You are beautiful!

So, I posted a lovely blog yesterday about my children. I searched through my pictures, trying to find ones that represented their personalities. They all looked so cute. After a few hours I get a phone call from one of my daughters, telling me, very emphatically that I needed to find some other pictures. Those were the most horrible, embarrassing pictures I could have found.

Why is it that when we look at a picture of ourselves, all we can see are the flaws? The zit on your face, the pudgy cheeks, the bad hairdo, the outfit. I do it too. When looking at a family photo, I barely skim over everyone else, thinking they look great, but I look tired, or my eyes are not open or I need a facelift.

Somehow we need to find the good parts of ourselves and see past the tiny imperfections. We can't all be airbrushed and altered in photoshop. We are real people with kind hearts and good intentions trying to do our best in the world.

Daughters of mine.... you are beautiful. I can see it. The rest of the world can see it. Look at yourselves through my eyes. Remember your mother thinks you are marvelous even if you have a zit. I don't even see it. I love you for who you are.

My Greatest Blessings

I have the best kids in the world, really. My firstborn son is Michael. He and I spent 5 years alone together. He kept me laughing and on my toes. He started talking when he was about 5 months old and hasn't stopped since. He asked me every question under the sun. I read to him every single day. We completed the entire Lord of the Rings Trilogy together. I found out the Tinkerbell had a potty mouth, while reading him Peter Pan. Around 14 years of age, things started getting tough for us. I was no longer the center of his universe. That's pretty hard on a mom. I was still full of wisdom on life's difficulties. He didn't want my wisdom any more. He wanted to figure it out for himself. He's grown up and learned lots of life's lessons. There are times when I just have to call him and tell him something funny, because I know he will get it. I'm proud of him and the man he's becoming.



Then there came Holly. I had a family full of brothers growning up. I was pretty sure my curse would be that I would only have boys. How very grateful I was to get a beautiful brown baby girl. People would stop me to tell me how beautiful she was. They still do. She is the agreeable one. She is just happy to be along for the fun. She loves to shop with me, even at the grocery store. We share a love for diet coke with a lime and cherries, from Sonic. It was tough to have her leave for college. I've seen her grow and become more self-assured and able to find her place in the world. I'm proud of her too.



Then there came Megan. She was the challenging baby. She cried, a lot.... We didn't know how to console her. After she could talk things got better because she could tell us. She needed to watch a movie and have milk-in-a-cup-with-a-lid and folding cheese. She is the one who looks like me but is full of her grannie Josie's personality. She's good with words and can write a great paper for school. She can speak up and say what she thinks. She has a tender heart. She's getting her life figured out. It was even tougher when she left home for college. But, she is learning and growing into her own person. She's going to be just fine. I'm proud of her as well.

My little birdies have left the nest. I have such wonderful memories of our lives together growing up. They are my greatest blessings.

Johnny Appleseed Song

Every morning at Camp Condor, we sang this song. It always helped me feel grateful for each new day. I have been greatly blessed and I am very grateful.

Bats in our Belfries

Last summer, in the evening, I was sitting looking up at the skylights in the cabin. I noticed lots of bats flying around up there. As you know, our cabin is a nice, new, high-quality cabin that shouldn't have bats living inside. I mentioned this to my mother, who insisted the bats didn't come from our cabin. The next evening I saw the same phenomenon in the skylight and pointed this out to my mother. Again, she said we couldn't possibly have bats. The next evening mother and I took up our post on the deck, directly in front of the peak in the roof of the cabin. We waiting and watched, straining our necks and eyes. Just when the mosquitoes were just starting to eat us alive, the bats started streaming out a tiny gap right at the top. We counted them as they came along. I used my best Count Voice (the one from Sesame Street), "One Bat, ah, ah ah!", "Two Bats, ah, ah, ah". We made it to 40 bats. Mother was shocked and appauled. Skip, our resident contractor, was dispatched shortly after we left Oregon to get rid of the bats. They started checking around and it seems they found bats across the river at the barn and in their garage at Cave Junction.

For a little Halloween gift I made this darling bat for my mother. She loved it. I just need to make her 39 more.

Disney's Halloween Haunts: Cartoon 3 (Trick-Or-Treat)

When Michael was a little boy, we had a VHS tape of this recorded from TV. He watched it over and over and over! Every year at Halloween the music from this plays through my mind and I usually end up singing the song. It's long, but it's a classic. Makes me think of my little Michael.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

I found this recipe in an advertisement booklet. Drew needed a treat so I made them. Then I made them again while Holly and Meg were here, because they needed a treat too. I was going to make some cream cheese frosting to put on them, but Drew said they didn't need anything. Try them and let me know what you think.

1 Cup Butter (softened)
1 Cup White Sugar
1 Cup Brown Sugar
1 Can (14 1/2 oz) Pumpkin Puree
4 Eggs

Cream the above ingredients till smooth, then add:

1 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Salt
1 tsp Cinnamon
1 tsp Ginger
1/4 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp nutmeg (put it in Ellie, it's good!)
2 Cups Flour

After mixing well, add 1 1/2 Cups Chocolate chips.

This makes 12 large muffins, or 24 regular size. Use papers or grease pan. Bake in 350 degree oven for 20 - 25 minutes, until tops spring back when you touch them.

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