Bittersweet Celebration

Today is my daughter's birthday.

She is 17.

We spent the weekend celebrating.

Friday night she had some friends over to celebrate the joyous occasion.

We stopped to pick up a cake.  I love that she chose to have it say, "YAY Tori" rather than something so predictable like "Happy Birthday".

On Sunday afternoon we had the family over to celebrate some more.

Tori received the much coveted leopard print snuggie.  She was ecstatic.

My baby turning 17 is bittersweet...

Bitter - time is passing by much too quickly

Sweet - watching her discover her interests and passion

Bitter - no more hearing my sweet little girl ask "why" about 100 times a day

Sweet - no more hearing my sweet little girl ask "why" about 100 times a day

Bitter - no more reading bed-time stories

Sweet - seeing her develop good character

Bitter -  she is on the brink of adulthood

Sweet - watching her grow into a beautiful young woman

Happy Birthday Tori!  Your momma loves you.

This post is linked up over at Chatting at the Sky.

Can You Keep A Secret?

A blog buddy of mine, Sarah over at Life in the Parsonage, is keeping a secret.  If you have been a long-time reader of mine you might remember when I interviewed Sarah.  She is a super fun gal.  But about that secret she is keeping…I don’t know if I could do it.

You see, Sarah is pregnant and she knows if the little one she is carrying around is a girl or a boy.  Sarah’s husband knows too and the ultra-sound tech knows too…but nobody else knows.  She is keeping it a secret! 

I kept the sex of my first baby a secret.  But it was a secret even I didn’t know.  I wanted to be surprised. 

I like to think of myself as one who is pretty good with keeping secrets, but that Sarah she is a woman of great strength, I don’t think I could keep that kind of secret to myself.  I think what she is doing is a lot of fun…driving people crazy with curiosity.

I bet people like Sarah aren’t tempted to give away presents before the intended occasion either.

If I buy someone a gift I like to keep it a secret.  My husband on the other hand, he’s the kind of guy that will buy a gift and be super excited to give it away.  It may be four days before my birthday, but if he went shopping he will come in with the gift neatly wrapped in the plastic bag it came in and tightly held behind his back.  As soon as he sees me he just can’t help himself, he will blurt out with pure excitement – I got you a gift, go ahead open it!

So, I want to know, how are you with secrets?  Can you keep ‘em or is it just too much for you to hold it in?

Oh and Sarah, your little secret would be safe with me.  Go ahead and email me, I won’t tell anyone…I promise!

Do You See What I See

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UPDATE --  I do indeed have to get glasses.  Had my eyes dilated during the exam and couldn't see a thing as I was trying on the frames.  I trusted my daughter and the employees to make the decision for me.  Sure hope I like them.  Next time I make an appointment for the eye Dr. could you please remind me not to go at the same time as my husband and daughter.  Oh and maybe next time I shouldn't do it right before Christmas and my daughter's birthday either.  With all 3 of us getting glasses it will be costing a good chunk of change even after the insurance pays. I'm so thankful for insurance, but I definitely should have spaced out our appointments a bit.

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My eyes have been having a little trouble lately...

Things are just a bit blurry.  I've found myself moving the words back and forth, farther then closer, in hopes of helping my eyes adjust.  It is taking longer than usual for my eyes to focus.

And I am getting old, I'll be 40 next summer.

Today I will be going to the Eye Dr. along with my husband and daughter.

I'm wondering if eyeglasses are in store for me?

I want to know...

Do you wear glasses? contacts?  How old were you when you started wearing them?

Tell me, tell me.  I want to know.

Impressive

I'd like to introduce you to a favorite blogger of mine.  Her name is Amanda.  She is super talented.

I am seriously impressed and maybe even a tad bit jealous.  

First, I must tell you that every picture in this post comes straight from Amanda and her blogs. I totally stole her pictures cause I wanted you to see the beauty.  I just had to share with you because I'm in awe of the girl's talent.

Would you take a look at this...

This is Amanda's Faith Cake. Here is a tutorial...check it out and discover why it is called a Faith Cake.

And look at these...

Aren't these cookies so cute?  They too were made by Amanda herself.  They are just one example of her  amazing cooking making skills.

And look at these rainbow cookies.

Amanda does good work with the colors of the rainbow.

Check out these pancakes.  Who wouldn't love to have these for breakfast?  I'm guessing her kids think they have the coolest mom in the world...a mom who serves them rainbow pancakes for breakfast.

Amanda - she is both mommy and baker.  Go ahead, go take a look, I think you will be impressed too.

My Ophelia

Recently my daughter was in a school play, "Shakespeare's Ladies".

Tori played, the slightly off her rocker, Ophelia.

She did an amazing job.

I love to watch her do what she loves to do.

It was definitely a joy-filled moment!

Check out Just for the Joy of It for more joy-filled moments.