Mr. Blue-Eyes turns 5!

I can hardly believe it's possible that he's five already. We were reminiscing on Saturday morning about the Saturday morning that he was born, and in some ways, it seems like yesterday. But our oldest boy is now 5!

The boys had to put up with a house-hunting trip in the early part of the day, but later we had a small party with another family from church. We met at the park and all went on a train ride through the woods. The boys loved it...as you can see from their faces in the picture. Then we headed home for dinner and Aslan cake.

The Cake

Well, we didn't get off to the best start with this birthday cake, but I think it turned out okay.

Yesterday, I baked a cake and put it on a rack on the table to cool, hoping to get it frosted later in the day. But, even though I gave VERY specific instructions to Boo-Boo about not touching the cake, I found him in the kitchen a half hour later holding the "smoking gun" - a long-handled wooden spoon. He had poked about 30 holes in the top of the cake. Hmmm. Mom was a little upset.

I thought for a minute that maybe I could repair it by just frosting over the holes, but, alas, he had even pushed the handle into the cake and pried it apart causing the cake to fall apart in places. So I baked another cake. Thankfully, I had another mix and all the ingredients on hand. Not that a quick trip to Walmart which is a 1/2 mile from the house would have been the end of the world...at least, you wouldn't think so. But for a nauseous, highly hormonal pregnant woman, it sure seemed like it might be.

The second cake was quickly placed out of reach of all two-year-old children, and it survived. I had to wait until today to frost it, but that was all right. I'm pleased with the way it turned out, and I know another person, an almost-five-years-old little boy, who will be pretty pleased too. Happy Birthday, Mr. Blue-Eyes!!

A Tribute to My Grandma

I won't re-post the whole thing here, but if you follow this link - http://girltalk.blogs.com/girltalk/2008/05/a-tribute-to-el.html - you can read my tribute to my grandma. At the GirlTalk blog, they have recognized this year that very often so much of what is ingrained in us is from not only our moms but from our grandmothers as well. This is true for me.

My sister and I call our mom "SuperMom" and often find ourselves trying to live up to the standard she has set. I fail all the time and am so thankful for God's grace as He continues to work in me - and thankful for my husband's understanding heart. Mom has had the greatest impact on my "womanhood", but my grandma influenced me in many ways as well, most notably her love of music.

It was her love of music that influenced me most in my piano playing. She taught me to play "Jesus Loves Me" with just one finger long before I started taking lessons, and we loved to sit at her piano and sing all the old hymns as she played. My favorite was "In My Heart There Rings a Melody". When I first started taking lessons, we didn't have a piano, so my daily practice sessions took place at her house next door.

So today, I honor Grandma for the love of music that she passed on to me.