Happy Father's Day!

Grandpa Pete

Grandpa Pete is truly a diamond in the rough. He is a farmer and a trucker in Oregon. He works hard and says little. When he does say something, you listen. The first personal words he said to me were on our wedding day. We were taking photos and he leaned in and said "you look beautiful". Lots of people said that to me, but I knew it was true when he said it. He is a kind and gentle man who is so tender with us and our children.




Pappy

Pappy is my Dad's Dad. Wow. Pappy is a preacher and retired district superintendent of the Assemblies of God Church. I grew up listening to him preach. I grew up in the shadow of his spotless image. He is someone everyone in our area looked up to. He truly lives what he preaches. I can always count on him to point me towards the cross. He also loves gadgets and would always be the first to introduce us to the newest thing. He is a back door masseuse and chiropractor. He raised 8 children (7 boys and 1 daughter), and he now has 16 grandchildren and 20 great grandchildren (I think, I counted quite fast). He wed me and he dedicated my children. He will be 90 next spring and in all his 90 years, has been a honest and true man. In all my 34 he has been a dedicated granddad. He truly has always made each of us feel as if we were individually loved.






Pa-Pa

My sweet Pa-pa. A mason. A railroad, train and history enthusiast. He had an entire little house out back filled with trains and villages. He would turn them all on and you would feel 2 inches tall and in a whole new world. He farmed and had chickens. He was always building something. Up at the break of dawn, to go to town and eat with the other men in town. I loved those early morning breakfasts. Everyone knew I was Bob's granddaughter. He could read Braille. He made a little bench in the back of his truck and we would sit there and eat candy he would buy us at the country store. He later taught me to drive that old truck. Some of my favorite childhood memories are of playing under the big oak, on the swing he had hanging from it. Or driving his go-cart that he would drive in parades with his tall mason hat. A true "lodge guy". He always had on dickies and his sleeves were always rolled tight above his strong tanned arms. He had one blue eye and one "rainbow" eye. He was truly the strongest man I have ever met.






My Dad AKA Crazy Pa

I had the best dad on earth. He was a great example for helping me find a great daddy to marry. My Dad is handsome and everyone loves him. I can walk in a grocery store and the cashiers will say "oooh, Michael's daughter, we love your Dad". They love him because he is good. A Christian man who is kind and makes people feel special. A man who would bring doughnuts to his staff. He was a marine in Nam, and that tells you how brave (and a little crazy) he is. When I was young we lived out west. He was a hang glider and the coolest dad. He is so funny and silly. He always made us laugh. At bedtime he would sing us "The old black magic" as our bedtime song. He would run and tickle us silly. He was playful and had fun with us. He was also stern and we didn't cross him. We had a healthy fear of him and a great respect. He has principles and will always choose what is right. We could always count on him to make yummy treats and to have candy in his pockets. As a grandpa, he was coined lovingly with "Crazy pa", because he is a "wild and crazy guy". The kids know that bedtimes and healthy diets won't be adhered to and that they can ride their scooters through his hallways and camp out on couch pillows on the living room floors. I truly love this man so much. I feel like the luckiest little girl alive.

My Dad with us as children



My Dad as Crazy Pa



And then there is the Daddy I married. I knew he'd be a good Daddy by the way he was with George, our kitty. Daddy bottle fed that cat, and was always so sweet with him. I made a good choice. He is truly a #1 Daddy to our children. He is tender, he is fun, and he truly takes an equal role in caring for their every need. I want to say that he "mothers" them, but he has given the true meaning of Fathering...He 100% nurtures our children like only a Father can!!!!

Happy Father's Day Daddy!!!!

Dinner Dialogues

If any of you know my sister's mother-in-law Gabby, you know she makes the best Spanish food in the South.....because she is not from the South. She was born and raised in Colorado, by two Spanish parents (her mother's last name is Martinez-Martinez, haha). Anyone who has been to Colorado knows that there is nothing like their food!
I often ask for her recipes. I make her chicken tacos all the time, every time with raves of praise. I also love her chicken casserole. The picture doesn't do it justice. It is divine! It also goes good with coconut water (but don't tell her, or she might think I committed heresy).
I am not going to steal her recipe, and will actually copy it in her words for your enjoyment. Here goes:

First , you can either cook (boil) two whole chickens OR buy rotis. chickens in deli. Bone them. two cans of soup...one, cream of celery, and one of cream of chicken . One can of ortega green jalapeno HOT chilies...OR (you won't find that) so get one fresh one , dice it up pretty fine . THAT is IF you want to it to be really Mexican , and you and your family like HOT spicey food. You will also need chicken broth. ONLY if you get the Rotis. ones. If you cook fresh ones the you will already have fresh broth...the chicken WATER ! Okayyyyy, Mix the two soups with the jalapeno and broth until it is NOT RUNNY, but creamy...not thick creamy...NOT RUNNY creamy . (GOOD LUCK) NOW, YOU will need TWO BLoCKS of mild....NOT Colby...I don't think it's chedder.....(IT'S late can't think of it !!!) I'll check it out in the morn. Cheese ! It's yellow ! Moving right along....YOU will need a whole bag of any kind of TACo CHIPS.
Alright, When you bone the chicken...sort of shred the meat into smallish pieces...NOT BIG HUNK pieces ....NOT tiny pieces , hahaha,
sorry. ( i know this is stupido) :))..... NOW ! you are going to build your masterpiece. LAYERS !!! Start with taco chips on the bottom of a rectangle glass baking dish. Next a layer of chicken,soupy stuff on top of chicken, taco chips on top of that and then a layer of cheese that Mickey shredded for you on a shredder...(DO not use already store bought shredded cheese, it is NOT thick enough and NOT enough cheese !) Then start over, on top of cheese, chicken, soup, chips, then cheese . keep doing that until you are sort of brimming at the top of dish. BE SURE AND END WITH LOTS OF CHEESE ON THE TOP OF CASSAROLE. Bake for an hour 350. IF your soup mixture is toooooo soupy it MIGHT run over on your beautiful and clean oven. But , it shouldn't. When it is done the top should look COOKED...sort of crusty....NOT like soft melted cheese! THIS DISH WAS BORN TO BE JALAPENO HOT. It is still ok,sorta good without them. Some people would rather it NOT be hot...those people are called gringos.....hahahahaha....THAT is a JOKE ! (kind OF)
I LOVE YOU ALL ....Best of luck...I usually serve this with SPANISH RICE.....do you know how to make THAT?????????????????
IT is soooo easy....but I am exhausted at 1:00 AM...let me know if you want the Rice. OHHhhh you need COLD COLD COKES or Dr..Pepper...with THIS !!! NONE of that mamby pamby TEA STUFF! THIS is serious business we are talking here ! GNIGHT ! P.S. DO NOT CHEAT AND USE THAT FLIMSEY , PUNY ALREADY SHREDDED STORE BOUGHT CHEESE !!! Not with MY RECIPE !
P.S.S. !!!!!! Dice up a medium size "spanish" ONION..."SPANISH" onion....NOT WHITE or any thing else ! Sprinkle it through out the layers ! ( I almost forgot it) WHEW. Are you sure?????? you are up to this ??????? It's NOT hard...I just make things hard....I absolutely "H" cooking . :))) WEAR AN APRON you will need IT.


Enjoy!!!!

Piggy Bank

Bluebird found a dime today, she came and showed me her treasure and said "I need to put in my bank-a-pig".

Adorable!

Coconut Water

I love coconut. I love a coconut cake, coconut shrimp, coconut flavored drinks, almond joys...recently I started drinking coconut water. I find that a cold can of coconut water (with pulp) is the most refreshing after thing to drink after a long run. I have also found that I eat less after drinking a can. It fills me up a bit, for a while. This brand has 150 calories, and is only 59 cents a can. It can be found in the Hispanic section of your grocery store:



If you love coconut, want something refreshing, AND are trying to lose weight...well, try it. Maybe you will get addicted too.
If you don't love coconut, you might be like everyone else in my household who thinks this sounds disgusting.
Either way, I thought I would share my new vice.

What's for Dinner?

Ever miss a squash in your garden and by the time you find it, it is a 9 inches long and seeds are too big to eat? Here's an idea, stuff it. This was delicious. I suppose it would make a nice side dish, but we ate it as our meal. All the veggies and herbs right from the garden. That is the way to eat. Recipe below:




Stuffed squash

1 over sized squash, cut in half and seeded
1 small squash, diced
1/2 green or black pepper, seeded and diced
1/2 apple, diced
1/2 yellow onion, diced
1 stalk of celery, with leaves, diced
1 clove garlic, diced
1 sprig rosemary
2 sprigs thyme
salt
pepper
chili powder
1 cup brown jasmine rice
bread crumbs
shredded Parmesan cheese

Dice the veggies nice and small and cook in olive oil until broken down. Then mix with the rice and a bit of bread crumbs

press down into your squash and top with cheese, drizzle with olive oil and bake at 350 for 1/2 hour.

Enjoy.

Tee Ball

so....our Boy is a shy one. He needs lots of time to "warm up" to strange people and strange situations....in an effort to make this easier for him, I try to offer him opportunities to try new things, be around new people and go to new places. Thus, tee Ball.
It isn't only that I knew he would look adorable in his saggy baseball pants, with cleats on his over sized feet and an over sized hat on his little head...but TeeBall is also an opportunity for him to run and play and have something to look forward during this long hot summer.
Little can be more adorable (or maddening) about trying to organize a bunch of 4 year olds. I can't tell you how many times I had to tell him to go back on the field, only to hear him tell me "I'm tired". (which is untrue and something he denies even at his most delirious sleepless moments).
So practices are LOOOONNNG. I keep hoping they will get better, and I will let you know if they do. In the meantime...check out this cutie.






the answer is Yes, totally worth it.

Letters

What happened to writing letter? I love the internet and emails and texting as much as the next guy. It allows you to have quick and easy contact with lots of old friends, new friends and acquaintences....
I think we can all agree that we would not sit and write a letter to just anyone. To write a letter, you have to want to be personal. What happened to being personal with each other.
I have a chest full of old letters. Some to me. Others, written in the 70's, before I was born. I put them in my chest for safe keeping. Love letters. Love letters to a lover, love letters to a son, to a brother, to a friend. The paper is yellowing and the handwriting fading. They are imperfect, with smudges and scribbles and stamps and tears. To me, handwritten letters and journals are the most beautiful treasures. I think when you are holding a piece of paper with the handwritten word, its as if you are transported, and you and can smell the person writing it and you can feel their presence.
The handwritten word keeps us alive long after our deaths.

So my challenge to you today...write a letter. Maybe make an effort to write and send a letter each month. To your grandmother. To your father. To your husband. To your son. Mail them from your house and back to your house if you need to.
Let someone check the mail and see your handwriting and feel your presence. Imagine the excitement they will feel when they see a letter addressed to them.

Live forever. Write a letter.