We love you!

The Gaggle of Girls thanks all of you for your love and support over the years – you’re all awesome! We really appreciate and are very grateful for you.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

From this:

To This:

took about a minute. I think the girls enjoyed smashing the gingerbread house as much as they enjoyed making it! Eating it on (or near) New Year’s Day helps the gluten-free gingerbread still taste delicious.

I’m so glad we finally made the gingerbread house this year! The girls had so much fun making it! It was a wonderful team effort – I made the dough, their grandmother made the template and the frosting glue, the girls decorated, and I took a bunch of pictures.

I highly recommend trying this project. It took time and effort, but it looked and tasted great. I wouldn’t suggest using canned frosting and graham crackers, though – it’s worth the extra time to bake this from scratch!

And now off to try to avoid eating little bits of gingerbread house while I am on a low-carb diet…

The Gaggle of Girls finished 2009 by needing to rehome our youngest dog, Ra the wonder-puppy.

We found him a wonderful home on a farm with horses, and we’re looking forward to driving out to visit him in the spring. It was a hard and heartbreaking decision, but after we accepted we didn’t know when we would be able to move into our own place (as I need to get a job first), we knew it was the right thing to do.

So, welcome 2010! We are hoping and praying for a prosperous and happy New Year! We couldn’t have gotten through 2009 without or friends, family, and Church, and we are so grateful to everyone for the love and support. Here’s hoping we are spend more of 2010 being supportive than being supported!

Today was my girls’ first day of school. But it’s not just their first day for this school year, but their first day ever. They’ve been homeschooled until now, but with the separation and me looking for work, they needed to go to school this year. It was a very difficult decision to make, and one that has been the cause of much anxiety and much excitement for our family.

My parents were nice enough to take the girls school supply shopping one at a time. (I’m amazed at these lists – they’re so long! I know we never had to bring that much in when I was a kid.) When BG was out shopping, they ran into a friend I’ve known since preschool. She was shopping with her daughter, and when BG said she was going “back to school shopping”, my friend said, “but it’s ‘to school shopping’, since you’ve never been before!” We’ve been giggling about that – yes, today was “to school day”, not back to school day!

Yesterday’s Labor Day labor was to pack up the backpacks with all the stuff from the list of school supplies given by their teachers, lay out clothes for the first day, pack lunches, and generally get ready. Plus the older two needed to finish their summer reading, BG had to write a short book review, and both MG and LG wanted their hair in rollers so they’d have a curl. Finally, they needed to calm down enough to sleep. Phew!

This morning I woke up a few minutes later than I had planned (someone turned the volume off on my alarm clock!), so the girls were dressed when I walked up to get their breakfasts ready. After breakfast they got washed up, and then it was time to go!

Quick hugs and kisses with the older girls, and their Vovo took them to their schools. Why yes, they do start at the same time, and they are about 5 min apart… Everyone can be in two places at once, right? Well, I needed to be in 3 places at once, because LG’s school starts 5 min after BG & MG. I wonder how people do the first day with only 1 parent. Amelia’s school is across the street, so I can easily walk her over. Her teacher is lovely, and is fine with parents being in class for the first 15 min, but when the music starts, it’s time for parents to go.

The older girls quickly found friends they knew from other places, and LG was feeling OK about school when I left. I’m very curious what their reactions will be this afternoon when they are dismissed! Right now, I’m worried about them. I am certain they will be fine in time, but I worry about how long it will take for them to be comfortable being themselves in class.

I’ve been battling with a bug that’s had me dizzy, nauseated, headachy, and with a low grade fever. So, today is resting, recuperating, & resumé reworking day. There’s been a lot of excitement lately, so here’s hoping for a very peaceful day!

Imagine you live near the ocean.

You go to camp on an island, taking a boat each day to and from camp.

One set of grandparents take you sailing.

Your other set of grandparents have a motor boat.

On a visit with those grandparents, you are allowed to drive the motor boat.

Your grandfather has a few lobster traps, and you get to go lobster fishing.

You are also allowed to catch the lobster buoy, and help bring up the lobster trap!

Then!

There are actually lobsters in 2/3 of the traps!

And then, magic of all magic, 1 of the 10 lobsters in the traps is a keeper -big enough to be legal to bring home!

So now, you can imagine your camp lunch contains a bit of lobster salad from that keeper lobster.

Yum!

(Check out all the pictures in this photo set on flickr)

On Wednesday we had a lovely visit with my two grandmothers. My maternal Nana (Nana M) turned 87, and we joined her for lunch at the assisted living place. Both of my grandmothers live in the same assisted living place, so despite it being a 2 1/2 hour trip, it’s quite easy to visit both of them. (The picture at right is from a few months ago, the camera needed batteries and the pics of the Nanas didn’t come out)

It turns out that Wednesdays are “Chef’s Choice” for lunch, and because we had reserved the private dining room, the chef called my mother to ask what we would like to have served for lunch. This chef had been wonderful about accommodating food allergies and celiac disease, but we didn’t want to make things too difficult for him.
”
My mom replied, “what my mother would like best, you couldn’t do.”
The chef answered, “try me.”
My mom said, “lobster.”
And the chef surprised us all by saying, “ok, lobster rolls, lobster salad for the folks with allergies, and grilled vegetables on the side!”

Let me tell you, when I’m older, I hope I can live in a place as wonderful as this one! This lobster salad was warmed, with no mayo, and was incredibly divine, with huge chunks of lobster. And as an extra bonus, there were seconds and thirds offered!

My Nana M’s uncle, Izzy, and his sister Flo also live in the same assisted living place, so after lunch they joined us for dessert and birthday wishes.

For dessert, we tried the new Betty Crocker Gluten-Free chocolate cake mix (which is made in a gluten-free facility) – review here. We topped it with a “chocolate syrup frosting” my mother made, and then set out some lovely candied violets. The cake was moist and delicious, and we made room. Though MG had eaten 4ths on lobster and couldn’t finish her cake. I had only had 2 1/2 servings, so I could help LG finish off MG’s piece. Perhaps BG was the smart one, she had seconds on soup rather than lobster and saved her appetite for cake, and ate two pieces!

When dessert was finished, Nana M went to a doctor’s appointment with my mom, while we met up with Nana R (my paternal Nana, seen here in a picture from her 91st birthday last September). She was enroute to High Stakes Bingo, where you have to pony up a nickle to play. BG and LG helped her out (though she wins well enough without them!), and MG was invited to play by another resident. Nana R was so happy to show off her great-granddaughters! And I’m always happy to be called a “young girl” by someone! Luckily for BG, in the 3rd game she got a card, too.

Watching the residents and the girls play bingo was wonderful. There’s such spunk, such individuality, and such fun among the residents, and the employees are wonderful. I get teary when I think of the devotion and openness of the folks employed there – they clearly know the residents so very well, and they recognize how wonderful they all are, including my two Nanas! The gentle combination of teasing and politeness really shows how genuine they are about caring for every individual.

It was a long and exhausting day, but one that built more great memories. I am very lucky to have so many wonderful memories of time with my Nanas!

Life has been busy here lately, and the girls keep growing. Lots to celebrate, lots to remember.

In May, BG turned 11, with much fanfare, and a trip to CoCo Key indoor water park. The rest of us tried to contain our jealousy with a trip to the local YMCA’s pool. She also got a visit from her t-shirt design hero JadenKale – though I enjoyed her visit at least as much as BG did!

For Memorial Day, there was a big cookout with a bunch of cousins at my father and stepmother’s home, and it was so much fun! 2 grandparents, 8 grandkids, and 4 adults who act like kids made it so much fun to be the photographer! Grampy and Mimi live right next to beach, so there was a lot of running, shouting, treasure burying, castle building, and football when we took over their beach. Many great memories made that day.

This past week MG turned 9, also with much fanfare. We saw MG off on a trip to the Big Apple on Friday, where she and her Nani & Vovo visited with her uncle and his girlfriend. She enjoyed rides on a carousel, a ferris wheel, the Staten Island ferry, and several rides in an amusement park in Central Park. She also had some wonderful meals, a great trip to the American Museum of Natural History where she loved the life-size blue whale, and just a lot of fun in general.

However, on their way home their anticipated visit with Nana M (my maternal grandmother) took a different turn. Nana M is now living in the same assisted living place as Nana R (my paternal grandmother), and her husband was in a rehab facility. Grandpa Bob took a turn for the worse, and was moved to the hospital, then to the hospice wing of the hospital. MG had a short visit with Nana M, then a longer visit with Nana R while Nani and Vovo took Nana M to visit Grandpa Bob for a bit. They were able to visit for over an hour, and he was lucid during some of the time, too. They had been married for over 20 years, and had been living in their own home until a few months ago, so living in different places was very difficult for both of them.

Thank goodness that Nana M was able to visit with him Sunday evening, as early Monday morning, Grandpa Bob died. He was 94 1/2 years old, and a wonderful, gentle man who was always so genuinely pleased to see us, always with a firm handshake and a kiss on the cheek for the ladies. While in the past year he had become forgetful, he had otherwise been doing very well and had been successfully managing his health issues. Nana always made sure meals were on time and healthy so they could best manage his diabetes, and until earlier this year he had been driving them to doctor visits and the grocery store, where he sat in a chair while Nana shopped.

We have many fond memories of Grandpa Bob, and he’ll get his very own post on the day of the funeral (Thursday). The girls are sad, and disappointed – they had wanted to celebrate his 100th birthday with him. However, our Church is giving us comfort that we will see him again, and as much as we miss him, we are comforted knowing that he is now in a place where he isn’t in any pain and his mind is clear. We love you and miss you, Grandpa Bob.

June will continue with celebrations of the girls’ father’s birthday, father’s day, and the beginning of summer. Life continues with more memories to be made.

We hope all the moms have had a Happy Mother’s Day, from the Gaggle of Girls!

We’re trying to keep everyone happy here, which has the new challenge of MG deciding to be a vegetarian. I blame NannyOgg and her girls. Such bad influences!

Mama got some quiet reading time this afternoon, after a lovely breakfast of crabmeat quiche/pie and a wonderful morning of Church. BG helped her grandfather grill some amazing steak tips (portabella mushrooms and tofu for MG). Now, to contrast Mama’s “quiet reading” image, we just finished watching the Bruins playoff game, and enjoyed them winning!

In other food news, I recreated a lost chicken and cabbage dinner, and made Phat or Pad Thai recently, and updated that recipe with pictures. Cooking for complimentary adults can be a heady experience!

Last Sunday (3/22) was my birthday. We had a fun weekend! And yes, it’s now almost Friday, and I’m finally posting. Well, um, it was busy, and we have kept ourselves busy.

Thursday and Friday we had our friends B&Z over for trips to the Y and a couple of sleepovers. They are sweet, high-energy boys, and we had a blast. The house is still standing, too!

Saturday we had planned to take a trip to CT, but the girls ended up having a visit with their dad & roller skating. Then we made cupcakes for the birthday party on Sunday, and finally got some sleep.

Sunday was my birthday, and I was glad to have the girls all day, even if it was a busy day! First, we had Church, where I did a reading (!!!). Then left early so we could go to Z’s birthday party at the YMCA rock wall (yes, my girls were greeted as regulars. that’s good, right?).

After Z’s party we packed up the van and went to CT. We did a little visit with my Nana, then went over to stay with K and P&P. Always fun, since we can visit with their pups, kitties, birds, and guinea pigs. And our Ra-puppy! I miss him so much when we’re apart. We also miss our dear friends in CT too. It’s wonderful to spend time with them, and they are lovely to let us stay overnight. I’m hoping that Nana’s health improves, though, so we can visit some of our other friends, too! (Visit = foist ourselves upon)

To make it even more fun, they made me special cakelets. K&P made such beautiful butterflies! They also made a delicious sweet & sour chicken that included pieces of tempura chicken made with rice flour. mmmmm…. They also know about my current obsession/totem animal, and managed to give me a gorgeous phoenix kite! Anyone want to help me fly it? It’s got a 6 1/2 foot wingspan, and I’m feeling intimidated. (Anyone who wants to give me phoenix objects is welcome to feed my obsession. They are hard to find, though. Dragons were much easier.)

We spent Monday morning with K&P&P and our puppy, then went over to visit Nana for a few hours. Nana was doing OK, but not great. It’s so hard to see her struggling with so many physical challenges at once. She wasn’t up for pictures, so instead I took one of the girls eating their first pizzaria pizza in 6 years! Illiano’s Pizza sells gf pizza with crusts made by Still Riding Pizza. They were happy to make it without cheese, too. Great people, and a wonderful crust & sauce! (fyi – the crust does contain egg, but is free of other major allergens)

This weekend is looking a bit quieter – just an overnight Friday with B&Z, a birthday party for their cousin on Saturday, visitation with Dad on Saturday, grandparents come home late Saturday night, Church Sunday morning, and then recuperating and relaxing Sunday afternoon.

There are so many little things that bring great joy, amazement, sorrow, and wonder. As we have been going through so many trials and tribulations lately, I’ve tried to appreciate the little things.

• Little purpley-blue flowers pop through the dry leaves in the early spring

• Giving flowers to someone in the hospital or nursing home really brightens the room up. But bringing the first flowers of spring from their garden brightens up the person
• 1,250,000 ng = 1.25 mg = 50,000 iu
• There is no greater joy than to see someone awake and alert when you didn’t expect to see them alive again
• You can become vitamin D deficient even when taking 1,000 iu/day supplement
• Watching your kids read the funny pages in the paper brings you back to the time you did that as a kid
• Living with your kids’ grandparents means that there are 3 people to share bedtime stories
• Sometimes prayers work for little things, like traffic jams, not just for big things, like helping someone be comforted and stay strong
• Even the feistiest person looks weak when they are in the hospital with tubes
• No one wants to be inside when you can see the buds on the forsythia
• Adding 1 or 2 kids to the 3 you have ends up being less work (but more food!)
• It’s not healthy to subsist on soda and snacks, but one or two days of it due to a family emergency won’t kill anyone.
• Trader Joe’s has delicious crunchy dried green beans and freeze dried mango. Healthy snacks!
• Sometimes you remember great things just after you need them. Like there’s pizza place with gluten-free pizza available in the town where my grandmothers live
• Brownies and chocolates heal.
• When you toss many things into a pot and it turns out delicious, make sure you write down what you did!
• Sometimes you get blessed with friends who go above and beyond the call of duty. And sometimes that is balanced with family who don’t want to help.
• Prayer and meditation can help calm adults and children under stress
• If you want to get kids’ attention, science projects with fire are awesome!
• Paying it forward or karma is good. If one person watches your kids for a couple days, watching other friends’ kids (for 4 days) is a good thing.
• Quiet schedules can become very busy unexpectedly!
• Life is good

What little things have you been noticing?