{ Happy Birthday Jasmine - The big 20 }

Y'all!!!!  I have a twenty year old, a TWENTY.YEAR.OLD!!!

I just can't even wrap my brain around that. 

My baby, the little girl that made me a mama, my feisty red head, my mini me, turns 20 years old today. 

She is working, she is growing up, she is a woman, and I'm sitting here just wondering where on earth time went.

Our daughter has gone through a lot, but she's managed to come out on top, pushed through the obstacles, the heart aches, failed relationships and a tough battle with depression and anxiety.

She is absolutely glowing, loving life, full of ideas for the future and just basically enjoying every minute of growing into an adult.

As parents, we sit back and watch and try to guide, which isn't always easy but watching your children grown from little ones to full grown adults with a life of their own, is insane.  I'll leave it at that. 

So today, as she turns 20, my wish for her is that when the hard moments in life come knocking at her door, that she will continue to have the strength, wisdom, morals and values to guide her through and come out shining on the other side.  The world is at her feet, and it can be scary at times, but beneath the sweet and tiny little body, is a fierce, strong, driven young woman and whatever she sets her heart to, I know she will achieve.

Happy Birthday my babe, I love you and I'm so proud of everything you've accomplished until now. 

{ Happy 18th Birthday to my beautiful daughter }

18 years ago, this beautiful red haired angel was placed in my arms , after a bit of a complicated labor and birth. In that instant my life changed!!!!

The time has flown so fast, it feels like just yesterday I was rocking her to sleep.  She's reached so many milestones in the past 18 years.....

Her first step
Her first word
Her first day of school
Turning 13 and becoming a teen
Turning 16 and well on her way to being a woman
and now this....turning 18 years old, becoming an adult and about to go out and face the world.

I remember how it felt, I was counting down the days until I turned 18.  I wanted to be an adult, to make my own decisions, to not have to answer to anyone or be told where to go, what to do and so forth.  The world was this big bright empty canvas and I was standing there holding a palette of beautiful colors and a paintbrush, just waiting to go out and add my own touch to the world.

I sit and watch this milestone and the first thing that comes to my mind is that I'm incredibly blessed and lucky, to have been allowed to be her mother, and to be have been allowed to watch her grow over the past 18 years.  Some aren't as lucky and so I count my blessings and thank the Lord every single day for that.

As I go into this new Chapter with her, things have shifted.  I'm not longer a mother to teenagers or kids, I'm a mother to one teenager and an adult.  Strange feeling that is!!!

I'm happy, so happy for her but I would be lying if I didn't say that my heart is breaking, because I know that this is the beginning, this is the very first day of the next step which will be her leaving us.  

She is beyond excited but a little weary, she has waited so long to be an adult but she also knows all that it entails and a part of her wants to hold on to the childhood years.  She is eager for the next step, moving out, working, going to college, making a life with the man she loves.


I'm not sad because I am worrying, or scared for her, because truth is, as fragile and sensitive and emotional as she is, she also is extremely strong and determined, and I know that no matter what she encounters she will flourish and succeed.


We've definitely had our ups and downs, mostly ups thankfully, but we also have an amazing bond, one that I hope will continue for the rest of our lives. 

This past year my beautiful girl has had to grow up fast, she's had to face demons within, and dad and I have had to step back and face the truth that we can't always be the answer, that some things are out of our control or understanding and can't be fixed by us as her parents.   It's been hard, but it's also been one of the proudest moments for me as a mother.

Jasmine is drop dead gorgeous, bubbly, energetic, funny, a firecracker, she's strong, a survivor, incredible, sweet and brave and even a pain in the behind at times.  She's everything you could want and wish for in a daughter, and more. 

So today, as she turns 18, I want her to know that my wish for her is that she continues to love the Lord, that she develops a strong relationship with Him and places Him first in her life, I wish for her all the blessings that you can imagine and then some, I wish for her and Nick to continue being the beautiful, loving, respectful couple that they are to each other, I wish that everything she wants and desire, be hers.....and most of all I wish that when the hard moments in life come knocking at her door, that she will continue to have the strength, wisdom, morals and values to guide her through and come out shining on the other side.

I love you more than I could ever put into words Jasmine. The world is yours baby girl, go out there and conquer it, but always know that if you need and want, mommy's arms are wide open waiting to catch you and hug you and help you get back on your feet.

Happy Birthday my babe, I love you!!!!

{ Jasmine's 18th Birthday Get Together }

She's not officially 18 until Tuesday the 25th, but when you have family all over the place, and her birthday falls on a week day, it's easier to throw a get together the weekend before, or after, whichever works for the family.

I had planned on doing it next weekend but my mother in law is currently going through chemotherapy treatments for breast cancer, and she couldn't make it next week as she is having one of the treatments on Thursday.  So we switched it all up to this Saturday, in order to accommodate her and allow her to be here for this special birthday.

Friends, I am a total mess at the moment.  I'm ready to cry at the drop of a hat, I'm struggling with her growing up and I don't quite know what to do with myself.

Anyway, I wanted to show you a few pictures from her get together, it wasn't anything big, she didn't want anything more than just a cake and the closest family members around, so it was perfect.

First and foremost, may I introduce you to mini me?

Holy smokes she really is a carbon copy of me, especially at her age.  It's crazy.

Now I will have another post up on her actual birthday and it's going to be a really hard one for me to write because my emotions around this big birthday are all over the place.  That's for another time, let me just show you some pics.

I will never have smooth cakes, like never.  I'm determined to continue using and dabbling with fondant but the smooth thing?  Not gonna happen LOL

I guess it's a little mirror of my life, full of wrinkles and bumps but beautiful none the less :)

I kept it very simple, just little flowers but she lovesssss feathers and I had some decorative ones laying around so just popped them on the bottom.

Now here's the all elusive Nick.  This 14 year old boy hates photos and at this point in life pretty much hates social interaction of any kind, so to have him do this was quite unexpected and hilarious LOL

He adores his sister though so he did it for her :)

This is my Jasmine, everything in these pictures capture her essence, and who she is.

Bubbly, fun, colorful, all over the place, living life freely and to the fullest.

What these pictures don't show you is the constant struggle inside, the depression and the anxiety, the over emotional, doubting, questioning turmoil she faces on a daily basis.  But she fights it and she pushes through and she is determined to not let that define who she is.  I'm so proud of her!!!

I have to laugh when I see this picture because this is our life on a daily basis, her expression cracks me up.

Father and daughter, they've had quite a tumultuous relationship.  I think they are very much alike and she reminds him a lot of how he was at her age, which terrifies him lol

They've been doing a lot better the past year, they seem to finally have clicked and even though there's still a little clash once in a while, for the most part they are getting along fine.  It all boils down to her growing up and dad not being ready for that.

Grandpa Ken and Grandma Pat.  How fun are these grandparents?  Hahahah 

I'm so proud of my mother in law, she is battling breast cancer for the second time around, and she's doing wonderfully under the circumstances, I think a big part of it is her unwavering faith.

But yes, we are so thrilled and thankful that she is able to still come to these get togethers :)



Aunt Nita, she is the sweetest lady ever.  We were so happy that she was able to be here with us and smile and laugh.  If you remember, she just lost Uncle Mike a few weeks ago, so to see her smiling means a lot :)

Here's cousin Cindy, Jasmine loves her to death and vice versa.  :)

And we all love this lady hahaha  This is Aunt Carol, my mother in law's sister and Cindy's mother.  She is such a fun person to be around, the kids all love her and we do too.  If you want to enjoy a good card game, she's the person to go to :)

My babies.  Oh my word, they make my heart so proud.  Can you believe she's the big sister? hahahah

They adore each other but can fight like cat and dog.  There are days that it seems the minute they wake up they are at each other's throats, but when it comes down to it, they defend each other, and protect one another and are always together when they can :)

My nephew Colby hahaha  Let me tell you something, when he and Jasmine get together, they're trouble with a capital T.  These two have such a cute bond, they make us laugh so much with their craziness.  Trying to get a serious photo out of them is near impossible.

My brother Miguel and my sister in law Hayley.  If you remember, a while back I told you they moved down to Texas to be near us.  I'm so beyond happy and blessed to have them nearby,  I don't know what my life would be without them.  I have actually been friends with my sister in law for almost 30 years, it's insane, I don't think of her as anything other than my sister :)

I have to share this picture because my daughter wants to move out in a few months and all she's asked for her birthday was things for the home.

I never thought I would be at this stage in my life hahaha  I'm not ready for this at all, and it's so strange seeing her excited about house stuff, but it makes me smile, she's definitely her mama's child all excited about kitchen utensils hahah

So there you go, just a peek at our get together, like I said above, I will have a different post up on Tuesday on her actual birthday.

Right, I'm going to go have a cup of coffee and check on my chicken that is roasting in the oven.  I have been cleaning all day long, first to get things back on track from the party, but I also did all the laundry, cleaned the washer and dryer and the laundry room itself, mopped and swept, cleaned the bathrooms and the turtle tank. 

Now, I'm finally going to sit and rest for a bit before I have to get dinner finished and the table set and dishes washed and all that fun stuff.

I hope you're all having a fantastic weekend.  Hope to see you back for Happy Homemaker Monday in the morning :)

Sweet Sixteen!

Let's see if I can get through this post without shedding a couple of tears.

My friends, it's finally here, my daughter turns 16 today and I am feeling extremely emotional.  This beautiful little red head that was placed in my arms and made me a mother for the first time, is now this gorgeous independent, self assured 16 year old young woman and I don't quite know how to handle that.

Proud doesn't even come close to what I feel for this child.

She hasn't always been the easiest to raise, truth be told, her strong personality and her stubbornness are traits which I admire but also detest at times.  She's a handful to be sure.

But, she is also the sweetest and kindest, and funniest, loving, honest, trustworthy, big hearted, sensitive girl I've ever come across and I couldn't have asked for a better daughter.

 

16 is a huge milestone, it's that big step towards womanhood, it opens up a whole new set of responsibilities and gets her one step closer to graduating and being out of the house.

As a mom I want to hold on to her for the rest of my life, I don't want to let her go, I want to continue picking her up when she falls, cradling her in my arms or rocking her to sleep when she's not feeling well.

I kept thinking that I wouldn't be able to do that anymore now that she's a young lady, but truth is, I can, it is just different in the way I am there for her.  

I've sat with her when she was hurting, I've held her in my arms when she had a fight with her boyfriend, I've nursed her back to health when she wasn't feeling well, I've helped her with school work, I've talked to her for hours about everything and anything, we've shared laughs, and she's held me up when I'm down.

I know some moms cringe at the word friend and believe you should never be your children's friend, only their mom.  I happen to believe the opposite, I don't think you need to not be their friend to be a good mother.  Thankfully I am both to this gorgeous girl and I wouldn't have it any other way.

 

So, here we are, 16 years old, with the whole world before her and I am so happy that I get a front row seat to watch it all unfold.

For now though, I'm going to sit and cry a little because I can't believe she's actually this old.

Happy Birthday Jasmine, I love you with every fiber of my being and I'm so proud of the young woman you've become.  :)

{ Birthday Girl }

11 years ago I was embarking on one of the most important, happiest, stressful, scariest, heart wrenching journeys of my life.

I was a young girl, a newly married wife, and a woman about to become a mother for the first time.

I clearly remember the day Jasmine was born, it will forever be ingrained in my mind, not only for the tough birth but because it changed everything, it changed ME, it changed US!

She is beautiful.....

She is funny....

She is all about keeping in touch with her friends.....even those she hasn't seen in years.

She's growing into a stunning teenage girl, it pulls at my heartstrings...

If only there was a way to describe how much we adore this child, if only she knew what she meant to us....

She loves her brother, and yes they fight but she would go to the ends of the earth to protect him and him her. I love that about them.

She's quirky and naughty and silly and emotional at times....

She's daddy's girl, he's wrapped around her little finger and she knows it. Look at her expression....

She's everything to me, my little baby girl turning into a woman, making me smile, making me proud and making me cringe at the thought of her growing up so fast....

We love these children and we sometimes find ourselves doing the silliest of things to bring a smile to their faces....

It's all about them.....

But today was all about her. I hope she continues to thrive and continues to show off her independent and carefree personality. She has the world at her fingertips and we have no doubt that she will go far.....

But for tonight, she's still our baby girl and until the clock strikes midnight, NO ONE can say otherwise.

Happy Birthday Jasmine!

10 years old today.....10 years old. It feels weird even saying it, I can't believe my baby girl is entering the Tween age when it seems like just yesterday I was watching her take her first steps, seeing her smile and flashing her first teeth.

Now, she is an absolutely gorgeous red head with a killer smile and the biggest heart. She's everything we could have ever wished for and more and there isn't a day that goes by that I don't sit back and marvel at the wonderful young lady she is becoming.

It makes me proud and it also saddens me to know that she's growing up so fast, I want her to stay little so that I can protect her and shelter her from the world, but we know that is not going to happen.

It's been such a blessing being her parents, she makes us laugh until our sides hurt and there's also times she pushes our buttons until we can't take it anymore, but through it all she's been the best daughter.

We love watching her grow, watching her become independent and change from a little girl into a young lady.

A whole new chapter is beginning for her AND for us and we can't wait to go down this path with her.

Happy Birthday baby girl, we love you so very much and wish nothing but the best of the best for you.

I bring photos....

One of my favorite things to do is look through photo albums, which is something I can tell you I will be immersing myself in back home in South Africa.

As a matter of fact, there is a certain plastic bag filled with all of my great grandmother's photos (circa 1900) that I would just love to get my hands on.....no one touches them, my brother's could care less about old photographs because they're boys after all LOL But me, I would treasure them and I would scan them and post them for you and place them into beautiful little albums etc. Oh the possibilities are endless.....so maybe just maybe I will be lucky and my grandmother will allow me to bring those back, along with old cookbooks and bake ware that is no longer used by anyone but was my wonderful Bio's.

So the photos I have to share with you are not that old, as a matter of fact they're from last night LOL
First the birthday girl and her cake....I've said before I'm not a baker, well I'M NOT A BAKER and I am not good at decorating cakes, I got through Nichola's Yoshi cake with a lot of prayer and I'm sure God's hand leading mine as I went LOL
For Jasmine it was easier, she's a girly girl and her favorite color is pink, so really how wrong could one go with that?





I just LOVE this one, nothing like an unprepared photo and they're usually the ones to turn out the best.

So last night around 7:30pm the kids and I headed to the back yard. Curt was working and would be arriving home around 8pm, he had taken off a little early so he could be here for Jasmine's birthday cake. We waited until he got home to do that!

It was just gorgeous outside, the sun was setting leaving this beautiful orange pinkish glow in the sky and there were tons of birds around. I'm not joking, if only I knew what they were called but I'm not bird literate at all LOL I can tell you that they're big or small, black or blue and white or whatever.......but the ones that I DO know are the hummingbirds and I had never in my life seen one up close....until last night.

There we were hanging out by the swing set when what looked like huge bumblebees with a birds body came zooming by over our heads, then back to the grass, circling and flapping those tiny wings so fast you can't even see them.

I tried to get some photos but those little buggers are fast. I'll just be prepared from now on, we have Honeysuckle in the front of the house and I know they're around there so I'll grab some photos if I can.

I did get some of the kids out there:



And now I have to show you one of my latest obsession. The Trash Ties....oh Lordy what did I get into? If you don't know what these are, you don't know what you're missing, I'm by no means an expert at them, as you can see by my photo it's still a little messy but whatever, I love the pink (my favorite color) in the black of my hair, I think it looks cute.


And I got completely distracted LOL Anyway, Trash Ties are the brilliant invention of Heather from "HELLOmynameisHeather" you know her right???? She actually is located here in Mesa near me, how neat is that?

So she came up with these hair thingies that are just so much fun, I got some red ones and some black ones too and it's been fun messing with Jasmine's hair and mine, of course it's easier on her because I can't see what the heck I'm doing with mine LOL



Anyway, just thought I would share it without you, they're especially cute for little girls.


Now before I forget, Merideth from Crockpot asked me to pass this info along to everyone and she's been such a sweetheart that I couldn't say no.

The “Small Changes” campaign asks people to share a story about a small change they have made in their lives on the new site www.YourFamilyTable.com and with each story shared Country Crock Omega Plus will donate a meal to a family in need through America’s Second Harvest – The Nation’s Food Bank Network.

“Small Changes” encourages families to share the simple changes they make in their lives to better their family’s health and well-being. These little things can add up to make a big difference, whether that involves taking a bike ride after dinner, walking to work instead of driving or going to a concert to enrich the mind, body and soul through music.

We hope that you will encourage your readers to log on to www.YourFamilyTable.com to share the small changes they make to better the lives of their family members, and we hope people will borrow small changes from others on the site to enrich the lives of those they love. Again, for every small change shared, a meal will be donated to America’s Second Harvest to help a family in need. We can all make a big difference one small change at a time!

Isn't that a great idea? Please share it on your sites too, the more people participating, the bigger the impact we can all make.

So you wondering what I'm doing today right??? Aren't you??? I'm gonna tell you whether you want to or not LOL

Right now I'm about to go put my Cola Wings in the crockpot, just imagine chicken wings, coca cola, jalapeno peppers....mmmmmmmm. I'll let you know how they turned out.

The rest of the day will be spent doing laundry, putting it away and hopefully sneaking in my new "Road to Avonlea" disc. I just got it in the mail and I'm dying to watch it, but I'm getting sad because I'm pretty much near the end of the series.

I hope you're all having a wonderful saturday, get on out there and enjoy the day, I may just grab the kids and head to the park for some fun or even step outside to the backyard for some bird watching, you never know what you will find.