Monday, March 18, 2024

St. Patty’s Day 2024



                   THE WEARIN’ O’ THE GREEN!

We had our family party yesterday afternoon, in honor of St. Patrick, and I believe a good time was had by all.  Nine adults plus 14 kids (ranging in age from 9 months to 9 years) equals lots of chaos—but lots of fun, too (it’s math!).

The kids spent most of their time playing outside, many of them even eating their meals picnic-style on our front stoop.  The weather was glorious—sunny and in the low 70’s—and the food was yummy and plentiful. I have to say, it could not have been a better afternoon.  As his family was leaving, our 8-year-old grandson Junior thanked us for a “wonderful time.”  (He actually used the word “wonderful,” isn’t that the best?)  At the end of the day, I was a very happy—tired, but happy—Grammy!

We got some great pictures, so the rest of this post will be a St. Patty’s photo dump.  ☘️☘️☘️











 

Just as I was about to push the "publish" button on this post earlier, our daughter-in-law Ginger texted to tell us she'd seen a neat idea on Twitter (or X or whatever it's called!): when making the corned beef dinner, one mom said she put aside some cabbage leaves for her family to wear as "hats" on St. Patty's Day. Ginger loved the idea.  So this happened over at their house tonight...


Now that's a clever (and very cute) way to wear green!  

Saturday, March 16, 2024

St. Patty’s Party Prep

Tomorrow afternoon, our VA gang (sons #2, 3, and 4, their wives, and their combined 14 kids, plus a good friend of two of our daughters-in-law) are coming to our house for a St. Patty's Day celebration.  We have lots of Irish-themed decor that stays up all year; but I've added a few touches.

Bottom right: pictures of our youngest son at the Cliffs of Moher.


Two small trees stay up in our family room all year and get decorated
according to the season/holiday.

The Irish gnome was an impulse buy, but I don't regret it!


Our youngest son as St. Patrick (All Saints Day parade, 2nd grade). 

We’re going to have green punch (that can be spiked or kid-friendly) and other fun beverages, corned beef and cabbage, pork chops and gravy, mashed potatoes, and an assortment of chips and dips and fruits and veggies.  For the kids, there will be Domino’s pizzas, because they may or may not be interested in the Irish fare.  I’ve made shamrock-shaped sugar cookies and caramel brownies with green sprinkles for dessert, and also Catholic writer Emily Stimpson Chapman’s Bailey’s Irish cream cake. (Yum!)  I’ve got party hats and beads and other favors ready to pass out.  I think I’m ready!

That accent wall in our kitchen was painted this colon by the former owners,
and I love it!  (The shade is literally called “Emerald Isle.”)

Our Aldi's has these every March, and they are magically delicious.



If we can get the kids to dress up in the silly headgear and beads and shamrock glasses and stick-on green mustaches and “tattoos,” I’m hoping I’ll be able to post some cute pictures of them next week.

Until next time--

May God in His wisdom and infinite love,
Look down on you always from Heaven above.
May He send you good fortune, contentment and peace,
And may all your blessings forever increase.


Slainte, dear readers!

Wednesday, March 6, 2024

Life is Short, Use the Silver


I was inspired recently by one of my daughters-in-law, Ginger (wife of son #2), who texted me a photo of my boy dutifully polishing up a huge silver urn that she'd found at a thrift store.  (He's a good sport, that boy!)  I have silver serving dishes that had been packed away in boxes for ages, some that were gifts at our wedding 43 years ago; and after getting that text, I decided that it was time to break them out and polish them up.  Yes, it was time to start enjoying them on a regular basis, even when it's not a holiday!  Life is short, use the silver--that's my new motto.  :)

Before I continue, I'll tell you a little bit about this particular daughter-in-law: she is the queen of finding incredibly beautiful and ridiculously inexpensive treasures at the thrift store, and she has begun to embrace what they call the "Grandmillennial" decorating style, which is also sometimes referred to as "Granny chic."  This style incorporates many classic, traditional (read: old-fashioned) elements that were beloved by gals of my generation and our mothers--dark wood furniture (often antique); overstuffed couches and chairs upholstered in toile or floral chintz, with ruffles; wallpaper; blue and white china; silver and crystal, etc.--and uses them in fresh ways alongside modern pieces.  This warm, cozy, and eclectic decorating style is nothing new, but for a time it was considered stuffy, outdated, and cluttered-looking; therefore, you can find lots of items that fit the bill at the thrift store, because so many young people have not been interested in holding onto their grandparents' heirlooms! However, in recent years there has been an increasing appreciation for traditional home decor among some millennials, who for a time embraced a more pared-down, minimalistic decorating style (or Joanna Gaines's trademark all-white, wood, and metal aesthetic), but have begun to incorporate the furnishings and home accessories of past generations into their 21st century homes.  Ginger is one such millennial.

So, taking a cue from my sweet grandmillennial D-I-L, I went through some boxes in our basement storage room and got out my wedding pewter and silver, which I hadn't even set eyes upon in the seven years we've lived in this VA house.

Pewter doesn't tarnish as much as silver, but these still needed a little TLC.

I got out the silver polish and shined up these beauties!

One of the most beautiful pieces I own was actually a 25th anniversary gift from my mom and dad.  It's an antique chafing dish; I'm not quite sure of its origin, but I'm going to ask my mom about it the next time we talk.  Wherever it came from, it's just spectacular.  I can't believe it's been languishing in storage since we moved in here!

What is pictured here would have to be considered Granny chic decor.

Look at that beauty!

The other thing I decided to do was to put some of my wedding cutlery into regular use.  As a bride-to-be, I registered for some high quality Oneida stainless flatware (my mother's generation would register for silver or silverplated flatware, but few gals of my generation did so), and we received service for 20, along with a number of matching serving utensils.  The pattern is so pretty. 

Each place setting is 5 pieces.

I had 8 place settings of lower-quality Oneida stainless that was our "everyday" silverware, so I saved those 20 settings of the good stuff to use on Thanksgiving and Christmas, planning for the far-off day when I would have a family big enough to have to use them all at once for a special occasion.  (Goal achieved--ha ha!)

Anyway, while I was polishing up my wedding silver, one thing led to another.  And I got to thinking that our everyday flatware was getting kind of sorry-looking.  We still had 8 matching knives and dessert forks, and 7 soup spoons; but we had gotten down to one dinner fork and one teaspoon from the original set, so over the years I had gotten random pieces to fill in, either at Walmart or at the Oneida outlet, and the silverware drawer in the kitchen was filled with a mismatched mash-mash.  And most of our teaspoons were a tad nicked-up, after run-ins with the garbage disposal.  (Oops.)

So I decided to empty out the drawer and fill it with 8 lovely matching place settings of my wedding flatware (and to be vigilant about always checking to make sure that the garbage disposal has only food scraps in it before turning it on!).  The older I get, the more I realize that life is short, and we should use the pretty stuff now. Because if not now, then when?  And besides, even with 8 place settings in daily use, we are still left with 12 more stored away in the dining room, to break out for holiday dinners or whatever.

I definitely need to take good care of this beautiful flatware, however.  When I looked up my pattern online, I realized how expensive it would be to replace lost or garbage disposal-chewed pieces!


So that's my advice for today: don't wait for a special occasion to use all those lovely things you got as wedding gifts.  Every day is special.  Life is short, so use the silver.  And the pretty china.  And your "good" flatware.  And, well, you get the idea.


We often use paper products with these little peeps (son #4's gang);
but they know it's a special meal when we eat on the good dishes!

Thursday, February 29, 2024

Letting Go (and Dinner for Two)

It's been two months since I posted anything here.  2011 me doesn't even recognize 2024 me!  When this blog was in its infancy, I used to get up pretty much every morning raring to sit down at my laptop and write.  

In March of 2011, when I first decided to dip my toes into the unfamiliar waters of the blogosphere, my life was about to change drastically: my youngest son was getting ready to graduate from high school that June and head off to college after the summer; and my oldest son was three months away from becoming a first-time father to twin girls, making me a first-time Grammy.  I was not technically an empty-nester yet, but I was getting close.  And suddenly, I had more free time than I'd ever had before--so for several years, I blogged almost daily.  But then as, one by one, new daughters were added to our family, and traveling to visit our ever-expanding brood took up so much of our energy, my blog output started to decrease quite a bit.  I loved writing about my family and my life, but I became too busy living it to blog about it as often as I used to do.

In 2017, my husband and I moved away from our "forever home" in New Hampshire, where we had raised our boys, to Virginia, where three of them had settled with their growing families.  So much has changed in the intervening years.  Today, I have five married sons and 22 grandchildren.  Two of our boys live too far away, one in Wisconsin and one in Tennessee; but we feel pretty blessed to have three of them living less than an hour's drive from us.  Life is gloriously busy down here.  We live in a smaller house, with a smaller yard, but I have grown to love our new VA home every bit as much as the NH one we tearfully left behind seven years ago.

As difficult as it was at the time, that move was good for me.  I'd already started having to learn to accept change, to practice detachment, because by then all five of our boys were grown and gone and living their adult lives.  Even our baby was an Army officer stationed in Germany when we made our big move south.  For a person who gets very attached to the things--and the people--she loves, leaving that well-loved house, with all its happy memories, was one of the toughest things I've ever done.  But ultimately, it made my life better!  The blessings we have reaped by living close to so many of our kids and grandkids are countless.  Our 2017 move was one of the best decisions we ever made. 

Just yesterday, I was reading a January 2024 blog post by Elizabeth Foss, and as usual, her writing spoke to me.  Loudly.  She included a quote by Corrie ten Boom (a WWII concentration camp survivor, who'd risked her own life to hide Jews), and when I read it, I knew that God meant for me to see it. "Hold loosely to the things of this life so that if God requires them of you, it will be easy to let them go." And when ten Boom said, "things," she wasn't only talking about material things; she elaborated, "Even your dear family.  Why?  Because the Father may wish to take one of them back to himself, and when he does, it will hurt you if he must pry your fingers loose."

Whoah.  Did I ever need to read those words, to be reminded of the fleeting nature of this life on earth and the need to let go of things, and even of people when the time comes.  It's so easy to say, "Of course!  Yes!  I'm a devout Catholic and I know that this life is short and filled with suffering, and it's the next one, the eternal one with God in Heaven, that matters."  And yet, things here matter to the human heart.  And people; oh, how they matter!  It seems that mothers' hearts break on a daily basis.  Just having a child grow up, leave home, and start his adult life somewhere far from you can do it--even though that's the goal: giving your children wings and then watching them fly away.

I loved it when all of our boys were little, living under our roof.  I loved it when they were gathered around our table for every meal.  I think I'm in need of a short trip down Memory Lane, so bear with me while I share some pictures of those good old days.  (And also, if you're a young mom, remind yourself how lucky you are to have the awesome digital photography of the 21st century always at your fingertips, instead of the grainy, poorly lighted snapshots moms my age have of our kids--ones we had to wait a couple of weeks to see, not even knowing how they'd turned out!)











Those boys: they are my life!  Hang on a minute...I need a tissue.

Okay, I'm back.  

Listen, the last thing I want to do is sound all maudlin and "woe is me."  I'm just feeling nostalgic is all.   And the years seem to be going by too quickly for me these days, the changes coming at me rapid-fire.   At 65, I know that the road of life behind me is much longer than the one ahead, and it makes me think about all the things I love in this world.  

But I would be lying if I said that feeding a passel of little boys was always a complete joy.  We had two in particular who were mighty picky eaters.  When they used to ask, "What's for dinner?", I would put them off with, "I don't know..." or "I don't want to talk about it right now..."  If we ever got through a healthy home-cooked dinner with clean plates and no complaining, I used to feel like I was on a high.  They all loved my baking, so dessert was usually successful; but the main dish was hit-or-miss with some of them.  I wasn't the greatest cook, to be honest (it's hard to get excited to cook when you're not sure people will eat what you make).  I could whip up basic "comfort foods," like beef stew, lasagna, shepherd's pie.  But I wasn't very adventurous with my cooking.

That's one nice part about being an old lady like me: you miss your kids being gathered around your table (picky eaters notwithstanding); but if you made the right choice in a husband, and he's your favorite person to hang out with, dinner for two can really be a joy.  And it's fun to try new delicious dishes together.

This past week, my husband and I had two meals in a row that I thought were so yummy, simple but elegant--and I would never have made them to serve our boys when they were little.  We ate these meals on trays in the family room while we watched Matt Walsh's show together, pushing pause every now and then to chat.  I thought my plate looked so appetizing both nights that I snapped pictures.  And now I'm going to share them--lucky you!

On Monday, we had baked potatoes and roasted prosciutto-wrapped asparagus (with parmesan cheese and bits of French fried onions on top).  It was so good!

On Tuesday, we had filet mignon, cooked by my husband on the grill and topped with sautéed mushrooms, and green salads (his was a bit more elaborate than mine).  I also had some plain yogurt with fruit and granola, in lieu of dessert. Because it's Lent.  (I know some of you probably think I cheated because that sounds like a dessert; but in my book, if it doesn't include chocolate or caramel or icing, and it isn't a cookie or a brownie or a cake, it is most definitely not a dessert.)

There is so much to let go of as you get older.  But there is also much to look forward to.  Every night that my husband and I are at home eating our dinner together, it feels like a date.  That's not too bad a way to live, is it?  Sure, sometimes we miss those bygone years when we always had our boys with us, when we saw them every single day; but they are all thriving at the moment, praise God.  And we are so, SO happy to have each other.

Full disclosure: I took those Corrie ten Boom quotes to heart, and I want to live my life holding onto things loosely; but when it comes to my husband, my grip is probably a bit too tight.  I'll be working on that, but I can't promise I'll get good at it!  In the meantime, I hope there are lots of dinner dates in our future.

Monday, December 25, 2023

43 Years

On this date in 1980,  I made the best decision of my life and married the man who’d become my forever boyfriend when we were both only 15.  We were 22 on our wedding day, which seems incredibly young to me now that all of our children are 30 and older.


In the months preceding our big day, someone told me that having a Christmas wedding was unfair to our families and guests, that it would add stress to and take away joy from their holiday season. 

I hope that wasn’t true (and why would anyone say that to a bride-to-be?!  😳).  But as far as I’m concerned, I can’t think of a more beautiful time of year to get married.

Happy Anniversary, [insert private term of endearment here].  I love you more today than I did in 1980…and that’s saying a lot!

Merry Christmas 2023

I woke up early this morning and was sitting in the living room, which was still dark except for the tree lights, drinking my coffee and thinking about how very blessed I am and how I wouldn't trade my life for anyone's in all the world.  I have five sons whom I adore, they have five wives who feel like daughters (and who love my boys, which is the only important trait a mom looks for in a daughter-in-law, right?), and I am a Grammy to 22 of the most extraordinary little people on God's green earth.

Joy to the world, indeed.

My house is quiet.  Much has changed since I was raising those five boys who are now husbands and fathers, living in their own homes, with their own lives, and raising children of their own.  They are establishing holiday traditions for their own growing families, so our family celebrations don't look anything like they used to.  As someone who by nature has always resisted change, this has been difficult to accept at times.  But ever since our move from NH, where we raised our five sons, down to VA, where we live close to three of them  (and 14 of our 22 grandchildren), we know that we will spend at least part of every Christmas with a good portion of our family gathered together.  What a gift that is!

On the 23rd, we were able to get all of our VA gang over to our house for an early Christmas celebration.  (By some miracle, no one was sick--I think we all still have PTSD from last year's epic stomach bug fiasco!)  The grandkids had a wonderful time running around the house, and it looked a bit like a bomb had gone off in here after they all left.  But it was just the best, and I hope my husband and I can stay healthy enough to give them this one crazy party every Christmas season moving forward.  I'm never happier than when my home is full of my people.  And my husband and I truly live to hear the sound of our sons' laughter in the house.  That is the best gift of all.  We don't want their presents; we want their presence.  (I just made that up!  But I'm probably about the millionth person to say it, so I suppose I can't take credit!)




There are no little people opening their stockings in this house on the 25th.  It's quiet here.  But it's peaceful and I've got the best husband in the world and I am feeling very happy

I hope you are having the merriest of Christmases, dear readers!