Baking fun!

This is what I spent last night and this morning working on. My first castle cake! After delivery (a 12 mile drive that took 25 minutes and resulted in some melted frosting and loose turrets) I reassembled the top and piped beads around the tower bases. My plan was to have the vines going up all the towers, but I didn't do such a good job of figuring out the logistics first. Next time I'll decorate each tower a day ahead of time and assemble the whole thing on site. Now I know! I also need to come up with a crustier frosting for castles, so I can carve "stones" into it, as well.

Time to brag!

My dear hubby has had an interesting couple of weeks at school. Last week the students had their Class A's (the green formal uniform) inspected. Poor Matt was in misery for the 3 hours they stood in formation because his uniform is so snug he can't take a full breath. (The Army is phasing out the green formal in favor of a new blue one, so Matt's trying to hold out on buying a new set until the blues are in.) He stood there for three agonizing hours in the sun while each soldier was painstakingly inspected. Lucky Matt was 4th from the last! When the inspecting Sgt. Major stopped in front of him, Matt held his breath and waited for what he was sure would be a blasting for his too-small uniform. Instead, the SGM looked at his medals and asked what he did to merit the Bronze Star w/Valor. Matt told him he'd been in the ambush of the 507th Maint. Co., and the SGM turned to the 1st Sgt. and said "We were just talking about that, weren't we?" Then he told Matt he'd watched a special on tv about it the night before. It didn't take long for him to put two and two together, and he told Matt he wanted to talk to him after the inspection. So, everyone was called into formation again and the SGM began to lecture them about how important it is to pay attention to detail. Then he called Matt forward and asked if anyone knew who he was. Of course no one did, so he proceded to tell them that they would have known if they'd paid better attention, and that he knew who Matt was because he'd seen him on tv the night before. Matt was embarassed and figured that would be the end of it, but the next day he was called into the Commandant's office. The Commandant kept him there for an hour while he made a bunch of phone calls trying to figure out the best way to get an article about Matt written and published in the Quarter Master Bulletin, a widely distributed military professional magazine. He coined Matt, which was very cool, and sent him on his way. (Ranking military leaders each have a personal "coin" minted to give away at their discretion, usually as an indication of some outstanding performance on the part of the receiving soldier. The higher ranking the giver, the more prestigious the coin.) Two days later Matt was called out of class to see the Commandant again. When he walked in the room he recieved the shock of his life. CSM Preston, the Command Sargeant Major of the entire Army was waiting to meet him!! They visited for a few minutes, then CSM Preston coined him. The Ft. Lee post commander was also there to coin him! Such an amazing experience to meet the ranking NCO of the entire Army, let alone be coined by him! But any of you who know Matt, know how laid back and unassuming he is. He was excited about it, but mentioned it almost matter-of-factly, and that will probably be the only time he'll bring it up.

As expected, he's doing really well in his classes. The days are long!! He has me call to wake him up at 4:30am and he usually gets back to his room by 8:00pm. He's the class leader and is acing all his tests (of course). Only four more weeks and we should finally get him home again! At least for a while...in February his team is flying to the States for an extended training mission. We're not sure how many weeks this one will last, but he'll be on friendly soil, for which I'm thankful!

Cake purse

This was fun! Vanilla sheet cake with custard filling. The purse was chocolate cake with custard filling. Figuring out how to build a purse was a blast! The birthday girl had no idea what she wanted because she doesn't like cake. Her only stipulation was as little frosting as possible and to use hot pink and brown in the decorations. How easy!

Happy Birthday "A"!

I can't believe we have a 17 year old now! How is that possible?! It seems like yesterday that I was kissing his tiny fingers and breathing in his sweet baby scent. Now I stand on tiptoe to kiss a beard grizzled cheek and breathe in a whiff of Cool Water. The little boy who loved to run and tackle his daddy, who belly laughed himself into hysterics over wrestling and "pinning" Daddy, now towers over his Dad. The two of them a sweaty knot of arms and legs rolling from the living room to the dining room, then into the yard and down the grassy hill. Panting, laughing, grasping for a better hold; neither one willing to concede defeat. The camaraderie borne of years of playful tussles followed by exhausted, testosterone-laced banter. "You did good, Bubbie!" "I let you beat me, Dad. I know how embarrassing it would be for you to be beat-down by your kid." "HA!! WhatEVER!! Did you already forget how that choke hold felt? When everything started getting a little fuzzy around the edges? Remember that!?" "Yeah, yeah...I had plenty of air. I was just laying there thinking of a way to break your hold!" Watching my two biggest boys play together makes me smile from deep inside. And a little piece of my Mama-heart starts to crack with the realization that all too soon this man-child, who so completely captured our hearts 17 years ago, will no longer be lying in wait to ambush his unsuspecting father at the end of the day. He won't be here to send us all into fits of laughter over his daily antics. No more daily hugs from this silly teen who insists he can't get too many hugs from his Mom. Instead, we'll be trying to find contentment in sporadic text messages and infrequent emails. We'll look forward to hearing his voice on the phone, and count the weeks, the days, the hours until he'll be home for a visit.

We've entered the transition years, and I both hate it and love it. Our goal has been to raise independent, kind, thoughtful young adults who love the Lord and are ready to head out into the world and make a difference for Him. But there's a part of me that wishes they didn't have to leave home in order to do it. Despite the occasional desire to scream like a Banshee or run away for a few days, I really enjoy raising our kids. So, I rejoice in the gift of another year with our firstborn and place my trepidation about the "letting go" to come in the capable hands of my loving Father.

(The car A wishes we'd gotten him for his birthday! Dream on, Bubbie!)