Notes From the Beach...

"Hanging out is fun, but it doesn't pay the rent."

"Don't get so busy making a living that you forget to make a life."

"If friends were flowers, I'd pick you."

"A baby is God's opinion that life should go on."

"Just so you know, there's a space only you can fill. Just so you know, I loved you then, I think I always will."

Feet, Fire Ants and Florida

I thought fire ants were an urban legend! I found out the truth while taking Peanut for a early morning potty walk in a grassy, sandy area near our house. Within the span of five seconds, I was attacked by these vermin and victimized by seven bites on each foot! Talk about a rude awakening! A fire ant bite is a slightly more painful version of a mosquito bite, and the stingy, burning pain is slightly more long lasting. I was screaming like a banshee--its incredibly alarming to feel a sudden, burning pain from your feet, and then to look down and notice your feet crawling with ants! 

All drama aside, it really was not a big deal. No anaphylaxis or anything, at least not yet. ;)

Vacation, All I Ever Wanted

The whole family made it to Florida...hijinks ensue. In one palatial beach rental we have two Golden Buckeyes, five Florida Gators (including the baby Gator!), two Versailles Tigers and the newly minted Jeremy and Kara Morris. Yes its officially official: I changed my name! 

We will try our best to get off this patio and onto the beach...

...but its just sooooo relaxing. :) 

Happy Shower, Liz!

Because, you know, I just couldn't get enough of wedding showers over the past year, or because I have a party-planning obsession, or because I needed a new excuse to eat Lindey's lobster bisque, I hosted a little wedding shower for my friend, Elizabeth. Okay, mostly I hosted the shower because I adore Elizabeth. She is upbeat, hard-working, silly, and has been a super friend to me for four years. Please review post from Halloween 2008--she's the toothpaste girl. What a sweetheart, this one; I will be so sad to see her move back to Michigan, but I am tickled for her to start the next chapter in her life. Her wedding to Sam is rapidly approaching, so an Ohio shower for my Michigan friend was just what the doctor ordered. This was what the invitation read:

Elizabeth and Sam are the sweetest pair,

With happy years to come and memories to share,

Let’s spend a great day

In a wonderful way,

Making sure their cupboards aren’t bare 

Lindey's...limericks...lunch...ladies. And a little stampin' thrown in for good measure. 

Congratulations, Elizabeth! Your big day will be here before you know it! 

I am so, so happy for you!

Welcome, Chuck!

Er, Baby Eliza! 

Meet the newest Rindler, Eliza Kaye:

Born May 11, 2010, 6lbs 9oz. 20" long. 

So proud!

She's All Grown Up Now!

This beautiful baby has finished grad school and is onto world domination! 

 

Last weekend, the Schafer/Rindler/Morris/Miller clans, godparents and grandparents celebrated the occasion with lunch at Cousino's in Toledo, two cakes, and a dozen oversized balloons that would neither behave in the car NOR in the 40-mile-per-hour Toledo winds! Worst. Idea. Ever.

Yes, sad but true, the Schafer Daughters are finally done with school. Between the three of us, we have 19 years of higher education under our belts. THANKS MOM AND DAD!

Kristin graduated from the University of Toledo with a Doctorate in Occupational Therapy. Some days I think I have patience, but Kristin really takes the cake in this arena:
Occupational therapists help children with autism make eye contact; they help grandmas with Parkinson's open jars of peanut butter; they teach stroke victims to use the bathroom independently; they teach babies with cleft lips how to nurse. Kristin is JUST PERFECT for this type of work. 

I remember one story: Kristin said she spent a whole week at a camp teaching a young boy with autism how to do "Thumbs Up!" like this: 

Step 1: Hands out

Step 2: Make a fist

Step 3: Thumbs Up! 

And he did it! Step by step, every time, just like she taught him! 

Thumbs up, Kiki! You are awesome and inspiring! Now, if you'd only try the Sapporo when I tell you its really good! 

Strawberry Shortcakes for Two

When hubby mows the grass, I always feel sorry for him. Mowing is itchy and noisy, and it reeks of petroleum fumes and physical labor. And hubby hates physical labor. Pity. So it goes that in my world, pity and many other emotions are expressed to others in the form of food. Here is a quick dessert you can whip up in about the time it takes to mow an average lawn with an average push mower. 

Introducing "Strawberry Shortcakes for Two", courtesy of Small Batch Baking, by Debby Maugans Nakos. Ms. Nakos' book is SUPERB, full of fancy-pants dessert recipes for little families like mine!

Shortcakes:

1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons cold whipping cream

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

2/3 cup all-purpose flour

1 1/2 tablespoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt 

Filling:

1 cup sliced strawberries

1 tsp sugar

Whipped cream 

Combine cream and vanilla in a small bowl. Combine dry ingredients in separate bowl. While gently stirring flour mixture, gradually add the cream mixture; mix until the dough barely holds together. Using floured hands, divide dough in half and form each half into a ball. Place balls of dough onto preapred baking sheet, spacing them two inches apart.  Bake 28 minutes.

My additions: egg wash after 10 minutes of bake time + raw sugar sprinkle!  

Allow to cool completely before filling with strawberries and whipped cream. Jeremy's instructions to me: "Not too many strawberries. I can't handle the texture." Sigh...I guess they are just too close to a vegetable with all those seeds...

Et voila!