Too Young For This

I have a terrible excuse for not blogging. Life. Life gets in the way. Why is that terrible?! Because this blog is supposed to document our lives. I'm not a scrapbooker and I don't journal. I want my kiddos to have this blog to laugh and cry and see memories of their childhood. What do they have now?! For all they'll know, we skipped months and months of 2010 and even January of 2011. They won't know the craziness of our lives. So, I find myself in the midst of too much life now, and I have to blog. There are lives being lived, and I want to get this down on "paper" so Abigail and Cooper can hear my thoughts and memories when I can't remember them. Not that I can remember much of them, now, but give me a few or 10 or 20 years, and I'm certain I won't remember them.

This weekend, life hit our home and not in a good way.  I should rephrase that. Death hit our home. But it's real life and not the part of life that I can shelter my babies from. So we're living it out. We're painfully living it out.

The principal of the kids' school passed away unexpectedly yesterday morning. As soon as we were notified, Daniel shared the news with Abigail and Cooper. It was so shocking, that Abigail did not believe him. She thought he was kidding. Cooper did not comprehend the news. Still in shock ourselves, we didn't know what to expect from the kids. First, there was no reaction. We gave them a chance to ask questions and talk, but nothing came. They went about playing and enjoying their Saturday. Until dinner. It hit Abigail and she just burst into tears. So many thoughts were coming to her. She was heartbroken for Mrs. Owen's family. Mr. Owen maintains the facilities at school so the kids have been with him every day as well. Abigail was especially heartbroken for him. She cried for him. She cried for Mrs. Owens' mother who cooks lunch every day for the kids at school. She couldn't imagine what it feels like to have your daughter die before you. I was amazed that everything Abigail was crying for was not selfish. She never once mentioned missing Mrs. Owen. She was just heartbroken for the people who she knew were already heartbroken. And this momma was heartbroken for her baby girl. I couldn't stand to see her cry and truly ache in a way that I could not fix. Oh, sweet Abigail. Of course there were lots of hugs and we both agreed that Mrs. Owen was happy to be at the feet of Jesus. We wondered... Is Mrs. Owen singing praise songs or starting a pre-K Bible study? Knowing Susan, she already has lessons planned, Bible classes organized, and has hugged more kids in heaven than I've ever hugged on Earth.

Today, getting out of the car at church, a wave of emotion overcame Abigail and she realized that Mrs. Owen wouldn't be at church today. You see, Susan was not just our principal but she and Mr. Owen were Abigail's Sunday School teachers. I think they've missed one Sunday since class started in August. Abigail just knew that Mr. Owen would be there for her. I assured her that he would be home with his family and not in class today. Oh.... the tears flowed again. She's not going to be here, momma. No, baby, she's not going to be here. Yeah, I just shouldn't have worn make-up to church. I know I didn't make it through the early service with any left on my face. Abigail cried through most of the service. My child who sings embarrassingly loud and waves her hands as she praises every Sunday morning did not hardly mutter a sound this morning. She held onto me and Daniel. She cried. She laid on me. She didn't sing. She whispered to me that she was sad. I know, baby. I'm sad, too.

After the service, I took her to Sunday School class. Our children's minister and his wife were there to greet us. Abigail was glad to be in the classroom and almost seemed more at ease than she had been all morning. I knew she was in good hands and was also at ease leaving her there. She later told us that they had prayer time for Mrs. Owen's family and talked about death. Oh, my. I love being honest with my children, but this was almost too much honesty for me. We have faced death in the past year. Daniel's uncle passed away in April. But, that was cancer. We had time to prepare for that. It made sense, well, as much sense as cancer makes. This just doesn't make sense. A classroom of six-year-olds spent the morning talking about their thoughts on death. Instead of being hugged by the woman who hugs her six days a week, Abigail learned to grieve.

The rest of today brought tears and sadness. It was a lovely day of warmth with no sign of the frozen wind and snow and ice of the rest of the week. We played and rode bikes. And, we cried. These are some questions I was given today... Is Mrs. Owen going to be okay in heaven? Do you think Jesus can take care of someone who is that nice and sweet? Where is her body? When will I get to see if they are taking care of her? Will school be there tomorrow?

You see, Mrs. Owen is the founder of the school. She is the school. She has been the school for 26 years. As an adult, I know Mrs. Owen is the school. So of course the kids also know that Mrs. Owen is the school. Abigail's mind immediately processed that the school would not be there if Mrs. Owen wouldn't be there. I assured her that the school would be Mrs. Owen's legacy. The school will not go anywhere. At bedtime tonight, I don't think Abigail was completely assured of that. She asked me to walk her to class tomorrow and stay with her. Of course, I will walk her to class and stay and hold her as long as she wants me to. She hasn't wanted anyone to walk her to class since the first day of kindergarten. That says something. Her world has been rocked.

When her world is rocked, my world is rocked. Yes, I will miss this sweet woman who created this wonderful school that I've entrusted with the hearts and minds of my children. I grieve for her husband as I imagine being alone and not even knowing what to do with myself. I grieve for her family - a Godly son who is married to a sweet woman whom we've entrusted with Cooper at school. I grieve for her young grandchildren as I know the loss of a grandparent at such a young age it leaves you with no memories.

Selfishly, I grieve for my baby girl who has lost her happiness and innocence. She is aching from the sting of death at just six years old. I am grieving the loss of explaining why boys pull her hair as I instead explain that even grown-ups don't understand why God takes people we love when we aren't ready. My sweet, sweet girl. When you read this in 20 years, know that I am so sorry you are learning this now. I know it's impossible, but I wish you never had to learn this lesson. My entire being wants to take away the hurt you had as you cried yourself to sleep tonight. I dread tomorrow even more than you do, as I know it will bring more sadness that I can't protect you from. But, also know that I am so proud to see you living out everything that your father and I have been trying to teach you. We want you to love, and I see so much love coming from you as you ache for Mr. Owen and want to hug him and love on him. We want you to know God, and I see that as you tell your brother that Mrs. Owen won't be at school tomorrow because she loves God and has to be with Him in heaven. We want you to be compassionate, and I have seen so much compassion come from you this weekend that you almost don't know what to do with all the compassionate feelings you have for each one of Mrs. Owen's family members. Oh, you are so much more than I could ever have dreamed of. Sweet Abigail, I love you.

Black Thursday & Friday

Our alternative Thanksgiving schedule was a great advantage for my Black Friday shopping. In the past, I'm already tired from being on my feet in the kitchen all day, but I still had fun on the all-night shopping outings. This year was different thanks to my well-planned strategy.

I started Wednesday night by renting a few movies and staying awake until 3 a.m. Thursday. To ensure I would be adequately tired for a long afternoon nap, I slept only until 7:30 Thursday morning. I spent the day watching the Macy's parade, pouring over the advertising inserts in the paper, online reviews of products, and a massive spreadsheet of all available deals. After hours and hours of planning and research, I had readied my list of stores, list of deals, coupons and insert copies. What I thought would be a marvelous nap, though, was not to be. What the heck?! I was home alone. I enjoyed a glass of white wine. I snuggled up on the couch in comfy jammies to watch a boring movie. How could it have gone wrong?! I have no idea, but it did. I think I was just too anxious and excited to sleep, so I decided to just start my shopping early.

It was 10:15 when I left the house last night, and I've now returned home more than 19 hours later. I would love to show you pictures of me loading down my car or freezing as I stood in the sleeting rain outside JC Penney's or slowly snaking through the line at Bath & Body Works. But, that would give you the WRONG impressing. Black Friday was a blast! I amassed excellent deals from the outlet mall to department stores to boutiques.

My online shopping was done by my husband as he sat at work and also by myself as I stood in line. Of the three major online deals I wanted, I only managed to secure one . Boooo..... I may never let myself get excited about BF online deals again. It was just a big letdown. But, the in-store shopping was certainly not a letdown.

If you don't already do it, grab your mom and/or aunts, cousins and great aunts and begin planning your 2011 BF shopping spree. In the meantime, I am just going to take a little nap...

Tuesday Treats - Thanksgiving Meal

This is the third year in a row that Daniel has been in the midst of a night shift at work through Thanksgiving. In the past, we have worked around it and still managed to celebrate on the actual holiday. As you can imagine, it's not ideal. This year, we changed things up, and it resulted in a wonderful holiday weekend.

We were joined for the weekend by my parents as well as my sister and her husband. Saturday morning was spent poolside in Georgetown to watch Abigail compete in a short meet. Then, four of our group headed into Austin to see the Longhorns win a football game. Sunday was all about Thanksgiving. It was such a great day to relax and enjoy the celebration with no regard to work schedules or exhausted people.

Since everyone out there in blogland is just now preparing their own Thanksgiving feasts, I wanted to share my favorite recipes that we enjoy for our meal.

Daniel takes care of the turkey and dressing. We're all about a cajun fried turkey and cornbread dressing. There are no recipes for these, and I'm not involved with them. I just know they are mighty tasty! (He also makes the mashed potatoes and deviled eggs.)


Sweet Potato Casserole (Fabulous recipe courtesy of Ted Moore in Summerville, SC)

2 cans of large sweet potatoes
2 cups sugar
12 tbsp of soft butter
2 tsp vanilla
4 eggs

Mix all of that together and then top with:
2 cups pecans
1 1/2 sticks of butter
1 cup brown sugar

Bake at 350 for 45 minutes.


Green Bean Casserole (Can't have a southern meal without it.)
2 cans cut green beans
1 can french style green beans
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Mix soup and cheese in 9x13 baking pan. Add beans. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes. Top with can of french fried onions and return to oven for 5 minutes.


Corn Pudding (This stuff is the yummiest goodness!)
1 can cream corn
2 cans corn
1 box Jiffy cornbread mix
8 oz. sour cream
2 eggs
2 T butter

Combine ingredients in 9x13 baking dish and bake for 35-45 minutes.

Cranberry Sauce (The great Paula Deen is responsible for this deliciousness)
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
1 (16-ounce) bag fresh cranberries
1 cup chopped apple
1 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup raisins
1/4 cup Grand Marnier (we didn't have this, but susbstituted Moscato)
1/2 orange, juiced
1/2 lemon, juiced
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg, freshly grated

Combine the sugar and water in a large saucepan and bring to a boil. Add the cranberries and return to a boil, then lower the heat so that the liquid simmers. Add the apples, walnuts, raisins, Grand Marnier, orange and lemon juices, cinnamon, and nutmeg, and cook for 10 to 15 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and let the sauce cool.


Ham
I've found the best ham is the Sam's Choice double glazed ham. It's a bit pricey, but extremely tasty.


Although Daniel and I share the main meal cooking duties, the baking is all me. I LOVE to bake. This year I didn't make as many as I have in the past, but there were still plenty of pie to go around.

Pumpkin Cheesecake (Recipe courtesy of my mother's friend Sandy. This is always a crowd pleaser!)
The first thing you need to do is prep your spring form pan. Wrap the bottom ~ and up the sides with heavy duty tin foil ... press it good so it's tight. Next place a roasting pan in the oven and fill it about 1/3 to 1/2 full with water. When you actually are baking the cheesecake you will have the spring form pan sitting in the water in the roasting pan.

Crust
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup sugar
1 stick butter ~ melted
dash of cinnamon
Combine the crust ingredients and press them into the bottom of the spring form pan

Filling
3 (8 oz.) packages of Cream Cheese ~ softened at room temperature
1 (14 oz) can of sweetened condensed milk
3 Eggs
2 Teaspoons vanilla extract (real vanilla is preferred to the imitation vanilla)
In a large mixer bowl beat cream cheese until it is fluffy. Gradually beat in milk until smooth. Add eggs and vanilla and mix well. Take out 1 cup of the filling and reserve. Set rest of filling aside

Pumpkin Filling:
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/4 cup sugar
3/4 Teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 Teaspoon ground nutmeg

Mix all ingredients. Add pumpkin mix to main filling mix (not the 1 cup reserve). Mix well. Layer half of pumpkin mix and then half of your reserved filling mix over crust. Repeat layers. Cut through batter with knife several times to create the 'swirl effect'. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.


Cherry Cream Pie (This is my family's favorite, and the absolute easiest pie to bake.)
8 oz. cream cheese
1 can Eagle Brand milk
1/3 cup lemon juice
Graham cracker pie crust (see cheesecake recipe)

Combine all ingredients and fill pie crust. Refrigerate until set. Top with can of cherry pie filling. Refrigerate until set.


Caramel Pecan Pie (Rich but super yummy!)

1 (9 inch) unbaked pie crust

36 individually wrapped caramels, unwrapped

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup milk

3/4 cup white sugar

3 eggs

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup pecan halves

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C.) In a saucepan over low heat, combine caramels, butter and milk. Cook, stirring frequently, until smooth. Remove from heat and set aside. In a large bowl, combine sugar, eggs, vanilla and salt. Gradually mix in the melted caramel mixture. Stir in pecans. Pour filling into unbaked pie crust. Bake in the preheated oven for 45 to 50 minutes, or until pastry is golden brown. Allow to cool until filling is firm.

Pumpkin Crunch (Another piece of greatness from Paula Deen)
1 (15 oz.) can fresh pumpkin
1 (12 oz.) can evaporated milk
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 c. sugar
3 eggs, beaten
1 box yellow cake mix
1 cup chopped pecans
2 sticks butter, cut into pieces

FROSTING:
1 (8 oz.) pkg. softened cream cheese
1 cup Heavy Whipping Cream
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together pumpkin, evaporated milk, cinnamon and sugar until well combined. Add eggs and mix well. Pour mixture into a 9X13 baking dish prepared with a non stick spray. Sprinkle cake mix evenly over entire top. Sprinkle nuts evenly over cake mix and top with butter pieces. Bake at 350º F for 50-60 minutes. Set aside to cool. Prepare frosting while cake is cooling. In a large mixing bowl using a hand mixer, whip cream cheese until light. Add in whipping cream and continue to whip until fully combined and thickening. Add powdered sugar and cinnamon and whip until smooth. To Serve: Scoop out a slice of the pumpkin crunch and top with a dollop of the cream cheese frosting, or frost the entire pumpkin crunch with the frosting.

Creamy Lemon Supreme (This is my prettiest and tastiest pie, courtesy of Pampered Chef)
Crust:
12 lemon creme-filled sandwich cookies, finely chopped (1½ cups)
3 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted
1 lemon

Filling:
2 lemons
1 package (2.9 ounces) lemon cook and serve pudding and pie filling (not instant)
½ cup sugar
2 cups water, divided
2 egg yolks
1 tablespoon butter or margarine
2 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, softened
½ cup powdered sugar
1 container (8 ounces) frozen whipped topping, thawed, divided

1. Lightly spray springform pan with nonstick cooking spray. For crust, finely chop cookies. Combine cookie crumbs and melted butter in small bowl. Press crumb mixture into bottom of pan. Cut 6 thin slices from lemon; cut each slice in half. Place lemon halves against inside collar of pan with cut side touching crust. Refrigerate while preparing filling.

2. For filling, zest lemons to measure 1½ teaspoons zest. Juice lemons to measure ¼ cup juice. Combine pudding mix, sugar, ¼ cup of the water and egg yolks in small saucepan; stir until blended. Stir in remaining 1¾ cups water. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until mixture comes to a full boil; remove from heat. Set aside ½ cup of the pudding; cool slightly. Whisk butter and lemon juice into remaining pudding in saucepan; cool 15 minutes, stirring twice.

3. In large bowl, combine cream cheese and powdered sugar; mix well. Whisk in reserved ½ cup lemon pudding and 1 teaspoon lemon zest. Fold in 2 cups whipped topping, spread over crust.

4. Stir remaining lemon pudding mixture and spoon evenly over cream cheese filling, spreading gently. Refrigerate at least 6 hours.

5. Garnish with remaining whipped topping and lemon zest. Cut into wedges.

Hittin' the Books...

And, we're back in our school-year routine. I've been dreading the fast-paced craziness that comes with school, but the kids have been eagerly anticipating going back to school. Needless to say, it's going to take more than eager anticipation for us to get back into a timely routine, so we were a bit frantic on the first day. Oh, well. They didn't give us tardy slips, so we're in the clear.


Even though we were late, we were very prepared. Those backpacks are full of all the necessary supplies (and even some unnecessary ones).


And, if you look even closer, you'll see that each item is labeled with the owner's name. And, I mean every item. Every crayon, marker, marker lid, etc... Daniel and I spent an evening last week labeling everything to play by the rules. (But, that doesn't mean we didn't think it was a superfluous act.)





By school time, I had completely forgotten my aggravation with labeling supplies and couldn't stand how independent my babies looked in their classes. By today, the second day of school, Abigail requested that I not walk her to her class. I went anyway, and she walked as quickly as possible so that Cooper and I couldn't keep up. I assured her I would be walking with her for the first week and then she could be on her own.


I hope this little guy doesn't decide he wants to be completely independent!

Tuesday Treats - Coke/Butterfinger Cake

I baked two new recipes, a Coca-Cola cake and a Butterfinger cake, last week for Bible study. Then, we had a neighborhood barbecue over the weekend and I decided to experiment. I combined the two recipes and ended up with a scrumptious dessert. You must try this out, but beware... it is not diet friendly!

Ingredients
1 cup coke
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 cup butter, softenened
1 3/4 cups sugar
2 large eggs, slightly beaten
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 cups miniature marshmallows
1 jar caramel sauce/topping
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 large Cool-Whip
1 king size Butterfinger bar

Directions
Preheat oven to 350. Combine coke and buttermilk and set aside. Beat butter at slow speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Gradually add sugar, beating until blended. Add eggs and vanilla/ beat at low speed until blended.  Combine flour, cocoa, and baking soda in separate bowl. Add to butter mixture alternately with coke mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Beat at low speed until blended after each addition. Stir in marshmallows. Pour batter into a greased and floured 13x9 inch pan.  Bake at 350 for 30 to 35 minutes. Remove from oven. Cool for 10 minutes.  While it's still hot, use a fork to punch holes all over the top of the cake. Combine the sweetened condensed milk and caramel and pour mixture evenly over cake.  Cool cake completely. Cover cake with Cool Whip. Top with crushed Butterfinger.

Sorry I don't have a picture. I was too busy eating and then wallowing in my misery from the richness of the cake.

Annie

Last week, Abigail and I joined our neighbors, Kristy and her daughter Morgan, for a night out in Austin. We ventured to the city for the summer musical "Annie" at Zilker Park. Each year, there is a free musical presented Thurs-Sun nights at an amphitheater, and we finally made it to a performance for the first time. It was a late night since curtain call isn't until sunset, but completely worth the exhaustion. The girls loved it!

We arrived an hour before showtime to enjoy our picnic dinner and get a good seat with our blankets, but we weren't early enough. We ended up in the very back, but the seating hill is steep enough that we still had decent seats. Although, I'm sure everyone seated near us wasn't as thrilled with us being nearby since I couldn't make Abigail stop singing along to every song in the production. 

We were all impressed with the production and thoroughly enjoyed our evening. I can't wait to take Abigail back next summer!

I Fought the Law, And I WON!

A few months ago I had to go into Austin during a weekday, which NEVER happens. It was an emergency I needed to tend to, and it turned into an unfortunate trip. I ended up getting a ticket as I entered the freeway. Ugh...

I was so annoyed. I've been ticketed just three times in my driving career, all for minor speeding tickets. The last of those occurred when I was pregnant with Cooper. In fact, I was driving down a rural highway and racing to get to a potty break 95 mph over the speed limit), one of the pitfalls of being pregnant and commuting an hour to/from work. Ha! Anyways, I'm not an aggressive driver, but on this day in Austin, I was mistaken for one. I was ticketed for following too closely, when neither my passenger (my sister) nor I saw a vehicle in front of me. Yeah, when I entered the freeway, I was too close to a vehicle in the freeway merging process, which is why I quickly changed lanes into an open lane with less traffic. Then, I got pulled over. Grr....

Needless to say, I disagreed with the ticket. And, I don't easily accept things that I don't agree with. Yeah, I'm an arguer. I like confrontation. I like to argue. Blame my parents for letting me compete in debate through high school. ha ha!

I did question my resolve each time the prosecutor's office offered me a reduced fine and a chance to keep the ticket off my record, but I continued through the process of challenging my ticket over the past three months. Even this morning, when I appeared for my jury trial, I was offered a chance to plead out with an even lower fine and be done with the situation. I assured the prosecutor the issue wasn't about money for me, but rather that I wasn't guilty and I still wanted a jury trial. (I was going to feel very stupid if I lost the case and it did become about money when I had to pay higher insurance premiums.)

After fours hours in court, with one of those being an hour of jury deliberations, I was very relieved to win my first (and hopefully last) court case. It was an interesting morning in court as I struggled to recall all my moot court experience in college. I'd like to think my poly sci prof would be proud of me, but most of all, I'm just glad to be rid of that stinkin' ticket!