Reflections on Our Journey Together
Our annual visit with the Big Man in red! I can’t tell you how many tries we had to go through to get this picture. For some reason, Gabby would look everywhere EXCEPT at the camera! But they’re still too cute! Ben told Santa he wants a monster truck and a motorcycle…(uhh oh – a sign of teenage trouble to come) and Gabby told Santa she wants a tinkerbell, a princess, and a REINDEER. Umm…yeah…okay Gabster! Keep dreaming!
Gabrielle is growing and changing each and every day. More and more, her language, speech, and personality are beginning to blossom. It’s amazing watching the transformation of this little baby to a little girl.
This weekend, she came to me and Lamar and said she wanted to sing a song for us. “Oh…okay Gabby.” She begins to sing:
Aww de cinquo let
Aww de cinquo let
Aww de cinquo let
Aww de cinquo let
Now put your hands up!
Lamar and I look at each other confused (we’ve never heard THAT song before - maybe she learned that in daycare). Lamar turns to her and says, “That’s nice Gabby! Good job!
But it wasn’t until I saw a commercial of the new Alvin and the Chipmunks movie that I realized what she was singing:
All the single ladies
All the single ladies
All the single ladies
All the single ladies
Now put your hands up!
Go on wit’ your bad self Sasha Gabby Fierce!!
They got us AGAIN!! Those GANGSTERS over at Kindercare got us for the THIRD time!! Here they go again taking utterly ADORABLE pictures of Gabrielle and Benjamin and then TWISTING OUR ARMS to FORCE us to buy them!! And at Christmas time too! The dirty dogs!! What gets me is that we never asked for the pictures to be taken. They just take these really cute pictures (no purchase necessary) and then make them so irresistable that you can’t help but buy them. And they get us for 3 sets every time! One of Ben. One of Gabby. And one of the both of them together. See for yourself!
But seriously though… with faces like these, how can you help but buy the dayum pictures!! BASTARDS!
Yesterday, I drove with my mother and sister to take my niece Kendra down to my ole’ alma mater, the University of Maryland Eastern Shore. It was a great trip and great to be able to return to the place of some of my greatest life’s lessons and happy memories for a visit. WOW! The school has completely changed since the time that I was there. I remember rolling up on the campus back in 1985 like it was YESTERDAY!! And now, many moons later, I’ve returned to bring my NIECE down to visit the campus for a prospective student’s orientation tour as she begins to make her college selection for next year. GEESH!! Is time flying or what?? I remember when this little firecracker was BORN!! I changed her diapers and gave her bottles and now she’s ready for COLLEGE???? WHAAAT!
So…I’m already having an OLD-TIMER’S moment. I’m also having a “Why-wasn’t-THAT-here-when-I-went-here” moment. UMES is now quite the school! They’ve got EVERYTHING now!! An on-campus bowling alley?? A theater?? State of the art equipment??? Wireless internet?? Computer labs in the buildings?? WHAT! Kids there now even have the Trailways bus coming up on the campus to pick them up instead of us having to HUMP it the mile and a half into town to catch the bus! HMMPH!! I had to keep saying to myself “I’m not BITTER!! I’m not BITTER!!”
So we were standing out in the hallway during one of the breaks and we met a young man (freshman) who was on fire and trying to give us information about his organization. Mom mentioned to him that I was an alumnus of the University and he says “Oh! So is the founder of our organization!” (Turns out, I went to college with that guy and it was blowing my mind to know that my generation is “FOUNDING” stuff.) He says to me, when did you graduate? I said 1990.
Then here comes the face cracking moment… “Oh…that was the year I was BORN!”
Awww dayum…
(Actual Photo taken of Angie’s Muffins – didn’t they come out pretty?)
This recipe makes some of the moistest muffins I’ve ever made. You can omit the nuts if you’d like or are allergic. These zesty beauties bake up to be very dense and the sweet orange flavor of the muffins is offset by the tartness of the fresh cranberries. The kids just loved them when I fixed them last Sunday morning. Pair them with a cold glass of milk or a hot cup of coffee and they’re some kinda good!! Enjoy my recipe! Bon Appetit!!
Ingredients:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray or fill a 12 cup muffin pan with muffin papers.
In a separate bowl, mix the cranberries, sugars, walnuts, vanilla, and orange juice together and set aside.
In another bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, orange zest, nutmeg, cinnamon, and ginger. Then fold in the oil and the eggs until mixture is crumbly. Slowly add the cranberry mixture and then pour into the muffin tins. Bake for 25 minutes or until muffins are brown.
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Maybe I’m just getting too old to remember, but I don’t seem to recall having HOMEWORK in PRE-SCHOOL!!! Don’t get me wrong! I love the fact that Benjamin’s pre-kindergarten class is getting him ready for school next year. That’s good (Hmmph…we sure pay them enough money)! He’s learning so much and is such a SMART boy! He’s really very intelligent (and that’s not just the proud Mommy in me talking, but he really is!)
But when GABBY’S 3-year old class starts bringing home homework each night, I’m like DAAANG!! Can we catch a BREAK?? What’s the rush with the homework?? SHE’S THREE for goodnes sakes!! Now we have THREE kids doing homework in the evenings! For Vanessa and Benjamin, that’s okay. But for the baby?? WTF??? And besides… IT’S CHRISTMAS!!! Bah HUMBUG for HOMEWORK!! 
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