These are the cupcakes I made for Elsie's first birthday. Um . . . do they look like butterflies to you?
Of course not. That's because you've seen butterflies before.
Man, oh man, I stressed myself out over those cupcakes. They took a long time to make, and the entire time I kept imagining what they would be. In my head they were going to be artistic and culinary genius, and instead -- well, they tasted good.
I was actually close to tears as I was decorating them and watching the horror in front of me. I told Jason I was embarrassed to serve them to our friends. He, being sensible, said he couldn't see why not. Of course, I did serve them to our friends, and of course, all of them were too nice to mention the butterflies', uh, uncomely looks.
Sometimes I feel like my dreams are like those cupcakes. Really great in my head, but if I were to actually play them out they would flop. I mean, everyone has big dreams, right? And not everyone gets to see the fulfillment of them, right? So who am I, little I, to try and do anything?
Our church has been reading a book together called, "Victorious Mindsets." And yesterday's reading was titled, "I do small things in a great way." The basic idea was this: you can do anything in a mediocre way. But you probably won't do big things in a great way unless you've been practicing by doing small things in a great way. And I personally tend to think that big things don't even getting handed to you unless you've been doing the small things in a great way. It was a lesson I'd heard before, but needed to hear again. If I want to write great things, then shouldn't I practice by making up great bedtime stories and silly songs? If I want to be an awesome mommy, then shouldn't I put my personal, immediate wants aside to fulfill my child's? If I want to be a spectacular wife, then shouldn't I practice thinking about my husband more than I think about me?
Well, I should, by golly. So here's to practice making perfect. 'Cause, like the Vocal Coach says, "perfect practice prevents poor preformance."
oh, my dear friend!!
ReplyDeleteplease, please practice some stories on me. :)
isn't it cool we're both bloggers?
I wish I could have hugged you and your babies and tasted some fantastic butterfly cupcakes at the party.
For the record, I think they look really artistic, maybe not exactly butterflies, but definitely cool. (sorry in advance if this post is garbled... my iPhone is hard to maneuver sometimes.)
Love,
Han
for th
I love this, El! I'm glad I discovered your blog tonight!
ReplyDeleteHere's to doing small things well!
Thanks, Molly!
ReplyDeleteHannah -- I'll definitely let you in on the stories. I've got some good kids songs, too. Natalie went through a phase where she wanted a song about everything, which meant I just had to make some up!
And the cupcakes were gluten-free, by the way. Not sugar free -- oh no -- but gluten-free, still.
Oh dear! Love the cupcakes, El. You're too much.
ReplyDelete