{this moment} ♥ sisterly love ♥

{this moment}

"Photos - no words - capturing a moment from the week.
A simple, special, extraordinary moment.
A moment I want to pause, savor and remember."

inspired by SouleMama - a Friday ritual

tear...

Jaden had a REALLY rough day at school Tuesday...thankfully, i got a call from his resource teacher (special ed) before picking him up from daycare - so i was able to hear all about it from her first (since Jaden tends to leave out details...i usually only get bits of the story - & of course, bits from his side only)

it started with group work in her room...the 4 boys in Jaden's group were to answer some questions together...& if they didn't agree, they were to discuss it until they all came to the same conclusion...well once, Jaden's answer was different than the other 3...he was sure of his answer, so wouldn't budge - & come to find out the other 3 boys were right & he was wrong - ugh! Jaden hates to mess up! especially if he's the only one wrong...he put his head down & quietly started to cry :0(

then, in Math class (his best subject)...he went to the smartboard to answer a question - again, sure of his answer...only to sit down, & have the next kid go up & correct his answer, because it was wrong...again, total devastation & tears :0(

the day continued to suck...he misplaced the new dragon chapter book he's been reading (which he'd much rather read, instead of the Cam Jansen book he's assigned to right now)...small thing to most kiddos - but not so much for Jaden :0(

then at daycare, this one girl (who constantly picks on Jaden & is gonna get a beat down from me if she doesn't cut it out! ok, i'm kidding...ok, maybe i'm not ~lol~) started her crap, & was bullying Jaden...the daycare workers stopped it (again), but the damage had already been done & his feeling were hurt :0(

when i picked him up, he was in a somber mood...not really upset, but not his happy-go-lucky self...the girls had cheerleading practice, so i took advantage of the alone time with Jaden to concentrate on his homework - which was more studying, than anything...studying is always rough - because Jaden has a hard time retaining facts that are of no interest to him...so of course, when i quiz him - he answers wrong a majority of the time...which only makes him more & more frustrated - & less & less willing to try :0(

he finally put his head in his hands & started to tear up...he says, "geez! i'm just not smart enough."

i immediately responded with, "Bub, you are too! you are SO smart! just because u don't know all the answers, all the time, doesn't mean u're not smart!" i tried telling him about all the amazing things he can do - like memorize lines to movies & songs, after only hearing them one time...& being able to pick up music by ear, & play it on his keyboard...& learn all these cool facts about aliens, & robots, & ocean life...& he knows more about dragons than any other person i know! & how wild his imagination is - that he's able to come up with such crazy, fun stories...& how he can draw such unbelievable pictures! i told him that it takes smarts to do all those things!

i'd hoped it would help a little - he usually enjoys talking about the things that he loves, & is good at...& tell me - how do u explain to a 10yr old that he's just as good as his peers? when the reason he struggles is because he's physically wired differently than his peers?!

then he says, "i just wish i could ask a scientist to make me a robotic brain...so i was smart like everyone else."

tear :0(

kicking cancer's ass together...

i have quite a few bumper stickers on the back of my vehicle...one of my favs is my this one...

apparently, someone else liked it too...last week, i found this note tucked under my windshield wiper...

i gave her a call, & directed her to my fav bumper sticker site...gotta love the connection that us cancer survivors have! ;0)

speaking of...

i met with my oncologist yesterday...it was a follow-up from my latest CT (i've had one every 3 months for a year now...the latest being last week)...she said they spotted a lymph node under my right arm that they want to keep an eye on (which is weird, since my cancer was all on my left side - neck/chest)...she says they're not too concerned about it - but just want to watch it

so instead of moving to scans every 6 months, like we originally planned to do this time - i'm to come back & see her again in 3...i'm ok with that news - i told her that if she's not worried about the node yet, i'm not either...plus i enjoy seeing her...she's one of the coolest docs i know! ;0)

pretty wicked...

we find a lot of interesting creatures around our home...we're in the country, of course - & with the country, comes critters!

last weekend, the girls came inside & we like "you HAVE to come see this spider!!!" they're the real critter hunters...always finding "pets" & crazy bugs to investigate

so i go outside & they direct me to this...

now by that pic alone, you can kinda get an idea of the size of this thing...pretty wicked, huh?!

i love that my kiddos aren't scared of these things...we immediately went to Google (what in the world would i do without it?!?!) & searched for "yellow & black VA spider" & immediately found out what we were looking at...

i'm happy to have this critter around...keeping away those other pesky spiders that like to come in the house...moths, flies, mosquitoes, even bees! the crazy thing is that it says the female will lay over 1,000 eggs inside a papery sac...then die! the babies hatch in the fall, but stay inside the sac thru winter...God sure creates some amazing stuff!!!

i'd much rather have these around than copperheads...yes, yours truly had to kill her very first snake the other week - & it was only about 10ft from the house! Curtis has killed one so far this year too...we'd seen black snakes & garter snakes all summer...happy to have those around...but i hope these cooler temps keep the darn copperheads far, far away!

i can deal with just about anything...even spiders...but poisonous snakes scare the CRAP outta me! luckily, the kiddos haven't come into contact with any yet...& they know to get the hell outta dodge if they do!

so...what are you scared of?

weekend cakes...

last week, i delivered this Big Rig cake to the birthday boy's house...Charlie celebrated his 57th birthday, & his wife had this surprise waiting for him...i got a note later from Marilyn:
"Sharon, Thanks for the cake. He loved it, the only thing he has done is just look at it. I told him we had to eat it. He said I love it just like it is!"

i'd say that was a successful cake order! ;0) it was yellow cake, iced in buttercream...i made the truck from rice krispie treats, then decorated it in fondant


then Saturday, we dropped this cake off before hitting Broadway's Autumn Days...it was for a joint birthday party - for brothers, Triston & Micah...

it was marble cake, iced in buttercream (& chocolate buttercream for the dirt/mud)...i made the fence from gumpaste & the tractor from rice krispies treats, decorated in fondant...here's a note that i got from Triston & Micah's grandmother, who ordered the cake...
"Thank you SOOOO much Sharon for the beautiful cake! You are truly gifted!! they LOVED the cake!! AND it was absolutely delicious! Thank you again! You're the best!"

this cake was for my aunt, who celebrated her 39th birthday on Saturday...it was lemon - her favorite! iced in buttercream & topped with 3 fondant lemon slices

then yesterday, not only did i deliver this cake to the party, but i got to stay & serve it too!

Garrett knew exactly what he wanted for his cake this year (just like past years)...a Star Wars cake, with the Millennium Falcon up top, & SIXTEEN of his favorite characters!

the cake was 3 tiers of fudge chip, all iced in buttercream...

the ship was actually styrofoam, covered in fondant...i made all the characters from fondant...

i was a little nervous, because i'm sooo not familiar with Star Wars - so i wasn't sure how i did with the characters...but Garrett was pleased with how it turned out!

all the kiddos at Garrett's party were too (including my 3)...there were more fondant characters than there were kids, so everyone got their own! i admit, it's a little heartbreaking to see something that took me many hours to create, demolished in a matter of minutes...but it's so worth it - to see how much fun the kiddos have playing with the characters, & gobbling em down!

thx for looking!

{this moment} 1st cheer practice 9/7/10

{this moment}

"Photos - no words - capturing a moment from the week.
A simple, special, extraordinary moment.
A moment I want to pause, savor and remember."

inspired by SouleMama - a Friday ritual

Gabby's mysterious bean plant...

you might remember this interesting bean plant that we grew in our garden this year...

Gabrielle brought it home at the end of the school year, last year (1st grade)...it wasn't labeled - she was just told it was a "bean stalk" ;0)

we planted it in our garden, & were very surprised when the beautiful pink/purple vines & flowers appeared! when the flowers fell off, they'd be replaced by these dark purple bean pods...

some of the beans inside the pods would get fat (they were also dark purple), but most pods stayed empty...still not sure what it was, or if it was even edible - i showed the beans to my mom...she wasn't sure either, which surprised me...we didn't exactly have enough to eat anyway, so i just kind of forgot about em...we enjoyed that they helped make our garden pretty, & that seemed like enough

then one day, Ma calls me at work...she'd just spotted the exact same kind of plant - only it was growing up the base of a bird feeder...as some sort of decorative vine

so, i did what i always do when i have questions about something...i turned to Google! ;0) i searched for "decorative bean plant" & got tons of image hits...leading me to the Hyacinth Bean!

not only can you eat these beans, but the leaves too! (not dry seeds tho...u gotta boil em first, or they're actually poisonous) of course, most folks don't grown them for the beans - but as decorative vines...especially along fence & trellises - because they're just so pretty, & grow FAST!

(photo courtesy of The Kudzu Files)

i can actually attest to that - by the time we finally pulled up our garden & cleared everything out, we had these bean vines growing up some of our stalks of corn, winding in & out of the squash, climbing in every direction in the garden - all from one tiny little plant!

so now, our plan is to harvest all the little beans, & plant them along our fence next year...i hope it's nice & full & pretty by the end of next summer! :0)

anyone else have these where u live? or better yet...grown them urself?

wordless Wednesday...the boy ain't right! ~lol~

Mountain Jamboree Festival...

this weekend, we went up on Massanutten Mountain to check out The Recipe at the Mountain Jamboree Festival...my sis turned me on to The Recipe years ago, & the kiddos love em almost as much as we do...i'd never seen them live & there were other activities going on during the Jamboree too...it sounded like a fun time, so we went to check it out!

there was a bouncy house...& a small petting zoo...

face painting & hooping for kiddos & adults alike!

they had a rock wall that Gabby couldn't wait to try out!

& she made it to the top super fast!

Gab giving it a try, gave Jaden the motivation he needed to work up the nerve to go for it...

he didn't make it to the top, but he did really well too!

but the best part was the real reason why we were there...the music! my sis & i were psyched!

& i'm super thankful that even tho my hubby isn't really a fan...he was happy to come along & enjoy the day with us ;0)

Suntrust sponsored the event, & they were handing out all kinds of goodies...fans, highlighters, light-up wands, sharpies...the highlighters came in handy too - the kiddos entertained themselves for quite some time...giving each other "tattoos"!

by the time we left, everyone had at least 1 "tat"...& the kiddos had their arms/legs/faces covered! ~lol~

the music was awesome...we had so much fun!

& we found a killer spot, right up front...i think one of my fav parts was people watching...as the night went on, the folks that came up to dance got more & more interesting (think, free hippies gyrating ~lol~)...& there was a hooping group there (they provided all the hula hoops for the kiddos to play with) - they were simply amazing! at night, they break out light-up hoops, which is even cooler!



we left before too late...we'd had our fill of fun & decided to hit McD's on the way home for ice cream...the kiddos had fun playing with their Suntrust light-up wands in the car on the way home ;0)

we had a great time...can't wait for next year!