Tybee Island

We took a trip to Savannah this past weekend for Mother's Day.  Mom and Dad came down with Grandmom and Granddad and we vistited with my mom's parents and the rest of the family and it was a really nice weekend.  Well, on Monday I wated to take the kids to me and Mike's old stomping grounds, Tybee Island.  My Aunt Dale and her husband (my former neighbors on Tybee) were supposed to go with us, but she called in sick so it was just Paul, her husband.  So we made the drive down there and as we crossed the final bridge the memories started flooding back to me.  Mike and I met on Tybee, when we both lived there.  It was the happiest time of my life.  Life was so good then.  We drove around a little bit and while I know it was stupid, I couldn't help myself and I drove by Mike's old apartment.  I just wanted to badly to see his old red truck parked out front so I could burst through the front door and throw my arms around him.  There was no red truck and my chest tightened, but I tried to think of the good things we shared on Tybee.  I saw the old restaurants where we would have breakfast every Sunday morning and where we had our first date.  The boardwalk by my old apartment that we would walk down at night to stroll the beach and splash each other playfully.  This island isn't just where we met and where our romance bloomed, it is us.  We are all over that island, our memories and happy dreams.  I miss it so much, but I know everything happens for a reason.  Things would be so different if we had stayed.  We wouldn't have the same happy memories that we can go back and visit anytime, they would be tainted by life.  I'm glad I will always have Tybee to go back to and live our romance all over again any time I wish.  It is such a special place where I met a special man who makes me so happy.  I look forward to going back and celebrating our love on Tybee when Mike returns.  Something to look forward to. :)

The boardwalk by my old apartment

And the Princess has her Throne!

Well, after weeks of talking about, days fretting over it and finally hours completing it, Gracie's Fairy Princess Room is finished!!  The painter finished on Friday and on Saturday mom and I went shopping for the final details.  Mom can down helped me make things "just so", with her special flair for decorating, that I sadly didn't inherit.  But I think it turned out great, so much so in fact, that I have been spending more time in there then Gracie.  I actually snuck in while she was sleeping and just stood there admiring.  Ahhhh.  It feels nice to be done with at least one thing.  Now on to Gabe's room and one day, hopefully, mine.

Before

After

Batten down the hatches...

In another addition of my childhood observations I am going to offer a little tidbit that crossed my mind the other day.

Children...are like hurricanes.  They start out as a Category 1 (newborn - 6 months), slightly disruptive, a little noisy but the damage is minimal.  Then when they start crawling they move up to a Category 2 (6 months - 1 year), still disruptive, a bit noisier and the disaster area has spread further out but is still fairly manageable.  Then there comes walking (1 - 2 years) which is a Category 3, where we have moved beyond disruptive to destructive, you attempt to contain the disaster area with a levy (or baby gate) but many times this barrier is tested.  Minor injuries have been reported.  Now we move on to talking and climbing (2 - 4 years) the noise level has reached that of a fighter jet and all logical thought flees the mind, evacuate all valuables, the levies have failed as the path of destruction widens and may be irreparable, injuries reported are serious but non-life threatening.  Category 5 (4 - beyond), hopefully you've checked your insurance policy lately, run for dear life and take cover, injuries are life threatening, disaster area is all encompassing and demolished beyond repair.  You can call FEMA but they won't come, it's too dangerous.  This category lasts until they move out...Good luck and Godspeed.

Note: Any additional child automatically multiplies the destruction by 50%.

One of those days

Well, I promised when I started this blogging journey that there would be good days and bad days.  Today, at least the first part of the day, falls under the bad category.  Nothing bad happened, just one of those days where certain things affect you.  At church I started noticing all the families, all the couples, mothers and fathers.  Everyone had a partner and I started to miss mine so badly it physically hurt.  I have actually had a string of good days.  As I said after a while, you get in a routine and you don't notice as often how much you miss him.  But every once in a while you are reminded and suddenly are thrown right back into the moment you had to say good bye.  Sometimes it's the strangest thing that will trigger you.  The other day I saw a Penske truck and for a split second I expected Mike to hop out, like he did whenever we took a break while driving out here and I could hold his hand or just hug him.  Of course he didn't hop out and I was slapped with the reality of our situation once again.  You go on and forget about those moments eventually, but they will keep happening and I will keep dealing with them.  At least they start to space themselves out after a while. 

On a different note.  A happier note.  I have been finally feeling better.  Being sick...well, it just sucks.  But, I'm glad it seems to be coming to an end, which means I'm back in action.  Gracie's room is getting painted on Friday so I can finally finish decorating her "Fairy Princess" room and I'm excited!  Then hopefully in a couple more weeks, I will be able to have my room painted.  I am FULL of ideas and have all kinds of things picked out to spruce it up.  It will have to be one thing at a time for a while...just because I have lots of ideas doesn't mean I have the funds to implement them all at once!  Although that would be nice.  I think it will do wonders for my mood to have my "space" all prettied up.  Dad also installed my closet system this weekend, so I can finally get my clothes off the floor!  YAY!!  So things are moving along and I am slowly chipping away at my to-do list.  I can't wait until I can post some "before and after" pics for everyone!

Baked Potato Soup

Well, I made this soup for church tonight and it was the first time I'd made it.  But it got RAVE reviews so I will share the recipe with all of you!  It's a Weight Watchers recipe so it's low in fat and high in flava...holla!  I'm a dork.

Baked Potato Soup

1 bulb garlic cloves, 1/4 inch slice off the top
3 lbs potatoes, rinsed and pierced with a fork
6 slices turkey bacon
4 cups low fat reduced sodium chicken broth
1 1/2 Tbsp. fresh thyme, chopped
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
6 Tbsp. reduced fat sour cream
6 Tbsp. low-fat shredded cheddar
6 Tbsp. scallions, sliced

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Wrap garlic bulb tightly in foil; place garlic and potatoes in oven (directly on rack).

Bake until garlic is soft, about 45 minutes; remove from oven and let cool.  Continue baking potatoes until tender when pierced, about 15 minutes more; remove potatoes and let cool.

Meanwhile, cook bacon in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until browned, about 6 minutes.  Place bacon on paper towels to drain off any fat then chop.

Unwrap garlic and squeeze pulp from bulb into a large saucepan.  Peel potatoes and add to saucepan; mash with a potato masher until smooth.  Gradually stir in broth, salt, pepper and thyme until blended.  Place saucepan over medium heat and cook until hot, stirring occasionally, about 5 to 10 minutes.

Spoon into bowls and top with sour cream, cheese, bacon and scallions.  Enjoy!

6 Servings, 5 points per serving

Things My Children Have Taught Me...

I started thinking of all things children tonight.  From the good things to the not so good things.  Then I started compiling a list of things my children have taught me and before I knew there were 15 things and counting.  So I will post what I have so far and periodically add to it.  It's amazing all the things you didn't know before having kids!

1. How to open a locked door with a credit card.
2. Little noggins are hard, kids in the lap may result in a black eye.
3. A cut on a little finger bleeds a lot.
4. Only band-aids with cartoon characters on them will make the owie feel better.
5. If you hear water running anywhere, at any time, start running...and grab a towel.
6. If you don't hear anything at all, be afraid...then run a bath because silence usually equals mess.
7. Tall fawcets that swivel are a great tool to make waterfalls off the counter (see running water reference in item #5)
8. Showering, going to the bathroom and getting dressed alone are all private luxuries of the past.
9. Baby kisses are more valuable than gold.
10. That corn is not the only vegetable that doesn't break down digestively...edamame comes out intact as well.
11. Pepper spray may incapacitate a hardened criminal, but it just makes a toddler more powerful...and angry.
12. The temper tantrums of a 3 year old can break sound barriers and this phenomenon almost always happens in the grocery store.
13. Flat screen TV's tip easily and do not bounce.
14. You will discover a brand new level of rage when your child tests the flat screen TV theory.
15. God made children cute for a reason...so you will forget your new level of rage 5 minutes after it happened.  Otherwise, the human race would cease to exist past the age of 2.
16. Strawberry milk does not come out of carpets...no matter what you use to clean it.
17. My computer, blackberry, phone and every other piece of electronic equipment have settings and features I never knew existed until my toddler changed them and I could no longer use these items.
18. Tech support does not have a dialogue for children locking me out of said electronic devices.
19. Beware of naptime after a child is out of the crib...this is prime, unsupervised, sneaky, get-in-trouble time.  I have had a bottle of sand poured out on my carpet, a entire bottle of baby powder emptied into my bedroom and an impromtu haircut all during naptime.
20.  Baby powder when released from it's vessel in it's entirety, will resemble a Middle Eastern sandstorm and will cling to every surface like glue, you will sneeze white powder for a week so beware of curious glances from folks who think you "have a problem".  It will not come out of carpets for a long time and your vacuum will smell like a baby's butt for quite a while.
21.  Along the baby powder line...diaper rash cream when used as paint will be the bain of your existence for a while.  That stuff is made to stick to a baby's butt, so what do you think it will do to a wall?  That's right...beware.

Wow, I started with 15 and then they just kept coming...is this normal or do I just have really "special" kids???  :)

Treasures

There are many things that I treasure, my husband, my children, my family and friends.  But what about the things we treasured as children?  How different were those things?  A doll, teddy bear, a special jewelry box?  As we grow up our lives and priorities change, as well as the things we treasure every day, but we hold on to the special things from our childhood for a reason.  We still cherish these items but for a different reason.  Now we tenderly hold them and carefully caress them as we are taken back to the time in our childhood when we loved them.  It was so much simpler then.  For most of us our childhoods hold happy memories of riding bikes, getting dirty and for some being a princess.  Our moms were always there with a kiss for a boo boo and all the bad would go away.  How nice is it to go back to those times where chicken noodle soup and a bandaid fixed everything.  You got ice cream when you were sick and cartoons every Saturday.  I still have one treasure that brings a smile to my face.  I've had it for as long as I can remember.  It's a small bamboo box my Aunt Jane gave me and I have long forgotten where it came from.  But inside the box are dozens of small crystals.  My mom used to collect crystal figurines for me and these were pretty much just for decoration.  But whenever I opened that box and saw all those little twinkling gems I was transported to my lavish palace and those were my diamonds.  I still open that box that's tucked away in a drawer and stare inside at my diamonds.  I stick my finger in and shuffle them around like no one is looking.  My secret treasure.  And for just a moment I don't have kids screaming, bills to pay, a house to clean, dinner to cook and a husband 8,000 miles away.  I have dozens of sparkling, shining diamonds winking at me.