Momma Robin's Sorrow And Our Lesson

On a dark, rainy, thunderbolting day, Momma Robin lost her eggs at the hands of a predator.  We're heartbroken over her loss!  The nest is located in a rain gutter corner, which we can't see from inside the house.  We don't know if it was a crow, a hawk, or a squirrel.  Regardless, Momma and her husband won't be back here next year, since it has proven unsafe.  Pairs will nest in the same place only if they previously had good luck there.

As an aside: Peter's photo of the blue robin eggs, shared earlier this week, made the eggs look larger then they really are.

Our only hope is that in prior years another robin pair--or we assume it's another pair--nested in the crook of one of our trees.  We hope to see them soon!  We're praying for nesting birds of any species.  Different species of birds nest at different times.  American Robins usually nest in April and in August, or more often if the Momma is especially healthy. 

As the tears flowed around here, I reminded the kids that we can have many interests, friends, and passions in our lives, but all of it eventually slips through our fingers; we will be disappointed in some way.  

I didn't mention, due to their young ages, that the same goes for our nuclear families.  We must love our families with all we've got, regardless.  But eventually, they too will disappoint us.  They too will pass away.

God is the only constant in our lives!  We must cling to Him!  We must hold everything loosely, while at the same time trusting Him enough to pour ourselves out for others, without expectation.

To cheer up the troops around here, I suggested spring-themed sugar cookies.  I used 100% whole wheat flour, which has worked for every other baking project.  I used to use Albino white whole wheat for sugar cookies, but I quit buying that.  We make sugar cookies far less often.

Anyway, don't try this at home!  It was very difficult to work with.  The cookies taste fine--everyone likes them--but we gave up on rolling and shaping them after about twelve shapes were completed.  We rolled the rest of the dough into balls.  I'm not sure this project cheered anyone up--especially not Momma--but it did distract us from Mrs. Robin's sorrow, and our own.

Today we will make the frosting and frost them.

I have a baking question for all you experts out there.  I just started making homemade muffins of different types, and I'm not satisfied with the moistness.  Am I stirring them too much?  Is there some secret to moist muffins?  Please share!