Ok, maybe my Mom wouldn't be proud of me!

Now that I think about how much my Mom loved cooking, maybe she might not be so proud of me most of the time. First of all, I cooked a whole lot when my kids were home but it seems like I struggle with it now that it is just Jeff and I to cook for. I have talked to other Empty Nesters and I realized I am not the only one.
When my Mom passed away, we all wondered who were we going to call to get this or that recipe? Who would we talk to if one of our children was struggling or just to ask questions about life? I have wished many times that there was a phone number for Heaven. Of course if there was, I probably would have the phone lines busy all the time, trying to ask all my Mom sooo many questions. :)
So I had to have gotten points over the weekend cooking her favorite Ginger Snap cookies with Jenny! Obviously I made points with Jenny and all who we shared the cookies with though!

 Then I found the other day my Recipe Book, I haven't seen it in years! I don't know where it was all these years. It was a gift for my graduation from my Sister in law and brother. I got so excited because I had in there many of my Mom's recipes. Then I realized that most of my Mom's recipes are ones that I wouldn't really make any more. But still it did my heart good to see her recipes again!

Tonight I realized that my Mom probably wouldn't be very proud of me tonight. Jeff and I were just about to have dinner ...it was Eggplant Sandwiches ( no it wasn't a recipe from my Mom :) Anyway, Jeff and I were opening up the home made Pesto on our sandwiches, when we realized that the pesto had mold on the top of it. We both just looked at it and realized it was just too late to try and make new Pesto and we didn't have anything else ready to eat. 

So Jeff just scrapped off the top and the mold, we then took some of these...

Acidophilus...(it's what you take if you get food poisoning)! Then we at our Eggplant Sandwiches!
 I am not thinking my Mom would have been very proud of me tonight! :)
Oh well, luckily I do have other talents!

Good Night dear friends!

Memories... some times the same, but not always!

There are memories that we are have from our childhood, some are good and some are bad. It's about both of those that I would like to talk about tonight.
My youngest brother and I were 10 years apart. One day not too many years ago, I was telling someone how crazy I was about him when he was little. I felt like I was his 2nd Mother because I loved him so much. Well, he was around when I was telling that and just started laughing. I asked why? His response was classic "well, I don't remember ONLY good times, I remember when you pinned me up against the wall and threatened me over something ". My mouth dropped opened. It seemed for every good memory that I had, he had one that was not so good. How could that be, I thought I was the best Big Sister ever?
 It is true good or bad, even little memories can last a life time! :)

The other night Amy called and shared with me...how bad her day had gone. After thinking about what I could do, I called her back and told her that when she and the girls came over on Friday, IF she would bring some fresh picked Blackberries, then I would make her a pie. Just hearing my offer seemed to cheer her up. I was glad ( not knowing that we would make the pies yesterday during the hottest part of the day)! What a sacrifice! But that's what we Mom's do...right? :)
Either way, I was thrilled to read her FB post about it last night. ( Well except for the part where she said I wouldn't let them come in until their buckets were full! ) I guess this is just another example of different Memories! :)

'My Mom sure knows how to cheer me up! 😄 Baking blackberry pies (my absolute favorite) together after a rough day yesterday. Just the smell brings back childhood memories of blackberry picking! My Mom would always tell us, "You can't come in until your bucket is full!" 😆 Then she would reward us by baking a pie for dessert! Yum!"

Even though it was hot, it was fun having Amy and the girls helping me in the kitchen ( I'm still cleaning up flour and blackberries though ).
Still I am glad that she had a great memories of her childhood while we were cooking, I have to admit...I did too!

When I was a little girl, I can still remember making pies with my Mom, Aunt Ina, and both of my Grandmothers. Actually, Blackberry pie is what I asked for and had every year on my birthday. 

But this happy thought could be gone in a minute if you asked my kids about the sweets and food they ate when they were little! It is too funny to hear them talk about all the natural stuff we did. I will have to ask them to write them down, they are pretty funny. But laugh if you want, because as soon as each of my kids have gotten married and started their own families, they have started to go back to the more Natural Way we used to do things! They want to help their children be healthy by the things that they feed them NEWS FLASH... so did I! 

So memories are not always the same, I guess memories are about as varied as people are.. but still I am glad that I did give my kids at least SOME GOOD MEMORIES!!!
Good Night dear friends!

Counting my blessings!

The girls came over today and we hung out together. We really couldn't accomplish much because we were so excited about Miss Oakley! We just kept passing her photo back and forth on our phones... and doing Face Time with them.  I can't believe that Oakley finally made it here safe and sound.

She weighed 8 lbs and 9 oz, she and Mommy are doing great!
Kai is so excited she is here too! 

So now we have 4 granddaughters and 1 boy! Of course if you watch or listen to these two girls very long...you would wonder if any boy could be any rougher! :)

We decided to do some cooking to keep these 2 busy! (Thanks Aunt Chris for the cute aprons! )

3 Blackberry pies and some key lime bars later...everyone was happy campers!

Good Night dear Oakley! Nana can't wait to hold you, create with you, and cook with you when you grow up! But for now...just sleep, we will have lots of time for that!

 

A dream come true!

Ever since I was a little girl, I have loved to do things with my hands. Any type of arts and crafts, sewing, painting, drawing, crocheting, needlework and etc. Some things you learn because that is what your Mom does, but my Mom didn’t like to do any of those things. She was a cook and a fabulous one at that. I really never saw the value in spending hours making and cooking something, just to watch your family devour it in minutes…that never appealed to me ( still doesn’t really ). But as I got older, I realized that I would need someone to teach me so that I could learn more and more. My girlfriend’s Mom used to make her clothes and I really envied her. So one day when I was at her house, I asked her Mom if she would teach me how to sew my own clothes. That is exactly what she did, we got a pattern, materials and some needed supplies… and then we went back to her house to sew. But before I was even able to cut out my material, she showed me how to read a pattern, she also said that clothes look really well made when you are good at your top stitching, and so she gave me a piece of lined notebook paper, put in an old needle in her machine and would have me practice over and over again..sewing on those lines. Then when I got that perfected, then she would have me practice over and over again to stitch exactly in between the lines. Even though she has passed away many years ago, I will never forget her kindness in teaching me how to sew. So, I try to be there to help anyone who asks me to teach them how to sew (haven’t had a lot of time for that since I started working), but still I love to pass on that tradition.

My grandmother and Aunt used to make beautiful quilts out of their old dresses and aprons. I was shocked to see how most of them were done by hand. I couldn’t believe that someone could do that kind of detail by hand. They also quilted by their machines too. I only got 2 of their quilts, but they are displayed proudly in my home and only dreamed that one day I could quilt like that.

Fast forward to the present day, now I am teaching at a Quilt Shop! Who would have ever thought I could do that? I am still a beginner compared to most of the ladies in there, but still I have a love for quilting/sewing and I love to teach …so it is a great opportunity for me to do something that I had never done. The fun thing about working at the quilt shop and getting to know all these wonderful talented women is….that I am learning something new every day! I see all the wonderful things that these ladies are creating, it gives me a desire to do something else I have never done. It is exciting and scary at the same time. I wonder at times, if it would be possible to do some of these amazing things but… I have finally realized that I just need to try new things and never say never! 
Good night dear friends!

“To have passion, to have a dream, to have a purpose in life. And there are three components to that purpose, one is to find out who you really are, to discover God, the second is to serve other human beings, because we are here to do that and the third is to express your unique talents and when you are expressing your unique talents you lose track of time.”    ~Deepak Chopra

“Sewing mends the soul.”     ~Author Unknown

Holiday cheer

Today was a day full of holiday cheer. I started off teaching Day # 9 of the 12 Days of Christmas in the Quilt Shop! WE have really had a lot of fun with this project. I love the ladies and all the different ideas that they share with me too. Then when I came home, my daughter Amy was working on her Tree Skirt and then she put Jenny down for  a nap. Jeff was home sick, with a very nasty cold ( I keep telling him NOT TO SHARE), that is usually opposite of what we say in our home but I meant it this time. I need to stay healthy during the holidays if I can.

While Jenny was sleeping and Amy was quilting her tree skirt, Angie and I decided to go up stairs and do some cooking. I explained to her…how good chicken noodle soup is for you when you have a cold, so she said that is what we should make Poppa tonight, so we did. She is such a big helper and so much fun to be around. I told her about my Mom and how she used to make Chicken Noodle soup, she then asked questions about her, I got teary eyed because it was 11 years ago that she passed away ( oh how I wish she could have known these sweet grandkids of ours). I truly miss her every day!

Next we decided we needed some homemade cornbread to go with that big pot of home made soup. Then we decided to set the table with all the Christmas dishes ( I learned a few years ago, that life is too short not to use the good dishes…so we did). Then Angie made our Christmas Center piece. You can probably close your eyes and imagine it, Christmas music playing in the background, the smell of Chicken Noodle Soup and fresh Cornbread in the over, the table set with our Christmas best…yes, there was a lot of Holiday cheer in our home today and I was thankful to be here to enjoy that!

I hope you too are able to get into the spirit of the season! Good night dear friends!

“The best Christmas gift of all is the presence of a happy family all wrapped up with one another.”

“The way you spend Christmas is far more important than how much.”   --Henry David Thoreau

“The joy of brightening a child's heart creates the magic of Christmas.”   --W. C. Jones