Where the Heck is She?

I bet everyone a few of you are wondering where the heck I am? I haven't posted anything in several days, although I have wanted to. I just have been so dog-gone busy. This summer has kept me hopping more than any other. Perhaps that is because my youngest child is finally tame enough for me to go more places.

Anyway, I wanted to let you know that I am still here and have some fun planned for this blog coming soon.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful summer!

Heartache in SC

If you live in South Carolina, Georgia or North Carolina, you have probably heard about this story. Crystal Hewitt, a friend of mine, was going blueberry picking with her two children Haley (3) and Parker (5). Their van was struck from behind by a truck and the two children were killed. Crystal was critically injured and flown to a hospital an hour a way.

Crystal underwent back surgery Wednesday, for a crushed vertebrae. Craig has been with her continually, taking very good care of her. I cannot imagine the heartache they going through, as well as the physical pain Crystal is in.

I met Crystal when I started doing book fairs at the child development center where she worked as assistant director. She is so sweet, patient and thoughtful, always has a smile on her face and truly loves children. When my father died, she sent me two cards; one from her and one from the teachers at the daycare.

In December we met her husband, Craig, when he came out to take pictures of all my dad's grand kids (our gift to him for Christmas). He was kind, patient and so good with all the kids. Craig is a gifted photographer and gave us awesome pictures to share with our father at his last Christmas.

Picture obtained from Crystal's CaringBridge site.

Craig created a beautiful tribute to his children on his photography blog, Craig Hewitt Photography. If you have a moment, stop by there and watch the movie. Hug your children a little closer and send a prayer up for them.

Works for Me Wednesday - Homemade Pineapple Cake

Well, I had a simple little tip all ready to share with you, but I saw that this week there is a theme for Works For Me Wednesday: Best Summer Recipe. So, I will share with you my favorite summer dessert - Pineapple Cake.

This cake is so simple, so moist and so delicious! My kids love it and my 11 year old son actually requested it for his birthday cake. And, it is very low fat, requiring no oil. It doesn't take many ingredients and can be eaten without the icing if you are watching your weight.

Pineapple Cake

Ingredients for Cake:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 tsp. baking soda
• 2 eggs
• 1 can of crushed pineapple with the juice

Ingredients for Icing:

• 8 oz block of cream cheese
• 2 cups of powdered sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 a stick of butter (or less)
  

Directions for Cake:

• Preheat oven to 350
• Mix all ingredients together and pour into greased 9x13 or two 8x8 pans
• Bake for 30 minutes or until top is golden brown
• Allow to cool and cover with icing
  

Directions for Icing:

• Allow cream cheese to soften at room temperature
• Mix cream cheese with a mixer until fluffy
• Melt butter and add to cream cheese
• Add remaining ingredients and mix
  

My Mom - The Concert Pianist

My mother, who passed away in 1993 (when I was 21) was talented in so many ways. She really was the greatest woman I have ever known in real life. She was great at baking and cake decorating, sewing, gardening, photography, nursing and ministering to others. She was also an amazing pianist. She really could have gone on to be a concert pianist, but nursing won out.

My dad was in the Army, so we moved around every three years. At every church we joined, when they heard my mom play the piano, they asked her to fill in for the regular one and to give specials or mini concerts of sort.

Anyway, when we moved to Germany, I fell in love with Fur Elise, a classical piece by Beethoven. On my 15th birthday, she surprised me with the sheet music and she played it for me. Honestly, her version was as good or better than the one I am including in this post. Press play to listen.

Movie Review - Transformers

My husband and I took our kids to see Transformers Revenge of the Fallen yesterday, despite hearing pretty bad reviews of it. Many times we still enjoy a movie even though it received less than stellar reviews. Well, in this case the reviews were dead on.

Here is my take on the movie:

• A lot of language! Not the "F" word, but pretty much everything else.
• A lot of "skin!" Girls scantily clad abound in this movie. I was not happy to have my 11 and almost 9 year old sons watching that, nor my daughter.
  
• A lot of destruction! Now, the kids loved that part, but honestly I kind of got battle fatigue.
  
• Not enough plot or dialogue. They had a decent story line, they just didn't expound on it enough. There is very little dialogue, mostly violence and destruction.

We loved the first Transformers movie and bought it on DVD. I am sad that they took a kid's action cartoon and made it more for adults than children. We will not be purchasing Revenge of the Fallen when it comes out.

Turtle Soup Anyone?

My inlaw's wanted the boys to catch some of the many snapping turtles in their pond because they are eating all the fish. Well, my excited sons and my nephew put out "turtle traps" and low and behold they actually caught one!

My nephew's father got the turtle so he could make Turtle Soup - I am not kidding!

About the photo - the boy in red is my nephew, the rest are mine. My oldest son, far right, is only two years older than second son (second from the right), but the age gap sure looks like more.

While they were posing for this picture, my 3 yo was doing this (hope I don't get in trouble for posting this):

Works for Me Wednesday

Happy "Hump" Day! It is time for another practically useless helpful tip from yours truly. Today my tip is on keeping a clean bathroom counter. I keep mine looking shiny and clean everyday without breaking out the cleaners every time.

After you get done with your shower, use your towel to wipe down the counter and sink. There is usually enough tooth past left around to help act as a cleanser of sorts. The moisture on the towel should be enough to do the job, but if you need to wet it a little to get everything, then do.

Now, if you are like me and you reuse your towels (ours are used twice before washing), then use your hand towel, because those should be changed everyday. And, I am not saying don't ever really clean your bathroom, but use this tip to keep it looking freshly cleaned each day even though it wasn't.

And, if you want to go a step further, I wipe down my baseboards and chair railing after doing the counters. The towel is already moist and dirty, right? Wiping up a little dust won't hurt it, and it helps keep your pretty woodwork from looking nasty with dust bunnies.

Totally grossed out or glad I shared the tip? I'd love to hear what you think.

See more useful tips at We Are That Family.

Happy Father's Day!

My dad in 1971, months before I was born. Wasn't he a looker?

I won't begin to say that this was a happy Father's Day for me, because as most of you know, this is the first one without my dad. It has been over two months now; isn't amazing how time flies. I miss him. He was a good dad. Won't say anymore about that as I don't want to start crying.

I realized that I never really talk about my husband's dad, so I thought I would share a picture of the two of them which I took the week after I got my Nikon. It was dusk and I had the ISO cranked up to 400 to get the picture without a flash, so it has "noise" (i.e. it's grainy) and a tiny bit blurry because the subject on the right (my husband) moved a little and with low light, you can't do that.

Say It Forward - Penniwigs

I haven't done a Say It Forward in a while so I thought I would. Today's loyal commenter award goes to Olde Dame at Penniwig's (surprise Olde Dame!). She designs delightful free buttons and graphics for use in blog posts or on side bars. And, she provides witty posts which make me laugh and brings a smile to my face (and I needed that after my dad died).

Olde Dame Penniwig consistently leaves thoughtful or humorous comments on Moving Forward and I really appreciate her. Now, I am not going to offer her the button to post on her blog, as her blog is award free, so don't think I am leaving her out. I just wanted to recognize her and say "thank you."

Please take time to stop by her blog, you will be glad you did. Oh, and while you are there click on the label "Big Hilda". You will get a good chuckle at those posts.

Do you have a bloggy friend who consistently leaves comments on your blog? Swing over to 5 Minutes For Mom to see how to participate in Say It Forward.

Works For Me Wednesday

Time for another so-simple-it's-almost-silly tip for Works For Me Wednesday. Remember, my tips are all going to be extremely small, simple tips that I have used to make my life a little bit easier or in the case, save us money.
Today's tip is about dryer sheets, like the one in the picture above. It really doesn't matter what brand you use, but that is the one we use (but we use the one that is free of perfumes).

Anyway, my tip is to use only half of a sheet with each load you dry AND then use that half-sheet twice. Your clothes don't really need a full sheet, half a sheet does just as well at keeping away the static. And, feel that dryer sheet after using it once; there is still a lot of the thick texture stuff left to it. Throw that bad boy back in there and use it for the next load.

Using that tip saves us several dollars a year, it doesn't take me any extra time at all and well, it "works for me."

Want to find out more tips and tricks? Head over the We Are That Family and check out the other participants in Works For Me Wednesday. Have you shared a tip on your blog? I would love to read it.