A man only learns in two ways, one by reading, and the other by association with smarter people ~ Will Rogers

One of my best friends told me today, "You'll never know unless you do it". Those are the wisest words I think I've ever heard.

It's kind of like standing on the edge of a cliff and looking at the dark blue water below. You know the water is going to be cold. You know it will feel like a thousand knives stabbing you all over. You know it will take your breath away. But... the fall will be worth it.

It will be exhilarating... if only for a moment.

What is life without brief moments of exhilaration?

I would rather live my life for the brief moments, the ones that fill your soul with memories. You said it... the bad memories fade. Life has a funny way of leading us around in full circles. People disappear from your life, and reappear when you least expect it. People you love will remain...

I am coming full circle...

This is myhappyplace :)

A mother is a person who seeing there are only four pieces of pie for five people, promptly announces she never did care for pie. ~ Tenneva Jordan

When my children have children of their own, it is only then that they will truly understand how deep my love for them is...

These four human beings have the power to control my universe. When they are happy and content, I have not a care in the world. When they are sad or sick, making them better is my reason for being. I found purpose in my life the very second I became a mother. As I looked around myself and saw the evidence of my child...his high chair, his toys...I couldn't imagine my life before.


I have not always made the right decisions. I have made mistakes along the way. But when I look at these four beautiful creatures, I know that I have done good. They make me PROUD to be a mother. I will love them with every breath I take for as long as I live and beyond.

Life itself is the proper binge. ~ Unknown

Once a week, Wyatt and I are going to look up recipes that we want to try at home. I think this will be an excellent way to get him away from his electronics obsession :) He loves my homemade chicken noodle soup so I found a recipe from Paula Deen and I am going to have Wyatt help me in the kitchen tonight. Wish us luck...

The Lady's Chicken Noodle Soup

~ 2 cups sliced carrots
~ 2 cups sliced celery, with leafy green tops
~ 2 1/2 cups uncooked egg noodles
~ 1 cup sliced mushrooms
~ 3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
~ 1/3 cup cooking sherry
~ 2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary leaves
~ 1 cup grated Parmesan, optional
~ 3/4 cup heavy cream, optional (HA! Optional...funny)
~ Seasoning salt
~ Freshly ground black pepper
~ Crusty French bread, for serving


Directions
Bring 3 quarts of chicken stock to a boil, add carrots, and cook for 3 minutes. Add celery and continue to cook for 5 to 10 minutes. Add egg noodles and cook according to directions on package. When noodles are done, add reserved chicken from 2 1/2 to 3-pound fryer chicken, fully cooked and cleaned from bone. Add mushrooms, parsley, sherry and rosemary. Add Parmesan and cream, if using :) Cook for another 2 minutes. Adjust seasoning, if needed, by adding seasoning salt and pepper. Enjoy along with a nice hot loaf of French bread.

Zesty Roasted Garlic Bread

~ 1 head garlic, unpeeled
~ 1 tablespoon olive oil
~ 1 cup (2-sticks) butter
~ 3 tablespoons minced parsley leaves
~ 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
~ 1/2 teaspoon salt
~ 1 loaf French bread, split horizontally


Directions
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.


Cut top off garlic head. Place garlic on a piece of aluminum foil: drizzle with olive oil. Fold edges together to seal. Bake 30 minutes: cool.


Squeeze cooked garlic into a medium bowl. Garlic will be soft and sticky. Add butter, parsley, salt and pepper, stirring to combine.


Spread cut halves of bread evenly with garlic butter mixture. Broil 5 1/2 inches from heat, with oven door partially opened, for 2 to 3 minutes, or until butter melts and bread is toasted. Cut into slices and serve.


YUM...

WHY...?

I wish I had an on-off switch, but I don't. I try to mind my own business, but I can't. I always want to have the right answer or know what to do, but it's a reeeal tall order. When there is a problem I spring into action. I devise a strategy and mount an attack, but what if I don't know what the problem is? Is it "mother's intuition" that gives me this sinking feeling that something is wrong? Or is it my imagination? Something is wrong...or about to be...  :(

Easter spells out beauty, the rare beauty of new life. ~ S.D. Gordon

When I was a little girl, I remember going to my Grandma and Grandpa Brack's for the annual Easter Egg Hunt. They would hide eggs all throughout the horse pastures and the yard. We would trek out with little baskets in hand, looking for the brightly colored eggs. One of the kids found a small garden snake and my dad chased all the little kids around with the snake! I'm sure my grandma was yelling at him, telling him to quit teasing the kids as they all scattered, screaming :) My Dad, The Tormentor and My little Grandma, The Protector.

My parents would always fill baskets full of eggs and candy and hide them somewhere in the house. As we got older, the hiding places got harder and sometimes there would be one basket that we just couldn't find so we would have to wake my mom and dad to ask where they hid the baskets.

I have always tried to carry on the family traditions that I grew up with. Just getting all the kids together in one place, at one time, seems to be getting harder and harder with each passing year. This year was a success, even if Colby and Shaylee were fashionably late :)

I spent the night before making potato salad and getting things prepared for the BBQ. Sunday afternoon, we set up the feast and fired up the BBQ. We stuffed ourselves on hamburgers, potato salad, beans, and chips. We even managed to fit in some strawberry shortcake which was nothing short of miraculous! 

Then we broke out the cameras for a family photo shoot...

The Next Iron Chef?

We were eating the food faster than Donald could get it cooked so the pressure was on...

Andrews hamburger was gone in 60 seconds :)

Christine had moved on to dessert :)

Cold hamburger? Yummm...

Strawberry shortcake is for cuties :)

Momma and Daughter <3

Easter 2011 was laid-back and low-key. We carried on the tradition of surrounding ourselves with the ones we love. Eating, laughing, and loving the time spent together. One happy family...

Easter 2011

Flat Stanley is a 1964 children's book written by Jeff Brown

Stanley Lambchop and his younger brother Arthur are given a big bulletin board by their dad for displaying pictures and posters. He hangs it on the wall over Stanley's bed. During the night the board falls from the wall, flattening Stanley in his sleep. He survives and makes the best of his altered state by visiting friends by being mailed in an envelope.

The Flat Stanley Project was started in 1995 by Dale Hubert, a third grade school teacher in London, Ontario, Canada. Dale Hubert received the Prime Minister's Award for Teaching Excellence in 2001 for the Flat Stanley project...

Caitlyn's first grade class participated in the Flat Stanley Project. Caitlyn sent her Flat Stanley to her Aunt Natalie in Idaho. Natalie sent Stanley back with some pencils for all the kids in the class and some postcards showing the kids what kind of adventures Stanley had in Idaho.

I am so excited about the idea of sending Stanley on adventures that I am going to contact some friends via facebook and see if we can send him all over the world :)

Juvenile delinquency is a modern term for what we did when we were kids. ~ Unknown

Just when you think your 12 year-old boy doesn't need adult supervision anymore, he gives you a little reality check :)

Wyatt was out last night with two of his friends while Cyle and Colby were at a wedding reception. On their way home, Cyle starting receiving frantic texts from Wyatt saying he was sorry and begging him not to be mad. Cyle raced home and found the house empty. He texted Wyatt to ask what was going on and Wyatt informed him that he and his friends had gone doorbell-ditching and one of the neighbors had called the cops.

When the police arrived at the scene of the heinous crime, my cute little boy RAN! He was public enemy number one! Runnin' from the law...

The other two boys didn't run but they sang like canaries as Wyatt hid nearby in the dark. He could hear them ratting him out to the fuzz. Cyle and Colby were instructed where to go and as they approached the vicinity of my son's hiding place, he came darting out from the darkness and tried to seek refuge in the backseat of Colby's car. He opened the back door and my 7 year-old calmly told him, "Other side". That was it. He lost what remaining hold he had on his emotions and snapped.

To add to the torment, Cyle told Colby to drive them over to the cop car parked around the corner. MEAN! Although I am quite sure that Wyatt fully expected his "friends" to give the authorities all the information they would need to pay him a little visit at home after they were escorted to their houses.

The po-po's were a no-show, but Cyle and Colby got quite a few more laughs out of pretending the cops were at the door, causing Wyatt to wail.

If I were a gamblin gal, I would bet Wyatt won't ever go doorbell ditchin' again. He took a little trip on the wild side and I think he likes it better in front of an X-box in the safety of his living room, where he's the one holding the gun and his adversaries are the one's hiding in the dark...