safari this afternoon after Addie's nap. OK, kids, just one more time through Splash Mountain (oh, yes, teleporting to the beginning of lines and even avoiding park admission fees).

HP & I have been kicking around different places to go for our 10y anniversary coming up. We could go to Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, Grand Cayman, AND Vegas. Not only would we save money on traveling TO the destination, but we could sleep in our own bed at night. No bags to (un)pack.

Yes, if I had a superpower, I would choose Teleporting. Just think of the wondrous possibilities.

Thursdays are the best

Thursdays are my kick-off day to the weekend, to family fun times, to the occasional mommy-time, to doing things out of the ordinary. Thursdays are filled with optimism, a look toward the future. Hope.

Which leads me to question . . . are the preceding days of the week filled with despair? Condemnation?

No. I joke with HP that most of the time, on most days, I know I am exactly where God has me to be. I liken it to a feeling of 'bliss.'

But, let's not kid ourselves, being a SAHM isn't exactly the lavish lifestyle of the rich & famous. There's whining, diapering, cooking, cleaning (though I don't get to this one as often as I'd like), instructing, encouraging, & the inevitable fighting to handle.

Yet, helping to shape 3 of the people in the next generation brings me great joy, great consideration, great confusion, great frustration, and great satisfaction.

What I hope to share in this newly revived blog is my struggles, triumphs, cares, laughs, & my world.

And with that, my blog has begun anew. Welcome.