Thursday, August 14, 2008

A bit of a reflective mood today...

Youngest daughter blowing out her 6 year candle on the cake she decorated!!!
Happy Birthday Love!

So today is my youngest daughter's 6th birthday and I am just baffled by this. When did all of those years pass and where did they go? Yah, I have a bunch of memories but not my little baby girl! She was one of those little ones that just fit perfect...right up until now. I find that I have to move my head to hold her comfortably where as just a few minutes ago she just snuggled right in.

I always bake the girls a cake for their birthday celebration with us and their big treat is to be able to decorate it however they want to. This year my youngest one wanted a layer cake with strawberries and white icing. I ended up using a box cake (yep...with everything that I have going on it was easiest also she wanted a confetti cake). I did make the icing twice. The first one was the 7 minute frosting. Note to self-do not attempt egg white frosting in Florida in the summer time! Ended up with a powdered sugar icing that worked just fine.

We decided to have her birthday party last night with just us. We have orientation for the girls at school tonight and it would have been to rushed. What does a 6 year old care as long as she has cake and presents!!! For her special dinner she wanted steamed clams. Pretty cool huh? So we had a 100 clams (I swear she ate 50 herself), steak, potatoes, and salad...oh yah and cake too!

Anyway another thing that has made me reflective, and I feel so sick when I really think of this, but I need to put it out there, 4 years ago today we returned to our home after evacuating during Hurricane Charley to find our home destroyed.

We lost our roof which in turn means that you have lost everything inside. I lost photos, keepsakes, furnitures and all sense of security in my home. It was such a sad time for us. We had to move out of our house for 6 months while the whole interior was gutted and rebuilt. I'd like to tell you that it is better and stronger than ever but I will never trust this house again. 4 years later I still have not wavered from that! Oh sure the house looks way better than it did. Who gets the opportunity to totally remodel your house from top to bottom??? I guess what I realized was that a house is just sticks and stones it's what's inside that is important!

We evacuate for every threat. Pack up the car with our emergency bag that is packed from the beginning of hurricane season, load up the dogs and head away from the threatened area. Is this hard? Oh yah, but not as hard as staying. People lost there lives during that storm. 29 deaths can be attributed to Charley. I know what can happen first hand but at least we were safe. It scares me to think how lucky we were.

As Always...

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com

12 comments:

Thistlemoon said...

Happy Birthday! Give her a hug from me okay? :) Her cake looks great! And clams! YUM! I want some!

I am so sorry to hear the story about your home Judy. You know I was a hurricane Charley survivor? Well that sounds dramatic, but I was in Orlando visiting my cousin when it blew through. It was supposed to hit Tampa after it hit your area, so we stayed put. Once we knew it was coming for Orlando, we were stuck. Literally, in a closet for 5 hours, under a mattress with a dog and 2 kittens. It was horrible. The hurricane took part of her roof and a tornado that spun off the hurricane demolished the wooded area literally 100 feet adjacent from her house. We were so lucky.

I can imagine how you must be feeling. Sending lots of hugs!

Judy@nofearentertaining said...

Thanks Jenn-I didn't know that but Orlando did get hit hard too. Our house got hit by several tornadoes (confirmed by our local fire department). T. pulled us out when they told us to hunker down. Me, the girls and 2 dogs and we just headed away from up. Ended up North and then South and spent the night in Miami.

I guess I am just feeling really lucky when I look around and see how bad it could have been!

Quiltin Jenny said...

Happy birthday to your sweet girl. You really need to read this book to her:
http://www.amazon.com/Birthday-Presents-Cynthia-Rylant/dp/0531070263/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1218736371&sr=8-2
It is my favorite 6th birthday gift.

I am so sorry about your house and that sense of security you never get back. A friend of ours lost her house in a fire just this morning, and everyone is still trying to focus on the gratitude that they all got out safely, including the dog. Thanks for the reminder that material things are not all that was lost today.

Big hugs.

Sparkling said...

Wish your little one a Happy B'day from me too Judy. The cake looks awesome! :)

Sad to hear abt ur house but I'm sure you have made the remodeled one a home again. Let's just say we are glad to count our blessings everyday.

Take care.

Coach J said...

What a beautiful cake and beautiful little girl. Happy birthday to her! My son just turned one and I can't bear to imagine him all grown up. He's already so big...

I'm sorry to hear about your house, but it seems as if you've put your lives back together. It may never be the same, but it can always be better. Best of luck.

Judy@nofearentertaining said...

Hi quiltin'jenny-Prayers to your friend...so very, very hard!

Hi Still thinking-You really can't take anything for granted can you?

Judy@nofearentertaining said...

Hey coachj-I loved your comment. I can always be better!

Dharm said...

Happy Happy Birthday! Sorry to hear about your house but you are right - its whats inside that really counts. I love that your daughter wanted steamed clams. That's a testament to how you have given her a refined palate and she will always be thankful to you for that! Enjoy them while you can - they grow soooo fast!

Judy@nofearentertaining said...

Thanks so much Dharm! I think mine are a bit younger than yours and yeas, the time just flies by!

Brittany said...

Wow, I am not at all surprised this still weighs heavily on your mind, what a horrific thing to experience. I am so sorry you went through that, and I am thankful you and your family were safe!

Valerie Harrison (bellini) said...

First of all happy beleated birthday to your youngest sweetie:D I hope she had a wonderful day. It sounds like 4 years ago her birthday was more devestation than fun. I have friends in Englewood so hear about every time they board up their windows.Hopefully some day you will feel secure in your home again:D

Judy@nofearentertaining said...

Thanks Brittany-Now it looks like another one is right out there!

Hi Val-We opened her presents really fast outside and then left again! Englewood is really close to us so they go through it when ever we do! Looks like we'll be boarding up this weekend!