My Birthday at Paradise Cove in Malibu

I think Hayden liked playing on the beach for three hours....

And then, my brother and sister Barb (below) watched the kids while Ben and I went for a walk on the beach. Perfect!

"I call it....'Cascading Legos'"

Be Impressed....be VERY impressed!

I am, anyway...with myself.

While going through an old memory card, I came across these pictures and realized that I had forgotten to publish a post about this birthday cake I made for Hayden in July!

For the love!

Isn't this just the PERFECT birthday cake for a little boy?

It would be a shame NOT to tell the world!

It's pretty easy, but takes time and patience.

...and let me emphasize that again before you tackle this project yourself:

1.) Give yourself a lot of time

2.) Give yourself permission to walk away from it once in a while

3.)Remember to breathe.

(I actually started concentrating so hard that I stopped breathing.)

It was worth it, though!

SO! If you would like to make this cake, here are some pointers...

*I baked the cake mix in bread pans. I THINK I used two mixes for all the pieces...maybe. (???) I used Pillsbury Funfetti (confetti) cake mix.

*After baking, allow to cool completely. I shaved off the sides (with a bread knife) to make the legos more square.

*Wrap the pieces in foil and freeze for at LEAST a few hours.

*The round nubby pieces are JUMBO MARSHMALLOWS, cut in half. (I also trimmed the edges with kitchen shears so they had a little bit of space between.)

*I skewered the marshmallows onto toothpicks and frosted them. Then, attached them to the lego squares after they were taken from the freezer and frosted. (Freezing the cake makes it easier to frost and less crumbly. Make sure the frosting is at room temperature, though.)

*Keep the finished cake in the fridge until you're ready to bring it out.

Voila!

And there you go!

Happy Birthday, Baby!

"Hello, my Lover!" (guess the movie)

So, I put this bunch of pictures of you together and previewed it. Then, all of a sudden, I noticed a big lump burning in my throat and tears spilling out of my eyes. I love you SO much! You make me SO happy and I am grateful to have you in my life. It's always "quite the adventure" and I like it. I hope you know how much you mean to me. You are my rock, my hero, and my best friend.

I love you!

Happy Birthday!

"Happy (30th) Birthday To Me!"

Last night (while Ben was in bed trying to heal) Hayden and I stayed up late, baked a chocolate cake from scratch, and played "trains". If I knew how, I would have baked a cake like THIS one.

Once again, the birthday celebration has been post-poned until Thanksgiving Day, due to a medical emergency.
Meet us at Disneyland...Thanksgiving Day.

When I was in 5th grade, I remember it being a cool thing to pass the "decade mark". My friends and I would proudly proclaim we were "a decade". Now, after the third time around, it doesn't seem so magically amazing anymore.

Or DOES it?

What IS amazing is taking a step back and camparing myself over the years so far (which I did at midnight last night). I realized that I'm pretty happy with who I am becoming. I'm more comfortable in my skin and confident in myself than I was in my twenties. That was something that I always hoped to develop. I still have to work on it, but I can see it.

I'm also happy with my perspective and the goals I have for the next ten years. From what I can see so far, I think my 30's are going to be pretty cool; full of new experiences, goals, lessons, and adventures.

Stay tuned to find out what I'm talking about.

"Do You Feel Lucky....PUNK!"

"Well, yes I do, actually...."

Yesterday was hayden's birthday. He's now 4 years old, and I can't believe how fast time flies!

We made cupcakes together. He poured in the oil, water, and eggs. He put the papers in the pan. He was VERY helpful....and VERY grown-up.

We decorated cupcakes with a few friends and he opened a few presents. It was a good day...but even HE doesn't realize what a lucky charmed day it really was. Let me explain.....

A friend came over to get her hair cut a few weeks ago. She has four sons: all of whom are in Little League. They were having a raffle to earn money for their club.

Before she left, she asked me to buy the tickets...one for each boy.

"Well, how about if I just discount your haircut from what I normally charge people who come to my house and you can just throw in four tickets for me. Even?" She agreed.

Yesterday, I got a call.

Ben answered and after a pause said, "It's for you, Nanc...it's the Little League."

I had forgotten about the raffle and wondered for a second if they had found out I had a little boy and were trying to get new members. It's a small town.

"Hello?"

"Hi, this is Ruth with the town Little League. You entered a drawing a few weeks ago and it looks like you won the grand prize."

"Oh yeah? What is it?"

"A 42-inch plasma TV."

("YAAHOOOO!!!")

This is the part where I started jumping up and down, while running around the house, yelling,

"I WON A TV...I WON A PLASMA!"

I decided that since we already have a 52-inch plasma for our family room, AND considering the fact that it was drawn on Hayden's birthday, the plasma will go in the playroom. Irish family....Irish name....Hayden's my lucky star.