Welcome to Holland

A friend shared this with me and I wept.  I wept like i haven't wept in a long while.  I needed to be reminded of the beautiful blessing i've been given with Roo- and the amazing task I've been given by God to raise my special little boy... 

WELCOME TO HOLLAND

by

Emily Perl Kingsley.

I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this......

When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.

After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland."

"Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy."

But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.

The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.

So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.

It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around.... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills....and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.

But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."

And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away... because the loss of that dream is a very very significant loss.

But... if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things ... about Holland.

Mama's Day (Mother's Day)

This past weekend I took a last minute trip to Missouri to see my mama graduate from college...I had no idea before hand that I'd be going- I found out late Thursday night and was on a plane at 6am the next morning.  My weekend getaway was all kinds of amazing.

First of all, let me just say, that being at a graduation is pure bliss.  On a much grander scale, I think Heaven will be a bit like a graduation.  Just stick with me for a minute- there is so much love in that place.  Every single person who attends a graduation is there by choice, because of their love and admiration for the person graduating.  You can feel the joy in the room- grandparents weeping, moms and dads cheering and smiling the biggest smiles they've smiled up to that point.  Its a beautiful thing.

As a daughter, to get to witness this most momentous occasion in my mama's life- it was magical.  It was surreal and so strange to be bursting with such pride for my parent- but I was.  My mama grew up poverty stricken, raised by a single parent in a poor country.  She beat the odds- she is the first in her family to graduate college.  AND she did it at the "young" age of  56!  Being there, watching her walk up to get her diploma, it brought back so many wonderful memories from my childhood... I remember being 5 years old, standing on my parents bed, hand over my heart, reciting the pledge of allegiance over and over again, helping my mama to memorize it so she could pass her citizenship test.  I remember being in the back seat of the car, when her girlfriend helped teach her how to drive... I remember how proud she was when she finally became an "American".

Not many people can say that they know someone who TRULY embodies God's description of a virtuous woman... but I call her mama.  She is gracious, compassionate, funny, a true servant and above all else, she is follower of Jesus Christ, always putting HIM first in her life.  I'm blessed beyond measure that she is my mother...

I pray daily that my own children will love and cherish and respect me even a tiny bit as much as I do my mama... if they do, then I've done a wonderful job as a parent.

Mahal Kita Mama

Love Always- Angy

John Deere Green...

I'm currently sitting on my parents porch with a cappuccino at my side, laptop in hand, taking in the midwest summer breeze... my mama put up a couple different wind chimes and they are going back and forth making the most melodious of sounds, one after the other as if to say "your turn, see if you can top that."  I can see a magnificent green grass for acres and acres... the fish are jumpin' in the lake taunting me to come and catch em'... in this moment i'm totally and completely overwhelmed by the grace and love of my Father in Heaven. 

He created all of this. For me and for you.  The care he took in perfecting the birds chirp, or the majesty in which he formed the mighty oak tree... i'm in awe- and so very humbled that he loved me so much that He- the God of the Universe- would pay such attention to the details.

There are moments in life when nothing is wrong in the world...and the peace that surpasses all understanding wraps me up like a warm blanket, and I just sit back and enjoy the blessing...today is one of those days.

Your sister in Christ Jesus~
Angy

Foodie Friday :) French Onion Soup

Hello friends!  I've been waiting for this all week.... the first post for Foodie Friday!

This week's meal was French onion soup.... Mimi's Cafe style!

I was inspired by a girls date I had with my two girlfriends, Sarah & Tina- we had coffee and headed to Mimi's for a delicious lunch... I had their famous French onion soup- I started thinking about how I could recreate this for my family... and here we are!

I started out by slicing up 4 yellow onions and gently caramelizing them over low heat in a drizzle of some good quality olive oil.  Next I added half of a finely chopped garlic, 3 stalks of chopped celery and 1 tbs. of sugar- I continued to sautee all these ingredients until the onions were almost translucent and totally caramelized.  Salt and pepper to taste.

In a stock pot bring 8 cups of broth, beef and chicken, to a rolling boil- you can use equal parts of both broths, or if you life just use beef... I found that using both types of broth gave the soup a super intense flavor :0)  Most online French onion soup recipes call for vermouth or white wine, but I had reisling on hand, so guess what I used? REISLING! Add 2 cups of whatever sweet(ish) wine that you have on hand and lower heat.

Let the stock mixture simmer for a few minutes and add the onion mixture and continue to stir till all ingredients have blended well.

Let the  soup simmer on low while you get the yummy bread part of the recipe started!  I used texas toast- most recipes ask you to use a crusty baguette, but texas toast is more cost effective and works just as great. Brown your toast or frozen garlic bread or whatever you decide to use- and set aside.

Spoon soup into bowls and add one piece of your toast or bread right on top of soup and generously sprinkle with cheese- I used mozzarella, but Gruyère or fresh Parmesan would work just as good- make sure your bread is piping hot so the cheese melts nicely- next..... SERVE IT UP!

The verdict for this recipe was pretty awesome- the kids liked it a lot- which totally surprised me, the hubby said and I quote "this is really really good. really good!"  And I have to agree, I tweaked the recipe some, it wasn't exactly like Mimi's but it was pretty darn tasty!

What restaurant meals have you always wanted to recreate? What are you waiting for, get creative and get it done! Happy eating!

Train Up a Child...

Proverbs 22:6 "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it."




Why must being the parent of a teenager (or a parent in general) be so stinkin' hard? Teenagers think they know everything don't they?  They think they are invincible and that the world "owes" them something... the world does owe them something- a swift kick in the butt!


Have you ever discovered who someone truly was and were completely and totally shocked by it? Well I have- and my jaw is still on the ground...  


Parenting is hard.  The older my four children get, the smarter my own parents become.


I have no idea how they loved me and had patience with me and didn't kill me despite the horrid awful teenager I was... but i'm so thankful that after every terrible decision I made, they were still waiting for me with arms wide open...(sometimes after a spanking or being grounded, but arms wide open none the less)


Teenagers say things to their parents that cut like a knife- and I don't know about you, but I knew what I was doing and saying was insane- but I just didn't care.  Sometimes things would fly out of my mouth and I desperately wished I could take them back, but because I was so stubborn and full of pride, I thought "oh well, nothing I can do to change that now."


Is being a total jerk at 13 and 14 a rite of passage? And who decided that it was? That person should be smacked!


Even though parenting for me is especially hard right now, I am a firm believer in God's holy word.  I know deep in my spirit that my God is faithful and He is on the throne.  He tells me that if I raise my children according to His word, His values, to be a child full of love and integrity... that when they are older, they will come back to the ways of Christ... that promise is worth enduring this storm...


thanks for listening :)


love-Angy

Overhaul!!!

so i've been doing this "blog" think for just a bit... and i'm already antsy!!! i'm feelin' the need to do a complete overhaul...

if any of you ever followed me on myspace (it sounds so weird to say that!) you might remember how ridiculously indecisive i was about sticking to a layout or design... I won't be that spastic here, but i do want
to do something that reflects me a little more :)

yayay! stay tuned!

love-angy

Foodie Friday :)

Hello friends!  Stay tuned because starting this Friday, I will be posting a fun, different & yummy family friendly meal- main course, sides, desserts and I will include pics.  Every meal i post will be something that I have made for my family that week! And I will even be brave and include how they felt about the meal! LOL This should be fun, and hopefully it will inspire you to get a little creative in the kitchen and try something different!  Its going to interesting to try a new recipe every week, but i'm up for the challenge! Join me and lets have some fun!