How can it be?

My Anna turned five years old today. How can it be? Five years has gone by way too fast but fun nonetheless. We have made it this far with only one broken arm and one tooth knocked out after a short dancing career. We love our Anna. She has always been so compassionate and is always ready with a hug when I am having a bad day.

Anna wanted a princess castle cake and she was very specific about the design details. (Future architect?) Purple icing with pink windows of course! I did my best and must say it passed her inspection. Definitely the best princess castle cake I have ever made. Okay, okay, the only princess castle cake I have ever made. Happy Birthday my sweet Anna!

(A couple people asked how I made the cake. I used a 9x13 pan for the bottom and then a circle pan for the top layer with a cupcake on the very top. The sugar ice cream cones are easy to find at the grocery store and then I used wooden skewer through the tops to hold the cake together. I microwaved Starburst candy for 11 seconds so I could flatten them easily and cut them into pennant shapes or used a small heart cookie cutter for shape. Not hard to make at all.)

Mommy's Time-Out

Last Friday I went to Omaha with three friends to a Time-Out for Women. For those of you who aren't familiar with Time-out for Women, it is a two day event with several speakers and music. Topics range from relationships with your spouse to your own relationship with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. I learned some new things but also remembered a few things I had forgotten. Nothing wrong with a refresher course once and awhile, especially while my children are absent so I can concentrate! Thanks to my loving husband I enjoyed myself thoroughly without my children there. Gordon stayed home with the girls and I missed them all by the time I returned late in the evening on Saturday.

Anja, Mandy, Carrie, and I had a great girls' out weekend. I highly recommend the hotel we stayed at in Omaha. The Magnolia Hotel is an older building renovated into a hotel. The rooms were right out of a travel magazine with blues and chocolate brown, very modern and I never saw one child the whole time! After we returned Friday night from Time-Out they had milk and cookies in the lobby. We lounged next to the fireplace and could of fallen asleep there but the hotel didn't offer any kind of shuttle service to our room. We made it back to our room to enjoy the chocolate stash we had all brought to share. There was definitely no shortage of chocolate but after the milk and cookies downstairs, we only made a small dent in our pile of chocolate. We had a great time laughing and just enjoyed each other's company. So nice to enjoy adult conversation without a little one demanding something at the same time. Good times!

One of the speakers on Saturday was Elie Gourgouris. I think he had a Ph.D in family relations or something like that. Anyway, he talked about the language of love. Everyone has a love language or how they like love expressed the best. He explained them as being in the form of:
~gifts
~words of encouragement or appreciation
~physical touch
~quality time
~or acts of service
Especially in a marriage, one person may prefer one over the other. He first asked, "What is your love language?" and then he asked, "What about those you love?" I thought these were great questions that I am still finding the answer to. Good questions to ask about any relationship in our lives, no?

F.H.E.

The other night for Family Home Evening we made a special treat with apples. It could have turned out a little better but with a few changes they would be great. The girls had a great time dipping them none the less.

You will need a melon baller/scooper, apples, caramel wrap, toothpicks, and wax paper. Use the melon baller to scoop out bite-size balls of apple. Then stick a toothpick into each apple ball. We melted caramel squares and dipped the apples into the caramel but the caramel would not stick to the wet side of the apple. I think the caramel wrap that you can buy already flat would be better to wrap around each piece. I have seen them in the produce section of our grocery store. Just follow the directions on the package but you will need to cut the big piece into smaller pieces for each ball of apple. Have fun!

What would you do with an extra $100?

Hi, my name is Melissa and I am addicted to fabric.
Okay not really so much addicted, but I if I had an extra $100 for just myself, I would probably buy fabric. I know many of us don't know what having an extra $100 is like, including myself, but what would you do with it? Don't think about your unpaid bills or the clothes your child is outgrowing. Think about what you would buy just for yourself.

My husband and I were out enjoying a dinner alone the other night thanks to my mom and dad visiting. Gordon mentioned how a co-worker had some money problems due to his wife's fancy taste in purses. I couldn't really relate to a collection of expensive purses or shoes but then we talked about what we would buy a lot of if we had the money to do so. I was really surprised by my husband's answer but good to know none the less. He doesn't like to shop at all so when he said he would buy really good shoes, I was shocked!

Some of you may even share my love for fabric. There are some really neat, unique fabrics out there that I can't find at my local fabric store. Amy Butler and Michael Miller are just a few of my favorites. So until my boat comes in I will just take my coupon for 40% off up the street to Jo-Ann's.

At the beginning

At the beginning, a very good place to start.

I have enjoyed reading the blogs of so many friends and family so it was only a matter of time before I would join them. I have even read blogs of total strangers offering helpful tidbits. It is a great way to share the things that I love and enjoy. Don't expect any a-ha moments or profound inspiration, not on purpose anyway. I am not out to change the world. I don't know quite what to expect yet from this new adventure but I hope you enjoy the this and that of my life and that of my family's.

This past weekend, I witnessed another beginning. My baby brother, Josh, was married and sealed to Jessica in Nauvoo. I am not a great photographer but here is a picture of them. The pretty little girls in green our mine. Congratulations Josh and Jessica. We love you. What a great beginning.