then & now

A friend left a comment about my being glad that the kids are becoming more independent, but at the same time missing their being little kids. She's SO right! My kids (I'm sure all parents would say the same about their kids, too) were ADORABLE little kids!!!!! They were cute to look at, fun to watch, hilarious to listen to :-) Every stage they grow through is an exciting new adventure, but nothing compares to the first few years when they're all cuddly and "squishy."










I attempted a new creation (for me) in the kitchen yesterday, and I'm calling it mostly a success. Joel wanted an ice cream cake for his birthday, so I bought one from Baskin Robbins. That was a one-time deal, though, because those suckers are EXPENSIVE!!! I thought to myself, "How hard can those things be to make really?" So I made one yesterday. It really wasn't hard at all, at least with my lazy "i don't like to spend any more time in the kitchen than necessary" techniques :-) I learned valuable lessons from that practice run-through. Now Makenzie's birthday ice cream cake should be perfect. HA -- that's just a joke. My cooking/baking is NEVER perfect! But it should at least be acceptable. The taste-testers all voted that my ice cream cake was even better than Baskin Robbins, so taste isn't the issue. It's the looks of the thing that I need to refine a little bit. I had to walk on the treadmill tonight to burn off a few of the calories from eating the practice cake today!

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today's song: "It's Your Life" by Francesca Battistelli
Every day, the choices you make
say what you are
and who your heart beats for.