Mother’s Day, in this neck of the woods–was filled with so many wonderful things, from each of those incredible people that I love…with all my heart. First, my darlings–whisked us all away to a vacation home in Park City to spend the weekend–Heavenly!! More about that…soon.

But the other gifts of love seemed to just keep coming.

Flowers–this mother loves flowers, and so they even came in my favorite color.

This gorgeous Willow Tree figurine called “Happiness.” Who wouldn’t be happy with sweet little birdies following you around?

The manuscript of my very first book–retyped into the computer and all ready to publish on Kindle–very soon. I’m SOooo excited!

A beautiful fairy flower wind chime to hang on my bed–because wind chimes sound like fairies to me. And perhaps you already know how I feel about fairies.

A Thor doll. Wow. I’m totally in love with him. Thor. The real one.

Pink mini roses, to go in between the two big bushes outside my bedroom window…as they should, so I can see them every day.

Blueberry everything because blueberry is the best, and a gift card to see the Avengers with someone who hasn’t already seen it…if there is anyone.

Lastly, a Skype call with my sweet faraway boy in Siberia.

There has never been a better day!

What a wonderful world it is to be surrounded by the ones I love, not only because they are mine-mine-mine, but also because they are and have always been my very best and dearest friends. Oh, I am so blessed!

I hope your Mother’s Day was the best kind of beautiful my friends. :}

Thanks April, Jacob, Lyndi, Nate, Jillian, Josh, Dane, Kortney, Emily and Rhen. I love you.

“Let every mother realize that she has no greater blessing than the children which have come to her as a gift from the Almighty; That she has no greater mission than to rear them in light and truth, in understanding and love.”

Happy Mother’s Day my friends!

:}

Now, I must admit, we aren’t very big on carbonated drinks at our place. Once the kids got started in sports and their coaches advised them to lay off the soda–it worked for all of us. In fact, some of my younger ones thought that anything with that fizz was a “hot drink.”

That said, if I had to confess, I’d tell you that every now and then I get a huge craving for Fresca–that I resist with all my might. But my one summer naughtiness is to buy one–only one 2 liter bottle of A&W Rootbeer and squeeze as many floats as humanly possible from it. Then I can move on.

But then we found and tweaked this lovely piece of work. It’s positively like drinking a Rootbeer Float…without the mug. Sort of. Well, that and it’s a cookie.

Dang good at any rate.

Ingredients:

1 cup butter, softened
2 cups packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1-1/2 tsp. root beer extract
4 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt                                                                                                                                                              12 oz. white chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a mixing bowl, cream butter and brown sugar until fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in buttermilk and root beer extract.
Combine dry ingredients; slowly add to creamed mixture. Add chips and mix well.
Drop by tablespoons onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove to wire racks to cool.

Frosting:
4 cups powdered sugar
3/4 cup butter, softened
3 Tbsp. milk
2 tsps. root beer extract

In a mixing bowl, combine all frosting ingredients. Beat until smooth.
Frost cooled cookies.

That big bright Super-moon that we saw ultra-up-close the other night. We stood out on the deck and stared at it for 20 minutes–just so we could say we did it.

The very first lilac rose of the year–pretty little shy thing. I almost didn’t see it all hidden away in the back there.

The garden all tilled and ready to plant–later this week…I hope. It’s an odd thing to have both my boys gone now. I keep waiting for my “garden army” to show up and get it all planted…but alas. I may just be on my own this time around. Even so, there’s something so full of promise about a garden ready to plant.

He-man…fast asleep…wherever I am…again…

with his sister She-ra Princess of Power. Or so they think.

That funny little plant that the Bald Kid named “Pandora” before he left. You may recall that it actually died once and came back to life unexpectedly. Crazy cool thing.

A well placed stained glass birdy of some sort, shining and catching the light in my window. Finch, I think.

A brave little strawberry that’s just barely poking it’s head out. Hide all you like–Miss Chompy will find you. :}

A new project that will eventually entertain the little, soon-to-be-grabbing fingers that we have around here.

The sleepy bit of pixie dust that is ours to hold and bounce and pat and kiss…as long as he’ll let us. Hopefully that’s a long, long time.

What makes you smile on this lovely Wednesday?

Ever since I was a little girl, I’ve had a thing for fairies. I love the magic of them, the fluttering, the sparkle, the pointy toes, the wings–all of it. So for Christmas one year, my daughter Lyndi gave me a Hallmark Flower Fairy. This one is the Marigold Fairy.

At the time, I had no idea that there’d be a new one each year. This is the Bluebell Fairy.

I have them hanging–each one, from a tiny piece of embroidery floss on the canopy of my bed. They just kind of float there and when the window is open, or the cool air comes on, they flutter just enough to look like they’re…

real.  This is the Rose Fairy.

Yes, I know–this little soul is missing something. Miraculously, she escaped one day and had a lovely time playing with a human child, and it cost her her wings. She doesn’t look too unhappy about her plight. This is the Lily Fairy.

In all the years since we started collecting, we’ve only missed one–the Pansy Fairy. There must have been something big going on that Christmas. I’ve seen her on line, but she’s become a collector’s item, so, well…yeah…we won’t be getting that one. :}

This is the Poinsetta Fairy.

Here are my newest ones. This is the little Mistletoe Fairy and she’s blowing a kiss to…

her little sweetheart. He is the Holly Fairy. I’m not sure how long Hallmark will keep it up, but I’m game if they are. These little guys make me think of Scotland and Ireland where they pretty much take for granted that fairies are still hiding out in the woods. I love that. Probably, I should just move there and find a little thatched roof cottage by a brook where I can put out fairy cakes and berries in little tiny teacups. Then I’d just sit by the window and wait. After all this time, it’s still true.

I do believe in fairies.

Maybe it makes me a total geek, but I swear, having a big bag of the most scrumptious, soft, fluffy Caron yarn…

well…it makes my heart pound right out of my chest. In fact, I get a little endorphin rush every time I walk past it, and see it all just sitting there, waiting for me to do something with it.

No, it didn’t take long. I fell into the smooth wavy ripple again, only this time, the project is twice the size as the last one. A grown-up blanket that needs to be finished before a certain girly-girl does that…wedding thing.

So, along with all the lists and assignments and check marks and schedules and crazy excitement that comes with a daughter getting married, this gift of mama-love has a ticking clock attached to it.

Lucky for me the peaceful, soothing rhythm–the waves of 4 up and 4 down, over and over, times a million–make this the perfect de-stressing therapy for my silly little soul.

So, in those taking-a-break moments—and sometimes they are just moments–you can be sure that this pretty thing will be in my hands, warming my lap, not to mention my heart.

After all, it’s for my baby girl.

And I have a schedule to keep.

While everyone is out planting their real gardens around here, I must confess that I’ve been working on a few “seedlings” of my own. Heh, heh, heh. Aren’t these the cutest little garden cupcakes you’ve ever seen? And such a painless way to get a few more–ahem–vegetables into your system. Baaaa!

Start with fruity Mike and Ikes. I picked several kinds to make sure I had plenty of orange ones.

Plus all the leftovers didn’t hurt my feelings any either.  :}

I’d never seen Rips Whips before, and I tore them out of the bag before getting a picture. Essentially, they are skinny, little multicolored licorice strings. You’ll be using the green ones–so go ahead and eat the rest.

First just take a paring knife and make a tiny cut clear through the top of each little orange candy.

Now, cut the green licorice into one inch pieces. Then with scissors or a knife cut through the top of the licorice about half way down the piece so it looks like greenery.

Next, gently pinch the sides of the orange candy to open the cut up just a bit. Don’t get too rambunctious with this step or you’ll crack the outsides and make them ugly. Then, well, you’ll have to eat them.

Now poke the green stems into the top of your carrot. I used the tip of a knife to set it in–that worked the best for me.

Carefully squeeze your carrot closed a bit around the green top.

Oh, just look at your little harvest! Aren’t they adorable?!

All that’s left to do now is to “plant” your little candy carrots into your favorite patch…I mean batch of chocolate cupcakes. These sweet things–along with a tall glass of ice water–will make a fine reward for all those little backyard farmers coming in from a long day with the rototiller. Wouldn’t you say?

Oh, I do so love Spring!