Autumn Memories

The sun hangs just a little lower in the sky today. A cool wind whistles through the trees and around the corner of the little white house in the valley. The air is crisper, cleaner even, with just a hint of a bite to it as it swirls the leaves around me. But still the sun shines on adding just enough warmth to my body. Sweet inviting hickory smoke hangs in the air from the neighbor’s chimneys. I sit in the rocker on the porch watching colors drop from the trees until the wind grabs them dancing them across the sky—a whirling dervish of red, orange, gold and brown. Some engage in a slow waltz, others an almost frantic tribal dance. At the end of her long day, the sun dips behind the mountain top adding her own reds, oranges and golds to God’s canvas. The night’s chill starts to creep in as I wrap my sweater tightly around me, not yet willing give up on the day. Soon, familiar sounds of rattling dishes and irresistible smells of Mama’s beef stew beckon me. I thank God for this beautiful autumn day and join my blessed family. Tomorrow I’ll receive another beautiful gift from God.

~~This is a repost of an old entry.  Autumn is my most favorite season and this fully embodies my feelings.  I just felt led to share it today. 

Thankfulness November 1, 2 and 3

Thankfulness.  November is the time we really think of what we are thank for because of Thanksgiving coming up.  I generally try to post something I'm thankful for each day of November.  I'm a little behind so I'll get caught up.

November 1, I am thankful for a a warm house to come home to on a chilly, breezy day.  As much as I love the chill and bite of the Autumn air, it is nice to know I can come home and snuggle under a warm blanket and be safe and secure.  So many people don't have that especially now in the wake of Hurricane Sandy.

November 2, I am thankful for Scott trying .....  and LIKING Chick-Fil-A nuggets!  He has always said he didn't like them.  That night coming home from hockey, he and Dad stopped and Dad convinced him to try them saying he only had to eat 4.  Well, he ate 7!!!!  And told me they were "really good!!"  This may sound trivial but for a VERY picky boy who had virtually no appetite, this was HUGE!!

November 3, I am thankful for NC Forestry Service Ranger Mike Huffman who led an awesome program at our local Educational State Forest for our WEBELO Scouts and Girl Scouts  today!  He was entertaining, kept the kids engaged and taught us ALL so much about the forest!  It was a beautiful day to be outside and we thoroughly enjoyed our visit and our hike with Ranger Mike!

And lastly, this is my 200th post!  I'm very honored for it to be a Thankfulness post!  Please, I'd love to have comments of what YOU were thankful for today!

She Cried Last Night

She cried last night.  Not an “I’m angry and I want to make a point” cry.  Not an “I want attention” cry.  Not an “I want my way” cry.  A real “I’m hurting” cry.  The kind where you escape from everyone and bury under the bed covers and try to wish it all away.  The kind where you quietly sniffle and the tears roll slowly down your face.  The kind where you don’t want to talk with anyone.  The kind you don’t want anyone to see.  

It broke my heart.  I wanted to fix it all for her.  I wanted to make it all go away.  I lay with her in her bed and rubbed her back.  I encouraged her all she hard work and accomplishments.  I told her how much I love her.  I had to admit to myself that I can’t fix everything.  I cried too.  

Volleyball Girl!!!

I can't believe I haven't posted this yet but we HAVE been pretty busy!!  Sara made her Middle School Volleyball Team!!!  She was so happy!!  She worked so hard to get there and we could not be more proud of her efforts!!  Go Lady Gators!!

Happy Birthday to Sara!!

This month my wonderful daughter turned 12 years old.  12 years!!  Oh my gosh!  She's getting soooo grown up and we are so proud of her!!  So in her honor, I am going back into the archives and sharing an old post.  It still speaks to my heart and I expect it always will.  I hope you enjoy Just Like Me.

Wordless Wednesday

Anxiety

Yup, anxiety.  Everyone has it at some point or another.  And we all handle it differently.  My son and I tend to get that sick feeling in the pit of our stomachs.  My daughter, well, she just gets mean! 

And she showed us today.  She is going to volleyball camp this week.  She’s never been to this facility before and she won’t know any of the campers.  I understand the anxiety.  At her age I would have been sick as a dog in that situation.  I saw it coming too.  She couldn’t fall to sleep last night staying up until after midnight and then waking again at 4am.  She’s tired.  She’s anxious.  She’s CRABBY!!! 

Please God, help her to enjoy the day, make new friends, sleep well tonight and have a better attitude tomorrow!!

Chicken.....and Shrimp! It's what's for dinner!

I've recently begun cooking again.  I mean real cooking, with fresh ingredients and recipes.  Not dumping a box in a pot.  This is driven partly by my family's efforts to improve our health and cooking from scratch is getting us away from all those processed foods and broadening our food horizons. 

I'm loving it even if it is a bit of a challenge with my busy schedule.  And I'm finding myself severely disorganized in the kitchen from all those years of box cooking.  But I'm still loving it!  I'm getting faster each day I cook!  LOL!!

One of my favorite cooking blogs has got to be Gina's Skinny Recipes at SkinnyTaste.com.  She is AWESOME!!  I've tried several of her recipes and I'm always satisfied!!  I'll post more of my Proven Awesome Recipe from her site later.  But tonight I made Healthy Baked Chicken Nuggets for the kiddos (yup, those are mine in the photo) and Healthy Breaded Shrimp for Hubby and me (sorry, no photo for those, we scarfed them up too quick!). 

Both were a huge hit!!  The nuggets were moist and tender.  I added a little garlic powder on the chicken because we like it that way.  The shrimp were soooo good!  I never need to eat a "fried" shrimp again!!  And both recipes were easy.  The breading was the longest part but still didn't take too much time.  I served the shrimp with cole slaw and a baked sweet potato.  The kids had mac n cheese (admittedly, this WAS from a box!).  And a good meal was had by all!

What We've Been Up To

It’s been so long, it might be time for a quick update.  DH and I are still married--19yrs in Jan!  Wow!!  Seems like yesterday and a million years ago all at the same time! 

Sara is almost 12 now and getting ready to start Seventh grade in a few weeks!!  Sixth grade was a pretty big adjustment but she did well.  I don’t think Seventh grade will be too hard on her.  She’s a typical Tween—moody, sweet at times, argumentative, helpful, attitude (wonder where she gets that!).  She is going to try out for the school volleyball team!!  She’s nervous I know but she’s been going to camps this summer and she’s played recreation league for 2 yrs now so I think she has a great shot.  Keep your fingers crossed!!  She’s still in Girl Scouts and loving it!  She’ll be a second year Cadette this year and I’ll be a third year leader!  Wow!!  It’s really great though watching “my Ladies” grow and mature!

Scott is 10….and a half!  He’ll in Fifth grade this year!  He’s kinda nervous because he doesn’t know any of the teachers (he’ll have 3).  But I think once he meets them at orientation, he’ll be fine.  He is a second year Webelo Scout and will be earning his Arrow of Light and crossing over to Boy Scouts this year!  He has really enjoyed it!  I’m happy he wants to continue.  DH is the Den Leader still and does a great job!  Scott is gearing up for ice hockey again….I think.  He said this summer he might not play because he’s been playing for 6 yrs.  But he keeps talking about getting new equipment so I think he still will.  He’ll be a second year Squirt.  He played Upper House last year as a first year Squirt so we expect he’ll make Squirt A this year. 

Piper, the Hyper Dog is……still hyper!  LOL!!

Must Be August!

I don't know what it is about August but it seems to tap on my blogging shoulder and whisper in my ear, "hey, don't ya miss the Blog?"  I have restarted this blog several times always in August.  Now it appears that August missed me or I didn't hear her last year but that's ok.  I have missed blogging.  I don't think many or maybe even ANY people read it, but that's ok too.  Someone may stumble upon it and find something they like one day. 

I am trying to decide what direction to go though.  I've always had a mish-mash of everything on here.  But I wonder if I should focus on SOMETHING like Scouts or Tweens or ADHD or Photography or Health or any number of other things!!  If you happen to read this and have an opinion, drop me a note and let me have it!!  But for now, Let's get this party started and see what we can do here!