Please, Let Me Explain...

In July of 2011 I posted a blog about why the Lord of the Rings is such a passion of mine. I mentioned an essay I was once given that compared the burden of grief from loosing a child to the burden Frodo carries with the ring he must destroy. I always knew I loved the story, but this hit home. Today I found the essay & want to share it here. This is the original post as well... so now I relish the fact that my sweet 6 yr old boy wants to be Frodo for Halloween, & he is loving his new LOTR Legos. December 14th is a whole new journey when The Hobbit opens in theaters around the world!

I sincerely hope you take the time to read the essay & maybe even my old post. I'm sure you will find inspiration & understanding.

Love & Blessing to all my readers each day.

Not Your Ordinary Candied Apple...

My favorite apple treats are made by The Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory. I first discovered them in Seattle at Pike's Place Market, but then discovered there are locations right here in my own beloved Houston! Galveston too! Go figure. A few years ago, before I knew they were here, I decided to try to make some of my own & it was a fair success. My friends loved receiving them as holiday gifts. I recently found the inspiration to try it again, this time with less success, but success none the less. There is no recipe, just your personal preference. I like the chocolate & the pecans. What do you like best? Anything can be used; try ground up candy bars, or different nuts, etc... I usually heat the chocolate in a double boiler on the stove, but this time I messed up the consistency. It still tasted good! The carmel foundation is layered over a clean, dry apple, then everything else should stick to that in layers of your choosing. For these I chose to add powdered sugar & drip fudge topping. Add a pretty wrapping & you have a wonderful homemade gift!

I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to hear about your own attempts at this wonderful treat! Did I tell you it feeds several people? It makes a great desert at parties, just slice it up & serve!

This one went to my theatre student who had her performance ready first in my Shakespeare class. Later, at her house, she posted a picture of her eating it. It came to me on Facebook as a sweet thank you.

Apple Dips!

OK, here is another dessert or snack. It's not from Pinterest, just from my head, so I'm sure there will be variations...

Cut an apple in squares & give each apple square a toothpick or stick of some type.

Dip them in carmel, then melted chocolate. I used candy I wanted eaten in a hurry. I melted it in a mini crock pot, but true bakers chocolate would have been far smoother. You might want to let each layer cool first, or let them mix together when dipping while the layers are still warm. I added almonds in the melted carmel & chocolate.

Eat warm or chill & eat later. Cute wrapping would make for great treats!

And as long as I'm sharing kitchen ideas, try this:
Make some extra dough when you make a pie & use cookie cutters to decorate the top of the pie. I like to glaze the pie crust with a little egg white, plus it helps the cutouts stick in place.

1st Day of School

My son is in 1st grade now. After 2 yrs of preschool, followed by Kindergarten, I was sure he was ready. As a teacher myself, I struggle with the fact that I can't participate in the schooling of my own son. Instead I am educating other peoples children. I can't complain, I have great students! I also understand, as a teacher, what kind of student I want my son to be. The dilemma is HOW do I make my son THAT student when I can't be there to help. Every year I see other parents taking their kids to their first day of school & they post their first day pictures all over the internet to share with family & friends. I can't do that. I am gone when he wakes up every morning. This year I decided I just need to archive & share what I CAN do. My mornings involve kissing his sweet sleeping face goodbye & whispering in his ear that I love him & he should be a good boy at school. Taking pictures of that is a bit tricky. I had to do this in the dark so he would not wake,  & I had to use the timer since it's essentially a self-portrait. Not the best photography, I was running late, but at least it captures what our family's first day of school is like.

 An hour later, my husband woke to take our son to school. He is NOT a photographer, but he had my old camera & did a good job.

 Clearly D2 did not want to go to school. Don't let his angry face fool you, when his dad picked him up after school he said to him "You should have stayed daddy. We had fun!"

Yummy Hats???

I'm not addicted, but I sure do love Pinterest. I'm not a cook, but I sure do love baking yummy things. I am a costume designer, but I don't wear hats... ok, on rare occasion. I found a pin that tells how to make bowls with cookie dough! Like I said, I'm not a cook... I didn't want to bother making the dough from scratch, so I used a box-dough & followed the instructions in the pin to place the dough on an upside down muffin pan.

In the oven the dough began melting & separating from the top section, but when it baked it fluffed up & filled in the gaps for the most part. However, rather than making bowl shaped cookies, it created a brim when melting down, and when baked it resulted in a cookie with a hat shape! My son loved that.

So the only thing to do next was to fill the cookie hat with ice-cream & eat! Yummy hats!

Distractions are a good...SQUIRREL!

Distractions are a good thing. We laugh at the dogs in the movie UP every time they interrupt themselves over a squirrel, but seriously, is it so bad? Last week my friend & mentor died suddenly & we said goodbye to her last Tuesday. Last Tuesday was also the birthday of my oldest daughter, Cheyenne, & this Tuesday is the birthday of my next daughter, Emily. We have to celebrate their birthdays at the cemetery because that's where they are now...ok I know, their bodies are there, their spirits are everywhere. I'm used to it now, but what is new this year is that, had Cheyenne lived, she would be a senior in high school & I would be doing all those fun things with her like picking out her graduation invitations, shooting senior pictures, shopping for her prom dress, etc...

Since I am the head of the theatre program I run the theater, booking all the events in there. You know, events like senior assemblies to order graduation invitations, decorating for Prom, organizing senior spotlight night, awards night, etc... Let's just open the wound & pour salt in it all year!

I began the new school year last week, & students join us tomorrow. Luckily, I have some distractions that are as powerful as a squirrel. I get to teach a Shakespeare class (my passion), and I will be doing a one woman show in our drama club season (first time ever). I am excited about both, & nervous about one, just enough to keep me focused on them instead of on the things I WON'T get to do this year. Does it take away the pain? No, but it does help to dull it a bit, & for that I am grateful. Besides, after discovering that my niece who is majoring in English in college is about to graduate without having had one Shakespeare class, I think my class is more important than ever. I'm still blown away that Shakespeare is not a requirement for an English degree!

(former student Zach Lewis, far right, in the Houston Shakespeare Outreach performance of Romeo & Juliet)

So, for my sweet angel girls: Happy Birthday! You are my life, my heart, & my love for ever & ever. I adore you, respect you, and miss you. Give my friend Marilyn a big welcome home, & hug her for me.

Now bring on the ....SQUIRREL!

Flora, Fauna, & Camping in the Olympics

July was spent traveling to Washington: Seattle, Port Orchard, Bremerton, & more. My family has one-by-one migrated up there & I am rooted in Texas, but I love visiting. My son hates the Texas heat, he won't go outside EVER. In Washington it's a different story! He loves the cooler weather, he loves the farm, the outdoors, the water, the animals, & even grandpa's garden!

It's important to get in touch with nature. The fresh air, the beauty... everything is a reminder of how amazing life is & how precious it is. It reminds us how small & insignificant we are, but also how important we are.

This blog is (as usual) picture heavy. Scroll through the beauty, breath, & relax. It may not be more than a photo, but let your imagination go into it & you might think you are there. Here is your DE-STRESS moment for the week! Enjoy

The foxglove were about 7 feet tall,  some getting cloer to 10 ft! The white is my favorite!

Wild ducks return to mom & dad's pond each year to have their babies. A few Canadian geese joined them this year. This is a mallard hen enjoying a break.

Just a handful of "weeds" from my morning walk to the mailbox.

MMMMM....Marie's rasberries!

My niece, Teal, keeping the boy entertained while we unpacked & set up at the camp site in the Olympic mountains. 

Can't go camping without the essentials!

Pumping water from the well... then carrying it back to camp. Life is just so hard.

My older sis, Ann, is the Camping Goddess. She brings all the good stuff. 

I had to carry bear spray with me, so D2 was a bit nervous about getting chased by a bear.

I wanted to show the drop in water depth, so I got my brother to step in. He was not too please, especially since the cold temp was low enough to kill you in 15 minutes if you fell in!

Yep, that's right, I got lots of ideas off Pinterest before camping. Entertainment is a good filler for down time. 

 Merging two bubbles into one.

Ann works out/dances with poi balls. I asked her to bring her glow-in-the dark balls so I could do some night photography. I was going for something a bit different, but this is what I got & still cool. I wish I had a tripod with me...or even had the forethought to set the camera somewhere & use the timer. They would not have been so blurry if I had. Oh well. 

We took a hike up the mountain to a lake. It was a 2000 ft climb, over 3 miles up. Little D2, my sweet 6 yr old boy, made it all the way & back down again! Aunt Re, my twin, gave him a few breaks by giving him a piggy-back ride, but for the most part he did it on his own! We were so proud!

mmmm....salmon berries!

This tree fell between these two others & snapped. Like twigs!

What are these?

The remains of a fallen tree, a spike just waiting for something to be empaled on it!

Aunt Re with D2. 

Where do the little kids get the energy?! The rest of us are wishing we had 1/2 his energy!

Watch out for monsters in the forest! They tend to jump out from the woods when you are not looking...

Taking a break on the hike.

 Daisies! My sister took pictures of me, but she looked way better in them so here is one with her in them.

Dad took D2 fishing... no fish, but a great time! That water was sooooo cold! 

Queen Anne's Lace! They look like snowflakes!

 Poppies

 Cornflowers... mmmmmm, pretty!

 I like what's on the menu. This guy chose crab for lunch. I wanna go out to eat with him!

 From dad's garden & orchard... yes, the orchard is mom's too.

Just the shell & face are left after a gull had his lunch.

HUGE Lillies...

I took over 1000 shots in 2 weeks. I held back from shooting too many, so this post was hard to narrow down to the 100 or so that I included. Look for the next post to have Pikes market & more... a much shorter blog next time. For now I shall prepare for a friends memorial service, my late daughter's birthday, & the start of what should be a very interesting school year at work, all happening tomorrow. Goodbye summer! See you next year.