May the force be with me - trying to make a Star Wars birthday cake is harder than you think!

Peter recovered from his bug so we had his friend birthday party on Monday night. That worked out well since the kids were out of school on Tuesday for Veteran's Day so we were still able to do the sleepover.

Peter is into Star Wars The Clone Wars right now and decided that he would like a Star Wars 'theme' to his party. I use the word theme loosely because other than the Clone Wars cartoon, he is clueless about Star Wars.

And so am I.

I saw the first Star Wars movie when it came out in 1977 and I haven't seen one since. I was eight so I don't really remember anything about the movie except that our church youth group went to see it and we were all so excited.

I remember being outside waiting in line and I remember looking down and seeing a plaque on the ground.

The plaque said that buried in that spot was a time capsule that was placed there when the movie theatre was built and it wasn't to be opened until the year 2000.

I was eight. It was 1977. And the year 2000 was incomprehensible to my little mind.

I remember asking one of the youth leaders if I would still be alive in the year 2000. He laughed and said "yes". Then I asked him if he would be alive in the year 2000. He laughed again and responded with "I hope so"!

Good news. We are both alive.

Bad news. I don't really remember anything about the movie. So I had to search the Internet for Star Wars cakes. It didn't take me long to realize that I wasn't going to be able to do it.

Almost every cake I found was shaped to look like one of the characters and was molded using FONDANT.

I've watched enough episodes of "Ace of Cakes" on Food Network to know that fondant is out of my league. Waaaaaaaaay out of my league.

I did discover that Wilson makes a pan shaped like Darth Vadar's head but Peter decided he didn't like that.

Several people had made light sabre cakes. Basically they took sheet cakes and cut them and pieced them together to form a light sabre.

Now that I could do! But Peter's response was, "That's so lame mom. Why don't we get action figures and put them on the cake."

Action figures! I can buy action figures!

So I made a round chocolate cake, frosted it with white icing (both at his request) and put Star Wars action figures on it. And do you know what his response was?

"I thought you were going to put the action figures on a light sabre cake?"

Oops! I guess we had a little miscommunication there.

The cake is not one of my finest cake decorating moments but it tasted good and Peter had a good time at his party.

And in the end, that's really all that matters to a 6-year-old anyway!

A clone aiming his gun at two droids. And yes! One of them has been knocked over for effect. That was Peter's idea. (And why is it so hard to frost a cake?? I used THREE containers of frosting in an attempt to hide all the chocolate crumbs.)

Blowing out the number 6 candle!

Miracle Monday - Keep Believing

It's Monday and I'm ready for some miracles so I hope you all have something to post.

I would like to write more today about Brian and Angie.

I wrote a Miracle Monday post a couple of weeks ago asking you all to pray for healing for Brian who is living with a brain tumor.

It has been a rough couple of weeks. Brian left his job and went on permanent disability and he began to deteriorate further. They made the decision that they were not going to pursue further treatments and that Brian was going to spend as much time as possible at home with his family.

But in the midst of all of this, God was working miracles.

They met with Christian doctor who determined that much of his deterioration could be attributed to fluid on the brain. He placed a temporary shunt in Brian's brain to drain the fluid and because it was so effective, they placed a permanent one on his brain.

The doctor actually prayed with them prior to the surgery! That is so rare and I know it gave them great peace before the procedure.

There were many other miracles that have occurred and Angie outlines them in this post. Please read it.

And please continue to pray the following for Angie and Brian:

• For a miracle in Brian's healing.
• Brian's speech restored and headaches to subside.
• For Brian's white and all other blood counts to stay in normal limits and other minimal chemo side effects.
• God's direction and guidance for Brian's medical team.
• Renewed emphasis in our spiritual/prayer life.
• Brian's right side strength restored and continued healing.
• Giving us grace moments of feeling like a normal family - peace and strength.

Please add Brian and Angie to your prayer list and pray all of these things for them.As you pray, please remember that God is a God of miracles and that he has the power to heal Brian.

"But I will restore you to health and heal your wounds," declares the Lord. - Jeremiah 30:17

If you have a miracle you would like to share, it's easy to participate. Just post a miracle on your blog and link it back here using Mr. Linky below.

Please mention "A Mom's Life" and my URL in your post. And if you want, you can use the Miracle Monday button in your post as well.

PLEASE NOTE - when linking make sure to link to your Miracle Monday post. Do not link to the front page of your blog.

This edition of Miracle Monday is now closed. Please come back next Monday to share a miracle. Thanks!

It's the only way the fridge is going to get cleaned out around here.

Poor Peter. His 6th birthday is on Thursday and he was supposed to have his friend party tonight. We don't ever do big parties around here but he was excited anyway.

Jennifer's four kids were coming for pizza and cake and her two boys, Cody and Colton, were going to spend the night.

But Peter was very sluggish yesterday and was up a lot of the night with a cough. This morning he had a fever and basically never moved from the couch.

So after lots of tears, I called Jennifer and told her we were going to have to reschedule.

And right after I got off the phone with her, I realized that a little milk had been spilled in the refrigerator. I cleaned it up and made lunch.

It was right after lunch that I realized the little bit of spilled milk was really A LOT of spilled milk.

It had run into two of the drawers and behind two of the drawers. It had even puddled up underneath the bottom drawer.

So I spent part of the afternoon cleaning out the refrigerator and Peter spent most of the day curled up in a ball on the couch. Not exactly what either one of us had planned for the day but when life gives you spilled milk, you might as well clean out the fridge!

What Time Is It?

Recently I started using products from Mary Kay's TimeWise line.

I didn't want to do it, but I feel like at my age (39!) I really need to start using something more than the generic moisturizer from Wal-Mart. So I ordered some products from Leigh and have been using them for 3 weeks.

And believe it or not, I do notice a difference in the lines around my eyes. It is a slight difference but it is noticeable - at least to me anyway!

I have been using The TimeWise 3-in-1 Cleanser, the Day Solution with SPF25, the Night Solution and the Age-Fighting Moisturizer. And for good measure, I have been using the Microdermabrasion Set once or twice a week.

It looks like I actually have a skin care regime now. I feel so grown up.

I wanted to post a Before and After picture but failed to actually take the Before shot so I did the next best thing. I perused my photo files and now we have a Before photo. (Please ignore the mortarboard. Sarah wanted my picture in it and pretty much what Sarah wants, Sarah gets. I think it's the whining - that girl can whine. )

BEFORE Mary Kay TimeWise

AFTER Mary Kay TimeWise

Like I said, my lines are still there. And I know they always will be. But, I don't think they look as deep since I've been using the TimeWise line. And my skin has never felt softer.

If you guys want to try the TimeWise Miracle Set, please contact Leigh. She is offering 15% off the set which includes the 3-in1 Cleanser, the Daytime solution with SPF25, the Nighttime solution, the Age Fighting moisturizer AND foundation.

It's a good deal ya'll. And if you decide to use it. Please take a Before and After shot and post it so I can see how great you look!

But please, leave the mortarboard in the closet!

Either I'm having trouble with the embedded comment form or no one likes the way Sarah says her ABC's.

I wrote a post this morning about Sarah saying her alphabet and then I scurried out the door to my MOPS meeting.

When I got back home, I sat down at the computer to check my email and to see if I had gotten any comments on my post.

I was saddened to find ZERO comments. Hmmmm, I thought. I guess everyone is busy voting or perhaps they just didn't feel this post was comment worthy.

After lunch, I checked again and still nothing.

I didn't really think anything else about it until around 4:00 when the phone rang. It was my mom.

She was calling to let me know that she felt sorry for me when she noticed I didn't have any comments and was going to leave one but then realized something was wrong with my comment form.

Phew! I breathed a big sigh of relief. It was my comment form not my post that was causing the lack of comments.

So I removed the embedded comment form and have gone back to the normal Blogger comment form. It appears to be working.

Mom will be happy that I'm using the old comment form again. She reads every one of my comments - every one of them ya'll - so be nice! And she said that she likes to be able to put a face with a name. (The embedded form didn't include profile pictures.)

So feel free to leave me a comment or two. Or three.

And feel free to give a shout out to my mom because she loves my comments almost as much as I do!

Elem Minnow

While Sarah was singing the ABC song several weeks ago, I noticed that she had it wrong.

She sang it as if there were only 24 letters instead of 26.

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

Elem

Minnow

P

Q

R

S

T

U

V

W

X

Y

Z

Being the good mother that I am, I immediately corrected her and tried to get her to sing the song correctly.

Being the stubborn daughter that she is, she immediately insisted that she was right and I was wrong.

We argued a bit and then I dropped it.

Last night, she was reading a book with Dan and one of the pages had the alphabet on it. As they were going over it, he realized that she was doing it incorrectly and she insisted with him that she was doing it the right way.

After much discussion, she finally believed Daddy and started saying it the right way!

Sometimes it just takes a little help from Daddy.

Miracle Monday

It's Miracle Monday again and it's the eve of the election. And if you are like me, you are probably feeling a little nervous.

My sweet Mom forwarded me this in an email the other day and it put my mind at ease.

Top 10 Predictions No Matter Who Wins the Election:

1. The Bible will still have all the answers.
2. Prayer will still work.
3. The Holy Spirit will still move.
4. God will still inhabit the praises of His people.
5. There will still be God-anointed preaching.
6. There will still be singing of praise to God.
7. God will still pour out blessings upon His people.
8. There will still be room at the Cross.
9. Jesus will still love you.
10. Jesus will still save the lost when they come to Him.

And God approves this message!

ISN'T IT GREAT TO KNOW WHO IS REALLY IN CHARGE??

If you have a miracle you would like to share, it's easy to participate. Just post a miracle on your blog and link it back here using Mr. Linky below.

Please mention "A Mom's Life" and my URL in your post. And if you want, you can use the Miracle Monday button in your post as well.

PLEASE NOTE - when linking make sure to link to your Miracle Monday post. Do not link to the front page of your blog.

Miracle Monday is now closed. Please come back next week if you would like to post a miracle!

Make sure your kids brush their teeth after all that Halloween candy...

...or this might happen!

My Barbie Princess and My Evil Court Jester

Here are the kids all decked out in their costumes. Sarah dressed up as a Barbie princess and Peter decided to be a skeleton/evil court jester.

Peter loves Halloween and spent weeks pouring over online costume stores. We even went to one of those stores that set up just for the months of October. He was beside himself.

But all of the costumes at these places were $40 or more. So instead of getting one of those, we used his skeleton suit from two years ago and got a $10 mask from Wal-mart.

Sarah doesn't really seem to care about dressing up for Halloween. Maybe it's because she dresses up a lot when she's playing. Whatever the reason, she decided she wanted to go as a Barbie princess.

The dress is one that I got her for her birthday. We did get her a new wand and a new tiara when we were buying Peter's mask even though she already has several.

But everyone knows a princess can never have too many tiaras!