Glimpses

It's sometimes astounding what you will glimpse in a rear view mirror.

 As I was travelling up Middleton with my three happy children I couldn't help but be invigorated by the warm temperature outside.  I actually had the windows down for the first time this year.  It's sad when 60 degrees feels like short sleeve and shorts weather but when you have winters like we have in Idaho I long for Spring.  Now I know Idaho winters are mild, and yes by comparison winter in Boise is nothing like winter in Wisconsin.  However for this desert rat who is from the scorching desert of Las Vegas, it's freezing when temps get below 75 degrees.  Yet, when the first glimpses of warm weather happen I feel the difference drastically and I love to open the windows and enjoy it. 

Well I wasn't the only one taking in the nice weather, there was a motorcyclist behind me cruising at a slow pace.  He looked equally happy with the opportunity to be out on his bike with the sun shining.  He wasn't directly behind me, which led me to believe that he was just happy to be out on his bike, not in a hurry. 

It's amazing how much can change in an instant.

Not long after making my observation, I looked in my rear view mirror to check on that happy biker, and noticed a van that had turned left right in front him.  That poor guy had no where to go.  He plowed right into the side of that mini van.  At first I had no idea that what I had just seen was real.  Frankly I had a hard time believing that something like that could happen on a day like today. 

I guess it can.

I turned around immediately and parked a little ways away from the accident.  I didn't want to the kids to see a dead man in the road.  I ran up to the accident and saw this happy biker lying on the ground unable to move.  I won't go into the gory details but I will say that the amount of blood that I saw, scared me so much I thought that I was looking at a man that wasn't long for this world.  I was terrified for him.  In an instant my heart went to this biker's family and friends.  Who were they, how do I get a hold of them?  While he was lying on the ground, several times he attempted to get up and it took myself and several other bystanders to keep him still.  The wonderful thing is that while we were all standing around this man, several of us started praying out loud.  Crying for our Heavenly Father to spare this man's life.  I asked him his name after slowly removing his sunglasses so that I could see his eyes.  He slurred but clearly said, "Paul". 

"Hi Paul, I am Stacey."

Amazing how you can look someone in the eye, that you have never met before and love that person instantly.  My heart went out to this man and his family.  I was touched by his strength.  I asked about his daughter, and his ex wife.  All the questions were an attempt to keep him awake and alert.  It didn't take too long before the emergency response team was there.  They took him to the hospital. 

My children were terrified, even though they didn't see the scene.  They knew something tragic had just happened.  Those sweet children were teary eyed, concerned, and directed their worry to our

Heavenly Father in prayer.

Oh the faith of our small ones. 

I have made a follow up call.  The nurse told me tonight that he is fine and should recover well.  He was surrounded by his family and should recover.  When I told my daughter that all was well with Paul, her face lit up and she felt like everything was better.  I told her, her prayers were answered and Paul is fine.

It was a tragic accident that took a beautiful day and turned it upside down for a biker who wanted to enjoy a ride, and a mother who was out shopping.  But as the paramedics worked on Paul, my eyes met his and at that moment I felt a connection with a brother.  I am thankful that I know that we have a Father in Heaven who loves us individually.  I am thankful for glimpses that we receive into our connections with others.   

Butt Cake for My Baby Girl

I wake up in the morning generally around 7:00.  That is only if I can fall back asleep after William leaves for work in the morning.  At seven in the morning a quiet shuffling is going on in my house.  My youngest child is usually awake first.  He will walk quietly down the hall to go to the bathroom and then announce to me that he is hungry.  Not long after David's announcement, my oldest child will get up and she will tell me that she had some crazy dream, or what she read in her latest Harry Potter adventure novel.  My middle child, Elizabeth, will then get up and lay down in bed with me to cuddle for a minute while her eyes adjust to the idea of being open.  My morning routine has not altered for quite some time.  The only thing that has changed is what the kids talk about, but the ritual has not changed.  It's comforting, and I often wonder how long it will last. 

Sydney turned ten this last week.  She is a tween!! When I reflect on my morning routine with my children it really makes me gasp to think that it's been ten years since Sydney was born.  It's amazing how time flies.  My parents often remarked how time speeds up as you get older and as a young adult I couldn't wait to be grown up and be "Free".  Wow, I was seriously delusional.  But time does speed up and I don't see it slowing down, I see it marching right across my face.  Time is aging my daughter into the preteen stage and having her tell me that I am crazy. 

Sydney is turning into a remarkable young person.  She is extremely clever, and very smart.  She is great at math, which seems to come very easily to her.  She loves the scriptures, going to church, and going to her activities with her friends.  But, underneath the beautiful and smart exterior there seems to be a storm brewing.  I am anticipating the day when I wake up and hear from her charming face that I am a horrible mother and that I don't know anything.  I hope I will be prepared.  I hear that I am not liked daily from my five year old son.  Usually when he is mad at me for not getting his way, I am used to that.  In a way I believe he is training me for the day the girls tell me that they hate me.

Welcome to David's Parenting Teens Prep Boot Camp.  You'll be trained to take a verbal bashing by your child.  You'll be callused and toughened up.  Get ready for that terrible day when you find out from your teen that you know nothing, that they hate you, and that they want nothing more than to be grown up and away from you.  Yes, you'll be ready with David's patented Parenting Teens Prep Boot Camp. 

Well maybe I will be lucky and my kids won't hate me.  A girl can dream can't she.

Well I decided to make Sydney a cake for her birthday, like I do for all the kids.  Sydney and her cousin Katy have birthdays only days apart so they decided to share a cake this year.  They chose to have a Harry Potter themed cake.  No big surprise there.  The problem was that all the cakes that I saw required a much higher skill set than I have.  But I decided I could try something new.  What's the worst thing that could happen?  You could have a cake look like crap, but it always tastes good.  

So after I searched through a lot of cakes online, I decided to try a spell book with a wand, scarf glasses and a golden snitch for props.

 

This would require me to work with something completely new.  Fondant.  I tried the recipe that a friend referred me to.  A marshmallow fondant.  YUM!!  It it made with marshmallows and powdered sugar and shortening.  Yup folks that is it.  It is terribly messy, because you melt the marshmallows and then knead in the sugar, hence the need for shortening otherwise the marshmallows would stick to your body and you would look like the Ghostbusters after defeating the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man.  Trust me, you still end up looking like that a little anyway.  Coloring this fondant is not what I thought it would be like, so the off white color I was looking for turned out to be more like a flesh tone and the book after it was carved turned out looking more like a butt.  Yes I had just created a BUTT CAKE for my daughter. 

It was tragic.  I had William shape two Tootsie Rolls to look like wands, but if you weren't careful it could really look like a butt cake with two long turds.  Thank heaven that the snitch turned out okay.  I made that from a wooden ball and feathers.  I painted the ball gold and attached the feathers by drilling two small holes in the side.

  I could not get the the coloring right for the scarf so I threw that idea away all together.  I didn't want some blackish looking cloth draped over the butt cake.  It would have looked even more disgusting.  

So before that tragic morning when my daughter wakes up and looks at me with they eyes of an intolerant teenager I can always look back at the "Butt Cake" and take comfort in the fact that I got my child to eat a butt.  Oh yes, you can bet I will rub it in her face too if she gets too snotty with me.  That's the way I roll.

Happy Birthday to my baby girl, Sydney.