Birthday Party

Our family recently got together to celebrate the birthday of my Nanny. This is the wife of my recently deceased Papa. My nanny has had Alzheimers for at least 6-7 years, and recently moved into a retirement home after my Papa fell in December '11.

Its tough being close to someone with Alzheimers. The small things that confused her like why there were so many people around her and why she had to blow on candles on a cake. But she is a good, christian woman. Someone who used to make the best chicken & dumplings and biscuits. Someone who was a good person. This celebration was worth getting this picture of me (left), her, and my sis (right).

Theres a picture of her in her room at the age of 15 - when asking her who it was, she could pin point exactly where it was, that it was her, and how old she was. I showed her a picture of her and my papa, and she stated that she knows him and saw him a few weeks ago, (he passed away over 2 months ago). This reminded me of the song by Rascal Flatts, 'Ellsworth'. A song that will take you back to the movie, 'The Notebook'.
A few memories of the two of them over the past year that I will never forget.
1 - When my mom was talking to my grandfather on the phone early this past summer, my papadidn't hang up the phone all the way. My mother decided to listen in and hear what they were saying. My nanny, (in the progressed stage of Alzheimers) said out loud, 'why are you staring at me'? My papaat the time 90 years old, just plainly said, 'I cant help it, your beautiful'!
2 - As my grandfather is in the fetal position in the last stage of his life, on his death bed, my nanny, (who had not been able to place who my papa was for the past 3 months) asked my mother if she could speak the the gentleman laying in the bed. My mother said of course. As my nanny got up and hobbeled to the bed, my papa rolled on his side to face her, with his eyese closed in severe pain. She placed her hand on his hand and stated, 'you were a good husband to me, and great father, and my best friend. It is ok to go, I am taken care of'. Two hours later my Papa passed away. Its like he needed to know she was ok before he left her. As the pastor said at his funeral, he always said when he went to heaven, he was going to carry Jean (my nanny) in his pocket.

Cake Time!!

As a special treat for my Team at work, I decided to make a homemade Birthday Cake. My Co-worker requested either a Pumpkin Spice Cake, or a Sock-it-to-me Cake. I told him, 'put your hands together'!



So I went out and bought all ingredients needed for both Cakes. One issue is, we only have 12 people in our group, so I dont want to make '2' cakes....so here is my little experiment.


















First I made one cake flavor (pumpkin spice) in a 10'' pan and another cake flaover in another 10" pan (the sock-it-to-me). Then I made another 10" cake pan with the pumpkin spice recipe. When these two pans came out of the oven and cooled, I cut each flavor, after it had been inverted from the pan, straight down the middle. Then I took each 'moon', iced the top, and then added the same flavered 'moon' on top. I then did the same exact thing to the second flavor.
















The next step, I iced the center wall and put both flavored 'moons' together.

















Here you have it! The left side is Pumpkin Spice and the right side is Sock-it-to-me.








Now with the final touches - the frosting!!!!

*Both these cake recipes came from www.duncanhines.com

Bachelorette Party

Party Time!!!

My night out on the town, which was much needed, was for a friends Bachelorette Party.

The night consisted of a Pure Passion Party, (if you dont know what that is, google the website - its a little bit of a treat ;)).

The Bride to be then opened her gifts, (can you tell she's an Auborn fan?).

Then we headed to one of the best restaurants in ATL - Loca Luna. Great place to get Topas, dance, and overall great atmostphere.

Angel Eggs

At every family event on my Husbands side, we have a very large lunch completely homemade by my mother-in-law. Our menu usually consists of: Grilled Chicken, Hamburgers, Roast Beef, Carrots, Green Beans, Macaroni & Cheese, Corn, Mashed Potatoes & Gravy, Rolls, and Angel Eggs.
The most recent gathering was for Chris' (my Husband) brother's Birthday - I offered to bring the Angel Eggs. I decided to make pretty Eggs for the big blast of Spring Weather we've had recently:

All I did was boil the eggs like normal, then take the yoke out, (like the upper right corner egg).

*And yes, I used healthy 'Smart Balance' mayo for these - and the Fam never knew.

Then allow the Whites to soak in a cup of water, food coloring, and a touch of apple cider vinegar, like so:

Take the eggs out after at least five minutes, then allow to sit on a paper towel to lit the excess water fall off.

Here are some pic's of the family enjoy their time together:

The oldest brother turned 30 last week -

The three brothers and mom playing wiffel ball.

Soccer

My Husband is big into Soccer. Well, big into playing it. Both of us played starting at an early age, I stopped after High School, and he is still playing, (for fun). He is currently playing for the SilverBacks in Atlanta. I really enjoy continuing to be in the atmosphere of soccer - however the down fall is watching him get hurt.

http://www.atlantasilverbacks.com/park/index.php?opt=teamlist

March Madness

I have officially added in my Picks for my March Madness Bracket!!!! Let the games begin.

Also - Here is my green feathery Saint Patricks Day Wreath! May not be guy approved - but who can resist green feathers?!?!

THE BIG ANNOUNCEMENT FOR TODAY/WEEK:

Chris won his sales competition and is now the only one with a headset phone in his department! My big love bird is so good in Sales!

Facebook

I've decided to get away from Facebook for a while. I will begin to actually focus on this blog - instead of using Facebook. I believe I have becoming a little obsessed to the big FB, and not in a good way. Focusing on what others have been doing more than focusing on what I am doing in my own life. So, to help in my situation, my sweet husband has agreed to do what I've been asking for a couple of months. See, when we were dating/engaged, we took nightly walks together to have 'quality' time together. Almost two years into our marriage now, and we just dont do those things anymore. It is important to still have together times. So, Chris has promised me nightly walks during the week, to replace my Facebook face time.