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Showing posts from 2014

have yourself a merry little christmas

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When I was a kid everything about Christmas was beautiful and fun and exciting. Now that I'm older, and a Mom. Those things still hold true but in different ways. I certainly appreciate how hard my Mom worked to make every Christmas magical for us kids. What's struck me more and more is that this time of year can also be an emotional minefield. Once seemingly happy or tender memories become bittersweet. Some down right painful (I've written about it before ). For me, these memories usually have to do with my grandmother. She went home to her Heavenly Father eleven years ago today.  A Hymn in church, the cookies I bake from her recipe. The scent of the hand lotion I use everyday (the same she used) trigger a flood of tears. Suddenly she's everywhere and the dull ache of her absence is as raw and painful as it was a decade ago. This happened recently in a big way when I got so excited to watch one of my favorite old movies on TV. Meet Me in St. Louis. I wa

last minute gift idea

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If you follow my Instagram feed you know that last week the Hands were struck by plague. The good news is that we survived. The bad news is that Mama had a list as long as her arm of things she'd planned on getting ready in preparation for Christmas. Cleaning, baking, decorating, you know the drill. Instead, I called my Mom and cried like a five year old. I happen to have a five year old so that description is pretty accurate. The other big task that was not accomplished was a whole lot of sewing and crafting I had planned. Last year I loved making hand made Christmas gifts for all our family, teachers, and coaches. I had a similar plan in mind for this year but instead I'm adjusting my expectations and relying on Pinterest . Enter my last minute gift. 1. Go get a bottle of yummy smelling hand soap or sanitizer 2. Go here and print out these adorable gift tags. (They have tags that don't say teacher too.) 3. Grab some twine, a hole punch, and your preschooler, t

a little chicken humor

Scientists at NASA have developed a gun for the purpose of launching dead chickens. It is used to shoot a dead chicken at the windshield of airline jet, military jet, or the space shuttle, at that vehicle's maximum traveling velocity. The idea being, that it would simulate the frequent incidents of collisions with airborne fowl, and therefore determine if the windshields are strong enough to endure high-speed bird strikes. British engineers, upon hearing of the gun, were eager to test it on the windshields of their new high-speed trains. However, upon firing the gun, the engineers watched in shock as the chicken shattered the windshield, smashed through the control console, snapped the engineer's backrest in two, and embedded itself into the back wall of the cabin. Horrified and puzzled, the engineers sent NASA the results of the experiment, along with the designs of the windshield, and asked the NASA scientists for any suggestions. The NASA scientists sent back a brief respons

Boozy BBQ

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Now I know that got your attention! With Labor Day behind us the traditional grilling season is drawing to a close. Though, if you're like me? I am not afraid to shovel snow off my grill for a good January grilled steak! Summer is all about hot dogs and hamburgers but in the Fall my food becomes all about warmth and comfort. This Peach-Mustard BBQ brings both. Late Summer here on the eastern shore brings a bounty of peaches to our local farm stands and grocery stores. A jar of wonderful peach jam brings the sweet to this non traditional BBQ sauce. Rich, bold whole grain mustard delivers a bite and a good splash of bourbon delivers a swift kick in the pants. I love this sauce on pork. A beautiful pork tenderloin to be exact. It would also pair well with salmon or chicken too! I'd love to hear in the comments how you would use this BBQ? Peach-Mustard BBQ Sauce (from Food Network Kitchens) What you need: 3 tablespoons unsalted butter 2 tablespoons minced onio

year by year, day by day

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Last year at this time things looked very different around here . We made the bold decision to home school our oldest son through his Kindergarten year. The journey to that choice actually began nearly a year before that! Two years ago in January we began touring local schools both public and private. The first school we went to see was our local Catholic K-8, Most Blessed Sacrament. MBSCS has an impressive, new and modern facility. It was obvious just walking through the doors how much they cared for their students. We were impressed by their rigorous academic curriculum and emphasis on the education of the whole child. The integration of arts and sciences together and the amazing access to state of the art technology. Our tours through other schools were mediocre at best (and I'm being kind). MBSCS set the bar high and we were soon on our way through the admissions process. Unfortunately, it was not meant to be. Class sizes are kept very limited and the Kindergarten class was f

an interview with Bella

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I love hearing what little ones have to say. I'll get around to interviewing all the kids but I begin today with our littlest little.  What is your name? Isabella (isa•bewa) How old are you? Two What color is your hair? Green What color are your eyes? Blue like Mommy's What's your favorite food? Oatmeal (the last thing she ate;-) What's your favorite song? Jesus Loves Me What's your favorite treat? Chocolate (a girl after my own heart) What's your favorite color? PINK!!!! What's your favorite book? Bunny (Benjamin Bunny) What's your favorite thing to do with Daddy? Scratchy (Whisker rubs) What's you favorite thing to do with Mommy? Read stories What's your favorite Movie? Frozen Favorite TV show? Doc McStuffins Who is your best friend?  You Mommy What's your favorite thing to do outside? Ride my baby bike (she has a push car and a peddle car so I'm not quite sure. She loves trying to ride her brothers Big Wheels too)  What's your favo

10 in 10

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My sweet friend Adriane from The Little House on the Dairy asked me to do a 10 in 10 this week. I love these little peeks into what my friends are up to since we live all over the country and rarely get to see one another. I picked a day (last Friday) that the kids would have an activity so you wouldn't get ten pictures of the insides of my dishwasher and washing machine. You're still going to see some laundry though. It can't be helped.  What started out as a run of the mill Friday took one turn after another and became sort of a mess of a day. but here it is anyway. It's about to get real. 8:00 AM (really almost nine) The kids and I are reading Rush Revere and the Brave Pilgrims this Summer. We're really enjoying it so far and I admit to be learning just as much as they are.  9:00 AM Breakfast continues. I'm through reading and usually unloading and reloading the dishwasher while the kids finish up.  10:00 AM  You can find me fo

Chopped Thai Chicken Salad

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You know how you Pin tons of would be delicious meals on Pinterest and then eat the same old same old every night? No? Just me then? Well alrighty. Tonight I broke tradition and made this delightful and satisfying Summer supper. The weather today was dark, grey, rainy and not as hot as it's been recently but with 200% humidity it doesn't matter. This colorful, bright, sweet, and spicy salad was just what we needed. The recipe comes from a blogger named Lindsey who blogs at Pinch of Yum . Reading about her preparation of this dish makes me very thankful to live in a country where a good washing of my vegetables with good ole tap water is sufficient to keep bad things from happening to me and my family. She describes a process of having to bleach her fresh produce in order to consume it raw.   Blogger Lindsey was writing from the Philippines at the time. Head over and check her amazing pictures and please forgive mine. Chopped Thai Chicken Salad What you need: (F

Springtime in a bowl

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After a cold hard Winter it seemed like strawberry season would never come. It's been a heavenly few weeks slicing fresh berries on cereal and salads but nothing compares to Strawberry Shortcake.  I love making bakes goods from scratch. I specially love to use family recipes. But I'm also not ashamed to take a little help from the store. In this case doing it just like Grandma means using Bisquick. She used the Shortcake recipe right on the box! The light and slightly sweet biscuits are perfect for soaking up all that wonderful strawberry juice and take me right back to my childhood.  Bisquick Shortcakes What you need: 4 cups sliced strawberries 1/2 cup of sugar (I use half that amount) 2 3/4 cup Bisquick 3 Tbl granulated sugar 1/2 cup milk 3Tbl melted butter whipped cream What to do: Sprinkle sliced berries with sugar. Mix well, cover, and set aside. Combine ingredients until a sticky dough is formed and drop six biscuits onto an ungreased

Blueberry Bundt Cake

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Blueberries are in season here on Delmarva which means blueberries are on sale at the supermarket. I'm generally not a fan of blueberries but I'm trying really hard not to pass my personal food aversions on to my kids and I don't mind blueberries in some baked goods.  My Grandma made a killer Lemon Blueberry pound cake. If I ever track down her recipe from an Aunt I'll gladly share it. So what to do with my blueberries today? I'm not afraid to take a chance on recipes found on the Internet. This recipe from SouthernFood was just what I was looking for. It combines blueberries with my love for sour cream coffee cake and begins with a stick and a half of butter. I followed the recipe as written. The only additional step I took was to dredge the rinsed berries in a bit of flour before folding them into the cake batter. It helps with even distribution and stops some of the color from bleeding into the cake. I also made a quick glaze to pour over top (butter, powdere

My first born

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This week we traveled back up North to the A.I. DuPont Hospital for Children to follow up with Dr Connor, the Orthopedic  surgeon caring for Jacob's broken collarbone. Jacob fell out of bed in the middle of the night (no horse play involved;-) and broke his collar bone almost four weeks ago. We learned on Tuesday that Jacob is healed and free to resume all of his regularly scheduled activities. Jacob was devistated at his first visit when he was told he had to stay out of the pool for three whole weeks! It's been tough for him to watch his brother and sister at their lessons. It's been difficult for me to keep a six year old boy in a shoulder sling with his two feet on the ground:-)  In the car on our way home and not yet off the hospital grounds Jacob asked if he could write a thank you note to Dr. Connor. He said he wanted to thank him for taking such good care of his bone.  Steve reached over and grabbed my hand because he knew I'd just burst into tears behind my sun

Teacher Gifts

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Thanks to Kellee and   The Country Chic Cottage my bacon is saved! I never know what to do for teachers at Christmas or the end of the year. I don't know how our mothers did it without Pinterest! Anyhoo, I was procrastinating housework (likely) and on Instagram looking to see what my friends were looking at. I saw this picture and I heard angels sing. I just so happen to own four or five dozen mason jars as a result of a little party I helped throw . A quick trip to the local garden center over the weekend and I'm SO ready for the school year to be finished! If you find yourself in the same gift giving rut. Head over here and print these cute tags throw something in a cute mason jar and wow your friends. 

Company breakfast

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The last few weeks have been busier than usual. Stephen has been traveling, my in-laws have been traveling, my parents came to stay for a week, and I stayed right here. I had a nice visit with my folks. We stayed very busy doing all the fun beach things around here. Even with all the fun we were having we missed Dad. Lucky for us Steve is home to stay for a while and his folks rolled back into town a couple days ago too. Steve was more than a little jealous when he learned I made both of these dishes for other people while he was away. To make amends I got busy in the kitchen and invited his parents over this morning for a big Welcome Home breakfast.  On the menu were Cinnamon Rolls ( Thank you Jan, for this awesome recipe ) and Egg Cassarole. The best part about this menu is that the prep all happens the day before so all I had to do this morning was turn the oven on.  The Egg Cassarole is a breakfast staple in all the Hand houses. It's another one of those reci

adventures with bella

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Last Tuesday Isabella and I ventured to Wilmington to meet with a pediatric surgeon. We are very blessed to live so near one of the best children's hospitals in the nation. We met the surgeon to discuss treatment/repair of an umbilical hernia defect she's had since birth. We also learned that she has not one but two hernias. The second is located above the bellybutton called an epi-gastric hernia. I'll cut to the chase. She doesn't need surgery now and best case scenario she may never need surgery. The goal is if surgery becomes necessary that she only need one surgery to repair both defects. Are you confused? Simply put, Bella is great and we'll be meeting with Dr. Murphy (who totally reminds me of Mr Rogers) annually for the next several years to keep an eye on things. Fresh off a trip to see her Ped where she received a few immunizations Bella was naturally a little nervous to be heading to another doctors appointment. (But doesn't she look fabul

a tech review

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I downloaded an new app a couple months ago and have been trying it out in the hopes of finding new things to write about. Have you heard of BrightNest? It's a fun app to help you clean, organize, and beautify your home. Through the profile you create you are provided with weekly cleaning, organizing and decorating suggestions sent straight to your smart phone. In case you think, "I don't have time for that!" It even has a suggested amount of time each task should take to complete. I honestly don't do most of the things they suggest. My organization needs require professional help at this point. Or my mother. But I have taken some of the quick cleaning suggestions and now have a fool proof and great smelling no chemical solution to cleaning my microwave. This seriously works! I've done the same procedure with vinegar. But then the house smelled like......vinegar Haven't you always wanted to clean with coca-cola? You inspec

mom mom gus

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Last week Stephen, the kids, and I traveled to Hershey, PA for the funeral of Stephen's grandmother. She was mother to Steve's Dad. At least the only mother he'd ever known. You see, Mom Gus was a pretty special lady. She and her husband of 50+ years Walter, were house parents to boys from the Milton Hershey School. My Father in-law grew up in an orphanage. She and Walter had two biological children but holidays and birthdays always brought a homecoming   of her boys around to pay homage to this tiny, tough, and very sweet lady who raised them. I say boys. Most of these men are now in their seventies! But when they get together it's not difficult to imagine what they were all like as tots. I met Mom Gus when she braved the cold and snowy trip to Fort Wayne for our wedding. She hugged me and told me all about how she never thought her Stephen was going to get married. She'd bought a dress years ago thinking she'd wear it to his wedding and had figured she'