End of March Happenings

Where has March gone?  It sneaked right on by almost unnoticed but at least it had the kindness to leave some great memories to hold on to. 

A week ago Jim and Maria served church lunch which gave me an excuse to bake bake bake!  I've been taking a break from sweets (mainly cookies, cakes, pies, ice cream, candy, etc.) for several months now and so baking for people without trying the final product was something I was a little uncomfortable with.  Good thing Jim and Maria weren't afraid to give me honest feedback :)  Turns out that a favorite was this knock-off Little Debbie Oatmeal Cream Pie.  I'm not the store-bought cookie lover type.  Lofthouse sugar cookies and Oreos are about the only store bought cookies that really really tempt me...oh, and Oatmeal Cream Pies.  I looooooove them so much, along with Leah, that in the past we've split an oatmeal cream pie to feel better about ourselves but ended up splitting so many we both should've grabbed our own box.  So when I saw a knock-off recipe on Pinterest a while back I decided I'd just have to give them a try for this occasion and Leah helped me make them when she was up.  Turns out that they are not like Little Debbie's (how can they be?? she's just a pro) BUT they are fantastic.  I'm not speaking from personal experience, I just heard from fellow Oatmeal Cream Pie lovers that they were amazing.  Making them was fun, looking at them was fun, smelling them was fun, and tasting them I'm sure is fun.  

Nuf bout that.  Here's the link.  I recommend making them if you like Oatmeal Cream Pies half as much as I do.

This past weekend was especially memorable in both good and bad ways.  Since it was the kids' Spring Break Mom wanted to do something special so she brought Danny and Edie up from Thursday til Saturday.  Maria and I had been looking forward to their visit and Thursday everything went well, besides a few squabbles over who got to sit by Calvin in the car and such.  

photo credit: Maria

photo credit: Maria

photo credit: Maria

photo credit: Maria

Friday we had special plans to go to the Fredrick Meijer gardens to see the butterfly exhibit which we had done several years ago on Spring Break.  It's almost magical to walk through and see butterflies freely flitting from flower to flower.

Often the butterfly is used as inspiration because it begins as a caterpillar...

 

...hides in a chrysalis, which in the case of the monarch changes from green to black...

...and comes out as a beautiful butterfly.

It's amazing, it's beautiful, it's inspiring, yes!  However, I learned that the lifespan of some butterflies is only 2 to 6 short weeks.  It spends a remarkable time of it's life as a larvae, caterpillar, and transforming insect before it becomes the carefree butterfly.  So many times in life I want to forget the journey and just arrive at the destination but there is such beauty in the process.

In the gardens we got to enjoy many varieties and colors of butterflies and plants.

Calvin loved the butterflies, waterfalls, and other people so much we had a hard time getting him to look at the camera!

photo credit: Mom

We missed you, Kim!

photo credit: Jim

After our walk through the gardens we took some time to go outside and see the giant horse statue.  There are lots of neat sculptures at the Meijer Gardens and we decided that it would be more enjoyable in the summer!

Calvin was well cared for the whole time.

For lunch we went to the Downtown Market, a favorite among the McCormick household right now.  It's like an upscale food court/market that includes a green house where the vendors grow some of their own ingredients--definitely right up my alley.  Danny wasn't feeling up to eating and was smart to listen to his stomach...

On the way home he got sick in the car and continued to get sick the rest of the day.  That night Mom caught the bug and didn't get much sleep.  After napping in the morning and finally drinking a few sips of Sprite she felt well enough for the 3.25 hour drive home.  It was definitely a bummer that she and Danny got sick but overall we still had a great time together and it was so special to have them here.  I spent the remainder of Saturday washing blankets and sheets, disinfecting toys, and airing out the house in hopes Calvin (and the rest of us) wouldn't get sick again.  We're so over that.  Thankfully so far so good.

As time sneaks by it's amazing how much Calvin is changing!  He's recently started scooting backwards on his belly, holding and chewing on veggie sticks, contentedly sitting and playing with toys (which sometimes lasts only a few minutes), and saying 'ma-ma-ma' whenever he feels like vocalizing his opinion.  It's often an indicator that he wants more food.

With each passing day I get more attached to this sweet baby boy that I'm going to be leaving in just a few weeks.  I can't express my gratitude to God for this opportunity!  There are frustrating moments along the way, I won't deny it, but when he smiles or giggles I melt and quick grab my camera to record his voice, take a video, or snap a photo.  Someday they will be the best I have to comfort me when I miss this crazy kid!

 Enjoy the last day of March!!!