Sunny March Day

Wow! The weather has been absolutely unbelievable for the past two days. And today, the kids and I are spending as much time outside as we possibly can. So ar we've taken two walks and bike rides today, and I anticipate much more outside time later this afternoon.


Here are a few shots of the girls. It was so sunny Zoe needed sunglasses, and since I can't locate her Winnie the Pooh sunglasses anywhere, she borrowed mine.

Growing Older

As I have gotten older, overall I am happier with my life. Staying home to raise my kids has been a challenge, but after 7 1/2 years of not working professionally, I am content with my place. I am more comfortable standing up for myself or my children, and I feel as though I have a network of friends whom I can truly trust, count on, and turn to for support.

But, with growing older comes the more uncomfortable aspects of life. A professor and mentor from college was diagnosed five years ago with Alzheimer's. His wife, who happened to be my cooperating teacher when I was student teaching and I are good friends, so I've heard first hand many of the struggles they are both going through in dealing with this disease.

When I was teaching, a colleague who was my same age, 25, found out that her father had a brain tumor. Within six months he died.

Today I mailed a card and a letter to two old friends, one another colleague from my teaching days, another an old acquaintance from college. When I began teaching in 1995, I worked with a wonderful teacher and woman named Mary. She was the model of patience with students, and I quickly came to admire her gentle and kind words she had for all people. We became good friends, and we often sat together at lunch or chatted before school with one another. She was the first person I told I was pregnant (after Brendan of course). She had a daughter named Heather who was just starting college and two younger sons. During the four years we worked together, her youngest son was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. He was only in junior high at the time. When I received her Christmas card this year, she informed me that he died about a year ago this month. He was only 21.

My other friend was someone I was never close with in college, but because of mutual friends we knew each other fairly well. We have spent college reunions eating dinner together and hearing about one another's families. She, like me, had three children, though she had three little boys. Her youngest, a little guy name Mikey, just died at the tender age of 13 months. He had many complications at birth, and finally lost his battle just this past Tuesday.

As much as I like the self-confidence of becoming more comfortable in my own (somewhat wrinkling) skin, I can't escape the fact that bad things happen to people we love and care about. It really tore me up to send that card and letter, but I'm sure it was absolutely nothing compared to what Mary and Danielle are going through in the loss of their children, or what Joan is going through in the slow deterioration of her husband to Alzheimer's.

I am going to take this day and do what those two mothers can't do, and that is hug my kids and tell them I love them. I don't want to take them, or anyone else that is important to me, for granted.

Zoe Makes Me Laugh

Today I brought out a surprise for my two girls, ages 4 1/2 and almost 3, to play with. It was my entire collection of Strawberry Shortcake dolls from when I was a kid that my mom in her infinite wisdom kept for me so that someday my kids could enjoy them.

I love(d) my Strawberry Shortcake dolls. I have an entire original set (I think) that consists of Strawberry Shortcake, Blueberry Muffin, Huckleberry Pie and Apple Dumpling and her pet turtle. I also have numerous others, along with their pets and even the two villains, the Purple Pie Man and Sour Grapes. I played with these dolls for many years, from at least fourth grade well into junior high. What can I say? I love dolls with scented heads.

Anyways, my girls have had a surging interest in Strawberry Shortcake recently with the multiple viewings of SS DVDs (we own three different ones), listening to SS CDs from the library and reading SS books. So, today I decided to quit being overprotective of my little dolls and share them with Emma and Zoe.

They were an instant hit. Emma quickly claimed Sour Grapes, a girl that wore a green and pink dress and had green hair, and Cherry Blossom, a little girl with pink curly hair. She had the Purple Pie Man and Sour Grapes getting married, go home, pop out the pink haired girl as their new baby and was well on her way to having lots of fun.

Zoe looked at all of them and grabbed Orange Blossom to play with. She had a grand old time running her around the room, making her cry or fly or ride in wagons. She played with a few other dolls, but kept coming back to Orange Blossom. As I was getting lunch ready in the kitchen I heard Zoe exclaim, "She's all brownie!" and then let out a great big giggle of delight. I couldn't figure out what she was talking about until I peaked in and found that she had undressed Orange Blossom completely, including those green and white tights that all (old) SS dolls have.

After lunch I re-dressed Orange Blossom while Zoe was busy playing with her brother's trains. When she saw me putting on the doll's shoes, Zoe looked at me with a frown and said, "I like people being naked. Naked people are my favorite!"

What more can you say to that?

Things You Never Expected To Hear Your Four Year Old Daughter Say

"In the underworld there's two zombies."

Happy Valentine's Day!

These are Emma's homemade Valentines for her classmates in pre-school. She was very proud of her heart flowers and very excited to share them with her friends today.

Have a great Valentine's day!

These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things

I was drinking a really yummy coffee that I made right here at home today when I thought about all the things I love and enjoy right now in my life. Yeah, yeah, the kids and husband are great, but there are things I see or hear or taste or smell regularly that I just really enjoy right now. Here is a short list of some of those things.

1. Land O Lakes Peppermint Mocha Half and Half - A fantastic product I just found today. Unlike the non-dairy versions, this one tastes delicious!!!! Warm it up, add it to your coffee, and you have a delicious holiday drink.

2. Listening to (and singing with) my daughter Emma as she belts out Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. She sings it with such energy that you can't help but be filled with the Christmas spirit. Also, I love when she gets to the end of the song and sings that Rudolph goes down in a mystery, and tells me it's okay if I sing that he goes down in a story. Makes me smile every time.

3. Starbucks gingerbread lattes. I used to always order the peppermint mocha at this time of year, but sampled the gingerbread latte, and now I'm hooked. (Plus, see #1, I don't have to get them at Starbuck's anymore.)

4. Old Christmas movies and TV specials. Anyone who knows me well knows my all-time favorite is The Year Without A Santa Claus. Who doesn't love Heat Miser and Cold Miser singing their songs? My brothers, sister, and I can sing each song in it's entirety, and have done so at family gatherings to the dismay of our spouses. (They got used to it!) I also have to put a nod out to the old movies that I have grown to love since meeting my husband. It's a Wonderful Life and White Christmas are now required watching each Christmastime. Add The Bells of St. Mary's and A Christmas Carol with Patrick Stewart playing Scrooge, and I have my December viewing planned.

5. Seeing my brother-in-law, Kevin, play young scrooge and nephew Fred in The Drury Lane's children's production of A Christmas Carol this year. The show was fantastic, Kevin's performance was great, and getting to see it through Ian's eyes was just plain fun.

6. Hearing my 2 1/2 year old daughter shout, "Christmas clock!" every hour. We have a Christmas clock that my mother-in-law gave us several years ago. We get it out each year and on each hour it plays a different Christmas carol. This year is no different; when we began decorating, we got out the clock, put in the batteries, and set it on the mantle. However, Zoe found the clock fascinating, and every time she hears a carol play on it, she makes sure no one in the house misses it. Brendan and I like hearing Zoe do it so much that we have taken to shouting out "Christmas clock!" as well.

Strawberry Scents

When I was a little girl in the 1980's, I loved Strawberry Shortcake. I had (and still have, thanks to a diligent mom) all the original characters from the very first year, plus many of the characters that appeared after Strawberry Shortcake became so popular. I loved sniffing their heads and smelling that sweet strawberry (lemon, orange, cupcake) smell that became so familiar to me. I played with the dolls well into seventh grade and have wonderfully fond memories of them.

So, last year when I saw there was a Strawberry Shortcake Christmas special, I bought it for my two daughters, hoping to set some of the Strawberry Shortcake magic alive in them. Yes, she now wears trendy clothes instead of her cute little strawberry dress and enormous hat, and yes her friends wear cool clothes, too. However, the story was very sweet and Emma really enjoyed it.

After Christmas, the DVD went away with our numerous other Christmas DVDs to be stored until this Christmas. Out it came this year and now Zoe has also grown very fond of the sweet little girl who claims that "giving is berry, berry nice, indeed!" Both the girls have watched the DVD several times this year since it's reappearance from the basement.

But, this morning, before putting the DVD into the player, I noticed something that I'd never noticed before. As I waited for the DVD carousel to spin to an empty slot, I held the Strawberry Shortcake Christmas DVD close to my face. I noticed a familiar scent. I pulled the DVD closer and sniffed. It smelled like strawberries!!! I sniffed again to make sure I wasn't daydreaming, then I sniffed the DVD case. All of them smelled of Strawberry Shortcake! How did I miss this before?

It's an interesting concept. Not sure it is necessary, but interesting nonetheless. Zoe is getting a Strawberry Shortcake DVD for Christmas, I know I'll be checking it for good strawberry smells!

Terror Alert in Michigan

My Dad sent me this one. It's never too early to start preparing for the big game.


Michigan football practice was delayed nearly two hours today after a player reported finding an unknown white powdery substance on the practice field. The head coach immediately suspended practice and called the police and federal investigators. After a complete analysis, FBI forensic experts determined that the white substance unknown to players was the GOAL LINE. Practice resumed after special agents decided the team was unlikely to encounter the substance again

GO BUCKS!!!!!!

Everything Comes As A Family Package

My daughters, age 4 and 2 1/2, are always grouping everything we see into a family unit. It doesn't matter what it is, there is always a mommy and a baby, and depending on the number of items, a daddy and brothers and sisters. It has been this way for as long as I can remember with my girls, though not for my oldest, who happens to be a boy.

I'm not really sure why they group everything this way, although I'm sure it has a lot to do with the fact that 95% (or more) of their time is spent with us, their family. I'm also sure it has something to do with estrogen, because Ian did not have the desire to group everything into nice little family units.

Nonetheless, it provides for some fun and funny explanations of things we see on our everyday adventures.

For example, at our old house, the neighbor who lived directly behind us had two dogs, a little white fluffy thing and a big golden Lab. Emma and Zoe were both convinced the Lab was the white dog's Mommy. Anytime we saw them outside it was, "Where is the baby?" or, "The baby wants her Mommy."

Last Sunday when we were driving home from dinner at my mother-in-law's, we saw an air-blown inflatable Halloween decoration. It was three jack o'lanterns stacked on top of one another. Emma immediately said it was a daddy, mommy and baby pumpkin. Ditto for the three ghosts coming out of a pumpkin at another house.

But today had to be my favorite example of the Mommy/ Baby grouping. Ian had set up several action figures on his train table and wanted to play "war" with me. (Notice, no families, just teams of heroes, bad guys and one robotic T-Rex wanting to beat the tar out of each other.) As each figure became eliminated from the game, Ian generously told his little sisters they could play with them.

Zoe found two Spidermans, one smaller than the other. She giggled with delight when she saw they were the same character, and turned to me and said, "Mommy and baby." Then she made the little Spiderman cry for his mommy and the mommy Spiderman gave him a hug and made baby Spiderman feel better.

I doubt any Spiderman action figure creator (or brother) ever imagined them being played with like that!

Fall Fun

Today was a great day to be outside! Even though the sun wasn't shining, the weather was mild and several of our neighbors were out enjoying the (slightly) warmer temperatures. The kids and I ventured out after Ian got home form school, and while they played I took advantage of the opportunity to rake leaves in the front yard.
I haven't had to rake leaves in six years, so it was kind of fun making two big piles, then letting the kids run and jump in them. Here our neighbor, Anthony, and Ian have fun throwing leaves up over their heads.

Look at me, I'm cute!

Leaves everywhere!

I love Autumn!

Budding Artists

The weather was so beautiful today that the girls and I decided to do some painting outside on the deck. I pulled out all of my acrylic craft paints, some paper plates, a large roll of paper, and paintbrushes. We sat for a glorious hour creating one masterpiece after another. Here are a few pictures from our creative venture for the day.
Here is Emma as she paints a cake.

This is Zoe working hard on her painting.

And one final photograph:An artist satisfied with her work.

Reading

Ian has been taking karate for close to two years now, and he is now in a class that is late enough in the evening that I don't have to take the girls with me when I take him to class. So, since his Dad and I can both take him, and then have 45 minutes of alone time, we decided to take turns taking him each week. One parent gets one on one time with Ian in the van on the way to and from karate class, as well as 45 minutes of solitude, while the other parent gets two little girls, nineteen months apart in age, all to him/herself for the evening, and then gets the pleasure of getting them both ready for bed, all by him/herself.

As you can guess, we both look forward to our week of taking Ian to karate.

This week was my first week to take Ian, and I postively jumped at the chance. I have recently rekindled a love of mine that somehow got lost in the busyness of raising three kids and keeping a household together. Since we moved to our new house at the end of July, I've found several moments to look through the adult section of our library and just browse the shelves for some enjoyable reading. I have always loved to read, but I just haven't read novels in a long time. Self help books, magazines, newspapers, children's books, but not novels. So, after checking two books out of the library, not wanting to set too lofty of goals for myself, I slowly reclaimed my love of reading novels. I have now read five novels and have refound the joy in the written word to tantalize, excite, and draw out great anticipation.

Tonight was no exception. I could hardly wait to get Ian into his class so that I could run off to the library and look for a few new books. I also started a book a few days ago that I was sure I could finish today, if I just had the time.

And tonight I had the time. What amazed me, though, as I sat in a comfortable chair upstairs in the library, was how indulgent it all felt to me. Here I was, reading a book I couldn't wait to finish, while my girls were at home with their Dad STILL AWAKE. What surprised me even more was that I felt this way. It felt decadent and extravagant to have 45 minutes to read and look for new books. It also made me wonder how my life has gotten to this point, that 45 minutes of companionship with a good book makes me feel extravagant.

I guess being a mom, a wife, a sister, daughter, volunteer, it all adds up in your life, but also takes from it. While I completely feel you must do for others, that you could not or should not be selfish, sometimes taking a little time for yourself is the best thing you can do.

I did tonight, and it felt great. It also made me realize I'm a very lucky woman.

Insect Close-Ups

We have spotted a very mature praying mantis sitting on our house several different times this summer. After pointing him out to the kids, I often sit and marvel at how interesting this insect is.


As a sophomore in biology class many, many years ago, I had to make an insect collection of forty insects, and we were not allowed to capture praying mantises because they were rare and ate so many other insects. That experience of catching, killing, and mounting insects to pins on a board for display gave me a good understanding of the difference between insects and regular "bugs." And while I still don't like bugs or insects a whole lot, I also find them somewhat fascinating, especially the praying mantis.


So, taking a page from Ree's love of close-ups, I have put a few pictures of our praying mantis I took on Saturday. Enjoy!

Aaargh! For the life of me I can't get my link to work! Go to http://pioneerwoman.blogspot.com to see some beautiful close up pictures.

Frightening Sunday Drive

Yesterday, on the way home from a bowling birthday party that Ian attended for one of his classmates, we hit a car. Brendan was driving, I was in the passenger seat, all three kids were sitting in their respective seats in the back of the van when we crashed into a vehicle that pulled in front of us.

We were travelling on a one way street at dusk in a slight drizzle. To the right of us at the intersection was a woman in a brown car stopped at a stop sign. We had no stop sign and so proceeded through the intersection when all of a sudden the driver of the car just pulls out in front of us. I couldn't quite believe what I was seeing, thinking we had to be able to stop, knowing that we wouldn't be able to. Brendan slammed on the brakes and we hit her on the driver side right behind her seat. Her car spun around across the intersection and ended up on the curb on the other side of the intersection. Brendan pulled through the intersection and onto the side of the street.

It was so fast. Driving, talking about going to get McDonald's for dinner, seeing the car stopped, seeing it pull out right in front of us, hitting it - hard. I don't really remember the impact itself. I mean, I remember the realization we were going to hit her, the sound of the hit, her car spinning, but I can't recall the feeling of the impact - the crash and bump I should have felt. It wasn't until after I checked on the kids that I noticed a scrape and a bruise on my shin, where my leg hit the dash under the glove compartment.

After Brendan jumped out of the car to check on the other driver, I jumped out and opened the back door to check on the kids. Emma and Zoe were so frightened, whimpering and crying, but safely buckled into their car seats. Ian seemed fine, his glasses were gone from his face, but he was worried about finding his GameBoy - so I knew he wasn't hurt. After calming everyone in my vehicle down, I waited to see what Brendan was doing. I knew the other driver had to have taken a much worse blow than we did, she was in a car, and was the one being hit by a minivan on the driver side, so I was a little worried.

Very quickly two police officers came and checked out the incident, called an ambulance for the woman and had an EMT check Brendan, myself and the kids out. Thank God we had them in car seats - all three of them. A few years back Illinois passed a law that said kids had to ride in booster seats until they were eight years old. It seemed a bit excessive, but we followed the law. Last night, Zoe was in her convertible car seat with five point harness, Emma was in her full back booster seat with seat belt adjuster, and Ian was in his backless booster. And I'm so grateful that they were. The girls appear to have no injuries whatsoever, and Ian has a nasty scrape/ bruise from the seat belt on his neck - but that's it.

While we waited for the police officer to finish the paperwork and let us know that we were not being cited, Emma kept inquiring about the accident. She told me several times that, "Daddy should be more careful." I tried to explain to her that it wasn't Daddy's fault, that the lady should have stayed stopped at the intersection but she didn't. She asked if our car was broken. I told her it was, but that we'd get it fixed. Her response to that was that we should get new pedals that would stop faster so we wouldn't crash again.

I've never been in a car accident before. This was really crazy. As I watched it happen, I just couldn't believe my eyes. Turns out the 21 year old driver of the car doesn't have a driver's license. It just reminds me that you can be the best driver in the world and do nothing wrong, and still be in an accident. Truly frightening.

I hugged my kids a little tighter and a little longer last night. I told each one of them that I loved them. I'm glad we're all safe.

For some photos and Brendan's take on the accident, click here.

Buying Shoes

I took Emma to Target today to buy some new shoes for school and the upcoming Fall/ Winter seasons that are fast approaching. I was thinking maybe we'd pick out some cute shoes that would look great with dresses, skirts and pants. Maybe a little something like this:

Or for something a little different, maybe a shoe with a little color, like this:

But Emma was not going to confined by the standard footwear of girls all across America. No. Emma tried on a few different shoes, some pink clogs, a brown Mary Jane, a pink leather Mary Jane, and then she saw it. The PERFECT shoe for her. It was this:

Pink cowboy boots. She loved them the instant she saw them, and putting them on only furthered her resolve. She must have the pink cowboy boots. I asked her if she would wear them with her dresses and to pre-school. She said she would.

So, I walked out of Target with bright pink cowboy boots for my four year old daughter. Definitely not what I had in mind when I went there this morning. But the smile on Emma's face told me I'd made the right choice in letting her get those boots. She wore them to school when we picked up Ian, and she wore them over to her friend's house and all over the neighborhood when they played outside.

Here are a few photos of her with her new boots on. One demonstrates her sassy cowgirl attitude, the other her cute cowgirl side.



I decided that if anyone can pull off pink cowboy boots with style, it's an adorable four year old. Emma fits the bill perfectly!

(And yes, in the bottom picture one foot is facing forward, and the other completely backward. It's a special talent she has!)

I Need To Wear Perfume More Often

I was putting a hairbow in Emma's hair, at her request, before we left to take her to her first day of pre-school. She sniffed the air as I brushed her hair off of her face and she said,"You smell good."

"Thank you," I replied.

"Are you going to church while I'm in school?" Emma asked.

"No," I answered.

"Then why do you smell so good?"

Apparently I only wear perfume to church. At least she notices, though!

Alter Egos

This is Ian and Emma pretending to be their newly created alter egos: Laundry Machine Guy and Squirt Bunny. They ran around fighting imaginary enemies and even took turns as the sidekick. I can't wait to see the saga continue!

New Recipe

Okay. I didn't blog for over a month. (We moved and did not have any access other than dial up, so I refused to blog until we had better service!) Now we have cable modem, and it is sooooo nice to be able to surf the internet again.

And despite my blog's title, I probably have not posted a recipe for over six months. Mainly laziness on my part for that indiscretion.

It was one year ago that I started my blog, and regularly posted recipes then, so I thought I would honor that tradition with a recipe now. I also just had my husband's family over for brunch to celebrate my son's and daughter's birthdays, and I tried six new recipes out on them! They were all good, with this one being a standout from all the rest.

Country Breakfast Casserole

1 (16 oz.) package bulk sausage
1 chopped green onion
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
6 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup water
1/2 cup milk
1 (2.64 oz.) package country gravy mix
5-6 slices bread, cut into 1 inch cubes
2 tablespoons melted butter
paprika, to taste

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease an 11 x 7 inch baking dish.

Brown sausage in a large skillet; drain fat.

Combine sausage with green onion and spread over bottom of prepared dish. Top with shredded cheese. Whisk together eggs, water, milk and gravy mix; pour over sausage mixture and spread evenly. Arrange bread squares evenly on top of egg mixture. Drizzle with melted butter and sprinkle with paprika.

Bake 40 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Yield: 8 servings

Enjoy!

Girl's Just Want To Have Fun!

Emma and her friend Grace had a great time today dressing up as princesses. They ran around inside the house declaring themselves royalty, playing inside the pop up castle from IKEA, and running around outside in the back yard.

Emma's Take

My father-in-law took Emma to the DuPage County Fair last night. It's become a bit of a tradition with him to take my kids, one at a time, to the fair and do all the fun fair things with them. He started with Ian a few years ago, and added Emma to the mix last year. He promised Zoe that he'd take her next year. That would make three nights at the county fair for their Grandpa. That's a nice Grandpa!

Before they went to the fair, my father-in-law took Emma to see his mom, Emma's Great Grandma, who is rehabbing after knee replacement surgery. I prepped Emma for this, but knew she'd do fine. She has always had an affinity for older people, comfortable talking to them and seemingly unaware of any frailties they may have.

True to form, Emma delighted in talking to her Great Grandma and enjoyed joining her, her Great Aunt Kathy, and her Grandpa in the dining room while Great Grandma had dinner.

Today, while heading to the community center to take Ian to gymnastics and the girls to the library, we discussed her visit with Great Grandma. Emma told Ian that Grandma was getting better after getting a new knee. We then discussed what that means. After clearing up a misconception about the knee being sick and what product goes into a new knee (metal and plastic), Emma summed up Great Grandma's situation quite plainly.

"Even though she's got a new knee, she's still old."

So true.