Fish on Friday!!
Fish on Friday!!
Fish on Friday!!

So this was an actual cheer in Chris' high school back in the day, when they played the catholic schools. Dumb right? I thought cheers during basketball games were suppose to build up your team or tear down the opposing team. However, today I was happy that Catholics don't think fish is meat because I love the lenten fish fry. Papa and Nana know all the good spots to hit not only in town but all the surround little communities. I guess that's something lots of people plan out because as I was sitting across from a sweet little elderly couple tonight they were telling me all the best churches to hit for fish. It made me smile. Another oddity at a Catholic church fish fry is the guy walking down the line of people waiting to get in, selling cups of beer. No wonder Methodist don't have fish fries; beer in protestant church would probably cause the building to burn down. ha ha

After ice cream back at nana and papa's house the girls managed to work out an invitation to spend the night. Worked for me. Chris is working late and the house is quiet. Best of all, I will be sleeping in tomorrow morning.

Love one another. Yes I agree, some don't deserve it but those are the people who need it the most.

Sorry, No Pictures

My hope was to add several pictures from our February activities but Blogger isn't allowing me to add pictures right now. So frustrating.

This week we are about 30 degrees below our normal temp. That is just wrong. I am concerned that my weather induced depression is going to turn ugly if I don't get some sunshine soon. We are so use to gloomy days that one day last week we had a glimmer of sun and Olivia complained the whole time that her eyes were hurting. It made me smile. I just had to stop and thank God for that brief break in the clouds.

Past Due

I'm not just talking about my current library book, it's taking me forever to read "Twilight" Guess I am not as into it as the rest of the world. ha

What I am actually referring to is updating my blog. Soon, very soon I have some pictures from Emma's 2nd birthday party and other interesting Raabe Family details. (Don't get too excited, it probably isn't really all that interesting.) :)

Today I am having a power scrapbooking work day which means tomorrow I will probably need to see my chiropractor. Not only have I been scrapping but I raised my table to help my neck/back issues, loaded some pictures on the computer and backed up everything. Whew! Why have I waited so long to do that? Time to get back to work. I have a new order due mid March...4 layouts down...26 to go.

Be a Blessing!

From the Mouths of Babes

Today I was almost brought to tears as I stood in my kitchen listening to my 4 year old Olivia witness to her 3 year old friend.

"You don't know Jesus but he loves you. And Jesus loves me. Now I am going to pray...."

Yes, my mouth hung open in total surprise. I certainly learned from my daughter that it's super easy to tell a friend about Jesus and being direct really does work.

That is my happy message of the week. Now go be bold in your faith!

And What A Surprise It Was

Fun, Exhausting, Loud, Crazy
It all describes the surprise of tonight. I just couldn't let Emma miss out on a birthday party with friends from school so I invited 6 girls over for a surprise party. These chatty girls managed to keep it quiet, Emma loved it!

DECORATING

Emma just walked in.

Here's the crew... Liv kept herself in the middle of the mix all night.

My homemade decorations...thanks Martha.

Cake Pops

My super creative, can do anything friend, Sandy showed me a blog this weekend which started this whole project. As always, it proved to be pretty time consuming and my little cake pops did not turn out nearly as cute as Little Miss Expert's did over at www.bakerella.com You've gotta see all her creations!

So here I start with pink cake, since that is what Olivia picked out, go figure.

Even though I used a little melon scoop my balls are a little misshapen.

I love to start a project, only to realize at a very critical stage that I don't have all the necessary tools or items. I don't love to do that, it just seems to be my MO. As you can see here, I have used drinking straws instead of sucker sticks. Chris couldn't find them at the store and it was too late to run to Michaels. I did get them the next day and it was so much easier.

The second half of batch number one turned out much better. I became a better ball roller and I added shortening to my candy melts. Wow! What a difference. Note I ditched the sprinkles idea and just drizzled candy melt over the top.

My creations are now ready to go to school with Emma on Thursday. I have about 100 pink cake and chocolate cake cake pops (I used the word cake a lot there, huh) with a variety of colored coatings on them. Each in a celophane bag tied with a ribbon. Aren't they pretty?

I know my darling husband is secretly wondering why I would spend an ENTIRE day doing this when Emma would have been just as pleased with store bought cookies or donuts as a treat for her birthday. That is a valid question unless you are a person like me who just has to make it (whatever it may be) look cute. These are the blessings of staying home and being a full time mommy. If I were working outside the home, this never would have happened.

Whew! So glad I have pictures to prove I did something today.

Have a blessed day! Be sure to go out of your way to make someone feel special.