From Fondant to Fangs

My oldest Angel has taken to baking interesting and intricate cakes which require working with something called fondant. Fondant. Just the word sounds messy and complicated!
So when she showed up on Halloween morning with her boyfriend, The Cheesemiester(a nickname gained after a Pizza-Hut commercial that he starred in) and her best friend from middle school, to create a masterpiece, I knew it would be amusing. They baked a blood-red cake. They created the fondant and used black food coloring to achieve the dark, black as night color. They pounded and kneaded for thirty to forty minutes each, coating their hands in Crisco so that the black food coloring would not stain their skin. The Cheesemiester definitely enjoyed this activity the most!(Boys!) And when everything was finished, they carefully rolled out the fondant(Can you tell I like using that word?) into a thin layer. They then placed it gingerly over the top of the cake and cut around the edges so that it would fit perfectly. The entire project took several hours...

which is probably why there were exuberant high-fives going on when the cake was finally completed!(That and the exorbitant amount of powdered sugar, marshmallow and frosting they ingested.)

Lots of pictures were taken.

Muscles were displayed with pride.
Until AD1 sensed what was going on behind her head,
and she turned around to take a bite out of her boyfriend's finger!
The finished product was a cake for a birthday/Halloween party with a Vampire theme. HBO has been running a series called True Blood for the past year and a half which features, you guessed it, Vampires.(and Werewolves!) I watched it first season, but have yet to catch up on the second one. It is pretty scary!
My oldest Angel Daughter who has the most vivid imagination, LOVES SCARY! My sweet, never hurt a fly, spiritual, beautiful Angel Daughter LOVES SCARY!!!
Which is why she transformed herself from this...
INTO THIS...(Sorry, Micah!)
for Halloween!(No animals were actually harmed during the photographing of this Vampire!)
Mark is so proud of his little Vampire!(No Daddies were harmed, either.)
And since AD1 would never consider harming another living thing, she brought her own supply of Tru Blood to the party. Tru Blood is a synthetically prepared drink created specifically for Vampires who choose to live(or un-live), as vegetarians.(It's actually orange soda, but don't tell anyone.)
From fondant to fangs. Sometimes we need to challenge ourselves by taking the things that scare us the most and facing them head on!

Happy November, dear hearts!

Calling All Angels

I need a sign to let me know you're here

All of these lines are being crossed over the atmosphere

I need to know that things are gonna look up

'Cause I see us drowning in a sea spilled from a cup

When there is no safe place and no safe place to put my head

When you feel the world shake from the words that are said

And I'm calling all angels

I'm calling all you angels

-Angels Baseball theme song by Train

The Four Angels Momma baseball team happens to be The Anaheim Angels.  If you have ever seen the 1994 movie, Angels in the Outfield, then you are already familiar with a wonderful story of hope and faith.  I like that our local team was the inspiration for such a wonderful movie.  I love that our team is called The Angels!(Even though Mark is also a huge Mets fan and that AD1 used to sleep with a stuffed pillow we called Mr. Met.)  Mark has taken our Angels to a countless number of games.  Angel Daughter Number Two is in the process of auditioning for a position in which she would represent the team with her incredible spirit.  Although I don't attend as many games with my family as I would like to be able to, I do enjoy the spirit and the camaraderie that having a "family" team initiates.  I love listening to Mark and the girls talk about the team and who their favorite players are.  I love the bonding that naturally occurs as they cheer for their team.  My husband is, and always has been, an absolute jock, so it is nice knowing that he has daughters who understand that love.

Several months ago, Mark and I attended a fundraiser for our synagogue.  As part of the live auction, someone donated their box for an Angel's game.  Knowing how much Mark and our Angels love going to the games, my paddle(the one that is raised to bid on something) somehow got very involved in the bidding.  By the end of the auction, we were the proud owners of twelve tickets in a private box.  It was an absolute win-win situation!  We were able to support our temple, while also supporting our home team!  I love it when that happens.  
Here I am, standing in the very best spot in the whole world.(which could be anywhere, as far as I'm concerned!)  Surrounded by my Angels.  As they get older and become more involved in their own lives, these moments sometimes become too few and far between.  When I am with my family, everything feels right with the world.
Their love for one another becomes more and more apparent, the older they become.  Watching them together, as a group, reminds me that Mark and I have done what we came here to do.  We have created a loving family and although life is not without some very rough spots, we can get through it if we stick together.
One of my freshman angels!  I have two right now, as AD2 is a college freshman and AD4 is a High School freshman.  I miss my college girls so much when they are at school.
In the back row, a couple of AD3's Angel friends sit next to her.  Next to AD3 is "T", AD1's sweet Angel roommate(our daughter, when she is away from her parents who live in Oregon),and AD 1 and her lovely boyfriend, The Cheesmiester.

In the front row is AD2's adorable, funny roommate, AD2 and then AD4's beautiful Angel friend and AD4.  I love that AD2's roommate felt comfortable enough with us to ham it up in front of the camera!  She fits right in with our silly family.

You can see my love sitting up there in the background, focusing on the game.
I drive them a bit crazy with the camera, but they have learned that if they just grin and bear it(Get it?  Grin and bear it...tee-hee.), then I will go away faster.
AD1 and The Cheesemeister.  They are too cute.(We missed you, Joshua.)
AD4 and her Angel friend.

AD3 displaying her team spirit!
And what made the night even better was that the Angels rallied and beat the Rangers 7-5!  It was an awesome game.
Did I mention how much I love my Angels and their wonderful Angel friends?  It makes me happy to see them so happy.(T, things will get easier, I promise, dear one.  Please be gentle with yourself.)

May you find moments to enjoy and fully enjoy the moments when you find them.  May your own angels surround you.  May you feel their embrace.  May you listen to their whispers whether they come from an earthly angel or on the barely noticed feathery wisps of a passing breeze.

Life in Pictures-Part Three: The Afterglow

After Angel Daughter Number Two's graduation, we went out to dinner.  The day turned out a little differently than we had planned because of my Dad's illness.  It would have been unsafe and unwise for him to drive two and a half hours each way to attend AD 2's graduation, and so, because God granted me a very empathetic and compassionate spirit, I decided to extend an invitation to my Mother's side of the family.(Let's just say they caused me unnecessary pain and grief for months after my brother's death.  Easy target, I suppose.)  The proverbial olive branch needed to be extended and was received with great enthusiasm by everyone except for my beloved brother's wife.  She has dug her way into so many sick and delusional lies that she must now hold strong to them in order to save face.  Not a good way to live life, especially while trying to raise two young daughters without the benefit of their father.  My brother, God rest his soul, would be absolutely infuriated by her behavior, as is the rest of my family.  Unfortunately, she has convinced everyone that she should be feared.  She holds my two nieces as the ultimate trump card.  I have already lost them and my only brother.  She cannot take anything else away from me.  And so, I am trying in whatever ways I can, to find a way back into my dear niece's lives.  I do not, nor will I ever fear evil.  I will not give up on my two other angels.  They need me as much as I need them.  This post was not supposed to be about the things which have been lost, so I will end this train of thought only to say that life does not always turn out the way that we expected it to.  Sometimes we have to fight for the way that things should be.

Dinner turned out to be a very happy and celebratory event.  It felt really good to be with my step-brother and his wife.  As the girls made their ways home and to other events, we lingered over dessert and talked about future gatherings.  I am very grateful to still have a step-brother even though we were not raised together as children.  We were brought together by my mother and her husband about twenty-five years ago.  We are family.

As with the way that things go with three teenage girls living at home, our doorbell rang at two am.  Everyone was asleep except for Angel Daughter Number Three and her Angel Friends.  When they heard the doorbell ring, they screamed(if you haven't heard teenage girls scream, lately, you are very, very lucky) and came tearing up the stairs.  I met them before they woke my husband and told them to calm down.  Of course they wanted me to investigate, and as soon as I turned on the porch light and looked outside, I was the first to observe the newest addition to our landscaping.  As the four little faces peaked out the door behind me and saw what had happened they all started laughing hysterically.  It was then that they took off up the slope because they spotted the perpetrators.  As I stood by myself in the middle of the street wearing nothing but my PJ's, feeling semi-comatose and bleary-eyed, I decided to run inside to get my camera.  When the angels came back, they told me that they caught several of Angel Daughter Number Four's little guy friends running away.  I snapped a couple of pictures because I was mostly unconscious, and told them to go back to bed.  And NOT to wake AD4, who would have been up for the rest of the night planning her revenge.  Teenagers...and hormones...I will survive, I will survive...
Nice job, huh?
The next day, we headed down to our beach house for a graduation get-together.  Notice the Batman pinata which was the hit of the party!  Of course my husband chose the Batman theme because he just knew that AD2 would love it.  AD1 broke it open with her brute-like strength and the kids went in for the bounty!
Teenagers and sugar.  Twice as sweet:)
Here's AD1 receiving an adorable snuggle from her boyfriend, The Cheesemiester.  I love it when she looks like this.  Total, natural bliss.
Finally, we said good-bye to Grandma Dot.  She is Mark's mom who lives in New Jersey.  We flew her in so that she could celebrate the day with us.  It's nice knowing that we will see her again in a year when AD1 graduates from college.  Her visits are too far and few between!  We miss you, Grandma Dot.

And so as life slows down a bit, and my birthday approaches next week, I will be doing some more reflecting about life, love, and purpose.  

On this Fourth of July, as we celebrate our independence as a nation, I wish for you a sky that is filled with the brilliant colors of fireworks.  May you find your corner of the beach blanket and know, as you gaze up into the sky, that you are not alone in this great, big, crazy world.  Never, ever alone...even when you are.

Love,

Debbie

Glass Flowers or Leaving Las Vegas, Part II

Since you have embraced the sadder times of life with me, it is only fitting that I share this little miracle with you.  This is my youngest angel getting to know my great-niece, soul to soul.  And yes, she smells as wonderful as she looks.  There is something about a new baby...Let's just say that I might have had another one if my husband and my OB hadn't nixed that idea.  I am one of those kinds of women.  Extremely maternal and naturally in tune.  As a child, the only thing which I knew for sure about my future was that I would have children.  I am very lucky that I married the man that I did.  He is also a natural father.  Strong, paternal, and a total goof-ball with our daughters.  I only hope that our angels marry men who are a lot like their father is.  My future son-in-laws will have some big shoes to fill.
Ah, Las Vegas.  Interesting town.  Whenever we go there to visit our dear friends, I think about how many times this town has redefined itself.  From the days in which the mob ran this place to the failed attempt at making it a wonderful family destination(Bad idea. Very, very bad idea.), this city has changed it's facade dozens of times.  Being the "card shark"(tee-hee) which you now all know me to be, I have witnessed several of the major changes, myself.  I will tell you one thing.  People do not go there for the shopping.
I'm not sure who the man in the white shirt is(good thing he still has his shirt after spending some time in Vegas), but I can tell you who all of these lovely, smiling individuals are in the center of the frame.  On the left, is The Cheesemiester, my oldest daughter's boyfriend, and my newest Black Jack student.  I think, from now on, I will also refer to him as "Grasshopper". Next to Grasshopper is Angel Daughter Number One, Angel Daughter Number Two, Angel Daughter Number Four(I get so confused when they mix themselves up!), and Angel Daughter Number Number Three.  Next to AD3 is...Wait who is that pretty young lady and what is she doing in our picture?!?!  Okay, just toying with you.  That's B, one of AD3's very best friends.  She came with us to Vegas, and I am very glad that she did.  B is a very sweet girl.  Polite and friendly.  It makes me happy to know that my girls have such wonderful friends.  She was a delight to have around.  You should have seen our suite after six kids and two adults got finished with it!  Oy.
If you have never been to Las Vegas, this is the ceiling at The Bellagio Hotel where we stayed.  Those are individual colored, glass flowers which were placed up there to resemble a giant flower garden.  The colors are vibrant and magical.  I must admit that with the endless supply of money that Las Vegas takes in, they do use their imagination to create interesting and creative casinos.  However, people sometimes forget that glass flowers are still made of glass and can easily shatter unlike the real thing.  This town can fool people into thinking that what they are seeing is real.  Most of it, is in fact, a facade or an illusion.  Much of this isn't reality.  Once again, let me remind you as a kind of public service announcement.  People do not go to this town for the shopping.
And finally, here is my family.  Look!  All of our angels are in the correct order, surrounding their daddy.  He is a very lucky man.  We are a very blessed family because we have each other. This is what is real.  No glass flowers here.(except on the ceiling)

May you be blessed with as much good as your heart can hold.  May you always find a way to recognize what is important and holy in a life which can sometimes be painful.  Life is a classroom and we are both the students and the teachers.  May you find ways in which to learn from all of the experiences of your days, and may you sometimes stop to contemplate who your teachers are and who your students might be.  Distinguish what is real, and hold fast to it.  Balance.  Balance.