My birthday

I had a great time celebrating my birthday this week with my little family--Q and A. They kept everything a secret, so it was fun anticipating what was next. First, they took me to The Egg and I, one of my all-time favorite restaurants that we don't go to very often. It is becoming a birthday tradition for me.

Next, they took me to the Crocs store in Boulder to pick out a new pair of shoes. With all of their new styles, I was excited to see what I could get. I chose a pair of their wrapped Mary Janes. They are so comfy and cute!

Then, we went to Ben and Jerry's for some ice cream. Of course, it was chocolate, but I also tried a sampling of a flavor called, Late Night Snack. You have to try it because it is so different. If you like sweet and salty combos, this ice cream is for you. I don't know if I'd try it again as the chocolate-covered potato chips left a weird after taste in my mouth!;)

We also went to a bookstore and had fun looking at so many books. I was glad that they were able to take me out a little early on my birthday. Fridays are busy because I take A to her biological family visits an hour away. But, I managed to still enjoy my birthday yesterday by doing a few fun things by myself, and later with A.

I had lunch with Q at Noodles and Company, another favorite spot. Then during my alone time, I went to Starbuck's for my free birthday drink!

I know the color looks weird, but trust me, it is good. It's a green tea frap with a shot of raspberry--yum!

After A's visit, I picked her up and headed to Johnson's Corner for dinner and dessert.

Because it was an early dinner, we weren't too hungry. We did manage to eat part of a burger, a few fries and onion rings.

I usually don't eat onion rings, so I told A I was going to try one. She said I should dip it in ketchup, so I did. It wasn't too bad. I thought it would make a great picture, so I held my onion ring in front of the camera. As I did, she held hers up. After taking the photo she said, "My onion ring smiled." (Do you see it smiling, too?) :)

I told Q before our fun outing that I thought it would be neat if our waitress could put a birthday candle on a cinnamon roll for me. He said it would be hilarious, so I knew I had to ask. Sure enough, the waitress said, "Ya, we've done that before." Before long, several of the employees came out with my birthday roll and sang to me. It was so funny!

You've gotta see a close up of these "world-famous" cinnamon rolls.....

We ate a few bites, and packed the rest up (along with the rest of our meal and a roll for Q). We knew we could enjoy this scrumptious roll the next day, too.

After all that eating out, I feel like I gained a few pounds. But it's okay, cuz' birthdays come once a year, and this one was a good one to remember. :)

Mother's Day cupcakes

When I saw these gorgeous flower cupcakes at Raising Homemakers, I knew this would be the perfect thing to do for all of the moms at church (click here for a complete tutorial). They are called "mum-cakes" as they resemble mums.

A and I worked in two different segments (taking a break in between to spend time at the library) to make these beauties. We spent three hours on twenty-one cupcakes, and that doesn't include the baking time. I used a cake mix (which I rarely do) to speed up the time. I also made a quick and simple batch of buttercream frosting, but this can also be purchased to help save time. The end result was astonishing! I was so glad that A really stuck with it and had lots of fun helping me put these together.

Take a look....

The petals are made out of mini marshmallows that are cut in half and dipped in colored sugar. This is the most time-consuming part of it, so grab a friend or your kiddos and have fun doing this.:) The frosting acts like the glue as you put the petals on working from the outside in. And just a note about that....you might want to frost a handful at a time as the frosting hardens as it sits out.

Most of the cupcakes were a solid color, but as we were getting close to the end, we made a few that had a few colors in them. They still looked so pretty!

All of the moms enjoyed their special cupcake after church. I even got to enjoy one later as A let me know that I could get one too because I was a mom (so cute!).

These cupcakes could be used for any spring or summer celebration. Just make sure you plan ahead and know that these will take a while. The end result is worth it!:)

A Mother for Choco

I recently read a book I came across in the children's section at the library. It's called A Mother for Choco and it tells the story of a bird who is looking for a mother. He finds one named Mrs. Bear and they do all sorts of things together. At the end of the story, we find out that Mrs. Bear has taken in other children as her own. She has become their mother.

This book tugged on my heart a bit because of the life-stage I am in. As we have had a few children in our home through foster care, I can see myself as Mrs. Bear. I am taking care of them, having fun with them and nurturing them. Big Brother and Little Brother did see me as Mom but went home to their real mother after a short time. That time hurt so badly, and now a few months later, I still think of them as my kids and it hurts.

Then, almost two months ago, A came to be with us. She knows her real mother and sees her once a week. She sometimes calls me "Mommy Q", a name she made up for me a while back, but knows that I'm not her real mom. It's been a hard couple of weeks as she has been confused with the situation. Inside my heart, I know I'm a mom but sometimes don't think that I am (sometimes because of others' perceptions). Foster parents and other caregivers out there are moms and dads and love and take care of the children placed in their care.

So, yesterday was a day of mixed emotions for me. I wasn't sure if I should stand up when the mothers were acknowledged at church and given a flower. The little girl who we love so dearly already may not see me as her mom (and that's okay), but she did acknowledge this weekend that I was a mom. I got a few awesome notes from family that encouraged my heart. We had a good family day. We went out for lunch with a dear lady from church. We went to the lake and went fishing. We came back home and grilled hot dogs for dinner. Then A went to sleep.

I don't want to sound selfish or anything, but I wished for more. I wanted what lots of mothers get on this special day....the cards, flowers, chocolates, gifts, the acknowledgment on a more personal level. It sounds really weird, but perhaps when a child calls me "Mom" or when we've made it official by adopting it will be that. I am thankful to those who encouraged me and said I really was a mom to A. Like I said before...I know I'm a mom, but because of our unique situation, don't always feel like it.

So, why write all this after Mother's Day? Well, because it's still on my heart, and if you think of it, could use your prayers right now. And, I also wanted to encourage you to thank and acknowledge caregivers, foster parents, legal guardians, etc. on days like this. There are many of us who wish we could have biological children, but are going through the process of adoption. There are some, too, that give and give and give to children year after year unselfishly in different capacities. They are all parents, too.

I hope I didn't sound too weird, selfish, harsh, or anything. I know that Mother's Day is a sensitive topic to many women out there, too, for different reasons. I just hope by writing this I can be an encouragement, ask for prayer, and bring awareness to those who are not the "typical" mom or dad. We all love to be acknowledged, praised and awarded, don't we?:)

If you get a chance, read A Mother for Choco. It is such a cute and awesome story for kids of all ages.

Happy Mother's Day!

Just wanted to wish all you moms out there a very happy mother's day. But--there is one mom who I'd like to brag on a bit, and that is my own mother, Debbie. She is one special lady and I'm so thankful for her. When I think of my mom, the virtuous woman from Proverbs 31 woman comes to mind. She works willingly with her hands to take care of others before herself. She's very creative, loving and selfless. I hope I can be that kind of mom some day.

When I was a teenager, I wrote lots of poetry. I went through my file to find a poem that I wrote to my mom years ago. I'd like to share it with you all...

A Friend Waiting for Me (please do not reprint without permission)

At home,

There is a friend waiting for me,

Someone with a heart

Full of sweet charity.

There at home, in the kitchen

Is a friend waiting for me,

Someone with a heart

Full of sweet melody.

There in the kitchen, sitting in the chair

Is a friend waiting for me,

Someone with a heart

Full of sweet mercy.

There sitting in the chair is my mother,

A friend who has been waiting for me,

For a long time she has been there

Waiting to hear what my question would be.

Then with a shaky voice

I reply, "Mother, what shall I do?"

She answers in a small voice,

"Do what the Lord would want you to do."

She then shows me from the Word of God

The answer to my problem,

She reads the verses one by one

In a voice of peaceful solemn.

A moment later

She embraces me with her sweet charity,

As many tears

Run down my cheeks.

Anytime I need someone,

I can clearly see,

There is someone at home, in the kitchen,

Sitting in the chair,

My mother; a friend waiting for me.

May 11, 1990

Thank you, Mom, for your continued love and support all of these years. We love you!:)

Baby clothes valance

Here's a cute and creative idea that I've been meaning to post for a while. I forgot about it until I was looking through my pictures and realized I hadn't shared it yet. A few weeks ago, my sister-in-law, Abigail, and daughter, Annalina, were in Colorado house hunting. We drove about an hour to meet them. We enjoyed looking at the homes and giving feedback as well.

One of the homes had the cutest valance in their laundry room. Abigail pointed it out to me, and I took a picture of it. The owner used baby clothes and put them through a curtain rod. What a neat way to remember your favorites and the little ones who wore them. This would also work with toddler clothes, too.

I love it--how about you?:)

Gardening story time

My story time for last month was so much fun. It was neat to read stories and do activities about gardening. Here's what I did...

After singing our "Hello Time" song, I pulled out a puppet that starts off as a caterpillar and ends up as a butterfly (you just turn it inside-out!:). I read the following poem while I held my cute critter:

Little Caterpillar

There was a little caterpillar crawling all about

He worked and he worked without a doubt,

Wrapping himself in a snug cocoon.

Waiting and waiting, will it be soon?

Look, he's coming out, my oh my!

For now he's become a beautiful butterfly.

The first book I read was called Tops and Bottoms, by Janet Stevens. It is a humorous story with a great lesson: "If you want to eat, you've got to work." It's also a Biblical principal to teach to kids. We shared it with A after we read this same book to her.

The next thing I did was share another poem called, "The Rain."

The Rain

Pitter-patter, raindrops,

Falling from the sky;

Here is my umbrella,

To keep me safe and dry.

When the rain is over,

And the sun begins to glow,

Little flowers start to bud,

And grow and grow and grow!

The next book I read was called, Growing Vegetable Soup, by Lois Ehlert. The story begins with a family planting the seeds, then harvesting it, then finally, putting all of the vegetables in a pot to make soup.

I made a game called Veggie Soup Letter Match. Using some felt and letter stickers, this activity was easy to put together. The kids had to match a lowercase letter to its uppercase letter. When they figured it out, they placed the veggies in a pot. When we were all done, I had a few kids take turns stirring our vegetable soup.

The last book I read was called, The Carrot Seed, by Ruth Krauss. We all enjoyed this classic story of a boy who believed his carrot seed could really grow when others around him didn't think so.

The librarians had a pot with a fabric carrot inside. It was covered with a piece of brown cloth to represent soil. They let me use this to retell the story with the kids. I used a real carrot seed and let them see that up close, too.

At the end of the story time, we sang "The Good-bye" song together. We had a ton of fun and can't wait until this month's story time, which I'm currently working on.

Stay tuned for our final story time of the year. You won't want to miss this one! :)

Sweet, Sweet Spirit

A and I were invited to a spring banquet at another church this past Friday night. The theme was "Sweet, Sweet Spirit." As soon as we walked in, we noticed all of the colorful decorations everywhere. The ladies who decorated used the game, Candyland, as their source of inspiration. I was really impressed with it all, so I had to share it with you. You might be able to use these ideas for your next ladies banquet or a birthday party!

After we found a table to sit at, the first thing we noticed were the goodies at our place setting.

Circus animal cookies, M&M's, gum, bottled water, and a pencil (which was used for a couple of "candy" word games) were placed on top of a polka dot napkin. Each table also had a different colored table cloth. Candyland is all about colors, and this was just the beginning of it!

I really liked these neat place cards that were placed at each setting.

The program was placed inside our beautiful stemware.

The centerpiece held our dessert--sweet and colorful cupcakes. Not only did they look good, but they were scrumptious as well.

These giant pieces of candy hung over our tables. With some paper plates, construction paper, tissue paper and cellophane, these could be put together easily.

Colored construction paper lined the walls to make it look like the game board.

I loved these big game board pieces. They were close to three feet tall. Here's a close up of one of them...

Pretty cute, huh?

This is the first bulletin board which says the title of the banquet with colorful dots around it. A Candyland game board sits on the drink table underneath it.

The second bulletin board quoted the theme verse for the evening. The speaker spoke on bitterness, which is the opposite of having a sweet spirit. It was both a convicting and encouraging message. We had a super time with all of the girls and ladies there and hope to go again next year.:)