Feeling Helpless

My kid was upset last night. My husband and I were in the living room minding our own business over a nice book each when it dawned on me that I had been hearing crying coming from upstairs. Our daughter has a couple of medical things going on that require "regular monitoring and periodic intervention". Nothing life-threatening but definitely life-long. She's always been such a good sport about it. The past year or so she has begun to occasionally express frustration that she has to have these things done but for the most part she takes it all in stride. Not so last night. Apparently, while she was writing down this weekend's sleep-over with a friend on the kitchen calendar (our Brain-Central of the house), she took note of the her scheduled trip to the O.R. in a couple of weeks. Now, this isn't a surprise- she's known about it all summer. But the take-it-in-stride stars just didn't align for her last night.

Maybe it's her age. My kid is an independent operator, not caring too much about bending to pressures from other kids or worrying too much if she's a bit off-beat. She is off-beat but that quirkiness is what makes her so fun and likable and she generally likes to be her own gal. It isn't because he's cute that she likes Johnny Depp movies- no, it's the quirkiness. Solidly into the tween years now, however, she has begun to care just a bit about her looks, being normal enough, and fitting in with the crowd. Not much, but a bit. So the regular trips to the little pool of physicians in which she swims must suddenly indicate to her that she's abnormal in some way. Don't you remember that feeling as a kid, that horror at thinking that you may not be quite OK enough?

So what does a mommy do after she sneaks upstairs and crawls under the covers with her kid? Well, you snuggle and huggle of course. And you let her cry. After awhile you ask, "What's the matter sweetheart?" and of course she says "Nothing." But the tone of her voice means, "Really big things are the matter and I'm trying to be brave but if you ask me again I'll spill my heart because I really want to talk about it and I need my mommy." (Tweens-- miles of sentences with no punctuation in sight and no stopping for air.) It's so nice to be needed, even if you have no idea how to help.

We don't know the burdens and troubles other people must bear. We do know people who are in situations that are so much more serious than ours. We pray for them and are thankful that we aren't in that place. We don't know why God has chosen to hold back His healing hand from our daughter. It's a huge step, even for an adult, to accept on faith something that you feel is deeply unfair. What do you say to the most precious person you know who harbors a suspicion that she is unacceptably different? Quirky and independent are one thing but "different", to a Tween, is a whole 'nother ball game. It's serious business.

I did my best to help her see things in a perspective that would take away her fears- fear of going back to the O.R., fear of being unacceptably different, fear of what things might be like years down the road. As parents, we do the best that we can, we pray more over one person than anyone else in the world, and we do our level best to keep our own concerns and fears hidden away. My daughter can tell you both of the times in her life she has seen me cry but neither one has been over her medical issues. She needs to know that I'm not going to fall apart on her in these situations. I need for her to know that they aren't worth falling apart over.

She is a Tween now. These are the discovery years, when she'll start finding out who she is, what she can do, where her talents are, and how she fit in to the world around you. She starts to change. She actually picked out some non-Tomboy clothes while school shopping the other day.

Maybe Johnny Depp is kind of cute after all.

Thanks for visiting today. Thanks for letting me spill my heart.

Terra Cotta Garden Bells

I'm not sure where this Garden Bell craft came from. I vaguely remember seeing a similar craft somewhere, though I'm not sure it was even a bell craft, but this is an adaptation of that project, whatever it was. How's that for being vague and uncertain? This was a great success with the patients at work and there were several staff looking over our shoulders taking notes. So let's get busy.

You need:

2 clay garden pots- the two smallest sizes

Garden twine- about 24 inches

Jingle Bell

2 macrame beads

The clay pots measure 1.5 and 2.5 inches across the top. I had to go to Michaels to get them as the Garden Center at Lowe's did not have them this small. Of course you can make them whatever size you would like but these look so dainty.

Check your macrame beads to make sure they are larger than the hole in the bottom of the clay pots.

You also need:

Craft paint in whatever colors you would like. This will get you started. Scissors and paint brush

The hardest part of the craft for my patients was deciding how to decorate them. We stayed with paint but you can add embellishments or decorate any way that you can imagine. Of note- these will not stand up to high wind or high moisture environments so I would suggest hanging them under the porch roof, inside a sunroom, by an open window- any place that is protected but still gets a breeze.

Paint you clay pots first. You can paint them solid, like the pot on the left in the photo, or just the rim, as on the right. You can do just the rim on both or only one. You may need a couple of coats if you want a good solid, opaque surface. This is also the stage where you decorate the surface however you choose.

Cut your twine to 24 inches, fold it in half, and slide the loop end through the hanger loop on the jingle bell.

Thread the cut ends through the loop that has already been strung through the bell and ...

... pull the twine up nice and tight.

Measure your pot. These are 1.5 inches tall so I made my set of knots at about 1.25 inches. This allows the bell to hang down just below the rim of the pot and be seen as well as to catch any breeze.

When you make your knots, you may need to double knot to keep the bead from sliding down. Make sure you make the second knot right on top of the first ...

...not above or below. Slide your first bead down onto the knots.

Thread the ends of the twine up through the smallest pot.

Measure 1 to 1.5 inches up on the twine and repeat your knot and bead.

Make a nice hanging loop above the top pot. (Hey "top pot" is a palindrome. Surprise!)

And there you have it- an inexpensive, easy decoration for your garden or porch.

You can actually make these somewhat weather proof by finishing off with a coat or two of Polycrylic but you have to plan around any embellishments you might want to add. Flat embellishments like stickers, pictures, cut-outs, etc can be covered with the Polycrylic but 3D elements like rhinestone, glitter, polymer clay, etc might be trickier to coat. Those will need to go on after thge Polycrylic. You'll figure it out.

Just some others.

This one was decorated with Sharpie pens. How easy is that?

These were done by a couple of my patients.

Look how cute she made this little Ladybug bell, with silver pipe cleaner legs and antenna.

I came up with these for a friend whose daughter got married a couple weeks ago. The white rimmed ones were for the bridal shower earlier this summer. The silver rimmed ones were for the evening "garden formal" receptional under a canopy tent after the wedding. The ones we made for these events (I lost count of the final number- we made alot) actually had regular windchime tubing instead of the bells. Super nice sound. But when I went back to get cheap mini-windchimes at the Dollar Tree for this tute, they were all out. Hmmm, bet I know where they went.

Both have glitter on the rim.

These looked really nice and the rim very sparkly under the candle light at the reception. Tons of candles.

One of these days I'm going to see how they turn out using three pots in successively smaller sizes.

So there it is-- fun fun fun. And cheap cheap cheap. Yeah!!

Late post today because when I was ready to photograph the bells yesterday, a huge thunderstorm roared into the area and it all had to wait until this afternoon when I got home from work. It just wouldn't be a normal week if we didn't have a big storm to knock out the power.

Thanks for looking in on me today- stop back soon.

Happy Birthday

1. Birthday Glow, 2. wrapped for a party, 3. Cupcakes!, 4. birthday cake

We had a birthday around here last week. Our kid busted into the Tweens with all the flair and gusto with which she normally does anything. No, I can't believe we're at eleven already and I wonder what I've been doing for the past eleven years. Just trying to keep up, I guess.

by [ Leah ]

My husband and I travelled the fertility treatment road and when we got to the end of that road, we decided to sit at the intersection for awhile and rest. Rest, heal, cry a little bit if we needed to, and see what God wanted us to do next.

And then, beyond all scientific explanation, there she was- a miracle and a blessing neither one of us thought we deserved. To me, this precious child is a demonstration of both God's grace and His mercy.

I don't have any profound insights into parenting. It's been such a different trip than I ever imagined, with valleys to climb out of and hilltops from which to enjoy the view. Always more hilltops. I'm still amazed at how suddenly you fall in love with someone you've just met. You start out together, total strangers, and as you get aquainted that sudden love takes on incredible depth and richness and passion.

How is it that I can love my child so much? I believe that because God so desperately wants relationship with us, He builds into us a huge capacity for love. We are made in His image and our ability to love is a reflection of His image, of His love for us. That capacity to love doesn't grow out of the primordial soup. It is planted in us in order to respond to His love for us. That the ability to love spills out to others is like, well, frosting on the cake.

by TheKarenD

What do we do with birthday cake? We share it. Likewise, we share God's love with those around us, we reflect that love, we spread that love, because He has given us that capacity. Because He loves us.

And has blessed us.

August is National S'Mores Month- yes it is!!

by Reckless_Reckra via Creative Commons

We're pretty big S'Mores fans at our house and I may as well just come clean- it's mainly me. Big Un doesn't have much of a sweet tooth and the kid has a sweet tooth but there better be chocolate involved, so S'Mores work. Me- I have a sweet tooth, hide the S'Mores.

by cseward via Creative Commons

I have been collecting S'Mores recipes for years and it's quite amazing the incredible variety of ways you can incorporate chocolate, marshmallows, and graham crackers into a recipe. I've never come across a low-fat S'Mores based recipe and honestly I'm not so sure I would be interested. Really- isn't half the fun of eating S'Mores that feeling that you are being oh-so-bad and you thrill  over the total decadence and bazillion calories? It's something that is so indulgent and sensual and disgusting in a sexy kind of way that it should lead straight to hell. But it doesn't! It only leads to that sick feeling of being incredibly ashamed of having enjoyed such hedonistic abandon and even though you are totally grossed out and remorseful, swearing you'll never do it again, you know you will.

Image via Wikipedia

You know how when you bite into a S'More that's fresh and hot off the fire you'll sometimes get that drip of scalding marshmallow on your chin? How can anything on earth be that hot? And when you try to peel it off, it takes a layer of chin-skin with it!

Image by kretyen via Flickr

I view that marshmallow branding as my just punishment for eating S'Mores. But even that is part of the total S'Mores Experience and is so awesome. Sick- but I like it.

I've never contemplated a S'Mores tat, but ...

by dr. huxtable via Flickr Creative Commons

So not only is August National S'Mores Month- there's a S'Mores Day as well. August 10th is the day to get your S'Mores Gluttony Groove on. The recipe for S'Mores Bars that I am going to share with you is from the Hershey's website and would be a perfect way to celebrate the day.

You're already salivating, aren't you? OK, let's get to work.

S'Mores Bars

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened

3/4 cup sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/3 cup flour

3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

4 (1.55 oz each) Hershey chocolate bars

1 cup marshmallow creme

Directions:

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8-inch square baking pan.

Beat butter and sugar in large bowl until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla and beat well.

Stir together the flour and graham cracker crumbs, baking powder, and salt.

Add this to butter mixture and beat until blended.

Press half the dough into the prepared pan.

Arrange the chocolate bars over the dough, breaking them as needed to fit.

Spread the marshmallow creme on top.

Scatter bits of  the remaining dough over marshmallow and carefully press to form the top layer.

Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until lightly browned. Cut into bars when completely cool.

Mmm, S'Mores Bars.

How fast do these go when you take them to work? Fifteen minutes.

Before I go, I would like to share a couple other S'Mores delights with you. This is S'Mores season of course and so manufacturers are getting their goods out. Lucky us.

The folks over at Pepperidge Farm really have come a long way from the original fish crackers. Love 'em! Now the S'Mores fish. And not only are they baked, they are made with whole grain. Gotta be good for you, right? These are actually 3 different kinds of crackers- the marshmallow, the graham, and the chocolate, the idea being that you stack them up and make little fish S'Mores sandwiche. Shoving a handful into your mouth all at once gets the same effect. Sadly, I must report, after extensive research, that these are not as yummy as other efforts to capture the S'Mores seasonal market. Like the Ritz crackers S'Mores-- oh, now those were good.

(If you look closely you can see the menacing sky in the pic above. Man, have we ever had some huge storms this summer. But I digress ...)

My kid and I did Sonic the other day and look what I parked right next to! Yea, you better get one too because they're all that and more.

Image via Wikipedia

Check out these links for s'more fun with chocolate and graham crackers:

More S'Mores More Smiles is a page by Kraft that has all kinds of fun little recipes and activities as well as an opportunity to sign up to win some cool prizes.

Baking Bites has a nice S'Mores fudge recipe here (and you thought it couldn't get any more decadent).

It's been fun today. I suspect we'll see more S'Mores this month. Yeah!