The Influence of a Mom

"I am just a Mom", she said timidly as she introduced herself. She had been asked by her son to attend a banquet in his honor. One of his professors had asked her what she did for a living. "I'm just a mom", she said again. Little did that professor know what she had done for her son. She had helped him overcome great obstacles in his life. He could read now and enjoyed learning. He was free of cancer and could now run and jump just like the other boys. When he was young this was such a chore. School didn't come easy for him and he had to miss so much of it because of his cancer. But now he was going to be a Doctor. What a miracle. Mike, her son, was receiving the highest award given to medical students. He had outperformed his classmates on several of the practicums and had shown great skill and compassion as he diagnoised the patients he treated his last year of residency. Tears welled up in his mother's eyes as she saw her son walk to the podium to recieve his award. He very graciously accepted his award and then thanked all of his professors and classmates for being nominated. Then he turned to her, his mother, and with tears in his eyes he said I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for my mom.
My mother is a remarkable lady. I don't think she ever thought that I would be able to make it here. I was the middle child and caused her lots of grief and some similes. When I was a baby she use to walk the halls at night trying to comfort me. I had colic and never seemed to be content. She got little sleep and worried a lot about my health. As I got older I was always climbing on top of things and falling off. The ER nures knew me by name. I then got cancer and the hospital became my second home. My mom was always there holding my hand through it all and encouraging me to never give up. As I started school my Mom sat and read to me every night. We worked on my abc's and numbers. I had a hard time at first learning how to read. It was very difficult for me and I would get very discouraged but with my mother's encouragement I continued to try hard every day. I didn't want to disappoint my mom. As I grew older my mom was still always there to help me. She drove me to my soccer games, attend cub scouts with me, took me to piano lessons that I then hated, but now love her for. Listened to me when I got dumped by my girls fiends and loved me unconditionally when I messed up.
I don't think I ever really appreicated my mom that much until I went off to college. You always think that your drawer will be full of clean clothes, sock, and underware. Wow what a shocker it was when I realized that I had no clean socks. I never let that happened again. All the service that she did for me came tubmbling through my mind as I sat their folding my clothes. She truly sacrificed much because of me. Hours upon hours were spent helping me with homework, taking me to Dr. appointments, driving me to soccer games, taking me to music lessons, helping me with school projects, and holding and loving me when I was sad or hurting.
All of us have moms who have sacrificed a lot for us. They have lost countless hours of sleep over us both when we were babies and when we were teenagers. They have been our taxi driver, our cooks, our nurses, our counselors and mentors. They have given us encouragement when we were down and helped dry our tears when our hearts got broken.
Today society places a lot of emphasis on what mothers do outside of the home. The careers they have, the cars they drive, the places they have traveled to, the awards they have recieved, and how much money they make. But what I think really is important is what a mom does inside the home. Money can't buy true happiness. It can't replace a hug or kiss when you have fallen down and need help. It can't help mend a broken heart or give you advice in your time of need. It can't make your children truly love you and it will never bring you true happiness. I wish more people would realize how important it is to be just a mom. Behind every good person is a wonderful mother. I hope that we will all thank our mothers for everything that she has done for us.
Mike then slowy walked down for the podium and kissed his mom. "I love you so much he said. Thanks for everything."

The Power of Praise

I learned a valuable lesson last week. The Power of Praise. Every Monday we have a family night. We sing songs, have a lesson, and play games. Recently I have added a family goal and have started giving out awards for anything positive that I have seen my children or my husband do that week. The awards can range from anything from being the best helper or getting the best grades in school. They really are just little things that I have noticed that they have done that week. Anyway it is amazing what a little praise will do. This past week I went to Walmart. I bought my son a package of M&Ms because he was being good. As we got into the car he was having difficutly opening the package so I helped him and asked if I could take a few. He said yes, but don't take to many. "I want to share the rest of them with my sisters. I want to get "the best sharer award" this week. Do you think I can get the sharer award MOM"?. WOW! If I had know that giving a little praise each week would have this much effect I would have never stopped. Wouldn't we all like to have our children ask ask for this award. I did this several years ago when I only had 2 kids, but stopped shortly after my 2nd arrived. A little encouragement and praise can really go a long way. I think in our busy day to day run around we tend to focus on what is going wrong and needs to be done instead of what is going right and the good things that have been done. One week I gave my husband the best provider award. Things had been tough at work that week and I just wanted him to know that I really appreicated him. I think it really made him feel good. I was showing my appreciation for him and all his efforts he was making for our family. I don't think we tell each other enough how much we appreciate one another. I really think just a little more praise in our families will build a lot more love and appreciation. Try it. You will see a difference

Edible Easter Center Piece

This is sure to be a delight for everyone at your table. I made this cake just to see if I could get it to turn out like the picture and I did. I was so excited. A lot of times the picture looks ten times better then the one I make and I always wonder how they do it. Well this one will actually turn out just like the picture. The recipe suggests that you use carrot cake, but I think you can use what ever kind of cake you like. I just used a yellow cake mix. Make the cake according to the directions. Then do the following


1. Reserve 1 layer for another use or to make a second bunny. Cut 1 layer in half as shown in diagram. Put halves together with frosting to form body. Place cake upright on cut edge on tray.
2. Cut out a notch about one-third of the way up one end of body to form head (small end) as shown in diagram. Attach half of cutout piece from tail with toothpicks. Frost with remaining frosting, rounding body on sides. Sprinkle with 1 cup coconut. Cut ears from construction paper; press into notch on top. Use jelly beans for eyes and nose.
3. Shake 1 cup coconut and 3 drops food color in tightly covered jar until evenly tinted. Surround bunny with tinted coconut. Add additional jelly beans if desired. Store loosely covered.
I am sure you will have a fun time making this and get lots of comments on how creative you are. You can thank Betty Crocker for this one.

The Anatomy of Peace

I have just finished reading the Anatomy of Peace by the Arbinger Institue. It is a very insightful and enthralling book. A Jewish man and an Arabic man wind up together teaching. Both have lost their fathers in the never ending war that exsists
between these 2 groups. They have each learned some valuable lessons in life through their many struggles. They have a camp that parents send their wayward teenagers to, in hopes that they will some day get "back on track." But before the parents leave they have some valuable lessons to learn. How do they see people. Do they see people as people or do they see them as objects? Of course you say I see people as people but as you start to examine your actions more closely you begin to learn some very important things about your self and others. The examples and situations they use are very realistic and applicable to all of us. As I read this book I started to examine my own behavior and have learned a lot about myself. It is a very easy read because it is so enthralling. You can't want to see what is going to happen next. I would definately recommend this book to everyone. If you like this book you will also like Leadership and Self Deception. It is also writtten by the Arbinger group.

I have watched as the snow has started to melt. I can now see patches of the ground. How exciting that is to me. I don't think you can truly appreciate that sight until you have lived through a whole winter here in Alaska. Flowers will beging to grow and new life will emerge from the darkness of winter. Light is now present when I take my children to school and when I put them to bed. It is wonderful. My dauhter Eden continues to grow and I am excited to see her just starting to roll over. I also will have a 14 year old soon. I can't believe how fast the time flys. She has been an excellent girl but I will be happy when the 13 year old girl stage is over. I think it just gets better from here RIGHT? I know I am kidding my self but one can always hope.

It is white again

I woke up this morning and the world was white again. The ash had all been covered by a new layer of snow. It was beautiful and clean. Once again I got to enjoy the beauty of Alaska, but I am ready for the snow to be gone. My husband took my children ice fishing. They had a great time. My husband has all the gear. An ice auger, small fising polls, a ice hut (so you can keep warm), he just bought that one last week, and killer bate. He took my son to the store to get the killer bate and McKinley couldn't help but get excited. They came home successful. McKinley came running inside with a sack full of small fish. I thought they were all dead. I placed the sack on the counter and continued to get the sink all ready for the cleaning of the fish. As I was doing this I heard a shuffling in the sack. There was a live fish moving in the sack. I jumped up and moved away from the sack, my son started laughing at me. He is only 4 and thought it was funny to see his mom get scared at a flopping fish. You would have to admit, seeing something moving on your counter would cause most people to jump back. Well I thought that I would now give you my awesome bread recipie. It is called Maple Apple Oatmeal Bread. I tried it last week and my family ate one whole loaf at dinner.

Maple Apple Oatmeal Bread
4 cups warm water
1/2 cups canola oil
1/2 cups pure maple syrup
2 T maple flavoring
2 eggs beaten
3 T yeast
3 T Dough Enchancer
3 cups Bread Flour
2 cups whole wheat flour( more flour will me needed later)
4 cups diced apples
2 cups rolled oats(oatmeal)

In you mixer thoroughly mix ingredients from water through 2 cups wheat flour. Contine to add flour until dough pulls away from the bowl. I Ran out of wheat flour so I just added more bread flour. It is about a cup or so more of flour. Then let it knead for 5-6 minutes on speed 2 in you have a bosh. I highly recommend one. Then add the apples and mix 2 more minutes on speed 1. Form into 2 loaves. Roll in rolled oats. I put the oats in a bowl and then just rolled the dough in the oats. slash the top with a baker's blade. Allow dough to rise until it is 2" above pan. Bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes. You will get 2 huge loaves of bread that are really good. Let me know how it turns out for you.

The ash has arrived. We were out driving yesterday around 5:30 and the ash started falling. When we first pulled out of our driveway the sky was clear blue. It was actually a beautiful day, but as we started heading south I could see this dark gray clould. At first I thought it might be snowing, but as I looked closer at the snow I could tell that ash was falling. A fine gray mist covered the beautiful white snow. Once we got to Carl Jrs. for dinner we learned that they were just closing up, because of the ash warning. My children were heartbroken and tears started to stream down their faces. Actually only once child cryed and it wasn't my baby. I also wanted to cry, because that ment I had to come up with someting to eat for 4 hungry kids and a husband. Luckily for me I went to a sauces class that week and got a new recipie. We tried it out and it was yummy. It is a type of curry. It isn't very spicy, so even your youngest kids will like it. It has coconut milk in it which makes it very good. If you want to have it just write me and I will post it for you.

Mt. Redout
We are waiting in anticipation for the ash to come falling from the sky. However we haven't seen anything yet. When they announced that Mt. Redout was about to erupt a few weeks ago I quickly ran out to Homedepot to get my masks for my family but haven't had to use them yet. Thank goodness. Ash has been causing all kinds of trouble for the airlines, but Anchorage has come away clean so far. Other places in the state have not done so well, but for me and my family we are just enjoying the falling snow today. NOT. My little boy keeps asking me when is spring coming. We are all waiting for the snow to melt. It has been a good winter, but I am ready for spring. I am going to be posting my new bread recipe that I tried this week. It was yummy. It is called Maple Apple Wheat Bread. It is very easy and sure to be a winner with your family. Stay tuned