Daughters | A Thankfully Imperfect Woman

Oct 20

Belly Buttons and Boogers

Yes, you read it right. I’m going to talk about belly buttons and boogers. There’s pretty much nothing I won’t talk about. OK, there are a few things I won’t write about…per my husband, children’s and friend’s requests. Yes, otherwise I’d be tempted…but I do have a filter, believe it or not!

The subject of belly buttons comes from our experience with my father-in-law Ron two weeks ago. A nurse in the ICU was getting him all set and said “Oh good, a clean belly button!” As my mother-in-law and I looked at her, no doubt with a strange look on our face, she explained “It’s the first thing we check!” Huh…take this as a lesson learned…always wash your belly button! Seems right up there with Mom’s old advice “always wear clean underwear in case you get in a car accident”! I just remembered this moment yesterday and we all had a ‘belly button check’. This can lead to some pretty hilarious conversation – so GO – check those belly buttons!

OK, yes then there are boogers.

We had the babies on Friday, which wound up being Jen’s first day of her ‘on-call weekend’. After quite a day of eating…french fry hotdish (ok, I ran out of tator tots…don’t judge), a candy bar from Grandpa’s candy bouquet, pizza for dinner…and it was definitely bathtime for two little girls. Especially the littlest one who had a little of everything in her hair!

The bath itself was a fun and crazy experience which ended with water EVERYWHERE! Gabi grabbed little Nicole, I took Elena and as we wrapped the girls in their towels, the baby sneezed twice. (You know where this is going.) I looked over and sure enough, she’d blown all kinds of things out of her nose…and onto Gabi’s shoulder…and some of it was still attached to Nicole’s nose …. eeeeEEEEWWWWWWwwww!

I couldn’t help it. I burst out laughing. You should have seen Gabi’s face! She looked like she was going to gag – mouth wide open – tongue sticking out – while grimacing.

I quickly grabbed a tissue and rescued her shoulder – and Nicole’s nose – and cleaned up everything in between!

I hope you’ve had a much cleaner weekend…belly buttons and all. 😉

Patty O

Picture courtesy of Pinterest

Oct 4

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Prayers for Our Children

I pray…I praise…and I live a Christian life, or should I say I attempt to. Strength in my Christianity is something I struggle with at times, and yet at the same time, my faith in prayer is always strong.

Today I want to ask you to join me in prayer for two very special children who are going through challenges. One of these young people has become special to me even though we’ve never met, and the second is one who desperately needs the world’s prayers now, even though we haven’t even seen her face.

The first is a sweet little man whom I’ve only met through a video and yet I love him already. For those of you who read my blog post “Red Fred Project – Join Me”, you’ve met him too. This is the quote from Dallas Graham’s Facebook page today: (Dallas is the creative genius behind the Red Fred Project)… Guys: Our Nathan, from Red Fred Project, broke his back coming home from school today. His mom, Rachel Glad, says he seems in less pain as long as he’s on his back. Please send love, thoughts and prayers to our incredible little man, Nathan. We love you, Nathan. He has a Facebook page: Nathan Ryan Glad Foundation. Drop him a message! … Let’s all say a prayer for this little man and his family. And if you haven’t yet, join his foundation, and join the Red Fred Project so we can meet more young people like Nathan and can give them a voice too.

The second is a little girl who desperately needs our prayers at this very moment in time. She’s a little one year old who saw her Mom being killed by police officers in Washington D.C. yesterday. A little girl, innocent to this world’s troubles, innocent to her Mom’s troubles that caused this horrible situation…a little girl innocent. I pray that she be surrounded with love, I pray that she be safe, I pray that she have no memory of what happened yesterday, and I pray for her Momma…may God take her to Heaven and lay peace in her troubled heart and mind. And may she now be a special angel for her little girl.

Amen.

Patty O

Picture credit: Pinterest, Teresa Kogul

Oct 2

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A Tiger for Elena

Little Miss Elena loves tigers.

Not just any tigers, she loves the tiger at the zoo…and I think the tiger loves her.

We all went to the zoo on her last birthday so she could introduce us to her friend, and while we were there Elena stood on a ledge to point out her tiger, who was pacing back and forth. One moment he was pacing, and the next he’d reared up with his front paws on the glass to literally look at her eye to eye.

I’m not sure if he was thinking ‘lunch’ or not, but I quickly told her he was saying “HAPPY BIRTHDAY!” The poor little peanut turned her wary look into a big smile and off we all went to see the next animal…and her love of tigers remains!

I decided a week ago to get rid of an old dresser I’d been hanging onto. I mentioned it to Elena’s Mom, Jen, and she said she didn’t have one for Elena yet and maybe it was time.

Well…I couldn’t just sell her the plain old dresser, not for our little Miss Elena. I had hoped at one point to paint a beautiful flower on the front and then sell it, but had decided to just get rid of it…needless to say…the idea came back to me. I asked Jen what animal I could paint on the dresser for Elena and she immediately said a tiger. I should have known.

A few days later little missy appeared in her favorite t-shirt adorned with what else, but her favorite animal. So I convinced her it was dirty (it actually was), so I could borrow it.

Here is my weekend project, done with lots of love, for a sweet little girl who loves tigers…

(This is where my oldest daughter would say “Ta-daaaaaa!”)

Elena got to see her new dresser yesterday and her smile said it all.

Patty O

ps…this is absolutely one of my favorite things to do…so if you know of anyone who wants an extra splash on their decor, whether it be for a child’s piece of furniture or an adult’s, just give me a call!

Sep 28

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Comfort Food…Sweet Sauerkraut and Pork Ribs

With the onset of Fall here in Northern Minnesota, I decided to share one of my family’s favorite recipes. It’s perfect for these cool days!

You can certainly replace the pork ribs with pork chops, but I won’t substitute The Zup’s Food Market sauerkraut with any other!

This serves approx. 8-10 people. This is a large recipe which you can cut in half…however, you’ll love the leftovers too!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Sweet Sauerkraut and Pork Ribs

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3# of Pork Ribs 1 Qt of Zup’s Homemade Sauerkraut

1/2 to 3/4 bag of Brown Sugar Caraway Seeds

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Brown the pork ribs in your fry pan with a splash of olive oil.

Layer them in your baking pan (I use a 12×15 pan).

Cover with strained sauerkraut.

Cover sauerkraut with brown sugar (yes, a lot!)

Sprinkle Caraway Seeds over. I put them on fairly thick.

Cover and bake in 350 degree oven for 1 to 1 1/2 hr.

Serve with homemade mashed potatoes and enjoy!

Patty O

Sep 26

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‘My Mommm Said Sooooo’

So today was another daycare babies day…and of course we had more than a few fun moments. The funniest of which was after we picked up Elena from school.

We were still in the car when she said, “I’m hungry…my tummy is empty!” I told her we’d get a snack at the grocery store.

That’s when she made her announcement…

“Food goes in your belly and your butt!”

I scowled and said “Nooooooo, just in your belly!”

Elena: “My Mommm said sooooo!”

Let’s just say I dropped it rather quickly.

HOWEVER,

When Jen showed up to pick up the kids, I couldn’t resist telling her what Elena said (now mind you Jen was changing Nicole and I had just left Elena in the bathroom to go potty). Jen just laughed and said “I did tell her food goes in her belly, but someone else must have said it comes out your butt!”

And from the bathroom we hear Elena yell… “Mommmm – youuuuu said itttttttt!”

Boy they get sassy fast! It seems just yesterday she was just starting nursery school!

🙂

Patty O