On a Chilly Wednesday

There's just something about a chilly day in Florida that makes me want to bake.   It's in the 40s here, with high humidity, so it's a 'wet cold', with wind chills below freezing that cut right through your sweater, (Floridians don't own coats!), and chills you right to the bone.

Despite the cold, the sky is bright and blue and sunny.  I can hear my wind chimes tinkling in the breeze, and the train whistle in the distance.  I brewed a fresh pot of coffee, let the dogs out for their morning romp, and drive my eldest daughter to her job at a mom and pop store that ships packages.  She's been there over a year, and loves her job and the family who own the store.

My younger daughter is working on a Home Helper badge, so she's gathering laundry from all over the house, dividing light colored clothing from dark, and getting the washer loaded.   I'm standing, staring into my narrow, deep pantry with a flashlight, trying to locate the elusive can of French onion soup for a rice dish I want to make for dinner.  

By lunch time, I've fried pork chops in my big cast iron dutch oven on top of the stove, and in the oven I've got apple-balsamic carrots and French Onion Rice Casserole.  I found some leftover baked potatoes in the fridge, and decide to fry them in the pan drippings after the pork chops are finished.   No, no one needs to eat rice AND potatoes, but by frying them I can easily pop them into the toaster over and top with sour cream and scallions and salt and pepper for an easy side for tomorrows dinner.   Assuming no one wolfs them down before then. :)  With this hot food, I make hubby a covered plate to take to work with him.. he eats it later for his dinner break.   I make another plate and cover it for my eldest daughter's supper for when she gets home tonight.  Maybe it sounds a little weird, preparing a dinner so early every day.  But given the schedules, this is what works best for all of us.  My youngest and I have some of what I've prepared for our lunch while it's still hot, and then put away any leftovers.  Later that evening at the 'proper' dinner hour, we generally just have a bit of leftovers, or some eggs, or a quick soup.  Easy peasy.   

My daughter is moving right along with her laundry, and has moved on to a load of towels.  I am really enjoying her earning this badge. :)  She has become rather skilled at laundry in the past week, and I'm feeling rather spoiled to not have to do it! :)   Tomorrow is her last day though, so I am enjoying it while I can.  

Since I've finished "meal" cooking and kitchen clean up for the day, I'm eyeing those bananas and thinking I should whip up a nice banana bread.   It's good for dessert, breakfast, or just a yummy treat with a mug of hot tea.    What's a few more dishes to wash?  Popping banana bread into the oven, and my youngest reminding me that I'd promised to let her do some baking too.   Very well.   Let's bake another one for a neighbor.  (another badge requirement)    Both of us enjoy her earning her badges. :)

The house is warm from the oven, and full of good smells.  Later I'll take out something for tomorrows dinner.  Perhaps I'll bake again, or make it an easy day and use my crockpot.  We'll decide later.

It's too chilly to go outside.  Perhaps we'll play Bananagrams and Rory's Story like we did yesterday.   Right now she's pouring over her badge requirement book, reading aloud possibilities, and telling me the badges she'd like to earn next.   Asking me questions, making me think. :)

I love our days.  Quiet, and peaceful.  Sometimes we read, or watch a program.  Sometimes we play games or have friends over.   Craft making is fun..  she likes 'hands on' activities.  She's a good girl.  Lovable, easy to please, curious, cerebral.  

Some days are busy, with homeschool meetings, play dates, AHG meetings, Special Olympics sport practices, competitions, and events.  But on the quiet days where we've got nothing planned, this is pretty well it.  And we love it.  We get on projects, work on things, have discussions.. and the list goes on.  Our lives are rather simple,  but if you'd ever like to come by for a friendly afternoon visit, we're always happy to have friends over.   Please excuse our dogs shamelessly begging belly rubs.  Sorry about the glue.. we were doing art projects. We've got a spot in here at the table, waiting for you, with a cut of banana bread and a mug of hot tea.....  you've come to the right place. :)   Make yourself at home. ♥      

Bring on 2014!!

                                        

+JMJ+

Since we've been unschooling..   I mean... actively, intentionally, unschooling, I have found that even the sky is not a limit. :)

Today we went fruit picking.  Robyn was glad she wore long sleeves... there are big thorns to to contend with when picking grapefruit and oranges.. the smell was amazing.  We filled our bags.

Now is my job.. of zesting, (to freeze), then peeling, seeding, sectioning, and removing the pith so it is nothing just nice juicy sections of fruit.. and the juice.   Normally I add a can of pineapples and a jar of cherries.. and some sugar to sweeten.  But this time is just the fruit we picked today only..  and the girls still like the sugar.  Hubby and I prefer our fruit sections with a little salt... which grosses the kids out.  :)     I love making the fruit salad, even though it means sitting for hours doing this, back cramping, sticky, and squirting myself in the eye every couple of grapefruit.   I have always loved the 'busy' work of peeling, shelling, snapping...  my mind is roaming a million miles away, while my hands busily make for my family.  I love it.    And my girls are gulping down the fruit almost faster than I can peel it.

New Years Eve is tomorrow..  I've got goodies planned for us to eat and drink.  Dinner planned for New Years Day.   I got English "crackers" this year.  I know they're meant for Christmas, but we were not here for Christmas.  So we're 'pop' them at dinner on New Years.

Thinking ahead to the New Year... what will it bring?  Robyn starts back in Special Olympics in January.  My bocce princess is going to be doing her best, and hoping very much to get to go to State to compete again.   I wonder about her aquatics.  If she'll bowl again this year.  If she'll play anything else.

I wonder about Amy's schooling.. boyfriends..  her work, her friends... and she'll be 21 this summer.  Robyn will be 14.  How fast my girls have grown!

Hubby and I have things planned for 2014.   Personal goals, family goals, financial goals.  Me?  I even have homemaking goals.   Spiritual goals.  Goals as a wife and mother.    Will I meet those goals?  Will I be disappointed in myself if I don't meet those goals?

Tomorrow I'll be putting the black eyed peas on to soak.  I already have the ham and the collard greens in the fridge.  Bacon to fry in, steaming rice, and good Southern cornbread.   Champagne chilling in the fridge, wondering if we can stay awake for the arrival of the New Year.    I'm not dwelling on my failings for this past year... I did things I never thought I could do, and I'm not taking any of it back.  2013 was a really good year.  Robyn blossomed.  Special Olympics has been a Godsend for us... for her.   This year brought new friends, and reacquainted me with old friends.  And deepened existing friendships.  God has richly blessed us this year, truly.

So I light a candle for the New Year.  Remembering ones we've loved who've passed on, not with sadness but with joy.. all those good memories.   Looking forward to 2014...  seeing it as a large, beautiful package with lots of ribbon, just waiting to be unwrapped.  I wonder what treasures it holds. :)   

Time will tell...

Happy New Year, family and friends!!

xoxoxoxo  

Do You Know The Muffin Mom?

Saturday mornings is Special Olympics bowling for my youngest daughter. Hubby and I LOVE going, watching, and cheering her on. Last week, we left without breakfast, and I swore that THIS week, we'd not repeat this. So I decided to make muffins.. with ingredients I had on hand. I decided to share my recipes. Hope you like them too. :)


Rise and Shine, Banana Sour Cream Muffins
1 cup self rising flour
a pinch of Blessed salt
3 mashed ripe bananas
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup sour cream
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F Grease muffin cups or line with paper muffin liners. Beat together banana, sugar, egg and vanilla. Stir in the sour cream. Stir banana mixture into flour until just combined. Scoop batter into prepared muffin cups. Bake in preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes.  Spread liberally with cream cheese.  YUM!!

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Susan's Morning Muffins
1 stick butter, melted
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 and a half cups of self rising flour
a pinch of blessed salt
2 fresh eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup of sour cream
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
cold leftover coffee

Cream butter and sugar, beat in eggs, sour cream, vanilla, a pinch of blessed salt, cocoa powder and then flour. Add cold leftover coffee a little at a time until you get a nice batter consistency. Spoon into muffin tin, (greased or with papers) and bake in a pre-heated 350 oven until done.  Yummy plain or with a little butter.  Enjoy. :)

Being Joyful

Twelve years ago, when my youngest daughter was an infant, she literally had eleven appointments a week, EVERY week, for two years.  Physical, Occupational, Speech, and Cognitive therapies, as well as vision services.  Because my baby was born a little different, as we all are in our own ways

Out of those eleven appointments a week, only two of them were conducted in our home.   All the other appointments, were down at the childrens' hospital, on the therapy ward they had at that time... with all the other special needs kids and parents.  Naturally, we made friends, got to know the other families.  My two girls spent so much time there, it never dawned on them that anyone was 'different'.  Even my eldest who was eight years old at the time we first started going, didn't bat an eyelash at a little friend who was born with her arms on 'backwards', with knees and elbows and ankles that didn't bend.  Many kids unable to walk, talk, unable to move at all.  But kids are kids... they readily accepted each other.  While my youngest was in therapy, my eldest would lay on the mats with kids who had NO movement.. none at ALL.. and she'd sing and chatter and read with them, and I would see their smiling faces and hear their laughter..  kids are kids.. it really was a beautiful thing. 

Dealing with doctors and therapists.... that was a hard time for me then.  My eldest who had just turned 8 years old had just gotten diagnosed with ADHD and ODD... and now I had just had this little year old baby girl too... and she was born legally blind, the myelin in her brain not fully developed, and autistic...  and for me, it was a lot.  I felt overwhelmed.  It was a lot to take in.   I wondered if I was being punished by God.  I wondered if I'd done something when I was pregnant to cause it.  Because, surely, this was my fault?  It had to be.  I cried a lot.  I felt pulled in a hundred directions.  Depression and anxiety were a daily thing for me.. but I kept going, because I had to.. I had no choice.  My girls needed their Momma.  Dinner still had to be cooked, the laundry washed, the dog walked and fed, and homework completed.  I struggled to find joy... it seemed to be hidden away from me.  And it felt permanent.

Looking around on the therapy floor... sometimes it was hard to not cry.   Severe deformities, diseases, illnesses, syndromes that I was not used to seeing...   I would try to smile...act normal... and then later I'd sob my heart out all the way home after our appointments after my kids passed out in the backseat.  How on earth did their families manage?   After all of the "why me, Lord?"... I had an epiphany.  "Why NOT me?"  Seeing the other kids who were severely impaired, or may not even live to see adulthood, made me realize how totally blessed I really was/am. God had given me two very precious gifts... my daughters.  And they are perfectly imperfect.  Exactly the way they are.   Two of the best reasons in the world to be joyful. 

My girls are now ages nineteen and twelve.  Last night I took my youngest to swim training for Special Olympics.  She still has very poor muscle tone, and is a slow, awkward swimmer.  Her legs spread apart instead of keeping them together, and she flails around as she tries to swim.  But she DOES swim!!  With a big smile on her face, she eagerly jumps into the water.   She may not be the fastest, but like her big sister, my girl is part mermaid... she loves jumping in the deep end, having fun, and then laying back to float... smiling up towards Heaven as she relaxes, enjoying the feeling of floating. And she is completely joyful in that moment.  

The Special Olympics is a God-send for us.  I absolutely LOVE that my daughter has friends who accept her, and she can play sports now... sports that she couldn't play before on a 'typical' team.  She isn't the 'odd kid out' anymore.  She is a "pea in a pod" with her team mates.  All that matters here is doing your best, and being brave enough to try.  They are friends.  They are actually pretty competitive, and they really, truly accept each other.  The Special Olympic athletes inspire me...   The volunteers I am so grateful for. God is GOOD!!!

A 5KFoam Fest With Mud and Awesome Kids

What a lazy Monday... lots to do, but just can't seem to find the energy.   I'm afraid I've 'dropped the ball' today on being Super Mom.  That seems to be happening a lot lately.   I am fairly sure the bulk of it has to do with my garbage diet and being overweight.  I need to get back into my "hippie food" and start moving more.  Anyway.

This past Saturday was awesome.  My youngest daughter Robyn, who is visually impaired and who is on the autism spectrum, was in her first ever 5K mud-run.  It's called "Foam Fest", and the idea was to have a 5K run with fun things to do along the way, involving getting either really, REALLY muddy, or really, REALLY foamy!   Lots of slip and slides, things to climb over, crawl through, and run and jump through... which left everyone wet, muddy, with foam in their hair and smiles on their faces!   All the proceeds went to benefit the Special Olympics, which my daughter is in.  The one downfall?  It was bitterly cold... the wind chill was 27'...  and with the humidity we have here, the cold cut right through you.  

Undaunted, my Robyn and her team-mates attended (except for one boy).  Each athlete had a chaperone, so there was plenty of help available if needed.  The race was not timed... it was all for fun!!  Hubby was her chaperone, and she was very happy to have her daddy do this 5K with her.   They completed the run in about an hour.  Though with everything ... we were there, in that COLD, about 4 hours. And it was worth every bit of it.  They had a blast!!

She is already planning to go again next year.  Maybe next year, I can do it with my husband and daughter, and it would be great if our eldest daughter did it too.. make it a family thing.  I would love that!!  She did awesome.. this same girl who HATES getting dirty, has zero balance, and is  perpetually afraid of falling, (and does fall, just crossing the room), did this 5K.. she was able to do 90% of it.. and the little bit she was unable to do, she did her BEST at it, and was completely fearless.  We are so very, very proud of her!!