{ Happy 17th Birthday Nicholas }

It's hard to wrap my mind around that. 17. My baby boy. 17. How?

My heart is full, and happy and sad at the same time. It's all a huge roller coaster of emotions, but as sad as I may feel that my last baby is no longer a little boy, I am also enormously thankful to God and blessed beyond measure.

Nick is hilarious, he is so frigging smart that he continuously amazes me (definitely takes after his dad in that department lol), and yet he is still a mama's boy. He is now 6ft 2 inches tall, completely towers over me, is finishing up 11th grade, still into video games, interested in Game Design and is not only drawing and creating characters on his computer but animating them too.

I am constantly in awe of him and his sister, I clearly hit the jackpot with the children God bestowed upon me.

Happy Birthday Nick. My wish for you is that you continue to thrive and grow, continue being the sweet kind heart that you are, and continue making us laugh until our sides heart with your quirky and quick witted sense of humor.

Jasmine and I made his cake.  We basically raided the pantry and used what we could find.  It turned out to be one of the cutest birthday cakes I've made.

The cake itself is a white cake that I added sprinkles to in the batter.  The filling is a chocolate mousse and the frosting is whipped cream.  We made the little banner using wooden skewers and cupcake liners.

Had so much fun baking with my girl and coming up with this cake for Nick's special day.  I have always made their birthday cakes, from their very first birthday and all through the years.  I don't have anything against store bought, but it's a tradition I've stuck with and my kids wouldn't have it any other way.

{ Rainy Days and Birthdays }

Good morning everyone, it is quite early here, only 6:45am but since I had some time, I thought I would come in for a little chat.

You know the other day I was looking back through my blog, something I do quite often, and I enjoyed it so much.  All the memories, the stories, the good and the bad times, all of it recorded here on this little blog.  Then I started thinking that as life has changed, as kids have grown, as we've moved around from State to State, I seem to have slowed down tremendously on the updating.

I keep telling myself it's fine, it's normal, it's the crazy busy life I live at the moment, but on the other hand it saddens me because I feel there are so many things happening that I *SHOULD* be recording for later, and I'm not doing it.

It's a daily struggle, really.

Anyway, the past two weeks have been extra busy with school tests and birthdays and family gatherings etc.

My gorgeous daughter turned 17.  Yep, 17 years old.  I don't even know how that happened, it feels like it was overnight.  Do you remember when she was a little girl starting kindergarten?
 

I actually want to cry when I look at that picture.  I miss my little girl, I miss her needing me constantly, and I miss being able to just pick her up and cradle her in my lap. 

She is still sweet, she is still loving, she still hugs me and tells me she loves me, just the other night she actually woke me up around midnight with a text message that simply said "I love you mama".

That's all, just I love you mama and a heart, she wanted to tell me before she fell asleep. 

By the way, she is doing so much better after being to the doctor.  I was reluctant to start her on medication, I wanted to try everything possible before going down that route, but I have to tell you that the change in her is amazing.  She is well rested, she is smiling, she is up early every morning, she is out of her room and interacting with the family.  There is a glow about her that I hadn't seen in a very long time.

Thank you all so very much, for the prayers and words of encouragement, they got me through some of my darkest moments.

So yes, 17 years old, one more year and she is done with school, going to college and moving out on her own.  Oh boy, I am going to struggle through that I'm sure.

The rain has been coming down lately, and sometimes it feels non stop, which is normal for this time of the year. 

While I love a good thunderstorm, the fact that the storms here are so severe at times, and could produce tornadoes, is enough to keep me on my toes anytime one rolls around.  I guess it's something I will just have to get used to, right?

As the rain has been pelting down, I'm noticing a lot of mushrooms popping up all over the yard.  I wouldn't dare touch any of them as I don't know what is poisonous or not, but they do make for some pretty pictures.

The ones above make me think of a forest and I can almost envision some fairies living under them. 

There's something about rain, about the way the drops hang from the blades of grass, or trickle down a tree branch.  Or the sound it makes on the roof, even the thunder and lightning for me is therapeutic.  Now if I could just have all that without the tornadoes, that would be great  hahah

Alright, I have housework to do and I also want to quickly watch my Portuguese soap, so I better get this post finished off.

Oh and I do plan on getting my food blog up and running again, I'm so sorry that I've slacked on it, but the more I think about it, the more I realize that I miss having my recipes right there when I'm making a new menu plan or just looking for a family favorite to make.  I need to remedy that.

Have a wonderful Tuesday everyone, leaving you with tons of blessings :)

Glad to see the week come to an end

There are weeks that go by at a snail's pace, and then there are those that seem to whiz by, surrounding us with so much busyness that we can't help but breathe a sigh of relief when they come to an end.

This was one of those.

Last Sunday was quite an interesting one. It started off with some time outside as a family, everyone was throwing around foam airplanes, laughing, the dogs were running around and we enjoyed the wonderful weather.

Watched these big buzzards flying right above us.....

And there was even some kite flying.  The weather was perfect for that, quite a bit of wind and everyone had a great time watching this gorgeous kite fluttering about.

But very quickly the weather changed, dark purple clouds took over the sky and next thing we knew the skies lit up with bright lightning.

In the picture below you can actually see a lightning bolt on the bottom left. 

It didn't stop, the lightning intensified and it was almost like camera flashes continually going.  I've never in my life witnessed anything like that.  Within about an hour we were getting weather alerts and at about 9pm we had an emergency alert about a tornado and advising us to seek shelter.

Thankfully we have a storm shelter underneath the house, the problem is that it is not yet ready, the air is very stagnant and though we were lucky enough not to have endured any tornadoes, my brother and I had a really bad allergy attack.

I don't have asthma and wouldn't even begin to know what it is like, but my throat started closing up, I couldn't breathe, I was coughing constantly and my lungs were making this weird whizzing sound.  I took some allergy meds and was able to feel better, but my word did that scare me.

And so my week began......

Monday started with my boy's birthday.  He turned 13, can you believe that?  Thirteen years old, no longer a little boy, but a teenager.  I'm frankly having a hard time lately, I try not to let it bother me too much but there are moments that the emotions seem to almost choke me and I try everything within my power not to cry.  It's so hard being a mom, so incredibly hard.

It's so hard to see just how big he has grown.  Ugh!!!

Anyway.....aside from his birthday on Monday, we also had end of year testing, driving back and forth for 3 days, kids stressed, parents stressed, spending way too much time in the car and feeling like I got absolutely nothing accomplished on the home front.

I'm a creature of habit, I like being a homemaker and working around the house, making dinner and cleaning and so forth.  When I'm not home for a few days, I feel like everything just gets left behind and I honestly don't feel right.  It's almost like something is missing.

Today was the first day that I had nowhere to go and could get back to my usual routine.

My day started with a beautiful sunset, but not before the dense fog made it's way through.  I couldn't believe how foggy it was, but I must admit that I've always loved foggy mornings, there's something almost magical about it.

A quick shower and some comfy clothes on, and I got straight to work.  Laundry was caught up, ironing piles were ironed, beds were made, bedrooms cleaned, carpets vacuumed and cleaned and I even got started on some window cleaning.

It felt so incredibly good to be back to my normal routine and to feel like my house was clean and tidy and back on track.

Worked on some homeschooling too, trying to get the kids caught up because with 3 days of testing they end up not having much time for their normal classes. 

Thankfully, school is over May 18th, so a little over 4 weeks, thank the Lord.  Gets to this time of the year and I think we are all just ready for it to be over.

I was doing so well posting daily and then this week just threw a huge wrench in my path, so I'm looking forward to getting back on track.  :)

For now though, I'm going to finish up this post, catch up on some shows and then probably get some sleep.  We went to bed way too late last night and that 5:45am alarm came way too soon.

I hope you've all had a good week and are looking forward to your weekend.  Anyone doing anything fun???

Planning a birthday party?

Let's talk kids birthdays and parties etc. If you're anything like us, a few months before the birthdays, we start planning, we start figuring out if we're going big or small, if we're having a party for all their friends or just a few or if we're doing it at home or at a venue.

No matter where we do ours we always need the supplies and they can get pretty expensive at times. Now the reason I'm bringing this up is because both Jasmine and Nicholas have their birthdays in April, two weeks apart to be exact, but they're in completely different age groups and with completely different tastes when it comes to the themes etc.

One place I've found that I'm able to get everything I want and even let the kids sit and help me pick, is Birthday Express. It's hard sometimes to find all the birthday party supplies in one place AND of whatever kind the kids want.

Nicholas LOVES LOVES LOVES Super Mario, he is just completely obsessed with it and has been begging me for a theme party using Super Mario Bros.. But honestly, let's face it, it's not something that I can find that easily, so when I found the birthday party supplies at Birthday Express today I was SO excited, I can't wait to show him.

How cool is this?

He is going to be over the moon.

Now Jasmine, well she's going to be ten and her mind changes every single day about what she likes and doesn't like, so there's a few options for her. I like the fact that you can mix and match the birthday party supplies.....you can even buy the favor packets and extras etc.

She LOVES dogs though, so I'm thinking this one may be an option:

I think when the kids get home, I'll sit down with them and look through Birthday Express some more and see what we can come up with....it makes party planning so much more enjoyable.

Happy Birthday Colby!

Today is my little nephew's birthday, this sweet little boy who looks so much like Nicholas, who made us laugh and who was also the naughtiest little thing ever LOL

I loved watching him with Nicholas, they became instant friends and did the craziest things together, but Nicholas wasn't the only one he clung to. The minute he met Uncle Curtis, that was it. This instant love and respect, this instant bond that was beyond anything that we all could have imagined....to the point where when we left South Africa in May, we all sat in tears as we watched Curt and Colby hugging goodbye, it was the saddest most heart touching moment from our visit there.

Even when we were out to eat, Colby was draped all over Curt LOL


So Colby, we want to wish you a very Happy Birthday and we want you to know that we can not wait to see you next year. Your Uncle Curtis misses you terribly and he wants you to know that he loves you and can't wait to see you again.

Hope you have an amazing day, we wish we could be there with you but we definitely are in tought.

We love you little one!

Happy Birthday Tiffany!

I love my nieces and nephews to death and it's always so hard being away during their birthdays and other milestones.

This little girl has a special place in my heart, she was the first baby in the family and she was also like a daughter to me, while my brother and sister in law were working, Tiffany stayed with me and it was heartbreaking the day I left South Africa. It literally felt like I was leaving my own child behind.

Tiffany, I love you more than words could ever say and I only wish I could be there for your birthday, to give you a big hug and kiss and tell you just how proud I am of the beautiful young lady you've become.


I hope you have an amazing day and that you get everything that you've ever wished for and more.

Happy Birthday Honey!

Happy Birthday Taryn-Lee!

My beautiful niece is celebrating a birthday today.... how cute is she?

I only wish I could be there with her today, but I can't, only in thought and spirit and that will have to do until I can hug her again next year.

Taryn-Lee, we hope you have an amazing birthday and that you get everything that you ever wished for.

We love you baby girl!


One of my favorite pics taken in the car at the Kruger National Park....they loved playing together and became instant friends. Nicholas and Taryn-Lee. :)