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Part II: A Day of Celebration Fun! | Our Triplets’ 10th Birthday

September 10, 2012 By Laura 1 Comment

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 I told you Part II was coming!  There could be a Part III but, I can let it go. It was a big day though, and I took a lot of photos of so many special moments. (If you missed it, you can find Part I here.) But listen, here’s the truth of it all:  You know I (we) love to share with you our crafting ideas, house projects, decor, recipes, and all of that. But our kids . . . . . . They are our greatest creation of all! Well, God’s creation, of course, of ours. They are the reason we celebrate, every day. And they really love to see and read the posts on our blog!  Especially the ones about them. It’s their childhood memories recorded, for them to hold onto. So if you want to skip it, we won’t hold it against you.  : )

So, after their big water balloon fight at the park, we came straight to the beach for just a couple of hours, before dinner and their birthday surprise.  Of course they had already been in the sun for some time, so birthdays or not, it was time for sunscreen! Confession time:  Over the past 15 years of raising my 4 kids, I have realized there are only 2 ‘mom jobs’ I have really hated:  1) When they were very little, putting on and tying all of their shoes! Uuu-Gh. 2) And the other is putting sunscreen on them.  (OH!  And the wiping in the bathroom while potty training too! But gosh, that one’s a given. Isn’t it?)  Sometimes, Michael and I can still hear in our heads, the little voices yelling from the bathroom, “I’M DONE!!”

What you should know about me is, when I really hate doing something, I’m going to find a way out of it! So all of the shoes and boots thing got to a point with the triplets where I just announced one day “OK! That’s it. Today, we are going to spend the whole day just learning how to put on and tie your very own shoes, all by yourself! Isn’t that exciting, Guys? I don’t really care if you are only 9 months old.”  (Kidding.)

For the sunscreen applying, here’s my trick.  First I just spray them, and then I line them up like a train . . . . . .

sunscreen-tip-for-moms-of-many-kids Am I a mean Mama, or what? Turns out, they don’t like putting sunscreen on any more than I do! Imagine that. They just had no idea the fun they were missing out on. For the rest of their bodies, I spray it where it needs to go, and the rub it in themselves. But for their backs, they need each other.  What do you think of that?

Personally, I think I’m a genius.

Something had to be done. We practically live on the beach.

triplets-10th-birthday-beach The ocean is like our backyard.

triplets-10th-birthday-beach-1 They are all serious water babies.  Probably most of all Olivia, who is difficult to get out of the water. She even asks to take a shower at really odd times; and I know she just wants/needs to get into the water.

triplets-10th-birthday-beach-2 Probably least of all, is Shane. The boy cannot take the cold water! Look at him!  Its like . . . . . . excruciating for him! They were trying to all put their feet up together and next to each other, but he just couldn’t stand it any longer, and bailed.

triplets-10th-birthday-beach-3 But Olivia and JackMichael managed.  And that got me pondering one of those little weird life questions . . . . . .

triplets-10th-birthday-beach-4 How can the bottom of 2 little people’s feet, be such different colors?  They are siblings. ‘Super-twins’, even.  I do know that JM’s feet sweat and stink more.  Maybe that is some kind of clue to this mystery. But I’m not sure what to do with it, to figure this out.

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Oh; this one.  I’ve got to catch you all up on her. She’s got a lot of exciting things happening in her life. Especially for a just-turned-15 year old.  And I’ll tell you what else:  I think I’ve been warned 1,000 times over in life, about what a nightmare being a parent of a teen is. I’m here to say, if this is as bad as it gets with any of our kids, we’ll be getting off easy! I’m thanking God she’s our ‘trail-blazer’. (That’s what I call her. ; )  That’s my little hot reminder to her, that she is setting an example, every day! Hoping the littles are taking notes!

Not to say she is perfect, by any means . . . . . .

triplets-10th-birthday-beach-5 ( Taunting her sister with seaweed. )

triplets-10th-birthday-beach-6 Remember doing this as a kid? There’s a sure way to get sand in your shorts.

triplets-10th-birthday-beach-7 Sometimes, I love to just watch them.

triplets-10th-birthday-beach-8 Olivia senses the Mamapaparrazzi is watching.

I’ve got to tell you:  My most favorite photo of the day, I can’t even show you! It’s almost killing me, too. But my boy asked me not to please blog it or put on Facebook.  (Actually, he said, “You better not!”) And, I would never go ahead and do it anyway. I try very hard not to embarrass my kids, or ever disrespect their privacy, online.  When I think of it, I’m pretty happy my mother wasn’t blogging and all over the internet while she was raising . . . you know . . . . Cain. (Or is it…me, who was raising cane? Well, whatever.) But back to the photo of my boy – I’ll just tell you that it involved losing his bathing suit shorts a bit, on his backside.  Oh my goodness. It’s just the sweetest shot. When they were little toddlers, and losing their diaper a bit, I thought it was so cute! I would have thought that my gushing over it would go away as they got older but….nope!  Still wicked cute. (Ask me again when they are teens. I promise you; There will be no “lookin’ like a fool with their pants on the ground”. ; )  Not cute, and not happening, when they are older.

triplets-10th-birthday-beach-9 Anyway. This day was going by too fast. It was time to get home and take showers, before heading to dinner and their big surprise, which would be Part III. But as of this posting, those photos aren’t even processed yet.  So in case I never get to it, after dinner we went to our favorite park, and gave them their gift: Razor Scooters in their own colors, and gear. (Helmets, pads, etc.) Boy were they happy! It was awesome to see them so excited, hop right on them and go racing off and racing each other, around the park.

I know most of you have your own joys and blessings, in the way of children, as well. And for those we know, we love to watch your children grow up, in various ways as we can too.  It’s nice to share the special (or difficult) moments of this parenting gig, with each other. Kids. They don’t always make life easy. But gosh, they sure do make life worth it!  God is so good, and we are so thankful to Him, for blessing us as He has.

Thanks for stopping by. And please say hi. Hope you didn’t get any sand in your shorts while you were here. : )

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Filed Under: Celebrations, Parenting, Photography, The Big Picture Tagged With: Catholic-blogs, Catholic-families, family-celebrations, kids-beach-fun, multiple-kids-sunscreen-trick, triplet-birthdays, triplets

A Day of Celebration Fun! | Our Triplets 10th Birthday: Part I

September 3, 2012 By Laura 3 Comments

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We have yet another furniture refinish coming up, as well as more fun & easy crafty ideas to share with you all! However, for the sake of those who also like to follow our family’s more personal antics, for this post and a Part II coming up, we are giving a peek via (many) photos into the day of our triplet’s 10th birthday.  It was a day jam packed with fun for sure, from morning until bedtime!  As the Mama of these 3 babes, I just wanted to really enjoy watching them have fun all day, and casually get a lot of photos of them being 10!  Here just some of them from the first part of their day. We hope you enjoy them, if only to realize what a crazy family we are. : )

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Michael, their Daddy, needed to run out in the morning for a bit.  He was sure he would not be home when they got up in the morning, so he left them a note.  (He’s a clever one, with a pen, too.)  This got the morning giggles on a roll, and the day’s chaos into 2nd gear, anyway.

triplets-10th-birthday He was home before we knew it, and the birthday trio were able to have their traditional birthday number pancakes.

triplets-10th-birthday-1 Speaking of 10, I think that’s about how many they each usually eat.  I don’t know where it goes.

004_water-balloons We decided a great water balloon fight was in order!  So we filled 180 balloons, tied them off, and collected them all in a big plastic bin.

As excited as they all were, we suddenly had a whole knew idea for the water balloons:

We wondered which would be more fun:  Having the water balloon fight that we planned?…..

or……..

005_hedgehog Putting our hedgehog, Pixel, in the bin their on top of all of the water balloons, and watch her freak out as every move she made popped another balloon, with her razor sharp quills!  We got laughing pretty hysterically, just imagining the sight of witnessing that. But, we decided that was probably too mean to do to our beloved little pet, and stuck with our original idea.

Our yard is simply not the best area for a balloon fight of this manner, in terms of open wide space. So we hit the great grassy green park, just down the street.  Had the whole place to ourselves too!

LET THE WATER BALLOON FIGHT BEGIN!

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010_ Alexis hit her target, alright!

011_ But pay-back, was IMMEDIATE!

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Run, O!!

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JackMichael tried to re-arm himself quickly, without getting hit. But he wasn’t quite fast enough.

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This last photo cracks me up, when I look at Shane, on the far right. He often gets laughing so hysterically, he becomes unable to fully function.  I am just like he is. I’ve almost drowned more than once, laughing too hard out in deep water. I just sink! Seeing my kids laugh makes my heart so happy. (As long as their not in deep water, of course.)

There was a lot more fun on the agenda this day, including the trio’s big surprise!  We hope you enjoyed this post, and look forward to coming back again for Part II!

Have you or your kids had a good water balloon fight this summer?  What are your favorite childhood memory activities? Share with us your stories. We’d love to read about them!



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Filed Under: Celebrations, Photography, The Big Picture, Traditions Tagged With: Catholic-blogs, Catholic-families, family-celebrations, triplet-birthdays, triplets, triplets-10th-birthday, water-balloon-fights

Blessed, Blessed, Blessed | Our Triplets Turn 10!

August 30, 2012 By Laura 4 Comments

Today, on this last day of August, we happily celebrate our triplets’ 10th birthdays.

triplets-10-2012 JackMichael, Olivia Faith & Shane Jacob.

Ten years ago today, they doubled the size of our family, multiplied the love in our hearts, and became three of the greatest blessings we have ever known.

Filed Under: Celebrations, The Big Picture Tagged With: 10-year-old-triplets, blessings, Catholic-blogs, Catholic-families, celebrations, multiple-births, multiples, multiples-birthdays, triplets

My Custom Built Farmhouse Home Office Desk

August 25, 2012 By Laura 33 Comments

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 I know many of you have been waiting for this, with all of my teasing about it! And I have been dying to show you (show off…whatever) my custom-built farmhouse home office desk, that that my husband made for me!  For this first post, I am simply sharing with you the build itself, and some of the story behind it.  In upcoming posts, I will show you my work-space all set up and pretty. (When I get that far.)

So first, to put my appreciation and excitement in context here, you should know how I have been working.

In this large amoire in the photos below, is our TV, which we rarely use at all. But behind it was my work cubby.  It was always amusing when someone who had been to our house a few times before, before they realized there was a work space behind there.  They’d always react with such surprise and intrigue.  So come around the amoire (following the numbered photos), and see my little space I have had . . . . .

001_old-office-cubby-space It certainly was a workable idea for the past few years, in that it gave me a little privacy for editing client portrait work. It is rather organized and cleaned up here, but that is not how it has always appeared or felt. (I had already started cleaning out here, to empty this whole cubby.) To start, I hated the desk. The photo is deceiving I think, because this desk was mammoth, and yet not efficient at all; with shelves I couldn’t easily get to (dusting nightmare), and virtually no storage or room to work.  With a modern design, fake wood laminate and black accents-ugh! I wanted it GONE.  And what a dust magnet this cubby has been!

Anyway, imagine on the desk-top, on either side, a tall pile of papers, notebooks and dozens of folders.  And not just here. When I worked on my laptop for school and blogging, I’d sit on the couch, where beside the couch was small table with another 2 piles of papers, notebooks and folders.  Then there is the school room, where I’ve kept all of my teacher books.  I can’t stand clutter or disorganization, so having everything everywhere has tended to make me cranky, and yelling when I couldn’t find something!

 Between homeschooling my 4 kids, their work needing correcting or keeping, educational planning stuff, their activity schedules, forms needing to be filled out, home and life maintenance with mail, bills and records and the like that needs to be kept up with, and my work paraphernalia for the blog and it’s website, it has felt like unorganized madness to me! Like….losing my mind. I can’t manage and work my best like that.

What I needed and wanted was one organized management center to work from, with a style that said me, and reflected our farmhouse home decor.  A Pottery Barn home office knock-off, of sorts.  Yes please, Honey!

Whenever a new school year is about to turn over in the next 2-3 months, I always get into this nesting mode frenzy, wanting to get super organized and ready for the next year. So my chatter about my dream custom-built farmer’s table home office desk had picked up speed as of late!  I completely cleaned out that cubby, moved the amoire, and just gave away that huge desk to a very grateful girl, who really needed it.  It was going to be an all new space, that I could manage everything from.  Open, bright, stylish and cheery.

As always, Michael and I first got some initial drawings down on paper, which Michael threw out by accident! ; ( , and a few revisions later, Michael got to making it a reality for me.

002_carpenter-tools My design idea was simple;  the base of a plain old farmer’s table, with cubbies and shelving for storage. But it needed to be BIG. The full length of the wall opposite the large window, to accommodate and organize all areas of my life and family I need to manage, as well the larger equipment I need to do it, such as my 2 computers, hard-drives, copier, etc.

So if you haven’t scrolled down and peeked already (uh-huh), the reveal is next. But I have to say, this was SO HARD to photograph with the lenses I have, as this desk is 7 feet long!  But every inch was custom designed with a purpose for it’s space. Take a look . . . . . .

custom-built-farmhouse-home-office-desk Is it not GORGEOUS?!
I can answer that.

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While there were no initial plans for drawers at all, the craziest things happen to us, and we ended up with some beautiful ones! I’ll get to that story-bit in a minute, but as you can see, the general structure of the desk is very much a farmer’s table design.

Let’s talk about some of the details:

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Simple table legs support the desk.

Now let me tell you about the drawers, which really have added such beauty to the piece as a whole.  In the beginning, I had just planned on using lots of cubbies and little containers, for all of the little things, all built upon a farmers table, much like the one we eat at in our sunroom. But the craziest blessings happen to us all of the time, and this amazing happenstance is no different:

custom-built-farmhouse-home-office-desk-3 About the time the table was pretty much built, and yet still bare wood and unfinished (as seen above, minus the drawers), Michael had a job to go re-letter the back of one of his client account’s large moving trailer. While he was there on the job site, he went to throw some things in the dumpster. There, in the container, were 3 of these beautiful drawers and some big desk all broken apart! I can only imagine how beautiful the desk must have been, because the drawers are to me, breath-taking.  Crazier, the slim design and depth of the drawers would fit and work perfectly within the table side of the desk he was building for me. So he grabbed the drawers, and all of the attachment trackings for them, and  brought them home.  I was astonished. I immediately fell in love with them, and he installed them.

custom-built-farmhouse-home-office-desk-4 Just look at the hardware!

custom-built-farmhouse-home-office-desk-6 Even the keyhole makes me gasp and smile inside.

custom-built-farmhouse-home-office-desk-7 They silently and smoothly just roll out, like butt-ah!

And the inside of the large drawer had me flipping out with joy . . . . . .

custom-built-farmhouse-home-office-desk-8 Talk about great quality. HOW, could anyone throw these drawers away?  And what a blessing just meant to be, that Michael was there at that site on this particular day, and looked in that waste container, right when we were building this project!  The waste removal company was coming to empty that container the very next morning! The drawers would have been gone forever.

011 These two smaller drawers were installed side by side, on the opposite end of the large one.   Take note of the bare wood before finishing.  Aside from the drawers, the table-top is made of cabinet grade plywood, while the rest is plain pine and bead board.  A very light color wood.

Now, how I was going to finish this desk, was such a torn-dilemma! I even did various techniques experiments on several scraps of wood, trying to decide:  Did I want to just paint it white and then sand it down to worn in various places?  Crackle it? Use some dark wax or antiqued glaze?

Honestly, it feels like such a big an important decision, that it kind of paralyzed me.  So I kept it simple for now, and will likely continue to alter the finish more when I decide on one, or all of the ways I am contemplating. But at least then it will be a thought-out decision. For now here’s all I did:

0121 I sanded it to a worn state in specific places, such as corners, edges, and raised areas.

But because the wood underneath was so light, I went a step further using a possibly odd technique and medium, to bring the distress work out more . . . . . .

013 I mixed clear glaze and straight burnt umber watercolor paint.  I painted just over the areas where it was sanded to wood, let it sit a minute, and wiped off with a clean dry rag.  It stained the exposed under-wood just enough, to have a more distinct worn look.  As I said, I still may do some crackle work in areas, and/or antique it more with wax or glaze.  But I also expect it will get wear and age naturally, simply from me using it a lot, and owning it for a very long time to come. But for now, I am loving it as it is.  It may stay like this forever.

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I am still ‘moving in’ to this large piece of furniture that is quickly organizing my whole world, and there will be a follow up post to show you how I arranged everything I needed in this space.  But as I said, parts of the desk were very specifically designed for certain things.  To give you one example today; that top left cubby you see, will hold my 4 external hard-drives, most of which are about to dumped of all client work. They are already mostly free space even still,  so I will be using them for a good many years to come, for external storage space for all of my other personal photo storage and designs.

custom-built-farmhouse-home-office-desk-10 As I am sure many of you know and will agree, it’s the accessorizing that is the most fun!  It’s the pretty little things, that really make a space yours, and I have always felt it’s important to surround yourself in your home and work space, with the things that make you feel those little leaps of joy inside. (Or that’s what happens to me, anyway. ; ) So I hope to share with you all just how I’ll be utilizing the space of my new custom-built workspace, the ways in which it’s organizing my life, and all of the little things I love that make me smile, and maybe will make you smile too. Or give you some ideas of your own.

Another crazy blessing story-bit:  I had told Michael I would probably just use one of our regular white farm chairs at the desk, rather than a black computer chair.  But that some day, I would love to find a nice white office chair on wheels, much like the Pottery Barn chairs, that we could never afford.
Well guess what he found and brought home with the drawers? . . . . . .

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Again, for free. When Michael was chatting one of the moving company employees at the job site where he pulled the drawers out of the waste container, and told him all about this desk he built, the guy said, “I have a chair inside that went with the desk we got rid of, if you want to see it.” And this is what he brings out!  Oh, you know I’ll distress this some too, and get some pretty shabby-chic cushions for it.  But what a high-quality chair!  It not only is on wheels and swivels, but it rocks! I’m a rocker, still. Between my first baby-girl that loved to nurse forever, and then my triplets, Mama-rocking is a just part of my natural movement now. This is a big chair though. It definitely needs the cushions. I feel like a kid in it right now.  Michael was more excited about getting the chair for me, than the drawers. But the drawers were actually the biggest pleasant surprise for me.  Honestly, the chair is massive! Like, too wide and heavy for me. I may just keep using my computer chair for now.

custom-built-farmhouse-home-office-desk-11 So there it is! I know I am ridiculously blessed to have a husband whose skilled hands can create these things for me.  This desk would cost thousands of dollars, bought. And it wouldn’t be custom-built, for me and my specific needs. Or made with love! He’s built so many things for me, big and small.  This one is certainly very special to me, as it will really help me manage the most important aspects of my life; primarily teaching my children, and managing our family details, and lastly, doing what I can to help my husband provide for us, through blogging, which I love to do anyway.

I do apologize for the length of this post and number of photos, but there was a lot to share with you, and I’ve been SO excited to!
Wouldn’t you be?
Tell me what you think of it! Do you have a special space in your home, that helps keep you organized and everything managed? Please tell us about it, and leave any ideas you may have for us as well.  Thanks so much for coming by and looking!

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Filed Under: Furniture Refinishing, Furniture Refinishing, Home Decor, Homeschooling, Re-Purposing, Refinishing, The Homestead Tagged With: Catholic-blogs, Catholic-families, custom-built-desks, custom-built-farmhouse-home-office-desks, custom-furniture, dream-home-office-desk, farmhouse-desks, furniture-refinishing, office-home-desk, pottery-barn-home-office-desk-knock-off

A Surprise, That Was a Piece of Cake!

July 25, 2012 By Laura 12 Comments

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Our biggest girl, Alexis, had a birthday on July 5th.  She turned 15! There is so much I could tell you, about how special this girl is. Especially given her age. But I’ll save that brag for another time.  For now, I’ll just share 2 things that I want to say about her turning 15:  1) The teen-years horror stories I have been repeatedly been told to expect?  They haven’t hit yet.  2) In many ways, she seems so much older, than just 15. And not just because she is way taller and bigger than her Mama.

Her birthday held one tradition that all of her others have . . . . . .

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She had her ‘birthday number pancakes’.  Except she had them in the afternoon, instead of breakfast.  And then quite honestly, the rest of the day went quickly downhill from there. Complete with tears.  From ME; not Alexis.  Because I felt so bad, her day was going all kinds of wrong. The car even broke down on the way to bowling, which was something she wanted to do with her family on her birthday. It’s a little thing, to go bowling, but it’s what she wanted. (And hey, I’m all for beating the pants off anyone, any day! I don’t even care if it’s your birthday!)  So after Michael tried fixing the car for an hour or so, and he made a phone call to have his auto-place friends bring him a part, the kids and I ended up walking in the horrific heat and humidity, for a mile or so, to our nearest home base; our church!  At least it was cool and peaceful inside. And really, I was needing to feel near to God, by then. I was so sad, about the awful memories we were making, for our girl’s 15th birthday.  So we hung out with Jesus, until Michael came to get us.

 I then demanded a re-do-birthday for Alexis for 2 days later, on Saturday.

THAT day went MUCH better.

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(Isn’t she beautiful? Her braces are coming off soon, and I can’t wait to take her real 15-year birthday photos.)

I was excited for re-birthday, because I knew I had a surprise, that was going to knock her flip-flops off!

You see, weeks earlier, I had shown her this cake online, that I had seen on Facebook, that a friend had made, and then I started seeing all over Pinterest.  I thought of Alexis the second I first saw it, because it was made with her 2 very favorite candies: M&M’s, and KitKats. When I showed her, she was like, “Oh-my-GOSH! I wish I could have th-aaaaat!“

But never in a million years would she EVER expect to have one for her birthday cake, nor would she even agree to have one. And do you know why? Because her little brother has a severe peanut allergy, and she doesn’t believe either of those candies to be peanut-safe-enough.  She’s become a real self-taught-expert, on products and companies, and their manufacturing practices. Now, none of the kids eat much candy at all. Not only because not much of it is safe, but because we try to make as healthy choices with what we eat, as we can. But, treats are allowed now and then.  Still, Alexis is adamant about not taking chances, and is a real advocate for protecting her brother.  I’ll tell you more about that in a moment but first, I have to show you these photos:

She knew a cake was coming, but just look at the surprise on her face when she IT . . . . . .

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She was SO SURPRISED.  She LIT UP when she saw it – brighter than the birthday candle on her cake.  She went on, and on, and just could not get over, that I had made that cake for her, that she only dreamed of.  My face hurt from smiling so much, watching her with this cake, the whole time.

She was concerned of course having her little brother there at the table with her. Or even having the cake in the house!  But really, we took the necessary precautions, all the way. To start, the candies are not made with any peanut products. But they are just manufactured with peanut products.  So there is no way, we would ever let Shane, our peanut-allergy-boy, have any of it.  But . . . . . cake itself was just the inner circle of the cake . . . . . . about 4 inches in diameter.  We kept the ring, and frosted that separately, for the rest of us.

So this cake really was her very own individual cake.  Decorated with the M&M’s, and KitKats.

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(I wish, that her wish, comes true.)

So let me tell you just how much of an advocate she has always been for her brother.
Aside from being an expert about what brands are safe and which aren’t, and aside from the sacrifices of her favorite things she has made for her brother, she did something else when she was only 10 years old, that I think, was pretty impressive.
With Plain M&M’s always having been her favorite candy since she was a little girl, she felt strongly that everyone should be able to enjoy them too. When we discovered (when he was 1 year old) that our little boy had such a severe peanut allergy Alexis soon realized that there were billions of people all over the world with the same common allergy, who would not be safe eating even Plain M&M’s, because the Mars Company manufactured both peanut M&M’s, as well as the plain ones, on the same machinery.  And at the very least, in the same factory. There is such risk of contamination. And in fact, the chance that peanut fragments, or even a peanut M&M, could be in a Plain M&M bag. It’s happened.

006_kit-kat-m-and-m_cake

This mix of manufacturing the 2 together,  really upset her, for chocolate lovers all over the world. For a long time. So when she was 10-years old, she decided to do something about it.  She wrote a petition-letter to the Mars Corporation.  In it, she introduced herself with her name and age, and then wrote them the story of her brother.  She then went on to urge them to please consider manufacturing their peanut M&M’s, and all peanut products, in a separate facility.  She even explained, in her own words, how she believed their profit was probably suffering, due to the billions of peanut-allergy-people, who could not purchase and eat their plain M&M’s.  And so creating a separate facility to keep plain M&M’s safe, would increase their sales.
And then . . . . . . she approached people she knew everywhere she could, and explained to them what she was doing.  She told them why she was writing the Mars Corporation, and she collected over 60 signatures!  People happily signed it, and were always asking her if she heard back yet. They agreed with her mission, and supported her, after she had educated them on the manufacturing situation.

007

She addressed an envelope herself too, and mailed her petition-letter to the Mars Corporation.  She fully expected to hear back from them, and was hopeful they would see that she had a great idea, and that they would indeed make the changes needed, to bring billions of peanut-allergy sufferers the joy, of being able to eat plain M&M’s, safely. And frankly, so did I.  She checked the mail every day, and kept asking for a long time, if there was any mail for her, from the Mars Corporation.

But she never did hear from them. At all.

I was really sad for her, and really as disappointed with the Mars Corporation, as she was.  As her mother, it broke my heart to see nothing come of her determined and brave efforts . But that aside, you’d think that they would have been considerate enough to at least reply.  Especially upon receiving such a heartfelt letter, complete with signatures she advocated for herself, from a 10 year old little girl!  You know? It’s just kind of….heartless.  Not to mention, unprofessional, in my opinion.

But nothing. Still. And as you know . . . . . .

008
She’s  15 now!

Still no word, from the Mars Corporation.

009

So now, you may understand what a big deal this cake was. It really knocked her flip-flops off, just as I thought it would.  She loved every single bite. She said so, most ever single bite.

And I had to remind her not to talk, with food in her mouth. 😉

010_kit-kat-m-and-m-cake She ate a good-sized piece herself every day.

Over the course of the week, she did share some with her father.  I declined. But it was nice of her to offer.

And although I am sure the cake was enough to make her completely content, we did give her another gift . . . . . .

011 Which was just what she wanted. (Because she told me, when I pressed her about what she’d like for her birthday.)  Which I know is really not for her, but for us. See, she figured we’d feel like we got her a birthday present, by getting her this Dick’s Sporting Goods Gift Card. But it’s so she can buy her own sport gear and attire she’ll need this year herself, instead of us having to buy it for her.  Because she always wants to pay for her own things, knowing we’re strapped sometimes. She can’t fool us. ; )

Or maybe we’re fooling her, since we bought the card. Hmmmm.

Not sure who won that mind game, come to think of it.

Her trio-siblings also had their own surprises for her, including a pack of sports cards from her sister.  Which, actually had a sports card in it that is worth some money! That surprised everyone, since O bought the pack at the Dollar Tree Store!

All-in-all, or should I say after-all, she did have a Happy Birthday.

012 She had her cake, and ate it too.  And that was something, she never thought she’d do.
Now if you’d like to sound off below, about how disappointed you are in the powers that be, at the Mars Corporation too, go right ahead! I sure won’t stop you.  Cursing is even allowed this time.

(Just kidding about that last part. The kids like to read the blog too, and we must be a good example! ; )

Oh who am I kidding. They live with me have heard those words before. ; )



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Filed Under: Baking, Celebrations, Recipes, The Big Picture, Traditions Tagged With: birthday-cake, birthday-cake-decorating-idea, Catholic-blogs, Catholic-families, kit-kat-candy, m&m-kitkat-cake, m&ms-candy, mars-corporation, peanut allergies

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