lots of little happy all over the place

My day wasn't filled with big happies. Instead, my day had a metric ton of little happies. Here are the highlights:

- Cole (one of my two 10 yr. olds) made it into the spelling bee! YAY!!! He's so stinkin' smart. Truly. I couldn't be more proud. *bustin' my buttons*

- The kids went back to school, and we got to leave the house. THANK GOD. I'm a homebody by nature, but I was absolutely going stir-crazy with all 6 of us there 24/7 for about 3-4 days.

- While out and about, we grabbed a quick bite of lunch and then went to the new local baking supply store. Oh. My. God. You may or may not know that I LOVE to bake. It's an illness, really. And despite the fact that my budget these days is really low, I let Ella (who is now 3 1/2 yrs. old) pick out some cupcake liners (pink zebra!) and sprinkles (multi-colored hearts!) I must say, their selection is somewhat small. But considering that I've had to buy most of my fancier baking supplies online for the last few years, I'm THRILLED to have a supply store at all!

- My kids think I'm a cooking goddess. Tonight was breakfast for dinner... gingerbread pancakes with roasted orange juice. I have to say, it was pretty darn good. I even took pictures. After all, no one wants to read a blog with absolutely no pictures. So, without further ado, here's dinner:

Here's the recipe, in case you're interested. I use it exactly as written (well, except for the fact that I made the alternate pancake version instead of the waffles.) Just keep in mind that these boogers are a little harder to flip than most pancakes I've ever made, as they're a little runnier. Other than that, they are mind blowing. Really. I'm serious. Make some.

- I've started a new ritual with Ella. I sing "Part of that World" from the Little Mermaid to her before she goes to bed each night (it's the first song on one of her Disney cd's.) She loves it. And because I really miss singing, I love it, too. When I came out of her room after putting her to bed tonight, Cole had been listening at the door. He was dumbfounded. He knew I could sing, but he didn't know that I could SING. "Mom, that was amazing!" Thank you, sweet boy. Thank you.