What I Know For Sure

Eleven years ago yesterday, my second daughter was born.  Weighing nine pounds and having a head circumference in the 95^th percentile, saying she tore into this world is putting it mildly.

I’d like to say that this is just a really horrible newborn picture, but I think she really did look this bad.  It only took a few days for her to become much cuter, which was good…..because that’s when the crying started.

 She cried.

And cried.

Then, she cried some more.

Rumor has it, that God doesn't give you more than you can hande.  So really, after about the first four months she stopped crying.

It was my husband who wanted to name her after the Elvis Costello song “Allison”.  I thought it was okay, but I was leaning toward Jessica or Sara.  Of course when she was lying on my chest after that rip-roaring birth, I agreed with him.  Her middle name Eden, is also mine and my mother’s, and my Grandmother’s maiden name.

She has lived in five states and three different countries, has been in a coma and on a Life Flight, and she won’t take off her Converse tennis shoes and her green wool hat.  She only weighs 61 pounds but can swim the 50 meter Freestyle in thirty-eight seconds....which is only 14 seconds off of Michael Phelps' split....in case you didn't know.

For some reason, even though she is not my youngest daughter, she is my baby.  She is the daughter that is most like my husband and that is a good thing….usually.  She is best friends with her older sister and the coolest friend to her younger sister.

I could brag and brag about her all day long on this post, but you get the point.  Happy Birthday Allison Eden!  What I know for sure is, we love you!!!

The President Likes My Cheese Ball

Living on an Air Force base overseas is pretty exciting.  For instance, Air Force One could land on the flight line two blocks from our house, and President and Mrs. Obama could stop by for some appetizers.

Okay, maybe that isn’t exactly how it could happen.

Regardless, the tradition at my house is to always have a Cheese Ball at the ready for any neighbors, Christmas parties, emergency gifts, and random people who stop by on their way through……to things like the Asian Economic Summit in Tokyo.

Okay, no one stopped at my house before they went to the summit meeting either.

My mom has made Cheese Balls every December for forever.  I do not recall a life without this cheese ball in it.  It is so much a part of me that I refuse to try anyone else’s.

Roxie’s Cheese Ball

 

Ingredients:

·        2 eight ounce packages of Cream Cheese

·        2 teaspoons onion or garlic juice

·        2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

·        1 teaspoon lemon juice

·        1 teaspoon dried mustard

·        ½ tsp Lowry’s seasoned salt

·        ¼ tsp salt

·        2 cups shredded mild cheddar cheese

·        Parsley flakes, chopped dried beef, or chopped nuts

Put everything but the last two ingredients in a large mixing bowl.  Mush it all up with your hands until it is all mixed together.  It’s kind of messy but it gets the job done.  Now dump in the shredded cheese.  Mix that with your hands too.

Shape into balls and roll in parsley flakes, chopped dried beef (that's the beef in the jars in the canned meat section of your grocery), or nuts.  I almost always do the dried beef, but my mother does the parsley.  It looks more festive all green.  Nuts are gross so I don’t use them. 

One batch will make one very large cheese ball, 2 medium balls, or three tiny ones.  Serve with crackers (Ritz are best).  Veggies are good too.  Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to use or give as a gift.

NOW WAIT!  Remember the President is coming over……in my dreams.  So this year, my daughter Abbey helped me make my plain old cheese balls a little fancier!

Follow recipe above until you have a giant cheese wad….

With your very cool painted fingernails…..

Shape cheese into a cone…..

Cut some cherry tomatoes in half……

Peel some orange or lemon rind into long skinny strips….

Cut a star out of some cheese or a yellow bell pepper….

Cover cone with parsley……

Arrange your tomatoes, orange rinds, and cheese star on your cone (we got help with some toothpicks), then garnish beneath with crackers meat and veggies.  This is what you get......

A Cheese Ball Tree!!!!

Thanks Abbey for your help!  I think we did a pretty good job, don’t you?

Here’s where I am linking this post!

It Happened at Daycare

It was barely even daycare.

Two days a week I would take my 22 month old to an in-home preschool program for two hours.  I guess I was trying to “socialize” her or something.  (Poor kid...the things you do with your first born.)

Abbey was a good girl.  She was gentle with her 4 month old sister and rarely threw tantrums.  There was one time she was frustrated because the wheel on her doll stroller wouldn’t turn, so she took a bite out of the handle.

Looking back, I possibly could have taken this as a sign, but I was too busy taking her to library story hour and swim club. 

I guess I was her enabler.  I should have talked to her about biting the stroller. Then, she could have learned to deal with the responsibilities that go with growing up and becoming a responsible adult.  Right?  Because a 22 month old can reason like that.....ummm yeah.  (Remember she was my first.)

Back to daycare…..or as it was called by the lady who ran it, The Home Preschool Program.

There was a girl named Highleigh.  Yep, not Hayleigh…..HIGHLEIGH.  That name explains a lot right there.  Her brother was named Chappmon.  Their mom never had to change a diaper because her kids didn’t poop, and if they did, they pooped gold nuggets.

I never did really get the story straight.  It involved Highleigh, Abbey, and another plastic baby stroller.  When I came and picked Abbey up, I received this letter....

To the parents of Abbey:

Today Abbey, showed a lot of aggression toward another child, in my care.

She was in a dispute, with another little girl over a stroller, and she bit the other

little girl, and it broke the skin.  She was taken to the ER.

I am giving Abbey a two week probation, if in these two weeks, Abbey still shows signs of this type of aggression, she will no longer be able to attend this daycare.

Thank you for your cooperation in this matter.

Sincerely,

Sandra Usestoomanycommas

I was humiliated.  I lectured my 22 month old on the drive home explaining how her behavior reflects on our entire family and how disappointed I was in her actions.  I waited impatiently for her apology, sure that she was regretting her conduct from several hours ago.

She was looking out the window strapped into her five-point harness and said, “Mommy I see playland McDonalds!  I love that town!” 
And what mom wouldn’t pull over, besides Highleigh and Chappmon’s mom?

We never had another biting incident but in the first grade Abbey punched a girl.  Even the teacher’s say the girl deserved it.  Her name was Avareigh.