Raindrops on Roses

February 24, 2012September 30, 2015 Lindsey P. Brackett4 Comments

Friday has been lovely so far, thank you.

Annabelle has pain meds that are working so well she’s eaten eggs, grits, mashed potatoes, ice cream, two popsicles, and almost a whole 20 oz bottle of ginger ale.

Yay for Lortab Elixer which you should request if you ever have to deal with a stubborn child who has had a tonsillectomy. I pray you don’t.

I’ve been in a bit of a funk all week which is why there’s no blog celebrating my birthday or really much about Amelia’s party. I figured there was no reason to drag everyone down with me into my pregnancy-hormone induced sadness because I didn’t have a birthday cake.

Seriously, I had plenty that was better.

Like this sweet breakfast my girls and their daddy made. Ignore the just-out-of-bed mommy hiding behind the flowers (those were Eeyore’s thistle at our Pooh party).

I like how Amelia is too short to be in the picture.

They also made me birthday brownies.

And I’m loving this little project I’ve got going. It was a Valentine’s banner, then Pooh quotes, now it’s mine and Millie’s birthday love.

Oh, and while Joshua and the girls were making dinner and brownies, I was banished to the couch and told to stay there. So I actually finished a craft. Amazing what can happen when you stay in one place longer than five minutes.

I think it will photograph better when I get around to hanging it up. But it’s my very first yarn wreath. The next one is about half done. Who can believe I’d finish something?

Oh, and here’s Amelia’s cake that almost gave me the emotional breakdown last weekend.

Icing and I do not get along unless it’s on a fork headed for my mouth. And made of cream cheese. This was neither so we had a bit of a dilemma. People soothed my feelings by saying it looked like honey. My mom told me to get off Pinterest and quit comparing myself to everyone else. That’s why when I saw this I had to share it.

This morning I was over visiting Carissa and loved her link up to the monthly photo collage. Since my 365 is a bit behind, this seemed like a good bandwagon to jump on. So then I made a January collage for us. I’m thinking all these would be cute printed as a calendar for family Christmas gifts.

In January

we visited Biltmore

cooked lots of yummy breakfasts

hung out with the Harris family before they moved

prayed for sun

celebrated cousin Hailey’s birthday

and had some cozy moments.

If you’re interested in this project check out Simple as That by clicking below.

So Friday has been full of some of my favorite things.

Blogging.

What do you think of the new look?

MOPS:

where we stocked a friend’s freezer with tons of frozen meals for her family while she undergoes cancer treatment.

Shopping.

Target’s daily deal was nursing tanks so I couldn’t pass that up.

And Old Navy sent me birthday coupons and I have some mad money, so I think we might need some spring clothes.

Open Windows.

It’s February. But Georgia thinks it’s spring. Which is fine with me because spring means we’re getting close to Baby Gus’s arrival.

And it’s raining a bit. So somewhere there are raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens and bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens…..

Definitely no mittens here.

Linking up with Rachel

Feminist Friday (and Pizza!)

February 3, 2012September 30, 2015 Lindsey P. Brackett2 Comments

My super-crazy yet very cool (but I sometimes worry about her a lot) sister Calley, who is best known for her fashion statements and naps on my parents’ couch during family events, recently graduated from UGA. Go Dawgs!

Yeah, that doesn’t get uttered a lot in our non-sports oriented house.

But we love Aunt Calley who majored in Women’s Studies and Music Business, founded the Athens chapter of Girls Rock Camp, and used to tell my girls bedtime stories about Susan B. Anthony.

That’s why this morning on the way to school when I had the following conversation with Madelynne I had to assert just a little feminism in honor of Aunt Calley because the last thing I want is for my girls to grow up thinking they can’t be anything they want to be.

Madelynne:

When I grow up I’m going to be the first woman to land on Mars. Or I’m going to be the first woman president.

Me:

You could do both you know.

{Insert short conversation about how and why there isn’t a woman president yet.}

Madelynne:

Okay, first I’ll land on Mars. Then I’ll be president. Can I get married if I’m president?

Me:

Of course. You know, Jackson (our boy BFF) wants to be president too.

{Let me just assert as a sidenote here that while I believe my daughter can do anything, I really won’t be shocked if Jackson does run for president someday.}

Madelynne:

Oh, good! We can get married and be president together. {pause} Or maybe, he can be president, and I’ll just be his assistant.

Me:

Or maybe, you could be president and he could be your assistant.

Madelynne:

Okay, let’s do that!

Linking this part of the post up with Rachel at Finding Joy.

This is for Farmgirl Paints. Thanks to Carissa for linking up so I could find a new blog. I’m linking up to Feed Our Family Friday, but for some reason couldn’t get that button to work, so here’s another one 🙂

I’ve alluded to our Friday Night Family Pizza in my posts before, but I haven’t done a whole post dedicated to that. Come back next week and see if I’ve managed that. For today, however, I’m hooking Farmgirl up with the best (and easiest) homemade pizza dough recipe ever.

and of course, I have to give credit to my favorite Pioneer Woman for this, though I’m the one who decided to substitute the whole wheat flour.

Whole Wheat Pizza Crust with homemade sauce, italian sausage, and green peppers. Hadn’t added the cheese yet.

The Recipe

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups whole wheat flour

1 tsp kosher salt

1 teaspoon active dry or instant yeast (1/2 packet)

1/3 cup EVOO

Dump your flour (and use 4 cups WW if you want. We cheat a little.) in a mixer. Add the salt. Stir for a sec. In another small bowl, place 1 and a half cups warm water. Sprinkle the yeast over the top. Let it sit for minute or two and then give it a stir. While it’s sitting, drizzle the olive oil into the flour letting the mixer stir it up on a low speed. Then slowly pour in the yeast water. The dough will form a big sticky ball. Now transfer it to another bowl that you’ve swirled more olive oil in and toss the dough bowl until it’s coated with oil. Lay a damp dishtowel over the top and place it in a warm place safe from toddlers. Like the microwave. Let it rise 1-2 hours. Then divide it in half or fourths or eighths and roll it out on a clean surface lightly sprinkled with cornmeal. We bake ours on a pizza stone after topping it with whatever goodies I’ve found that week. You can also use a cookie sheet or pan. Makes two large pizzas. Or 8 personal ones. Or in my family, three personal ones, a baby calzone, and one large. You know, whatever makes you happy.

Of course, it’s Friday. What’s not to be happy about?

amelia · favorite things · http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008/kind#post · madelynne

Making It

January 20, 2012 Lindsey P. Brackett2 Comments

After my last post, I am overwhelmed by your encouragement, support, hugs (both physical and virtual), and simply by the sheer amount of folks who actually do read this random little blog. Thank you all for caring about these words and these ramblings.

I’m doing better. Nothing to do now but bumble on through to the end and try to keep my sanity intact. I hope you all are praying for my husband as well!

Today I wanted to link up with Rachel not because I want to make a list or add to my one thousand gifts journal.

Today I just want to savor some sweet moments amid all the chaos.

Like the fact that I am absolutely enthralled by Amelia. I can’t remember my big girls at this age. Those memories are clouded by the strain of two under two, a full-time job, and really bad post-partum depression brought on by my hypothyroidism. But somewhere along this journey of motherhood third time, I decided to pay a bit more attention. Suddenly she’s (finally!) stringing words together, such as, “Shoes, ‘kay?” And those shoes she put on by herself (wrong feet of course). She’s obsessed with turning lights on and off, Winnie the Pooh, and gives fabulous tea parties. This week she also informed me when I called her big girl, “NO! Baby!” Guess we’ll have to work on that.

Annabelle is my most stubborn child, but she likes rules. And systems. And boundaries. She functions just fine once she knows where the line is. She just made herself a “stoplight” to help us monitor her behavior at home. It’s just like what her teacher does in kindergarten because anything Mrs. Fry does is the only way something should be done. She’s our neat one, too, always coloring perfectly and making her bed.

Then there’s Madelynne. We figure she’ll grow up and find a job that just pays the bills so that in her spare time she can create pottery or abstract paintings or knit or rescue horses and dogs. She’s all over the place. We call her Tigger sometimes because she’s exactly like that. And thanks to Amelia, we’re all experts on that cast of characters. Her backpack is stuffed with old papers, pencils, candy wrappers, gloves, hat, scarf, a necklace, and half-eaten snacks. She can’t ever find anything, will read anything, and sometimes melts all over me.

Sometimes I think we might be a lot alike.

They’re something else these daughters of mine. I hope this baby boy comes out ready to tango with these sissy monsters.

Oh, and it’s Friday. Savor that over an icy margarita or a nice glass of wine if that’s your style. Or you can be like me and plan to eat pizza with a friend while kids twirl around in the background.

Have a great weekend!

favorite things

Seek and You Shall Find

September 23, 2011September 30, 2015 Lindsey P. Brackett5 Comments

This has been a tough week. A tough couple of weeks actually. We’re busy, busy with the community theater production of The Diary of Anne Frank, which keeps me up past my bedtime every night as I try to bring dignity to the role of Edith Frank, Anne’s mother. It’s a physically and emotionally exhausting show, not to mention, we’ve got some physical and emotional exhaustion going on in our household right now, so we’re swamped.

And I haven’t written in my gratitude journal or blogged or cared about anything for days.

But today I thought I’d try because it’s finally stopped raining and that beautiful warmth of fall sunshine is peeking through and my fingers are rusty and my words are stopped up in my head and heart and throat and need a voice.

Sometimes I don’t think what I do matters. Especially right now when dinner is a big accomplishment and there’s no pay stub with my name on it.

But it does matter because everyday, I try and try so hard, to bring a bit of joy to my girls. And I hope, sometimes, it spreads to you.

Dilly bars on beautiful afternoons. And that grin. Oh, that grin.

My toothless first grader with her party favors.

She’s so blessed by so many sweet friends.

Their new favorite book, The Interrupting Chicken.

What else are those cones at soccer practice for?

At least she looks like she knows what she’s doing. I have no idea.

She found another one. Amelia really has a thing for hats.

How can anyone not find joy in this face?

Linking up with Rachel. And these are a few of my favorite things.

favorite things · http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008/kind#post · reflections

these are a few of my favorite things

July 8, 2011September 30, 2015 Lindsey P. Brackett1 Comment

I’m linking up with Rachel today and doing it early so that if today repeats yesterday’s toughness, I will hopefully be better armoured to deal with it.

Joy is a flame that glimmers only in the palm of the open and humble hand.

~1000 Gifts

This face. It never fails to crack us up and when her daddy is telling her not to do something and she responds like this, I know we are goners.

Friends with gardens so my children can indulge in their love of cucumbers and ranch dressing.

The squealing of my big girls as they pull on rain boots to go with their swimsuits on the day our pool plans got rained out.

Here’s an unknown fact about my husband. He plays the cello. And last night he dusted it off for the first time in 10 years so he can play in the orchestra piece the church choir is planning for Christmas. He practiced by playing Disney showtunes for his princesses.

Candlelight. It’s soothing and calming and somehow when I light the candles after the kitchen has been cleaned and the girls are settling in for bedtime I feel like I can breathe a little more and realize that it’s small stuff, all this strife. And they bring me the candles from the Easter baskets and beg for them to be lit too so they can have a little flame of my light.