worst case scenario

Every time I spend hours on a cake I worry & worry & worry when it comes time to transport said cake.  Last week my worst fears were realized on Davyn's birthday.  Luckily, I was nervous enough to take a "before" picture just in case.   Aidan and I were both on edge as we packed up and drove off.  Our house is surrounded by construction.  And construction zone turned to war zone as I nervously navigated the bumps & jolts.  It honestly only took a few bumps for the cake to begin leaning.  Aidan's nerves were worse than mine.  I could see him in the rearview mirror, breath held, brows furrowed.  When the beast of a cake finally did fall, it happened in slow motion.  Or so it seemed.  Aidan wailed (seriously), and cried out, "Oh no, Sponge Bob is doomed."  I laughed (seriously), and breathed a sigh of relief...no more tense, white-knuckled driving.  Worst case scenario has struck.

We arrived at the party.  The pineapple was on its side, windowless & doorless, my car was coated with frosting, Sponge Bob had lost a shoe, but we removed a layer, propped the whole thing up and hoped for the best.  I'm honestly surprised it still stood.

 

It was fun for the birthday D because I truly didn't care that he *redecorated* as we sang to him.  And he had no qualms about digging in to eat the smashed sponge. 

Sidenote:  If you're wondering, we do use utensils, but D thinks he's a dog lately.  So he crawls on all fours, and when given a snack, it's often dumped on the floor to be licked up.   Yum.

But here is my favorite Birthday Davyn shot.  He and this sunglasses gift from Grandma Kay have become inseparable.  I'll remember his cheesy sunglass pride for a long time, and I'm sure I'll remember Aidan's wail of "Sponge Bob is doomed!", but I certainly won't remember the 3 1/2 recipes of cake, 5 recipes of frosting and 6 hours of decorating involved in a smashed pineapple under my seat.

donations received

I walked into the Arizona Museum for Youth on Wednesday to see this box.  Initially I laughed and dropped my no-chubby-Amy picture policy.  How could I pass this up?!  Donate to the future of Amy.  Very funny and sure, we could all use a little extra "future" money, but as I've let the words spin in my head for a few days, a world of thoughts have emerged. 

First, a Pause for Gratitude.  Honestly, there are dozens of people in my life who Love me and are slipping a steady stream of coins into my box, but I don't always take the time to notice.  I have a Jim who Listens when I jabber, who Acts when I ask, who Notices when I don't.  And just this week... I have a sister who dropped her morning plans for an emergency Aidan & Davyn watch on Tuesday.  I have a Vella who accompanied me on a much-needed Wednesday-morning "field trip". I have a mother-in-law who willingly hosted a 2-year-old birthday extravaganza on Thursday.  I have a Mom who invited us to remembering younger days in a coffee shop band listen last night.  I have a sister who talked me into a Disneyland trip at the end of the month (yay!).  I have another sister who has inspired me to Think.  I have two new blogging sisters who both sent me Good Mail (full report below).  I have Kel who lets me send her a private blog's worth of weekly e-mails.  All coins that fill my Future box.

and More coins come from a higher source...I sat in Sunday School today and felt so much.  I sat in Young Women's and felt so much.  I am Grateful for a Heavenly Father who truly knows Me and continually pulls me to be better.  I'm grateful that He knows I sometimes need Yanks rather than Nudges.  I'm grateful that He returns to redeposit when I have sometimes willfully thrown his offerings back out.  His generosity is incomparable...if our eyes will only See & our hearts Accept.

My "Donations" thoughts then circled back to myself.  What do I do to donate to my own future?  A thought worthy of hours.  Do I have a clear vision of what/who/how I want to be?  Megs got me thinking on this after I read her last blog entry actually.  What is my perfect (but realistic) version of Amy in 5 years?  10?   I need to draw that picture, then work toward it with a Purpose. I think my Pause word is a start.

Well, the AMY (Arizona Museum for Youth) turned out to be a true treat.  If you're ever in Mesa and have littles, this is definitely a place to visit.  Our kids loved it...and no, Davyn's hair was not combed that day.

The exhibit portion of the museum is small, and much of it is hands-on.  The current theme is Transportaton.  We raced cars, rode motorcycles, read books about wheels...and looked at art, of course.

But the fun part comes in a play area that is learning-geared and fully occupies the littles.  So Vel & I got to sit & chat.  Wonderfully designed for mothers & children alike.   

Now for the GOOD MAIL...I already wrote about Mandy's beyond cute package, but here's the pic to prove:
 
And I was surprised Saturday by this thoughtful "Happy February" from Emily.  Sorry that the pics are a little glow-y.  I really need to grapple with camera basics.  I just shared the chocolates with Jim at a 2:1 ratio (me 2: Jim 1, of course), and gave him a practice kiss with the Lip Balm.  His response: "Mmmm.  That's strawberry."
 
Thank you, thank you.  And thank you to all who have shown me Love this week & Always.   My box is truly full, and my Heart feels the need to Enlarge...making plenty of room for the Future.

happy birthday Ang!

Angie Ras became my friend in junior high because she liked a guy in my ward (see Christmas formal picture on Kelly's post). It’s the honest truth, but, somehow that never mattered. The “guy” has long since been forgotten (along with quite a few others) and we have 19 years of friendship. A crazy number…can we possibly be so old?!

I wonder about some other tallies. How many mini chocolate Cadbury eggs have we eaten together? How many total hours have we spent on the phone? Weeks or months, I’m sure. Days & days of laughing, crying, whining, planning. Oh yes, we have concocted some classic plans in our time. Like the time she decided to help me get Jim (post break-up #1) back by convincing him to join our roadtrip to Utah. Yah, he came, but saw right through the “we need a travel clown” ruse (it was another year and a half before he caved). Nor did we fool her crush up north with our “drop by”. But, oh how we lauded our cleverness at the time.

Then there was the time when Jim invited us both on a weekend roadtrip to Luna with the lure of fishing. Ang wanted to fish. I could have cared less, but I wanted Jim. When he came for chauffer service that Saturday morning, Ras called in sick. I was livid & embarrassed at the time, but oh my was that a good day. She knew. Everyone needs a friend who knows.

So, today is Ras’s birthday, and I called her up on Tuesday to see about a celebratory Saturday breakfast.

Yes!

Any ideas on where you’d like to go?

Let’s do it at my house. I’ll make you guys breakfast.

Two egg omelette with mushrooms and gouda, please. No, wait, the point was to take you out, not to make you buy, cook, slave & clean.

But this is how Ras is. Once upon a time when I was not in the best of spirits (for like 6 months straight), Ras came over to clean and fold the laundry that was covering my bed, my floor, my Me. The clothes-ridden room was a small sign of a large funk that did not escape her notice. This was years ago, but something I will never forget.

Other things I’ll never forget about Ras:

• She laughs so hard & huge that she cries.
• She (& Vel!) surprised me by showing up at my mission farewell in Colorado. Beautiful, beautiful surprise….truly calmed my pre-mission jitters.
• She likes to take “sick days”.
• She likes to shop, but is enviably good with money.
  
• She likes to travel.
  
• She is exceptionally smart, Masters Degree and all.
• She loves her Justin & he loves her.
• She always knows the best spots for good eats.
• Her house is always perfect – not just in how it looks, but in the how it feels, which is sometimes more important. It’s just peaceful, calm. I love sitting on her big chairs to just talk & talk.
• there's so, so much more...but I need to save some stories for years to come!

Kelly & I were plotting to do a joint post, but my week has been manic, so we went solo instead.  I didn't dig through my old pictures, but there are some fabulous ones on Kel's blog.  19 years of memories.  Those are the best kinds of friendships by far...

So, Happy 33 Ras! I love that you always get to try the year on a few months before my turn.

to Davyn:

One day into 2. I look back to turn & turn, craning to see where the time has gone. Two years; 731 days; 17544 hours old. Can that possibly be right? Our first day together is still vivid. You filled my heart. Completely alert, you focused on me, soothing a frantic-prone mother like some magic pill that quickly made me an addict. We spent hours cuddled in “stare”. From that first day you have served as the needed “calmer” to my heart. A peaceful “calmer” to our home.
 
Each morning you still climb into my bed to “stare” and give the addict her dose of D. It takes me back to our hospital-bound days when nothing else existed but the “us”. We look at each other, rub noses, give butterfly kisses, laugh & tease. Chubby hands caress my cheeks, and sometimes they reach to give the incomparable gift of tiny arms around the neck. How I wish I could freeze those moments to be relived in future days. 

Your gentleness is a rarity among toddlers. Or perhaps it only shocks me because my first baby was everything fast & furious. You read books without ripping, touch babies without pulling, prod bugs without squishing. And you softly pat backs as you hug.

We milestoned this week by moving you into a big boy bed in Aidan’s room. Goodbye crib...but you couldn’t be bothered to look back for a farewell wave. You are thrilled, and have even been napping in there like a champ. It’s fun, but kind of Ouch. Every step away from “Baby D” is slightly painful excitement. I suppose we’ll have to drop that nickname soon... Aidan has luckily created a litany of others, from Rini-bop to DB the Hut.

Speaking of A, he Loves you. He watches out for you. He once thought you were standing too close to an elevator door, and let out a full-panicked scream as he pulled you away from perceived danger. Last night when we left your pacifier at Grandma’s house, he started crying, “What will D do without his favorite fire? (which is actually Jake’s fire left from weeks ago, Shan!)”

Of course, the two of you have the inevitable “brother moments” as well – fighting, punching, wrestling, kicking… sometimes in jest, others in full-throttle desire to destroy.  I wonder how this relationship will evolve. I see you looking to each other so often now, for play, for approval, for laughs, for comfort. I dearly hope that this continues, but the hiccups are inevitable, I suppose.

Your other biggest fan is Dad. You were such a mama’s baby that I’ve now been stung a few times by your obvious “big boy” preference for Dad. Dad delights in your *charm*…we all do.

I can hardly go out without stranger comments on “that cute boy”.  I do think you’re cute…but the “boy” part has been hard. I never realized the beyond baby would arrive so quickly, and no one warned me to brace for the impact. Please help me arrive at the reality slowly by continuing to baby Me in our morning ritual. I won’t request forever (imagine a 10-year-old boy giving his mom butterfly kisses!), but a few more years would surely satisfy this “Baby D” addict.  I love you and I love you. 

lost camera and Good Mail

I'm very sad because I couldn't find my camera yesterday, and I still can't find it today.  Normally this isn't a big deal...I'm hardly the picture diva, but I got GOOD MAIL from Mandy.  I want to take a picture, but that would require organizing my entire house in the search for the camera - hours, days, weeks, who knows how long that would take.  Mandy sent me some very cute homemade cards (very creative!), a flowered bookmark, and napkins.  The napkins cracked me up, because that is something I'm honestly drawn to buy.  How on earth did she know?!  My camera could tell the story by taking a picture of a certain pantry shelf that has piles of patterned napkins.  I love napkins, and the ones she got me have a very elegant design.

Thank you Mandy!  I consider you & Emily my blog sisters because we started the same week with the same Kelly influence.  It has been a delight to get to know you & it was beyond delight to get Good Mail!