Try This: Easy Pizza Rolls August 16, 2007

Tried this one night in a desperation to find something for dinner and to have felt like I at least partially “made it” instead of purchasing and to use up the goodies in the fridge.  My kids now love it – who knew?

Start with refrigerated crescent rolls in the can.  You really can’t go wrong that way.

Sprinkle your pan with Parmesan cheese and remember, I must always recommend a Pampered Chef Stone for baking (yes, you can order one from me .  But enough of that, sprinkle whatever pan you are using.  Separate the rolls into their triangles and press both sides into the cheese to cover.

Next, take some string cheese and cut the sticks into 1/2 or 1/3, depending upon your cheesy preference.  Place that cheese in the middle of the crescent triangle and roll it up like usual, except also pinch the sides up to keep the melted cheese from running out.  This is where you can get creative and stick in some veggies (my kids wouldn’t stand for it), pepperoni (one kid loved it that way), and garlic or Italian seasoning for a stronger taste.

Bake at 375 for about 20 minutes or until golden brown.  By the time they brown nicely, the cheese inside will be perfect.  Serve with warm pizza sauce.  Add a fruit and or veggie and a big glass of milk and  you’ve got a semi-balanced, kid-friendly meal.

Enjoy!

Have you thanked a teacher today? August 10, 2007

It’s the start of the school year here in Tennessee!  Yes, I know, early August, 96 degree weather with ungodly humidity, but really, school started here yesterday. 

We have 3 kids in the actual public school system here and 1 pre-schooler.  This is the year that they are most sprinkled out among the schools.  We have 4 children in 4 different schools! It makes for yet another challenge in our busy lives.

I sent a “get-acquainted”type email to the teachers a few moments ago and I ended it as I usually do teacher communications, with a very large thank you.  What these guys and gals do each day is truly amazing.  How many of us are glad to see school start again?  To have a quiet house for even a few hours?  To have our kids learning, enjoying it, and in the groove once again?  If we get tired of our own little darlings, imagine how teaching must feel.  Day in and out, their job is teach, mentor, direct, and some days just tolerate and survive our children! 

Despite that giant mission and all their best efforts, we all know how easily they are criticized.  Parents jump the minute they perceive that a teacher has stepped even a toe over some imaginary line they’ve created.  And that line changes to benefit the parent situation and viewpoint.  What a hard job.  Teachers hear frequently when they do something “wrong.”, but how many of us stop and tell them when they do something RIGHT ? 

So, here’s my little directive for today :  Notice the Teachers!  Notice the little things they do daily.  Notice when they encourage a child.  Notice when learning happens.  Notice how much they do as a part of a routine.  Notice how they handle it every day.  Notice all the things they do so well.  And then thank them for their time, their gift, their calling to this role, and the love and energy they do it with daily. 

And, just another little tip from me, don’t forget to tell their bosses – the principals and such, what a great job they do.  And don’t forget to thank and remember those who gave your child great starts, even though he/she may not be their teacher this year.  On a yearly basis, I try to send a compliment note for the teachers’ file, and in it, I always try to go back and compliment those who were outstanding from the previous years.  Quality work deserves recognition. 

If you haven’t already – thank a teacher today!  And, if you have super loving and caring ones as we do, go ahead and hug her, too! 

Summer Humor August 5, 2007

School starts on Thursday and it’s been a wonderful, laid-back summer here at the Houkhouse.  We’ve spent most of the time at the pool and watching those kids continue to grow right before our eyes.  Harper tackled the swim team at age 5 and won Most Improved in his age division.  He literally couldn’t swim 3 strokes without clinging to the wall on the first day and he made it through every event, plus 300+ yards of swim practice every day.  My girls have become awesome swimmers and both of their relay teams placed in the City Finals.  And Brady, he has been living larger than life this summer.  We didn’t bother telling him he wasn’t on the swim team – no need.  He took swim lessons, taught by the older lifeguards and swim team members. They have become his best friends.  He’s basically the team mascot and participates in everything except having to actually swim any events.  Pretty cool set-up – we even got him a team shirt.  So, he’s had the summer of his life.  All the teenagers at the pool are crazy about him and have really gone above and beyond in looking out for him.  He can go off the diving board and the slide now and get to the side independently.  Our community pool has a sand area, a b-ball court, a playground, kiddie pool – the whole shebang.  He can wander where he likes (visible to me in all areas) and interact with whomever he finds.  The big kids have taught him to dive, have held him up to make water basketball goals and then taught him to say “Money” every time he makes it, and have let him hang with them at the “cool” lifeguard-only table.  He chats their ears off.  They think he’s the funniest kid they’ve ever seen.  And so, today’s story is brought to you by a Brady interaction with Ben, the head pool lifeguard, age 18. 

I see Brady walk up to Ben and say something, obviously funny, as Ben laughs and apparently asks Brady to repeat it. 

I’m across the pool and can only see this interaction, not hear it.  Ben looks over and catches my eye and laughs.  I didn’t notice his face was a bit red, or I wouldn’t have made my next move.  I assumed Brady had said one of his usual funnies, so I made the mistake of asking what he had said this time.  So, Ben tells me.  And, he has to yell it over the row of sunbathers in lounge chairs between he and I…

“He said, My Daddy ‘panks my Mommy on the butt.” 

Now lots of folks are looking my way.  I attempt to explain that I recently had a birthday (you know, the birthday spanking). 

Then Ben says, “It’s okay, Mrs. Houk, we are all adults here.” 

No I’m the red-faced one with no chance of explaining away my toddler’s announcement.  Ben saves me and says, “What am I saying, I’m not an adult”. 

“Neither is my husband”, I reply and then we move on. 

Ben’s a nice guy for helping me save a bit of face and has continued to be for the remainder of our lazy summer by the pool.

Endings August 3, 2007

I wasn’t really in the mood to write tonight.  I just sat down to check email.  And then, just a few words from a friend triggered a reflective, sentimental, and peaceful feeling in me.  And of all things, that feeling is about endings.

It’s the start of back-to- school time around here and that is a beginning.  New beginnings, or even repetitive beginnings, can trigger those butterflies in the tummy, those sweaty palms, and the uncertain anxiety.  After that initial response, however, beginnings are generally regarded as good stress.  It’s how we move forward, how we grow.  Beginnings leave us with a positive image and connotation.  I think of new friends, new challenges, new opportunities, of firsts with my loving hubby and my kids, of all the places I would have never been without a beginning.

Tonight’s email was from a friend facing an ending.  A loved one is in hospice care and will not be with us on this earth much longer.  And aware of that, they struggle.  They struggle with how to balance the joy of a long, fruitful life with the reality of the infant this man is now.  The face the cold, hard job of taking care of someone that by nature, and position as father and grandfather and his other roles, was here to take care of them.

And I grieve for them.  For their upcoming loss, for the difficulty involved in watching it, for the logistics of trying to be many places at once, for the hesitation we all feel in knowing what to say or do or how to talk about this all.  I share my thoughts and prayers as support for them, as they support each other and complete the basic challenge of getting through another day like this and another, and another…And then enters guilt!  Just because we humans get tired and stressed and exhausted from the struggle – it doesn’t mean we wish that loved one wasn’t here.  No God, please don’t misunderstand – that’s not what we meant at all.  In an eyes-half-open moment while changing an adult’s diaper at 3 am and seeing him in pain – our reluctance wasn’t a wish for it to be over!  It’s just human nature.  The most fundamental and basic of human feelings and emotions – and a reminder that the only way to survive times such as these are by the Grace of God.

I have fortunately lost very few people that I had a close relationship with.  But fortunately (oddly enough I mean that), my work has put me in a place to have many experiences with death and dying.  I’ve come to find a beauty in it – a rhythm, or a peace if you will.  I’ve had the privilege of sitting vigil with families in the midst of saying good bye.  I really do mean privilege.  They’ve shared their most private, most difficult, and most hurtful moments with me, as a nurse, as a caregiver.  My position brought me into those situations.  The connection I felt in my heart has left me with a huge respect for endings and for assisting people, as I am able, to experience that ending in the most helpful and most healthy way possible.

I’ve watched cancer kids rejoice that one more vacation was accomplished before the disease took over – or a graduation, or the start of kindergarten.  I’ve seen families start to process their time with their children as a GIFT – a gift of all the days and hours they’ve had – instead of having life stolen from them.  I’ve wrapped up babies who’s little hearts have stopped beating and let mommies and daddies hold them until they can feel their goodbye are complete enough to make the next step.  I’ve been present when we tell parents a baby so young, born so early,  just couldn’t survive, and we are amazed it survived those first 48 hours – and it must have been because he knew what wonderful parents he had.  I can still hear a deep, strong voice reading the Bible to his 24 week gestation son in his last hours.  We all drew strength from that voice – especially the baby.  His vital signs changed when his Daddy read to him, and hung on a little longer while they had that time together.

On a personal note, those experiences like the ones above, prepared me for a couple of my own.  I’ve talked to a Youth Group on the night of the death of one of their own, about how we will still celebrate graduation – and Adam’s life – and how we will celebrate those last great moments with him and for him as we move ahead and keep him alive in us.  And, most preciously, I’ve bent down and kissed my grandmother while she took her last breaths.  As I kissed her, and hugged her, I told her that I owed so much of what I had become to her and the wonderful, beautiful things she had taught me to do and to be.  I put my tiny baby son up next to her and let him lay in the hospital bed with her.  I had watched my daughters just hours before bring her a photo for Mother’s Day and sing a song they had learned at preschool for her.  She told them she loved them, and they, having the honor of knowing their Mamaw Jackson, told her and loved her also.  She was buried with that photo.

I will never say I enjoy the experience of death – but I cannot say that I fear it.  I revel in it’s beauty and in the peace that comes after we fully love and fully engage ourselves and fully connect.  And in that most primitive of connections, we, God’s people, share also the ending, with help and strength from Him and through those he has placed with us.