Three Little Birds

My sister-in-law, Gidget, added a new tattoo to her ankle a couple of weeks ago. She chose to have three little red birds perched on a branch to symbolize the song Three Little Birds by the legendary Bob Marley. She actually had her grandma draw the birds, which I think makes the tattoo even more special and meaningful.

Gidget told me that she use to sing Three Little Birds to her son, Alex, when he was little and it had become their theme song through life's ups and downs. Ever since hearing about the song and her new tattoo, I have been playing the song over and over again. I have fallen in love with the cheerful melody and optimistic lyrics.

The song came on my ipod last night while I was out jogging and I found myself actually singing along. How embarrassing! Luckily, I don't think there was anyone around to hear my off-pitch, out of breath, little solo performance.

If you haven't heard the song before, give it a listen below in this cute little video that accompanies the song.

Don't worry...'bout a thing.

Cause every little thing, gonna be all right!

I'm trying to not worry so much about things that I can not control and are in the past and instead look forward to the things that I can influence and change and try and determine what those changes need to be and hopefully, every little thing is gonna be all right.

Running in Circles...Literally

The other week, I ventured the 3.5 hour trip to Wamego, KS, to see my nephew, Austin, run in the high school track meet. He's a freshman in high school and is competing in long distance. At this particular meet, he competed in the 800m and mile run. I believe that his favorite race is the two mile but they didn't have that distance at the Wamego meet.

Track has been a long standing tradition in my family and it appears that Austin may have received some of the running genes. I did not receive any of the running talent that my parents and siblings were blessed with so I knew there was plenty left over to pass on to the next generation. You're welcome Austin. I could have been selfish and used up some of that talented gene pool but I graciously saved it for you. ;)

Here are some pictures from the meet. I really need to work on my action photography skills. eh. I just don't have the talent for capturing the impressive display of athleticism that was before me. But, I'm a proud aunt, so indulge me in my sharing of my nephew's pictures.

Austin is in the center - black and white uniform. 800m run.

Strong finish to the 800m.

1 mile run

Cathing up to the guy in red...

...and passing him on the final kick!

My older brother is currently getting ready to work the Penn Relays which is a huge meet and sounds like a lot of fun but I'm pretty sure I get to attend even better track meets. You can't beat cheering on your family at the local high school competitions. I'll take the kids over world class athletes any day.

Keep up the great work, Austin! I sure am proud of you.

Easter Pops

Well hello there blogging world. It's been a long time! I hope you missed me a little bit because I sure missed you. I took some time away from the blog to sort out some personal issues and then my laptop decided to get the "blue screen of death," as my repair man called it, and I just now got it back to working order.

I made these cute, little cake pops for Easter this year. For directions on all things cake pops, check out Bakerella's website.

The bunny's nose is from heart shaped sprinkles and the ears are made from pastel colored candy corn. When you flip the bunny over, you see his fluffy tail made from a mini marshmallow.

The chick's feet were made from flower shaped sprinkles and the nose was from a broken piece of candy corn. The eyes on both characters were made from candy pearls and drawn on with editable ink.

Ethan let me borrow his Easter basket to tuck the cake pops in for their transport to the farm for Easter dinner. The bunnies were the biggest hit and their cute little faces were quickly gobbled up.