Turning 14 in Quarantine

Yesterday, Lily Grace turned 14!  This birthday was unlike any other, but that didn't stop us from celebrating and having lots of fun.  
A very BIG thank you to all of our family and friends.  Thank you so much for making yesterday so very special for Lily Grace with calls, videos, texts, cards and lots of thoughtfulness.  She is so blessed to have all of you in her life. 
While this birthday was unlike any other, our wish for you Gracie, remains the same.  

"The Lord bless you and

keep you; the Lord make his

face shine on you and

be gracious to you; the Lord

turn his face toward

you and give you peace."

Numbers 6:24-26

Daddy and I love you so much that it is beyond measure!!!!!  We are so proud of the person you are and the person you are  growing up to be.  Peace be with you always sweetheart!

This year, LG requested homemade tiramisu for her birthday.  I got busy making homemade ladyfingers and putting everything together Friday morning.  

While I worked on tiramisu, Gracie got busy on cupcakes. (and dusting the kitchen with powdered sugar) Since she was unable to have a party on her birthday with friends, she made strawberry cupcakes with cream cheese icing for them to share together over zoom. 

Saturday morning she woke to gifts, cards and of course some love from her best buddy. 

A much wished for Apple Watch 5

This year she requested Chick-fil-A for her birthday.  Hey! It's her birthday and we are just grateful the drive thru is still open.  Matt went and picked up breakfast for her and Chick-fil-A it was. 

By mid-morning, all the excitement was taking a toll on Molly. ha!

We all loaded in the car and drove to each of her friends to drop off the cupcakes LG made for them and their family.  It was like a game of Ding, Dong, Ditch with Cupcakes as Lily Grace would place the container at the front door, ring the bell and then hurry off the porch.  Her best friend P however, met her (while maintaining social distancing of course) on the sidewalk to get her cupcakes and surprise Gracie with some colorful balloons and gift card.  So very sweet!  How blessed to have friends like that!

Once we made the rounds, her friends all zoomed , ate cupcakes together and shared laughs.

This week for her meal she planned Pasta Carbonara.  It's one of her favorites.  She even asked to make it on her birthday this week.  So, with the help of her sous chef (dad-aka: dishwasher) she served us homemade Pasta Carbonara with roasted sweet baby broccoli on the side.  It was delicious!

After dinner, we had a family FaceTime call.  We all sang Happy Birthday to Gracie as she blew out the candles.  We had fun just laughing and catching up.  

Definitely a birthday to remember.  Happy 14th Birthday Gracie Cakes!  We love you sooooooooooooo much! And then some...

Matt's New Stylist

Luckily, Gracie and I had our hair done right before out state went to a shelter in place, so we haven't really worried too much about our hair.  My next appointment is May 7 and I am hopeful that I will in fact be sitting in that chair.  
Matt on the other hand has been chomping at the bits about getting his hair cut.  He typically goes every three weeks.  He talked me into cutting it a couple of weeks ago but I don't like too.  For as little hair as Matt has, he drives me crazy.  
He was up for another cut this weekend and he talked Gracie into doing it for him.  She was excited and nervous and I was a little unsure and maybe a small part of me thought (ok maybe wished a little) that I might get myself a laugh out of this cut.  
We are actually having beautiful weather outside today so Gracie and Matt set up shop on the deck.  She read the manual for the clippers and watched a couple of videos.  
Long story short, she did great and Matt has himself a new stylist.  Even when quarantine is over, LG did such a good job that he's hired her to cut his hair for him.  They settled on a wage and Lily Grace is happy to be earning some extra cash.  
On a side note, my toes were in dire need of a pedicure.  Again, I got one right before the quarantine but it's way past time for another one.  Enter, my little entrepreneur.  Lily Grace pulled out the foot bath and gave me a pedicure right down to the heated towel last night and I have to say, my feet loved every second of it and they look quite good too.  Being her mama, LG has offered to give me pedicures going forward at a discount rate of $10 per, or I can do a "monthly subscription" of $20 which will afford me touch ups.  Too funny!  I'm not sure Gracie is ready for this quarantine to be over (come May 1) considering that she seems to have found the "value" in it and making a business out of it.  ha! ha! 

Oh yes! She even shaved the neck and that was her first time with a razor and Matt is a brave man

A little art from quarantine

While you likely won't be finding these pieces of art at any gallery showing, they were lots of fun to make and helped keep the boredom at bay.  Earlier in the week, Gracie and I followed an online tutorial and free handed these bird nests using watercolors.  Now I gotta say, I don't think they turned out too bad.  
We had so much fun that LG talked Matt into giving it a try on Saturday.  They sketched and painted trouts using watercolors.  Matt really surprised Gracie and I with how well he did.  I'm not sure what we expected, but we were both impressed.  

Mom and LG

Dad and LG

What's for dinner?

Lily Grace is becoming quite the cook.  While baking is her favorite,  she also needs to learn how to plan and prepare a meal as well.  After all, mama won't always be there to cook for her. (but full disclosure, I totally would)  
Starting this week and throughout the summer, LG will be responsible for planning a balanced meal for dinner, making a grocery list, making that meal and cleaning up afterwards.  Recipes can be old favorites, or something new. 
Tonight she made a delicious Spinach Artichoke Chicken casserole over rice. (This recipe was new to us and it's posted below.) She did an amazing job!  Matt and I thoroughly enjoyed it.  This recipe is definitely a keeper.  
Great job Gracie!  I look forward to what you will cook next.  

learning to clean and cut up chicken

getting started on dinner

Delicious!

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cooked skinless chicken breast, cubed
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 cup  whole milk cottage cheese
• 3/4 cup  sour cream
• 2 cups shredded mozzarella
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1 1/2 tsp garlic granules or garlic powder
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• Juice and zest of 1/2 lemon
• 2 cups fresh organic spinach
• 14 oz artichoke hearts, halved
• 1/3 c fresh grated Parmesan cheese

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease a 1 1/2 qt. casserole dish. 
2. In a large mixing bowl, add cooked cubed chicken, oil, cottage cheese and sour cream. Give it a quick stir to combine. Add 2 cups shredded cheese, parsley, sea salt, garlic, thyme, lemon juice and lemon zest. Stir until fully combined and evenly distributed. Gently fold in the spinach and artichoke hearts just until combined. Pour mixture into the greased casserole dish and sprinkle the parmesan cheese over the top of the casserole. Bake at 375 degrees F for 40-50 minutes, or until the cheesy top is lightly golden brown. Let the casserole sit for 10 minutes before serving.

*Recipe adapted from recipestonourish.com  *LG made changes to the original recipe.

Happy Easter

This year may be different from all the others, but hasn't been any less special and we aren't any less blessed.  
We love Father Larry Richards and this Easter has afforded us the opportunity to celebrate Holy Week with him in Erie, PA through live streaming.  We have such fond memories of when we visited his church a few years ago for Easter and it was great to use this opportunity to celebrate mass with him.  We celebrated the Easter Vigil last night and tuned in again this morning for his Easter homily. We've also spent the day having a putt off in the living room, watched a movie and grilled out. 
Thank you gracious God that even in the toughest of times, there are always blessings.  You are always with us. 

Christ has risen!  He has risen indeed!  

Lily Grace baked up some pretty pink coconut cream macarons for Easter.  

Easter Goodies

A new Harry Potter hoodie from her Easter basket

Molly enjoying her new Easter chew toy

Gracie's favorite part of today was a surprise visit from her best friend Pearl who stopped by to drop off some Easter candy for LG.  And while they observed social distancing, that didn't stop them from sharing smiles and laughs.  It was wonderful to see Pearl and Rebecca for the first time in weeks.  Gotta say, I too enjoyed chatting with Rebecca even it was across the yard. Ha!  Thanks friends for the welcomed surprise. 

Keeping Busy

Lily Grace continues school remotely and the governor announced this past week that she will in fact, finish the school year that way. When Gracie isn't working to complete and submit assignments, we are working to keep busy with all this time at home. The weather is still chilly and we are having a lot of rain so we take advantage of any pretty days we have. 

LG has been loving the extra time to get creative and concentrating on word art.

This year, with all the extra time on our hands and being bound to home, instead of having our mulch delivered and spread, we did it ourselves.  Matt paid Gracie to go out and measure all the flower beds and calculate the area so he knew how much mulch to order.  She took the job very seriously with pad, pencil and calculator in hand.  Too cute!

Let me just confirm that 10 cubic feet of mulch is A LOT.  

After LG worked the wheelbarrow a while, her daddy agreed to teach her how to drive the tractor.  I'm happy to report that the house is still standing and all the sprinkler heads are in tact.