Abigail & I were at Target several weeks ago.  We walked back out to the parking lot after spending the gross domestic product of a small country (have I mentioned that Abigail has become something of a fashionista…shopping with her these days is a grand adventure).  I buckled her into her car seat and she started hollering….”Mama, mama…looooooooooook!!! On the ground!  There’s trash!”  Sure enough, someone had dropped several empty drink cups, a few empty pizza boxes, and what might have been a pretzel wrapper.  Abigail’s face took on a look of concern.  “Oh, Mama!  Someone threw their trash on the ground….they GLITTERED!”.

 

Do you think she spends too much time crafting with me? 

….cupcake, that is!  (I ought to get some fun google searches off that title, don’t you think?)

On Tuesday, after a fun morning at the pool with friends, Abigail & I headed downtown to try out Oh Snap! Cupcakes.  I was so excited to find out that Pensacola finally, finally has a cupcake shop!  The shop is in a little unassuming storefront.  The inside is decorated with a few tables and beautiful pictures of….dragonflies!  Abigail was immediately impressed and said, “Mama, we’ve taken those pictures!  ‘Member when we went dragonfly hunting?”  (When we were at my grandfather’s earlier this summer…she and I took my camera with my macro lens and my grandfather’s golf cart and roamed his property looking for dragonflies to photograph…I definitely need to post some of those pictures).  I was impressed, too; the pictures adorning the walls are gorgeous!  But, we weren’t there for the decor or anything to do with photography.   We were there for the cupcakes!

It smelled delicious, absolutely delicious!  We walked up to the counter and saw a beautiful array of cupcakes, both regular-sized (well, actually I think they’re a little larger than regular-sized) and mini.  I wanted to get four cupcakes (one for each of us) and take them home to have for a treat after dinner.  Abigail picked out two Dalmation cupcakes:  one for her and one for Gracie.  I picked a Lemon Blueberry for me and a Vanilla Vanilla Bean for Steve.  They boxed them up for us, I paid ($10.75 for four cupcakes, which I think is really reasonable), and we started to leave. I thought we were leaving….Abigail had different plans.  “Please, Mommy!  Can I eat mine here?  Please? Please? Please?”

This is an easy-going week for us…just hanging out before she starts preschool.  We had nowhere that we had to be and what difference did it make if she had her treat then or later?  So, we sat down at one of the tables to let her eat her Dalmation cupcake.  I’m so glad I had my camera with me!

Here’s how to eat a Dalmation Cupcake, Abigail-style

Step One:  Pull off the spots

Step Two:  Eat the spots

Repeat Steps 1 & 2 until you’re left with a spotless Dalmation

Step 4:  Remove the wrapper, split in half and start working on the frosting

 

Step 5:   Take a huge bite

 

Step 6:  Savor the moment

Step 7:  Repeat & repeat again

 

 

And that’s the way to eat a Dalmation if you’re three and love cupcakes!

Not to be outdone by the preschooler, here’s a shot of the Vanilla Vanilla Bean cupcake that Steve devoured later in much the same manner.  I scooped it out of its box while we were still in the store and took a picture of it…

 

Yum!!!!  I want to print this out larger-than-life and hang it on my kitchen wall

And the answer to the all important question:  how did they taste?  Well, delicious doesn’t even come close.  I tasted Abigail’s and it was divine.  Steve said his Vanilla Vanilla Bean was wonderful and my Lemon Blueberry…well, let’s just say I’m having dreams about it!

Now, as often happens, Abigail’s ideas end up being much better than I think they are.  I really, really wanted to take some pictures of the cupcakes, because they were so pretty and in case you haven’t noticed, I’m kind of into taking pictures .   If we had waited until we got home to take the pictures, I

wouldn’t have been able to take them.  Because, these cupcakes are all-natural and made with butter – no shortening at all.  Which means the buttercream frosting melts….quickly!  So by the time we made it home, the remaining three cupcakes were kind of melty and also, they may or may not have been marred by someone (ummm…me) running their finger through the frosting on the way home….

Earlier this summer our central air died a slow and painful death.  (No, that is NOT the funny part of Funny Friday, nor is the knowledge that it’s going to cost more than my first car to repair it – all I can say is:  this summer I’m thankful our house is small enough to be cooled by two window units )  When it first went out (before we put the window units in), it was really, really warm in Gracie’s bedroom.  And when I say warm, please realize that I am a master at understating things (okay, not really – I’m much more prone to hyperbole, but just go with me on this one…). 

Gracie was playing in her bedroom and walked out wiping her hand across her brow.

“Wow!”  she said, “It’s hotter than a CINNAMON church in here!”

Steve & I looked at each other and then back at our oldest child.  Confusion masked our faces.  And, then I saw realization wash over Steve and he said, very, very slowly….

“Do you mean:  hotter than a SINNER in church?”

Gracie nodded and said, “Yep, hotter than a cinnamon church.” and twirled back into her bedroom while Steve and I collapsed onto floor from laughing so hard(or possibly from heat stroke)…

  When I worked for the government (and I say that like I worked for the CIA or the FBI of some other top-secret organization, when in actuality, I was just a puny contract worker sitting at a desk writing goofy computer code), it took me months and months to get used to all of the abbreviations and acronyms.  Seriously…if the government can shorten something by even one letter, it will do it.  And if it confuses people in the process?  Even better.  Gracie is apparently getting ready for a career in government work.  When she was writing about her very first day of first grade, she wrote 1G.  Every time.

Yep, my baby started first grade on Monday and I swear, I’m having more trouble with this year than last year.  Tears have welled up in my eyes repeatedly over the last three days.  So far, it seems like the leap from kindergarten to first grade is a lot bigger than the leap from preschool to kindergarten. Yes, last year brought her to a new (larger) school and yes, she did go all day instead of just the few hours that she went for preschool.  But, in kindergarten, she still spent a good bit of her time simply playing.  Her kindergarten classroom was filled with toys and all kinds of things for little children to play with.  Her first grade classroom?  Well, it looks a lot like a classroom…there aren’t any toys, but lots and lots of books (and even some microscopes).  As far as classrooms go, it looks awesome, but part of me wishes it looked more like a playroom instead of an uber-cool classroom! This year, the children have desks instead of community tables…that was a bit of a shock to me.  I knew that someday she’d have a real desk at school, but I expected that to happen sometime around her sophomore year of college .  And, judging from the paperwork that we got home this week, her class work (and homework) is going to be a good bit more intense.  It’s a brave, new world out there – both for me and her. 

Here’s what she had to say about her first day:

 

If you need a translation, here it is:

(That’s Abigail and Gracie written in pseudo-cursive at the top…no she isn’t learning to write in cursive…she just thinks it’s cool…I think it’s part of her cousin hero-worship thing…they’re writing in cursive, so she wants to too). 

7:00 o’clock this morning at school it was hot!  I like 1G (first grade) it is a little bit bad.  But I think it is cool.  When you get in 1G (first grade) you will like it.  I love it so you will like it too.  But I miss my mommy.  And my daddy.  The end.

 

And, of course, the obligatory first day of school picture.

She looks thrilled, doesn’t she?  She only allowed Steve & I to walk her to the main doors of the school, not all the way into her classroom.  And we had to persuade her to let us do that.  She certainly didn’t want her picture taken by her goofy mother!  I think this may have been a little bit of “first day bravado” though because by Tuesday, she wanted me to walk her all the way to her classroom.  Which, being the wonderful self-sacrificing mother that I am, I begrudgingly did.  Yeah, right!  I was thrilled that she asked me to walk her in.  It feels like lately the minutes are flying by and I’ll take any extra time that I can get with my growing-up-faster-than-I-can-imagine-girl….that would be GUFTICIG for all you acronym lovers out there !

We’re driving back from our mini-vacation in Destin last Sunday.  We stop at a gas station to get my soda of choice, Diet Dr. Pepper.  The girls want a drink and we tell them they can have apple juice when we stop for breakfast.  Here’s the conversation from the back-seat:

Abigail says , “Hey, Sissy – how come Mama gets soda and we don’t?”

Gracie replies,  “Well, Abigail…it’s because she’s older and she has a ….“ Her six-year-old, all-knowing voice of wisdom, drops to a stage whisper, “HABIT!”

Look for me and my Diet Dr. P on Skid Row soon…

Dear Owners of The Pit Bull Who Live Two Doors Down From My Grandfather:

I just wanted to take a moment out of my day to personally thank you for letting your pit bull loose over the 4th of July weekend.  My 3-year-old baby very much enjoyed being chased by your 75+ pound growling, snarling, teeth-baring “pet”.  My nieces, my older daughter & I were thrilled by the adventure too.  Really, nothing says excitement like sitting in a golf cart and wondering how you’re going to protect the three children with you from a very angry and very large animal.  But, it was my preschooler that took away the most from the run-in.  In fact, it made such an impression on her that she’s been reliving the whole adventure EVERY NIGHT for the last four weeks.  Good times, here…good times.  There’s nothing like waking up in the middle of the night and hearing your child scream…”MAMA!!!  The bad dogs!  The bad dogs!!! They’re under my bed…they’re going to get me with their scratchy, scratchy claws and their sharp, sharp teeth!”  And when I run to her, she is shaking in fear from the vividness of her nightmare.  I tell you, dear owners of the pit bull who live two doors down from my grandfather, this has been a defining moment for us.  I’d like to express my sincerely sarcastic appreciation…

Signed,

One Very Tired Mama

I am generally not the most grounded of people.  I am what people politely call flighty when what they really mean is scatterbrained.  I go through phases where I really am focused and I think those times carry me through my less-together times.  Summer-time tends to send me into a bit of a tailspin…I think the lack of a schedule and having the girls with me all the time (which, honestly, I love…I’m somewhat dreading the start of school next week because I’m going to miss their little selves so very, very much) is just a perfect recipe for me to head into a season of chaos.  Normally, it’s not that big of a deal because chaos isn’t necessarily a bad thing in the summer.  This year, though, I don’t think I ever hit my stride last year and I ended up starting the summer even more off-kilter than I normally do.

Last year was difficult for me on a multitude of levels…Gracie starting kindergarten was hard on me (and her) and Abigail really went through a difficult phase toward the end of the school year  (you know that phase…the one where your 3-year-old thinks she’s old enough to do things like walk herself to school, drive the car, cook her own dinner in the oven..please tell me other 3-year-olds go through these phases!  ).  And let’s face it, the whole my dad getting sick and dying wasn’t exactly a picnic, either.  I think in a whole lot of ways I’m still reeling from last fall and winter and while some people adjust to a loss by buckling down and working really hard, I think I adjusted by getting done as little as humanly possibly and spending the rest of my time alternating between hugging my girls as tightly as I could and surfing the internet.  I don’t think I’ve really come to terms with my daddy’s death, but I don’t think I’ve actually been in denial either…I’m just still having trouble focusing.  I don’t know if it’s normal to still feel that way seven months later.  I just feel discombobulated (I love that word).

My hope is that the girls haven’t suffered too much from my flightiness this summer.  Steve laughs at me when I tell him that I feel that I haven’t done anything with the girls during their break…he says we’ve done more this summer than he did all the summers of his childhood combined (I know he’s at least partly humoring me, but it does make me feel better ).

I believe in my heart of hearts that things are going to get better in a couple of weeks when both girls are back in school and we get back on a schedule.  If you know me, you know I’m not really good with schedules and prefer to just kind of amble along, but I think right now, the girls and I all need a somewhat strict schedule (with plenty of free-time included) to keep us centered.  And, I know something else that I need to be doing that I haven’t done much of lately and that is….I need, on a deep, primal level to write down my thoughts, both the deep and the mundane.  I need a place to document the things that the girls & I do, if for no other reason than to have it to read later when I’m beating myself up, thinking I don’t do anything with them. I need a place to write down my memories of my father.   And that place, like it has been for more than three years, is right here.  I have been quiet here for a while, partly because I haven’t had time to write, but mostly because I just haven’t known quite what to say or where to start or if I would say the wrong things, but I need to start somewhere because this blog is important to me and I hope, one day, it will be important to my girls.

I’m sorry if this post has been somewhat of a downer, but I needed to dust off the cobwebs of my mind so I can start focusing on what is important in my life….namely…these three amazing people that I love deeply, wildly, and immensely…

If the Deepwater Horizon Oil spill disaster had happened on the Jersey shore, we might have had Bruce Springsteen, full of angst and outrage.  Had it happened on the shores of Lake Michigan, Kanye West might have come and given a repeat of his infamous performance at a certain hurricane relief concert.  If the oil was washing up on the coast of Oahu, we might have had Jack Johnson, with his zen-like surfer mellowness.  But, the Deepwater disaster occurred on the Gulf Coast, so we got Jimmy Buffett, performing a free concert to lift the hopes and hearts of the people of a beleaguered coastline.  And while I would have been over the moon to see either The Boss or Jack Johnson (and there’s hope for that…there’s a rumor Jack Johnson may be here for a concert later this summer), seeing Jimmy Buffet, live on the beach - well that, my friends, was perfection.  And, speaking for one measly Gulf Coast resident, my heart and hopes are lifted and my determination to do what I can to help restore this little piece of land to the paradise it was 87 days ago is cemented. 

 

Jimmy Buffett’s Concert for the Coast was free.  And immensely popular.  The 35,000 tickets were gone in less than 10 minutes.  Think about that….35,000 in 600 seconds.  I didn’t get a ticket and, I probably couldn’t have gone anyway….Steve has Bible Study on Thursday nights and babysitters are somewhat scarce in the summer.  I resolved myself to watching the concert on TV.  Then, two amazing things happened.  My friend Allison called to tell me she had an extra ticket.  And, then, they postponed the concert to last Sunday night because of weather.  So, I was one of the 35,000 screaming fans crammed into a 1/4 mile area, singing along to Pascagoula Run and Son of a son of a Sailor with my friends Lara, Laura, and Allison.  The weather was incredibly hot, but beautiful.  There was a warm breeze without a hint of oil and for four hours, I forgot about the skimmer boats, and the helicopter oil-spotting flyovers and just enjoyed an evening at the beach. 

That is, until Jimmy sang a modified version of his song Until The Coast is Clear (click here to see a video of it from the concert).  Then, it was hard to see through my tears.  And, I wasn’t alone….my friend beside me had tears in her eyes, and the 70-year-old man in front of us did as well.  I imagine if you’ve spent any time on this coast, it was difficult to keep tears from welling up.

 

Now, 35,000 people crammed into 1/4 mile of beach is a virtual ocean of people.  And, in   every ocean, a little flotsam has to float to the top.  Unfortunately for us, the flotsam in this sea of humanity was standing right behind us.

Do you see the girl in the bottom left of this picture?  Well, she was with the guy standing behind her right shoulder.  And let’s just say that he was thoroughly enjoying the Land Shark Lager that was flowing freely.  And let’s just say that maybe he didn’t know hold to hold his beer.  And let’s just give him the benefit of the doubt and assume that it was the beer that turned him into a total jerk.  Because calling him a jerk is being kind.  He stumbled.  He tripped.  He fell into me.  He fell into Laura.  He spilled beer on Laura.  He hit Laura in the head, not very gently.  And, when my kind sweet friend had had enough, she let him know.  And then he started cussing. Lovely, just lovely.  And he was equally as obnoxious to his girlfriend.  But, when I finally turned around and told her that she needed to get him to sit down before he hurt someone, she just glared at me and I could tell she was thinking, “you old stick-in-the-mud – who are you to tell us what to do?  What do you know?” and I could almost hear the scorn…”I’ll never be like you…never be where you are…”

And, my 41-year-old self wanted to say her 20-something self, I do know.  I do….I know what it feels like to be out with a drunk at a crowded place and feel torn between embarrassment and wanting to defend the guy you think is the love of your life.  I do know how it feels to have a perfectly good evening ruined because someone drank too much.  I know how it feels to be insulted and tormented and just plain shamed.  And, my hope for you, dear 20-something girl in the red bikini at the Buffett concert, is that at some point in your life, you find yourself out with friends that you love while your amazing husband is at home watching your beloved children so you can enjoy putting your feet in the sand, listening to one of your musical heroes with tears in your eyes as you realize the place you live is more than just a zip code – it’s a part of your soul…Yes, sweet girl, I hope that one day you’re exactly where I am.   Because where I am, is in the town that I love, surrounded by people who I love and who love me.  And that’s exactly where I plan to be until (and long after) the coast is clear…

 

It really could have ended badly…it certainly started that way…

Steve’s birthday was on Thursday (his 40th…he’s finally back in the same decade with me) and he asked for Angel Food for his cake. 

Steve is really easy-going when it comes to cooking; he pretty much enjoys anything I make (with the possible exception of the orange mini-cheesecakes that didn’t set that I made one Halloween..those ended up in the trash).  He’s not picky about much of anything…except Angel Food cake.  The first year we were dating, I asked him what type of birthday cake he wanted and he told me Angel Food.  I thought, no problem, I’d pick up a mix from the store and whip one up. He said somewhat sheepishly that he didn’t like boxed Angel Food cake mixes.  So, I found a from-scratch recipe and whipped one up.  And it was good.  I was proud of myself and that actually started my love of making cakes from scratch.  I rarely use a mix any more for my cakes (when I do, it’s for Rainbow Cupcakes and that mix is doctored up!). 

So, when Steve said he wanted Angel Food again this year, I was ready.  He said, “Why don’t you just make one from a mix?”  See how awesome my husband is?  He was willing to put up with a boxed cake, just so I wouldn’t have to work as hard.  But, I was having no part of that…I wasn’t going to skimp on his 40th birthday cake (since apparently I skimped on his party…Abigail wanted to know why he wasn’t having all his friends over to jump in a jumpy thing…oops)!  I was up for the challenge.  At least I thought I was.  I forgot two things.  1)I have no idea where the recipe I used for that cake I made years ago is and, more importantly, 2)this time I would be making the cake with “help”.  “Help” in the form of two little chefs who don’t really follow directions well.

I solved problem one by finding a new recipe on-line.  I just grabbed the first one I found when I googled Angel Food cake recipe.  It turned out to be an Alton Brown recipe.  Okay, am I the only in the entire universe that thinks Alton Brown makes recipes ridiculously complicated?  I don’t know, maybe it’s just the couple I’ve tried.  Don’t get me wrong…Alton Brown is awesome…I love watching his shows and hearing the science and the history behind cooking, but I don’t think his recipes were meant to be tried with a three-year-old and a six-year-old acting crazy while you try and cook.  Then again, instant mashed potatoes would have been difficult to make with them yesterday, so take what I say with a grain of salt.

I knew we were in trouble when we started.  The girls climbed on top of the kitchen table and started to dance,   probably because it’s been so long since the top of the kitchen table’s been empty (I’ve had my sewing machine up there for weeks…we’ve been having lots of picnics ).  They were doing some kinds of belly dance thing that involved lots of arm waving.  I finally got them down and we got to work.

 

The thing I found particularly taxing about this recipe was all of the sifting.  The flour was sifted – then the flour was sifted with some of the sugar – then the sugar was sifted into the eggs whites – then the already sifted flour mixture was sifted into the egg white-sugar mixture.  Luckily, Abigail seemed to enjoy sifting…a lot….

 

I let Gracie pour the sugar (it was supposed to be sifted, but apparently my sifter’s holes are too big, because when I went to sift it, it just drained through like it was in a sieve).  She ended up getting most of it in the bowl…okay, that’s probably being generous…but I think she got more than half in…

 

 

 

The recipe called to mix the sugar and egg whites until medium peaks were formed.  OK, really?  What the heck are medium peaks?  I have enough trouble determining the difference between hard peaks and soft peaks when I beat egg whites…medium peaks?  The girls kept asking, “Are they medium yet?”  I completely guessed but hoped that the point I stopped was somewhere at least close to medium… (oh and by the way, taking a picture of egg whites is not easy…not easy at all)

 

Finally, we got the cake in the oven.  And by some miracle of modern-day cooking the thing actually rose.  And was beautiful…really beautiful…tall and golden on the edges and top.  I started to relax a little…

 

I let it cool upside down for an hour…which frustrated the girls to no end and made me a nervous wreck…I’m always afraid it’s going to fall out of the pan and smush flatter than a pancake, but it came out fine.

 

Then, it was time to decorate the cake.  I think a more accurate description would be mauling the cake.  First, they hurled frosting at it…

I think most of the frosting made it onto and in to their mouths

and then they attacked it with sprinkles

and finally, they mashed candles into it…

After dinner, we lit the candles, sang Happy Birthday, and then cut the cake.  I held my breath, hoping that Steve would like it.  “MMMMMM” was the only thing he said.  So I took a bite, and amazingly, unbelievably, it was delicious.  Really, really, really good….light but not so light that it didn’t have any flavor.  I used almond extract and I think that made it extra-yummy.  I’ll definitely be making the recipe again…it would be awesome with some strawberries and cream or blueberries and ice cream or some kind of whipped cream fluff…I’ve got all kinds of ideas for this recipe…it’s definitely a keeper.

 

Here it is, in case you want to use it:

Angel Food Cake

(adapted slightly from Alton Brown’s recipe at FoodNetwork.com)

1 1/2 to 1 3/4 cups sugar (I think we used about 1 1/2 and it was plenty sweet enough, particularly with the frosting)

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup cake flour

12 egg whites (the closer to room temperature the better)

1/3 cup warm water

1 teaspoon almond extract

1 1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a food processor spin sugar about 2 minutes until it is superfine.  (I just used my little pulse food chopper and it worked fine…I seriously need to get a food processor)

Sift half of the sugar with the salt the cake flour, setting the remaining sugar aside (I did do this sifting)

In a large bowl, use a balloon whisk to thoroughly combine egg whites, water, orange extract, and cream of tartar. After 2 minutes, switch to a hand mixer (I used my stand mixer…again, I don’t have a hand mixer). Slowly sift the reserved sugar, beating continuously at medium speed (I didn’t sift here…I just poured…this was the sugar in a sieve situation…(random note…have you ever read Nectar in a Sieve?…awesome book…end random note)

Once you have achieved medium peaks (I have no idea what medium peaks are…I totally guessed), sift enough of the flour mixture in to dust the top of the foam (I did do this sifting). Using a spatula fold in gently. Continue until all of the flour mixture is incorporated.

Carefully spoon mixture into an ungreased tube pan. Bake for 35 minutes before checking for doneness with a wooden skewer. When inserted halfway between the inner and outer wall, the skewer should come out dry.  (I baked my exactly 35 minutes and it was perfectly done…my oven generally tends to take a little longer to bake things, so you might want to check yours at like 30 minutes)

Cool upside down on cooling rack for at least an hour before removing from pan.

 

There you go….it was a little bit of work but absolutely work it

I have several blog entries started…one really whiny one because I’ve been in a terrible mood all week and a not whiny one about my brother-in-law’s beautiful garden.

 

But, last night I went down to my beloved beach and I wanted to share a few pictures with you.  The effects of this oil spill are devastating.  Right now, it seems to me though, that’s what is devastating is not what IS on the beach but what is NOT on the beach.  Namely, people.  The primary industries in this county are tourism and the Navy (yea! Navy!).  While, in the long run, the oil may kill the precious natural resources of our beaches, it’s killing the economy a lot faster.  And, that is unfortunate because I think it is somewhat premature.

 

I will be bluntly honest with you…I am no longer swimming in the Gulf of Mexico, nor am I letting my babies swim.  I am probably being abundantly cautious…I probably expose them to more concentrated chemicals in the Capri Suns I let them drink than I would if I let them swim.  But, there’s just not enough information readily available for me to make an intelligent decision.  The local governments are deeply concerned about lost revenue and I think they could be throwing caution to the wind in order to keep the local waters open for swimming.  So, I have to make the individual decision for my family.  Okay, that’s a lie…Steve made the decision for our family…I was going back and forth about letting them swim and Steve took a firm stand that I now completely agree with.    But, just because we’re not swimming doesn’t mean we’re not going to the beach.  I have been three times this week and the girls have been twice.  We walk the shores and see the waves crash and talk about the sea turtles and watch the crabs scurry back and forth.

And here’s the thing about this town of mine…there’s a lot more to do here than swim in the Gulf, although I readily admit that swimming in the Gulf is something I enjoy immensely.  There are museums (many of them free), beautiful hotels with wonderful swimming pools, and awesome restaurants (yes, some of them have had to adjust their menus because of fishing restrictions).  And the beach is still here…you can still hold hands with the person you love and walk down the beach and watch the sun set.  I guess what I’m getting at is if you’re planning a Gulf Coast vacation, don’t trash your plans, at least not yet…

 

Because as sad as this is,

 

right now, this is even sadder…

Last week, we were in Tennessee for the first part of Cousin Camp 2010  (Part Two will be here in Pensacola at the end of July).    On Wednesday, Abigail woke up with a fever…sigh…Abigail and fevers generally aren’t fun.  She seemed to be feeling okay and her temp was only 101 (which for the high priestess of high fevers – hers have, on occasion, run above 106 – was not significantly high), so we went ahead and headed out for the day.  Our plan was to go and take Ruby & Emmie’s school pictures, head over to the “water squirty park”, meet my sister for lunch and then take a trip to the Fire Museum.  We made it through pictures and the water squirty park, but by lunch Abigail was looking really puny.  I made a quick run through Kroger and bought an ear thermometer.  Her temp was now registering over 104.  So, I told my sister that I’d take all the girls home and then later in the afternoon if Abigail didn’t seem to be doing better, I’d go ahead and take her to the urgent care center that evening.  I made sure all four of the girls were buckled up, waved goodbye to my sister as she headed back to work, and then drove off in the official Cousin Camp van.  After I got on the interstate, I looked in the rearview mirror and decided to go straight to the urgent care center, with all four girls in tow.  Abigail looked pitiful and miserable and honestly, I was more than a little bit scared.

During my blogging hiatus, Abigail had pneumonia and it was not pretty.  She had a chest x-ray that confirmed the pneumonia and was prescribed an antibiotic, but things got worse before they got better. We ended up having to rush her to the doctor after hours because when she woke up from her nap, her temp was wildly high and she was vomiting uncontrollably.  It was crazy scary, but after some mammoth doses of antibiotic shot into her chubby little toddler legs with needles the size of my index finger and an all-night vigil by her worried parents, the scary part passed.  She was still sick, just not scary sick, for about ten days afterwards.  But, I’ll never forget what she looked like when she was scary sick when she woke up from that nap.

And that’s the look I saw when I looked in my rearview mirror last Wednesday.  Or at least I thought that’s what I saw.  It may have been that I was just worried and far from home and not sure whether I should take her or not.  Maybe I was just gun-shy about the last time she was sick.  But, whatever the reason, I took her on in to the urgent care center.  The big girls were amazingly well-behaved.  I was so proud to be their aunt/mommy.  The urgent care center tested her blood for infection, her throat for strep and her urine for bacteria and everything looked good.  They smiled at me and said it was probably just a summer virus and to give her Tylenol and Motrin and lots of fluids.  And they sent us on our way.

That night Abigail threw up one time.  Her fever raged on.  I remembered that 72 hours is the golden rule for viruses.  A fever from a simple virus will generally run its course in 72 hours – anything longer than that and you’re dealing with some other type of infection. 

Abigail spent the entire next day on the couch, sleeping and reaching out for me.  The big girls were incredible, again.  The squabbling that usually accompanies Cousin Camp was strangely non-existent all day (which leads me to think that Abigail plays more than her equal part in squabble instigating ).  That afternoon my sister took the big girls to see Marmaduke…Abigail refused to go, saying she just wanted to stay home with me.  Her fever raged on.  I remembered that they hadn’t even listed to her chest at the urgent care center.  Then, I calmed myself remembering that we were still within the 72 hour window for a virus.  That night, she threw up on time.  I prayed that she was battling a stomach bug…ummm yeah, I was praying for more vomit…

The next morning, Friday, was the day Gracie, Abigail & I headed home.  Abigail seemed a bit better when we woke up.  Her fever was down a little and she asked for something to eat.  She threw up once but really seemed to perk up afterwards.  I started to breath a bit easier.  I looked in her throat and it was really red.  Craig looked, too, and without hesitation said, “That girl’s got strep”.  I decided that if she still had fever the next morning, I’d take her back to her pediatrician.  Before we headed out of town, we stopped by the stables where Ruby and Emmie are going to horseback riding camp in a few weeks.  Abigail felt good enough to give a horse a treat.  We climbed into the van and settled in for the eight hour trip home.  We stopped about three hours later to get gas and ran into Wal-Mart to pick up Father’s Day cards.  Abigail seemed to be doing well, but by the time we finished shopping, she was begging for a cart to ride in and by the time we got back to the car, she looked miserable.  Her temp was high again.  I kept hearing a voice in the back of my head telling me strep can be really dangerous.  I remembered my best friend’s daughter spent several nights in the hospital because strep caused her to have an abscess on her tonsil.  The trip started to seem unbearably long.  I was at the halfway point…too far to turn around and go back to my sister’s and still way too far from the comfort of home and Steve. 

I gave Abigail some Motrin and within half an hour, she seemed to perk up a little and said in her sweet little voice, “Mama, I’m feeling better now.”  Only, it wasn’t her sweet little voice.  It was the voice of a chipmunk…a chipmunk with fifteen walnuts stuck in her mouth.    That didn’t sound good at all…

I called our pediatrician to see how late they saw patients on Friday nights.  We wouldn’t make it back in time.  I went ahead and made her an appointment for Saturday morning, but was toying with the idea of taking her on to the urgent care center as soon as we hit Pensacola.  Just outside of Mobile, a heavy thunderstorm blew in and we pulled over for about fifteen minutes to ride it out.  I almost decided to wait and take her to the doctor on Saturday morning.  I called Steve to see what he thought and he was leaning toward going ahead and taking her in. 

So, at 7:30 p.m., we pulled into the urgent care center.  Steve met us and within twenty minutes, we were in an exam room.  The kind doctor took one look in Abigail’s mouth (after ribbing Steve about his choice in football teams…Steve had on one of his collection of Alabama shirts) and said, “This girl has strep!”  and a bad case at that.  Her tonsils were so swollen they were almost touching.  He told us to keep a close eye on her because if they got to the point of touching, we were in trouble.  And as soon as he said that, I wanted to cry.  I was so glad that we’d gone ahead and brought her in so she could start her antibiotic sooner.  I was mad at myself for not trusting my mommy instinct earlier and taking her back to the doctor in Tennessee.  I was relieved that the doctor prescribed an antibiotic that would help her.

Now, four days later, Abigail is almost fever free.  (She’s still got a very low-grade one, but I think she might break that today).  Her voice still sounds a little funny, but not as funny as it did on Friday.  And, she finally feels like playing (and fighting) with her sister again.  And, I’m tired…really, really tired.  But, I’m also really, really thankful…

Abigail just walked in the bedroom and asked if she could hibernate….I feel like I’m coming out of blogging hibernation !

I can’t believe how long I’ve been away from this blog.  It makes me sad, in a way.  This blog is a special part of me, a place I enjoy coming and writing and sharing my pictures.  But, the reasons I have been away are all good!  The girls have been wonderfully busy with school and pre-school, church, play dates, and after-school activities.  I’ve been super busy with my work and doing things with the girls and around the house.  We’re redoing the girls’ bedroom in pinks and purples and doll houses….it’s turning out really cute and I just love spending time in there with them, reading with Gracie or watching them play while I work on writing a little code on my laptop.  Steve is ridiculously busy with work.  Life is, overall, very busy but mostly very good right now. 

The glaring exception to that is, of course, the BP oil spill in the Gulf Of Mexico.  For the last six weeks, it has been a huge and menacing concern for our community.  We’re less than two miles from the Gulf, so it only makes sense.  The only thing I can compare it to is that it’s been like waiting two months for a monster hurricane to hit.  Except with a hurricane, there are things to do, preparations to make, and everyone tends to be in such a frenzy before a storm comes that there’s not really a lot of time to just sit and worry.  In this case, there’s less of a frenzy and more of a sense of dread.  Not a good situation…not at all. 

I’m hopeful that we’ll all have a little time to slow down and unwind a bit here in the next few weeks.  And, I hope that means I’ll have more time to spend with my poor, neglected blog.  At least I know when I do have time to write, I’ll have lots of fodder!    (I love that word)

Here’s a little snapshot of a few of the things we’ve been up to the last couple of months (I’m listing these out, so I’ll know what I need to go back and journal…it’s hard to keep it all straight if it’s not written down)

1. Gracie sang in the Easter Musical at church
2. Abigail sang at church (loudly, very loudly)
3. Gracie performed in her school play, Animal Action
4. Gracie started Girl Scouts
5. Abigail sang with the Cherubs' Choir at church
6. I turned 41! I got an iPhone for my birthday.  Normally, I don’t think getting a cell phone would be a blog-worthy occasion, but oh my gosh!  this phone?  LOVE IT!  It’s really helping me with my organizational skills, believe it or not…and I think this one purchase, more than just about any other, is making juggling my working mom/stay at home mom/keep up with international conference calls and round-the-corner birthday parties life a whole lot less stressful.  And, it’s cool….so cool….to be able to take video of the girls.
7. Both girls had Leprechauns visit them at school...Abigail insisted on calling the Leprechaun "Pot Of Gold"...she kept saying, "The pot of gold came to see me.  The pot of gold messed up my classroom.  The pot of gold is so naughty!"
8. We celebrated spring break with crafts, science projects, a trip to Krispy Kreme and multiple egg-dyeing sessions
9. I've cooked a slew of really good new recipes that I can't wait to share with you
10. We visited Stennis Space center in Mississippi
11. The Easter bunny brought the girls bikes for Easter...they are a hit.
12. Steve's family visited on Easter Sunday...we attended the sunrise service...it was awesome!
13. We redid the girls' bedroom
14. We had an after-school tea party...it was such a hit, we decided to host a formal one for my mother and grandmother for Mother's Day
15. Abigail had International Day at school...her class was Kenya
16. Gracie had May Day at school...her class sang The Itsy Bitsy Spider
17. We participated in the Beach Clean Up day ahead of the oil spill
18. Gracie sang with the church kids' choir
19. We went swimming multiple times at the lagoon at the beach...Newsflash...Abigail's swimming skills didn't diminish at all since last summer...big shock there!
20. Gracie had Art Gallery night at school
21. Abigail's preschool hosted their second annual Alex's Lemonade Stand to raise money for pediatric cancer
22. Gracie had her very first violin recital
23. Our backyard pool is open for the summer!
24. The grass in our backyard looks amazing...Steve is the man!
25. The girls have had playdates, playdates, and more playdates.
26. Abigail had her end-of-the-year program at school...she was a ladybug.
27. Abigail had her last day of school...I think she was very sad.
28. Gracie had her kindergarten graduation
29. My sister and her family came to visit for Memorial Day...we spent the majority of the time in the water
30. We went to have lunch at Lulu's....Abigail got a hair braid wrap...Gracie got a glitter tatoo
31. Gracie had her last day of kindergarten...she is officially a first grader.
    We've attended birthday parties at the beach, a jumping place, a water park, an amusement park, and a farm.
32. We signed up for the libraray summer reading program.  Gracie’s read five books in five days.
33. We went to story hour at the state park.
34. We saw a Chinese acrobat perform.
35. Steve started with a new company at work...so far, so good.
36. I took graduation pictures and class pictures for Abigail's preschool.
37. Our air conditioner went out...we're making do with a window unit for now.

I have so many pictures to share (I looked back and I’ve taken more than 2,000 since March 1st…yes, you read that right…I have issues, what can I say?), but I’ll just leave you with a couple for now:

My beautiful beach….Emmie – with Abigail and Ruby in the background, building a sand castle.  This was last Monday.

 

And the girls on their last days of school:

 

Abigail:

 

and Gracie with her amazing kindergarten teacher:

 

And just for fun, here’s a few scrapbook pages I’ve done over the last couple of months.  I go in cycles of scrapping a good bit and then not scrapping anything…I guess right now I’m in an upswing

 

 

 

 

 

 

When  I was a very little girl, we used to have little doughnuts for breakfast on Saturday morning.  They were tiny frozen bites of yumminess made by Morton’s and  were probably one of the seminal tastes of my childhood.  I can remember the taste of crunchy cinnamon every time I think of them.  Morton’s no longer makes them…although I found one site on the web somewhere that said you could order them from Canada or China or Taiwan or something, but I was a bit skeptical.  So, I can’t get them at the store anymore and nothing I’ve ever found comes close to tasting as good those little doughnuts.  Well, nothing before these….Apple Cider Doughnuts. 

 

I’ve made these a couple of times now and they are simply delicious.  The first time, I made regular doughnut shapes and went ahead and fried up the holes, too.  Abigail scarfed them up as fast as I could cook them.  “Mommy”, she said, “these smooshy balls are yummy!”  so, they are now known forever more as Abigail’s Smooshy Balls.  She did not like the full-size doughnuts, only the holes and the bite-sized stars that I made.  So, the next time I made them, I only made the balls and the stars.  And, I’m pretty sure I agree with her.  There’s something about the bite-sized versions that make them even yummier and in that tiny version, they taste almost exactly like the Morton mini doughnuts of my childhood, so from now on, there will be no full-sized Apple Cider doughnuts made at our house…only Abigail’s Smooshy Balls.

 

This recipe came from Our Best Bites.  This is one of my all-time favorite recipe sites…I love it…they are so creative and everything I’ve ever tried to cook from their recipes has turned out delicious.  So, be sure and check them out.

Abigail’s Smooshy Ball Recipe

1 cup apple cide

1 cup sugar

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

3/4 tsp.  pumpkin pie spice

1/4 cup butter-flavored shortening

2 eggs

1/2 cup  buttermilk

Canola or Peanut Oil

 

Spiced Sugar (to roll the Smooshy Ball)

3/4 cup white sugar

1 Tbsp. + 1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

(mix them up together)

 

In a medium saucepan over high heat, bring the apple cider to a boil. Continue to cook over high heat for about 7-10 minutes or until it's reduced to 1/4 cup. Remove from heat and allow to cool.

While the cider is cooking, combine shortening and sugar in a large bowl and mix  n high for 2-3 minutes or until it's light and fluffy.  Add eggs one at a time, beating completely after each addition. Add reduced cider and buttermilk and beat until combined.

In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and pumpkin pie spice. Add flour mixture to the liquid mixture and beat until just blended.

Roll out the dough until it's about 1/2" thick.  Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and put it in the fridge for an hour (or 20 minutes in the freezer)

When the dough has chilled, remove from the freezer/refrigerator. Using a small, round biscuit cutter (or a small star cookie cutter), cut circles out of the dough. Place the cut pieces on a lightly floured baking sheet. When all the dough has been cut out, place the pan back in the refrigerator while you prepare the oil for frying.

In a large, deep saucepan or Dutch oven, heat 1 quart of oil over medium heat.  When the oil is hot, carefully place a few pieces of dough into the hot oil .  When the bottom side turns golden brown, flip the dough over.  The smooshy balls will cook really, really quickly...like in a less than a minute...it's a fine art, really, making these smooshy balls.

Remove doughnuts from hot oil with a slotted spoon and transfer to paper towels.

Place spiced sugar mix in a large Ziploc bag and then shake a few doughnuts at a time in the mixture.

 

Do you want proof that these are lip-smacking good?  Well, here it is:

When I was a little girl, my mother planted a bed of daffodils in the front yard.  It was underneath my bedroom window and the flowers always bloomed around my birthday, in early March.  To me, they were the first sign of spring.  Even though hyacinths generally bloom earlier, they always seem like more of a late-winter flower than an early-spring one…obviously I have no idea what I’m talking about .  Anyway, daffodils are my favorite flower – doesn’t that make sense?….my name is Daphne…just extrapolate it on out…Daphne, Daffy, Daff, Daffodil…I’ve been called Daffodil many, many time in my life.  But more than the name, I love the way they smell, I love the color, and I love that they are such a fleeting flower.  Since they’re not as popular as roses or carnations or daisies or lilies, you can’t find them year-round.  They only show up for a very short time in late winter and very early spring.  Steve’s dad had a bed of them at his house, too, and they were blooming the first time I met him, which I took as a sign that I was meant to marry Steve.  Of course, I took everything at that time as a sign that I was supposed to marry him.  Steve, on the other hand, wasn’t seeing signs anywhere….it took him a while to get with the program…but that’s another story for another time. 

So, it’s been a long winter for everyone I think.  And while I realize that we here in Florida have very little to complain about weather-wise in the winter, well, I’m still complaining.  It’s been colder than normal, rainier than normal, and we’re just not built to handle it here.  I’m ready for a good, hot Florida summer (remind of this in August when I’m complaining about the heat, will ya?).  So, I’m looking for anything that will server as a harbinger of spring.  And I found one in Winn Dixie on Friday – this tiny little bouquet of daffodils.  I brought them home and put them in a vase and I smile every time I look at them.

 

But, alas, the cold is still here.  It was blustery and chilly yesterday and here’s the proof that Old Man Winter is still hanging around…

 

Although, I’m not sure that this is a true reminder of winter.  I think Gracie is going to wear this hat and scarf no matter how hot it gets.  As much as I love spring and summer, Gracie loves winter.  She asked the other day if we could move somewhere that it snowed all the time and she could ice skate everyday.  No, sweet girl, we can not, unless it’s a place where daffodils bloom all the time….

Gracie is, for the most part ruled by her emotions; Abigail, is governed by her thoughts.  Gracie will sit and reflect on a problem, telling everyone within earshot how she feels; Abigail takes charge and figures out a way (usually a completely unacceptable way) to solve whatever problem she has.  Basically, Gracie is a mini-me and Abigail is a mini-Steve.  To use a literary reference…Gracie is from Mars; Abigail is from Venus (I didn’t say it was a great literary reference just a literary reference)

One afternoon last week, I was frazzled.  Okay, I’m generally frazzled every day, but this was worse than normal.  Gracie was home with strep throat; Abigail’s nap schedule was off (meaning, she didn’t take a nap all week), and let me tell you  - sisterly love and peace and harmony weren’t happening.  I’d tried time outs;  I’d tried idle threats and senseless bribes; I’d tried everything I can think of – so I used a last resort.  No, I didn’t put both of them on the driveway with a sign offering them to the first taker.  And, no, I didn’t outfit them with boxing gloves and tell them to have at it.  Although, both of those ideas did cross my mind.  Nope, what I did was put myself in time out.  This is something that one of my friends does when she needs to take a minute to compose herself before she says something to her children she might regret.  And I was so there that afternoon.  So, I told the girls I needed a minute to myself, and went into my bedroom and locked the door.  And here’s where the difference between my girls really became apparent.

Gracie sat outside the bedroom door and cried.  “Oh Mommy!  I miss you sooooo much!  Please, please  mommy, open the door and let me in!  pleeeeeeeeeeeeease!”  It was a performance worthy of an Oscar.  She was so pitiful and sad.

Abigail said, “Mommy!  Open this door or I’m going to knock it down!”  She was quiet for a minute.  Then, she hollered, “Gracie!  Wait – I have an idea!”  I heard her run to her bedroom and then come running back.  “Look Gracie!  I brought my Legos – now we can BUILD something to knock the door down.”  After that statement, I opened the door pretty quickly, choking back my laughter…I love both of these girls, as different as they are, so very much…

Here’s our Saturday morning in pictures….

 

Sleeping Beauty

 

Neither sleeping nor beautiful….this is wide awake, mad, and sick

 

still sleeping, even after I kiss her cheek and say, “Gracie?  Are you ready to wakey wakey?”  (yes, I still say babyishly idiotic things like that to her and I will until she leaves for college and I might not stop then…she is my baby)

 

Then, I said “Gracie – don’t you want to check under your pillow?”  Her eyes flew open and a grin spread across her face.  In all honestly, this is NOT how she wakes up every morning.  Most mornings, I pull her kicking and screaming from under the covers – she is not a morning person, this girl…..

 

but this morning, she’s excited…..this morning holds the promise of……

 

MONEY!

 

and there it reason, the reason for the excitement…the reason for the money….that little gap in her sweet smile….her second lost tooth 

 

The empty pillow

And because she is her mama’s daughter, Gracie wanted to go shopping right then with her Tooth Fairy money.  By the end of the day, she’d spent it all…..on Girl Scout Cookies

 

The End!

For at least three years, Gracie has asked for a violin for Christmas.  Each time, though, she could be persuaded to put something else at the top of her wish list.  Steve & I felt she was just too young to start playing the violin.  What do we know?  I’m sure there are kids out there who start playing at 18 months, but the truth of it is, I wasn’t ready to deal with lessons and practice and everything that entails.  So, we managed to convince her that Santa would rather bring her something else.

 

Until this year.  Thanks to a special that we saw on The Duggars on TLC.  Okay, I think I’ve said this before, but I should never let my children watch television.  One Saturday in November, Gracie was talking about how she wanted a violin.  Steve & I were telling her that she might need to wait until she was in the first grade before she got an instrument.  Then, there on the TV were the Duggar kids, all 12 million of them, playing the violin.  Even the little ones…the ones that are easily years younger than Gracie.  And Gracie looked at Steve & I and said, “See?  I’m old enough to play.”  And I looked at Steve and Steve looked at me and we knew our goose was cooked.  So, this year, wrapped in beautiful red paper, Santa left Gracie a new 1/4 size violin.  And she was over the moon.

The first few weeks of this year have been a little crazy (yeah, that’s the understatement of the week), so it’s taken me a while to find a place for her to take lessons.  But, thanks to some wonderful recommendations from friends, we found Gracie’s teacher.  After two lessons, I can tell you that we both love Ms. Cori.  I think these lessons are just what Gracie needs.  Kindergarten has been a little difficult for Gracie lately – I think she’s a little overwhelmed by the chaos of twenty kids with cabin fever all trying to learn their letters and numbers.  The quiet peacefulness of violin lessons at Ms. Cori’s house is the perfect contrast to that.  I can see contentment wash over Gracie as soon as we walk in the house. 

Gracie doesn’t really want to play the violin….she wants to play the fiddle.  She loves, loves, loves fiddling.  I’m not sure if it’s from watching Celtic woman or Pa on Little House on the Prairie, but she definitely prefers fiddle music to orchestra violin.  And she’s already told Ms Cori that and Ms Cori has agreed to help her learn to fiddle.

My girl has been doing pretty good in the practice department, too.  She’s done it most days without too much prodding.  Our biggest problem is that she gets mad at me when I try and play her violin – it’s like a strange temptation to me – I’ve always wanted to play and having a real live violin so close is just too hard for me to resist!  Gracie admonishes me, telling me that I’m not to touch her violin because I might drop it.  (Maybe I’ll have to get my own one day ).  I hope that she’ll continue to be excited about playing and practicing.  At this point, I’m pretty glad that Santa came through this year and brought Gracie her very own little violin.

I’ve decided to post some of my favorite recipes on the blog…I have them saved all over my computer in files and favorites and can NEVER find them when I need them – yeah, I think you all know organization is not my strong suite…I figure if they’re all on the blog then I can find them quickly when I need them.  I’ve been wanting to take more food pictures anyway, so this will be a good incentive to do it.

My dad loved to cook and he loved all things related to cooking.  By the time I was 10, I could identify Julia Child and James Beard as easily as I could Shaun Cassidy or Parker Stevenson.  I  was as likely to read an article from Gourmet as I was from Tiger Beat.  Daddy made his own pasta and strong it across the kitchen to dry.  He grew mushrooms under the bed.  He amassed a collection of cookbooks that would make any library envious.  Cooking has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember.

Here’s the thing though…my dad wasn’t much of a baker.  My mom was definitely the baker in our family.  Christmas cookies, birthday cakes – those were her dominion.  So, while I get my love of making interesting salsas and side dishes, my love of all things cookie and cupcake – well, that comes straight from my mother.  Baking with the girls is one of my favorite activities.  Although, to be honest, it’s become a lot harder now that there are two if them in the kitchen with me .  But, baking is still an easier thing to accomplish with them than any other type of cooking, simply because cookies & brownies & cakes rarely require sharp knives or hot stovetops and there usually aren’t a ton of steps that they have to follow.

These cookies always remind me of my sister- when we were growing up they were her cookie of choice and not that we’re grown up, she’s the master at making them.  Here’s the recipe I use (it’s slightly different than the one we used growing up – it has more brown sugar and more vanilla, two things I believe you can’t have too much of in your life).  My sister also includes a cup or so of semi-sweet chocolate chips when she makes them…they are delicious that way…the combo of the semi-sweet and milk chocolate is a match made in heaven.  We didn’t have any chocolate chips in the pantry when me made these, so I didn’t use them this time.

 

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups of flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup butter-flavored shortening

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/2 cup sugar

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

12 oz. bag of M&Ms

 

Cream together the shortening and the sugars until creamy.  Add in eggs and vanilla.  Mix well.  Combine flour, salt & baking soda in a large bowl.  Add gradually to butter mixture, mixing well after each addition.  Sit in the M&Ms

Drop by heaping tablespoon onto a lightly greased cookie sheet.  Press each cookie down to flatten it.  Bake at 375 degrees for about 14 minutes or until cookies are golden brown.

I’ve seen several recipes that call for adding the after the cookies come out of the oven – where they’re pressed in for decoration rather than added to the dough.  I’m sure they taste good that way, and they probably look prettier, but then you miss out on the phenomenon known as cracked M&Ms…..

 

Enjoy with a glass of cold milk….yummy!

 

 

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Yesterday afternoon, a winter storm warning was issued for the Mississippi, Alabama and western Florida Gulf coast lasting through 6:00 p.m. today.  Twenty minutes later, the school board made the decision to cancel school on Friday.  I don't know who was happier - me or the girls!   

Gracie has been asking every day for the last several weeks when she can see snow.  She's seen the pictures of Washington and wants to know when we'll get snow like that.  I tried to tell her that Florida is known for its beaches and sunshine, not so much for snow.  But, my baby girl had faith.  Last night before she went to bed, she asked to watch the news so she could hear the forecast again and again.  She made us promise to wake her up in the middle of the night if it started to snow.

As of right now, we haven't seen any of the white stuff.  It's raining steadily and it's definitely cold out there.  I went out to take a few pictures and it feels cold enough to start snowing any minute (at least to me ).  The hourly forecast says we can expect to see some snow early this afternoon and the northern parts of our county are already seeing some huge flakes and a bit of accumulation. 

We've got several movies to watch and a few Valentine's, Olympics, Chinese New Year, Mardi Gras crafts to work on.  There is a LOT going on this weekend...it's a strange year when Fat Tuesday, Valentine's Day, and Chinese New Year all fall within two days of each other!    It's enough to drive a crafting mama a little crazy!






Tonight was supposed Parents' Night Out at our church and Steve & I had a romantic dinner at home planned. 

I was going to make Pecan Crusted Snapper with a crabmeat relish and a really yummy-looking chocolate dessert.  But, I think we're going to be ordering pizza and watching the opening ceremonies of the Olympics.   I'm fairly certain that Parents' Night Out is going to be canceled.  And even if it isn't, the girls - at least Gracie - couldn't go anyway.  Because, on the most exciting day of the winter for her, Gracie woke up with a 102 degree temp.  My poor little girl!  She was so excited about the snow, but right now, she's asleep on the couch, her cheeks flushed with fever.  I hope with a dose or two of Tylenol, she'll feel good enough to go out and play in snow, at least for a few minutes.

Stay warm everyone and if we see any snow, I'll be back later with pictures !

Yesterday morning, I was not in a good mood.  The turbine engine fans blowing in the kitchen and the girls' bedroom were really starting to get to me (thankfully, as of this afternoon, they are gone),  and living in two rooms of our house was becoming claustrophic.  Our house feels small when we can use all 1025 square feet of it - when we're reduced to living in 500 square feet, it's a bit smothering.  It didn't seem to bother Abigail too much, but Gracie, well Gracie has been a bitter pill all week.  The practical, loving side of me says, "Oh my poor baby..she hasn't had anywhere to do her homework and we can't find any of her clothes and she's just totally out of sorts."  The head-spinning part of me says, "WHY CAN'T SHE JUST GET READY FOR SCHOOL?  WHY CAN'T SHE JUST WRITE THE ONE SENTENCE (ONE, PEOPLE, ONE - THREE WORDS JUST THREE WORDS) TO FINISH HER HOMEWORK?  WHY DOES SHE HAVE TO WHINE AND COMPLAIN ALL THE TIME?"  Yesterday, head-spinning part of my personality was definitely winning out.  I was irritable and whiny and complaining (see where Gracie gets it?)


But, somehow, against the odds, I got Gracie to school on time.  I dropped her off in car line and pulled away from the curb to head out of the parking lot.  Can I tell you something about the driving in car line?  Well, sometimes it resembles a demolition derby, a demolition derby held in the middle of a blizzard hurricane (and yeah, I know you think that sounds like it can't happen, but that's what The Perfect Storm was...course they didn't call it a blizzard hurricane because weather forecasters are a lot cooler and smarter than me and have fancy names for things).  The morning car line is far worse than the afternoon car line.  There are a couple of reasons for this:  1)There are multiple drop-off spots in the line in the morning.  So, you've got people dropping off kids whose classes are on one wing of the school early in the line and people whose kids are in the other wing dropping off farther down the line and then everyone tries to merge at the far end of the line and as anyone who's ever driven in Atlanta where I-85, I-65, and I-how many stinking interstates can you merge at one spot knows that merging is never seamless and 2)People are in a hurry in the mornings.  Now, I don't know if they are in a hurry because they want to make the most of their time away from their kids (I've so been there...not judging at all) or if they're on their way to work or if, like me, they NEEEEEEEEEED to get to the closest Circle K and get their hands on a cold Diet Dr. Pepper so they don't completely lose their cool.  Whatever the reason, all the drivers seem a little more curt in the mornings.

Yesterday, as I was driving down the car line after I had dropped Gracie off, a guy in a pickup truck decided he was in a really big hurry and was going to merge, regardless of the fact that I was in the spot he was trying to occupy.  There wasn't anyone behind me yet, but apparently the two seconds that he gaind by cutting me off and causing me to slam on my brakes were worth it.  I grumbled under my breath, thinking "how rude!" 

The truck was plastered with all kinds of signs advertising his business.  There was a phone number and even a website in huge white decals.  As I followed him out of the parking lot on to the main road, I thought to myself, "I will NEVER, EVER use that company!"  I was thinking that people should really tell their employees that if they're going to drive around with all that advertising on their vehicle, they should be on their best behavior when they're in their vehicle so people don't form bad opionions about their company based on their driving.  Now, I know it's petty...the business advertised didn't have anything to do with driving or even automobiles, but why would I want to go to a business where the employees are rude.   When you're driving around with ads on your car, you and your car become representatives of the company being advertised - simple as that.  As I set behind him at the stop light, I was feeling really self-righteous about this....yeah, mister, you may have gotten your space in car line, but you've lost me as a customer for life.

And then, as I was sitting at that light waiting for it to turn green,  a soft voice whispered inside my head,

"You know, Daphne, you should heed your own advice....particularly when you're wearing your church t-shirt or wearing that beautiful silver cross...you should always remember who you represent..."