In Memory of PawPaw

My husband sat at the side of the bed in the hospice center.  It was his “watch” now.  We’d received a phone call on Saturday morning, “Something happened last night at about 11:00, we’re still not sure what, but we think it was a stroke. Tom is here in the inpatient hospice center. He’s running a fever and he’s unconscious.” His dad, who was facing a life with ALS, had suffered a massive stroke. They told us Saturday afternoon that he would not recover.  Brad headed to his parents’ house.  Sunday night, his middle brother took “watch”.  Monday night, the youngest brother stayed with Tom.  Tuesday night it was Brad’s turn. 

The patient care tech came in at about 7:00 to take his vitals.  His temp was up to 103.  His blood pressure, which had been in the 130/50 range that morning was now 50/20.  She told Brad it wouldn’t be long now.  She told him what to expect and that he would hear periods of apnea – when that started, then the end was very near.  As soon as we got off the phone, I called our dear friend and pastor – “He’s there alone.  Will you please call him?”  They talked for a bit, Todd prayed with him. They hung up.  Brad went down the hall to get ice and returned to his position – at the head of his daddy’s bed.  He had told me, “I’m sitting in a chair by his head – just like I did in the OR when you had the c-sections” – just like he did when each of our babies were born.  And there, he realized that the apnea had started.  He started timing the spaces between breaths.  Five seconds.  Seven seconds.  Twelve, fourteen, twenty, twenty-five seconds. Thirty seconds. And then, there were no more. 
We will miss PawPaw.


April 2003, meeting the first grandbaby in the family in 17 years, Elizabeth Jane

August 2004, with the next grandbaby (Nin)

February 2006, we took Annie over to meet Grammie & PawPaw. He was beginning to weaken and didn’t want to risk holding a small baby. So, he got his picture taken with the two big girls.

April 2007, PawPaw and his three girls.

November 2008.  I think this is my favorite photo ever of my in-laws with the kids.  Harrison is so happy to be in his PawPaw’s lap.  And Tom is obviously thrilled to have Harrison sitting there. 
Ah, yes. We will miss our PawPaw. 

Tonight as I came out of church our worship pastor (the one who had called Brad on Tuesday night) and two of our dear friends were standing at the van with Brad.  As I looked at the men standing with him, I realized, “All of these men know what he is feeling. They know the road he is traveling because they have all been down it. They have each lost their dad, too.”  What sweet comfort the Lord provides.

Project 52 for 2010: Weeks 35 through 39

The motherboard on my laptop died before I finished sharing my Project52 photos from last year.  I’ll finish sharing them by month.  That will mean four or five photos per post. Not too terrible.  I hate to “bore” you with it; but the journaling I do here is the only journaling I’ll have for these pictures…and I’ll need my blog once I get these things into an album!! Thank you for bearing with me.

Week 35: August 22-28,2010

Annie’s first day of preschool was August 25. She was so excited to finally be there. She has practically grown up at the school – Elizabeth started attending there when Bitsy was only 7 months old.  She is one of four girls in the class of ten. Mrs. Heather is her teacher and during the first week of school, it was just Mrs. Heather; however, they quickly realized she needed some help with 6 rambunctious little boys! Ms. Norlie is the assistant teacher.

Week 36: August 29-September 4, 2010

My BFF, Kim, and her mother were responsible for taking care of her uncle’s garden while he traveled the West Coast.  He has muscadine vines, which were at their peak and ready for harvest the entire time he was gone.  Kim and her momma went up to his property several times a week and brought home bags upon bags upon bags of muscadines.  She gave me some and I decided to try my hand at Muscadine Jelly.  I packed up everything I needed and headed to my moms – using her kitchen allowed me to spread out and have all the counter space I could possibly need.  It went amazingly well! I made 8 half-pints and all but two of them sealed.  I left one of those with mom and dad; the other jar went home with me.  I thought it was a tad too sweet, but didn’t want to mess with the sugar called for since I’d never made jelly before and wasn’t sure what could be tweaked and what had to stay the same.  But next time I make this, I’ll definitely not make it as sweet.  Oh, this was also the week of my 45th birthday. Whoo. Hoo. (not)

Week 37: September 5-11,2010

Katherine has been losing teeth like crazy!  Now, both of her top teeth are gone (she lost her 2nd one during this week) and her Daddy is calling her Snaggletooth. She is loving the attention, and being a “big girl”.

Week 38: September 12-18, 2010

We had Daddy’s birthday dinner this week, even though his birthday isn’t until next week. Sophie…that dog…she is rotten to the core! She is my daddy’s dog, and she knows it!  She’s almost always in his lap.

Week 39: September 19-25, 2010

I bought a couple of pounds of oranges at the grocery store this week. The kids loved them, but Harrison did especially! 

Breakfast Bites–Chewy Granola Bars

My friend, Jennifer, makes billions and billions of gift mixes that she gives as Christmas gifts each year.  Well, okay, not billions and billions but I know she makes about 100. I bow to her, oh Queen of Martha Stewartness.

Anyway, this year for Christmas she made these bags.  Made them, people. Made. Them. (even in her blog post she says she’s insane…but as the recipient of said bag and mix, I love her insanity)  Inside the bag was a bag holding the dry ingredients to make Chewy Granola Bars.  I’m glad to see from Jennifer’s blog post that she admits to her own family’s addiction to them.  Because we are hooked for sure!  These things are delicious, easy to make, easy to tote with you as you’re running out the door, and kid-approved. 

Here’s the recipe and (my notes):

Mix Ingredients:
2 cups Old Fashioned Oats (we use thick-cut rolled oats)
1 cup Rice Krispies cereal (store-brand unless you’re employed by Kellogg’s or have a killer coupon + sale)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla extract (in the mixes, Jennifer used vanilla sugar)
1/2 cup mini-chocolate chips (regular size ones work just as well)
1/2 cup sweetened coconut (we had them once without the coconut, I like them better with it)

You Need to Add: (aka, the “wet” ingredients)
1 stick butter, melted
1/2 cup honey (I melt the butter in a glass measuring cup and then use that measuring cup for the honey…that way no honey “sticks” to the cup)

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 325­°F.  Mix all ingredients together, using your hands.  Press mixture into lightly greased 9 x 13 pan (we always use a 7 x 11 pan to make them a little thicker and it works well, too).  Bake for 18-22 minutes or until golden brown.  Let cool completely before cutting into bars.  May be refrigerated to make firmer bars.  Makes 16 bars.

Jennifer gives some recommendations for flavor variations and “healthy” variations.  We’ve not tried them because we like the originals just fine. 

S’mores – Add ½ cup crushed graham crackers and substitute mini marshmallows for coconut; omit cinnamon.
Healthy – Substitute dried fruit and/or nuts for chocolate chips; substitute wheat flour for all-purpose flour; substitute applesauce for honey.
Honey Nut – Substitute chopped nuts for chocolate chips.
Sugar-free – Substitute 1/3 cup Splenda for brown sugar; substitute nuts or unsweetened coconut for sweetened coconut; substitute unsweetened dried fruit for chocolate chips, substitute unsweetened applesauce for honey.

These get a huge thumbs up from The Shoe.  We love to have them for breakfast on weekday mornings.  If I prepare them the night before, Brad will often grab a couple on his way out the door for work.  He likes them, too.  And, when he compliments something (“Those granola bars were good!”) that is high praise.

Later this week, I’ll post the recipe for Berry Scones that she gave us in 2009 for Christmas.  They’re another Shoe Approve Breakfast Bite.

Quick Chicken & Spinach

A friend of ours is having surgery soon and her pre-op regimen has already started.  To help her out, our Care Group is providing meals for her family so she doesn’t have to deal with it.  I bought chicken last week because Elizabeth and I have been craving Quick Chicken and Spinach – so I decided to double the recipe to make for her crew.  This is quick, easy and delicious.  It has been a staple in our house since our first baby was born and a Care Group member brought it to us for dinner.  And yes, that is lilac Fiestaware bowl.  Yes, you can be jealous that I have two…and a couple of chili bowls…I’ll wait while you compose yourself. 

Here (hopefully…I think they move these recipes sometimes!) is the recipe - from the December 2001 issue of Cooking Light magazine.  The nutritional analysis below is copied from the recipe as put on myrecipes.com by Cooking Light. 

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 2 cups)
Ingredients

    * 4  (4-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
    * 1/8  teaspoon  salt
    * 1/8  teaspoon  black pepper
    * 1  tablespoon  olive oil
    * 3/4  cup  chopped onion
    * 1  garlic clove, minced
    * 1 1/2  cups  fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
    * 2  (14 1/2-ounce) cans diced tomatoes with onions and green peppers, drained
    * 4  cups  fresh spinach
    * 1  tablespoon  chopped fresh basil
    * 1  tablespoon  butter
    * 4  cups  hot cooked ziti (short, tube-shaped pasta)
    * 1/4  cup  (4 ounces) grated fresh Parmesan cheese

Preparation

Cut chicken into 1-inch pieces, and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat; add chicken, onion, and garlic. Sauté 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Stir in broth and tomatoes. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add spinach, basil, and butter; cook 2 minutes.

Toss chicken mixture with pasta, and top with cheese.

Nutritional Information

Calories:            431 (23% from fat)
Fat:                    10.8g (sat 4.1g,mono 3.8g,poly 1.3g)
Protein:              37.8g
Carbohydrate:    46.3g
Fiber:                  6.5g
Cholesterol:        80mg
Iron:                    4mg
Sodium:              911mg
Calcium:            183mg

St. Patrick’s Day Door Decor

{giggle} I’m actually copying the title from Amanda’s blog post that prompted the creation of our four-leaf clover.  Only, her post was about Valentine Door décor.  Amanda posted a few photos, ingredient list and instructions to make an adorable heart for your door for Valentine’s Day.  When I read it, I knew I didn’t have any spare time to make one for our door for Valentine’s Day, but my head just about exploded with ideas for other holidays and seasons. 

We went to Wal-Mart one day last week specifically to pick up what I needed to make this four leaf clover.  I also picked up the little gold coins at Michael’s thinking they’d be cute.  I came home and googled shamrocks, then I drew…redrew…re-redrew…and generally obsessed about the shape of our four-leaf clover.   Face it.  I’m not an artist, it’s not going to be perfect.  Get over yourself, Gina. So, I got over myself, drew, painted, cut, pounced polka dots, painted wood beads and a folk art star and set out to create our door décor for March…

And there ya have it.  I got silly and made myself laugh – and you know it’s hilarious when you make your own self laugh (what do you mean not always, Gina?)  Anyway, I took our very German last name, threw an O’ in front of it and strung it on the ribbon.  Had to use a heart for the apostrophe because apparently the alphabet bead makers don’t think apostrophes are necessary.  I’m sure the O’Malleys and O’Shannons and other O’Eggs in the world would disagree. 

I used Apple Barrel paint for the clover, polka dots and stitching.  Once it was completely dry, I sprayed it with Rustoleum spray lacquer.  I stapled the front and back together, leaving an opening, then used Wal-Mart bags to stuff it, stapled some more and then one more coat of lacquer.  I punched two holes (wish I’d made them further apart and less “even” so the clover would hang whopper-jawed, because I love that “crooked on purpose” look for stuff like this), knotted the ribbon, strung on beads, glued on the “shamrock coins” and star.  Once the glue was dry…onto the door it went.  The kids cheered.  That’s all that matters.  Who cares that it isn’t perfect.  They love it, that’s what matters. 

I’m already stewing on April/Easter.  I’d love to do two tulips and two eggs strung together (much smaller than this guy…this clover is about 36-inches across, measured on the diagonal). And then a big flower, and a flip flop, and a beach ball…see?! I told you! My head just about exploded from the ideas (including ideas for our college friends for their dorm room doors)!  I can’t wait to make more of these through the year.  Thank you, Amanda, for the great idea!  And oh my gracious, I just had an idea for next March…think March Madness.  Oh…fun!