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FIVE!

our little miss has a birthday this weekend,
and in true rhodes style, we have already started to celebrate!

here’s what i think about birthdays, holidays, and any special occasion in general:  celebrate .  live in the moment, love those around you, and be extraordinarily happy that you have all of these things to cherish.  another year is a big deal.  miss four has been waiting forrrr-everrrrr to turn five.  each time we’ve mentioned her birthday for two months we all do jumping jacks, and start squealing about how much fun it’s going to be & how exciting it is…  and, it is.  life is so full of reasons to celebrate.

 

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i really can’t believe my baby is going to be five, i  thought i’d have toddlers… forever!

on thursday, our kids didn’t have school because of the jewish holiday ‘rosh hashanah,’ {the jewish new year…}
so, we took the day to pamper ourselves: haircuts, pedicures, lunch.

we also continued to prep for sela’s big day – i didn’t know paper chains could be so time consuming…
{we are making a ba-jillion of them!}

sela requested cupcakes for her preschool birthday treat,
so we whipped some up at home…

i tried a new recipe-

almond buttercream frosting:

1 cup (2 sticks) butter at room temperature
1 tsp. almond extract (this is what makes the frosting amazing! I use this almond extract –
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1b. powdered sugar
heavy whipping cream (amount varies based on desired consistency, but I start with 2 or 3 Tablespoons)

using a mixer, cream softened butter and vanilla until smooth. add sugar gradually, allowing butter and sugar to cream together before adding more.
based on desired consistency i added more powdered sugar or heavy whipping cream at this point.

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it’s delicious & the kids raved about it.
however, i thought it was a bit too sweet & not creamy enough…

so, i asked my expert-frosting-friend for advice, {thank you, ann!}
she said to add cream cheese, and salt! {and, of course, i took out the almond.}

i’ll be trying this tomorrow when it’s time to make sela’s barbie cake!

AND, my husband has been out of town for 2+ weeks, again.  i’ve never tallied his travel time over the years… however, this week at one very lonely moment i decided to figure out how many weeks/days he’s been gone this year – this trips brings us up to 18.  18 weeks he’s been out of town.  he has about six more weeks on the calendar between now and January 1, so at the end of the year, we will have spent exactly half the year at home, with out him here.  sad.  when i really start missing him, i always remind myself of army wives who are running homes alone or wives i know who always run their homes alone.  a different perspective usually helps me to stop complaining.  however, this year with our move and all, i am really really anxious for my sexy man to be home…

a great weekend awaits, see you here next week!

xoxo.

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i’m totally hooked on the iphone app instagram.  many of my pictures lately have come from this sweet little tool, have you tried it?  are you on instagram?  look for me: “see_jane” and follow me – i’ll follow you, too!  i just love keeping up with friends all day via pictures.  it’s the best.