Category Archives: family

Secret for calmness while moving

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calm

Yesterday, we had to stop by Wal-Mart and pick up box tape. We’re moving again. I know. Wheels on our feet.

Anyway, as we were walking to the front of the store, David asked if we needed anything else. I made a quick turn around and headed the other direction.

Me: “Yes, candy.”

David: “Candy?”

Me: “Yes, candy. It keeps everyone calm.”

So we picked up some gumdrops and some caramel creams.

caramelcreams

I don’t know why it is when you start packing things up that tempers flare and people get snippy. At  least that’s how it happens in this house. And all of the other ones we’ve moved out of. ;-)  It’s really counterproductive and when I discovered the secret of applying candy to the moving/packing situation a couple of moves ago, I was amazed at the results.

Voices start to raise, “Oh get some candy”. Candy is eaten. Peace resumes. It works. Really.

I know the lady at the Walmart though I was joking around with her and she was laughing as we left. But I know it works. I just hope we don’t run out! :-)

So how about you? Do you have a fabu secret to keep the peace during a move?

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What inspires me

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Recently, I’ve been working with my youngest son, Geoff, on helping him set up his coaching business website.

GRC LOGO Coaching

Geoff is a former baseball player who was drafted by the Marlins out of high school and then played college ball at Florida Gulf Coast University. Geoff is also hearing impaired.

Both of our boys were born with a bi-lateral, sensorineural hearing loss. For Geoff, school was always a struggle. I helped him a lot but even I didn’t know the extent of his inability to read. Brandon had picked up reading like a pro and, while I knew it was difficult for Geoff, I didn’t know just how difficult it was.

Geoff -third grade

I love to read and I’m a fast reader. I sometimes read a book a day. I remember one time when I was reading a funny book, I laughed out loud and Geoff asked me what was so funny. I told him it was a funny book. He replied, “I can’t read fast enough to know if a book is funny.” It broke my heart.

Because he was so good at baseball, Geoff made it to college. His grades in high school were good, too. The Marlins drafted him to follow, requesting that he attend Seminole State College in Oklahoma. We were thrilled as we had planned to move to Oklahoma and this gave us an option to watch his college baseball games.

New Bern River Rats

Geoff always had difficulty with testing so we lined him up with the IEP (individualized education plans) folks at the college. Little did I know that the reason he tested poorly was because he read so poorly.

Geoff learned how to read as an 18 year old college freshman. I was so excited when he told me he wanted to read something “for fun”. I remembered that when I had read The Firm by John Grisham it was a fast, easy read so I suggested it to him. I told him not to be afraid of the small words, the story was good. He loved it and became a big John Grisham fan. He also enjoys reading James Patterson and Stuart Woods. To be able to say that this son has favorite authors and enjoys reading gets me all choked up.

But this is not all that Geoff reads. He reads EVERYTHING. Anything that interests him, he grabs a book and reads and absorbs it. It’s truly inspiring for me to watch him as an adult having overcome all of the things that could have held him back if he didn’t have the determination to succeed.

GeoffRottmayer1

Geoff has now started a coaching business. Personal, athletic and individual mind strength coaching and I can’t imagine anyone who would be better in this role. Geoff is smart, motivated and he understands what big obstacles are and knows they can be overcome.

So thank you, Geoff, for inspiring me. I’m proud to be your mom. :-)

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With arms wide open

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It’s so fun to watch our son be the daddy of a little girl. We have so many boys in our family, it’s kind of a foreign concept for all of us.

Geoff is really good about sending us photos every day of Aniston since we can’t visit with her as often as we’d like.

Yesterday, he sent this photo:

with the comment, “Sleeping, arms wide open.”

Then..

Me: She’s going to have to get a double wide king sized bed to sleep that way when she’s married.

Geoff: Yeah – getting married is going to be her biggest problem.

Me: LOL!

So protective, so cute. Poor Glambaby. ;-)

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Worlds oldest bridesmaid

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August 1, 2005 was a day like any other.

Or so I thought.

That was the day that I “met” Lyndzee Vieweg when her registration form sailed into my email box stating that she would like to represent Oklahoma as Miss Teen Oklahoma.

The first time she tried, she won the Northern regional pageant we produced and was Miss Teen Northern Oklahoma International. But it wasn’t yet her time to wear the state crown.

In 2009, she finally captured the Miss Teen Oklahoma International title but she captured my heart straight away. Way back before I ever met her in real life.

I call Lyndzee my mini-me. No, we look nothing alike but I don’t know if I could have a child more like me even if my blood ran in her veins. We’ve actually had people ask, “Are you sure you two aren’t related?”

I adore her. We have so much fun together. We laugh and our wacky brains run on the very same track. We usually think of the same thing at the same time but if not, the one who doesn’t think of it is quick to get aboard the crazy train with the other.

Now, Lyndzee is grown up. The most beautiful young woman both inside and out. She’s getting married!

I’m so excited for her and her fiance’, Dustin, seems like the perfect match for her. He reminds me a lot of David. He lets her be her own unique self and just smiles and raises his eyebrow at times. :-)

And now, I’m about to embark on the next role of my life: World’s Oldest Bridesmaid.

Yep, Lyndzee has asked me to be her Matron of Honor.

Whoa! What? Matron? Do I drive a station wagon? LOL!

I desperately try to not be matronly. I am, after all, tragically hip and incredibly cool. ;-)

I’m honored beyond belief to serve in this role for Lyndzee but we did have to have a discussion about the title. We have come up with Glamazon of Honor. I think I can live with that.

When Lyndzee asked me if I would stand up for her, my first reaction was to laugh. I mean, seriously? I’m old. I asked her if she was sure she didn’t want me to sit in the pew next to her mom and she emphatically told me, no, that she wants me to be her bridesmaid.

I’m beyond honored. Sincerely. :-)

We went shopping for wedding dresses on Saturday. Of course Lyndzee had a different idea for the belts she was shown.

And she really wasn’t a bridezilla while waiting for more dresses.

She’s too much fun for that.

But it’s clear to me that Lyndzee is going to be one gorgeous bride. (This is not the dress she will be wearing.)

I’m so excited to go on this journey with my mini-me. I’ll try not to be too sappy over the next year as we head towards their wedding date, April 13, 2013.

Life is truly interesting and you never know how someone you meet will factor into your life long term. I am completely blessed to have Lyndzee as a friend. :-)

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Baby shower!

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I had so much fun preparing for Aniston’s baby shower! Nikki asked me if I could design the invitation first and then the thank you cards. Her sister and mom had decided on a pale pink and leopard theme so I went with it.

I love the way both items turned out!

I asked if there was anything I could bring and Nikki said I could bring anything. Her family knows me well enough to know that I major in sweet treats.  It was really fun to scour Pinterest and the Internet to come up with ideas for what to make.

In the end, I decided on chocolate and pink popcorn

Pink chocolate covered Oreos

Pretzel snacks

(Super easy and delicious! Place pretzels on waxed paper line baking pan, top with Hershey kisses, place in 170 degree oven for 6 minutes, push M&Ms into the tops.)

Candy skewers

Cookies that I painted and bagged with matching thank you notes attached for people to take home

and strawberry cream cheese jelly bellies.

I also labeled water bottles to go along with the theme.

Of course it was overkill but I haven’t figured out how to make “just enough”. I didn’t want anyone who was there not to get something because there wasn’t enough.

They brought a cute cake!

There were lots of presents.

Lyndzee came.

bringing the chair she re-covered for Nikki.

It was great and I really loved watching Nikki’s face when she opened the gifts I had made for Aniston.

The Chucks

and the little Rott-I-Tude outfit.

I made a wall hanging for her bedroom, too, but I need to get a photo of it when it’s hanging on the wall in her nursery for full effect. :-)

Lyndzee brought me my Christmas present she made for me which I adore!

I’m so excited to be Glammie. :-)

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Bling my Chucks

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I’m not sure whether it took knowing that I was going to be a grandma to a little girl or having a couple of successful Pinterest projects under my belt to find out I kinda like this craft thing. The two things happened about the same time.

I couldn’t be happier with the way this latest project turned out.

I was cruising Pinterest, and I stopped at Nikki’s board for Aniston Lee. I saw some embellished Chuck Taylor shoes for a little girl. I thought, “I can do that!”

I was wandering through Gordman’s trying to kill time and I found a pair of pink Chuck Taylor crib shoes.

I bought them. Then I got the rest of the pieces I needed to complete the project.

I started out by applying 5mm AB crystals to the toes.

And to the middle of the star on the side of the shoes.

Then I replaced the laces with ribbon.

I measured the ribbon against the lace but it turned out not to be long enough.

So I cut the ribbon the length of the lace and then half again. This gave me enough room to trim off the edges and make a nice big bow. I finished off by coating the ends of the ribbon with clear nail polish so they won’t fray.

Are these not the CUTEST shoes ever! I can’t wait to see Aniston wear them and to make another pair. :-)

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Emboldened by Pinterest

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I just got finished making the cutest candy skewers for Aniston’s baby shower.

When I posted a photo on facebook, my friend Paula asked if I had gotten the idea on Pinterest. Seemed a good conclusion since I’ve been going craft crazy since I joined Pinterest but I didn’t find this idea there.

Actually, I had been searching the internet for ideas for the baby shower. I knew the colors and theme and I knew I would bring sweet treats. It was then that I stumbled upon the candy skewer photo. How cute! But when I clicked on the link to see how I could purchase some, the link didn’t work.

Hmmmm. That stopped me for a minute. I searched a little further to no avail. I looked at the photo some more and, emboldened by Pinterest, I thought, “I could make those myself!”

And I did. :-)

They weren’t that difficult and once I decided how I wanted them to stack up, it probably took me only 2 hours to make 50 of them.

Basically, you need some gummy candies, sucker sticks,

plastic bags to wrap them with and a little ribbon to tie them off. Cute!

You’re limited only by your imagination and the candy available and I think you end up with a pretty impressive little treat. :-)

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Best mom

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My life is weird. Well, maybe weird isn’t the right word but it’s definitely not normal. I am sure I’d get no arguments on that.

But last year? Last year was weird.

Last year turned my life around and dumped me on my head.  And that’s not a bad thing, it’s just that everything that had been put into place is no longer in that place and everything is different.

Two of the awesome things that happened last year were the weddings of our two boys.

Related: one of the weird things that happened last year is that I was the best man at one of those weddings. Best mom?

We were all preparing to move to Saudi Arabia for the new opportunity that the guys were embarking on. Geoff and Nikki wanted to be married but in order for Nikki to be able to go to Saudi, they were going to have to be married pretty quickly which didn’t allow much time for planning.

So they decided to get married, in her church, with her pastor and just one person to witness the wedding for each of them. Then they would have a “real” wedding that they began to plan for December 2nd.

I did not want to be left out. It’s my son’s wedding even if it’s not a big production. Since Geoff had recently been working in Canada and was in Florida before that, most of his friends were elsewhere so he said I could stand up for him.

Nikki’s sister, Sarah, was going to stand up for her. And so it was set.

I felt weird that Nikki’s parents wouldn’t be there and I guess she did too, because at the last minute, she called them and invited them to be there. Her mom, Debbie, and her stepmom, Gina, were able to be there but her dad couldn’t get off work at the last minute. David was in Saudi so that was our happy little wedding party.

It was great. I cried just like I did at Brandon’s wedding even though it was a small production. This was my youngest child promising his heart to the girl he loved, forever.

After the wedding, we went to lunch and that was it.

Plans continued for the big wedding on December 2nd and we all prepared to go to Saudi.

At the wedding in December, Geoff would have all of his best friends standing up for him. Five groomsmen. A dress was purchased, venues arranged.

And then, a couple of months later,  Nikki found out she was pregnant. She called me crying.

Oh.

Half of me was doing the Glammie Happy Dance, while the other half of me was telling her Geoff won’t be mad, don’t cry, babies are a blessing.

And so plans for the wedding were undone and plans for little Aniston Lee began.

It wasn’t meant for me to be the best man but, in the end, that’s the way it turned out. And I’m honored to have been able to do such a weird thing for my son. LOL!

They say that being normal is overrated and I’m going to guess that’s true since I can’t speak from experience. :-)

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Everything’s better in chocolate

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I’ve been making chocolate popcorn for a lot of years. I usually make it at Christmastime and give it as gifts but it gets made here and there through the year for special occasions, too.

It’s delicious and it’s easy to make!

We’re getting ready for the baby shower for our first granddaughter, Aniston. The theme is light pink and leopard so I’ve been making pink and brown goodies to serve.

Today, I made pink popcorn that Nikki found on Pinterest.

It’s not light pink by any stretch of the imagination.  I used fruit punch flavored Kool-Aid because I thought that Pink Lemonade (my only other pink choice) might be an odd flavor for popcorn.

I just finished up the chocolate popcorn that I will serve with the pink popcorn. I’m planning to serve them together in a big glass canister unless I come up with a better serving idea.

Here’s the recipe for you:

Chocolate Popcorn

12 cups popped popcorn

1/4 cup butter or margarine

2 cups (11-1/2 oz bag) semi-sweet chocolate

1 cup corn syrup

Place popcorn in a large roasting pan. In a separate large heavy saucepan, combine chocolate chips, corn syrup and butter. Cook over medium heat until mixture boils, stirring constantly. Pour over popcorn, toss well to coat.

Bake in a preheated 300 degree oven for 45 minutes stirring frequently.

Cool completely. Store in an airtight container for up to two weeks.

That’s it! I hope you enjoy it. :-)

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