Moments to live to the Hilt-Summer Days

I'm off during the summer, so each day is precious to me. I start to see the days sift through my hands and start thinking, Hey, wait a minute, we need to go swimming one more time or go for story time or make Blondies together or practice our letters. Before I know it, school busses start rolling and children come to school wide-eyed and afraid of sixth grade teachers. My own little one will cry for two weeks each morning as she gets left in a room with Miss. ? as Mommy goes back to school to teach "big kids". So today, while it seems unimportant, I enjoyed cleaning and scrubbing the fridge while the Bird played with babies and flitted in and out of the room. Every now and then she would stop and engage me in a conversation about how her girls (two naked dolls) were getting hair cuts to day and she was going to buy vegetables. We are off to the store now-to buy carrots and yogurt and many other things too. We can go slowly and talk and make a game out of finding things, because it is summer and I have time. Read more Moments to Live to the Hilt over at Chatting at the Sky.

Sunday

Our minister continues to "Bring It" in the current series at church. I love Sundays. First of all, I love going to church. I look so forward to it each week and told a friend at work this year that if I could just get up and go to church everyday my life would be better. The praise music runs through my head all day and makes me feel strong inside when I repeat the words that life God high in worship. The messages in this series are built around the theme of working out and this week it applied to your mouth (which we over work). My attempts to be funny can make me say things I later regret and my stress level this past year drove me at times to really fly off the handle. My biggest challenge is probably with the children when I am frustrated. Most of the time I am content and say nice things, but when frustration moves in-watch out. I want my children to remember that I encouraged them and was patient, so I'm offering it up in prayer and putting duct tape over my mouth.

Hebrews 3:13 But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness.

The To-Do List

After finally getting a decent night's sleep, I am prepared to make my to-do list today and actually tackle some of it. There is a lot to do, since I've let the house go this week (nothing unusual about this, I'm just trying to minimize to myself what a bad house cleaner I am). The Bird has ballet this morning and it is B's turn to host her friend group. We have tickets to go see a local production of High School Musical 2. The kids will arrive by 5:30, so I need to have my ducks in a row and know what we are having for dinner. My daughter B is intellectually disabled and twenty five years old. She went to school with the same kids her entire life, so we developed some good relationships with people with similar values. Even though they are grown, we (the parents) still have to organize their social lives. Our group formed after they started graduating from high school and did not have as much social contact as when they went to school each day. I should probably just order pizza, but am toying with the idea of making spaghetti. BRAINSTORM! I should do lasagna. I could stop by the market and get cheese, bread, bag salad on our way home from ballet and put it together at lunch time. We'll see. I'll add the dinner picture once I get it made. It will either be pizza boxes or a yummy lasagna.

Fairy Garden

Today we visited a sweet shop near our house in downtown Woodstock to make Fairy Gardens. Here is the finished product complete with gazing balls and garden furniture.






I still need to dig up some moss from the yard and fill in the dirt areas, but here is a little garden constructed by little hands that love fairies.

Mommy, Will You Play With Me?

I loved this article I found over at The Integrated Mother. I spend a part of every day feeling like I'm not truly connected to The Bird. If she asks me to play, I always think I should be multi-tasking and keeping laundry going or cleaning something and I can't sit still for too long. I'm making an effort to get over being distracted when we play and giving her my undivided attention. Mommy, Will You Play With Me?

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Job Interview

A few days ago I decided a job I had applied for had been filled and I should not be concerned about not being able to interview, but today I got a call for an interview tomorrow. I have not been content with my current job for some time now though it has always seemed that I was where I supposed to be and God certainly knows what I need much better than I do. He has proven that to me time and time again. This job seems perfect and would meet both professional and personal goals I have set. A week ago, I was handed a scripture that I thought was for my husband, but it occurred to me that it was probably meant for me. It has been hanging on my bathroom mirror and I have read it daily-not understanding how it was to be applied. I hope I say what I need to say to land the job!

"And when they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not be anxious about how you should defend yourself or what you should say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say." Luke 12:11-12

Father's Day

We thought T-Bone was going out of town on Sunday, so had a nice Father's Day Saturday night. I made paella and a delicious watermelon salad. The Paella was from my Easy Summer food cookbook and we liked it, but I would definately make some changes. The recipe made a ton and we did not like the leftovers. It got mushy and seemed very bland the next day. If anyone has an easy fool proof paella recipe, I would love a copy. The Watermelon salad was so scrumptious! Don't let the mache scare you, just buy a bag of mixed baby greens or spring mix.
Watermelon, Mache, & Pecan Salad with
Pepper Jelly Vinaigrette
Recipe from Southern Living

Get over it!

My very nature makes me want to fix things for other people, but I know in some ways it is not necessarily a good thing. The challenge we have recently faced keeps rising back up in my face and I keep trying to negotiate a different outcome (in my head). What should I do? Maybe this person could fix it? We can't settle for this. I'm a work in progress and I know God is listening. I'm letting it go. God gave me this and I had to repeat it over and over, but I am catching on. Thank you.
Proverbs 17:9,"He who covers over an offense promotes love, but whoever repeats the matter separates close friends." (NIV)

Twenty minute Simple Skirt Tutorial AND GIVEAWAY!!!!

Twenty minute Simple Skirt Tutorial AND GIVEAWAY!!!! What a talented person! Maybe I'll win this little skirt. Fingers crossed....

Menu Planning

T-Bone went out of town for a couple of days and that leaves me with the girls. In some ways it is nice because we don't have to eat meat if he is not here. Last summer when he was gone and we had ripe tomatoes and tons of fresh basil in the garden, we ate grilled cheese, tomato, and basil sandwiches on thick slices of whole grain Italian bread with bread and butter pickles. My mouth is watering just thinking about them! I need to be outside coaxing our tomatoes to ripen. Anyway, my menu plans for the next few days could change on a whim and I've already changed tonight's menu from Honey Mustard Chicken Tenders and orzo salad to frozen Trader Joe's vegetable lasagna and a simple salad. Friday night is homemade pizza night and Saturday night I'm making Paella and a watermelon salad with nuts and cheese. Yum-oh!

Thirsty for Water

I woke up this morning feeling burdened by the events that took place in our life yesterday. There was a huge problem that needed solving and while it was resolved, I wanted a different outcome and have been barraging myself with "what if" we had done this or that or... Anyway, I went in fully trusting God and had a moment when I doubted God was working things out for our best interest. Yesterday afternoon at my lowest point, he gave me some precious words from a dear friend that comforted me and my Crosswalk yesterday lifted me and gave me confirmation that God had been working. This morning as I felt sadness filling my heart, I was handed Flourishing in the Desert and the scripture just spoke to me and I can feel peace and acceptance slowly seeping into the crevices of my heart.

Simple Recipes for Summer Days

I received this little cookbook, easy summer food: simple recipes for summer days from my sil. She found it at a TJ Maxx for $5 and it is a very nice little cookbook with mouthwatering photos of each recipe. The subtitle gives me the warm fuzzies too. It reminds me of my Nordstrom's Entertaining at Home cookbook that I love so much; the difference is that these recipes are much simpler. The salt-crusted shrimp with tomato, avocado, and olive salad was a hit, except that we found the shrimp hard to peel after being grilled (does that mean it was overcooked?). I also made the Antipodean potato salad (minus the smoked oysters) and we all loved the olive oil and paprika dressing. I'm thinking about making the paella for Father's Day.

Cherries

Cherries are in season! We don't even try and act civil about eating them. I rinse them in a colander, leave them on the kitchen island or table, and then watch them disappear. The Bird loves them and even though one of my pet peeves is kitchen gadgets, I may need to get one of these Cherry Pitters to survive cherry season this year. What a great excuse to visit Williams-Sonoma! UPDATE: I stopped in Williams-Sonoma earlier this week to pick up this fun gadget. Love it! How did I ever live without it? It will get a place of honor in the kitchen gadget drawer-next to the lemon juicer.

Reluctant Ballerina

The Bird has been practicing her ballet moves since she was big enough to walk. I thought the summer would be a good time to sign her up for an introductory ballet class, so I found a class that is one morning a week for five weeks. Now the Bird is a little stand-offish with new things. She is one of those children that gets so excited about the prospect, but once you arrive will cling to me. I knew the first class would be rocky. The young teachers were so sweet, but the Bird continued to cry and cling to me. I put her in the line, sat her on the dot, but she kept melting at the prospect of me leaving the room. Eventually I left and a few minutes later she was brought to me in tears. The director and I decided that perhaps a Mommy & Me class would be better and we would try that next week. We sat in the waiting area with other moms chit-chatting and I started to take the Bird's ballet shoes off and put her street shoes back on. She wailed, "no, I want to do ballet". We went to the restroom and I had a talk with her about the expectation that she would go alone and I knew she could do it or our other option was to leave and return the following week for the other class. She insisted she would go in and we said a tiny prayer for God to help the Bird to be brave. She went in and finished the class.

Flirty Skirty Sale at Pretty Me

One of the funnest things about having a little girl is dressing her. One of my favorite Etsy shops is Pretty Me. Angie certainly has a talent for putting fabrics together and making the sweetest clothing for your little one. We are waiting now to receive a Lilybird tank and Lizzie ruffle pant. I may just be adding a flirty skirt to the order since they are on sale for $20. Last year, I bought the Bird one with a little mermaid print on the apron and the little bird tank. The fabric is lovely and the quality of the workmanship is amazing. If you have a little bird, you should get her one!

Vintage Summer Flashcards

I think these flashcards from Elle's Studio are so cool! This little shop has the sweetest paper goods and I always get wrapped up in looking at the tags and notecards. Scrapbooking is not something that I do, but if I did I would certainly have a fine time filling up a shopping bag on this site.

Mississippi Gulf Coast

My husband grew up on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, so we visit his parents there as often as we can. We actually wanted to move there before Hurricane Katrina rolled through and pretty much destroyed everything, but those dreams of an unhurried lifestyle by the beach have been put on hold. Metro Atlanta has some great restaurants, but we love the little hole in the wall places that serve po-boys, and seafood baskets that sprinkle the coast. I so wish I had taken pictures of the shrimp po-boy my husband got at the Cajun Crawfish Hut. I had my usual fried shrimp & oyster basket and enjoyed every crumb.

Determined to Blog

I'm going to make a real effort to get this blog going. I know I have nothing of real interest to post, but still like the thought of journaling and sharing thoughts. I was so glad this school year ended. It was really a sad long year starting with my mom's rapid decline and eventual death in September. She had Carcinoid Syndrome and it had damaged her GI system to the point that it just finally shut down. A slow painful death. It certainly made T-bone and I think about what we would want if we were the one laying on our deathbed. I miss my mom and have only recently fully understood that she was gone. I had lived away from her since 1984 and so it has not unusual for me to not see her. The months of not talking to her though caught up recently and the reality of having no parents is settling in.