Deja Vu, All Over Again

It was deja vu all over again for this Grandma. Kinley is quite the little kitchen helper.

She will even attempt to climb into the dishwasher to complete her unloading duties.

The dishwasher and kitchen cabinets provide a never-ending supply of diversions while Mom is cooking dinner. Who needs toys when you can crinkle the purple plastic covering the formula scoop then put it in a basket conveniently found in the cabinet?

It sent me in search of photos of another little girl who used to like to play in her Grandma Marie's kitchen cabinets.

And believe it or not ...

... I found them. Jill was closer to 15 months in these cabinet photos.

So I also had to find one that showed her at about 9 months old, Kinley's current age. I think this one of Jill was after a spaghetti meal. Kinley found out that she liked lasagna last week, so I guess they have more in common than their big blue eyes. Italian food is tasty, mother and daughter agree.

Jill - 9 months

Who can resist those eyes? Not me!

Kinley - 9 months

I had a few other favorite snapshots from the weekend.

Once she tired of the dishwasher, Kinley had to check out what was happening in the backyard while she waited on her Sunday morning pancakes before church.

She will be ready to play outside with this cute hat crafted by Eric's cousin, Jana. The trick will be keeping it on her head.

I have some cute photos of Kinley in her Halloween costume, but they have been embargoed until October 31st, Mommy's orders!

Adventures in GrandmaLand

We got to spend a little time with our two favorite girls this week. Jill had a conference for work and needed a babysitter since she's still on maternity leave.

Could I come watch Kinley? Let me think ... A couple of days in GrandmaLand? YES!

Randy had a Kansas Wheat meeting in Manhattan. But he decided he'd drive back and forth so he could have a little Kinley time, too. (Who is this guy? He wasn't that interested in our kids' infant days. He much preferred when they got big enough to go along for the ride without diaper bag in tow. But he's entranced by this little miss.)

We had lots of heart-to-heart talks. I told her that her Mommy used to use this bear quilt. It was made by another Grandma - her Great-Grandma Moore - for her Mommy's nursery.

We sang Sunday School songs, complete with actions. Kinley is good at moving her arms and feet.

We hung out with some good buddies like Mr. Giraffe, who plays a lovely jungle theme and coaxes us to dreamland.

We spent some quality time with Grandpa.

We met Mommy's work friends and got cool gifts like a Power Panther t-shirt and an Eat Smart, Play Hard sippy cup.

It remains to be seen whether Kinley will be a champion shopper like her Mom.

So far, she appears unimpressed with finding bargains.

But time in GrandmaLand? Priceless ... no matter how you look at it.


Kinley gets time with Grandma Christy and Great-Grandma Carol today. She's a lucky girl. And so are we.

Year of the Dragon

I'm not a believer in the Chinese zodiac. Let's just get that out of the way from the beginning.

But what's a Kansas farm wife to do when she wants to use a photo that's not exactly the perfect illustration for calving season ... or harvest ... or planting ... or anything else having to do with a farm in Central Kansas?

So when she happens to notice that 2012 is the Year of the Dragon, you'll have to forgive her for remembering that colorful photo that's been hiding in the files since December 2010.

And then I found out that 2012 is the Year of the WATER dragon, so it's like it was meant to be, right?

The dragon is one of the lighted Christmas displays in Pratt's Lemon Park. I'm not sure what it has to do with Christmas either. But it sure makes for a pretty photo, doesn't it?

The Year of the Dragon started yesterday, January 23. If you want to celebrate with an American version of a Chinese meal, try Oriental Beef with Peppers, a meal Jill served us last May. (It was the same day I found out I was going to be a Grandma and then I couldn't tell anyone FOREVER!)

It may not be quite as colorful as that Lemon Park dragon. But it tastes better (especially when you find out you're going to be a Grandma! No guarantees to anyone for that happening).

I was going to post this yesterday. But Pie Day won out. What can I say? I have a sweet tooth.

The First Christmas

Mary's been on my mind this year. As our daughter entered the final month of her pregnancy during this Christmas season, I suppose the Christmas story has come alive for me in a new way.

Jill is in that clunky, can't-quite-get-comfortable-in-your-own-skin place of pregnancy. She's a little short of breath as the Little Miss pushes against her diaphragm, and a winter cold adds to the discomfort. It's almost as if the body that she's known all her life is no longer her own as it nurtures another life.

But think of Mary. This simple teenager from Nazareth likely had to face a community of naysayers. Human nature can't have been all that different back in Bible times. Even without lightning-fast reactions to Facebook or texts or tweets, don't you suppose she was the talk of Nazareth?

"Sure, you were visited by an angel."
"That's a likely story. That's what all little unwed mothers would like us to believe."
"Uh huh, right ... You, little Mary from Nazareth, will give birth to the Messiah."

Mary didn't live in a nice suburban home. She didn't have the best in prenatal care. She didn't have a baby shower or two to fill a beautifully-appointed nursery with the latest and greatest devices to ease her into the role of motherhood.

She rode a donkey on the way to give birth. She placed the King of the world in a manger.

Surely she was like other mothers, pondering her little one's future. This grandmother-to-be wonders if our little one will have her mother's beautiful blue eyes and her Daddy's easy-going disposition. Will she be a girly-girl or a tomboy? Who will she be? What will her future hold?

Did Mary truly understand what motherhood would bring? Do any of us? But, regardless of the cost, when the angel came to her, she said yes.

“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.”
Luke 1:38 - New International Version

During this Christmas season, help me to listen. And then help me to say yes.

***

And speaking of the "first Christmas" ... Yes, I know it's a stretch! We had our first celebration of 2011 over the weekend. We gathered at Jill and Eric's home in Topeka, since our daughter isn't traveling very far away from that aforementioned, well-appointed hospital!

Randy's sister, Kathy, and her husband, Dave, came to spend Sunday afternoon.

Amanda and Emily patiently waited through our "grazing" session of appetizers before opening presents. (And Brent successfully avoided the camera.) We had an afternoon filled with memories and laughter.

The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree:
the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other.

- Burton Hillis

***

This song has long been one of my favorites for Christmas. It tells Mary's story, and, in a way, the story of every young mother who awaits the birth of a special child.

I'm linked today to Tuesdays Unwrapped at Chatting at the Sky.

Thoroughly Modern Millie

Yesterday, I left my baby behind in South Carolina. After an overnight stop at the Ladd bed-and-breakfast (plus supper!), I'll leave my other baby behind in Topeka.

It doesn't seem like a fair exchange, but later today I'll be home to see my other baby. Millie the Dog seems to have skipped through the baby years and scurried right into adulthood - at least in appearance.

I suppose it's a metaphor for life. Sometimes, when you're winding up the swing to try desperately to get the baby to sleep, you think that it will never end - the sleepless nights ... the diaper changes ... the piles of laundry... figuring out yet another meal ... the toys littering the living room ... the teenage angst.

But then it does. And you miss it. And you wonder where the time went because it just flew by.

Perspective is a funny thing indeed.

Maybe Millie has been a good reminder of the fleeting nature of time.

Here she was in June. We had just discovered that she had dug up the petunias at the front of the house. She'd been living with us about a week at the time.

June 10, 2011
(Even Ralph looks rueful!)

And these days, she's nearly as tall as Ralph (though she has a tendency to still act like a kid most of the time).

November 2011

She's discovered artifacts in the netherlands of the farmstead. This faded K-State ball appeared in the backyard one day.

It was probably lost at some point in time by this cast of characters. Its arrival made me smile and remember all those backyard games and the boys in the basement, playing yet another round of Xbox.

Millie has been my own personal archeologist, helping dig up memories from my own backyard.

And, as we approach the birth of our granddaughter in January, Millie has reminded me again of the fleeting nature of time. She's been proof positive of how quickly babies change in that first year of life. She's been the reminder of how toddlers turn into kindergarteners and how high school seniors soon pack up their cars and drive away to new adventures.

That's the nature of life. We need to enjoy the moments - especially the moments we thought would never end as we were living them.

(More to come this week from our adventures during Thanksgiving week. We traveled to South Carolina to spend Thanksgiving there with Brent.)

Buy Buy Baby

(Jill - once a shopper, always a shopper!)

When I first heard the name, Buy Buy Baby, I was thinking Bye Bye Baby. You know, I pictured a cute little baby girl waving bye-bye to her loving grandma.

But when we pulled into the parking lot of the Kansas City store, I discovered it was really BUY BUY Baby. And, after all, there are lots of things to "buy buy" for baby.

These days, young moms and dads register their preferences by waving a "magic wand" at places like Buy Buy Baby or Babies R Us. Jill's cousin Paige went with her to Target to navigate the aisles of the baby section. Your own personal Lewis & Clark can help guide your choices in unfamiliar territory. But the "gun" in this case points toward the UPC symbol on bibs and bathtubs and newfangled things like Bumbos and Boppys.

Back 26 years ago, I had my own guide for such matters. The other day, I came across a 3-page typed letter from my sister, Lisa. She captioned it "Lisa's Helpful Hint List."

By the time I was expecting, Lisa was the mother of two and a pro at this adventure we call motherhood. The letter had helpful suggestions for clothing, bedding, diapers, bathing, feeding and more. And to think: She created this list without help of a computer or UPC codes.

In her letter, dated June 10, 1985, she says: "Don't get carried away with getting this before you have a shower. As you can see, getting ready for a baby involves expense - even without a theme!" (A note of explanation: I didn't use a theme for the baby's room. I just used what people gave me.)

Sure, 26 years have passed. There are items on Jill and Eric's "wants" list that hadn't even been invented in 1985. But then and now, the journey is made easier when someone is there to hold your hand - or help you point the UPC gun.

And, one way or another, we'll be ready for a baby - a real one this time.

Sugar High

Jill & "Smalls" at 23.5 weeks on September 17

I love frosted sugar cookies. Is the love of sugar cookies an inherited trait? Jill is a fan. Brent is not. Time will tell whether or not Smalls inherits the penchant for melt-in-your-mouth sugar cookie taste topped with a smear of almond-flavored frosting.

But I'm not a fan of having to chill sugar cookie dough, rolling and cutting them all out and then frosting them. So I was excited to see a recipe for Sugar Cookie Bars. I'm always looking for new bar cookie recipes to save time and effort in the kitchen. Sugar cookie bars? That's a bonus!

When we were visiting Jill for her birthday last weekend, I gave her several options for treats or a special cake. She chose Sugar Cookie Bars, which I found on a baking blog, Brandy's Baking.

My "baby" girl may have turned 26 with this birthday, but I still wanted to make her birthday special, so I did a little "doctoring" to the recipe. Both Jill and I love almond flavoring in sugar cookies and frosting. So while the original recipe didn't call for almond flavoring, that's what my girl requested.

The recipe was for a 13- by 18-inch rimmed baking sheet. I don't have a pan that big, so I made the dough without any flavoring at all. Then I "guesstimated" and took out about 1/4 of the dough.

To the remaining 3/4 of the dough, I added 2 teaspoons of almond extract and mixed well. I patted that part into my sheet cake pan and baked as directed.

Then to the remaining 1/4 of the dough, I zested a lemon and added part of it and about a teaspoon of vanilla . I used a small cookie scoop and then dropped the dough into sugar. After rolling the dough in the sugar, I put them on regular cookie sheets and flattened with the bottom of a drinking glass before baking.

A lemon version made into drop cookies

When it came to the frosting, I made the basic frosting without any flavorings. I took out about 1/4 of the frosting and added the rest of the lemon zest and some freshly-squeezed lemon juice, along with a little extra powdered sugar until it was spreading consistency.

Then I added a teaspoon of almond extract to the rest. Before coloring the frosting purple for my birthday girl, I took out a small portion to use to use for piping, "Happy Birthday Jill."

I arranged it all on a wooden serving platter and a birthday celebration was born! The finished bar cookie product seemed a little dry to me, so maybe I baked them a little too long. The individual cookies were somewhat better, but that kind of defeats the purpose of a quick and easy bar cookie recipe.

They definitely aren't as good as my sister Lisa's frosted Christmas cookies, but they will work in a pinch. Enjoy!

Sugar Cookie Bars

1 cup butter, softened
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs
5 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. vanilla extract (I used almond flavoring, *see my explanation above)
Zest from 1 lemon (* see above)

Frosting:
1 cup butter, softened
1 tsp. vanilla or almond extract (or lemon juice)
Pinch of salt
4 cups powdered sugar
5 tbsp. milk
Food coloring (optional)
Sprinkles (optional)

Cookies: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Use cooking spray and prepare a 13- by 18-inch rimmed baking sheet. Combine the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.

Mix in the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Combine flour, salt and soda. Add the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture, beating on low speed just until incorporated. Add the flavorings, as you desire, mixing well. (See above. If you have a big pan and are going to use the same flavoring for the whole recipe, you can add the flavoring when you mix in the eggs.)

Press cookie dough into the prepared baking pan and press into an even layer. Bake 13 to 17 minutes or until light golden brown. Transfer pan to a wire rack and allow to cool completely.

Frosting: Place the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat on medium-high speed until smooth, about 1 minute. Blend in powdered sugar and salt until smooth, 1 to 2 minutes. Add milk and mix well. Add flavorings as desired. Tint frosting with food coloring, if desired. Spread over the cooled bars.

Decorate with sprinkles or as desired. Cut into bars.

Sharing Recipes the New Way

Back when I was a kid, we saved recipes by carefully copying them onto recipe cards. I still have some of the recipes I transcribed by hand as a 10-year-old 4-Her. They are stuck in a now-rusted tin box, but I still pull them out from time to time.

There is still value in hand-written recipes. Jill was getting a little nervous during the unpacking process in Topeka when we hadn't uncovered her Jill and Eric's Family and Friends Cookbooks that I'd made for a bridal shower gift. Most of those recipes were handwritten by family and friends and included in two binders. We found them this past weekend during more unpacking chores.

I still love browsing through cookbooks and leafing through old recipe cards, but the internet has added a new dimension to how we share recipes these days. I may find a recipe on a fellow food lover's blog. A couple of my young Facebook friends often post what's for supper or dessert in their Facebook status.

That's where both Jill and I saw the recipe for Picnic Pasta Salad. Jill's cousin Paige posted a link on Facebook last week. When Randy & I were at Topeka this Sunday, it was on the menu at Jill's. I did my part by chopping up the vegetables and Jill did the rest.

No matter how we share recipes these days - whether by recipe card, phone call, email, blog or Facebook - the sharing continues. And that's a good thing.

Jill served the pasta salad with paninis we each assembled ourselves and then put on the George Foreman grill. Yum! It's great to be a dinner guest!

Picnic Pasta Salad
from Taste of Home

1 package (12 ounces) tricolor spiral pasta
1 package (10 ounces) refrigerated tricolor tortellini
1 jar (7-1/2 ounces) marinated artichoke hearts, undrained
1/2 pound fresh broccoli florets (about 1-3/4 cups)
12 ounces provolone cheese, cubed
12 ounces hard salami, cubed
1 medium sweet red pepper, chopped
1 medium green pepper, chopped
1 can (15 ounces) garbanzo beans or chickpeas, rinsed and drained
2 cans (2-1/4 ounces each) sliced ripe olives, drained
1 medium red onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 envelopes Italian salad dressing mix

Cook spiral pasta and tortellini according to package directions. Drain and rinse in cold water. Place in a large bowl; add the artichokes, broccoli, provolone cheese, salami, peppers, beans, olives, onion and garlic.

Prepare salad dressing according to package directions; pour over salad and toss to coat. Serve immediately or cover and refrigerate.

Yield: 14-16 servings (at least!)

Recipe Notes:

• Jill didn't use salami because she's not eating luncheon meat while she's pregnant.
• She didn't include the olives because neither she or I like them. Randy & Eric do, but they weren't the ones in the kitchen ... cook's prerogative.
• We used green onions instead of red onion (See above!)
• Jill used already cubed cheese to save time. Since her grocery store didn't have already-cubed provolone, she used a combination of sharp cheddar and a marble cheese.
  
• She used tricolor rotini, but she used regular tortellini.
• Jill didn't use 4 cloves of garlic.
  
• This makes a big salad. We ate it for two meals and there was still a huge bowlful left. It's a good thing Eric eats leftovers! Maybe that's how Jill and Eric can meet their neighbors: Show up at the door with homemade pasta salad!
  

Tickled Pink

Our Little Ladd will be a Lady! We are, of course, tickled pink.

Jill & Eric had a sonogram on Monday. There is always some question as to whether the baby will cooperate with the sonogram technician. But I had no doubt our future grandchild would perform beautifully.

We were in Manhattan for Randy to attend meetings. So Jill & Eric came after work to tell us the news in person.

Both Randy & I had guessed a girl. The vote was split among immediate family members in Jill and Eric's family tree. Half of us thought girl. Half of us thought boy. Half of us were sure to be right.

But when we opened our gift, we discovered a pretty pink frame around a "photo" of a beautiful little girl. Within an hour, we had already purchased our first ruffles - with a Powercat thrown in for good measure.

You see, my beautiful new granddaughter is blessed with smart parents. They knew that first-time grandparents on both sides of the family would have trouble resisting the baby aisle. They were right.

Come January, our little lady will be coming home to this house. Randy & I spent the weekend in Topeka helping the parents-to-be unpack boxes. The other grandparents get the painting detail.

Even though we know Smalls is a "She," we don't get to discover her name yet. Jill says they have started calling her by her real name when they're home alone.

I'm keeping my ears open for an inadvertent disclosure.

Moving Lessons

The Mom and Dad Moving Co. caught a break last week. A moving company with a real logo and a bonafide truck pulled up to Jill and Eric's house in Omaha last weekend for the first leg of their move from Big Red country back to the Sunflower State.

Back in February 2010, I seem to recall the two dads saying this was their swan song when it came to providing moving services. Thankfully, Eric's new job included a provision for moving expenses. That's a fringe benefit I can really appreciate. (Eric's parents did end up with a truckload of possessions the movers wouldn't move and will serve as a way station while Jill and Eric wait on the go-ahead to move into their new home in Topeka.)

An aside: I just thought I'd use this photo so it might cool all of us off. On the day Jill and Eric moved into their Omaha house in February 2010, there was a lot of snow. Eric's dad Alan tried to find their back patio with a snow shovel. He gave up. Snow sounds good right about now.

However, last Saturday, as the thermometer teased the 100-degree mark and the humidity was off the charts, I was ever so thankful that there were three young guys sweating instead of me.

The moving company didn't get me out of the cleaning detail. But it was still cooler inside cleaning, even after the door had been propped open for six hours.

Jill and I felt sorry for the movers. However, we were both of the opinion that they could have saved themselves a few ounces of sweat by showing up at 8 o'clock instead of 10:10. We did offer plenty of ice water.

And I did feel somewhat guilty sitting there reading my book. I got more reading done while the packers packed on Friday and the movers moved on Saturday than I gotten done in a long time. (We even had time for the first round of maternity clothes shopping!)

One of the movers was a young guy named Juan. He looked like he was still in high school. As the morning turned into afternoon, Jill asked him if he was still in school.

Juan said he had dropped out of school because he had a daughter. But he was seriously considering going back.

"I don't want to do this the rest of my life," he told her.

I've always thought that any job can teach us life lessons like that. The summer between Brent's sophomore and junior years at college, he worked in Manhattan making t-shirts.

There was nothing wrong with the job. He collected a paycheck, though he ruined some clothes along the way with the ink. He and a fraternity brother worked in the un-airconditioned work zone all summer long.

And they both learned that they were glad to go back to school in the fall and ultimately work toward those bachelor's degrees. Still other internships helped Brent figure out he was on the right career path, and he' s now working towards his master's.

We all have those "a-ha" moments along the way. They are the signposts that point our way to the future.

So, I hope Juan really follows through and goes back to school ... not only for his own sake, but as an example for his young daughter.

There's certainly no shame in manual labor. And maybe Juan will work himself up and become the supervisor. But striving to be the best you can be is an important crossroads - no matter your age or station in life.

The Best Cake EVER!

Notice anything special about this cake? Isn't that checkerboard pattern great?

"Man, Jill went to a lot of work to make a checkerboard cake for Mother's Day," I thought as she sliced into the cake and served me and Eric's mom, Christy, back in May.

But, then again, Jill is the Checkerboard Cake Queen after years of making them for the Stafford County Fair's 4-H division.

But wait! What color is that cake? It's not Jill's customary purple and white.

Yes, YES, it's PINK and BLUE!

I hope you're not as slow as I was. Because YES, it is PINK and BLUE. And it means what you think it means: I'm going to be a GRANDMA! I mean, Jill and Eric are going to be parents!

The parents-to-be told us WAY BACK in May at their home in Omaha. With Eric's parents in Iowa and us in Kansas, it's not too often that everybody is in the same vicinity. So they took advantage of the fact that they could tell all the grandparents-to-be at the same time. (They have this "showing no favoritism" thing downpat, and they are just parents-in-training. That bodes well, I think!)

And then they tortured us. Yes, they TORTURED us. They didn't let us tell anyone until now.

I was like a little kid with a secret at Christmastime.

But now, I can tell. "Smalls" is 12 weeks old.

And isn't he/she gorgeous!? This "photo" was at 8 weeks. No, I haven't put it on my fridge ... because I couldn't TELL ... and I don't have a brag book yet. (Just give me time though.)

Jill tells me Smalls is about the size of a large plum right now. But come January 12 or so, I'll be introducing you to a new little Ladd (or Lady). Actually, either way, it will be a new little Ladd.

And I'll be a GRANDMA. Maybe you remember me mentioning that before ... It probably won't be the last time.