Sunday morning cooking

While this recipe does not exactly "go with" any New Year's resolution on the planet (unless your resolution is to eat more and gain weight), it is a pretty perfect recipe for a Sunday brunch.

My kids love Cracker Barrel's hashbrown casserole.  Like, Gabe could eat two plates of the stuff by himself (not that he gets the chance, are you kidding me?!).

So I set out in search of the recipe for Christmas morning's brunch, found this one, made it, and it was a winner.  And the leftovers?  Even better, especially when you heat it up in the toaster oven under "broil".

(And I wonder why that five pounds won't just fall off?)

Below are the details...the link, the recipe, and the picture (not of mine, you know mine won't turn out that pretty, but who cares what it looks like, it still tastes delightful!)

http://southern.food.com/recipe/cracker-barrels-hashbrowns-casserole-copycat-15242

Winter plan.

Winter in Ohio.

This time last year, those three words almost drove Joe and I to pack up our kids, find a home in Florida, and vacate the midwest forever.

Last winter was the worst one I can ever remember.  We had family dramas trying to suck us in, bitter cold that made it impossible to escape, and more snow days than even the kids could stand.  By March, I was turning into a cranky, frozen snow-witch.

Seriously.  I'm not usually a complainer, but I complained about the cold, the snow, my numb hands, snow days, our house, the kids...I drove MYSELF crazy.

But you know what happened?  Spring came, then summer, and they were the best spring and summer I can remember.  Mother Nature redeemed herself, I enjoyed our yard more than ever before and appreciated each and every warm, sunny day.

Pincushion flowers that greet me every spring in our garden.

This winter, I made a promise out loud, to Isabel and on Facebook.  "I will NOT complain about the winter, or the cold, or the snow".  I will use this time to catch up on home projects, my family scrapbooks, my card-making, learning new recipes, playing games with my kids and Joe.  I will count my blessings for a warm house, and a new heated blanket, and furry fingerless gloves that I can wear when my fingers grow numb (I can even type in them!).

I will patiently wait for spring, and I will not wish away these winter days with miserable complaining.

(Please feel free to remind me of this post if you catch me starting to complain.  Especially in March, when the temptation will be great.)

Do you like winter?  Or do you snuggle in under the blankets and count down the days til spring like me?

GIVE

Give.

"to offer to the action of another".

My One Little Word (thank you, Ali Edwards) for 2015.

My goal for the year ahead is to give more of myself.  More time, more money, more love, more service.  With a kind heart and good intentions.  My bigger goal is to help my family learn to do the same.

There is power in giving.

Yes, you might earn credits for community service (the kids will need that for college applications).  You will probably get that warm fuzzy feeling from helping someone else.

But most importantly?  You will make the world a better place, one giving act at a time. 

I have three children watching my every move.  If I can instill in them the power of a giving heart and its potential effect on those around them?  I will be able to call it a job well done.

Have you ever chosen One Little Word to focus on for the year?

Almost a wrap.

2014 is coming quickly to a close.  Another year, a lot of memories, kids growing up before our very eyes.

Gabe is now a fourth grader.  Learning multiplication and long division and reading Hardy Boys mysteries.

Isabel is fifteen.  The age I told her she could color her hair and date boys.  (What was I thinking?!)

Elijah is sixteen.  Driving.  Working.  A junior in high school, thinking about colleges and careers and moving out of state.

Um, if you go back to the beginning of this blog, (seven years ago), you would see this:

And now, we look like this:

Yes, it's a cliche, but seriously, where does the time go?  Sigh...I love watching them grow up, and I do look forward to seeing what they become, but I am really going to miss these years having them all under my roof and within a hug's reach.  If the past seven years went that fast, I can't imagine what the next seven are going to do.

Thank you, Angie Wells, for inspiring me to blog again.  It's been too long, and I hope you follow through and make a blog of your own.  Joe and I dream of moving to Tennessee someday, but for now, we will be happy to live vicariously through you :)

Summer's over already?!

Seems like just yesterday, it was June and we were here, in Michigan, kicking off the summer with a great family vacation.

And now it's nearly fall (my most favorite season ever).  It was a fabulous summer; not too hot, lots to do with every one of us healthy and happy and able to swim, go to amusement parks, hang out with friends, oh, and work (well, Joe and I worked, the kids played).

I'm getting ready to have a milestone birthday next month...the big 4-0.  And you know what?  It doesn't even phase me.  Maybe it's because I talk to people in their 80's and 90's every day for my job, but 40 still sounds really young.  Maybe it's because life is good right here where I am, and I am trying to soak up every minute (even the sassy teen moments, and the fighting-with-Gabe-to-do-his-homework moments; yes, even those).  But seriously, look at how precious time is and how fast it goes.  When I started blogging, Gabe was just turning three and Isabel and Elijah were little grade-schoolers.  Look at that photo again...those kids are huge!  I'm so glad I blogged my way through those crazy years, and even though I'm not here often, I still love reading other blogs and watching time pass by through their lives, too.

I have good intentions about a "turning 40" post, complete with pictures from our trip we have planned.  Stay tuned!

Moments

It's so funny to me the moments in our kids' lives that we cherish, they view in a completely different light.

Last week, Elijah accepted an award for Student of the Quarter of his freshman class.  What an honor, right?

Well, unless you're a fourteen-year-old boy who dreads the thought of getting up in front of an auditorium full of people to accept an award for being, gasp, a good student!  How horrifying...

Horrifying for him (though secretly I'm pretty sure he was a little bit glad), but awesome for his family.  Hearing praise from his teachers, watching him shake the hands of the school administrators, quickly wiping a tear from my cheek before I completely embarrassed him...it was a pretty amazing evening for this proud momma.

Good thing he wouldn't even dream of reading this blog; he'll never even know I told you guys about this!

Off to a great start

2012...the year I lost the weight I wanted to lose, gained the job I wanted to get, and kept on cherishing the family I was always meant to have...

Still crazy about this guy, even after sixteen years!

Joe (38), Elijah (14), Gabe (8), Isabel (13), Me (39)

I am over-the-moon in love with this season of my life.  The kids are doing great in school and are so much fun to be with.  Joe and I are enjoying each other and the free time we find while the kids are with friends or in school.  I am busy learning a new job, and within the next month, I will be working from home, helping Humana Medicare members manage their health and stay out of the hospital as much as possible.  I miss blogging as much as I used to, but I am glad to keep in touch with so many of my blog friends through Instagram, Facebook and even Goodreads (where would we be without technology these days?!).

Here's to a fabulous and even better 2013, for all of us!!

A different kind of nurse

I started this journey twenty years ago, when at the age of eighteen I walked through the halls of The Christ Hospital School of Nursing and signed up to learn the art of being a nurse.  Two years later, cap and diploma in hand, I graduated and entered the world of critical care nursing.

I have worked in five different ICU's, labor and delivery, floated throughout the hospital and worked on just about every unit there was (except the operating room and the nursery).  For the past three years, I have been the nursing supervisor over the entire hospital, walking those halls night and day, ensuring the safety of the staff and the patients within those many walls.

And now the time has come for a change.  My kids are grown.  I'm tired of working night shifts, and spending weekends and holidays away from my family.  I'm tired of the politics I see each and every day.  I'm tired of being caught in the middle, trying to do what's right but being told not to in the name of the budget.

A new opportunity has come my way.  The chance to work with patients again in a case-management setting, via telephone, from the comfort of my own home.  Yes, I will be working forty hours a week, which I haven't done in ages.  But I will be at home!  Traffic jams, bad weather, wardrobe malfunctions...they won't affect me.

I have five more shifts left at the hospital.  It is bittersweet.  I will miss the friends I have made there over the years, especially the many people I have met as a supervisor.  I will not, however, miss the ever-increasing stress of the job.

The best thing about nursing is the opportunity to do so many different things with your degree.  There is no reason to get burnt out...get out and move on.  That's what I'm doing...and I can't wait!

Sixteen years and counting

October is a great month in so many ways.  The cooler temperatures, the gorgeous colors, the ability to wear boots with every outfit...

We have lots of reasons to love October this year.  Our 16th wedding anniversary, our family cruise vacation coming up, my last-year-in-my-thirties-birthday, a booming photography business with lots of photo shoots scheduled during the month.  I am loving October of 2012 so far, and we're only four days in!

Joe and I kicked off our celebrations with a day trip to Caesar Creek State Park, hiking and taking pictures and being silly together.  I love that we can still have so much fun, probably even more fun than we had while dating.  We are so comfortable with each other; even when we get on each other's nerves, we know that we are in this for the long haul and we learn to just get over it.  As his beard gets grayer, and my hair requires more frequent coloring to hide my own grays, I hope that we have even better days ahead.

Happy anniversary, honey.  I love you like crazy, even when you leave your dirty laundry on the floor :)

Summer 2012 (Walking off the pounds)

It started with a prompt on Facebook.  A group called "Get into your jeans regardless of your genes".  Led by a friend and joined by other friends, I checked in every day and followed the "rules".

Drink lots of water.  Eat lots of protein.  Eat less sugar/carbs.  Eat every three hours.  Move.  Do different exercises.  Measure.  Weigh.  Support each other.  Succeed!

August 1st was the first day.  I had a goal of 15 pounds to lose (the weight I gained while back in college).

Kay joined me.  We modified our eating habits (never once calling it a diet...I hate that word.)  We walked at least three miles a day, five or more days a week.  At least three days a week, I lifted weights and walked an  additional three miles on my own.

As of today, we have both lost weight and inches.  We are energetic and happy.  We are having fun, feeling great and looking better than we have in years.  I have three pounds left to lose to meet my goal, and I hope to even beat that goal in time for our family vacation in October.

From now on, the summer of 2012 will be remembered as the summer of weight loss, Kay-and-Heather-style!

Hurry up, Autumn!

Officially, the calendar still says "summer".

The weather outside screams "hot and humid".

The flowers in my pots are tired and spent, ready to trade places with mums from my favorite local nursery (I prefer the rust and maroon...what about you?).

I had the house to myself yesterday.  I couldn't wait one more day...I headed downstairs, braved the spiders in the storage room, and got out the containers brimming full of fall decor.

I scattered pumpkins and leaves and spiced candles all around, from the entryway to the kitchen, the living room to the guest bath.  I got out my favorite fragrances from Bath and Body Works:

And I got recipes for turkey-pumpkin chili from a friend:

As long as I don't step foot outside into the sweltering heat, I can convince myself that fall is here!

When do you decorate for fall?  Is it still hot where you live?  And have you ever tried pumpkin chili?

Almost End of Summer Pool Bash

Trying to coordinate the schedules of three busy sisters AND their children is a near impossible task.

Somehow we managed to pull it off and even had a gorgeous day to go along with it.  Rhonda and I carpooled to Michelle's backyard paradise on the west side of town, kids and suits in tow.

We ate LaRosa's pizza, drank gallons of water and lemonade, and laughed (or screamed if your name is Gabe) the afternoon away.

Our only question at the end of the day?  Why on earth didn't we do this more often?!

Getting all five kids in the picture at once while in the pool proved darn near impossible.  This was the best attempt.

"Take a picture of me being crazy, Mom!"...um, that's all the time, Gabe.

Our girls...oh, my.

Artistic attempt :)

Love the age of missing teeth!

Love these sisters of mine.  Seriously blessed.

Now it's back to school, back to work, back to the daily grind.  And although we are all about 45 minutes away from each other, we know we will see each other again soon (as in, Saturday for Gabe's birthday!).  Can't wait!

Seasons

Just like seasons, some friendships come and go.  There are a select few that stick around for the long haul, and then there are acquaintances who fade out as time moves on.  Sometimes it's sad; other times you barely notice from under the piles of your hectic life.   The trick is weeding through those superficial friendships and finding the ones that are worth nurturing, the ones that will nurture right back.

Isabel and Elijah both have many friends, in different groups (school, sports, neighbors).  I love that they can hang out and have fun with such a variety of personalities, no matter where they are.  Gabe is still at the age where he has one best friend (a neighbor), but many other friends at school.

As a busy wife/mom/nurse, I have friends in many places, too.  Co-workers, neighbors, parents of my kids' friends, family.  My sisters and my mother-in-law are the ones I talk to on an almost daily basis; they are the ones who nurture me as much as I nurture them.

How do you balance friendships and acquaintances?  Do you still have childhood friends in your life now?  Could you be best friends with your mother-in-law?

Blur

This time last summer, I was knee-deep in work and school and clinicals and trying to muddle my way through papers and care plans, praying that I would make it to the other side, with my Bachelor's degree and my sanity intact.

I did.  I made it.  And I'm standing here on the other side, wondering how on earth I managed it.

This summer is halfway over, and it has gone by in a blur.  But instead of papers and exams, it has been full of hiking trips, Kings Island days, pools and sun and trips to the library.  Time with my friends, my husband, my sisters and most importantly, my kids.  And though those 2 1/2 years were hard, they did have a way of making me appreciate this time even more.

What have you been up to this summer?  Has the time flown, or been dragging on?  And are you ready for back to school yet?

Beauty

Her spirit.  Her personality.  And yes, even her outward appearance.

Isabel is a beauty in every sense of the word.  And I am privileged to be her mother.

We had so much fun together, making our way through downtown Cincinnati, changing outfits (her) and taking over 450 pictures (me), along with Michelle and Danielle.

The best part:  spending hours walking, laughing and talking, being together.

Just doesn't get much better than that.

Summer equals

lazy mornings, late nights, playing with friends, lots of books for the summer reading program, and afternoons with cousins at the local Nature Center...

gawking at the one-eyed goose,

playing with clay at the creekside,

posing for the camera to capture the moment (these kids grow way too fast!),

risking poison ivy to get the perfect photograph,

exploring the authentic log cabin, inside and out,

Just a peek at what's happening around here, now that summer has officially arrived!

What does summer mean to you?

Fourteen

Dear Elijah,

Fourteen?!  I simply cannot believe you are fourteen years old today.  I know, I know...I sound like an old lady talking about how fast time flies (when it seems to go so slowly to you).  But seriously, I remember the day that you were born like it was yesterday.  Every single detail (which I promise not to scar you with, but believe me, I remember every.single.detail.).  You were loved from the moment you were born, just because you were our son/grandson/nephew/cousin.  And now you are loved for so many other reasons.  Your sense of humor; your laugh; your intelligence; your love of baseball; your athletic abilities; the way you love and respect your family (okay, most of the time).  All of these things make up the personality of the one teenager on the planet that I love most...you.  It has been an awesome experience so far, being your mom.  I can't wait to see what the future holds for you!

First time pitching...second grade (over 6 years ago).

Looking much more serious.

Elijah Joseph, just shy of fourteen years old

Happy 14th birthday, Elijah!  Hope this one is the best yet!

Father's Day

Happy Father's Day, Joe!  You're one of the best dads I know!  And these guys think so, too:

Now, can we please get a puppy?

:)

Kings Island

Living less than ten minutes away from Kings Island is one of the best things about our town, especially in the months of April through October.  We love hanging out there with friends, family, and sometimes even just the grownups.

This week was Cousin Day, where we spent over seven hours and walked over seven miles, riding rides, eating pizza and pretzels and Dippin' Dots, and laughing and giggling our way through it all.  Making new memories and just plain having fun.

Seriously, isn't their happiness contagious?

The train is still a favorite!

Difficult decisions:  the green one or the purple one?

My sister, Rhonda, and me

I hope our kids remember these fun days with a smile...I know we will!

Seasons

At twenty-four years old, I became a mom for the first time to a sweet boy, Elijah.

Eighteen months later, Isabel joined the scene.

Four years after that, Gabe made his entrance.

Life was pretty hectic for awhile.  Working night shift, not getting much sleep, coordinating our schedules which meant not having much time together for Joe and me...I loved those babies like crazy, but it was hard and exhausting work.

Fast forward eight years.  We have a sports-tastic teenager, a fashionista preteen, and a rambunctious little brother.  I still work nights, but only part-time.  We no longer need a babysitter.  We can go to the adult section of Kings Island together as a family and all have a great time.  

They're smart, they're kind (most of the time), they're funny, and they are just plain good kids.

Joe and I have survived the baby season, the crazy toddler season, the just-starting-school season...and now we're entering the nearly-independent-but-still-need-parenting season...and we love it!

What season of life are you in?  Any favorites?  Advice on surviving the difficult seasons?  On making the most of the best seasons?