Another year older...

My baby turned 7 this week. Wow. Seven sounds so much older than six and way older than five, and well, she isn't a baby anymore. She has been counting down her birthday for weeks now. The night before, she was so excited that she got in bed early, but was too excited that she couldn't fall asleep! Normally the last one up in the morning, she awoke way before her breakfast in bed was ready and politely demanded why we were not circled around her singing when I walked through her room! She is so funny. She received a few packages in the mail in the days leading up to her birthday and she could not decide what to open first! I took the day off and we had a picnic in the park. I told her she could choose anything for lunch- we could go anywhere (close by). She only wanted to eat Top Ramen! I NEVER buy it! Well she had it for lunch. I baked this cake and it was a great day to mark another year gone by. I still get a little sad that time passes so fast and my babies are not babies. Although, they will always be my babies.

Weekends

There is always so much to do here, and we wish we could do it all. We passed up haunted houses, shopping, carnivals and pumpkin patches this weekend. I heard about a beached blue whale on the news radio on Thursday. We went to see it Sunday. Oh boy was it rainy- very reminiscent of our Glasgow days. We were soaked through in a matter of minutes, even with our gear... The coast is beautiful and Sunday it was fierce. We found the whale and her foetus. Apparently it was hit by a ship. The baby was born premature. The mother was 80 feet and the baby was 17. We were so sad looking at the remnants of such an amazing and giant animal. However, we were very glad we got to see it. Maybe (hopefully) a once in a life time event.
And then Atlas and Leif found a freshly electrocuted crow. They were walking home in the evening and heard a ruckus of cawing. On the ground beneath a telephone pole was a crow. They came home and asked if they could bring it home. So they went back and got it. They almost exchanged it for a fake one in a Halloween display of one of the neighbors's. Could you imagine? It was measured, weighed, examined- they found a blown-out ear, then they plucked a few raven colored feathers, and finally they buried it and marked the spot so that next spring they will have a skeleton to look at.

Therapy

I think I would love a therapist. For the time being baking is my therapy. Last week was rough. I had a lot to do- everyone did, and well, sometimes life is just hard. I love Autumn. I feel like time passes fast (too fast) and with each season's passing I really feel it. I get sad that my kids are growing so fast- well anyways I think that when I wish that I could crawl into bed and sleep and go back in time, I bake. I think it is my lowest- Rich thinks it is when I have already hit rock bottom and am slowly coming out of it. Which ever it is baking is part of the recovery. I made pumpkin pancakes mid week for breakfast. Mid week!! I think Thursday I made banana bread. Then I made apple cake and flapjacks (scottish ones) Friday evening and then pumpkin scones Saturday morning. I also made pumpkin "latte" for the kids. That was a hit- sweetened milk with pumpkin puree and spices. All warmed up. It went great with the banana bread. Then I was better. I am trying to keep up with my therapy. Today I made pumpkin bread and zucchini bread- both with chocolate chips.So yummy warm out of the oven with butter. I feel good. It also doesn't hurt that the weather has been amazing- fantastic. Way better than I ever hoped.

A good Weekend.

I got to see my favorite band again! For free and in my back yard- just about! I LOVE LOVE LOVE the Avett Bros. They put on a great show. San Francisco was at its finest- there were "infused" cupcakes, green rice crispy treats and many other interesting treats for sale at the festival. It was super crowded and I almost didn't stay! I am glad I did. So what if I have a mid term (my first) tomorrow morning! I got to see the Avetts!