Birthday cake!

Today I made a birthday cake for Lilah's first birthday! (OMG, I can't believe she is going to be one)

It was so much easier than I thought it would be. I purchased a "doll cake" pan from Wilton, and it came out great!

The icing didn't come out exactly the color I wanted it, but I still don't think it looked so bad. The cake is boxed yellow cake mix, and the frosting is a homemade buttercream. :)

This was my first real attempt at baking a "decorated" cake. I always just purchased cakes from the store for birthdays, but I think I may begin making the kids cakes. A homemade cake is so much better than a store bought one!! :)

Spring Break!!

So, the boys are on Spring Break this week. We have been having a lot of fun spending time together. Having them home from school has allowed me to re-discover how fun (and tiring) the boys can be.

Here are some of my favorite pics from this week:

My little pricess learning to walk! :)

The trio at The Treehouse! Corey had so much fun. He was a bit scared about going because he had never been, and once we got there he said "You were right, Mommy. This isn't scarey at all" :)

Corey kept making sure his brother was getting down the slide okay. It was so sweet.

We went to the zoo on Monday, and the kids had the most fun just playing in the dirt. Tuesday we went to the park, same thing. So, I decided to just let them play in the dirt out front of our house. Lilah loved it! Here she is with a rock she found. :)

Dirty fun!

Even princesses like to get dirty! :)

More pics from our Easter Egg hunt to come!

I'm out like your mom in a beauty pageant..

So, here we are again. Moving time has come. I am SO happy to be moving from this place. Busy days are ahead prepping everything and everyone for our departure. This duty station has taught me so much. I have met some really awesome military spouses that I will miss dearly, and I have now had the pleasure (sarcasm here) of dealing with the "drama" that you always hear about when it comes to the military "lifestyle".

I mostly keep to myself, so the drama hasn't effected me much. But, I have heard/seen some pretty disturbing things. The "mean girls" seem to want to tear you to shreds if they think you are weak, or just not like them.

Its so sad.

I stop attending most of the get togethers because it generally turned into a gossip fest. No one was untouchable. Everyone was talked about. Everyone! I know I wasn't immune to the nastiness. I heard a few things that were said about me. One was that I must be a "bad parent" because my autistic son got lost, and the other was that my baby should have died because I was so "careless" to give birth at home. These are just the things that made it back to me, I am certain there is much more that was said. *eye roll*

Other than the gossip, there have been quite a few really messed up things that have happened.
In the ever-changing world of the military lifestyle, what should remain constant is our capacity to support each other, to meet someone where they are at, appreciating those who came before us to show the way, and pass on that same continuum of care to those struggling around us.
Perhaps we should remember this simple Golden Rule

“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”