Bye Bye Birdie

My baby girl, also known as my teen daughter, is right at this very minute getting ready to spread her little wings and fly out of our little nest.  I am fighting with all my might to refrain from assuming the fetal position.  I can't guarantee it's not going to happen.  I still remember saying goodbye to my now married daughter when we left her in snowy Provo to pursue her dreams a few years ago.  I cried until my eyes were swollen shut.  It wasn't pretty.  Not at all.

My married daughter had a lot of fun pursuing her dream, and her dream ended up becoming my sonny-in-law!

Now it's time to let another birdie go, and I'm not sure I'm ready. In fact, I'm pretty sure I'm not ready at all.  But these little birdies of ours grow up and inevitably they venture out into the world to find their way.   It's a good thing.  It's what we raised them to do.  It's what we worked for.  It's what we prayed for.  It's what we've wanted.  It just came way too fast.

My little birdie before:

My little birdie now:

Why am I posting this sob story on my little cooking blog, you might ask?  Because I told my baby girl aka teen daughter aka little birdie that for the week before she left she could choose any dinner she wanted each night of the week.  So, I thought I'd share with y'all what she chose:

Sloppy Joes

Meat Pie

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Roast Beast and Smashed Potatoes with Gravy

Sorry there's no recipe for this one, but it is her all time favorite dinner!  Or maybe her second, Thanksgiving takes her #1 spot!

I know that's only four nights of dinners but get serious, I'm not superwoman.  You didn't think I really cooked seven nights in a row, did you?

Tonight we are having a "Have fun in Utah" party for our little birdie.  We would never call it a goodbye party.  I am not a fan of the "g" word.  For the party I asked her what she wanted and this is what she said:

The Best Ever Chocolate Chip Cookies

Fudgie Pudgies

And this!

UGH!  We should have known that she would pick this!  Just to torture me!  But I rebelled and we made them into cupcakes and then I made homemade frosting instead of that yucky canned stuff.  You know by now I am not a lover of store bought frosting.

Thankfully my teen son is still planted firmly in the nest, at least for another year or so.  The good news is that for now I'll still have someone to smother, oops, I mean mother.  Lucky him, now all my mothering skills will be aimed straight at this handsome boy. 

I do realize this post has a lot less to do with food and a lot more to do with my needing to let my birdie fly, but blogging is therapeutic for me, and seeing my birdies fly has caused me to need therapy.  Which reminds me, cupcakes are also very therapeutic.  Gotta run, I hear those cupcakes calling my name!

Hope you enjoy stirring it up!