oh, happy day!!

It’s a dreary, overcast day here. The fog is laid out like a blanket across the landscape. There is a wetness to the air that makes you feel like you could grab a fistful of it and it would be heavy and full-formed in your hand.

I usually don’t enjoy days like this. The weather affects my mood. Makes me melancholy when I don’t wish to be. I resent the intrusion and power it has over me. But today…oh, happy day! It feels like sunshine and bright blue! Why you ask? Because I got my car back!!

A few weeks ago while driving home after picking the boys up from school we were in an accident. It was a minor finder-binder (although it did $7 thousand in damage, which luckily insurance paid for). And the boys and I were not hurt. A little shook-up but nothing a trip to Sonic for an ice cream wouldn’t cure (btw have you noticed that there is a Sonic in EVERY small town in America?).

However, there was a need for a rental car while mine was being repaired. I expressed my desire for a roomy SUV, or some type of luxury vehicle by which my husband replied: Amelia (drawn-out making my name sound like a long suffering sigh) you will get what-ever compact, economy car the insurance company will pay for.


So imagine my surprise when husband pulls into the drive-way later that day with this:

(photo from Ford-Trucks.com)

Which he immediately took possession of, and I was left with our ten year old Toyota that has seen better days.

So today, after almost three weeks of coaxing, pleading, begging the Toyota to perform even the most elementary task (going up hills, over 60 M.P.H., etcetera) without whining and groaning (because quite frankly I hear enough of that from the two redheads, I don’t need to hear it from my car too) I finally got my car back!

So I will say it one more time for good measure…oh, happy day!!

What are you happy about today?

I'm sharing my good cheer with Holly over at 504 Main. She is having her very first blog hop today and I am Tickled Pink to be playing along!

So thats who took my ipod!!

We took the boys to Disney World last October with some friends of ours that also have two boys. We had a blast!! While there we bought M a Mickey Mouse and I can tell you it was the best purchase of the trip!

Mickey sleeps with M every night. He eats all meals at the table. He watches movies along side the boys and plays all their games with them. He is a friend and confidant. Mickey is put in my care during school hours with strict instructions to feed him and make sure he naps:)

So when I walked outside this afternoon and saw Mickey lounging on the table, ipod in hand, soaking up some rays and listening to some tunes, I had to snap a shot with my iphone!

This picture makes me happy and I took it with my phone and those are the guidelines for a photo challenge over at Simplicity.

Mother's Day Memory

The symptoms started when I was about five months pregnant with M. I was walking beside my mother-in-law in a home décor store and I kept losing by balance and grabbing hold of the cart. She noticed my difficulty and commented on it. I thought it was just part of pregnancy, even though I’m in the medical field, this was my first babe and honestly I didn’t think anything could go wrong. My mother-in-law was insistent that losing my balance was not a normal part of pregnancy.

My doctor was puzzled, this was beyond his expertise. I saw the worry in his kind eyes as he sent me for a CT scan. The scan didn’t show much and by then I was weak, couldn’t walk straight, and was beginning to slur my speech. He referred me to a neurologist. A spinal tap (with students watching:), multiple blood work and an MRI later, it was decided that I had an infection and swelling of the meninges of the brain. Viral Meningitis. A scary diagnosis under any circumstances!

They couldn’t give me any medication because of the baby. They said the infection just had to run its course. My symptoms grew worse. I didn’t want to go anywhere because of the stares people would give me. No one could understand me because my speech was so slurred and I couldn’t walk without leaning on someone for support. I felt like me on the inside but I didn’t look like me or sound like me.

My family was wonderful during this time. My mom, dad, and mother-in-law would take me to doctor appointments. I was seeing my OB doctor about once a week as well as a high-risk neonatologist. My husband would wake me up in the morning and help me shower and get dressed. If I got sick he would clean it up. He did the dishes, the laundry, the cooking. I’m sure that he was worried about me and the baby but he never showed it. His devotion and love was unwavering.

During all this time not once was I worried for myself. Motherhood begins the second you find out you are pregnant. I would pray every day, throughout the day that God would lay his hand on my baby and protect him from harm. I laid it all at His feet and gave over all the worry that consumed me.

By the time Mother’s Day arrived I was feeling somewhat better. I was on the road to mend. My husband bought me a card (a Mommy- to-be card). So did my Mom and my Mother-in-law. The doctor’s said that they couldn’t see anything wrong with the baby.

When M arrived almost a month early, he was beautiful and healthy. I had also made a full recovery (all by the grace of God)! The illness has had a few minor lasting effects. I feel like there are gaps in my memory from that time and I feel like I’m not as quick (cognitively) as I used to be (but that also may just be motherhood:).

I will never forget my first Mother’s Day.

I'm sharing this with Sweet Shot Tuesday and Home Is...a Mother's Day Memory.

Be Still. Family

(me and my sweet boys)

(not a great picture of us but one of the only ones without my husbands thumb in it:)

(me and my husband...boy do I need a hair-cut!!!)

We worked and played in the yard yesterday as a family. We had no plans, nowhere that we had to go, no responsibilities or obligations to anyone. It was perfect. A beautiful day to laugh and play with each other. Our big backyard is like our own paradise, except nothing exotic grows there. It’s down-home, homegrown. We grow childhood memories and juicy tomatoes on the vine. The boys were wild cowboys today. Their laughter contagious, I wish I could bottle it up. Save it for a rainy day.

We need this time as a family. This Be Still time that is as important as eating and breathing to us. We need it to feel whole, to feel like a FAMILY. Sometimes I forget that it’s not only me that needs the quiet time. Until we have days like this and it teaches me a lesson. There is always something to be learned if you just listen hard enough. We can learn as much from our boys as they can learn from us (probably more).

We cleaned out the shed in the backyard. The one that we have been working on for awhile and I found some more blue Mason jars and the boys and I watered the garden and dreamed about the things we would make. The food we talked of is similar to what I ate in my Mama’s kitchen and her in her Mama’s because that’s how it goes here in the South. Half the recipes in my recipe box were pinned in my Grandmother’s beautiful script. So, if you asked me if I could think of a recipe that has been passed down from generation to generation I would just smile…yes.

Here is one:

Lemon Jell-O Cake

1 pkg lemon Jell-O
¾ cup water
½ cup oil
3 eggs
1 box yellow cake mix, mixed with above ingredients and bake at 350 for 35 minutes. Take cake out of over and prick all over with fork, have topping ready to pour over the cake.

Topping

Juice of two lemons
2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp butter
Warm just until butter melts and pour over hot cake

I flipped the recipe card over and grandmother had written on the back: this was Owen’s (my grandpa) favorite cake. Nara Grun gave me the recipe in 1958.

Disclaimer: We are health nuts at our house. So most of the passed down, family recipes I put my own healthy twist on:)

I'm sharing this over at One Nutty Girl today and since I don't want to be "absent" from all the boys childhood pictures I'm linking up at The Peanut Gallery as well. (now I just need to teach my husband how to use the camera:)

Mother's Day Cards from the Redheads

The boys each colored me a picture at school today for Mother's Day and answered a few questions about dear 'ol Mom. I wanted to share the answers with you!

M's questions and answers:

My Mom is 22 years old (sweet boy)
My Mom is prettiest when she's in the flower garden
My Mom likes to make soup
My Mom always says, I love you
My Mom is funny when she laughs
I love you Mommy!

N's questions and answers:

My Mom is the prettiest all the time
My Mom likes to make soup
My Mom always says, I love you
My Mom is funny when she tickles my brother

I am busy getting the house ready for mother's day dinner that my husband and I are throwing for our Mom's tomorrow night!

For more sweet stories about Mother's Day go say hi to Lisa at Shine Your Light!

A mouthful of happy!

Have I told you how obsessed I am with cupcakes? They are quite possibly the perfect dessert. You can dress them up or dress them down. You can accessorize them and make them shiny and sparkly or they can be understated. They can have a rich gooey center, a swirly butter-cream topping, serious gnache, or beautifully simple fondant.

(photo by Bliss Cupcake Cafe')

(photo by Bliss Cupcake Cafe')

I make cupcakes every year for the boys birthdays, for my husbands birthday, for my birthday (yes I make them for MY birthday), and I will probably make them this weekend for Mother’s Day. They are the perfect serving size, and can really make a statement!

There is a cupcake shop called Bliss Cupcake Café in my old college town that I have been dying to try. But since I live over an hour away in Small Town now, who knows when I will get the chance to sample their heavenly delights! Their catch phrase is: a mouthful of happy (I couldn't have said it better myself!)

I made the cupcakes pictured below from a recipe in a fun little cookbook called Vegan Cupcakes take over the World! (go to amazon.com and get the KINDLE edition sent directly to your iphone). And here is their blog...so fun!!

(red velvet cake)

I'm not sure how they would feel about me sharing one of their recipes with you even though I would totally give them credit for it (the truth is I have turned the kitchen upside down and can't find the cookbook anywhere arrhh!!)

But I will share the yummy fluffy cream cheese frosting (I hate canned frosting, it should always be homemade)!

Cream Cheese Frosting:

Ingredients
2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions
In a medium bowl, cream together the cream cheese and butter until creamy. Mix in the vanilla, then gradually stir in the confectioners' sugar. Store in the refrigerator after use.

I always get compliments on this frosting:)

I'm sharing this recipe that is not quite a recipe over at Designs by Gollum, and at Jessica's Favorite Things Friday and since Laura was so nice to invite me last weekend to her Saturday is Crafty Day even though I had a recipe instead of a craft, I thought I would go party with her again this weekend.

**A bloggy friend of mine Lindy over at Who am I? is starting a Book Group. We are reading the book Having a Mary heart in a Martha World by Joanna Weaver. Go check it out!**

Amelia

Backyard Flowers

We have dark pink and light pink peonies

Lily of the valley has always been on of my favorites

Red roses

Beautiful purple iris...we have yellow iris in the front yard

It was a beautiful, warm, clear blue day here. As soon as the boys got home from school and lunches got scarfed down and faces and hands got presentably clean (or at least most of the stickiness scrubbed off) we made a bee-line to the back door.

The boys both yelled to me before my feet had even touched the patio "get your camera and take pictures of our flowers Mom" and right then I had a moment when I finally realized, that yes, I am turning into my Mother! (hi Mom:-)

Mom always had a camera and binoculars around her neck, taking pictures of wildflowers and birds. Do you hear that Amelia? she would say. That's a meadowlark. Really Mom? (insert sarcasm here).

But now here I am, camera in hand, asking my boys. Do you see that flower? Do you know what it is? It's funny how life meets you full circle sometimes, isn't it?

What a fun day we had running around the backyard, me snapping shots as the boys yelled: take a picture of this one!!

I want to share all the fun with Darcy and her Sweet Shot Tuesday! I also want to hang out with Sandy at Reluctant Entertainer where we are going to talk about, you guessed it...flowers in our backyard!