Now

It's the end of summer, they say, and in one three-day weekend the fireflies, sandboxes, and swimsuits of yesterday give way to the school books, pumpkins, and sweaters of tomorrow. Summer clearance sales abound, and Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas are already making appearances in the retail world. It's easy to look to the past with nostalgia and to the future with anticipation all at once.

This weekend, though, instead of reflecting on the excitement of summer and the magic of the coming holiday season, I'm going to live now. I'm going to blow bubbles and run on the green grass, throw baseballs and eat ice cream cones. I'm going to spend time telling stories in lawn chairs until dusk. Let Tuesday come when it will, and all that will follow, but this weekend is for now, and I'm going to enjoy every minute of it.

I hope you enjoy every minute of your weekend, too!

The Best Years

I am enjoying the best years of my life so far. I have a husband who loves being a family man, I have great friends, a supportive church family, and I LOVE being a mom. I'm not saying life is easy with two preschoolers and one income, but it is definitely good. Especially when I compare it to the years that led me here.

Let's face it: growing up is hard. Being a kid is not as great as we romanticize it to be. It's certainly not "sugar and spice and everything nice," as the saying goes. I remember it being pretty hard work. I went to four different elementary schools, so making friends (and keeping them) was challenging. Remember how mean some little girls in school were? I do.

Believe it or not, as a kid, I was a bit shy. I was always kind to everyone, and my mom remembers that I never laid a hand on another kid. In 4th, 5th, AND 6th grades (all three were different schools), three different girls tried to pick a fight with me. I refused to hit back. I remember thinking, in all of those instances, "Why me? What did I ever do to you?"

The answer is: Nothing. I doubt any of them could have answered that question, had it been posed to them at the time. They were just angry girls. All three were class bullies. By the time the girl in 6th grade tried to pick a fight with me (in the girls' locker room), I had learned to deflect such attentions with big talk and good posture. This girl was known as a fighter and just loved getting up in other girls' faces to intimidate them. She had her finger thrust in my face, talking junk, trying to start something with me.

I was absolutely quaking, but I stood up really tall (I was much taller than her), looked her right in the eye, and said, with surprising strength, "Get your finger out of my face. I really don't want to fight you."

She walked away. I thought I would throw up.

That was the end of girls trying to fight me, but making and keeping friends still didn't get any easier. High school brought its share of social challenges and the added pressures of "dating." I managed to steer clear of a lot of that, mostly because my mom just didn't allow me to date until I was sixteen, and then because I got really involved in community theater. This passion swallowed me whole!

College was a whirlwind for me, with no time for friends. When Paul and I got married, we hadn't been back in our hometown for a full year, and I had spent all of that time in my first teaching position and planning a wedding. I didn't have much time to socialize. My sisters were my bridesmaids. I had lost contact with my high school friends and really didn't get into the social scene of college. I worked through college and went to class. That pretty much consumed me.

Now, I am enjoying the best friends I have ever known in my life. My friends are mostly all moms with kids the same age as my kids. We're all on the same roller coaster ride, which gives us plenty to talk about! These are easy, natural friendships, and we enjoy watching our children form friendships that will hopefully last a long time. Maybe it will be easier for them...maybe.

The learning curve you're on as a kid is unparalleled to any other time in your life. The only thing that comes close to that learning curve (so far) is becoming a parent. We have a tendency to see more clearly in hindsight, so the fact that I can say, without a doubt and with crystal clear vision, that these are the BEST years yet...that's pretty powerful!

A Family's Evolution

As a child, I often heard "you are so much like your mother."

I remember I used to cringe at that statement. Now I am proud to say I am like my mother. There are so many beautiful characteristics, little personality traits, that I eagerly credit to my mom!

These characteristics, the ones that used to be a source of conflict, are now a source of unity. These little personality traits are what can leave us doubled over with laughter after spending the morning together.

Not a visit goes by that my mom and I don't sit at the sewing machine together, discussing quilt patterns and color schemes. Being like ones parent is not limited to just me and my mom. Each time I hear my husband on the phone with his father, I hear tidbits of an engineering conversation going on. I walk away with a smile on my face seeing personalities that used to conflict now in unison.

My husband and I already see little familiar quirks in our children. It will be an adventure to see what conflicts will evolve into unity in our family's future.

Progressive Make-Up

Progressive used to be the music I listened to in the late 80's. At least, we called it Progressive, but I think it was really Alternative music. The Cure, Love and Rockets, and Depeche Mode to name a few bands that I really liked. I would go to concerts at the Cameo in the old part of Miami (now it's called South Beach). That's where I saw The Ramones and Red Hot Chili Peppers in concert. My then boyfriend, now husband of 16 wonderful years (gasp!), and I would dance the night away at Respectables in West Palm Beach. Those were some fun days...

Now, progressive has a new definition for me. It's how I put my make-up on. Just like a progressive dinner where you have appetizers at this house, main course at another house and finally dessert somewhere altogether different.

I start out with a tinted moisturizer. I hope this will make me look a little more alive in the morning. Next stop, I put on the tinted lip gloss. I make sure to keep the sunglasses on because the mascara doesn't come on until later just before I bring some lunch to hubby at work. The eyeliner and light eye shadow is applied in the car pickup line at school around 2:30pm. I want to look my best for at least the afternoon!

Top five reasons why I put my make-up on in the car:

5) The natural lighting

4) I always know where to find my make-up bag

3) Stop lights become really just an opportunity for beauty

2) If I start putting it on at home, I'll be totally late because I'll find more and more things to do.

and for the #1 reason...

1) The kids are strapped in their car seats watching a movie while I listen to my progressive music!

This is my reality right now.

My dream is to one day get to the point where I wake up earlier than my children and get totally ready for the day (including make-up). I would then read something spiritually uplifting while drinking my perfectly flavored coffee. After this time of great reflection, I would greet my children warmly and affecionately help them prepare for their day at school where they will arrive early. The day goes on from there. I'll let you know when I get to that point!

How do you get ready to face the world? Is it a rush? Is it just the way you like it? What works for you?

Homemade Baby Food - Easy Peasy!!

After having my second child in April, I have again started a baby food making factory in my kitchen. Okay, not so much a factory. Just production. It's inexpensive, easy, and quick. You don't need any special kitchen tools. (I do have some because I like to do canning and preserving and use it for those). Here's a quick tutorial, if you'd like to give it a try.

A few tips. Start with fruits and vegetables, they are easiest to make. This same method is used for most foods. The more you cook it, the fewer nutrients are left in it. Cook it for the least amount of time possible to make it soft. The microwave is good for this, although I prefer the stove top.

Peaches for Baby

Thoroughly wash the peaches. Anything on the outside of the peach, can be transferred to the inside when you cut them.



Core and peel the peaches. I was cutting a few up for dinner. If you have a squeezo type machine, leave the skins on and the squeezo will take them off.



Steam with a scant amount of filtered water on the stove until soft. (I skipped this step because my peaches were extremely ripe ans soft.



Run through a puree machine (I am using a squeezo type that I use for jelly and jam making with the apple/pumpkin screen.) You can also use a food processor or blender with a bit of filtered water.





Sterilize an ice cube tray or mini-muffin tin in the dishwasher or by boiling for 10 minutes, and dry with a clean towel. (I do this ahead of time.)



Fill the tray with the puree, 1 tablespoon is a great serving size, and put it in the freezer overnight.





Pop the frozen puree out of the ice cube try and transfer into a Ziploc freezer bag labeled with the name and date. These are good for 3-5 months. Here are some pears I did over the weekend.



Sometimes I freeze the pulp, like this kiwi pulp, so that I can add it into other foods. I'll be making kiwi banana and kiwi strawberry with this. (Plus, a kiwi sauce recipe I want to try out.)



Take out one cube at a time and thaw in the refrigerator or warm as needed.

This doesn't have to be a major project separate from your everyday cooking. I generally make it as I am getting supper ready in the evening. If you are looking for a great resource to making baby food, Feed Me, I'm Yours, is excellent. My mom passed me her copy that she used for my sister and me.

If you're asking yourself, "Why on earth would she do this?" The quick answer is that I know how everything is processed and exactly what is in it. It contains no preservatives or additives and because the servings are closer to what a baby will actually eat, so there is less waste. As a bonus, it saves money, because I make it out of food that I am already preparing for my family.

Or I'm just crazy. It could be that, too.

Which hat are you wearing today?

One of the traditions I fondly remember from my childhood was getting a complete ensemble for Easter each year, including the pretty dress, matching hat, white gloves, and white patent leather shoes. I have enjoyed dressing up with hats ever since. For a brief period, too quick to recall when exactly, hats made a comeback in my teen years. I don't mean baseball caps which always seem to be in season, nor do I mean the floppy wide-brimmed hat that is a prerequisite for being outdoors in sunny Florida, but the fancy, lady-like hats of bygone eras -- the kind we sometimes see older ladies wear to church. There is an elegance and gentility to these hats that I long for in this "modern" era.

As women, we wear many "hats" each day. We may be moms, wives, sisters, daughters, employees, bosses, etc. As a homemaker, I often wear a chef's hat while cooking, the bargain hunter's hat while clipping coupons from Sunday's paper, the vet tech's hat while cleaning my cocker spaniel's floppy ears, the disciplinarian's hat while teaching my toddler not to pull the dog's floppy ears (nor his stubby tail), the maid's hat while cleaning up after the toddler, dog and husband, etc. Sometimes we have so many hats we are trying to keep up with on a daily basis that we can have an identity crisis or two.

Maybe that's why I yearn for an opportunity to play dress up, don an elegant hat and feel like Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady. How about you? Which hat are you wearing today?

Little victories...

When it rains in Florida, it pours, and sometimes it pours for days. It is easy for me to feel a little down at times like this, so I wanted to celebrate some of the things I accomplished this week because of the rain. Here is my list of successes for the week:

• We finally started living without paper towels. It isn't really that hard!
• We finally got our shoes organized in their new clear, plastic boxes under the bed.
• I finally used the hot glue gun to turn an old bottle of dish detergent into a cool new reality play toy for my son. (I also figured out that indeed my little idea didn't work as well as I'd hoped. I will be tweaking the idea thanks to the recent failure, and maybe I will have a neat thing to share in a future post!)
• I finally finished preparing our family and household for hurricane season. Nothing like waiting until the last minute, literally.

What did you do this week? Celebrate your accomplishments with us!