My Grandmother

My grandmother is my only living blood-related grandparent right now. She is the matriarch of my family. She is beautiful, and sweet, and caring, and funny (even though I don't think she always means to be). And she just turned 94! Can you believe that? This petite, preppy, strong woman just turned 94. Man, I have good genes.

Last weekend, I went up to North Carolina to visit her for her birthday. Fortunately for me, my grandmother's "kids" and their spouses, who get together every year for her birthday, allowed me to crash their party and join in the fun.

And boy, was it fun! We laughed so hard my cheeks hurt from smiling. My Aunt Bobbie and her husband Brent are just about the funniest people I've ever met, so when you get them together with the rest of the hams in our family, the laughter is non-stop.

We went to Home Depot to get some flowers for my grandmother's balcony. We were all over the place asking questions, pulling things off shelves, arranging flowers in our cart... it was very amusing. And these two rebels clearly can't read don't care what the sign says:

 

It was so pretty out, that I snapped a pic right there in the middle of the Home Depot garden department!

My Mom, Aunt Linda, Grandma & Uncle Bob

It was clearly meant for me to be on this trip. I mean, just look at this rack of flowers!

I also got to spend some time with my cousin Trevor, whom I rarely get to see. It was great catching up with him and visiting his sleek bachelor pad. :)

Sorry, many of these pictures are blurry. No one really wanted their picture taken, so I had to be quick and stealth like. :)

This is my Aunt & Uncle's beautiful sun room. It overlooks their serene tree-filled back yard.

And this is their cute doggie, Desi. I love him! He made me remember how much I miss having a doggie around.

We all went to my grandmother's apartment to help put up the flower planter, which turned out quite beautiful, thanks to my Aunt Linda.

This is my grandmother's lovely living room. She was able to bring most of her furniture from her house in NJ, so it feels very familiar.

Saturday night we all went to dinner at my grandmother's retirement community in the formal dining room. It's quite fancy, and jackets are required. All of the women thought the men looked quite dapper!

Back left: Uncle Bob, Uncle Brett, Uncle Herb, Front left: Cousin Trevor, Grandma & my Dad

Of course us ladies wanted a picture with the birthday girl too.

Back row: Aunt Cheryl & Me, Front row: Grandma, Aunt Bobbie, Aunt Linda, my Mom

It was a very special weekend and I am so grateful to have all of these awesome people in my life. Thank you Aunt Cheryl & Uncle Bob for hosting all of us - we sure loved staying at the "Healy Hilton!" :)

Love you all so much.

What to do with over-ripened bananas {a recipe}

I eat bananas. Almost every day in fact.

Parker eats bananas too.

So why do we constantly have bananas in our house that look like this...

It's frustrating that they seem to go bad so quickly. If anyone has any tips to keep them from ripening so fast, please feel free to share.

In the meantime, I've found a delicious recipe - that my kids LOVE - for banana bread muffins. And those pesky over-ripened bananas are just perfect for this!

Here are the ingredients:
*not pictured: baking soda & chocolate chips

Ingredients:
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil (could sub apple sauce for 1/2 the oil)
1 egg
3 ripe bananas
2 cups flour (could use whole wheat flour for healthier option)
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup chocolate chips


And here are the directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 and place 15 muffin cups in muffin pans.

2. Using a mixer, mix together sugar, oil and egg until creamy & light yellow.

3. Mash together the bananas and add vanilla. Then add this banana mixture to the sugar mixture. Mix again until combined.

4. In separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt. Mix with spoon to combine. Then add flour mixture in batches to banana mixture, using your mixer to combine.

5. The original recipe didn't call for chocolate chips, but I think adding a few never hurt anyone, so I added about 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips. Use a spoon to evenly distribute them throughout.

6. Spoon mixture into muffin tin (I do this using an ice cream scoop for consistency).

7. Bake for 25-25 minutes.

They are great for breakfast or an after-school snack (or served with vanilla ice cream for dessert!) 

 Click here to get the printable version of this recipe.

Enjoy...and let me know if you have any tricks for keeping my bananas for ripening so quickly. :)

Changes - 1st Day of School

We've had a lot of changes in our lives recently.

Some of it good, some of it not-so-good.

But there's something to be said about change. It awakens you. It makes you realize that nothing is ever guaranteed to stay the same. And it makes you take stock of things and think about whether this "change" is something that should have happened a long time ago, or maybe it was just all in God's timing.

And while the difficult changes are taking a while to iron themselves out, I'm trying to focus more on the positive changes that have been happening. For example...

School is back in session!

Payton is in 3rd grade now, so he's an old pro when it comes to his elementary school. He's familiar with the campus. He's comfortable with the learning environment. He's got more friends than he knows what to do with, and he loves his teacher this year.

Here are a few pics from the first day:

At open house, his teacher sent home a letter with instructions to open it the night before school. Inside was a cute poem and a packet of "Jitter Glitter" which was to be sprinkled under his pillow to help ease any 1st day nerves.

You know I was vacuuming up this stuff first thing the next morning. :)

Here are the boys holding their grade signs. So cute.

 

Not sure about my crazy looking smile. I don't like auto-timers. Also, do you like how Payton & I have a ninja grip on Parker's arm? He kept picking his nose thinking it was funny. Okay, it was a little funny. :)

My boys. So handsome.

Payton immediately settled right into his seat and started chatting with his neighbors.

 

Parker on the other hand. Well...his first day didn't get off to such a great start. He was super happy when we arrived at his new class. We showed him his cubby and had him take a little picture in front of it:

 Then we made our way over to the table which was set up with some Play-Doh (which he loves) and began playing with one of his teachers. He was perfectly happy until I said, "Okay, I love you" in that "this-is-my-way-of-saying-goodbye" voice. Then...the meltdown occurred.

Pre-meltdown - happily playing Play-Doh

Brian snapped this photo - accidentally, I believe.

That's me in the white shorts walking away from my screaming child as one of the teachers goes to intercept him from re-attaching himself to my leg. He's screaming if you can't tell.

That poor little girl in the pink is looking at him like, "Dude...this class is awesome, why ya makin' such a fuss?!?"

I was reassured at pick-up that he only cried for a few minutes.

I know this to be true because I stood outside the classroom until I could hear that he had stopped.

Thank God Brian was with me because I may have just gone back in and scooped him up and said, "Thanks ladies, but we'll try again next year." But Brian promised me that he would be fine and reminded me that Payton did this for months when we first started dropping him off at the church nursery.

They do get comfortable eventually...right???

He actually did much better today, and it's only his 2nd day. So that gives me hope. I love the school so much, and I know he will too once he gets used to being away from his mommy.

Being back in school mode has been great so far (except for the crying issue with Parker). The boys are worn out and ready for bed by 8. They're also up early, which is good. I hate waking kids up for school.

So now I'm taking stock of all of these changes in our lives and realizing that change is good. It's making me grow in some areas that I didn't know I needed to. It's showing me that shaking things up a bit is healthy. And it is definitely reminding me that I love my family...something fierce. 

A Special Birthday Party

A dear friend of mine named Vanessa sent out a mass text last November informing people that her 14-month old daughter named Brittany had been diagnosed with rare form of cancer called Hepatoblastoma. My hands were trembling as I read the text. I couldn't imagine what she could have possibly been going through. My heart ached for her. I began to weep...

...and then I prayed. And I kept on praying for this little girl through tests and doctor's visits and flights to specialist around the country.

And then prayed more as she underwent surgeries and chemotherapy and more tests and more hospital visits.

And we prayed for Vanessa and her husband Danny for strength and understanding and for increased faith and perseverance. We prayed for their other two young daughters who couldn't possibly understand the depth of what was happening to their family.

And then, last month, I cried again - but this time tears of JOY - when we heard the news that the doctors had declared that little Brittany was in remission! Her cancer was gone and her blood tests showed that she is doing awesome!

Praise God for miracles like this one. Praise God.

My friend, her husband and their two other daughters have been forever changed by this experience. It's now part of "their story." They could easily sit back and relish in the fact that they have their little baby home, safe in their arms... healthy... cancer free. But instead, they are using this experience to bring attention to pediatric cancer. They are raising funds for St. Baldrick's Foundation and doing it in a not-so-quiet way...

...they threw one HECK of a party!

The theme of the party was "Over the rainbow, where dreams really do come true" and they raised a ton of money for the St. Baldrick's Foundation. And let me tell you, when this family throws a party... they throw a PAR-TAAAAAAAY!

It took place at their family's tree farm out in Dade City. The huge acreage was lined with all kinds of beautiful trees growing in perfect rows. In the back of the property was a huge pavilion where they had set up a DJ, a catering station, tons of tables and an additional tent for seating. Every single thing was covered in rainbows. From the balloons to the tissue paper poufs, to the centerpieces. Oh, and let's not forget my son's favorite spot...

The rainbow candy station!

And to be sure the little ones were thoroughly entertained, they also had a water slide...

...a bounce house...

...a face painter AND a balloon artist...

(apparently Parker is into superheros now??)

...and did I forget to mention pony rides?? Oh, yeah, they had those too...

 And after eating and drinking to your heart's content, they served the most beautiful (and delicious!) rainbow cake to celebrate their amazing baby girl's 2nd birthday.

And although the party was all about celebrating Brittany's recovery and the joy that comes along with her birthday, there were also some tears shed when Vanessa presented a slide show of Britt's journey through her cancer diagnosis and treatment. Then, through tears, she thanked her family and friends for their support. It was beautiful.

Just when I thought my mascara was just about gone, Vanessa announced that her husband would be shaving his head today in honor of Brittany and all of the other pediatric cancer patients out there. They were donating money for anyone else willing to have their head shaved as well.

Vanessa shaving her husband, Danny's head.

Once that announcement was made, other people stepped up and said, "We'll also donate for each person who gets their head shaved!" I believe it was well over $100 per person when it was all said and done. And let me tell you... there was a LINE of people waiting to get that stunning "summer cut." :)

In the end, we all just stood around crying and laughing and celebrating this special girl.

Danny, post-head shave, holding Brittany.

After experiencing two close people die from cancer in the past few years, I am so absolutely thankful to see God's healing powers in this little girl. Thank you Lord.

"May you never take one single breath for granted..."

1st Day of School: Teacher Gifts

Remember the old TV shows like Andy Griffith and Leave It To Beaver the kids when kids would bring an apple to their teacher on the first day of school? Well, times have changed and kids rarely bring in an actual apple these days, but the idea of giving a small token of appreciation that first day of school is still a very nice gesture.

I found these great free printables online at iheartnaptime.net and thought they were just too cute not to use for our first day of school teacher gifts!

 

courtesy: iheartnaptime.net

In keeping with the whole "Apple for a teacher" theme, I bought some of my favorite apple-scented products from Bath & Body Works including body wash, antibacterial hand soap and lots of little hand sanitizers (I love these!).

(Each of my boys have two teachers this year, so I needed enough products for four teacher gifts.)

I used double-sided tape (use the Scotch brand - nothing compares) and taped the little sanitizers to the larger bottles. Then tied them up with a pretty pink bow... because really, what gift doesn't look better tied up with a big ol bow???

Then I cut out the free printable labels from the iheartnaptime blog and taped them to the back of the bottles (using the double-sided tape again).

What teacher wouldn't love to receive these cute gifts on the first day of school?

How bout them apples? (Sorry, I couldn't resist.)

Wishing a very happy first day back to everyone!

Dog Days

It's officially "that" time of year.

It's too hot to play outside (unless you're in a pool); and the kids are tired of playing inside.

It's definitely the "dog days of summer."

Good thing school starts next week (can you hear me smiling?!?).

But, I've been doing my best to get creative and keep the kiddos busy with all sorts of things. We've had lots of fun with friends and even managed to fit in a little science experiment for Payton and some scissor practice for Parker. I love sneaking in learning when they don't realize it.

We've got a few more exciting things planned this week including some pool playdates and an ice cream party at the neighbor's house. I think these kids should be nice and worn out come Sunday. Which will give them exactly one day to rest before starting school on Tuesday.

Until then, here are some recent pics of our everyday lives...

We celebrated the boys' half birthdays last week. They each got half a cupcake with a candle in it. Parker thought the candle was the most exciting thing in the world. Payton was just excited to get a cupcake with an enormous amount of icing on it.

I snuck in a little secretive learning on the kids. I practiced scissor cutting with Parker. We made a cute "back to school apple" picture using the cut up pieces of construction paper.

Just look at the concentration on their faces! Too cute!

And then we did a little science experiment combining corn starch and water. We researched why it turns from a liquid into a solid depending on how you hold it. Very neat for kids! Very messy for adults.

 

Our sweet neighbors had us over for swimming and dinner last week. Parker now loves to jump off of anyone's shoulders into the pool. He's a fish.

And I got to babysit for my good friend's 4-week old. He's just the most precious thing ever! I loved snuggling with him all evening... and then handing him right back to his parents knowing that I would get a full 8 hours of sleep that night (unlike them).

Parker wasn't too sure of baby Nicholas at first, but then he was quite intrigued.

Who wouldn't want to cuddle this bug all night?!?

We went to our dear friend's house for dinner on Saturday night. Parker was having such a great time playing with their two kittens...

And I may have had a bit of fun with them too. They're so playful, I love it!

So far, this week has been busy with a trip to the beach, Payton's last kickball game (which he did so well in; he caught two balls and made it on base several times, scoring twice), and today we went bowling.

I love the kids' expressions in this picture. Oh, the anticipation!!

They're so cute!

Best buddies.

And if that's not enough to wear you out, this is what my kitchen table currently looks like:

 It has 550 pieces to it. FIVE HUNDRED AND FIFTY pieces. Please God, let him finish it soon.

That's it from our neck of the woods. Hope you all are enjoying these final days of summer break as well. Or maybe you've already started back at school. If so, I pray that everyone's first days went smoothly and that very few tears were shed. As for me... I'll have the tissues in hand, thank you very much.

Okay, off to work on a puzzle...