Inspired...

I've had a lot of time on my hands this week. Four whole days off with no kids.  I've cleaned, I've organized, I've de-cluttered.  But, I've also watched far too much tv.  Oh well, it's vacation.  I've learned there's not too much on tv during the middle of the day but CMT is notorious for having marathons of "Extreme Makeover Home Edition".  That show is a real tear-jerker.  Yesterday, Ty and his crew built a house for the Beach Family.  They were a family of 15 all living in a trailer because their home had been destroyed by Hurrican Ike.  The thing that really got me was that 9 of their 13 children had been adopted out of the foster care system.  They were only 40 years old and had already fostered 85 children!  So, in true Extreme Makeover fashion, they built them a gigantic house (around 5500 square feet) in a week while they sent the family away to Disney World.  Sometimes I  think this show is a little over the top.  I mean, who really needs a house that big and fancy? But, I think this family deserved it.  One of the designers on the show described the family as something "out of a fairy tale".  That made me chuckle.  I am 100 percent sure that their life has not been a fairy tale.  I'm sure it's been hard.  I'm sure it's been heartbreaking.  I'm sure there kids have whined and yelled and come from really bad backgrounds.  But the inspiring thing is, even though it's nowhere close to being a fairy tale, the Beach family keeps loving on kids.  In fact, I Googled the family after the show was over and found that they had adopted 4 more special needs kids after the show aired because now they had all that space!  I couldn't help but be inspired by this family. Chris and I have learned so much in 5 months of doing foster care but we know we have so much more to learn.  We look forward to providing many children with homes and maybe adopting a few ourselves (but we will not be adopting 13...I can tell you that right now...unless of course Ty Pennington wants to build us a mansion too!).

Oh, one other thing that inspired me about the show.  You may know that we are taking the boys to DisneyWorld next week.  Well, we figure if the Beach family can handle it with 13 kids, we can handle it with 2?  Ok, well you still may want to say a prayer for us...

whoopie!

Well, seeing how it's the holiday season and my family is 1000 miles away, we have been getting a lot of packages in the mail.  Each one is exciting but most of the gifts are still wrapped and under the tree.  But, a few days ago we received a box from my aunt and uncle that I could not resist opening!  The box had an "Isamax" tag on it.  If you're not from Maine and have no idea what this means, check it out here.  In the box were 6 Wicked Whoopies, all different flavors- red velvet (which you'll notice is missing in the picture below because it was devoured right when the box was open), black forest, raspberry and cream, peanut butter, pumpkin, and (of course) a classic whoopie pie.  Oh. My. Gosh. 

These things are a little taste of heaven.  They are a staple at our family gatherings.  We even had a special extra large whoopie pie made as the cake for my grandmother's 70th birthday last summer.  So, while I may not get the pleasure of being with my family on Christmas, I can still eat our favorite tasty treat and know that they are probably eating one too!!

PS- If you're a native Southerner and have never tried a whoopie pie, please promise me you will.  Believe me, you won't regret it!

'Tis The Season...

I have always loved this time of year. I love Christmas music, shopping, wrapping. I love the excitement surrounding the holidays. But I'll be honest, this year has been incredibly stressful. Maybe it's the two kids living in our house, maybe it's the fact that I had 30 cakes to make in the month of December, maybe it's that I hand-made my Christmas cards (thanks for the inspiration Pinterest, they took way too long). Or maybe it's that I'm just trying to do too much. We want this to be a good Christmas for the boys, one that they will remember. I'll be honest, I have gone way overboard with gifts for the boys...I just can't help myself! But more than the gifts, we want them to remember the the love they are shown, they joy that comes with Christmas, and of course, why we even celebrate Christmas. And honestly, with all the hustle and bustle, sometimes I forget what Christmas is all about. It's not about buying the perfect gift or wrapping it up in a pretty bow. It's not about the food or even about family (thought it's certainly nice to have someone to spend Christmas with). But, it's all about celebrating the birth of Jesus! I am so glad that Christmas falls on a Sunday this year. What a better way to spend Christmas morning with the boys than at church!

So, despite the stress and craziness of this year, it really has been a memorable Christmas season already. I am so excited for Christmas morning and seeing the joy on the boys' faces!

At the beginning of this post are some pictures of the cakes I made this month (blogger was being funny and wouldn't let me put them at the end of the past). I delivered 26 to a Christmas party yesterday and failed to take any pictures...so I apologize for that...honestly, after working on cakes for 10 hours straight, the last thing I thought about was taking pictures!