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Happy Birthday, Daddy.

April 30, 2010 By Rachel 24 Comments

Happy First Day of the Last Year of This Decade of Your Life.

(that’s about right, sounds exactly like something you’d say)

german choc cake for dad

I baked a German Chocolate Cake last night.  I wish that we lived closer so that I could have surprised you with it.

I can’t.

So, I took a picture of it, ate a piece and today I dropped it off at the elementary school and told them to enjoy it in honor of your birthday.  (They’re very happy today was your birthday)

What to say to you on your birthday?

I hope today is wonderful, I hope y’all throw some steaks on the barbie and that they’re perfectly medium rare, I hope the potatoes are crisp and tender.  I hope that the boys come over and that you’re surrounded by love and family and laughter and hugs, those things that you worked so hard to teach us are the most important aspects of life.

Thank you for always standing beside me.

dad and me

Thank you for holding me just tightly enough that your presence was always known but, not stifling.

Thank you for allowing me to fall and to fail.

Thank you for always picking me up afterward and helping me to find the right path.

Thank you for being an amazing Father and Man, one to whom every other boy and man was measured against.

Thank you for standing with me and loving me and laughing with me on the day you passed me over to the man who did measure up.

wedding day

I have learned and continue to learn so much from you.

About life and parenting, about saying I’m sorry and not being afraid to show my children that I’m not perfect.

I have grown and learned the most from you, not from your perfections, but your imperfections.  I hope I am able to teach my children in the same way.

Thank you for helping me to realize that life shouldn’t be taken too seriously, or I’ll never make it through in one piece.

You have helped me to see the importance of friendship, independence, laughter, love and knowledge.

You taught me to stand on my own two feet, but also to know that it is just as important to know how to ask for help and lean on others when it is necessary.

You were, and still are, the best father any little girl could ever wish for and now, the most amazing Grandpa.

grandpa and monkey pattycake

Happy Birthday, Daddy.

We love you so much.

Rachel, Nathan, Princess and Monkey

P.S.

I had a plan.

The kids were going to sing Happy Birthday to you and I was going to videotape it and put it on here and it was going to be messy and adorable.

I can’t find my video camera, anywhere.  *sigh*


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Happy Birthday, Nathan.

January 27, 2010 By Rachel 28 Comments

Happy Birthday, Nathan.

Birthdays are so special; they’re a day to rejoice and give thanks and a day to remember.

Your mom was so proud of you; I know that she’s watching you right now and that she’s smiling because you are more than any mother could hope for.  I say that both as your wife, and as a mom.

I am so grateful for all that you are.

Why you saw me and decided you had to have me, I’ll never know but I am damn thankful for that.
You saved me from myself.
You constantly tell me that you wish I could see myself through your eyes because I’d be amazed; while I may not be able to see myself through your eyes, I see the love and the passion and the strength of your love in your eyes when you look at me and it still has the power to weaken my knees.

I remember it all.  The moment we met, the swimming pool, the phone calls, the apologies, the drives, the surprise roses, the green cast on my wrist when you proposed during finals.

Everything.

You captured my heart and healed it.  Thank you.

Every one of my accomplishments, is because you stand beside me cheering me on, supporting me and encouraging me.
You have given me a life full of blessings and love and compassion and beauty, and I am blessed.

Your compassion for others humbles me.
Your love and passion for our children brings tears to my eyes and joy to my heart.
The fire in your eyes when you look at me makes me all melty and tingly.
When you say I love you and kiss me, the outside world ceases to exist.

You are my husband, my best friend, my lover, my partner, my strength.

I love you more today than yesterday and tomorrow, I’ll love you even more.

The power of what we have and the strength of my feelings for you weakens me and brings tears to my eyes, yet fills me with peace and strength.

I can be having the worst day ever, and all it takes is your voice, your touch and I’m soothed.

Happy Birthday, Nathan.  I love you so much more than my 19 year old self could ever have imagined possible.

Then, Now and Always

Your loving wife,

Rachel

January 27, 1976

nathan-born

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Filed Under: Birthdays, Everything Else, Nathan

Rainbow Cupcakes

December 2, 2009 By Rachel 26 Comments

also known as Disco Groovy Tie Dye Cupcakes

rainbow cupcakes

These are the rainbow, colorful, tie dye cupcakes that I made for Princess’ 6th birthday and took up to her school and to her Daisy Scout Meeting.  These rainbow colorful cupcakes are quite simple to make.  They take a bit more time than regular cupcakes but trust me, as you can see from the picture… they are more than worth it.

These are deceptively simple and insanely delicious and rich and tonguegasmically flavorful.

  • 1 box Betty Crocker Butter Yellow Recipe Cake Mix (this is the richest, most flavorful and moist cake mix.. in my experience)

Follow the instructions on the box for making the cake batter (eggs, butter.. please use real butter, it makes a difference)

Divide the batter into 4 or 5 clear glass or white bowls ( I got mine at the Dollar Tree and love them) use food coloring to dye each bowl of batter to your desired shade

bowls of colored batter

Using table spoons place the batter in whichever pattern you prefer.  I placed one color in the base of the cupcake liner and then dropped a spoon-full of batter in the cupcake liner in a clockwise pattern until each cup was 3/4 full.

cupcake batter ready to bake

Bake and cool according to the instructions on the box.

Be careful these cupcakes smell delicious enough to tempt even the strongest will and the bursts of color are enough to bring even the most stoic abstainer to their knees

rainbow cupcake insides

For the icing.. yet another cheat.  I’ve made many a buttercream and many a cream cheese but, when I’m in a hurry and I want absolute tonguegasmic frosting without a worry…  this is where I turn.

1 buttercream icing

1 cream cheese icing

1/2 stick room temp butter

1 (8 oz) block cream cheese, room temp

1/2 to 1 C powdered sugar

1 to 2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Empty both frosting containers into a mixer, add in butter, cream cheese and 1 tsp vanilla… add powdered sugar both to taste and to stiffness.

Once you’ve achieved your desired texture and taste (plenty of tastings are required to achieve the perfect balance… trust me *wink wink*)  DO NOT put this into a baggie and snip off the end to “pipe” onto the cupcakes.. this just looks like a mass of poo.

Spend the $6 at the grocery store/Hobby Lobby/whatever and buy the bag/tip combo.  Use the medium tip and pipe a swirl just in the center of the cupcake.. this allows the artistry of your beautiful tie dyed rainbow cupcake to show through and your cupcakes aren’t overwhelmed by frosting

cupcakes

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Filed Under: Birthdays, Desserts, Princess Tagged With: Birthdays, colorful cupcakes, cupcakes, rainbow cupcakes, tie dye cupcakes

Happy Sixth Birthday, Princess.

November 18, 2009 By Rachel 29 Comments

November 18, 2003

6:18 PM  19 1/2″ and 7lbs 15 oz

nov 18 2003

November 18, 2004

nov 18 2004

November 18, 2005

nov 18 2005

November 18, 2006

nov 18 2006

November 18, 2007

nov 18 2007

November 18, 2008

november 18 2008

Today, November 18, 2009

nov 18 2009

Dear Princess,

Happy Birthday!  Happy SIXTH birthday.  This morning as I was making your cinnamon rolls and bacon, a realization struck.  Today, you will have to use TWO hands to show your age.  I don’t know why.. but that struck me to my core and actually made my knees go a bit weak.  nov 18, 2009 SIX

You’re no longer a one hand age.. it now takes two hands for you to proudly show off your age.  For you, it is so exciting, for me… it is exciting and yet it leaves me a bit wistful for those brief moments when I held  your small head in the crook of my arm as you nestled and nuzzled and nursed.  Me, the center of your universe.  And yet, looking at you now, watching you… I wouldn’t go back.

Looking at those pictures up there, it’s almost impossible to believe that it’s been 6 years since you shot your way into this world.  You were here, the world could start turning now. You are a whirlwind and a constant joy.  You turned our lives upside down and it was the best thing that could have happened to us.

You are so smart and so well spoken, I often forget that you’re just now 6.  You amaze me on a daily basis.  You read books to your little brother at bed-time, you rejoice in writing love notes and leaving them around the house for us to find or taking them to school to give to your friends.  Your mind is constantly racing, absorbing, tumbling new things around until they fit into the world you understand, while at the same time,  ever expanding to allow new ideas to subtly change you, grow your world.  I’m in awe of you.

You are such a treasure. From your loving heart, your bubbling laughter, your strange sense of humor, your compassion and your sparkling personality… you are everything I could ever have asked for in a daughter, and more.

I am blessed to be your mother, the one chosen to teach you, guide you, love you and cherish you.

There will be times that I will yell at you, there will be times when we won’t like each other very much, there will be times we both say things we don’t mean, but there will never be a time that you are not loved, a time you are not cherished, a time where I am anything but thankful for you.

I have always known and understood love, your Daddy showed me a different kind of love but you, you my precious angel girl, you have taught me a love like no other.
You are borne of my body, my heart, my soul and my mind and you opened up a place in me that I didn’t know even existed.

You are smart, funny, strong, beautiful, compassionate, silly, confident, loving, temperamental, friendly, energetic, inquisitive, vibrant, frustrating, head strong, lively, independent, fearless and amazing.

I pray that at 16, 26, 36, 66, 96 .. you retain all of these qualities.

I will do my best to stand back and allow you to live, fall, experience, fail and triumph. I will try to never stand in your way, to allow you to stumble and fall because the biggest disservice I can do you would be to never let you fail.   That being said, I promise that I will always and forever be there to pick you back up, kiss away the tears, whisper I love you and nudge you back towards the right path.

You are my firstborn.

My only daughter.

My always and forever, Princess Stinkerbelle.

I love you more than words.

Happy Birthday, my amazing daughter.

I love you.

Momma

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Filed Under: Birthdays, Princess

Happy Birthday, Momma

November 6, 2009 By Rachel 9 Comments

November 6th, 19mumblemumble

The Day that My Mom was born.

Last year I found all these pictures, scanned them and wrote this post.  I can’t top it.. so, Happy Birthday Rebecca Jane.. here’s to the second time around… (you know, like how you turned 29 four, five, twice)

Happy Birthday Mama:  The woman who gave me life and nearly drop kicked her doctor during my delivery because he was an ass who rotated me without warning, or an epidural.

If you’re a mom, you totally flinched, clenched and said a**hole

My mom is an amazing woman. She is strong, beautiful, funny, passionate, loving, smart and the original Southern Belle.

Happy Birthday Momma.

My Mom on her First Birthday

My mom making it to her first birthday was a miracle. This picture, is a miracle.
My mom was born in mumblefiftymumblesomethingmumble. She was born with brain tumors. She survived the surgery. She survived terrible asthma and lived to thrive and take that picture. That picture up there. A powerful tribute and precious memento, a tribute to her strength and a precious memento for her mother, my Granny.

Tackling the first of many obstacles in her life

This picture is adorable to me because it reminds me not only of Princess learning to navigate stairs at your house, but because it represents to me the many obstacles you have overcome in your life with a sweet smile, grace and a sense of humor.
I don’t need to list them here.
You are powerful and strong beyond your own understanding.
I am proud of you.

Thank you for helping me to learn how to overcome my own obstacles with grace, strength and compassion. Thank you for dorm rooms, first apartments, margaritas, being there for my ADPi initiation, thank you for late night cries, for caring enough to interrogate Nathan to make sure he was good enough for your little girl. Thank you for the bachelorette party, the orgasm talks, the shopping trips but most of all, thank you for believing in me.

Mom, you are a beautiful, strong, loving, passionate, graceful, funny, smart, loving and wonderful woman.
You have taught me much in life and I am blessed by you.
I wish we could be there with you today but I know that Dad will make this day wonderful for you.

You are Princess’ favorite person and playmate.
You are my first and most special best friend and playmate.
You are more than I have words to describe.

Thank you for helping me to learn Grace, Humility, Love, Compassion, Strength, Independence, Grammar, Power, Respect and so much more.

You are my mother and my friend and I love you beyond measure.

Happy Birthday Bebe.
If it ain’t messy, you ain’t havin’ fun.

Happy Birthday Wishes and Big Kisses,
from your little girl

Happy Birthday Momma.

All our love.

Rachel, Nathan, Princess and Monkey

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Filed Under: BeBe, Birthdays, Family
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