A Little Glimpse

The fun begins

2011-12-16T15:12:00.000-06:00

Some of you may know that my oldest son, (who started skating at 18 months, and playing hockey in 1st grade) loves to play hockey. He has been playing ever since he was 6 years old. He hasn't always made the teams that he wished he made during his youth hockey days. But he never complained, he just played because he loves it, because he gets to see his friends and have fun. Often times he was on the bubble for the better team, but didn't make it. So tryouts for the high school team were coming up and he was preparing to try out. He is on the smaller side, but is awesome on his skates and is very aggressive. Not afraid to check and take down kids that are twice his size. It makes it fun to watch, but also a little nerve wracking. When looking at the other kids that are his age, and older, that were trying out, I think he was a little intimidated. Or maybe that was just me. Either way, we knew they had to cut a number of kids this year and it made tryout week kinda stressful.

So the final day of tryouts was upon us and I went to the arena to pick him up. He had texted me and said to be sure I was there on time to pick him up because if he didn't make the team he wouldn't want to hang around there afterward. Apparently they were calling the boys into the coaches room one at a time to talk to them and let know whether or not they were on the team. A very classy way to handle it, yet agonizing for the kids to wait in line in the hallway. Kids were coming out of the arena one at a time, some looking happy, some not. Finally I saw him coming out the back door, bag slung over his shoulder, looking rather glum. My stomach felt sick. I knew how badly he wanted to make this team. I began silently rehearsing what I was going to say to try to ease the pain. I popped open the back of the van and he threw his bag and sticks inside. He came and got into the passenger seat.

"Hey Bud", I said. "Hey" he replied. He had looked like he was blinking back tears in his eyes, but it was dark so I couldn't be sure. "How'd it go?" I asked very hesitantly. He sighed a big heavy sigh. I was ready to launch into my, "It wasn't meant to be" "There is always next year" speech when he smiled at me and said, "I MADE IT!!!!"

I couldn't believe it! The little rat tricked me. He said that they called him into the room and he felt sick. He didn't think he had made the team. They told him that he was a really hard worker. They had asked him just that week to switch to playing defense after he had played left wing (offense) his whole life and he did so willingly. That also was a deciding factor I believe, that he was willing to be versatile.

So we have a high school hockey player in the house. There are dress up days on game days (shirt and tie). There are practices before school (we leave the house at 5:40 AM). There are practices after school. There are games far away. And it is all good.

Tonight my friend G (whose son also made the team) and I are doing the "Pasta Feed" for the whole hockey team. Apparently they have a "carb up" night on Fridays before their Saturday night games. We are feeding 40 big hockey players. You should see all the huge jars of spaghetti sauce and spaghetti that was filling my vehicle earlier today. I guess teenage boys eat. A lot. I will post some pictures later. Let the fun begin!

Friday Fav's

2011-11-11T08:49:00.000-06:00

My fav's this Friday are many, but I will narrow down the list in the essence of time:

1) You have got to get one of these:

It is a heated mattress pad. But not just heated, it has dual controls so when you are freezing, and your husband isn't, it works out perfectly! I must be getting old, but seriously, it is COLD in Minnesota. I was talking about how we were going to try to keep the temperature in the house a little lower this year to cut down on our energy bills, and mentioned wanting to get one of these to my wonderful mother-in-law. Just so happened, that she had one that she bought and didn't use, so lucky me! I am not sure how, but she also happened to have one that fit Miss Jane's bed, so we are loving it. W hasn't even turned his side on yet. It does make getting up in the morning a little more difficult though :)

2) I have loved this song at church for so long and never knew who sang it. It is a group called Hillsong United, and they are from Australia. Love this song:

3) The bounce dryer bar. LOVE IT! My mom used to use bounce sheets when I was younger. When I started doing my own laundry, I switched to liquid fabric softener, because I hated worrying about whether or not I had one of those clingy bounce sheets stuck to the back of my leg when I walked into a party, or the office, or whatever. Well, I received a sample of this bounce bar in the mail and I am hooked. #1, no more awkward moments spent worrying about sheets being stuck to your pants, #2 no more blue spills on the washing machine, dryer, shelf, etc. from the liquid fabric softener, #3 The amount of smell is perfect. Not too much, not too little. Best of all, the kids have started doing their own laundry, and they don't even need to remember whether or not they added fabric softener! It simply sticks up in the barrel of your dryer, and you can forget about it. After a few months, the bar gets smaller like a bar of soap, and you simply replace it with another. Did I mention that I love it? Try it, you WILL like it.

Happy Halloween

2011-11-02T21:01:00.000-05:00

After a few last minute costume changes and last minute pumpkin carving we managed to have a fun Halloween night. Miss Jane couldn't decide on a costume. We went to the Halloween store, to Target, we looked online. She decided on Miss America. Pretty easy right? Pretty Dress - Check. Tiara - Check. Sash - In progress. When the temperature looked like it was only going to be in the 40's, that costume didn't seem all that inviting to her. She decided on a Minnesota Viking instead. Here she is with our neighbor:

And with her Trick Or Treating Partner:

B, on the other hand, knew what he wanted to be right away. Of course when he would tell people, many of them would look at him with a puzzled look, trying to figure out who it was. Initially they would think it was a sports figure, which would make sense for a 9 year old boy. But this is not any 9 year old boy. This is the 9 year old boy who loves watching the weather channel. Who is saving his money for a "tour" of the National Weather Service. Who had to be the star of "Cantore Stories" for Halloween:

B as Jim Cantore

He was unwilling to shave his head, so we had to go with the bald cap. Under the hat it doesn't look so bad:

I think part of the fascination with Jim Cantore is his remarkable resemblance to a certain favorite teacher of his:

Mr. D

Jim Cantore

Who knows? Whatever the case may be, he was able to wear a warm jacket as part of his costume, so that was good thing. And he had fun.

Unless you stopped by our house between 3 pm on Halloween and 7 am the next day, you would not have known that we had pumpkins. We were gone pretty much all weekend, and so when my friend (who also didn't have her pumpkins) called me at about 2 PM on Halloween and said there were no more pumpkins to be found around town, and she discovered some at a grocery store on her way home from work, and did I want her to pick me up a couple...I jumped on the opportunity. Boy, nice run-on sentence, sorry. So we rapidly carved our pumpkins when the kids got home from school, just in time to plop them on the front steps before the first Trick or Treaters arrived. My friends' son did not want to carve his, so Gwen and I did our handiwork on one instead:

And then there is B's pumpkin that he carved all on his own:

And of course Miss Jane's smiley pumpkin:

And finally, the teenage boy's pumpkin in honor of his favorite movie, "Braveheart" and Mel Gibson:

See the resemblance?

Long time no see

2011-10-21T08:54:00.000-05:00

Wow. Life has been crazy and full. Full of things like football games, hockey tryouts, swim meets, bible study, anniversaries, school, homework, sleepovers, church, birthdays, working out, fundraising, everything in the world breaking down, car-pooling, apple orchards, caring-bridge reading, raking, conferences, sewing, organizing, blah blah blah. I am not sure where the last month has gone, it has been a blur.

All of these things have helped me realize how blessed I am. To have a full life. Full of kids running through the house with their friends. Moments when the 9 year old boy and the 12 year old girl both have friends over and they all actually get along:

To be able to celebrate 17 years of marriage to a great man:

To be here to celebrate his "39th" birthday:

To watch my kids playing something they truly love:

To watch the boys that used to play legos turn into young men who are too cool to have their pictures taken:

And to help them figure out why life can be troubling, hard, and confusing sometimes. We don't always have the answers. We have to trust that everything will turn out okay, even if it isn't how we anticipated it turning out. That we don't always understand the reason things happen. That life is full of surprises. Ups and downs, highs and lows. Excitement over new friends and experiences and sadness over those we no longer have. That we are constantly making memories. Life is a rollercoaster and we need to enjoy the ride!

The Great Minnesota Get-Together

2011-09-02T16:29:00.000-05:00

We looked at our calendar a few weeks ago to try and figure out when we were going to take the kids to the Minnesota State Fair. Between Football Practice, Swim Team Practice, Summer Jobs, Elementary Open House, Middle School Open House, High School Open House, and having friends up to the cabin for Labor Day, we were left with one evening that would work for us to go. And this meant Miss Jane missing swim practice one day. Pretty sad that our lives are that crazy, right?

We headed out to the fair Wednesday afternoon, with the plan of eating all kinds of food that is terrible for you. Our kids are not ride kids, so that saves us a ton of money right there. First we went in to the "Miracle of Birth Center" where they have all kinds of farm animals that literally give birth during the fair. Check this out:

This cute little lamb was born 6 hours earlier. And the mamais just sitting there like, "Yah, I just gave birth, no biggie"

And these:

These baby cows had just been born a few hours ago and they were already walking around! Boy, humans are slackers!

Only at the Minnesota State Fair can you find people carved out of butter...

I'm sorry, but that is just a little bit creepy!

We made our way to the Mighty Midway, my favorite spot (not!) I just LOVE all those carnies yelling stuff at me. My oldest son is a total sharpshooter...he is going to be quite the chick magnet when he goes to the fair because he will be able to win all the cool prizes. Here he is in action:

He made his younger siblings extremely happy by winning them their very own "Pillow Chums"!

We wanted to watch the Talent Competition, but arrived just as they were announcing the winners. Typical. Oh well, it did feel good just to sit down:

So the strangest food we tried this year was this:

I never would have tried it, but we had heard that it was delish, so we gave it a try:

It was the end of the night, and it was a little melted, but it actually was pretty good. There was this maple flavored topping on it, and very little corn inside. It is not something I would eat every day, but definitely once a year!

I don't know if this is a good name for a business or not:

But Miss Jane and B sure loved it, even though they were being attacked by a wild dog while they were eating!

Our last stop was my fav, Sweet Martha's Cookies. They are warm and fresh from the oven. Too bad they don't give you very many!

B is still trying to polish them off, 2 days later. I am going to have to run extra fast on the treadmill this week to get rid of all those extra calories. Thank goodness it is only once a year!

Not as pretty as it looks

2011-09-01T12:14:00.000-05:00

I have not been posting lately for a few reasons, but mainly it is due to this "loveliness" in my backyard:

It has been an ugly few weeks with this Ragweed wreaking havoc on my allergies and consequently my migraines. Not a good way to end the summer. I am thinking that living in the desert may not be so bad after all, I may even be willing to put up with snakes, rather than having to deal with this misery. Then you know it's bad!

I have some good posts coming up on:

Minnesota State Fair--New Recipe(s)--End of Summer Fun

Stay tuned!

Friday Fav's

2011-08-19T16:27:00.000-05:00

Another Edition of Friday Fav's:

Friday Fav #1

Have you been to Great Harvest Bread Company? If not, go there, soon. They have THE best bread EVER. I had to run a few errands today, and I happened to be near the Minnetonka store, so I had to stop by and pick up a couple loaves of my favorite bread in.the.entire.world. So good.

Spinach Feta...it tastes as good as it looks. Yum!

Friday Fav #2

The Help, (the movie)

(Something happened to the "Add Image" feature on Blogger and I can't import my picture of the Help Movie poster...sorry)

This is one of my all time favorite books, I loved it. We read it for book club last year and now it is a major motion picture! Of course, the movies are never as good as the books, but it is still worth your $10.00. Well, $25.00 by the time you add in popcorn, m&m's and diet coke. Or you could just wait until it comes out on Redbox, and save yourself $24.00. Whichever.

I am off to finish putting out all the fires of the week, (broken garage doors, broken bath tub handles, school clothes/shoes/supplies, football cleats that don't fit, sick dogs, and sick kids). I know, I have a glamorous life. Don't envy me.

Utter Deliciousness

2011-08-12T10:01:00.000-05:00

This is a great recipe if you:

1) Need a dessert and don't want your house to be a 1000 degrees in the summer (no oven necessary)
2) Love Chocolate
3) Love Coconut
4) Love Chocolate and Coconut
5) Love EASY!

I saw this recipe on my high school BFF's blog a while back, and have hardly stopped thinking about it since.

I modified it a little bit, because that is just how I roll. I can never just leave well enough alone. I needed to bring a dessert to an open house we were having for Halle Bands on Tuesday night, and this met all the critieria. It was a hit! Apparently these are typically a Christmas time treat, but again, I like to mix it up a little. Here you go:

Chocolate Dipped Coconut Balls

Gather your ingredients:

Ingredients:
1 bag (14 oz.) Flaked Coconut
1 can sweetened condense milk
1 lb. Powdered Sugar
1/8 lb. Softened Butter
1 tsp. Vanilla
11 oz. (or more) Chocolate Chips (I combined Ghiradelli Bittersweet and Hershey's Special Dark)
1 tsp. Oil

1. Add measured powdered sugar into your mixing bowl and make a well in the middle. Add the Sweetened Condensed Milk (the best kind of milk in my opinion), the softened butter, the vanilla and the coconut inside the well. Mix until thoroughly combined.

2. Place bowl in freezer until cold.

3. When dough is cold, remove from freezer and roll into bite sized balls. (Size can vary, depending upon how big your bite is).

4. Place balls on parchment/waxed paper lined cookie sheets and place back in the freezer.

5. On the top of a double boiler, over simmering (not boiling ) water, add chocolate and oil. Stir constantly until completely melted.

6. Remove the coconut balls a few at a time and dip into chocolate. You can cover them completely, or leave the top open. I chose to leave the coconut showing on top and then just add a tiny dot of chocolate.

YUM!

Let me know if you try these, and what you think. Enjoy!!!

The Biggest Loser

2011-08-10T16:03:00.000-05:00

Bob Harper from the Biggest Loser was at BlogHer 11 this weekend, leading an exercise class on Saturday morning at 7 am. I didn't go. My excuse was that I didn't have any workout clothes with me (true), but in reality, there is no way I would put myself through that. I had enough on my mind that morning (think: cook-off---live cook-off). Even though Jillian wasn't there pushing to the max, it apparently was a super intense workout. I prefer the DVD's so that I can put them on pause while gasping for air.

As far as the cook-off goes, I too, was a loser. It was an incredible experience though. It was amazing to meet Chef Marco Pierre White and Chef Einav Gefen, and to watch them doing their thing was even better. I would really like to thank the Knorr company for sending me out to Cali and for the great opportunity. I mean it is not every day that I go down the escalator at the airport to see a driver holding a sign with my name on it, waiting to ~~lug~~ pick up my suitcases and take me to the hotel. Nor is it very often that I get to watch master chefs live in action instead of on Food Network from the comfort of my couch. I was also treated to an incredible dinner at Searsucker, a restaurant in San Diego owned by Chef Brian Malarkey (Top Chef finalist). I L.O.V.E.D. their Spicy Shrimp on Cheesy Bacon Grits. Yum!

Here are a few shots from the cook-off:

The 8 Finalists!!!

In the hotel kitchen, preparing for the cook off. Totally nervous under that smile.

On stage, preparing my dish! I totally relaxed once I got up there and started cooking.

Apparently mid-sentence, being interviewed by Chef Einav Gefen!

Look at all the cameras...ahh the pressure!!

Presenting my dish

I have to admit that I was a little disappointed that I didn't win, but it really was an exceptionally fun experience. I hope I get more opportunities like this in the future! So.much.fun!

Fun in the sun

2011-08-04T18:17:00.000-05:00

I am here at BlogHer '11. Excited to go check out the Knorr Kitchen tonight and find out all the details for the cook-off on Saturday.

You can follow any updates on my twitter page: @headband_girl

Also, check out the Knorr website here.

I am planning on meeting my big sister tonight for dinner. She just happens to be nearby in Laguna Beach. What are the chances? Woo-hoo!

Let the fun begin!

Bittersweet

2011-08-02T13:15:00.000-05:00

I took my son to take his driver’s permit test today. And he passed.

I had mixed emotions when he came walking out with a huge smile on his face, carrying that little yellow piece of paper. I was so happy for him. It was, after all, a big accomplishment, a monumental day in his life. He will probably remember this day for a long time. After sitting through all those long hours in that drivers ed classroom, he finally has something to show for it.

But I was feeling a little bit sad too. Sad because it is just another example of his independence. Next year he will be able to drive on his away. Drive away whenever he feels like it. He will be home less and less. And then in a few years he will be driving away to college. It is bittersweet.

But for him, it is all SWEET!

After he came to a lurching stop in the driveway today, I realized that I will learn the real meaning of patience. And whether or not I have any. :)

How to Make a Half Birthday Cake

2011-07-31T23:23:00.000-05:00

This was going to be a post about "Traditions". Instead, it is going to be a "how-to" of "How to make a half birthday cake for your child." (A cake for their Half Birthday. Indeed it is half of a cake)

1) When attempting to make a half birthday cake, don't leave the cake home alone with Grandma.

2) If you do leave the cake in Grandma's presence, remind her that you are going to decorate the cake when you return home.

3) Even if Grandma thinks she is being helpful, sometimes things are just better left alone. Call and remind her of this.

4) If Grandma still attempts to decorate the cake while you are gone, you may be left with this:

Thanks anyway Grandma. In the words of the Half Birthday Boy, "It wasn't much of a celebration". Better luck on your real birthday B. I will be sure to keep Grandma away from the kitchen.

Problem Solver

2011-07-28T08:17:00.000-05:00

In years past I have had a garden in the backyard. I have always have grand plans for this garden, dreaming it would be full of lush, colorful vegetables that I would pick and use in my delicious dinners every night. There would be cool, wrought iron trellises with vines growing up them. The rows would be straight with no weeds and my kids would be out there with me, happily planting, picking, and weeding.

Like I said, a dream.

This year, I didn’t even kid myself. I became a little leery of the dirt last year when my next door neighbor was trimming his bushes and a snake came slithering out. A gardener snake, but a snake nonetheless. Then, late last summer I encountered this little darling in my yard, as you may remember here. So the garden thing wasn’t looking so good. Most of my neighbors have gardens and are usually begging us to take copious amounts of tomatoes, lettuce, and beans off their hands, but I still wanted my herbs. I found the solution:

The Aerogarden

They had me at fool-proof. But seriously, I totally love this thing! I received it for mother’s day after a few subtle hints. There is no dirt, no mess. Plus they use a growing bulb, so can you say BASIL ALL YEAR 'ROUND! Even in the dead of winter. There are little pods that drop right into the base, and you just keep filling it up with water and these little nutrient packets, and waa-laa!

Mine started out like this:

I have been picking basil like crazy, and I passed on tons of dill to a friend for some pickles. My thyme didn't work out so well, I think that I didn't use it enough. I am going to to try 2 new herbs, but check out the basil now:

Love it!!

You can order all different kinds of herbs, and some vegetables, as well as flowers. Mine has 3 spots for herbs, but there is also one with 7 spots. I received that one first, but the whole contraption was way too big for my counter, so I returned it for this beauty. It is a perfect, snake-free way to garden. Problem Solved.

Sloooowwww Learner

2011-07-27T11:26:00.000-05:00

Okay, so I am a slow learner. Well, not really I guess, I am just slow to change my habits. Perhaps it is my aversion to change. Not knowing what to expect when things are different than what I am used to. If I find a shirt that I like, I buy in it every color. When we go out to dinner, I have that certain entree that I order at every restaurant. Is that why I am still using the same perfume and blush that I used when I was in college? What's so funny is that whenever I do try something different, I usually find myself thinking, "Why didn't I do this sooner?" Okay, so maybe I am a slow learner.

Last week I was attempting to call my friend on my cell phone, yes, it has texting, but I was driving and we all no that is a no-no. (I have a son getting ready to take his permit test so I need to be sure to set a good example). When I looked down at my phone (at the stoplight of course) I noticed the numbers looked goofy---they were in mirror image! The call still went through, but suddenly my phone went black. So needless to say, I couldn't text, I couldn't see who was calling me, and I couldn't see who I was calling unless I knew their number by heart, and who knows anyone's phone number anymore?

So on Monday, I went to the Sprint store and came home with this:

The HTC EVO 4G.

OMG! Welcome to 2011. This thing is so amazing! I have my kids showing me all the things it can do. TV? On a phone? And the apps, holy cow. It is like the iPhone, only for Sprint. The first app that B (my meteorologist in training) had me download was The Weather Channel, of course. And then there is the Runkeeper App that will track how far, how fast, etc. you are running. B also has me in serious training for Angry Birds. Fun at your fingertips. I know that most people have experienced this before, but like I said, slow learner. Does this mean that I have to get rid of my Boombox?

I'm Leavin' on a jet plane....

2011-07-22T23:51:00.000-05:00

I don't know when I'll be back again....

Actually it will only be a few days.

I will give you one guess who is going to San Diego to attend the BlogHer 2011 conference?

Besides the other 3,000 people --- ME!

Remember the recipe for the Risotto Cakes? Well, it was part of a contest sponsored by the Knorr company. They asked 200 bloggers to submit recipes using their new Concentrated Chicken Stock. The top 8 finalists were chosen to go to San Diego for a cook off and I was chosen! Woo-hoo!

Only too bad for me that it is not in January, since it is 150 degrees in Minnesota right now. But I will take San Diego anytime. Not sure what all the details are yet, but I am looking forward to it. I have 2 weeks to perfect my culinary skills, so any tips would be appreciated.

San Diego here I come!

Basil & Sun Dried Tomato Risotto Cakes

2011-07-08T17:54:00.002-05:00

This is a new twist on a favorite recipe of mine. You have heard of crab cakes, of course, well these are similar but instead of crab, they are made with risotto. There is a new product coming out on the market that I had the privlege of testing this week. It is made by Knorr and it is a concentrated version of homestyle chicken stock. It comes in this cute little container, (similar to the dressing cups you get at fast food restaurants), and it makes 3 1/2 cups of stock! You can use a multitude of things to dilute it (think water, fruit juice, cider, etc.) So this is what I used in my recipe. I think you are really going to like it!!

Basil & Sun Dried Tomato Risotto Cakes with Mozzarella
Serving Size: 6 cakes
Total Cook Time: 40 minutes plus 3 hours cooling time

Ingredients:
1/4 cup olive oil
1/3 cup finely chopped onion
3 cloves minced garlic
1 cup arborio rice
1 tub Knorr concentrated chicken stock
1 1/2 cups water
1 cup white wine (optional-or just use 2 1/2 cups water)
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 1/2 cups finely chopped fresh basil
1/2 cup julienned sun dried tomatoes
2 oz. fresh mozzarella cheese (in 2" pieces)
Salt and Pepper to taste

1. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in pan with tight fitting lid. Add onions and garlic and cook until tender. Stir in rice - cook 1 minute.

2. Add Knorr concentrated chicken stock, 1 cup white wine, and 1 cup water. The concentrated stock just melts like butter...amazing and delicious. Bring to a boil while stirring constantly. Reduce heat to low, cover and cook until rice is tender but firm, approximately 15 minutes.

3. Remove lid and turn off heat. Add remaining water, parmesan, basil, sun dried tomatoes, salt and pepper. Stir to combine with rice. Allow risotto to cool to room temperature. Refrigerate covered until risotto is completely chilled (about 3 hours).

4. When risotto is cold, form into patties. Insert piece of fresh mozzarella into center, making sure it is completely covered. I like to make a thin patty...just like making hamburgers, then add the mozzarella, and top it with another thin patty. Squeeze the edges together, and waa-laa!

5. Over medium heat, add 2-3 tablespoons of oil in a 10" skillet. Add cakes, making sure they are not touching. Cook until brown, about 5-8 minutes each side. Serve immediately.

Yummy goodness.

Enjoy!!

On the road again

2011-06-23T16:37:00.001-05:00

We usually head to Duluth, MN in August every year, but with a few changes in life, we ended up going in June! If we would have listened to the weather report we would have been really dismayed because it called for rain EVERY.SINGLE.DAY. But what else is new? It has been raining practically every day since the snow melted. But I digress. Lucky for us, the weather people were wrong once again!! Every day was really nice. Perfect for things like:

Reading about the local history. "Did you know that Lake Superior is the deepest of the Great Lakes?" "Did you know that if you emptied Lake Superior the water would cover all of North and South America a foot deep?" and on and on and on. Curious little boy he is. (That sounded a little yoda-like).

And then there was a lot of this going on:

Skipping rocks. They would do that all day if you let them. The rocks around Lake Superior are perfect for skipping. Then there were the contests to see who can get the most skips. I think the dad one that one.

Jumping across the rocks at Gooseberry Falls. Without falling in or getting your shoes wet. L had the right idea by taking OFF his shoes...

Or just walking along the boardwalk.

We stayed at the cool hotel again (The Inn on Lake Superior). I would highly recommend it. They have this pool on the rooftop that the kids love. And don't forget the s'mores every night---bonfires by the lakeside, and they provide the fixins'. Of course the part my kids liked best was the hot chocolate machines in the lobby all day long.

Finally, I apparently have a ham for a son. All day long, every day, he would stand in front of something and say, "Mom, take my picture." I know I have heard that somewhere before, (think Dwain, Joyce). I don't know if it is the last kid syndrome or what. I mean I can certainly identify with that. Regardless, I have many pictures of B in front of just about any landmark in Duluth if you are interested.

He is pretty cute though.

The Girl with The Pierced Ears

2011-06-16T09:20:00.000-05:00

After years of fear and anxiety mixed with a deep desire for sparkly things, she finally mustered up the courage:

I have no idea what made her change her mind, but we were at the Mall of America with some friends and she decided to go for it. We couldn't talk while walking over to the store or she said she wouldn't be able to go through with it. When we got there, there was a girl in her early 20's getting her ears pierced as well. She was VERY nervous. I gave her the "don't make it seem like it hurts" look and told her that my daughter was nervous too. She was very sweet and very brave, and gave Miss Jane a hug of good luck after she had her ears done.

There were a few tears, but many smiles. She cannot wait to start buying cute earrings to match all of her outfits!!

Her classic line was, "I wish I would have done this sooner!"

Really? I decided to save the the "I told you so" for something a little more important than pierced ears.

Don't Blink

2011-05-17T10:32:00.000-05:00

How does this happen? Kids grow up SO quickly. I know you hear it all the time..."Boy, does time fly!" "Kids grow up quickly" "Just wait...they go from diapers to driving in the blink of an eye"

I can officially attest to this. It is truth. How did we go from here:

To here:

In just a matter of moments. Many moments.

L has grown up to be such a fine young man, he is kind, funny, caring, compassionate, smart, really smart, did I mention funny? Sometimes he says things that blow my socks off, he uses words that I don't know the meaning of, he makes me laugh like no one else can. I am so proud to be his mom. It kills me to think that he will be going to college in just a few short years. I am enjoying him while I can.

Happy 15!!

Friday Fav's

2011-05-11T23:43:00.000-05:00

My fav this Friday is this flash mob video. It was done at our church a couple of weeks ago and my son participated in it. He is definitely not a dancer, but he is very brave and not afraid to get up in front of others and make a fool of himself (which he didn't...he did great!)

Check out the lady at the end of the video...what a sweetie!

Check it out:

Friday Fav's

2011-04-29T11:56:00.000-05:00

Saturday night we went to this movie and it is definitely one of my new fav's:

Soul Surfer

In case you haven't heard, it is about a teenageer who is an awesome surfer. She was rated one of the top surfers in the nation and then was attacked by a shark while surfing. She lost almost all of her left arm. The story tells of her struggle to learn how to function without an arm and how she uses her faith to get her through. Oh, and did I mention that it is a TRUE STORY? It definitely is a movie the whole family can see. It will be on my list to buy when it comes out on DVD.

Digital Copy

Miss Jane received Narnia~Voyage of the Dawn Treader for Easter. It came in a package with a DVD, a Blu-Ray, and a "digital copy". Apparently this means that you can load it on to your computer and watch it, or it can be copied onto your iTunes account and you can watch on an Ipod! How cool is that! This may be old news to some people, but I was so thrilled to hear it! Hope all movies start coming out with this feature! What while they come up with next, a computer that you can take anywhere that is the size of a paperback book?

Water for Elephants...the movie

I am hoping this is going to be a fav...but I haven't seen it yet. We read the book for book club (and yes, I actually did read it!) and it was really quite interesting. I am not one who is fond of carnivals or the circus; clowns really scare me. Even happy clowns. But this book was really good, perhaps because there were no pictures. It is more about relationships and choices. I am hoping that they have limited clowns in the movie, as it is set in the 1930's and I believe that they focus more on things like the Guys with 3 Arms, and the bearded lady. Politically incorrect things that would never fly these days. If you have seen it, let me know if it is worth my time and also how many clowns there are throughout the course of the 2 hours.

Have a great weekend y'all!

And the winner is....

2011-04-22T00:14:00.000-05:00

Woo-Hoo!!!!

He did it.

Here he is before he left for school this morning:

He said he was pretty nervous. I was one of the parents that was chosen to come in and help out with the election so it was great to see it all in person.

I made sure that I charged the video camera this morning and put a fresh tape in so I could capture his speech live. Only too bad for me, the teachers had a little change in plan and while I was helping set up the polling place, I looked out and B was already mid way through his speech. So much for me and my pre-charged video camera. I was so bummed.

They had all the kids fill out Voter Reigstration Cards. They had to turn them in and place their signature on the registration roster before they received a ballot.

Here is the "President" getting ready to receive his ballot:

It was official! They went into the teacher's lounge to vote behind little privacy folders, then they received an "I Voted for Third Grade Class President" sticker. Afterward, the votes were counted:

And my little guy emerged the winner!!! He was so excited, it was priceless. And to top it off, no school tomorrow! What a great day!

Election Day

2011-04-21T01:00:00.001-05:00

Well, I know for some of you November of 2012 can't come soon enough. But that is not what I mean by Election Day. It is Election Day for the 3rd Grade Class President at B's school. AND HE IS A CANDIDATE! Last week they had the "primaries". In each classroom, all the students selected 2 people that they thought would make a good class president, and yes, they could vote for themselves. B was one of the top 6 for his class, so he made it through the first round! These six kids had to answer 5 questions about themselves, what they stood for, what they would change, etc. and had to field questions from the class and the teacher. The class then voted again....and B emerged the victor!!!

Here he is strking his presidential pose before the big debate last week:

(Notice the big bruise on his forehead? That is a story for another day)

So today he is facing the winners of the other classroom presidents for President of the whole 3rd Grade. He has to give a 2-4 minute speech...which needs a little work. Listening to him is like riding in the car with my friend Kim. Speed up, slow down, speed up, slow down. I was working with him trying to help him get into a rhythm with his speech to make it appear more natural, and let's face it, tolerable to listen to, but he is not all that great at accepting help. He likes to do things HIS way. I am sure it will be great.

Election results and pictures will be posted later. I think that perhaps I may be living in the White House someday.

Merry Christmas!

2011-04-20T09:28:00.000-05:00

This is what it looked like outside today:

Mother Nature apparently can't make up her mind about what season it is. On Monday after school, we had our annual neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt. My neighbor stuffed 300 eggs for the kids to find. It took us over an hour to hide them all! The kids had a blast.

So we go from this:

To this:

Only in Minnesota.

Treasures

2011-04-09T07:45:00.002-05:00

Apparently there is a well kept secret in Buffalo, MN. There are these cool shops that are only open the first weekend of every month. Technically, the first Thursday thru Saturday of every month. Well, it really isn't a well kept secret, because there are lots of people that know about it and go there every month. Yes, I only live minutes from Buffalo, shop at the Buffalo Target on occasion, drive my son to play hockey in Buffalo twice a week, go to the bank in Buffalo. I really should have been able to make it to these sales sometime in the LAST SEVEN YEARS. I mean, how many times have they been open since I've lived here? Approximately 100 times. Well, I finally made it down there this Friday. And I am afraid to say that I will definitely be going back.

I happen to sell my bands at a store in Buffalo, (Something Savvy), and I needed to restock my inventory there. My friend and I decided that maybe we should sneak over and check out the other shops, since I had to be in Buffalo anyway, I mean what could it hurt? Well not much but the checkbook.

The shops are cute little antique shops (not really my thing), resale shops, shops with tons of refurbished items, cool furniture stores with unique pieces and accents, you name it-you can probably find it in Buffalo.

Since I am currently redecorating Miss Jane's bedroom (hopefully this weekend) and the kid's bathroom upstairs, I was in need of some things to help out my projects. I wasn't counting on finding so many other cool things that I really didn't need. Having my friend who is an interior designer with me made it even more difficult because she would tell me exactly where things would go in my house, how things "look just like your house", how it would "really change the whole look of the room" etc, etc. I said "no" to many things, but here are a few of the purchases I did make:

For Miss Jane's new bedroom. $10. She is going from Ballerina Pink and Purple to teen Blue and Lime Green. I will let you know how it works out.

For the kids' bath. Super heavy duty, only $13. Perfect for holding whatever (or so I am told).

I am not sure where this is going to go. It really could go anywhere. But for $5, I couldn't pass it up.

This is what I did pass up, VERY reluctantly.

I was told it would be perfect for my foyer. It would make a statement. It would be a piece I could have for a very long time. All true. But also, a piece I really didn't need right now. It was only $110, but it really would be quite cool in the foyer. Oh well, maybe I can convince ~~Wade~~ myself to get it and it will still be there next month, when I am going to go on THURSDAY, before all the good stuff is gone.

Martha or Mary?

2011-04-05T15:45:00.000-05:00

In my womens' group at church, we are studying women of the bible using this great book:

This week we studied Martha. I am sure you know who Martha is, the sister of Mary and Lazarus, friend of Jesus, who was too busy working to sit and listen to Jesus. She wanted to make sure all the work got done, the visitors were fed, etc. as her sister sat at the feet of Jesus and listened. Martha was so upset that she had to do all the work while her sister did nothing. Well, it really wasn't nothing...she was taking advantage of the fact that she could be close to, learn, and listen to Jesus.

In studying her story this week, I realized that I am totally Martha. I want to make sure ALL the work is done before any fun can be had. (Which, by the way, when is ALL the work EVER done?). I want to make sure everyone knows how hard I am working. And perhaps how little they are doing. I know that I have a tendency to be uptight, so I have these little reminders around my house to help me:

and

I think I need to pay less attention to the laundry, the bills, the dirty dishes and the to-do list and more attention to what is really important. So who are you---Mary or Martha?

And then she was 12.....

2011-03-08T07:20:00.000-06:00

Happy Birthday Miss Jane!!!!

4 Down, 1 to Go

2011-02-24T13:21:00.000-06:00

Well, the flu has hit our house like a group of teachers on the capital in Wisconsin. It doesn't seem to be going away anytime soon. This is what my last 3 weeks have looked like:

Yes, 3 WEEKS!! Miss Jane came down with a stomach flu 2 weeks ago and missed 2 days of school. So I totally disinfected the entire house and thought we were in the clear. Of course by the weekend she was feeling great and convinced us to let her sleep over at a friends house. Big Mistake. Big. Huge. (Do you know what movie that is from?) Monday afternoon (Valentine's Day) she came home from school looking like death warmed over. She awoke the next morning with a temp of 102. And then she missed 2 more days of school. And I disinfected the entire house. Again.

Our kids don't get an official "Spring Break" this year, so instead they get a "Mid-Winter Break" around President's Day. Because there is so much for kids to do in February. In Minnesota. But I digress. The kids were slated to be home from Thursday the 17th through Monday the 21st. We had plans to do something on this mid-winter break, such as go to the Science Museum, a waterpark, or something, in between L's district hockey tournament games. But of course, Wednesday night after school, L didn't feel great. Suddenly on Thursday, HE was burning up. Apparently all my disinfecting was in vain. Do those disninfecting wipes not work or what? We were falling like dominoes.

We attempted to get him well enough to play in his hockey games. He scored the first goal of the game on Friday night, managed to make it through the whole game, and then proceeded to cough the ENTIRE way home from Sauk Rapids after the game. Yes, I continued to disinfect, even though it had failed me thus far, it was still psychologically like I was taking action against this invisible bug that was attempting to control my life.

Of course I awoke on Monday morning, the last day of the break for us to do something, with a temp of 102. Needless to say, there was going to be no waterpark, or Science Museum, the only place I made it to on Monday was the couch. This is day 4 of a temp and I am starting to go a little bonkers. My disinfecting fell a little to the wayside when I felt so sick, and low and behold, B woke up Wednesday morning with a temp of 103. So here we sit, with our tissues, our water bottles and blankets, and attempt to heal. W thought that maybe he should stay at a hotel since he is still healthy, but I went a little crazy with the wipes again before he got home from work, and he is still standing strong. At least for today. Tomorrow, those wipes could fail me and we could go for a TKO of the entire house. We shall see.

Friday Fav's

2011-02-11T15:19:00.000-06:00

Well, they arrived this week. My garage is full. My first fav this week is:

THIN MINTS!!!!

The girl scout organization has finally figured it out and as of this year, the girls get the cookies up front. So if you want cookies, you get them right away. No waiting a month for the order to come in. (And most importantly, no driving back to the same house twenty times to try to deliver and collect the money).

So if you need any cookies, just let us know, we have them a'plenty!!!

Friday Fav #2:

Chobani Greek Yogurt.

Love. It.

It has a lot of protein compared to regular yogurt...and it is delish! I have a hard time getting my protein, since I am not a huge fan of meat, and can't eat eggs, so this has been a great solution for me. Give it a try!!

Friday Fav #3

Chocolate Molten Lava Cake

This is going to be our Valentine's Day Dessert...it is fabulous. I use a recipe from Paula Deen...love her! Here is the recipe in case you want to make it on Monday too:

6 (1 ounce) bittersweet chocolate squares

2 (1 ounce) semi-sweet chocolate baking squares
10 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
3 large eggs
3 egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons Grand Marnier (optional)

1 Preheat oven to 425°F Grease 6 (6-ounce) custard cups (I use ramekins...maybe they are the same thing, not sure).

2 Melt chocolates and butter in the microwave or in a double boiler. Add flour and sugar to chocolate mixture. Stir in eggs until smooth. Stir in vanilla and Grand Marnier. Divide batter evenly among custard cups.

3 Bake for 14 minutes. Edges should be firm but the center will be runny. Run a knife around the edge to loosen and invert onto dessert plate.

4 Top with vanilla ice cream and raspberry sauce, or whipping crema and strawberries...YUM!

I must be hungry...all my fav's are food today!!!
Make it a great day~

Extreme Room Makeover

2011-02-08T12:47:00.000-06:00

Last week, well actually I guess it was the week before, we had an extreme ~~home~~ room makeover done at our house. I had been promising B that I would re-do his room for well, a long time. Before Christmas I told him that it would be done by his birthday party. Suddenly that date was looming ever so quickly on the calendar. I planned to get some help from my mother-in-law, and it just so happened that she was in town on the 26th for a funeral. (W's aunt passed away). So the next morning, as soon as the doors on the school bus closed, I started pulling everything out of his room. Wow...do boys have a lot of stuff.

Here are the "Before" pictures:

As you can see, his room was decorated shortly after we moved in to the house, WHEN HE WAS 2!!! Evidently his likes have changed a little since then. Gone are the days of spending hours playing with trucks and airplanes, to be replaced with legos, nerf guns, and more legos. He wanted his room to have fishing, hockey and football, a few of his favorite past times.

I told him that I was going to be busy after school, and he needed to go to the neighbors house for a while. Well, after my wonderful friend Gwen and all of her talents showed up late afternoon, we managed to get the room finished just minutes before he returned. (By the way, I told him after school that I had a surprise for him, and the whole while he was thinking it was a new nerf gun.)

Here is the finished product:

The change is a lot more dramatic in person. It truly went from a little boy room to a pre-teen/teen room. It really helped taking all the toys out and moving them to the basement. And I got it done in one day, AND before his birthday party. More on the party later....have a great day!

Winter Week

2011-02-03T09:12:00.000-06:00

It is "winter week" at the middle school this week. Good thing since it has been about 40 below all week. Brrrr....anyway, in the midst of the whirlwind of life, I had to share this image of Miss Jane on "decade day":

Don't ya just love the hair????

Friday Fav's

2011-01-21T01:00:00.001-06:00

I have so many fav's lately, I don't know where to start. Here are a couple for this Friday:

Same Kind of Different as Me
This is the book we are reading for book club, and I actually finished it long before we are getting together, thanks to Mexico. It is the true story of a homeless man's life intersecting with a wealthy couple, their faith, and how they impact each other's lives. The book is written from each man's point of view in alternating chapters. They are now making a movie of the book, which is due out sometime this year. Samuel L. Jackson will be playing Denver, the homeless man...it is sure to be a hit!

All Along by Remedy Drive
Love this song, it actually is not new, it is from 2009, but it is one that I can listen to over and over. Here are the lyrics:

It’s not everything it seems - the world and its dreams
Slipping like water through my hands tonight
All the things I thought would fill me up inside
Left me empty here - and now I know why

All along I was looking for something else
You’re something else
All along I was looking for something more
You’re so much more
I finally found what I could never see before
You’ve always been the one that I was looking for

All of my castles in the sand - washed away again
And I’m left back where I began tonight
The only thing that can ever fill me up
Has been right in front of me all the time

I won’t miss you - I won’t miss you this time
I say I want you - yeah I want you in my life

What do you think?

It's all in how you look at it

2011-01-20T11:46:00.000-06:00

It is cold. Very cold. Apparently it is going to get down to about a million below zero tonight and that does not include the windchill. I am not thrilled about it, let me tell you. Then I peeked out the frost covered windows this morning and saw this on my sidewalk:

The very cold, strong wind had blown the snow away in perfect heart formation. I guess it is all in how you look at it.

Talk, talk, talk

2011-01-17T15:21:00.001-06:00

One of the many things that I treasure about going on vacation is being able to read. In peace. For longer than 2 minutes without being interrupted. While lying on a beach chair. While sipping a cold drink that someone delivered to me. While basking in the sun. Am I spoiled or what?

Anyway, one of the books I read while on vacation last week was by Vicki Courtney, entitled, Five Conversations You Must Have with Your Daughter.

If you have a daughter, you must read this book. The chapters in the book include:

1. You are more than the sum of your parts.
2. Don’t be in such a hurry to grow up.
3. Girls gone wild are a dime a dozen—dare to be virtuous.

and there are more. It contains pertinent information on current topics which is backed up by research. She gives you practical ideas that you can implement in your home and with your daughter. For instance, once her daughter reached the pre-approved age for dating, her "date" had to come in and chat with her father before going out. They would discuss rules, curfew, and expectations. While this might be mortifying to your daughter, it will also make her think twice about who she is going to want to spend time with. Smart, very smart. I can use all the help I can get. Whether your daughter is 2 or 16, I think you will find this book very useful.

Also, coming in June of 2011, Vicki will be releasing her new book, "Five Conversations You Must Have With Your Son." I am going to have to pre-order that one.

Now get reading!!

How quickly things can change...

2011-01-13T14:29:00.000-06:00

I went from seeing this out my window yesterday:

to this today:

I went from dealing with this:

to this today:

My biggest decision the past 8 days was, Book...Magazine? Cervesa...Margarita?

W and I arrived back home from the Riviera Maya late last night to snow, cold, and some kids that looked like they grew a foot while we were gone. I awoke this morning to hampers and suitcases filled with dirty laundry and a broken washing machine. As I was in my pajamas taking apart the washing machine, I received a phone call from the school the nurse telling me that B threw up at school and I needed to come and pick him up. Why is it that the theme song from that great 70's TV show is running through my head..."Welcome Back...the dreams were your ticket out...welcome back..." Welcome Back indeed. I will post more later, but for now I need to go tend to a sick little one.

What was I thinking?

2010-12-09T22:29:00.000-06:00

You know how sometimes you get this idea and think, "That sounds cool, I think I should do that!" Well, a few weeks ago that happened to me. I decided that I would accept any offers that came my way to do shows for the Halle Band business before Christmas. That I would just do one big push and then take it easy in January. Bad choice. In the last 2 weeks I have done 6 events, some of them multi day events, and I still have 3 more to go. (Unfortunately life doesn't stop---all of this on top of bible study, volunteering, homework, housework, taxi service, etc, etc, etc) And that is not even the bad choice that I am talking about. As you may know, I spent one year of my life in Grand Forks, North Dakota. It was not my favorite year. I did not go there by choice. It is not that the people weren't nice (they were - extremely nice)--the city itself was pretty neat, very convenient, but it is the coldest place I have ever been. Cold and windy. So if you would have asked me if I would ever choose to go to Grand Forks, there would be no hesitation and the answer would be NO. Especially in the winter. Well, you guessed it, I am heading to Grand Forks this weekend, for a BIG girls hockey tournament. Halle Bands are great for hockey players. And it is 2 weeks before Christmas. The vendor fee is very reasonable. Why not, I thought. Well this is why not. I found out last night that we are not going to be set up in a "warm" area of the arena, that it is going to be, well, cold. I just heard on the news that there is a major storm brewing over MN and the Dakotas, and we may get up to 12 inches of snow. Fun to drive in (not). And then it is going to get bitterly cold and windy. What was I thinking? I guess if it is really bad the first day, I could just lock myslef in my hotel room, order room service, and watch movies all day the next day. Now that would be a good choice.

Frosty's Bad Habit

2010-11-17T09:56:00.000-06:00

Whew...life is crazy good. It is a busy season in life right now. But God has been blessing me beyond what I could have thought. I have had many opportunities open up in the next few weeks for my Halle Band business. I have been invited to do a number of Holiday boutique and open houses, which means CONSTANT SEWING. Can you say carpel tunnel? Our front room looks like a factory. But it is FUN! I have become totally addicted to fabric. A good addiction, I think. Anyway, we had SNOW this weekend! What a surprise. Minnesota is so funny! Last week my neighbors were mowing their lawns and then a few days later their lawns had snowmen. B and one of the neighbor boys built this cute little snowman on Saturday. I went out to take a picture of them and when I went to the road I realized they had built it facing backwards. Well, not really, it is facing the house--maybe that is the smart way to do it so when you look out the window you can see it...check it out:

The poor snowman got leftovers from our old snowman kit and his corncob pipe is about 6 inches about his mouth (and his scarf). It must be all those anti-smoking programs at school, perhaps it is B's attempt to defeat the snowmans terrible habit.

Halloween Madness

2010-11-04T13:13:00.000-05:00

I am finally getting caught up. Well not really. That actually is a lie. I am no where near caught up. In my make believe world that can put off the next few weeks and focus only on today I am in really good shape. So for today, I am feeling pretty good. This week I have traveled to Green Bay and back, carved pumpkins, voted, took kids trick-or-treating, went to a Halloween party, agonized over the Vikings game, helped make treats for the party, and the list goes on and on. Here are a few pictures to sum up the past week:

Not quite sure about L's tactic of going shirtless while carving the pumpkin...it was his attempt not to get his clothes dirty. What about a slimy belly? I pick my battles...this was not one worth fighting over.

Why B looks so forlorn here I am not sure, perhaps because I stopped carving to take a few pictures. Or it could be that bummer of a football game that you see in the background.

Here are a few of the treats that we made for the Halloween party at our neighbor's house.

EYEBALLS:

(brownies rolled into balls, dipped in white chocolate, decorated with M&M's and gel)

SPIDERWEBS:

(Licorice with choclate drizzled around it to secure the licorice together--tasted like chocolate covered cherries--yum)

HALLOWEEN POPS:

(oreo's dipped in chocolate and covered in sprinkles and m&m's)

Don't you just love the holder?

Here are my ~~trick or treaters~~... I mean my SWAT Team member, Taylor Swift and John Lennon:

Now I better go figure out where they have hidden their candy...looking at those Halloween treats has made me hungry for some chocolate!

Friday Fav

2010-10-30T08:10:00.000-05:00

In the flurry that is Halloween, here are my fav's this week:

This is my favorite song. I could listen to it constantly. Give it a listen, it will change your day. L showed me this on YouTube and I was hooked. It is called "Hero" by Abandon. LOVE IT!

It is so powerful, it warrants it's own favorite day.

Enjoy the weekend...hope you get lots of treats!

The Cake with No Name

2010-10-27T08:21:00.000-05:00

When my mother-in-law gave me a recipe about, oh I dunno, 17 years ago and told me it was one of W's favorites, and I 'should make it for him'--I got right on that. I am nothing if not timely. I never procrastinate. Never. Well, "Pear Pudding Cake" didn't sound like something I would ever be interested in making, or eating, for that matter, so the recipe went into the recipe box and didn't come out. For 17 years. Why I held onto it I have no idea. Perhaps in some subconscious way I knew I was going to one day want to make that unappetizing gem of a dessert. Or maybe I was worried that sometime when my mother in law was staying at our house she would say, "Hey, where is that recipe for the Pear Pudding Cake?" and I would have to look her straight in the eye and tell her that I wore it out from making it so often, that it was covered in flour and I could no longer read it so I had to get rid of it. And I didn't want to have to live with that constant fear, I have enough to worry about. So I kept it. It sat in my recipe box, untouched.

Well this weekend I was on an "older girls weekend" as my son likes to call it and my mother in law brought a dessert. She served it to me, and I had no idea what it was. All I knew was that it tasted like a little bit of autumn heaven on earth. Yes, of course it was the Pear Pudding Cake that I had avoided making for 17 years. It is nothing like its name. It is kind of like a delectable moist spice cake, but with a hint of sweetness, covered in warm delicious goodness. I could be a food writer with these great descriptions don't you think? You do not taste the fruit at all, thank goodness, because if you are going to eat dessert, why would you want to ruin it with fruit? Anyway, I wanted to share this with y'all so you could put it in your recipe box for 17 years. I think we need to come up with a new name for this marvelous conconction so people will be able to enjoy it for what it is. Let me know if you have any ideas.

The Cake With No Name

1 large can pears, drained and finely chopped
2 ¾ cups sugar
¾ cup shortening
4 eggs
2 2/3 cups sifted flour
1 7/8 tsp baking soda
¾ tsp salt
1/3 tsp allspice
¾ tsp cloves
¾ tsp cinnamon

Cream sugar and shortening. Add eggs, mix until smooth. Combine dry ingredients in separate bowl. Add to creamed mixture and blend well. Stir in pears.
Pour into greased 10X13 pan and bake at 350 for 1 hour.

Butter Sauce

7/8 cup sugar
¾ cup butter
½ cup evaporated milk
7/8 tsp vanilla
Blend all ingredients in top of double boiler. Cook five minutes. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Serve over cake.

(When I made this, I didn't have a "large" can of pears. Actually I didn't have any pears, I had to borrow one from my neighbor. And she only had a small can. So I used a small can and 2 little lunch box cups of apple sauce. Just for the record. Because God forbid I drive all the way up to the store so I could make the cake according to the recipe.)

(Also, I didn't have allspice, so I added pumpkin pie spice, I am no Paula Deen, but I am sure they are similar.)

(Oh, and I also only have a 9X13 pan and it worked just fine.)

Let me know if you try it and what you think it should be called...

We all need someone to love

2010-10-25T12:14:00.000-05:00

In his old age (he is 15 and 1/2 in people years) our dog Tanner has taken a liking to stuffed animals. I know!! One day we found him wandering around with one of B's beanie babies in his mouth. It was a white dog beanie baby. I kid you not! It was a dalmation, not a westie, but still! He must have felt some sort of heart connection with it since it was a dog. Either that or it was just the fact that it was laying on the floor and seemed like a good thing to carry around. One or the other. It looked like he was carrying around his baby. So this has become his new "friend". He keeps it in his house at night. He brings it out to his little bed during the day. And he does carry it around in his mouth quite frequently. Then today I noticed he had 2 'friends' in his bed:

I did not pose the animals like that. He really looks like he is hugging them!! I don't think I can make a correlation between Tanner and the green alien. Hopefully he doesn't know more than we do.

Q-u-i-c-k T-i-p

2010-10-19T23:01:00.000-05:00

Spelling has become part of our daily routine. L & Miss Jane no longer have spelling words...what-- they don't need to spell after 5th grade? Or do we just assume that they know how to spell everything and we just take their word for it? Anyway, I am shocked at how hard the spelling words are for 3rd grader right off the bat. No review, no nothing. Just hop right into words like "plague" and "fixture".

My little 3rd grader is pretty good about practicing his words every day after school. He just doesn't like writing them. So we have oral spelling practice, but I am not convinced that he's going to get into the Scripps Spelling Bee by just spelling the words out loud. And apparently 'his hand hurts when he has to write out all those spelling words after working hard all day at school'. Oh my, I didn't realize what a harsh life the poor little guy had. So we went with writing them on the Magna Doodle:

Why this was easier than writing on paper I have no idea, but whatever works right? Then, the hand hurting issue started popping up again. I reached into my bag of tricks and this was what I came up with:

Shaving Cream. It also cleans your countertops. B thought it was the greatest spelling practice EVER. (You can also use pudding...I would do that on waxed paper). The shaving cream did make a little bit of a mess though, check out these hands:

Hopefully W doesn't need to shave in the morning. That could be a problem.

A Basket Case

2010-10-18T14:10:00.000-05:00

No, I am not talking about myself. While I normally am a basket case, I am talking about something else here. I am in need of a little assistance. One of my many, (did I mention many?) volunteer duties is to put in 22 hours for Miss Jane's swim club. They have a meet coming up and one of the things that I am signed up to do is create a silent auction basket. I got the "Health and Fitness" basket category because I was thinking that it would be a breeze. It is not as easy as it sounds. Here is what I have so far:

Pitiful I know. I plan on adding some of the ever so popular Halle Bands to the basket, but am not sure what else I can put in to make it appealing. I need to keep the cost somewhat reasonable. So, let me know if you have any great ideas for me.

Friday Fav's

2010-10-15T12:40:00.000-05:00

It is already that time again...wow do the weeks fly by or what? Well I have a couple fav's today:

I must preface this by saying I am not a coffee drinker. I wish I were a coffee drinker. I want to be a coffee drinker. But unfortunately my body does not like coffee. Trader. So I try to sneak a cup every now and again, but once a month just is not enough for me. Here is my once this month:

Starbucks Iced Pumpkin Spice Latte

Yum!

Okay, so if you get it with nonfat milk and no whip cream, the 12 oz. size has only 170 calories. Better than a mountain dew any.day.hands.down. Try it, you will LOVE it!! Trust me. Delish.

Also, I am so happy with the styles this year, all flowery and ruffly, and girly. I love these little ruffled cardigans that you can now find just about anywhere. Like this one:

This one is actually from Amazon.com for $68, but I have seen them less expensive (and more expensive) at many other stores and online. Great for these fall days when you need a sweater, but it doesn't necessarily have to keep you super warm. What cute things have you seen this fall that are a must have? Let me know.

Enjoy your weekend!

The days of fall

2010-10-14T11:01:00.000-05:00

A week or so ago, the little one piped up from the back seat and said, "Mom, when are we going to the apple orchard?" Like this is somewhere we go every week, like Target. Well, that would be more like every day, but I digress. I knew that the upcoming weekend was going to be relatively slow at our house...key word being 'relatively'. So I told him, "How 'bout this weekend?" And so it was.

After hockey, and church, we headed out to a well kept secret in Montrose, MN, which is in western Minnesota near Delano. It is called Fall Harvest Orchard and we have been going there for about the past 5 years.

It is this incredible little farm, apple orchard, and pumpkin patch all rolled into one. When you arrive, you are greeted by one the family members and the kids are each given a little bag of oats to feed the goats. I have never been a huge fan of goats. Yes, another incident, but not at the hands of my siblings. This was the fault of one overzealous baby goat at the petting zoo when I was a teenager. But that is a story for another day. Anyway, look at how cute they are (yes, the goats are cute too!):

Perhaps the farmers aren't all that nice because we did catch a few of the residents trying to make a run for it:

They have all kinds of animals that you can pet --baby kittens, chicks, chickens, even cute little baby pigs only a few days old! Check it out:

Apparently L is not that into petting the animals because I have no pictures of him with any little creatures at all. Hopefully this isn't a reflection on me being negligent of the oldest child.

So for the first time ever, the kids were able to actually "pick" apples at the apple orchard. In years past, we have always gone when all the apples had already been harvested.

Obviously food appeals to him more than animals. Must be the age.

They also have a tractor ride that takes you through the orchard and the corn field -- the kids love it. They stop along the way and let them pick popcorn, gourds, etc. For semi-city kids that think that food comes from the grocery store, this is actually a very valuable part of the trip.

Plus, we got a head start on Halloween, talk about proactivity:

Because they always want the biggest pumpkin in the patch, our rule has always been that you have to be able to carry your own pumpkin. Which has worked well for us, until this year. All that time in the weight room for L has paid off, his pumpkin was over 20 pounds! Oh well, at least I didn't have to carry it.

A final shot from the day:

Ha-ha!

A candidate for "The Colony" I am not

2010-10-13T10:28:00.001-05:00

Have you ever watched the show The Colony? I have only seen parts of it, when my teenager was watching it on the Discovery Channel. It is about these people who are dropped off in some remote place that has supposedly been hit by some global catastrophe and they need to figure out ways to survive. Sounds fun, huh?

So anyway, it has been unseasonably warm here in Minnesota these last few weeks. The leaves are turning beautiful shades of red, orange, and yellow. The mornings are a little cool but by afternoon it feels like summer. It is fabulous!

In an attempt to save money this year, we opted to stop using our local lawn company that comes out every month or so to treat your lawn to a bunch of chemicals. Instead, we purchased the Scott’s lawn program and have been applying all of the lovely chemicals ourselves. I always just watch for my next door neighbor to apply his, then I run out there and do ours within the next day or so. So on Monday, in between baking W’s birthday cake and bringing B to football practice, I went out to give my lawn it’s final round of poison for the year. It was a beautiful afternoon, the sun was out, there was no wind and I was tooling right along minding my own business. When suddenly, I saw it. Right in front of the little fertilizer machine. It squiggled so fast I knew immediately what it was. A snake!!

To say that I am deathly afraid of snakes would be a huge understatement. I cannot stand them. If I even catch a glimpse of a snake on a TV show or commercial, I have nightmares that night. My boys could never check out books from the library on reptiles because I couldn’t bear to even have a book on snakes in my house. I believe the fear goes back to when I was just a wee little girl and one of my siblings (who will remain nameless), chose to chase me with a garden snake that they had wrapped around a stick. I was never the same again.

So the minute I saw the snake, I stopped dead in my tracks for a millisecond. Then I ran as fast as my little legs could carry me (thank goodness for this running training that I have been doing) while screaming at the TOP OF MY LUNGS. I left the fertilizer spreader exactly where it was and I was in the house like a flash of lightning. I think that the people at the dog racing track have it all wrong when they try to entice the greyhounds to run after the bunny. I think all they need to do is figure out what scares them and boy will they run fast!

Needless to say, L had a lesson in fertilizer application yesterday. There was no way in the world I was going back out in that backyard. No way.

So later, as I was helping L get the supplies put away, he told me, “Mom, you would never survive in a post-Apocalyptic world. No way.” Apparently there are snakes a plenty on the Colony, in the post-apocalyptic world. Well, I guess that is just one thing I can cross off my list then.

Friday Fav's

2010-10-01T15:41:00.000-05:00

Okay, I know this is a little weird, but one of my fav's this Friday is a radio station. I know, I know. But my eldest son has been changing to this station in the car when we have been driving, and it is pretty good. They call themselves, "the positive alternative." They play mainly Christian contemporary music and some pop as well.

Thay have 210 stations around the U.S. and you can find your local station by clicking on the link below and typing in your zip code. If you are in Minneapolis it is 102.5 or 97.7 or maybe even 92.1. Check it out:

Air One

My other fav this week is The Event.

Have you watched it yet? We have had an incredibly busy week so I thus far have only seen week one. It was pretty intense. It stars Jason Ritter, son of John Ritter, and he is pretty good (and not too hard on the eyes either).

I am going to try to watch my DVR'd (is that a word?) version of week two this weekend. Apparently people are comparing it to 24 and Lost, neither of which I have seen. So let me know if you are watching the Event or what your new shows are this season. Grey's Anatomy has been on for 2 WEEKS and I have not watched an episode yet. My DVR is going to be on fire this weekend with all the catching up I have to do. Thank goodness there isn't a Vikings game on Sunday.

Here we go again

2010-09-27T08:47:00.000-05:00

It is day 15 of school and we already have one home sick. I should have known that when I was down for the count last week, that it was inevitable that someone else in this household was going to go down with me. Some weird fall chest cold has hit this region and it really sucks the life right out of you. Thankfully in about 4-5 days, it is over. Unfortunately,while you are in it, that 4-5 days feels like a lifetime, but as most things do, this too passes.

On another note, W has been trying to get me to be his running partner for about, oh, 16 years or so. He has always been a runner, not Bruce Jenner type runner, but a runner for exercise, for keeping in shape type runner. I have run on and off throughout my life as well, but I am just not very good at it. I am not a very disciplined person, so it is hard for me to really commit to something like running. Yesterday, something changed my mind.

I had the opportunity this past weekend to set up my Halle Band booth at the "Women Run the Cities" race in Minneapolis. It is a race that is run by all women, they have a 10 mile, a 10K, and a 5K. They also have a 1 mile run (for girls I think). Anyway, I have never really been at an event that before and it was so inspiring! I was watching women of all ages, of all shapes and sizes, of all different ethnic backgrounds, lace up their running shoes and take off! There are people cheering them on, they have people encouraging them toward the end of the race to 'keep on going, you've almost made it', they have snacks, and they even had a great female band, "Red Path" performing. The atmosphere itself made me want to jump over the table at my booth and take off. Only too bad for me, I haven't really run in a few months and that would have been a really bad choice. But I would have looked good in my cute Halle Band.

So instead, last night after the kids went to bed, W and I started our program. We got this book called, "Run Right Now...What a Half Century on the Run Has Taught". It has what looks to be a great running program laid out for you. I am the type of person that wants to be able to run the 5K tomorrow, but this program stops people like me from jumping in and blowing it before they have even begun. I think it is similar to the infamous "Couch to 5K" program that everyone is doing now. You start out slow, walking and running for a total of 30 minutes, but only running 5 of the 30 minutes that first week. The amount of time spent running is gradually increased each week until at week 13 you are running 28-30 minutes. Makes sense, seems easy, but as always, I want quick results. I think if I have W hounding me to just be patient, and kicking me out of bed at 5 am to go run with him, it may actually work. And it just so happens that I have the perfect accessory for running and looking good at the same time...

Friday Fav's

2010-09-17T19:56:00.000-05:00

A few fav's today:

This is an amazing song, listen to lyrics. It makes you think about what might be going on in the lives of those around you.

Lead Me by Sanctus Real:

This is one great book:

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this book. You must read it.

Finally, this song is really cool, give it a listen:

Jason Gray...More Like Falling in Love

It's our 16th wedding anniversary today. I am off to a quiet weekend with my sweet... thanks to Grandma we have the house all to ourselves! Have a great weekend.

These are the good 'ole days

2010-09-14T21:07:00.001-05:00

I was having myself a pity party yesterday. Poor me. I do all the work around here. No one helps out. Can't you at least put the dirty glass in the dishwasher instead of in the sink? Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah.

I was extremely tired after having a booth all weekend at this great festival and I guess I thought that while I was away the fairy housecleaners were going to come in and do all of our dirty laundry, dust, and clean the bathtubs. It didn't happen.

So this morning as I attempted to do all the things that the fairies forgot to do, I turned on Joel Osteen's sermon that I had DVR'd while I was at the festival. And this is what I heard (in a nutshell):

It is easy to focus on what is wrong in life. On what we don’t have and how big our obstacles are. If we are not careful, we will lose sight of all the good things that God has done. We will take for granted our family, our friends, our health, the opportunities God has blessed us with. We get so busy and so stressed out that we do not appreciate the gift of today. Our perspective is off.

Perspective is all about how we see a situation. Business may be slow, the economy may be down and the wrong perspective is that I will never make it, it is just too much. The right perspective is God supplying all of my needs. He said He would prosper me even in a desert. When one door closes, God is going to open up another door.

Instead of looking at what’s wrong, start thanking God for what’s right. Instead of complaining about what you don’t have, start thanking God for what you do have. Instead of dwelling on how far you’ve got to go, look back and thank God for how far He’s brought you.

The truth is that someone would be glad to have your life. If we complain about where we are, we will never get to where we want to be.

If you complain you are going to remain and if you praise you are going to be raised.

Make a list of all the things you are grateful for. Put it up on your bathroom mirror and thank God for all the things the He has blessed you with.

I am healthy. I can see. I am good looking. I have a family. I have friends. Your life is going to follow your thoughts. Every day is a gift from God.

Don't think: I have to mow the lawn. You get to mow the lawn.

Think: I get to take care of my kids this week.

If you get stuck in traffic, be glad that you have a car to drive to work.

Don’t take for granted that you could get out of bed this morning all by yourself. When you opened your eyes you could see. When you told your legs to walk, you could walk. When your spouse told you they loved you, you could hear them. When your child gave you a hug, you could feel it.

One day you are going to look back and miss the very season that you are in. We are living in the good ole days. 20 years from now we are going to look back and say, remember when our kids were small, remember when….

Appreciate what you have today.

Even if it is mounds and mounds of laundry.

Firsts

2010-09-07T22:50:00.000-05:00

Well, it was officially the first day of school for my kids today. I have 3 kids at 3 different schools. B started 3rd grade:

Miss Jane began 6th grade, her 2nd year in middle school:

And my baby started high school. Yes, HIGH SCHOOL:

I do not know what happened, or where the years went, but I do realize that he is officially as tall as his mama now. Which, by the way, is not all that difficult, but a feat nonetheless:

And I am glad to see that they still like each other:

at least a little bit.

When I became a chicken

2010-08-31T08:49:00.000-05:00

I am not quite sure when or how it happened. I think it may be the fact that I am over (barely) the age of 25 and realize that I am no longer invincible. Or perhaps it is that I wonder how I would ever get my kids to all of their 86 daily events while in a wheelchair or using crutches. I am not sure what it is, but I have become a chicken. I used to be willing to try just about anything once. Well almost.

I remember the days in the summer of 1980 something when I had my Valleyfair season pass tucked neatly in the back pocket of my cut off levi short shorts and my friends and I would ride the rollercoasters and the "Enterprise" over and over and over and over again. I was not a chicken.

Last weekend we went to my brothers cabin. They happen to have a couple of jet ski's. 'What fun' I thought, and couldn't wait to ride on them, to drive them really fast across the lake. I have seen people driving really fast across the lake on jet skis, bouncing over the waves and it looked like a blast. So my kids went first, riding on the jet ski with my nephew and my brother. They came back with their hair wind blown and their smiles as big as the moon.

Then it was my turn.

I went on the back of the jet ski with my nephew, I thought I would ride once before I took off on my own. Well, those little jet skis go a lot faster than they look. And it feels even faster when you are riding on them. I looked down at the speedometer at one point and we were going 64 mph. Then we hit a wave. We went flying in the air and I felt my stomach come up to my throat. I screamed awfully loud in my nephews ear. We landed and continued on. I didn't die, I didn't fall off. I didn't get hurt. I thought to myself, "When did I become such a chicken?". I was fine as long as we were just driving, it was the waves that were the killer. I mean it was fun and all, but I just had no real desire to do it over and over again. Or drive it. By myself. I did ride on it again the next day with W, but I made him promise that he wouldn't go over any waves while we were going fast. My kids are now begging for jet ski's for up at our lake. I think we will get them as soon as Miss Jane turns 42. We will see if she is still as brave then.

Here are few more shots from the weekend:

L showing off his big guns while we are playing games.

B in total heaven. The kid would fish 24/7 if he could.

Thanks for a fun weekend guys...the kids are still talking about how great it was!

Brett (or Adrian) May Need to Look for a New Job

2010-08-25T22:49:00.000-05:00

in a few years that is. Football started on Monday. I don't know if there is anything cuter than little kids in BIG helmets trauncing around on a hot summer night running into things on purpose. It is B's first year in football and HE.LOVES.IT. He is so obsessed that he is actually reading the playbook that they gave him. He was reading off the plays to me while we were driving in the car yesterday. "Okay, Mom, on the Split Back 28 Sweep, the QB hands off to the... and the ...moves sideways and then the running back runs right through hole #3." "WHAT????????" Sounds more like rocket science than 3rd grade football plays.

I will admit that as much as I love to watch football, but when it comes to X's and O's I am totally clueless. Thank goodness for Dads. We have switched from reading Junie B. Jones and Superfudge before bed to the official 3rd Grade football playbook. If that won't put you to sleep, I don't know what will.

Snapshot

2010-08-20T20:58:00.000-05:00

Here are a few quick pic's from our week...only have time to do a few before we head off yet again to my brother's cabin for some more fun. We really are trying to squeeze in as much fun as possible before it all comes to an end (summer that is).

Hope y'all have a great weekend!

My world just got a little happier

2010-08-18T20:05:00.000-05:00

Need I say more?

Big Times

2010-08-13T08:46:00.000-05:00

We have a big week ahead. Yes another. I still am trying to catch up from our big week last week. Boy, am I going to be happy when these big weeks are over. Or maybe not.

Because before you know it, the highlight of my day will be trying to beat the players on Jeopardy while sipping some tea. And waiting for the 9:00 news to be over so I can get to bed. And wishing that they had an 8:00 version of the news so that I didn't have to stay up so late. And wondering why I haven't heard from the kids in a few days.

Maybe I am just feeling a little nostalgic because inwardly I am FREAKING OUT that my son is going to be starting high school in a few weeks. And time flies. Because it was just yesterday that he and I spent every waking moment together playing with plastic dinosaurs and reading book after book after book.

Anyway, back to the big week. There is a festival in town this weekend and we will be having a booth showcasing the Halle Bands. And hopefully selling lots. Then we are going to head up north to pick up Grandma. And head even further up north to visit...The U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame. Yes, pretty exciting I know. But for the 2, I mean, 3 hockey players that reside in this house, it is extremely exciting. We are also going to visit Duluth and spend hours upon hours skipping hundreds of rocks into Lake Superior. And we might even have a malt (or a bowl of famous chicken wild rice soup) at Grandma's Saloon. Not the Grandma that is coming with us. The Grandma that has a ~~world renowned~~ very popular restaurant in Duluth and makes great soup. And malts. And spaghetti.

I guess I better go eat breakfast, I must be hungry. Have a great weekend y'all.

Trusting

2010-08-10T16:55:00.000-05:00

We went to the pool to swim Wednesday. Originally we had planned to go to the beach but since it was cloudy and the kids wanted to jump off the diving board, we opted for the pool. On the way to the pool, B asked Miss Jane if she would teach him how to dive.

Oh, boy.

So my little swim team girl set out on a quest. At first, she showed him how she did it. He watched her very closely.

Then she had him just kneel down with one knee on the pool deck and sort of fall in the pool. Then she moved on to both knees. Eventually she had him squat and dive in. All the while she was there watching, listening to all of his concerns and fears, yet reassuring him that it was going to be okay.

She was a great teacher. He felt safe knowing that she was there in case he got scared, in case he panicked, in case he didn’t know what to do. He trusted her. It truly warmed my heart. It reminded me of God. Of how He may be asking us to do something that we aren’t sure of. Something that makes us uncomfortable. Maybe even something that we don’t want to do. I have been experiencing that feeling quite frequently lately. I have been out of my comfort zone way more than I wish to. But no matter how I feel, I need to remember that He is always there showing us, guiding us, and easing our fears. He will be there to catch us if we fall. We just need to remember to ask…and then…trust.

Welcome

2010-08-06T07:21:00.000-05:00

(Due to some computer issues...like a virus attacking my computer...this post was originally supposed to go up on Wednesday...but sometimes things are out of our control)

We welcomed a guest into the crazy world we call home on Tuesday. A relative is staying with us for the next 8 days. With much anticipation we picked her up at the airport and after gathering her luggage off the baggage carousel we headed straight to the Mall of America. I mean where else does a 13 year old from a small town in Oklahoma want to start her week in Minnesota? We ate, we shopped, we ate some more, we shopped some more and "finally" (according to B that is) we ended at Legoland. We had to save the best for last right? Or in other words, bribery. "A few more stores and we can go to Legoland." I don't normally resort to bribery but sometimes my parenting skills fail me I tell you.

(F.Y.I. Old Navy has kids jeans on sale for $10 this week and Aeropostle has cute flip flops on sale for $6.99. In case you need to do any school shopping. Or just need jeans and flip flops.)

We have a full week ahead of us. We plan on doing some swimming. And swimming. Oh, and did I mention swimming? We may try to take in a few of the local hot spots.

I will keep you posted. No pun intended.

P.S. I am doing my second craft show for Halle Bands this weekend at the Hanover Harvest Festival on Saturday if y'all are bored and need something to do. Or if you are in the need for some cute headbands. Either or.

Take me out to the ballgame

2010-08-02T10:23:00.000-05:00

Please?

My husband was fortunate enough to score some tickets for the Twins game on Friday night, but there were only enough for 3 people to go. Miss Jane already had a sleep over scheduled, so that left four of us wanting 3 tickets. I thought that rock, paper, scissors was the way to go, but then W reminded me that B couldn't stay home by himself. Then I saw this commercial on TV showing a dad taking his boys fishing and some other sappy things and they called it "team building." So I reluctantly handed over the tickets and pouted about it the rest of the week.

Apparently the BRAND NEW Target Field is an amazing place to play baseball. And watch baseball. They have fireworks that shoot out over the above pictured sign when they sing the national anthem, there is a homerun, or they win the game (all of which happened while they were there on Friday night).

It appears that they have every kind of food you could ever want. L is always begging me to take him out to restaurants from different cultures as he is convinced that he loves Chinese, Thai, and Indian cuisine more than anything. Therefore, I expected him to come home and tell me about how great the Gyro's were, or about the amazing Shrimp Pad Thai. Instead, he was ranting and raving about the Hot Dogs. Yes, you read it right. Hot Dogs. Apparently they are not just any hot dog. They are super hot dogs, very big ("half dollar size"). And very delicious. I guess it just proves that baseball and hot dogs really do go together. Like peanut butter & jelly, and peas & carrots. (Sorry about the peas and carrots...I just rewatched Forest Gump the other night).

For those of you that don't watch Twins games, one of the Twins announcers is Bert Blyleven, a former Twins pitcher. He uses some type of pen (like John Madden does on football games) to circle certain fans in the crowd. Years ago, people started making "Circle Me Bert" signs so that they would be seen on TV during the game. The kids wanted to make signs, so we went to the store and got some tagboard. My creative elder son came up with these ideas for the signs:

Only too bad for them, they didn't get circled. Or rectangled. Or triangled. But I think they did some pretty good team building.

They are quite a team.

The Snack Club

2010-07-29T07:09:00.000-05:00

Sounds like a fun club to belong to doesn't it? Well, technically, it is actually book club. We met last night at a friend's house. At one point, one of our husbands suggested we call it "snack club". So what if we like to surround ourselves with delicious and not so nutritious food and drink while we discuss the book? Women are like that. It gives us a chance to try out that new recipe we have been dying to try, or make that favorite that everyone loves. Usually. Because last night I arrived at my friends house a half hour late after dropping L off at church and scrambling my way through the store trying to find a dessert that looked and tasted great. The Triple Chocolate Bundt Cake summoned me. I considered going home first and putting it on one of my platters to claim it as my own, but I thought better of that. And good thing too because it wasn't all that delicious and I wouldn't have wanted to even pretend that I made such a concoction that calls itself a cake.

Perhaps this is why the suggestion to change our name to the snack club came about. I just spent the entire first paragraph rambling about a cake that I didn't even make and haven't even mentioned the book yet. Maybe it is because I didn't read the book. I didn't even open the book. I didn't even get the book. Or attempt to try to find it. I think that I am going to be kicked out of book club if I don't start shaping up...first I bring a store made cake that doesn't even taste good, then I don't read the book. What's next, I just call in and they put me on speaker phone?

My one redemption was that I did arrive with Halle Bands in hand, so I think that was the only thing that saved me. That and the fact that I allowed them to take a few home for themselves and their daughters. Attempting to bribe my way into staying in the book club. Sad, very sad.

The next book we are going to read is "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett. Have any of you read it? I may need to know just in case I get into a pinch and need a cliff notes version so I can fake it next time. Although I have until September 22 so I should be just fine...

Marvelous Monday

2010-07-26T21:02:00.000-05:00

I wanted to share a GREAT summer dessert with you. It is so easy, even ~~a caveman~~ an 11 year old can make it. And she did. Here it is:

Here is the recipe:

Fruit Pizza (or Vanilla Chip Fruit Tart)

Crust:
3/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Filling:
1 2/3 cups (10 oz) Hersheys Vanilla Milk Chips
1/4 cup whipping cream
1 8 oz package cream cheese

Glaze:
1/4 cup sugar
1 TB cornstarch
1/2 cup pineapple juice
1/2 tsp. lemon juice

Heat oven to 300 degrees. In small bowl, beat butter and powdered sugar together until smooth. Blend in flour. Press mixture onto bottom and up sides of a 12 inch round pizza pan. Bake 20 -25 minutes until lightly browned. Cool completely.

In microwavable bowl, mix vanilla chips and whipping cream. Microwave on high appx. 1 - 1.5 minutes until chips are melted and mixture is smooth when stirred. Beat in softened cream cheese.

Spread filling on cooled crust. Add your fruit of choice on top of filling.

In small saucepan, stir all glaze ingredients together. Cook over medium heat until thickened. Cool. Spread over entire pizza.

Enjoy!

Daytime Dates

2010-07-21T22:36:00.000-05:00

I had a date today with my 8 year old. He got to pick where we were going and what we were doing. And what could be a better pick than this:

Fun City actually is very fun. It is located in Otsego, MN (I think) and they have a looonnng mini-golf course that is not just the front nine and the back nine, but also the "haunted nine". The haunted nine holes take place in a haunted house that is right on the mini-golf course, but, I can't tell you how cool it is because it was a little too freaky for someone and we had to leave after hole #1.

They also have batting cages, laser tag, and, as I discovered Bumper Boats. Not just your normal, everyday, run of the mill bumper boats. But bumper boats that spray water. Luckily, B and I were the only ones brave enough to embark on the bumper boat adventure at 10:30 this morning so B was the only person that I had to drench me. And drench me he did. I stepped out of my bumper boat looking like I had just taken a shower with my clothes on. But it sure made for a happy boy, telling me how he "owned" me at bumper boats. But for the record, I "owned" him at mini-golf. So much for those golf lessons that I paid for earlier this summer.

He got a little wet too!

I was not compensated in any way by Fun City for commenting on their facility.

Life in the fast lane

2010-07-19T23:23:00.000-05:00

It is almost killing me that Target has school supplies on sale this week. Not just on the store shelves, but ON SALE. Because we all know that I cannot resist a good sale, especially on something that I love. But if I actually purchase said school supplies, that must mean that summer is coming to a close. Although when looking at the calendar, I see that August is in the not too distant future so it must be true. I feel like I haven't done anything yet this summer but run (and unfortunately I mean figuratively and not literally).

So in light of school supplies on sale at Target this week, I am hereby proclaiming to be more intentional for the remainder of the summer. I am not just going to let my days get filled up with errands, laundry, and work. I am going to fill up my days with games, fun, laughter, and sand. Now the only problem is going to be fitting it all in...

We had half of a good weekend at the cabin...Saturday was filled with storms. Miss Jane and B each brought a friend along this weekend because we figured that once there are 3 kids, a few more can't really make that big of a difference. We headed out to the lake to tube on Saturday and after about 30 minutes, this is what we saw:

So we decided we'd better head in. We spent the remainder of the day with eye on the sky, our ears to the radio, and our hands playing board game after board game. So if you ever need someone to help you win at Rummikub or Blokus, I'm your girl.

Sunday was thankfully much better...tubing galore. We found yet another great use for Halle Bands:

Perfect for keeping your hair out of your face while tubing!

I hope your weekend was free of storms and filled with fun!

Speechless

2010-07-07T22:52:00.000-05:00

The last few weeks have been full. Very full. Extremely full.

Here is a quick recap:

The birthday party was a surprise. It was a great party and she didn't have a clue. More later, quick peek:

L is back from his mission trip to South Dakota, also a success. He was busy painting houses and taking care of kids on the Pine Ridge Reservation.

Miss Jane went to Girl Scout Camp for a week and learned how to do all sorts of things that I couldn't begin to teach her, like how to tie knots, start a fire with flint, etc..

This past weekend I celebrated a birthday, watched fireworks, and attended my first craft show for the Halle Band business. All were fun.

I have been busy sewing, cutting, sewing, and sewing. I am off to see Joyce Meyer tomorrow, Friday and Saturday at the Xcel Energy Center...come on out, it's free!

Father's Day

2010-06-21T10:18:00.001-05:00

This is how we celebrated Father's Day:

We made W breakfast in bed
We watched the U.S. Open

And we had some fun on the lake:

I remember for years struggling to find the right present for my dad every father's day. Each year it seemed to get harder and harder and I agonized over what would be best, what he would use, what would be most thoughtful. We had a "friendly" rivalry in our family about favorite children, so there was some amount of extra pressure to pick out just the right gift. Although I knew that no matter what I ended up picking out for my dad, he would smile and truly appreciate whatever it was. Even if he never wore it, used it, or played it. He appreciate the fact that I remembered him, that I came to visit, that I acknowledged that he was a great dad.

I am sad that my dad is gone, that I didn't get to shop for him at Gander Mountain or Target for him, that I didn't get to try to 'one up' my brothers for the best gift. When I heard some friends this past week talking about the fact that they couldn't figure out what to get their dads for Father's Day, I couldn't help but feel a little bit jealous that they had a father to buy for, to visit today. I think about the Talley family today, their first Father's Day without their beloved daddy. I know that my kids are lucky to have such a great daddy...a dad that teached them how to swing a golf club, catch a baseball, drive the boat. A dad that teaches lessons without using any words. A dad that models how important it is to be respectful to others, to work hard, to be a giver. A dad that makes time for them, puts his family first, that plays practical jokes on them.

Enjoy your dad today if you are lucky enough to still have one, even if they are not all that you would like them to be. Check out this song by Bucky Covington, about a father's love, it really sums up many dads, mine included:

For the longest time, I guess I thought

He didn't give a damn

Hard to read, hard to please

Yeah, that was my old man

On the day I left for college

It was nothing new

We never had that heart-to-heart

He had too much to do

He checked the air in my tires

The belts and all the spark plug wires

Said "When the hell's the last time

"You had this oil changed"

And as I pulled out the drive

He said "Be sure and call your mom sometime"

And I didn't hear it then

But I hear it now

He was saying "I love you"

(He was saying "I love you")

The only way he knew how

120,000 miles

Six years down the road

A brand new life and a brand new wife

We'd just bought our first home

When he finally came to visit

I thought he'd be so proud

He never said he liked the place

He just got his tool belt out

And put new locks on the doors

Went back and forth to the hardware store

Said "Come and hold this flashlight"

As he crawled beneath the sink

And "These old wires ain't up to code"

And "That circuit box is gonna overload"

And I didn't hear it then

But I hear it now

He was saying "I love you"

The only way he knew how

Last Sunday, we all gathered

For his 65th birthday

And I knew he'd stiffen up

But I hugged him anyway

When it was finally time to say goodbye

I knew what was next

Just like he always does

Right before we left

And I didn't hear it then

But I hear it now

He was saying "I love you"

(He was saying "I love you")

The only way he knew how

He knew how

3 for 3

2010-06-16T11:09:00.000-05:00

I have been a bad blogger lately. Life is crazy. Good crazy, but crazy nonetheless. Summer is here alright...yesterday before 2:00 I had been to the hockey arena 4 times, the pool twice, and at various friends' houses a few times. Life with 3 kids and summer activities.

On another note, you may or may not know that Miss Jane has a total aversion to pain. I mean most people do, right? But hers is extreme. She is pretty tough if something does happen to her (like in first grade when she broke her arm at school, at 9 AM, and sat there all day with a broken arm...because she didn't want to tell her teacher her arm hurt). If she knows the pain is coming, that is a whole different story. She refuses to get her ears pierced because of the one second of potential discomfort, even though she loves everything pretty and sparkly and would SO love wearing earrings. She will leave a loose tooth in her mouth until it is literally hanging by a thread, because it may hurt. So yesterday she totally surprised me when she said this, "Mom, I pulled out a tooth!" and then about a half hour later, "Mom, the tooth that was next to that one that just came out is really loose." Five minutes later, "Mom, the other tooth came out too!" About an hour later, "MOM, I JUST PULLED OUT ANOTHER ONE!" They were like dominos I tell you. 3 teeth in one day? Wow! Totally uncharacteristic of her that is for sure. Perhaps she owes someone money, or is saving up to buy her dad a Father's Day present. Hope the tooth fairy got paid this week.

I don't know what made her do it, but the girl never ceases to surprise me.

Here is her new smile, minus the 3 teeth:

No steak for her anytime soon! Enjoy your day!

Big News

2010-06-09T00:14:00.000-05:00

I tried to post this yesterday...but every time I tried, I received a message stating that Blogger was experiencing technical difficulties or something and it just booted me out. I know the feeling. I, too, have been having some technical difficulties myself lately. Like tonight, when I tried to bring Miss Jane to swim practice at 7:45. Along with her friends that are sleeping over tonight. Only to arrive at the pool and find it full of high schoolers. With a puzzled look on her face, her coach came over and said, "I think her group met at 7:45 THIS MORNING." Technical difficulties I tell you.

So, anyway, here is the story I wanted to tell yesterday.

Friday morning at about 8:00 AM, my telephone rang. Which I thought was a little unusual since it was our first day of summer vacation. Then B announced that it was "St. Michael Middle School East" and I thought, "Oh no, L forget to turn in some major paper, or a textbook or something." Well, turns out B misread the caller ID and it was actually St. Michael Elementary. And B's teacher calling. Calling because he had attended the big KS95 dinner the night before. The one that was for all the teachers that were nominated for Teacher of the Week. Remember when B and I nominated him for this...and he was chosen?

You already know what I am going to say don't you? Well, you are right.

HE WON! Mr. D was picked as Teacher of the Year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

He won $1,000 for himself and $1,000 for his classroom! Isn't that amazing? He was thrilled. I was thrilled. I screamed and squealed and then told B. He just buried his head in the blanket he was lying on, I think he was going to cry and didn't want me to know. He knows that Mr. D just bought a new house. And that $1,000 is a lot of money. And that he had a big part of it.

This is so much more than recognizing what a great teacher Mr. D is...so much more than the money. It is about showing an eight year old what it means to really appreciate someone, to recognize that they are special, and to act on your feelings. It is about being intentional. It is about doing things for others, and realizing how good it feels. So good that you want to bury your head in your blanket.

Last Day of School

2010-06-05T14:22:00.000-05:00

We have a tradition in our neighborhood of making signs for the kids to run through on their last day of school. We tape them across the garage doors and the kids run through them like football players running onto the field. They totally love it!

Miss Jane's last day of 5th grade.....

L's last day of middle school :(

B's sign says (in case you can't read it) "Goodbye 2nd Grade Hello Summer"

Let Summer Begin!

Thank you...Thank you...Thank you

2010-06-02T09:08:00.000-05:00

Quick post today as I am on the run in 47 different directions. Tomorrow is the last day of school for my kids. Did I mention that we totally love B's second grade teacher? And that we nominated him for Teacher of the Year on KS95 (and he was selected as Teacher of the Week) (view post here)...well, this is one of the reasons why:

I received this in an email today from his teacher. His teacher is thanking US for being great parents, supporting him, supporting our kids and the learning process. Amazing. I have a feeling B is going to be a little sad tomorrow afternoon.

Florida..I wish I were there

2010-06-01T11:26:00.000-05:00

I realized that I didn't post all of our pictures from our Florida trip. Since part of this blog is somewhat of an online scrapbook for our family, I decided I better add them!

We went on a Dolphin watch our last full day of the trip:

It is basically a boat ride that lasts about an hour and a half, during which you get to "see" dolphins in their natural habitat. They also point out you some of the cool homes nearby, and some of the other wildlife present in the area. They GUARANTEE that you will see a dolphin.

This is what we ended up seeing:

It was pretty cool. Only too bad for us. The next day as we were sitting out on the pier have a quick bite before our flight, we could see the dolphins frolicking in the water right from the dock. We could have saved ourselves the $$ and the time...oh well, live and learn. I guess that we weren't guaranteed to see them just by sitting on our behinds on the pier.

I had to take a picture of this...a boat that perhaps was named for my niece:

B and W also went "deep sea" fishing while we were there. I guess I don't know if it can technically be called "deep sea" if it is from the pier. They were supposed to go out on an excursion to the middle of the ocean, but the company didn't get enough people signed up so they ended up just renting equipment and fishing from the pier. The exciting thing is that W actually caught a hammerhead shark! Of course, neither he nor B managed to take a picture of it before they threw it back, so...it could just be one of those fish "stories" that tend to be a bit exaggerated. Hmmm.

Wonka-land

2010-05-27T10:56:00.000-05:00

The kids performed in the Broadway version of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory this past weekend at our high school. After watching four shows in four days, I think I could perform it in my sleep...but it wouldn't be nearly as cute as their production! Landen played Mike Teavee, the bratty kid who watches constant television, Halle was Jamie-one of Charlie's friends, and Brooks--he was a squirrel. It was a riot watching Brooks do the robot dance...he obviously got his dancing genes from his father!

Here are a few shots from the play:

It looks like there may be a few more productions this summer...stay tuned!

Drum Roll Please....

2010-05-25T23:48:00.001-05:00

Here it is...my new biz.   Introducing Halle Bands!

As a woman who is always on the go, sometimes I need to be able to get ready in a flash. But of course, I still want to look GOOD!   Solution: Halle Bands.

They are a stretchy, cute headband made from Lycra that are super comfortable! And they.look.cute!   Also, they never slip out of place. Because of the lycra material, they fit snugly on your head without being too tight. They can be worn at full width which is about 4.5 inches wide, or folded under for an alternate look. The colorful patterns really spark up any outfit.

Technically, they are for women, but because my daughter has a little bit of a bigger head than most kids, she can wear them as well. Being on the swim team, they work great for her.  She hops out of the pool, shakes out her hair, and slips on a Halle Band. And she looks fabulous!

They are great for runners or for working out as well. They are not technically a wicking material, but they do a great job of keeping your hair out of your face while on the move. I have sold them to runners, and I have even had people wear them for gardening or mowing their lawn, simply to keep their hair from falling in their eyes! They are also great for people who ride motorcycles. They work with both short and long hair.

I have set up a website on Etsy where you can order them. You can get to it by either clicking HERE, going directly to the website at http://www.littleglimpseofstyle.etsy.com/ or by clicking on my new button on the left that says "Little Glimpse of Style". They will also soon be available at Tafoya Salon in Coon Rapids.  Now,  hurry, go tell your friends!

Here are some sample pictures:

I will have many more in the days and weeks to come. I have only added a few of these to the website so far, but they will all be coming soon!

Blizzards in May

2010-05-25T08:34:00.000-05:00

The temperature in my car yesterday read 98 degrees. So for Minnesota in May--that's hot. I never complain about the heat...I love it hot. I always think about the fact that it could be 40 degrees below zero.

So it was not a good day for our central air to go out. I have a feeling that the chances of me getting a repairman out here today are probably slim to none. I think that happy hour at DQ may be in order.

Friday Fav's on Saturday

2010-05-22T11:29:00.000-05:00

Ooops...Friday got away from me. Went out to Biaggi's last night...good food, good wine, good friends=good fun!

Here are my fav's for this ~~Friday~~ Saturday:

1) Nations Outfitters is this really cute clothing store that I just love! They have super cute ruffly tops, this is one really cute one that I love:

Check out their other stuff here.

2) The Red Tent

One of my favorite books of all time. A great book for women to read...it is loosely based on Dinah, Jacob's daughter from the book of Genesis. It is not factual, it is truly a novel yet depicts the general picture of that point of history. It is beautifully written. As you are reading it, you have to keep in mind that it is a story and I think you will really enjoy it.

Happy Saturday!

It means that summer is here....

2010-05-19T22:39:00.000-05:00

B had his first baseball game last night. It was supposed to be last Tuesday. Then last Thursday. Only too bad for him, it has been raining cats and dogs here. After many renditions of Rain, Rain, Go Away, the sun decided to shine. Thus, we watched our first little league game of the season last night. And was it ever cute! I love little boys wearing batting helmets that are way too big and watching them slide into first base. One little girl in the stands said (way too loudly) "I THOUGHT THEY WEREN'T SUPPOSED TO SLIDE INTO FIRST?" as her mom tried to hush her before the player on first base was totally mortified.

B was a natural, shagging ground balls like Derek Jeter Jr. Considering the contract Joe Mauer just signed with the Twins, I think I need to get outside after school tomorrow and have B get busy doing some heavy duty baseball training.

The one thing that I don't understand about this level of play is that every kid gets to bat EVERY INNING. And there are no outs. And there is no keeping score. AND...no matter how far you hit it, or how long it takes the outfielders to get the ball in, you must stop at first base---and the other base runners only advance one.base.at.a.time. I began a rant to W at the game about "How is that teaching them the real way to play baseball and proper base running? Etc, Etc, Etc" Not to mention the fact that it makes for a very looonngg game.

He told me I was way too competitive. I think that maybe he is not competitve enough. Or maybe he is just logical and level-headed and knows that there is nothing we can do about it so there is no use in getting all riled up. But still, aren't they going to be disappointed next year when they find out that they don't get to bat every time their team is on the bench? And that there are outs? And only three of them?

I am just sayin'.

Birthday Cake

2010-05-18T17:40:00.000-05:00

This is the most delish cake ever, if you like mint. And super easy to make as well. I made this for the 14 year old's birthday yesterday and thought I would share! The recipe that is.

Brownie Bon Bon Layer Cake:

Boxed Brownie Mix (or you can make them from scratch, but, I'm sure)
Half Gallon on Peppermint Bon Bon Ice Cream
I container Cool Whip
1 Cup crushed Mint Truffle Hershey's Kisses (or Andes Mints)

Prepare brownie mix as directed on package. Pour into a 10X15 pan and bake 20 minutes only. This makes a nice thin brownie layer. (Layer #1)

While brownies are cooling, take ice cream from freezer and allow it to soften. Do this with the Cool Whip as well. When softened, spread ice cream over cooled brownies. (Layer #2)

Place pan in freezer to refreeze.

After ice cream has refrozen, remove from freezer and spread a layer of Cool Whip on top of the ice cream. (Layer #3)

Chop up kisses or mints and sprinkle over top of cake (Layer #4).

Indulge yourself in minty goodness.

He is 14

2010-05-17T09:00:00.000-05:00

Where does the time go? I know that sounds so cliché, but I seriously cannot believe that my baby is 14 years old. Have you met my son? Let me introduce you.

My Son

He is small for his age, but he has a big heart

He has discovered his sense of humor…some days he is the only thing that makes me laugh

He used to love to hang around funny kids, and he would try to be funny, but it just didn’t happen, until now

He is a versatile kid, he gets along with everyone

He has a heart for the kids who don’t fit in, and tries to make them feel welcome

He is a hockey player

He is an actor

He is a tennis player

He loves to hunt

He is a giver

He is not afraid to share his faith

He has a way with little kids and is an excellent babysitter

He loves history

He is kind, caring, and compassionate

He loves movies

He reads more books in a month than most people read in a year

He is loyal

He is going to do great things some day

He is 14 today

Thursday's Tips - this post is all over the place

2010-05-13T12:58:00.000-05:00

How can it be Thrusday? What happened to Tuesday and Wednesday? I think they paired up and started looking for Noah's Ark, which must be around here somewhere because it feel like it has been raining for 40 days and 40 nights. But on the bright side EVERYTHING is GREEN!

I had book club last night with some friends, to discuss this book that only a few of us read. I actually read about 2/3 of it, then skimmed the rest. We all agreed it was not a great read. Just so you too don't waste your time reading it, it is called, "The Next Thing On My List." The premise of the book sounded great, it is about a girl who gets in a car accident and the passenger in her car dies, but she lives. Turns out the passenger had a type of "bucket list" that she wanted to complete by age 25. The driver decides to take the girls list and complete it herself. Sounds like a great book, but it was only okay. The writing was mediocre at best and it was very predictable. So if you see this book and are tempted to read it, skip it for another one. Tip #1.

The women in my book club are so hilarious, that my stomach hurts when I leave because we have laughed so much. I think that I need to have book club once a week with them because it has to be cutting years off of my life. Anyway, here is tip#2 for the day---one of the ladies in the group is an MD and she said that you should have your pharmacy run your prescriptions twice, once with your insurance, once without. Apparently sometimes it is cheaper to pay cash than to use your insurance (how messed up is our health care?). Also, Costco is the cheapest place to get your prescriptions filled, and you don't need a membership there to use their pharmacy. Actually, that was 2 tips.

Finally, I am in the process of planning a 75th SURPRISE birthday party for my mother-in-law. Notice the emphasis on "I". W and his brothers are really of no substantial help at all. So if you have any tips for throwing awesome surprise parties, let me know. I can use all the help I can get.

A boy's love

2010-05-10T11:40:00.000-05:00

My sweet little boy gave me these for Mother's Day:

Created by God. Given with love. Priceless. How long it took him to find not just one, but TWO heart shaped rocks, I have no idea. Bless his heart.

Friday Fav's: All Lee, All the Time

2010-05-07T09:40:00.000-05:00

Things are a changin'......

I am official now. You no longer have to type in http://www.littleglimpse.blogspot.com/ to get to my blog, you can simply go to http://www.littleglimpse.com/. You should be re-directed there if you do go to the .blogspot address within the next few days. I have a few more things up my sleeve...look for more to come in the near future.

Now for Friday Fav's:

I totally love Lee DeWyze from American Idol. I have loved him from day one and I am going to be devastated if he doesn't win. I typically don't like watching singers who have that kind of sidewinder singing style (think John Mayer, Joe Cocker) but with Lee it doesn't bother me. Anyway....my fav's are all Lee this week. I would have put all of his performances here, but that might be overkill. These are my top two, so far.

I may just like this one because back in 1997 when Shania released this song, I was just getting turned on to country music and liked it from her. Or maybe not.

Okay, and could Harry Connick have been any cuter this week? Love him too. Harry mentioned that Lee was like a new and improved version of himself. Hmmm.

One of the reasons I love Lee is his humility. He is so awesome (Simon has said he is head and shoulders above everyone else in the competition) and he doesn't even know it.

Do you agree? Who is your fav on American Idol? Or are you not even watching this season? Leave me a comment and spill it.

Bittersweet

2010-05-05T22:42:00.000-05:00

Mother's Day is Sunday. I am sure you are well aware of that since every commercial on the radio and TV is either for Jared, Kay Jewelers, or ProFlowers.

Ever since my mom passed away, Mother's Day has been bittersweet for me. It is so nice to be appreciated by my kids and my husband, but I miss my mom. I wish I would have done a better job telling how much she meant to me. How much I admired her. How much I appreciated her.

I can only pray that she knows. That she is in heaven and she can feel how much she was loved and how much she is missed. So if you are fortunate enough to still have your mom, tell her how great she is, how much she means to you, how much you love her. She may not be perfect, no one is. But she's yours, and that is really all that matters.

A Mother's Tribute