Princess on Ice

Princess E had her first visit to an ice skating rink yesterday afternoon.  We've never been to an ice rink before.  We decided to take a field trip before the snow hit today. 

I guess her years of roller skating experience helped some.  She's been roller skating since before she was 2.  Even still, she went splat quite often. 

At least she wasn't afraid to get up and try again.

They were giving lessons to new skaters.  I don't think she did badly for a first-timer. 

It surprised me that a first lesson included a basic spin.  Here was hers. 

I think she much preferred speed-skating.  Big surprise there...not.

Ice dancing? 

"Can I have my medal now, please?"

Last night, she was pretty stiff and had lots of red marks.  I have a feeling she has lots of bruises today.  But, she had fun and said it was worth it. 

Alexander Lebenstein

A few weeks ago, we had the privilege to meet a man of honor. Let me introduce you to Alexander Lebenstein, pictured here during his presentation.

Mr. Lebenstein had the sad distinction of being the only Jewish Holocaust survivor from his hometown of Haltern-am-See, Germany. The story of his life during the holocaust, starting Kristallnacht through Liberation, is utterly heartwrenching.

It is no wonder that many of his years following the Holocaust were stained with hate, anger and scorn. What is amazing is that he eventually grew to love young people and dedicated his later years to making a difference in their lives by promoting tolerance.

Last year, his story was published as The Gazebo, with the help of Don Levin. From the cover..."More than a story of survival, this is a tale of good triumphing over evil, and one man's battle to make a difference in the lives of children. With a new lease on life, he now promotes tolerance through education on two continents, and tells his remarkable story so that the children will know."


During the presentation, he reminded the children that they are the last generation that will meet a living Holocaust survivor. I hadn't actually considered that myself.


After his presentation, he invited everyone forward to meet him. Here is Princess E, shaking hands with him. In his hand is the card she made for him. What you can't see is the bag of peanuts she brought him. We read, in his book, that he loves peanuts! To our joy, he stopped the line, and announced excitedly that she had brought him peanuts. He seemed genuinely pleased by her gesture.

After the presentation, he sat for a book-signing. We waited in line for him to sign the copy we had purchased. Again, he took a moment to pose with "The Peanut Girl".

This morning, this dear gentleman completed his earthly journey.  His nightmares are over.  His work is done.

My heart is heavy for his family here on earth.  It is my sincere hope that today, he was gathered into the arms of God, and reunited with his beloved mother and father.  May he rest in peace, and may his legacy live on. 

Mr. Lebenstein, it was an honor to meet you.  Thank you for all you have done to bring an end to hate.  Thank you for setting an example of tolerance and love.  Thank you for taking the time to reach out to my daughter.  The world has lost a great man.

Wordless Wednesday

Sponsored Post - General Mills Cereals

Chex Mix…one of my favorite homemade snacks. We ate buckets of the stuff during the Christmas season. Sadly, my pants confirm this is true. Princess E and I also made Muddy Buddies as a math/science project for her. My aunt also introduced us to Snickerdoodle Chex Mix. It was super-yummy and gluten-free.

Anyway, right in the middle of all the holiday yumminess, I received an offer from General Mills and MyBlogSpark. They sent me coupons that I could use to buy any General Mills cereals. They also gave me lots of information about cereal for breakfast.  I am rather picky about what I serve my daughter for breakfast, so learning how they are making breakfast cereals more nutritious was a nice bonus.
So, let me share with you the information that was given to me. General Mills recently announced “a commitment to further reduce sugar in cereals advertised to kids under 12 to single digit grams of sugar per serving. The company has already been reducing sugar in cereals while increasing key nutrients, such as calcium and vitamin D, and providing whole grain.”

Of course, they probably weren’t expecting me to serve Muddy Buddies for breakfast. Ha!  I'm kidding.  I wouldn't do that.  Here's my idea of a good breakfast: 

For more information about kids and cereals, please visit Cereal Health and Wellness.

Right now if you visit here you will find a $1 off coupon for one of four General Mills cereals. These are some of the cereals that children so greatly enjoy. Cinnamon Toast Crunch is a huge hit at my house.

What do you feed your children for breakfast?  I'd love to read your comments on this.  Don't forget to print out your own coupon.

General Mills and MyBlogSpark sponsored this post.  They provided me with coupons I could use to buy cereals; but the opinions expressed here are completely my own.

Missing Mom in Richmond, Virginia

UPDATE:  I am excited to share that Tamara has been found and she is safe!  Please join me in offering prayers of thanksgiving. 

My Sister-In-Law's Sister is Missing from the Richmond, Virginia area. 

Tamara Sarah Hopkinson, mother of 2

Last seen December 31, 2009 in Richmond

She is approximately 5' 8" tall and has reddish hair that is naturally blonde.

If you have any information on her whereabouts or you see her, please contact the Richmond Police Department, Missing Persons Unit, at 804-646-5100

Please keep her, her children, and her family in your prayers as they go through this frightening time.  I will post updates here as I learn more.

Upward Basketball - Week 2

What a game we had today!

Princess E made her first goal of the season!  Way to go girl!
Is this picture not the funniest thing?  It looks like they were posing for a movie poster.  The three girls in the front, representing two teams, running together side-by-side.  Notice they all have their left foot forward.  Notice that their arms are in basically the same positions as well.  (Notice that two of the three are completely airborne, too.)  When I saw this image, I couldn't help but think of Charlie's Angels from my childhood.  I blurred the other girls' faces for the sake of their privacy. 

Now in this next picture, you can tell she's really concentrating on moving that ball.  I call her the Dribbling Princess.  One of these days, she's not going to think that is funny anymore.  Ha!

She was sure trying hard to catch the rebound here.  This was just before she make her basket.  Woot!  Woot!

This last one struck me as pretty funny, too.  It looks like she and the referee were dancing to the same music.  Only, she stuck her index finger straight out and he curled his.  She had just thrown the ball in from the sidelines.  Notice the sign of concentration...mouth open, tongue stuck out.  It was just too funny when I downloaded the camera. 

It's been another great week of basketball.  I continue to be surprised by the improvements in her skills since last season.

Basketball

From the first game of the 2010 season. Go Upward!

So much has changed since last season.  You are taller for one thing.  You are doing much better with dribbling, passing and guarding the ball.  You even stole the ball a couple of times, which you've never done before!  Your shots at the goal, while they didn't go in, were much better than last year.  One even circled the rim.  We are proud of you for your effort and for your good sportsmanship.  You earned a red star today for "best defense".  Way to go!!

Great job Princess E!!!

Frittata Feast

I made a Frittata for Christmas brunch.  It was so good, I was asked to make another one for another gathering soon after.  Now, I've been asked to make it again, but this time I'll be making multiple pans so that there is enough to feed about forty people.  So, I thought I'd share my recipe with you. 

Ingredients

18 eggs
3 cups of milk
3/4 teaspoon black pepper
3/4 cup of chopped green onion
1 lb of bacon
3 cups shredded cheddar cheese (I prefer sharp or extra sharp)

Instructions

(Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.)
1.  Cut the bacon strips into quarters and cook the bacon until well done.  Drain the bacon.
2.  In a mixing bowl, thoroughly mix the eggs and the milk. 
3.  Stir in the black pepper.
4.  Pour the mixture into a 9X15 pan. 
5.  Spread the bacon and green onion evenly in the egg mixture.
6.  Sprinkle the cheese on top and push it down into the egg mixture.
7.  Cover the pan with aluminum foil.
8.  Bake the frittata about 50 minutes, until a knife inserted in the center comes back clean.

This serves about 16 people.

At the time, it didn't occur to me to take a picture of just the frittata.  Here is is along with the rest of the food we served for Christmas brunch.

I should know better...

Yesterday morning, way too early, I was up priming my kitchen ceiling.  We are in the process of repainting the kitchen and I just LURV all the prepwork.  Ha!

Then, it was off to the dentist with Princess E.  She had a good checkup. 

Next stop, grocery store.  She tells me she wants sushi for lunch.  We looked at the stuff there, but I decided against it.  For one thing, it's pretty expensive.  For another, well, I really prefer to ensure my sushi is really fresh.  Some things just aren't meant to be bought in the grocery store, in my not-so-humble opinion.  Then again, the sushi-chef was right there working on the stuff while we were there.  Anyway, I digress...

We came home and I decided to fix a sushi-style lunch.  Think of it as a cross between a California roll and fried rice.  The only thing I was missing was the seaweed.  I pulled out the imitation crabmeat sticks to add to the cooked rice and realized each one of them was individually wrapped.  No problem, I thought, I'll just slide it out of the sleeve. 

Or not. 

The wrappers wouldn't tear open, either.  No problem, I just grabbed my trusty kitchen knife.  I laid it on the cutting board and tried to cut the wrapper.  This is still the first one, and I have a dozen or so wrappers to remove.  I couldn't cut the wrapper.  Frustrated, I picked it up and held it while I cut the wrapper open.  Success!  Woohoo!

I grabbed the second stick and proceeded to open it the same way.  The wrapper wouldn't cut.  I added just a smidgen more force.  It gave way that time, successfully slicing open the wrapper and the ends of two of my fingers. 

Princess E scrambled around grabbing bandages and tape.  Bless her heart, she knew I had to clean my fingers, so she brought me alcohol swabs.  I thanked her for her thoughtfulness and proceeded to clean up with good old soap and water.  When King J got home, I looked like I had marshmallows taped to my fingers.  LOL! 

I didn't get any more painting done yesterday. 

Oh, yeah, last night, King J asked me to peel a grapefruit and an orange for him to take to work today.  For the first time I can remember, I refused his request.  I handed him the grapefruit, the orange and a peeler and told him to help himself.  He laughed. 

I should have just bought the sushi at the grocery store.

It's not my fault...

Really, it isn't.  I just couldn't help myself. 

See, I have a bunch of blogs in my reader that I follow.  So, Sunday night, I was trying to catch up on some blog reading and commenting...cuz I do like to visit around in the bloggy world.  The Pioneer Woman had put up this post about her recent trip to Atlanta.  At the end of the post was a list of some of the bloggers she met while she was there. 

This one caught my eye.   She's a Mom, a paramedic, a firefighter...you know, one of the real everyday heroes.  I don't mentioned it much on my blog, but I used to be active in EMS.  That is how King J and I met, but that's a story for another day.  I burned out after one (or two or six) too many bad calls.  One of these days, I'll go back.  I even keep up my certifications.  Anyway, I spent HOURS reading her posts.  Some are funny, others are hard to read.  In any case, she captured my interest.  I don't know much about how bloggy awards are passed around, but this lady most definitely deserves one. 

But then, oh dear, she had her list of favorite blogs.  I made the mistake of clicking on Dr. Grumpy.  I say mistake because I am now sleep deprived, bleary-eyed, and my sides ache horribly.  I think I broke a couple of ribs from laughing so hard.  Yes, his language is a bit more, um...edgy, than what I use, but his blog is well worth reading.  It took me the better part of two nights, but I read every.single.entry.  Hysterical. 

Happy New Year!!

I hope 2010 will be a year full of blessings for each of you. 

Things are quiet on my blog right now.  King J has a long winter break and we are spending most of our time off-line.  I'll be back soon.