A Silly Song for Mother's Day

My mom never considered herself a musician, but she blessed her children's lives with music. She sang to us, took us to concerts and provided us with piano/voice/flute/trombone lessons.  We knew music was important to her, especially when she told us childhood stories of carrying her heavy accordion on the bus on the way to her lessons.

When she miraculously awoke in the hospital we all sang together. My mom loved to sing hymns and Primary songs, but our favorites were always the silly songs.  Now I get to sing them to Lavender and my granddaughters!  One of Lavender's favorites is "Mairzy Doats."  She likes it when I sing to her, but she loves this old video from the Lawrence Welk show.

It really is a cute song.  Here are the funny and confusing lyrics:

Mairzy doats and dozy doats and liddle lamzy divey 
A kiddley divey too, wouldn't you? 
Oh, mairzy doats and dozy doats and liddle lamzy divey 
A kiddley divey too, wouldn't you? 

If the words sound queer and funny to your ear, a little bit jumbled and jivey 
Sing "Mares eat oats and does eat oats and little lambs eat ivy" 

Oh! Mairzy doats and dozy doats and liddle lamzy divey 
A kiddley divey too, wouldn't you? 
A kiddley divey too, wouldn't you?

So Happy Mother's Day to my sweet mom.  Here are a couple of previous  Mother's Day posts and best of all, mom lovingly commented on each of them. It is a treasure to have her words on my blog.

Thank you to my husband and children for giving me the opportunity to be a mother.  They have given me so many wonderful gifts over the years. (Be sure to click on this link if you want a good laugh!)

Finally, happy Mother's Day to all of the women and mothers in my life. I know that I am a better mother because of each of you. I am grateful for your examples.  I wish I could give you each a lanyard! 

Little Helper

Lavender poured herself a bowl of cereal. Independence is a good thing, right?!

Yum!

I've been eating gluten free for over a year now, but that doesn't mean I've given up desserts.  I don't mind skipping the cake if I can have ice cream!  But now that I've set a goal to eat sugar free, things have gotten a little trickier.  Here are a couple of recipes that I really love.  They're not just "okay".  I think they're delicious!

Lemon Meltaways

Makes about 24 cookies

Ingredients:

• 1-1/4 cups almond flour
• 1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut (plus extra for rolling)
• 2 tablespoons coconut flour
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 3 tablespoons honey
• 2 tablespoons virgin coconut oil, gently melted (not hot)
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions:

1. In a food processor fitted with the steel blade, process the almond flour, coconut, coconut flour, and salt until finely ground. Add the honey, coconut oil, lemon juice, lemon zest, and vanilla. Process until a rough dough forms.
2. Form the dough into 1-inch balls. Roll in shredded coconut if desired.
3. For a no-bake treat, simply refrigerate until firm and enjoy!
4. For a more traditional meltaway cookie texture, place the balls on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake at 250ºF for 25-30 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through. Cool completely. Store cookies in an airtight container.

Here is a link to the original recipe.  She explains why this is a healthy treat and gives options for using alternate ingredients.


Next up is the perfect dessert when I want something chocolately!  It is very rich, so I am usually satisfied with one piece.  My kids really like this and my husband is happy because there's no coconut involved.

Sugar Free Peanut Butter Fudge

1 cup softened butter 

1 cup honey 

1/2 cup cocoa powder  

1/2 cup organic, creamy peanut butter

1 tsp vanilla extract 

1/2 tsp sea salt 

Mix ingredients in a large bowl until smooth. Spread in a 8X8 pan and freeze for 2 hours. Cut into squares and enjoy! Keep in the freezer.  

Here is a link to the original recipe.

Hidden Camera

I want to get back to blogging regularly!  As a trial run, here is a short video of Lavender singing the "clean up" song while she puts away her Duplos.  I have to be really sneaky because whenever I pull out the phone or camera, she immediately stops whatever she is doing!  We sure are loving this cute girl, even if she is a bonafide two year old!

My Valentines

John is my one and only true love--my forever Valentine. But I am blessed to have these three living in our home. For now, they are my Valentines and I don't have to share them. Someday, that special someone will come into their lives and I won't be their #1 Valentine any more. Until then, I am enjoying every minute with them!

So glad I made my bed this morning

Two Birthdays

One of my favorite quotations is from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.  He said,

"Everyone has the power for greatness, not fame but for greatness, because greatness is determined by service. "

Since we are celebrating his birthday today, it seems fitting to share this quote.  But today is another, even more important (at least to me) birthday!  My sweet mom was born 72 years ago.  Mom truly was a great woman and she lived a lived full of service to others.

First and foremost, Mom served her family.  As a little girl growing up in Iowa, Mom served us through hard work!  She gardened and canned fruit and vegetables.  My brother Scott thought she was amazing when she magically made pickles out of cucumbers.

She and a friend even had a small business creating and selling wooden crafts. They made family tree plaques with curving branches carefully cut with a jigsaw.  The trees were stained and the apples carefully painted and then labelled with the names of family members.  My mom always had lovely printing and handwriting (and lamented over my poor penmanship) and she must have written thousands of names on those tiny, wooden apples.  I also remember her making and selling plaques for teacher gifts; the bright crayon boxes spilled out crayons with student names instead of colors.

Mom never considered herself a seamstress, but when I was young she made most of my clothes, from my underwear to my dresses.  As her family grew, her sewing was generally limited to curtains and Halloween costumes.  But when her children left home, she took up quilting and machine embroidery.  We still love snuggling under her quilts, sleeping on her pillowcases and drying off with a personalized towel she embroidered.

Mom was very dedicated in her church service.  She always had a calling and she often served in leadership positions.  She was Relief Society President at least twice, and she was always a faithful visiting teacher. Even after her children were grown, Mom served in the Primary and Young Women organizations.  Some women have a "been there, done that" attitude as they get older, but Mom never did.  She loved going to Girls' Camp and told us she was scolded (as a leader) for staying up too late and giggling too loudly. Before she had her first knee replacement, she knew she needed to be released as a Primary teacher, but she loved those little eight year-olds and was so sad not to teach them every week.

I am grateful that today was a holiday, so we had time to celebrate Mom's birthday.  Marianne and I went out for lunch at Extraordinary Desserts.  Mom definitely would have approved!  We also visited the cemetery and put new flowers on her headstone.  Later, we got together with my sister's family to sing "Happy Birthday" to Mom and play Phase 10, one of her favorite card games.

Happy Birthday Mom!  I miss you every day, but I know that we both have important work to do before the day comes for us to be reunited.  Love you with all my heart!