Monthly Archives: January 2013

Remembering

26 Replies

I was reading an article this evening entitled, “10 Ways to Love a New Mom”.  It jogged my memory back to the days when my babies were just days and weeks old.  And I remembered how my Dad would just hold my babies.  He would hold them and walk with them.  With an infinite amount of patience and calmness… he would just walk with them.  Anytime I would stop in to see my mom and dad, he’d greet me at the door, give me a kiss on the cheek and say, “Here babe, let me take her.” and off they would go.  He would walk through the house, and with the tenderest voice you can imagine a grown man using… he would talk to them. 

“Do you see this?” he would tell my 3 week-old son, “This is a light switch.  Look I can turn it on and I can turn it off!”

“And this is a picture of you mama when she was just a little girl.  Yes!  That’s right!  Your mama used to be little girl too, ” he would say as he lifted them closer to see the frame on the wall. 

Of course the babies were always such intent little listeners, taking in every word that Grandpa said.  Fussy babies were no match for Grandpa’s slow steady walking and quiet voice.  It was such a relief to know that they were safe and happy, and I could just unwind and have an adult conversation with my mom.  I know he loved being with them but I also know he was doing it for me too.

Thanks Dad!  I can’t wait to see you walking through the house, quietly talking to this next little one.

Right now

36 Replies

Right now I am loving the white tulips that are sitting on my kitchen table. 

Right now I’m eating entirely too much of this amazing sun-dried tomato, pesto, and soft creamy cheese spread.  I just smear a generous amount of it on a slice of sourdough baguette, and repeat until I sigh a happy, pleasantly full sigh.

I am enjoying my new living room shelves.  My husband hung them up after the new year and I’ve been slowly adding things to them.


Right now I’m wearing my new yellow bicycle scarf.

Right now this stack of fabric is making me very happy!  It reminds me of spring.  It is sitting in my clean and freshly organized sewing room just waiting to be made into something fun.

It’s probably just the pregnancy cravings kicking into high gear, but I could eat this salad morning, noon, and night.  It’s a mixed green salad, with a sweet basil vinaigrette, feta cheese, dried cranberries, and candied pecans.  It is amazingly good and it’s the dressing that makes it perfect.
 
It’s a recipe that my husband’s aunt has brought to several family events.  I got the recipe from her but I have no idea what the original source is.  The original recipe called for croutons but I don’t think the salad needs them.

I start with baby spinach, chopped iceberg lettuce, and leaf lettuce torn into bite-sized pieces.

Then I make the dressing.  Sugar, vegetable oil, two cloves of garlic, apple cider vinegar, salt and pepper, and fresh basil, get tossed into the mixer.  I blend them together until everything is completely mixed and the dressing has taken on a lovely green color.


Isn’t that the prettiest dressing you’ve ever seen?

Then I drizzle the dressing over the mixed greens and top with the feta, pecans, and cranberries.  Don’t be stingy with the feta!  The creamy feta mixes so well with the sweet basil dressing. 

Really.  You should make this salad.  Your mouth will thank you.  And if you want to bring this to the next level, add some grilled chicken and a slice of sourdough bread, and you’ve got a lunch that would rival any bistro menu!

Sweet Basil Dressing

1/2 c. apple cider vinegar (don’t substitute this with another kind of vinegar.  It won’t taste as good)
1/2 c. vegetable oil
1/2 c. sugar
3/4 c. fresh basil leaves
2 cloves of garlic (roughly chopped)
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper

Blend in blender until well mixed.  Store in fridge making sure to shake well before using.

And now I’m going to go enjoy a big bowl of salad!

~April

Hi

22 Replies

 
Hi there.  Does it feel like I announced I was pregnant and then dropped off the face of the earth?  I guess that’s sort of how it happened.  I’ve written this post out in my head many times and always struggled to know how much to say about the last 2 months.  On one hand, this is the place were I write about our lives and record our memories, on the other hand I hate dwelling on the negative.  I think that some stories are best told with a little distance.  Not so much that you only remember them with fond rose-colored glasses but enough to gain some perspective.  So I think I will save any pregnancy stories I have for another day. 

Here are just a smattering of pictures I managed to take during the hustle and bustle of the holidays.  I hope you can bear with me, this will probably seem a little disjointed :)

Christmas decorations were a little sparse this year but we did manage to have a beautiful, tall, and lovingly decorated tree.

We are starting to establish some Christmas traditions that the children look forward to every year, and one of them is making paper snowflakes for our windows.

My mom made snowflakes with us when we were children.  My mom was an amazing woman who just knew how to do so many interesting things.  Her brain was (and still is) a treasure-house of creative wonderment!  Making candles, pressing flowers, brewing root beer,… I spent my childhood marveling at what she would come up with next.


I see the same wonderment on my children’s faces when I do things with them.


We must have made 3 dozen snowflakes but each and every time they unfolded one they would gasp in amazement!

We made Christmas cookies and I tried not to cringe too much when they piled candy and sprinkles on each cookie.  How many times did I tell them not to lick the frosting knife?!!  I planned on giving some of the cookies to the neighbors but decided that might not be wise ;)

Our Christmas picture to put in our Christmas photo album.

This was the one we ended up using

And here are some of the outtakes…

G being goofy in each one and E giving us her best cheesy smile


J was trying to be patient but quickly loosing interest in this photographic circus.

And he’s done…

A picture of my entire family.  My brother and sister-in-law, mom and dad, and all 9 (make that 10) grandchildren.

Her room is one of the coldest in the house.  Every night I go in and make sure she is all tucked in.  One morning I came in to rouse her for breakfast and all I saw where the soles of her little feet. 

Someone had his birthday over the holidays!

Mr. G turned six and we celebrated by having a movie and popcorn night at our house.  G is currently fascinated with the Disney movie Cars 2 so we watched that, opened presents, and sang “Happy Birthday”.

He’s such a happy guy.  So easy to please.  He was just delighted with every little part of his party celebration.  He is a good example to me.

Last but not least, I have these hanging on my fridge.  It’s been a long time since I had sonogram pictures on my fridge. 


 
It makes me happy.  It helps me to remember that there’s a child on the way and there’s a good reason I feel the way I do :)   Hopefully we will be finding out the baby’s gender soon.  The children have their hopes set on a little girl… we shall see!