Baby Sunflower

I just came across this baby picture of my younger daughter, as I was cleaning out some old boxes. I remember putting this sunflower head piece on her. She was such a beautiful baby 🙂

And now she is still beautiful 🙂 

 

With my Own Two Hands – poem for my teenage daughter

Sirens whiz by on the road outside
Someone unknown to me is in trouble
I say a silent prayer.
The six o’clock news shows a video
People are homeless from a hurricane
I offer a silent prayer.
An accident occurs on the road as I drive
A person is in trouble
I call 911 on my cell.
My daughter spills hair dye on the new sweater
Her grandmother gave her for Christmas.
She cries…
I take her to the store and buy her an identical one
Happy to do it because
at least
for now…
She still has problems I can fix
With my own two hands.

Friends

I was watching Friends yesterday on Netflix. I noticed how Monica was laying in Ross’s lap a lot.

I never had a brother, but my sisters and I never  laid on top of each other as adults.

I was just curious if this is normal for brothers and sisters to be all cuddled up at the cafe and on the couch at home?

My family was not affectionate so maybe I grew up differently and do not know.

I was particularly surprised at the scene where she was laying in his lap at the cafe and he was stroking her hair to comfort her for a long time.

It’s not that it offends me. I really like the show. I am just not always sure what other families do and it looked odd to me.

They also seem to talk about sex more than I would do if I had a brother. Particularly about Monica’s sex life.

I have brother in law that looks out for me like a sister. I do not tell him if and when I have sex or if I  am planning to have sex when I go out.

I assume the show is trying to portray a normal brother sister relationship. But sometimes it seems like the line between brother and sister and intimate relationship gets crossed.

I was just curious. What is normal touching between adult brother and sister? And where are the boundaries about talking about sex life.

It just kind of seemed like things I would never be comfortable doing.

Annie

Funny Pizza Story

I thought this was a funny thing and I guess it is good for kids to have parents with a sense of humor. First a short background tale…

When my older daughter (who is now 18) was very small, maybe 2 years old, her father and I learned our lesson about leaving pizza unattended with her around.

One night we ordered pizza from Dominoes and left it in the living room, where we were going to watch a movie, to go and get paper plates and drinks. We had only been out of the room for a few minutes.

When we returned all of the pepperoni, and all of the cheese was gone from the top of that pizza. Even some of the sauce had been licked off of the slices.

So, there we were left  with a big circle of dough for dinner.

We have recounted that story many times over the years and after that only one of us went to get drinks and the other guarded the pizza. LOL

Tonight I was making dinner . I guess I was multi-tasking of sorts because my daughter (the one in discussion) was in and out chatting with me and showing me the new outfit she had bought with her paycheck. She was very proud of it. It  is really cute and perfect for work, since she really did not have any professional looking clothes for working in a clothing store.

Also in and out, I was chatting on email with a friend and checking my other emails. I guess I was not paying attention to everything that was going on around me.

I had made the pizza and it was cooling. Since I have limited electrical cooking facilities, I have to cook one thing at a time. I was making the side dish, while the pizza sat on the table.

Guess what?

I stopped to get something from the table, and there was the pizza……cheese and pepperoni all gone off of several pieces. I stood there and laughed remembering when she was little. Also I had to laugh at myself a little because I was in the room the entire time and had not noticed her eating all the toppings and cheese off of the pizza.

Good thing for kids when their parents have a sense of humor. Even her sister laughed and I made her a BLT insead. Kids will be kids even at 18.

Prom Night for my Little Girl

All dressed up for prom

Dress of black and pretty heels

Hair all done in ringlet curls

So many things to feel

Adventure awaits you 

Music and dancing

Handsome young man

So charming and fetching

As I watch you spin

and twirl in the mirror

I still see my little girl

If you Can’t Find the Ice Scraper…Stay Out of the Kitchen !

My teenage daughter and I got into a conversation about her driving soon. She is 18 and I have to take her to get her learner’s permit soon.

I began mentioning safety rules and things like that. It was raining outside, which made me want to talk to her about rules for driving on slippery roads.

Somehow this conversation went into funny stories about what NOT to do with the car.

I told her that my mother once could not find the ice scraper. She was late for work so she decided to improvise.

She went into the kitchen…yes the kitchen… What do you think her tool of choice was?

No. you didn’t guess it. A butter knife! Yes, she scraped the windshield of my step father’s black cadillac with red interior with a butter knife.

Needless to say, he was not too happy with all the scratches all over the windshield.

But then….my daughter said she could top my story!

She said that a few winters ago, her grandmother (my ex husband’s mother) did something worse than the butter knife to the windshield.

I thought..what could be worse?

My daughter said “It was MUCH worse !” 

Well, I was in suspense.

So, the story starts the same way that my story did. 

The windshield was full of ice. She could not find the ice scraper.

SO………

She went into the kitchen….yes the kitchen..

Nope, not a butter knife.

She got out a pot and boiled some water. Yes….here it comes..

She poured boiling water all over the frozen windshield !

Yes, it cracked. It cracked all over the place. It made a terrible noise, which is what she noticed first and then a little crack that just kept going. Then more cracks.

Needless to say,  Grandpa was not happy when he came home.

So, both of my daughter’s grandmothers wrecked their windshields when they could not find the ice scraper, and decided to seek tools from the kitchen. .my mother and my ex husband;s mother.

So, the moral to the story is one of the following.

1. When you think you have the best story about your relatives….someone can top you !

2. If you can’t find the ice scraper….Stay Out of the Kitchen !

Day After the Prom and a Short Story

I am awaiting the return of my 18 year old to let me know how her prom evening went. I have not seen her yet, but I think she will be back in a couple of hours. She has been out with her boyfriend an his family today.

He is a good kid and I am glad that she found someone who always treats her with respect . He is intelligent and kind. The other day, he was waiting for her while she was fussing about not finding the right clothes.

She was in her room and came out every few minutes in a different outfit. He would say she looked great and then she would say “Oh no yuck. This outfit won’t  work”

It was funny but she was very frustrated and upset. He said nice things about each thing she came out in. She was annoyed that she could not find her favorite slacks. She came out in dresses and all kinds of other things, claiming she had nothing to wear.

He told her she would look beautiful in anything and they were only going to his aunt’s house to the pool, so they would not be wearing the clothes, they would be wearing bathing suits.

I just chatted with him about all kinds of things, to keep him company while he was waiting for her.

I apologized for her taking so long to be ready. He was so sweet and said “It’s okay. I have no where to go. I planned to spend the day with her and she is right there, even if I can just hear her from behind the door and see her popping out now and then.”

All of our daughters should have someone like this.

Actually she just texted me. She had fun and is on her way back.

Live Simply

Sunset Yesterday Photography

Yesterday my 12 year old daughter and I were out shopping for bunny food at Walmart. This bunny is so spoiled that he will only eat this particular kind of bunny food.

I tried to buy him the cheap brand that had no colored things in it one time.

He tipped the bowl up just so that it went up to the edge of the cage, facing outways. He got just the right angle that dumped all of the food out of the cage, right through the spaces in the gate and onto the floor.

It was funny and surprising, He usually dumps out his food because he does not like it in the bowl. He dumps it into the middle of his cage and eats it. This time it  was a very deliberate method of making sure all the food landed outside of the cage.

(You see this bunny? He is peaking around right now, to see what I am up to. I am sitting on the floor with the laptop and he is making sure I am behaving)

So, anyway…we were at the Walmart than carries his brand.. It is really cool because the picture on the front of the food looks just like my bunny. It is the same color and everything.

So…back to the story…

When we came outside of the store, the sun was setting….

Where is the Easter Candy?