She planned a fun birthday date weeks ago for this Friday. She's been counting down the days!!! She talked, planned, wrote down all her favorite stores to shop, and even persistently asked about the small details of this date!!! She invited her best friend in school, Courtney, to join the fun. (Her mom was invited for the fun night of shopping too! It feels so good to still be on the top of these girls friend list.)
I picked the girls up at school and then we met up with Sherry. We shopped the mall. We ate Chinese foods because we like that. :) We got to shop a few new stores that the girls wanted to go to. It was a night of lots of walking and hanging out with the girls!
We left the mall with all our feet being tired. We dropped off Sherry and brought Courtney along home with us. The girls grabbed their winter clothes and we headed right back into the Yukon. Dave's invited us over for an Acquire party. Mike and the other two kids went awhile and we got there with a bunch of children ready to go ice skating. The fun seemed to start all over again. The girls joined in and by the time they were all back inside, everyone was so cold. I was a bit concerned about Matthew because he just goes outside and enjoys it so much, that even when he gets cold, he stays out still longer. We he got inside, he started to cry. The warm house was making his hands and feet sting! Poor guy was chilled to the bone. He only had on his feet ... socks, his school sneakers and then on the pond ... his skates. Don't ask me why he didn't grab his snow boots??? I feel like I preach to the kids about dressing warm, but when I'm not right there to help them get dressed for the cold, they only grab the bare necessities. It was a long, late night. We didn't get to bed until 1 AM! Thanks Dave's for the fun night!
Everyone slept in the next morning. The girls spent most of their time in the basement talking, dressing up and acting girly. Matthew was a bit annoyed that Hadassah didn't let him join in on the girl fun. Hadassah and Courtney both love "puppy chow" and so they mixed up a batch together. After lunch, Courtney went home. Thanks for coming Courtney!!! You are a great friend!!!
Matthew wasn't feeling the best on and off all day Saturday. I gave him some meds and he laid a lot. Headache and dizzy. We tucked him in bed hoping that by morning he would feel well.
Yesterday was Hadassah's birthday!!! She turned 12 and at 8:45 this morning, I remembered back to when she was born. I was new at being a mom. My heart with filled with such gratitude and I loved and adored her so much. And still do!!! :) Becoming a mom was the neatest thing ever. She taught me so much of giving up of myself. About staying home and raising her. Being her friend. Being there through the thick and thin times. Laughing and then sometimes crying. She has changed so much of who I was and I thank her for that! My life changed forever when she entered, but it's the best change I could ever dream of!!! Thank you Hadassah for making me a better person. You are inspiring to me and your love for life is contagious!!! I love you!!! SO MUCH!!!
Sunday morning, Matthew was still not feeling the best. Still headache and dizzy. Mike stayed home from church with him while the girls and I enjoyed Sunday School. (Well, Ashlyn cried to stay in her class but before leaving this morning, she said she was going to go to class. After some tears, she went to class.) Hadassah got invited to an after church sledding party with some church girls. She was all into that! I was a bit hesitant with letting her go because I wanted to spend her birthday day with her! But I also wanted her to have a blast on such a special day!!! Ashlyn and I came home to get the guys some lunch. Matthew slept all morning but was into eating some lunch. That's a good sign of getting well. He's been up most of the afternoon and I think he's on his way to good health once again!!! PTL!
I baked some 'from scratch' chocolate cupcakes for Hadassah. With planning her shopping night out, we didn't focus a whole lot of extras for today. I still wanted some kind of cake or dessert that she would enjoy! I hope they will taste good. I got the recipe online.
1/4 cup butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 ounces chocolate
2 large eggs, room temperature
2 large egg yolks, room temperature
1/2 + 1 T. vegetable oil
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/3 cup sour cream
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup room temperature water
* Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix the butter and sugar until fully combined. Melt the chocolate and add it to the sugar mixture. Mix in eggs and egg yolks one at a time until just combined. Mix in oil, vanilla, and sour cream. Sift the flour, salt, baking soda, and cocoa powder into a separate bowl. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients in three additions, mixing until just combined. Mix in water. Fill 18 cupcake liners 2/3 full and put in the oven. Bake for 18 minutes or until centers are done. Immediately remove cupcakes from the pans and cool on a rack. Cool and decorate. Enjoy!
Mike picked up Hadassah at the sledding party and brought her home. We decorated the cupcakes and tested them. I got Mike and Hadassah's approval. Matthew and I gave them a five. :/ I didn't have all purpose flour on hand and I think if I make these again, using the correct flour is going to make these even better!
Here's the birthday girl!!! She thought the cupcakes were tasty!
Happy Birthday Hadassah and I hope this year of 2014 is super cool for you. I hope you enjoy every moment possible!!! You are beautiful inside and out!!!
Love you girl!!! ~ Mom
