Adam's creativity pays off

Adam loves to play Minecraft. It requires strategy and creativity. When he saw there was a contest at our local library to make a Minecraft library, he jumped at the chance. He worked on his library design for a few weeks and then submitted it. Much to his happy surprise, he was contacted and told he won the grand prize! He now gets to enjoy a gift card to Amazon.com. You can see his design here:

http://library.santaclaraca.gov/index.aspx?page=2251

What I love the most about this is Adam choosing a project or goal and then working hard on it. That is a valuable skill and the more often we repeat that process, the more our abilities improve. Not to mention the payoff of satisfaction and accomplishment. Great job Adam!

the big 4-0

This year I turned 40 years old! I found out it shocked my parents to realize they have a 40 year old daughter. Sometimes I feel so young I forget how much life I've lived, so 40 years shouldn't surprise me (or them). 4 decades is a long time to be on the earth, but it also doesn't seem that long when a person can live to be around 100 years old. I look back on my life and see many places and times that were difficult. However, I learned much from those times. I also look at the many blessings I've had and all the many wonderful people I've met. Life is good. I'm glad to be alive and I look forward to another 40 years!

Derek gave me a wonderful present this year by taking all the children out for the day so I could stay home and get caught up on some "to-dos". It was a very quiet day, I just had the baby with me. But I got a lot done! We went out in the evening to dinner and then came home and enjoyed the wonderful cake you see above. It's from Cold Stone creamery--strawberry ice cream, red velvet cake and dark chocolate. It was awesome! I think I want one of those every birthday. I also got some nice cards, gifts and phone calls from friends and family. Thanks everyone for giving me a wonderful day!