Lovely

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I love to bake! Not just for the sweet benefit of enjoying the tasty treats but also for the satisfaction I get from throwing a bunch of ingredients in a bowl, watching it develop into a beautiful creation(okay, so they aren't ALL beautiful but anyways)as I mix, stir, roll, pat, shape and bake into my, one of a kind masterpiece!! I love the smells they create, the intoxicating melancholy fragrance that you drink in and makes you feel at home.
I may not be great at baking, in fact, I'm pretty much an amateur but because of my know-it-all independent, experimental attitude, I rarely follow a recipe to the T.
Because of manufacturing my own versions of recipes, my family rarely gets the same thing twice! It's great! Except for when something turns out awesome and I can't remember exactly what I did to make it that way!
The beginning of the week, I made these Almond whole wheat strawberry rhubarb tarts! Woosh! That's a mouthful... only because I added the almond flavoring to the wholewheat crust and added a rhubarb strawberry spread instead of just strawberry like the recipe called for! (: Typical Mommy... that's me! They were delicious, with a nice steaming cup of tea... lovely.

On another "lovely" note, things are going so well here at our zoo home! Having 5 wonderful children, and they are sweet kiddos, obedient for the most part, despite that... it has still been a long time coming for me to get my energy and organization back. I think I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, oh so faintly, I see it! I feel it. Thanks is all due to my God who has brought us through thus far, unscathed, as I have said before. He has held my head high. In fact just yesterday I was feeling GREAT! I had the house fairly clean, the kids nicely dressed, hair done, plants watered... we even made it out the door on time(okay, well maybe 5 minutes late) to get my second in command to her beloved gymnastics class! After dropping her off, I even had the energy to grab a coffee(I suppose that was for energy) and get to the grocery store for some shopping with my four other beautiful children. As my eldest pushed the cart, I had my hands free to sip my coffee and be pleasantly met with bumping into a few friends and
acquaintances and as I freely flipped my hair behind my shoulders feeling so empowered with my makeup clad face and curled flocks, so organized and on top of it all, I was thankful, thankful for a

beautiful day, a lovely outing where nothing had gone awry............... only later... as I took Anna potty and used it myself... did I realize, yes, feel downright aghast and slightly devastated I must say about my complete failing in the perfect department.... to find, that I had been strutting about... with my fly open... open to my friends, my acquaintances and open to the world. Lovely.

Ah well, feeling as perfect as I can in my flawed humanity, and being on top of the world will just have to wait for another day.
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