Monday, March 9, 2009

My girls



My daughters mean the world to me. I have some of the loveliest little girls you will ever lay your eyes on. They are swet as sugar too!

I am not just bragging but my little girls are very, very well behaved. They mind exceptionally well and they are polite. Now they have their moments like all children but for the most part they are little angels.

They love to help out around the house and I make it a point to have them help in the kitchen. They love to cook. Cleaning up is a challenge but I have found that they reflect my attitude. If I make it fun and smile then they will smile while they are doing it and have a grand time!



My babies are just darling. They really aren't babies anymore at 5 and 10 going on 6 and 11 but they will ALWAYS be my babies. I love to see them learn and see something for the first time. If you give your children a chance they will surprise you at how willing they are to learn new things.

Both of my girls are very good students. The oldest is an award winning student and I am certain that the youngest will follow in her shoes. They have a thrill for learning that amazes me. When I was little I don't have the wonderful memories of my parents sitting down with me everynight and helping me, watching me, checking my work and just being excited about the new things I am learning. When my children get a new pace (workbook) at school they are so excited to share it with me! The first thing I hear when I walk in the door is "Mom I have a new pace come and look at it with me!".

Make it exciting for them! Show them you are excited too!




Their daddy is awesome too. Right now as I type this I have the dining room window open and I hear the three of them out back playing HORSE with the basketball. They are learning to take turns and play but most of all they are learning that daddy loves them very very much!

I don't remember my parents playing outside with me like that. I am so glad that we spend time just being with our girls. I know that they will look back on their childhood and remember happy times.

Like this past weekend. We went to a benefit dinner which didn't work out well at all so we left very shortly after arriving. So we took the girls out to Beef OBrady's with one of the oldest's friends from church. To make it extra special we went to see The Jonas Brothers in concert at the movies....yes even daddy went! That is a lotta lovin when a grown man will sit through a Jonas Brothers Concert for his baby girls and listen to them say "OH I love Joe Jonas!" "Isn't he just dreamy dad?" Hee Hee

But after the concert movie we both got a big ole hug and a "that was the best movie ever! thanks mom and dad!" You're welcome babies....you're welcome!

Recently a person I know was arrested for DUI and had children in the car. I simply don't understand what is happening to mothers now a days! I honestly just can't fathom not wanting to spend time with your children, not wanting to be with them every moment you can. I have a cousin who spends zero time with her children...well except to use them as pawns to get money, etc. If you know me then you know that when I am not at work I have my babies beside me. Every once in a while I will go out on a date with the girls or with my husband but it is very rare. I enjoy just being with my family. I love them so very much.

Being a mom is awesome. It is the biggest high you will ever get. Mom's who are searching for something else in a bottle or a smoke or a needle....boy they are missing out. The best high is right there looking up at you with those big brown eyes and smiling with an I love you that lights up their entire face. You show them love and they will show you love right back. You show them happiness and they will show you happiness right back. Show them a smile and they will smile right back.

Mom's wake up! Love those husbands and love those babies.

It is the best thing in the world!

Saturday, March 7, 2009

Ah...today is going to be a wonderful day here in KY! We are finally going to see some springtime!!! It is going to hit nearly 80 degrees today.

I have so many things going on today. I just finished eating a yummy breakfast with my family of eggs, bacon and pancakes. I will clean up this mess and then do a fast quick-clean of the house. The kind of clean that tricks people into thinking you have just finished cleaning your house.

After that I have to go into the rec room of the basement (which has not been put back together since the most recent flood- it was cleaned just not put back together) and get the photography studio set up and get the lighting just right because tomorrow I have a photo shoot here.

After I get all of that done I have to order volleyball pix for a photo shoot I did a few weeks ago and organize some paperwork.

Oh and somewhere up between those things I mentioned I have to go get my oldest who stayed with a friend last night. At least then I will get to go outside and enjoy a moment or two of the sunshine!

At 6 we have to go to a benefit dinner and auction which will take up most of our evening.

Ah so it may be a nice day outside but as usual, I will be too busy to enjoy it!

.....I think I will go open all the windows now!



Sunday, March 1, 2009

Recipe Misers

Come to my house and I will treat you to coconut cream pie, the best meatloaf this side of forever and baked beans that will make you jump up and smack your momma. Those are just a few of the foods that I consider my "signature dishes". I have more as most ladies and all mommas do but these are the ones at the top of my head right now.
For example on Derby day at the Mattingly's you will get a big ol slice of my version of the ever famous Derby Pie but mine is called First Saturday in May Pie (like you can't figure that one out). Also on Derby you can join me in my authentic mint julep. YUMMY!
Mother's Day is the day for deviled eggs with my own little "twist" on them.
Christmas will get you a big ole double stacked angel kiss cookie. Once you eat one of these delicious, calorie packed little goodies you will love me so much you will want to marry me!
Thanksgiving finds me making my yummy extra juicy turkey and my families favorite broccoli casserole.
Okay now that I am officially starving let me get to the point....when you taste any of these goodies and simply HAVE to have that recipe. Well all you gotta do is ASK! After all my recipes are nothing short of someone else's recipe that I have tinkered with here and there to make it my own. I am happy to share my recipe with you and I find it a sweet compliment that you would even ask. Why would I want to hourde all of that goodness just for my kitchen. Why should my hands be the only ones to prepare it? Wouldn't more people get their bellies blessed if I were to share it with my friend, neighbor, or even aquaintance?
Oh but there are those out there who don't feel this way. I like to call them recipe misers. I visited my friend Ruth Ann's blog and that is what possessed me to post on this today. It has been on my mind lately anyway what with the church cookbook in the works and recipes fresh on my mind.
Recently my pastor's wife asked an aunt of mine for her apple pie recipe. Well she was told no, that she didn't share her recipes. Ha! I find that so crazy! I don't care if it is great, great, great grandmother's recipe that she scribed while riding the boat over the the new world from Italy....if it is in my personal recipe collection....it is yours. I mean for Pete's sake....who cares! What you think that by giving it out you are divulging some deep dark secret from your family tree? Or perhaps by giving it out you have disgraced the ancestor that handed it done? PUHLEEZE!!!! Come on now what it really means is by giving out that precious recipe of yours....that you wouldn't be the only one that would be able to make it! OH NO....I SAID IT didn't I ....hit the nail on the head! Your glory would be gone!!!
Oh dear little recipe miser..... don't you realize that your glory is nothing? You are only allowed to make that recipe and it turn out so wonderfully and taste so absolutely yummy but by the grace of God. It is HIS glory....not yours.
But it is my great grandmother's recipe! But I slaved over a hot stove in the kitchen getting this recipe right! But it has been passed down from me through many generations! But it has never been put out to anyone outside of my family!
But But But.....oh come on shellfish! What glory do you really get by being so darn selfish? It is just a recipe. A chemical alteration of ingredients. A scientific formula. And not yours really anyway.
So that is my soap box today. If you have those recipes that only your eyes can see...why?
Wouldn't it glorify more people if you allowed more ladies to share it with their family and friends in their kitchen. I mean for heaven's sake if you simply must you can stick your name in front of the title and name it Aunt "name removed to protect the innocent" 's Apple Pie
:-) Have a good day friends!