I am not the only one

My son told me today that I am unique and not all people are as creative and ambitious as I am.

I forget that.

It's good to have a reminder every now and then. Some people relax by watching T.V., reading, sleeping or playing games.

I create.

I love the feeling of bringing my thoughts to life.  Seeing the beauty as the work is in progress. There is something magical about holding the finished product in my hand. Not everyone feels that way but I do.

I can not but create.

Thinking of my friends and family I realize that my father is the same way, for the most part, but on a different scale. For me it's fanciful things like Dragons, Mermaids and Fairies. I make things that I decorate with, wear or give to friends.

He builds.

Using tools and machines that I can't even figure out how to turn on he can make them do things I didn't know was possible. He built the house I lived in as a child with secret rooms and a waterfall, tennis courts and game rooms with arches of rock that look like they belong in a castle.

He makes magic in his own way.

So, when my child gives me a reminder that I am different and not everyone is like me, I smile knowing I'm not the only one.

And that is okay.

What was once lost...

We all lose things. Sometimes we find them.

Sometimes we don't.

Sometimes what we find is too late.

Things that were once useful to someone are now useless to anyone.

Someone lost them, nature found them.

Why are things so important to people?

Do they make us feel Happy?

Important?

Special?

When we die, we don't take things with us.

What we do take with us is Love

Understanding

Peace

So, forget about things!

Instead focus on your Family

Find yourself

Faithfulness

Spirituality

There you will find Happiness,

Peace

Love

Burns Night

Burns Night Dinner

Every family has traditions. Even if it's just the regular ones that everyone celebrates - Christmas, Thanksgiving, Halloween and Easter. We want to make things fun and memorable by trying to create the "perfect" experience like we see in movies or remake the fond memories we had when we were young.

As time goes by it's harder to recreate them. Grandparents pass, children grow, things are never the same and they never will be again. We try and are disappointed by the results. We must remember that. To LIVE in the moment, not the past. Make new memories not just try to relive the old ones. Because every new memory will be an old one one day.

As my children grow they are not as interested or excited about the little things anymore. Like the Easter bunny leaving a basket to find or the egg hunt they loved when they were little. It is really hard for me to accept this. I want them to stay little, I want to hide eggs and help them find them. I want to see the excitement on their little faces..

So, I have to come up with new things that suit older children ( they are 12 and 14) and hopefully grow with them and they will want to carry them onto their children.* I have another post about Easter and growing children in the works.

 Being a Burns and of Scottish descent I wanted an interesting way to celebrate and start a new tradition with the kids. It is actually an old tradition but a new one for us. Burns Night Dinner.

 Robert Burns was a well known Scottish poet in the 1700's.  I won't tell his whole life story you can read it here or here. He was liked by many and they wanted a way to remember him. So his friends started having a dinner on the anniversary of his death the following year which was later changed to his birth date Jan 25. 

So for the past few years I have been making a faux "traditional" dinner. The reason it is not exactly the same is because for one I do not like the taste of Haggis :P  so I make my version of it using ground beef and a mix of spices.

 Part 1 (2015 dinner)

The first year I made "haggis" neeps and tatties, bacon wrapped asparagus and Parmesan -garlic carrots a cheese tray and brownies with vanilla ice cream and strawberries. 

I stacked the neeps and tatties on the haggis to make a tower, 

We had a cheese tray with sharp cheddars, pepper cheese and Irish Guinness cheese 

and a bottle of Drumguish Whiskey.

For a sweet treat we had brownies with vanilla ice cream and strawberries and more chocolate of course :)

We did part of the traditional dinner but tried to just enjoy making memories the rest of the time. Hopefully every year we can add more to it!

Part 2 (2016 dinner)

This year I wanted to try something a little different. Last year we had "Haggis" and it was good but there are other yummy Scottish foods to try.

So I chose a menu of Scotch Eggs, neeps and tatties.

Scotch Eggs

Scotch eggs are boiled eggs wrapped in sausage then fried and baked

They are delicious!

Neeps

Neeps are turnips peeled, boiled and mashed with butter and pepper

Tatties

Tatties are potatoes boiled and mashed with butter and spices. I added green onion

We had McClellands Highland whiskey 

and some sparkling juice for the kids.

We also went to a Burns Dinner hosted by the local Celtic society. They did an informal- formal dinner. This was their first and hopefully will improve each year as well.

Happy Robert Burns Night 

(January 25)

Friggle Fraggle

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all of the wonderful women!


My lovelies made my favorite for breakfast: homemade old fashion sour cream doughnuts

Here is a link to the recipe: http://themessybaker.com/2011/10/19/recipe-old-fashioned-sour-cream-doughnuts/
 They were delicious. They even made a glaze to dip them in. There was so much glaze left they decided to glaze other things such as bacon and hotdogs. I passed on the glazed hot dog but tried the bacon, it was interesting :)

I was crowned Queen for the day with one of the Crowns I like to make. I wore the white one :)

For the Princess or Queen in your life. Perfect for Mother's Day. You can get one here:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Friggle-Fraggle/195896730486054

We got a movie to watch later called

The Secret World of Arrietty (2010)

It looks cute. We love to watch the animated movies together as a family.

Then we will have family game night and play some board games.

Off to enjoy the rest of the day with the babies. Hope you have a wonderful Day!

April

~FriggleFraggle~